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thisavrou_log2017-07-09 01:05 pm
pillz) wrote in thisavrou_log2017-07-09 01:05 pm
The Demon Plot: DEATH OF GRINDING MADNESS [July Player Event]
Who: Ensemble production, all individuals who opted in to the plot
When: July 9-21
Where: Two inhabited planets around the Ingress
What: The demon plot kicks off, in which malevolent shadow beings, copies of existing characters, begin to materialize and harass the PCs across the worlds. Plotting post is here, and a network post will go up within the next 2 days from several PCs advising on how to end the plot.
Warnings: Violence, psychological themes, possibly past trauma, etc.
When: July 9-21
Where: Two inhabited planets around the Ingress
What: The demon plot kicks off, in which malevolent shadow beings, copies of existing characters, begin to materialize and harass the PCs across the worlds. Plotting post is here, and a network post will go up within the next 2 days from several PCs advising on how to end the plot.
Warnings: Violence, psychological themes, possibly past trauma, etc.
Death of Grinding Madness
The Demon Plot
(mild spoilers for The Raven Cycle)
The Demon Plot
(mild spoilers for The Raven Cycle)
On July 9, a demon begins to make its way through the Ingress, summoned through by a shitty teenager.
July 9-12
Harrying
Harrying
It's innocuous in the beginning. A movement in the corner of your eye, a shadow through a curtain-- merely a tree. But then the shadow figures begin to emerge into full being. Black-eyed wraiths that look like enemies, friends with whom you've had past conflict, or even you yourself. At first, it's merely harrying, minor harassment. Threatening gestures, broken gestures, jump scares.
Pursue them, and they disappear-- you might even catch a glimpse of how. They melt down into black slime, racing away across floors, through sewer grates, up walls, impossible to follow. By now, the worst of the climate freeze is over, but residual ice does pose a needles extra obstacle.
Pursue them, and they disappear-- you might even catch a glimpse of how. They melt down into black slime, racing away across floors, through sewer grates, up walls, impossible to follow. By now, the worst of the climate freeze is over, but residual ice does pose a needles extra obstacle.
July 12-15
The Violence Escalates
The Violence Escalates
In the days that follow, the situation only gets worse.
Sporadic harassment turns into outright attacks. The targeting is unmistakable. The shadow beings who can speak tell cruel tales of animosity, spite, even hatred. They are as deadly with their hands or strange powers as their doppelgangers are, and worse, they're functionally indestructible. Rip off one's head and it merely reforms out of sticky black ink. Limbs regenerate just as easily. The being might dispell for a few hours, but no doubt— it'll be back, if not to hurt you then someone you know.
The Savrii begin to notice. It's hard not to. While there is hardly an epidemic of panic, the disruptions are hard to miss-- broken windows, screams, random violence. Soon, the authorities begin to open safehouse facilities at which characters can seek shelter.
Sporadic harassment turns into outright attacks. The targeting is unmistakable. The shadow beings who can speak tell cruel tales of animosity, spite, even hatred. They are as deadly with their hands or strange powers as their doppelgangers are, and worse, they're functionally indestructible. Rip off one's head and it merely reforms out of sticky black ink. Limbs regenerate just as easily. The being might dispell for a few hours, but no doubt— it'll be back, if not to hurt you then someone you know.
The Savrii begin to notice. It's hard not to. While there is hardly an epidemic of panic, the disruptions are hard to miss-- broken windows, screams, random violence. Soon, the authorities begin to open safehouse facilities at which characters can seek shelter.
July 15-18
The Golem
The Golem
On July 17, something horrific begins to happen— several shadow beings merge to form a massive golem in Kauto R1. It is a grotesque, horrifying spectacle, of limbs and eyes and pulsating flesh. It reaches almost sixty feet in height. Combined together, this shadow creature is considerably less intelligent than the individual beings were. However, it is also immensely strong and regenerates just like the smaller ones did.
Within the mall, hundreds of daytime shoppers are trapped within. Luckily, they have food and climate control. Perhaps you're one of them-- or perhaps you're trying to get in to provide medical care.
In the meantime, the attacks from the individual shadow beings don't stop. Despite the intelligence exhibited by some, all of them seem mindlessly bent on tormenting their targets until they are killed.
Within the mall, hundreds of daytime shoppers are trapped within. Luckily, they have food and climate control. Perhaps you're one of them-- or perhaps you're trying to get in to provide medical care.
In the meantime, the attacks from the individual shadow beings don't stop. Despite the intelligence exhibited by some, all of them seem mindlessly bent on tormenting their targets until they are killed.
July 18-21
The Sacrifice
The Sacrifice
On the 9th day, a network post goes up (link pending, will be OOCly forward-dated to July 10th latest) revealing how to remove the invincibility of the attackers.
And by the 21st, the remaining beings utterly vanish without explanation— unless you happen to bear witness to the events that take place at St. Monmouth.
