Obsession
Log Info
- Title: Obsession
- Emitter: Dolan
- Place: Temple of Daeus
- Summary: Dolan returns from a bath and chats with Andelena about his recovery and with Deliverance making its opinons known. Zeke returns to the Temple of Daeus and delivers news to Andelena and Dolan about Kol. A plan is hatched to try and find out more about Kol in the dreaming realm.
Still damp from the bath and flushed from his daily activities, which are gradually growing more and more strenuous, Dolan's arrival through the door is heralded by a cheerful conversation. His unbleached shirt still clings to his back, and he laughs with the pair of Sunblades outside the door as he enters. His right shoulder is held in place by a padded, soft leather brace that extends across his bicep and shoulder, under his left arm and fastens with a series of buckles and straps over the arm, over the shoulder, and across the body under his other arm, and while it seems to limit his range of motion some, he doesn't seem to mind. The blade he'd manifested out of the dream is in his hand, point-down, and immediately gets set aside in the corner by the head of his bed. "Brightest of days, Andie."
Andelena's wearing a fresh tunic and pants, and she's over by the teapot (the larger one, not the smaller one) pouring herself a cup of tea when Dolan arrives. She offers him a warm smile. "Brightest of days, baby," she says. "How was the bath?
"Brightest of days, Brydion," greets the older female voice from within Deliverance, which is lying down in Dolan's bed like it was set down for a nap.
That gets a small look from Andelena, who just squints at the blade. "Alright, don't get fresh with my man now," she says, setting her cup of tea down and picking up Deliverance so that Dolan can sit down on the bed.
"Only one sword gets Andie." Dolan's clearly in quite a good mood, his brown-eyed wink wicked at Andie, a mock-glare in the direction of the bed before he turns and leans in for a peck on Andelena's cheek. Only when he has stolen that or not does he sit down in the vacated spot on the bed, lifting a foot to remove his boots one at a time. "Glad to be able to bathe again. I'll have to figure out where I'm bathing, if it's not at home," he adds, the smile fading a little from the mobile half of his features as he works on laces. It's a tossup whether he can do it himself, but today seems to be a good one. "Don't think they'll thank me to bathe at the TarRaCe."
Andelena's grinning just as widely as Dolan kisses her, and she sets Deliverance down by the wall, next to the dream-conjured sword. "They do the private bathing stalls at the TarRaCe, though," she says as she sits down next to Dolan on the bed. "So it could be done, if you had to."
The Sunguard looks over at Deliverance against the wall and smirks a little. "She's been kind of quiet. Except when I cuss. She still doesn't like that."
"It is not becoming of a woman of your station," Deliverance replies crisply.
"Yeah-" Dolan stops on a dime at the sword's admonishment. "Sweet and holy - it sounds like your mother," Dolan stares at the sword, still in awe, more than a little wariness, and a healthy dose of disbelief. "Your sword fucking talks. I just hope it doesn't truck with demons like your mother does." He tosses his boots into a corner. "I hope it doesn't listen in."
"Oh heavens, no," Deliverance replies in a clear signal of offense. "I have a moral character and moral fiber, unlike Andelena's mother. No, by station I mean Andelena's position as a Sunguard."
Andelena looks mildly green at the notion of Deliverance listening in on certain things. "Gods, I really hope not," she says. "If so, uh, sorry for all the--"
"I really do not care if you copulate, Andelena," the sword replies bluntly. "I care more about seeing you become a better servant of the light--and to see the enemies of the gods of light defeated."
That gets Andelena staring at the sword again. And... she nods. "You know, I'll take that. So long as it doesn't start talking with five more voices that are encouraging me to have kids right away."
There's a commotion down the hall, someone being announced for the first time in some time. It's Zeke! The sounds of him walking down the hall and chatting lightly with the paladin's in front of the door come, and then the door opens to permit the blue-scaled sith-makar to enter. "Peassce on your nessstsss." He offers politely, then ducks his head. "Thisss one apologizesss for abruptly leaving, and the ssstrict guard while thisss one wasss away."
It is a truly odd thing, watching someone with an artificial eye that is featureless and expressionless roll their eyes. One reacts not at all, the expression almost wholly blank on the right side of Dolan's face, the mobile half searching the skies for mercy and patience. "Why- one's bad enough." There's more to be said there, but then Zeke walks through the door, and Dolan stands up, a little slowly. "Zeke. What in all the green garden hells happened?" The question is concerned, not angry, and the sword is momentarily forgotten.
"Sunguard Zeke!" Andelena says with a sort of joyful surprise to see him as she stands up with Dolan. "How are you? Did you travel back in okay? It's fucking blustery--"
"Language," Deliverance states crisply.
Andelena rolls her eyes. "It's very blustery out there right now. Sorry. My sword's apparently grown a mouth and is speaking her mind now." Then, a moment later, and a look on her face that's more hesitant: "How's... How's Seldan?"
Zeke holds up his claws, which are empty at the moment and lets out a breath. "One at a time." He shakes his head and continues, eyes on Dolan as he speaks. The sword speaking is... negligible and simply something he is more used to than others might be. "Thisss one comesss from Ssseldan. Kol wassss at the front gatesss, trying to get in. He sssaught you Dolan, asss if one love-sssick."
