(closed) god, it’s been a hell of a week

[scholiast]

who: lucretia + others (hmu if you'd like a starter!)
what: catch all for a couple things + canon update time :)
when: end of aug start of sep
where: here there everywhere
warnings: will be updated if they occur

Comments

for spellslots ♡ (text)

[scholiast]

(The summons had come earlier that morning.

Lucretia had awoke to a message on her phone detailing the arrival of a canister for her at the portal containing information from back home and she'd stared at it for a long time from the safety of her bed, thumb hovering over the reply button. It had been tempting to try and reach out to the others: but ultimately the option to receive it and open it was up to her and her alone.

She'd let it sit for a couple hours while she made breakfast, uncertainty tugging at her the entire time. The idea of knowing more about herself is, as always, practically irresistible– the only thing that gives her pause is how this may affect her friends. She does have an idea of what will happen with her in the future, after all, and it's not... fantastic. Perhaps it would be for the best if she resisted.

These thoughts are all very noble of her but curiousity, as always, wins out in the end. She sends a message to Taako on her way back from the portal, however, because she's nervous and she knows he'll understand.)

I got a canister.

oh, worm

[spellslots]

[It's almost a funny text to receive, for a whole slew of reasons, but the one that's most important is what he goes with for his reply.]

Me too, pumpkin.

[He's had it for almost a day now and hasn't known what to do with it.

At receiving one previously, Taako had told Lup immediately because he'd needed someone with him, because he'd been equal parts scared and hopeful that she was in his future, and he'd been right. Since then, he's been far more optimistic about his future.

When he'd got this call, he'd only felt something like dread. He has Lup, but the world is ending, and he's not sure he wants to know if they win.]

big sad time

[scholiast]

(Wait. She actually stops in the middle of walking to reply, brow furrowed.)

You too? Didn't you just get one?

(She had assumed he was more or less up to date. To think that there could possibly be more for him to figure out makes her nervous and excited for him at the same time; she grips her own canister harder, and bites her lip.)

Want to open them together?

loving it

[spellslots]

Sure fucking did, don't know why they couldn't do this all in one.

[It's a bit frustrating, really, especially now that he's troubled about what he might find out.

So Lucretia's offer is equal parts tempting and... the exact opposite of tempting. What if she goes so far forward that she's the Director? What the fuck is he supposed to do then?

Might as well get it over with.]

Home?

[scholiast]

Yeah, I'll be home in five.

(Perhaps sooner: her walking has sped up. She's nervous to simply be holding this thing. She pockets her phone as she gets home, shucking her shoes off at the door, coming into the lounge in her socks with the canister in both hands.)

Hey. (She offers, a little tightly; she's full on anxious about the whole thing, now. Regret is happening.)

for tutee ♡ (action)

[scholiast]

(She arrives to pick Bill up from her class at the exact time she had instructed, a little nervous habit of hers left over from early IPRE days. She has to give herself a little reminder of the circumstances before she rocks on up: firstly, that Bill is nice. Secondly, that Lucretia likes talking to her. Third of all: Taako's borrowed clothes look good, and finally: the day is very beautiful. Sunny, a little wind, the temperature cool and comfortable. All in all it will be a very lovely day to walk along the riverside later, and Lucretia is feeling distantly happy about that.

Oh, the class is coming out. She waits until she can spot Bill among the little groups of people and gives her a little wave, unable to help smiling at the sight of her.)

[tutee]

[ Bill barely paid any attention in her class, her mind focused on the date to come after. Finally, the clock strikes eleven thirty and they're let out. Bill packs her things in a hurry, rushing for the door.

She's dressed comfortably but fashionably, trying to prepare for the sort of weather they might run into on their walk. As soon as she spots Lucretia, she waves back and jogs over. ]

Hey! Thanks for meeting me.

[scholiast]

Oh, it's no problem.

I like this. (She gives Bill's sweater a little tug on the sleeve, smiling shyly at her. She points vaguely ahead of them, and starts to walk in the same direction.)

Restaurant's this way– how was class? Are you hungry?

[tutee]

Thanks. I like your top as well. The color suits you.

[ Bill follows along, sticking her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. ]

Class was alright. I couldn't really pay attention, if I'm honest. [ She shoots Lucretia a smile. ] Too excited about meeting you.

for ohhmrburnsides ♡ (action)

[scholiast]

(They agree to meet at the river's edge.

