anothercontinuity | (no subject)

[ ...ah.

That's the sound of a man who isn't used to seeing this many dead bodies. ]

No others. Just me.

[ Let that settle in as he pushes open the door the exterior, fresh air rushing past to greet them. They're still in Treviso, it seems, the familiar silhouette of the buildings visible even from here. ]

[ the spectral wings flash across tony's mind—the blur of feathers and shadow, the terror in that woman's voice. is this why the people of treviso revere the crows, like they're heroes dispensing justice in the dark of the night? for the way they can bring torturers like that woman to their knees in an instant?

stepping outside the cellar, tony breathes a little easier. the fresh night air helps to organize his thoughts, and he has questions. ] Who were those people?

Venatori. Tevinter supremacists, cultists who wield blood magic. Demons. And worse.

[ Once Tony seems to have his bearings, Lucanis nods. Through a sheltered walkway lined with stone pillars, there appeared to be a set of stairs down to the water, and a boat waits quietly there, bobbing in the water. ]

Their empire is long fallen, but they dream of bringing it back to its full glory. And it seems you had a taste of what they will do to achieve that.

[ the cuts on his forearms have been soothed to a dull ache, tingling under the bandages and ointment. tony tries to ignore them. while traversing the walkway, he casts his eyes between the pillars and the vines wrapped around them; at the darkness between them, the lantern light sparse and distant. he feels naked still, which never bothered him before, but this feels different. a deeper kind of nude.

next question. keep moving. ] How long was I gone? [ couldn't have been more than a day. he's hungry, but not starving. the thirst is worse. ]

Since last night. You didn't show up at the blacksmith's, so I went looking. Just in case.

[ So. Yes. He's been watching him this whole time. Tony can be upset about that or not, but Lucanis isn't sorry for it.

He also walks that outer edge, between Tony and the open dark, without making a show of doing so. One hand remains on the hilt of his sword as they walk. ]

Do you expect payment?

[ still in that hoarse, hushed voice, but the word payment comes out a bit too strained, the question's end too crushed. ]

You couldn't afford me. Remember?

[ The corner of his mouth lifts slightly, but nothing more besides that. Lifting a hand he beckons for Tony to move more quickly if he can, quietly descending the stone steps to the landing.

One hand reaches out to steady the boat, the other reaching back for Tony to assist him in. ]

[ after falling silent with a brief look, tony picks up the pace, eager enough to leave the cellar farther behind. he steps down into the boat with lucanis's help and chooses a far thwart to sit on and face the front. resting his arms to either side, fingers loosely curled around the thwart's edge, he stares at the bottom boards. ]

Is Will okay?

[ it's whispered, softer than his questions before. worried. since lucanis has been keeping tabs on him, he should know the name of the blacksmith tony works for. ]

He is.

[ Once Tony is settled, Lucanis drops in after him, pulling the rope back into the boat and picking up the oar to nudge them away. Slow, silent, they pass down the canal, under ivy-strewn stone bridges, into the heart of the sleeping city. ]

Concerned about you, but unharmed.

[ tony exhales. eventually, in the quiet, his eyes drift from the bottom boards to the boat's gentle wake beside them. what is he supposed to do now? he's painted a target on his own back. ]

[ He has. But the attention would have come, eventually. As they drift quietly, Lucanis's gaze turns back towards Tony.

Dropping briefly to his arms. ]

We had a conversation, once. About the sort of people who merit a contract from the Crows.

This qualifies. The Venatori and their kind, they are my quarry.

[ tony remembers that conversation: lucanis upfront about the source of his wealth and tony fresh to thedas and quick to judge. learning lucanis's personal choice of targets appeased him, but he still used a few choice words about it—offhanded slights hinting at his distrust. it didn't matter that much back then. lucanis was a means to an end. tony would get home and never look back.

at the same time tony remembers the blood spilling over delphine's fingers from her throat. he remembers watching her gargle and struggle. he remembers thinking the world was better off. ] Hard to complain about your methods now, I guess, [ he mutters. if those are the kinds of targets, if that's what it takes to keep people safe—then they do decent work. ]

[ It might only have been a day, but the echoes of what had been done to him were clear. There's a haunted look in the eyes of those who suffer the touch of blood magic, knowing they cannot trust even their own bodies to obey.

It is not something he would have wished for Tony, much less for context as to why he does what he does. Perhaps it will not be of comfort, but...

Honesty between them has worked thus far. ]

...I was once their prisoner, too.

[ There is a heaviness to the pause that follows, a weight, as the oar silently parts the water and guides them onward. ]

I would not have left you to them. Knowing what I do.

