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Post by Victor von Doom on Feb 19, 2012 2:12:27 GMT -5
"By no means. Your martial acumen has served you well."
His own demeanor grew somewhat colder in response to Tybalt's ill temper.
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Post by Tybalt on Feb 19, 2012 2:21:57 GMT -5
"May it serve you, my lord," replied Tybalt, though he seemed a little stiff about it. It certainly felt less fumblingly sincere and a little more learned-by-rote, though why that was was uncertain. He did look very tired, after all.
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Post by Victor von Doom on Feb 19, 2012 19:43:44 GMT -5
"But you are morose as ever," Doom said reproachfully, as if being trapped in a drafty castle for a whole year, with hardly anyone who spoke one's own language, was conducive to cheerfulness.
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Post by Tybalt on Feb 19, 2012 19:47:32 GMT -5
"And this is an issue for a great lord like yourself?" asked Tybalt, a little testily.
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Post by Victor von Doom on Feb 19, 2012 19:50:16 GMT -5
"Despair is the breeding-ground of sloth." Which was excellent in his enemies, but less so for associates. His concerns could have been decoded as a sincere fear for Tybalt's well-being, but even he did not understand the workings of his private heart.
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Post by Tybalt on Feb 19, 2012 19:51:15 GMT -5
"Not in me, my lord."
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Post by Victor von Doom on Feb 19, 2012 20:17:57 GMT -5
In Victor it only provoked the furious desire to find someone else responsible for his unhappiness, anyone but himself. That in other people misery might not be accompanied by a weird backlash of hating everybody else was foreign to him.
"I do not want you to be unhappy here." A little kindness returned, but again, it was a matter of what Doom wanted.
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Post by Tybalt on Feb 19, 2012 20:22:03 GMT -5
Tybalt stared heavily at the floor. "I can give you my entire body and all of my willpower, my lord, but I cannot give you... that."
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Post by Victor von Doom on Feb 19, 2012 20:23:13 GMT -5
"What is it that Doom has not provided you?"
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Post by Tybalt on Feb 19, 2012 20:24:46 GMT -5
"It's not you," he mumbled, barely audible, humiliated to be on the spot like this.
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Post by Victor von Doom on Feb 19, 2012 20:27:16 GMT -5
Doom stared at him, uncomprehending.
"Is it revenge?"
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Post by Tybalt on Feb 19, 2012 20:36:21 GMT -5
"What?" He looked up at him, equally uncomprehending.
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Post by Victor von Doom on Feb 19, 2012 20:41:50 GMT -5
"Against those who would bring ruin to your family, and your nemesis."
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Post by Tybalt on Feb 19, 2012 20:47:49 GMT -5
He snorted, sick of explaining this to Doom in gentle terms. "Mercutio was not my nemesis. He was the nephew of the prince of Verona, friend to the Montague boys, a thorn in my side and a snake in my bed. Where he was often. Not a nemesis at all."
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Post by Victor von Doom on Feb 19, 2012 20:54:50 GMT -5
Doom cleared his throat sharply.
"Would you be better suited with a pair of boys? Doom does not mean to goad you, merely understand your preferences for hospitality's sake."
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