Curly opted to wait to resume her reading and instead watched their surroundings through the not quite empty streets as they walked. "Huh, I guess that takes a lot of our options for party food off the table..." she said thoughtfully as they approached the Cinema "Hey, guys, you might wanna stow the books". Curly tilted her head toward the Lamia to try and get the Fanboys to see her before she saw them. Then, after a moment to let them do something about that, she approached and trying to sound curious without being prying asked "Hey, Silanea, what brings you here tonight?"
For the Horde!
Ben blinked in surprise when Eve gently fell over and landed on his shoulder, leaning against him. Ben's face flushed again, and he sat there silently for a moment. Then he smiled, still blushing, cuddling slightly. When Sora walked up, Ben glanced up at him without moving, before Sora handed him some pillows.
Ben shifted slightly, placing a pillow between him and the arm of the couch, before he curled up again, continued to cuddle into Eve, and he too shut his eyes, a smile on his face.
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
someone
Eve|Who Knows Where|Well, Time To Try Another Nightmare Sequence
It was dark. That's what she noticed first. But she wasn't in the cottage any more. Second thing she noticed. The third was that it was cold. Quite cold. Fourth. Barefoot. Why? She had no idea. Five. Alone. She was entirely alone. Though it was dark, she could nothing which gave away a sign of a person. No sound. No smell. Nothing. She was alone. Alone in the dark.
Not again. Please not again.
She didn't want to be alone again.
She didn't want to be back here.
She stood up. She had been sitting? Apparently she had been sitting. So she stood up. And she walked. The floor was cold and smooth, like rock or tile. Smooth. Seamless. Featureless. She walked. And she walked.
How long had she been walking, on this unchanging floor, in this suffocating darkness? She knew that it hadn't been long. But it felt like an eternity. There was no light.
And then she hit a wall. She hit it with a thud. Unexpected walls will do that. One hand to the wall, she started walking again. But even she couldn't tell where she had started. How was she supposed to? There was no light.
So she was alone in the dark. Again.
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
NO.
No.
'Cottage
Eve twitched in her sleep, grasping the puppy like it was a lifeline.
edited 9th Mar '17 6:04:46 PM by secretlyasuperhero
[TOP SECRET]
The descriptions of the heroes were both intriguing and confusing to Wang. A transforming watch? A pet dragon? He also didn't see how the kid from before counted as one, but he supposed he'd have to wait until he was let out of jail. And that just left what he wanted to do with the current situation. He could just leave, find something to do and the slim chance of getting out of here. Or he could try to help. He didn't really even know what the militia was really like in this place, and what this jail might actually be like. Normal prisons were bad at the best of times, and this one was run by what seemed to be random people. And having someone around who had at least some familiarity with the place would be useful.
Making his decision, Wang spoke up. "You're looking for protection till your little friend gets out, right? Well, I could use someone who knows at least something about this place. You two stick with me, and give me heads up on anything important, and you have my word I'll keep you safe. What do you say?"
Then, something on the radio caught his ear. Listening, the hitman made a mental note to at least scope this 'Home Sweet Home' place out.
I think I'm a sofa
Abel - Electronics Store
"Yeah, I'm confused, too," Abel spoke up. "So we're all here 'cause some guy wants to write a book?"
It wasn't the craziest thing he'd ever heard. But the fact that the proof stood right in front of him (in the form of a mutant grandma) was crazy. He had no way to surely confirm this, but everything pointed at this being true. The suddeness of it being transported here; the day going from a creepy carnival to a skate park overnight; the kid that could turn into aliens, the girl that could teleport; it was all so weird, so unbelieveable, yet he had no choice to believe it. It was either that or go insane trying to figure it out.
At this point, he might of chosen to go insane instead.
(holds pool noodle threateningly) Do you want to know what we do to artists?
Stadium - Seeking rest
Sans was amused by the photo, but Lucas had a rather unexpectedly vehement reaction just from looking at her phone and his tone as he denied having one as way more forceful than she had ever imagined to be possible from him. She wondered just what was up with it that. However, even before Sans gave her a look warning her not to pursue the matter, she realized it was better to just let it drop for now. With something as sensitive as that seemed to be, it waa more sensible to let him open up about it at a later time. If and when he felt like it.
