chasing_moonlight (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
chasing_moonlight) wrote2012-05-18 11:18 pm
chasing_moonlight) wrote2012-05-18 11:18 pm
(no subject)
Title: Drawing Down
Warnings: None
Concept: In the aftermath of Exaltation, Vaska's life falls apart.
The room was plain stone, sheer to the edges, floor and ceiling included; about half again larger than he was in any direction, roughly square, with three windows about the size of his hand just above where his head would be if he stood up. The wooden plank on the floor was bolted to it, cracked a bit, and topped with a straw-stuffed "mattress" stained with what may not have been bodily fluids. It was getting colder as the day went on, but it was unlikely to be a problem this time of the year. There was a box with melted wax on it where once there had been a candle. He was given the distinct impression they had given him the good cell, and that just made him angrier.
The door was steel, and the place where its hinges were welded to the frame was his current focus. The padlock was (of course) on the outside, so if he were going to pick it, he'd have to get to it first. Presuming that didn't render the whole process redundant. He glared daggers at the door, searching what he knew for anything else he could make useful, wondering if it any point he might conveniently develop the ability to glare an actual hole in the door. He doubted it.
His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a throat clearing. He froze, feeling the odd sensation of the fur on the back of his neck standing up in shock, but he regained his composure quickly enough and jumped to his feet.
In the back of his mind, during the hour or two he'd been locked in here, Vaska had noticed the light changing; late afternoon had faded into sunset, and sunset very nearly into night. Or at least- that was how he'd thought things were going- but it had been remarkably light in here for- how long? There was a woman in front of him, shedding radiance and shadow in shifting turns, making the room flicker with silvery light as though it were lit by a cold candle. He swallowed hard and looked her in the eye.
"You're not going to just sit here until they let you out, are you?"
"I'm not just sitting here," he sputtered. A smirk wrinkled one corner of her mouth; she looked a bit like one of his grandmothers, and he couldn't help but feel incredibly exposed. "I'm thinking."
"Good." Her voice sparkled with amusement in an uncomfortably non-metaphorical way. "Have you thought of anything yet?"
"Yes." Vaska crossed his arms, recognizing right after he did what that expressed. Mentally, he winced. He managed to keep from adding anything too sarcastic to that, at least. "I think if I can un-bolt the mattress and find the weak points around the door frame before someone notices, I can cause some kind of damage. Barring that, the downside of a solid door is that they have to open it to feed me."
She shrugged her shoulders, becoming a striking young man at some point during the movement. Sadly- he noticed- that made him feel significantly less awkward. "I meant after that."
"Oh," he said, as if that explained anything. "I'm fairly certain I can sneak out; I know the layout well enough."
"And after that?"
She (he?) hadn't stopped smiling yet. Vaska sighed and thought; coming up with nothing, he knocked a bit of dust off his jacket, and thought some more. Eventually, he decided that any further hesitation would make little difference. "Why are you here? I mean, in any useful sense. I'm fairly certain who you are, and that this has to do with the little lightshow I pulled earlier, at least abstractly?"
"Yes." The young man flickered again, features shifting into an older man he recognized before shifting back. Vaska grit his teeth a bit. "What are you going to do with yourself, hm? You seem unsatisfied with the situation. How is it going to change?"
He shook his head. "The situation... the situation can fuck off. There's no reason to stay here. I'm just... going to visit home for a moment to pick up anything I can use and then leave. Tonight. Before they notice I'm gone."
The smile dropped. "Sounds a little nonspecific."
"If I may be bold, sir," Vaska replied carefully, "so was your response."
"Please do." The man moved, sliding closer to Vaska's side, hands twined in front of him. "I like you, Vaska. You are strong. You are determined. I've seen you plan someone with more experience and incredible power in circles and wield the destruction of your dreams as a weapon. So you might understand... it concerns me a little if, so soon after you take a place as one of my Chosen, you seem entirely out of ideas."
"Chosen." Right. That cleared up some of his concerns, technically. "Are you going to eat me if I don't come up with something before I leave the room? Just to know where I stand here."
"That'd be a bit much." The god's eyes flashed, but nothing else came of it. Really, at this point, Vaska wasn't even sure the anger wasn't some attempt to see how he would respond. "No. I visit all of you. Whatever you do from here is your own business... I'd just appreciate if you kept in mind the principles that got you here."
"I have no principles," Vaska scowled, "and I have no intention- forgive me for being rude- I'm not going to head off and mope somewhere. Your statement regarding my dreams is... not how I'd put it, but the sudden destruction of a lifetime's achievements has left me faced with a number of options and very little reason to elaborate on them at the moment."
"Not quite what I was referring to," he said, another shrug changing the room's light into a relatively stable shadowy dark gray, "and hardly a lifetime, even for you. You know, how about I make you a deal? Mercury and Jupiter are arguing over the damned rules again, so my turn won't come up for a while. If you entertain me 'til morning, I'll make it worth your while. Nobody's going to come for you before then, and it'll give you time to think, right?"
He licked his lips, deciding not to comment on certain parts of that. "Entertain you? Is there anything specific you'd like?"
"How about a story? You seem pretty good at talking."
"A story?" he echoed again. Vaska sighed and tried to relax; this entire conversation seemed like a terrible idea, but he hadn't been eaten yet, and the idea of a god with at least theoretically benevolent intentions offering him a favor- much less the Moon- was pretty tempting, if he could wing it. In the end, he nodded. "I think I might know something worth your time."
The Moon settled down with his head in his hands to listen, and Vaska began with the only story he thought could fill a whole night, if only because he didn't know the end of it:
"In a land far away, past mountains and cities, in a tower with walls overgrown with thorns, scraping the sky and drawing down the clouds..."
