Snippet #2301800

Two possibilites, each with two sub-possibilites, occurred to Julius as he scanned the room steadily. One, there was nobody in the house. If that was true, it meant that either the thugs had been chasing a false trail or the woman had escaped. Two, the woman was still here, and she was hiding, either out of a desire to kill him or out of fear. Fear seemed likely, given that she had been chased here. Julius knew fear well. He had virtually lived with it from when he was 6 until...well, up to now, though how much fear was with him at any one time could change. Right now, he was a little bit afraid the thugs would come back, a little bit afraid more undead would show up, and a little bit afraid the woman was hiding in wait to kill him.

Julius stood perfectly still for a moment, and listened. Nobody could be perfectly still and make no noise, unless they had extensive training as he had had. Training. The very word nearly made him break his freeze in a disgusted shudder. What the Citadel had called "training" meant little more than abuse, if his glimpses of the world outside had been any indication. He certainly could see no use for tasing as an incentive, and he was still more than a little bitter over his eye. He batted at the black patch with his thumb idly, then decided to check another room. He crossed to the door and passed into what looked like a sitting-room of sorts. He wandered around the room, weaving among the chairs, snorting at the strange colors, checking behind each one, finding nothing. He sighed, then looked back towards the room from whence he had come.

He blinked, then let out a short laugh. Duh, a little voice said in his mind. Always check under the table, you dummy. He crossed back to the other room, then knelt by the woman who crouched under the table. "It's alright, you don't have to be afraid of me. I'm just a kid." Ordinarily he would take some issue with being thought of as a kid (though legally he still was...not that the law really existed anymore), but he had to admit he was, and if it would get her to stop being so damn scared of him, then he could swallow his pride. For a bit anyway.