abraxaslogs | Set my sights on the setting sun

[ Kyle's drink doesn't even have liquor. It's some nut-based milk-tea concoction with a mix of spices he'd never heard of before. Thankfully, it's subtle and not overly sweet. There's even ice cubes.

He seems immune to Istredd's grumpiness and dissatisfaction, but then to be fair he isn't attached by the hip like Lucifer has become.

Getting Borrel instead of Hayle is disappointing, but curious. Either the duchess holds enough power to refuse, or it's a smokescreen for Thorne not wanting to give them access.

He glances at Istredd, raising an eyebrow and muses: ]

I forgot we arrived at the same time.

[ Do people even celebrate these like anniversaries? ]

[Istredd Is Not Fine.]

I don't know, the weather? [Lucifer is also not the social expert. He's usually looking to get something, transfixed on survival and paranoia, or theorizing. Sometimes all three at once. None of them are normal and none of them know common behaviors.]

You guys weren't that long after Wilhelm and I. [He did, technically, celebrate Wilhelm making it the year. Gave him something gift-wrapped and all. But really it was just the timing being convenient to Lucifer's spell progress and yeah, of course he'd give it to Wilhelm. He needs more protection than most.]

[ He is Mostly Fine. Hayle felt like it was in his grasp finally. It's frustrating, that's all. And as usual Istredd has a tendency not to let things go so he'll be plotting on his own for the next few months trying to find an in. It's the same doggedness that led him to the truth about Cirilla. He has a sense for when something is able to be accomplished.

But it wouldn't be obvious to anyone on the outside. Istredd is very good at seeming calm.]

The weather is hot, at least you can enjoy that.

[ That to Lucifer, who hates cold climates and runs cold. So it must be a brief reprieve from that. Istredd will give it that one thing to its credit. ]

Yes, next month for us. Time here feels longer. I had about fifteen years where I didn't realize more than a few months passed. That was an exciting time too, just a different kind. One that I doubt anyone else would call exciting.

[ Dry on that last part. That was when he was caught up in researching what he needed for the dig and then setting it up and getting started. It was a time of exploration and early discovery so he was incredibly focused and months turned into years of work. Istredd is a little wistful about it, that was a less complicated time for certain. ]

The rifts are interesting, I wonder what it could be a sign of.

[ That doesn't have to necessarily be a conspiracy topic! Natives notice the rifts and probably have their own opinions too. The lights heralded the Fey. ]

[ The weather, really? He raises an eyebrow at Lucifer now, letting out a small huff when Istredd makes the comment about him enjoying the heat. The weather was still quite cold when they were last at this beach. ]

You can work on your tan.

[ He wryly directs that at Lucifer and takes another sip of his drink, fully intending to use Istredd as a shield for himself now.

What Istredd says next about time is interesting, though. After learning the mage's true age, he wondered how the passage of time would feel here - and the same for Lucifer. ]

No, we're not talking about rifts today. [ There's a decisiveness. Didn't you tell him, Istredd, that he could decide what he wanted for himself here?

Even as he tries to insert something teasing into his tone there still remains a tension across his shoulders as the topic comes up, though. Nothing about the rifts is good. Not their appearance, and not the talk surrounding them. ]

It does feel longer for me too. [ Returning to the previous topic. He has a perfectly normal human lifespan, but time still sometimes moves in leaps and bounds. ] It's strange to realize I'm a year older already.

[He wasn't aiming for good topics he was just aiming for what Normal People seem to fixate on!] It's either that or the rumor mill, which none of us like, and I think can all safely agree on liking it even less currently. [Because rifts, and the Summoned.

So that's also off the table.

But Lucifer would look stellar with a tan don't even put that out there, Kyle.] Time isn't something I typically process [which he knows Istredd understands to a lesser degree] but here it's been... [He waves a hand.] Abnormal. Stuck between too slow and much too fast.

There's a rumor mill?

[ So there goes how much Istredd is aware of it if there is. This is the same guy who didn't realize until Michael of all people brought it up that people thought he and Lucifer were together. Months before it was real, a strange sort of rumor-filled prophecy.

Istredd sighs but he salutes Kyle with his glass to indicate he understand about the rifts. He did say they would attempt to do something more 'normal' and they'll have to learn by doing. ]

We are unstuck from time as we know it, so that makes sense. It shouldn't pass the same way to us here.

