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

1/2

[nothingsodivine]

[Yeah. Des is giving whoever is at the desk the biggest DO NOT SAY ONE FUCKING WORD TO ME, YOU MISERABLE PIECE OF SHIT look. Seriously. He is not putting up with your doppelganger paranoia bullshit today.

Of course Des is level of pissed off is nothing compared to...]

2/2

[beatupgrass]

[...That incoherent Brooklyn yelling bringing up the rear of the party. Like some of those words might not be actual words. Or it might be Kree. Not that Rocket speaks Kree, but he can apparently swear in it fluently.]

All right. All right I'm here. Can I take this freakin' thing off now?

[He's not waiting for an answer. The second he's over the threshold, there's a raccoon with an unfeasibly large (for a raccoon) machine gun slung over his shoulder, tearing off the blindfold (and I pity whoever had to convince him to put that on).]

rocket ❖ ota, but mostly for drax. follow your heart, son.

[beatupgrass]

[With the meeting disbanded and... with no actual place to go and too much pride to be like "so uh...??" Rocket makes his way to the lobby, the picture of exhausted raccoon misery. He is tired, he is beat all to hell, and oh yeah, he just signed up to go back to the place he just escaped from BECAUSE THAT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO AND APPARENTLY THAT IS WHAT HE DOES NOW.

Oh, and to put the cherry on this gruesome little sundae that has become his life recently, he's standing in the middle of a ragtag bunch of misfits facing insurmountable odds and really that probably says everything about why he agreed to help. Because ornery bastard that he is, he misses his ragtag bunch of misfits.

...Which is why he had to duck out fast. And if he comes out into the lobby rubbing his face with the back of his paw, it's because he's allergic to... dragon motifs. Giant lizards and small mammals, man. It's legit.]

[spinerip]

[Drax has heard the message. There's to be a war. The mood in the castle is grim, but honestly, this is the best news Drax has heard since he landed on this backwater planet. He knows how to fight. Destruction is what he's best at, what he's made for, and with his family avenged and his friends gone, it's not like he has much to--

He stops short when he notices a raccoon--not the first he's seen since arriving on this planet, but this one walks upright. This one's wearing a jumpsuit, though it's in even worse shape than when last he saw it, as is the raccoon wearing it. This one looks so much like Rocket that he can't help but stare.

But it's not like he hasn't seen raccoons before on this planet. It can't be Rocket. Drax couldn't be so fortunate as to be stranded here with his friend.

Could he?]

bambi dalton ❖ the pub ❖ one thread, but open to multiple threadjacks

[theshameofcain]

[Bambi's in the library when the message goes out and she's left staring in horror. Her first impulse is to say fuck that and not answer the call. She didn't sign up for a war.

Then again, she doubts anyone did.

She ends up in the pub, after awhile, and it takes her no time to get drunk and start blathering on.]

I mean, no one wants to die with a hangover. That's not the way I'd choose to go out, but at the same time, how the fuck do you approach this sober?

[missindependent]

[ fiona slams her fifth shot glass down with little to no finesse ] I don't think anyone want to die, in general, hangover or no.

Personally, I prefer to face no situation sober.

lila & sylar ♔ closed

[bittersweeter]

[ another date another... video call from wynn about shit imploding in their faces again. that's... cool. lila hadn't cared much about the raccoon, it was charming news in its own way, but she didn't really care, but this she cares about slightly more.

her boss declaring war rates a hell of a lot higher than a talking raccoon who probably escaped from coney island.

once the feed is over, but before it really sinks in, she looks over at sylar, setting her phone back down on the coffee table. ] One day, I promise, we will have a date that isn't interrupted by my job.

[ or people from her job. ]

[watchmaker]

[because of his superhearing, he heard that shit like it was on speakerphone for the entire hotel to hear. and heaves a sigh, head going back against their little hotel suite couch. in the words of kenan and kel, aw here it goes.] Are you gonna do it?

open | malina harvey

[bredinthebone]

[Seven hours after this conversation, Malina's biker boots scuffed their way through the entrance of the castle, making her way to the front desk. She's got a duffle bag slung over her shoulders and a cage in her free hand and eventually she comes to a stop, placing the cage down on the desk and glancing at the poor sap behind the desk who has to deal with her.

She's seriously pissed, but she'll try her best not to act it. She holds up her ID to them, before flashing them a thin smile.]

Sir Harvey, checking in. Any messages for me?

[After she finishes there, she's going slowly make her way back to her room and then get herself a drink or seven so feel free to catch her at any point along the way.]

