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montammil · 1 year ago

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Playing Along, pt 2

Part 1 can be found here!

Luca belongs to @lucakairomi!

CW: Kidnapping, food, parental/intimate whumper, female whumpee, infantilizing behavior

Luca woke up in an unfamiliar bed. It took her more than a few minutes to remember the events of the previous night- the unsuccessful escape attempt, mainly.

Wincing as her feet touch the cold floor, she tries the doorknob, half expecting it to be locked after yesterday, remembering hearing it clicking shut. It's not, maybe he unlocked it this morning- but she has the common sense to not make the same mistake twice.

Instead, she heads down into the kitchen, purposefully making her steps heavy to alert anyone in there of her presence.

The smell of fresh cooking greets her, along with Lawrence, who's humming until he sees her. Despite the nasty bruise in the middle of his face from likely where she kicked him, he seems in a good mood, luckily for her.

"Good morning, Luca," he greets warmly, placing his spatula aside. "Did you sleep well?"

She stays standing, hovering awkwardly near the counter just out of arm's length.

At least he seems to have gotten over yesterday's incident. "Um, yeah, thanks." As well as she could under the circumstances... "What are you making?"

"Bacon, eggs, and pancakes. Sit down." His order is laced with kindness.

She nods, sliding into the wooden chair and placing her hands in front of her. He clearly trusts her not to try something again, and it'll probably earn her some brownie points as well.

He soon slides her plate over. He already cut the pancakes for her.

"Enjoy." He joins her, digging into his own food. "We're gonna set some ground rules once you're done, okay, kiddo? We can't have a repeat of what happened yesterday, can we?" He looks pointedly at her, but still doesn't sound angry. Not entirely, at least.

Agreeing with him is definitely the way to go here. She's suspicious of the food, but seeing as he plated them both from the same pan, she was probably okay unless he had some sort of superhuman immunity to common sedatives.

She takes a bite- it's delicious. Between this and last night's... meal, she can assume Lawrence really knows his way around the kitchen. She swallows her mouthful before she responds. "No."

He grins at that. "Glad you agree."

She continues eating. After they both finish, she waits as he places the dirty plates in the sink.

He then looks back at her. "Let's go sit on the couch, yeah?"

She stands from the table, trailing behind him to a cozy-looking white couch. Once he takes a seat, she sits down a comfortable distance from him. "So, about those ground rules...?"

Lawrence crosses his arms, and he turns serious for a moment. "The most obvious one, there will be no more attempts to escape." He looks her in the eye. "I won't be nearly as forgiving next time."

Well, she should have expected that. She probably wouldn't have much of a chance, now, anyway, and based on what she saw outside the house, there wasn't many options there.

Best to wait for a better opportunity... and that would give her time to learn more about this whole situation. "Yeah... okay."

"Great! Second rule, no cursing. I will not tolerate such behavior." His tone is stern.

She wasn't in the habit to, but agreed anyway.

"Third rule is bedtime is at nine, and there'll be no trying to get around it." He tilts his head, like he's thinking. "Though, you seem tired a lot, so maybe we can move it a little earlier. Other than that, just listen to what I tell you. Any questions?"

Okay, a little odd, especially for someone as old as herself- Nine, really?- but doable. No mentions of her powers, but she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. No mention of violence, either, but that was probably a given.

She thinks for a moment. "Am I allowed outside?" Might as well ask.

He laughs at that, which surprises her. He puts a hand on her shoulder, smiling. "Of course you are, sweetheart, I want to make sure you get all your vitamins." Just as she was about to feel somewhat relieved, it disappeared completely when he added, "With my supervision, of course." He lets her shoulder go, still smiling. "You know, I always wanted to set up a little playground or treehouse in the backyard, but never got around to it. Would you like that?"

A treehouse... possibly a bit of privacy. And he'd need tools for that, and it might take a bit of time.

Any moment he spent not hovering over her shoulder was welcome, so she smiles a bit and tries to sound enthusiastic. "That sounds fun!"

"I'm glad you like the idea." Lawrence pats her head and then stands up, stretching. "I have an idea, why don't we watch a movie together? Your pick. Keep it PG, though." He passes her the remote after opening up a list of all the many streaming services he has. "Any preference on popcorn?"

Sudden change of subject, but okay. "Um, I like lots of butter." She takes the remote, noting the many channels. "What about Star Wars?"

