kingslayer_ (kingslayer_) wrote in angellogs, @ 2017-03-25 22:24:00 |
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Entry tags: | aedan vael, basch fon ronsenberg, calum vael, hanzo shimada, sebastian vael |
Who: Sebastian, Calum, Noah, Basch, Aedan, Hanzo.
When: Friday night
Where: Craigcrook Castle, Edinburgh
What: Two “drunks” settle in for a meal and Calum offers some medical care. Aedan is reminded of his childhood, and several key moments in his kidnapping.
Rating/Warnings: Description of injuries, talk about violence, references to violence against a child
Status: Complete
The world in general seemed a bit too bright as they got inside, and Noah couldn’t put his finger on the exact reason for it. It could be the lighting or it could just be that he’s a bit dazzled from the flashlights. Still nothing seems to have - gone more chaotic yet. Their hosts seem honest in wanting to get them fed and Noah’s trying to force himself to talk of nothing serious with Basch. He - doubts the man’s exactly thrilled to be entering a castle with him in particular, considering - everything. It feels like it’s lying to not classify their meetings by his official intent, no matter his actual actions. He was not much of an interrogator, the last few times he headed down to the dungeons, and more attempting to - offer his brother a little solace and try to consider how he could get his brother out and alive.
His own survival was never much on his mind.
Basch IS kind of glad of the fact that there are other people around, particularly when they leave Aedan at the stable to put his horse away, and a few of the guards have moved away, leaving a scant amount of them along with the other two brothers. That’s...much easier to deal with, somehow. Without guards, it’s easier to remind himself that they are safe, that HE is safe, and Noah is...not Gabranth anymore. It’s a good way to start this anyway.
He flashes Noah a slight, hesitant smile, in spite of being a little nervous. “Back together.” He comments, his tone low.
“If we cut through the back here.” Sebastian’s saying, feeling a little amused he’s giving a ‘tour’ of the place to people for a second time today, “we’ll end up in the main corridor and can move you through there.”
Noah offers Basch his arm again. “True.” He’d - joke about a landing to declare his treason on, but that isn’t exactly a joke, is it? “Thank you for the . . . I assume you had plans for this Monday night, Prince Sebastian.” The title sticks a bit in his throat, but - he can’t exactly weigh the exact rules of titles that fit for “someone who is not your subject” for royalty right now. He’s pretty sure it’s Monday, at least. By his very rough calculations, it’s Monday.
With the better light in the castle, his brother decidedly looks - better than him, but the vagrancy comment does make more sense. He looks a bit like a recruit who grabbed whatever was to spare after a night of far too much drinking on leave and whoever had Basch’s clothing last may’ve been a writer. Something in the ink stains reminded him of the man that was supposed to teach him scribe work and book making, ages ago. Before Landis was invaded.
Sebastian debates mentioning that, technically, they’re a bit off about the date, but decides it’s hardly that big of a deal right now, considering. “Ah, not so much at that. “ he says, opening the door so they can all step through. “Really, nothing in particular so much. We’ve had a spot of…” how to put this? Some words seem a LITTLE too uncharitable, considering. “...Drama lately, so enjoying quiet where we can get it.”
“My neice set her school on fire.” Calum explains. “Accidentally, but she’s young and it’s been quite upsetting. Young people.” He adds, as if this is something that normally happens among them. “We’ve been trying to re-establish that no one here blames her for it. And my nephew’s, well, you met him back there. Restricted to the castle, technically and none too happy about it.”
“We were having a drink.” Sebastian supplies, his tone a little wry. “I’d offer both of you the same, but if you’re badly injured that may not be the best idea. Still, a pretty average evening as things go. Why don’t you sit down for now?” he offers, leading the way into a sitting room with some chairs and sofas scattered around. “Don’t worry about getting dirt or blood on anything.” he adds. “These wash out. Would either of you like a blanket? Hopefully one of our friends has been found and is making tea.”
“With two young ones in the house, I could see that being something you’d actually know. The head military scientist had three children when I was high enough rank to end up in his house. The youngest was about ten at the time, and managed to somehow make a massive hole in the greenhouse roof via repairing the pump for the water system. I think some valve was wrong and the float shot upwards or something like that. No major injuries, but his eldest son kept apologizing for the fact that he was being a bit skittish and carrying a stuffed animal the entire night.” Noah sits down gingerly and finds an angle that does not ache too much.