And by the 21st, the remaining beings utterly vanish without explanation— unless you happen to bear witness to the events that take place at St. Monmouth.
[dark kermit voice] be more evil
The upside to this is that this isn't the first time Venom's been roughed up (not by a long shot), but the downside is that, yes, Jesus fucking Christ that hurts. Some calm, clinical part of him assesses the damage with a preternaturally detached efficiency— fractured ribs, two if I'm lucky— while the physical, more tangible part of him reacts with a gut-searing cough and a painful jolt.
This definitely isn't his month.
To add insult to injury, a cabinet teeters on its foundations and lands squarely on his lap, pinning him to the floor as he tries his level best not to stay down like a useless lump. That's gonna bruise, is part two of his ongoing diagnosis as he coughs blood onto Dorian's nice carpet. ]
no subject
Of course he wouldn't want you to tear people down, he's more focused on self-destruction...but I don't suppose you've noticed that about him?
[Not many people do, actually, but the shadow doesn't elaborate, instead he moves to the edge of his barrier. Essentially anyone could break through this barrier if it took on enough damage, but he'd have to ram it hard and several times, so the man's intrusive presence didn't go unnoticed. Still, let it not be said that arrogance isn't a great weakness, Ahab isn't getting up quickly from that last blow, Nyx is under his command, and he could handle Kazuhira well enough on his own, so he drops the barrier letting the man inside.]
Right now you should be more concerned about yourself, I'm just not completely certain if I want to end this quickly...or take my time so that Dorian can process all of this as well. He can't do anything about it...just like your friend can't do anything about his predicament.
[Referring to Nyx who was now readying himself to attack Kazuhira.]
I say...you have bigger problems than me at the moment. [Brushing his chin thougthfully with his hand Shadow!Dorian comes to a conclusion.] Kill them Nyx, no point in playing with the food...and know that you never really stood a chance.
[He could probably make better hybrids out of their corpses and he does need replacements for what he has aready lost.]
[ooc: Dorian will absolutely intervene before anyone actually dies.]
no subject
[Dorian makes them, and they're here somewhere. But he can't get over there to help him. That laser knife has to do his job.]
[These motions are in quick order. One, two, three. And he grabs the shadow Dorian...]
[...and he hugs him like he did in the diner that day. Chin hooked over his shoulder and squeezing around his chest.]
Dorian please stop this. Wherever you are, please stop this.
[Because he doesn't want to attack his own people. Not again. Not someone with a face he knows.]
lmk if any of this needs changed
Nyx has his Kukris blade out a moment later and he grabs around both men with his left arm in a grotesque three way embrace. His right hand sinks the blade in quick and effortlessly up into Kaz's back. By some miracle the combination of the movement of Kaz's body, a tiny part of Nyx lashing out at this action, and by pure dumb luck the blade sinks in and hits on a rib rather than any vital organs.
His puppeteer's command to kill is still there. Nyx uses the advantage he has of seriously injuring Kazuhira to try and push the shadow-Dorian aside but even injured Kaz is strong, and keeps his grip on him. Nyx does the same, keeping his grip on Kaz and tugging him back closer against him. This means he stabs him again in the back, this time lower and it sinks in to the hilt neatly between two ribs.]
no subject
Kaz's giveover of the weapon and the command to find a healing potion is practical enough, but with broken ribs and a bruised lung (hopefully not punctured) on top of a half-concussion, things are slow going. He grapples with his new tool and grits through the pain to keep himself moving, but things have gone halfway to hell by the time he's dislodged himself enough to shift under the weight of that fallen cabinet.
It's difficult to disperse his attention among the proceedings. More than anything, more than the injuries or the conflict or the damage, what hits Venom the hardest is the simple understanding that this is nothing that any of them wanted: not Kaz, not Nyx, not Dorian.
Under normal circumstances, none of this would be happening. That's gutting. ]
—Kaz.
[ He can't speak properly over the vice in his chest, the physical fracturing that distorts his calm baritone into a hoarse rasp. There's still blood in his mouth and fog in his vision, but he somehow manages to scrabble at his hip holster for his remaining nonlethal firearm (his assault rifle is long gone, probably broken in that original blast); the Windurger's safety clicks jovially upon release, and Venom makes a mental apology as he turns it on Nyx (a tough shot, but not one he can't make) and fires off three consecutive rounds. Do tranquilizers even work on magic users? Will it even hit, is also the question, but there's no use in not trying.
What he's anticipating in this aftermath is a wealth of guilt on Nyx's part, not to mention Dorian. That's something much harder to field than a combat situation, and as he bites back the nausea that the kickback of his pistol sends through his bruised insides, he makes a mental note to tell them not to take any of this too personally.
(Impossible, probably. He knows how kind both of these people are.)
First things first, though. They have to get out of here alive, so up he goes, despite the protest from his bones and the heartbeat-alarms ringing in his ears.
