dǫçţǫŗ şɭęęƥ (shone) wrote in valloic, @ 2020-10-10 00:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | !: action/thread/log, ₴ inactive: dan torrance, ₴ inactive: vanya hargreeves |
WHO: Dan & Vanya
WHAT: Au Revoir, Overlook Hotel~
WHERE: Up in the cliffs where dis shit is located
WHEN: Friday
WARNINGS: Destruction, flames, a hug, cardio, emotions
STATUS: Complete
It had been a very long week and it wasn’t quite over yet. Not even close. The dread Dan felt about what was going to happen next felt like it aged him many years, however - the Overlook had showed up in Vallo, and he felt responsible for it, and knew he had to get rid of it somehow. Only it had proven to be something not so easy to do away with. Which made sense, the more he thought about it. He was no hero destined to slay a great and mighty evil - he was just a man who followed in his father's footsteps and tried to drown his memories of evil in booze and drugs, anything to numb the ghosts of his trauma and the powers that likewise haunted him. Anything it took to suppress them, anything to try and obliterate the memories of that time in Colorado. But he'd never succeeded, not really. And Dan had finally realized that trying to move on was pointless. It was all a part of him, forever. They were on their way there now, to the Overlook with its high ceilings and the expanse of it all that seemed so lonely - gigantic columns, huge windows; even the garish carpet seemed to accentuate how small and vulnerable Danny and his mother actually were at the time. The odd geometric patterns had surrounded him like a cage. He didn’t want to take a waypoint in, so he asked Vanya to hike with him up into the cliffs (he had the right supplies, sturdy boots and a backpack stuffed full of the necessities). The closer they got the colder it got; he felt it wash over him, puffs of white clouds pushed out from warm lungs. “Thank you - for doing this,” he said and he’d thanked Vanya already, sure, but he felt as if it bore a repeat or two. If there was one thing Vanya was good at, it was destruction, even if it wasn’t intentional. She was all too happy to make it intentional for once. If Dan wanted this hotel destroyed (and she could see why) she was happy to lend her power to the cause. It wasn’t like she got to do something good with it often. It would have been so much easier to take a Waypoint, ask someone to transport them, or hell, even fly. But at Dan’s request she was hiking up the cliff for this. As someone who’s greatest physical task was usually playing violin, she was not cut out for this. But she was doing her best and biting her tongue to stop from complaining. “Of course.” she said, slightly winded. “My powers might as well be good for positive destruction once in a while.” Because the last two times had triggered the end of the world, and this hotel probably deserved to be blown to bits. She had to ask though. “Why are we hiking though?” She was not her siblings, their father had not bothered to train her in pretty much anything physical. She just held the clipboard, watched the time, and blew the whistle. “Is there a reason you wanted to hike instead of taking Waypoints, or anything else?” “The waypoints would have probably brought us inside and - that’s not a good idea,” Dan replied, adjusting the backpack on his shoulder - it wasn’t a particularly challenging hike, the cliffs of Vallo. Wasn’t like this was Mount Everest or anything, but still - if someone wasn’t used to it, maybe it could seem like a lot. “And - I don’t know. There’s something about being out here - it’s soothing in a way few things have been recently.” The scenery was beautiful - the stone path was all rugged perfection, light playing on the shades of grey and in the greenery of the trees on the way up it felt like kind of a salvation; Dan had a lot of old thoughts to put to rest, in addition to gaining some new perspectives. Each step up meant something, in a way. So yes, it was that, and maybe a thousand other different reasons to choose a hike - because he wanted to steel himself for this? Because he didn’t want to ask anyone else to get involved since he felt bad enough about this latest intrusion being connected to him? Et cetera and so forth? He glanced at Vanya, a bit of a sheepish twinkle in his eye. “You can - fly, can’t you?” he asked. “If you want to fly back down once we’re done, that’s okay. I can head back on my own.” That was a fair point. The last thing Vanya needed was to have to live out her worst fear once again. Who knows what that could unleash. Hopefully she would have control over herself now, but it was not something that she wanted to risk. “Is it that bad in there?” Dan wasn’t the kind of person who would exaggerate, she didn’t think. But still. “Maybe I need to consider working on my cardio and general exercise.” It was nothing Vanya typically ever put much concern into. She was going to offer to fly them both down, but based on what he suggested she do that alone, he probably didn’t want that. “No, that’s okay.” she said, resigning herself to stick with him. “If this place is that bad, I don’t want to leave you by yourself after.” As much as she regretted everything that had happened at home, part of her wasn’t mad she had once destroyed the house that had caused her so much