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

[romanticidal]

[ ♬ how does it feel - avril lavigne

his expression darkens, and he turns away, tense. ] It is good... that you can feel this way. I don't know that I wish to change that.

But it may mean there are some things on which we will never agree.

[slay]

I’d be worried if we didn’t have some of those.

[ The ‘we’ feels more couple-y when she says it. That’s normal, right? Myri and Finnick have sure had their share of moral stand-offs. They keep each other balanced, though. She doesn’t reach out for Rafael this time, but she does sound cautiously hopeful as she suggests it, leaning just slightly as if trying to call it over his shoulder.

It hurts, a little: watching him turn his back on her over this. But she has the presence of mind to assure herself that it’s more on the subject matter than on Buffy. ]

[romanticidal]

Most of them aren't quite so extreme.

[slay]

Well, what am I supposed to think? Most people can't do what I can.

[ It's not some judgment against Rafael and his methods, or the other Knights. But Buffy has a way of skewing scales with her super strength. ]

I don't know who made me capable of doing the things I do, but if I used it to hurt people instead of monsters? To hurt instead of protect them? I wouldn't deserve to keep it. That's not a fair fight: being judge and jury isn't my job, not with people. There are laws for that.

[romanticidal]

The fact that you think this way is likely why you were the one chosen for such powers, such responsibility, instead of someone like me.

[slay]

Maybe.

[ She reaches out, touching his arm, officially done staring at the back of his head. ]

And maybe the only reason I have the luxury of thinking that way is because I haven’t had to make the choices you have. When the law is the one you need to protect people from, it’s not always as easy as washing your hands of it. The things you’ve seen, and fought—it’s always been people who’ve done it. People like Sarandis.

[ Her stomach sinks. It should be him going with them, even if they do need someone at NOVA, even if he can’t risk the exposure. She shuts her eyes, self-flagellating for even thinking that she needs him there. It’s not fair to him, or herself. ]

It's not exactly one-size-fits-all.

[romanticidal]

[ he does turn to look at her, seeming to find some sort of small twisted comfort in her words at least ] ... You are probably right, in this. As much as we have talked about some of those we've fought as monsters, they are not the literal kind that you are so good at stopping.

[slay]

[ She gives a slight shrug. ]

We’ve all got our niches. This … really isn’t mine.

[ Which she’s pretty comfortable admitting, all things considered, even if she’s beginning to wonder if her niche is anything that special when Faith has cropped up. She offers a weary smile. ]

Might be easier if it were. Just swoop in, kick butt, and bail.

[romanticidal]

It is never so as easy as walking away from something like this, after the dust settles.

[slay]

I'm just saying that if Sarandis were literally a big snake monster instead of a metaphorical one? It'd totally be that easy.

[romanticidal]

[ he chuckles at that ] I suppose this is true, yes. Perhaps you will get lucky then, and he will have been hiding it well all along.

[slay]

[ Right. Kitchen. Focusing. So she actually grabs some junk food out of the cupboards, distracting herself now that things are less heavy. ]

Now that's the kind of optimism we need.

[ She grins a little, shutting the cupboard and tossing a bag of chips to him. ]

But the real question here is if starting Breaking Bad would be considered cocky at this point.

[ What else is on Netflix these days. ]

[romanticidal]

I did not know bad was something you could break. [ oh and he easily catches the chips with his ninja reflexes ]

[slay]

Yeah, I'm not really sure how it works either. More reason to find out, I guess.

[ leading the way out of the kitchen now. ]

[romanticidal]

I could not argue with that. [ doo doo doo, idk if you want to... fast forward through watching shit SO WE CAN ACTUALLY PLAY THEIR GOODBYE TOO ]

[slay]

[ Sounds about right. After a night of severe cuddling and shows about meth, Buffy's getting changed behind her closet door while they get ready to go. ]

Burt knows you're coming back today, right?

[romanticidal]

Bella asked, and I imagine she's passed him the message by now.

[slay]

[ She leans out from behind the closet door—just a peek, at first—then follows with her whole body, stepping out fully dressed and pulling a brush through messy blonde hair. ]

Just checkin'.

[ She slides the brush onto her vanity, glancing into the mirror to sneak a lingering look at him. Saying goodbye has never been easy, and today? It feels harder. Every time, she reasons, they run the risk of never seeing each other again—this time, that chance feels a lot higher, and she feels it more acutely. ]

So I guess I'll call you. [ Turning around, she faces him more fully, looking slightly meek. ] If we—[ No, wait. ] When it's over.

[romanticidal]

[ he's sitting on the edge of the bed when she emerges, his holsters in his lap, one of the weapons drawn out as he methodically checks it over, and works on packing it into a case beside him. he looks up at her half finished sentence, concern etching itself onto his brow. ]

... After this, Buffy, do you know what Wynn intends to do?

[slay]

Pick up on the trail of Chad and his Big Bad Girlfriend, probably. I haven’t put a lot of thought into past, uh, today.

[ For obvious reasons that she doesn’t really want to give into. Now that she’s admitting as much out loud, though, her heart races lightly. If this were the last time she watched Rafael pack to leave, she would be thrilled. The fact that it might be the last time she watches him back to leave because she might not be here to see it anymore? Less thrilling. ]

[romanticidal]

I just wondered... when it will be that we will see each other again. [ he sounds uneasy at the question, frowning to himself as he finishing packing the gun away. ]

[slay]

I guess … I don’t know.

[ Her mouth twitches as if she’s trying to drum up a smile but can’t quite get there. Dropping her chin, she looks down at her hands and fidgets with them, picking at her nails. One eyebrow arches as she continues. ]

Soon. I hope.

[ But what she hopes doesn’t precisely match what she thinks, in this case. Truthfully, she can’t say for sure that they will. At all. Looking back up at him, she shakes her head, pushing away from the dresser and pacing closer. Her eyes search his, lips pressed firmly together, holding back a wealth of fear, uncertainty, and something else.

Everything she’s wanted to tell him lingers on the tip of her tongue, thinking this is her last chance to say it—but what is there to say that he doesn’t already know? She’s never been the one holding back. ]

[romanticidal]

[ he looks up, pressing the case aside as she draws closer, studying her features with a thoughtful expression marred by the crease in his forehead. ] I know you will come out of this safely, carina. I have watched you walk through danger many times. You are like the tempesta - there is not anything that can stop you.

You know this, si?

[slay]

[ She hesitates a bit before drawing a smile over her expression deliberately, ducking her head. The smile, at least, is genuinely drawn, even if her own uncertainty would usually squash it. ]

Of course I do.

[ Reaching out, she smooths his shirt, studying her handiwork rather than looking him in the eye (bluff 23). ]

It’s just … you know. War. [ Her eyes widen briefly on the word. It’s a big word. ] It’s not spooky demons in alleyways anymore. I’ve never done anything like this.

[ Finally, her eyes lift to his. ] At least, not that I can remember.

[ She should tell him. Really, she should. This could be her last chance. But if she comes back, then it means she worried him for nothing. If she doesn’t, then it won’t matter in the end, anyway, if she’d told him or not. It’s happened before that she didn’t come back. Who knows what circumstances that was under. ]

[romanticidal]

[ his sense motive is only a 14 ok :( so he assumes she's more upset about ~going off to war~ itself, than about... anything unspoken. he reaches a hand out to grasp gently at her arm, meeting her gaze. ]

It is not experience that wins battles. It is heart.

And you have that.