(She's just thinking about lying back down and nodding off for a little bit longer when the bathroom door opens and Beverly steps out wrapped up in a towel; Lucretia brightens similarly in response, expression softening at the sight of her. From her shoulder, Junior sings a round of clear, high notes that always herald Beverly's presence.)
Good, (she says, and clears her throat, taking one of her hands carefully back to give her eye a rub. Still a bit tired, but that's probably to be expected!)
How long was I asleep? (She'd seen that momentary crease of concern between Beverly's brow before she'd noticed Lucretia was awake. Lucretia presses her thumb gently to that spot now, smoothing it across Beverly's forehead.) How are you?
(Beverly reaches up to give Junior a pat on its bell in answer to its musical greeting, a comforting and homey sound to her now, strange as it had been to adjust to at first.)
A couple of days. Not surprising, given what you went through.
(Her instinct is to hide her own worries, to save Lucretia from any extra burdens, but of course, Lucretia sees right through that, doesn't she? There's no use pretending.)
(Lucretia seems to chew that over for a while, frowning. A couple of days. No wonder Beverly had been concerned. Her thumb trails away from her forehead, replaced by the heel of her palm at Beverly's jaw instead, gently cupping her cheek.
She does see right through it, and she meets her partner's gaze with concern of her own, now.)
(Beverly leans into her hand, grateful for the reassurance. After Jack, after Odan, it had been all too easy to let her mind wander to dark places while Lucretia was recuperating, even when she knew, medically speaking, that Lucretia was going to come out of this just fine.)
Lucretia hadn't thought that she was going to come to serious harm, but... everything is much different, now that she has an older body. It had been much easier to weather various hurts when she had a body stuck in its mid-twenties. She can't remember ever having felt that exhausted before... the bone-deep weariness, the inability to cast even a cantrip. That bit had been scary.
She smooths her thumb across Beverly's cheek.) But I knew I'd be okay once I found you.
(At that, her whole being floods with warmth. She is loved and loving, and as long as they have each other they'll be just fine. She leans up to give Lucretia a gentle kiss.)
(Impossible not to, when Beverly never shies from showing her. Lucretia closes her eyes at the kiss, content, and tucks Beverly's hair gently behind her ear. These feelings that once overwhelmed and frightened her a little now feel perfectly natural: she's at home with them at last.)
You... don't have to go, do you? (Whoops, she didn't mean to sound so plaintive. She knows that Beverly is a doctor, and she's probably in high demand! But Lucretia also has high demands, and they are for some company after being apart from her for so long.)
(Such emotional vulnerability is only to be expected. Beverly remembers all too well how she felt in the days after her own kidnapping. There was a desperate desire to feel safe, protected.)
I don't have anywhere to be except right here with you.
(Lucretia relaxes, and leans in to kiss Beverly's forehead lightly.)
That's good, because I have... a lot of questions. (More details about the kidnapping are coming back to her as she sits and thinks.) Like– where did you learn to be covert?
It's the first thing that comes to mind with you sitting here in front of me, (she admits, spreading the duvet cover flat with the palm of her hand to hide her embarrassment.)
(The voidfish seems to want her attention again judging by the way its nudging at her shoulder and trying to tuck back in against her neck, so Lucretia turns to it, reaching up to cup it gently in both hands. Oh, but there's so much she wants to know; she's stroking Junior's bell absentmindedly with her thumbs for ten seconds before another question bursts out of her like she can't help it.)
Did everybody else get out safe? Were the children okay?
(Ah - there we go. Those were the types of questions she was expecting. Normally, she'd probably be blow drying her hair, but seeing as that's noisy and distracting, she opts for towel-drying instead. Unwrapping herself, she reveals that while she is braless, she'd already put underwear on in the bathroom. As she continues to dry off, she answers Lucretia's questions.)
We got everyone out, including all the children. Some are... going to be in the hospital for quite a while though. I visited some of the kids that came out with you yesterday - most are in remarkably good spirits.
(Lucretia watches her go about her routine with a sleepy sort of satisfaction, tickling Junior absentmindedly as she talks.)
Okay. (She yawns, and arches her shoulders, stretching out another ache. The idea of any of the children having suffered harm enough for them to have to remain in the hospital for a while brings a flicker of anger into her actions.)
