dǫçţǫŗ şɭęęƥ (shone) wrote in valloic, @ 2020-08-13 20:00:00 |
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Entry tags: | !: action/thread/log, ₴ inactive: allison hargreeves, ₴ inactive: dan torrance |
WHO: Allison & Dan
WHAT: Rescuing some village people from Murder Seahorse (Allison uses her powers? Le gasp) and then having a talk about Rumoring
WHEN: Today
WHERE: Forest Town, near the Crossed Quills
WARNINGS: Dead Murder Seahorse (RIP)
STATUS: Complete
Considering she’d never been to Skyhold, the experience of going there was definitely informative. She’d never really been to a castle...outside of the occasional romcom set. But somehow that didn’t really feel the same. And churches could sometimes be as big. It was just that this time she was going to look at a castle because she was getting married. It may have been the second time, but this...was different. This was Dan. This hadn’t come with strings attached or the general knowledge that he might not actually love her without encouragement to do so. He’d chosen her even when she couldn’t speak. Everything he felt for her was genuine and it was nice that she could be honest about the darker parts of her without it changing things. And she was proud of herself, in a way, for letting herself get to this place without resorting to old habits. Everything she had with Dan was real and that was so much better than everything she’d had with Patrick. Claire was the only good thing to come out of her first marriage and losing her had been the wake up call she’d needed. “How do you even decorate a castle? What if your sconce goes out and you need to put up a new torch and it’s so high up?” Naturally, she was mostly joking, but she was still curious about how things worked, but then again, there was a lot of magic around her. “And how fancy do we want to be?” She wanted to find the right dress, but she wasn’t even sure if the white dress was something necessary. She wasn’t sure she could go too colorful, though. Maybe one of those champagne colors? A hint of pink? So much of it really depended on the feeling they were going for and probably a smidge of how carried away Allison let Klaus (and herself, to be fair) get. There was a lot of planning she hadn’t really finalized. “Wedding details are the worst,” she lamented, taking his arm and leaning against him. “But I’m glad you’re the one I’m making difficult wedding decisions with.” Just to prove a point, she pressed a kiss to his shoulder, only noticing the people a little ways off just after. Hopefully they weren’t terribly scandalized. The question how do you decorate a castle? was a good one - the castle was already really beautiful, with its elaborate drapes and statues and colored glass; it even smelled the way a medieval castle should, or at least, what Dan would have expected. Something distinctly earthy, stone and dirt and ashes - it represented something nice too, race or class not mattering, but being set aside to join in a common goal (which was saving the world, apparently). He definitely wanted to have the wedding there, and Allison seemed on board too, so now it was just a matter of working out the details with Hawke. And coming up with a price tag. There was no way he’d accept a wedding (and reception?) there for free. “I’m glad we’re working on it together. I was told I’m supposed to keep offering my opinion even if it’s dead wrong,” he chuckled, hand sliding down to slip into Allison’s and give it a squeeze. He turned his head and pressed a kiss to her temple too, and hopefully that wasn’t scandalizing either. “You really like Skyhold?” he asked, just to be sure. While they’d been inside the castle, it seemed to have rained - the soil beneath their feet remained wet, a heady sort of fog released, the sun sinking down beneath the tops of the trees. The waypoint at the village would lead back to the mortuary, though that would probably be derailed because the people in the distance - Well, everything just sounded like screaming. Panic. “....oh no.” Allison snorted lightly. “Even if it’s dead wrong. Well, I guess there are worse things you could do.” Like never know what he wanted. But he seemed willing to work together to make it into something they were both happy with. She was sure that it’d work out. “But yes. I do really like it.” But the sound of people panicking made her spine straighten. She looked at Dan for a brief moment before reaching for the knives that Diego had insisted she start carrying back at the beginning of everything. “Come on,” she said softly, starting off toward what was likely danger because if there was anything she couldn’t change, it was that she was used to fighting to protect someone if she had to. And she hadn’t done a lot of it since getting to Vallo. But if there were people in danger that couldn’t protect themselves, she was going to do it. “Uh - “ Well, alright, Allison had knives on her and while Dan wasn’t very surprised (it was something of a turn-on, oddly enough) he was still kind of hesitant to just jump into the fray. He wasn’t a superhero, he never had been - maybe one could argue that he had his moments of selflessness, since he’d died to save the only family he had left, but he also spent a good portion of his life simply sticking to his routine. Stumbling along, nothing about him wild or adventurous. But no, it was different here. He helped others. He had built a family from scratch, and - maybe he wasn’t that same timid person anymore. “Okay, but - be careful,” he told his actual ex-superhero fiancee, even if it was unnecessary. Just