He's calm when he lines his next shot with Dorian's shadow, levels that tranq dart at his neck and shoots with the intention of it at least being a distraction. ]
no subject
Dorian might be sleeping, a restless torturous sleep up stairs, but he was still feeding the shadow his magic and his image -- they were connected so their experiences were not exclusive of one another. Dorian could hear, he was hearing, and that was a frustrating kind of interference and it gave shadow!Dorian a momentary pause.]
You think this will save you...?
[Whatever clever, snappy comment he was going to make was cut off as what happened next turned into a flurry of actions and motion that the mock mage didn't quite perceive. Nyx was still following his orders and he finds himself embraced, annoyingly sow, by two bodies, and the impact it has on him is directly related to a man that isn't in this room. It's enough to make him forget that there is a fourth party here, at least until he hears the tranquilizers make contact with Nyx's back and by then it's too late to react to the one that's now sticking out of his neck.
Shadow!Dorian isn't human, the real human is still in his study at the top of the stairs for the moment, so weapons do not effect him normally, that doesn't mean he's failing to react. The Shadow succumbs to the numbness and that allows for something else to take over, at least as far as the magic goes, and he realized that Kazuhira's pleas didn't fall on deaf ears...and for the moment, the magic is no longer in Shadow!Dorian's control.
Between the dart in his neck and a strange vacuum the mock mage is stopped in his tracks. Not only that but the combination of man made toxins and Dorian's own magical interference force him to release his hold on Nyx for the time being. It was a window of opportunity, if they had any strength in them to get up the stairs and snap Dorian completely out of his dream state, or simply spirit him out.
The true mage is not much better off given how long he's been captive either, garbed in little more than a robe and his smallclothes. That same dark mist that filled the air before was radiating from him, keeping him in his sleep state and, quite possibly, it was keeping him alive in a kind of stasis so he didn't simply wither and die in here. That didn't mean his body wasn't feeling the effects of hunger and thirst, it simply wasn't deteriorating because of it. More startling would be the wounds covering his body, from his clavicle down to his toes, like he'd been shredded.
Perhaps the original blood for Shadow!Dorian's blood magic originated from the mage himself, but he was too indisposed by Dorian's magic to say much on the subject, but he was fighting to gain back his ground. Dorian was weak in this state after all, he couldn't hold on to him forever...but damned if there weren't disadvantages to trying to maintain control over a lucid dreamer.]
Skip Nyx until next cycle with permission.
[His efforts weren't in vain. Something did happen. He doesn't know what, but there's a glow under his feet and the faint sound of a Wu Pistol behind him. Kaz is tough. He's been through worse. He can remind himself that he's survived so much that he can handle this, too.]
[One of his lungs is filling up, and he staggers back from the shadow and from the drooping Nyx. Those things aren't attacking quite yet, with their maker held, so he struggles to find those stairs. And he does? But rather than make it up them, he collapses on the bottom step. Kaz is made of tough stuff, and he's survived a lot, but this is a bit much.]
[Later he'll explain how he couldn't use the lethality necessary for the situation against Nyx. That he knew that the hug would throw the thing off (he'd hoped so badly that it would have broken the control over the young man, rather than making it necessary to leave him in an unconscious puddle of young soldier in the floor).]
[Bracing himself up on his elbows, leaning forward, coughing blood liberally onto the step, he doesn't really have much of a way to tell V that this is the way to go. But that's the best he can manage for now. He has a single minded persistence. He came here to snap Dorian out of it and get rid of that thing. If there was ever evidence it needed to be done, out of logic as much as sentiment, it's what just happened. If Dorian could puppet someone with Nyx's abilities, then he could aim higher. Most importantly, Kaz wanted his goddamn people back.]
[He's still trying to get up those stairs, one at a time.]
no subject
Triage instincts kick in. He could take some of this for himself, but urgent physical care is necessary for at least one person in this room. ]
—Don't move.
[ Short words hissed through a clenched jaw. Venom kneels next to Kaz, wiping blood off of his jaw with his human hand while he uncaps the potion with his bionic. Really, he doesn't have so much time to waste, but there are some gestures that require reinforcement— an assurance that he paints with gentle fingers that open red-stained lips, to pour half of the contents of the bottle down a struggling throat.
His palm clamps over his XO's mouth to make sure he swallows, and with a final brush of palm to hair, Venom is off again: up the stairs, through the miasma and over to Dorian.
And Christ, Dorian is in bad shape too. Good thing he brought the other half of the healing potion, except for the fact that there's really no way to administer it until the mage is awake; that can be arranged. ]
Dorian. [ A light shake, palms to lacerated shoulders. Despite everything, Venom manages to keep his tone collected. Level. ] You're gonna have to come back to us.
[ And, well. If this doesn't work, he's going to have to carry Dorian across his shoulders, which is decidedly not ideal when his chest feels like a minefield of fragments. He's getting ready to make that choice, though. ]
no subject
The sad thing is that he can't even manage a proper scream, it's this dry, pitchy, weak sound that he can't quite wrap his larynx around. He curls up on his side trying to figure out a way to ride through it without weeping, but it's not easy for him, he's never endured this sort of pain as a practical survivor. Discomfort, yes, pain...not in all of his privileged days. It takes some force of his own will to recognize that he's awake and that he needs regain a modicum of composure if he's to be of any use and it's hardly easy, especially for a man who prided himself in making a lot of things look effortless.
