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Alistair ([info]ex_bastardpr179) wrote in [info]utr_logs,
@ 2009-11-28 20:56:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:alistair, annorah winchester

Who: Alistair and Annie
What: Alistair is Lost.
Where: London
When: Saturday evening
Warnings: Who knows?

He's lost.

Awfully, mind-bogglingly, perpexingly lost, and he hates it. The streets are too hard and the things--the swift-moving mechanical things that propel themselves--move much too fast for his liking. He doesn't know how everyone manages to walk all the time with those things just /zooming/ by the way they do. Even from the safety of the sidewalk, he can't help but feel like he's seconds from becoming a dark red splatter on the cement.

Shale's words rise to his thoughts and he shudders.

He turns his gaze skyward; any other time, he might have turned his eyes to the night sky and been able to tell which direction they were walking in. Now, he's lost--the skies patterns are different here, and he doesn't recognize any of it. He's as lost in the streets as he is in the heavens.

Everything is just so unfamiliar.

And he can't stand it.

He frowns down at his unfamiliar feet in unfamiliar shoes that aren't currently decked in the familiar steel plate boots he's grown accustomed to. They're in dark sneakers, covered slightly by dark slacks, in turn covered by a dark, scratchy sweater. He kicks a rock with that shoe, and the pebble bounds forward with a crackle, before drawing to a halt at a familiar set of feet.


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[info]anniegirl
2009-11-29 03:24 am UTC (link)
Annie had been waiting for the bus when the pebble had smacked off her shoe. She'd looked over and her jaw fairly dropped. Never had she ever seen anyone, man, woman, alien or whatever, look quite so downcast.

He wasn't hers, and it wasn't her thing to do, but damn if he didn't look like he needed a hug. "Alistair?" She tried not to sound like she thought he was a lost puppy, though - she knew guys grumbled.

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[info]ex_bastardpr179
2009-11-29 03:31 am UTC (link)
Alistair has been wandering here for the better part of an hour, trying to find the grocery. When he couldn't find the grocery, he tried to find his way back home. Now he'd be just happy to find someone who could show him the way home.

And as the pebble skitters to a halt at that pair of familiar feet, Alistair looks up to find a familiar face gazing across at him.

"Annie!" he exclaims. "Am I glad to see you! I left my flat a half hour ago, and I can't find my way back." Alistair, man of no shame, is not afraid to admit that he too gets lost.

Sometimes.

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[info]anniegirl
2009-11-29 03:34 am UTC (link)
He really is Dani's type; Annie can tell. Strong where he has to be, slightly pathetic where he doesn't. It's too needy for her as a lover, but as a friend, she can manage. "I can help, sure." Annie was born and raised here; if she couldn't, there'd be something wrong. "Do you remember the street name, or what it looked like, or anything it's near?" It sounds too thorough a question to ask, but Annie's used to dealing with Robbie and Torii and other people who don't necessarily think in street names.

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[info]ex_bastardpr179
2009-11-29 03:46 am UTC (link)
"It's got these--these trees," he explains lamely. "There's two of them. And there's a fence around it. A black one, made of metal."

Alistair's just given a description that could match almost any flat in the area.

"I have my keys," he says, helpfully, proffering a glimmering keychain in one hand.

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[info]anniegirl
2009-11-29 04:02 am UTC (link)
Annie takes it and tries to read the key - sometimes the keys are imprinted, especially if the building is old. "Well, it does say Number 10. Rules out any flats too small to have a No. 10, I guess?"

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[info]ex_bastardpr179
2009-11-29 04:21 am UTC (link)
"It is pretty tall," he says, once again, very helpfully. "Taller than the Tower at Ostagar, actually." Not that the comparison would help Annie much.

"You and your sister grew up here, didn't you?" he asks, recalling vaguely a conversation he had with one of the siblings earlier in the week. "How long did it take for you to find your place around?"