[ If they can be sent back to random points in their timeline, for example, or taken, it's simply detached from their existence. Although he doesn't know if that's small talk enough for this conversation, so he doesn't bring it up. ]

Okay, how about this? What was the best part of the past year? Outside of meeting each other.

[ That really would have gone without saying for him when it comes to Lucifer and they probably all know that. This makes him think it could be small talk.]

I'll go first. The first time I stepped into my domain and it just ... filled in.

[ He shoots Lucifer another odd look like you didn't mention this?, but lets it drop there for now, fairly certain if it wasn't communicated before, it will be now.

At the salute he tips his head toward Istredd, taking another sip of his ice cold drink. There's more to be said about time, too. How it relates between worlds. But of all the things he's shared with Istredd and Lucifer, he hasn't spoken about his own experience actual experience with gates, and the function of time.

Those are thoughts he pushes back, brow furrowing at Istredd's suggestion of conversation topic. ]

Your domain was something else back then. [ The monolith. But that's off topic too, so... ]

The first breakfast I had in the castle.

[ It was overwhelming - eventually in a good way. He had needed to go slow. All the options, all the rich flavors - sweet and savory. Things he could only recognize from Nayeshi in his broken memory. That must be part of what distorts his sense of time.

Anything else he might mention would have to do with Jack. ]

[He shoots a look right back at Kyle and does not just let it slip away for later, pointing directly at Istredd while focusing on Kyle.] No, no. This. [He circles a finger through the air as though circling Istredd's face, shaking his head, eyes wide.] Is not my fault. You have no idea how much effort is involved in this.

[He makes a quick, snipped sound, looking back to Istredd just as fast, now shaking his finger.] You're making us look bad. [He thought maybe Istredd was getting better about not being completely in the Book Zone but apparently not.

Oh my god.

Fine. It's fine.

They're having a perfectly NORMAL conversation right now. Just ignore if Lucifer puts his face in his hands for a few moments and finally orders a drink that does not have fey-levels of alcohol in it that he wants now.

He remembers Kyle's reaction to Thorne's meals. Lucifer gave him a lot of shit for it.] First time in my domain, nope, would not rehash, no thanks. Second time though... yeah. [The Horizon really probably is the best thing for Lucifer, and he's still trying to truly crack it.] Creation, true creation. Craft. [Istredd knows some of how he feels, Kyle does not. He shrugs, like it's nothing, but there is a brightness to his eyes at seeing possibilities.] My kind have never [a pause, stumble, ignore that] we've never been allowed it after everything was 'set in stone', as it were. For it to just be common place [for the Summoned, for so many] is just... insanity. Beautiful insanity.

Edited (I can't completely commit to shushed okay don't @ me ) 2023-07-21 04:49 (UTC)

[ Istredd looks at Lucifer with such deep annoyance and the continued irritation can be felt in their bond as well. With a touch of warning in there too. He is in no mood for it. ]

I see someone wants to sleep alone for the foreseeable future.

[ Usually he would say that on their bond but they are not supposed to do that around Kyle anymore, out of respect, to not talk around him. Besides if Lucifer is going to be a prick out loud, he'll be a prick back.

In typical Istredd form negative emotions don't last long and he is far more interested in the responses to his question than having an argument with his significant other right then. His attempt at a small talk question didn't go poorly, so it's worth shifting his attention. ]

You didn't get to eat before? Thorne does have good food. At my dig, most of the food and drink was inedible.

[ It is rude that Lucifer follows up his insulting behavior with genuine vulnerability but it's always the key to making him soften. It's nice to see him open up in that way to other people. ]

Have you been, Kyle? It's beautiful. The limestone and forest part is my favorite.

Edited 2023-07-21 12:59 (UTC)

[ Kyle is having regrets.

For the sake of peace he chooses to say nothing until spoken to directly and make eye contact only with a bird perched some near distance away on a railing of the boardwalk.

He listens to Lucifer's answer, though, in a rare moment where he speaks about what he is, his world, his kind without something like rage simmering beneath the surface. Angels still remain an odd concept to him, but he feels something like glad for Lucifer, that he experienced something he considers worthwhile here. Something he couldn't have in his own world. They each have that in common.

To Istredd's question he laughs at first, then shakes his head. He wasn't starving, it was - ]

My home world is... damaged, compared to others. [ He doesn't recall if he's mentioned this before to either of them. That's what a year and so many segmented truths will do. ] It's been that way since I can remember, we don't have the same variety in livestock and crops.

