Best laid plans of mice and men (Jemi/Deadpool)

[Falz]

Finally. At midnight, Isaiah had finished his latest airship blueprint. In that evening alone, he had failed at least 6 other designs. Some failed for actual problems, such as an the design not being plausible, but others had failed for really trivial reasons, such as forgetting to put the steering system in. With a smile, he raised the blueprint to inspect it. However, as he looked over it, his smile left his face. He couldn't believe it...he left out the steering system AGAIN! In anger, he screwed up the paper and threw it into a half filled bin. Maybe it was just too late to come up with something good. He was going to go get a drink from the kitchen, and then go to sleep. Isaiah stood up from his chair with a yawn, and moved towards the door. Opening it as slowly and quietly as he could, Isaiah poked his head out and looked at both sides of the corridor before stepping out and walking towards the stairs. Walking down the stairs was a different manor. Isaiah wasn't watching his footing, and he ended up falling down the flight of stairs. He landed at the bottom with a loud thud, and a groan.

"Argh....oh geez..."

Isaiah slowly stood up, with a hand on his back. He stretched out the pain, and then looked around to make sure no one saw him fall down the stairs. That would be really embarassing if someone saw that 'spectacular' fall. When he was sure no one saw him, it was off to the kitchen, to get a drop of port before bed time. However, it didn't help that he had never been in the kitchen for a long time, and didn't know where to find anything. With a hand on his chin with a finger on his lips, he looked around at the contents of the kitchen, the finger constantly tapping his lips.

"Hrm...if I were a bottle of alchohol, where would I be...?"

[Locke (DP)]

Lightning flashed outside the window, illuminating the otherwise abyssal darkness of Darius’ room. Thunder rumbled from beyond the safety of the castle walls, but it was the light that invaded Darius dreams and soaked through his closed lids as if they were wet rags. In a half-dream state the prince mulled over getting up and closing the curtains around his window. Eyelids wearily parting, he realized that once he had woken fully sleep would be difficult. Too late.

Darius pulled his body upright, out of the tangled mess of sheets that held him captive to his bed. Sweat covered his body although the room was icy. The prince couldn’t be bothered to trudge over to the window and close it, so he snatched his housecoat before stumbling out the door of his room and slamming it behind him. The air was slightly warmer in the hall, but it certainly wasn’t comfortable. Medieval architecture certainly had its design flaws. These were the times Darius wished he had lived in a normal manor.

The man paused in action when he heard a loud thud coming from one of the stairways. For a moment he held his breath, listening in silence. The prince’s imagination began to run wild on him- perhaps there were assassin’s in the house, or worse, his sister. After a long moment Darius decided that if it was either of the two horrible things he had imagined he would be dead already. The prince continued, but with caution, his steps slow and quiet.

Gracefully descending the stairs, Darius heard curious noses coming from the kitchen. As he drew near he heard the mumblings from a familiar voice. This would explain that thump he had heard earlier. What was his silly little brother doing up in the middle of the night anyways.

“In the wine cellar, under the floors,” Darius said while nudging open the kitchen doorway. “Trouble sleeping?”

Darius meandered over to a corner of the kitchen, almost tripping over a stool in the process. Isaiah should have brought a lantern with him if he was to wander around the castle in the midst of night. Darius wasn’t surprised that such common sense would fly over the genius’ head. Groping around in the dark, Darius finally felt the rough edge of a flour barrel. Eureka. Gripping the edges of the barrels he pushed it to the side so he could better reach the heavy cellar door it sat atop of.

“What was the sound I heard earlier near the stairs?” Darius asked. Darius managed to find the clasp for the doorway and flipped it open. “I’m merely curious.” Now he wished they had brought a lantern with, for the cellar was filled with a darkness blacker and thicker than the darkest ink. This was going to be a bit of an adventure.

“Perhaps I will stand by the door while you find your drink,” Darius suggested. “You aren’t afraid of a few spiders, Isaiah?”

