[ While Zoya's aware the Blackguard is kidnapping Void-touched and those alike to protect them, it still leaves her greatly unnerved to have her connection with Wesley end so abruptly. She can't help but wonder if he's truly kidnapped. Who had his name? She was never able to track his or her name down regardless of how she worked herself to the bone. (There's a reason why Nina was the spy and she the soldier. Lightning was never as sneaky as a heartbeat.)
Zoya considers ignoring the fact that Wesley is gone, but the idea of returning home and pretending that he's merely sleeping at the library after seeing the mess left behind is too ignorant and stupid for even Zoya herself. So, instead, she does as Leoni would encourage them all to do: she tries to reach out, and she tries to hold onto hope. ]
[It takes a little time for Wesley to come back around after getting smacked over the head and flour sack'd for transport. His wrists no longer tied as a precaution, he's got a far from luxurious spread of space in a dingy basement-type dwelling, where guards look over him and a few others by lamplight. His head rings but the gash on his brow is nothing but a smear of blood now, and aside from a dull ache in his skull he's... fine. He thinks.
They really need to work on their abduction techniques. He thought he was about to die again.
Her voice snags him back from a potentially lightly concussed moment of distraction, and he doesn't sound as light and passive as normal. There's a gravel to the edge of his words, a tired, low voice coming from his mouth:]
You'll have to find me first. I don't know where I am.
[There's clinking of metal, and Wesley groans a bit - he might heal from head wounds but they do leave him groggy. There's not a lot of light at all to see anything around him, but he's trying to remember a few words he heard earlier. They're murky, at best:]
They said we're safe here. But they've also shackled us to the walls.
[ For the record, Zoya tries very hard to keep her cool. ]
You're clearly not safe if you're shackled.
[ This is her keeping her cool, btw. It'll come to her that this is the Blackguard's doing, not a Zlatniki, not someone who has Wesley's name and intends to kill him. (This entire month has her nerves on fire.) ]
[He feels stupid - maybe he should've known more Rubeans, made more effort to remember faces and voices. He lolls his head back against the wall, bringing his knees up. He aches too much to get comfortable - and doesn't know what to do with his ankle, shackled as it is.]
It was a woman's voice. But she wasn't - she wasn't there when they came for me.
[ Yes, Zoya is aware asking questions is frustrating. She's also aware that she should've paid more attention while they were speaking. She'd taken that comfortable familiarity for granted, and now…
This isn't a case of losing Nina Zenik to the drüskelle. She tells herself this. Nina was egotistical and stupid and ran on emotions. Wesley was logical, more capable of self-regulating. ]
[Maybe if he had spent more time around his hot wife, he'd have become more acquainted with the Blackguard. But they were always just a backdrop to her when around - a brilliant blue putting everything else out of focus. He's now upset, again, at being confined here. He wants to be where she is.]
There were three of them, though. Working together. They - they came in through the doors, under the guise of asking a question.
I think it's the Blackguard trying to protect you from this… festival.
[ It sounds utterly insane to her! Absolutely insane! But it's what seems to fit the bill best. ]
They tried with me earlier in the month, but my sparkling personality might have scared them off.
[ — To explain why she'd forgotten. Why hadn't she anticipated it with Wesley? He's… Wesley. Rubilykskoye's Hot Librarian. Of course, they'd want to protect him. ]
[ In another life, she says it back. In this one - ]
I want to speak to you every day. Someone needs to talk some sense into you.
[ And she needs to know that this isn't some ploy to kill him later. She needs him to tell her what he finds so she can find him. This is when it would've been useful to have Oretsev in town. Despite what he truly was, the tracker could find anything. ]
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may 16; a little while after he's been kidnapped
Zoya considers ignoring the fact that Wesley is gone, but the idea of returning home and pretending that he's merely sleeping at the library after seeing the mess left behind is too ignorant and stupid for even Zoya herself. So, instead, she does as Leoni would encourage them all to do: she tries to reach out, and she tries to hold onto hope. ]
I'll kill you if you're dead.
cw: injury & abduction references
They really need to work on their abduction techniques. He thought he was about to die again.
