Vanessa Cleveland can turn invisible (filiampandora) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-02-20 02:28:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, maxwell trevelyan (the inquisitor), nasir, vanessa cleveland |
Who: Vanessa, Nasir and Max
What: Dreams are a nightmare that keep on giving
Where: Vanessa's house
When: After these texts
Rating: Mediumish
Status: Complete when posted
Vanessa was panicking while she waited for Nasir and Max to get to her house. She couldn’t quite pinpoint what had happened or how but all she knew was she’d woken up from that dream in the bathtub with her features in the wrong spot. Everything had just seemed to shift and it had taken her way too long to send that text, and yes she knew all caps was yelling but she kind of thought it was appropriate. Nasir knew where she kept her spare key and hopefully got her text about using it before leaving his house so that she wouldn’t have to open the door and risk the neighbors seeing her like...this.
***
Max didn’t really know what was going on, but it was obviously important to Nasir to get to Vanessa’s right away and so he didn’t question much. Besides, Trevelyan liked her too - he knew firsthand how traumatic it could be waking up from a dream with everything out of sorts (for example, demons - and another example, he’d lost an arm) so he wanted to do all he could to help her.
Before he and Nasir got in the car, Trevelyan grabbed his canister of blood lotus, unscrewed the top, and put some in a bag to bring to Vanessa’s. He’d make tea with this, because the blood lotus was excellent at inducing drowsiness and sleep - too much and you’d start tripping balls, but he was an herbalist, a potion crafter, so he knew what he was doing. The scent itself pulsed like blood, it was heady and ripe, very alluring. Drowsy. The way the effects of a fine wine would be. He planned to help calm her down enough, when it came to whatever her newfound ability was doing, and then give her tea for a restful night’s sleep.
Pulling up in front of her place, he cut the engine. “I default to you,” he told Nasir. “Did she just say to come in, or...?”
***
Nasir had only just managed to stop himself from getting out of the car before it was fully stopped, the knowledge that a trip to the hospital probably wasn’t going to help anyone the only thing that kept him seated. But the second it was safe he was out the door. “Yeah, she’s got a spare key, I know where it is. Come on, hurry up.” He didn’t mean to sound bossy or impatient, but he was just ever so slightly panicked. He hated the dreams.
Key found, door unlocked, Nasir knocked lightly before they entered, just in case. “V? We’re coming in.” The apartment was dark and Nasir paused in the front hallway, trying to scope out where Vanessa was. “V?”
***
Vanessa was in the back of her apartment, sitting on her bed with her arms wrapped around her knees. She heard Nasir calling her name and lifted her head up enough to call out to them. “I’m in my room. Be careful...I might have knocked some stuff over when I first woke up and haven’t cleaned it up yet,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes and trying not to make any noise as she felt that her features were still in the wrong places. She hoped Max could fix this. Or help her figure out how to fix it. This had happened in the dreams the first time she’d turned invisible but she didn’t remember how it had gotten undone. Or if it had.
***
Maker’s breath. It was possible that Trevelyan was the only one present who wasn’t panicking. The Inquisitor worked well under pressure though (mostly because he had no choice, lead them or fall, but anyway). If he could handle the responsibilities of saving the world and navigating sticky political swamps, then he could handle this - he had a few ideas in mind, but first he’d assess the situation.
“Lights. Might be good,” he told Nasir, so they didn’t have to stumble around in the dark, and he flipped a switch in the hallway, illuminating the way to Vanessa’s room. When in the doorway, he flipped on a smaller lamp for a softer glow. “Vanessa, can you do me a favor and just kind of explain what happened in the dream and what kind of power you have there?”
He assumed it was a power of some kind. When people woke up with those manifesting here, it could be extremely disconcerting. And terrifying. He didn’t blame her for being a bit rattled.
***
Lights were definitely a good idea. Nasir had been ready to charge in and probably break his neck tripping over something. He squeezed Max’s arm and smiled at him in thanks before picking his way through Vanessa’s room to sit next to her on the bed. She looked a mess - and yes, definitely different, and it was extremely disconcerting - and had obviously been crying, and he offered her his sleeve to wipe her face with before pulling her into a hug. “Hey, we’re here, it’s okay. We’ll figure it out,” he said softly. He hoped they would, anyway. He didn’t like to see his friends upset, and he didn’t like it even more when it was something that he couldn’t fix. And unfortunately, when it came to the OC, most of the problems that arose he couldn’t fix.
