entranceway | Video; early morning of 01/19

Entry tags:

Video; early morning of 01/19

[The woman who pops onto the screen? She doesn't look at all pleased. She's disheveled and incredibly sore, but at least she's been able to have a shower since things have returned to normal. She'd woken up in her own bed, having muddied up the sheets -- so, okay, she's still pretty annoyed.

Still, it had occurred to her that she'd done something a little bit irresponsible the night before. It had been motivated by anger, certainly, but it isn't as if she'd killed the man -- still, she needs to get it off her chest and just make sure that he's -- you know, still alive.

She clears her throat.]

Uh, all right -- this message is especially for Alistair, or for anyone from his world -- now that this thing is working again.

I was attacked in the forest last night by someone accusing me of being a demon, so I thought that you guys might know him. I knocked him out and left him tied up outside the tavern, so I don't know where he'd be now.

[She scowls.]

And just to clear it up for anyone who might be wondering ... I'm not a demon.

[She motions to her hair.]

I mean, do you see a set of pointy horns? I have no interest in your immortal soul, okay? So further attempts to end me? Not going to be dealt with so gently.

[It's a bit of posturing since she's never actually killed anyone, but...they don't need to know that.]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[Cullen Maker damn it.]

To be fair, not all demons have pointy horns and want souls.

[So blasé.]

I think I know who that might have been, though.

Oh, yeah? Did he look like this?

[She shifts to an exact replica of Cullen's face and shouts, rather melodramatically,]

"Demon!"

[ squint ]

You know Alistair? It... wasn't him, though?

[ THANK THE MAKER FOR THAT, she can only watch after the gaggle of men from Thedas for so long and they get into so much trouble ]

I'm sorry that you were attacked, my lady. Not all of the others from Thedas have seen much of Wonderland and may have wrongfully been... alarmed.

[ She offers a little smile. ]

Do you know the man's name?

[what tHE FUCK. Hawke visibly recoils from the camera at that because, what the fuck. But is it because of the shouting or because SUDDEN SHAPESHIFTING ARE YOU SURE YOU'RE NOT A DEMON.]

I -- Yes, that's him. [He gathers his composure and sighs.] Knight-Captain Cullen. The first I met him he was assaulting one of his recruits, so this doesn't surprise me.

[A beat.]

Don't take this the wrong way, but if you're not a demon, what are you?

Yeah, that sounds about right. Ass.

[..okay, so hindsight being what it is, maybe not the best way to convince someone she isn't a demon, but...ugh, this is so irritating. She's feeling childish, all right? A woman in her 30s probably shouldn't be acting this way, but she doesn't like being singled out like that.

She lets out a slow breath. Okay, Mystique...calm down. She shifts back and places her hands gently in her lap.]

I'm a mutant. We're -- the next stage of human evolution, so to speak. Human, though.

[The woman knows Alistair too, evidently, so that makes her shoulders relax just a tad. She nods.]

Yeah, we -- met at the party over the holidays. He was definitely much more accommodating than the new guy.

[She's at least learned her lesson from her exchange upwind. She sighs.]

I can show him to you, if it won't freak you out.

Edited 2016-01-22 01:59 (UTC)

[ There's a tiny, fond smile. ]

He- Yes, well. [ Don't get her started on that guy. Besides, she wants to know more about the new addition to their party, so to speak. Who might've attacked a woman for being 'a demon' without any cause? ]

Show me? ... All right. [ She's curious, mostly, and assumes that the other woman is going to show her a picture. Why would it 'freak me out?' ] Go on, then.

[ Alistair's name gets her attention but its the fascinating creature on the screen that keeps it. Demon or not she can already tell she likes her. ]

Well of course you're not a demon. Even desire demons are not as pleasurable to look at. You have to excuse men...they just don't understand beauty as well as women do.

Could you tell me what the man who assaulted you looked like? [ She's really hoping it wasn't Hawke, even if she knows Hawke isn't that stupid. ]

[Oh, she'll be filing that smile away under 'things to ask Alistair' about. For now, though, she pauses again.]

And just so we're clear, here, I didn't do this in front of him. It was all about me being blue, evidently.

[She lets her face more calmly ripple down to show Cullen's face and body in place of hers.]

There.

[Oh, Isabela -- flattery will get you everywhere as far as Mystique's concerned. She relaxes just a little and smiles, ducking her head.]

Right, desire demons. Heard about those. But uh -- thanks.

[She laughs.]

I think I did excuse him, since he wouldn't excuse himself from my company politely.

He was -- tall, blonde. Rude.

-- The recruit was in fact possessed, but considering he only wanted information, it didn't exactly make a good first impression.

[So justifiable but not really. He relaxes once she changes back, frowning at the camera because, well, he believes her about not being a demon but that ability is still troubling for someone not used to it.]

Well, I've never heard of a mutant but there's a lot I've never heard of in Wonderland. But if you say you're not a demon, that's good enough for me. [Hawke shrugs. That attitude is probably going to bite him in the ass one day, and truthfully he is a little suspicious, but. Now isn't the time.] Garrett Hawke, by the way. I'd apologise for Cullen but I think that's something he needs to do himself.

You didn't do wh- Oh.

[ Oh! She looks incredibly surprised when it isn't the blue woman anymore on the screen and is instead a man, blonde and faintly scarred. ]

That's incredible. I knew a shape-shifter, but she only took the form of animals. [ Robyn leans in a little, studying the expression. ] But... Hmm. That's him? He looks familiar, somehow, but I can't say for certain that I recognize the face. Did you catch his name? I suppose not, if he was settled on your being a demon.