a gut reaction, really. The last thing he wanted was for a disaster when they were out scoping wedding venues. He went with Allison, closer to the foray - Dan squinted, hardly able to believe it. But there it was, a large seahorse creature, wet and with glowing hungry eyes, zipping about - it was comprised of razor-sharp scales and fins, and by the looks of it, it had already made a few cuts on some victims; the scent of blood, copper and iron, was in the air. The panicked horde likely wasn’t helping matters - the louder people were (sound vibrations, probably?), the more dangerous the thing would become. Didn’t they have a defense team for this? It didn’t matter, Dan supposed, because no one was here now but him and Allison. “We need to get it away from those people,” he said. They were attacking with their weapons, but the thing just started spinning like a top and - He wasn’t going to try and calm it down. Instead, the Shining extended like invisible ropes, telekinesis grabbing hold of the creature’s body, wrenching it to the side with a twist of his hand - it was hard to hold though, considering now the thing was just flailing in mid-air. “I’ve got it,” Dan promised. Probably. Dan definitely did not comprehend how good at concealing knives she was when she wanted to. Even in a dress, she could conceal them pretty well. To be fair, she didn’t really wear short dresses, just short nightgowns and she didn’t feel a need to hide knives on herself then. “I’m always careful,” she said, flashing a quick smile. It was actually mostly a lie. She’d gone into a fight the day she woke up from surgery. But she didn’t want anyone to get hurt if she could help. Maybe it had taken her a bit to get to the point of not just letting other people fight things for them, but she’d gotten here now. So she was going to do what she could. The creature that she spotted was a lot. She remembered someone mentioning a creature like that on the networks, but she hadn’t really thought she was going to run into one, but here she was. “Okay. Well, I’ve got a few knives on me, so I’ll do what I can.” Her mind momentarily settled on her powers, but she wasn’t sure if seahorses had ears or if they were affected by it, so knives it was for now. She smiled a little, watching Dan get ahold of the seahorse. She was very impressed. Resisting the urge to give him a kiss, she ran over, trying to help the people off the ground and away from the creature, moving her knives back to their sheaths. She just wanted to make sure that as many people as possible got back to their homes and she wasn’t going to get attacked by another seahorse from another part of the forest. It turned out she more had to worry about the tail of the creature that was already there and she threw herself to the ground, looking up at the tail flailing around before looking toward Dan. “See? I’m fine.” “Perfectly fine,” he agreed with a snort of a laugh, though his heart sort of leapt into his throat at the thought of Allison being slashed by a knife-tail. “I’ll get it out of the way,” he said, because the sooner he did that, the sooner the panic would dissipate - when people were panicked they did stupid things. And he didn’t particularly want to watch denizens be torn to shreds by a hungry...thing. There was sweat beading on his forehead as he telekinetically grabbed hold of the seahorse by its tail - he didn’t think he could throw it hard enough to rip it apart, the way he’d done with the murderous bunnies that attacked the mortuary, and he didn’t particularly want people to come at him for murdering a bloodthirsty seahorse (people seemed to like to Save the Creatures around here), so - He threw it into a tree instead, away from the crowd - but the thing was large and it could fly. It was dazed, however, and before it could right itself Dan went for his next tactic. Sleep, he thought as hard as he could, unsure if it would work on a fucking seahorse of all things - but the creature was sentient, he could feel the ebb and flow of its mind. Sleep. It pushed and Dan pushed back - and fatigue settled over it like a heavy blanket, cloaking it in a deep slumber when it succumbed. Now they just - had a whole bunch of scared people to deal with. Great. Allison felt for everyone who was scared, but she wasn’t sure how to help them...without...She frowned, looking over at Dan for a moment. There was also the danger of people trying to attack the thing now that it was down, but she wasn’t sure how down it was. “I…” She hesitated again, not sure of herself for the first time in a long time. “I heard a rumor,” she started, noticing the change in eyes - they turned white, showing the ones affected. “That you all felt safe.” She watched as everyone around them started to relax, the tenseness seeming to leave their bodies. Their eyes turned back to normal after that, but she knew it wasn’t quite done. “Don’t try to attack that thing. It could hurt you. We will handle it for you.” There were a few nods and people seemed to be listening, which was good. She glanced over at Dan, almost afraid to because she knew it was the first time he’d ever witnessed her use her power. “We’ll get you medical help if you need it. Please everyone who’s not injured help us to get those that are injured inside.” There was a part of her that felt bad to basically manipulate them into things, but...this wasn’t the worst she’d ever done. Oh. Dan really never had seen Allison use her powers before - he nearly stumbled, his own power, the Shining, snapping back like a rubber band in his surprise. But