mehanizovati: (43)
Viktor ([personal profile] mehanizovati) wrote in [community profile] deercountry2022-05-27 01:20 pm

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 [plurk.com profile] dichotomy]
megatheorem: (020)

[personal profile] megatheorem 2022-06-30 02:32 am (UTC)(link)
[Ah, that's nice, he could stay here and focus on Viktor's fingers in his hair for a few hours and not have any other thoughts at all, that would be excellent. Instead he simply sits there for a few long beats, before turning his head with a sort of half-hearted puff of a laugh; no, he always appreciates Viktor's bluntness, and he's right. Just give Palamedes more time to sync thought with reality, he'll get there.]

I was thinking about you. [Well-] Us. Don't get me wrong; I didn't want to linger. But I thought, 'Viktor has been standing there for a while,' and that... helped.

[A little bemused, like, is that weird? Does that seem off, in the face of a boat full of murder? Hmm. He shifts to slouch more comfortably against Viktor, head pressed over his heart, reaching across to thread their fingers together and linger on the ring again, a moment.

He sighs.]
And I know. But the leaving is... something.
megatheorem: (207)

[personal profile] megatheorem 2022-06-30 03:32 am (UTC)(link)
[That gets him to laugh again, a more solid sound this time - selfishly, mm, is that the word to use right now? If Palamedes is supposed to be thinking about himself first this time, unselfishly, and Viktor is thinking of him - surely neither of them is being selfish. Or if it is, it isn't as if it compares to the selfishness of killing a boatload of people, so—

Well, he'd rather be here than there, and Viktor is a large part of that. Simple facts. He tangles his fingers into Viktor's and hums, squeezing lightly. A breaking point--]


Do you think so? You know me best.

[A true thing, actually, one he's thought before in purely saccharine terms and never put into proper words. Only Camilla would have him beat, and until she comes out of the sea... well. Anyway.]

I think I had some questions answered in the exact ways I'd hoped they wouldn't be.
megatheorem: (193)

[personal profile] megatheorem 2022-06-30 04:39 am (UTC)(link)
[Ah - and he's left to think about his egregious attempts at neutrality, the strain, while Viktor tries (and fails, damn) to cut Abigail off at the door. He manages to give her a grateful smile, at least, before she's turned and left them alone again, and he's quick to lean back into Viktor much the same as before. Maybe a touch less desperate; but close.]

No; you're probably right. I can't see past my own nose, I know.

[He's tried to remain neutral? To not spread gossip (outside of to Viktor, which, come on, of course), to offer advice and aid without pushing. No one has ever learned best by being pressured into picking one person's viewpoint over another, and yet.

Should he have? Pushed. He doesn't know. It wasn't his place.

He makes an aggravated kind of grunt and reaches for a crummy little teacup, currently the most beautiful teacup he's ever seen because it's here, and not on that goddamn boat.]


You could say I'm figuring out with whom I have irreconcilable differences in the coming... however long it takes. [huff!] That's still too neutral, isn't it?
megatheorem: (103)

[personal profile] megatheorem 2022-06-30 05:15 am (UTC)(link)
I make decisions, [he mutters, an objection without any heat in it. He doesn't stand around with his fingers in his ears doing nothing, which is clearly the only other option, hm. Still! Decisions are made, and regularly, too.]

I don't make decisions for other people. For my own part in... being involved with that house, I assumed I could simply stop coming around and my presence wouldn't be missed. [By That Guy, he doesn't specify; it's implied.] You have to understand: when I woke up here the second time, five weeks had passed— in the space of my untimely demise, the dynamics shifted. They seemed to be faring better, despite my misgivings; I wasn't about to tell a handful of upset teenagers that they should move out of a comfortable home because I said so.

[Or even with good reason; he'd had this argument with himself already, when first speaking to Paul again, looking at him thriving and no longer living in literal squatter conditions— had let Harrow's attachment and Gideon's involvement slide as manageable from the inside, without a second control freak in the mix.

Finally, he remembers to sip the tea. Hmm.]


I don't honestly care what the Emperor thinks of me, personally. But I'm not fool enough to poke the bear, so I kept my mouth shut. He could hardly stand you knowing something so unimportant to anyone else in this place who didn't already know— [He shakes his head.] Of course there was an eye for safety in it. If anyone touches you, all prior stalemates are over. As for the others, I hadn't intended to...

[Force their hands? Push them into the arms of Papa God who is Nice Now, Really? Be a hypocrite? There are options.]

Well, it's gone sideways now. If you'd like a third reason, I really could not be bothered inviting the whole "group chat" [he does the quotes, around the teacup] into my business.
megatheorem: (211)

[personal profile] megatheorem 2022-06-30 05:52 am (UTC)(link)
Have I? Does that mean you'll quit hassling me about the absurd monochrome at every opportunity? I think this is your shirt.