[ Another shake of his head, then a shrug. ]

I might've passed it by. If it's wild looking, I probably avoided it. [ He tends to explore domains with human-built structures. Maybe it's the lizard-brain fear of the unknown and untamed realms. But he cocks his head at Lucifer. ] But I would visit sometime, if I'm welcome.

[ That's the other thing. ]

Edited 2023-07-21 16:43 (UTC)

[Kyle Likely Always Has Regrets.

Lucifer's response is a low hiss, because they are in a new place, not because of the people he's with. Twinged with desperation.] The Summoned are being blamed for the rifts, Istredd! How've you missed that?! [Istredd gets the quiet thrum that he may've felt before he was nabbed and subsequently unconscious a few months ago. Lucifer's truly blown away that Istredd hasn't paid attention on his own, especially after that.

He sprawls out wherever they're at, not caring about any passerbyers. Hrrrrgggghhh.... urgnkl...] The snake won't eat people I associate with. [She doesn't eat his friends, okay. He's not saying it out loud.] She only eats people I command. .... I think. I don't know I'm not actually there much either, but you're free to explore. Just don't go into the red water.

[ Istredd rolls his eyes. ] I know about that. I'm a telempath.

[ You idiot, implied in his tone. The telempath thrown in is because Istredd doesn't read minds freely, but he absolutely gets vibes/feelings from people sometimes without meaning to. If they're radiating it at him, it's very clear. ]

The rumor mill as a term means petty nonsense to me. Like when they used to gossip about us.

[ Back in the Brotherhood it was over small usually interpersonal shit that he intentionally ignored. He wouldn't call what they're talking about a rumor as it's very real, but apparently it had to be clarified. ]

It is wild and vast, Kyle, but I think you'd like it. The caves are a good quiet place to sit.

[ Istredd ended up there two separate times while in the Pit, Dersti curled around him but he only made it about two minutes before disappearing. ]

I changed the monolith because it was unsettling to someone I know for personal reasons. I thought it rude to keep it that way.

[ He hasn't actually explained this to anyone. No one really asked. ]

Edited 2023-07-21 17:28 (UTC)

[ Kyle slides a an inch down in his chair, stretching his legs out beneath the little table, nodding at either of them whenever the conversation gets directed back his way.

Well, it's nice to know he can visit without being eaten.

The edges of the table are flaking off pieces of rusted metal. He starts helping them along. ]

[If he had a soul it would be exiting his body.

Yeah it needs to be clarified, Istredd! The rumor mill is the rumor mill, all-encompassing, petty and not!] I don't think I'm changing anything out completely just melding something else over and in. So less an act-now see something-before-it's-gone and more... potentially under construction.

But... I don't actually hate Thorne's landscape though [just the political climate] so honestly there's worst places we could've ended up. I'm not a city-guy.

[ Istredd does manage to feel a little guilty given Kyle's reaction since it was his idea to attempt to have a normal drink together. ]

I'm sorry, we're used to bickering in private, I know it must be off-putting in person. We'll stop.

[ An apology that's needed so Kyle understands they are not actually mad at each other. Or at least they never end up keeping any of it. They have contrasting personalities that sometimes go in perfect harmony and sometimes end up sparring. That's the problem with spending almost every minute of your time with someone. The rhythm doesn't quite work for everyone.]

I very rarely went to cities but I can see the appeal. This sphere isn't actually that different from mine in terms of land and conflict. They're more advanced in technology than we were.

[ So he's even more backward than this place, compared to the type of modernity the other two are more aware of. ]

[ Listening to anyone bicker over semantics of a misunderstanding is tiring, but he seems slightly amused by Istredd's apology. Gives a one shouldered shrug with a half smile in response - it's fine. It would have been more annoying to watch them having yet another silent conversation.

Also he sort of partially instigated this one when he started shooting looks at Lucifer.

Anyway. ]

I guess growing up somewhere isolated had the opposite effect on me. [ he muses, almost fondly, still picking at the rust with his thumbnail. ] I like the city.

[ He likes blending in. Being able to watch other people living their lives. But he also likes people far more than his two companions, he thinks. ]

[The drawback of them actively avoiding mental conversations is welp... Kyle actually has to deal with the other aspect of his friends.

But Lucifer is now Tired from that mental runaround so he's more likely to......

..... Behave.

Ish.

