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Post by starrea on Sept 5, 2020 3:02:38 GMT
Roman was prepared for anything. Roman might have been focused on Lennox, but it would be foolish to take his eyes off of the impulsive, unruly boy. Through the corner of his eye, Roman saw all of the signs of an impending attack. The tells were textbook to the the trained eye of a warrior; Xander wore his emotions on his sleeve and it was easy to see him slipping further into rage. He didn't the miss the way Xander became more and more tense, leaning forward ever-so-slightly in his seat. Even though Roman had turned to Caspian to defend himself, he was prepared for Xander's inevitable assault. Roman was ready, his fists clenching at the thought of teaching the boy the art of respect. Caspian would not have approved of Roman kicking the kid's ass beforehand, but he wouldn't able to judge if the kid took the first swing. Roman even knew about the knife, but the weapon was useless in the hands of the incompetent kid. So even with his back turned, Roman was prepared for anything - except for Caspian protecting him.
The attempt on his life was predictable in every aspect - except for the red stain blossoming across the chest of Caspian. The sudden change of events were so unprecedented that for a moment, Roman couldn't do anything but stare at the handle of the knife protruding from Caspian's shoulder, framed by a background of red. The significance finally sunk in and Roman shot to his feet so quickly that the chair toppled over backwards onto the floor. Lennox and whatever threat she posed was forgotten in the face of the harrowing change of events. The sight of the knife embedded into Caspian's shoulder morphed his instincts of self-preservation into ones of protectiveness, Caspian becoming his one and only concern. He dropped to his knees next to Caspian, hesitating for only a second before he gently pushed him off of Xander, replacing Caspian's grip on Xander's wrists with his own.
"Don't take the knife out, don't move, okay? I'm just going to handle this, and then I'll be right there," Roman said uncharacteristically gently, eyes swimming with worry before they turned back to Xander and hardened. Roman took Caspian's stance over Xander, shadowing over him.
"You," He hissed, his voice lethal, "are going to bleed. For every drop of blood he spills, you'll spill double." With that, Roman's fist reared back and came down with merciless fury onto Xander's face with no plans on stopping. Roman only unleashed a fraction of his fury, only eight or ten punches, before the need to return to Caspian's side outweighed the need to bash this kid's face in. He pushed himself off of Xander, bringing a foot up and stomping down on his chest - hard. He crouched down next to Xander's bloody face, unsure if he was even conscious but spoke nonetheless, "If you even try to get up, I will give you a matching knife wound to the shoulder. If you know what is good for you, you'll stay on the ground like the fucking rat you are."
With that Xander temporarily dealt with, Roman rushed back over to Caspian's side. He knelt down next to the other man, enveloping him gently in his arms. The knife wasn't very big, and luckily the wound safely above the heart and lungs, but Roman didn't want to pull the knife out without proper supplies. "Baby, please, look at me. Its going to be okay, but we need to leave the knife in for now. Just don't move too much, okay?" He reached up, gently brushing the hair out of Caspian's eyes, trying to keep himself calm. "You shouldn't have done that," Roman scolded gently, "but we can talk about that later. We need to get you out of here, I have supplies back at the castle. Do you think you can walk?" Roman asked gently, hands gently caressing down Caspian's arms.
The thought of leaving caused Roman to look over his shoulder at Xander, and the anger was renewed. "Consider this your lucky day. You're on borrowed time, brat. You're going to regret every breath you've taken since the moment you stuck a knife in the man I love."
The 'l-word' tumbled out of Roman's mouth without much thought, but he realized that he wholly and truly meant it. The realization was freeing and he wasn't afraid of what love entailed. He turned back to Caspian, looking him straight in the eyes so that he could see how deadly serious he was when he said it for the second time: "I love you."
The will that had been hypnotizing Lennox swayed, sending shock waves of interference into her already-fractured mind. The energy came in destructive waves that her mind couldn't handle, and without direction, triggered a seizure. Lennox slumped to the side and slid out of the chair onto the floor, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as her entire body fell into full-body convulsions. The overwhelming energy assaulting her brain dispersed through her body through electrical waves, her muscles spasm-ing irregularly. One minute passed, and then another, and most of another minute passed before the seizure finally fizzled out and left her laying there on the floor, unconscious.
