driftfleet | the veil is thin . . .

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the veil is thin . . .

[ On the night of the 16th, the feeling of tension and horrid anticipation comes to a head. Everything stops when the sun goes down-- even the ever-present music in the hoppingest part of the city center. One by one, everyone turns their eyes to the skies. The young and old alike pour out of their houses, some in bare feet, and they point to the velvety blanket of stars.

It takes a second to find it, especially if one is unaccustomed to the starscape. But even a casual observer can see it.

A brightly-shining star, larger than the others, and growing larger.

An announcement cuts across all communication channels that encourages people to evacuate to the space station, but it’s clear that these are just people and they’ll need some help. Supplies, equipment, organization, there’s something for everyone to do.

Civilization is disrupted by a panicked stampede of people vying for limited seats aboard spacefaring craft. Within hours, there will be crushed glass, looting, and chaos.

The clock is ticking. Will you help? Or would you rather watch the dying gasps of a Singing Planet from a safe distance? ]

[OOC: Please see this post for plot details. Phase two has begun! Feel free to use this post as a reaction post, mingle, etc. or make your own!]

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[Justice is really hoping that Anders' boyfriend doesn't actually use magic. He would have to object to literally attacking the people they're trying to save, and they don't have time for that.

But he doesn't, and Justice would breathe a sigh of relief if he breathed outside of speaking. Justice spares a glare for the person responsible for hurting the Warden Commander, but dealing with that one isn't the priority. Justice starts walking with Riona, keeping his pace as quick as it possibly can be without hurting her.

It occurs to him that he may be able to help her pain. The thought is uncomfortable because typically only demons directly fiddle with mortal minds, but is it really the same when the intention is to help, and it's done with permission? Nathaniel would say it's not the same. Even so, he's not sure how comfortable he'd be messing with the Warden Commander's head.

But she's in pain. He can see it, in how she moves and how she talks and how she looks. He can help her. Is it not just to use what skills he has to help her?

He keeps his voice low when he speaks, since this is directed at her rather than the refugees.] It is not a substitute for healing, but I can ease the pain while we walk if you wish it.

[Riona at least should know him better than to think he would actually harm a soul in there, but sometimes the threat of it has to be used to get people moving. He's just glad he doesn't have to explain himself as neither of them mention it, or he would be if the second Justice opens his mouth doesn't immediately raise his hackles.]

I can do that with magic, thank you. Much safer.

[Not that his healing magic is anywhere near Anders' caliber, but he knows enough to slow the bleeding. He's just far too used to having Anders around to have thought of it earlier and he kicks himself mentally now. Even so, he casts the rudimentary healing magic impatiently, the blue glow knitting the wound so it doesn't gush freely. It's still an obvious wound, still needs real attention, but hopefully it'll get them to safety without much further ado or any interference from Justice.]

Come on, we don't have a lot of time.

[Not towards a person, no, but it would have been hella impressive if he'd like, blown the roof off or something.

Before Riona can even answer, Wolfe does so for her and casts some healing magic. There's a frown as she glances over at him. Even as she starts walking - well, limping - along so they can get moving, she's still mulling over what just happened there.

She has a strong suspicion she knows what that was really about, but this is so not the time to bring that up. Justice has no idea about his future, and honestly, she's not even sure she should be the one having that conversation with Wolfe and peeling back his feelings on the matter. Nonetheless, she's not going to let it totally slide, either.]

Thank you, Wolfe, but I can also decide what I'd like to have done with my own body. [Yeah, she's a bit peeved she had that decided for her.] You're both trying to help me, and I appreciate it.

Safer?

[Justice's voice is low because they don't have time and he has zero intention of arguing, but the word is out before he can stop it because the bristling is immediate. What does he mean, safer? A spirit's power is no more inherently unsafe than a mage's, and the implication that he would willfully put Riona in danger offends him deeply.

Up until now, Justice's awkward interactions with Anders' boyfriend could easily be chalked up to Justice being awkward and the man being a bit weird, but this is the first time that Justice has an inkling that this man may actually dislike him. Normally he's not one to really care about being liked or disliked, but to have his very safety for Riona questioned by someone so important to her and Anders feels like poison, like it could stain him if he's not careful.

A spirit of valor or courage might rise to this implied challenge, but it's not in Justice's nature to put personal offense over the safety of others. He shuts his mouth and focuses on supporting the Warden Commander. Whatever this was, whether distrust or simple insensitivity, it doesn't need to be dealt with now.

