Semi-Open Log

[nadine_he_loves]

Who: Nadine and various prisoners
What: Visiting the dungeons
Where: The dungeons
When: Post-festival



Nadine is no stranger to the dungeons by now. Besides her frequent visits to Flagg, there are other prisoners down here she's befriended. Who are still imprisoned.

Apparently some are more threatening a threat than others.

And of course there are still plenty of others she hasn't met at all. It's important to know the other people brought here, to take their measure and determine who might be useful. It doesn't look like Thorne is about to let her husband out any time soon, and that's a problem that will need to be dealt with. She knows (casually, at least) a number of those considered welcomed guests, but many of the poor souls stuck down here are still a mystery.

So after she's checked in with Flagg, she turns her attention to the other prisoners, offering a smile or casual greeting through the bars. She's armed with cookies and a friendly demeanor, standing out in the gloom of the dungeon with her white hair and silk tunic.

Comments

[baltimores]

Amos has seen her around. She comes down frequently, always to another cell. Much as he wouldn't usually be interested, it's impossible not to train his ears on the sounds of conversation, especially when there's nothing else going on around here.

He recognizes Flagg's voice when she talks to him. He'd said he knew people who had been welcomed. So. Guess she's one of them.

And now she's looking at him. Huh. He tilts his head at her, expression empty but for a faint hint of curiosity.

"You're down here a lot." No question to it, no why, just a comment. Amos' eyes flick down to the cookies for a second, back up to her eyes. Can't remember the last time he'd had one of those. Shit, might've been before he left Earth the first time. He'd be lying if he said he didn't want one, but it's also not something to dwell on.

... At the same time, she's clearly friendly with someone else locked up. Who might be planning something. So. Shit. Who knows.

[nadine_he_loves]

"My husband's down here."

Nadine nods towards Flagg's cell, where she'd just recently been. "And I've made friends with a couple of the other 'prisoners'." The quotes are clear in her voice. Either they're all prisoners, or none of them are, there's no arbitrary distinction between who's locked up and who isn't. Not to Nadine.

This one...she doesn't know. She draws closer to the bars, offering a smile. There's no fear of anyone down here - what could she possibly have to fear from anyone? She's outside the bars and besides that...Flagg isn't far.

"Want a cookie? I took them from upstairs, no one seems to care if I bring food down here. I'm Nadine."

[baltimores]

He blinks. Whatever he'd been expecting, husband hadn't been on the list. Guess that explains that, then.

Doesn't explain how this place could get things so wrong, so fucked up, that they'd somehow manage to take husband and wife, apparently only want one of them, and... apparently she was the one. Can't help but wonder what that actually means, what's special about her. He peers up at her, expression a little more open as she continues, makes her disdain for the prisoner designation known.

He doesn't know her husband that well. Not really. Just seen him out on the yard on occasion, heard his singing in the mines, knows he's someone who might be an ally through this. But if they share philosophies, and she's been welcomed...

Amos gets up, movement casual, and rests his forearms along the bars separating them, easy enough to stick his hands through them. "Sure," he says. There's probably no harm in it. It's not like a whole lot else can happen to him down here, and besides. Either this is a hell of a long con, or, potential ally. And, something nice along the way. Something that'll make him feel a bit more like a person again, maybe.

Shit, he's gotta get out of here. This isn't great.

"I'm Amos," he says, taking the offered cookie. And, god. The food here hasn't been bad — it's all naturally grown, and after decades of soy and vats it's been a revelation on its own — but something to break up the monotony. Jesus, it's good. He chews thoughtfully, savouring for a moment, swallows. "Husband, huh? So they only wanted one of you?"

[nadine_he_loves]

"Apparently so. Figure it'd be a package deal, but...." Nadine shrugs. "I don't know. I don't understand Thorne's priorities and they aren't exactly explaining them to me."

If they needed help...Flagg was in a much better position to do so. Just...unlikely to. She doesn't consider herself any more likely to, and what help can she offer anyway? It'd take years, likely, to learn the local magic well enough to do anything useful with it.

