makinglies | Duplicity AU: Justice for a General

'He wasn't a demon, he was a spirit, they're different things.' Was what he wanted to say, to explain any of this peacefully, calmly. Instead, he hears Alaric say 'demon' and everything seems to go blue. He can only watch as his hands push Alaric back with supernatural strength and his body stands, unnoticing and uncaring of his state of dress as a spirit has no awareness of physical forms and no shame for them. "I am no demon." The voice was not Anders, but something deeper and heavier with a terrible and righteous confidence.

Justice stands and the blue cracks erupt as fissures from the bright blue glow of his eyes, branching out, down his face, his necks, his shoulders and chest, going thinner and further with the spirit in control. More than that, is the blue haze that surrounds his movements like an after-image.

Anders fought with every scrap of himself he could snatch, screaming from his own mind not to hurt him, to listen to reason, to leave him be. Perhaps Justice would have listened, only taken with irritation and offense, Vengeance hadn't been the friend Anders remember in a long time and certainly not since the Chantry. He watched and felt the mana brewing in his hands, his fire magic crackling in the air as Vengeance prepared to cast it at his 'enemy.'

He was not going to stay down while whatever thing was wearing Anders' body loomed over him; he stood up and he glared.

He had magic. He could lash out - with raw force, with a spell, with telekensis. He had options. They were at his metaphorical fingertips. He used them only to form a shield around himself, of force and power that shimmered just faintly but without color.

"Then stop acting like one," he snapped. Honestly? He was afraid. He was angry. He still, somehow, managed to come across like he was talking to a naughty six year old. It was just what he did under those sorts of circumstances.

Justice brought the fireball down on the shield and the flames broke against them uselessly. "You do not know me. You cannot understand. You stand in the way of righteousness and what is just."

The fire died away -a useless endeavor- and he switches tactics, reaching to Anders' magic to pull on something more effective. He curled Anders' fist and the swirl of white mana surrounded the nuisance and began pressing in, threatening to crush Alaric with an unseen force the moment that barrier gave way. Justice could maintain this, even if he needed to dip into Anders' health to do so. It would be a worthwhile sacrifice to remove this obstruction to their goal.

"There is nothing just-"

He could probably try to maintain a standoff. He might even manage for quite a while, but it seemed like a less than effective tactic. Also, he was furious.

He shoved out abruptly and hard, with that wall of invisible force.

"-about abusing someone who tried to help you, you asinine child!"

The force is not unlike Anders' own Mind Blast spell and Justice recognizes it. Unfortunately, recognizing it didn't change a human body's response and Justice's inability to do anything more than break the majority of the tension to avoid harm. It still resulted in Justice stumbling back, though he had no real perception of his surroundings and Anders' foot caught the edge of the tub and sent them sprawling back out onto the floor. The force, fall, and an unkind greeting of Anders' head with the tile had the energy in the room and the haze snapping out of existence like a broken band. The cracks blinked out and normal amber eyes were left blinking numbly at the ceiling.

"What..?" Anders sat up on one elbow, his other hand pressing to his head as he looked back up to Alaric with a look of horror. "I'm so sorry."

"I do not know why, that was hardly you and even if it were you're the one who has hit your head."

He was angry but his anger was not at Anders and there was no bleed over. "Can you sit up?" he offered a hand, in case it was needed. "How do you feel?"

Anders looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "Because I- we attacked you. It might not have been my intention, but it was my magic."

He sat up, ignoring the sharp pulse in his head, though whether it was from the floor or Justice's irritation, he really couldn't tell. Maybe both. Still, he took Alaric's hand, but held onto it. "What about you? Did he- I hurt you?"

He kept hold of the hand as well and stepped out of the tub to crouch down in front of Anders and study his eyes.

"Not at all, though I am sorry that I knocked you over. I would do it again, of course, but that doesn't stop the regret."

He was actually very together, even unruffled. Some of that was the expression of irritation, but it was not a facade either. If it had been a front, he would have been much quieter.

"I hope you would. I give you full permission to not feel regret for defending yourself." He said it with a small smile, even if he didn't fully feel the humor there.

With some conformation Alaric was ok, Anders pressed a hand to his head to cast some of his healing magic into it. It stopped most of the pulsing, though a bit of it must still be Justice.

He met Alaric's eyes again, a hint of that cautious fear back in his eyes. "You're taking this...remarkably well...if you're waiting to see if I keel over dead before letting me have it, I promise I'm fine."

"I've no idea what happened to make you decide that he was your friend, but I imagine it involves some level of stupidity on your end." He was still just fine, thank you. He stood up and pulled on Anders' hand while he did. "Now, if you are truly fine could you possibly see fit to remove the soap from my hair?"

