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[gloria-in-excelsis-infimus]

@soldiersam

(Previous)

Autumn continued to stroke their chin in thought as they attentively listened to Gloria.

“Sabotaging Bishop Percival? But who..,” she trailed off as she glanced at Theodore.

They folded their arms. “Well, here’s what I remember after service. Of course His Excellency was the first to leave, as usual. But then I saw him come back and take Mike away.” 

“Then after Mike left, a lot of the noninitiates started to leave. By that point, I briefly retreated into the hallway to grab a broom and dust pan. And when I came back, I no longer saw Theodore, Sam, and, well, most of everyone really.”

She looked up as she pondered something. “....It couldn’t have been Sam, could it? The two were working together, pretty successfully at that it seemed, so it wouldn’t make sense for her to attack him… Plus, Sam usually follows Bishop Percival’s orders to a T.”

“I haven’t the slightest clue..,” Gloria forlornly said as she followed Autumn’s gaze to Teddy. “An outsider? Or..” She scanned the hallway while dropping to a hushed whisper. “...is there another rat among us?”

She let Autumn finish before shaking her head. “It's as you said. Not only does Sam lack a motive but they have every reason to keep her hands off. Even if their partnership broke down they’re well-aware of how Percy would take a delay.”

Gloria sighed as she looked back at their teddy bear again. “If only he didn't stubbornly insist on keeping the truth to himself…” Then she stepped back into her room and smiled.

“Well! As much as I’d love to stay and chat, I should get this done before he pulls another disappearing act.” She slowly pulled the door shut while waving at Autumn. “Toodaloo~! Please be a dear and keep me updated!”

With that the door clicked as the automatic lock activated and Autumn was left alone in the hall. After a brief pause there was soft clunk, a telltale sign of the deadbolt being turned.

[gloria-in-excelsis-infimus]

@soldiersam

(Previous) Autumn put a hand to their chin. “Ah right, I certainly was not expecting that punch from him either. Hm…” “Well,” Autumn said in her gossipy voice as she flicked her wrist down, “Sam was sitting next to Thomas today, which was likely so they could drag him up to the pulpit easier. But, before services started, I was sitting not too far away from them. I heard Sam mention how Amy was mad at him, which could’ve just been his reason to justify sitting next to Thomas. Still, after services I decided to ask Amy about it anyway. She said she was upset with Sam because she keeps bragging about how she’s gonna be ordained as a deacon before her, and keeps demanding bet rewards in advance.” Autumn folded her arms. “Not only that, but Amy’s also pissed that Sam started dating one of her other friends! And knowing how Sam treats his dates, I’d be pissed too!” They scowled. “Like once, Sam had the gall to ask Lola out, just to make their boyfriend-at-the-time jealous. Right in front of me! I was so mad I could’ve skinned them alive on the spot! Nobody is gonna treat her like…” Autumn realized she was getting a bit off topic and dismissively waved her hand. “A-anyway… Amy did it as a fuck-you for working with Sam or something. Plus, Theodore is usually her go-to punching bag when she needs to blow off steam.”

Gloria sympathetically twisted her eye in disgust at Sam's behavior. It was impressive how evil they were... Yet it was a crude evil with none of the refined charisma of all the big bads. Then once Autumn was finished she asked,

“Oh my, she didn't ease up after his stay in the Medbay? And the others too? Because Bishop Percival was very clear on what would happen if mitre progress got halted by another injury! And considering how fragile his newly healed ribs are...”

Gloria sighed. If there weren't bigger issues at hand she'd ask Mir to check for internal injuries. Or at least to provide a potion which would allow her to look herself.

“...Well, one wrong shove could have put him out of commission for awhile. That's why I couldn't wrap my head around why any Glornist would risk it! Idiots...”

She had her arms folded and was deep in thought as she pondered alternative explanations. Teddy had been perfectly healthy (minor workaholicism aside) up until his tailoring talents were desperately needed. One time was a coincidence. Two times, however...

After a long pause Gloria met Autumn's eye. “Say... This may be a bit of a stretch but..,” she said as she raised her finger and leaned closer.

“Could this be a way of sabotaging Bishop Percival by delaying mitre work? Because first he went radio silent after Commander Peepers destroyed the mitre, only to reappear with broken ribs and a tale of a freak accident a few days later. And then his shoulder got dislocated right after discovering the perfect sacrificial lamb...”

