deercountry | june catch-all

Who: viktor and others, open to all with some closed prompts in comments
What: june catch-all, some tdm prompts
When: june
Where: various

content warning; terminal illness, arcane season 1 spoilers

misc lab stuff and various fruits.

[viktor's lab in the willful machine is usually left unlocked when he's working inside. friends or acquaintances have likely been told they're welcome to stop by if they like, either to say hello or to get help with whatever a vaguely sketchy lab could handle. of course someone he doesn't know can just walk in too or knock. maybe there's a sudden downpour and that ajar door is tempting? go for it.

the lab has been slowly filling with all sorts of nonsense on the various tables- lasers! tasers! some weird machine hooked up to a blood gem? it is not unlikely to be walking by and hear some minor booming noise and either a curse in czech or a satisfied 'a-ha!' feel free to investigate.

this month there's something else too, a bowl full of fruit. all the fruits mentioned in the tdm in fact, there to be tested on though it looks more like they're just for guests if people are unaware there's some weird shit going on.]

Just a moment, make yourself at home. [he might say to guest. that would include eating some fruit, right? enjoy. probably not the raw lemon though, that's weird.]

[ooc; if you want to memshare i am game, my only hard limit on memories is no suicide stuff please. self sacrifice is fine! feel free to ask to make sure one is okay. if you'd like a viktor memory let me know any hard limits and what sort of memory you might prefer!]

gaze and time loops.

[having lungs mostly working for the moment is pretty great, in viktor's humble opinion. it means walking around the trench doesn't come with the risk of coughing up blood and attracting beasts and generally having a bad time, along with added perks like not getting so easily winded and going for longer. it also means he finds himself out longer than he usually would, which maybe isn't the best, as it turns out.

for example, making his way home through gaze and hearing the chilling cry of a beast, sighing and trying to make his way around what turns out to be the wrong corner. maybe that's where he sees your character before the snarling of a too close beast starts in earnest.

and then snap! they're both back about an hour, where they passed on the street. the look viktor gives is somewhere between resigned and 'fuck this, actually.'] There is a term for this. 'One of those days,' I think.

[ooc; if you'd like to wildcard or do something else you can pm me here or find me at

dichotomy]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[the offer, the mention of abilities that already help him see it better, have viktor lifting his head a little higher. he doesn't want to have to ask a stranger for such a task, whatever that task may be, but he's so damn tired. too tired to bother with things like rationality or pride, even to fret over the vulnerability of it.

the fact the man knows jason helps, and with a soft sigh he says,] I have heard of a possible way, though if it works I could not say. I also cannot promise it would not be dangerous, or transfer whatever this affliction is to you, or something similar.

[Blue hesitates - less about the hazards suggested, but rather...remembering the hazard he himself could become. yet despite that, he'd done right by Jason, hadn't he? and to turn away when there's a chance to do good...he can't do that.

so he resolves to try. he must. because he is who he is, and who he has always been is someone who helps.]

You may have little cause to trust me, a stranger... [he puts a hand over his heart.] But I wish to try. It would be wrong not to, not when I may have the means to with my own abilities.

[viktor can't help a little laugh, humorless as he shakes his head.] This place... people are prone to generosity. In truth it always makes me suspicious, even if I agree help should be given when one is able to. It's just rare the world agrees, wouldn't you say?

[it's almost more to himself, and then after a pause he holds out his hand.] Apparently we just need to grasp hands and close our eyes. [it's probably clear he doesn't think this will work, and it's probably why he hasn't bothered trying it. it's too simple and odd, with little explanation of what happens next.

but... they can try. so he'll try.]

[Blue's eyes fall to the extended hand, his own still staying in place, fingers curling in a bit.]

So...it is a matter of minds, is it. [minds and blood and all the fell influences of this place. maybe he really was fated to be the one standing here.

he closes his eyes for a beat, exhaling in a sigh before looking Viktor in the eye again.]

My natural abilities...let me see into the hearts and minds of others. It's a power that's much stronger when I can touch someone directly.