Right, because brute force is totally the best way to get things out of people.

[She scoffs.

Yeah, Cullen didn't exactly making a gleaming impression on her. She runs a hand through her hair.]

That's -- kind of you. It isn't as if I did anything to him other than try to get him to come into the Tavern from the rain.

[Thank god for small mercies like that stupid event being over.]

I'm Mystique. What's your relationship with this 'Cullen', then?

No, he was much more intent on yelling and throwing flashes of blue light at me than discussing the finer points of his name.

And there was that whole -- weirdness with the names, anyway.

[She shifts smoothly back to her usual form and raises her eyebrow, since Robyn's said something much more interesting.]

You knew a shapeshifter? That's news -- I've never heard of another one.

[ Brennan doesn't always pay a lot of attention to the network - mostly because he forgets it's there, but with the event ending and things coming back to normal, he checks just to see if there's any explanation for... whatever all that was about.

Instead he finds this, and it has him squinting in confusion for a moment before opening a feed to reply. ]

Apparently we've started an infestation and I hadn't even realized it. My apologies, my lady. Are you hurt?

[ He's still friendly and polite despite his surprise at seeing... well. Her. He can sort of see how an overwhelmed newcomer might be mistaken, especially if they were the suspicious sort and alarmed already, but that's still no excuse. ]

Might I inquire if you know the identity of your attacker? At the very least someone should find him and make sure he doesn't attack anyone else.

It can be, but the Templars aren't known for their diplomacy, anyway.

[They'd rather abduct people and beat them down, but they're a necessary evil so. Sigh.]

Acquaintances, really. He's... or was, since he seems to be from my future, the Knight-Commander's second in command. The Templars are meant to protect people from magic, and ensure the safety of the mages, but they have a habit of going too far.

[A pause, before he continues.]

So we don't exactly see eye to eye.

[So he's either a mage, or a mage-supporter. That probably means she's going to like him. She can't help the smirk.]

So long as you guys weren't the best of friends. I might have had to hold it against you.

[She's learning more about Alistair's world by necessity, it seems. Templars protect the rest of the population from mages - Alistair had asked her if what she did was magic. It made more sense, now.]

More like eye-to-fist, huh?

[Deep down, Mystique knows that the man being startled wasn't entirely unwarranted - but she'd been trying to be nice to him, and she'd already resolved not to hide in this place.

That was the reason, among others, that she hadn't tried to kill the man -- just incapacitate him.]

It isn't your apology that I want. And from what I understand, his name is Cullen. If he attacks someone else, they might not be so kind.

[Given the rest of Hawke's companions, Mystique will fit right in. He laughs, shaking his head.]

Nothing like that, yet, at least. A few tense conversations, at most. But if he keeps this up, someone will have to step in.

[And from his tone it's clear he means him. He has no problem putting Cullen in his place if needs to, but he really hopes it doesn't come to that.]

But maybe we'll get lucky and being left unconscious and bound in the rain will be enough to deter him.

[She appreciates that he's willing to step in for her, and it reminds her briefly of Alistair - people in his world must put a high value on honor. She smiles mildly.]

If he's anything like the people who go after my kind in my world, I think it's probably just made him angrier.

[Which should make it all the more clear that she really should have killed her and very intentionally didn't.]

Maybe if enough of you tell him to leave me alone, he might.

[Hawke can't help his frown. It shouldn't surprise him that prejudice on the level of what mages face happens in more than one world, and yet.]

I don't think it would have. As I said, he seems to be from my future and I can tell he has changed. While it doesn't excuse what he did, I'm hoping it was just the shock that comes with arriving in Wonderland, particularly during an event.

[It really doesn't excuse it, merely makes it slightly understandable.]

I'll speak to him, but I can lend you my Mabari if you want a guard dog.

[At this, he moves the camera to showcase his hulking warhound sleeping on a lush cushion, before moving it back to his smiling face.]

Flashes of blue light? [ Could he have been a mage? ]

Oh, that's right. I've been called 'the Warden' all weekend, which... isn't so differently from how it normally is, unfortunately.

[ She sighs, mildly chagrined. ]

Well, she was - is - a mage. One of her magical specialties was changing her form. [ Then, there's a sort of weary smile. ] Her mother could turn into a dragon.

[He's winning points all over the board here. He's not only trying to defend an acquaintance, but he's also offering his personal guard dog to protect her. It's a balanced approach, and one that reminds her of her brother.

She nods.]

I'd hate to take him away from you. He looks pretty comfortable. We'll just hope you're right about the Knight-Commander.

Ah, magic. Right, Alistair said that existed where you're from. Magic and demons -- and I thought this place was surreal.

[She nods at the Warden's words, though.]

Yeah, a big blue arc of light that just came from him.

And what do we call you other than that? Since it doesn't sound like you want to be called the Warden.

Your perception of things certainly expands while you're here, doesn't it?

[ Her world had expanded in a massive way when she'd been taken from Highever, and now... well, Wonderland. It's a completely different beast. ]

I'm not sure I can say, but I'll certainly find out. [ She brightens, grateful for the question. ] My name is Robyn, my lady. May I ask yours?

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 10

Video; early morning of 01/19

no subject

no subject

video;

no subject

no subject

Video;

Video;

no subject

Video;

no subject

no subject

Video;

no subject

Video;

[ Video ]

no subject

no subject

Video;

no subject

no subject

no subject

Video;

no subject

Video;

Video;