In anycase, while Lucas also had business to attend to at the library, Sans pointed out that Ghostfreak was back there, which caused her to noticably shudder. While it wouldn't be able to directly hurt anyone, if it was clever enough about it, it could just verbally torment everyone without them being able to o anything to stop it.
"Uh, good point there ... I also have something to take care of at the library, but it only really comes relevant tomorrow, so I can certainly just wait until then. So yeah, let's find somewhere else to rest ..." Caro then said.
She quickly send out another message to Lewis, telling him that the three of them were leaving to seek out a place to sleep in for tonight. Afterwards, she stashed her phone away and began to go towards the nearest exit ...
"It's - it's - it's complicated, I don't know," admitted Morty, shrugging a bit as he warmed up the old expository song and dance about what had happened. "He... or she or it or whatever, he's like a writer, and he's trying to... write... write a book about something, but he can't think of anything, s-so he kidnapped all of us. It's a really flimsy justification for kidnapping people and making them do... real... real stupid crap." he finished.
"Hang on for a moment." he said as he poked his head into the electronics store and ducked into the back shelves as though looking for something. There was the brief sounds of a scuffle with someone or something unseen before Morty emerged, weighed down with a pile of various electronic parts. Something small and cloaked with many arms scuttled out of the store like a hairy bug, carrying a pile of broken circuitboards in one furry hand as the Morty reemerged, looking no worse for wear."
"Alright, I mean - it's not a ionic whatever it was but - eff it. Let's go."
Ciri - Electronics Store
"Go?" Ciri asked Morty. "Go where? To your home? I've only just arrived so I've seen quite little of this city, but if you ignore the strange architecture and the odd breeds of people in it, I imagine this seems like it could even be considered normal. A city with homes and streets, trying to get some sense of normalcy. Your mothers and fathers, if they're here too they must be worried sick when you go out."
The guy faintly laughing turned out to be Yael. He was probably broken after being temporarily freed from his suit during the previous day. That may be a fitting punishment for someone as crazy and murderous as him but Rex couldn't help but feel pity for the guy, specially when it wasn't a direct consequence of his actions but just the writer being an asshole.
"Do you know if we have any more quarians in the city?" he asked, sitting on the bed of the jail he was in.
edited 9th Mar '17 10:22:13 PM by DeisTheAlcano
Dark Sun, what choices have I...?
...Yeah, this thing wasn't going down any time soon was it.
I knocked on the shield fencing off the seating area with my free hand, whilst tapping the mic icon with the thumb of my other hand.
"Hey, you guys on here? How's it going with the alien not-ghost thing? And Ben, if you're on and willing to unblock me, can we talk about something? In private?"
i guess you can watch me shitpost i guess
For the Horde!
Ben was jolted awake by Eve's twitching, and he winced, looking at her. She looked distraught, somehow. She clutched the stuffed puppy with all her might. A frown went onto his face, full of worry and concern. He reached out for the blanket, awkwardly moving to cover the two of them in the wrapping, and then he leaned his head gently onto hers, cuddling her softly as if to reassure her.
"Whatever's wrong... if you need anything, I'm still here for you," he whispered gently, quietly so she didn't get woken up. He closed his eyes soon afterwards again. He hoped his little gesture helped her slightly.
At that moment, Lewis contacted Ben on the walkie talkie. Ben's eyes jolted open and he glanced over at it, listening to what Lewis had to say. He brought the walkie talkie to his head, a disgruntled expression on his face, as he turned the volume down.
"Lewis. We're not in the library anymore. We left a while ago. And we're trying to sleep, so can it wait until tomorrow or is this that important?" Ben asked quietly, though not bothering to hide the irritation in his voice.
edited 9th Mar '17 11:11:28 PM by AllHailThrall
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
THE SLORG!
"The alien you're referring to is currently in a bubble, and though I won't keep him there for the rest of the night, you can easily get what you need and then leave before he is freed" Miss Tairee said to them. "Besides, I wouldn't recommend a normal exit right now" she added, looking at the crowd neutrally.
