where I hide the darkest parts of me
Varus Callahan
Assassin / Hollowed Grounds Captain

Age: 347 | Height: 5’7 | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 4 - Strg: 14 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 20 - Int:
Played by: Skylark Offline
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Posts: 517 | Total: 13,495
MP: 0
#1
honey, i rose up from the dead. i do it all the time
It isn’t that much later, a day or so since they’d gotten back together. But in the time when the Infirmary had gone up in flames and his return from Halo, he’s managed to get a few of the things made for him that he used to have. It isn’t paranoia if war’s on the horizon and he knew what kind of outfit worked for him, sure that he’d be playing a similar role in the long run, so might as well stick with what you know, right? Right.

So he’s managed to get his hands on a similar enough outfit to the one he wore before – this time, the sleeve of the metal arm cut off to not inhibit his ability to move, and he’s managed to find that damn elusive mask he’d lost in his old house destroyed and tucked away from the main road where people had likely scavenged. And with it all put together? He’s practicing, working on his movements and stealth, trying to get it back up to par after so many centuries rusting away.

He nearly manages for the most part, if not for the way the uniform wasn’t quite as good as the one he’d had before, because he slings a knife at that very same statue, lost in his head, watching as it zings off of the edge and bounces, hurling itself back toward him and shanking himself right underneath his ribs. Of course, there’s the gasp of surprise, muffled by the mask upon his face, but there’s frustration underneath it as well.

Especially because the sensors within him start sparking, iridescent fluid bubbling around the blade, and truthfully? He’s a bit peeved about the whole thing. He still knows better than to remove the blade from his side, so the trek through the rainstorm makes him look like a drowned rat, the wind whipping against the houses in the streets and the rain drenching him to the core, mixing with the slow seeping fluid from the wound.

Varus doesn’t even knock as he enters, doesn’t even announce it’s him, a bit frustrated with himself and still a bit stuck in his mind, closing the door before pausing in the entry way as he drips a mixture of water and fluid, his gaze dark as it scans for any sign of Isla. He doesn't know how it might look, especially given the attack on the Infirmary, but he's a bit too far gone to make the connection.
VARUS
Isla Lockwood
the Remedy
Medic

Age: 32 | Height: 5'7 | Race: Ancient | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 4 - Strg: 26 - Dext: 26 - Endr: 28 - Luck: 26 - Int:
Played by: Honey Online
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Posts: 2,225 | Total: 16,318
MP: 3061
#2
Isla

"I might be a doctor but make no mistake, I'll kill you if I have to."

Not exactly a welcome home, honey, but then Varus looks absolutely nothing like the dorky guy in the woollen sweater who walked out of the house earlier. Isla's place is softly lit and cozy to say the least; with a study to hold all of he books and files, the living room turned consultation area is looking much more cheerful. The medic in question has been reading in an armchair when the door opens - now, however, she's on her feet, book raised as if she might smack him around the head with it, fingers tipped with sharp blades.

"What do you want?" she asks curtly - because of course, it might be someone needing help rather than someone coming to burn down her workspace again, but Isla is understandably jumpy about it for now. Especially since she's home alone (and evidently does not recognise the man in front of her, soaking wet and dressed in black and in a mask).
sooner or later, we all have to wake
and try forgetting everything
Varus Callahan
Assassin / Hollowed Grounds Captain

Age: 347 | Height: 5’7 | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 4 - Strg: 14 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 20 - Int:
Played by: Skylark Offline
Change author:
Posts: 517 | Total: 13,495
MP: 0
#3
honey, i rose up from the dead. i do it all the time
Oh, he finds her, and immediately there’s a pinch to his brows, his gaze almost hollow as it dances to the book with the hand edged in sharp blades. What? Why? It’s projected to her, mentally, his voice a bit rougher than usual, deeper, biting back the frustration and perhaps what might come across as sore as he cursed himself out the entire trek here, but that’s beside the point. He’s still relatively silent where he stands, if not for the voice that suddenly flickers into Isla’s mind. He’s still dripping wet but he takes a step toward her, metal hand gesturing to the blade handle that sticks out of him.

