Shit. He must have really missed something, then. The Bull stops crawling for a moment, closes his eye to try to think. That doesn't shut out the stone on either side, the awareness that he might well be shut in here for good, the hard, relentless pounding of his his heart. He tries to think over all of it, to how he normally would handle this.
He opens his eye to his world, this tiny pool of unnatural green light. He takes a deep breath. Does his best.
"I'm not bleeding out or anything." Casual. Good. Keep on pushing for casual. Keep going. Tell the truth in a way that makes it a truth, at least. Neither of them is going to be completely reassured by anything, not really, not unless they get out of this, but the Bull might be able to give Dorian enough to work as an explanation. "If that's what you're worried about. This place is just... what do those guys say to trick tourists into paying them for tours? It's thought provoking. Just giving me a lot to think about."
Should he add a joke? Might not be totally on the mark right now, with Dorian worried enough that he's demanding the truth like that, but there's a chance it'll prompt Dorian into dropping the question before he can dig for a different answer, prompt him into playing along like he has been.
Okay. Go for it. A little one.
"I know every word out of your mouth is like gold though, big guy. Not trying to ignore you; I know you can't stand that." Or Dorian couldn't, if he ever found anyone capable of ignoring him. Dorian's pretty good at making that impossible. So play into that, and hope Dorian's just close to reassured enough that he agrees to play into it a little bit, too.
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He opens his eye to his world, this tiny pool of unnatural green light. He takes a deep breath. Does his best.
"I'm not bleeding out or anything." Casual. Good. Keep on pushing for casual. Keep going. Tell the truth in a way that makes it a truth, at least. Neither of them is going to be completely reassured by anything, not really, not unless they get out of this, but the Bull might be able to give Dorian enough to work as an explanation. "If that's what you're worried about. This place is just... what do those guys say to trick tourists into paying them for tours? It's thought provoking. Just giving me a lot to think about."
Should he add a joke? Might not be totally on the mark right now, with Dorian worried enough that he's demanding the truth like that, but there's a chance it'll prompt Dorian into dropping the question before he can dig for a different answer, prompt him into playing along like he has been.
Okay. Go for it. A little one.
"I know every word out of your mouth is like gold though, big guy. Not trying to ignore you; I know you can't stand that." Or Dorian couldn't, if he ever found anyone capable of ignoring him. Dorian's pretty good at making that impossible. So play into that, and hope Dorian's just close to reassured enough that he agrees to play into it a little bit, too.