As she brought up her holographic screen and started typing with one hand, she held up the microphone with the other. "Ladies, gentlemen, and other, that concludes today's events. Do note that this stadium will not exist as of tomorrow, and if you're here when that happens you will be deposited somewhere else in the city at random. Good night" Miss Tairee spoke into the microphone, announcing that over the loudspeakers but not the news channel.
Then, Sans, Caro, Lucas, and herself all blurred and vanished.
"Well, alright then. Jeff and I should get back to the radio station, so we'll be signing off until tomorrow folks. Good night!" Adam's voice announced, and then the channel went quiet as they turned off their equipment there and moved to leave the stadium themselves.
The shield flickered and disappeared, and the noise level went up a bit as a lot of people in the crowd started talking to each other, many of them starting to idly head for exits.
Miss Tairee 1 looked at Garrett and raised an eyebrow. "I can give you what you'll need for that sir, but I would warn you that playing a video game for the very first time is not typically easy, even if it's through events you already lived through" Miss Tairee said to him as she started typing, considering that Garrett would have never even seen a video game before now, let alone have the practice to be good at them.
After a minute or so, there was a blur on the desk and a laptop, wireless mouse, wireless headphones, and a book on instructions of how to use them appeared.note
Meanwhile, Anna-Maria smiled at Lo Wang's offer. "There, now we don't have to go to jail. Sounds like a deal to me" Anna-Maria said to him.
Anna-Rose looked a bit doubtful however. "You didn't seem interested in letting us tag along earlier. Why change your mind now?" Anna-Rose asked him, sounding just a little suspicious about this change of heart.
It was about that time that Sans, Caro, and Lucas appeared near the central desks, however the extra Miss Tairee from the stadium did not. Miss Tairee 1 turned her attention from Garrett to them. "So let's make this quick then. What did you need?" Miss Tairee 1 asked them.
"No idea kid. I haven't been listening to the radio. It's about time you should sleep; you can worry about it tomorrow" Dave said with a shrug. "Now listen, focus on my hand here and start counting backwards from ten" the doctor told him, holding up one hand in front of Cole's face and then rather nonchalantly taking his other hand, grabbing a hypospray from his pocket, and then tried to press it into Cole's neck to inject him with some sleep-inducing drugs.
Thomas and Louie wandered back into the living room, Louie looking unhappy though quickly shaking it off. Just as Thomas was about to speak up, he glanced over and noticed Ben and Eve laying on the couch. "... Well, I was going to say there seems to only be three beds, but uh, I guess that won't be a big deal now?" Thomas said quietly, sounding a bit uncertain.
"There was also some bedrolls" Louie mentioned simply.
"Huh? Oh!" the second Fanboy said as Curly pointed out Silanea, then the two quickly stowed away their books in the most convenient place currently available: Curly's bag of holding.
After Curly entered, Silanea didn't say anything at first or even look at her, as she seemed to be paying attention to the radio currently going with Sans' speech. Silanea was still breathing heavily and shaking a bit, and when she did finally turn to look at Curly after the speech ended, it was clear from some tears still on her cheeks that she'd been crying again at some point not long ago. "I, I just wanted to know, what's so special about Sans" Silanea said weakly, turning her gaze down at the floor as she gave a sort of half intensely sad frown and half angry scowl. "I know I should be, happy for him and his world, but why..." she muttered, bringing her hands up so they blocked her face while also gripping at the front of her hair tightly.
"Why did multiple people, complete strangers even, go so far for him? Throw away their own wishes for him? Why do people like him so much that when he tries to make friends here that happens, but when I try to make friends..." Silanea trailed off, unable to put the end of that thought into words. "So what's so special about Sans? Why did- why, JUST, WHY!?" she went on, suddenly yelling at the end and throwing her arms down. She then locked her gaze on the two Fanboys, even as she had started crying again.
"WHY HAVE PEOPLE THAT NEVER MET HIM GET OBSESSED ABOUT HIM! YOU TWO WERE PLAYING THAT GAME WITH HIM IN IT! ANSWER ME!" Silanea yelled, still also crying, and pointed at the off television.
