The next thing Lawrence knew, he was on the floor in pain and all he could hear was white noise. 'Oh wonderful,' he thought. 'I had a sensory overload, what fun it will be for him to laugh at me in this moment of weakness,' he mentally slapped himself in the face. 'I should have known he was behind me! Not only did I have a sensory overload, I zoned-out on my violin playing! Lovely.' He mentally finished scolding himself long enough to see what was going on around him.
From his position, on his side it seemed, he could see Richard's lips moving, but he heard nothing. Then Richard reached for him and placed a cool palm to Lawrence's forehead. Gradually, he heard Richard calling his name. "Lawrence? Can you hear me? Look at me if you can hear me!" Richard said at first, then toward the end started to yell in a panic.
"I'm all right, Richard! Calm down, you'll wake up Mrs. Sparrow!" Lawrence said in a hushed and husky whisper while putting his hands on his roommate's shoulders to try to calm him down.
"You're one to talk! I'm not the person who was playing his violin at four in the morning!" The ex- military doctor said in a soft and furious whisper. Lawrence looked at him for a moment and rolled his eyes at him. Then stood up and walked over to his most beloved (but abused) arm-chair.
"You may be right, but it does not matter! Let's just try NOT to awaken our land lady, all right?" Lawrence said in a calm and soothing manner. Richard sighed and calmly smiled back at him.
"Very well, but if you decide to start playing your violin at four in the morning again I'm going to take it and smash it over your head! Just to show you how much I LOVE to be woken up three hours before I need to be awake," Richard said with a serious tone to his voice.
"All right, but I hope you like being gift wrapped and sent to my sister if you so much as try to do that, Guide!" Lawrence said in just as serious a tone. Richard looked at him with absolute horror and fear at said statement, clenching his fists at his sides as he did so.
"You wouldn't dare! You know what happens to unbonded, runaway Guides! They'll pair me up with a sack of meat and ship me off to who KNOWS where! He, and I just KNOW it will be a he, might not even be compatible enough and I just might go mad and, and, and..." He started to stammer at this point in his panic induced raving. He was just so stressed, upset, and most of all, fearing for his very life at that moment; he couldn't even keep his train of thought let alone an indoor voice.
"And what, my dear Richard; and what?" Lawrence said in a casual and icy cold tone.
"And I'll kill my sentinel; that's what! And you know what happens when a Guide goes mad and kills his sentinel!" Richard almost yelled, again.
"Yes, I am well aware that they take said Guide and lock him or her up in an insane asylum for the rest of their days," Lawrence said, staring at the now pacing and emotionally distraught unbonded Guide before him.
"Exactly! So, please don't send me to you sister! I was only joking about the violin!" Richard said, begging on his knees with his hands clasped tight at his chest, his whole body shaking with fear.
"I was merely joking myself, Richard. I would never send you to that place they call a 'safe haven'! I'm not that cold hearted!" He said with a chuckle.
"Thank goodness! For a minute I thought you were serious! Anyway, you should eat some breakfast, you're borderline anorexic for crying out loud! You need to eat something," He said as he got up and brushed himself off. Richard then started to walk over to the kitchen to make some breakfast for the both of them.
"Sure, Richard, sure," Lawrence said. 'I'm surprised Mrs. Sparrow isn't awake and up here yelling at us to and I quote "Keep the domestics down, we're trying to get some sleep down here!" Where could she be at so early in the morning? Somethings not right,' the consulting detective thought to himself.