(no subject)
Monday, 16 February 2009 10:35![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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lt_safe_houseTime: March 2, 2003?
Place: Lower Tadfield military base and Tadfield Manor
Status: Public (War, Loki) - Complete
Summary: War's arrival in usual style
The soldiers were, she had decided, like soldiers everywhere. Tell them you outranked them and they salute, say "Sir yes sir!", and wave you on through. In her case, it had been no different, except for the fact that they replaced "Sir" with "Ma'am". That, and there was a distinct tightening in the trouser area. Seems they weren't used to Generals who were also curvy female redheads who just happened to be dressed in tight leather.
As the senior officer on site, General Waugh was, naturally, allowed free access to all the buildings in the military base. Much as the swords and guns, her physical weapons, gave her a tingling thrill, she wasn't afraid to move with the times. The tech they had here was beautiful. Nothing dangerous in itself, unless you counted the several thousand volts coursing through the circuits, but it was so wonderfully efficient. It was like a giant curved sword that, when she swung it, would reach round the world and touch everything on it. It was so elegant, so simple. Sometimes, she had to hand it to humans, just for being so damn inventive.
She wasn’t here to set it off though. No, she was just here to admire and play. Sometimes, the anticipation, the knowledge of the potential, was better than the reality. Besides, if they set this whole lot off, there probably wouldn’t be any humans left, or, if you came down to it, any world to put them on. No particular barrier to her, but she’d grown fond of this place and these people. She’d grown especially fond of their whiskey.
Mouth twitching in a smile, she put down the controller she’d been using to navigate the glowing screens, and stood up from her chair as she spun it round. Walking over to the door, she tapped the young private on guard outside on the soldier.
“Any place to get a decent drink round here?”
He looked momentarily confused, then said “There’s the mess, ma’am.”
She wrinkled her nose. “You mean the place where they serve slops and watery stuff that tastes like rat’s piss?”
Seeing the fleeting panic on his face – what if this was a test of loyalty? – she smiled slowly. “Don’t worry, not a test. I’m just in need of a proper drink. Whiskey – Bunnahabhain, or at least Glenlivet.”
The private relaxed. “Nowhere on base, ma’am, but there’s a hotel up in the hill. There’ll be a bar there, I’m sure. Would you like me to radio through for a car?”
“No need.” She grinned, seeing something in the distance. “I’ve got my own transport.”
War strode across the hard standing to the tank – a brand new, top secret Challenger 2, if she wasn’t mistaken. She wasn’t, of course. When it came to weapons and military tech, she never was. Vaulting lightly up the side, she slid down inside, and set it in motion towards the gates. Seeing her approach, the guards saluted and swung open the gates. Whatever the General did must have authority, after all.
As she made steady process down the roads and lanes, she hummed to herself. It was a bright clear day, and this was one of the more entertaining ways to travel, if not the fastest. The roads withstood the tracks fairly well, but the hedgerows on the narrower lanes were less lucky, and somewhat scalped after she passed.
Through an external camera, she saw a sweeping curve up round the side of the hill, leading up to a big house – more of a manor than a house. This, presumably, was the hotel. Gentle roads, however, were for careful drivers and sissies, and War was neither of these. Going full throttle, she drove the tank straight up the hill, over the grass and the edges of a couple of flower beds which were stupid enough to get in her way, and parked, in the loosest sense, outside the large front door.
She pushed the hatch open, jumped out, walked the short distance and pushed the door open.
“Any chance of a whiskey?” she asked the seemingly empty hall.
Place: Lower Tadfield military base and Tadfield Manor
Status: Public (War, Loki) - Complete
Summary: War's arrival in usual style
The soldiers were, she had decided, like soldiers everywhere. Tell them you outranked them and they salute, say "Sir yes sir!", and wave you on through. In her case, it had been no different, except for the fact that they replaced "Sir" with "Ma'am". That, and there was a distinct tightening in the trouser area. Seems they weren't used to Generals who were also curvy female redheads who just happened to be dressed in tight leather.
As the senior officer on site, General Waugh was, naturally, allowed free access to all the buildings in the military base. Much as the swords and guns, her physical weapons, gave her a tingling thrill, she wasn't afraid to move with the times. The tech they had here was beautiful. Nothing dangerous in itself, unless you counted the several thousand volts coursing through the circuits, but it was so wonderfully efficient. It was like a giant curved sword that, when she swung it, would reach round the world and touch everything on it. It was so elegant, so simple. Sometimes, she had to hand it to humans, just for being so damn inventive.
