oo1; accidental video/action

[theirinurpants]

Who: Alistair and YOU?!
Broadcast: Fleetwide; mostly accidental.
Action: On the Marsiva!
When: Now? Now. Sure, now.

Teagan? Teagan! [ The man on the camera is young, handsome, and looking a bit put out to be where he is. This isn't his castle! What is this place? He's also sort of looking away from the screen, not fully aware he's broadcasting. He mostly thinks he's talking to himself. ]

Okay, hah hah, very funny, you've had your joke, now where are you? And where am I? I'm sure I've got a very important meeting with someone who will be very angry when I don't show up - not that I care much if I'm making the Orlesians angry, it's sort of funny when their faces get all red and they start trying not to swear, but still...

Have I been kidnapped? Has someone kidnapped me? I'm pretty sure kidnapping the king is treason. I can have your head for that. [ He doesn't sound so much angry as... vaguely confused and disoriented. ] Off with your head. Whenever I figure out who you are, I suppose.

Comments

eventually video; 1/fuck if i know. 3?

[bryces_pup]

[Today was supposed to be a nice day.

Riona is giving herself the day off, more or less. One can only get beat up in illegal underground fighting rings so many times before their body needs a break. Her eye is still healing from the shiner she got the other night, she's got a gash with stitches on her arm, her ankle is still hurting, and her lip still stings like a bitch. That and she really doesn't want Beverly scolding her again for getting into another fight.

So she's on the network, checking things and seeing what's new. A habit she's finally developed, one that's essential to this place. She checks for anything from her crew, anything from Azula, and of course any newcomers that may have just arrived and are panicking. And sure enough, she sees one coming from the Marsiva. She chuckles wryly as she plays the message, waiting to see how this poor sod is-

And everything seems to screech to a halt when Alistair's first words carry through the speaker. Her heart slams into her chest.

He's here.

She listens to his message in shock, her mind scrambling to accept that it's really him. Her husband is here. It takes a moment or five; she's more inclined to believe this is a trick. Could she really be so lucky...?

Well, why not? Other people have had siblings and the whatnot show up. Why not her husband? She beams at the thought. She plays his message again, this time paying more attention.]

You can't go just declaring someone's head get lopped off. [She rolls her eyes at him, but in a loving way. And he can't see her doing it anyway so it doesn't matter. She'll set him straight in a moment.

All but bouncing in her seat in the galley, Riona goes to hit the button to reply, so happy and excited and-]

eventually video; 2/3?

[bryces_pup]

[-but her caution rears its head, and an unpleasant reminder stills her finger.

People come in from different points in time. What if he doesn't know you?

It's a paranoid thought that she logically recognizes as ridiculous. But to allay her fears, she plays the message a third time, getting a closer look at his features. He looks just like she did when she left him. And he sounds just as lost and confused as to how to be a king as ever. Perhaps a little more so than when they parted, but it's hard to say with any certainty. After all, he's in a new place and he's confused. She was, too.

But another thought, a much worse one, trickles in as she reconsiders her response:

He might not be your Alistair.

Varric warned her about this, that there were different "versions" of Thedas. Things played out differently in each one. Different choices, different players. And the thought cripples her, wiping out her joy and replacing it with cold, sick dread. Slowly she sets down her communicator, her breath stuck in her lungs as she considers the awful possibility. If he's not her Alistair, not the one from "her" Thedas, then she can't assume anything. Their relationship might be entirely different.

He might not even know who she is.

It terrifies her more than she can express in words or thoughts. She almost wants to shy away and not reply. But no, she has to. She can't ignore him. And there's only one way she's going to know for certain whether or not it's "her" Alistair.]

video; 3/3.

[bryces_pup]

[It takes a long, long moment to gather her courage. Idly, she wonders if she should leave the galley, but she can barely think right now, let alone move. And every bit of her strength and wit to figure out how to reply without giving anything away. The panic makes it hard to think, but eventually she comes up with this:]

Your Majesty, you're not wrong. You've... been kidnapped, yes. The people responsible for it keep hidden, so lopping off their heads is going to be difficult.

[Also, she realizes he's not looking at the screen so he might not know what to do.]

If you're wondering where my voice is coming from, look to your side there, on the desk. There's a little black box. It allows you to communicate with those of us who've also been taken.

[That's all she can do to help, for now. Until he responds. All she can do is sit, and wait. And pray.

Please know who I am.

Please.]

video; TRAINWRECK INCOMING

[theirinurpants]

[ Your Majesty is something he is definitely still getting used to. Alistair often finds himself wishing he could go back to being a nobody, the Your Majestys get really tedious after a while.

But all that is beside the point when he glances over at her instructions, a look of growing surprise on his face. Not recognition, just - shock at the box. ]

Maker's breath! How do you do that? Is this some new kind of magic I haven't heard of?

audio

[bothbarrels]

Unfortunately whoever's done it doesn't really answer to the laws of the land. I hate to be the bearer of bad news.