Her voice snags him back from a potentially lightly concussed moment of distraction, and he doesn't sound as light and passive as normal. There's a gravel to the edge of his words, a tired, low voice coming from his mouth:]
You'll have to find me first. I don't know where I am.
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Thank the Saints he's not dead. Today would be a day for Rubilykskoye to rue. ]
What can you see? Are you alone?
[ Zoya ignores her brewing migraine. ]
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[There's clinking of metal, and Wesley groans a bit - he might heal from head wounds but they do leave him groggy. There's not a lot of light at all to see anything around him, but he's trying to remember a few words he heard earlier. They're murky, at best:]
They said we're safe here. But they've also shackled us to the walls.
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You're clearly not safe if you're shackled.
[ This is her keeping her cool, btw. It'll come to her that this is the Blackguard's doing, not a Zlatniki, not someone who has Wesley's name and intends to kill him. (This entire month has her nerves on fire.) ]
Did you recognise any of the voices?
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[He feels stupid - maybe he should've known more Rubeans, made more effort to remember faces and voices. He lolls his head back against the wall, bringing his knees up. He aches too much to get comfortable - and doesn't know what to do with his ankle, shackled as it is.]
It was a woman's voice. But she wasn't - she wasn't there when they came for me.
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[ Yes, Zoya is aware asking questions is frustrating. She's also aware that she should've paid more attention while they were speaking. She'd taken that comfortable familiarity for granted, and now…
This isn't a case of losing Nina Zenik to the drüskelle. She tells herself this. Nina was egotistical and stupid and ran on emotions. Wesley was logical, more capable of self-regulating. ]
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[Maybe if he had spent more time around his hot wife, he'd have become more acquainted with the Blackguard. But they were always just a backdrop to her when around - a brilliant blue putting everything else out of focus. He's now upset, again, at being confined here. He wants to be where she is.]
There were three of them, though. Working together. They - they came in through the doors, under the guise of asking a question.
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What I'm thinking sounds insane.
[ Which is funny, since they're talking through thoughts! ]
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[He's tired. But he's attentive, just - oddly without a lot of emotion.]
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[ It sounds utterly insane to her! Absolutely insane! But it's what seems to fit the bill best. ]
They tried with me earlier in the month, but my sparkling personality might have scared them off.
[ — To explain why she'd forgotten. Why hadn't she anticipated it with Wesley? He's… Wesley. Rubilykskoye's Hot Librarian. Of course, they'd want to protect him. ]
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[Mostly because it's HIM abducted, sigh.]
If they'd asked, it would've been nicer. Any way you can butter them up to get me home?
[Yeah, okay, he knows who he's talking to. But a man can hope.]
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I'll ask them to pretty please let you go.
[ Can he tell from her tone—a forced saccharine thing—that it'd be like nails on a chalkboard? ]
I don't understand the need for shackles when they could simply explain the situation and let you be.
[ Shackle anyone else! Not Wesley and his pretty little ankles. ]
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[The slightest, softest hint of his humor back - tired still as it is.
With similar sarcastic amusement:]
I suppose I'm a formidable threat in their eyes. There's one exit here, so...
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[ There's a right and wrong answer here. ]
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[So yes. Potentially.]
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[ We're going somewhere with this. ]
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[ !!!!!! ]
But if you try anything stupid, you'll practically walk into their hands.
[ She sighs so heavily, the only evidence he'll receive that she's about to regret what she's about to say. ]
You need to stay there.
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But it's working, isn't it? No one's found you yet.
[ Her sigh is a very telling one of "I can't believe I just said that." ]
Until I do, obviously. I need you to sit your tight ass down and wait for me, Vasya.
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I miss you.
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[ Her tone is gentle despite the arrogance. This is Zoya being Zoya. What else does one expect? ]
And everyone will be jealous when I blast that door open and save you.
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[...]
I hate being away from you. I know you'll find me, but until then - I love you.
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I want to speak to you every day. Someone needs to talk some sense into you.
[ And she needs to know that this isn't some ploy to kill him later. She needs him to tell her what he finds so she can find him. This is when it would've been useful to have Oretsev in town. Despite what he truly was, the tracker could find anything. ]
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🎀