Gloria perked up and brightly smiled in blinding contrast to her talk of a grand conspiracy. “Besides, Amy couldn't have done it! She passed me only minutes before that wretched scream~!”

She proudly smirked as she put her hand to her chin, certain she was on the right track. “So shouldn't we ask who lured him away from the crowd? And considering how battered he is they had to have left soon after service ended.”

[gloria-in-excelsis-infimus]

@soldiersam

(Previous) The idea made Autumn bitterly laugh. “Listen, I’ve been watching Thomas for some time now. The guy would sometimes cry when he swatted a fly.” They rubbed their head. “In hindsight, I really could’ve raised alarm bells about him sooner… But watching his office drama was just so entertaining…” “Regardless,” they shook their head, “sure there was a motive for him to go after Tedster, but uh, I’m having trouble thinking he had the guts to not only return to the Glornch after fleeing but to also pop an arm out of its socket.” Autumn pointed her finger in the air. “Wanna hear my theory on who dunnit?”

“That's what I thought before he socked Sam but...” Gloria tilted her head. “Isn't the timing a little suspicious? Teddy got attacked and then Mike told you that Thomas got locked up shortly afterwards.”

After a long pause she leaned forward with her eye lit by intrigue. “So who do you think?”

[gloria-in-excelsis-infimus]

@soldiersam

(Previous) Autumn broadly grinned. “Sure, I think I can do that. Though Glorn knows once Lola has her peabrained mind on something, it’s hard to get her to drop it.” Just as Autumn moved to depart, her phone went off. She paused to check it. It was a message from Reverend Mike. It read, “Thomas has been captured. In the dungeon rn.” “Well then,” Autumn said as they put their phone away. “There’s something that’ll easily distract Lo from both Theodore and her little garden fascination too. Thomas got got already.”

Gloria brightly smiled at the news. “How delightful~!” Then she put her hand to her cheek and worriedly frowned. “It's disgusting how long that filthy Gropist went undetected...”

After a moment she glanced back at Teddy and added, “Is there any chance that he did this to poor dear? I mean, you'd think that he'd go after Sam or Cyrus first since Teddy only played a minor role...”

Gloria smirked as she slyly raised her hand in front of her mouth. “Buuuuuut I suppose that even he knows that a soldier and ex-guard are out of his league.” She let out a sigh as she looked at the pitiful state that their surprisingly arrogant beanpole was in.

“A scientist, on the other hand...”

[gloria-in-excelsis-infimus]

@soldiersam

(Previous) Autumn’s eye widened at Gloria’s offer. “Would it please me? Having this bed would make me the happiest Glornist alive! I’ve been wanting to replace my janky cot for so long!” She pointed her thumb at Theodore. “Anything else I can do to help you get him outta… Uh, get him all fixed up?”

Gloria giggled at Autumn's eagerness and dismissively waved her hand.

“Oh, treating him will be a simple matter. And once that's through I'll be letting our sleep deprived grump wake up naturally~!”

Then she paused as she crossed her arms and leaned against the door in thought. “Well... there is one thing you can do...” She playfully clasped her hands together.

“Could you please be a dear and keep word from getting out until he slips away on his own? And distract..,” Gloria paused just in time to keep herself from saying her less than flattering nickname in front of her best friend.

“...Lola so she keeps her piehole shut?”

[gloria-in-excelsis-infimus]

@soldiersam

(Previous) Lola literally growled and made a claw-like shape with her hands like some kind of wild animal, and swatted back at Gloria’s cane. Autumn sighed as she sidled past Gloria, then took hold of Lola’s arm. “C’mere for a second. Please?” Lola reluctantly gave way and walked with Autumn to the end of the hallway. They whispered to her. “Listen. I was told to keep quiet about it, but since you’re already hot on the trail… Yes, there is a, um, a garden. It’s at the very end of The Tunnels.” Lola folded her arms. “Oh come on. Everyone knows there’s no end to The Tunnels.” “That kind of thinking is exactly why you haven’t found it!” “Then come with me and show me.” Autumn took one of Lola’s hands. “I promise I will soon. But as Gloria said, we’re a bit busy with another matter. You go get a head start and I’ll catch up with you in just a bit!” Lola frowned and started backing away. “I’m wary, Specs… But I’ll go look anyway! And if I find out it’s a lie I’m killing you dead!” With that, she turned and ran out to the stairwell on her journey to The Tunnels. “Sounds like a deal!,” Autumn said as they waved her off. “And send me that picture, will ya?” Man… Autumn hated using the exact same strategy that prick of a priestess used to get Lola to leave her alone. But… it was just so effective! Autumn walked back to Gloria and sheepishly smiled as they held her bedroom key toward her. “M-my bad for leaving your room unattended…”