pain. “Besides, if anything happened to you on the way down Allison would never forgive me.” she smiled, attempting to be more lighthearted. Dan chuckled a little, his expression fond. All he wanted to do was get through this and marry Allison, finally - it was mere weeks away and seemed both far off and so incredibly near at the same time. “There is that,” he agreed - but then his expression turned somber as he considered the question of is it that bad in there? He tried to think of how to describe it. “When I was a kid, we were here for the winter - my father was supposed to be the hotel’s caretaker and a snowstorm trapped us in after about a month. Phone lines were down,” he said, continuing along the path on an incline. “Madness overcame my father, and he always had his demons - it was like he was just meant to be the powder keg and the hotel was the fuse. I tried to save him and I couldn’t. And the ghosts that lived in this hotel - they followed me, because it was me they really wanted. They just wanted to use my father to get to me.” And there was nothing he could have done to stop that either; he’d been cursed with a Shine that was real damn bright. He paused at the top of the path, where the snow-capped Overlook lay before them. It was almost a beautiful scene, were it not for the very fact that evil rolled off the structure in waves - but it was a weakened evil, a slow simmer rather than a pot boiling over. This would work. Dan could feel it. “Do you - need me to stand back?” he asked Vanya. The hotel was extensive but probably no match for her abilities. This time, it was like he felt the Overlook’s fear instead of his own. Her experience with ghosts was limited. That was always Klaus, and then Ben’s thing. But she knew Klaus ended up the way he was because of how hard it was to live with his powers. Considering what he had to deal with, and how Dan was speaking now, Klaus had been doing so well while he was there. Their father hadn’t helped things. Which was standard for him. When they reached the top, she saw that he meant. Or she felt it. Not as in some kind of power. But in the sense when people can just tell that something is dangerous. That something is definitely not right. She took a moment to just stare it down, taking in the view. Part of her wanted to ask what had happened there to make it….this. Part of her didn’t want to know. Dan’s question broke her out of her thoughts, and she looked up at him taking a moment to process the question. “Oh...no.” She shook her head. “You’ll be fine here. Just don’t get close to the building.” Vanya looked back to the hotel, and then took a step or to forward. It was big, she couldn’t quite tell how big, but that was fine. She could get a better view easily enough. The iris’ of her eyes and her skin turns white, and a light begins to shine from her chest. It would be easy enough to look at her and see a villain. She looked the part. Seconds later her feet left the ground, and she rose up high enough to have a clear view of the layout of the hotel. For a moment she just listened. Whatever was in there that was so evil, she couldn’t hear it. She could hear the hotel though. The creek of the building, the electricity running through the structure. She was sure there was no one inside though. At least no one with a heart beat, and no movement, no footsteps, no indication that anyone might get hurt. Good. The first explosion came from the center of the structure. It shattered the silence (the silence that others would probably hear), and flames erupted into the sky. The ground shook, and she could hear animals surrounding the area take off further into the woods. Debris went flying, but none of it ever made it close enough to Dan and Vanya before it dissolved to dust and fell to the ground. Vanya hovered in the air, and the second, and then third explosion hit, followed by another. It continued that way, hitting targeted areas of the structure and causing as much damage as possible. Between the explosions, she waited to hear the sound of the structure give out. Jesus. Dan followed instructions though, he definitely didn’t get too close to the hotel - he stood toward the edge of the path that twisted down the cliffs, and it was like the animals in the area sort of knew what was going to happen seconds before it did. That extra sense - because birds took off, the rustling and fluttering of wings, squirrels jumped from tree to tree as their branches shook. It was a great moment of anticipation before the first blast at the very center of the building - Fiery smoke and dust, a gush of flames - Dan covered his eyes with his arm, just listening to it all as it happened. More clumps of flame, a blinding flash like a sheet of lightning; it was like the whole hotel was belching flames in certain spots, one blast after another. Then he heard it - fire punching its way out, windows shattering, the structure beginning to give way. Collapsing in on itself, and it sounded like multiple rounds of gunfire inside of a mine shaft. Or like thunder. He could feel the heat from it all, snow sizzling, then the rainfall of dust. Though his Shining extended, unfurling, reaching to listen for Vanya and to make sure she was okay. A whole cocktail of emotion was swirling through him and he dropped the backpack