continuation of a meme thread (closed)

[perfectpower]

BEEP BOOP see tag below (I'll add memes here later)

Comments

[becomerobot]

Not one to be left at home like a sad puppy, I see... [a joke, but also that would be the vibe, wouldn't it? Except Viktor is certain this mage would not keep to himself. He'd either be roaming around the city unsupervised... or follow after Viktor. Which is preferable?

Moreso the latter, indeed. Viktor bites into his toasts, chews, and swallows before answering further.]

The work I do is held in the strictest of confidence. I cannot simply invite you in on tour... but if you are my new muscle, to move things about for me, e-e-eh... [he make a yes-no wave of a gesture. It would be a shoddy excuse, but if he kept Brad to his office and the common areas, there shouldn't be much fuss made. He takes another bite of toast,]

[perfectpower]

[Brad is more cat-coded than dog-coded, but this works.]

Hey, I was a day laborer when I was out on work release from prison. I can act the part at least.

[The way he just says things is amazing.

He will indeed follow after Viktor when Viktor leaves though. Good luck confining him anywhere.]

[becomerobot]

[The way Viktor just doesn't react to hearing Brad was once in prison is astonishing. He just chews his toast and considers that like it's any kind of small talk.

Who in the Undercity hadn't caught a case, after all? Viktor nearly did, impersonating a student in the Academy... it was only be good grace that he amused and impressed Councilor Heimerdinger with his antics and skill.]

That is a humorous notion. Trying to keep a man who teleports when he sneezes locked up, I mean.

[perfectpower]

Yeah, it's part of why they put me in work release. They couldn't keep me locked up any longer.

[That's a wholeass story that Brad is sitting on there too, but for now he's snickering about it like it's a fond memory.]

At least being on work release I'm not violating the terms of my prison sentence if I end up in the weeds somewhere.

I'll keep all of this quiet too, no need for your co-worker to hear that you've got a felon in your home.

[becomerobot]

[Viktor swiftly finishes his toast and eggs as Brad speaks. He eats quick, habitually taking very little time because there are better things to do with those precious seconds... but also because that's how he grew up. If you didn't eat everything you were given, and quick, then someone would take it.]

A felon and a mage, sheltered in my own bed no less. Described like that, you're a true terror to the people here. [He straightens up and gets his crutch beneath him, moving towards the door. Viktor grabs his coat and slides it on, before slipping his shoes on,]

We can keep all that a secret between us. How should we have met, if either of us are asked?

[perfectpower]

The hired muscle isn't such a bad idea. Just say you need another pair of hands around your lab, and that's what I'm here for.

[He's certainly strong enough for it, even without his magic.]

As for how we met? Well, that co-worker of yours is already assuming we fucked, so you could say we met at a bar.

[He worded it like that specifically to fluster Viktor. But yeah, the "I boned him and now he's my lab assistant" seems like the path that will get the least prying questions asked, because everyone else would be too embarrassed to ask about it.]

[becomerobot]

[Flustering Viktor is... quite difficult. He's also taking the idea of decent cover story seriously. People would talk like that. He contemplates with a focused look on his face,]

Playing into a more scandalous angle would detour further prying. [Brad meant to fluster him, instead he just made Viktor scheme more thoughtfully,]

Eh, it is too unlike me, Jayce would see right through it. Picked you up at a bar... no. Picked you up from a gutter? Perhaps... [Viktor does have a soft spot for those in need, so that's more in his character than trying to pick a man up for sex]

[perfectpower]

[Well. Brad has been found in gutters before, so.]

Drunk in a gutter, let's go with that. And the job is to help me get back on my feet.

[Bouncing ideas off of Viktor for a backstory is actually kind of fun! Hopefully he doesn't slip up in the explanations at any point.]

[becomerobot]

That will do, yes. [Viktor gestures for Brad to follow along with him, ready to go out and hurry along as he promised his co-worker. Going outside reveals a lush courtyard, Viktor's apartment on the lowest floor of a nice complex, just across from the Academy. Professor and scientist accommodations, nothing as nice as the major families of Piltover had, but still swanky for what they were. The city is truly gorgeous, everything paved and plastered and painted cleanly.

