(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

[trashvalkyrie]

That's alright. [Val's laughing, but not in a mean way.] Everyone likes pasta, after all.

[scholiast]

Everyone– what?

(She laughs, startled.) Thank you, I think.

[bythehand]

[ So many squishy magic users in the IPRE.

Finn "cagey" lastname sees no reason not to give a straightforward answer to this question. He's a soldier, soldiers come from armies, ipso facto. Overthinking yes or no questions is his special ability. ]

Yeah. The idea was to pretty much always mobilize more than one at a time. Did a lot of simulations. You know, make sure everyone... knew where to be. Military thing.

[spellslots]

[He needs a moment to sort of get himself fully out of it, shaking out his hands and running a hand through his hair, as if he can brush off that leftover ickiness from the whispers.]

Okay, uh, okay... [thinking! he can do this!] If this is some revenge bullshit, maybe we can lure 'em into a trap with me as the bait?

[scholiast]

(She wants to give him something to hold like a glass of wine or even a hot drink but all her stuff is smashed. She pauses awkwardly in the middle of reaching to magic a cupboard open.)

Um. Sure. You know, I feel like I want to protest you putting yourself out even further onto the line but I was just considering that if I tried to do this alone they could fuck me about for days, so. Let's do it.

[spellslots]

Gimme a good shield and I'm not gonna be too worried, you're better at that shit than I am.

[It's easy to tell he's a bit rattled because he's complimenting Lucretia without hesitation.]

You think they'll know their shit isn't working on me right now?

[trashvalkyrie]

[Val cocks one finger at Lucretia in a fingergun, the most bisexual of all gestures.]

Don't mention it.

[scholiast]

I can do that much.

(Lucretia will take what she can get.)

If they're keeping close tabs... we may have a very limited window in which to pull this off.

[scholiast]

(This may have flustered Lucretia if she hadn't had a century-long warm up courtesy of Lup.)

Want to see if we can finish clearing this block out? I'm up for it if you are.

[scholiast]

(finn you have no idea

He does pause for a strange amount of time before answering, which Lucretia finds vaguely suspicious, but clearly not enough to bother following it up. It's fine. He's valid.)

What's it like being in the military? (She's never been involved with it before; the IPRE was a completely different sector.)

[trashvalkyrie]

Yeah, let's do it. I'm not quite ready to pack it in just yet.

[Val grins at Lucretia, and then starts ahead, sword drawn.]

You got my back?

[scholiast]

(She casts an automatic look over her shoulder, then follows at a wee distance, grinning too.)

Of course.

[spellslots]

[He nods at that assessment, still obviously a little too tense, because even though the whispering is gone the effect lingers, putting him on edge.]

Not that I give that much of a shit about collateral damage, but I guess we should lead 'em somewhere quiet so no one dies or whatever?

[scholiast]

(Lucretia shakes her head, for once more than happy to get her hands dirty.)

I think we have more than enough reason to put the both of them into the ground.

(Sure, it's not her style but... they're both stalking Taako and deliberately messing with his emotional safety so, uh, it's a no-brainer.)

[bythehand]

[ This is why she's on the easy to talk to scale. Lucretia can be chill as hell. ]

Honestly? Depends on the military. Perimeter Guard's better than my old one.

[ Even after getting the canister and catching up with a few things from home, he's hesitant to count his time "with" the Resistance. A couple of days, most of which featured him hoping to get something over with and get away, don't count for much compared to a lifetime. Or to a few very eventful months in the Quarantine. ]

[spellslots]

Oh, that shit was non-negotiable on my end, but I'm talking like making sure no one else gets caught up in it. There's a few abandoned places near the edge of the wall or uh, we could head back to where we found 'em in the first place, like we're looking for them there?

[To throw the cultists off the fact that Taako isn't under the influence of their spell anymore.]

[scholiast]

Oh, gotcha.

(thinking too many ugly thoughts about people hurting her friends lol)

I think the temple would be good; it's got that real, uh, how do you put it? Fuck off vibe to it. I doubt anybody would be there out of general curiousity at this point so...

If we loop around and get them back there they may come because they feel they have home advantage too.

[spellslots]

[Taako is with it enough to look faux taken aback at her cussing, but moves on without comment.]

Right, right, that all checks out. Should you like go invisible for the walk over, cause I can toss that shit on you easy as, so they don't spot you?

[scholiast]

(She appreciates that.)

Perfect; I'll ward you six ways from Sunday and together we should be more than enough for them.

[scholiast]

What do you mean? Does that depend on what I consider military? Or that you've personally been in several?

(america explain)

I'm glad you're enjoying the Perimeter Guard though. I know a few people in their ranks; they're a good group.

[spellslots]

[Taako taps a finger on Lucretia's shoulder, casting invisibility on her so they can get to work.]

Hey, shit, you're moving out for good, right? You care if a put a hole in the wall? Make it look as if I couldn't find you and got real mad about it?

[If they're gonna sell this, he'll go all in.]

[bythehand]

Perimeter Guard makes two. Maybe two and a half. I haven't thought about it much. [ But I mean tbh like. Now he's wondering. ]

What would-? [ HOW DOES SOMEONE ASK THIS. In fact, he's not gonna make it a question. Forget asking, he's going with Opinions. ] I'm pretty sure a military's a military even if people don't consider it a military.

[scholiast]

(Oh– geez, it's happening right now. Okay. She'll text Beverly, let her know what's going on, and then come back later to get the rest of her boxes sorted. Taako is, naturally, top priority.)

Um, (she says distractedly, still looking at her phone.) Sure, that should be fine.

(she doesnt have a deposit, right???? so its whatever)

[scholiast]

And a half? (She prompts, curious. america, please explain some more)

I– well, I've already made the mistake of thinking that magic systems were the same universally, which they decidedly aren't. So I didn't want to assume anything of your military systems too? But that does make sense, yes.

[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?