Riona knows that his offer stands if she so desires it, and he is doing what he can to get her to Anders. That's all that matters right now.

(Doesn't stop him from being offended, though.)]

[He doesn't elaborate on what makes it safer, instead busy being cowed by Riona.]

Sorry, you're right.

[Not that he regrets it. Whatever Justice was going to do he's far more comfortable having waylaid the spirit. Which he does understand is likely going too far. Justice wouldn't intentionally hurt Riona, he knows that. Nor would he intentionally hurt Anders. It's the intentionally clause that gets under Adalwolfe's skin. Justice was warped and changed and that's really the only way Wolfe ever knew him and so he immediately believes the worst of his control, whatever his intentions.]

Anders'll right it anyway. He should be with the shuttles. It's not a long way.

[Which is good because the monstrous comet taking up a large view of the sky is terrifying enough without worrying that they're not going to make it to the shuttles.]

[No, this isn't the time for an argument. Luckily her temper's better than what it used to be, for the mots part. It's hard to ignore how slighted Justice feels, and not sticking up for him, but that can come later. Instead, she smiles at Justice.]

We best just get to Anders as soon as possible. If the healing takes awhile, I'll take you up on your offer.

[If they don't get to the shuttles soon, none of this is gonna matter. Riona doesn't feel like getting obliterated today, thanks.]

You're definitely sure he hasn't left for the station? He was heading there to help with healing, last I heard.

[Riona, as usual, makes him feel a bit better. It doesn't ease the offense entirely, but he cares more about her opinion than that of a man he barely knows and who barely knows him. She knows that Justice would never hurt her. She trusts him with his power, even if it's strange to her.

Which is good, because his power is just going to keep being strange.] I know where he is. [He knows it just like he knew where Riona was when she got hurt. Anders is familiar and important to him, a presence that he can find just as easily as he can find his own hand.] He is healing refugees in the station.

[And there are a lot of refugees, which is why Justice believes that Anders can use the help a spirit can provide.]

Once we are there, I can lead us to him.

[In this, Wolfe doesn't have an issue. A spirit as a tracking hound is just helpful and doesn't get his hackles up too badly, though he does balk for a moment mentally that Justice just somehow knows where Anders is until he remembers that Cole could do the same thing and has to remind himself yet again that Justice isn't "connected" to Anders in any special way just yet.]

Good, that saves us some time.

[He looks over his shoulder to make sure the family is keeping up - they are, though one of the parents has had to pick up the child to keep pace - then turns the corner to the landing pads.]

We'll have to use the shuttle one of you came down in; I was dropped off.

We can use mine. It's over there, the one jutting out a bit between that red one and the one with the large scrape along the side.

[It's a little ways down the landing pad, but not terribly far.]

Any further inkling on Anders, Justice?

There are many people to heal. He will overextend himself if he is not careful, but not before we arrive. [Justice's frown is slightly more confused than his usual frown. This is weird. Since when is Anders the type to push himself to the brink for strangers?

But it's been ten years for him. Anders told him that people change when he brought up his dramatic personality shift. But Riona hasn't changed that much in the same amount of time.

Once again, Justice gets a nagging sense that something weird happened with Anders, but he pushes it down. Now's not the time to focus on that. The point is that Riona needs to get from here to the station without dying, and Justice will be available to lend his power to Anders once they're there.

Once they're at the ship, Justice continues offering support to Riona as they climb on board. Almost there, almost there.]

[Seeing as helping a fully-grown injured adult is a two person job, Wolfe does help to get Riona situated and comfortable on the shuttle. Hopefully also horizontal, though if she refuses that he still insists on the seat with the most cushion left in its upholstery. He takes great care not to brush Justice though. Not through any bombastic and obvious action, Wolfe just always seems to be across from the spirit instead of beside him until the point when Riona is settled and he slides into the pilot's seat. He's not the best pilot, not with his augment in communications, but he does know enough to get them in the air and the autopilot tends to do the rest.]

Everyone strapped in tight?

[She's as horizontal as she can be with a large piece of glass in her back. It's awkward, but for now she's on her side, leaning on the good arm while trying to keep the broken one still. This is not going to be a fun ride.]

More or less.

[Justice is too distracted by Riona to notice that Anders' boyfriend seems to be avoiding even touching him. He is continuously aware of the weird tension coming off of him, though, and it's frustrating but not important at the moment.

