For nine_ofswords

[the_hermit]

Summary: In which Merritt fails his will save Merritt makes a stupid decision... In which this thread ends badly.

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Merritt goes still, something about him calming, and the smile that crosses his face is humorless. "That little 'stunt' was easy," he begins seriously, his tone becoming carefully measured.

"The Horsemen are my family, and leaving that man a drooling idiot was the very least I would do to protect them."

He's not close enough to actually, physically reach Ben, but he doesn't need to be. He swings, mentally, lashing out with a burst of magic designed to cripple.

Comments

[the_hermit]

"Mostly the fact that he's apparently decided to destroy the living room," Merritt returns dryly, heading for the balcony overlooking the suite's first floor to see what Jack is actually doing.

It won't take much to figure it out, as he's shoved the coffee table out of the way and opened the pull-out from one of the sofas. Jack himself is out of sight at the moment, but then a door closes downstairs, and he dumps an armful of pillows and blankets onto it - and then looks up at them like he's not at all surprised they're there. "I figured the odds were good everybody was gonna go back to sleep, and..."

He also figures the odds are good they could all use the continued contact.

[onebehind]

Dylan follows him out, follows his gaze down and looks somewhat relieved when he makes sense of what's going on. It's not that he thought Jack was actually destroying the living room, it's more that, yes, he wants to go back to bed, and yes, he'd like to do it close to the rest of the family for any number of reasons. This saves him from having to suggest it; this saves him from having to muster the effort required to pull out the couch and find the linens.

The relief, however, fades a moment later and as he glances to Merritt. "I know your brain's kind of scrambled, right now, but ... " But is he going to be able to sleep, after everything that just happened, as much as he might want to, should?

[the_hermit]

Jack takes that as approval - or actually gets it through the magic still floating around, Merritt's not going to think about it right now - and turns away to start making the bed properly.

Merritt looks back at Dylan, frowning as he actually considers his answer to that question. "I think I'll be good," he returns after a moment, especially if they're going with Jack's plan to camp out downstairs.

He means that, too. He's not even worried about the potential for nightmares right now, considering the warmth they all gave him.

[onebehind]

Without thinking to try and read the truth of that statement, without needing to for, yes, the taste of their combined magics still in the air, Dylan nods, accepting. He turns away briefly, following that, to call for Daniel and Henley as loud as his aching head will allow, and then shifting back in Merritt's direction, offers him his arm again.

"I'm gonna sleep for, like, twelve hours," he tells him, mock-confidentially. There's a note of seriousness behind it, too, however. He doesn't want anyone getting the wrong idea if they try and wake him before then and he shoos them away.

[the_hermit]

Merritt brushes that off, reaching out to put a hand on the balcony railing instead. "That'll get awkward on the stairs," he explains, because neither of them need to trip over each other right now.

"Pretty sure nobody's going anywhere but to sleep for the rest of the day," he returns - but he also really does appreciate the notice.

[onebehind]

"Good point," Dylan allows with the briefest stab of embarrassment. Both parts of that are a response to the idea that things might get awkward, if he tries to help Merritt down the stairs, but it serves as an answer to Merritt in entirety, and so he lapses into tired silence as they move downstairs. A second or two later, Henley and Merritt join them, and another after that and they're all standing in the living room.

Still quiet, Dylan looks to Jack. Can they fall into bed now, please?

[the_hermit]

Jack moves back into the living room from the kitchen, turning that light off as he goes - and passes off the previously promised bottles of water.

Merritt takes one of them, opening it to take a long drink. He feels better for it - but also stops at that, closing it again and setting it on one of the side tables. He doesn't really want to have to climb over everyone.

"Well, I'm laying back down," he tells them all, that done, and moves to do as threatened, letting out an exhausted sigh once he's settled.

[onebehind]

With a noise of agreement, Dylan sits down heavily on the edge of the pull-out and then shifts over, making room. Henley, meanwhile, gestures for the other bottles, not to drink but so Jack can follow Dylan into bed. She sets them off to one side, for later, figuring for as long as they'll all likely sleep, they'll want them then, and, once Jack's settled, climbs onto the pull-out behind him. Daniel slides in behind her, grabbing the edge of the blankets to throw over the group of them.

"Twelve hours," Dylan repeats, this time for the rest of the Horsemen. He already knows he doesn't have to explain what he means by that.

[the_hermit]

There's a hum of acknowledgement from Jack and Merritt, both of them already starting to drift again.

Tomorrow, Merritt will worry about how much of an enemy he actually just made and what to do about it. For now, surrounded by warmth and family, he's just going back to sleep.