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[info]anniegirl
2009-11-29 04:33 am UTC (link)
"It becomes instinctual." Annie shrugs. "Didn't you know the way around your home like the back of your hand?" Tall buildings. Hm. "How long had you been walking, give or take?" There couldn't be too many tall buildings in that radius. "There can only be so many tall buildings in London; it's a law. Apparently too many tall ones messes up the city's appearance."

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[info]ex_bastardpr179
2009-11-29 04:41 am UTC (link)
"About twenty minutes before I couldn't find the grocery," Alistair says. "I turned around right there, but I couldn't find my way back." He frowns pitifully. In some ways, Alistair is very much like a lost puppy.

"I grew up in Redcliffe," he says, as if the name should be familiar to her. "It wasn't very large. Not in comparison to Denerim, anyway." A beat. "That's the capital," he adds matter-of-factly.

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[info]anniegirl
2009-11-29 04:55 am UTC (link)
"So I'm guessing London's bigger than both of them." He does make her smile. And twenty minutes is not a long time to have been walking. They'll get him home. She turns, looking down the street. "Do you remember if the sun was behind you?" Somebody like him just has to keep track of the sun and its position in the sky. Unless he'd had trackers of some kind with him at all times. Who knew.

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[info]ex_bastardpr179
2009-11-29 11:40 am UTC (link)
"It was to the right," he says. Then after a moment's hesitation: "...ish."

His hands find their way into their pockets. He looks out of place in the clothes, and the way he hunches over as he sticks his hands in his pockets only serve to exacerbate his discomfort.

"There's a good chance you're right," he says. He's seen all of Denerim and all of Redcliffe. Sure, Denerim might take a day or two by foot, but it wasn't so large that it required self-mobilizing vehicles. "You have a lot of things here that I wouldn't have even dreamed of."

Moving pictures being one of those many things.

"Your sister," he says, carefully, "asked me to the moving pictures this week."

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[info]anniegirl
2009-11-30 07:23 am UTC (link)
Annie has to fight hard not to grin. "That's right, she did, didn't she." Annie wasn't about to start talking up her sister until he did; it would look needy, but still. "I hope you accepted." She starts to walk in the direction he's pointed her toward, beckoning him to follow.

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[info]ex_bastardpr179
2009-12-03 03:02 pm UTC (link)
"I did," he says, somewhat stiffly. "I." He swallows. "I don't suppose you'd have any advice, would you?"

The Lady Warden's words to him after his confession at Redcliffe come to mind at that moment. He should probably tell her--Dani, that is--that's what he should do.

But those things don't matter anymore; their prior lives are done with and over. Isn't that what they said? Even if he did tell her, it wouldn't even really matter to begin with.

"I'm not very good with women," he admits, finally.

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[info]anniegirl
2009-12-03 03:18 pm UTC (link)
Annie shrugs. "I'm not very good with men, but somehow there's one that seems to tolerate my presence." Still, she had to smile. "And I'm sure you're sick of hearing it, if you ever asked anyone else for advice? But be yourself. Just go with it. If you say something stupid, she's not going to freak out. She's not going to hit you unless you, like, called her a filthy name or something, and you don't look like that type."

They turned the corner onto Oxford Street, heading northeast. "Incidentally, I don't know if anyone's ever told you, but you're really not supposed to talk during movies anyway. I mean, you can whisper or something, but it's meant to be quiet. So you might not even have to worry too much about embarrassing yourself." She winked, wanting him to relax a little.

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[info]ex_bastardpr179
2009-12-03 03:24 pm UTC (link)
"Be myself," Alistair repeats quietly. It was the same advice Leliana had given him in Denerim, as he floundered helplessly over how best to court the Lady Warden.

He never did act on her advice, though.

Annie's advice segues elsewhere, and he's pulled from his musing to comment upon it.

"Oh!" he exclaims. "I don't really talk much doing the moving pictures. There's so much to watch! I was looking at one just the other day, the one with the huge flaming swords and the men in all-white armor, and there was this one guy--right in the corner--knocked his head clean on the door!" He grins boyishly. "I don't think anyone else noticed it, though."