And the cultists? (She adds lightly. Read: did we get them all?)
(She tilts her head for a moment to squeeze the excess water out of her hair with the towel. A dark flicker of emotion crosses her face before she adds:)
The ones that survived, anyway.
(Though killing never comes easy to her and she always went first to stun, even during the infiltration, she knows there is no way all of them got out of that cave-in alive. She doesn't feel guilty exactly - instead it feels as if she should feel some remorse, and not this grim satisfaction.)
Good, (Lucretia says darkly, staring at the bedspread. She isn't one for killing either; her fellow IPRE members have always been a little more cavalier about it than she, but Lucretia has always placed those she holds dear high above everybody else. They will always come first. Those who harm them will find no mercy at her hands.
That, and the hurting of innocent people will never sit right with her no matter the circumstances. She's silently, savagely glad that most of the cultists are dead and gone.
Eventually she notices she's got a handful of the duvet cover and relinquishes it, opting to rub her shoulder instead.)
Oh– do you know if any possessions were recovered from them? (She'd like her phone if only to send a message to Taako, Lup and Magnus.)
(Hating the reminder of anyone hurting Lucretia, Beverly winces as she drapes her towel over the back of a chair. As for Lucretia's stuff, the phone and the keys, those can be easily replaced. But the wand and her journal, those can't be and she knows how much they mean to her.)
I'll check in with the department later today. I'm sorry, I should have done that already.
(It's not like she knew that Lucretia had anything on her when she was taken; and Beverly's right, she can replace most of the things that she lost. The journal is a pain, but it's not the first time she's lost a journal, so. Life moves on.
But:) The wand... is the tricky thing, (she admits, rubbing the back of her neck slowly.) It's not like I can't cast magic without it, but it certainly... uh, amplifies the power if I do have one.
(Maybe she can see if Taako or Lup have anything spare. Or maybe the Quarantine has a magic wand shop. Hmm.)
Surely someone at Gramayre would know how to make a wand, right? Or someone on the Capital World, even, who has posted instructions somewhere on the network.
(Now she's digging around in her dresser. After a moment, she pulls out a big t-shirt tunic and tosses that on before climbing into the bed next to Lucretia.)
I've made my own staff before, (she comments idly, slumping back against her pillows and allowing Junior to perch on top of her head,) it took a long time.
It was when we... (a momentary pause. That air of irritation is back about her again.) When the others decided to separate what Light we had collected into seven artifacts, to hide it away from the Hunger. I was asked to craft a relic too.
(She misses that stupid staff. It had been perfect, meticulously crafted; how powerful it had felt, to wield something made with your own two hands.)
(Beverly bites her lower lip to keep from smiling. Not at Lucretia's justified irritation at the loss of both her wand and her staff, but rather at how silly it looks to have Junior sitting on top of her head, like a jellyfish hat.)
(Fair enough! It's really settled in there, humming quietly in response to Lucretia's annoyance, as if to soothe.)
... I'll think about it.
(Later, though. For now she just wants to snuggle with her girlfriend. She waves Junior off, ducking her head as it floats reluctantly away, and scoots closer to her across the mattress.)
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riverviewlogs2018-05-24 01:06 am
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Good, (she says, and clears her throat, taking one of her hands carefully back to give her eye a rub. Still a bit tired, but that's probably to be expected!)
How long was I asleep? (She'd seen that momentary crease of concern between Beverly's brow before she'd noticed Lucretia was awake. Lucretia presses her thumb gently to that spot now, smoothing it across Beverly's forehead.) How are you?
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A couple of days. Not surprising, given what you went through.
(Her instinct is to hide her own worries, to save Lucretia from any extra burdens, but of course, Lucretia sees right through that, doesn't she? There's no use pretending.)
You had me scared there for a little while.
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She does see right through it, and she meets her partner's gaze with concern of her own, now.)
I'm sorry that I scared you. I'm okay.
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You must have been scared too.
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Lucretia hadn't thought that she was going to come to serious harm, but... everything is much different, now that she has an older body. It had been much easier to weather various hurts when she had a body stuck in its mid-twenties. She can't remember ever having felt that exhausted before... the bone-deep weariness, the inability to cast even a cantrip. That bit had been scary.
