abraxaslogs | [open] march catchall

[It’s a slightly funny question, considering where they are and the fact that he can literally make anything, if he wants to, but, yes. Of course he has tea, though for a second his expression indicates that he has to remember where it is.]

I should, yes. Hold on.

[He chooses a desk drawer and produces a metal tin, which, when opened, is stuffed full of a mishmash of tea bags. Viktor looks a little sheepish about the general disorganization of it, but he hands it to her anyway so that she can choose, then he busies himself with heating water.]

More modern than Cadens, yes, but still behind some of the other Summoned. [It’s been a humbling experience, to hear about other worlds where things like space travel is the norm.] My work involves the harnessing of arcane energy using technological means, so you can imagine where the level of advancement might...diverge.

[it gives their current sense of the world a flavor of control. here they can create and compose as they please, all the while keeping to a sense of normalcy while surrounding oneself with what is, in essence, 'home'. she takes the tin and smiles despite the disorganization—picks out a packet of elderberry tea, and organizes the remaining ones in neat rows.

she sets the tin gently on the center of the desk by the time he speaks again, should he want to pick one out for himself, and sits back, waiting.]

Arcane energy... Is it like magic? [terminology might be different, but it certainly feels like many concepts, across the multiverse, are much the same.] Some people in my world tried to do something similar with very powerful, cosmic gems. It meant new weapons and the possibility of winning wars.

[this is not a call-out, but what wanda is curious and questioning about should be quite obvious. is that what viktor works towards, too? weaponry?]

[Well, at least the tea is acceptable. Apparently it hasn’t occurred to him that “creating anything” might also mean “instantly heating up water”, but there’s something familiar and relaxing about the process. He sets out two clean mugs, and while he waits for the water to heat up, refills his with coffee and starts spooning sugar into it. A lot. Several spoonfuls. Probably too much, but it does occupy the time, and when he’s finished he hands her the mug of hot water, trading it for the helpfully organized tin.]

Uh. Yes, I suppose you could call it that. Naturally-occurring magical forces.

[It is magic, it just sounds more scientific to say the arcane. It’s no wonder that this is her line of questioning, given their first conversation, and Viktor is happy to talk about it—at least until she expresses some concern. Then, he’s quick to jump to his own defense.]

No, no. No weapons. [He’s adamant about that, and perhaps only a short time ago he would’ve sounded more confident—but the question of whether or not to weaponize his technology had been the last conversation he had, before arriving here.] That’s not what my work is about. I won’t see it used that way.

[they're all just trying to have a sense of normalcy amidst all the crazy stuff, aren't they? wanda's lips stretch into a smile, happy to make herself at home now that she's got a mug of hot water in her hands. in goes the tea bag, and she lets it steep.]

Naturally-occurring?

[—well, she would think all magic is naturally-occurring, even if enhanced by cosmic stones. doctor strange would have a thing or two to say about how it all works, but perhaps by 'natural' viktor means more... found-in-nature like.]

What is your work about? I don't think you've ever [her eyes rove over the papers on the desk, some neatly hidden, some in plain view.] said exactly.

[He nods through a sip of his coffee (if he's at all alarmed by the logical conclusion of Too Much Sugar In There, he certainly doesn't show it), letting her know that she's on the right track.]

Think of it as an energy field. Some are born with the power to reach out and bend it to their will, though I've never met anyone with the ability. My work involves harnessing it through technological means.

[He pauses a moment, gauging her expression--he still feels like he's treading carefully, talking openly about Hextech like this.]

My research partner and I developed a conduit that channels the energy. Function is dictated through a runic system.

[she nurses the cup between her hands as she listens to his explanation. understanding of how elemental energies, magic, arcane, or whatever one wishes to call it, from a different world can take time. it certainly makes wanda stop and consider what she knows herself about her own world.

nodding, she brings the cup close to her lips, letting the steam dance to the rhythm of her words.]

Sounds fascinating.

