for duderaider

[howmuchtrouble]

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[howmuchtrouble]

"By all means."

He wanders off an acceptable distance from the couple, admiring the decor, while Elena takes Nate's hand and pulls him further off in the opposite direction. If any of the pop culture exposure she's heard about vampires are true, she's pretty sure he'll be able to hear them but it's the illusion of privacy that matters.

"So what do you think?"

[duderaider]

Nathan glances down the corridor, frowning, apparently of the same mind. He's not sure they can do any better than this, however, and as unfortunate as that is, they do need to have this conversation, regardless. Still, he doesn't look happy as he returns his attentions to her.

"I don't know. I'm not sure I like the idea of helping a guy who literally just murdered someone, free his vampire brother from captivity, but ... " But he's not sure the alternative is any better, even if Elijah promised he wouldn't hurt them. He's also not sure he really has that much room to talk, for all that he and Elena have killed their share of people today, too, never mind the fact that they technically started it.

[howmuchtrouble]

"Do you know anything about vampire lore? Because my other thought is that if we lead him in there and he's got this half-starved brother there waiting for him, we're going to look like Christmas dinner."

She's not unaware of the fact that Elijah promised he wouldn't hurt them. He never said anything about his brother.

[duderaider]

"Yeah, I kinda had that thought, too," Nathan agrees, his frown deepening. There's a lot of conflicting vampire lore (and up until recently, he thought it was all fiction), but he's pretty sure the idea that, if a vampire's starving, they get a little mindless, is constant across the board. Probably be starving humans do, too.

"I'd say, if worse came to worst, we open the door and run like Hell, but ... " But that might not be enough. Vampires are almost always universally fast, too.

[howmuchtrouble]

She takes a deep breath, turning back to study Elijah for a moment, before shrugging. "If you want out, I say we take the out. Test his word. It seems like if we don't at least try, it's a lose-lose either way."

[duderaider]

Thing is, he's not sure he wants out. He still wants to get to the bottom of this, he just doesn't want to die in the process.

"We could ask him to keep his brother off of us, when we find him?" Nate suggests after a moment. If Elijah is willing to let them walk away, if they say no, maybe he'll let them do the same if they say yes. "I mean, that seems like a fair trade, right? We help him, we don't get put on the menu ... "

[howmuchtrouble]

Elena considers and nods, before raising her voice to call back down the hallway to the man who was obviously listening. "Does that sound fair to you?"

Elijah steps back into view, adjusting his cufflinks in a way that indicates a habit developed out of boredom while living in a flush society. "It would be quite rude were I to enlist your help only to eat you afterwards. I may be a vampire, but I'm not a savage."

[duderaider]

"Great, thanks!" Nathan calls back, before returning his attentions to Elena. A pause follows, then back to whispering for as little good as it's actually doing them, he asks, "So, what do you say? Are we in?"

He wants to be, but he also values her opinion.

[howmuchtrouble]

They probably shouldn't be. This is likely not the wisest life choice they would ever make. But she can't help but be curious about what's waiting behind the magic door, so she takes a deep breath and nods.

"Yeah. We're in."

Elijah smiles. "Fantastic." Extending one hand out in front of himself, he gestures for them to lead the way. "After you."

[duderaider]

"Not that I mind taking point," Nathan starts from over his shoulder, already headed in that direction, "but you do realize that there's a guy with a private army that's been hounding out this whole time, right? And that, if they're gonna show up at this point, it's gonna be from behind us?"

And if Elijah's pulling up the rear -- well, even he's not sure if he's more concerned for the goons and what Elijah will do to them or for the man, himself.

[howmuchtrouble]

Elijah smirks. "Don't worry. I'm quite difficult to kill." Though he might take it personally if they ruin his suit. "Though if you would rather take the bullets instead, you're more than welcome to them?"

"Nope, he's fine living a bullet hole-less existence."

At least for now anyway.

[duderaider]

"Yeah, no, I'm definitely good, minus the bullets," Nathan echoes. "I just figured -- well, fair warning, man." It's common courtesy to give someone a heads up that they might get swiss cheesed at some point, based on where they're standing, right?

[howmuchtrouble]

"The warning is appreciated."

And with that, they keep moving further down the corridor, Elijah eventually stops, his head cocking to the side as though he's listening for something. Then, he loosens the button on the front of his suit and steps to the side.

"Wait here."

He disappears in a blur, a small puff of wind following behind him. Elena is about to protest, but before she can say anything, the sound of gunfire starts in the distance.

