Who: Ruby, Liam S, Nikolai What: Ruby and Liam run into a doppelganger of Clancy When: Afternoon Sunday Jan 27th Where: Park Rating: low
After the strangeness of the week, it was nice to get out of the house with Liam and feel like themselves again. She was only thankful that for her, at least, there were no issues with the colour of her skin. Now that she was back to normal, she was very aware of how the time before coloured TV it wasn’t exactly fantastic for people who looked like her. Madison was nice in this regard - it seemed to have mostly accepting people.
She was holding Liam’s hand as they walked through the park. It was a mild day, which she could appreciate too. Ruby thought about how far she’d come from when she first met Liam - she hadn’t wanted to touch anyone because she didn’t know how to control her powers. Now, it was just her having to deal with the pull to use her powers. Something Cole had understood, but no one else seemed to. It seemed like only red and oranges felt the itch. She used to be a little resentful of that, but now she was just glad that Liam and Zu didn’t have to deal with that.
“Do you think Zu would try speech therapy?” The question came out of the blue, but Ruby had been thinking about how Madison might be a great place to live a normal life. She knew Zu used to talk. It was just all the trauma that caused her to go mute.
That was one thing that Liam had never had to deal with - that urge. Sure, he liked using his powers, and it felt good in a way, but he’d never had the itch to use it. Of course, his powers weren’t as intense as Ruby and Cole’s were, and he was honestly glad for that. He knew how much Ruby struggled with herself and he wouldn’t want to deal with that himself.
He squeezed her hand, glad to just be out like this with her. He loved the idea that their life here was…well…basically normal. Nobody bothered them, he never felt in danger, and they’d gone a long way towards making a home for themselves that was more a home than they’d had since the world fell apart.
He blinked at the question, looking over at her.
“We could talk to her about it, if you want. I don’t think we should force her into it if she doesn’t want to, but I wouldn’t be against it if she wanted to try.”
Nikolai’s head hurt. Saints above. He’d spent his first hours in town confused, and the next week believing Nina was his younger sister who kept trying to set him up with Zoya. So, he’d have to deal with that, after he actually talked to Nina. Given her blonde hair, he no longer needed to worry about at what point she’d arrived. But that left a whole other host of questions because she’d been tailored for months at this point.
He saw a couple approaching enjoying the return to colour in this town. Nikolai held up a hand in greeting, intending to pass without incident, since he didn’t know them nor recognize them. No need to be rude, of course.
Ruby tensed the moment she saw who was coming toward them. Suddenly she realized she hadn’t been training as much as she should have. She hadn’t been practicing putting up mental blocks and if Clancy were about to try to enter her mind, she wasn’t sure she could fight him off.
Instinctively, even if she knew Liam might be angry about it, she let go of Liam’s hand and took a step to be in front of Liam and the man she thought was Clancy.
Liam turned his head when Ruby tensed, and immediately lifted his hands to attack him. He humphed a little when Ruby got in between him and Clancy - he wasn’t entirely helpless, after all!
He pushed himself around her, so that Ruby was behind him, for the moment, anyway.
“Stay away from her, Clancy. I mean it.”
And to make his point, with effort he telekinetically lifted a small tree from the ground and moved it to hover over him.
Nikolai actually glanced behind him wondering if some villain stood behind him. Had the Darkling made an appearance? But no, he noticed nobody else.
Then the young man spoke and the Ravkan king blinked once. He’d been called many things: spare, Nikolai, the scarred king, Sturmhond (allegedly), a bastard, but never someone named Clancy.
“My general would not be pleased if you disfigured me, and really, who would want to injure this grin?” Better to sound nonchalant considering the monster residing in him wished to be free.
“Alas, though, my name is Nikolai. I’m new. Though, probably Clancy deserves it.” He didn’t really want to make an enemy and if someone hurt him, both Zoya and Nina would be displeased and nobody wanted the two powerful Grisha on their bad side.
Her lips pressed her lips together to not suddenly start an argument with Liam about standing in front of her. Out of the two of them, she was more likely to be able to fight against him, but she also knew that Liam was being… well, Liam.
There was a moment of confusion on her face, but it wouldn’t be the first time that Clancy had tried to mess with them. “Let me prove it then. Let me see if you’re lying.” The urge to just do it was screaming at her. It’d be so easy and he probably wouldn’t even know it, but Ruby didn’t want to be like the others in that way. So she ‘distracted’ herself by fortifying her own mental defenses, just in case.
Yeah, Liam knew well that she was the strongest of the two of them, but that didn’t change the fact that he still wanted to be strong for her, to be there when she needed him. He wanted her to know that he’d fight for her until the end, even against someone like Clancy who could almost certainly destroy him.
He took a step back when she spoke, though. It made sense, what she was asking. If he wasn’t Clancy, she’d be able to tell quickly enough.
“She asked you a question,” he said coldly, crossing his arms.
