Sunday afternoon, Jamie and Alison
Nov. 13th, 2005 05:22 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsAfter the events of last night, Jamie finds Alison in the stables. He has some questions for her--or rather, for Dazzler.
"You wouldn't believe the things that have been going on, no sir..." she crooned softly.
Alison smoothed down the horse's back, grinning in amusement at the continuous nudging for more treats, which weren't forthcoming as the greedy gut had snagged the bag earlier and made short work of the gift in no time at all. Woeful looks and pleading whickers went unrewarded, Alison tugging at his ear lightly before she kept brushing him, murmuring apologies for neglecting him so much of late.
Jamie slipped into the stables, trying not to scratch at the bandage on his hand. He'd asked around and found out this was where Alison was, and he really needed to talk to someone. He knocked lightly, left-handed, on the stall door, keeping a respectful distance from her horse's well-practiced hooves.
An annoyed sound greeted him, Gorgeous glaring at the one who would likely deprieve him of Alison-attention, though no overt move to attack was made - Jamie was known, after all. Alison glanced over the horse's withers and flashed him a smile.
"Hey there... gimme a minute and I'll be done?"
Jamie returned her smile. "Sure. I'll just go see if Misty wants a snack." Fishing an apple out of his pocket, he moved down the row to where his horse was already sticking her head out, nuzzling for the treat. "Spoiled brat," he told her affectionately. "Gonna have to get you out for more exercise pretty soon."
Gorgeous wallowed in the last of the attention granted to him, clearly hamming it up while trying to keep Alison nearby just a little while longer. Alison shook her head at him and called out over the stall seperators. "Being turned out every day is keeping them fit, at least. They'd be round as boulders and smug as thieves about it even if not, mind. I don't think Gorgeous was used to steady feed before I got him, anyway." They'd only recently been able to start removing the smooth rocks from his feed, to keep him from gulping down his grain so fast he'd risk giving himself a colic.
"Misty got treated pretty well--I asked about horse traders before we went out, and if there's one thing the dwarves know it's who's liable to cheat them, so we went to a good guy." He smiled wryly, wincing as he tried to move the fingers on his right hand. "Wish I had some of that applesauce here, though."
"Applesauce?" She blinked at him, skipping over Gorgeous' own story as Jamie had heard it more than once - the devil horse trying to eat several people (incidentally, men) and then docilely following Alison away was a popular story with Miles, still. "Oh! That's right, I remember that..." She patted Gorgeous' nose lightly, shifting the horse over a bit so she could step out of the stall. "How's your hand?" It was, really, an innocuous enough question.
"Hurts. And it's a lot more sore today than it was last night, but I was expecting that." Jamie shrugged. "Got cleaned out and sewed up not fifteen minutes after it got laid open, and the docs say as long as I keep an eye out for infections I probably won't even have much of a scar. Could've been a lot worse." He gave Alison a long look. ". . . Can I ask you a question?"
"Absolutely." The reply was instant and calm, Alison having a niggling suspicion as to what the question might be about in general and why Jamie had come to find her in the barn.
Jamie toed the ground. "Well, maybe not ask so much as--well, yeah, but I wanted to say first, I know I should've waited for Nathan and Kurt to get there, I shouldn't've gone charging in like that when I didn't know what kind of powers the guy had. But I just . . . when I saw what he was doing, I had to stop him. I had to, you know?"
She'd figured he'd want to talk about that... but this wasn't exactly what she expected. What Jamie wanted to know, what he wanted to hear -realization dawned and Alison straightened a bit, her voice changing every so slightly, unconsciously so. "I read the reports from the team members who were there, but please go over the facts of what you saw for me again, when you got there, Jamie."
Jamie frowned slightly, organizing himself. "Kitty went sleepwalking again, but it was different this time--she had more of a purpose to it, and when she got out of bed, she said 'coming,' like she was talking to someone. And, well, you know this place and weird things, so I followed her. Picked Lockheed up passing Kitty and 'Yana's suite. We lost some time going through the mansion, because she was phasing through the doors, so when we got down to the front gates, he already had her."
His forehead creased, remembering. "I thought they were just making out, so between that and the sleepwalking and all I figured he probably had some sort of mind whammy on her. That's when I called it in, asked for backup, but then he pulled his head away, and I saw the blood on his mouth." Remembered anger sparked in his eyes, and his teeth gritted. "Lockheed set his cape on fire, got him to flinch away from Kitty, and then I hit him three times--once in the groin with my staff, then I broke his nose on my knee when he doubled over, then I smashed his jaw, which is what cut up my hand, he'd sharpened his teeth. Then Nathan and Kurt showed up, pulled me off him."