She wasn’t here to set it off though. No, she was just here to admire and play. Sometimes, the anticipation, the knowledge of the potential, was better than the reality. Besides, if they set this whole lot off, there probably wouldn’t be any humans left, or, if you came down to it, any world to put them on. No particular barrier to her, but she’d grown fond of this place and these people. She’d grown especially fond of their whiskey.
Mouth twitching in a smile, she put down the controller she’d been using to navigate the glowing screens, and stood up from her chair as she spun it round. Walking over to the door, she tapped the young private on guard outside on the soldier.
“Any place to get a decent drink round here?”
He looked momentarily confused, then said “There’s the mess, ma’am.”
She wrinkled her nose. “You mean the place where they serve slops and watery stuff that tastes like rat’s piss?”
Seeing the fleeting panic on his face – what if this was a test of loyalty? – she smiled slowly. “Don’t worry, not a test. I’m just in need of a proper drink. Whiskey – Bunnahabhain, or at least Glenlivet.”
The private relaxed. “Nowhere on base, ma’am, but there’s a hotel up in the hill. There’ll be a bar there, I’m sure. Would you like me to radio through for a car?”
“No need.” She grinned, seeing something in the distance. “I’ve got my own transport.”
War strode across the hard standing to the tank – a brand new, top secret Challenger 2, if she wasn’t mistaken. She wasn’t, of course. When it came to weapons and military tech, she never was. Vaulting lightly up the side, she slid down inside, and set it in motion towards the gates. Seeing her approach, the guards saluted and swung open the gates. Whatever the General did must have authority, after all.
As she made steady process down the roads and lanes, she hummed to herself. It was a bright clear day, and this was one of the more entertaining ways to travel, if not the fastest. The roads withstood the tracks fairly well, but the hedgerows on the narrower lanes were less lucky, and somewhat scalped after she passed.
Through an external camera, she saw a sweeping curve up round the side of the hill, leading up to a big house – more of a manor than a house. This, presumably, was the hotel. Gentle roads, however, were for careful drivers and sissies, and War was neither of these. Going full throttle, she drove the tank straight up the hill, over the grass and the edges of a couple of flower beds which were stupid enough to get in her way, and parked, in the loosest sense, outside the large front door.
She pushed the hatch open, jumped out, walked the short distance and pushed the door open.
“Any chance of a whiskey?” she asked the seemingly empty hall.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: Monday, 16 February 2009 18:22 (UTC)"I'm sticking in this area for a while though. I've been at the military base up the road - tweaking the tech a little. It's shiny and destructive, that's for sure, but let's just say that it might be a litle more random now if they ever get round to using it. Shake things up a bit, y'know?" she said, flicking her hair back over her shoulder.
"Came up here for a drink, though. The stuff they've got down there tastes like rat's piss. Sure I can't convince you to get anything stronger?"
(no subject)
Date: Monday, 16 February 2009 18:35 (UTC)"Did you know you can get a free room here?" he asked War instead. "Have to promise not to damage the town and people here, though. Some person called Adam's paying apparently."
He eyed the bottles in the bar regretfully, but remembered the last time he'd given in to temptation too well. "Nah, the consequences would not be good, trust me on that."
(no subject)
Date: Monday, 16 February 2009 18:56 (UTC)"No one told me about a free room... I'm guessing you're staying here, then? 'Course, the place down at the base is free for me, but coming up here every time I want a decent drink could get to be a pain..."
She paused, and frowned. "If it's Adam paying, though, I'm not so sure he'd extend the offer to me. Who d'you have to see about it?"
(no subject)
Date: Monday, 16 February 2009 20:15 (UTC)"You know Adam then?" The barman probably knew the locals better, but then he was a stranger. Loki knew War and trusted her to be honest with him. "Any idea what he's playing at?"
(no subject)
Date: Monday, 16 February 2009 21:35 (UTC)"I'll have to look up this Sister Mary then. Seems like a nice place to stay. You been here long? What brought you here?"
(no subject)
Date: Tuesday, 17 February 2009 16:05 (UTC)What was this Adam then? There were gods Loki preferred to avoid when he could, but War was a much more impressive fighter. Maybe he should leave before the trap snapped shut. Then again Loki was curious and he'd probably be able to talk himself out of whatever trouble he was getting himself into. He had a lot of experience in that department.
Besides War was considering staying as well, so she couldn't be that worried about Adam.
