chicago ♔ but close my eyes for a while | and force from the world a patient smile

[shootfirst]

♬ Evil - Interpol

WHO || Spike, Francesca, Archer, Myri, Finnick, Elena, Buffy, Des, Gar, Mark, Kat, Rafael, Isabella, Jaka, Burt, Violet, Luthir, Val'drin, ??[Closed]
WHAT || The Knights prepare for the trial of Rafael Giovanni and face a few revelations along the way
WHERE || Various locations, Chicago
WHEN || July 17th - November 21st  [Back AND Forward dated]
HOW || Actionspam, don't sweat tag order!!


The trial of Rafael Giovanni looms on the horizon, as summer gives way to fall, the chill in the air creating a definite atmosphere of foreboding as the date grows closer. It's not merely Rafael's freedom on the line after all - but also Des', thanks to the deal he struck with Iscariot. While Francesca and Val'drin work to uncover the secret of the mysterious hourglass artifact, lawyer Jaka Teken'Duis uses his ... unique legal powers to work towards a "Temporary Insanity" case for Rafael. The Knights, unhappy about the potential ramifications of such a plea, continue to seek any evidence they can to show Rafael was actually innocent, and place conspiracy charges back on Chad Becksworth and his ilk for what transpired. Not everything they learn, however, is what they were hoping to find...

Others wage more personal battles, as the coming autumn signals the encroaching winter, and Luthir and Violet's time draws shorter to find a way to stop her nightmares, lest they kill her. Elena plays a dangerous game, working to uncover more of her nature by training her doppelganger powers - with the enemy.

This log covers any work and non-work related shenanigans the Knights have while staying in Chicago, immediately following the three mission logs and continuing for four months. This will be the Knight's last time in Chicago before the trial: after which they plan to return to the castle to fully Knight Violet and Dawn and decide where to head next.

Make your own threads, don't fuss about tag order, feel free to threadjack multiple people into one thread for hang-outs, ask me if you want a certain scene with an NPC, etc. forever whatever. There will be a few group scenes, which I'll alert everyone to on Plurk. They may not all be posted immediately, so keep an eye on this post for new threads as time goes by. Please wait to post social threads here until we reach a certain point in the top group thread. I will alert you all when you are free to post.

Comments

[romanticidal]

[ he lifts up the top of one bag to peer inside, raising an eyebrow ] ... She did not, actually. I suspect she has been... distracted, as well.

[ a pause, and then with a sort of grim resignation: ] It is very convincing, I imagine?

[slay]

Beyond convincing. [ she shakes her head. ] At first, I - I mean we saw the video of Mark first, I almost believed ... [ and it's hard for her to admit that, but in the interest of honesty, she feels like she has to. she'd believed it was him, for a moment, that he hadn't been telling them something. but rafael being in any way culpable for jade's death, in any helping her murderer, it's so far beyond unbelievable that she'd quickly shaken it. ] I think it was their doppelganger. They must have gotten him close to you so he could wear your face, meeting with Roger James.

[romanticidal]

[ he affixes her with a canny look when she trails off, and it's clear that he understood what went unsaid. when she finishes, he sits quietly a moment. ] ... It would not have been difficult, if they slipped in as one of Burt's assistants.

[ another beat, and then his face softens a bit. ] I don't blame you, for at least considering. You should. It is the ... smart thing to do, to consider all possibilities.

[slay]

Smart thing, maybe. But not the trusting thing. [ she sighs, sounding disappointed in herself. ] I just feel like it's one more way they're getting to us. To me. I shut everything down in there, ignored everything I was feeling to try and do what felt like the "smart thing" and half of my friends almost walked out on me. I know you. I know you would never have conspired to get Jade hurt. But I thought it, anyway. Just for a second.

[romanticidal]

I know better than most how much can be compromised in looking at things tactically. How much of our self, our loyalties... [ he looks down, and shakes his head ] I cannot judge you for it, Buffy, when I have seen the necessity of it enough to do what I have done in the past.

[slay]

But, what if they're right? What if it's not necessary, and the way they're - they're pushing us to think that it is really is just ripping us apart? And the minute we're willing to ignore that the people we love are in danger is the minute we've lost. [ she turns away, seemingly to disguise how emotional that outburst has made her. ] My friends were ready to walk out on me. People that I don't want to imagine ever losing. How can I not wonder if they had a point?

[romanticidal]

The minute we become no better than them, you mean.

