[ Magnus is no fool to think that this is an agreement, but it's a relief anyway to step inside and be considered. He knows what this is; he's done it before. It's only if he's interesting enough that she'll bother with him.
Well, good thing he thinks he's pretty interesting all on his own.
He sits, keeping his hand in Lucy's when possible. ]
It's appears that after everything had gone a bit, ah, hellish, things were given up. Taken away. Whatever powers Duplicity, the program, it changed me.
( she sits across from them, carefully listening, positioned as if a queen listening to something. once lucy's finished speaking they'll hear a squawk from behind them, lilith waving stolas off with her hand )
Love?
( it's such a simple request. if lilith knew of adam, if she really were the queen she might initially be a little more sympathetic. but she doesn't (yet) laugh it off at least, just pulling a little face as if to ask that's all it is? )
For him, in Magnus' world, this is careful business. Not love in and of itself, but something true. Something real. Anyone can fall in or out of love, but there's no way to fabricate real emotion, just temper it or encourage it.
So he feels what he's asking is a big ask and doesn't appreciate either party's reaction. ]
I want you to find a way to undo what they've done. Don't make me fall in love with them again. Don't create anything. But find what's been lost and return it to me.
( a quick confirmation, still ironing out the potential details in her mind, deciding that the best thing to do would be to see what was still inside his head )
Though-- what makes these memories so important if not the love?
( he didn't want just the love back, not asking to fall in love but to remember. so what specifically was he hoping there was? )
[ His gaze cheats towards Lucy at the question. He doesn't love her right now, not the way she wants to be loved and not the way that Magnus is, apparently, capable of. So he's shy, wary of saying too much in front of her.
But what choice does he have? ]
If I remember, the love will be there. If I can't remember... then they've stolen a part of me. I've lived so long. Memories are all that I have. Everyone around me dies and fades away.
I need those memories. I need to be whole again. And I won't let this system change me.
[She shakes her head. She will one day die, and he will be there, still, so young, and he will remember her, and the idea of it breaks her heart a little. Her hand tightens in his.]
[ Magnus considers this for only a second before nodding. He has to remain relaxed which means, in truth, trusting her. He has to trust Lilith, Queen of Hell, Mother of Demons.
( she directs magnus to lay out on the floor before putting him to sleep, sitting herself on the floor as she speaks to lucy, not really looking at her she prepares )
You need to allow this to happen. I'm allowing you to remain-- ( why she didn't know ) providing you touch nothing.
( and as if to remind of his presence stolas squawks again.
instruction given, legs crossed lilith closes her eyes, clearling her mind.
what lucy will see is the sleeping form of magnus and eventually lilith levitating. for magnus she'd directed his dream to be somewhere in duplicity that he feels comfortable, planning to manipulate it in search of what she wanted instead the dream )
[ Where he feels comfortable? His own apartment, done up in the trappings he likes, warm and lushly colored with soft jazz music playing in the background. It's almost like home, in a way.
But better, because George and Lucy are there. He doesn't love them, doesn't feel that spark inside of him, but he's fond of them and he likes having company. Company, despite the fact that he has to keep up a facade for them, makes him feel comfortable. It's just how it is. ]
[Lucy watches, her eyes wide, her hands folded in her lap. She doesnβt move, but Stolas comes close, to inspect her more closely. She keeps her hands to herself, because she was told to, and she needs to obey for Magnusβ sake.
( perhaps it helps that the two are there considering that they are what the memories are concerning )
Tell me of when you first met them.
( she wants to get an idea of their relationship. there's subtle movements of her fingers as she watches them, manipulating the dream through his memories, dialling it back to that moment, searching through his subconsciousness )
[ It's easy enough to get there. The powers that be took his memories of love, his ability to love, not his memories of fun, of excitement, of lust and like.
It stars with Lucy, at the ball, what feels like so long ago. Their instant attraction, their flirtation. The kiss stolen and the sheer happiness Magnus felt at making a pretty girl smile.
Then there's George. They were locked in a room together, required to do filthy things to each other. And Magnus had acquiesced happily. George has his hands above his head, tied to a sconce in a well-appointed room, and Magnus drops to his knees... ]
( lilith watches without saying anything, getting a feeling for him, the two concerned, letting the scenes unfold.
it's here that lilith starts to see the first gaps, the holes where his memories should be even if something isn't necessarily missing from this scene. it's all connected, coming in the future of this.
lilith wakes herself up but keeps magnus asleep, floating back down to the floor as she wakes, gaze lifting to lucy )
I have somewhere to start. ( would it work? usually, yes but she didn't know what had caused this to his memories ) The memories weren't erased but simply-- hidden. Which means they can be uncovered.