[druidisms]

[ gus is in her room, making sure everything is fucking dusted, idfk. she's been away for a while, but she's back now and instead of saying hello or some pithy comment about parkas (because siberia), her crosses the floor to wrap his arms around her. malina is his best friend and she's home, but she's home right before a war council sends them to andres isle.

circumstances could have been better. ] Yeon-in. Hey.

myri | open

[witchwoman]

[No matter how much she tells herself that she's not leaving her room, the weight of what's happened... of what will happen in the days to come, it presses on her Myri's chest until she feels like she can't breathe. She needs to walk, to clear her head, to sit in the courtyard and have a cry. And so she does these things, she wanders the castle, goes outside to get some fresh air.

She's not really looking at any of the people she passes. She assumes they're all trying to decide what to do with themselves, how to spend the last night they'll have before it all changes.]

[65]

Myri! [as she's walking down the hall, she might notice ... her boyfriend/fiance. pulling booze out of the walls again.] Do you mind if I join you?

vi | open

[graveflowers]

[ just because vi isn't going to andres, doesn't mean she can't have emotions about it. the last couple days have been the perfect example of an emotional upheaval? maybe an avalanche, yeah! she hates snow and she hates emotions.

but hating emotions pretty much means she is eating them.

so that's vi. in the kitchen with the candlestick. or, you know, pizza, she's a real big fan of veggie pizza. she's gonna eat the fuck out of this veggie pizza. covered in hot sauce. yummy. best coping mechanism tbh. best. maybe she'll just eat pizza the whole time everyone is gone. yeah, that's an excellent plan.

ps. she is not eating the cardboard. even though it's full of fiber. just the pizza. ]

[killingtodeath]

[Stiles won't spend the entire night with Lydia. A good chunk of it, sure, but she has Allison to probably catch up with. And at some point he should sleep. But who needs sleep where there's late night pre-war snacks to be had? We don't often talk about teenage boys eating their feelings, but it happens okay.

As he walks in, he immediately smells pizza. And then sees Vi. Two of his favorite things.]

Hey.

CLOSED ♔ for logan

[telepathy]

[ The announcement comes on the heels of their own personal tragedy.

The loss of the Boston Institute still hangs heavy around Emma’s shoulders, and in the bags under her eyes. Realizing they might be facing the same here leaves her sick to her stomach.

She arrives at the door of the training room to find Logan driving his claws straight through the chest cavity of a practice dummy. ]

I see you’ve heard the news.

[adamantiumed]

[ logan jerks his fist back, and after a beat, the claws snap back into his skin as he looks back over at her, grimacing. ] What gave it away.

OPEN ♔ buffy summers

[slay]

for rafael

[ She leaves the meeting feeling acutely numb.

The walls of the castle almost feel like they’re closing in around the Andres Team as they shuffle out of the round table room, lingering in the hallways near the front. Her eyes have that distant quality, like she’s busy imagining something far-off rather than looking in front of her.

Her hand reaches out instinctively for Rafael’s, and she turns her gaze on him like he’s an anchor, holding tight and trying to steady herself. ]

You’re staying tonight, right?


open

[ The next morning, in the time before the war council begins, she’s parked in the kitchen on a bar stool, shoveling food into her mouth in a way that’s decidedly trying to make the most of home while she’s still got it, judging by the variety of food she has stacked up around the counter before her.

Buffy’s never been much of a cook, but if she’s going into a war, she’s going to go into it well-fed and with the ability to remember what good food tasted like when enough time passes that she goes who knows how long surviving on special K bars and whatever else they eat in wars. ]

[nothingsodivine]

[A set of keys jingle from the doorway to the kitchen, where Des is leaned up against the frame, looking surprisingly placid.]

Well, I was gonna take you out for pancakes one more time, just in case, but it looks like you've got that and the rest of the menu covered.

Spike } ota

[bigbad]

[Spike supposes drinking himself silly isn't a particularly advantageous way to spend his last night before a war, but hell with it. It's not like he's got anything better to do. He sits in the bar, a glass of whiskey in his hand, and sips at it, looking grim.

And anything he might do sober might end with him thinking too much about Andres. Both about what happened to him and Myri and what's happening right now to Thomas. Hell, even what happened to the bloody raccoon and all those other prisoners left behind. Thinking about how obviously Dimitris wanted a war and worrying that they're playing right into his hands. Thinking about that monster and what he must have done to Kat, what he's still doing to Kat...