She wonders why Amos is here. What great 'threat' does he pose to the kingdom of Thorne? He looks like he'd fit right in with her roommates upstairs.

"I'd say if they're desperate enough they have to kidnap people from other dimensions, they probably ought to just take what they get. But supposedly you're all threats - except for the people they said were threats and then decided okay, maybe not."

[baltimores]

So she's just in the dark as he is. He's heard bits and pieces of that; that those who were welcomed don't really know anything, either.

At least they're free, though. Don't have to sleep behind bars, be hauled off to do prison labour, any of that; hell, they get cookies. Amos takes another bite, chews thoughtfully. He could be resentful, but he and Nadine might actually be on the same side, for as much as there are sides to this whole thing. So. He won't hold anything against her. Not like it's her fault.

"You know, might have even actually helped them," he says after a moment. It's what Holden would have done. And Holden's not here. He's kind of left floating, aimless, without a tether. It's not great, not for him. Eventually that little voice he attempts to make into a conscience is going to go quiet, and. Well. "Locking people up seems like a great way to turn them into threats, though."

They want him to be a threat; sure, he can be a threat.

[nadine_he_loves]

"And I'm not really inclined to help the people who have my husband locked up." And won't let him out - even if a part of her entirely understands why. It isn't as though reason and better judgement factor into many of Nadine's decisions regarding Flagg.

She leans against the bars, eyes scanning the various cells thoughtfully.

"But it's not like we've been here that long, so I guess we'll see what happens. They do seem to be loosening up some restrictions - they let some prisoners out, and we can leave the castle now. There's a town."

Things are starting to shift, but not enough to tell her much or give any deeper insight into the situation.

[baltimores]

Okay, yeah, they're on the same side. He doesn't know Flagg that well, but pretty sure he's not happy about being in prison, either, so, common goal. And when he'd said he knew people who had been welcomed, he really meant it, apparently.

Amos finishes off the cookie, leans against the cell bars properly now, letting his forearms dangle outside, off to the side from Nadine. Trying to keep as casual a posture as possible, like maybe that'll make him actually feel somewhat relaxed, forget about the ever-growing anxiety of being locked away, stripped of anything so much as resembling agency. Not really sure if it's working.

"Huh. Guess that explains where some of them went." He'd noticed their numbers had decreased by at least a little; probably better than them being executed or some shit. And yet he's still here, so it doesn't really mean anything to him. Pretty sure the only thing that's gonna get him out is someone dying, whether it's him or a whole lot of other people.

Trying not to think about that right now, especially not when he's got new company. Potentially very beneficial company. "Town makes sense. They took us up north to make us mine for them," he says. She probably already knows since her husband was there, too. It's the kind of thing you'd mention to a partner, he figures. "World's gotta be more than just this shit. The town as stuffy and self-important as this place?"

He probably could have tried to escape when they were off in the mines, but there wouldn't be anywhere to escape to, is the thing. At least, not as far as he knows. But if there's a town here, there's probably a whole lot more, so... some kind of destination might be possible. He figures any of that out, maybe he can go from there. Or at least not be here anymore.

[gardienne]

Eponine's seen Nadine, of course. She's watched enviously from her corner of the cell as she's paid her visits to Flagg, and given him bits of food, meat and pastries and little biscuits. Eponine's been lucky: Flagg's been all too happy to share with her, but the physical food doesn't feed her longing for someone to talk to.
In the gloom of the dungeons, where everyone is dirty and irritable, Nadine looks almost ethereal, like a faerie or an angel or something else that has no right amongst the thieves and murderers that surely haunt the cells. Eponine hungers for her attention, attracted, as a magpie to something shiny, to Nadine's beauty. But Nadine's never noticed her, and why should she pay attention to the little goblin in the corner of Flagg's cage?

But today's different. Perhaps she's noticed Eponine's hair ribbon, recognising the tattered ribbon as the one she gave Susan? Or perhaps Eponine glanced up just at the right time? But today's different because Nadine is looking past Flagg and calling to the young woman sat hunched on her bed.