It’s just me, Isla, you can relax. There isn’t much of the amusement and gentle teasing of the days past, because he’s too far stuck in his head and far too pissed at himself for getting into this situation, and rather than try to deal with it like he usually did – he seeks Isla out, because she’s always done an incredible job when it came to his injuries.

But surely she’d see him, right? Or was he too different with the mask and the clothing to be distinguishable? Truthfully, that’d be preferable, given his line of work from before and during the first war, but he doesn’t feel the need to utter it. Perhaps the metal arm might point more toward who he is, if she can’t quite see it. But, just to ensure that she does recognize him, he pulls the mask from his face, clutching it in a tight grip in the metal hand of his, focusing on her and waiting to see if he registers to her.



He's using THISSSS:

Type: Grey
Mask | When worn by an Ascended, it projects the wearer's voice to nearby Ascended within 10ft.
VARUS
Isla Lockwood
the Remedy
Medic

Age: 32 | Height: 5'7 | Race: Ancient | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 4 - Strg: 26 - Dext: 26 - Endr: 28 - Luck: 26 - Int:
Played by: Honey Online
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Posts: 2,225 | Total: 16,318
MP: 3061
#4
Isla

Isla flinches at the voice that echoes in her head, familiar and yet so different that she has to take a second to double check she really recognises it. The book slips from her hands to thump onto the floor, her claws retracting to leave her fingertips soft once more. "Cal?" She does relax, though it's short lived as he motions to the knife in his side; Isla is straightening up properly in only a few moments, stepping past him to click the door shut and keep out the rain even as he's taking off his mask.

It's definitely him, but everything from the posture to the tone of voice suggests otherwise; briefly, she wonders if this is the other man he's mentioned people keep mistaking him for. But no - he's called her by name, and she'd know that arm anywhere. The knife is new, though. "What happened?" she asks, gesturing for him to come over to the couch she's turned into a bed.

It's covered in a few bits and bobs right now, Isla moving them onto the coffee table, though she's focused too much on him to check it's entirely clear. "The mask is new. A lot of this is new," she says softly.
sooner or later, we all have to wake
and try forgetting everything
Varus Callahan
Assassin / Hollowed Grounds Captain

Age: 347 | Height: 5’7 | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 4 - Strg: 14 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 20 - Int:
Played by: Skylark Offline
Change author:
Posts: 517 | Total: 13,495
MP: 0
#5
honey, i rose up from the dead. i do it all the time
Cal.” He repeats, short and abrupt, a flat tone to his voice that seems to suggest his weariness, his upset. But she recognizes him at least as he clutches the mask with an almost death grip, watching her straighten up and rush to his side. The metal arm falls away from the handle that sticks out of him as she closes the door and gestures to the couch that’s become a makeshift infirmary bed, and he steps toward it – uncaring if he’s still soaking wet.

At the very least, he doesn’t have to breathe, so the knife itself hasn’t jostled much, but now that he’s under the cover of shelter, the fluid continues to bubble and seep. “Was training. Wasn’t paying attention. My knife slipped off the target and bounced back at me.” Muscles feather in his jaw as he moves to sink down on what he thinks is a clear bed – quite clearly hearing the crunch of something beneath him when he sits. “The mask I had in the first war. Found it recently. The rest is sort of what I wore back then.

The crunch, though, sparks another fraction of frustration, one that he tries to tamper down with a sharp edged clench to his jaw and the bite of his tongue, turning slightly in an attempt to not jostle the dagger in him, so that he might be able to pull the broken pieces out from under him, lifting it to inspect its sharp edges, hoping none of it has stuck to him.