"Uh, uh..." the first Fanboy muttered, clearly not having any good answer, and the second Fanboy didn't look much better off, both just going silent and worried looking now.
"A quarian? Is that what he is? Heck if I know; I haven't seen or heard of any others though" Samson said with an apathetic shrug. He glanced at Rex sitting on his cot, then across at Yael sitting in his cell, still occasionally letting out a single chuckle. "Uh... You sure you want to stay there dude? I don't think he's going to stop; it'll probably get annoying while you're trying to sleep" the militia member pointed out, then motioned down the hall and added, "we've got plenty of cells out of earshot of him."
edited 9th Mar '17 10:50:38 PM by FirockFinion
You are reading this.
Samson had just found out what a quarian was thanks to Rex but he was sure he hadn't seen any other aside from Yael. He also wasn't too sure about sleeping near a constantly laughing kooky alien.
Rex just laid down on the bed and shrugged off the offer of being take to a different cell "Nah, it's okay. I prefer the background noise anyway. Beats not listening to anything. This place could really use a TV"
edited 9th Mar '17 11:04:40 PM by DeisTheAlcano
I just want to help!
Dave apparently didn't know what was going on, as he hadn't been listening. He also held up his hand, telling Cole to look at it and count back from ten. Cole looked at his hand, looking rather confused.
"What? What does looking at your-?"
It was enough of a distraction that he didn't see the device coming for his neck, and let out a yelp of surprise at the weird sensation. Even though it didn't really hurt, he still gave Dave a vaguely wounded expression, reaching up to touch the spot. "Ow...why did you...do...?"
Cole's face went confused for a second, and abruptly he more or less slumped back against the bed, blinking blearily for a moment before closing his eyes, dropping off into sleep almost before he even realized it was happening.
someone
Eve|Cottage|#Fuck You Louie2k 17
Eve mumured something unintellible in her sleep, but seemed to calm a little bit.
(Who Knows Where: she wasn't alone, she wasn't alone, she wasn't alone, she wasn't alone, she wasn't alone, she wasn't alone,she wasn't alone, she wasn't alone, she wasn't alone,she wasn't alone, she wasn't alone, she wasn't alone,she wasn't alone, she wasn't alone, she wasn't alone,she wasn't alone, she wasn't alone, she wasn't alone)
It wasn't a nightmare twitching anymore. It was closer to a normal dream. When Lewis called, she seemed to roll her head a bit, before muttering something else sounded a little bit like:
"Ufffeanargh rhy'leh fnarghneff Train turnofhelit"
Before settling again.
[TOP SECRET]
Dark Sun, what choices have I...?
Unfortunately the librarian zapped the others out before any of them could really react to what I'd just texted Caro, leaving me hanging in the no longer blocked off seating area.
Oh come on.
I went and glided my way out, mildly annoyed at being ditched but figuring to take the opportunity to reply to Ben on the radio. "Well you sound cranky. I guess it can wait, if you're that tired. I just wanted to see if you guys came up with a plan to deal with that thing in the long term after I left. Plus I wanted to talk to you personally about some things that happened earlier, if that's alright, but I'm guessing you don't want to do that while sleep-deprived. Sorry about that. Sorry Eve."
edited 9th Mar '17 11:34:13 PM by Oceanstuck
i guess you can watch me shitpost i guess
Streets ~ Wrapping Things Up
"Fate...are you sure you're all right?"
At the time Arf asked this, the two had been wandering around for a while. She'd been letting Fate lead, but it didn't seem like Fate had anywhere in particular in mind. She just kept walking straight, mostly just looking down at the ground in front of her, only paying enough attention to make sure she didn't inadvertently walk into anyone or anything.
At Arf's question, she looked up at her familiar and made a smile that clearly wasn't reaching her eyes.
"I'll be fine, Arf," she said, "Let's keep looking."
Arf frowned heavily and shook her head.