"Depends on whether you mean this town or this country," he replied turning the glass of orange juice on the table and watching the juice circle. "I left America ... close to three years ago now, I think, but only arrived here yesterday. There's something interesting about this place and I've got a free room, so I thought I might stay for a while. I ... do need a bit of a rest."
It wasn't wise to admit weakness, but then War knew him well enough that she'd probably noticed how pale and thin he looked and he hadn't had anyone he could talk with openly for three years.
(no subject)
Date: Tuesday, 17 February 2009 16:26 (UTC)Sipping her whiskey, she continued, "I reckon I'll stick around here for a bit, anyway. If he really wanted to find us, he could find us anywhere."
She paused, and looked at Loki. He did look tired. If she didn't know better, she'd say he was ill, in the way people got ill.
"What have you been doing that's run you down so much? You look washed out," War asked, bluntly. Softening the blow wasn't really her style.
(no subject)
Date: Tuesday, 17 February 2009 17:12 (UTC)"I'll be fine," he assured her. "Am doing much better already, in fact. Just need time to regain my strength the doctor said."
(no subject)
Date: Tuesday, 17 February 2009 17:40 (UTC)Toning down the fire in her eyes a little, War asked, "Uh - doctor? Aren't you meant to not need doctors? And more to the point, what have you been doing that you do?"
Not a fight, she mused. I'd have known if it was.
(no subject)
Date: Tuesday, 17 February 2009 17:53 (UTC)"Just a little accident," he said making it sound as harmless as possible. "Played a prank on Czernobog that got out of hand and ... would you believe he accidentally cursed me? He wasn't even sure what he'd done so he couldn't undo it and I had to go to the humans for help."
"It would have been a great prank, if I'd only managed to knock Czernobog out properly, though."
(no subject)
Date: Wednesday, 18 February 2009 10:16 (UTC)She was all for conflict, but sometimes people crossed the line to being comrades, and Loki was one of those.
"If Czernobog didn't know what he'd done, did the doctors work it out?"
(no subject)
Date: Wednesday, 18 February 2009 16:22 (UTC)He smiled at War then shrugged. What the heck, he'd told her so much already, might as well admit the rest.
"That and knives and blood. It's the blood that's troubling me more than the not drinking really."
(no subject)
Date: Friday, 20 February 2009 15:55 (UTC)"There's no blood on you, not that I can see... so what are they doing with blood, given that's what's troubling you?"
War felt uncomfortable, and knocked back the rest of her whiskey. Battle wounds and blood and gore, she was fine with. Creepy invisible blood related things weren't really her thing.
(no subject)
Date: Friday, 20 February 2009 20:00 (UTC)"Well, they like to take blood samples to analyse - though that's fine by me - and they give you blood transfusions. Blood from people whose names they don't even know! They make you blood brothers with anonymous strangers!" He shuddered at the thought. "But the worst part," he whispered into his glass. "The worst part is that my blood is no longer my own."
(no subject)
Date: Sunday, 22 February 2009 19:37 (UTC)"I'm sorry," she said, softly, and the glasses behind the bar quivered.
However, she'd also spent enough time listening in on conversations around the world to pick up a bit about medicine beyond the usual run of battle injuries. "He gave you a blood disease? Have they cured it now?"
She paused, and slammed her glass down on the bar. "More to the point, where is he? I can think of plenty of fun things to do involving his blood..."
(no subject)
Date: Sunday, 22 February 2009 20:13 (UTC)He was beginning to regret telling War so much. Not because he didn't want her to know, or because he worried for Czernobog. Czernobog could take care of himself and he probably knew War well. He'd be closer to her fellow horseperson DEATH, Loki assumed, but he had to know all four.
No, there was something else that was bothering him.
"You're not going to tell Odin, are you?" he whispered. "If he finds out that the blood bond between us is broken ..." He didn't dare finish the sentence. It was bad enough that he's said this much out loud. Saying things made then feel more real.
(no subject)
Date: Thursday, 26 February 2009 10:06 (UTC)It was the closest to "I'll help look after you" War ever got. Watching someone's back she could do, though.
She reached out, and put a hand on Loki's shoulder. "If you don't want me to tell him, I won't," she said quietly. "I'm not even sure where he is now, and I won't go seeking him out. If I do see him anywhere, I won't tell him unless you ask me to."
Breaking confisentiality to stir up conflict was one thing, but this would be conflict. Loki and Odin were both old comrades, and especially while she was staying here with Loki, she didn't want anything to happen that might mean losing one of them. She felt in need of some familiar faces right about now.
