knightsoflegend | briefing ♔ i will never know myself until i do this on my own

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briefing ♔ i will never know myself until i do this on my own

This is War- 30 Seconds to Mars

WHO || Wynn, Jack, Hasmed, Lis'sa, Dovan, Solace, Koraith, Christos, Tia, Nessa, Grant, Buffy, Myri, Finnick, Spike, Gar, Archer, Des, Fred Jr., Dumage, Mark, Alainn, Zero, Colin, Lan, Eric, Val'drin, Risa, Anastacia, Faith O., Max R., Belle, Kadir, Edain, Sydney, Zatanna, Aurelius, Jaina, Erky, Davin, Riddick, Jordan, Henry, Leia, Willow, Kate, Allison, Francesca, Bo, Han, Aedan, Rocket, Drax, Nathan, Maxwell, Sam, Faith L., Cora, Dimitri, Alanna, Jaime, Klaus, Gus, Andrew, Stiles, Lydia, Gold, Jackson, Adam, Miles, Penelope, David, Derek, Andie, Kali, Cara, Nels, Taradiddle, Abigail, Astrid, Bambi, Frankie, Rose, Helen, Alaric, Alice, Lissa, Alex, Emma F., Cordelia, Zoe, Sebastian, Malina, Alcide, Phineas, Fiona, Arthur, Faye, Mars, Kate, Lila, Jameson, Felicity, Thoster, Adi, Brantley, Hook, Emma, Eleven, Alisha, Will, Dean, Grimrot [Closed]
WHAT || Andres War Briefing
WHERE || Knights HQ, Round Table Room
WHEN || September 19th [forward dated]
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread, please call dibs in the dibs plurk!

On the eve of battle, an impressive array of Knights gathers in the Round Table room of the castle. The usually cavernous room seems tightly packed with this many bodies, and places at the Table are reserved for Wynn, the Section Heads, all those who have had any hand in the Talisman mission, including New York, and Christos, but who's going to argue with him, really. The air buzzes with a mixture of impending dread and on some fronts, excitement. It's hard to deny that there are those in the room who have wanted to make a move on Andres for years.

Wynn waits for the appointed hour, before nodding for the doors to be sealed and calling the meeting to order.

"Before we begin, I'd like to thank each and every one of you, many who have traveled an extensive distance at a moment's notice to join us here today. I understand that many of you have little idea what you have agreed to, but I hope that before the end of this meeting, you will come to understand what we are doing, and why it must be done.

Andres' Isle has been held under the sway of the man who calls himself their "Prime Minister" for nearly a decade. In these ten years, he has turned what was once an idyllic country steeped in tradition into a tightly controlled fascist nation disguised as representative of its people.

Andres is far from the only country to fall to such a fate over the course of history, and it has never been the prerogative of this Knighthood to enforce our own personal vision of some sort of world order onto any nation. We are protectors of justice, and our enemy has always been both that which comes from the darkest depths of Shadow, and intolerance and prejudice that stems from this world.

But Dimitris Sarandis has proven to be an exception, an embodiment of all the ideals we stand against, who has aspired to systematize the kind of violence and hatred that threatens the welfare of countless innocents under his rule. He has used his position to exploit Shadowkind on the island to the point of conducting torturous experiments on them, designed to help him accomplish his goal of forcibly enslaving non-humans, so that they may serve what he sees as the superior race of homo sapiens.

As if this were not enough, Dimitris knows of our existence, and wishes to tear down our organization, understanding that we pose a threat to all he seeks to accomplish. To this end, he has conspired against us, kidnapped members of our organization and subjected them to brutal and vile torture, and attempted to blackmail us through detaining Sir Thomas Bancroft and now Sir Samcelot, into complying with his whims - to leave his regime alone entirely, to turn over our most ancient, powerful artifact, and for me to submit to death at his hand.

Killing Dimitris alone will not stop the system he has created, and will not help free the people of Andres. Most citizens of the country remain innocent, terrified into compliance, or completely ignorant of what Sarandis does behind closed doors. These people deserve our help, and the only way to do so is to show them the evil that lurks at the heart of their government, gain their support in uprooting that evil, and assist them in stabilizing their country thereafter.