[It's whatever he grabbed from the pile of Clean Laundry, but upon further inspection, this looks like it was once a grey t-shirt with a funny screenprint on it, before someone who doesn't know how to do laundry (Palamedes) was asked to do laundry (oopsie). He plucks at the front of it, left-handed— ah, and the ring is fairly beyond the familiarity of home, too. Truly, this is growth.

He sips the tea again, settling back in close to think about... What Happened.]


The Emperor wanted to, I suppose, punch a hole in the universe to get at the River. He asked them to capture and murder a crew of Trench pirates. [sssssip.] Paul was... making a case, I think, when Ortus pushed me over the side.

[Which they could assume means maybe murder didn't happen, but:] That was before the storm started. I imagine he got his free swing in before Marianna responded.
megatheorem: (235)

[personal profile] megatheorem 2022-06-30 06:21 am (UTC)(link)
[Oh, he is furrowing. To be called out on his grey crimes, in the face of Viktor's own t-shirt? How could he. Thanks, but how could he.]

Hm, unless he was hoping I would drown. [Haha, no, not even absurd enough to be a joke, so he instantly follows that up with,] I owe him a great deal, obviously. What do you give someone for saving your life? A 'greeting card'?

[That's not a bit, he's serious; he would like to show Ortus his thanks and maybe also go over there just to see if Ortus is alright? That shed is truly... well. The sort of squatter conditions he was glad to see Paul leave, so.

Pencil it in. He hums over his next sip of tea, wondering - but no, Viktor is right, what happened on that boat was definitely something of a last straw for fussing around "neutrally." Viktor offers him his unconditional support and Palamedes feels some new shade of madly in love over that, ah, saccharine, but more than that: simple, no dissection needed. No this side or that side or prodding him to spill the information he's collected for so and so's advantage...]


I want to finish my tea, [he says, after a moment, not flippantly.] And then I want to have one of those cakes, to earn Abigail's elusive favor. Let's stay here for a few days, if we can; admittedly, much earlier than planned.
megatheorem: (oh no the numbers are gone)

[personal profile] megatheorem 2022-06-30 02:36 pm (UTC)(link)
That sounds... whimsical. Do we have to cut the fruit ourselves?

[Palamedes could make some really cool and accurate organ-shaped fruit pieces, but probably better to leave that to a- professional? Professional fruit-cutter? It cannot be stated enough that he's never heard of this concept and finds it absolutely bonkers, but in a cute and fun way, at least. A fruit basket...]

Let's bring him a basket of fruit with a picture of a house inside; subtlety is key.

[Ha ha. Maybe consider the house picture though. That's for later; for now, mm - the beasts are certainly already riled in the ocean, that's for sure. He believes it will spread, and with plenty locals already seeming... off, more corruption-prone, everyone here is going to have a lot to contend with, huh.

He says, in his patented 'I know you've probably guessed this already, buuuut' tone:]
I've never been on a vacation.
megatheorem: (this actor smiles like 4 times total)

[personal profile] megatheorem 2022-06-30 08:45 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll learn to make flower shapes, if I must. The work is never finished.

[So world-weary, this young necromancer. No, he's going to make skull shapes and anatomically correct hearts and livers and so on, it'll be great. If they're running low on fruit, the skull can even be jawless! Tada!

All very subtle, indeed. He takes the little cake and immediately questions his profession to want to eat this, hm, actually— no, no. He'll nibble. He's nibbling.]


So no lasers, either? [If they're both banned from work and work-adjacent things, on this vacation... Seems like a buzzkill, actually, but the concept of sitting around stress-free for several days itself is fairly appealing right now.

He has eaten a whole corner of the little cake. He's really into vacations.]


We could work on the book. I'll craft an intricate series of plot twists, and you can keep me honest about how many actually make sense.

[And when he gets in his head and wonders if he should go back to get mired in Empire business, but that's a downer.]
megatheorem: (193)

[personal profile] megatheorem 2022-07-02 02:49 am (UTC)(link)
You'll have to help me. [He knows almost nothing about flowers, or fruit besides the fruit that's been to their kitchen, which, well. Ahem. He wiggles the tiny cake some, for emphasis,] I'm highly experienced in drawing up 'thank-you cards,' though; give me a few bits of differently-shaded paper and wait until I get going. He'll treasure it.

[Ideally, if he's alive, if he's in the headspace to receive an insane fruit basket and a greeting card made of various types of grey cardstock and black marker. Palamedes will put his hopes into the fruit basket, and wait for Ortus to get back to Viktor's message, and force himself not to think about the rest until he really must.

