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[ It is not a silence he is left to for long.

Lucanis pauses for a moment at the door to observe Tony, lost in thought or memory or whatever else might capture a mind like his so thoroughly. It had been a close thing, coming across him before the spell could be completed. The Venatori know of him, would target him again.

And Lucanis...is not a protector. He has no training in such things. He is a killer, first and foremost. Yet he sees the pain on Tony's face and knows he must do all he can. Illario would argue that he doesn't have to do anything, that he's not his responsibility at all, and would groan out loud at the measure of effort Lucanis is putting into keeping him safe.

...it changes nothing. Both he and Spite agree, and that's rare enough on its own. ]

I suppose you'll want a liquid dessert, then.

[ A brief nod is given to the bottle, before he finally slips back out of the kitchen, passing through the patches of light cast by the nearby fire.

For just a moment, the shadow he casts against the carpet seems split in two. ]

[ bearing a distant, blank stare, tony doesn't raise his eyes past the table, even at lucanis's voice. instead, he breathes the deep breath of someone steeling themselves on a diving board thirty feet too high and then glances at his half-full glass, which one corner of his mouth briefly scrunches up at. ] I'd prefer for it not to be red, [ he says lowly before he sips it anyway–half a joke, half the truth. ]

Edited 2025-02-02 01:21 (UTC)

I can find something else, if you'd rather.

[ But it isn't really the drink, is it? Not entirely, at least. ]

If you want to try and rest, it may help. But if you don't think you'd be able to, I usually stay up to see the sunrise. The view from the rooftop is...calming, in a way. Settling.

[ before tonight, tony wouldn't have pegged lucanis as the type to sit and watch the sunrise, nor the type to cook or to carefully tend to someone's wounds. he thought that he had the man figured out: lucanis was an assassin, paid to kill, with an unusual sense of justice tacked on, one who comes from old money and whose motivations were to benefit himself. (in hindsight, that last part was the distrust talking.) but there's more to him. tony just never cared enough to look deeper, not into him, or into many things about thedas. ]

I think my mood better suits brooding in a dark corner, which–hey, plenty to pick from, [ he murmurs dryly. then, tony softens and continues, ] But thanks. Maybe I'll take you up on that one day. [ he owes lucanis at least that much. ]

Edited 2025-02-04 01:03 (UTC)

[ He owes him little, at least to Lucanis's own mind. Mostly, he needs to rest, to recover from the horrors he's faced mere hours ago, and Maker knows how long that will take. Tony is a strong-willed man, but what he faced...

Well. It's taken stronger men and broken them irrevocably, hasn't it. ]

It's a prerequisite of any Crow house. There must be a dark corner for every new initiate. How else are they to practice?

[ The corner of his lip tugs upwards. ]

I mean it, though.

[ here, tony looks up at him. there's no joke, no offhanded dismissal or snipe at the crows. too much has changed for that now, and lucanis needs to know it. ]

Thank you.

[ Something has unquestionably shifted between them. What that new paradigm is, he cannot say. This is new territory...perhaps for the both of them. Sincerity is certainly a new look for Tony, some newfound steel under the swagger.

But it feels a moment that deserves a certain weight, regardless.

Lucanis's smile tempers to something smaller, but more genuine. A quiet nod. ]

...Would you like me to stay, tonight? I have some dossiers to go over, but I can do that here just as easily.

[ tony's eyes briefly drop back to the table before he decides, ] ...No. I'm all right. [ lucanis has gotten him back onto his feet; that's all tony can really ask for. the battle from here is mostly in his own head. ]

[ There's no disappointment in his expression, merely an accepting sort of nod. ]

Well. I won't be far.

[ But Tony is his own man, and having that choice, that control, will be more valuable. ]

[ as lucanis's footsteps fade down the hallway behind him, tony counts them, his mental tally ticking higher until they pass out of earshot. (the numbers are comforting. no matter what, math has defined rules, and tony knows them all intimately. he can fire off complex equations in his sleep.) then, once he's alone, he looks straight ahead at the wall, breathes deeply in, and whispers to himself, "okay," before he stands and snags the brandy bottle to take it with. if he recalls correctly, the study upstairs is packed with books on geography, politics, culture...any number of topics about thedas. a couple about magic, too. it's as good of a place as any to start. beats just moping until the torchlight sputters out anyway.

maybe, as he finally looks deeper into thedas and uncovers more of the terrain around him, he'll find his answers. the right path to take. maybe then, with any luck, he can "figure it out." ]

Edited 2025-02-12 04:24 (UTC)