he wore, stooping to rest his hands on his thighs, trying not to collapse himself. It wasn’t a difficult task for her to do. It took the smallest of sounds for her to cause the first explosion, and the noise that followed made the ones that followed all that much easier. It didn’t take long for her to hear it. The sound of the very bones of the house giving, collapsing in on itself, and largs pieces of the standing structure began to fall. The explosions stopped, but the sound of the building falling into itself continued to fill her senses. She could hear Dan behind her, his heart beat, his breathing, each of his movements. But he stayed put, so she focused on her task. It was like dominos, the center of the top floor fell in on itself completely, and then it spread, until the entire upper structure was falling into the levels below, triggering the collapse of the building. Dust and rubble spilled onto the grounds, and when things finally cleared, the hotel was in ruins. Small fires still burned in some areas, but the building that had been standing was now a pile of rock and ash. Vanya brought herself back down the ground, her skin and eyes returning to normal and the light fading. Then turned to look at Dan. It wasn’t until she saw that he was bent over, hands on his thighs that she showed any expression again. “Are you okay?” she asked, concerned, hurrying over to him. What had happened? Had it been too loud? Too much at once? Dan heard the question, his telepathic feelers bouncing back like a rubber band when Vanya was near - at first he’d kind of panicked because what if she got swallowed by the flames, by the destruction? However, he should have known she’d be just fine - all of her siblings were powerful, but there was probably a reason why her shitty father wanted to suppress her abilities so much. Because just look at what she could do. “Yeah,” he breathed out, standing up straight, the dust still settling - those small little fires would burn out, and it was odd to think that they were all that remained of the Overlook. The rest of it was literally dust and rubble on the ground. “I just - it’s finally fucking gone.” Physically, yes. And after he’d talked to Sabrina about it, he knew that the Overlook was going to be a part of him forever - but this way, it couldn’t hurt anyone anymore. He could make peace with the fact that there were both good and bad parts to him, the hotel definitely falling under bad, if it just meant that no one else had to be harmed. “I owe you so much for this.” And he didn’t care - he didn’t see Vanya as a villain, never had. She was no villain anyway, no more than he was - so he closed the distance between them and hugged her; he was so relieved he could cry. Vanya looked over her shoulder at the building she had just taken down. She knew there was something about seeing the rubble that she would never understand. To her, it was just a building. To Dan, it was, and would always be so much more. She didn’t have to understand. “You really don’t.” she said with a shake of her head. “That-” she cut herself off, not expecting the hug. She didn’t hug people often. Despite being the one of her siblings who was here the longest, she also had the least amount of friends and connections. It just wasn’t easy for her. The hug threw her off, but after a moment she tentatively returned the gesture. She could practically feel the emotion coming off of him. It was that strong. To try and avoid making it awkward, she tried to keep it light. “Honestly, you don’t. That wasn’t hard for me. I’m pretty sure the walk up here was more stressful.” Her cardio was terrible. The quip about the walk up here did its job - it did lighten the moment a little, or at least, it was probably the main thing that stopped Dan from breaking down into a tearstained mess. He laughed, wiping at his cheeks with his jacket sleeve - the tip of his nose was red, probably both from the sheer amount of emotion and also the cold, which felt sharp and brought additional ruddiness to his cheeks. “Going back down is easier,” he assured. “But, uh - if you can fly...is there a way to take both of us?” If not, they’d do it the old-fashioned way - but now that the deed had been done, a part of him just wanted to get away from the cliffs as soon as possible. Vanya was pretty small, her with her slight frame and avian bones, so he didn’t know if she could carry him - though if she was going to scoop him up bridal style and fly through the air, he was all for that. That was the last question she had expected to be asked, and the surprise was evident on her face. “Um, yeah. That wouldn’t be hard.” It wasn’t really about physical strength. Vanya couldn’t physically pick up Dan if she tried, but with her powers? Easy enough. That was where her strength was. “Are you ready to go now, or did you need a minute?” she glanced back at the remains of the hotel, unsure if this was something that needed a moment to just reflect, or if it was time to get the hell out of dodge immediately. She would stay with him, if he wanted her to. It was just a pile of rubble to her, but maybe he needed a moment to make sure it wasn’t going to magically rebuild itself or something. Hopefully it wasn’t going to do that. Dan paused, taking a second or two - he observed the rubble, the