brand new colony

It takes longer than he'd expected for the hazy numbness to wear off, which he blames on the drug and not on his mental state. Lanselos has never been much inclined to sitting around doing nothing -- even out in the black, at least you know you're moving, going somewhere, even when it doesn't feel like it -- and in the end, he's back on duty two days before Athyr had told him he had to be.

Not that that's going real well.

He goes and does his usual check-ins, runs a round of workouts that center largely on him punching the hell out of the sandbag (this goes on until the man-at-arms who logs the drills comes over and makes him stop, for fear he'll ruin the hand he's already injured). By the afternoon, he's in the armory, checking rifles. It's a place that makes him feel at home, useful. It's a place that makes him feel focused. And though he's usually the guy who is making conversation and checking in with everyone, he feels like keeping to himself.

He has managed to avoid Athyr so far, which he's sure is sending up red flags. He took dinner with Gwen last night, though not in the mess hall, and he's sure she's worried, but he has no idea what else to say to her. And he can't help but notice that by now most of folks he works with on a daily basis are giving him a pretty broad berth -- he wouldn't think it, but the fact is that he's a little scary when he's gone all quiet this way.