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Post by Val on Sept 6, 2020 22:04:24 GMT
Despite receiving a knife wound as reciprocation for his kindness, Caspian's eyes revealed only pity as he gazed upon Xander and was eventually pulled away by Roman. He groaned and propped himself up against the legs of one of the dining chairs, his free hand immediately reaching up to press around the blade as blood began to spread. Under different circumstances, he would've been freaking out over the fact that a knife was protruding out of him, but he was far too preoccupied with the fact that Roman was now looming over the boy with murder undoubtedly on his mind.
"Roman don't," he tried to intercede, but his voice was not strong enough to prevent the onslaught that followed. As much as he wanted to look away, he forced himself to watch as the first punch landed, followed by another and another. The display made him feel sick to his stomach and, out of desperation for the violence to come to an end, he considered yanking the knife out just to get Roman's attention back on him. He reached for the hilt of the blade, which was wedged uncomfortably between his collar bone and shoulder blade, but his trembling hand froze when he looked down at the bloody mess. Despite his selfless-to-a-fault mindset, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Fortunately, the assault came to a quick and merciful end. He flinched as Roman landed a final blow and stared in distress at the battered teen until Roman returned to his side and effectively blocked his view of the scene. He slumped with relief, trying to let Roman's soothing words lull him into a calmer state. The pain was beginning to intensify as his adrenaline wore off, and he was desperate to leave the scene before things intensified once more.
Caspian shifted his feet and prepared himself to move, nodding when he was sure he was stable enough to stand. But then Roman dropped a bomb that sent him plummeting back into a state of shock. Hearing Roman threaten a child and profess his love in the same sentence sent him reeling. He stared up at Roman and met his intense gaze as he repeated the words with undeniable conviction. Hope instantly flooded his heart and filled him up with a tidal wave of emotion. He'd always longed for the acceptance and comfort such words would bring and hearing them from Roman was a beautiful moment. But their love was a complicated one, and this felt inherently wrong.
The fragile moment was shattered by the sound of Xander choking on his own blood, and Caspian looked away. He was truly and hopelessly in love with Roman, but that didn't make this okay. It was heartbreaking to not return the sentiment, and he was afraid to look back at Roman and witness whatever pain his silence would inflict on the man's delicate heart. Instead, he fixed his gaze on Xander as the boy crawled toward Lennox where she had collapsed across the room. The guilt was consuming; both for being a part of this scene and for giving Roman the cold shoulder.
"I want to go home." The statement was firm and carefully void of emotion. He needed to return to his sanctuary so he could think clearly. He and Roman had a lot to talk about. Using his good arm, he gripped the edge of the dining table and grunted as he worked to drag himself to his feet.
Xander knew what was coming for him the moment Roman came into view and assumed the position to pin him to the ground. He grit his teeth and braced himself for the inevitable beating. In his experience, the first punch was always the worst, and Roman did not disappoint. His fists were brutal and angry, attacking relentlessly no matter how much he struggled to free himself. Blood was quick to flood his mouth and cloud his vision until he felt like he was drowning in it. The barrage ended rather abruptly and he took the opportunity to gasp for air while he had the chance, only to be blind sided by the blow to the chest. The pain was absolutely overwhelming and he curled into himself defensively as he was forced to endure Roman's threats.
If Xander were capable of getting up, he would have. But even his ferocious tenacity was not enough to overcome the agony. He'd suffered worse, but there was something particularly horrible about failing Lennox in every way imaginable. Realizing he couldn't breathe and was heading for unconsciousness, he rolled onto his side and coughed up blood before he was finally able to gasp for air. Through his obscured vision, he could see the two men crouched together and felt nothing but hatred for them. Roman's final threat rang clear in his mind and if he'd been able to speak, he would have replied with a vow of his own: Next time I'll finish off the man you love.
Accepting defeat, he rolled onto his stomach and sought out Lennox. His heart wrenched painfully when he realized that she had hit the ground and wasn't moving. Fear for her safety threatened to swallow him whole, but he forced himself to move, leaving a trailed of blood in his wake as he crawled across the floor toward her.
"Lennox," he choked out once he reached her. He gripped one of her hands and felt for a pulse, nearly collapsing with relief when he found that she was still breathing. He hunched over her in distress, feeling absolutely helpless. Maybe Lennox was right; maybe the Universe was intent on punishing him.