Jamie shook his head, a half-pleading look on his face. "I guess . . . what I want to know is, should I feel bad about that? I mean, I'm not a violent guy, I don't--but I basically took him apart, bam bam bam and he's on the ground with a broken face, and it was dirty fighting. I just . . . feel like I should feel guilty, or something. But I don't. If I had it to do over again I'd do the exact same thing, only if there was a way to do it harder and faster, before he ever touched Kitty, I'd want to do that instead."
Looking at him, Alison refrained from smiling slightly - this was, all things told... refreshing. And it needed to be treated in a different way, she realized, that what she'd originally thought this would require.
"Jamie, I'd like you to list out for me the basic facts of the situation as you saw them when you arrived on the scene. Not what you thought or what you felt - just what you saw and the logical conclusions that could be drawn from that."
Jamie blinked. "Um. I saw Kitty standing there looking like she was in a trance, with this guy with his face buried in her neck. Then he lifted his head and I saw her blood on his mouth. And--well, okay, when I saw that I was pretty much just thinking about getting Kitty away from him and kicking his ass, but right before that part I was thinking, he must have her under some kind of mind control because there's no way she'd do that otherwise."
A nod followed, Alison going over the sequence of events in her mind. "So. In a situation where another person was being, from what you could see, held against her will and being controlled somehow, and given harm to," Alison gave him a contemplative look, "you reacted to stop that situation." She paused, letting that sink in. "And your first tactical move was to strike in a way that would disrupt his concentration as quickly and sharply as possible so that he couldn't keep controlling anyone. Or, possibly, you."
"Um . . . yeah. Just about. Well, first I called it in, but when it came down to fighting, I thought, I'd better keep his attention off Kitty or using whatever powers he had." Jamie gave a sheepish cough. "Although I have to admit I also kind of really wanted to hit him in the balls. He was drinking Kitty's blood."
"You called it in first. The very thing thing. Not running off to beat him, not wanting to hurt him... you called it in." Alison smiled just a bit, and leaned on the stall door, Gorgeous immedietaly shoving his face out the open half of the door to try and claim some attention.
"Well, yeah." Jamie blinked, honestly confused. "I mean, that's what we're supposed to do when something like that happens. I should've just let you guys handle it, that's what I'm trying to say, only . . . I couldn't just stand there. Not when I saw what was actually happening."
"So, in a situation were action had to be taken you made a snap decision, while still following what could be considered established protocol. You assessed the situation, called for backup and then took the most efficient steps to ensure the safety of someone in danger." Alison stopped at that, raising an eyebrow at him, clearly waiting for his answer.
"Yeeess, I guess you could say it that way." Jamie looked at her a little dubiously. "Only, that sounds like it's giving me a lot more credit than I remember deserving at the time. I kinda snapped. All over that guy's face."
"You went for what kind of shots, exactly?" Alison tilted her head to the side, raising one hand and showing three fingers. "In what order and what sequence, to what effect for each?"
"Staff to the groin, knee to the nose, then I slugged him in the jaw," Jamie said, counting them off. "I wanted to make absolutely damn sure he couldn't concentrate on anything other than 'ow.' And then I held him down until Nathan and Kurt got there, not that he was in a hurry to go anywhere." A reluctant smile tugged at one corner of his mouth. "I have to say I'm not altogether unhappy at the thought that if he wants to try sucking anyone else's blood for a while he'll need a straw, but I didn't come up with that until this morning."
The smile, Alison knew, was a good thing."So. You got him away from his target, took him down after making sure he'd not be able to focus well enough to get anyone under control again and then held him down." A small, simple nod followed, and then Alison gave Jamie a small grin. "Golly gee, Jamie. I think I'd have followed pretty much the same pattern myself in that situation..."
Jamie's smile turned decidedly embarrassed. "You don't think it was, I dunno, excessive force, or anything like that? I messed him up pretty hard."
This was, actually, a pretty good moment to point out something Jamie himself had been repeating a lot. "He was drinking Kitty's blood!" Alison shook her head negatively, firmly so. "And really, that wasn't excessive force." She'd seen excessive force before. Had been on the receiving end of it. "If you'd been kicking him in the ribs while he was down unconscious, I don't say, but..."
"Well, okay then, I'll stop feeling guilty about not feeling guilty about it." Jamie snorted. "Which, y'know, sounds silly, now that I think about it." He took a deep breath. "Okay. That said, I have another question."
"You wouldn't believe the things that have been going on, no sir..." she crooned softly.
