(open) i made a sucker's prayer

[scholiast]

who: lucretia & you
what: tdm prompt + catch-all
when: late march/early april
where: oot n aboot
warnings: warnings for violence re: monster fights

01 everybody was monster fightin' (ota)

(Lucretia has always fought better in pairs than alone.

Its to do with her defensive capabilities; she's extraordinarily good at buff magic, at covering those with more destructive power, keeping them safe as they dive in head first. She can at least hold her own when she needs to but it's trickier. It isn't as fun, either! She likes being in a team.

Regardless, she's grouping creatures together with lightning spells and the odd fireball, trying to keep an eye out for other fighters or innocents about to be caught in the line of fire, anybody who needs a hand or a quick shield. Her elemental magic isn't at the same level as her abjuration work; eventually she falls back, starts to conserve her higher level spell slots.

Anybody who has just found themselves in a sticky situation or just looks like they need an extra hand will suddenly find a neat shield of faith being cast about them.)

Comments

for @dancingmd ♡

[scholiast]

(The unexpected flooding has forced Lucretia out of her apartment fairly swiftly; she'd had time to gather a few things (notably Junior's tank, which she has hoisted in both arms), but she's really hoping the water doesn't swell high enough to destroy her belongings. She's not a materialistic person at heart but the thought of losing all her books, her notes, her journals, paintings, supplies... that thought is making her very unhappy.

Currently she's taking herself to higher ground as requested, using mage hand to scoop the tank up into the air behind her so she can have her hands free. Obviously she can just go to Beverly's; she'll head there momentarily, but for now she can't remember if she's working today or not...

She sends a text.)

Can you call me when you get a moment? Not urgent

voice

[dancingmd]

(Unfortunately for Lucretia, Beverly is, for lack of a better word, swamped at work. Between the flood and attacks from the creatures, the emergency wards are much fuller than usual. Some things require nothing more than a few simple stitches but there are more than a couple of surgeries that require her attention. It's not until she stumbles out of her shift late that she even looks at her phone.

Damn! She realizes that of course where Lucretia's apartment is, she'd be caught by the water surge herself. Hurrying now towards home, she calls Lucretia back.)

Lucretia! Are you okay?

voice

[scholiast]

(She'd figured that might have been the case; it's no bother. She simply heads to Beverly's with her things in tow and once there, makes herself at home. When her phone finally lights up a couple hours later as Beverly's call comes in, she's actually sitting on the couch reading one of her books with Junior's tank resting against her legs, perfectly comfortable.

She answers the call immediately, straightening up.)

I'm fine. I'm actually at your place, I had to leave my apartment because of the flooding. (She sinks back down against the cushions.) Are you okay? It must be busy at the hospital.

voice

[dancingmd]

(Beverly slows down (slightly) and breathes a sigh of relief. Of course Lucretia would go there. She has the key and it's fine, everything will be fine.)

I'm okay. Just tired.

(Exhausted, more like. No casualties, though, so that's something.)

I'm glad you're safe.

[scholiast]

(Aw, she hears that little sigh. It makes her smile.)

Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you. Are you on your way home?

for @alldenim

[scholiast]

(It's great to not only have Barry back with them, but to be working with him, too? It's more soothing than Lucretia thought it would be to know they're sharing a workplace again. This is also a good way of keeping up with him; she often feels very isolated from the others. She knows she couldn't go back to living with all of them (and she wouldn't do that, not to Taako), but... it sucks.

At least she has this?

She knows he's been caught up with orientation and settling in but it's hard to wait, so it isn't long before she appears at his office door, rapping softly on the door frame with her knuckles. She wants to show him one of her personal projects because she knows he'll appreciate both the subject matter and the work.)

Hey, (she says, and jerks her head in a 'follow me' gesture.) You got twenty?

[alldenim]

[ It's nice to see her around, in this little space where they're back to being equals and studying hard. Almost feels like before everything started.

Barry is currently elbow deep (almost literally) in a book about teleportation and planes. He's trying to learn as much as he can but things have been... difficult.

So a knock on his door? All the better. And even more so when it's Lucretia. He brightens and sets the book down. ]

Hey!

[ Oh? A new thing?? That smile is now Excited. ]

Oh fuck yeah I do.

[ And he's out the door right behind her. ]

[scholiast]

Terrific.

(She grins back, and leads him promptly up a flight of stairs towards her own space.)

You settling in okay? This place is pretty fantastic, huh.

[alldenim]

Actually yeah. Save for the whole my plans being put on significant hold back home.

[ He shrugs, thinking she means Riverview in particular. ]

This, though? Holy shit, could you imagine if we had half of this on the ship back in the day?

[trashvalkyrie]

[Since joining a team with Loki, Val's gotten used to fighting with magic users again; it's nice, knowing someone has her back, and she knows Lucretia enough by now to know she's not likely to backstab her or leave her for dead out here. Dragonfang makes the most beautiful sound Val has ever known as it sings through the air, slashing at their enemy—something huge and deformed that Val honestly doesn't have the words to describe.