"No, you won't," she said simply, before stepping in front of Fate and kneeling down to her level. "I know there's something bothering you right now, and I don't know why you insist on not talking about it. I can't imagine it's good for you."
Fate sighed. "I don't want to worry you, Arf." She made another not-smile. "Maybe I shouldn't be sad anymore, if it's going to make you feel sad yourself?"
"This isn't about me, Fate!" Arf exclaimed, almost sounding angry for a moment. Then she took a deep breath that she let out as another sigh. "This isn't the time or place to be having a talk like this. Let's just keep looking for some place to sleep. Could you actually help this time?"
Fate nodded. "All right."
At that, Arf stood up and the two resumed their idle searching, this time with a little more purpose than before.
edited 9th Mar '17 11:45:43 PM by Yomegami
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
feeling blue
They ended being brought to the library anyway. Well, now that he had this opportunity, he might as well take care of a few things he had in mind before he forgot.
"well, if you insist... could you give me a new walkie-talkie, i lost that functionality in my phone when i died two days ago."
Caro had mentioned looking into a book about the changes to this new world he would be coming back home to. It was a good idea, but at the same time he was a little hesitant to do it, not to mention he wasn't really in the mood to read a history book right now. He would leave getting some details for later, maybe once he was able to call his brother.
"oh and you remember those letters i gave you? i need them back now, they're a bit outdated," he said, normally he would make sure he could get them in private, but at this point it didn't really matter whether somebody found out about it or not.
Sans then noticed the laptop Tairee had given to Garrett and made him realize that having one of those could be useful later, plus it wouldn't be too much of a hassle to carry it around.
"and could you give me one of those laptops too while you're at it?" he asked, pointing at the one she gave Garrett.
edited 10th Mar '17 5:43:18 AM by FullMoon
Lo Wang raised an eyebrow at Anna-Rose. "Besides the fact you didn't actually ask that in the first place? Circumstances have changed. Before I needed to keep moving, try to get back to Earth as quick as a could." He shrugged, not looking too fussed. "Now that I'm trapped here for the time being? Smartest thing to do would be get every advantage I can. I get a better idea of the place, you get somebody to watch your backs. Win win, baby. That, and it sounds like you've been dealt a shitty hand, so why not help?"
"Replacing me already?" Hoji cooed dramatically. "I'm hurt, Wang. Do we really want to have to drag alone these who-" Wang shot the demon a look, "lesome young women? What?"
The hitman kept the glare for a moment later, before huffing. "Yeah, well smartass, you lost your chance at any contribution with your little face lift."
The demon huffs, crossing his arms. "You're just jealous that I'm the tall one now."
Wang turned back to Anna-Rose. "So, we have a deal?"
edited 10th Mar '17 3:25:16 AM by Alleydodger
2 Spooky 4 U
Sora stared at the ceiling, spacing out. Thinking about everyone back home. He wondered if Riku and Kairi were worried about him. Probably. Knowing Goofy and Donald, they were most likely jumping the gun on wanting to look for him. That made Sora smile weakly. Then he was awoken from his day dreaming by Lewis talking to Ben.
Sora sitted up and pulled out his new communcation device from his pouch. He told Ben quietly, "I'll handle it. You and Eve get some sleep."
Then he got up and walked back to the stripped bedroom so that the two young ones wouldn’t be bothered by his voice. He put the walkie take up to his head with a click of the button and said to Lewis with a somewhat exhausted tone, "Hey Lewis. This is Sora. Ben is not really available for talking right now. Him and Eve are cuddling on a couch inside a cottage while sleeping. Well, Eve is asleep and Ben is trying to sleep. As for Ghostfreak, we have some plans but we are still working out the details of what we have."
Once done with that, Sora sat down on the bed, waiting for a reply.
edited 10th Mar '17 6:42:43 AM by LightToAll
For the Horde!
When Sora picked up the walkie talkie for him and moved into the other room, Ben smiled and nodded at him, before looking back at his own. "Yeah, I don't. We can talk in the morning. Good night, Lewis," he whispered, before shutting his own walkie talkie off and putting it into the bag. He lay there for a moment, thinking. They only had Miss Tairee's word to go on that Sans' world was fixed. The Writer could've easily not done anything and told her to say that. Ben wouldn't have put it past the Writer to do that, to just use the contest as a carrot on a stick to make people compete with each other.
