RP:The Name and Deeds Weight

From HollowWiki


Location: At Alvina's and Hudsons Home

Synopsis: After learning of Alvina's and Hudsons status with the Eyrie, Eirik seeks to recruit them as well. However, after arriving, he realizes that some truths need to come out. Alvina has already recognized who he is. It's time for Hudson to learn as well. Despite attempting to be honest, Eirik triggers both, by discussing Valrae. What was supposed to be an easy recruiting for a job, has turned into a nightmare, for all three involved.


The Name and Deeds Weight

Eirik had spent the better part of the last hour in a frustrated search. One which has lead him to a plethora of different homes. He chastises himself for listening to that shady drunk at the Whalers bar. Oh it’s not to far from ‘ere, he recalls his words quite well. What a liar. He’d have a chat with him at a later date about his poor directions, but for now he needs to find Alvina and Hudson. His brisk pace has brought him to the threshold of another home and a polite, but proper wrapping of knuckles against the door denotes his presence outside of the home. The berserker stammers for a moment and then wipes the emotion of stress from his scarred, square jawed visage. His silver hues are intent to see who will open the door. Hopefully this time, it isn’t someone who’s so angered by his presence. The last house had screamed at him until he moved to a different street! Though honestly he doesn’t know Alvina or Hudsons stance on his past. If they were sane, they would most likely be bothered by him as well. Or worse, think that he’s after them for something entirely made up.


It just so happened to be Hudson’s night for bedtime rituals with the twins. Alvina is curled up in the living room under a plush throw, balancing a rather large book on her knees. On the coffee table next to her steams a fresh cup of tea. Ginger, for those curious. The tap of knuckles on the door startles her, no so much that the book is dropped but enough to make her shoulders shiver. She casts a glance over the back of the couch, straining to see if Hudson will appear from the backroom to address the oddity but he doesn’t. Surely he sensed someone close to his family and would appear in a few moments, right? That’s the risk she’s running when she slinks quietly to the door to peer through the curtains. The night shrouds Eirik’s recognizable face from view. The lock clicks, but only partially so she can pull the door open a sliver. The chain still braces against the frame. Emerald optics and the evening glow of candle light flood the doorway crack, framed with slivers of unruly crimson. There’s no telling if this is about The Eyrie (to which both Landon’s still belonged), Frostmaw or Cenril (either side of the shady life her Husband lives). “Hello?” A pause while she waits for a reply on that note or any other. “It’s rather late …” She notes with an air of politeness that borders on uncertainty. All as if biding time for Hudson’s eventual arrival.


Hudson is telling another bedtime story about the dog that they saw one time in the street and whose ordinary and perfectly unremarkable existence has been transformed into the stuff of legends for his daughters. The dog in this evening’s story is rescuing some kittens from drowning in a river. This dog is Batman basically. His nemeses include the Evil Fox and the Sneaky Raccoon. There is all this canon now about this dumb dog and his enemies, Hudson wonders how much of his short term memory is used up by this trash. (Also how long he and Alvina can continue to resist actually getting a dog.) Conveniently, his daughters have dozed off shortly before the arrival of Eirik at their home. And as Hudson gets to his feet, he does sense the other guy on his wolf radar. He may never understand how he knows but he knows. It only works with fellow werewolves. It also causes, generally, immediate tension. No exception here. Hudson pops in behind his wife, who has done well not to open the door, and puts a hand on her stomach to wordlessly guide her away from it. His alarm is short lived but a wariness remains. He recognizes Eirik immediately, now both from the fight but also the excursion with Leone. “Eirik,” he recalls the other wolf’s name. A pause follows, during which Hudson tries to determine the reason for this visit. It’s not immediately apparent. But surely they are allies, Hudson reminds himself, to tamp down the hackles raising sensation that being face to face with another alpha wolf at his home late at night is causing. If it were anyone else in their party at his door he’d have let them in by now. Resist the magic dog violent impulse, man. Hudson gestures for Alvina to move back whereupon he pulls back the chain and opens the door long enough to let the other man in. “We’re not exactly friends,” he remarks, “you’ll forgive me for saying so but it’s alarming to get a visit from another wolf at my family home at this hour. Is this about Kahran?”


Eirik had honestly expected to give up on his search this night, but when that crack appears in the door a smile dons his features. “Hello, I’m looking for Alvina and Hudson.” It's so terribly obvious that he does not understand they have children or that Alvina had been undergoing a quiet time ritual of tea. When Hudson steps into view, he recognizes him immediately. From both the fight, and the party against the giants up in the north. He gives a visible nod to them both, understanding Hudsons words quite well. “This isn’t about Kahran.” Eirik further confirms his thoughts for his visit. “I do apologize about the time.” If he hadn’t dove from one house to the next searching for them, he would have been here much earlier. “This is actually about the Eyrie. I spoke with Queen Hildegarde who promised the Eyries aid for a mission. While talking with Pilar, she told me that you two were members as well.” A hand reaches up to scratch at the nape of his neck nervously. “So I’ve come to see if you two would like to join for a mission?” The northman shuffles his feet to change his stance. Unlike usual, he has not appeared in Kelay with arms and armor. Nay for instead, he is a simple man dressed in wool and fur - and mound of it sitting atop his shoulders. “Could we perhaps speak about this in private, away from prying eyes?” Those few words elude to its secretive nature. What is Eirik, the witch-killer of Larket, up too?