Lucretia, unnecessarily nervous about the whole thing, turns up twenty minutes earlier just to give herself a little extra time to collect her thoughts. Obviously she isn't going to tell him anything about the future (could she, even if she wanted to? It would probably static out, just as Taako had demonstrated), but she feels like she needs to think about exactly how she's going to act towards him. Being overly familiar might deter him, but he'll know that she's putting it on if she tries to keep a little distance there.

Eventually, she decides that she'll just figure everything out on the fly, and takes a seat on the riverbank to wait for him, knees up and arms locked around them.)

[ohhmrburnsides]

[Fifteen or so minutes later and not 2 days later whoops! Magnus trails along the river's edge, waving and calling out:]

Hey, Lucretia!

[He's actually incredibly nervous, but he knows she's going to be just as nervous. He feels kind of a duty to keep it cool for her sake. And, just like the case had been with Taako and Lup, he knows they'll get along just fine as long as they keep the conversation going.]

Hope I didn't keep you waiting long. How's it going?

[scholiast]

Hey.

(It's so strange seeing him again and knowing she can't go right up to him, give him a friendly punch on the arm (well– it's still Magnus after all, so she probably could: the difference that with everything as it currently is, she wouldn't dare). She does at least wander over, trying her best not to seem apprehensive about the whole thing.)

No no, you didn't. I got here early, so. (Shrug!) It's going pretty well, all things considered. You?

[ohhmrburnsides]

I'm doin' great! I'm starting to like it here in Riverview. Everyone's been pretty chill.

[It's. Awkward to start. He's really not sure how to segue into conversation here. Taako and Lup did most of the work on their end, engaging Magnus first, but it's apparent Lucretia is the shy type. ...Ssssso after a moment of awkward silence, he jumps into conversation.]

So I know you research magic for a living. What about for fun, though? Got any hobbies?

[Great job, you big goofus!]

time to die folks

[scholiast]

(Today's going to be interesting. This is, of course, an understatement: Lucretia had barely slept last night after receiving Taako's text letting her know of both a time and location for finally having their talk with Magnus. Nothing other than that brief sentence, just the bare bones information. She hasn't seen Taako since opening her canister and wonders if it's helped at all, if giving him the time to himself will have done anything to broach the chasm between them. She doubts it.

It's hard. She misses him so much. Magnus is much the same: it's good to be able to hang out with him, but seeing him as he is, missing memory and all? It's difficult, too. Lucretia wonders if they will ever reach a point where they can all band together again as they had in the IPRE, before– before she came in and messed it all up.

So, she doesn't sleep. She leaves the house very early the next morning hoping to distract herself with a bit of work beforehand but ends up taking a long, restless walk through Quarantine instead, watching it slowly come to life after sunrise. She stops to sketch. It's mindless work, something she can do while she waits. Eventually she drifts toward the cafe, where Taako will be, feeling about as ready for this encounter as she'll ever be (i.e hardly).

Looks like she's first to arrive. She picks a table outside and out of the way and resists the urge to order a large, strong coffee; as if she needs caffeine jitters, on top of everything else.)

[ohhmrburnsides]

[Magnus is second to arrive. It's a little early for him, but he agreed to the time, so. He's not his usual energetic self this early, but with the help of what is honestly milkshake with some coffee blended into it, he's still upbeat.]

Mornin', Lucretia.

[He offers her a smile as he sits next to her. There's a beat as he processes her appearance—things have changed since their last hangout sesh.]

Oh—my bad. You looked like a friend of mine.

[In the interest of being polite, he smiles again and motions to leave.]

[scholiast]

(She opens her mouth to reply, then catches herself, surprise giving way for exasperation. Taako forgot to mention something, didn't he. Or maybe he deliberately didn't mention it just so he could be privy to this awkward conversation she's about to have. She drums her fingernails on the table, and gives Magnus a little look.)

Nope, it's uh– it's me.

(She's touched that he recognised her at first glance, though. There's the Burnsides she knows and loves. She pats the other side of the table apologetically.)

It's... complicated. You'd better have a seat.

[spellslots]

[Taako has been nearby for at least fifteen minutes, but knew that there was no way in any reality he could handle sitting alone with Lucretia, so decided to just wait until Magnus was tehre to act as a buffer.

He witnesses the end of that incredibly awkward exchange, wincing inwardly as he realizes he definitely forgot to warn Magnus, and then finally approaches the table, taking a seat beside Lucretia without really looking at her.]