Justice straps in next to Riona's head, ready to steady her if the turbulence threatens to throw her off her seat or possibly re-injure her. He is also ready to help ease the pain if it becomes too much.

He takes a moment to glance at the family to make sure they're strapped in (if grudgingly) before nodding to Anders' boyfriend.]

Let us leave this planet.

[Wolfe wishes they could have just pulled the glass shard out of Riona's back safely, but it would very likely have made the wound worse and his healing magic is not so good as to stop major hemorrhaging. Maybe he should talk to Anders about about strengthening that school of magic once they're out of this mess. Maybe even spirit healing, if Anders really thought he was able.

Or maybe not. He's already had about enough of spirits for now.]

Hold on to your butts!

[And away they go, a bit jerky but as smoothly as he can manage. Once they're in the air, he tilts the shuttle up, trying to find a good angle at which to break the atmosphere. In doing so, there's a clean view out the side of the approaching comet, looming large from the aft, large enough to blot out the entire viewport.]

Andraste's pointed crown...

[Riona grimaces as they take off, trying to keep herself as still as she can. The turbulence of he take off makes it difficult, and her injured arms shifts, making her bite back a shout. What she wouldn't give for some elfroot right now.]

That's, ah. That's not something you see every day.

[It's hard to see it, from her angle, but she can make out the top of it.]

[Watching Riona wincing and paling at the slightest movement of her arm makes Justice feel utterly useless. He can't steady her broken arm without possibly hurting it more. He can't pull out the glass from her back. He can't do anything.

He almost offers to ease the pain again despite Anders' boyfriend's clear distaste and despite the fact Riona probably still knows that the offer is open, but then he sees the meteor.

He's frozen, trying to comprehend what he's seeing, so magnificent and destructive and utterly indifferent. He can't speak, all his breath stolen by the sight.

It's beautiful.

And then something happens--the meteor gets too close, they get too close, something that Justice doesn't understand immediately, and it's like a wave slams into the ship. The hit almost throws Justice from his seat even with straps, slamming the straps into his chest with bruising force.]

[A thousand alarms and flashing lights start blaring across the console and Adalwolfe tries desperately to quell them once he gets his bearings again. The sudden advent of concussive force sent his face into the console and he's bleeding from a small cut above his eyebrow. Nothing major, but bleeding from the head always looks far worse than it is.

After a moment he starts swearing and fighting to untangle himself from the seatbelt, fighting against gravity the whole way as the shuttle starts to lurch gut-wrenchingly to one side.]

The stabilizers are out, they have to be reset manually or we're going to get sucked right back into the atmosphere.

[Adalwolfe doesn't have time to wonder how he knows that at all, instead concentrating on making it to a panel near the back of the shuttle in order to reset the stabilizers as the ship keeps keening further and further to the side.]

[Why can't anything ever go right?

The force of whatever impacts them throws Riona off of her seat, though the harness that she was loosely strapped into keeps her from hitting the ground. Unfortunately, when it snaps her back, the shard of glass hits the seat and breaks, most of it coming clean off but a bit of it embedding further into her back.

There are expletives, curses, and other such words shouted that a women of noble birth should not know, let alone say, but they are, and they're shouted at the roof of the shuttle.

She's volunteer to try and fly the shuttle, but she's kind of useless at the moment. Sorry Wolfe.]

[Justice is pretty sure that the straps have bruised his body somehow--he's not actually sure what exactly's been bruised because he's not used to dealing with fiddly human anatomy--but that doesn't matter. He doesn't know a thing about flying or fixing ships, so he is effectively useless right now, which is what he hates more than anything.

Riona is screaming swears, and Justice almost calls Anders' boyfriend over--the man is the closest thing to a healer they have--but he's their only hope of getting this ship righted and out before the meteor hits, and that has to take priority. Justice is on his own with Riona, and he can only hope that the glass in her back isn't killing her.

He rests a hand on her uninjured shoulder, doing his best to keep her steady as the ship tips to one side. She does not need to be tossed around again.]

If you need pain relief, just open your mind and let me in. [His offer has none of the hesitance from before. She is in terrible pain and she's probably going to be in more as the ship tips. He doesn't care if demons are the ones who usually do this sort of thing--Nathaniel is right that intent matters, and that certain power doesn't have to be evil as long as it is performed with permission and the intention to give to others.

He's not going to force his way into her mind like a demon. Even now, he waits for her to allow him access, if she chooses to at all.]