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Post by starrea on Sept 7, 2020 3:00:23 GMT
It took exactly twelve seconds of silence for Caspian to shatter Roman's heart into a million little pieces. The pain of heartbreak wasn't like anything Roman had ever felt before. It was like being kicked in the chest and having the breath knocked out of his lungs and being consumed by the blind panic of needing oxygen but being unable to get it. It was like the feeling of falling, when his stomach plummeted and all he could do was brace himself for the inevitable pain when he finally hit the ground. It was like being dragged underwater by violent waves and losing track of which way was up. It was like the burn of hot flames biting at his skin and the numbness brought on by the coldest winter winds. It was the devastating fear of being trapped, of finally being forced to realize that there was no way out. It was the inability to breathe beneath the crushing weight of something infinitely heavy. It was a wound that refused to stop bleeding and being forced to watch the life slowly drain out of him, one drip at a time. The wound might have been invisible but the pain was intensely real and Roman had no idea how to deal with it.
After the initial shock passed, he was flooded with a sea of regret. He couldn't help the resentment that burned through; in that moment, he wished he had never met Caspian. If he hadn't met him, there would be no one to impress. No one to want, no one to need. No one to force him feel things that he shouldn't feel, no one to make him change when he shouldn't change. There would be no one to love, no one to worry about, no one to cry over. There would be no more tears, no more sleepless nights, no more pain. There would be no one to break his heart because there would no Caspian. There would be no need to feel like he had ever had a chance at love because when he finally risked it, Caspian made him realize that he had never had a chance to begin with.
But he had met Caspian and he couldn't take back everything that happened between them. For better or worse, Roman couldn't go back to being the man he was before he met Caspian. He had tried to kill his former identity years ago but somehow, Caspian had brought Soren out in Roman and now he was neither identity. It was staggering to watch everything he had spent his entire life working towards, his professional aspirations and his rise to power and influence, fracture and start to fall apart despite all his efforts to fix it and now, his heart hammered into a million little pieces with absolutely no one to blame but himself. It was an amateur mistake; Roman knew what happened when emotions drove decisions. Roman knew the devastation of heartbreak. Roman knew better - and yet, he had risked it all for Caspian, and now he was paying the price.
When Roman looked down at Caspian, he couldn't stop loving him. Even through the pain of not being loved back, Roman was starting to see that love couldn't be controlled and as much as he willed himself to stop, he couldn't. The starving emotions ravaged him from the inside out and the desire to punish himself reared up. After he dropped Caspian back off at the farm house, he would condition himself to never feel another fucking emotion again for the rest of his life.
"Of course," Roman slowly said, just as stoically as Caspian. There was nothing more to say between them, no words to replace the words that hadn't been said. Roman rushed to Caspian's side, wrapping an arm around his waist and slinging Caspian's good arm over his shoulder so that he could shoulder most of his weight. The walk back to the cabin was going to be excruciating slow and painfully long.
The lack of response from Caspian had left Roman so winded that he barely noticed the two kids. They wouldn't be forgotten and Roman was going to return. He was going to exact revenge upon the little brat and then lock the girl away in a hole so deep that she wouldn't have anyone around for miles to hear her scream out whatever name she wanted. But that was for another day - today, he had to get Caspian home.
He started the slow walk towards the door, careful to make sure he wasn't walking too fast for Caspian. He didn't look back one at the scene he was leaving behind, completely unconcerned with the kids. Without so much as a parting word, he led Caspian out of the house and down the path back towards the farmhouse.
When Lennox first opened her eyes, the world was a bright, colorful wash of colors that blended together in an abstract mess. Her entire body felt funny and she wondered if she were floating because she couldn't feel anything beneath her. For whatever reason, the thought wasn't alarming - just a casual observation. The world was swirling with indecipherable colors and she was one with them, floating amidst a sea of color, free of her earthly bonds. There was no pain, no sickness, no fear - she just simply was. She didn't know why, but she had this overwhelming feeling that everything was okay.
The colors started to sharper into shapes, and the shapes started to focus into objects. Lennox wasn't floating anymore and she could feel her joints pressing uncomfortably into a hardwood floor. The peace was gone, replaced by panic when she realized that couldn't move. She was paralyzed on the floor, unable to do anything other than try to make sense of the slowly-focusing world around her.
Xander's face was the first thing that focused and the sight of it made Lennox want to scream, but her mouth wouldn't open to release it. Blood decorated his face, the skin around his eyes and cheeks already looking puffy from swelling. She couldn't remember him getting hurt, and then she realized she couldn't remember anything - notably the events leading up to being on the floor. The details were fuzzy; there was a man with a knife to her neck and she could almost the thick terror of reality of facing Death, but everything after that was gone. The world slipped out of focus again, this time because tears welled up in her eyes. She had interfered before to protect Xander, but obviously she had failed at that as well.
