revivalproject | [Closed] If The Forge Isn't Warm Enough

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[Closed] If The Forge Isn't Warm Enough

WHO: Lark, Tony Stark
WHERE: Tony's Forge
WHAT: An Early Equinox Gift
WHEN: December 10th
WARNINGS: Outrageous flirting and unresolved sexual tension?

Warmth. This was a gift that Lark often believed in when the turning of seasons approached. There was always a need for more warmth where she was from, after all. A hearth could only keep so much of Discipline Cottage warm in the winter, even with other enchantments to keep the warmth there. For some people it was easier, of course, like Frostpine and Kirel, because the forge continued to radiate heat even after the embers died down. And those near the kitchens too.

But Lark? She'd definitely made a decision about how to keep warmth there for someone she was connected with, and perhaps slightly beholden to for the power of needles and the like.

Which was why Lark was there now, arriving at the forge with her hands full of a lovely gray knitted fabric.

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"Actually, until Briar, Rosie didn't get as commonly involved," Lark admitted. Rosethorn liked plants more than people, quite a bit. "Though she ended up taking a shine to this group through her protege."

Though she finished her cup of tea and set the empty cup aside. That was something that made her sigh.

"Comas, my newest student, is the only one still around. Rosie and Briar are out traveling. So the cottage is quiet. But no, we are beyond the limits of my world. Even their magic working in tandem would not find me.'

That was disappointing to hear, but Tony only frowned briefly before his curiosity had him pressing, "You never tried anything like that, reaching 'beyond the limits' of your dimension? Every day on Earth I'm dealing with some new pocket dimension because of some wizard, I thought that was part of the deal." Okay, it wasn't just a wizard thing by any means, but they did seem to find the most inhospitable dimensions, and on purpose.

"No, it's not possible. We are limited by our own powers," Lark answered with a shrug. "It's just how it is. Though the children hauled someone back from beyond death once. It was deeply foolish."

That was an interesting thought that Lark had just proposed very casually, prompting Tony to ask, "Is that...beyond the limits of a world? Death?" That was probably a question of faith, ultimately, which Lark clearly had in abundance, and other like-minded people would have different answers of varying specificity; Thor would agree that in death, people went to a different plane of existence, and it depended on the manner of death which one exactly. Tony didn't have that kind of conviction himself.

"I don't think so," Lark answered, but she wasn't sure. And she had forbidden the children from ever doing so again. It was a miracle they hadn't died. "It is just part of the cycle that is life."

They might have agreed then, despite their spiritual differences, so Tony nodded slowly without any reason to argue Lark out of that position. What he couldn't entirely agree with then, if they were of the same mind about what happened after death, was, "Why would it be foolish to bring someone back then?"

"Because it's a good way to die," Lark answered, voice level and cold. She'd seen people do it before. Healers that reached too deep to try and help their patients, and dying with them. No, she did not approve of such foolishness. EVen the children had been deeply lectured by her and Rosethorn both once they had gotten past their joy.

Lark would have preferred to run the risk of losing Rosethorn than lose them all.

Not expecting the answer to be so icy, Tony hardened in return like he had gone straight from the fire into the bucket, not sure if he had just started an argument. "That sounds more like a problem with the systems, not the goal," he pointed out. "But that's closer than most people on Earth have managed, if a bunch of kids could put their heads together to do it."

She was someone whose religion was centered on the cycle of life. And death was part of life. But she doubted this was a topic he would agree with so she reached for another point as she tried to relax herself.

"To bring one back from edge of death is hard. But to bring back one who has just died is like jumping into the deepest ocean with an anchor tied around both of your legs. Perhaps it is possible to reach the surface and salvage the anchors with you, but most likely you will be pulled under as well.

That was the last way Tony was going to be convinced not to make the attempt if it meant saving someone from certain death. Going to the brink of it was not going to slow him down. "I'm an excellent swimmer," he replied, finger up like he was making an inarguable point with only a hint of his impish smirk. "If I knew there was a way, I would take it, every time. I'm not saying everyone should--you're right, if any of the kids I know tried to take that dive, I'd be hauling them back onto the boat. But I--I have to. I can't claim to devote my life to helping people to just pull up at the finish line."

She considers him for a moment, then shakes her head.

"I had no idea you wished to die, Tony. This is a very troubling thing to learn."

Was that what he said? Unprepared for this response to what he thought was a pretty reasonable summation of what being a hero meant, Tony looked taken aback and had to go over it again in his head to try to work out where he admitted that much, stumbling through, "I don't--what?" Apparently, this was troubling for both of them. "No, it's not--I'm not throwing myself off of a bridge for kicks. You'd be tying the anchors on if it was for one of your kids, wouldn't you?" For a moment, the question sounded more like a plea.

"No, because I would die for nothing," Lark answered quite honestly. "To do what they did would require the power of at least ten mages, all caught in a single person. Which would mean power theft. Which would kill the mages, and possibly the one taking the power. The children should not have been able to do what they did. But their magics are great, beyond even the level I can achieve with the same gift when it comes to Sandry, and myself with a good many additional years of training and experience working with it, and being the best there is in the world with it, before Sandry. And even then, even with four young mages whose power should not have joined in the way it had, it still took an artifact level magical item of their own construction AND my energy AND that of a magic storing tree that was centuries old to just barely bring them back."

And in the months after all of them were almost too drained to live. And Rosethorn was like one with a brain shock. She had not fully recovered from it.