~~It's completely Kyle's fault.~~ And though he (currently) can't read minds, it almost seems like he read Kyle's.] Yeah I think by this point most people, at least at the castle, know my views on humanity. [Don't make THAT statement worse, Kyle. He's already gotten... better since that particular rancid conversation.] All that gunk up in the natural world. Smog and pollution and grime. Hopefully Free Cities is maybe better than that, but I doubt it's 'free' of chemicals.

Isolation, and now you're stuck with us instead.

[ The two of them speak so frequently mixed with out loud and inward that it's actually more difficult to focus on only one. Istredd relaxes when Kyle seems to shrug it off, which is a relief. He has a handful of friends now and their opinions do in fact matter a great deal to him. ]

He's decided some humans are tolerable recently.

[ Istredd smiles faintly about that, two of them being at the table right now. They've talked about it more in depth, but it seems fair game since Lucifer doesn't mind talking about his otherwise disdain openly. ]

I very much doubt they are like the cities from your sphere. Don't you have those mechanical carriages? And those boxes with pictures on them. They don't have anything like that.

[ Listen, don't look at him for not knowing the words car or television off the top of his head. They only existed to him recently when it was explained. The point is that Abraxas is closer to his setting than to theirs. ]

All three of us are used to being isolated and being here changing that.

[ Kahlil glances from Lucifer to Istredd, an eyebrow raised. Even after all this time, and the fact they're sitting here together in relative peace, he's not sure he ranks amongst the angel's 'tolerable' humans so much as 'useful', but in the end it's probably all relatively the same thing to him.

His own grudging affection will probably get him killed one day.

Lucifer talks about gunk and Kahlil remembers the smell of the exhaust from a passing bus, the noticeable grey ring around the horizon, just below the clouds. It's different for him, though, coming from Basawar - a world where even the air was thinner. Basawar didn't have light pollution, but even the night sky in the middle of Seattle was more vibrant than the one in Amura'taye. Nayeshi in its whole flawed entirety could only seem beautiful to him. ]

Cars and television. [ He supplies the names for Istredd. ] Something like trains will probably come first, though.

[ That's how it went in Basawar.

He says nothing to them changing, though he does smile before taking another drink. ]

[He immediately grins at Kyle, more in reaction to Istredd commenting in Lucifer's tolerance, all toothy like the shark Summoned they've all no doubt seen around at outside-Thorne gatherings.

There and gone, conversation continues as normal.] Magic puts a different spin on things, I suppose. Why bother with messy transportation if you can just put a stationary portal somewhere? But I wonder if whatever they're doing over there has any different kind of emissions. Magical fumes.

[ Istredd is positive that Kyle is on that list which is why the implication was there, but he sees that toothy grin from Lucifer and rolls his eyes, taking a sip. It would be great if his quirks weren't downright adorable (to Istredd). ]

Thank you.

[ Genuine gratitude when Kyle provides the names. He can't really keep up with all the strange devices he's shown in the Horizon by others. It's why none of them have been adopted in his space, although people are welcome to bring their own gadgets and what have you into the library. Istredd doesn't know what other people do in there when he's not around, it's intentionally a public space. ]

Magical corruption can be sensed, depending on where you are. I suppose like the way fumes smell, they're felt.

[ Chaos corrupts when mishandled. It could be similar in any kind of magic, he's fairly certain. ]

New Magic, however it works, probably has its own stamp.

[ He frowns at them both. The 'magic' of his world is incredibly different, he thinks. It's not even called by that name. ]

Magical corruption - like distortions?

[ In space.

Most of what he knows about the effects have been dealing with Basawar post-rebellion. The damaged places of land where large attacks by Jath'ibaye had been dealt. The way it had changed the Gray Space there. ]

[He holds up a finger because it does need to be pointed out.] I'm literally just spitballing. [AKA making shit up.

But also that's how a lot of their ideas are sprung is Lucifer just running his mouth.

He glances at Istredd, because Istredd actually sounds like he's talking with experience.]

[ A glance at Lucifer and a shrug. ]

I'm only curious.

[ They're not doing a deep dive today. It's against The Rules. ]

I suppose you could say it's magic used in an unnatural way. Distortion would be, yes, or reverted spells, for example.

[ AKA what happened in the Pit. They don't have to go deeper into that, he's just saying that the intention behind some of what happened there did require magical corruption in Abraxas. Istredd thinks they're still not in conspiracy mode because this is just talking about magical theory more than anything else. Sure it's walking the line but they can also do whatever they want. ]

I don't think they sense the difference here the way in my sphere it can be. Because they've always had so much magic, the absence or difference in it is minuscule.

Set my sights on the setting sun

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