Slowly, the ability to move returned to her. First it was her fingers and toes, and then her lower arms and legs, and finally she regained enough mobility to sit up. Her entire body felt sluggish and slow to respond, but it was reassuring that everything was slowly coming back. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, her tongue uncomfortably thick.
"What happened?" Lennox slurred, the words having a hard time forming in her mouth. Her mind was clear but her body was frustratingly slow, and she wondered if she had been drugged. She couldn't think of why else she blacked out and ended up on the floor. She wanted to ask him if he was okay, but the thought of forming another sentence seemed nearly impossible. Instead, she reached out and gently brushed her fingers along his bruised face, her eyes full of unshed tears.
She wanted to tell him she was sorry, so sorry, but she couldn't. She tried to swallow down the apology that was stuck in her throat but she couldn't, not when she felt them so deeply.
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Post by Elvander on Sept 9, 2020 1:15:02 GMT
Brogan watched as the violence unfolded and gritted his teeth, his knuckles in white fists at his sides. The boy deserved to get his teeth knocked out, sure. But even still. Xander was HIS kid. Not Roman's. Not anybody else's. And it hurt Brogan to see the kid get his face cracked in. As soon as Roman left with the injured Caspian, Brogan burst through the door and went to crouch at Xander's side, ignoring the young girl completely, even shouldering her away. "What the hell do you think you're doing, messing with that man?" he hissed through his clenched jaw. Roman was powerful, and not someone who should be taken lightly. Everyone knew he controlled the kingdom, pulling the strings that Alister tossed recklessly into the air.
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Post by Val on Sept 14, 2020 21:47:25 GMT
As Xander waited for Lennox to come back to him, he could feel the pull of unconsciousness as it tried to drag him under. His head was pounding, and blood was roaring violently in his ears, making it difficult to remain upright. Still, he gritted his teeth and endured the pain, remaining crouched at Lennox’s side as she began to stir. His eyes were closed out of sheer pain from the swelling, but her voice brought him back to attention and he forced them open. He was relieved to find that she appeared to be making a full recovery, but it did nothing to alleviate the resentment he held for his newfound enemies.
“It doesn’t matter,” he muttered, wincing away from her touch, “They’re gone,” he assured her. Embarrassed that he had clearly gotten the shit kicked out of him, he leaned away from her and propped himself up against the wall, staring absently across the room. The unfortunate encounter had left him with a lot more problems than just a busted-up face.
The sound of heavy footsteps down the hall caused Xander to tense up and reach for his knife, only to realize that it had remained planted into the shoulder of their failed mediator. At least he’d gained some sort of intel from the incident; Raevaryn’s secondhand man had a glaring weakness.
The sight of Brogan should have brought relief, but the man’s appearance only served to restoke the flames within Xander, “Messing with him? He was messing with me!” he shot back, immediately defensive. He glared at Brogan as he planted himself in front of Lennox, but he felt too physically exhausted to do anything about it.
“You watched?” he uttered in disbelief as it dawned on him that Brogan had seen it all play out, “You stood by and watched? You bastard. That creep could have killed me and you would’ve been too worried about saving your own skin to do anything about it. Mom was right about you,” he aimed to cut where it hurt the most, tired of no one caring about him. No one but Lennox.
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Post by starrea on Sept 16, 2020 16:36:35 GMT
Lennox bit her lips from arguing with Xander; it obviously did matter, but it didn't feel like the right time to push it. As the sluggish slowly receded, the memories slowly came into focus, but they were obviously disjointed. Lennox tried to string them together to create a coherent explanation as to why she ended up on the floor and why Xander's face had been beaten in, but there were frustrating gaps in her memory that weren't coming back to her. She remembered the man with the knife, the name Soren, the way they had all sat around the table as if one of the guests hadn't just tried to slit her throat and leave her to bleed out on the ground. And then... nothing. Blackness. The next thing she remembered was waking up on the ground with no idea as to what had transpired during her blackout.
By the time all of the fogginess had cleared, Lennox had more questions than answers but all it took was one look at Xander's face for her to swallow them down. Shame crashed over her, and despite the fact that she was sure she hadn't been the one to physically assault Xander, it still felt like her fault. Her presence had brought nothing but trouble to Xander's life and she felt painfully undeserving of everything he had done for her.
The sound of footsteps made Lennox's heart seize with fear and she scrambled backwards, under the table. The figure was a stranger, but not to Xander, but it still didn't quiet Lennox's paranoia enough to make her come out from behind the safety of the legs of the chairs. The other man clearly saw Lennox but completely ignored her presence, only increasing her feelings of inadequacy tenfold. Whoever this was made it clear that she wasn't worth even a second of his attention.
