Chapter 5
He started forward, dropping the pillow without a thought, and bee-lined to his pack beside his bed. A simple, but loose-fitting, white long-sleeved cotton shirt to cover his upper half, he hardly cared that he was wearing his well-worn tan sleep pants as he walked out of the room. His eyes swept to the right; up the hall, no Jarlaxle. He turned to the left; the hallway was empty. Artemis growled. Where the hell is the damned drow when I actually want him around?
Stalking forward towards the common room, he honestly wished his partner would appear at the top of the stairs before he reached them. It was not to be. The assassin glared at the descending stairs to the common room, internally eyeing them with a measure of hesitation. He could get down them of course; the problem was he could already fell his energy waning, the headache exerting pressure from the inside out. He wasn't sure how much farther his adrenaline would carry him. At the same time, he hated himself for considering the stairs to be even a little daunting.
He stayed at the top of the stairs looking down. He wanted to find Jarlaxle; wanted to ask if the drow saw the same thing Artemis himself did, or if he was just imagining it due to the headache. He was also rather stubborn, even to his own mind, at the continued insistence that it was 'just a headache'. So he struggled with himself for a bit, debating between his three options.
First; he could suck it up and go down the stairs, hope Jarlaxle was there and then somehow manage to drag himself back up the stairs to their room. Granted he could just sit at a table to wait for him, but if he was waiting, he'd rather be somewhere quiet. He'd also left his coin purse back in the room, and if he was going to go back, he might as well do the second option.
Second; he could go back to the room and wait for Jarlaxle's inevitable return…whenever that would be. The boon of this option was he could try and get some rest while he waited. The downfall was Jarlaxle could come and leave again without him waking if he did sleep.
Third; he could wait here at the top of the stairs. That way he could catch Jarlaxle's attention if he came close enough, but not have to endeavor to climb back up the stairs. The downside to this is it meant he'd be standing or sitting at the top of the stairs for an unknown amount of time. It wouldn't be an issue if it only ended up being a few minutes, but if it was any longer he'd start to feel rather stupid waiting for him here.
Artemis was rocking back onto his heels, when he spotted a fourth option walking down the hall.
"Boy. Come here for a moment." He gestured the young man over, altering his outward disposition to something more benign and friendly. "I need to ask a favour of you, if I may." He gestured down the stairs with a touch of disgruntled acceptance. Here he waited until the man was closer.
"What is it sir?" If Artemis hadn't been looking to gain a favour from him, he would have felt awkward at having such a naïve innocent approach him. Sighing mentally, he refocused on getting what he wanted from this…man? Boy? He was somewhere in the middle maybe, not quite matured.
"I have a travelling companion that has disappeared from our room while I was recovering some sleep. I need to talk to him, but I do not have the energy to get back up these stairs if I go down and he isn't there." So far so good, the young man looked interested still. Time to test how interested. "He's a very flamboyant individual. A drow, with an eyepatch and a monstrosity of a hat."
"So he should be easy to spot then." Artemis nodded, relieved. "I'll go down and look right now, and I'll come back and let you know if he isn't there." He was surprised by the generosity of the man-boy, but bowed his head slightly, grateful.
"Thank you."
He watched as he descended down the stairs quickly, disappearing from his sight as the world around him seemed to tilt slightly. He corrected his balance with some effort, still refusing to acknowledge that he perhaps should have just stayed in bed.