[Falz]

“In the wine cellar, under the floors,”

This caused Isaiah to quickly spin around, knocking over a few pots and pans with his tail in the process. This, naturally, would have caused a fair bit of noise. With a look of panic on his face, Isaiah quickly gathered all the pots and pans he had knocked over and placed them where they truly belonged. With a deep sigh, he slowly turned to the door to see Darius. Isaiah made a sigh of relief. The housemaids always seemed to get annoyed with him when he made these midnight kitchen raids. Isaiah spoke out into the darkness.

"Jesus Darius, you scared me bro...I was just thinking of getting a drop of port before going to bed. I was designing a ship again until now..."

Isaiah slowly moved towards the sound of Darius moving the flower barrel. And then, Darius questioned about the loud thud. Luckily for Isaiah, it was dark, as his face was currently turned a dark shade of crimson. What was he going to say? It was obvious that Isaiah did something, but surely it wasn't that obvious he fell over, was it? Hell, he couldn't lie to Darius. He was just going to say it.

"Urm...I fell down the stairs..."

After hearing the cellar door open, Isaiah carefully made his way towards the cellar door. It really was dark, he really should have brought a light source. Oh well, he was all for an adventure, big or small. While Isaiah climbed down into the darkness, Darius brought up spiders. Bah, spiders, creepy little creatures! Isaiah wasn't exactly scared of them, but the way that walked creeped him out. Isaiah set two feet down in the cellar and began his search for some port.

[Locke (DP)]

Being clumsy came with the territory and after this many years with his brother it was little surprise to Darius. Little surprise, but surprise nonetheless, for although they had grown together they did not spend all their time together and the older brother was not quite accustomed to the sheer amount of noise Isaiah made that night. Thick darkness concealed the wince Darius wore as the clatter of pots and pans started up in the kitchen. After the noise had passed he was left with a slightly increased heart rate. Is he intending on waking the whole castle?

“I see that.” The one answer to everything Isaiah had just stated. In his mind Darius was tsk-tsking and laughing. Isaiah may have been twenty, but he was still just a kid to Darius. Only a kid, but he certainly had potential. It’s unfortunate you had to be born in this family, brother. I am truly sorry. Your great mind would do much better outside of this environment.

Darius didn’t wish his brother a crapsack life, but he feared what would befall Caedere with time. Things were getting worse. Oh, dear, he was starting to turn into a pessimist, wasn’t he? Damn it all.

“You fell down the stairs? Are you sure you’ll be able to handle this cellar?” Darius’ tone was half tease half actual concern. “I don’t want to be fishing your unconscious body out of there in the middle of the night.” Though it’s your fault for not bringing a light, silly boy.

After his brother had lowered himself into the room Darius crouched by the door. It would be quite a problem if Isaiah was to hurt himself down here; the cellar was blacker than the darkest of inks and seemingly impenetrable. It almost had a mass of its own, as if more than simple air. From outside there was another flash of lightning that briefly penetrated only the very opening of the door. Dark, very dark.

Maybe it was not a great idea to send him down.

[Falz]

As Isaiah moved through the darkness of the cellar, he began to regret not bringing a torch. How was he going to find anything in this? After a few minutes within the darkness, he could roughly make out the shapes of the bottle holders and cabinets. Isaiah slowly approached a cabinet, and slowly opened it. He grabbed a bottle and moved back towards the door in order to read the contents on the label. He had to wait for a flash of lightning in order to read it clearly. Eventually, Isaiah found the port and climbed out of the cellar. He was genuinely suprised he didn't fall over, again. As he moved over to the counter and grabbed a glass, he looked over his shoulder to look at Darius and spoke.

"You want a bit?"

Isaiah removed two glasses in case Darius did indeed want a bit, but filled up his own glass. He could always just pour him a bit if he did. With port filled glass in hand, Isaiah turned to his brother and leaned against the counter, with his free hand resting in his pocket. With a sip, Isaiah began to speak again.

"How come you're up, anyway? I didn't wake you up, did I?"

