abraxaslogs | [ CLOSED ] though my feet my rest

Yeah, looking at all this Earth-stuff, stone and ground and snow ... I ain't surprised.

[ And if only he were talking about video games, though at the moment the joystick in place does feel a little more like something for a simulated game than anything that could rely fly a ship anywhere.

He isn't even sure how Horizon ships are supposed to work — or whether they can. He's building something with the hopes that he can fly it but magic's all brand new to him and he's still learning. ]

It's uh ... like a steering wheel for a ship, only less actual wheel but the direction stuff's all the same. And in this case, it'll steer a ship that's supposed to move around in space. I could show you — hold on, I can make stuff in this part of the Horizon too, can't I?

[ Stone and ground, is it? Geralt raises an eyebrow. ] You sound like the men who spend their lives at sea.

[ Space is, frankly, one of those concepts Geralt's been made aware of and does not expend effort trying to understand. He knows there are those who travel through it, and that it functions as a method of travelling from one sphere to another. Something scholars of the Continent have theorized, but is of little use in practical terms.

For the most part, he just accepts what he's told. Why give himself a headache he doesn't need? Life grants those plenty as it is.

At Rocket's question, Geralt lifts his hand and indicates outward. Sure. Rocket can make what he likes, and Geralt is curious enough to want to see. ]

Well, it's space, but yeah. It ain't land.

[ #helpful

Nevertheless, it's with that nonsensical, he-has-no-idea-how-it-works-but-it-works magic the Summoned are all full of that allows Rocket to create the object in question.

The spaceship joystick kind of appears on the top of the table they'd been sharing their drinks over, looking less like anything that could be used for a video game, and far more like something that could steer a vehicle. But the rest of the gist is there: a moveable stick that can rotate in all directions, with a special little button on top for acceleration or detonating some kind of defensive — if needed. ]

There you go. [ And this creating stuff outta nothing thing is still so freakin' cool. ] The idea is that this thing gets hooked up to the rest of it.

[ There's something to be said about the fact that Rocket considers both sea and land as all land. He supposes once you reach the stars, it's difficult not to see each planet on a much smaller scale.

He takes the joystick, turning it over in his hands. Between tinkering on the car alongside Dean and the motorbike gifted to him, the wires and buttons that make up the device aren't as foreign to him as they might've once been. It's still different, though. Most steering instruments he's seen are wheels. What's most curious is that Rocket has started with just the steering device. It reminds him of how he'd begun his cabin with only a pile of logs and an axe. There's only one reason for that he can think of. ]

You built your ships on your world, too?

[ Otherwise, why not imagine the ship whole? Rocket must know what components fit where to create it piecemeal.

After a moment, he offers the joystick back to Rocket. ]

When our spheres collided, those who survived the landing became trapped in a single realm. I suspect they'd have given anything for a ship that took them home.

Nah, not the same way I can in this place. I — uh, fixed up some ships, made 'em better, but it's kinda hard always being on the run, and parts aren't easy to come by to build a whole new ship.

[ They take a lot of thieving without getting caught, Quill usually had a way to get a brand new-ish ship (and those ships weren't bad), and they didn't end up having a whole lot of downtime anyway. Saving the universe, it turns out, is kind of a full-time gig.

Go figure. ]

But it's something I've always wanted to do, and I dunno why I'm telling you this. [ He takes the joystick back, and sets it back down so he can resume finishing his drink.

He hums. ] I guess the thing about having a ship means you can fly away from someplace, or fly to someplace. [ He downs the last of his drink and slaps the mug back down on the table. ] Options.

You ever thought about leaving your home if you could? Maybe fly off somewhere else?

[ On the run, hmm? From what feels like a natural question, but Geralt keeps it to himself for now. With one as Rocket, it could be many reasons.

His expression turns thoughtful. He tilts his head. ] I did. When I was a boy. But I never imagined flying off the sphere. Leaving home meant crossing into the next kingdom.

[ There are those who don't set a one foot past their village gate. It's a lot more effort to achieve when your options are to walk for weeks or saddle up a horse if you're lucky enough to own one. Venturing into another world was so beyond the realm of possibility, it never crossed his mind even in a childish fantasy. To him back then, to most of the Continent still, there were no spheres to go to. They were supposed to have shattered during the Conjunction.

Now he's here. Off-world in a way he never expected. ]

Oh, yeah? Anywhere cool?

[ After seeing the looks of this place, Rocket's curious now. What does the rest of Geralt's world look like? Do kingdoms ever change the way they look, and now that he's thinking about it, he actually isn't sure he's familiar with what the hell a kingdom even is. All he can imagine is the Sovereign. ]

Yeah, about that — you really never leave your planet, huh? Guess I still gotta get used to the idea that people just ... stay on their one planet their whole lives.

[ No. They don't. The only other memory he has of leaving the sphere involved a dead world full of scorched red sand and dust thicker than the storms in Cadens. ]

I prefer staying on land.

[ Hell, he's never even crossed the two seas to reach the southern continents. There wasn't a reason to.

He pauses, tilting his head. To Rocket? He has to wonder if the swathe of trees and lakes are of any note for one who hops from planet to planet. ]

I imagined castles. Cities filled with people. I didn't see much beyond our cabin until I was... [ He searches for a word not so charged as abandoned. ] Brought to Kaer Morhen. Here.

Was it a shock? Seeing all that new stuff. And then coming to this place, Abraxas I mean, and hearing about all these other worlds, other lands.

[ 'Cause to him ... well, it's still kind of surprising; it's almost even humbling in a way, to know that even with access to a spaceship and the manipulation of time, this Abraxas place and every last stinkin' planet all of the rest of the Summoned come from could still be beyond his reach.

Most of these places he'd never even heard of. Hell, being in this snow-covered stone-walled hall is impressive. It ain't a place he'd want to live on, but it's still worth the visit. ]

[ Was it? It isn't accurate to say no, but Geralt often focuses on the immediate problems. The vast wonderment of the world was the last thing he considered. He was preoccupied with being put in a dungeon before he could gather his bearings. Then there was the question of how the fuck Ciri stood before him from several years into his future—a girl he didn't remember ever meeting at the time. When they finally fled to Cadens months later, this world had grown familiar.

It's a complicated answer. Geralt distils it into a sparse, ] I had other shit on my mind.

[ Helps Abraxas bears similarities to the Continent.

Geralt evidently has other things on his mind now, too. Or perhaps he just isn't one to carry a conversation for long. A brief silence passes before he simply rises, pouring Rocket the last bit of the liquor. ]

I'm needed elsewhere. [ He has things to attend to in the physical world—though Rocket hasn't been unwelcome company. ] Stay as you like. Just don't break anything.

[ Well, when he gets a refill on his liquor, who is he to just leave it and split?

He nods instead, looking as though he's happy enough to remain settled here, drinking and observing this strange snowy cavern. ]

Yeah, sure. [ What's left here to break? But never mind that. He lifts his mug in salute. ] You go do your thing, I'll lock up before I leave.

[ It's a joke. ]

[ CLOSED ] though my feet my rest

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wrapped! 🎀