Once Autumn had that ratfink occupied Gloria went in to check on poor dear Teddy. Fortunately he was still out cold. And he didn't have even the slightest reaction when she repositioned him so his injured arm was right by the edge of the bed.

She paused for a moment when Lola shouted an empty threat at her friend. Then she shrugged and waited at the door for Autumn to return her key.

“Oh don't worry about that dearie.” Gloria dismissively waved her hand as she accepted her key. “Accidents happen~!”

In hindsight she shouldn't have trusted one of the gossips with her key. Especially since she had gotten quite a scare when she thought that they let the other, terribly careless one in. Yet once she was proven wrong she decided that she'd rather provide positive reinforcement while getting back at Lola than punish Autumn.

And with how Lola had gotten in a tizzy when she saw her true bedroom coming up with a way to kill two birds with one stone was a simple matter...

“Say...” Gloria put her hand on her chin as if she was thinking it over. “I should reward you to demonstrate my gratitude.”

Then she brightly smiled as she perked up and pounded one hand against the other like a gavel. “Would this bed please you?” She rested her hand on it. Then her head sunk and smile faded.

“Unfortunately I have to do away of it in favor of one that's kinder to my back...” At a drop of a hat she returned to her cheerful self. “But a youngster like you should be perfectly content with it! You only need to wait until our sweet little baby bear is back on his feet~!”

Anyone who had the slightest familiarity with Theodore would notice the underlying sarcasm. For not a single adjective in that sentence remotely suited such a dour man.

[gloria-in-excelsis-infimus]

@soldiersam

(Previous) Autumn shrugged and said “N’alright, if you say so!” They turned heel and ran back down the stairs and back to Gloria’s room. Might as well do some more snooping. But when they got there, they realized they made a horrible mistake. They didn’t lock the door when they had briefly left. They realized this when they went back in and found Deacon Lola taking a selfie with the unconscious Theodore. “LOLA! Get outta here!” Lola jumped with a little “eep!” and Autumn’s sudden reappearance. “B-but! I have so many questions! Why’s Bowtie beat up? Did you do that? Was that why you carried him here? And why does Gloria’s room look different from when I saw it?” Autumn couldn’t help but chuckle at Lola thinking they did that to Theodore. It was hard to stay mad at her when she was so cute… “No, I’m not sure who did that to him yet.” But then they perked at what she said about the room. “How’s it different?” Lola rubbed her head and recalled the time she ate Gloria’s stupid poisonous mushroom. “Well… From what I remember, it still had fancy furniture like this but was a bit bigger. There was also weirdly a window in it? But it was curtained anyways. And both Gloria and Miss Mir had mentioned something about a garden???” Autumn looked around the room. “…I think you ate too many of those special brownies she gave you, Lo. Anyways,” she started to push Lola toward the doorway. “Gloria didn’t invite you here. Scoot before she gets here and bops you with her cane for trespassing.” Of course, as she was known to do, Lola resisted and protested. “But I wanna look around more! I just know there’s something up! She’s hiding something, I can feel it!”

When Gloria finally entered the deacon sleeping quarters she paused to listen to the commotion. Then she ran up (or, more precisely, galloped up with how she minimized using her bad knee), pried Lola off her doorframe, and threw her aside.

“Git! Git!” Gloria shouted as she used her cane to swat her away in the same manner she'd shoo merkoons out of her trash. “I have much more important matters to deal with than your silly little antics!”