She leans forward to aim another strike at the thing's ankles when she stumbles and falls. The beast sees its opportunity, but then there's that shield, and from all fours Val gasps for breath as it keeps her from being rather summarily gored.]

Shit. Thanks. Nice one.

[scholiast]

No problem.

(Not only does it keep her from being impaled, but the shield will hold for a few more blows, giving Val time to plan her next attack. While she's catching her breath, Lucretia comes forward, ducking through the protections and toward her, reaching out; she touches Val's shoulder lightly with her fingertips and casts stone skin.

That should give her a little bit extra!)

Take this.

You're not indestructible, mind, but you'll certainly pack a much harder punch.

[trashvalkyrie]

[The touch on her shoulder fills her with a surge of renewed...energy? Power? Whatever it is, Val likes it. She pushes herself to her feet, rears back her sword in her right hand and her left fist on the other side; the beast advances its terrible mouth toward her again, lunges with the intent to kill, and Val throws a left hook and gets the thing right in its snout; when it rears back, Dragonfang slashes out for its throat.

Annnnd sprays Val with blood.]

Aw, come on. I just dry-cleaned this shit.

[She's never been to a dry-cleaner in her whole entire life.]

[scholiast]

(So Lucretia had been enjoying watching Val fight before she'd thrown up a shield to help and now they're straight back into it. Val swings that sword with so much power and finesse and she clearly knows what she's doing. That all comes to an abrupt halt when Val slits the neck of the monster bearing down upon her and is promptly spattered in gore.

Lucretia's used to killing things with magic, kinda fizzling them out with electricity or with fire so this amount of blood up real close is a bit much?? Feeling sick at the sight of blood used to be a relic from the earlier cycles but now that all rushes back in full force and she heaves, turning promptly the other way and closing her eyes tight.)

Fuck, Val.

time to join space jam's mon-stars

[bythehand]

[ As luck would have it, Finn's always been more of a team player than a solo runner himself. Nothing wrong with people who like to lone wolf it, objectively. It's just not his style. Better to have backup and company.

What he lacks in magic he's making up for with the power of guns... have. Like most Perimeter Guard members who don't come pre-loaded with powers. Bullets seem a lot messier than blasters, but at least they're effective. He's trying to fall back to reload without getting himself bitten in half when the shield appears.

Finn's first instinct is to cheer, only he figures he should make sure this isn't some next-level monster ziploc bag before doing that, for lack of a better term. So he kinda turns in Lucretia's general direction and gestures towards it with both hands while he's putting another cartridge into place. ]

Please tell me this is yours!

[scholiast]

It's mine!

(He might notice she's got a wand out, held casually by her side. He'll have enough time to reload and then some; even if the monster brute forces through what she's got up (unlikely), Lucretia's pretty proud of her ability to quick-draw shields and wards.

His gun looks a bit like Beverly's blaster. The bullets are different though, and they remind her of Lup and her tommy gun, and that makes her smile.)

You mind if I stick with you? I can cover, you can pick them off.

[bythehand]

[ Crisis averted, it's Lucretia and therefore no one can criticize this magic shield thing. Finn, who has never in his life had chill, immediately goes from looking ass-pained about the prospect of monsters who trap prey in magic bubbles to looking at Lucretia like she might have personally hung this quarantined moon in the sky. ]

Please.

[ Okay look. This is a gift horse whose mouth is not to be looked upon. Hell yeah he's going to form this alliance and shoot these monsters. ]

When were you gonna mention you could do this?

[scholiast]

(His bewildering, wondering expression makes her laugh. People here often have this kind of reaction to magic and she's assuming his surprise neatly falls into this category. Also, she's really down with his readiness to team up!)

Uh, when necessary? It's a weird thing to just uh, bring up– come here?

(She reaches out toward him, resting her fingertips on his shoulder so she can cast stone skin. That'll give him a good boost.) Bit of mobile projection there. Okay Finn, I'm going to lift this shield, but there's plenty more where that came from so just... go for it.

for @spellslots ♡

[scholiast]

(Now that the vast majority of the flooding has subsided, Lucretia's finally had time to go and pick through her apartment, rescue what she can. While the actual water levels hadn't risen high enough to threaten any actual flooding, the torrential rains have unfortunately done quite a lot of damage. There's been a substantial amount of leaking. One of her windows is smashed, glass littering her bedroom. It's an upsetting sight; Lucretia hadn't truly thought of this as her home, but all the same it had been hers.

Thankfully, she's able to save a lot of books. One of her journals is sodden, soaked half through and swollen with water damage but it isn't the first time she's lost one. It's frustrating, sure, but she's just glad it wasn't the one from cycle thirty-two she'd received from the maze. Notes about Riverview and the Quarantine can always be replicated.