There's a cracking sound, and Spike looks down. His glass is broken. He must have squeezed too hard. And a piece of glass lodged into his skin is making him bleed. He huffs out a sigh and pulls it out, shoving the glass aside with a napkin. Idly, he licks up the blood, gesturing to whoever's currently tending the bar.]

Could I get another?

[beatupgrass]

[Somewhere from floor level comes a vaguely disgusted (but not entirely surprised) statement.]

I knew that other flask in your pocket smelled like blood for some reason.

[Let's be real- Drax is probably on the other side of the bar at this second, so Rocket's still in the process of reconnecting and getting all the dirt information he can on these people from him, but he also wants to get thoroughly shitfaced and sometimes you just need to go to the actual bar for that.

Did he really want to end up on the barstool beside one of those people? NOT REALLY. But it's the only unoccupied one, so he's here. To judge you. And climb up on said barstool like it ain't no thing.]

Grimrot } ota

[grimrot]

[There's a tall, slightly blue-tinged half-orc woman walking through the halls and carrying about a dozen books. It makes it kind of hard for her to see, but she's doing her best.]

Excuse me! I have to bring these-- Excuse me!

[If she doesn't trip over them, she'll eventually make her way to the library. These are all the books she has out, and if they're going to war, well, the responsible thing to do is to return her library books first, just in case she doesn't make it back! She won't be able to pay fines on any lost books if she's dead!

Once that's done, she starts pulling out any available books on Andres Isle and the political situation they'll be walking into. She doesn't want to be caught off guard, and there's no better way to know as much as possible than bulking up her knowledge checks!]

Han } closedish to Leia

[parsecs]

[They're going to war. Han might've at one point in his life have considered staying back, since there's no way going to war would benefit him, but those days are far behind him. Now, he doesn't even question it. They're going to war, and it's the right thing to do. Overthrowing evil dictators is his thing now.

But he's got one day before it all starts. And he knows who he wants to spend it with.

He's set out a blanket on the grass, in a nice area where you can see the stars, and he's out there with Leia. Chewie is lying on the grass a little ways away, asleep.]

If there's one thing I hate about this planet, it's the lack of interstellar flight.

[And the lack of his family, but so many of 'em have shown up. All he needs is Jacen and Luke, and he'd lose that particular complaint.

But he still wouldn't be able to fly.]

[useagoodkiss]

[ It's taken some time, but Leia's quickly grown comfortable with this man. She feels drawn to him in a way she can't explain, and she knows it's not merely physical attraction, or comfort from knowing they come from the same world. It's more than that. ]

Is that all?

[ She smirks over at him, though there's a flicker of some deeper emotion there, because she's worried. ]

desmond descant ❖ closed to gar

[nothingsodivine]

[After everything that's happened, with everyone who needs comfort and solace, it's... unexpected that Des would seek out Gar. It's especially unexpected that she's the first person he goes to find when the meeting disperses and the chatter and panic has died down a bit.

He seems to realize this is pretty surprising when he knocks on her door, because before she can say anything, he holds up a hand.]

Yeah, I know. Last person you wanna talk to. [He drops his hand.] Except maybe Archer, but Archer doesn't do Candygrams.

[rationalizes]

[ she does look surprised, as she opens the door, clearly on edge, but she doesn't look unhappy about it. ] I wouldn't say that. Can I... can I help you with something, Des? [ she sounds weary but determined, obviously expecting this to be some kind of mission related team leader thing. ]

francesca ♔ closed to christos

[socialgraces]

[ francesca is still visibly shaken from the drakenet video call as she unsteadily moves about her room, shoving things into a duffel bag. a firm knock at the door causes her to drop whatever she's holding, and she slowly turns in that direction, unsure of whether christos or val'drin will be on the other side.

regardless, she hurries that way and opens the door, audibly releasing a breath she hadn't realized she was holding - a clear gesture of relief - when she sees christos in the threshold. she silently moves aside for his entry, watching him expectantly. ]

[everyredcent]

[ he moves inside immediately, taking a sharp look around. his eyes land on her duffel and he stops in place, before turning to look at her. ] I suppose none of this comes as a surprise at this juncture.

Helen Magnus | ota

[daredtobelieve]

For Tia

[Upon receiving Wynn's message, Helen finds herself thinking too hard and too long about the last great blow the Knights received from Sarandis' hand. And it's with that in mind that she makes time to stop in and check on Tia, checking her room and her office if both are necessary places to check. She comes bearing tea, though. Because she's incredibly British and walking through the castle with two mugs of tea is not even an issue for her.]