(no subject)
Date: Thursday, 26 February 2009 22:45 (UTC)He wouldn't have been too worried about Odin finding out, if he'd been sure Odin still treasured the blood bond as much as he did. If so, it would be easy enough to restore. If however Odin had come to regret it over the centuries of pranks and mishaps, then he had a once in eternity chance to rid himself of all obligations towards Loki now.
"He should still be somewhere in America," he said. "But then it's been over three years since I've heard from him." That was probably his own fault for not informing him he was going to England. Odin probably had even less a chance to find Loki than Loki had to find Odin.
(no subject)
Date: Thursday, 26 February 2009 22:54 (UTC)"You never know. Maybe he'll find his way here, just like we did. Stranger things have happened. Either way, you need to focus on getting better."
She paused. "Is there anything - well, anything I can do? I've got a tank if, uh, you need stuff taking somewhere?"
War sounded almost hopeful. Tank driving was fun, after all.
(no subject)
Date: Friday, 27 February 2009 16:06 (UTC)He didn't really have much stuff - certainly nothing he couldn't easily transport in his backpack - but a tank ride with War sounded like an enjoyable and not too straining activity. He did need to get out more, if he wanted to get used to a more active lifestyle again.
"Nothing to transport except myself," he explained. "But we could just visit some nearby town, if you have nothing better to do, have a look around and maybe find some entertainment."
(no subject)
Date: Saturday, 28 February 2009 14:02 (UTC)"Sounds good to me. This area is far too sleepy for my liking - do them good to get a little shaken up," she said with a wink.
"When d'you want to go?"
(no subject)
Date: Saturday, 28 February 2009 15:53 (UTC)Except his next check-up, but it was several weeks until then.
"Hey, this is Lower Tadfield, right?" he mused. "Do you think there's a Higher Tadfield somewhere on a hill?" He looked up at the ceiling as if hoping it would magically appear there.
(no subject)
Date: Sunday, 1 March 2009 16:42 (UTC)"In a few days?" she suggested. "It'll give me time to take it back to the base to refuel - and maybe pick my stuff up too, if I'm going to be staying here. I can jsut pick a room, right?"
War had some stuff she liked to keep with her, and she wasn't sure she trusted the soldiers not to get curious about the contents of Hangar 51 if they managed to forget General Waugh.
"I think I heard some of the squaddies mentioning Higher Tadfield sround somewhere... we can go looking, anyway," she said with a grin.
(no subject)
Date: Monday, 2 March 2009 10:41 (UTC)Oh right, that military base.
"Think they've got any flamethrowers lying around that they don't need?" He'd always wanted his own flamethrower, though it might not be the best idea to use it around here. Then again, you never knew when you might need an unexpected tool.
(no subject)
Date: Wednesday, 4 March 2009 11:23 (UTC)"I don't think they've got flame throwers - they're more about the tech - but I have. About 7, actually, so you're welcome to borrow one if you want." She thought for a moment. "Not the red one, though. That's mine," she reminded him with a grin.
War collected weapons, but she was equally happy to lend them out to people who might put them to good use.
(no subject)
Date: Sunday, 8 March 2009 19:19 (UTC)Of course, there were all sorts of neat little tricks one could do with or without matches, but well ... flame thrower in Loki's mind equaled instant inferno.
(no subject)
Date: Monday, 9 March 2009 21:58 (UTC)"Then you get your pick of the rest," she said. "Just remind me when I come back with my gear... don't suppose you know if any of the rooms come with, uh, more than average storage space?"
(no subject)
Date: Tuesday, 10 March 2009 19:24 (UTC)"The attic's mine," he added after a moment. If War expected him to respect her ownership of the red flame thrower, he'd expect her to respect his claim to the attic actual rights of ownership be damned.
(no subject)
Date: Friday, 13 March 2009 10:07 (UTC)She thought for a moment. "I'll probably go find a first floor room, and if I need any more space, sounds like no one'll mind if I requisition some of the basement for storage."
"Don't suppose they've got any decorated in red?" she asked with a grin.
(no subject)
Date: Friday, 13 March 2009 16:50 (UTC)"Not that I remember, but it's quite likely that some have a violent history considering the symbols I saw in the chapel," he offered. He couldn't sense these things himself, but maybe War could. "Or you could just move in next to me."
(no subject)
Date: Friday, 13 March 2009 18:09 (UTC)Not that she had a problem being on her own, but she wasn't against having an old ally to watch her back.
(no subject)
Date: Friday, 13 March 2009 20:20 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: Friday, 13 March 2009 22:08 (UTC)"Which room's yours then?"