[closed] don't go prison (breakin') my heart

[katabasis]

WHO: Benedict, Kitty, Kostos, Derrica, Lazar, Caspar, Poesia, Yseult, Flint
WHAT: The Gang Breaks a Guy Out of Prison
WHEN: Early Cloudreach
WHERE: Tevninter; a small island not far from Neromenian
NOTES: OOC Post; if you're in a group, I highly encourage flexible turn order. Feel free to self-assign where your character ends up once Things Get Real, but please don't have your lad or lady be two places at once. Prompts below are the main action of the plot, but feel free to do whatever you like before/after/adjacent to them.

Eione Island was once a staging ground for Tevinter forces eventually bound for the jungles of Seheron. Today, with the Imperium's attention and the bulk of its military might directed toward the South, the island fortress is an outpost in reserve - maintained by only a few dozen members of a private guard and overseen by Idothea Petrus, the third daughter of a Laetan family which has spent generations carefully navigating their way up Tevinter's social ladder. Much of the island is characterized by its challenging cliff faces with water too deep to cast anchor in. The only sure anchorage to be found is in Eione Bay itself, over which the fortress itself resides. Catapults at either end of the bay provide strong discouragement to anyone who might attempt a surprise landing to take the island by force. SO THEY'RE NOT ATTEMPTING TO SURPRISE ANYONE. Instead, Riftwatch is sailing straight into the bay in their own Tevinter ship, repainted in the reds, gold and blacks of the Artemaeus family and flying a flag of distress. The story? Benedict Artemaeus, son of a magister and heir to a textile trading empire, was returning from having overseen the sale of a large shipment when their ship was attacked by Nocen Sea pirates. Having barely escaped, the ship has put in here at Eione until the likelihood of further danger passes. Besides, wouldn't you know it? - Benedict's picked up some dreadful cough while doing business abroad and now requires the Petrus family's hospitality now more than ever as he recovers. The mages of the group in addition to Benedict are all to pose as semi-important mages in Benedict's company. The rest of Riftwatch's force will pose as servants and advisers and so on, including Yseult as Benedict's most devoted maid who is simply worried sick about her illness-stricken master and must keep close at hand at all times should he seem likely to tax himself overmuch by, say, spilling the beans, and so require the healing touch of a tender knife between the ribs. IF ALL GOES TO PLAN, Riftwatch will take advantage of Petrus' hospitality for the few days it takes to locate where their target, a once-prominent contact with the burgeoning enslaved rebellion in Tevinter who has been missing for two years, is being held. From there, Riftwatch's forces are to divide themselves into three groups: two groups will disable the catapults at each end of the bay in as flashy and dramatic a way as possible so as to draw attention; the third team will descend into the prison, locate Valeriantus, and then make their escape overland to the other side of the island where groups one and two, having made their own get away, will meet them with the ship for extraction. Simple, right?

Comments

[rathercommon]

Obviously. I mean - have you got layers, d'you keep a fringe, if so how long, do you want it tapering away from the face, d'you want a curl in the ends - Give me some details.

[altusimperius]

[This all seems impossibly pointless at the moment: his hair has been the least of his concerns since he stopped caring about his appearance, which was around the time he stopped seeing other human beings more than a few minutes out of the day. It takes him far too long to think about it, and his response is stilted.]

...layers, I guess. Not much of a fringe.

[He tilts his head to make his hair fall down where he can better see it.]

Sort of... just... like it is now, but shorter.

[rathercommon]

Really?

[ The wrinkle in Kitty's nose is very, very judgmental. Still, he knows what he wants, she guesses, so she'll keep quiet. So she goes over to the supplies - including, as all good spies' kits must, implements for building disguises and the like - and draws out some barber's shears. ]

It could be better.

[ All right, so she won't actually keep quiet. ]

[altusimperius]

[He can hear the disdain in her voice, and even in such a meaningless context, it hurts more than ever.]

Make it better then, [he says quietly, without venom.]