Just knowing that Isaiah possibly woke up one of his family made him feel bad. Even though he spent a lot of time in his room, he enjoyed having the company of his family. Apart from Claire, but that was mainly because he wouldn't know when she would plunge a knife into his throat, or if she would. Its not particularly fun when you don't know if you'll die or not. Isaiah's attention returned to Darius, as he waited to see if he actually indeed woke him up.

[Locke (DP)]

It came to a surprise to Darius that Isaiah was able to navigate the cellar without breaking his face or something to that extent. The man was grateful for the last thing he wanted to spend the night doing was helping his brother clean up a bloody nose…or something worse. As soon as Isaiah cleared out of the cellar Darius was quick to close the door and put the flour barrel back in its place. So far so good, but the last thing he needed was for one of them to step in a gaping black hole in the floor and hurt something.

“Yes,” Darius answered. Then after a pause added, “Please.”

Darius initially chuckled in response to his brothers next question. “Wake me? No, not at all. It was the weather…and my own restless mind.” Darius didn’t sleep well unless he was in total darkness. Some fear the dark but at times the man embraced it- especially when trying to quiet his weary mind. “Although I did hear you on the stairs and came to investigate. With the amount of people killed here in the past I can’t help but…”

In the dark his eyes searched for his brother’s face. What was he thinking right now? Between the two of them Darius was definitely the paranoid one. Being the elder brother put him in that position. The man just needed some kind of confirmation Isaiah wasn’t starting to think he was batshit insane. I’m not crazy. Simply…cautious.

[Falz]

Isaiah raised a brow when his brother talked about the amount of people that had been killed here. Did he mean in the castle? Nobody had ever mentioned that to him before. Although, that may be because he could have been seen as the baby of the family, since he was the youngest. He tended to over think situations as well, and that could likely lead him into a dangerous situation. As Isaiah turned to pour Darius a drink, he spoke into the darkness.

"By the people that have died here, do you mean in the castle? No one's told me about it."

As Isaiah finished pouring Darius a drink, he placed his own down on the counter and approached Darius, offering him the drink. After Darius accepted it, Isaiah returned to the counter and his own drink, and turned back to face Darius. He didn't care if he was going to over think the situation, this was potential grounds for an interesting conversation. Leaning against the counter again, Isaiah spoke again.

"I know you guys see me as the baby of the family but...I'm interested in the history of all of this. Caedere. Silvereye. Our home the castle. If you want to talk about it, I wouldn't think any less of you. In fact, I'd respect you more, for telling me stuff no one seems to want to say to me."

[Locke (DP)]

Initially Darius feared the look on his brother’s face was proof the kid thought he was going crazy. Maybe he was, but he hoped it was only his own weary nighttime brain that was making him come off as such. The next thing that came out of his little brother’s mouth seemed only confirmation that he thought Darius was off his rocker. The older man sighed, slightly exasperated.

Darius took his drink and was just about to turn away when Isaiah suddenly proved him wrong and expressed a genuine interest in what he had to say. So he doesn’t find me crazy? He must be very naïve or…he trusts me. Nothing wrong with that. Fine, he would tell him what he knew. Then Isaiah at least stood a chance here.

“It is not something you really have to worry about, being the youngest sibling,” Darius said. “You would be the last to be killed if anyone from the outside were to usurp our power. However, I have overheard the common folk call our family usurpers. Perhaps it is only gossip, but there is always a little truth behind rumors. Before the Freegard’s held the throne, a different family held it and before them, someone else. The people of Caedere have come to expect us to murder one another just to sit on the throne.”

Outside of their sheltered lives inside the castle, assassination and murder were perfectly acceptable ways to gain power. Yet the rambunctious royal children seemed to have no problem slipping out of the castle at every opportunity, willing to put their lives at risk for the thrill of it all. Darius was one of them.

“I don’t think the family meant to keep it from you. Well-“ Darius suddenly cut himself off. That wasn’t completely true. Perhaps they were all meant to be left in the dark, but they were smart kids and they had figured it out. “Maybe they did…just a little…but I have no part in that."