He contemplates it for a moment. "I guess it's not too mature. Okay, I'll make an exception. I'll be right back." He steps out of the room.

She takes the minute of peace to look around. The living room is well-furnished and modest- and the television is rather large, now that she looks more closely.

No pictures or other information as to Lawrence's personal life, though, from a brief glance. No sign that anyone else was ever here.

She flips the television on and starts it up while Lawrence pops the popcorn.

By the time he returns, it's started. He gives her a look of fondness as he watches. "I remember loving Star Wars when I was young. You got good taste, kiddo." He brings the popcorn over, handing it to her and placing a blanket over their laps. He also hands her water and two pills. "It's ibuprofen. I figured you might still be in pain from yesterday."

A bit, but not as much as the average person. But she doesn't want to cause any undue suspicion... and it does look like ibuprofen. What reason would he have to drug her now, anyway?

So she takes the pills and takes a handful of popcorn, only marginally paying attention to the movie as she notices a framed picture on the mantle. It looks like Lawrence- younger, perhaps, but definitely him- with his arm around a woman. They look close. A wife...?

Lawrence notices her gaze. "My wife, Nadia. She died almost ten years ago now. She would've loved you. You have her eyes. And her stubbornness." He laughs to himself at the last part, even if it's a sad one.

Luca is nearly bowled over by the feelings of longing and sadness coming from Lawrence's direction. It's... raw, even after all these years. She can't help but feel... a little sorry for him. "I'm... sorry about that." Guess her hypothesis had been correct.

"Thanks, kiddo. It's... hard not having her here anymore. I could've used her insight a couple times recently..." His gaze lands on her and lingers a moment before he shakes his head. "Sorry for bringing the mood down. Why don't you settle in? The movie's just getting started." He adjusts so the popcorn is in his lap, and an arm of his is free, extending it for Luca. "Cuddles?"

Immediately, Luca feels the hairs on the back of her neck stand up straight. She suddenly feels cold, and wraps the blanket tighter around her. She shakes her head perhaps faster than she intended. "Um- no. No... no thanks."

Lawrence clenches his jaw but nods, like it's taking all his willpower to not say anything further on the subject. Maybe it is. She can feel him holding back, and it isn't a comfortable sensation.

The atmosphere becomes awkward and cold. They don't say another word.

After they somehow ended up watching multiple Star Wars movies, Lawrence stands. The popcorn bowl is empty. He takes the bowl and disappears into the kitchen again, coming back with bandages.

"Time to take off those bandages, I need to look at your wounds. After that, you should go take a bath, I'll get you some new bandages, and then I'll make..." He glances at the clock, "dinner?! Already, huh..." He shakes his head, chuckling to himself. "I'd lose my head if it wasn't attached, I swear..."

Luca nods silently. It's not as of she has anything against him in particular... well, besides the obvious, but she's been in way too many situations in which she's been in forced proximity to a serial killer, a stalker, or a murderer to be comfortable with cozying up to Lawrence. Or... really anyone, for that matter. She didn't have a roommate, or any pets, and in her line of work relationships of any kind were pretty hard to maintain.

He doesn't say anything about it as he unwraps her hands and feet, humming some tune to himself, the tune from earlier. He cleans out the cuts to just make sure it won't get infected.

After he's done, he stands and gathers everything he used to clean them. "Should be all good, go take your bath, okay, kiddo? Do you need help with anything, because if you do, there's no need to feel embarrassed."

Luca's hands still sting, but she's made do with worse before. Also, despite Lawrence's claims, she was definitely not ready for that level of... whatever it was. She shakes her head. "No, I'll be fine."

"Alright. Shout if you need me." He waves his hand dismissively as he walks out of the room, likely to start dinner.

Luca nods and heads back upstairs, but stops at Lawrence's door. Now might be a good time to snoop around a little... but first, she heads into the bathroom and turns on the shower.

A little noise masking... and it's less suspicious if she's up here for twenty minutes and doesn't run the shower.

As quietly as possible, she turns the knob of Lawrence's door, and to her relief, it's not locked.

Carefully, she creeps inside, grateful that there isn't any squeaky floorboards. His room is neat- aside from his unmade bed, there isn't much mess. There's a desk to her left, which she goes to first.

On top are things like bills and pay stubs- nothing too noteworthy. However, when she opens the top drawer of his desk, her heart stops in her throat.