He measures his words carefully, but he knows that they can not be easy things for Dolan to hear. "Thisss one thinksss you desserve to know."
GAME: Dolan rolls will: (15)+10: 25
The grin that had started on Dolan's face as Zeke raised his claws to forestall the questions fades and then vanishes at the explanation, and he sucks in a deep breath. "Shit. That explains it." He sits back down on the bed, staring at the door, but his eyes hold sanity, and resolution. "Guess that had to happen. So what are we going to do? Did he actually make it into the city" He tentatively flexes the shoulder in its brace, but lowers it again almost immediately, frowning worriedly. "Doubt anyone or anything's likely to stop him."
"No, he didn't," Andelena replies. Then she sighs. "I received news from Seldan through a dream--I'd accidentally summoned him while I was trying to inspect Deliverance in the dream. I... didn't put it together until after I woke up, but he was the one who repelled Kol."
She looks a little guilty. "I wish I'd realized or I would have asked him if he was fine."
Zeke looks at Dolan seriously. "Thisss onesss kin repelled him. Ssseldan yesss. It came at a cossst, but Sseldan did make him retreat. The extra guardss are jussst in cassse. Sssince he wasss looking for you. Thisss one comesss with warning. That he hasss alliesss, and that hissss obsessssion with Dolan may be a weaknesss we yet be able to exploit." Zeke sighs here. "We need more information about him."
"That's not going to last very long." Unbidden, Dolan's heart speeds up at the very idea of encountering Kol again, and he reaches up to touch the fang scars on the side of his neck, even as he digests that information. "Shit. So - there's a dreaming that I'd wanted to wait to do until I was strong enough. I think - I think we'd better do it. Tonight."
He props one foot up on the edge of the bed, his right arm resting on his knee, the braced one in his lap. "Look," he sighs, staring at one of the stools at the far side of the room. "Kol's - he's a monster, all right, but he's a mess." A shudder ripples down his spine. "To him -" He lets out a hard breath. "He likes pain. He thinks it's beautiful, because it means being alive to him. He's dead without it. It's literally life. He doesn't give a shit about the wolves or the demons or anything else in that camp. Putting me in pain literally gave him life." It's a hard thing to say, and he all but forces it out.
"I've been wondering. I have to know. What in all the green garden hells happens to a man to make them think like that?" he blurts out, almost pleadingly. "That that is life? Yeah, scars are proof that you've lived through some shit. But who wants to make them on purpose?! That's the stuff of demons, but that's how he thinks."
Andelena places a hand gently on Dolan's arm, looking at him with a compassionate gaze. "Something horrible," she says. "I can't imagine what, but... something awful had to happen to him to make him like that." She rubs his arm gently, to reassure him that he's okay, that he's safe, that she's here and he's not back there with Kol in that cave.
Zeke hums low in his throat. Offering his familiar comforting noise to Dolan's reminder. "Thisss one isss reminded, that demonsss and devilsss were onsce mortal. That they are born of men. Perhapsss he isss between? Between that plassce where devil and man meetssss." Zeke ponders this a moment and looks at Dolan. "If you mean to go into the dream, and learn thesssse thingsss, thisss one would go with you. Or perhapsss Andelena. Asss you choosse. The extra hand to help control the memoriesss will make thingsss easssier."
"I'd rather Andie, if that's okay, for this." Dolan seems to be under remarkably good control, and offers both of them a ragged half-smile for the immediate comfort. "It's okay. I talked to him to stall for time. He was pretty forthcoming, and I don't think he actually lied to me. He's undead all right. His-" He swallows, and quickly shakes his head. "So Andie, when two of the Knight's faithful work together with the totem, that makes it stronger. Sometime we should see what we can do with all three of us, but - maybe not for this. Making it too strong might be dangerous."
Focus on the plan. The inner inquisitor whispers again, even as the touch of cold fingers runs down his back.
Andelena nods readily to Dolan's idea, her hand still on his arm and still rubbing it reassuringly. "I think Bry and I going alone on this one makes sense," she says. "Sorry, Zeke. But the last time Bry and I were in a dream alone--we had a good talk. And a good dream." There's a smile there on her face as she looks at Dolan. "Now, I'm not an idiot. I know this isn't going to end with us admiring each other in a mirror like that one did. But... This is personal."
"Thisss one under-sstandsss." Zeke nods his head to Dolan. It's his choice and Zeke respects it. "Thisss one will protect the two of you in reality while you dream." He need not add anything further to that offer.
Dolan nods, brightening a little at the touch, and reaches to snake an arm around Andelena's waist. "Thanks. The brace feels pretty good. That might be enough. They had me swap hands for a few drills today, and it held." He turns that cheeky grin on Andie, and leans his head on her shoulder. I had to make sure she knew what she was getting."
Andelena reaches up and puts her hand affectionately in Dolan's hair, smiling warmly at him. "I'm so damn happy with how well it's been going, Bry," she says. "The drills, your recovery since we got you to the altar--it's going pretty damn beautifully."
She leans in and kisses Dolan somewhere in his head of hair. "I know what I'm getting, and that's the love of my damn life. The way it's always been, just different--and for the better. You, me, and the Knight." As the refrain goes, but that's a refrain that never gets old for her.