[gloria-in-excelsis-infimus]

@soldiersam

(Previous) Autumn reflexively cranked her head away and held her breath when Gloria threw the powder at Theodore’s face. Gee, was the old coot trying to knock them out too!? They turned back with a slightly annoyed smile as they took the key. “Sure thing!” She strode toward the hallway door, but paused to glance back at Gloria before going through. “And I’ll come back n’ help you with the stairs!” And so Autumn made their way down to the deacon quarters to Gloria’s room. They unlocked the door and pushed through, taking a moment to gawk at the fancy furnishings that replaced the standard lousy cot and dresser that most of the other deacon bedrooms had. “I shoulda done some gold digging before joining the Glornch..,” she muttered as she carefully placed Theodore down on the plush bed. Then she immediately went to snooping, and continued talking to herself while doing so. “Not that I couldn’t now, but I bet it would’ve been easier before…” But their quick search didn’t turn up anything out of the ordinary by Gloria standards. Just some weapons, tools, poisons, and candles. Typical. Autumn made sure everything was perfectly back in place before heading back to the stairs to regroup with Gloria.

Gloria giggled at Autumn's annoyance over throwing her sleeping powder without warning. Then she offered an apologetic glance as they passed her.

“I may have been been a tad hasty... But I'd say acting like a wounded animal has already harmed him enough!” She paused to shrug. “Had to catch him off guard.”

Soon Autumn vanished from Gloria's sight as they turned 'round the bend of the staircase. Oh, what she would give to have her youthful body back...

Although not all her issues could be purely attributed to old age. Such as her bad knee. Gloria chuckled as she reminisced at how the Finpl royal guards had dislocated her knee to keep her still, only for her to pop it into back place and get their queen before they realized her absence!

Then she tsk tsked to herself at her favorite teddy bear's foolishness. This was one of the few treatments that hadn't been changed by cold machinery or dubious chemicals. And if nothing was broken she'd reset his dislocated shoulder using the same method.

By the time Autumn came back for her Gloria had just started on the second flight of stairs. As always, she took them one step at a time, with her bad leg reaching the next before the other. And each time she did so she could feel a small pop.

When she spotted Autumn she smiled and waved with the arm holding her cane. “No need to worry about lil' old me~”

[gloria-in-excelsis-infimus]

@soldiersam

(Previous) Autumn’s smirk lost its smug tinge and turned into more of a weary grin. Should she give a sarcastic nonanswer or be genuine from once in her life? They continued walking quietly as if they were thinking of their answer, and when the two reached the vestry door, she paused to say, “In a place as unpredictable as our dear Glornch… I find it’s a necessity to be as aware as possible of the going-ons between my fellow believers.” She briefly freed a hand to open the door and pushed through. “It offers at least a small feeling of being in control.” Seeing as Gloria still hadn’t quite made it to the vestry, Autumn walked out to meet her. “Whew! So! It seems someone broke poor ol’ Theodore’s arm here. More specifically by the looks of it, dislocated it. I couldn’t catch who.”

“...Eh?” Theodore tilted his head as anger gave way to confusion.

How did that line up with Autumn's indifference about getting the truth out of him? There was nothing to glean from watching his arm get put back into place.

By the time Autumn returned to the sanctuary Gloria had just pushed herself to clear the last step. Now she was resting her hands on her knees as she worked on catching her breath. When she heard the door she straightened up and headed up to meet Autumn in the middle.

Once Gloria recognized who Autumn was holding she let out a gasp. Sure, Theodore was an annoying smartass. Even Gloria gave him a wack with her cane on occasion. Yet he was a coward who knew when to submit to avoid serious injuries. Even when others shoved him around simply for the hell of it.

“Awww, who would do that to our poor little teddy bear?”

Said “little” teddy bear flipped her off.

Gloria shook her head. “Tsktsktsk... And he's acting as childish as always...” Then she bent down to get to eye level with him. “Did you slam the door because you were scared of going to the doctor's?”

Theodore rolled his eye at her stupid infantilizing act. “One: You're not a doctor. Two: I'm scared of you fucking it up.”

Gloria did it right back as she straightened up and put her hands on her hips.

“Well then! Is that any way to treat people trying to help you?”

Theodore bitterly laughed. “Help? Do you mean... drugging me and keeping me from actual medical professi-”

Gloria covered her mouth with her robe as she threw gallum root powder in Teddy's face. She was not in the mood to hear about how the old ways were obsolete for a reason again. Or about how she was a shady piece of shit he wouldn't even trust with a minor cut.

Then once Teddy had stopped fighting to stay awake Gloria smiled at Autumn. “Could you please be a dear and bring him to my bedroom?”

She offered her the key. “I'll be right behind you~!” Then she averted her eye, turned around to start her own journey, and muttered, “...Dealing with all these damn stairs.”