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[info]anniegirl
2009-12-03 03:32 pm UTC (link)
Okay, that was cute as hell. She laughs as they cross the street. "Sometimes that happens; I don't know why they don't redo it and fix it, but they leave that kind of thing in."

Annie had heard him repeat what she'd said, though. "By the way, yes, be yourself. You obviously did something Dani found charming. Which is difficult to do, by the way; charm my sister."

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[info]ex_bastardpr179
2009-12-03 03:35 pm UTC (link)
Alistair is incredulous.

"I," he repeats slowly, disbelieving. "I charmed your sister?"

Well, that was a new one! And to think he had spent his entire life thinking he couldn't charm his way out of a paper bag.

"You're--You're probably just mistaken," he says, shoulders stiffening. Still, his manly pride wouldn't mind being wrong for once. It'd be nice to know that there is something about him that is capable of attracting females.

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[info]anniegirl
2009-12-03 03:40 pm UTC (link)
Annie raises an eyebrow, by now thoroughly amused. "Dani doesn't waste her time with people she doesn't find interesting. If she didn't find you charming and interesting, she'd have said about ten words to you, then politely turned away." Is he really this self-conscious? When he's so polite, and looks like that?

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[info]ex_bastardpr179
2009-12-03 03:46 pm UTC (link)
Don't worry, Alistair is secretly preening with manly pride.

But right now, his face is flushed red with embarrassment. As luck would have it, though, the goofy smile on his face is working wonders to distract from the unnatural color crimson of his ears.

"So," he says, his tone a little more cheerful than it had been a moment before. "Be myself, and don't talk during the moving picture. I think I have it."

And as they move down Oxford, one of the buildings--a huge towering one with a sign emblazoned with golden dragons on either side of it--Alistair's eyes light up with recognition. Though almost all the buildings looked very nearly the same to him--all towering rock and stone--the sign was distinctive to him, if not altogether forgettable to anyone else who might have passed.

"I recognize this building," he says, gesturing towards it. "It's not far from my apartment, but I don't know in which direction."

Okay, so not very helpful. And unfortunately, neither will be the next course of dialogue.

"Do you have dragons here?" he asks. It's an innocent question. The Dragons of Ferelden look very much like the dragons he's seen in moving pictures and on decor like the address sign above.

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[info]anniegirl
2009-12-03 03:49 pm UTC (link)
She nods when he sums up her advice; really, it's the most foolproof way to knock Dani off her feet. Annie knows her sister; guys who don't just say what they think she wants to hear are a huge turn-on.

She looks up at the sign when he asks about dragons, and though she tries not to chuckle, Annie can't hold back the smile. "Um. No, I've never seen a dragon here, unless in films. And those are usually CGI'd - er. Drawn with computers - damn it, do you know what a computer is?"

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[info]ex_bastardpr179
2009-12-03 03:53 pm UTC (link)
"I've used one before," he says, "But I don't know much about them. Only that I press the letters and they show up on screen. And there's this thing with a wire that if you move around, makes a little arrow appear on the--" Alistair flounders helplessly for the word. "--the thing that the moving pictures play on," he supplies quickly.

"But if you don't have dragons," he says, lips pulled into a thoughtful frown, "How do you know exactly what they look like? Are they gone now?"

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[info]anniegirl
2009-12-03 04:04 pm UTC (link)
"There are stories of them, and art." Annie has to rack her brain - sometimes she forgets what's real and what's demonic. "Most people think they're myths, that they never existed. I've seen things that have taken on the form of a dragon, but I don't know if they were real dragons, or demons being sneaky." She prays that he's talked with someone about demons; otherwise she's just put her foot in her mouth royally. Being burnt at the stake for heresy or something isn't on her agenda for today.