"Let's fix that, then." Anders stood, though there was a bit of hurt from Alaric's assessment that he shoved aside, and motioned for Alaric to get back in the tub. There was probably water splashed on the floor from the encounter, but Anders only vaguely cared. It would dry. Instead, he focused on heating up the water again.

With no one harmed, the outburst from Justice could almost be seen as a good thing. He was usually calmer for a few days to a week afterwards. Though, whatever was going on out there might push that forward. He would have to keep an eye on his friend.

He returned to rinsing Alaric's hair, paying close attention to the hairline and scalp where it was easy to miss.

He kissed Anders lightly before returning to the tub and he wasn't quite as relaxed as he had been, no, but the hot water and hands in his hair still felt good. His earlier exhaustion might even catch back up with him (in a positive way).

"DO you remember what happens when he's..." Whatever he was. "In control?"

Edited 2020-10-02 19:30 (UTC)

Maybe it was in his head or real, but there was a bit of a difference between them now, certainly from how it had been before. A Tension. It only made sense and Anders didn't try to do or say anything to fix it. There really wasn't anything he could say.

Once the soap was finally gone, he took a moment to free his hair from it's small ponytail and dunked his head as well, despite Alaric asking his question. Only after he'd surfaced and swept the strands back again did he answer. "Sometimes. Sometimes I can only watch, other times, I've merely 'woken up' without memory of what's been said or done." It hadn't happened often, but those times were more terrifying than being helpless in his own skin.

It was real - sort of. Alaric was more tense and more generally keyed up, but it was not all a negative thing. He knew what that background noise in Anders was. He knew at least some of the signs to watch out for and what they meant. He understood what was driving Anders away from him and out into the city.

He had more information.

He waited until Anders had resurfaced before he said anything, and when he did it was simple and direct. "That must be very difficult to live with. It's no wonder that you seem so tired all the time. You are physically supporting two people." One of them a healer, the other one... that.

Anders considered that a moment, then shook his head. "I appreciate the sentiment, but Justice's existence doesn't exhaust me on principle. He can make me work too long or too hard because spirits don't have a concept of time or rest, but the not sleeping well came before him. It just made it worse, I'll admit. He can...take too much from me, sometimes, but he doesn't do it maliciously. We help each other."

Most of the time. Not when Justice attacks someone who matters as much as Alaric does.

He shifted the focus, gesturing to the water. "Do you need longer in here or should we get out? You said you were tired, yes? I imagine even more so now."

Edited 2020-10-02 22:36 (UTC)

"I meant that the inability to not pursue his objectives and trying to fit your own life around those must be exhausting. Not that his existence alone was draining."

He has serious, serious doubts about how much they help one another. Serious doubts.

He was going to refrain from mentioning those, but instead stands up and steps out of the tub, reaching for a towel. Which he offers to Anders. "I am... more invigorated than tired now, actually." Very, very wry humor around that one.

"Ah...well...yes. It can be difficult. Though, usually, we are in agreement on what should be done." And when they weren't, well, Alaric saw the result.

Anders sets the tub to drain and stands as well, taking the towel with a wry smile. "Well, doesn't that figure. How about some light food, then? We'll change the order of things, once we've found some clothes."

He wrapped the towel about his waist then paused, hesitating only a moment, before he reached out to run the tips of his fingers down the side of Alaric's face to his jaw, expression clouded. He knew Alaric didn't approve of Justice, that was painfully obvious in the various things he said, he'd heard what was said while Justice was in control, too. He just didn't know what to do about it when Alaric's resulting reaction wasn't to simply shut Anders out or turn on him.

Unless this was just out of convenience. They'd only just signed together, by all rights, he was likely just biding his time, trying to smooth things over until he could leave. Anders certainly wouldn't blame him. Yes, that was probably it and he could accept that.

He was watchful and cautious when Anders reached for him, but he did not back away and once the touch was there he relaxed a little more, turned toward it and his eyes slid closed with less reserve than usual. There was the barest brush of his lips against Anders' fingers, too.

Like maybe he still needed that - or even needed it even more than he had.

Because all the reasons he had were still there and now there was that magical attack and knowledge, too.

"I think maybe a hot drink. Or an alcoholic one. Or both?"

Alaric's response made warmth fill him more than the bathwater could ever hope to and Anders chased that feeling with a small kiss to the corner of his mouth. When he straightened, however, his expression lit up.

"Oh! Wait, I think I remember a drink Varric once mentioned...it's tea but you put some whiskey or rum in it. I think there's some bourbon left behind I could use."

Not for him, he wasn't even sure why he'd let Dean leave it when Anders couldn't even enjoy any of the effects of the drink thanks to Justice. The taste would be nice, though.

He took Alaric's hand and lead him into his room, opting to help him with dressing before he would go find his own clothes. "I'll get the kettle on and then I could help you brush your hair, if you like?"