[gloria-in-excelsis-infimus]

@soldiersam

(Previous) Autumn smirked and focused forward back to the vestry. “I’ll get my answers eventually. Just won’t be from you I guess!”

Theodore was as caught off guard as he was when any Glornist showed kindness while seemingly expecting nothing in return. Was Autumn simply confident that she could wring it out of him or..?

After a short pause he scoffed. Then when he spoke again his breathing had stabilized. Yet his voice remained faint.

“Then why do you care?”

[gloria-in-excelsis-infimus]

@soldiersam

(Previous) Autumn rose to their feet along with Theodore. “Guy with a triple life? You may need to be a bit more specific because there’s actually—” She was again interrupted by Gloria. Annnd Theodore hoofed it out the back door like a prey animal fleeing a briefly distracted predator. “H-Hey!” Autumn ran after him but was briefly halted by the door slamming in their face. “Not quite. One moment!,” they answered Gloria before slipping into the narrow escape hallway and running. They let the unknown perpetrator get away from them, but they weren’t going to lose Theodore that easily! It didn’t even take that long until she heard the sound of labored breathing and caught up with the sorry sight. She clicked her tongue. “C’mon Theodore, look at you. You’re just making this harder for yourself…” With unexpected strength, they swooped down and scooped up Theodore in a bridal carry and started to turn back.

When Theodore heard Autumn he let out a long, resigned sigh as he slumped against the wall and buried his phone deep within his pocket. Great. Just fucking great. May as well amputate his arm now before it can develop necrosis.

He growled in frustration at being picked up. Yet he didn't resist. Quite the opposite, really. Instead of resisting he leaned into their arms, then went limp. Autumn may as well be carrying a lifeless doll.

One that was giving her an intense glare. And not just by Theodore standards. If he wasn't trying to conceal his strength, if he had any hope of escape left, he swore he'd give them a nice, hard kick! Once Theodore's breathing was somewhat normal he spoke again.

“FYI... I won't answer... your questions... So don't bother... keeping me here.”

Meanwhile Gloria continued on her way while angrily muttering about her tired old bones. Stupid stairs... Making her knee pop with every step... It would be so easy to add a ramp but did anyone ever think of little old ladies? Nooooooooo...

Oh well. At least she could squeeze in a renovation herself with a large enough bribe and unobtrusive design.

She looked up in confusion when Autumn said it would be okay “in a moment.” How the hell could whatever caused that loud bang be resolved in a moment?

And would it hurt to tell her what happened already!? Third time better be the charm...

[gloria-in-excelsis-infimus]

@soldiersam

(Previous) Autumn sat and watched with curiosity and a tiny bit of nervousness as Theodore struggled to help himself. “Can I help you with something or are you just gonna—” That’s when they heard Gloria call out. Theodore’s panic didn’t go unnoticed. Autumn complied with holding his arm. But she was none too pleased with, for one, her questions going ignored, and two, being bossed around by this crumpled up acolyte. “Hmm… I’unno, scientist gossip hasn’t been very interesting lately…” With that, she turned her head to the door to yell back “Nope, still kicking, Gloria! Could really use some help though!”

Theodore flinched when Autumn rejected his offer. So after all that hassling they weren't interested? Or were they forcing him sweeten the pot? His only option wasto bet on the latter.

“Did you... hear... about..,” Now that the makeshift sling was secured he scrambled to his feet while pushing past the pain each word brought. “...the guy with..,” Once he was standing he paused to take a deep breath. “...a triple... life..?”

It was a small miracle that his lower half was relatively unharmed. Although between his fragile arm and battered chest running was out of the question...

“I’m so glad to hear that!” Gloria cheered at Autumn's response. “So what happened, dearie?”

On second thought, nothing was out of the question when he ran the risk of losing his arm! There was no choice but to push himself to the limit and beyond!

Theodore sprinted to the back door, clenched his eye shut when he briefly let go of his arm in order to use the doorknob, and dashed through while letting the solid oak door slam shut behind him.

“......My Lord...” Gloria quickened her pace at that loud bang. “Is everything alright in there?”

Teddy had planned to duck into the first door he saw. Yet this hallway didn't seem to have any aside from one that pointed back whence he came! And the vents were all too high to reach with one arm...