Shaking he managed to lever himself up, pitiful in how much effort it took, but he knew, whispers of the feelings and sensations from what had transpired, that he wasn't the only one in bad shape. He then managed to fix his gaze on Venom, he wanted to say something, to ask questions, but he felt so dry, like he'd swallowed the whole of the Hissing Wastes. He couldn't even ask how he was, or about the state of Kazuhira and Nyx, and he couldn't apologize and he knew they probably didn't have the time for it.
On the plus side with Dorian in full control of his mind the magic was his again.
The down side was that thing wouldn't stay down for long, Dorian had tried, had underestimated it, and that's how he came to be in this situation...how they all had come to be in this situation.
He knew he had to carry himself as well, he wasn't sure how he was going to manage but he did give himself a moment to reach out to brush the hair back off of Venom's brow, withdrawing his hand quickly since even that much seemed to cause him visible pain. Right now he couldn't convey anything other than hurt, which his eyes did well enough, but they had to go and he had to make himself stand. It was terrible and pathetic, like he'd had several bottles of cheap Orlesian brandy. Maker just make his legs move, he had to see just what sort of mess his magic had made, he had to get out of here and get his companions out of here.
But it hurts, that's what every nerve is screaming at him, his eyes are already watering, but he bites the inside of his cheek to steel himself. They had things to do, didn't they?]
no subject
[But he's got enough air to yell.]
Sacrifice!
[It's barely a yell, it's choked and only carries because much of the chaos in the room was disrupted. But it's enough to remind them that while magic works, it's not what they need. Dorian needs to say something, because Kaz can think of no better way than what they were all told.]
[This time he can manage a proper, if slow, climb up those stairs. But it's on all fours and agonizing and he does fully plan to complain later.]
[Hopefully, if Dorian hasn't seen the message, at least Snake can pass it on.]
no subject
Fight me! he wants to scream, take me out! So much better that, than this. Nyx feels only a little relief as he becomes aware that his body is losing its ability to function and a fog seeps down through his mind. It might be too late already. He might have killed his dear friend.
And then there is swirling darkness and part of him hopes that he never wakes up. He died once; he isn't afraid of that. The small peace he felt at the end in Insomnia isn't allowed to him in this moment. I've killed him, I might have killed both of them, all of them...
When he wakes up it's a slow process. His groggy mind seems to be his own, his limbs sluggishly moving yes but they are moving when he-himself wants them to. Nyx winces softly for the awkward angle he's been lying on his leg, then rolls over and plants his hand on the floor to push himself up. When he sees his blood soaked hand and arm he feels a wave of nausea hit his stomach and another wave of vertigo. Nyx closes his eyes and struggles through it to finish pushing himself up to stand.
Pointedly not looking at his hand, he assesses the situation as best his drugged mind can.]
Boss?
[The title has become far less that and much more a nickname of endearment over the past few months. Nyx stumbles over to the prone form and he falls to his knees, his expression bordering on agonized with the guilt pounding through him.]
no subject
Venom entrusts the safety of the stairs to Nyx. Frayed but lionhearted; he knows he can trust Nyx to watch over Kaz and make sure that they both support each other.
Now, Dorian.
One badly-timed shift, and his companion is gritting screams between his teeth. To say that it's not ideal is an understatement; to say that it's worrying, even more of one. So he stops them both from moving any further, palm up and knees bent in a low crouch. Single eye as still as an ocean, expression devoid of any personal discomfort or pain. Just a steady affirmation of a presence, of a tangibility that he demonstrates with one gloved hand reaching to wipe the sweat and tears from the peak of Dorian's cheekbone. ]
You're good. Stay with me.
[ There's blood caught in Venom's facial hair, perspiration dotting his temple, but the set of his jaw is strong without being tense. His voice pitches down to a temperate bass, like the hum of old engines. Time-weathered but smooth. ]
Think you can trust me with something personal?
[ That's what the 'sacrifice' entails, after all. The question is largely hypothetical— no one here has a choice, Dorian least of all— but Venom poses it anyway, with his friend propped on one knee and his palm shifting to rest lightly over those hurt-stained eyes.
If it's easier for Dorian not to look at Venom while he speaks, Venom will do him the courtesy. ]
no subject
One that Venom had to navigate for him, it wasn't pleasant, even though he knew that Venom was being as gentle as he possibly could, so he just had to grit his teeth and endure as he was repositioned. It's comfortable enough, better than the floor where he'd been for Maker knows how long, under the influence of his shadow...oh, how something so simple could force the air from his lungs, but Venom was also working hard in the face of his own pain. He was even wiping Dorian's tears, much to the mages own burning ignominy; he felt like he was five years old again, yet he couldn't help it even if he wanted to.