--

Open

[Helen spends the morning before the War Council gearing up and checking on as many things as possible. She's more likely to be found in the Hoard lab but she'll be rushing through the castle plenty as well. The biggest difference here is that her friendly smile is gone. All serious business here.]

[telekinection]

[ tia's nowhere to be found in the castle, which means taking a trip to the downtown headquarters, where her office is. it's late by the time helen finds her, and all she's doing is sitting on the window ledge of her office, legs drawn up, head tilted against the pane as she stares out. she doesn't even look up when helen comes in. ]

stiles | ota

[killingtodeath]

For Koraith

[Stiles finds he can't sleep. He should sleep. But how can he? Shit is going down... quickly. After a fitful few hours, he gets up and paces his room. He should talk to someone, shouldn't he? But all of his friends are also so new at this. Except Vi but she's also dealing with her own shit. And she knew Kat even better than he did.

Finally leaving his room, Stiles makes his way to Dragon's Tongue wing to knock on Koraith's door. He'll feel guilty about it later, but right now he really needs to talk.]

--

Open

[The next day, Stiles is going through the motions. Until the War Council starts, he doesn't really know what to do with himself. So he just eats, works the desk, goes to the rec room, and so on. But it's all like he's in some sort of fog.]

[risked]

[It's hard to really explain how she feels about knowing that Stiles doesn't remember Scott. She thought it would make things easier, but every time she's tried to even go up to him or start a conversation with him again she ends up thinking about Scott and that's just not where she wants her mind to be.

Now, with things being the way they are, she knows she needs to reach out to him again. She's worried about Lydia and she's tired of avoiding things that are too hard to talk about.

She'd been trying to figure out where to find him when she walks right into him in the kitchen. Her short trip to get a banana has turned into coming into the situation she had been looking for -- just a few hours before she was ready for it.]

Stiles, I -- I was going to go look for you.

lila | open

[bittersweeter]

[ lila doesn't come back the night of the announcement because she is busy with sylar and once he is asleep, she is busy with other things. but after she kisses him goodbye like a good husband going off to war, she heads back to the castle because she has more shit to do -- though she's still texting sylar the whole time. this is not world war i, they're not getting by on perfumed letters.

they're still playing draw something.

most of her bustling about involves specific people and she will go to them for ease of moving her day onward, but there's a lull in the morning when she's outside smoking where no people are involved at all and her phone is even on vibrate. she's staring out at the woods contemplatively as the smoke clouds around her. ]

[spellfile]

[ zero is mid-project with andrew when lila finds them, and he looks grumpier than ever as he says: ] Kids these days. [ shaking his head at whatever kind of programming andrew's doing over there ]

jaina solo ♔ (ota.)

[flyingsolo]

[ this is all feels disturbingly familiar in her bones. worse, it feels right on some intrinsic level, the upcoming battle giving jaina a sense of purpose that she didn't know she was capable of.

in the early morning hours the next day, she can be found meditating on the roof. this doesn't last for long, however, as hours later, she's already in the training room, running through a number of stances, battling dummies, and looking grim as hell. ]

[ex_noble101]

[Aedan doesn't spend all that much time on the roof, but he's constantly in the training room so it only makes sense that he would see her once she's relocated there. He watches her for a moment, just idk wiping down a dagger or something before she's paused to catch her breath or something so as not to interrupt.]

Would you care for a partner who hits back? [She didn't look all that open to small talk, but given the way that she was beating on those striking dummies, he supposed she might like the idea of smacking someone as opposed to something around for a while.]

Alaric Saltzman | open

[ex_ric243]

[Surprisingly enough, you won't actually find Alaric at one of the bars following Wynn's announcement. He's retreated to the Hoard lab to tinker with his weapons for most of the evening. It's not exactly likely that they'll be going up against an army of vampires, but most of his shit can be easily modified to hurt just about anything they may come up against.

And when he can no longer use his work to keep his mind from wandering, he drops by Elena's room briefly before turning in for the night. It's sentimental and dumb, but she still fills the majority of his thoughts throughout the day--especially now that everything is coming to a head, and they'll be taking the fight right to where she's been the whole time.]

[daredtobelieve]

[Helen's also been in the lab a great deal of her time, gearing up and trying to finish up any last minute projects, get her notes in order... just in case. Once she realizes he's also lingering in the lab, Helen makes her way over, no smile to greet him this time. In fact, she doesn't say anything at all at first, just comes over and rests her hand over his as she steps up beside his work station.]

edain ♔ (for ella).