Medical records. Her medical records. Notes, pictures- when had he taken those?! She scans the records- details on her abilities, allergies, things like that. So he had been planning this...

She pushes a few more aside, and spots a flash of color.

...Hundreds of pictures. Many are photos of herself- taking walks alone, sitting at the cafe near her house, basically anything and everything most would find mundane.

She flips through the pictures in hand, and soon finds images of two of the missing people... Sadie Mills and Nathan Lam, she remembers their names well. They're eerily similar to the ones that were taken of her, definitely taken without their knowledge.

There it was. Proof- Lawrence was the Collector. He was the one who had kidnapped Sadie and Nathan- and more importantly, they had escaped. If she could too- and took these with her- that would be enough for people to believe her!

But she couldn't yet- besides her injuries, she'd probably need more than a few (hundred) blurry pictures. They could be claimed as fakes, or planted, after all.

Plus... Lawrence's motives still intrigued her. Whether out of morbid curiosity or just budding Stockholm syndrome, she didn't want to leave just yet. If that was even an option...

Luca puts them back in the drawer, only because she doesn't want to risk Lawrence finding them missing. She's about to look further when she smells food wafting. She shouldn't push her luck, so she forces herself to close the drawer, enter the bathroom again and turn off the shower, after dampening her hair to make it look like she did just shower.

She changes into the new pair of clothes Lawrence must've put on the counter earlier that day, cringing at the pastel blue design, along with the childish shorts. At least they weren't uncomfortable.

When she comes downstairs, Lawrence's smile is friendly once again.

He slides a plate of bacon rolls towards her, along with a cup of water. "You look refreshed." He coos a little when he looks down at the pajamas she's wearing. "You look so cute." He leans over the table to ruffle her hair.

Luca nods. "Yeah, only, uh..." Test one: push back a bit. See how he reacts. "Well- it's no big deal."

"C'mon, kiddo, spill the beans," Lawrence tells her light-heartedly. He takes a bite of his own food, waiting patiently.

Luca puts on her best bashful expression. "It's just, well, my favorite color is red." Step one: see how he reacts to a small request. Same trick as asking your parents for a pony and then a dog- much better to gague how he'll respond to this rather than asking off the bat if she can leave, or call someone, or make an itemized list of his illegal activities.

"Oh. Oh!" Lawrence straightens. "Of course! I have tons in every color, but if you want me to just get red from now on, that's fine! Red's a great color." His laugh is slightly strained, it's obvious he's just trying hard to make her happy since she hasn't been here for long. Something tells her if she had been here for longer, Lawrence might actually be a bit annoyed, judging from how forced his grin looks. "How about this: right after dinner, I go get you some red pajamas? I can bring multiple for you to choose from, even."

"Oh, one pair is fine!" She insists, nodding.

Hm. Desperate to please, it seems, at least for now. Guess the man doesn't have endless patience- or tolerance for frivolity.

Obedience seems to be a given. Devotion, another, based on last night. Enthusiasm seems to cheer him up, and he doesn't like complaining or swearing. Evidently he's never had to deal with any actual children.

It would be hard, but... possible? Maybe. Perhaps she should rethink her strategy- no. No! No strategy, this is not long-term! She's gathering enough evidence to put him away and then she's making her escape. Easy. No need to make it more complicated.

Lawrence nods, taking another bite, and then a drink of his water. "After dinner, I'll get those pajamas for you, and then I'll bandage your hands and feet again. Are you feeling any more pain?"

Luca shrugs. She heals fast- some would say unnaturally fast, and those people would be promptly told to shut the hell up. "A little. Not that much." She takes a few bites. Unsurprisingly, it's amazing.

He seems relieved to hear it, nodding as he listens to her. "Good. That's a relief." He smiles fondly. "I'm going to take good care of you, kiddo. Just keep that in mind, yeah? Whatever happens, I have your best interest in mind."

That's... a worrying thing for him to say, but okay.

Finishing their food, Lawrence is the first one to rise from his chair. "I'm gonna go get those pajamas, you just keep eating." He leaves with a ruffle to her hair.

She nods, but stops eating and thinks. Lawrence is unstable, dangerous, and clearly delusional, but not to the extent that it blinds him to reason.

Not a sociopath- she sensed clear feelings of regret several times. It was... odd, to say the least. He wasn't even purely malicious.

But the fact that, like it or not, he had her in such a position was... well, worrying. Sometimes, literally being able to see the best in people wasn't a good thing.