"... Well, that answers that question."

[duderaider]

"Guess so."

Nathan's silent for a moment, that said, pointedly not looking in the direction the gunfire is coming from and never mind the fact that he wouldn't be able to see anything from here, anyway. When he manages to get over the hump provided by that long, uncomfortable moment, he admits, "I guess I should be glad we get to skip the whole 'mortal peril' portion of events?"

[howmuchtrouble]

"It is a nice change of pace. You do tend to get shot a lot in those situations."

The gunshots do eventually stop, followed by an uncomfortable level of silence, and Elena glances over, trying to see if the coast is clear.

"I'd rather not have to drag you out of a pit and nurse you back to health for once."

[duderaider]

"That doesn't happen every time," Nathan protests with all the confidence of a man to whom that does happen to every time. It's a defense mechanism, as always, however. It keeps him from having to focus on how eerie the silence that's fallen is. He figures that it's probably a good sign, a sign that Elijah won over the guys with guns, but -- yeah, no. Definitely not thinking about that.

[howmuchtrouble]

"It happens a good amount of the time."

As the one doing the patching up a lot of the time, she thinks she has a pretty good count. Before she can say more, however, Elijah comes back around the corner, suit smattered with blood. He doesn't seem bothered by that, and is idly cleaning off his hands with a handkerchief.

"The room is cleared. Here's where I unfortunately need your help."

And he gestures for them to follow him into the chamber.

[duderaider]

"One of Ponce de Leon's puzzles?" Nathan guesses, falling into step behind him. He's just going to focus on that and not the maybe-probably pile of bodies Elijah has left in his wake. It's easier that way for everyone.

[howmuchtrouble]

Elijah nods, stepping away from the apparatus so that Nate can have a better look. "I speak a great many languages, but I've never been able to completely decipher his particular brand of symbology."

It's incredibly frustrating. He doesn't like it.

Elena makes her way closer, leaning to the side so that she can peer over Nate's shoulder. "Have you seen something like this before?"

[duderaider]

Frowning thoughtfully, Nathan steps into the space Elijah vacated, looking it over. After a beat, preempting Elena's question by less than a heartbeat, he starts to reach for the journal in his pocket. He glances back at her, as he flips it open, before turning his attentions to it entirely.

"I think so," he starts. Finding the page he was looking for, he taps it with a finger and holds it up for her inspection, over his shoulder. "When we got separated, earlier, there were these statues that had this repeating pattern." He'd jotted them down at random, not sure what they meant, if anything -- if worse came to worst, he figured it was something he could pick at later, after this was all over. Turns out it's coming in handy, now. Mostly because they're on metal plates that are attached to the apparatus.

"And here they are again," he points out, gesturing to the plates.

[howmuchtrouble]

Elena glances back and forth between the two before nodding. That definitely looks like a match. She eyes the plates carefully for a moment, before moving to stand next to him more.

"I take the right, you take the left?"

[duderaider]

"Yeah," he agrees absently, taking another moment to commit the symbols to at least short-term memory. When he seems satisfied, he closes the journal and returns it to his pocket, before settling his hands on one of the plates. "You ready?"

[howmuchtrouble]

Elijah steps back and lets to the nerds do their thing. Elena nods, and after taking a deep breath, she starts drawing the plates into their proper place, giving space for Nate to do the same.

[duderaider]

Nate mirrors her, pushing plates into position. While he expects there to have to be a button to push, to lock it in when they're finished, the apparatus takes over when they do, the plates setting in with a note of finality. They won't be moved again.

"Whoa," Nate breathes effectually, taking a half-step back. In the silence that falls afterwards, something nearby clicks, rumbles, and Nate glances in that direction. "Okay, well ... that did something."

[howmuchtrouble]

"Step back, please." Elijah says rather politely, moving to place himself between the vulnerable humans and whatever's on the other side. As the space continues to rumble, the two pieces of stone part and open to reveal an empty room.

On the far side of the room is a chair, with a man chained to it. Two wooden buckets sit on either side of him that he's currently bleeding into. His head lifts slowly, and as his hair falls away, it reveals a distinctive looking medallion that almost seems to glow.

"Elijah?" the man croaks, then his eyes fall to the two people behind him. "Do not let them come closer. I can't promise I can maintain control."

"Don't worry, brother. I promised them my protection." Elijah reaches for his brother, and Elena speaks up.

"Wait!" She makes a face as she looks around. "Doesn't this feel a little too easy to you?"