Warnings: None
Concept: In the aftermath of Exaltation, Vaska's life falls apart.
The room was plain stone, sheer to the edges, floor and ceiling included; about half again larger than he was in any direction, roughly square, with three windows about the size of his hand just above where his head would be if he stood up. The wooden plank on the floor was bolted to it, cracked a bit, and topped with a straw-stuffed "mattress" stained with what may not have been bodily fluids. It was getting colder as the day went on, but it was unlikely to be a problem this time of the year. There was a box with melted wax on it where once there had been a candle. He was given the distinct impression they had given him the good cell, and that just made him angrier.
The door was steel, and the place where its hinges were welded to the frame was his current focus. The padlock was (of course) on the outside, so if he were going to pick it, he'd have to get to it first. Presuming that didn't render the whole process redundant. He glared daggers at the door, searching what he knew for anything else he could make useful, wondering if it any point he might conveniently develop the ability to glare an actual hole in the door. He doubted it.
His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a throat clearing. He froze, feeling the odd sensation of the fur on the back of his neck standing up in shock, but he regained his composure quickly enough and jumped to his feet.
In the back of his mind, during the hour or two he'd been locked in here, Vaska had noticed the light changing; late afternoon had faded into sunset, and sunset very nearly into night. Or at least- that was how he'd thought things were going- but it had been remarkably light in here for- how long? There was a woman in front of him, shedding radiance and shadow in shifting turns, making the room flicker with silvery light as though it were lit by a cold candle. He swallowed hard and looked her in the eye.
"You're not going to just sit here until they let you out, are you?"
"I'm not just sitting here," he sputtered. A smirk wrinkled one corner of her mouth; she looked a bit like one of his grandmothers, and he couldn't help but feel incredibly exposed. "I'm thinking."
"Good." Her voice sparkled with amusement in an uncomfortably non-metaphorical way. "Have you thought of anything yet?"
"Yes." Vaska crossed his arms, recognizing right after he did what that expressed. Mentally, he winced. He managed to keep from adding anything too sarcastic to that, at least. "I think if I can un-bolt the mattress and find the weak points around the door frame before someone notices, I can cause some kind of damage. Barring that, the downside of a solid door is that they have to open it to feed me."
She shrugged her shoulders, becoming a striking young man at some point during the movement. Sadly- he noticed- that made him feel significantly less awkward. "I meant after that."
"Oh," he said, as if that explained anything. "I'm fairly certain I can sneak out; I know the layout well enough."
"And after that?"
She (he?) hadn't stopped smiling yet. Vaska sighed and thought; coming up with nothing, he knocked a bit of dust off his jacket, and thought some more. Eventually, he decided that any further hesitation would make little difference. "Why are you here? I mean, in any useful sense. I'm fairly certain who you are, and that this has to do with the little lightshow I pulled earlier, at least abstractly?"
"Yes." The young man flickered again, features shifting into an older man he recognized before shifting back. Vaska grit his teeth a bit. "What are you going to do with yourself, hm? You seem unsatisfied with the situation. How is it going to change?"
He shook his head. "The situation... the situation can fuck off. There's no reason to stay here. I'm just... going to visit home for a moment to pick up anything I can use and then leave. Tonight. Before they notice I'm gone."
The smile dropped. "Sounds a little nonspecific."
"If I may be bold, sir," Vaska replied carefully, "so was your response."
"Please do." The man moved, sliding closer to Vaska's side, hands twined in front of him. "I like you, Vaska. You are strong. You are determined. I've seen you plan someone with more experience and incredible power in circles and wield the destruction of your dreams as a weapon. So you might understand... it concerns me a little if, so soon after you take a place as one of my Chosen, you seem entirely out of ideas."
"Chosen." Right. That cleared up some of his concerns, technically. "Are you going to eat me if I don't come up with something before I leave the room? Just to know where I stand here."
"That'd be a bit much." The god's eyes flashed, but nothing else came of it. Really, at this point, Vaska wasn't even sure the anger wasn't some attempt to see how he would respond. "No. I visit all of you. Whatever you do from here is your own business... I'd just appreciate if you kept in mind the principles that got you here."
"I have no principles," Vaska scowled, "and I have no intention- forgive me for being rude- I'm not going to head off and mope somewhere. Your statement regarding my dreams is... not how I'd put it, but the sudden destruction of a lifetime's achievements has left me faced with a number of options and very little reason to elaborate on them at the moment."
"Not quite what I was referring to," he said, another shrug changing the room's light into a relatively stable shadowy dark gray, "and hardly a lifetime, even for you. You know, how about I make you a deal? Mercury and Jupiter are arguing over the damned rules again, so my turn won't come up for a while. If you entertain me 'til morning, I'll make it worth your while. Nobody's going to come for you before then, and it'll give you time to think, right?"
He licked his lips, deciding not to comment on certain parts of that. "Entertain you? Is there anything specific you'd like?"
"How about a story? You seem pretty good at talking."
"A story?" he echoed again. Vaska sighed and tried to relax; this entire conversation seemed like a terrible idea, but he hadn't been eaten yet, and the idea of a god with at least theoretically benevolent intentions offering him a favor- much less the Moon- was pretty tempting, if he could wing it. In the end, he nodded. "I think I might know something worth your time."
The Moon settled down with his head in his hands to listen, and Vaska began with the only story he thought could fill a whole night, if only because he didn't know the end of it:
"In a land far away, past mountains and cities, in a tower with walls overgrown with thorns, scraping the sky and drawing down the clouds..."