To do this, we will need to go beyond the usual parameters of our missions, with a militant, strategic push into the island designed to seize the castle, and take down Sarandis' rule." He pauses there, letting that sink in. "What I will not stand for is a callous attitude towards the innocents who we seek to protect on the Island, during this insurgency. Their safety will be paramount to our operation, and as such, speed is important to what we will be accomplishing. Dimitris expects retaliation, but he also underestimates our tactics. As such, rather than attacking the castle with an army, you will be deployed about the Island in a number of small teams, each with an objective that will help us cut off Dimitris from contact with his supporters, secure Sir Bancroft and Sir Samcelot's safety, free those who are imprisoned, and confront Sarandis, taking the castle in the process.

Details of these individual operations not withstanding, I imagine there are some questions. I open the floor to you to speak."

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[She pushes open the door to the ballroom, walking towards the center of the large room. It has this strange dwarfing effect, making her feel smaller while still being the center of attention. She twists the cap off the vodka bottle and folds neatly into a seated position on the ballroom floor. Definitely taking the first swig of this nice bottle. Yep.]

So how are you?

I'm ... okay. [he shrugs, joining her on the ground and shifting around to sit indian style.] Hanging in there. Some days I wake up feeling like shit for no reason, some days I don't. You haven't missed much.

Maybe you just missed me. [She says it like a joke. And to a point, it is. But there's a part of her that wants that to be true, even if by now she knows it's not. She hands him the bottle so he can also partake.]

[he grabs the bottle and takes a swig. there's a scar on the back of his right hand now, that's faint but fairly noticeable unless she crit fails a spot check or smth. sexxxy.] Well, it sure was fucking quiet without you around, that's for sure. I know Lila missed you. You missed her birthday. And mine.

[you see, the thing about alex is ... he's horrible about feelings. even if he missed her more than anything in the world and cried into his pillow every night about it, he'd still be sitting here talking about how much lila missed her instead.]

[Well she didn't crit fail, but she came damn close. But she sees it. She's curious, but there's no easy way to bring that up, so she will file it away for later.]

I know I missed hers. That's why I gave her the foodgasm of her dreams this morning. [She's not dumb. She figures that Lila already shared with Alex after she left. They just... don't talk about him. Because it's awkward.]

So what happened to your hand? [Yes, that was definitely a smooth and subtle transition.]

Yeah, thanks for inviting me. [his tone is as dry as the sahara, but he's not ... really annoyed. bc he knows that things are awkward. BUT STILL HE LOVES NEW YORK MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE WORLD. HE IS STACEY FROM BABYSITTER'S CLUB. SHE KNOWS HE CAN'T GO BACK. AND SHE DIDN'T EVEN INVITE HIM TO THE NEW YORK BRUNCH. dat's fucked, faye.] Nice selection, though. I can't believe you got Hakkasan to deliver.

[o-oh then she asks about his hand. he half-shrugs while passing the bottle back to her.] Pissed off a Norse god. The knife went through my hand and into my abdomen, right about ... here. [he puts his hand against about where the scar would be. and also shows her the palm of his hand so she can see that it definitely did go through.]

I can get anything I want. I don't know why you have trouble remembering this. [She's not going to apologize for not inviting him when he didn't even come find her after she came back from her traumatic mission experience. Rude.]

Sounds like you had barrels of fun while I was away. Maybe, next time, don't piss off a god.

[HE WAS WORKING HIMSELF UP TO IT. AND THEN WAR HAPPENED.] Yeah, that's not something I'm keen on repeating. [and then, suddenly subject change.] Oh, I've been training to be a pilot. Soon I'll be able to take one of those private jets and whisk you away wherever the fuck you want.

Anywhere but Cuba. [She takes the bottle back to take another drink.]

What made you want to do that?

I always wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid. Now that I'm sitting around with basically unlimited time and resources, I figured I'd settle on something more attainable. I guess this is how old people feel after they retire. Piloting's my ... crochet or whatever.

Okay, grandpa. [She teases with a roll of her eyes.] That's pretty cool, though. I think I'm giving up on the whole 'learn another language' thing. I don't have the patience for it.

[he snorts and makes a face at the grandpa comment, but doesn't throw in any additional pithy remarks.] Yeah? Languages are a bitch, anyway. Especially ... what were you learning, Mandarin or something? That shit's rough. It's all intonations and inflection.

Mandarin, yeah. I have a habit of biting off more than I can chew, I guess.

[She toys with the lid of the bottle, twisting and untwisting.]

This is weird, isn't it?

Which "this" are you referring to?

[She gestures between the both of them.]

This.

I don't think it's that bad. Maybe it's kind of awkward because we haven't seen each other in awhile. And we've both had a lot of shit piled on us. [he can't do it. he can't give her the we're just friends come to jesus when they're about to go to war. he is a failure. f- alex.]