In no time at all Teddy had been forced to slow with only sheer willpower (and fear of Gloria's quackery) keeping him from collapsing. He leaned against the wall as he trudged onwards and fumbled with his phone to text Mike. His last, likely futile hope...

[gloria-in-excelsis-infimus]

@soldiersam

(Previous) A moment after the blood-curdling scream emanated from the vestry, the door swung open and in rushed a wide-eyed deacon wearing a round glass. It was Autumn. “What in the 49 space hells was that!?” They caught sight of a robed figure just slipping out the back way door. She ran over to try to see exactly who it was, but they were a fast little fucker. So Autumn’s priority shifted to the actual source of the scream. They went over to the broken watchdog sitting on the ground and even gasped a little bit when they saw who it was. “Theodore! My Glorn, what happened!?” They looked him over and saw that one arm was clearly not right. She did a little inhale through her teeth. Part of them was surprised to see it was him of all people. Sure, he tended to be targeted in the other Glornists’ harassment a lot, but for someone to dislocate his arm? And who knew such a loud, horrid scream could come from his quiet self! Autumn kneeled down and undid the velcro on the pouch. “Uh… who did this?”

“Thanks,” Theodore faintly said as he retrieved a triangular bandage from his well-organized kit. His voice sounded so tiny. So uncharacteristically vulnerable now that his usual self-assurance was stripped away.

He was pleasantly surprised to have a Glornist help him. ...Despite knowing that Deacon Autumn's kindness was usually only their payment for gossip material. Still, their dubious concern calmed him enough for him to start pulling his thoughts together. With that his pupil expanded and his expression became less hollow.

For a bit Theodore ignored Autumn in favor of holding his arm tightly against himself until he pinned it to the sacristy cabinet. Then he attempted to form his own sling. But that proved to be a bad idea when he tried to hold the other end of the bandage under his chin and recoiled at the deep bruise.

While he was sure that he could handle it himself... It was taking too long. And he was starting to worry about making it to a real doctor before a certain evil hippie replaced professional care with alternative medicine bullshit. Which was a valid fear when, unknownst to him, his favorite healer was straightening the sanctuary with Autumn before he screamed.

Gloria had been tending to a planter full of poppies and ripe nightshades near the entrance when that piercing shrink made her pause. That voice sounded familiar... Yet she couldn't place it.

As she slowly made her way towards the front she asked, while letting the sanctuary's structure amplify her voice, “What happened, dearie? Did the poor thing die?”

Once Theodore heard Gloria his pupil shrunk back to a pinprick. He sat back up and kept his arm steady as he turned it towards Autumn. Alhough not without letting out a pained hiss in the process.

“Hold it,” he said with his voice at half volume and a shadow of his usual demeanor emerging.

Then he paused to regain the air twisting his torso had forced out of him. His breathing remained shallow enough that he was forced to stop speaking whenever he needed another breath.

“Take me to... the medbay... and get your damned... scientist gossip.”

[gloria-in-excelsis-infimus]

@soldiersam

(Previous) Sam firmly held Theodore in place despite his thrashing, but didn’t let up when he went limp. “Not at first, no. I was just gonna falsely frame him as one. But then I stole his laptop and saw a search history fulla Gropist research and propaganda without even needing to plant it there myself. So then my plan slightly changed to framing him as actively trying to ruin Glornch operations.” Sam bristled and further tightened their grip. “Which is now less believable after you established he simply wanted to leave!” Blindly angry, Sam further twisted Teddy’s arm until he heard, saw, and felt some sort of pop at Teddy’s shoulder. Erm… Maybe Sam went a bit too far. It’s not like she didn’t know the consequences of injuring the Glornch tailor like that. Because Bishop Percival was sure to make everyone in the Glornch aware he needed this mitre. Sam’s intention here was only to throw Theodore a few punches, but got carried away after hearing his smartassery. Sam got off of him and dusted off their robe “H-hope you learned your lesson, idiot…” Shoot, and it wasn’t like they could tell him that Reverend Miriam could fix that up right away. Because for one, that would make them look like they didn’t mean to do that. Two, Miriam was probably busy with Thomas hunting. So as a solution, Sam turned heel to stomp out of the room, deciding to deal with any consequences from Percival as they arise.