[Lucy has been sitting quietly, and Stolas has been hopping closer, to inspect her, so when Lilith wakes Lucy looks up a little surprised, and maybe a little bit unsure.
There is a relief there. She breathes out, and holds back an embarrassing burst of pure gratitude.]
[Her face goes bright red. It is not a romantic memory, cleaned and softly lit in firelight and warm in a bed. But she will tell it anyway, even though it is-
-well.
A little embarrassing.]
I do not know if you were here when we were taken to the fort, but they played a game of chase. Well. No. They made us play a game of chase, where they released the submissives to run in the woods, to be captured by Dominants. Magnus and I had been fighting a little, because I refused to be with a Dominant who did not love me, and our contract had just expired, and I would not sign another one unless he loved me.
He did not wish to admit it. So we were apart, until that day. He caught me, and he, ah.
He took me from behind, and told me he loved me.
[Lucy is lucky she's still speaking. She feels that embarrassment creep into her.]
( for as embarrassed as lucy may feel lilith's pretty unresponsive to it. at least externally, giving a simple nod. inwardly-- there's a small warm recognition of it, a familiar memory even if lilith now knows that it was a lie )
It will do.
( it gives her something to look for, the specificity in the memory.
her eyes close as her hands hover over him but this time lilith doesn't dream, small motions of her fingers as she casts the spell, thinking on that moment. they'd taken his love but not his lust and it's easy to manipulate his own dream to bring that moment back out, to have him remember fucking lucy in those woods. it doesn't take long for her to encounter the block, focusing her spell on it, forcing it to begin crumbling away )
( the spell lasts for seconds more, lilith not needing any more memories. she'd attacked that first blockage specifically but her magic would cause a ripple effect. he wouldn't regain all memories instantly but if it worked those blocks would start to crumble, his memories returning.
as she opens her eyes again her hands move from magnus, rising from the floor. there's a final sweeping motion over his body to wake him, one final look at lucy )
Only he can tell you whether it worked.
( her spell should work but this place did have some different rules )
[ The memories jumble in his mind, the first inklings of love, or something more than lust beginning to seep into the thoughts of George and Lucy. Circe and Neria, too, have their places. But it's Lucy that he wakes up to, Lucy with her desperate expression.
He sits up, clearly dazed, but concern takes over first.
He can remember... Yes, he can remember. That possessive streak inside of him when it comes to his lovers. To the ones he loves. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Well, good thing he thinks he's pretty interesting all on his own.
He sits, keeping his hand in Lucy's when possible. ]
It's appears that after everything had gone a bit, ah, hellish, things were given up. Taken away. Whatever powers Duplicity, the program, it changed me.
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[Lucy says it, quickly.]
And George. It made him forget he loved at all.
[It made him lesser. It made him feel less, and it hurt more than Lucy can truly describe.]
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Love?
( it's such a simple request. if lilith knew of adam, if she really were the queen she might initially be a little more sympathetic. but she doesn't (yet) laugh it off at least, just pulling a little face as if to ask that's all it is? )
And you want me to find a way to return it?
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For him, in Magnus' world, this is careful business. Not love in and of itself, but something true. Something real. Anyone can fall in or out of love, but there's no way to fabricate real emotion, just temper it or encourage it.
So he feels what he's asking is a big ask and doesn't appreciate either party's reaction. ]
I want you to find a way to undo what they've done. Don't make me fall in love with them again. Don't create anything. But find what's been lost and return it to me.
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-perhaps itβs better if she doesnβt say anything. If Magnus negotiates this himself. So she tilts her head up a little, to look at Lilith.]
If you wish for me to wait here, I will gladly stay where I will not disturb anyone.
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( a quick confirmation, still ironing out the potential details in her mind, deciding that the best thing to do would be to see what was still inside his head )
Though-- what makes these memories so important if not the love?
( he didn't want just the love back, not asking to fall in love but to remember. so what specifically was he hoping there was? )
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But what choice does he have? ]
If I remember, the love will be there. If I can't remember... then they've stolen a part of me. I've lived so long. Memories are all that I have. Everyone around me dies and fades away.