As such, to think about more pleasant things, he cups Viktor's jaw with his free hand and turns his head to kiss the top of his head, lingering there a moment. This - the scent of Viktor's hair undercut with the barest hint of salty sea breeze, from how long he was out there waiting, already fading - this is what Palamedes needs.

And a vacation.]


I'll put some lasers into the book. And, [welllll,] I can think of a few things our heroes would get up to in their free time. Not if you ever want Allen or the others to read the whole thing, though.

[like, they can just admit these cool heist characters are themselves, but super good at action, right. all kinds of actions. Palamedes is not going to write self-insert smut in this book, he's promising.]
megatheorem: (a lad)

[personal profile] megatheorem 2022-07-02 02:49 pm (UTC)(link)
It might. [Absolutely.] Thank you. If you'd like an extended author's special edition, I'm apparently taking some time off work to scribble it all down.

[The secret Nasty Edition, for Viktor's eyes only. Thank god they're both twigs or he'd have to use the word 'globular,' actually and for real. They've been spared that much.

Viktor taking his snacks away gets a brief murmured protest out of him, mostly along the lines of how he was actually eating that and now Viktor is definitely going to bother him about finishing it later, please— but he shifts his attention up, head leaned back on the back of the couch to look up at the only slightly fuzzy shape of Viktor hovering over him. Mm.

He presses up into each kiss with less frantic energy than he had back in the bunker, but the near-death anxiety ekes back in when Viktor circles back to talking about it, anyway. Palamedes reaches for him low, one hand on his hip and the other at the back of his thigh, grip firm and laced through with that lingering fear. It was barely an hour ago that he was in the water? Rough, to think about.]


I'm very sentimental, [he says, leaning his head against Viktor's and closing his eyes for a moment, to get sentimental and linger on the shape of Viktor's relief, gentle hands and eager mouth still shadowed by the anxiety Palamedes can pair with his own. Too close to abject disaster for comfort, still; safe here in Sanctuary, still too close.

He hums and tugs unsubtly at Viktor's hip, a gentle attempt to manhandle him to move completely into Palamedes' lap, come here.]


I will always come back to you— no matter what tries to interfere. Always. [His 'you're stuck with me' quip manifests in the quirk of a grin, instead of saying it out loud.] Right now, I'm not leaving your side for anything. This whole— mess. Whatever falls out from this, we face it together.
megatheorem: (008)

[personal profile] megatheorem 2022-07-03 04:22 am (UTC)(link)
I know; it'll be both. At the same time, I'm sure. I can take it.

[He will gladly take the teasing/not-so-secretly impressed combo hitter, absolutely. In fact, he's looking forward to it; it's good to have goals.

But good, Viktor in his lap was the more immediate goal and he's glad for that, looking up at him with all manner of saccharine, adoring emotions and sliding a hand up under the back of his shirt, of course. He traces a loopy nonsense shape against his skin, eager to press up into another kiss, warm and languid. All of this mess - the reckoning, the undoubtedly coming consequences for certain actions on boats, the growing corruption in the Trench streets - is a lot, he agrees. He expects to, at least for a few days, have a bad time.

But, well. Viktor has a laser, which makes him snort, leaning his head forward to press into the crook of Viktor's neck and kiss him there, trailing back up to his mouth.]


Of course. To scare them away.

[Ethically... No, honestly, he probably wouldn't stop Viktor from firing a laser at someone, depending on the someone. Viktor's judgment is incredibly sound. He reaches up to cup his face, smoothing his thumb over Viktor's cheekbone.]

Whether or not you shoot someone with a laser— [or rather, whether or not this is a bit,] Thank you. You make me feel safe, you know. I can't think of anywhere better for me to be than here, with you.
megatheorem: (296)

[personal profile] megatheorem 2022-07-03 05:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, sure, that will handle things nicely. [lasers...] And it's not a line— careful, or I'll start sneaking love letters into your notes to make you blush.

[And also, like, just because? He's a professional in the art of the sappy love letter, please mentally prepare for this inevitability. He still chuckles into the kiss, soft enough to melt him completely, and he's back to drawing shapes under Viktor's shirt and leaning into his shoulder to listen to this, hm, entirely justified worry about the local Powers That Be.

Darn, though. No tunnels. He scoffs, amused despite it all.]


You know I don't mind staying indoors as long as possible. We'll wait out this storm; I've no idea how long she intends to throw thunder around to make her point, but I won't object to this one— and then... I don't know. The Reckoning is after punishment-dodgers, isn't that right? We haven't done anything that merits the cold hand of the law.

[Well. They stole a chalkboard. But they were also humiliated by a janitor, so that's punishment enough for that petty crime, surely.]

Is it too lackadaisical of me to say I'm glad the Reckoning seems straightforward? I'm looking forward to a thorough lack of ghosts and petty riddles.

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