Theodore trembled at how Sam had hit a jackpot with Thomas. That could have easily been him! Did she hack Thomas' laptop or did he simply not put any security on it? Could she if they had to? How technologically advanced was he? Was any of their data safe?

If Theodore was his normal self he would have slyly said, “You expected people to believe that Thomas was a Gropist spy?” Yet between his overwhelming terror and his mind's natural defense mechanism kicking in his smartass remark did little more than flit through his brain.

Not that he would have had a chance to speak before Sam ripped his arm out of its socket. This time Sam earned a full-bodied scream loud enough to reverberate throughout the sanctuary.

Teddy's eye remained wide and vacant as he clumsily pulled his first aid pouch out of his pocket and struggled to undo the velcro flap with one hand.

This... was a win, wasn't it? Technically? He improved his reputation instead of having it called into question. He delayed the summoning without being subject of Bishop Percival's wrath.

But between the excruciating pain and metaphorical noose tightening around his neck he could only think of it as a Pyrrhic victory. At best...

[gloria-in-excelsis-infimus]

@bishop-percival

(Previous) Miriam’s door didn’t open, but rather a larger ritual chamber door down the hall did, and out stepped the priestess. She had spent a good chunk of the night purging Percy of physical food and replacing it with more replenishing spiritual energy. Then after that, she still had her usual potion brewing and inventory duties. Needless to say, although she was now finished, she was exhausted. “Unfortunately, I am,” she said as she approached the two. She glanced at Lola, thinking Gloria brought her along because of another problem requiring some sort of spell or potion. “What’s wrong with you now?” “Nuthin’s wrong with me..,” Lola said with an impish smile.

Gloria glanced at Lola and sighed. Having an audience to watch Miriam's anguish was a good idea in theory... Yet the prospect of being needlessly cruel to Miriam had lost its sweetness once it came time to carry it out.

Then she put on her usual smile. "Oh, there's no need to worry! It's only a concussion. And I already handled it! We were just on our way to tea when I realized that we needed to take a pit stop at the medicine cabinet and..."

Ugh. Gloria was aware of how important visiting the garden was to Miriam. But she couldn't be soft! Not for real, anyways. Otherwise she'd think that she could just get away with tricking someone into damaging her babies!

"Since we were in the area I juuuuust wanted to let you know that I won't be supplying any non-medical herbs for the next month. That is, unless Bishop Percival specifically requests them."

Gloria nervously giggled before waving her off and turning to go, while grabbing Lola's hand to ensure that she didn't stick around to antagonize one of the only people she respected. And genuinely cared about.

"Sleep tight, dearie! Don't let the bedbugs bite!"

[gloria-in-excelsis-infimus]

@bishop-percival

(Previous) While Gloria was rummaging through the medicine cabinet, Lola continued her whining. “I’m fiiine, truly, honest…” In any other condition, Lola would’ve had the reaction time to smack the fish oil capsule away. But at this moment, it landed in her mouth perfectly as she could only flinch much too late. Then once Gloria handed her the cup of vitamins, Lola finally figured that complying would be quicker than complaining, and dumped the cup into her mouth. “There. I’m all better now. Let’s go…” She started shuffling away.

Gloria muffled a giggle when Lola swallowed the capsule before she could react in time to reject it. Then she genuinely smiled at how she took all those disgusting pills at once without further fuss.

"Let's go!" Gloria cheered as she headed towards Miriam's room. Not that she believed Lola when she said she was fine. But she'll need supervision for a little while anyhow.

Soon the two of them reached Miriam's door. "Yoo-hoo~!" Gloria knocked on the door and called out to its occupant. "Are you still up?"

[gloria-in-excelsis-infimus]

@bishop-percival

(Previous) “Nuh-uh! I’m fine!” Lola started whining as Gloria pulled her along. “Nooooo! I- we- but the- yelling at Miriam…”

Uggggggghhhhh... Gloria should have expected this shit from Lola....

"Hush! This won't take long!"

They had gone straight to the medicine cabinet despite all that crying and screaming piercing Gloria's poor ears. Fortunately for Lola it was close to her favorite witch doctor's room.

Gloria had rummaged around for a bit before abruptly turning around to throw a fish oil capsule at Lola's mouth. Then she handed her a small cup filled with vitamins she needed.

It pained her to use these heavily processed remedies... Quite frankly, at the moment neither of them had the patience to wait for a nice tea and healthy meal packed with nature's cures.