The books go into one box. She's packing them in tight when something pings at her ward. She can't tell who it is because she hasn't recast them in a while and they're finally starting to falter, but she figures that it's Beverly. She had wanted to come and help Lucretia shift her things, after all.

She simply magics the front door unlocked so she can let herself in, and trails into her bedroom to start pulling the clothes out of her closet.)

[spellslots]

[The whispers start up again out of the blue, the occasional background noise at first until they pick up in intensity, growing violent and angry as the day goes on. Taako turns over everything in his room, assuming that something must have been left behind last time he cleaned it out, though he can't explain why it's only started again now. There's nothing he can find, though, which just increases his frustration.

None of the spells that he attempts result in the whispers abating and he's left trying to ignore it for the day, at least until he can work out what to do about it.

Talking to Lup is out of the question, he doesn't want to worry her, plus she'll only tell Barry, who'd tell Kravitz, and he wants to worry Kravitz even less than he wants to worry Lup. He could try Loki, but while things are settled, some space might be a good idea for a few more days. Which leaves Lucretia, who was there the first time this shit went down and who might have some kind of spell to work out what the fuck is going on because he really can't handle it anymore. He feels like he's going crazy.

Taako expects to find her at her apartment, so that's where he goes. He knows she was staying with Beverly during the flooding, but with the waters abated, he assumes she'll be moving back. It's a fortunate twist of luck that she's even there when he knocks on the door. It unlocks for him, and that makes sense, too, so he lets himself in.]

Luce? I, uh-- fuck, I kinda need your help.

[It's getting so much worse.]

[scholiast]

(It's not Beverly. She can tell by the tread over the threshold even before anything is said; she knows the individual gaits of the IPRE like the beat of her own heart.)

Taako?

(What is he doing here? She ducks out of her room to greet him properly, a blouse clutched in her hands. While nothing is off about him appearance-wise his demeanor is frazzled, a little frantic. The fact that he's coming to her to help speaks volumes. Lucretia drops the blouse into a box and reaches as if to touch him lightly, check if he's okay, but her hand lowers sharply before she can.)

What's wrong? Are you okay?

[spellslots]

So, uh--

[The press of paranoia from the items he took was bad, but it was more subtle than this; the whispers now are closer to how they were in the dungeon and that was easier to deal with, because there was a source, and all they had to do was kill the cultists to make it stop.

He doesn't know how to make it stop now and he runs a hand through his hair, trying and failing not to tug on it before he forces himself to cross his arms over his chest instead.]

Remember that fucked up shit with that cult? Something's wrong. Again.

for @causational

[scholiast]

(So: they're getting lunch together! Lucretia is... fine with this. She's realised she still has no idea what Cisco has and has not told Eddie about her and that's making her nervous. Arming herself with the silent decision to simply leave if he tries to bring that particular chestnut up helps to calm her down, though. She likes Cisco. She wants to like Eddie, too.

They meet at a place of Eddie's suggestion and Lucretia shows up early but that's fine. Simply means she can snag them a table and fuck around on the notepad function on her phone until he shows up. She's actually in the middle of sending Beverly a picture of her making a silly face when she notices Eddie at the forefront of the restaurant and gives him a little wave.)

Hey.

[causational]

[Truth is, Cisco's told him quite a bit about Lucretia, even mentioned that she reminded him a bit of Eobard. So that sits there, in the back of his mind, but it isn't anything he's consciously thinking about, nothing he'd ever bring up. Of course, he's on guard, just a little, he always is, but it doesn't particularly show as he heads over to the restaurant, his body relaxed, his hands hooked into his gun belt.

When he gets there and spots Lucretia sitting at a table, he waves back at her, grinning brightly and jogging over.]

Hey. Thanks for meeting up with me.

[scholiast]

(It's good that Lucretia doesn't recognise a gun belt otherwise she'd question why he was wearing it at all (despite having her wand tucked away in her jacket, of course). His positive reaction upon spotting her makes some of the nerves ebb away, which is nice, as is Eddie's cheerful greeting.)

Of course. It's– I hear so much about you, it's ridiculous we haven't spoken more often.

(To be fair, it feels like there's been a lot going on lately.) How are you?

[causational]

[Frankly, Eddie always wears his gun belt. It's kind of standard procedure in the Quarantine, unlike at home, for officers to be armed at all times, even off the clock. After all, not being on shift doesn't mean he's not an officer.

When he gets up to the table, he pulls back the other chair and sits down, sliding it forward and smiling across at her.]

It really is. I guess I just...well, I'm sure you know that Taako and I dated, so I sort of...I guess I withdrew from that side of Cisco's friend group when we broke up, you know? Nothing personal, just felt way, way too awkward.

[An exhale, and he glances up, looking to see if there's anyone around he can call over to get a glass of water.]

I'm okay. Work's been keeping me busy, seems like springtime is when a lot of the criminals crawl out of the woodwork. You?