Alvina does move back when Hudson appears. The man’s voice doesn’t ring any bells with her but when his face is cast in the gentle glow of evening light it hits her. Her pupils dilate, becoming large disks of concern as she steps away, behind Hudson. They know each other? This man is also a wolf? Already they’ve both mentioned Kahran, which is enough to smear the unease evenly across her features. This was the man she’d recognized from Josleen’s birthday celebration. The one who was charged with murdering a witch in the streets. Why was he talking about the Eyrie? Did he have a place therein? Would she raise her hackles so in the presence of Macon? Why now did she feel emboldened enough to nearly remark? The only reason she hasn’t is because he mentions Hildegarde. “I don't know what mission this is about but I'm not building another machine.” Her tone is barbed with uncertainty; tension heavy on her shoulders and the collar of her night dress. Was he there when Valrae was burned? She can’t help but feel a certain defensiveness, her knuckles curls against the back of Hudson’s shirt, where she lurks. Her crimson crown is visible behind the slope of his shoulders, a sliver of green notes her awareness of him.


Hudson and his wife will have to have a talk later. Because he has forgotten about the witch murder. Lithrydel is a smart phoneless society so he can’t simply reference Eirik’s face against a JPEG mug shot on Google images. Hudson only knows Eirik from the fight and the mission in Frostmaw. Hudson is thus surprised to hear a sudden bristle in his wife’s voice. And a reference to the machine. He suppresses the urge to glance behind him. He also feels a little sick with his wife so overtly coming out against how she’d aided the Larket regime. Of course he agrees with her in principle - OF COURSE - but to say so outloud puts her in the crosshairs more than he’d like. He’d rather she continue to pretend she was happy to help and the machine Mysteriously broke. More than that, though, her trepidation, though, puts him on the defensive. “We have concerns for our family’s safety after what happened in Larket,” he says, to clarify Alvina’s objection in a more neutral manner. One that might not reflect A Certain Way on her feelings toward the monarchy were it repeated. Hudson studies Eirik’s face, trying to place why his wife would link the other wolf to Larket, and draws a blank. Whether he’s here on Macon’s behalf or not, it wouldn’t be a good look if they turned him away. Hudson waves him inside and shuts the door behind them. “What’s this about?” he asks once that’s done. He waves them be seated, Alvina included, and goes into the kitchen to fetch beers and her tea.


Eirik was indeed present when Valrae burned, sitting near Macon, Josleen, Hildegarde and Lionel. He is the man responsible for Valraes capture - tortured by her own magic; which is much deserved. His face should indeed be recognizable to Alvina, perhaps even Hudson. Though it looks as if Alvina is the only one to recognize him, based solely on her tone of voice and posture. When Hudson brings up the concern for his family's safety, the foreign Lycan responds. “That should be your first priority.” His near frigid silver gaze shifts to Alvina, “I’m not here about the device.” His past deeds already have set the tone between them, but her line of words reminds him of Josleen and a suspicion she has of these two. That same Queen has informed Eirik of their connection with Valrae, and now he suddenly realizes why she might be suspicious. Once he steps through the threshold Eirik doesn’t make himself comfortable. He’s a stranger in their home, and instead prefers to stay in plain sight for them both to watch. “Firstly I must be honest with you both.” He nods towards Alvina, and then to Hudson. “I’m not here to pick a fight, but you must know who I am.” The ominous details that spill forth now should both confirm Alvina’s thoughts and paint a clear picture for Hudson; Hanna’s boss. “I’ve committed some terrible deeds in Larket.” The emotion drains from his square jawed and scarred features. “I am the man who took Hanna’s life and the one responsible for Valraes capture.” Why is he being so forthcoming? Perhaps admitting the truth to them, helped him get through his own past. “Valrae, during her capture, marked me with an empathy for witches, which has since changed my stance on the topic. I’m not proud of the past, but I seek to find redemption in the future.” He nods once, and dives into what he means. “I’ve been building plans to free the last few witches who remain in the Labor camps. The main reason for why I chose to stay in Larkets service. It’s nothing more than a guise so that I will not lose my access.” Though the expression upon his visage is one of sorrow, his voice holds a steady truth. “Hildegarde has promised the Eyries help with transportation to Frostmaw where they can receive the aid they need. I’m here to see if you two, would be willing to help Pilar and I with this?”