Eponine's face lights up as she stumbles forward to the bars.
"Me, Mam'zelle? You will say hello to me? Really?"
She's unsure of herself and she hates herself for it. She shifts from foot to foot, her nervous energy fizzing from her.
"I didn't think you even saw me sat on the bed when you came to speak with the M'sieur just there. But you did, oh you did. Even just for a minute, it is so lovely, you know?"

[nadine_he_loves]

"Randall does get a lot of my attention," Nadine agrees with a smile. "He's my husband, so that's pretty understandable."

But she has noticed the young woman who shares his cell, even if her focus has been Flagg himself. Of course he's her priority, she loves him and he's stuck locked down here and none of her efforts have changed that. And she has tried, advocating as best she can on his behalf.

She...doesn't exactly question why she was refused. Flagg isn't a frightened teenage girl, he's an ancient dark power shaped like a man. But still. It frustrates her that they remain separated like this, the longer it goes on the more of a physical ache it becomes.

But she isn't going to focus on that right now. The girl looks...anxious, in a way that Nadine can relate to.

"My name's Nadine. What's yours?"

[gardienne]

"'Ponine, Ma'am. Well, Eponine." She speaks quickly, perhaps too quickly, in her rush to keep Nadine's attention.
"Your name is beautiful, you know? Like you, Miss. Ma'am. I half thought you were an angel with us demons down here, but then, how can it be so?" Eponine smiles, embarrassed.

"Are you really his wife? Ma'am, you look too good for him. Too good, like a proper lady what should be sewing or that. Though M'sieur is as good as you. You know, he shares all your foods with us? He is a good man, your husband."

[nadine_he_loves]

Nadine quickly loses count of how many things are wrong with Eponine's summation of both her and her husband, but she keeps most of them to herself. Besides, by a certain standard, Flagg is considered a good man. His people think he is.

"I promise, I'm not a 'proper lady'. I'm a school teacher - or I was. And I'm really Randall's wife, we were married right before we ended up here. I'm glad he shares. Have you had enough? I have cookies..."

And this looks like a young lady who could use a cookie or two.

[gardienne]

"A teacher, Ma'am?" Eponine looks up to meet Nadine's eyes. "Me, I've never been to school. My Pa taught me figures and that and my Ma taught me to read a bit, and I can write." She adds the last with shy pride.

"I might look the rat now, but I weren't always so. Except, there were no books and that. But I could have been a student if I'd've studied, you know? I'm not so stupid as I look." She sighs wistfully. Perhaps, had she been to school, life would have been different. Perhaps she wouldn't have ended up on the streets. Perhaps Marius would have loved her. But what's the point in perhapses?

"What's a cookie, Ma'am?" But she's already reaching through the bars for one.

[nadine_he_loves]

"It's a kind of sweet. Here." She offers one out, not phased by the fact Eponine doesn't know what a cookie is. She's already met a man who didn't know what lemonade was.

"And that's pretty impressive, you know. A lot of kids who don't have access to school never learn to read and write. Don't worry about it, nobody down here is looking their best. It's not your fault. I promise my husband isn't normally as scruffy as he looks right now, either."

There's no judgement here. Nadine has seen more than enough young people in less than ideal circumstances, she knows how it is.

[mytearsaremine]

There's a teenaged girl who's sharing a cell with Amos, who listened in on their conversation. The next day, she's poked her arms out of the bars of her cell door, leaning on them, hands dangling down. Today it's her turn to chat!

"Are those for us?" she asks, eying the cookies hungrily. One meal a day is really not enough.

[nadine_he_loves]

"They are." Nadine approaches with an easy smile. "No one's stopped me yet, and I figure nobody down here's getting anything exciting to eat..."

The least she can do is bring small sweets like cookies and whatnot. Especially considering how many people down here are in the category Nadine would consider kids. That still doesn't sit right with her.

[mytearsaremine]

Jolie stretches her hand out in the direction of the cookies. Gimme gimme, Nadine. She's beyond niceties, these days. "Please?" Well, not entirely beyond niceties. She was raised well. "We get one meal a day and it's the same every day. I am so hungry."