Right now he had to find his voice and maybe attempt to focus his eyes on something, Venom's face was there and that was comforting. The fact that he looked as though he'd been pitched through the Void was less comforting and Dorian was certain he couldn't look much better. It was something to focus on, at least, that...and the sound of his voice. He heard the question, it was understanding it that took a moment and then came the ugh feeling that often presented itself when Dorian had to confess something, couldn't he just forget something like...his allergies toward stripweed, for instance...well, he supposed he could forget something, but that was too much like the horror show from his past...so that wouldn't work.]
Maker's breath...[Dorian managed, it was difficult enough getting that out and his usual velvety voice sounded like sandpaper.]...don't suppose my fear of heights would count? I mean looking down and feeling the weight of your own mortality...
[He's going for dry humor, but his expression wouldn't work with him and that became even more apparent when Venom covered his eyes, it was kind, it really was, but his comfort came from the fact that he could see the man. That he could see something that was real given that he was the only real thing in his nightmare for countless hours...perhaps days. So he raised a hand to pull at Venom's good intentioned one feebly.]...Ahab...it's been dark for...quite some time...I don't mind looking at you...
[He'd rather not have to dig around the bone arena of his skull for something humiliating, but if he did he'd like to be able to see.]
I'll tell you...this isn't something that I talk about, but if I don't have a choice...[Dorian sighed, resigned, but after the shit they put themselves through, Kazuhira, Nyx, and Venom]...I don't think I really told you or anyone how I became a veritable prisoner on my family's estate.
[It's not the most honorable story, good people died in this story, he doesn't like to talk about it.]...that's the story...I can trust you with it?
no subject
Up there.
[He points up the stairs to where Venom and Dorian are. Nyx is in one piece, he's not wounded as Venom and Kaz are, and Dorian in considerably worse shape than Kaz from the sound of it.]
I can wait. Mission first. [He says carefully, firmly, and in broken breath with the most commanderly tone he can manage under the circumstances. Nyx might feel guilt, but Kaz isn't the one they came to help. Kaz isn't the one with a dangerous shadow. And they need to be able to get Dorian out here quickly if the sacrifice isn't immediately working, if it's not enough. And the guilt that Dorian would feel if that thing kept at it would be overwhelming. He can't put him through that.]
[Miller is very used to the feeling, the weight of mistakes. It practically makes half of what he is, now. He feels it every single day. So he's twice as firm; this isn't the time for it. Then he gives him a look. Do as he says.]
[He'll give him real reassurances later.]
no subject
[Nyx doesn't know how to apologize for stabbing him not once, but twice, and while Kaz looks very well considering that fact the fact isn't changed. Nor is it no less a possibility that he could bleed out and it's Nyx's fault. In his mind his sister repeats over and over again
Nyx, where's Mom? Nyx! Nyx! Save us!
It takes him a few good moments to get the image and voice of her out of his vision and Nyx looks lost as he stares down at Kazuhira. Finally, he manages to shake the flashback and takes a hesitating few steps away from the downed man. He looks tormented, but somehow determined at the same time.]
I'll be right back. Hold on. I'll get us out of here. I'll get us all out of here.
[Nyx turns with some reluctance before he sprints up the stairs taking them two at a time until he's at the top. His hand slides blood along the banister as he mounts the landing and the sound of Dorian's (blessedly normal, if dry as dirt) voice leads him into the room where he and Ahab are. Nyx doesn't know what's going on, and he doesn't understand the importance of what Dorian is trying to say. Right now he wants to get them out.]
Let's go.
no subject
But it's the bionic that goes up in a gesture for 'wait', red joints clicking unnaturally from slight impact damage. ]
Not yet. Gotta hear him out first. [ He knows they don't have time, but all the better, then, to move things along.
Relaxing his shoulders, he looks up from his crouched position at the young man with peril written on his face. Flashback: small kids behind rusted bars, holding out diamonds as recompense for their lives. ] ...I'm trusting you with my back.
[ That's all the time he has right now for the grief in Nyx's expression before his attention turns back to Dorian, flesh-and-blood fingers framing the set of Dorian's tense jaw. He nods, as an answer to a previous question. ]
...Go on. I'm listening.
no subject
He almost wished he had a love confession, but he didn't for this very reason, it was also for this very reason that he wasn't ready to forgive his father, so he couldn't do that either...well, not with his heart in it. Such limited choices here, fortunately his spell would hold a little while longer -- that didn't stop a little, resigned sigh from escaping his lungs.]
All we're missing is a Revered Mother. [Dorian laughed dryly before shaking his head a little in Venom's palm.]
You already know I haven't been proper all my life. [He's barely proper now, but he's certain that he's mentioned the promiscuity of his younger days to both Venom and Kazuhira, at least on some level.] I once had such an awful weakness for love...I never said or did anything about Relinus, he had the prettiest smile, I understand he would have said yes, but at the time I was playing the well-heeled scion...talk about ships sailing. Then there was Lucan Abrexis...