[ tony doesn't know where it comes from, but his throat constricts and he fights to stop his face from following it, a sheen forming in his eyes and reflecting the water he still stares at. ]

Edited 2024-11-19 03:55 (UTC)

[ Silence, save the lapping of the water, distant bells from the Chantry, the rustle of wings overhead. He has no soothing words, only shared experience. Nightmares. With the Venatori, it only ever got worse the deeper you dug.

Tony doesn't need that right now. He's shaken. Fiercely independent as he was, he needs a sense of control to cling to.

Carefully, Lucanis reaches into his vest pocket, drawing out a familiar-looking vial filled with swirling red liquid and holding it up to the light to catch Tony's eye. ]

Here. I thought you'd want the chance to destroy this yourself. When we're back to the villa.

[ tony wrestles the surge of emotion back down, but in the aftermath finds himself still feeling opened. he's not sure what to make of it, but when lucanis offers him the vial, tony takes him at his word.

he should just tell lucanis to throw it overboard so he never has to lay his eyes on it again. instead, he reaches out, sporadic splotches of blood having seeped through the bandages. once given it, he slowly rolls the vial between his fingers and thumb. it looks like blood inside—he's seen enough of it tonight—but the way it still languidly swirls is unearthly. alien. magical. ]

I don't know what to do anymore, [ he rasps brokenly before he realizes it. the weight of feeling lost, which he's been steadfastly running from these past months, suddenly crushes him. ]

[ It is a sentiment he can fully understand. At least Lucanis had the work to fall back on, the familiar routines. Tony has none of that, building this new life from scratch and only now realizing how little he truly understood of this world.

There is a pause between them, not overly long but present, before he reaches across the space of the boat and gently rests a hand on Tony's shoulder. Only that, nothing more. ]

...there will be no easy answers.

[ It is not a kind truth, necessarily, nor a brutal one. The truth simply is, and he sees disguising it as far more cruel, in the end. ]

But you do not need to seek them alone.

[ painfully swallowing, tony risks a glance up to lucanis's eyes. it might because of the rawness showing through his own, or it might because of whatever he finds, but he ducks his head back down quickly after. even still, despite that, despite the tumult inside of him, the hand on his shoulder becomes an anchor in the storm.

tony encloses the vial in a loose fist. after a shaky, short-lived smile, he finally whispers to him, ] Thank you, [ and means it sincerely for maybe the first time. ]

[ It feels like something in that wall between them has cracked, and that is a start, perhaps. Lucanis's hand squeezes silently in response, before he turns his focus back to silently paddling them down the canal. What Tony needs now is food, medicine, rest.

It won't be much longer before the city streets turn into residential walkways, until the canal itself is lined by lush flowers and robust gardens...and then finally carries them to the dock at the base of the villa.

It's quick work, tying off the boat and stepping out before reaching to help Tony do the same. Kitchen, first. Much of what he'll need to see to his wounds will be down there, and it'll avoid any notice from the servants at this time of the evening. ]

[ vial still clasped, tony steps onto the dock and looks ahead first to the main estate past the garden and two brass statues and then to the pathway branching off to the guest house. his first objective: water. easiest to address any immediate concerns right now, step-by-step. almost unconsciously his right hand fiddles with the vial, turning it, pressing different points of it into his palm. ]

You headed back to your side of the fence? [ are they going their separate ways here, he's asking. their spoken language sounds the same, but colloquialisms don't always translate. ]

In a while, perhaps.

[ He has no intention of letting him slump off to attempt to deal with his own wounds, not in the state he's in.

One hand gestures ahead of them, towards the guest house, before drawing in to walk alongside him just as before. The grounds are dark, pools of light spilling out of tall street lamps across the gravel and stone path, leading past meticulously trimmed hedges and bushes. ]

We still have some business to see to, you and I.

[ at lucanis's gesture the fiddling stills, back into a secure clasp. tony falls into step beside him. ] Right. The vial. [ destroying it. that's the obvious answer to him, about what business there is. ]

[ He's not entirely wrong. That's one thing still left to deal with. ]

You brought some of your tools from the smithy back with you, didn't you? To work on certain projects during the night, when you could not sleep.

[ how does... right. the spies. not like tony isn't used to being followed, and here the stalkers only report to one guy. ] Just some old tools Will had. Rest I found at the market.

Edited 2024-11-22 23:50 (UTC)

[ This time, it's a pure guess.

But Tony's response tells him he's right, and that's enough. ]

Something that can break glass, I'd wager.