Lennox didn't move. A fight erupted between the man and Xander and Lennox felt like she was intruding on a personal moment. She looked over her shoulder at the exit, the desire to leave and wallow in her deplorable state in solitude stirring up, but she stayed frozen. She had already failed so fantastically that it felt wrong to even move without an explicit order from Xander, unwilling to do anything else to add to his obvious pain - even if it meant refraining from fleeing. Instead, she sat back and brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, watching the two men from behind her forest of chair legs silently, waiting obediently for Xander's instructions.
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Post by Elvander on Sept 17, 2020 16:23:16 GMT
Xander's little outburst reassured Brogan that he would be okay. Brogan crouched down beside Xander and quickly yanked the dagger from his shoulder, tearing a piece of his tunic off to press against the wound to stem the bleeding. He tossed the knife to the side and glared down at Xander, not wanting to show how much his words hurt him, but the flash of pain was there in the depths of his eyes. "Oh yeah? What did your mother say about me?" he growled, unable to help but take the bait. Without warning, he scooped Xander up and slung him over his shoulder, his grip tight around the boy's waist. He glanced at Lennox, "Why don't you tell me how much your mother hated me while we get you two somewhere safe. Girl, come here," he commanded, striding towards the door. Xander couldn't understand why he hadn't burst in to save him. Of course, Brogan saw it as a natural consequence. But he never would have let Roman kill Xander, and the boy had to know that, deep down.
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Post by Val on Sept 22, 2020 1:01:57 GMT
Xander opened his mouth to offer a lengthy and cruel response to let Brogan know exactly what Sahara had said about him over the years, but he never got the chance. The world suddenly flipped upside down as he was thrown over the man’s shoulder, causing all the blood to rush to his already swollen face. He wheezed for air and slammed a fist into Brogan’s back, but the fight quickly drained out of him as he was locked in place. He felt incredibly weak, and the threat of unconsciousness loomed as he was forced to go limp.
“No…I don’t run. Not like you,” he argued, fighting to stay alert as Brogan mentioned leaving, “This is my home,” he added as a final, heartbreaking plea. The last thing he wanted to do was abandon his childhood home out of fear. Xander learned early in life that he couldn’t allow the bullies he encountered to scare him into hiding. They would quickly target you as weak, and you would become easy prey. Screw the nobility; if Roman came back, he would be ready for him. He had to be.
Despite his complaints, he felt Brogan begin to move and panic set in. Lennox. He lifted his head into an incredibly uncomfortable position, managing to catch a glimpse of the girl cowering beneath the dining table. Maybe Brogan was right. Maybe he needed to swallow his pride for once to protect Lennox. So far, his promises to her had been unfortunately empty. If he could get her to safety, he could start making up for his failures and learning from his mistakes.
“Lennox, it’s okay,” he called to her, “Come with us. He’s…a friend,” he managed, though even ‘friend’ felt too generous considering how he felt about Brogan at the moment. His tone had shifted considerably as he was once again faced with the fact that he was responsible for more than just himself. Despite the tension between himself and his absentee father figure, he trusted Brogan.
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Post by starrea on Sept 22, 2020 20:25:13 GMT
Lennox tensed up as the man suddenly stood, her muscles coiled and ready to spring, ready to protect Xander - but she didn't. Xander obviously knew this man, knew him well enough to not perceive him as a threat, but that didn't earn him Lennox's trust. Instead, she just eyed him mistrustfully from behind her wall of chair legs, motionless as he stooped to lift Xander.
Lennox bared her teeth in a grimace when Brogan finally decided to acknowledge her existence, when he disparagingly referred to her as 'girl'. The command made her shrink back further under the table, triggering a rebellious spark in her that made her less inclined than ever to come out. Despite the obvious familiarity between them, Xander's attitude hadn't evoked any desire in Lennox to listen to him.
The only thing that finally got Lennox to move was Xander's comforting plea and as much as she wanted to spitefully ignore Brogan's command to follow, she couldn't ignore Xander. She slid her way out from under the table, pushing herself to her feet. Brogan hadn't bothered to wait for her and was nearly out the door by the time Lennox stood but she didn't rush to catch up with him. Her mistrust and paranoia were not subtle and she followed reluctantly, leaving a decent amount of space between her and Brogan. As it turned out, three was a crowd, and Brogan's presence was a tribute to that. The trio felt unnatural, and she spent the entire walk silently wishing that Brogan would just vanish into thin air.
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