[Upon approaching this topic, Dorian's voice took on the same inflection it would if he were seasick. He wanted to keep this as concise and vague as possible, still a man of propriety and all that.] I had a falling out with my mentor, spent some time drinking in the slums, and I...somehow managed to stumble into an affair with this man, I was so enamored with him, I don't think I could have adored him more and we were able to keep up the affair for quite some weeks [an indication of how easily Dorian fell in love with people when he was younger, it was genuine affection he lacked. It wasn't the same as the kind his parents tried to buy for him] longest meaningful relationship I've had with anyone.
[And he knows how that sounds.]
It made me forget that I was trying to be evasive of my family, they were hunting me so that they could contain me and put an end to my...excesses. They caught up with me at his estate, sent mercenaries after me, in fact...they stormed the place...slaughtering people just to get to me. Good men and women just doing their jobs, you know? [Whatever physical pain he was feeling seemed monetarily numbed by this story.] Lucan and I, we were too caught up in our own efforts to care or even realize that people were dying right outside the bedroom door.
[Dorian's tears weren't one of pain this time, he was actually very ashamed of that moment and angry, and there was no Antivan wine or Orlesian brandy to chase away how very bitter he felt. What was so difficult about this, for Dorian anyway, was the fact that such a meaningful experience was associated with the blood of others. It cemented the idea that love was a foolish notion even though he cared a great deal about people in general.] I don't even know what happened to Lucan after that, son of a lord so he's alright I suspect, small comforts.
[Maker let that be enough, let that bloody shadow return to whatever miserable void it came from, because he didn't have the emotional strength to keep it sealed any longer.]
no subject
[What he pays keen attention to is that shadow, watching it carefully, working out ways in which he would have to defend himself if it came near to him. Nyx is out of the way, and they'd be safe if he had to do it, so he keeps his hand clutched around a the "lighter" in his pocket. One of the gifts Harry left him.]
[But then, during the span of a bleary blink, it's gone. And he lets his fingers loosen.]
[He coughs up more blood, takes a ragged, desperate breath, and stands with his back pressed against the wall for leverage.] It's gone. [He manages to say loud enough to carry. He wants to add "or it hid", but he's hit with another violent coughing fit.]
[For a ludicrous moment, in the midst of all this emotional turmoil and tension, of heartache and pain and blood and tiny pocketed destruction, Kaz is really glad he didn't wear his nice stuff. It's not too terrible a consideration, though, considering who the rescue mission was for.]
no subject
As the story continues he's rapt in it, eyes unblinking and wavering as he watches Dorian tell it. He thinks of Ardyn, sleeping with the enemy, what would Lunafreya say, what would Regis think... but they aren't here. They aren't here and Ardyn is and Nyx wonders if his own selfishness will decorate someone's walls red in his own story.
It's gone, Kaz calls up to them and Nyx immediately shakes himself of his introspection and moves forward with long-legged strides and begins gathering Dorian up in his arms. The mage is heavier than he looks but Nyx doesn't spend hours each day training and weight-lifting just to have a beautiful six-pack.]
Ahab, stay here. Don't move yet.
[Nyx has no idea if he'll follow any such orders especially from himself of all people but Nyx doesn't stick around to find out.
Due to Dorian's injuries, Nyx doesn't slump him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Instead he has the mage in his arms princess-style, gentle and secure and mindful of all those injuries. Nyx doesn't go to the stairs but instead to one of the upstairs windows overlooking the street below.]
It's alright. It's over. I need you to try and hold onto me for just a second longer.
[Words of reassurance before he takes a glance out the window and judges where best to land. Hopefully the mage doesn't get motion sickness too easily. The next second they are gone in a sparkling cloud of electric ash, and reappearing down on the street.
He immediately walks Dorian across the street and sets him down on the ground with the utmost care so that he can lean against the building. Nyx gives him a reassuring smile before turning and pulling his bloodied blade from its sheath. He throws the blade with great precision up to the window they just came out of and warps up to it with all the grace and effortlessness of a fit feline.
Nyx crawls through the window and is relieved to see Ahab there, although he suspects the man was trying to move despite any orders given to him. Nyx moves to him next and stares down at the huge soldier. There was going to be no princess-style for this one. As large a man as Dorian is, Ahab is like a thick water-buffalo in comparison.]
Up we go. This is probably going to hurt.
[An apology is almost on his lips but all the apologies will come later. Nyx crouches, and works Ahab up onto his shoulder with both arms looped around those ridiculously thick thighs he was complimenting not all too long ago. He grunts as he pushes himself up to stand. Water-buffalo, he thinks to himself, as he moves back towards the window. Nyx still remembers how they met, with their roles reversed and he thinks Ahab got the luckier side of that coin.