"I would never attempt what they did. No one sane and aware of what they are doing would. Sometimes people go where you are not yet meant to follow. This too is life."

The confidence with which Lark delivered that answer left Tony unbalanced again, sure it would have been perfectly normal for someone to say they would put their life on the line for the kids they raised at least, and while she continued to explain the amount of effort it took those kids to perform this miracle like Tony could even begin to understand the actual weight of 'power theft' or anything else, he was wondering if he really was the abnormal one and how he could possibly ask anyone else how often they thought about dying without suffering through that same look Lark had just treated him to.

At least twice a day had to be the minimum. Right?

He had to blink, realizing he was relieved for once to have someone talking about magic at him since they very quickly were not talking about him anymore, and he tried to piece together as much as possible from all of that information he did not want to listen to to answer, "Okay, but--a trinket and a tree and everybody holding hands, that doesn't sound like a steep price to pay for somebody's life. These kids managed it, and you taught them that, they didn't guess their way into the tree thing, shouldn't you be proud of that?"

"Tony," Lark said, giving him a look like a teacher very disappointed that someone didn't understand a lesson that had been given. "I taught them to never try that. And yes, they guessed their way to the shakkan. Am I glad for what they returned to me? Yes. Do I also know that I spent months tending to the children because the attempt nearly killed them? No. And do I applaud what amounts to attempted suicide?"

Her glare clearly said she did not. Don't make her tie you up if you try something stupid, Tony.

Petulantly, Tony returned, "Lark," like he didn't see the disappointed look, and only melted slightly with the revelation of those kids struggling through a long recovery. Okay, maybe he could see a little bit why the incident had been traumatic when she put that out there. It wasn't all magic trees. Still, her glare only made him rally, aware now that he might not have been trying to defend the kids only after he insisted, "It's not suicide, though, not when it's for someone else. Not when the life they are saving is worth--...more."

"It's suicide," Lark insists. "To attempt, and I use that word specifically because save for the children there have only ever been attempts and they have all failed, then you die for nothing. You die and aren't there for those who love you. You die and you aren't there to protect those who need you in the future. You die and you don't come back. THe most important thing you can do for those who you love and who have passed is to live."

"No. Not nothing, not if there's a chance--" Tony started to interrupt, because there was a chance however much Lark was trying to convince him otherwise. Those kids had found it. She had him clamming up again, though, one hand flexing restlessly at his side and the other rubbing the centre of his chest, clearly frustrated but effectively shamed by her very rational point about dying making you gone. That did put him on edge, very aware that a miscalculation meant he wouldn't be there for the next time something went wrong, but he was still bristling and pointed out, "And all of the people who love the person I let die? They're not any less important than the couple of people who'll show up for the sandwiches at my funeral." He put his hands up then to clarify the position he was arguing from, because he didn't want her leaving here thinking it was a judgmental one; "I'm not saying I think you should put your life in the line like that, not if you don't think you'll make the trip back. You're right, it doesn't sound easy, and I don't hold it against anyone who won't jump into a burning building to save their cats. I'm not...I'm not trying to tell you that you should have done the tree thing."

"For a clear genius, you're quite foolish, Tony Stark."

She didn't have his full name so she couldn't use it. But the way she said it in the moment, it was CLEARLY meant to be her chiding him as someone using a full name would.

"I would jump into a burning building to save a child or a pet. I would give my every breath of life to save an innocent. But I would n o do it when that method was fated to lose. There was less chance for the children to succeed than there are grains of sand on every beach in the world put together. There is difference between self sacrifice and letting yourself die because you no longer wish to live."

The weighty insult made Tony give a small wince, but he was nodding even as he turned fitfully back toward his bench where he could at least have a shoulder to Lark, sure, he'd heard that a few times before and had no argument. What was he doing before she got here? His meticulously organized list of the 52 most pressing projects was not helping him decide where his hands should land.

"You know you're one of the best," he agreed eventually. "Of course your world is worse off without you. We'd be worse off without you. Colder, definitely."

Oh Tony, poor sweet man. She rises and moves to rest a hand on Tony's cheek.

"You're worth a lot to the world too."

Her approach was tracked with a suspicious sidelong glance, and Tony winced again as she raised a hand like he sooner expected to be hurt, though he didn't withdraw. For a moment, he remained tense under that touch, his anxious hands effectively stilled but clearly questioning how much he deserved it, then his cheek was warming with a new squirming awkwardness with Lark's reassurance. They weren't supposed to be talking about him. "World would be a dull place without its fools," he smirked, withdrawing then so she didn't start pinching or something in punishment for using her own words, and he could try to breeze through, "Really, thank you for the blanket. I feel like--I didn't properly appreciate it, before you told me all this, what you were really giving me, who was giving it to me."

"The world would be a dull place with out its noble-hearted geniuses," Lark corrects. And he might have withdrawn but she dod move back in, and go onto her tiptoes, to kiss his brow.

He deserved the reassurance that she cared.

"I was giving you warmth, Tony. Something to keep the chill away. I do that for my people. The ones I care about. So don't go leaving me just yet. The blanket wouldn't even get used. Please use it. It's spelled to keep warmth in. Make yourself a cup of tea, sit down, enjoy the blanket, and remember: love yourself. Before you can save the world, you must love yourself."

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[Closed] If The Forge Isn't Warm Enough

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cw: suicide reference

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