And let the costume party commence ...

[apocalypsos]

*glares at all of you*

If you're expecting a happy, shiny hostess, you're all out of your goddamn minds. Bar is in the back. Pool table's to your left. Jukebox is to the right. And if any of you pull anything, I swear I'll shove the closest weapon so far up your ass, you'll think you swallowed an armory.

Like you're not all dead already anyway.

*grabs a bottle of tequila*

*heads off with gun in hand to watch the door for suspicious characters gunning for my son*

Comments

[dawning-star.livejournal.com]

*nods sympathetically*

*realizes that's not a good idea--bad vodka! bad vodka!*

Yes, I know the type. My supervisor can be like that at times. He has a very annoying habit of putting himself in extreme danger without proper backup or weapons.

*slight smile* I remember hearing of your exploits with him. It is truly legendary to us.

[laurelin-kit.livejournal.com]

Legendary? Really? Well, I'm sure they left a few things out. *leans closer*

[dawning-star.livejournal.com]

Well, yes. The thought of one man (along with a great deal of help from his friends) being able to unite a people and claim it from an empire as reportedly vicious as the Romans is quite inspiring. The concept of an individual making a difference is a fundamental value to us.

*smiles mischievously* Of course, we were also told of how much trouble he could get himself into, and how you and the other Knights had to pull his ass out of the fire. The friendship between you is sublime.

*quietly* I envy you that.

[laurelin-kit.livejournal.com]

To tell you the truth - well, never mind. Sometimes the legends...*sigh* are easier than the real thing. And there wasn't much to envy in the life, at any rate. We were taken from our homelands and forced into slavery for the damned Empire. Friendship came after.

*shakes head* Damned Arthur. You're right, he does know how to get himself in a great deal of trouble.

[dawning-star.livejournal.com]

*soberly* You are correct--that aspect is rarely mentioned. And slavery is a horrible institution, no matter the form or how "noble" the cause might be.

I envy you the strong friendships you managed to forge, despite the odds. You became family for one another. Nowadays...friendships are as fleeting as dust in the wind.

*shakes head slightly* Sorry--I do not mean to be morose.

[laurelin-kit.livejournal.com]

I'm sure we could become friends. And don't fret. *subtly puts hand on shoulder, smile* Be morose. It's what drinking is for. That and wild singing, but thank the gods Gawain or Galahad aren't here to help with that.

[dawning-star.livejournal.com]

When I sing, I sound like a dying giraffe. You don't need to be subjected to that.

Care for some vodka? I have plenty here.

I haven't said much about myself, have I? That's rather rude of me.

[laurelin-kit.livejournal.com]

I never refuse a drink. Here, let's sit down. *leads to a nearby couch* So what's your life about, then?

[dawning-star.livejournal.com]

*sits down and pours shots for both*

I work as a forensic investigator--that basically means I attempt to reconstruct how a crime was committed, who committed the crime, and why it was done.

[laurelin-kit.livejournal.com]

Crimes like murder? Horse stealing? *drinks shot* Crimes of passion?

[dawning-star.livejournal.com]

Murder, theft, rape, assault, abuse. You name it, we investigate it.

*knocks back shot*

It has been cause for many nightmares. I see the children who were killed by their own parents, women who were raped by people they trusted . . . It haunts me. Hell, it haunts all of us.

[laurelin-kit.livejournal.com]

I must confess...I've done a great deal of killing, myself. People that didn't deserve to die. People only fighting for freedom. *quiet contemplative moment* *shakes it off* They did, of course, attack first. And as a Sarmatian knight serving under Rome, they were my enemies.

I only had nightmares about the men who died fighting beside me. Good men. Brave men. All turned to rot in the boggy soil of that hell.

[dawning-star.livejournal.com]

A wise individual once said, "War is hell." For what it is worth, I am sorry for those men you lost. Their suffering is over, and I doubt very much they would desire you to punish yourself for that which you could not control.

I had a case a few years ago, that initially was a rape. I convinced the young girl in question that she could put the perp in prison. But she was too afraid to identify him. A day later, after he was released from jail, she was killed.

I've never forgotten her.

[laurelin-kit.livejournal.com]

That's a terrible thing to have happen. Does your country not allow you, as a person of law, to execute the guilty?

[dawning-star.livejournal.com]

Our judicial system does not allow for vigilante justice. There is fear that innocent people will be wrongly killed by zealots.

We collect physical evidence, and testify in court to a jury of 12 randomly selected adults. They decide whether or not the person is guilty.

*sigh* Had she identified him, we could have obtained all the evidence necessary. But he had seen her come into the viewing area and terrified her.

And we have no evidence he was the one who killed her. But I have a gut feeling about that.

[laurelin-kit.livejournal.com]

*sigh* All those ceremonies remind me all too much of Rome. I like it better when you know your enemies. See the enemy, don't let him shoot you, then - *swooping motion* enemy is gone. *pours two more shots* The world would be a much less complicated place.

[dawning-star.livejournal.com]

*takes shot* Indeed it would. Then again, I wouldn't have the satisfaction of out-smarting a perpetrator. That truly is satisfying.

*hears music starting*

Do you dance?

[laurelin-kit.livejournal.com]

*sardonic smile* I'm not sure your manner of dancing is the kind I'm used to...*looks Sara up-and-down* But I'm sure you're an excellent teacher.

(OOC: And the macking continues.)

[wal-lace.livejournal.com]

You may drink for whatever reasons you choose. I drink to the memory of the dead, and the hopes of the living.

[laurelin-kit.livejournal.com]

*dark look* There are too many dead for me to remember them all. My only hope for the living is to get out of the hellhole of Britain and back to the hills of Sarmatia.

[wal-lace.livejournal.com]

If you choose to forget the dead, you dishonour them. They are too many for one man to remember, but you may at least make a beginning.

[laurelin-kit.livejournal.com]

The manner of their deaths dishonored them. Fighting an unjust fight for a country not our own, under a corrupt Empire that should have ended long ago. Their graves mark the hill above the Wall, a constant reminder. I may not remember their names, sir, as sometimes they were not alive long enough for me to know them, but I know what they were and I know what I am, and I'll be damned if I join them there.

[dawning-star.livejournal.com]

*shadowed look* I deal with the dead day in, and day out. They do not let the living sleep if they can help it.

[wal-lace.livejournal.com]

My nightmares are my own concern.

[dawning-star.livejournal.com]

As are mine. And sometimes they lead me to the answers I seek. That doesn't mitigate the fact that the dead resent letting the living sleep. And sometimes, I would truly love to sleep.