Struggle as it is, Nyx makes his way to the window and moments later they are warping through the space between building and street, and Nyx is setting Ahab down next to Dorian. It's nowhere near as neat and graceful as Dorian's descent, but Nyx is careful not to dump the poor man on his ass. As gently as he can (and sorry Ahab but that also means getting a handful of your ass) Nyx lowers the Snake man onto the ground next to Dorian.]
I'm getting Miller. You two rest here. I'll get you all some healing potions.
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He appreciates that this probably wasn't the way Dorian would've wanted any of them to find out about the half-open wound still festering on his conscience; it's something that he should've been able to tell on his own terms, on his own time, of his own volition. A possible point to be made in favor of these events may be catharsis, but that's still a paltry consolation in light of everything else.
The air in the apothecary clears visibly, and for the first time since arriving, Venom tips his chin to the ceiling and takes note of how beautiful the place really is. His ribs feel like hell and his lungs protest the shifting of bone, but there's a serenity in following the trajectory of the molding along the walls, taking note of how everything comes together in a neat, cohesive whole.
He'll have to help Dorian clean up sometime, he thinks.
The rest of the events are a blur: his vision doubles, and as he's about to get up on his feet on screaming legs, he feels his gravity shift and his face swerve just past the jut of Nyx's hip. Whatever protest he's about to level is cut short by the searing pain that digs from his chest to the back of his throat, so Venom clamps down on it and waits until he's back on ground to cough into his open palm, blood flecking the rise and fall of his callused palm.
Once he's done righting his breathing, he turns towards Dorian and raises one brow almost imperceptibly towards his hairline. ]
...You've spent enough time punishing yourself. Breathe.
[ He knows Dorian is sore; he won't try to jostle him too much, but he will reach out and let Dorian lean in the same way he did months ago, back when the Midway Hub was a vague destination in vast wilderness. ]
Your family can't find you here.
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Even in the Imperium Abominations were still dealt with in the classical sense, destroyed, and that's what Dorian felt like. That's what he couldn't help feeling like, but he didn't have much time to feel anything as he slowly started coming back to himself...and that numbness had felt very safe, now he just felt vulnerable with Venom drying his eyes and Nyx lifting his prone form off of the ground, carefully as you please, to remove him from the building. His grip wasn't the strongest at the moment, but he made an effort to swing an arm around Nyx's shoulders and flex his hold into something secure, in spite of the lancet of pain that shot it's way from the center of his back to the tips of his fingers. Still all this effort, he was going to attempt to bite down his pain...attempt meaning that he would only groan a few times and mutter a single "ow."
Pain is not for the faint of heart, clearly.
And he can't promise not to feel motion sickness from the sudden dive out of the window onto the ground, the only upside is that Dorian was starved and dehydrated, stasis only keeping his body from wasting during his captivity. The positive side was that he had nothing in him to vomit up, didn't stop him from dry-heaving for a moment, but he couldn't let Nyx go without a gesture of his gratitude so he dropped a kiss on the man's temple before he was eased to the ground...was he sorry, was he thankful...it was hard to tell...a little bit of both maybe?
In the next moment he was joined by Venom and for the first time he got a really good look at the man and his insides knotted worse than they already were, especially when confronted with the sight of the man coughing up blood. He really did need to be reminded to breathe, because right now he wasn't doing a very good job of it, and with that he tried to laugh a bit as well...sad clown and all.]
Yes, I suppose being outside in nothing but my smalls and a tacky linen robe in this weather is punishment enough.
[And Dorian doesn't even want to know where the robe came from, because it wasn't his, it was plain and rough on his skin. His humor was a cover to satisfy, however, and he hesitates to lean on Venom, but he does, gingerly, because it's better than the wall...but he's also very aware of Venom's own pain. His own body is still humming in pain, complaining at him every time he moved, he could sympathize. It was as much a physical kind of pain as a magical one and tended to be quite annoying on both fronts.]
They...don't really have to try, it seems I've a way of finding them even if I don't really fancy it. [A brief pause.] I must be as comfortable to you as a bag of stones? Are you...alright? Kazuhira?
[Kazuhira was another concern completely, he was paralyzed with dread at the though of the other man being hurt, one of the first people he'd met here, Dorian had a special affinity for him...but it was also the arm and the leg. The shadow might be gone, but the magic he used was real...and Dorian couldn't fix that.]
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[For someone that got stabbed in the back at least.]
[When he's settled again, outside in the chill in his now bloody fatigues, no longer pouring blood but still very damaged, he just sits there for a moment and listens. Slowly blinks behind his glasses as he gathers himself, his words, what little breath he can manage as he wipes his red-stained lips.]
[Then says-]
See. I helped save you- [coughing] -without a real arm and leg.
[Kaz smiles loosely after the choked words, in as good a humor as he can manage, just because it's nice knowing he proved the damn thing wrong. He might be stuck with his phantom limbs, but it's fine. He wouldn't become whole again at the expense of anyone else, especially not after having seen that. He shed his own blood to save his friend (not for the first time), he won't take the blood of his friends to save himself.]