[slay]

Doesn't that scare you? [ because it scares the hell out of her. it scares her to think she can just shut down and cut herself off from her friends so easily and feel like it's the right decision, even now. it makes her want to think about it and change her mind but even voicing her doubts doesn't shift what she feels she had to do. what she'd do again. the mission is what matters.

it scares her that if she had believed for a minute longer that it was rafael on that tape, truly him, that she might have tried to throw him out, to the wolves. it scares her how hurt she imagines it'd leave her and it scares her that she's not sure if it'd be an act of setting her feelings aside to do what's right, or finding an excuse to lash out in hurt and betrayal. ]

[romanticidal]

More than anything. [ that haunted look, the heavy burden, is back in his eyes, so much that he can barely even raise them to meet her gaze. ] Buffy, I spent every day for years wondering this in the back of my mind. It was thinking this, realizing that there may have been no justification strong enough for how cold my decisions were, that the ends meant nothing to the means, that-- [ he can't say it, doesn't ever talk about it, but it hearkens back to what he'd said on the bridge, about how jade's death had shattered his belief that his actions were just and left him in his suicidal state in the first place. ]

[slay]

[ and that's when it really crushes her. to realize how alike they are. to both of them be staring at the things they feel they've lost as a result of cutting themselves off and trying to make these 'cold,' objective decisions in the face of their feelings.

it only makes her wonder what they would have done. if roger james wanted to kill someone important, someone loved, but at the cost of jade or of rafael, would they have done it? would they have given in like mark did when the stakes were that high, or would they have sacrificed the one person who meant everything? ]

I don't want to lose the people I love. But, I can't stand the thought that more people might get hurt, or die, because I picked them. No one that I care about would want that. [ she looks to him for affirmation, because it's just unacceptably confusing and hurtful and she wishes they didn't have to make these choices. she wishes, for the first time, that rafael could just be retired with jade in some beachside town pretending they'd never been involved in this. that they were happy. because buffy doesn't think she ever can walk away, but she feels like rafael simply had his chance to stolen from him. ]

[romanticidal]

[ ♬ understanding (acoustic) - evanescence

he meets her gaze and seems to understand only too well what she's driving at, the conflict ripping her apart. without answering, he pushes his chair back slowly, the scraping noise grating against their frayed nerves. he wraps his arms around her tightly, as much for himself as to comfort her. near her ear, he murmurs, half to himself: ] It is too much to hope that we might never have to make these decisions again.

[slay]

[ she leans into his touch, arms slipping around his waist to return the hug. she buries her face against his shirt, still trying to fight back the emotions flooding her. she'd fought so hard to keep them out, to keep her solution a matter of reason and tactics, but in the end they had to come back. she clutches the back of his shirt, clinging to him.

he's right, and she knows it. this isn't going to go away. not for people like them. it's something they'll have to face their whole lives, and it's not going to get easier. words fail her, as a result, because it's something she's always known in the back of her mind, but never had to directly face so head-on. ]

[romanticidal]

[ he doesn't seem to expect her to say anything, doesn't seem to know what else to say himself, so the moment lingers before he finally draws back, hands still on her waist. ]

Let us hope they will come later than sooner, no?

[slay]

You hope for that one, I'll just hope we get through them when they do come. [ she fixes him with a wry sort of smile, and moves her hands up to rest at his shoulders comfortably. she cups his cheek with one hand, studying him, then slides it back down the side of his neck to settle on his shoulder again. ]

[romanticidal]

Si, si. [ he pulls away slowly, one hand reaching out to tip the bag on the table open ] In the meantime, let us see what you bought.

[slay]

I did what I could to find you a life since you're gonna be stuck in here. [ she moves past him to dig into the bag and pulls out the boardgame ... LIFE. she shakes it a little, searching for a laugh, giving an awkward smile. ] ... Get it? Life?

[romanticidal]

Let us hope this version comes with less twists of the plot, yes?

[slay]

I think that answer depends on how you feel about counting your kids on two hands.

[romanticidal]

[ look he got a nat 20 will save to not shed crocodile tears about the kids he'll never have with jade. a+ cheering up, buffster. ] I should be so lucky. Who would not love to have so many bambinos?

[slay]

Some might say that a whole baseball team full of 'em could be considered slightly excessive. [ she says it with a smile as she pulls more games from the bag. ] Anyway. I got you Yahtzee and Boggle and some others too.

[romanticidal]

Now you are just making up words. Where is that Scrabble dizionario?

[slay]

Well, I thought about getting Scrabble, but I figured the whole no-Italian rule would kind of buzzkill it for you. [ she will sass you right back, sir. ]

[romanticidal]

I already learned this lesson the hard way, once.

[slay]

If you think of anything else you need, though, just let me know. I'll grab it next time I'm out.

[romanticidal]

Perhaps some groceries so I might make dinner again sometime. [ look this is a big deal, he used to cook all the time before he entered his depression coma and then all his ranks in craft (cooking) went to waste... ]