[nadine_he_loves]

"Yeah, my husband's down here, he's told me all about the meals."

She gladly hands over a cookie. Variety is important. Nadine's read all sorts of things that stress the importance of variety and how routine can be weaponized. Boring food in prison isn't just because of budgeting.

"This should be a nice little change. Sorry it's not much, but I figure if I start trying to bring down a big basket of goodies, someone will probably stop me. I'm Nadine."

[mytearsaremine]

It's not even just the variety. Jolie would be a lot happier if they just fed them two or three meals, even if they're all the same. Not happy, but happier. She's steadily lost weight since getting here, and she never had all that much to loose. She manages to devour the cookie in four big bites, eyes shut happily, because wow that tastes good.

"I'm Jolie," she says after bite three. "Jolie Harmony." Then the last of the cookie is gone and Jolie slumps against the bars again. "How come you haven't got your husband out yet? I know people are like. Advocating for it, and all. A few people have already gotten out."

[nadine_he_loves]

"Nice to meet you. And...I tried." Nadine glances down, sighing. Her eyes cast in the direction of Flagg's cell and then back, disappointment clear on her features.

"Apparently I'm not a good enough advocate. Or he's been marked a bigger threat than others, I don't know. But they're not planning on letting him out."

And she doesn't know exactly what to do about it. Neither she nor Lloyd have made any progress figuring out how to break Flagg free, and her requests for his release have fallen on deaf ears.

sometime on june 20th

[opioid]

It's the first time he's seen her since before the wurm cave, and the look Eddie gives her is very, very far from the cheery grin he'd had for her last time, and with good reason. He's stone-faced as he watches her approach, his jaw working hard as he grits his teeth, and he curls his hands tight around the bars, knuckles going white.

He hadn't been sure whether or not he was going to say something to her if she came back to see him after the frostwurm. And sure, he could just give her the cold shoulder, but... she'd seemed so fucking nice every other time they talked that it doesn't compute, what the hell she'd be doing with him.

"Hey." Doesn't matter if she's down here for some other reason; this is important, and if Eddie has to wedge his way into catching her attention then he'll do it. "Nadine. I need to talk to you."

[nadine_he_loves]

That's...a surprising thing to hear. Nadine turns towards Eddie's cell, head tilted curiously. It's not as though they're in any urgent situation, but his expression and the way he'd called out to her...maybe he needs to get a message to someone else up in the castle?

Whatever it is, she approaches with a smile, though it's a touch confused. He really doesn't look so great.

"Of course. Are you okay, did something happen?"

She knows where the prisoners have been, after all.

[opioid]

"You remember the first time you came down here," Eddie says, forcing himself to speak slowly, "and I was talking about my wife, and you were talking about your husband, and you said his name's Randall and he's locked up down here too and I'll meet him eventually 'cause he's not really that shy?"

[nadine_he_loves]

Oh.

Nadine sighs. She's relatively certain she knows where this is going. Flagg is...not everyone's cup of tea, to put it politely. As good as he is to those who adore him, those who don't...

It's reasonable to assume the two had met and clashed.

"What did he do?"

Not that she can smooth things over or get Flagg to change, but she can at least apologize for whatever offense was caused.

i'm so late, sorry!!

[reignfall]

Cersei, in truth, has been on the lookout since Flagg mentioned her. It is a curiosity that she is not sure she would have felt quite like this if she were living the life she is owed at court, with all that entails to keep her busy. Then again, Flagg is a remarkable man – it could be wise to know those he calls his own.

Starting with ––

"My lady," she only half-calls out, leaning in repose against the bars of her cell, her special, shared hell. "Are you the one, perchance, who is wed to Randall Flagg?"

No worries!

[nadine_he_loves]

Nadine turns, her attention well caught by that particular address.

"I am." She's seen the other woman before, on her visits down here, but hasn't spoken to her yet. It's with curiosity that she approaches, wondering what Flagg has been sharing with his fellow prisoners. It's strange and oddly flattering to think he might talk about her.

"I'm Nadine, Randall's wife."

Very new wife, but wife all the same.