It’s hard to tell, being Ascended and all that. “Sort of, because before I wouldn’t have fuckin’ stabbed myself.” It’s a quiet admission, a slow simmer.
VARUS
Isla Lockwood
the Remedy
Medic

Age: 32 | Height: 5'7 | Race: Ancient | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 4 - Strg: 26 - Dext: 26 - Endr: 28 - Luck: 26 - Int:
Played by: Honey Online
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Posts: 2,225 | Total: 16,318
MP: 3061
#6
Isla

It's as if something has snuffed the light out of him, Isla thinks as he swamps over to the couch - and she doesn't miss it either, that crunch of glass as he sits down, the medic knowing exactly what it is. And she winces, not because of the item (though it had been fairly useful) but because the last thing he needs right now is another irritation, another injury. "It doesn't matter," she assures him as he picks out pieces of broken glass, Isla gathering them up to put them on the table.

Honestly, if he wasn't in such an obviously foul mood, Isla might have laughed to hear that the person who had stabbed him had been himself, because that seems very Cal. But she refrains, instead guiding him back to lay down along the length of the couch so she can see to the wound properly. "It's in there deep," she murmurs, moving now to carefully ease the mask out of his hands, unaware of the deathgrip he has on it. "I'll be able to remove it, but I need a few tools, alright?"

Then, because for all of her not having known who he was, this is the man who has been sharing her bed for the past few days, Isla reaches up to wipe the rain from his face. "It was an accident," she reminds him.
sooner or later, we all have to wake
and try forgetting everything
Varus Callahan
Assassin / Hollowed Grounds Captain

Age: 347 | Height: 5’7 | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 4 - Strg: 14 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 20 - Int:
Played by: Skylark Offline
Change author:
Posts: 517 | Total: 13,495
MP: 0
#7
honey, i rose up from the dead. i do it all the time
The glass ball doesn’t matter, according to Isla, and he doesn’t know what it was or anything of the sort – so he tries to let her assurance release some of the tension bound up within him, finding himself drawn to relative silence as he pulls the glass out completely, offering it to her so she can set it on the table. Once that’s done, she’s guiding him to lay down and he follows through with her instruction – he trusts her, of course, even if he’s being sour and bitter, pissed off and halfway between disassociating with what’s happening.

Alright.” He says quietly, realizing shortly after that she’s trying to grab the mask that he’s clutching to his hand as if it’s the last semblance of anything he has. He works his jaw, lets her have the mask to set on the table, too, before he settles and rests his head back to stare at the ceiling, ensuring he doesn’t breathe, but his jaw clenches hard enough to almost feel his teeth creaking in his mouth.

His gaze snaps to her, though, as she wipes the rain from his face, as she reminds him it was an accident and he offers a small nod at first, a brief quirk to his lips that wrinkles his nose slightly. “I know. I’m sorry.” He’s sorry he’s being difficult, he knows he is. He knows he might have also scared her since she hadn’t recnogized him, but he can’t find it in him to talk about that either. All he can do is simply sit there, wait, try to pull himself out of his mood even if it’s the only thing that seems to keep him tethered. Almost as if he didn’t focus on his simmering anger that he might simply float away.
VARUS
Isla Lockwood
the Remedy
Medic

Age: 32 | Height: 5'7 | Race: Ancient | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 4 - Strg: 26 - Dext: 26 - Endr: 28 - Luck: 26 - Int:
Played by: Honey Online
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Posts: 2,225 | Total: 16,318
MP: 3061
#8
Isla

With all obstacles removed and the situation assessed, Isla gives her focus briefly to the man behind the mask. "Careful," she tells him, her fingertips whispering across his jawline. "You won't notice if you crack a few teeth, and I'm not a dentist." It's a small smile that she gives him, the medic briefly taking his hand even if neither of them will feel it all that well. "I know you don't need to breathe, but it might help while I get everything together. Try counting in sets of four as you breathe in and out," she suggests.