He looked back at Eve, and thought about what Miss Tairee had said again. He frowned, cuddling into her head gently, his blush flaring up again. If he wasn't going to see her again after his time in the City was done, he would need to make it worthwhile while they were still here. After all, the Writer could easily yank either one of them home at any moment's notice if he got bored with them. He shut his eyes and tried to go to sleep finally.
edited 10th Mar '17 8:16:08 AM by AllHailThrall
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
Screw the Lion!
Plague Knight bounced off the shield and landed on the floor. It was more surprising than painful, but still. No where no as bad as some of the few times he stopped himself after drinking from some of his Fleet Flask.
"I have had worse," he said to Calvin, sticking his finger upwards as he spoke. He managed to get up just when Sans' speech began. The skeleton personally thanked Rex, Lewis, Lucas, and Caro for their help and for being such good friends, and then more thanks to both Cole and Zelda for their help. Speaking of which, the knight realized he himself had not seen her highness for quite some time......
He also spoke of helping Silanea and not stopping until he did. The alchemist already thought of doing so as well, if only to smooth things over between the City Knights and the Non-Human group.
Caro and Lucas spoke as well, and then ended with a big group hug among the three friends. At first the audience seemed apprehensive about Sans giving his thanks to Rex, the topic of the mechanical teens most likely still sore among everyone, but some of the groups were applauding. Plague Knight joined in.
Soon the shield came down, Miss Tairee teleported Sans, Lucas, and Caro out of the stadium. Afterwards, everyone else started to file out of the stadium. The knight followed suit, deciding to head to the library first to pick up a new radio and cell phone, and then back to his lab to clean up and preparing to rebuild. Hopefully the walk to the library would be uneventful.
edited 10th Mar '17 8:58:00 AM by UdtheImp
"Well before, I did it with reckless abandon. Now I can't control myself!" ~ Jesse Cox, 2014
Happy Box Hater
Stadium to Library
It was settled that they wouldn't go to the... they were at the library. Well, even though they were here, Lucas decided that his request wasn't really something he needed. He did have a question, though. Lucas said to Ms. Tairee "It doesn't really matter... it wasn't important. But, can I ask you about how the messages tomorrow will work? I want to know if I can send objects back home."
Why is a yam attacking me?
Dark Sun, what choices have I...?
Sora butted in to answer in Ben's stead, explaining the situation on their end and confirming they had some ideas on the Ghostdick situation. He didn't really explain what they'd come up with, but it was great to know they had something in mind. I could ask more about it tomorrow. Besides, apparently I was ruining the moment he and Eve were having. At least he was willing to talk in the morning like I'd asked about.
"Alright, great. That's great to know. Talk to you in the morning. Night Ben, take good care of Eve, alright? Heh heh."
I quit broadcasting at them, and put my phone away to look around me as I glided around aimlessly. The crowd of people that had previously filled the stadium was now pouring out into the streets, dispersing every which way and probably aiming to pack up for the night. It seemed only fair that I do likewise. I supposed I didn't have to, since it wasn't as if I needed sleep, but it wasn't like there'd be anything to do at the witching hour, except maybe screw around with my magic. Which would probably wake someone.
I was glancing around for somewhere that'd look cozy to lodge in, figuring that even if it'd be gone in the morning it'd be nice to have for now, when I bumped into a small figure. I turned to see that it was Plague Knight, registering for the first time just how short he was.
"Hey, Plague Knight," I said, wondering if I'd have to introduce myself again.
i guess you can watch me shitpost i guess
Walking back out into the living room area, Sora walked behind the couch, leaned over it, and told Ben quietly so not to wake Eve up, "Here. Eve might want something more comfortable than your body.......though I think you might prefer that. And I got you both a blanket. It's pretty big. Must be for a full grown adult. Should cover both of you up if you need it." Sora gently dropped his looted sleeping helpers next to Ben and then moved back over to the chair.