[...not entirely new, as far as she understands the use of HYDRA and the scepter which contained the mind stone, but certainly fascinating. to wield these 'energies' through a conduit definitely requires out-of-the-box thinking.

wanda does not doubt viktor is a very intelligent man.

finally, she takes a sip from her tea.]

Runes are used in my magic, though not for every spell. There is power in symbols, it seems like.

I've...done a fair amount of research on the subject.

[An understatement, and even he hasn't worked on it as long as Jayce, who has chased that dream since childhood. Even still, he often feels like he's only scratching the surface. Then, to be thrown here and exposed to all other kinds of magic systems, including Wanda's, which doesn't seem to be bound to any laws of physics.

But that's why it's magic, he supposes. Viktor nods.]

It's true here, as well. To my understanding the arcana serve a similar function, when it comes to casting spells.

[it sounds like an understatement, but as much as wanda has been surrounded by some egomaniac of a scientist, viktor does not seem to her at all similar to any of them. quiet, definitely scrawny, and looking like he could have better eating and sleeping habits—sure—but never crossing the realm of worrisome arrogance.

maybe that's why she sits here despite her better sense on the matter.]

And you could learn it, too. It's what I've heard.

[since magic flows differently, here in abraxas. she tilts her head to the side, looking over at the grand window overlooking the table she sits at.]

Do you have questions? About magic.

[Just a little bit of an understatement, but he finds anything else a little bit too hard to explain. Best to keep it simple, for now. If he picks up on the fact that she’s judging his character, he doesn’t really show it, instead lighting up at the prospect of learning magic on his own.]

I haven’t touched on it, much. It all seems a little impossible to believe.

[Viktor hardly knows where to begin—he’s heard that the Summoned often manifest a power upon their first visit to the Horizon, but he isn’t quite sure how to find out what his might be, or how to go about using it.

Something to keep in mind, at least, and it’s helpful to have someone more experienced here, ready and able to answer questions about it.]

You might asking me that. [If only because he has a lot of questions.] Are there others like you, where you’re from?

[it's only a little too bad that wanda can't necessarily help viktor with the whole 'learning abraxan magic' aspect of things, given that she finds no need to actively involve herself in it, given her own merits. all the does is smile at how he doesn't believe it's quite possible.

probably with good reason.

taking another sip of her tea, she sets the cup down on the table so she doesn't have to hold it.]

You might say it seems a little impossible to believe, but it was not until recently that I knew that my powers were considered 'magic'. [and so, to answer his question:] There are sorcerers and witches where I am from, but not too many, as far as I know. I have only ever met one other witch and two sorcerers, but I am sure there are more.

Science is more common.

I find very little impossible to believe, these days.

[How can he be skeptical, when he's been transported to an entirely different world? Magic in other places--magic that he can learn--it's all part of his broadening horizons in ways he never thought possible.

He nods through a sip of his own coffee, indicating that what she says makes perfect sense.]

It's the same for us. I believe I mentioned that I'd never met a real mage, before coming here. I can't imagine what it must be like, to have the ability but not a way to define it.

[And no support network either, it sounds like.]

It is absolutely terrible.

[not quite the experience she would vouch for, or hope for anyone to have. when it was her and pietro, she didn't really find a need to define what her powers were; it was the two of them, after all, and it was enough to just be.

certainly, things are easier here for magic users—particularly in thorne and solvunn.

she continues, however, a small sigh of exasperation as she moves away from that topic:]

We had gods, too, from another realm within our own. The impossible exists for us, but in small amounts. Catastrophic enough amounts, anyway.

It must have been difficult. I'm sorry.

[He has nothing to apologize for, he knows, but it seems appropriate to offer sympathy regardless. It's what he might like to hear from someone else--not pity, just understanding. He hopes, at least, that things are easier for her now.

Everything else gets a slight raise of his eyebrows, because gods is a little hard to swallow, but, as he just verbalized, he finds very little to be impossible, now. Catastrophic, however? That's new.]

Are you glad to be removed from it?

In part? I am. There isn't exactly much for me to return to.