[She wants to believe it. He's good at saying things that are easy to interpret the way she wants. She could just take it as a win and tell herself that she's imagining things, that's it's fine. She could carry on with her stupid little crush. It would be easier that way, wouldn't it?]

You know I have feelings for you, right?

[Apparently, Faye wasn't taking the easy way out. Having this conversation made her feel like an idiot. Lila had told her from the start that Alex didn't date. It would just be random fun for him. And she had thought that was all she wanted. But she wasn't the same person anymore. Little by little, she was changing and that was terrifying but she had to just keep up with herself now.]

I didn't mean to, trust me. [She laughs, but it's bitter.] It just sort of happened.

[aw here it goes.]

I know. I mean ... I didn't at first, but it was spelled out to me eventually. By several different people. [he scratches at the back of his head. ... and then reaches for the vodka bottle.] And then they were all on my dick to talk to you, let you down easy, make sure you knew where we stand. But how am I supposed to do that now? Like, sorry, we're just friends, hope you've got enough room in your backpack for some Ben & Jerry's? [he sighs.] It's all just so fucked. I like you, Faye, a lot, but I'm perpetually emotionally unavailable. We can keep having sex if you want, that's fine, but you have to know that it's ... never gonna go anywhere else. It's just not.

[Handing over the bottle, she gives a humorless attempt at a laugh, shaking her head.]

Do I look like the Ben & Jerry's type to you? It's not... I'm not going to fall apart. If I thought I had a chance in hell, do you think I'd bring it up like-- [She gestures around them as if to say 'this????'] And as much as I would really... [She gives him a very serious look] -really like to take you up on the offer to keep sleeping together? It's a bad idea. I've never mixed up feelings and sex. I've never felt like this. And that's not your fault. I'm not mad at you or anything. But... you want something you can walk away from. And I...

I think I deserve someone who would choose to stay.

[The words actually surprise her, which is pretty obvious from the way she blinks as she says them. It's not a criticism on his part. She's lived that way, thought that it was all she wanted. So realizing that was changing was... weird. It left a strange taste in her mouth. But it also felt nice, like a weight was lifted off her chest.]

Edited 2014-09-24 01:37 (UTC)

You do. Deserve that. [he smiles a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes.] And I mean ... good on you for figuring that shit out. I'm sorry that it wasn't me. I'm sorry that I can't.

You don't need to be sorry about that. It's not like you mislead me. I'm the one fucking up a good thing here. [She manages a more genuine smile, though there's still some sadness in her eyes. She does like him- more than she really expected to.] Can I ask you something, though? Are you happy like this? 'Perpetually emotionally unavailable' as you put it.

Never happier. [he smiles, but she (probably) knows him well enough at this point to know that he's full of shit. bcuz that sure was a bluff crit fail.]

[She knows. With a 15 sense motive, she does know him pretty well, or at least well enough to know that he's lying and not even trying. And honestly it breaks her heart to know that it's not just some frat boy mindset, some desire to keep his options open. He's unhappy and there's got to be a reason for that.

But she can't be the one to fix it for him, and pressing the issue will likely end up with him shutting down and her feeling not good enough. She's not a helper and he doesn't feel for her like she wishes he did. The combination here is stacked against them.

Shifting her legs under her, Faye kneels and leans over towards him, placing her hands on his shoulders as leverage.]

Do me a favor? Make it out of this in one piece. You're far too pretty to bury. [She wants to kiss him. She really does, but feels like she shouldn't. He wouldn't care. She knows that, but there's some weird internal conflict going on here. So she just awkwardly pulls back and works herself up to standing.]

I should go finish packing up.

Edited 2014-09-24 03:04 (UTC)

[he's okay with the not pushing, because the reasons aren't things he feels like he'd be able to properly articulate to her anyway. it's a big hot mess of childhood trauma and neuroses and having feelings he can't even figure out for someone who is definitely 5000 percent off limits. nothing she would want or deserve to hear about.]

Yeah, same to you. [he's basically expecting the kiss once she leans in like that, but then she gets up and nothing's happened and he's left blinking like what????? okay. that's that, then. and he's fine with it. and thus he joins her in getting up.]

Me too. ... Be careful out there.

[She just smiles, nods, and then hurries out of the ballroom. It's a walk called "how fast can I get out here so he doesn't see me get upset, but still look fine as hell walking away." She's got it down to a science.]

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ambitionist - 2014-09-24 03:46 (UTC) - Expand

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