debriefing ♔ in the emptiness there's a solution | just look within yourself for absolution

[nepotism]

♬ locking up the sun- poets of the fall

WHO || Wynn, Buffy, Myri, Finnick, Spike, Gar, Archer, Des, Vi, Rafael, Fred Jr., Dumage, Mark, Rocket, open! [Closed]
WHAT || Andres Mission Debrief & Aftermath
WHERE || Knights HQ, lobby etc.
WHEN || September 18th [forward dated*]
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread, don't worry about maintaining tagging order.

There are plenty of missions that return to the castle a success - most of them, even. The defeated air of the solemn group that returns from their diplomatic mission to Andres Isle to hear the demands of dictator Dimitris Sarandis makes it quite clear that this wasn't one of those.

Starting with Sarandis' actual demands - for all Knights to withdraw from Andres under penalty of death, or for Wynn to offer his own head in return for Thomas' safe return - and ending with the unexpected, disturbing confession from Kat that she intended to stay behind on the island because she had "fallen in love with" the dictator, the events of the island made it very clear that Sarandis was cannily playing his hand to get the Knights where he wanted them.

Fred Jr. shoves open the doors with his unnatural strength, stalking in ahead of the group into the lobby. Whoever's on desk duty isn't going to have to roll a high wisdom check to see that these people are pissed... and distraught... and a myriad of other emotions on the bad end of the scale.

*I am changing the date of the briefing log and Andres log/live session to have taken place in September, to avoid us being in backdated hell forever, and to allow for a September squiring ceremony before apps are closed. Carry on... in the future!

Comments

[socialgraces]

[ seeing all her friends in such compromising places, emotionally, is really pulling at francesca's sentimental parts. her concern for vi hasn't faded in the least since luthir's death. in fact, it's probably only grown, and seeing the young woman obviously attempting to cope in a negative fashion gives her pause as she enters the kitchen for some dinner.

she silently makes her way to the fridge, pulling out a fat-free yogurt, or something similarly healthy and small, and takes a seat across from vi at the table. she smiles softly as she attempts an ice-breaker. ] I must admit, I'm a bit jealous of your dinner.

[graveflowers]

You can have a slice, I guess. [ the offer is super begrudging, but only because vi is loathe to part with her pizza. she loves pizza. she doesn't want to share. with anyone. she wouldn't have shared with luthir. (of course, it's covered in hot sauce so he probably wouldn't have wanted it anyway... such was her plan.) ]

[socialgraces]

Oh, no, thank you. [ she smiles with the polite decline ] I'm not sure I could stomach much right now. [ with impending war and all on her mind ]

[graveflowers]

Whereas my stomach knows not anxiety or stress, only hunger. [ she's going to inhale another slice of pizza to prove it. ]

[socialgraces]

An enviable trait.

May I ask how else you've been keeping busy, besides pizza?

[graveflowers]

[ oh, you know, weird ass dreams. pity sex. more pizza... ]

Mostly just the pizza. Watching every Chris Evans movie in existence. I've been teaching Stiles to shoot. [ a bow. ] It used to be Luthir's job, but... well, someone had to teach Stiles.

[socialgraces]

Really? [ she sits up a bit straighter, clearly excited about some part of that, and it's not even the chris evans part! ] I've been training with Stiles, as well. I had completely forgotten he mentioned working with you.

[graveflowers]

Little spaz is more ADD than me, I'm not surprised, probably came out in the middle of a sentence and then he started talking about something else. [ she smiles, fond, and doesn't seem too bothered. stiles is a good kid. a good kid going to war. le sigh. ]

[socialgraces]

[ stiles is the best kid lbr ] He certainly always has plenty to talk about.

I must admit, it's kind of nice not having to be the one to keep the conversation going for a change. [ when charismatic heroes meet ]

[graveflowers]

He does know how to carry a conversation, that's for damn sure. Sweet kid. Way too young for a war. [ she sighs heavily. far too young. ]

[socialgraces]

None of us are trained soldiers, and that's why Wynn has set up this operation more as small mission groups accomplishing different task simultaneously. We're not marching to the front lines or anything like that. Wynn wouldn't ask that of us.

[graveflowers]

Well, actually, I am. A trained soldier, not marching to the front lines. [ /unsure. the roman legion was basically the most well trained soldiers in all the land. ]

[socialgraces]

Well, I suppose that explains your concern. However, this isn't really war in that sense. In fact, it's not much different than any other mission a Knight may be sent on.

Are you going? To Andres, I mean.