“That sounds...messy.” Sebastian wrinkles his nose, thinking about that in detail and nods. “It HAS been, well, some sort of chaos or other. Luckily, calmed down now though.” He hopes. He’s glad that it seems like Noah wouldn’t mind if something DID go wrong, at least. “Ellie’s got some latent magical abilities that she’s still mastering.” He adds,so it doesn’t look like they randomly play with matches or things like that.
“That does sound…” Basch wrinkles his nose a little. “Interesting. And that gives ME an interesting story to speak about with...Well, he isn’t HERE, but…” He shrugs a bit. “Something tells me whatever happens we’ll manage to run into each other again.” He’s not sure WHY it does, only that Balthier seems to have that way about him. He’s not exactly looking comfortable himself, tensing his shoulders a little as he’s settling in, and leaning back too far.
“...Why don’t I see about something we can use to make you comfortable in the meantime?” Sebastian suggests, thinking. “I have a bit of medicine that may numb some of the pain, and once it’s taken effect, it might be good to see how badly you’re hurt.”
“Does it sound odd?” Hanzo’s coming in from down the corridor, balancing a steaming pot, and some teacups without handles, though he’s gone for larger ones, hearing someone’s in a crisis. “If I suggest that tea will help? Hanzo Shimada.” He adds, to the newcomers, doing a bit of a doubletake between their faces. “I do security work for Prince Calum.”
Noah gets to his feet, mostly out of habit. “Master Hanzo. Thank you for this.” He hesitates. “Noah. My brother.” He looks at Basch and tilts his head. Do you want your name used? “I - have not eaten that much today, so it may be wiser to not have a full dose of whatever you have. I could stand for a medic looking over me, if that’s on the menu.”
“I’ll find something.” Calum suggests, hopping up so he can do just that. “Can either of you not eat anything? Allergies or preferences? The food here is a BIT odd, but it’s usually just fine. I think we have leftover chicken and some rolls at least.”
“Please, sit down.” Hanzo’s eying Noah like, well, someone who has seen injured people try to force their way up before. And he’s looking to Sebastian. “If you’d rather, I can contact Mercy. If she can’t be found, my brother will know where she is.”
“You...that’s fine.” Basch looks a bit stunned still. “Sorry for this I’ve...had a few very confusing days.” he says, picking at the cuffs on his shirt a little absently.
“No allergies I know of,” Noah says as he settles back down. “A blanket may . . . not be terrible. The tea will help though.” He should try and brace himself for awkward conversations. He kind of just wants to convince his brother that it’s fine. That sounds like a terrible idea. “Should I try to - summarize the long story I mentioned?” Frankly, he’d almost prefer to let it wait for the morning (is it Tuesday now?) but - knowing Basch, he’d probably fret at it like a loose thread the entire night, and his brother isn’t the one with unclean hands here.
“If you’re tired, and you look it, you could wait.” Sebastian says, quite honestly. ‘Save your strength.” He’s then wincing at the way Basch has been holding his shoulders. That kind of gingerly flinching and tensing? He’s seen it too soon. “Why not give us a bit of time to find the best healer we know of, and then she may want to hear things too. If we can’t manage, or it takes a bit for her to get here, you could tell us then?”
“I don’t know.” Basch raises an eyebrow. “It may be better to just mention some of the specifics now. Make things easier. A long story short, we were imprisoned, wrongly. And now we’re here.” Does that work for Noah? They don’t need to share the DETAILS now.
Noah looks at Basch. “It . . . leaves aside -” He sighs. “It was a legal arrest, for myself, but the circumstances were largely political. I framed my brother, with reasons that seemed good at the time. It’s one reason why I feel that - classing the two of us as two peas in a pod ignores details.” Perhaps that is - good enough? “The details can wait. It does not sound like we’re anywhere near home.”
It’s - odd how easy that is to hide behind the idea that they’re both - prisoners who are now free. It might be helped by the fact that Noah is pretty thirsty by now, and the house is warm. He could probably drift off here and now if it wasn’t incredibly rude.
It’s a bit later, maybe half an hour or so, and enough time for messages to be left for certain members of Overwatch, along with food to be distributed, and beginning first aid to be applied, when Aedan slips his way inside. He’s gone with one of the windows, which means he’s slipping around to hit the staircase he’s technically not supposed to be using more than a few times a day, but he’s annoyed and WANTS to use it. Along the way, though, the voices of the guys they found out back draw his attention and he does find himself peaking in, a little curious as to what’s going on.
“I can at least clean these out.” Calum’s offering quietly, and standing in front of the two of them, looking like he’s considering where to start. “I...would anyone like to go first? This is a bit awkward and I can’t cure anything and it’s probably going to hurt, but better than collecting dirt.”
