Barcus is, unfortunately, an old hand at being a captive at this point. He is, naturally, petrified, but the way he's been showing it has been mostly just flinching and pulling away when one of them tries to touch him. This hasn't been successful. Several fluid and tissue samples have been taken from him, but not enough to do him any long-standing harm.
That's the part that unnerves him. No one's put a pick in his hands and pushed him into a mineshaft. No one's strung him to a windmill. If this is meant to be torture, they're not very good at it.
No, he's pretty sure this is study. Experimentation. He doesn't like being the subject thereof.
The person brought to his cell--he too assumes this is a new guard--is clearly human. A knight or fighter of some sort. He doesn't seem like he's all there, though. The way he tilts his head reminds the gnome uncomfortably of thralls of the Absolute. Mindflayers-in-waiting, with something of themselves still in there, fighting for its life.
He says nothing until the other guard leaves, either, mostly because he's been pretending not to speak their language. The accent is weird, but it's quite close to common. He can fake it. He refuses to try for them.
A simple hello, though? He would assume this is some sort of emotional manipulation tactic, sending him a potential friend to get him to crack, except they haven't been trying to crack him in the first place. He just looks up at the soldier for a long moment, stone-faced, but after a glance around and a reluctant grumble he decides he can only play dumb for a finite amount of time anyway.
"Hello. I don't suppose there's any chance of getting something to read in here, is there? Only if something horrible is going to happen to me, I'm already getting bored waiting for it."
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2026-01-29 04:21 pm (UTC)That's the part that unnerves him. No one's put a pick in his hands and pushed him into a mineshaft. No one's strung him to a windmill. If this is meant to be torture, they're not very good at it.
No, he's pretty sure this is study. Experimentation. He doesn't like being the subject thereof.
The person brought to his cell--he too assumes this is a new guard--is clearly human. A knight or fighter of some sort. He doesn't seem like he's all there, though. The way he tilts his head reminds the gnome uncomfortably of thralls of the Absolute. Mindflayers-in-waiting, with something of themselves still in there, fighting for its life.
He says nothing until the other guard leaves, either, mostly because he's been pretending not to speak their language. The accent is weird, but it's quite close to common. He can fake it. He refuses to try for them.
A simple hello, though? He would assume this is some sort of emotional manipulation tactic, sending him a potential friend to get him to crack, except they haven't been trying to crack him in the first place. He just looks up at the soldier for a long moment, stone-faced, but after a glance around and a reluctant grumble he decides he can only play dumb for a finite amount of time anyway.
"Hello. I don't suppose there's any chance of getting something to read in here, is there? Only if something horrible is going to happen to me, I'm already getting bored waiting for it."