[graveflowers]

Huh? Oh, no, I'm not. [ she was used to francesca being part of failboat so her brain inserted her into the debrief so she's a little confused that she asked... ]

[socialgraces]

[ she seems surprised by that, and it shows ] Any particular reason why not?

... If you don't mind me asking.

[graveflowers]

[ it seems to occur to her that francesca is not in the know. ] I'm pregnant. [ pregnant and she got shot three times in less that 24 hours! a+ parenting. ]

[socialgraces]

You're p-pregnant? [ her surprise is quickly replaced by an ever-growing grin, sincerity written all over her face ] Luthir's... going to be a father? [ even if he's dead, there's really no other way to say that. and she's happy for it, regardless, because this is his legacy. he has a legacy. ]

[graveflowers]

Yeah. [ she still hasn't reached the point where she can be happy about it and it's fairly obvious in her slight frown and the dry way she answers. ]

[socialgraces]

Not what exactly something you were expecting, I take it? [ despite her own joy, she can certainly be sympathetic about vi's concerns, being a woman herself ]

[graveflowers]

[ last love song -- zz ward ]

I'm not sure a unicorn telling you in a nightmare and then waking up with a dead husband is how anyone expects to find out they got knocked up. [ its mostly the dead husband part she is still stuck on. ]

[socialgraces]

No, but I have to imagine a bout of good news is a welcome change from all the horror of that experience. [ she's gonna imagine it was good news as they were married and all ]

[graveflowers]

[ vi is usually only really rude to des -- he has that effect on her -- and she's not often rude to ladies because she feels a deep urge to stick up from her own gender. but the look she gives francesca is far from polite and incredibly disbelieving, even as her sharp tone stays quiet. ]

I was married for less than a day and my husband was murdered right in front of me, because of me, and now I'm pregnant and I have to have this baby all on my own and the only thing she'll know about her dad is stories because he's never going to be able to meet her much less hold her and tell her about when he was her age and he had to walk uphill both ways to go to school. In what universe is that ever good news?

[socialgraces]

[ whatever she can take the harsh words and tone, she wouldn't expect much less from someone still grieving ] It's good news in the sense that now you have a part of him that will always be with you, and he'll have a part of himself that will always live on. He's left behind a legacy, something greater than himself that will carry on his name and bloodline for hopefully many generations to come. [ because it's not just all about you right now, vi ]

Luthir was able to die protecting his family, which is something I know he would gladly do over and over again. Through all his long life I've never seen him happier than when he was with you, and now he's managed to leave you with a part of himself that will continue to offer you some of that joy and contentment you felt together.

[graveflowers]

No. He left me behind. Not a legacy, not something greater. He left me. You just implied that my grief is less because I have something to... what? Carry on his last name? If I wasn't pregnant would his death mean less...? Would it be less important, less horrifying, less devastating if he'd only left me? He turned to shadow beneath my fingertips. It was plenty fucking devastating.

[ she stands, pushing the pizza aside, she can come back to it later, shaking with anger. would her grief be less if she had an abortion? choosing to keep her baby doesn't mean that it's good news. nor does she appreciate the subtext that she has to give a fuck about anyone aside from herself. she was the one left behind to survive this by herself, it is 100% about her all the time. ] And I'm not happy, because he is gone. I'm not happy and I can feel, in technicolor and more than you can ever possibly imagine, exactly how much this hurts every single second of every single day. This is the most painful thing in the entire realm of possibility and I was tortured for almost a year, so I know the depths of despair a human being can feel before they shatter.

Don't you dare act like Luthir's legacy is supposed to make me feel better about my dead best friend. There is nothing welcome about this. That experience is ongoing and it is still horrifying. [ she turns on her heel and stalks out. ]

[socialgraces]

[ francesca pushes her chair back as vi does, and she has time to get out a few words before vi's able to leave the room, so she's gonna say them whether the other woman listens or not. ] I don't pretend to understand your grief, and if you want to turn anyway all those who only wish to help and comfort you the best they know how, be my guest. [ because yeah, she's fucking pissed now, too. ] But don't you dare think you're the only one who lost someone here; I've known Luthir my entire life. I don't remember a single day without him in my life, and I'm here now because my love for him extends to you, because I know how much he cared for you.

I only meant to offer you another perspective, what I know would be his perspective on all this. He would never want to leave you, but knowing he was protecting his family, and giving them a chance to carry on and persevere without him, is the greatest honor he could have imagined.

Regardless of how you feel about this, I refuse to let his sacrifice be in vain, even if only in my own memory.