Noah looks a bit - puzzled and uneasy. “To go -” Typical Archadian army medics don’t exactly dally when it comes to things like this. “How are you, brother? I think I’ve just got a few scrapes and - the cut on my side’s mostly settled.” He thinks the skin might be broken in his hair, but - well - it’s not bleeding. “I’d be all right with going first, if you want me to test the waters. I know I tend to be stubborn enough to try the patience of people.”
There’s an odd ring of shiny skin, about three inches up from his elbow on his left arm. It’s an old remnant from wearing nethicite as part of his Judge Magister work, and judging by people’s gaze hitting it, that’s not a normal mark here. Odd, that.
“Fine with me.” Basch agrees, okay with watching and seeing what passes for medicine here. There’s nothing being used to help speed the process? What? That’s more than a little odd, he thinks, curiously leaning forward, then jerking back, looking a little pained.
Watching from around the doorway, Aedan’s gaze is drawn to that, and then to...is that a burn on the short haired guy? Usually if you want to do that to someone, you’d press something like a sword or poker into a fire and make sure to find somewhere more visible to put it, since part of that pain’s the humiliation and living with it for the rest of your life, isn’t it? “Some of the gangs used words.” he says, half to himself, eyes on that burn, a bottle of green gatorade and a little tube of powder in his hand. “But yours is what?” he presses, heading all the way back in now. “Just a circle?”
“Aedan.” Calum sounds somewhere torn between a little disturbed and focused on what he’s been doing. “Would you mind fetching me the gauze pad there?”
“Branding, I suppose?” Noah guesses. “It’s a -” He frowns. “The local army term would be the point where you junctioned your gear, but that sounds like a euphemism, I suppose. It’s where I wore a magical item as part of my work, is probably the simplest way to put it. It’s not tender at all, if you’re worried about that. They didn’t use enough nethicite in Dalmasca, did they, Basch?” Magicite never left the same marks, though you’d get pale spots from wearing rings or the like just due to tanning. He shifts his arm to give Calum a better angle and makes a face. “I guess the -” Probably not a good thing to mention that the plating on one of the guard’s boots must’ve been a bit sharp. “Is this angle good?”
“Just like.” Aedan agrees, stepping into the room and passing over the supplies, looking,well, a little interested. “I got lucky I just saw a lot.” He frowns at the so called euphemism, looking like he’s trying to figure out the explanation there. “So...enchantments then? My father knew an enchanter or two he mentions sometimes. I’ve got a couple things with a few of those.” He won’t add where he’s gotten them, but he’s flicking out a hand to show Noah several rings with various crests on them that look nothing like the Vael version.
“Perfect angle.” Calum’s leaning in, then frowning as he glances at Noah’s side. “Dear MAKER, man. Your ribs must be screaming all sorts of things at you.”
“What?” Aedan’s leaning in and staring at Noah’s side a bit, where he can see it. ”Is that a boot? How heavy a toe are we talking? And how LONG ago? That’s fresh.”
“It’s a bit tender,” Noah says drily, carefully not moving. “Your gangs sound like they were about as charming as -” He trails off. “I was lucky enough I was tall enough to not get that pushed around the first few winters after Landis was invaded, and - after that I had neither the skills to run on my own or the weight to assume I’d get work other than the army. Some of the kids I ended up training had some rougher times than I did.”
Probably should answer the question though? Noah prods the sort of arrow like point. Yeah. That hurts. “I think one of the guards had a sharp edge on his plating on his boot. I think that was - this afternoon? My . . . one of my former employers arrived to ask if I knew where my brother had vanished. I had no idea, and then he got - angry.” Most of the talk was some paranoid thing about how this would destroy everything (which was unlikely, since all Basch had to do was show his face in the wrong places and he’d end up dead) and ranting about Dr. Cidolfus Bunansa and what he knew about Lhusu Mines. “Basch, do you know anything about the Lhusu Mines? Besides that they’re a source of prime magicite and in Bhujerba?”
“They’re...fun.” Aedan shrugs. “Cleaned up when I was last home, now, but for a bit.” He shrugs. “Well, I suppose nobody mucks around with them, do they?” He’s sounding rather like he’s trying to be tough as he perches on the edge of the table, screwing off the lid of his bottle and wincing a little as he sips the liquid inside. He’s still not used to the salt, even if he doesn’t really MIND it all that much. Today’s a day he can swallow some of it anyway.
“Army training, eh?” he nods, looking interested enough.”Sounds like a life.” He would probably be going to the militia soon at home, if what Ellie’s said about his future is true. He’s not sure how he feels about THAT,so he’s mostly ignored it. “And ow to that. Angry bosses, Those are never very good. OR professionals.” he adds. “The law enforcers are bad too.”