the seahorse was now snoozing, a large lump on the ground - he’d make sure it stayed asleep for now. Maybe they’d take one of Allison’s knives and finish it off after all, while it slumbered - no sense in letting it wake up to cause havoc yet another time. First there were people to reckon with. Injuries to treat, most likely. He was just - still watching Allison, breathing harshly, adrenaline pumping through him. “You - wow,” he said, since it was decidedly less chaotic than it had been before. “Here, let’s just - the tavern has soap and water and bandages, then I can see if anyone has a cut I need to seal up, or anything worse than bumps or bruises.” He’d let that happen first. One thing at a time - then, when they were in the tavern and Dan was seated, sewing up a particularly gross flesh wound on someone, he found Allison and blue eyes bore into hers. “Are you okay? That was...impressive,” he hedged carefully, since this seemed like a Big Deal. Allison adjusted her posture, trying not to betray the anxiety she felt over using her powers in front of Dan for the first time. “Everyone go to the tavern,” she said after a moment, trying not to focus too much on the fact that she could still control them and hoping that Dan didn’t think it was...bad. When he asked if she was okay, her expression was one of uncertainty, worry etched into her features, but she nodded. “It’s...something.” She tried to push a smile forward as she did her best to help people get to the tavern. “You’re sure you mean impressive?” She let the words slip out before she could stop them, the nerves getting the better of her. “I was kind of hoping to avoid it, but scared people don’t...always make the best choices and I’d rather no one get hurt if I can avoid it...and...well, I could.” She was quiet for a moment. “Do you think I made the right decision?” “Yes,” Dan replied right away, there was no hesitation to be found in his answer. “The way your father had you using your powers, that wasn’t right. The way you used them to benefit yourself wasn’t right, and you know that. But - maybe cutting them off entirely isn’t the right answer either.” It was a complicated situation - and ultimately it was up to Allison, since these were realizations and decisions she had to make on her own. He would always support her though, no matter what. They were a team, and a pretty good one if he said so himself. He continued talking while he worked, cutting some stitching - at least he had some nice grain alcohol here to sterilize the needle too, though ultimately a tavern in the woods was a little too rustic for his modern medicine-loving self. “I think it’s a matter of knowing when it’s appropriate to use them and when not to?” he said. “This was an appropriate time.” Allison let herself relax a little once Dan said what he had to say. It was at least beneficial for more than her. It made the people feel safe and she hadn’t wanted any more injuries. “Okay.” She offered him the smallest of smiles before moving to get clean water and some things in case Dan needed it. “If you...If I start to misuse it, I need you to stop me, okay?” Just in case. She was going to put everything in her to stop it from happening, but she wanted to be sure to have a backup anyway. “I can take care of the...whatever that thing is. Not sure there’s much to do to save it.” And she was fine to do that. “It’d be crueler to just cut off the dangerous knife tail and someone might die if we don’t deal with it.” Dan added some soap to that water, this concoction his made method for cleaning cuts - there was plenty of alcohol but that wasn’t the best method, contrary to popular belief (plus it hurt like hell). He only had to stitch up that one person, at least - the rest it was just bandaging them up and something cold - compresses or a steak, whatever was available at ye olde Crossed Quills - for bumps and bruises, to help heal. Then he took an assessment of where he was at, where everyone else was at. They’d be okay. Nothing life-threatening. “I trust you, but - if there’s misuse, we’ll handle it,” he promised. If it made Allison feel better to know that he’d hold her accountable, then of course he would reassure her of that - part of loving someone was holding them accountable anyway. He wiped his hands with a clean cloth, considering the slumbering beast outside. Yikes. “Alright, let’s go - humanely finish off a murder seahorse.” What the fuck was his life, honestly? She nodded, moving closer so she could press a kiss to his cheek. “Still cute.” It was the alternative to I love you the way she looked at it. Not that she didn’t want to say that, but it was just one of those things. “And thank you.” The people seemed to be back to themselves now, but at least no one was overly stressed out. “You don’t have to if you don’t want, but if you also want to be there, then that’s okay, too..” She’d never really killed a lot of people and definitely no animals, but she’d made people shoot other people...mostly in the foot. So this should go...fine. “I love you too,” Dan chuckled, since he knew what she meant - he spoke Allisonese pretty well by now, even without reading her mind (which he didn’t generally do anyway). “And of course I’ll be there. Maybe we can take some fillets home for dinner.” Kidding. He was kidding. Because while he was open to trying all sorts of new cuisines, murder seahorse didn’t seem like it’d be very tasty. But he meant what he said, he’d be there to participate in the knife work - or since they were Allison’s knives, uh, he’d support her. Like always. |