[Where as Dorian can't handle physical pain, Kaz has had two years in which people have been fairly kind to him. The emotional callouses that he built up to protect himself from Ocelot, full of self-hate and a redirected bitterness, have smoothed to fragile skin. The hollow place inside his chest he used to hide in had warmed and filled nearly back up. Time to build those callouses back up, he supposes.]
[He also knows now what Dorian meant before when he told him that in his homeland the concept of love was foolish where he came from. He told him of the brief affair that had ended in his father sending out mercenaries, but in no great detail. That there had been the death of good men, but not civilians. About the imprisonment. Clinical and short, without the emotional implication, the weight of the loss Kaz had referred to. Love is realizing that if someone is removed from your life that would leave a hole. A hell of a hole Dorian had been left, scarred and the size of a crater from the sound of it. Kaz'll be cautious about the subject again.]
It wasn't going to be easy. [he breathes in harshly, raggedly, with a rattle. A matter of fact statement that meant Kaz had known when he set out to help Dorian that he was going up against someone that could use magic and could concoct his own army of sorts. He didn't walk in expecting simplicity- maybe he didn't expect Nyx to be puppeteered, but he'd been ready for it to hurt, and knew to some extent that injury was an inevitability.]
I messed up, Boss. Forgot the [choke] stealth camo. [That last part is for Venom. A genuine apology as he'd been so concerned and so overcome with emotion that he forgot a crucial item for this loudout against what they were facing. A misstep.]
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Nyx searches around and finds three phials of healing potions, along with three blankets. A second later he warps directly in front of the three and hands them each a potion first and then goes about the task of wrapping them each in a blanket.
He isn't satisfied with just this. He wants to do more and he wishes suddenly he had Prince Noctis' car. They should all be going to a clinic. Nyx frowns softly. He's no field medic, nor does he know any healing spells. The higher forms of magic had always been Crowe's thing.]
I can take you one at a time to the nearest clinic? Do they have taxis here? Ambulances?
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He hums a soft response to Dorian's question of whether or not he's fine, in lieu of the obvious answer of 'yes'. It's going to sound trite no matter how he phrases it, but everyone's energy is better served for more pressing matters instead of worrying about him.
So Venom wastes no time in downing his potion, in breathing through the uncomfortable process of mending. He turns to his XO once he feels that he's ridden out the last of his bruising pains, and leans to press his lips to fight-mussed blond hair. ]
Concentrate on getting your wounds looked at. The rest can wait.
[ Concerns about the stealth camo can come later. He pulls Kaz inwards and lets his chin rest on his shoulder for a few fleeting seconds, makes sure that their breathing matches in an even pace before drawing away and getting up on his feet. ]
...Don't know about the ambulances. Gonna have to count on them having one. [ Because really, it's the least this place can offer. There's the slightest hint of apology in how he raises his brow for Nyx's scrutiny, how he seems to speak with the faint pooling of gratitude in his single eye. ] —Take Kaz and Dorian.
[ Part of Venom is still trying to fly under the radar, in light of some recent events; he'd rather be a ghost than not. ]
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It did the trick in that Dorian could feel his injuries seamlessly close up, small relief that brought him, there wouldn't be any scars...ah vanity and it's priority. It also took care of anything internal, which was less on his part, probably more on Kazuhira and Venom's part, but they would still need to seek medical attention given that their injuries were not all surface injuries. Dorian wasn't coughing up blood after all...but he wasn't tender to the touch any more, it was just his magical circuitry causing him pain now which was why he flapped a hand dismissively when talks about ambulances and medics came up, not that these things weren't important...and he didn't want to really get into a conversation about who's injuries were worse at the moment, but Dorian was finally able to stand on his own two feet...and that was something.]
Not much they can really do for me except feed me and give me water...I can get that at home. [He'd be well alone at home too now that Bull was gone.] What I really need to stabilize myself is lyrium, that's something I'll have to make...so...not to put to fine a point on it, but Kazuhira and Venom would benefit more from immediate treatment. I wasn't stabbed in the back...or slammed into a wall...none of my injuries are internal...not in that way at least.
[Yes, Dorian knew what was going on even if he wasn't there physically to watch it, his shadow made certain of it, not that he was going to contemplate it too hard. What he was going to do was sort out his robe, fold the blanket around him, and contemplate the apothecary with a sigh. The deep mushrooms were he only source of lyrium at the moment and he would have to harvest it himself. He figured he'd have to do that much for himself, such a fuss had been made over him already and...he wasn't exactly certain what to do with it or if he wanted to do anything with it.
He was awful at this. Debts. Gratitude. Altruism. Friends. This was as unnatural as it got for the mage...but work awaits and he was the only one who could make lyrium so he was the only one who could help himself right now. That was something he could do anyway.]
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sorry you're always waiting on me :(
wings is banned from apologizing on grounds that shes a cutie
and I'm always the last one to the party...usually so no worries lol