Alison smoothed down the horse's back, grinning in amusement at the continuous nudging for more treats, which weren't forthcoming as the greedy gut had snagged the bag earlier and made short work of the gift in no time at all. Woeful looks and pleading whickers went unrewarded, Alison tugging at his ear lightly before she kept brushing him, murmuring apologies for neglecting him so much of late.
Jamie slipped into the stables, trying not to scratch at the bandage on his hand. He'd asked around and found out this was where Alison was, and he really needed to talk to someone. He knocked lightly, left-handed, on the stall door, keeping a respectful distance from her horse's well-practiced hooves.
An annoyed sound greeted him, Gorgeous glaring at the one who would likely deprieve him of Alison-attention, though no overt move to attack was made - Jamie was known, after all. Alison glanced over the horse's withers and flashed him a smile.
"Hey there... gimme a minute and I'll be done?"
Jamie returned her smile. "Sure. I'll just go see if Misty wants a snack." Fishing an apple out of his pocket, he moved down the row to where his horse was already sticking her head out, nuzzling for the treat. "Spoiled brat," he told her affectionately. "Gonna have to get you out for more exercise pretty soon."
Gorgeous wallowed in the last of the attention granted to him, clearly hamming it up while trying to keep Alison nearby just a little while longer. Alison shook her head at him and called out over the stall seperators. "Being turned out every day is keeping them fit, at least. They'd be round as boulders and smug as thieves about it even if not, mind. I don't think Gorgeous was used to steady feed before I got him, anyway." They'd only recently been able to start removing the smooth rocks from his feed, to keep him from gulping down his grain so fast he'd risk giving himself a colic.
"Misty got treated pretty well--I asked about horse traders before we went out, and if there's one thing the dwarves know it's who's liable to cheat them, so we went to a good guy." He smiled wryly, wincing as he tried to move the fingers on his right hand. "Wish I had some of that applesauce here, though."
"Applesauce?" She blinked at him, skipping over Gorgeous' own story as Jamie had heard it more than once - the devil horse trying to eat several people (incidentally, men) and then docilely following Alison away was a popular story with Miles, still. "Oh! That's right, I remember that..." She patted Gorgeous' nose lightly, shifting the horse over a bit so she could step out of the stall. "How's your hand?" It was, really, an innocuous enough question.
"Hurts. And it's a lot more sore today than it was last night, but I was expecting that." Jamie shrugged. "Got cleaned out and sewed up not fifteen minutes after it got laid open, and the docs say as long as I keep an eye out for infections I probably won't even have much of a scar. Could've been a lot worse." He gave Alison a long look. ". . . Can I ask you a question?"
"Absolutely." The reply was instant and calm, Alison having a niggling suspicion as to what the question might be about in general and why Jamie had come to find her in the barn.
Jamie toed the ground. "Well, maybe not ask so much as--well, yeah, but I wanted to say first, I know I should've waited for Nathan and Kurt to get there, I shouldn't've gone charging in like that when I didn't know what kind of powers the guy had. But I just . . . when I saw what he was doing, I had to stop him. I had to, you know?"
She'd figured he'd want to talk about that... but this wasn't exactly what she expected. What Jamie wanted to know, what he wanted to hear -realization dawned and Alison straightened a bit, her voice changing every so slightly, unconsciously so. "I read the reports from the team members who were there, but please go over the facts of what you saw for me again, when you got there, Jamie."
Jamie frowned slightly, organizing himself. "Kitty went sleepwalking again, but it was different this time--she had more of a purpose to it, and when she got out of bed, she said 'coming,' like she was talking to someone. And, well, you know this place and weird things, so I followed her. Picked Lockheed up passing Kitty and 'Yana's suite. We lost some time going through the mansion, because she was phasing through the doors, so when we got down to the front gates, he already had her."
His forehead creased, remembering. "I thought they were just making out, so between that and the sleepwalking and all I figured he probably had some sort of mind whammy on her. That's when I called it in, asked for backup, but then he pulled his head away, and I saw the blood on his mouth." Remembered anger sparked in his eyes, and his teeth gritted. "Lockheed set his cape on fire, got him to flinch away from Kitty, and then I hit him three times--once in the groin with my staff, then I broke his nose on my knee when he doubled over, then I smashed his jaw, which is what cut up my hand, he'd sharpened his teeth. Then Nathan and Kurt showed up, pulled me off him."
Jamie shook his head, a half-pleading look on his face. "I guess . . . what I want to know is, should I feel bad about that? I mean, I'm not a violent guy, I don't--but I basically took him apart, bam bam bam and he's on the ground with a broken face, and it was dirty fighting. I just . . . feel like I should feel guilty, or something. But I don't. If I had it to do over again I'd do the exact same thing, only if there was a way to do it harder and faster, before he ever touched Kitty, I'd want to do that instead."