Unfortunately that's all the advice she can offer for now, Isla rising to her feet and sweeping away to get her surgical bag. When she returns to kneel down beside the couch, she reaches across and uses the blades on her fingers to cut away the material around the knife handle. "Sorry," she murmurs. "Maybe we can get you something a little more knife-proof?" She has questions - a lot of them - but they can wait.
sooner or later, we all have to wake
and try forgetting everything
Varus Callahan
Assassin / Hollowed Grounds Captain

Age: 347 | Height: 5’7 | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 4 - Strg: 14 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 20 - Int:
Played by: Skylark Offline
Change author:
Posts: 517 | Total: 13,495
MP: 0
#9
honey, i rose up from the dead. i do it all the time
They can’t feel the way they might have once, but he does feel the pressure of her fingers as they drift along his jaw, and it does relax it a fraction – keeping him from grinding it together, a slow blink from stormy eyes as he tries to draw himself out of it. “I can try that.” He offers her quietly as she withdraws, loosening his jaw and closing his eyes as he settles, following her instruction. In, one, two, three, four…  Out, one, two, three, four…

She returns while he does it, and his gaze finds her again, watching idly as she cuts the fabric away. “It was a trial to see how it held up and what needed improvements. So I guess now I know.” He offers quietly, trying not to jostle to much, despite being able to see the knife handle as it sticks out from his ribs. He tilts his head back, stares at the ceiling, tries to take a slow breath and count as he tries to ignore the sensors going off and the way his body wishes to have him run a scan, but part of him is too afraid to dive into that bit of himself. “I didn’t touch it after it happened. I came straight here.” Because he knows better than that, and as she pulls the fabric away, more of that iridescent fluid begins to bubble out and seep into the clothing, pouring out over the edge of it to drip down onto the makeshift bed beneath him.
VARUS
Isla Lockwood
the Remedy
Medic

Age: 32 | Height: 5'7 | Race: Ancient | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 4 - Strg: 26 - Dext: 26 - Endr: 28 - Luck: 26 - Int:
Played by: Honey Online
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Posts: 2,225 | Total: 16,318
MP: 3061
#10
Isla

"Smart as well as handsome. I knew there was more to you than charming banter," Isla says with a soft smile to hear he hasn't touched the injury, though there's no charm about him right now, granted. "Mm, I guess now you know," she agrees, stripping away the rest of his shirt so she can get to the knife. As fluid spills and begins to soak the sheets beneath him, Isla is ready for it, mopping it up with some gauze as easily as if it was a spill on her counter.

"Alright, let's take a look," she murmurs, eyes flashing as she engages her optical upgrade. Tilting her head to see the trajectory of the knife into his body, the medic falls silent to figure it all out, to weigh up options and to decide a course of action. "It's severed a few fluid lines, and it's embedded in what should be your spleen. We heal quick, so I imagine once I remove the knife your body will quickly start to repair itself. Are you ready...?"
sooner or later, we all have to wake
and try forgetting everything
Varus Callahan
Assassin / Hollowed Grounds Captain

Age: 347 | Height: 5’7 | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 4 - Strg: 14 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 20 - Int:
Played by: Skylark Offline
Change author:
Posts: 517 | Total: 13,495
MP: 0
#11
honey, i rose up from the dead. i do it all the time
He wants to be able to flash that rogue grin at her, the charming drawl of ‘I know!’ but it never comes. Instead, the Assassin swallows hard, humming a quiet sound of agreement. He isn’t that type right now, too stuck in the recesses of his mind, only to have this happen on top of it. But she mops up the fluid and Varus tilts his gaze toward the ceiling again, somewhat there and not entirely there. Only casting small glances to her when he notices her gaze flash, when she draws silent time and time again as she checks his injury.

He can’t help the heavy sigh at the way the knife had impaled him in such a way, but his chin dips in a nod. “Ready.” He says after he’s raised the metal arm to grip the back of the couch, an entirely human gesture given that he probably won’t feel the blade as it’s pulled out. Only, he thinks wrong, and it’s a good thing he does grip the couch, because the second she’s pulling the blade out?