“The mines…” Basch frowns deeply. “It seems I should recall more than I DO. They sound more familiar than that.” Everything is something of a blur right now. “Forgive me, though, my head is spinning.” And his back is on fire, but that’s not something he’s going to share just now.
“You’ve got every excuse.” Noah winces at Calum’s hands, but - well - he’s had worse first aid and people who were slower about it. “It was just odd. I got asked about you, which I expected, and knocked down, which - may’ve messed up my ear a bit. I feel a bit dizzy. And then he got on about knowing my place in the world and asked why I was talking with Bunansa about Lhusu. Which - the last time I saw the Doctor was - a half year? Some question about the blighted area near Nabradia, and prior to that was I dropped off a small gift for his youngest son when he was old enough to drink.”
He gestures with the arm that’s not being carefully held out of the way. “You’re looking like it’s hurting, brother. I’m already shirtless, if you want to accept that we’re not going to be dignified at least tonight.”
“I suppose.” Basch agrees, “Dignity IS a little lost.” He considers, nodding slowly. “I might as well get this over with.” He’s glancing toward the others in the room, not sure what they’ve guessed, but. “This may be a bit of a shock.” He allows, moving to tug off his shirt, where the telltale lines of a fairly recent lashing are raised on his back, along with the white lines from earlier scars that have started to sink in.
Aedan flinches a little, spotting THAT, although he’s trying to hide most of that reaction. He’s definitely better with that than other things, but he’s still whistling in sympathy, a little. “Hells.” he breathes out, glancing at Calum like he’s a little lost in the moment. “I guess some things are universal. Judicial or torture?” He sounds almost casual, like he’s asking if they want fries with that.
“I suppose, a bit of both.” Basch muses. “I WAS imprisoned, but they DID want answers that I could not give.”
“Expected, then?” Aedan nods sagely. “Probably doesn’t make it all the easier to live with, though.”
“Not the ones that got you out?” Noah confirms quietly. There is a tiny chance that whatever went - bizarre to end them up here might be reversible, and he’d sooner know his brother might end up in good hands again. “There’s my blanket, I think, on the arm of that chair, Master Aedan. It was a cold walk with the horse. I would not mind if you had use of it.”
“Certainly not those.” Basch is quick to answer. “This was before. I think the usual ones, well, when someone’s got a reason to dislike you, or they think they do, and have you at their mercy…”
“Aye.” Aedan nods slowly. “Not usually a sign that you’re going to share in all the fun they come by looking forward to,at that.” He shakes his head a little, tries a sip of gatorade, and chokes a little, while he’s swallowing, the liquid suddenly feeling way too thick, so he sets that down and glances at Noah. “I’d appreciate that, actually.” He’s not really sure what you’re supposed to say in these circumstances to this kind of thing, but that might help, and he’s more inclined to listen to new people than anyone here, as mixed up as they are.
“Not at my orders,” Noah offers quietly to Basch. “I know that means nothing, in the long run, and Nalbina’s dungeons had their own ecosystem of hell going on, but -” He gestures again. “Try - holding your breath for a few seconds, Master Aedan, and then breathing in time with my brother. Sometimes that helps. Think of it like you’re trying to get your mind away from one thing by making it focus on another.”
And if Calum is also - hiding his own discomfort, it would not harm him to pass on advice, yes?
Calum’s looking like he’s focusing really hard on the injuries more than on anything else. He’s not sure what to say in this sort of a circumstance,other than trying to work as quickly and carefully as he can with a temporary patching job. “This should help with any pain.” he’s saying to Noah, spraying a bit of something cool over the burn. “It’ll sting a moment but then it numbs things pretty nicely.” And then he’s looking over to Basch, and Aedan and...this is one of those moments he wishes he had some idea of what to do.
“I...right.” Aedan nods, once he’s managed to swallow that mouthful of gatorade, and wipes a little from his nose.”It went down a bit wrong.” He explains, making a face. “Salty so that wasn’t pleasant. NOT recommended as a pleasant way to try drinks here.”
“The small roll was quite nice,” Noah offers. He managed some of that, and some of the chicken, but mostly stuck to the tea and nibbling the bread. He’d joke about not trying to inhale it, but - it does not seem like Aedan’s issues with his throat are exactly a joking matter. “I’ll bear that - ah, thank you.” He’s going to need to tell everyone that his arm is fine, isn’t he? The numbness isn’t a bad thing though. “Would having a reflection, help, Basch? Or a hand so you know where someone is?”