Letting You

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Craig
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Joined: November 20th, 2015, 10:29 am
PC: Ravak t'Sha'hal Darrow
SC: Elia Darrow
TC: Zarayne
QC: Farah Kattan
Location: Scotland

Letting You

Post by Craig » September 26th, 2017, 1:17 am

Dax & Elia
"It's not paranoia if they're really after you." Elia wasn't sure where she first heard that quote, nor where it originated from, but it had been stuck in her head for days. She had always been precautionary, layering confounding trails that would lead anyone searching for her away, but the First Blade had found her. It has to be. The only other candidate was Murdock but he wasn't the threatening type.

Thus more radical countermeasures had been installed. There were orders to be carried out in the event of her death, both as Elia and as the leader of the Black Ajah; messages were to be delivered and people were to be executed. Revenge wasn't in her nature, but she was willing to be vengeful in her death. The care of the children would pass naturally down a long chain of people, starting at Dax for obvious reasons. The tiny crystal charms she had installed around their cribs were no mere decorations. If anyone came close, she would be instantly alerted.

Elia chewed on her lower lip as she contemplated what else she could do without arousing suspicion. Idly she stroked Messy, the black cat she recently adopted. Messy, derived from the word mestrak, was her early warning signal against Asha'man. If the First Blade was a man, Messy would let her know.

Elia was startled when the door opened without a warning. Messy jumped from the Aes Sedai's lap, quickly crossed underneath the table to hide between another chair. Elia herself started to stand before she registered Dax's telltale swagger. "Alright love?"

"Just ducky," she replied after her composure returned to her. "Actually, I could use your help with something."

If anything, Dax's swagger grew more pronounced. "And what is that?" he crooned.

A sharp glare countered any hopes for a romantic liaison with the Tairen. "I've been working on something," she said, taking hold of a crystal band that sat on the chaise longue beside her. "A new ter'angreal. Fancy trying it on and letting me see if it works?"
---- Of the many things Dax had expected to be asked on entering their chambers, that certainly did not feature among them. His step slowed and he eyed the crystal as he might a black adder. He did not stop until he stood next to her, however, and eventually his gaze slid to her face. “What does it do?” he asked. After a half second's pause he added, “I will...yes. But what does it do?”
---- Elia smiled up at him. It was still gave her a thrill when he placed his trust in her. She twisted the solid bracelet in her good hand, trying to show that it didn't have any hidden spikes or anything else that would harm him. His wariness over ter'angreal was foolish, but cute.

"It should protect you from a specific weave, one that ought not to be used, but I wish to make sure..." She stopped herself. Being vague and dancing around words was part of being Aes Sedai, but Dax had earned more from her. "It protects against Compulsion. In theory," she added after a pause.
---- The Gaidin had reached out to touch the crystalline object; now he snatched his hand away, brows drawing together as he turned his full attention to the Indigo. He had nearly managed to convince himself her tinkering with ter'angreal was as harmless as Katrie's collection of random bits of every place she visited, but… Light!

“And you would test that capability….how?” He could not keep the tension from his voice. He supposed, in some rational part of his mind, that he could not be faulted for it.
---- Elia's jaw tensed before she delivered her next sentence. "I would need to use Compulsion," she stated flatly. The Shienaran eyed Dax warily, very much aware that suggesting such a thing was enough to place her before the Hall. She slipped in a "do you trust me?" before his mind could work itself into a lather.
---- Dax reached behind him, pulling a chair closer with infinite, precise care. He lowered himself onto the cushion, his eyes never leaving his lover's face. Compulsion. He had nearly destroyed Katrie in his anger at their bond, wanted to take Liza's head off for simply wrapping him in flows of Air...and now Elia wanted to actually do what he had feared most.

Somewhere inside his head, Jem was screaming, but somehow he felt buffered from that panic, cushioned by some sensation he could not name.

“At least you asked,” he commented dryly. “What happens if the…thing...doesn't work?” He nodded to the bracelet.
---- Well then this little experiment has been a tremendous waste of time and energy. She opted not to share that with her lover. That wasn't the sort of answer he sought.

"Then you'll do what I say." Her tone became very defensive. "Not that I'd have you do anything serious. I just need to test it." There was more she wanted to say, more assurances she wished to give, but there was a time for brevity.
---- For a moment, Dax existed in two times at once, his memories carrying him back to the last time someone had asked him to trust so explicitly. And look where that got you! Still that odd cloud buffered him from hysteria, giving him clarity in the face of panic.

Too many questions to ask, too many things to think about. Just be done with it.