But he could be there. So he took V’s hand and laced their fingers together to try and bring her some comfort.
***
Vanessa tried to give Max a thankful smile when she saw him in the door but she wasn’t sure if it was actually effective since her features were all twisted and in the wrong places and then Nasir was hugging her and Vanessa couldn’t help but just cling to her friend for a minute. “I didn’t know who else to call that might be able to help,” she said, her voice coming out muffled by another wave of tears hitting her and Nasir’s shoulder. She pulled away from him, turning back towards Max and thinking back on her dream, trying to remember everything that had happened in it so she could tell him.
“In the dream I woke up and went to get a drink and I couldn’t see myself. I just...I wasn’t there. Not visibly and I tried to wake my mom up but she couldn’t see me and she thought I was calling her from another room when I was standing at the foot of her bed and I got really scared in the dream and ran back to the bathroom and I still was invisible. And when I woke up here - I went to the bathroom to splash some water on my face because I’d been crying in my sleep and when I looked up my face was like this. I don’t know if this happened to dreamMe or not but - yay I get to be the invisible girl in my dreams,” she said trying to make a joke out of the situation she was in but her voice cracked a little and she closed her eyes, counting to ten before opening them.
“I don’t know what happened to cause me to have that ability in the dreams or how to control or even if I have it here.”
***
Max had never seen anything like that before - invisibility wasn’t really a sort of magic that his kind in Thedas could master. Rogues could, actually, what with how stealthy they were - they could literally disappear from sight and sneak around; it was just one of those skills that could be learned for one class, and not for another. Sort of like how you were born with magic, or you just weren’t.
“It’ll be alright, Vanessa - I think eventually you’ll be able to take control of your ability,” he said with confidence. “Just takes some practice. For now though? I’m going to help you focus.”
Peaceful aura was what he had in mind - it would radiate from him, that whole aura of tranquility, because the best thing for Vanessa to do (for them all to do, really) was calm down and focus. He didn’t being his staff but didn’t really need it, the weapon was merely a helpful conduit - instead, he like any mage used his hands. The lyrium-infused prosthetic limb glowed a subtle blue, bright and nearly buzzing, and palms turned up, facing each other - the magic was like a burst in the room, warmth, the sun’s rays sinking in. There.
“Okay, now just think of yourself as you see yourself - like you’re getting dressed or something. You’re going to go train with Nasir so you can punch him in the face again.” Sorry, dear. Just play along. “You look in the mirror and everything is where it’s supposed to be.”
***
Nasir hadn’t seen this particular trick before - he was going to have to grill Max on the things that he’d been hiding. This was just what was needed, though, and he felt the tension in his shoulders ease. It was going to be okay, they’d figure this out.
He flipped Max off without looking away from V. He could see what he was doing but seriously. Rude. “You’ll pay for that one,” he said, but it was lightly teasing. He turned back to V. “We’re going to go train and not punch each other in the face, because we’ve been working on that. Just like we’ve done so many times before. It’s just a normal day.” Hopefully the spell, and the situation, was going to get her to a place where she was calm enough to work this out.
And hopefully, that would be enough to get things fixed and this wasn’t something permanent.
***
Vanessa nodded her head at Max’s instructions, closing her eyes as she pictured how her face had been that morning when she’d put her makeup, features exactly where they were supposed to be. Whatever Max was doing was helping, making her feel calmer which did make it easier for her to relax. She laughed a little at her friend’s teasing back and forth. “One time and I’m forever branded as the face puncher,” she joked, not even realizing that she was doing her breathing exercises.
She could feel something shifting on her face but she didn’t move, too afraid of messing up whatever was happening. She waited until everything seemed to have stilled and then reached up with one hand to touch her face. “Please someone tell me I’m not imagining that everything’s back in the right place?” She asked. She knew it was vain and a little silly but she really didn’t want to go through the rest of her life with her features messed up thanks to the dreams.