Alvina doesn’t waste any time, because unlike her husband, she doesn’t have the trained social grace to recognize when – not- to yell at someone. Or maybe she’s buoyed by the mobster wife lifestyle and less afraid of consequences in her husband’s shadow. She’d seen Hudson murder a man before, right in front of her in fact. Her jaw slacks slightly when he mentions he’s not here about the machine. It provides very little reassurance and Hudson’s timber of warning skates off her ears. “Who do you think you are? Coming into my house at night and saying her name?” Her voice is tremulous with grief and anger. “Don’t you –dare-.” He can’t even get to the part where he talks about his witch empathy before she’s replied. As he continues coolly, she stares daggers through him. Pilar’s name makes her shoulders slack. Pilar? No, no. This must be a trick. A way for the Larketian crown to ‘trick’ them into being found guilty of witch sympathizing. Because the machine broke. Because they were connected to Valrae. He's a spy! “She got what she deserved. She was a terrorist and you will not speak her name here again.” Her fingers twitch, it’s a sentiment she believes. It’s what Hudson’s told her. A good excuse, true or otherwise, to direct her ire at a dead woman who’d wounded their family while fully aware of the consequences. A unforgivable sin.


Hudson realizes, on his way back with the beers, as Eirik is talking, that he knows this man. That his wife’s trepidation had been rooted in something. And then Eirik speaks Valrae’s name aloud in their house and that something suddenly takes shape in his memory, indeed blazes with life, and his wife’s voice cuts him like a knife. Hudson drops the beers he’s holding. They don’t break, because they’ve carpet, but they spill. His breath hisses through his teeth because he’s spilled the hot tea on himself too. He doesn’t move, he is frozen in place and stares hard-eyed at Eirik, who is STILL TALKING somehow. About helping witches. It is NOT the time, my dude. Hudson can barely hear anything, he feels a thousand degrees. His arms are aflame with the wolf’s itch. “Get out of our house,” he says immediately, his tone like the shake of a rattlesnake’s tail, and his wife is talking again. She is repeating the talking points they agreed on. He finally, roughly, sets the tea down on a nearby table. No coaster. Who can find a coaster at a time like this. “I think you’ve misjudged your audience,” he says in a snarl. He doesn’t look at his wife. He is looking at Eirik, and unkindly. The wolf is looking at Eirik. “Alvina, go to our room please.”


Eirik knew that being so forthcoming would be to his own detriment, but he also knows that lying about who he is will only cause further issues. Damn his northern customs, and those that require him to speak of truth before strangers. Despite the rage that would normally build in the Berserker in these situations, he is bereft of such emotions. Those silver eyes close for moments, and Eirik takes a heavy breath. No one deserves to be burned alive. He doesn’t have any other words to add to the discussion of the red cloaked woman, and his own sorrow shows in the pooling of tears which cloud those silver hues. “You’re free to hate me, but help them.” Eirik has no further responses to give, nothing else to stir the tension. He would try again, regardless of Hudsons gaze towards him - the Northman fears nothing; but Eirik does understand his point. “I will leave.” At such words, he does so, exiting the home when asked too. Alvina doesn’t need to flee. The door is not slammed behind him, while still attempting to be respectful. Try as he might, his past deeds were always there. In this situation, they needed to hear it, regardless of their own issues with Valrae.


Alvina was no wolf but she recognized the tone in Hudson's voice. Was he upset because he recognized Eirik or because he'd stop brazenly set off Alvina with the single word that would rupture her dignity and composure? It didn't matter. The electricity in the air was palpable. For a single, shining moment the idea that Hudson might forceably remove the man was satisfying. Dispel the memory, the word. Banish it from all tongues. Vengeance for an old scar! But the moment passed as quickly as it rose and left a hollow pain in its place. A hole impossible to fill with any selfish indulgence. Even though Eirik makes no move to stay, she does turn away and out of the foyer. She wouldn't remember his tears until much later. For now, she's running on the endless fumes of her anger and praying to Sven that whatever plot this was linked too wouldn't dig their graves.


Hudson's jaw hardens as Eirik makes yet another plea for the witches. How convenient. The tears come too late. Hudson isn't seeing them. All he sees is another wolf who must remove himself from Hudson's territory or be destroyed. "Get away from my wife. Get. Out," he growls, the words rife with that non-subtle threat. He doesn't need to say it again because, fortunately for all, Eirik plainly knows that perhaps this attempt to forge a new alliance had gone... real bad, dudes. Hudson is the bad dog that bites other dogs at the dog park right now. In the wake of Eirik's departure, Hudson can hear his wife's footfall as she retreats to the bedroom. But he can only remain, paralyzed by his own searing rage, his feral gaze drilling into the door, until he no longer feels the presence of the other wolf.