abraxaslogs | [open]

[Viktor looks back at the gate, trying to imagine what Kyle describes. Yes, he supposes that's true, but he's also confident that he could protect this place, if needed. Explaining that to Kyle, who is more than accustomed to searching for weaknesses to exploit, is not exactly easy.]

Anyone who needs our help is welcome.

[He says that with his eyebrows raised, like it should be a given. Viktor is not in the habit of turning anyone away, though now that he's being gently interrogated about the actual workings of the Commune, he wonders if perhaps he should have.

But that would be antithetical to what he believes in--why should he, gifted this power, withhold it from those who need it? He would be no better than the Council and their privileged use of Hextech.]

We don't allow weapons here. They're confiscated at the gate.

[ Of course Viktor offers his help to everyone. This is what he loves about him, and also finds deeply frustrating right now. Both affection and disbelief play across his features, eyebrows raised right back at him. ]

How many men are at the gate? You have someone pat everyone down?

[ Just because he can, he goes about a more gentle pat down on Viktor than he would for someone he was actually attempting to remove arms from. What do they do with the weapons, in the case of those who stay? Are they stored somewhere, are they destroyed? He would not even need to use his powers to infiltrate this place. What about all those ledges and crevices wide open around the commune? Not to mention the fact that Viktor says they are in the fissures, is the earth stable enough here? He should plan a way to evacuate for that alone.

He keeps the questions to himself for now, knowing it doesn't matter very much except for the point he tried to make minutes ago - that Viktor does need him, or someone like him.

If a god walks the land, there are ways to harm him. He knows this best. It scares him. ]

Do you have anyone here to watch over you? If you're just letting people come and go - you should have guards protecting you.

[There is one (1) guy at the gate--Viktor's face says as much, though his confusion is swiftly giving way to frustration. It was a dream, after all, and there's nothing material either of them can do about something that is a world away, frozen in time. He makes an indignant little noise, suffering Kyle's pat down, and that more-or-less says it all.

Viktor does not, however, like the idea of somehow being greater than the members of his commune, even though they both know that to be true. He doesn't want guards. He doesn't want to think about the dangers lurking just outside his gates--the ones that have already arrived. He doesn't want to admit how fragile it is, the peace he's managed to create.

He reaches out to still Kyle's hands.]

I'll make you my chief of security. You can personally vet everyone who wants to speak with me.

[Now there's a small smile on his face, making it clear that. This is a joke.]

[ He lets Viktor take his hands again, catching that hint of a smile and almost beginning to return it before he scowls. Viktor is teasing, yes, but - ]

I would gladly do it.

[ That will be the last thing he says about it, for now. He forces himself to remember that they have much more immediate problems to contend with outside of the dream of this place, with the Singularity and it's disruptions.

Still, he knows Viktor wanted to share this with him, and he's only been interrupting.

More softly this time: ]

I want to see the rest. [ Not the security tour. His gaze shifts to some of those moving shadows going about an approximation of daily business. ]

I know.

[Kyle has made that much very clear--despite how Viktor feels about it, he knows he won't be dissuaded. His display, the deference, is something Viktor will not forget anytime soon. It reminds him that, no matter how he tried to maintain that everyone in the Commune was equal, it wasn't true. Viktor was in possession of a greater power, and all of their lives depended on him.

That's what he keeps in mind, as they continue to walk through the Commune. There are water pumps, gardens, fruit trees. Some of the buildings appear to be for housing, others, blacksmithing and crafting. Medical tents and a lookout tower. Ostensibly for the residents, but based on the movement of the shadows, Viktor seems to be serious, about this place being open to anyone who needs help, even if they don't want to stay. He begins to walk them back up towards the temple, letting Kyle take in the echoes of activity.]

Before I woke up, the Doctor came to visit me.

[He sounds solemn, at that.]

[ Viktor says this isn't his duty, but it still is what he wants - to stay with him as long as he can, to protect him - both are intertwined in his mind. He circles back to Viktor's offer, giving that more time to settle as an actual possibility someday as they begin to walk.

Kyle tries to keep count of the shadow people, and quickly gives up. He touches things as they walk: the yellow flowers, a craftsman's tools, a windchime hanging from a metal arch. He dips his fingers into the cool, clean water coming from a pump, pulls a piece of fruit from a tree to occupy his mouth as he follows. Much of this place is beautiful, and he tells Viktor so as they approach the dome-like structure, shining like gold.

He stops, seemingly taken aback by that information. ]

What did he want?

[ His tone is carefully neutral again. His thoughts are cold - there are few people he wishes he could enact violence on, and this man is one of them.