He truly just wanted to have physical contact. He would accept that in help dressing, in having his hair sorted, in--

He'd accept it in anything. "I don't want you to have to put the kettle on, but I do not entirely trust or understand how to use the stove so that may be for the best."

Then he realized the other bit had been an offer, not a statement. "You handling my hair would certainly be. I'm almost tempted to cut it." Almost.

"I'll admit, it's not my favorite either, but I haven't found a safe way to balance the thing over the fireplace yet either, so it'll have to do for now." He'd definitely burned...a lot of things his first month here.

Anders looked over at Alaric's hair, contemplating it. "If it bothers you, I certainly won't stop you. I think it looks nice." And it gave him an excuse to touch more if he got to help Alaric brush it.

"Grab the brush and meet me in the living room." He shot Alaric a smile and left to go find some pants to throw on and run his own brush through his hair once. Once that was done, he went in to put on the kettle and set out some mugs with a finger of bourbon in each and those strange teabag things before returning to the living room himself.

"We probably won't actually starve." There were a lot of options to avoid cooking here, at least. Even for them who were possibly two of the least equipped to take care of themselves people in the city, between technology differences and lack of knowledge to even transfer.

He left Anders to get the brush, went into the living room and took his mug of tea, and put the hairbrush down on the couch. Before sitting down on the floor in front of it, so his back would be to Anders for it to be brushed.

"Can you talk about Justice without... that happening again?"

He sat with the hair brush in hand, his own mug to the side, already largely forgotten for now. Gently, he worked from the ends of Alaric's hair and up, it was slower, but better for longer hair. At least, that was what he remembered Dane telling Nate when the archer fought with his own long hair.

"...I can. If you'd like. Everything going on outside and then finding you like that...he was already agitated. Through him, I can feel there's something wrong in the city. A magical energy that's putting things off, I'm just not sure what. Anyway, when Justice is agitated, my anger bleeds into him and he can be sensitive about certain things." Like being called a demon.

"You must understand, turning into a demon is probably his greatest fear, I don't think it's unfair to be upset about that, though his reaction was too much, it's not acceptable that he threatened you."

He was a little wary of the conversation - wary in a physical sense - but he had broached it for a reason and that reason was that he saw value in having it.

For now his priority was simply in gaining information. Which he had to remind himself of rather than say he didn't think there was anything that he must understand about that encounter.

He simply did not respond to it at all. Intentionally chose not to challenge beliefs, yet, because he would not get information if he did.

Alaric tilted his head down so Anders could reach his hair more easily and sipped his tea.

"How did you become friends?"

"I hope you're ready for a longer story, but I'll try to keep it to the details." He let the work of his hands keep his mind focused and even Justice seemed to shirk from the incoming story.

"When I was twenty-five, I was on escape attempt eight when I was offered a chance to join a group called the Grey Wardens by their leader and the land's new queen, Dane Cousland. She made the offer in order to save me from a group of templars who'd come to collect me and wanted me dead. I'm sure she would have let me avoid The Joining if I'd truly wanted to, but the Grey Wardens are the only way a mage may be free outside the circle and they're considered great heroes for defending the land from ancient monsters called darkspawn. I didn't see a reason to say no.

"I took the joining and followed the Warden-Commander for half a year. In that time, we were on the trail of a missing Warden named Kristoff, that trail lead us to Blackmarsh where there were evil magics about, poisoning the land. In our efforts to end the magic, we were trapped in the Fade, the land of spirits and the source of all mage's magic. While we were there, we found the source of the evil in the form of a Pride demon tormenting the land's villagers whose souls were also trapped there. Defending the villagers, we found a spirit of Justice who'd seen the demon's actions and took offense. We sided with him and fought the demon together, but the resulting magical surge threw all of us out of the Fade, including Justice. He was thrown into the nearest available body...which happened to be Kristoff's corpse."

He paused as he finished with Alaric's hair and set the brush aside, replacing it with his fingers. Just to be sure.

"He was stuck outside of the Fade, so he decided to travel with us, finding our cause a worthy one. We got to know each other more and talked a bit. We were as much brothers-in-arms as I was with any of the others." A heaviness settled in his chest and he gave a small sigh. "Anyway, the queen had to return to the capital at some point, so a replacement from another country came in and took over. He flipped everything over and separated my group. He didn't know what to do with a possessed corpse and he didn't trust me since I was a mage, so he'd send us out to do missions with some new recruits he'd had join. A group of templars who 'wanted a new course in life.' They made it very clear they were there for me."

He felt that stirring, anger from Justice at the memory, the betrayal, the pain of having the people who were supposed to be his family throw him to the dogs-

"One day, while we were out, the match didn't go very well. The templars cut down Kristoff's body and, in a great shock, turned on me. He offered to help. Neither of us had a choice."

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