***
Aw, being flipped the bird was so romantic. Max just grinned, it was slightly shit-eating, but hey - he was all for Nasir taking revenge, as long as it didn’t involve spiders. Maybe Trevelyan would get a spanking -
Alright, anyway. He focused on Vanessa, quiet as she focused - and it did seem to be working, because the more she relaxed and calmed herself the more her features shifted to where they were supposed to be, and then it was done. Everything was balanced, and for that he was relieved. “Nope, back to normal,” he confirmed. “Nice job, Vanessa. I brought some tea with me, to help you go back to sleep - a good sleep, and the tea’s all natural. I grew the herbs at Skyhold. Anyway, I’ll just go and make you some.”
It meant she and Nasir could have some time too - he probably wanted to comfort his friend. Trevelyan stood up, giving Nasir’s shoulder a squeeze before he left the room.
***
Nasir caught Max’s hand and pressed a grateful kiss to his knuckles, then turned back to V as he left. “There’s the face I know,” he said with a small, tired smile. “I’m not going to lie, it was going to be kind of weird to look at you like that and pretend it was normal. Is everything else okay?” He hadn’t even thought to check and make sure that she didn’t have, like, an extra arm growing out of her back or something.
***
Vanessa gave Max a small smile at that reassurance. “Thank you Max. I know this isn't the type of calls anyone would like to get late at night. And I really didn't want to have to explain to my professors what happened. I owe both of you.” She had to admit that the birds had been good for exactly one thing - she'd met Nasir thanks to them and through him Max. She didn't think anyone else would be willing to drive over in the middle of the night like this.
She bumped Nasir with her shoulder at that teasing comment. “Funny. I know it was silly but...so not something I ever wanted to wake-up too. If I'm going to end up with a rearranged face, I'd like to at least get a chance to land one or two punches of my own.” She gave him a tired smile of her own. “You mean other than worrying about worrying spontaneous invisibility? Yeah I'm fine. Just trying not to freak out over the fact I might start vanishing. Seriously what kind of insanity is that? Out of nowhere in my dreams - boom abilities.”
***
Blood lotus - a potent elixir for a restful night’s sleep. Max went and prepared the tea (he took his time, to give the other two a chance to chat), a hot and soothing cup of it; this particular herb was what he recommended for people who were having trouble sleeping anyway, and he sold a bit of it in various occult shops. For those who wanted something different than your standard remedy.
Carrying the mug back in, he set it down on Vanessa’s bedside table. “It’s usually fine on its own, but I added a little bit of honey - I wasn’t sure how you took your tea. How are you feeling?”
She seemed much calmer, still relaxed, nothing had turned invisible again - so he’d take the victory where he could get it.
***
Nasir smiled at Max as well, patting V on the shoulder as he stood and went to Max’s side, leaning into him and kissing him in thanks. He was always happy to show up, any time that V needed him, but now that the excitement was settled, the tiredness set back in. “Are you gonna be okay?” he asked Vanessa. “Or do you need company tonight?”
***
Vanessa gave Max a grateful smile as he came back in the room. She wasn’t a big tea drinker normally but she thought tonight would be a good night to make an exception. She trusted Max and if he thought this would help her sleep with no more dreams - she was willing to try it. Especially because she really didn’t think she could stand another dream tonight. “Thanks Max. I’m feeling better. I was just really freaked when I woke up. And I know it was a silly thing to be freaked out over. I just - my nose was on my cheek,” she said with a little laugh now that things were back to normal for her.
She smiled as she got off the bed and went over to hug both of them. “I’ll be fine now. I’m just going to drink my tea and go back to sleep. I really appreciate you guys coming over and helping me.”
***
“No one can blame you for freaking out, Vanessa, it’s a shocking thing to wake up to,” Max assured. He returned the hug, patting her shoulder. “And it was no trouble, call anytime. If you want some help maybe working on your abilities too, I can try and give that a go.” He didn’t possess the same gifts per se, but he knew what it was like to have a power that was sometimes rascally - his magic had been the same way, when he was first learning.
For now though, he and Nasir would let her sleep. It had been a long night, and they could probably use a few extra winks themselves too.