Uh, hey, sorry I forgot to give you a heads up, my dude about the... this. [With a vague gesture at Lucretia.] It's some stupid shit with the portal.

for dothelokimotion ♡ (action)

[scholiast]

(After the fight with Taako, Lucretia, having promptly gone back to their house to pack and leave, ends up crashing in her office for the night. She does mindless work until she can't keep her eyes open any longer and ends up falling asleep at her desk, slumped over on her paper work. So there are some drawbacks to having physically aged: in the morning she's stiff from how she slept and still tired. Perhaps staying here isn't the best option after all.

She's stretching her arms above her head to work the soreness out of her shoulder blades when there is a knock at her door. A quick glance at the time: ten-thirty in the morning. Whoops. Lucretia casts a lazy disguise self to hide the dark circles under her eyes and the general disarray, and stands up to answer the door.

Opening it reveals Loki.

This isn't great for two reasons: one, because it means Lucretia can't just brush him off like she would somebody she doesn't know, and two: he is good friends with Taako. Lucretia noticeably tenses; but hopefully she's just jumping the gun on this one. Perhaps too late, she feigns a curious expression.)

Loki– how are you? Can I help with something?

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki has never been good with sides. True, he was more than capable of discerning the bigger picture. He knew when to be ruthless, when to be kind. Asgard has waged enough wars, has pushed realms to the point they are dust and ruin to know the intricacies and politics that drives actions. He knew all of this, but he has never been good at sides. One side was enough and he left it at that. Duplicitous as he might be, Loki was loyal. It was written upon his skin, burned when he held the spear at his father's throat and fired. ]

I think you know.

[ But he amends it slightly. ]

You need not fear me. But I do want answers.

[scholiast]

(It's impressive that he thinks he is entitled to them.

Lucretia raises an eyebrow; but she's never known Loki to be disingenuous with her before. She stares at him for a long moment, considering, then relents. A quick mage hand cleans up the worst of her office, and then she lets him in.)

Alright. What would you like to know?

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki steps in politely, his face a careful mask of bland feeling. The anger, for the most part, has died down but Loki can hold grudges forever. And that's not a metaphor. ]

Will it happen again?

for dancingmd ♡ (action)

[scholiast]

(In hindsight, Lucretia should have realised that this was coming. With everything that's been going on lately, it had, somewhat ironically, slipped her mind– but she wishes in hindsight, that she might have remembered to at least mention this to Beverly, even if only off-handedly.

But she doesn't, and as it stands, she wakes without warning at three in the morning on her second night at Beverly's apartment. The nightmare itself is old hat: the usual, crushing loneliness of cycle sixty-five that never fails to leave her gasping, hands shaking wildly as she forces herself to sit upright, legs loosely crossed. She presses her cold fingertips to the backs of her eyelids and hunches over herself, and her breath hitches as she tries very hard not to cry because she knows that it's only the stress of everything dragging on her that has dredged up this old, unwanted memory again.

A quick glance to the side confirms Beverly is lying there beside her in bed. She's right there, it's fine. It's fine. She isn't alone.

Lucretia uncurls a little, grips her hands tight to try and force a little extra calm, but she's still full of dread and shaking, eyes darting about the room as she considers what to do. She would get up and take herself into the kitchen to keep from waking Beverly, except she feels stuck in place, forced into waiting for the panic to release its stranglehold on her.

It always does, eventually.)

[dancingmd]

(The thing is, Beverly is a very light sleeper. It comes with the territory of being a Starfleet doctor: she might be needed at a moment's notice at any time. On top of that, she's not quite used to sharing a bed with anyone yet, so when Lucretia sits up, Beverly begins to stir. Rolling over towards her, she murmurs Lucretia's name, confusion and concern mixing together.)

What's wrong?

[scholiast]

Nothing, (Lucretia manages, voice quiet but tight. When Beverly rolls over to face her, she ducks her head a little, trying to hide the expression on her face. It's not that she feels like she has to hide this; more that she's reluctant to drag Beverly into it all, especially after having woken her up in the middle of the night.)

Just a nightmare, (she ammends, and sighs shakily. Her chest hurts.) I'm fine.

[dancingmd]

(No you're not, Beverly thinks, though she doesn't say it. Instead, she slides up to sit with her knees tucked to her chest. Then, after a moment, she gently leans over, pressing her shoulder against Lucretia's.)

Talk to me.