It vibrates against something, perhaps some metal in his would be spleen and it sets his sensors off, his eyes closing tight, a deep growl of discomfort leaving him (one unlike any Isla’s heard) as he utters “fuck, fucking hell—” and he’s nothing more than a ball of tension as his body does rush through and begin to repair, staunching the bleeding and knitting the slit of the wound back together.
VARUS
Isla Lockwood
the Remedy
Medic

Age: 32 | Height: 5'7 | Race: Ancient | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 4 - Strg: 26 - Dext: 26 - Endr: 28 - Luck: 26 - Int:
Played by: Honey Online
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Posts: 2,225 | Total: 16,318
MP: 3061
#12
Isla

Well she doesn't expect that. Isla removes the blade in one fluid motion, gentle but quick, and she's just setting it down and gathering some gauze to press over it when a growl rumbles up in Varus's throat, Isla flinching just a little. "Whoa, hey--" she presses the dressing over the wound, holding it there with a steady hand, though her other moves to touch against his cheek as if to guide him to try and look at her.

"It's alright," she says slowly. "It will pass - your body is just doing what it needs to do to keep you safe." The explanations come easily, Isla having studied and examined the Ascended form enough to anticipate how it would work. Still, she hadn't counted on his discomfort, her thumb brushing across his jawline. "You can talk to me. About anything."
sooner or later, we all have to wake
and try forgetting everything
Varus Callahan
Assassin / Hollowed Grounds Captain

Age: 347 | Height: 5’7 | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 4 - Strg: 14 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 20 - Int:
Played by: Skylark Offline
Change author:
Posts: 517 | Total: 13,495
MP: 0
#13
honey, i rose up from the dead. i do it all the time
Once the blade is fully removed and his sensors begin to calm down, it’s around the time her hand rises to his jaw, her quiet words and surprise from his growl causing his gaze to open with a slow, long sigh. His head tilts so that he can look at her, hand releasing its grip on the back of the couch, a hard set to his jaw that he tries to relax time and time again but he can’t help the feathering of it.

Wasn’t expecting the vibration.” He manages to grit out, before he’s finally looking at her face, seeing what she requests from him, and the blue stormy gaze of his shudders slightly when he blinks, pausing to chew at the inside of his lip. “I’m sorry, Isla. I’m not usually like this.” He offers, an apology because he knows how characteristically different it is, how putting on the mask and the outfit had changed his mental state, paired with shanking himself.

The metal hand rises to cover her own, but there’s still no smile to be found on his face. “It’s been a really long day and I can’t stop thinking about the last war.” His voice grows a fraction quieter as he goes on. “And I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing. I’m a bit pissed at myself, honestly.” There’s a weak attempt at a smile, but it’s there — even if his gaze still seems half here and half not.
VARUS
Isla Lockwood
the Remedy
Medic

Age: 32 | Height: 5'7 | Race: Ancient | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 4 - Strg: 26 - Dext: 26 - Endr: 28 - Luck: 26 - Int:
Played by: Honey Online
Change author:
Posts: 2,225 | Total: 16,318
MP: 3061
#14
Isla

"Neither was I," Isla admits with a gentle smile, her fingers brushing across his cheek even as she feels the tension ripple through his jaw. "And you don't need to apologise to me. Medic, remember? Let's fix you up, and then we'll deal with the rest together." Luckily the wound is already starting to fix itself, and so after a few moments of pressure with the dressing, Isla peeks beneath it and shifts to patch it up properly. When she's done, she moves to take his hand in her own, metal on flesh.

"We can't always be perfect," she reminds him, shifting to sit down beside the couch where he's laying, so she isn't leaning over him so much. "So is this... you? From the last war?" she asks, gesturing at the garb he's wearing, at the mask on the coffee table. "What made you need to practice all of this again?"
sooner or later, we all have to wake
and try forgetting everything


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