To find a man drunk in the gutter here would look odd. Definitely not impossible or even improbable, just odd against the pristine backdrop of such an affluent place. He locks the door behind them and begins his usual walk out of the complex and through to the plaza. Once they enter a space with more people, Viktor seems to get recognized rather often, though never stopped.]

[perfectpower]

[For their whole walk there, Brad is a good hired muscle man. He doesn't cast a single spell, not even little ones like a locking spell or anything, and he tries his best not to show how interested he is in the lab. Actual work sounds boring, but the thought of getting rid of his curse is enough to keep him on board.

Brad actually hums as they walk along, keeping a slow pace so he's right by Viktor the whole time. Brad's magically-inclined mind is already thinking of ways to help Viktor move faster, but he keeps those thoughts to himself in this anti-magic city. It's best if he just looks like an odd companion and nothing more. He won't try to strike up conversation here, instead leaving any potential hellos for Viktor to deal with.

The walk is quick though, and soon they're at the academy. As soon as they're through the doors, Brad takes a few steps forward so he can take in the view. It sure is something, especially to someone who never went to school.]

So this is where you work?

[Brad, thinking Viktor works for the whole building.]

[becomerobot]

[Viktor would say he works for the whole city, so his answer is nonchalant,]

Yes, impressive, isn't it? A true monolith. [there is some wryness in there, something about it clearly not sitting fully right with Viktor. There is hubris and privilege to such monuments, even if they are places of work. Good work, even, or so he likes to think of his Hextech dream...

Viktor will not show him deep into the facility, opting to go to his own more public facing office rather than the lab. He walks in and hears the phone ringing already, trying to get to it quickly to answer, but missing it. A huff as he redials...]

I just got in. There is work for me at my own office and I have a... guest. Helping me today. [right, their cover-] If you need anything moved about, I can send him to assist. He should be plenty capable.

[perfectpower]

[A guest, he says. A cocktail grin appears on his face as he thinks of an excellent way to keep up the charade and be a menace at the same time.]

If you pay extra I'll do the work shirtless too.

[He says that during a pause in Viktor's conversation, so the person on the other line hears it too.]

[becomerobot]

[The comment makes Viktor's eyes go wide a moment before he rolls them, smirking,]

... On second thought, I really shouldn't send him anywhere unsupervised. We will remain in the office. Call me with any questions.

[He hangs up, quickly, so Brad isn't getting any more quips in.]

Do you find this so amusing? People talk. [judging from the lingering quirk to Viktor's expression, his quietly bemused tone, it doesn't actually bother him. He's just... surprised that a man like Brad would lean in to far to the ruse.]

[perfectpower]

Let 'em talk. I ain't showin' anything I don't want others to see.

[He means his magic, but he doesn't know if anybody could be listening in here, so he winks.]

The best parts are in the pants anyway.

[becomerobot]

Keep your best parts to yourself, won't you? I have work to do.

[Viktor dismisses that, but his smirk speaks to his general amusement with Brad. He moves towards the central desk, littered with various stacks of papers and odd tools, but the chaos is organized. Somewhat. Seems Viktor has pulled many the items in here he no longer has a need for and just left them around because, well, they're a hassle for him to lug in and out.

He's about to delegate such a task when a coughing fit catches him. It's severe enough his manners aren't really on the mind to cover it, instead gripping the table with both hands just to not fall over from the force of it. Several long, wheezing coughs later and he seems to collect himself. Bleary eyes, he's simple glad to see he didn't hack blood onto his notes this time...]

[perfectpower]

[Whatever silly comment he had been about to make, it slips right out of his mind when he sees Viktor coughing. This is far more than a cold a dust cough too, with how long and severe it is.

Without realizing it, he moves over to Viktor and gently places a hand against his back to steady him.]

Need some water?

[He won't ask if Viktor is alright, because clearly he isn't.]

[becomerobot]

[He is far from alright and he's glad to not be asked about it. Too much to explain, too self pitying a tale to tell. Viktor can't afford to let his health stand in the way of his goals and ambitions.

That doesn't mean he can't look after himself when he should-]

That-.... y, yes. Please. [he's disoriented for the moment so the hand against his back is appreciated to ground him. There should be a table with fresh water and glasses for guests set out in the office,]

[perfectpower]

[For a moment he's about to raise his hand to get a glass of water via magic, but he thinks better of it and just walks over to get it. Then he brings it over to Viktor and sets it on the table near him.]

