riverviewlogs | (open) i made a sucker's prayer

Entry tags:

(open) i made a sucker's prayer

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.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

(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.)

[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.]

Edited 2018-04-17 01:36 (UTC)

(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?

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.

(She remembers it: the paranoia, the mistrust. He'd been outright nasty a few times, but they'd found the source of the problem and eliminated it. Even now, Lucretia thinks of the cultists she had spared from death at the last minute and winces softly, watching Taako tug at his hair.)

What specifically? You didn't have anything left in your room we missed the first time, did you?

(Though he's out of his room now and the curse is still following him... it definitely has something to do with those remaining cultists. Fuck.)

I suppose they already know your mind's signature, so it's easy to get to you.

I looked, no fucking joke, I looked everywhere.

[This isn't like last time, where he was mistrustful of Lucretia and wanted to keep her at a distance because it felt safer that way. He needs her help, he wants her to trust that he's doing the right thing.]

The whispering won't stop, Lucretia.

[There's a little desperation in that and despite how things are between them, he reaches out a hand for her, as if somehow that will help.]

(She takes it automatically, smoothing her thumb over the back of his knuckles and tries to think. The whispering, the... back in the room, where they'd fought all the cultists and something had been murmuring in the shell of her ear the entire time. Where had that come from?)

Okay, (she says, distracted,) okay. Uh...

(It had, she presumed, been coming from the room that they were standing in. Some kind of trap, present only to serve as distraction while they had been fighting. More than a few times she'd almost lost herself to listening to it and nearly been hit by somebody.)

The two that we left behind must have triggered something. I can– I'll find them, put them down. (That should make it stop.) D'you think they'll still be in the same place as before?

We levelled that place, if anyone's still there it's cause their fucking ghost is haunting it.

[He's gripping her hand tighter than he really should be and there's a tension in his voice that doesn't quite ease even though he's talking shit. It's hard to focus on anything that isn't the incessant whispering. It feels as though it's gotten worse since he showed up here, and he hates that he can't tell if it's real or imagined.]

I dunno what to do.

[If there are some of them left, they have to find them, but he has no idea how to go about it and even if he did, he's not in any state to fight someone right now.]

I know.

(She's not sure what to do. If they're out there somewhere, Lucretia has no idea how long it will take to track them down. They've proved themselves more than sufficient with magic, they could lead her about in circles for days if they wanted and from the way that Taako grips her hand so tightly he probably can't stand to have the whispering around for that long.

She makes up her mind.)

I'll find them, (she reiterates,) I'll be quick. I could– we could ask the others for help.

I'm so fucking sick of making Lup worry.

[He promised things would be fine after Kravitz arrived, that they'd cut down on the bullshit for a while and sure, it's been at least a month and a half since then. But... still, he just wants to handle this quickly and quietly so that Lup and Kravitz never need to know.]

Can't you-- gods, isn't there a spell to make them shut the fuck up?

[She's an abjuration wizard, surely there's something.]

Gotcha.

(She undestands without having to ask: Lup will tell Barry and Kravitz, and if Taako takes it direct to Lucretia instead he knows she won't say a word if he doesn't want her to. She'll just have to figure it out by herself.

A quick mental flick through her wheelhouse does, at least, produce something that might be useful.) Mind blank, (she supplies, taking her wand out with her free hand. Sbe gives him a quick, nervous glance.)

It might work. You trust me, right?

[Though he hasn't mastered it himself, he's familiar with the spell in passing, which is probably lucky considering the name is somewhat unsettling, especially considering... everything.

But Taako nods.]

I-- just do it, Luce, it's gotta be better than this.

[He trusts her but he doesn't, it's complicated and he isn't ready to get into it right now.]

(It's fine. All she needs is enough trust to get away with casting something on him she hasn't used in a long time; she gives his hand a gentle squeeze, and uses the point of familiar contact to help ground herself.

It should hopefully feel like a warm blanket settling across the top of him, muffling all the sound in his brain. It's a careful, complicated bit of protection and it takes Lucretia a solid minute to set it properly.)

There. That should buy you twenty-four hours, (she says eventually, yawning hugely.) Did it work?

[For once in his life, Taako waits patiently, though his grip on her hand stays tight until the spell finally settles over his thoughts. His hold loosens at the same time as some of the tension in his shoulders drain away.]

Shit, yeah, it's good, it worked.

[It's quiet, which almost feels weird after so long, but he's grateful.]

I can fucking think again.

Oh, good.

(She relaxes too: this has bought them time to figure something more long-term out, and she's never become accustomed to seeing Taako in genuine distress. Never will. Not even after one hundred years of shenanigans has she ever been able to weather it.)

Good, okay. Next step is finding the cultists.

[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?

(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.

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?

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.

[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?

(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.)

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.]

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.

[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?

(She appreciates that.)

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

(open) i made a sucker's prayer

for @spellslots ♡

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