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[info]ex_bastardpr179
2009-12-03 04:09 pm UTC (link)
Alistair's encountered more demons than he'd care to admit. One taking over his step-brother. Or half-cousin. Keeping track of these things was pretty difficult when you were raised by your uncle and were the bastard son of a king.

"So you have demons here too," he says. "The ones we had in Ferelden would take over mages. Though sometimes Desire Demons would tempt others. Templars, for example," he says, thinking of the one in the Magi Tower--the one that the Lady Warden allowed to escape.

Still, her mention of shapechanging creatures makes Alistair a bit uneasy. Especially when she mentions they shapechanged into dragons.

Hopefully they're of no relation to Flemeth.

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[info]anniegirl
2009-12-03 04:14 pm UTC (link)
Good, no burning seems imminent, but crap, this might get complicated. Annie chooses her words carefully. "You ought to look into books about the main religion of this place, if you're interested. There are a lot of religions, but maybe half the people in London practice what's called Christianity. Most of the demons that Dani and I deal with tend to come from that religion, but we've seen 'em all." She isn't about to tell him of djinns yet, though. It might sound like a "hey, get me home!" when that just wouldn't end well.

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[info]ex_bastardpr179
2009-12-03 04:28 pm UTC (link)
"I'll do that," he says. "If I'm going to be sticking around here, I might as well learn as much as possible about this place. I've already had a difficult time fitting in as it is." His over-the-top reaction to even the simplest of appliances was enough to raise the brows of even a few younger children.

Thankfully, there'd be no "hey, get me homes", as they've just happened to stumble upon it.

"This is it," he says, drawing to a halt in front of the building. He turns towards Annie. "I suppose this is the part where I ask if you want to come in." According to the movies, he should probably offer her some coffee, but he hasn't yet mastered the machine.

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[info]anniegirl
2009-12-03 04:31 pm UTC (link)
She blinks, looking up. "Oh, okay, good. And thanks, but I should go; meeting Keller for lunch soon. Keller's my ..." She trailed off. Shit. " ... Date," Annie finished lamely. She wasn't about to call Keller her boyfriend, not yet or pretty much ever until he called her his girl. It just made more sense that way.

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[info]ex_bastardpr179
2009-12-03 04:37 pm UTC (link)
Maybe it's the big brother kicking in--well, he's never been a big brother to anyone, not really. Well, maybe in title, but he'd only met Cailen once. And then, only very briefly.

But suddenly Alistair feels a little protective. And though he knows well that Annie is perfectly capable of taking care of herself, he can't stop the words from stumbling out. Especially not after what her sister just went through.

"Don't let him treat you poorly," he says. "You deserve a better man than someone who can't treat you like the girl you are."

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[info]anniegirl
2009-12-03 04:45 pm UTC (link)
She didn't expect that, and her eyebrows raise. From most other people that'd earn a sharp reply, but it's so innocent coming from him. No insinuation that she's some helpless female. Just a suggestion.

Annie smiles, genuinely, nodding and for some reason being straight up honest. "He's sweet. We get along well. I just don't want to say it's a relationship when it's not really yet." If ever. Depends on Keller, of course. And Alistair seems to be aware that if Keller does put a foot horribly wrong, well, Annie knows how to high kick.

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[info]ex_bastardpr179
2009-12-03 05:11 pm UTC (link)
"Well, then," he says, shifting uncomfortably where he stands. "I guess this is where the two of us part."

A beat.

"I hope your date goes well," he says. "And I hope mine does, too."

But before she can get away...

"Thank you, for helping me find this place. I know you went out of your way to help me, and I appreciate that."

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[info]anniegirl
2009-12-03 05:38 pm UTC (link)
He's far too needy for her to ever fall for him, but damn if she doesn't think they'll get along as friends just fine.

After all, he's gotten her to smile. "It's fine, really. You'll get your bearings eventually. And besides." Annie winks, fixing her coat. "Dani wouldn't be too happy if you didn't show up for your evening."

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