Lawrence eventually comes back downstairs and sets the pajamas on the table. They're red with white stars.

"I hope these are okay. If you're done eating, I can bandage you back up, and then it's off to bed. I can't believe it's already going on nine!" He says that like it's a huge deal.

Luca nods, looking excited. "These are great, thanks." Briefly, she wonders what exactly he does at night... but she can worry about that later. She patiently waits as he reapplies her bandages, and quickly heads upstairs. She takes a marker and flips the whiteboard around. Time for a new case- take down the Collector, one day at a time.

---

Lawrence leans against the doorframe, staring at Luca's sleeping form- a nervous habit he does, just to make sure she's okay and... well, there.

She's smart- smarter than any of his past kids, no doubt about that- but since he's aware of that, he'll always be one step ahead.

He's aware her curiosity mixed with her job are the things keeping her here willingly. Of course they are, if she wanted to leave, she would've definitely tried again by now. Not that she'd get much far, of course.

With a final fond sigh, he leaves the doorway and closes the door.

He'll let her believe he isn't onto her little charade. For now, anyway. While she's searching for evidence and clues, he'll just use that as time to bond with her more.

#cold cold eyes #lawrence oc #luca oc #playing along #collab

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profoundlyfaded · 8 months ago

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WIP Folder Game

RULES: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it!

Thanks @gale-force-storm

Now, my WIP is all in a handwritten journal and I type it up as the second draft and edit and publish, and at present my WIP Journal consists of snippets from what might one day be Songs, Swords and Sorcery. I’ve always written like this for creative work, there is a synergy for me between pen and paper - honestly, my relationship with reading, writing and music is a large part of why I am so often a Bard in rpg when allowed!

So what snippets do I have?

All of them are from the Ayressa Aedihle playthrough as this is my canon Tav.

So we have, in order of my journal -

- Gale and Ayressa discussing Netherese Magic found in Balthazar’s Study.

- Ayressa musing on vampires in the wild (and a reduction in her magical abilities)- post finding the boar but before discovering Astarion (although headcanon wise, she has encountered Astarion in BG and knows exactly who he is).

- Gale and Ayressa ‘then live’ which is adaptation of her convincing Gale not to become a God. Actually I really love this-

- ’It’s beautiful, but is it truly living? The passion and pain of life is a blessing but is it something that is felt here or is this just mere existence? I want to live, Gale, not rule over a dominion. I want you as you are now, as you will be in ten, twenty years from now. I don’t need a God.’

- Gale musing on Ayressa’s exes. Actually hilariously savage, I think.

- Meeting Jaheira - and some context here, Ayressa and Jaheira are ‘old friends’ and it’s at this point Ayressa’s secret is revealed to the gang. I love this segment,

- It segways into a scene where Ayressa gets grilled from everyone about her secret (which is that she is a hugely famous Bard known as The White Nightingale whom most of the gang have seen perform/heard of) and further revelations about what she does in her spare time (she’s an investigator in the city which is how she knows Jaheira)

- Then moves into an impromptu second magic lesson with Gale and their first kiss (look, with writing fic, let’s face it, we can still have a slow burn with a little more burn)

- Astarion and Ayressa arguing over her hunting him a number of times in the last 150 years - all of Cazador’s spawn really. Not really hunting them but looking for their various victims - how dare she.

- The Act Two romance scene adapted for the fanfic.

- A snippet from a post BG3 idea involving Gale being kidnapped and a very furious Ayressa.

- Ayressa musing on Gale’s actual surname.

- A snippet from post BG3 of Ayressa meeting Morena Dekarious.

- Snippet AU for Ayressa where she is not Tav, but her history largely plays out the same however Ayressa’s paladin sister Torhana is Tav. Torhana is searching for Ayressa to help them and lets Astarion pick her lock earning a crossbow bold to the shoulder. ‘I was expecting cultists.’

- Ayressa trying to find out more about the Orb from Gale.

- Gale visiting Ayressa’s home for the first time (where she has an even more interesting secret to share) (Act 3 - post attempting to heist the book)

- Ayressa attempting to lull the Orb with her magic when it’s clear Gale is struggling to hold on.

Quite a lot of disjointed stuff here.

I’m kinda new to the fandom and don’t have many folk in following so please play along without invite :)

#playing along #bg3 fanfiction #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #bard #gale x tav #ayressa aedihle

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