That may be what is necessary. [a slight pause.] Are you willing to risk it?

[for a long beat viktor considers it. his kneejerk reaction is to pull away, he's never been one of asking for help let alone trusting strangers. people always had an angle from his experience, at least until he met jayce. until he came here. ]

I'm tired. [he admits with a sigh, not quite ready to say something like 'i am too exhausted to fight against the fact the people here are changing my expectations of people as a whole.' that's a matter for another time.] And I'm willing to risk it, if you are willing to try.

[he hand stays outstretched.]

[Blue's brow pinches with sympathy; that admission alone takes strength - more strength than it takes to walk away, really. so he won't question it anymore. instead, he nods, reaching to take the sick man's hand, bracing for the shock of information that will inevitably follow - and the things he doesn't expect to follow, too.]

[viktor doesn't expect much, in truth. maybe he falls too heavily on hoping for little to avoid disappointment, and in this case the shock of the world shifting when he opens his eyes again is a wholly unpleasant one.

the smell is what hits him first. sterile, a chemical undertone an odd mix of the piltover hospitals and the back of his old mentor's lab. the entire room is muted and clean, the sort of bleached cleanliness intent on killing anything with the vaguest intention of growing.

he's on a bed, tubes running up his nose and throat that he immediately sits and pulls out with a hacking cough. the silence of the room is ringing, not even the beep of a heart monitor. just the bed, a chair someone is sitting in, holding his hand-] ... Blue?

[Blue, indeed. the Mu's red eyes open, blinking slowly before widening to take in the new environment. it's not just the external sensory stuff at-hand here, either:]

This place... [he looks around.] Have I fallen into your mind? The framework has your scent... [his brow furrows.] But there are other things here...

No, it's not...entirely you at work here.

I suppose it worked. [he murmurs, and this time when he coughs blood splatters messily onto the bedsheets. it's far more than it should be, dream logic twisting the sensation of his real life bloody coughing fits into what they viscerally feel like.

he grits his teeth and swings his legs over the side of the bed, wiping at the blood on his lips.]

What do you mean? This... it seems like a dream. Are we not alone?

[dream or not, the sight of blood compels Blue to sit forward, to put his free hand on Viktor's back and help stabilize him while he's shifting in preparation for trying to climb out of bed.

to the question, Blue has to pause and consider.]

It's possible I'm wrong, but...this place doesn't feel entirely your own. There's...a tremor, of sorts. Like...an instrument playing out of key in a symphony, in a way.

Perhaps it is the root of your unrest.

That would- would explain things. Sometimes... when I wake I have bruises from injuries in the dream.

[even blue can probably notice now the heavy quality of the air, the way the walls seem to lean in, a nightmare mimic of difficulty to breath. the smell is getting more chemical now though viktor seems keen to ignore it, regarding blue instead.]

You've done this sort of thing before? Gone into people minds.

[the heaviness...it's not just the atmosphere. unconscious parts of Blue relate too much to the feeling of entrapment in frailty, and it's bringing back the body's memory of just how dreadfully weak and heavy he'd felt upon waking from his 15-year sleep. keeping his eyes on-task helps, so his eyes stay fixed on Viktor.]

Yes. My kind...Mu, we possess abilities to hear and feel the thoughts of others. Walking into dreams...I've done so many times.

The quality of this one is distinct; we'll need to be careful where we tread. But the will to root out what's hurting you...I think you need to keep that as a focus in your mind. You may be able to have more command here with that feeling in mind.

[~~forgive me i lost this notif like a fool and thankfully checked~~ viktor nods, even if it feels sluggish. he gets to his feet with some effort, asking,] So not just a paleblood ability. I admit that sounds... tiring.

[so many people, so many feelings and thoughts. he frowns, looking around at the walls.] I will try to. I can certainly put forth wishing to get some interloper out of my head. [a crooked quirk of his lips to blue for that, trying before his attention turns back to the walls.] I don't suppose I could will a door or something? I do not know how this dream business works.

june catch-all

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