[log] Decoherence [open]

[snowblindmods]

Characters: anyone
Location: In Norfinbury, and yet not.
Date: At all times, and yet not.
Summary: What you remember isn't what happened, probably. A place to play out situations that happened in the test drives or elsewhere. Things that happened and didn't happen.
Warnings: general horror warnings; please include more specific warnings in subject lines as necessary!

Comments

[bywolves]

I'm sorry. [ He pets at the tablet. Maybe he's a little hoarse. ] I'm sorry. I'm going to get you out of there. Going to kill whoever did it to you.

[devoutish]

My beard, Royce.

[Out of everything, that's what's getting to him the most right now.]

[bywolves]

I know. [ Royce says, swallowing hard. ] Means something.

[ He doesn't know what specifically, but. That was the point that Alfie really broke during the feed and Royce knows that hurt him the most. ]

[devoutish]

Home.

[The tablet jitters again.]

[bywolves]

[ Oh. ]

It'll... it'll grow back. [ But he knows that's poor comfort and not the same. ] How badly does it hurt? I - I can try to distract you. I'll stay with you.

[devoutish]

It hurts like hell; it hurts too much to properly describe. So he doesn't try. There's no answer.]

[bywolves]

[ There's a pause as he desperately tries to come up with something to say. ]

Hey. [ Royce says, finally, closing his eyes. ] Talk to me. Teach me the words to your prayers.

[devoutish]

[Another pause.]

Can't.

[bywolves]

Why?

[devoutish]

Can't.

[He sounds impossibly tired.]

[bywolves]

[ Royce sighs out slow. ]

Okay. [ Then - then he'll just talk. ] Are you warm? Try to stay warm. I'll talk to you for a while. Try to sleep. If you can.

[devoutish]

[That's what he wants, really - to hear Royce talk. Onscreen, the edge of his hand floats into view as he tries to touch the screen.]

[bywolves]

Yeah. Yeah, I'm - here. [ He confirms, at the sight of the hand. A beat. ] Did I ever tell you about how Hadrian and I actually stopped a noble lady from getting assassinated?

[devoutish]

Tell me.

[bywolves]

She was different than a lot of noble women. She wasn't one, but - that's the end of the story. [ Pause. ] We were hired to figure out how to kill her. It would've been easy, but she kept getting out of situations that would've meant the death of normal nobles.

There was this sheriff that wanted to be the Duke. He was trying to frame us, but we figured it out.

[devoutish]

Figured it out.

[He echoes quietly. How did you figure it out, Royce?]

[bywolves]

We found evidence. He hired someone to kill the Duchess using the method I gave him. We knew what they were going to do and how they'd set it up, so we stopped it.

[ Usually he's a better story teller than this, but he's worried. He can't recall every detail, distracted by how bad off Alfie is. ]

[devoutish]

Fucking ridiculous.

[He's feeling up to swearing, at least?]

[bywolves]

[ That's a relief. Royce takes a deep breath. ]

My life usually is. [ He mutters. ] They shot Dulgath with an arbalest in the middle of a busy courtyard, during a ceremony. She wasn't human. Wasn't alive, really - something was possessing her. We dragged her off to try to get her healed by a monk, but she just ended up switching bodies with the man who was trying to have her killed.

It was - a mess. I don't know if I can explain it well enough.

[devoutish]

What did she do next?

[bywolves]

She took over the body of the man who was trying to kill her. Sheriff Fawkes. And she used his power to make sure the king didn't think it was me and Hadrian who killed her old body. Got ourselves banned from the town, but. She stayed there and kept an eye on the people.

She was an elf. I'm pretty sure. A long, long time ago, she was an elf.

[devoutish]

[Alfie's hand appears again, floating into view and touching the screen.]

Like you.

[bywolves]

Yeah.

[ He swallows hard. Like him. He doesn't like that this is on the network, but it's fine, it doesn't matter that much. Keeping Alfie engaged matters more. ]

Like me. She was the one who told me that I am.

[devoutish]

She keep in touch with you?

[bywolves]

No. I never saw her again.