Hazelnuts and plaid

[Helene Dakesh]

"Ah," says Helene, looking relieved. "Much simpler, yes. Lux, if you would please stand here next to your brother-lover? I can begin the rituals immediately."

[Lux]

Lux coughs a little. "Ah, one or the other is sufficient," he says weakly, rising to his feet with some reluctance, and doing as directed. 

[Helene Dakesh]

"Understood. Which is the preferred appellation?"

[Lux]

That gets a wide stare. "I've... not really considered that before?"

[Helene Dakesh]

Helene opens nir mouth, then closes it. Ne makes a small whine of frustration, but nods and says, "understood. This one has been informed that, quote, badgering people, end quote, is impolite behavior, and as such, will not pressure Lux into choosing one at this time. If one becomes the preferred form of address, please inform this one promptly." 

[Lux]

"That seems fair," Lux decides after a few seconds' thought. "Perhaps just using a possessive for now? 'Next to my Nox' and such?"

[Helene Dakesh]

"Understood. If Lux will stand next to his Nox, then this one can begin the ritual."

Some long, tense moments later, Helene declares them both free of mental influence and memory modification, "though there is some unusual quality to the aura that requires some further study." A pause. "Please give this one a few more moments to investigate."

[Lux]

"Ah, his or mine?" Lux asks awkwardly, a nervous, worried, look being cast at his Nox.

[Helene Dakesh]

"His." Helene squats, squinting at Nox as ne mutters something small. "....your Nox is twice lived?"

[Lux]

"What?" Lux jerks, eyes widening comically. "What? No! I  mean-- no? Doesn't that mean-- He's never died, I would know if-- Does that ever mean anything else?"

[Helene Dakesh]

"The aura seems... fuzzy, a little disjointed. It is difficult to make out what I am seeing. But it seems to be the mark that indicates a being is twice-lived. Or perhaps the mark that means exceptionally favored by a deity? But your Nox is no Paladin or Cleric, to be so marked... Hrm. Unusual. Perhaps it is a mark I am not familiar with, that I am misinterpreting?"

[Varric]

Varric grunts, not comfortable at all with this kind of mystery right now. "Given what's going on right now," he says slowly. "Better safe than dead and damned. Do you have chains here? Real ones, cold iron and silver or blessed?"

"What? No, of course not," Rosalie blurts out. "I mean, we have chains, sure, but they're just steel. And most of them are basically decorations."

Frown returning with a vengeance, Varric taps at his leg. "Fine. Chain him down as best you can. I'll dose him with a sedative. When Aveline returns, she can take a look too. In the meantime, we have to find Hawke before whatever is in her does... Something."

[GamesMaster]

They move Nox to the basement where Zevran rests, leaving Silence and Lux to watch the pair of them. Then they head out, using Avato and Beka to track where Hawke's gone. The trail is hard to track, but the pair of them are up to it, tracing the trail together under the tracks of others going to and fro in the downtown area of Coalside. 

After a while, they trace her down a side street, and the trail vanishes. Did she skip to another plane? Teleport? Or just get wise to the idea they might use dogs to track her and do something to hide her scent? On the off-chance it's the latter, the two fan out, spiraling outward from the intersection where they lost her until they pick up the trail a few blocks away. There, the two begin following it once more, tracing around and through a wayward, zig-zagging trail until they find themselves...

heading back...

toward Voice? Oh no. 


The door opens, and as Lux looks up, Hawke stumbles in, rubbing at her teary eyes. "Lux! Thank Astea. I think she did something to Nox, did you-- is he--?"

[Lux]

The tiefling jolts, then stares for just a half second. "Hawke?" Then his eyes dart behind her, seeing the empty door there. Following orders repeated so intently and insistently he's not half-convinced that Varric didn't embed an actual compulsion in them, Lux turns and pushes a vial of something into Zevran's mouth. 

Grunting loudly, Silence surges to her feet from behind a stack of books to approach what had damn well best be her Person. And only her Person.

[Marian Hawke]

"It's me," she says quietly. "I managed to wrest control back and came straight here to check on Nox. Are you hurt? Did she get to you?" She opens her arms for a hug, eyes pleading.