[Unfortunately, Adalwolfe is too preoccupied trying to help them not crash and burn to stop Justice but he's close enough to hear - everyone is in the small shuttle - and so all the mage can do is grit his teeth as he pries open an access panel with his fingers and lets out a yell of effort as it gives way. The array of lights and switches all flickering and flashing in front of him makes him pause, though.]

Maker's sagging balls, how is anyone supposed to keep all this straight in a crisis?!

[The lights are flashing and Riona's pilot augment tells her it's super bad and pours in some details that, frankly, she's not really able to do much with in her current state. And she knows she should get up and fly the damn thing so Wolfe can focus on fixing whatever's wrong, but it's kinda hard when she's in this much pain and with one arm busted.

It seems all but impossible, until Justice offers to help. The idea of it unnerves her a tiny bit, she won't lie, but right now, her discomfort - well, the mental sort - takes far less precedence than her physical pain and the situation they're in.]

Go for it. Whatever you can do, so long as you can do it while I'm moving.

[Because she's unbuckling herself already and lurching for the pilot controls. Luckily, with it being a shuttle, it's not far to go to reach them and fight with the shuttle to keep it from plummeting down towards the ground. She's not sure what "opening her mind" entails, but if it's simply permission, Justice has it.]

Are you sure you should--

[Apparently she is, because she's already on the move. Justice barely has time to unstrap himself before she's jerking for the controls, and he has to brace himself on the pilot's chair to keep his footing as the shuttle lurches. Alright. Mess directly with the senses of a human he cares terribly about while she struggles to keep them all from dying a fiery death. Sounds easy. No problem.

He senses her unease. He doesn't take offense, because even he finds this sort of power discomfiting. She's still trusting him to do it.

Permission is really all he needs. She's opened herself to him by giving permission, whether she's conscious of it or not.

He rests one hand on her uninjured shoulder. Physical contact helps him work, and it's the least obtrusive spot he can think to touch while she deals with the controls.

Coiling a strand of himself into her mind is easy. She doesn't offer any resistance except her reflexive unease, but he doesn't try to project calmness to diffuse it as other spirits might have. He wants to influence her mind as little as possible due to his moral convictions as well as his respect for Riona. He is here for one purpose and he will fulfill it, no more and no less.

He just reaches into her nerves and gradually numbs the pain. He doesn't get rid of it entirely--he doesn't want her accidentally injuring herself more because she can't feel it--but he takes the fire from the pain until it's just discomfort.]

Is that alright? [He's never formed a connection like this with someone who isn't a mage, so it's a new experience on many levels.]

[He's glad for Riona behind the controls even if she might exacerbate her injury. He's got to trust that she knows her limits because as things are, they need the help or else they're all going to die a screaming fiery death. He's not sure what Justice did but at this point he really can't complain about anything, instead dedicating all of his brain power to the panel. So much so that he doesn't have the cells to devote to stopping himself from muttering stream of consciousness style under his breath.]

Umm, right, so, red is bad but if you reconnect these here I think I can turn it back to- [zzzt] Ow! Blasted-- No, ok, then maybe...

[A communications augment really doesn't help much, does it.]

[There's definitely a sense of invasion, of something not her coming into her mind. Riona forces herself to focus on the task at hand and ignore Justice reaching into her. She yanks on the steering, forcing the ship to keep going somewhat in an upright direction. It actually takes her a moment to realize the pain has dulled considerably. It's strange, knowing that her back has a foreign object embedded in it and her arm's busted and yet she only feels the equivalent of a smacked shin or something.]

Yes, it is. Thank you, Justice. [Now at least she can concentrate better on keeping them in the air and not plummeting to their deaths. Bonus of no cursing!]

I'm buying us as much time as I can, Wolfe. [She refrains from mentioning that the meteor isn't going to wait around forever, or that she can only do so much, especially with one functioning arm.]

[This is a weird feeling for Justice too. He does not remember ever directly fiddling with a mortal's senses before, and he does not like it, even with permission. But he'd like Riona being in pain even less (not to mention, of course, dying in a ship crash), so he just focuses on dealing with the pain and not messing with her mind any more than he has to. He can forget the sense of wrongness later when the situation isn't so dire.

Anders' boyfriend is doing the best he can. Riona is doing the best she can. The family is shaking in the back, but they are not in the way. Justice says nothing. He has a job and nothing he says will help anyone else with theirs. He just stares ahead with an unblinking gaze while he focuses on his work.]

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