He cannot imagine the Doctor sought Viktor out for anything good. ]

[It is a feat even for someone like Viktor to keep all of these impressions-of-people going at once, but he does his best so Kyle can get an idea of how things function. From far away, the figures are light on details, but as he gets closer he'll see that they're all wearing the same motif, circles and spirals.

Viktor himself looks thoughtful, knowing that he's about to prove Kyle right, about his security concerns, but wanting to discuss the matter, anyway. The conversation still lingers.]

I was harboring someone of interest to him.

[Someone, not something. Viktor had found the experiment abhorrent--the idea to use Vander for his own ascension even moreso.]

He proposed that we work together, to further my power.

[ He notices the uniformity in their clothing, the symbols that spiral across this place, touching everything - how they dress in white, while Viktor drapes himself in dark colors. He makes no comment, expecting by now that little of this is intentional on Viktor's part, at least not that they invoke the trappings of followers while he sets himself apart.

He doesn't even bother pointing out that what Viktor is telling him now is exactly one of his worries.

Instead, he moves closer again, running his hands down the sides of Viktor's arms. He knows Viktor's fears about some of this, about becoming like this man who styled himself a mentor. Kyle still believes they're nothing alike. He touches Viktor's face, brushing back his hair. ]

And?

[ Please tell him you told him to leave after that proposal. ]

[Viktor shakes his head, sure that's what Kyle wants to see. It's not untrue--Viktor has spent a not insignificant amount of time trying to separate himself from his first mentor, resolving never to be like him. He understands a bit more now, especially with his new insight, but he cannot say he'd ever sacrifice others to achieve his own goals, not in the way Singed wanted him to.]

His motives were transparent. He was not interested in the merit of my work, only how he might use it towards hid own ends.

[For what he could potentially do for his daughter Viktor has sympathy, of course. It does not excuse the harm the Doctor caused.]

I asked him to leave.

[ He nods, toying with the leaf-shaped clip on the front of Viktor's robes - recognizing the symbol from the journal in the lab. ]

The other man? How was he involved?

[ The one Viktor was harboring. ]

He was...an experiment.

[Viktor says that with some distaste--and sadness, thinking of Powder and Violet. With the benefit of hindsight, and the knowledge of his time here returned to them, he understands why Kyle is anxious. This, combined with Jayce's return at the same time, feels like a convergence. To what end, he can't be sure, only that something must have been about to happen.]

There were those who intended to use him as a weapon, and the Doctor was interested because of certain regenerative abilities. [The culmination of his own research, apex Shimmer.] His daughters brought him to me, to see if I could help him.

[ So the Doctor had moved on from torturing creatures, then. Or at least planned to, between this man and Viktor. He likes none of this, obviously. He doesn't like to think about Viktor making himself vulnerable to all these people - not just the ones who would abuse him and his power, but in a selfish way he worries about Viktor giving so much of himself to the ones seeking his help. That atonement is part of it.

He lets his palm rest flat on Viktor's chest for a moment, looking down at it. ]

Were you able to help?

I was. It was a difficult case, but we were making progress.

[This is about where his dream ends--the conversation with the Doctor, the Noxians at his gates, and still, so much work to do. Even removed from it, seeing things more clearly, it all feels so tenuous. Viktor's gaze drops, slightly, to where Kyle presses his hand to his chest. There's no heartbeat beneath his palm, only the strange thrum of magic.]

I awoke before I could finish. I was expecting Jayce to visit, but the dream ended.

[That is a bit harder to say, and he gauges Kyle's reaction.]

[ He's still curious about Viktor's power to heal, the actual function of it, and how he wields this new power. But then he mentions Jayce and Kyle looks up to meet his gaze. If he feels anything but positive about the two of them reuniting in the future, he keeps it buried - he wants Viktor to be happy.

He lets his hand fall back to his side with a soft smile. ]

I'm sorry it ended before you met. [ At least he got to see him briefly, even if it ended poorly. ]

Have you seen him at all since... ?

[ They parted. ]

It's all right. You must remember I had no knowledge of my time here, in the dream. That...changes things.

[He has more context. He feels differently about everything, with this added information. Jayce hurt him in an entirely different way, in the dream, and with no romance between them the pain is different. Less acute, perhaps.

Here, with all of his memories back, makes everything more complicated, though it doesn't change the fact that Viktor wanted to see him, despite it all. He still wants to see him.]

I did not see him in person. But I did send a message, to come visit. I wanted to show him what I've accomplished here.

[ There's the slightest flicker of embarrassment across his features that Viktor thinks he needs to be reminded. ]

I know.

[ These futures may as well be visions of an entirely different life, a different path. More likely, though, they are the future they should expect if none of them can find a way back by their own means, their memories of this place destroyed in the process.