dust just blowing away in the wind. The Overlook had ripped apart his family - but maybe it had been easy enough to do. The evil had already been present in Jack Torrance; it only took a few nudges from the sheer remoteness of the hotel’s location, and ghostly echoes, before madness seized him in its grip. Demons lurked within him, they always had. They lurked within Dan too, but the difference was - he had accepted it. Accepted that the darker aspects of his DNA were hardwired in there. Inescapable. But he wasn’t going to let that be all of who he was. “I’m ready,” he promised Vanya, shouldering his backpack once more. “Okay, just...try not to panic. I won’t let you fall.” The white light and features took over again, and this time when her feet left the ground, she took Dan with her. Vanya didn’t have to hold onto him physically, she just used her powers to pick him up as well and he flew up with her. She kept them both vertical in the sky, not moving too quickly, but at a steady enough pace that the cliffs around them soon hid the remains of the hotel from view. Only the smoke still rising from some of the smaller fires gave any indication of what they were leaving behind. She kept them above the tree level, high enough to give them both a hell of a view on their way back. She hoped it was a view he could enjoy after everything, and hopefully being flown in the air by his fiancée’s sister was too weird or scary. It probably wasn’t easy to trust someone wasn’t going to let you fall. Or maybe that was just her and her issues around trust. “Let me know if this is too much?” Holyshitholyshitholyshitholyshit was kind of the train of thought going through Dan’s mind - along with just a whole bunch of alphabet soup and random letters. He definitely wasn’t expecting this - and while he didn’t trust just anyone, he for sure trusted Vanya. She was family, after all (with him joining the family) - that was how he looked at it, anyway. He knew that she wasn’t going to let him fall and splatter to a very bloody death. The view was amazing, land and water below - it all looked like a woven tapestry from this height, roads snaking and curving like veins. “It’s good,” he assured, though he wasn’t sure what to do with his hands. Or his arms. Flap them like a bird? Maybe not. He’d just hold still and enjoy the ride. “I never would have thought to travel this way. Maybe it even beats the waypoints.” Dan would be flying everywhere if he could - and while he had some telekinetic prowess thanks to the Shining, he doubted he would be able to sustain himself in the air. His heartbeat said maybe it wasn’t quite okay, but he was managing. “Let me know if it’s not.” She repeated, not wanting to cause a heart attack or something. The trip was smooth at least, that was partly her doing, not letting any wind make the trip bumpy. “The waypoints are still helpful. They’re faster.” flying was good if there weren't any Waypoints, and she didn’t have far to go.” In no time at all she was lowering them back to the ground, near the closest Waypoint to take her back to the city and Dan back to the Spellman’s. “Actually, honestly, I don’t really use it unless I need to. I guess it’s more of a habit to do things the way I’ve always done it, before I ever knew I had powers. If the waypoints didn’t exist I’d probably still take public transit over flying.” Dan with his feet on the ground - well, he felt better once he was on land again. Even though flying had been pretty amazing and exhilarating, he had to admit. “Wow,” he exhaled, breathing deeply and his heart coming down from where it had been doing those rapidfire pistons in his chest and - Vanya could probably hear that, come to think of it. Oops. “Thank you,” he said, and he meant for more than just the ride back to the waypoint. There was no way he could put into words just how grateful he was. He didn’t even know where to begin, when it came to repaying her for what she’d done for him. “I think I need to - decompress a little. But soon - can I take you to dinner or something?” It was a drop in the bucket, but it was something - and maybe it would be nice to spend some time together without anything terrible or traumatizing going on in the background. She had still had to smile at his reaction, despite his racing heart. He’d done better than she thought he might. If she were him, he’d need to decompress a lot. Like excuse me while I go avoid society for at least 24 hours. “Oh, you don’t have to.” she said with a shake of her head. But yeah, he probably knew that. “But yeah, that could be cool.” she was always down to eat anyway. She made a mental note to text Allison and let her know that Dan was on the way home, and to keep an eye out, he looked done in. “Whenever you’re ready. Make sure to get some rest, okay?” "I will," Dan promised and he meant that - because after this week, where it felt like he'd gotten six hours of rest in total, he really needed to catch up on sleep. And now that the Overlook was gone, he could rest easy. He lifted his hand to give Vanya one last little wave goodbye, and then he touched the waypoint - it was an exhilarating feeling to know there was zero chance of it taking him to the Overlook. That nightmare was over and this time, no ghosts or lingering regrets would follow him home. |