Looking at him, Alison refrained from smiling slightly - this was, all things told... refreshing. And it needed to be treated in a different way, she realized, that what she'd originally thought this would require.
"Jamie, I'd like you to list out for me the basic facts of the situation as you saw them when you arrived on the scene. Not what you thought or what you felt - just what you saw and the logical conclusions that could be drawn from that."
Jamie blinked. "Um. I saw Kitty standing there looking like she was in a trance, with this guy with his face buried in her neck. Then he lifted his head and I saw her blood on his mouth. And--well, okay, when I saw that I was pretty much just thinking about getting Kitty away from him and kicking his ass, but right before that part I was thinking, he must have her under some kind of mind control because there's no way she'd do that otherwise."
A nod followed, Alison going over the sequence of events in her mind. "So. In a situation where another person was being, from what you could see, held against her will and being controlled somehow, and given harm to," Alison gave him a contemplative look, "you reacted to stop that situation." She paused, letting that sink in. "And your first tactical move was to strike in a way that would disrupt his concentration as quickly and sharply as possible so that he couldn't keep controlling anyone. Or, possibly, you."
"Um . . . yeah. Just about. Well, first I called it in, but when it came down to fighting, I thought, I'd better keep his attention off Kitty or using whatever powers he had." Jamie gave a sheepish cough. "Although I have to admit I also kind of really wanted to hit him in the balls. He was drinking Kitty's blood."
"You called it in first. The very thing thing. Not running off to beat him, not wanting to hurt him... you called it in." Alison smiled just a bit, and leaned on the stall door, Gorgeous immedietaly shoving his face out the open half of the door to try and claim some attention.
"Well, yeah." Jamie blinked, honestly confused. "I mean, that's what we're supposed to do when something like that happens. I should've just let you guys handle it, that's what I'm trying to say, only . . . I couldn't just stand there. Not when I saw what was actually happening."
"So, in a situation were action had to be taken you made a snap decision, while still following what could be considered established protocol. You assessed the situation, called for backup and then took the most efficient steps to ensure the safety of someone in danger." Alison stopped at that, raising an eyebrow at him, clearly waiting for his answer.
"Yeeess, I guess you could say it that way." Jamie looked at her a little dubiously. "Only, that sounds like it's giving me a lot more credit than I remember deserving at the time. I kinda snapped. All over that guy's face."
"You went for what kind of shots, exactly?" Alison tilted her head to the side, raising one hand and showing three fingers. "In what order and what sequence, to what effect for each?"
"Staff to the groin, knee to the nose, then I slugged him in the jaw," Jamie said, counting them off. "I wanted to make absolutely damn sure he couldn't concentrate on anything other than 'ow.' And then I held him down until Nathan and Kurt got there, not that he was in a hurry to go anywhere." A reluctant smile tugged at one corner of his mouth. "I have to say I'm not altogether unhappy at the thought that if he wants to try sucking anyone else's blood for a while he'll need a straw, but I didn't come up with that until this morning."
The smile, Alison knew, was a good thing."So. You got him away from his target, took him down after making sure he'd not be able to focus well enough to get anyone under control again and then held him down." A small, simple nod followed, and then Alison gave Jamie a small grin. "Golly gee, Jamie. I think I'd have followed pretty much the same pattern myself in that situation..."
Jamie's smile turned decidedly embarrassed. "You don't think it was, I dunno, excessive force, or anything like that? I messed him up pretty hard."
This was, actually, a pretty good moment to point out something Jamie himself had been repeating a lot. "He was drinking Kitty's blood!" Alison shook her head negatively, firmly so. "And really, that wasn't excessive force." She'd seen excessive force before. Had been on the receiving end of it. "If you'd been kicking him in the ribs while he was down unconscious, I don't say, but..."
"Well, okay then, I'll stop feeling guilty about not feeling guilty about it." Jamie snorted. "Which, y'know, sounds silly, now that I think about it." He took a deep breath. "Okay. That said, I have another question."
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Date: 2005-11-14 12:21 am (UTC)And then you ended it!!!! AUGH!!! -flails-
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Date: 2005-11-14 12:25 am (UTC)Hey, new icon?
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Date: 2005-11-14 02:12 am (UTC)Um, relatively new, but not within, like a month or so. Did I not tell you when I put up the last batch?
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Date: 2005-11-14 09:10 pm (UTC)no subject
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