Week 3

[airlockedmods]

[Four people dead now - six, if you include the crew. Things have been a little rough on the Starfield Penitentiary this week. Blaze Dudely doesn't make a public reappearance during the weekend, so you've got a few days to yourselves to recover, though he's probably still sticking to his office hours if you really feel like going to see him. On Sunday morning, you may find that you're recovering a a few other things as well - both strange dreams and some new items.

In addition, there's a new set of doors at the end of the corridor, by that empty space where you'd been having your fight club. Looks like you've got a new wing to explore.]



Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

(( ooc: Don't forget to turn in your AC for Week 2, submit your memory regains, and put in your benefactor threads! ))

Comments

Exercise Yard

[neverheardofhim]

[He'd heard the chaos in the mess hall, but opted to not bother the man then. He was busy enough with the others, and probably needed the outlet anyway. It was only once he seemed to have settled down in the yard that the dwarf decided to check in on the man.

He lowered himself down, sitting beside Noctis. For a handful of minutes, Varric was silent, not wanting to immediately pester the so-called king. A few minutes of silence would do them both good, give them both time to prepare.]

Let me guess... bad dreams?

[nightcure]

Yep.

[ Automatic response, and it's a moment before Noctis really registers who's talking to him. He's kind of glad it's Varric, because he likes the guy. ]

You too, right.

[ It's not really a question. ]

[neverheardofhim]

My brother's dead. Killed by yours truly.

[If he wanted answers out of Noctis, if he wanted to be sure the man was alright, he sure as hell wasn't going to get them by guarding his own secrets.]

Makes me miss my dreams of wine and gold, you know?

[nightcure]

... Sounds worse than mine.

[ He falls quiet. Touko had been right--Prompto's tough. He won't know until he's out of here for sure. But even then... ]

Dunno about dreams of wine and gold, but I've had better dreams.

[neverheardofhim]

I'm not here to compete. Shit was rough, no matter what, kid.

[As if to supplement that, Varric reached over, clapping a hand on Noctis' shoulder. He leaned forward, enough to steal a concerned glance at the king.]

What did you see?

[nightcure]

[ He doesn't make a move to remove the hand. Really, it's more of a comfort than anything. Funny, that. ]

... I pushed my best friend off a train.

[neverheardofhim]

[Varric didn't know what a train was, but he didn't really need to. He tightened his grip on the man's shoulder, more than capable of reading the implication. Noctis had done something horrific to a friend of his.

Presumably one of the friends he spoke so highly of the week prior.]

There's more to it than that, right? Too short of a story as it is.

[nightcure]

... Yeah.

[ His jaw is tight, but he takes a breath and relaxes it. ]

I was chasing someone. He'd done something to make me mad. I don't know what, and I can't start to even guess. But he... I guess he disguised Prompto as himself? I don't know. I thought it was Ardyn I was chasing, but it was Prompto, and I thought Ardyn was about to shoot Prompto--

[ He's getting upset, and Noctis grips the table hard. ]

I thought I was pushing Ardyn off the train. But as he fell, it was really Prompto.

[neverheardofhim]

So he tricked you. Used some sort of blood magic and messed with your head.

[They'd tried to do something similar in Kirkwall. They'd forced demons into Templars, tried to sow dissent and destroy the order from the inside out. Like then, Noctis's words left Varric feeling uneasy.

Going up against magic like that was no easy feat. Not even for him, impervious to magic as he was.]

You had no way of knowing. [Varric made no attempts to try and add a note of comfort to his voice. He doubted it would help. Rather, he stated it like the fact that it was, and left it at that.]

[nightcure]

Doubt it's anything like blood magic. [ He wrinkles his nose a bit. ] More like just... a convincing illusion.

[ He pauses. It sounds nice, comforting, to hear that it wasn't his fault. That he had no way of knowing. But that's not exactly true, is it? "Ardyn" had been talking funny. Prompto, too. ]

I should've realized... they weren't talking like themselves. I should've known something was up.

[neverheardofhim]

[Varric thought about pointing out that where hew as from, powerful illusions and blood magic went hand in hand. He figured it was being too nit-picky, though, and that Noctis wasn't really interested in debating about magic right now.]

Sounds like you already had a lot on your mind. That you weren't thinking clearly already, at least not when it came to this guy.

[nightcure]

[ Good call, Varric. Noctis definitely wasn't in a mood to talk nuances. What mattered was that Ardyn pulled a fast one on him. ]

I guess. [ He shrugged. ] I just don't know why I was so mad.

[neverheardofhim]

Maybe it's part of their tricks. Giving you memories out of order so you get too caught up in yourself to think about how they're pulling the wool further over your eyes.

[Conspiracy theorist Varric, at your service.]

Point is... you'll remember soon. That's what I've heard from a lot of people. It'll come to you. I just... hope it brings you some relief.

[and that it doesn't have your fiancee dying or anything.]

[nightcure]

... Hah. Sounds like something they'd do.

[ And Noctis believed him. Why else would they do it? Confusing them further just further served to increase the paranoia and disorientation in the place. ]

... Yeah. Me too. [ He hoped Prompto would show up in his dreams next. He hoped everything'd be back to normal, and they'd be laughing and taking stupid selfies again.

But he couldn't know for sure. So. Nothing to do about it, and as much as he wanted to, he knew he couldn't afford to dwell. (Yet he knew he would.) ]

I'm sorry about your brother.

[neverheardofhim]

[Varric was quick to roll his shoulders in a rather flippant shrug. Losing Bartrand was unfortunate, he could recall that much. Maybe if he was experiencing it in real-time all over again, he'd be mourning the man fully.

But he remembered that night in tandem with Bartrand's betrayal, and so in addition to experiencing the grief for the first time, he felt the broiling rage over being left for dead.

All in all? Varric was still struggling to process his feelings.]

He was an asshole, but he was my asshole. [Varric furrowed his brows. Phrasing? Phrasing.]

You know what I mean.

[nightcure]

[ Varric was pretty upset, so... Noctis wasn't about to comment on the way he'd phrased it. He could be rude, true, but Varric was his friend. Or close to it, and Noctis wasn't about to make things worse for the guy. Especially after they'd talked about more serious stuff. ]

Yeah. I got your meaning. [ He paused, letting out a low sigh. ] Man. What a pair we make, huh.