“Tell me to hit you.” He said, reaching for the bracelet. “It's something I would never do unless someone was twiddling in my thoughts.” He gave her a completely unabashed grin, some semblance of his usual cockiness returning as he put the ter'angreal about his wrist. “Should guarantee you're bloody sure it works, too.”
---- Elia's nose crinkled in displeasure, and she almost snatched the bracelet back from Dax's hand. Instead she uttered an unhappy sigh. "I was going to ask you to stand up or dance or something benign." Yet somehow, looking into Dax's cheeky face, made her feel comfortable about this plan of his. And if it doesn't work then he can make it up to me for the next month. Compulsion or no Compulsion, if he hit her, he'd pay.

"Fine. Let's see if this works."

She found herself quickly immersed in the light of saidar, bathing in the glory of its warmth that filled her soul. Despite her better judgement, she drew deeply from that well of the One Power. I need to make sure it works, and not just from the feeble attempts of novices.

The twisted whip of silver light that appeared in the air was a complex and intricate weave of her own making. Compulsion was all about subtlety, making only the adjustments necessarily to achieve your goals without crippling the target's faculties. Time and a plentiful of subjects had made her Talent truly stand out.

Now she wrapped the silver tendrils around Dax's skull, guiding each thread towards targeted areas of his brain. This always needed to be done tenderly, but this time she took additional care.

"Alright," she said when everything was locked in place. Elia even managed an uncertain smile. "Hit me."
---- The Tairen had expected Elia to touch him, or do...something...other than tilt her head slightly to the side and stare at him with wide green eyes. He watched her, his uncertainty evident in the imprint of his teeth on his lip...and then found he couldn't remember what he had been waiting for. Something? Oh yes, Elia wanted to tell him something.

He settled back in the chair. When the order came, his hand lifted of its own accord, and he watched, fascinated and pleased, as his fingers curled into a fist. It would make her happy to strike her, and therefore, he would do so.

Wait. Through the happy mist doubt interjected itself, bringing with it the knowledge that something was wrong. He blinked, shook his head a little. But she said to hit me, I have to-

Why in the bloody Light would I hit the mother of my children?

Still the pressure inside his brain, the incessant urging to move, to swing, to do as she said.

Why. The bracelet around his wrist glinted a little in the lamp light, and as Dax looked at it, the question grew stronger. WHY. The answer came gradually, in bits and fragments. She had asked- he had agreed- he knew he did not want to, and yet it took every bit of strength in his body to keep from doing as she said. “Make it stop.” He used his free hand to push his fist down, holding it to his thigh, fighting himself as surely as he might have any other opponent. “Please, Elia. Make it stop!”

Whether by her doing or the ter'angreal's, the compulsive need to do as she had ordered abruptly disappeared. He stared down at his hand, wide-eyed and breathing hard. “Never do that again,” he said faintly. “Please.”
---- She raised both hands up to cup his pained face, regret filling in for the absence of saidar. I had to be sure, she thought, although looking at Dax she questioned why she had to be so sure. Seeing him in pain knotted her insides. A fleeting temptation to Delve him occurred to her, but she knew Dax would approve of that less than simply being left alone.

"I'm so, so sorry, my love," she pleaded. "Forgive me. I never meant to hurt you."
---- Dax flexed his arm, fingers curling open and closed of their own volition once again. The terrible joy he had felt at doing her bidding still ran in his mind. Even with an order as completely unsavory as the one he had requested, he had wanted to obey her more than anything. He could barely hear Elia's words past the pounding of blood in his ears.

Now I know what it feels like. That thought sounded like Jem, but wasn't; he tucked it away for later consideration. For now… he shook himself, rolled his shoulders, stretched his arms over his head and cracked his knuckles, then settled back into his chair.

Elia looked worried. Truly, genuinely worried...and contrite? More so than he could ever remember seeing her before. Too frequently her true emotions were hidden behind that Aes Sedai mask, but there she stood, incredibly human...and worried about him.

“You didn't hurt me,” he said. He reached for his lover, sliding an arm around her waist and tugging her inexorably into his lap. “Did a number on my brain, but you didn't hurt me. And I didn't hurt you, so...it worked?” He held his hand up to show her the bracelet even as he cradled her against his chest. “That can only be a good thing, love.”

She knows Compulsion. Another thought for another day, when he did not so desperately need to know he was safe.
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Elan wrote:Of course, the problems with observing a chain of command arise when the one in command decides to do something unspeakably idiotic, like taking off on his own for no discernible reason in the middle of enemy territory.

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