STILL VIDEO he doesn't know how to change settings

[theirinurpants]

[ Alistair, still trying to work out just what this little box is and how it might operate, is looking very confused right about now, just poking and prodding at the thing. ]

Can I ask what land this is? I seem to have stumbled out of my own at some point...

perma-audio

[bothbarrels]

That's kind of complicated. You aren't from a place where they have space travel, by chance? [ He has a feeling the answer is no. ]

video

[lord_wizard]

[This man is a king. Lord Stephen would have this man for breakfast, but then again, Lord Stephen was stiffer than a bundle of sticks. Clearly not this man.]

Have you been king for very long?

[Who needs preamble?]

video

[theirinurpants]

No, not very long. Why?

[ Are you insinuating something, sir???? ]

video

[lord_wizard]

I imagine most kings would be more certain about what would constitute a charge of treason.

[He's insinuating you might be stupid]

video

[child_of_bhaal]

I think it can only be treason if the kidnappers are from the country you rule

video

[theirinurpants]

That doesn't make any sense! Just because I'm probably not in Ferelden anymore doesn't mean I'm not still king! And besides, isn't kidnapping illegal everywhere?

video

[child_of_bhaal]

Oh no, it's still absolutely illegal. It's just not treason...[He's a king. Manners, Syeira.] Your Majesty.

Video

[wolfuncaged]

[Oh. It's the king of Ferelden. A younger one than the one who showed up in Kirkwall that one time, but the king of Ferelden all the same.

...Sure, why not at this point, Fenris thinks. Why the hell not. Everyone else has shown up. He doesn't sound all that impressed, but he isn't impressed by most people as a general rule.]

I'm sure they're absolutely terrified with a declaration like that.

Video

[theirinurpants]

They should be! I have people!

[ It's not that he expects anyone to be afraid of him, per se. He'd much rather be a lovable, jovial, amiable king! ]

Video

[tallasaking]

Good gracious -- we appear to be collecting kings like one would collect stone figures.

[Is Tyrion's mild reply. Still, better this king than any others.]

Video

[theirinurpants]

Really? A conspiracy! I knew it. A king kidnapping conspiracy.

...Boy, that's a mouthful.

[dawnwillcome]

[Count Jove with Fenris in the party of well of course this would happen, because at this point nothing is all that surprising anymore.

She does note how much younger he is, though, and that's a bit of a weight off her shoulders. The King Alistair she had met had been very charming but he had also shown up just at the end of a particularly unpleasant magical time traveling future viewing and honestly, they had had a better relationship after that, through little more than letters and her helping him with the Orlesians.

So that's nice, that he's complaining about them now. Some things are constant and that is always a comfort.]

It's a pity there are no Orlesians here to upset, I'd want to be in the very front row for that.

[Guess who else isn't a fan of those dicks. It's Jove, because being called a rabbit at the Winter Palace like that's totally acceptable is something that she's never going to just forget.]

You're as safe as you can be here, your majesty. I wouldn't worry.

[theirinurpants]

[ Okay, this one is definitely Dalish. This, he can work with. And she's not crying which is even better, because he really does not know what to do with crying women. Crying women is the worst. ]

That's all right. The room is usually more cheerful without the stuffed-shirts.

I suppose safer than I have been the past eight months or so, as long as there's no archdemon lurking about.

[ He knows there isn't one, because, well. He could sense it if there was. Not that he's going to say that aloud. ]

[gifted_witch]

{she laughed lightly, gently.] I don't think decapitation is going to get you very far here. And I don't think you're rank is going to carry entirely the same weight here as it might back in your home.

My name is Lily, maybe I can help you figure out things here a bit.

[theirinurpants]

I don't see why it shouldn't.

[ Is he pouting? He might be pouting. ]

Let's see, ships floating in space, some strange thing in my head, is that about right?

[theshabbiestofmen]

Well, I mean, frankly, kidnapping everyone is a bit against everybody's laws, never mind a king. But it's a bit of an unusual kidnapping. Are you all right?

[theirinurpants]

I'm fine, except for the fact that I've been kidnapped and apparently someone's been mucking about with my head! Are we really okay with this?!

video;

[merchantprince]

[OH HEY BUDDY IT'S BEEN A WHILE.]

Good luck with the royal declaration. You might as well be pissing into the wind.

[A pause, because he's not sure if Alistair... remembers... him...]

Punched any ox-men lately?

video;

[theirinurpants]

An unpleasant mental image, but fair enough.

[ Another beardless dwarf! Don't mind him he thinks Tyrion is a dwarf too. But sorry bud, he doesn't know you on sight. ]

Ox-men? Nope, can't say that I have. I only know one of those and he left Ferelden not long ago.