Here, this'll help.

[He knows he can't do much else to help either. He's just not that good at healing magic. There's others on his team that could do something, but they're thousands of miles away.]

[becomerobot]

[Viktor steadies himself out from a lesser fit of coughing, clears his throat as much as he can, then hastily drinks a couple gulps of that provided water. The last mouthful he swishes around and spits back into it, sneering that it's tinged with blood. He pours that out into a nearby potted plant, which was already dead from whatever tests he'd been running... couldn't hurt it, now.]

Thank you. [said curtly, not because Brad annoyed him in any way, but he's frustrated at the state of himself. He needs to find his own solution-

That doesn't mean a mage couldn't help. Even if just- maybe, give him more time-]

... I've heard of magic being used to heal, but I always presumed it was... wishful thinking. Fairy tales. Is there any truth to that?

[perfectpower]

[He should have expected this question. It's a natural thought after seeing the things a wizard is capable of. Brad doesn't have great news for Viktor, but Viktor deserves an honest answer.]

Healing does exist, but it's the riskiest kind of magic out there and really shouldn't be done except by experts. Like, I can heal a broken bone or a cut, but more complex healing than that could be deadly or worse if I try.

[He's guessing Viktor's health problems do not originate from a stab or broken bone, so.]

That said, someone on my team actually does specialize in healing magic, and could make a lot more of an impact than I could.

[becomerobot]

That is what I suspected. Spare me the moment of wishful thinking and forget it.

[What ails Viktor is complex and has only compounded with time. Various problems, difficult to pinpoint and diagnose. The end result is the same. He will not live a full life at this rate. He will not accomplish what he set out to do, for himself or for others.]

It is not your problem to solve. If you would, please sort through those books stacked at the end of my desk. They are color coded to their place on the shelves. [it would be nice to have them back where they belong, instead of haphazardly thrown about. Viktor needs to sit down and pour over his notes on the Hexcore and its most recent activity.]

[perfectpower]

Guess so. It'll only be my problem to solve if it's asked of me.

[He's shrugging it off, basically, but leaving the door open to come back to it if Viktor changes his mind. Brad could take Viktor to his team's headquarters and talk to the healing specialist, should he ever want to try. But even that isn't guaranteed.

At the direction, Brad moves to the stack of books and begins sorting them. This would be trivial with his magic, but he's committing to the bit and doing it manually.]

...I've seen stuff like that before. Up in the North, where both food and light were scarce. You eke out a life on the fringes of civilization, and it catches up with you over time.

[He should know, several of his human siblings died from such illnesses.]

[becomerobot]

[Viktor will remember that, the agreed upon dismissal without shunning the idea outright. Perhaps, if he gets truly desperate- No. No, no, he should figure this out for himself. No easy way out. (As if being traveled potentially to the opposite end of the world just for a chance is easy...)

He sits and listens to Brad relate with him. The north, huh?]

It is like that here. Piltover is a gleaming, beautiful monument, but it was built from the blood of its Undercity. I grew up there, and it was just as you said, with all things scarce. [the most important being clean air]

[perfectpower]

[He nods. It's always the scarcities that hurt people.]

With us it was the lack of sunlight. We only got a few hours a day in winter, and we never had the right foods to make up for not getting enough sun. Me 'n my gang got by on the stuff we stole from rich people, but not everybody was lucky enough to get an orange.

[Also, wizards are just naturally hardier. Bradley would have been fine regardless.]

Who would've thought starvation and not enough sunlight would be harmful, right?

[becomerobot]

Ch.... who could ever guess? [Viktor muses softly, reading his papers and taking some stray notes. He wants to ask Brad more about magic, about being a mage, but this is not the place. Anybody could walk in or just listen through the door if they were curious enough.

And he's sure word has gotten around that he brought this strange, attractive man in with him. After running late. Rumors always get around, the more novel and scandalous the quicker spread,]

... could you come look at some symbols for me? [he speaks more quietly, to signal that Brad should not say too loudly if he does understand the Wild Runes that Viktor had transcribed from the hexcore, the byproduct reactions of making demands of the Arcane... maybe a Mage knows how they function,]

Tell me if you recognize any of them...