He reaches out to brush his fingers against Viktor's wrist. ]

Maybe you find a way to work together again. [ In that life. His brow furrows. ] But - I know you will see him again.

[ He tries to only sound hopeful for him, even though this is the same as talking about how they will part one day. ]

Edited 2025-02-20 20:49 (UTC)

[Part of him is still processing. Part of him knows that the point where the dream ended is a situation just as untenable as returning to his illness. The problem he wants to solve--to return to their homes with memories of their time here--still needs to be solved. Everything about journeying the cosmos with Kyle is hypothetical.

Viktor comes to a stop near the temple, turning and taking Kyle's hands in his.]

I hope he would see the merit of all this.

[Despite the circumstances under which they parted, and despite the fact that Viktor already knows Jayce is not coming to the Commune in his right mind.]

It is everything I hoped our work could do.

[ Kyle lets their fingers thread together again, glancing into the wide open entrance of the temple - all that golden light causes the entryway to appear darker, obscuring the inside of the structure. ]

You miss him. He must miss you the same. [ A beat. ] Maybe you both needed this space, to find compromise.

[ He generally tries not to speak for this man he never met. But he understands now, bending for these reasons. For someone. ]

Edited 2025-02-21 05:28 (UTC)

I do.

[Viktor misses him, and the wound is more fresh now that he's dreamed of more time together and awakened to the memories of their relationship. He wants to think that Jayce misses him, too--but this Jayce, the one from the dream, was never his intimate partner. Quite the opposite, in fact.

His Jayce might still be out there somewhere. He wonders what he would think, seeing what Viktor has become.]

But that doesn't mean I am unhappy.

[He is happy, with Kyle, in ways he never expected to be.]

I know.

[ This time he says it with a small smile, somewhere between faintly sheepish and wry. He turns Viktor's hand in his own, running his thumb over his knuckles. ]

It's easy to tell when you're not unhappy.

[ It's only Kyle finding himself being possessive about what they've shared together now. And other things. He frowns a bit. ]

- it's just that this vision... it makes me think of what it did to John. [ To come into his power. To find himself forced to fight a war. No one knew he was the Rifter, but people still feared him - it must have been isolating. ] I don't want you to go back and... have this change you too.

[Viktor returns the smile--fair enough, it seems to say. The rest, well. He can see how this might be concerning, to someone like Kyle. He knows enough about John to understand where this is coming from, and though he wants to insist that this is different, that it doesn't necessarily mean Kyle's fears will come to pass, he can't promise.

He holds Kyle's hands in his, and standing at the entrance to the temple it almost feels like they could be performing some kind of ceremony.]

I'm proud of what I've accomplished here. The journey was not...what I anticipated, but at least I'm able to do something.

[He wants this--or he's convinced himself that he does. He's finally bringing his work to those who need it most.]

[ What happens when someone finally comes to stop you? he wants to ask. Instead, he looks conflicted for a moment, not wanting to lead back into the same argument - one Viktor does not seem to have an answer for yet, anyway.

He turns toward the temple's entrance again, to finally ask: ]

What work do you do here?

This is my private space.

[They can go in if they like, though Kyle will find it strangely empty. Viktor has places for his more physical, scientific endeavors elsewhere on the premises, but this is where he makes himself the most vulnerable. Research in the psychic plane leaves his body idle, so he's carved out a place here for only himself.]

I meditate. Explore various arcane phenomena. Conduct research that is more...metaphysical in nature.

[ Seemingly with permission, he will walk inside. Past the threshold it becomes lighter within the inner space. He's not sure what he was expecting from the exterior - maybe something closer to the greenhouse from earlier. He's certainly not expecting towering visages or golden script like the Payshmura's aesthetic, but neither did he predict this space to be so empty and almost colorless. Something about the strange texture in the stone or metal (he can't tell what it's made of) feels off and slightly unpleasant as well, reminding him of the nests of stinging insects. He can't determine how any of it was made or constructed. ]

You meditate?

[ There's a faintly teasing lilt to his voice, an attempt to mask his discomfort with this room. ]

Sort of.

[Just in case Kyle things he's spiritual now, or something. Truth be told, Viktor isn't quite sure what to think of all this, only that the arcane has provided him a new way of viewing the world. Perhaps he's become more receptive to the idea of a higher power.

Kyle can probably guess that Viktor requires neither food nor sleep in this form, though it still doesn't explain the design and construction of this space, only that everything in the commune has taken on the spiral forms of wild magic.]

I have access to a kind of...psychic plane, that allows me to operate outside of my body. [So, it doesn't necessarily matter what the temple looks like, on the inside.] I could show you, if you like.

[open]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

me trying to explain things the show doesnt bother to

im so sry

(no subject)

(no subject)