All is not Fine

Arcanist's Guild, early evening.

Today was a lovely fall day in Alexandria, and with classes out for the day and many of the senior staff and students alike, the library is less crowded than the plaza and the gardens. Oh, sure, a few still linger among musty old tomes and piles of parchment, but most have either retreated to more private areas or gone outside to soak up the last of the sun before winter comes in earnest, the sky shifting from blues to golds and purples in the sunset.

One of those still lingering is Lheo, seated at one of the tables amid a pile of arcane and rather shabby looking tomes on topics both obscure and boring-looking. Tongue against his teeth, he's scratching with ink and quill on the topmost of a sheaf of scrolls, seemingly copying an intricate-looking diagram full of triangles and circles to the parchment. He looks haggard and weary, in the way of one who's been at this for some time, and the number of scroll papers spread out to dry bear that out.

Into the library comes another weary soul who looks quite a lot like the one already here. With long dark circles under his eyes and no sign of his adventuring gear in sight. Theo looks even more like his brother than usual. Save for the bruise on one cheek and the split lip that certainly distinguishes him.

He enters the room and looks around in brief before spotting his twin and making toward the other man. He offers no greeting, but rather silently pulls out a chair and sits in it, peering over the magical texts with the air of someone who has absolutely no understanding of what he's looking at. "You look like you've been at this for days Lheo." He says softly - finally.

There's a voice Lheo hasn't heard in a minute. It's even enough to break his concentration. It's pretty clear from the way he's dressed - in shabby and old but comfortable and warm gray robes that aren't intended to impress anyway - that he had no plans to go out today at all, but his head snaps up at the voice, and a smirk pulls his lips up.

"You look like death warmed over, brother," he replies, shoulders that veritably melt with relief belying the casual pose. He sets aside the quill in the inkwell, and leans back, flexing inky fingers. "Did they hard march you back or something? And who got you?"

Theo smiles at Lheo, as glad to see his brother as his brother is to see him. "Yea, they had us march the whole way back. No sleep." He sighs and touches his lip with a touch of pain in his expression for just a moment. "Master Zein managed to tag me a few times. That old man hasn't lost anything."

Theo shrugs after a moment. "It was perfectly boring to be honest. Next time that the temple offers a training mission remind me to turn them down. All I got were bruises to show for it."

"They're lucky there wasn't bandits on the road or something. Even the drillmasters back home weren't stupid enough to force march unless they had to - where did they send you again?" Lheo gestures a quick cantrip, and the ink melts slowly off of his fingers, as if it had never been. Although Theo has seen this trick a hundred times, his brother's pleased glee is never not present - but this time, the spell comes with less glee than simple relief.

"You mean you didn't learn anything at _all_ from getting your butt kicked?" he goes on, amusedly. "If you learn something, it's worth it.

Though he seems his usual smirking self, with a quip seemingly waiting behind ever word, there's a tension in his frame that wasn't there before, and he occasionally glances at the corner of the room.

On reflex, when Lheo looks to the corner of the room, Theo does also. Keen to find some threat that might be there. His warrior instincts kicking in despite his tiredness. There's nothing there. Nothing he can see in any case. "If I learned it I lost it in the two-day march home." He offers, not smiling.

"Something the matter Lheo? You seem... different." More nervous. He reaches out for his brother almost casually. Something he's done since they were both small boys. Offering his hand against the unknown dark. Neither of them has ever faced anything truly alone. He almost manages a smile. "You didn't get a hair cut without me did you?"

GAME: Lheo rolls bluff: (4)+1: 5
GAME: Theo rolls Sense Motive: (9)+6: 15

Lheo snorts, the sound holding no amusement at all. "Wouldn't dream of it, Theo," he drawls sarcastically. "Unlike you, I had the good sense to get _out_ of the army. No, I'm just behind. Got caught out in a storm and missed a couple of days of classes." The words, though, can't hide an entirely new aura underneath the bravado. _Fear_. Not just nervousness, out and out fear. He automatically reaches for that hand, giving it a good squeeze. "I'm still here, Theo, and you look like you ought to sleep before you do anything."

That thrill of fear is so thick that Theo feels it himself. Like an echo of what his brother is feeling. What could have Lheo - of all people - so afraid? He took that hand and looked at his brother seriously. It feels almost stupid to say what he says next. "You know... You can tell me anything... Right Lheo?"

The wizard, unaccountably, hesitates, his shoulders sagging in defeat. "My fortnight wasn't as boring as yours, brother, but it's not something you want to hear about on no sleep, all right?" Whatever this is, it's _really_ not something he wants to talk about, but he can't hide it. He lets Theo take the hand, and squeezes it back, forcing a smirk that is closer to a real smile than anything. "You should rest, and I'll explain when you're rested."

Theo hesitates a moment but then nods. He trusts Lheo more than anyone. They've always been there for one another. They always would be. "Alright." He gives that hand a squeeze and then releases the other man so that he can get back to his writing. "I'll be back tomorrow sometime then, we can have lunch together."

He rises to his feet, but his eyes are all for his brother for a moment. "If you need me before then, you know where I am." A small smile and then he pushes the chair in and steps away. Why does it feel like so much distance is between them right now? He doesn't want to say goodbye. So he just nods and turns.

Lheo drops the hand, staring after Theo, an unhappy, worried look following the paladin out the door. "Go get some sleep, Theo. You look like you need it. I can walk you if you want." He reaches to remove the quill from the inkwell and cap it. "It's good to see you."

Theo smiles and shakes his head. "No, you get back to your work. I'll be fine." He was just worried somehow... that Lheo wasn't. But for now he left his brother.

-End