[rathercommon]

[ Oh, good. Kitty nods at once in satisfaction, and pushes at him, visibly cheered by being given permission to steamroller someone. ]

Brilliant. Go find a place to sit.

[altusimperius]

[He obeys, spotting a crate on its side and moving to sit atop it. It pleases him as well, deep down, that he's being allowed-- and helped-- to groom, even if it's for a specific purpose outside himself.]

[rathercommon]

[ He's still a little tall for it - it's irritating how tall he is - but she'll make do. She pulls out the shears, frowns a little to herself, and starts snipping. Her hands are steady, and she works quickly and competently. ]

[altusimperius]

[The smallest amount of care goes a long way. Benedict closes his eyes and lets her work, keeping completely still and savoring the moment. It's been a long time; he has to be reminded, sometimes, that he's still a person.]

I'm sorry, [he says in a low, level voice, after a time. His eyes are still closed.]

For everything.

[rathercommon]

[ She pauses, pulls back a little. Her brows draw down. ]

What d'you mean?

[altusimperius]

[He continues to stare straight ahead.]

For what. My mother did. [His voice is quiet and level, bereft of self-pity or, really, any emotion at all.] For what I did.

...you came with me. You trusted me. And I betrayed you.

[rathercommon]

What?

[ She looks at him like he's grown a second head. ]

No you didn't.

[altusimperius]

[He looks back at her with a similar quality. Though he doesn't say 'what' back, his expression communicates it.]

[rathercommon]

[ She relents - ]

I mean, I guess. Sort of. But it's usually got to be worse than that to be a betrayal.

[altusimperius]

Worse?

[His voice is thin. He doesn't understand.]

[rathercommon]

Yeah. I mean - you know. Like, it was your mum.

[altusimperius]

[He looks like his world is coming apart. But on closer inspection, the paleness in his face is from relief, not horror.]

...it was, [he agrees, with a break in his voice.]

[rathercommon]

Yeah.

[ There's a twist in her lips that goes way beyond any hurt between her and Benedict. ]

They completely mess you up. So. She messed you up when you were there and got you turned around - not your fault, not really.

[altusimperius]

[They're both lucky he manages not to burst into tears, but he's shaking with the effort.

He's been operating under the assumption that Kitty hates him, has wanted nothing to do with him, that he hurt her irreparably as well as the rest of Riftwatch by remaining with his mother. This is not only news to him, it changes everything.]

I made a mistake, [he whispers, not in argument, but in agreement.] I thought--

I don't know what I thought. [That his mother was somehow not the person she's always proven herself to be.]

[rathercommon]

[ With a brisk shrug, and a practical manner - ] You got turned around. It happens.

[altusimperius]

[He gives a short laugh. Then another, with a strange, broken glint in his eyes. Then he buckles forward to weep violently into his hands.

Validation is a strange commodity, and counts for a lot more after everything else a person has is gone.]

[rathercommon]

Uh - Oh.

[ Kitty doesn't...deal well with emotional displays. At all. Case in point - all she does now is reach out to pat him awkwardly on the shoulder once or twice. And then she looks for an exit, because - she should probably go, right? He probably doesn't want her watching him like this. ]

Erm, sorry.

[altusimperius]

[Blessedly for both of them, the outburst isn't long. He comes back to himself when she touches him, and he raises his head again, looking all the more shaken, trying to wrangle the torrent of emotion back where it came from.]

Sorry, [he echoes, quickly wiping his face with his sleeve, his gaze focused on the floor.] I'm.

[He seems about to explain more, but shakes his head.] ...sorry. Keep going. [He motions to his hair.]

[rathercommon]

Erm - Are you sure?

[ She wriggles the shears awkwardly, a weird gesture that does absolutely nothing to illuminate anything. ]

You don't want...alone time or anything? Didn't mean to - Y'know.

[altusimperius]

[He shakes his head, one of the muscles in his face twitching as he fixes his gaze forward.]

I don't want to be alone.

[rathercommon]

Erm - all right, then.

[ She clears her throat and then steps back in, reaching out to keep cutting his hair. Her cheeks are a little flushed. ]