She smooths her thumb across Beverly's cheek.) But I knew I'd be okay once I found you.
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I hope you know how much I love you.
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(Impossible not to, when Beverly never shies from showing her. Lucretia closes her eyes at the kiss, content, and tucks Beverly's hair gently behind her ear. These feelings that once overwhelmed and frightened her a little now feel perfectly natural: she's at home with them at last.)
You... don't have to go, do you? (Whoops, she didn't mean to sound so plaintive. She knows that Beverly is a doctor, and she's probably in high demand! But Lucretia also has high demands, and they are for some company after being apart from her for so long.)
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I don't have anywhere to be except right here with you.
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(Lucretia relaxes, and leans in to kiss Beverly's forehead lightly.)
That's good, because I have... a lot of questions. (More details about the kidnapping are coming back to her as she sits and thinks.) Like– where did you learn to be covert?
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That's the first thing you want to talk about?
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Give me a minute, all right? So I can finish drying off and then we can get properly comfortable on the bed.
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(The voidfish seems to want her attention again judging by the way its nudging at her shoulder and trying to tuck back in against her neck, so Lucretia turns to it, reaching up to cup it gently in both hands. Oh, but there's so much she wants to know; she's stroking Junior's bell absentmindedly with her thumbs for ten seconds before another question bursts out of her like she can't help it.)
Did everybody else get out safe? Were the children okay?
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We got everyone out, including all the children. Some are... going to be in the hospital for quite a while though. I visited some of the kids that came out with you yesterday - most are in remarkably good spirits.
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Okay. (She yawns, and arches her shoulders, stretching out another ache. The idea of any of the children having suffered harm enough for them to have to remain in the hospital for a while brings a flicker of anger into her actions.)
And the cultists? (She adds lightly. Read: did we get them all?)
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(She tilts her head for a moment to squeeze the excess water out of her hair with the towel. A dark flicker of emotion crosses her face before she adds:)
The ones that survived, anyway.
(Though killing never comes easy to her and she always went first to stun, even during the infiltration, she knows there is no way all of them got out of that cave-in alive. She doesn't feel guilty exactly - instead it feels as if she should feel some remorse, and not this grim satisfaction.)
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That, and the hurting of innocent people will never sit right with her no matter the circumstances. She's silently, savagely glad that most of the cultists are dead and gone.
Eventually she notices she's got a handful of the duvet cover and relinquishes it, opting to rub her shoulder instead.)
Oh– do you know if any possessions were recovered from them? (She'd like her phone if only to send a message to Taako, Lup and Magnus.)
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If anything was, I'm sure it's in police custody. Why? Are you missing something?
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(Just the things she would have had on her at the time of leaving Gramarye. Oh, Beverly doesn't know about this, does she.)
They jumped me leaving work. I was with a colleague. They broke her wrist and snapped my wand, got the cuff on me before I could do anything else.
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I'll check in with the department later today. I'm sorry, I should have done that already.
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(It's not like she knew that Lucretia had anything on her when she was taken; and Beverly's right, she can replace most of the things that she lost. The journal is a pain, but it's not the first time she's lost a journal, so. Life moves on.
But:) The wand... is the tricky thing, (she admits, rubbing the back of her neck slowly.) It's not like I can't cast magic without it, but it certainly... uh, amplifies the power if I do have one.
(Maybe she can see if Taako or Lup have anything spare. Or maybe the Quarantine has a magic wand shop. Hmm.)
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(Now she's digging around in her dresser. After a moment, she pulls out a big t-shirt tunic and tosses that on before climbing into the bed next to Lucretia.)
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It was when we... (a momentary pause. That air of irritation is back about her again.) When the others decided to separate what Light we had collected into seven artifacts, to hide it away from the Hunger. I was asked to craft a relic too.
(She misses that stupid staff. It had been perfect, meticulously crafted; how powerful it had felt, to wield something made with your own two hands.)
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Perhaps you can make another one then.
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... I'll think about it.
(Later, though. For now she just wants to snuggle with her girlfriend. She waves Junior off, ducking her head as it floats reluctantly away, and scoots closer to her across the mattress.)
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