[oftheband]

[ wherever ella's at, if she doesn't think edain isn't going to lazily swing by and linger in the doorway to gloat, she's wrong. ] Looks like I was right after all, lass.

[sorceresslite]

[ she turns, hands on her hips. the front of her dress looks a little messy because potion making is not her forte and that's what she's been doing. if her brother is going to hell island, then he is going with all the firepower ella can supply. ]

That was three months ago, you stroppy cow. Wynn's got a plan now. [ SO SHE WAS RIGHT AND ALSO U SUCK. the tone is short and snappish, but not rude. which is a step up from ella. ]

nathan | open

[autorevive]

[guess who's on desk duty after abigail??? this guy. he wants to get in on all this last night on earth sex stuff too, only he's stuck at the desk and has no one to love him. so, if you are wandering by the front desk late at night, you may notice no one's sitting there but there is lots of moaning coming from under the desk. are you going to peer over?

bcuz if you do, you're going to see nathan young lying on the ground having a wank.]

[felidity]

[ kali makes a surprised noise as she peers around to investigate the moaning. ]

Huh. I assumed it was smaller.

belle ♔ (ota.)

[untethered]

[ belle's first reaction to the announcement is grim shock, and she spends a few hours checking in with her loved ones before she really settles into preparation (and also goes to check on her bb squires who have to make this difficult decision). after that, she hits the library, helping pull volumes on andres for everyone who's looking, burying herself in work until she's exhausted enough to retire.

the next day, no one finds the librarian among the books, however. after she packs a few volumes of her own, she's going to the armory, to gear up in an old world adventuring outfit. ]

[lurings]

[ abigail is still at the desk covering for stiles when belle finds her, her little dog snoring by her feet while abigail fiddles with her phone. the desk phone is silent so she doesn't need to try very hard to ignore it. she looks up when she hears the click of the librarian's heels and while she doesn't smile, she does relax slightly when she realizes who it is. ]

Hi Belle.

astrid | open

[pathology]

[well, first after this announcement, astrid is going to the dragon's light wing to make sure everything in her medkit is stocked to perfection. and then she's going to text her people. if you've talked to her more than once, you'll probably get this text. maybe you'll get it even if you only talked to her once. we just don't know. she's not that picky.]

anyone up for a starbucks run before shit gets all saving private ryan? i need like 50 strawberry frappuccinos.

[nepotism]

not sure even frappuccinos are gonna improve the situation

Alcide Herveaux | open

[ex_redxiii705]

[Alcide probably arrives that next morning or something, because he booked a flight back to London as soon as he retrieved word of what was going down and this is the only chance at an intro he's getting. But he's probably hard to miss given that he's like six foot five, covered in jeans and flannel, plus built like a truck. And he's probably bumping some country music the minute he's able to settle in at all. Just what the castle needed rite.

There's still plenty of time to bump into him outside too because he will probably go for a run in his wolf form or something. That's what weres and shifters do after they are stuck on an airplane for x number of hours I guess. So if anyone is hanging out in the woods for whatever reason, they might spot a big-ass white wolf with glowy eyes tearing through the place. Or maybe they catch him after he shifts back, at which point he's completely naked yolo.]

[impetere]

[Cora's gotten used to the idea that the animals wandering around in the woods aren't exactly animals. Which is cool, considering she was out there living with them for a month. She's out there again tonight, sitting cross-legged in the little campsite that Gus had made up for them when she sees the white wolf she hasn't seen before.

Scent isn't really giving her much other than "wolf" (survival 8), so she can't tell if he's a druid like Gus or a werewolf, but that's no reason to not be friendly. Her eyes flash gold in response before speaking.]

Hi.

Aedan Cousland | open

[ex_noble101]

[Meanwhile, Aedan is keeping it predictable and randomly beating the shit out of something. That something is probably a striking dummy and he isn't so much beating the shit out of it as using it as a dart board every so often. As if he didn't put in enough time up here on the regular, but apparently weapon choice was serious business. He might grab a drink later but for the most part he's just going to be in the training center testing our various thrown weapons like he hasn't already decided to bring the ones with which he's most comfortable.

Like my other established dudes this is generic as fuck and just here if you want to talk to him or something.]

[trebond]

I don't suppose you've any interest in training with something that fights back.

[ Surprise: Alanna's back from Australia. It's probably the first time she's gotten to see Aedan since her return, too, so she's grinning a bit as she swaggers into the training room, collecting a sword. ]

Seeing as I imagine we won't be waging war with any wooden dummies once we've landed on the Andres Isle.