[or at all, if she thinks about it, but removing herself from her own planet earth doesn't mean that she can extricate the pain that comes from grieving her loved ones away; they are all certainly dead, and nothing will change that. there is perhaps an ounce of hope that perhaps vision or pietro may show up one day—like many of the already-dead summoned—but knowing her luck in this universe.

it's probably best to not put her hopes on that.]

Though I suppose, much like yourself, I was in the middle of some studying to implement later. I am at a loss here without my — book. [a sigh] Not that I've given up. Solvunn is just lacking as opposed to Thorne, I've been told.

That seems to be the case for a handful of us.

[Though, Viktor doesn't necessarily count himself in that number. He'd like to go home--he'd like to live long enough to go home, but that's why finding a way back isn't a priority. He needs to figure out how to save himself, first, and then he can worry about reverse-engineering the mage's ritual.]

Your book? [Probably easier to talk about than some of the other things they've all left behind, and he understands the frustration of comprehensive resources being strewn across the factions, because they all prioritize different things.] For your magic?

Yes.

[quite simply put—]

It was given to me by another witch. Details a lot of useful information. I told you before that I didn't know my powers were considered 'magic', so it's the way I was working on understanding them.

[a light smile]

I imagine I can try and learn from those here instead.

Yes, I remember.

[Having that torn away from her, well. He's sure it's frustrating, and not unlike what he's experiencing, with the Hexcore. The difference is that he'll be able to retrace his own steps.]

Have you tried to recreate it here? It's not perfect, but I've found the Horizon has a way of...filling in the blanks.

[He gestures to the books around them--he certainly didn't recall them all word for word, but so he'd allowed the powers here to draw from his own knowledge base, and iterate accordingly. Don't ask him to explain how it works. Maybe it's just his subconscious mind.]

[recreate the darkhold? yes, that much has crossed her mind. however—]

It is a magical book. I would only be able to recreate its design, not its contents.

[if only she could describe it to viktor, the way the content burnt on the pages as her eyes roamed over them, seemingly wanting to show her what she wanted to read—what she needed to read. magical artifacts are entirely out of her scope at the time being, especially considering that the darkhold draws its content from a chasm in her universe.

surely it would not be able to connect to the dark dimension?

hm.

she takes another sip of her tea, and concludes:]

It is not a normal book.

Ah. Yes. That does complicate things.

[He gets it. He's still feeling out the rules of this place, and had been expecting limits. It's not surprising that an item with magical powers might find itself in conflict with the equally-magic Singularity.]

But, to my understanding, there are very few limits, here. This might be a valuable place to practice what you do know, at least.

[With no fear of property damage. That's mostly what he's doing.]

[she raises an eyebrow at his suggestion, and the laugh that escapes her isn't so much a slight at him as it is just thinking of how absurd her circumstances are.

wanda waves a hand as if to dispel any misunderstanding.]

I fear to practice what I want could prove a little too dangerous.

[her smile is sincere. to use her chaos magic, recreate the hex in some capacity—she never wants to lose control of her powers like that again, and her goals require a little more universe-bending work than otherwise.]

It's not that simple, unfortunately.

[—but, that's a lot about her:] What is your world like?

There's no danger here.

[Of course, he has no real idea of what she might want to do, nor does he know what might happen if someone infringes on someone else's domain or otherwise damages it. Viktor sees only possibility, with the added advantage of being able to piece everything back together with the power of his mind, in the event of disaster.

She says it's not simple, so he offers a shrug, conceding the point. She knows her magic much better than he does, after all, and it doesn't surprise him that she might not want to share, opting to train the conversation back on him, instead. He's not opposed, necessarily, but he does seem to take a moment to consider where he wants to start.]

Piltover. [No sense in going through the entire geography of Runeterra--he'll keep things local.] They call it the City of Progress. As you might imagine, we're at the forefront of scientific innovation on the continent.

[He should sound proud of this, maybe, but for some reason he can't seem to muster it.]

[open] march catchall

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