<div align="center"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">----Elsworth Bateman: Glutton----</span></div><br/>Elsworth listened as intently as he could manage, struggling to connect all the scattered threads of thought and banish the encroaching fog.  A metallic whining pinged incessantly in his skull, the prelude to what felt like a thundering roar echoing in his empty stomach.  He had run out of jerky, but unless he'd had a few dozen pounds of it it wouldn't have done much to stave off the hunger pangs anyway.  With time the cravings became increasingly demanding, always wanting<em>more</em>.  Insatiable, unrelenting.  But not yet outside of his control.<br/><br/>"Michigan street, yes," he muttered, putting a hand to his forehead to keep himself from shaking, "The train seems a logical choice."  To the others--most of them, anyway--it would simply seem like a case of frazzled nerves.  Bateman was a fragile fellow, so it was hardly surprising that he would be so nervous after having just managed to escape a firefight.<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">"May I ask where you're trying to get to?" she said, eying Henry intently. The gaze that rested on him was all too aware and yet there was something off about it too.</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>Bateman had barely noticed Cassandra's little episode, but the undercurrent to her words dredged his attention back up from whatever depths it seemed to intent to flounder in.  He stared back at her between splayed fingers, pupils dilated.  One didn't survive as long as he had without a healthy dose of paranoia, after all.  Perhaps paranoia wasn't quite the right word.  He could<em>taste</em>it, a peculiar sort of difference in the quality of air, like little spidery bolts of energy coursing through the atmosphere.  Just for an instant, the moment she fell prone.  But it was not within him to figure out exactly what that meant.<br/><br/>"Anywhere.  Anywhere but here," he said finally, lowering his hand back to his lap and forcing a grin.  "Cassandra<em>D'Arque</em>, of course!  It's a pleasure to meet such a famous person.  I'm not normally one to remember names, but yours was far too lovely not to commit to memory.  It certainly does explain the burliness of your acquaintances."<br/><br/>His hand went to his breast pocket, tugging at the end of a handkerchief and wiping it across his clammy brow.  "I myself am something of a nobody by comparison.  Nothing tying me down and no destination in mind.  I'm grateful that you got me out of that dreadful situation.  Your<em>foresight</em>is truly remarkable."