I need those memories. I need to be whole again. And I won't let this system change me.
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He is different. He is a different man.
[She shakes her head. She will one day die, and he will be there, still, so young, and he will remember her, and the idea of it breaks her heart a little. Her hand tightens in his.]
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I can put you into a controlled sleep, guide your mind to see where these memories are missing, to know whether they still remain.
( dreams are simple and the mind often comes to things forgotten when it's asleep )
But you must remain relaxed.
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He's trusted worse creatures than her. ]
I'll do what needs to be done.
Thank you.
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She won't go anywhere. Lilith doesn't seem to think that she needs to go.]
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You need to allow this to happen. I'm allowing you to remain-- ( why she didn't know ) providing you touch nothing.
( and as if to remind of his presence stolas squawks again.
instruction given, legs crossed lilith closes her eyes, clearling her mind.
what lucy will see is the sleeping form of magnus and eventually lilith levitating. for magnus she'd directed his dream to be somewhere in duplicity that he feels comfortable, planning to manipulate it in search of what she wanted instead the dream )
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But better, because George and Lucy are there. He doesn't love them, doesn't feel that spark inside of him, but he's fond of them and he likes having company. Company, despite the fact that he has to keep up a facade for them, makes him feel comfortable. It's just how it is. ]
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But she waits.]
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Tell me of when you first met them.
( she wants to get an idea of their relationship. there's subtle movements of her fingers as she watches them, manipulating the dream through his memories, dialling it back to that moment, searching through his subconsciousness )
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It stars with Lucy, at the ball, what feels like so long ago. Their instant attraction, their flirtation. The kiss stolen and the sheer happiness Magnus felt at making a pretty girl smile.
Then there's George. They were locked in a room together, required to do filthy things to each other. And Magnus had acquiesced happily. George has his hands above his head, tied to a sconce in a well-appointed room, and Magnus drops to his knees... ]
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it's here that lilith starts to see the first gaps, the holes where his memories should be even if something isn't necessarily missing from this scene. it's all connected, coming in the future of this.
lilith wakes herself up but keeps magnus asleep, floating back down to the floor as she wakes, gaze lifting to lucy )
I have somewhere to start. ( would it work? usually, yes but she didn't know what had caused this to his memories ) The memories weren't erased but simply-- hidden. Which means they can be uncovered.
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There is a relief there. She breathes out, and holds back an embarrassing burst of pure gratitude.]
What can I do to help?
[She will do anything.]
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( she could ask about when lucy first loved him but that wouldn't help his memories. it had to be something that he had done and felt )
Then I can start unraveling his mind.
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-well.
A little embarrassing.]
I do not know if you were here when we were taken to the fort, but they played a game of chase. Well. No. They made us play a game of chase, where they released the submissives to run in the woods, to be captured by Dominants. Magnus and I had been fighting a little, because I refused to be with a Dominant who did not love me, and our contract had just expired, and I would not sign another one unless he loved me.
He did not wish to admit it. So we were apart, until that day. He caught me, and he, ah.
He took me from behind, and told me he loved me.
[Lucy is lucky she's still speaking. She feels that embarrassment creep into her.]
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It will do.
( it gives her something to look for, the specificity in the memory.
her eyes close as her hands hover over him but this time lilith doesn't dream, small motions of her fingers as she casts the spell, thinking on that moment. they'd taken his love but not his lust and it's easy to manipulate his own dream to bring that moment back out, to have him remember fucking lucy in those woods. it doesn't take long for her to encounter the block, focusing her spell on it, forcing it to begin crumbling away )
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She holds her own hands, tight, and wonders what will happen. She knows when he told George, but she wasn't there. Will Lilith be able to find it?
Will she get her lover back?]
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as she opens her eyes again her hands move from magnus, rising from the floor. there's a final sweeping motion over his body to wake him, one final look at lucy )
Only he can tell you whether it worked.
( her spell should work but this place did have some different rules )
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He sits up, clearly dazed, but concern takes over first.
He can remember... Yes, he can remember. That possessive streak inside of him when it comes to his lovers. To the ones he loves. ]
Oh, my precious girl.
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Magnus.
[She absolutely refuses to burst into tears, so naturally she does, reaching for him.]
My lord, do you remember, please, tell me-
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