*** “Saints,” he muttered under his breath. He didn’t particularly enjoy being cornered. Especially not when he actually hadn’t done anything. The monster which resided in Nikolai clawed to be free, and the Ravkan king considered allowing it free to go find him backup. Where were the twins when you needed them?
“And exactly how do you plan on telling?” The blonde guy began to remind him of Drüskelle, though not remotely as intimidating. Nikolai could fake charm and swagger even during the most trying times, like right now. Though keeping the monster at bay proved a slight challenge at the moment.
Ruby pressed her lips together. It wasn’t something she did often - admitting what she could do. It scared most people and she got that - it was scary how she could get into people’s heads. “I just need a second. I can tell if you’re lying. It’s painless. I don’t even need to get closer to you.” Ruby could already feel her invisible hand reaching out towards him like her body was saying ‘you don’t need to ask for permission’.
She clenched her hands together into fists as she tried to keep herself in control.
“She can,” Liam said coldly, crossing his arms over his chest. He wasn’t predisposed to be nice to this man - this man who had hurt Ruby in ways that he would never be able to understand, and who had tried to kill him. He was older, yes, but Liam would never forget that face.
“It would be in your best interest to let her.”
Nikolai had led armies, been a masterful privateer, and the monster inside him begged him to be freed, so he didn’t bow to intimidation. Though he’d already decided to call Zoya and Nina the second this ended. If he needed backup then who better than his general and greatest spy? No matter one could cause hurricanes and the other could control the dead.
“Well, since this is pretty much coercion, fine, but don’t mistake it for consent. Unenthusiastic or otherwise.” The King of Ravka knew when to give in and when to fight. He did not close his eyes, did not relax his stance and thanked whatever entity who watched over him that he had worn his Sturmhond jacket and not a graphic t-shirt that Nina bought him which read But where has all the rum gone.
Ruby might not admit it, but the truth was that they’d gotten to a point where her nerves were so high that she wasn’t able to hold herself back anyway. The invisible hand was already pushing passed her will and reaching out for Nikolai whether Ruby truly wanted to or not.
It took only a second to confirm he wasn’t Clancy - she’d been in his head enough to know what Clancy felt like. But because it had been so long since she’d touched someone’s mind and because her emotions had been so heightened, she couldn’t pull back on her own. She stood there frozen, sensing and then seeing the monster Nikolai kept hidden and feeling the urge to go deeper and deeper.
Liam waited for a moment, letting her do what she needed to do. He knew approximately how long something like this took, so he slid his hands into his pockets for a moment, giving her time. He knew it wouldn’t take too long for her to recognize Clancy, and when it seemed to be taking longer than it should, he looked at her closely, then stepped forward, putting his hands gently on her waist.
“Ruby,” he said softly into her ear. “Ruby, enough.”
He knew that she would want him to stop her from going too far.
“Ruby, come back to me.”
Nikolai did not know how long this should take and the longer someone rummaged in his head the angrier the Ravkan King became. He never wanted to go through this again and looked at the blonde guy because he wasn’t deaf. Oh good. So she’d lost control. Great.
“Saints.” That was all he said, but that monster wouldn’t be held back much longer and if it saved Nikolai, he didn’t even care.
Suddenly her eyes shifted up to Liam and her power released. A split second later the realization what happened washed over her face and she looked horrified at herself, then panicked before she tried to wear a more neutral expression. Her eyes, however, continued to hold the shame of what she did.
Ruby took a step back. “He’s not Clancy.” She said softly like she was worried about disturbing something. Then she managed to look over to Nikolai, though she couldn’t quite look him in the eyes. Something, ironically, Clancy would have taken as weakness. Maybe it was. “I’m sorry.”
Liam closed the distance between them, wrapping his arms around her from behind. He wasn’t as strong as her and never would be, but he could at least give her what support he could. “That’s good. Good that Clancy’s not here.”
He looked at the man, nodding slightly.
“She says you’re not him. Which is…good.”
*** Nikolai’s empathy ended somewhere in the midst of someone entering his brain and not leaving, but digging deeper, needing someone to pull her back out of his brain. He saw the fear, the panic, and the horror. He recognized those expressions from people back home who didn’t trust Grisha. The fact she felt that way about her own powers worried Nikolai more than the fact she had powers. “Get a better control of your powers if you’re going to use them, especially if you’re not with him every hour of the day.” But, he was battling his own monster from the invasion, the knowledge that she’d gone beyond what he’d expected and he needed to get away.
And with that he walked away, phone already in his hand. Nina and Zoya would be rightfully pissed, but he planned on telling them so they could be prepared if necessary.
Ruby felt terrible, but she knew he was right. The only problem was getting better control meant keeping up her ability through using it. It was a double-edged sword.
She took a deep breath and exhaled quietly. “Sorry.” She spoke quietly to Liam. “...We should probably go.”
Liam nodded. He knew they’d need to have a long talk later, but right now was neither the time nor the place. He looked in Nikolai’s direction, then turned away.
“Yeah. Let’s go home.”
He could hold her there, comfort her, for as long as she needed it. The other man might not have understood how difficult this had been for Ruby, but he did.