abraxaslogs | promise me

As usual, when the portals to Nocwich open, Wanda is quick to make her way there. Anything, in a way, to skip over the mundanity of the commune, but also because she gets to meet up with people who have become increasingly important to her. Jayce had her promise earlier in the day to meet him so that he could satisfactorily hand over his gift, and Wanda was past the point of telling him what to do and what not to do.

All seems well; however, when she approaches the inn, she can already tell that something is wrong. It's the way Jayce stands, how he looks a little more haggard than usual (which is anything slightly left of perfection), and so her steps quicken, until she stands before him, a plain and obvious concerned look on her face.

"What's wrong?"

Jayce is a terrible liar and he has never been good at hiding his pain. His expression may be hard, his jaw a little tight, but the story is there for all to see, especially eyes as observant as her. Sorrow, not anger. Crushing sadness, but no guilt, not like the time he came to her about Viktor. He hasn't slept well since the day Viktor coughed so hard he almost passed out, and they knew their good times were over.

He should have known better than to think he could hide it from her, but maybe he didn't want to. And it couldn't hurt to let people in Viktor's life know, because he is terrible at reaching out, even now. Jayce offers her the box.

"Open this first and then I'll explain."

Inside is a delicate bracelet, deceptively simple, of Luna's famous dark metal. The bracelet itself is designed to look a little like adjourning leaves, but the clasp is the important part. A large W held together with a P in the middle. A nod to her brother, on the birthday he wasn't here for. Sentimental.

"It's a unique metal, it amplifies magic and it also protects against it. I know you've got that in spades, but it reacts faster than instinct." Jayce put a protect enchantment on it, in case she's ever taken unaware.

Wanda hates the idea that something that should bring her joy is laced with the idea of bad news, but—that's just how things are, aren't they? She decides to humor Jayce, taking the box that he offers her, and opens it; she didn't often get birthday gifts, not since she was much younger, so this is certainly something that she accepts excitedly, bittersweet as the feeling may be.

W and P on the clasp.

Wanda and Pietro.

She stares at it for a moment longer as he explains what it is, its unique metal attributes, what it can do— he's barely done explaining and Wanda moves forward to wrap him up in a tight hug. This bracelet could literally save her life or something else as miraculous, but she's still bruising the emotion that she feels at seeing the letters with her name and her brother's.

"Thank you," she says quietly against the fabric of his clothes.

Jayce would typically spare her the sadness that he has, but she's too observant, and beyond that, he has no idea if Viktor will be willing to reach out to those he cares for. He struggles with that, with allowing people to care for him, and Jayce wants better for him.

But this present is about Wanda, not about them. Jayce only sometimes creates jewelry, it isn't his specialty, but he has been designing more these days due to the new metal. Bracelets, necklaces, anything that could look deceptively nice but secretly be magically relevant. She will have an amplified defense mechanism. Yet, he knows it's more than that. He made it to be more than that. She spoke of her brother and this is a birthday without him. Maybe having this reminder in a simple way, not always unpleasant, will help.

The fact she immediately hugs him tells him the symbolic meaning was appreciated. Jayce wraps her up in his arms and smiles, grateful that his instinct was right. He can be a very sentimental person. Sometimes that works for him. Wanda is dear to him and he holds her gently. "You're welcome. Happy birthday. I'd love to hear some stories about him, some day."

Wanda stays in his embrace for a moment longer, basking in the warmth and sentimentality that she feels exuding from him. Amidst the sadness that he carries, there is a very real care for her in all this.

She nods, happy to one day talk about Pietro a bit more. Sometimes the memories of him catch her off-guard and helpless to do anything but feel the turbulence of their effect on her, but this much she could probably do one day with Jayce, if she's prepared for it.

Now, she pulls back, the bracelet held tightly in a fist, and she looks up at him.

"Perhaps you can tell me what bothers you first," she says in turn, because she can feel it so prevalent over the rest of his emotions.

Jayce is someone who understands the value in speaking of the dead. He has nothing but good memories of his father, who died when he was a child, and he felt that always remembering him was the way to keep him alive. It's why he feels such a proud connection to the Talis Family symbol too, and puts it on many things. Besides, he thinks that Wanda's brother had to be something special, considering who she is.

He is glad that he could see the impact of his gift before he gets to this next part, so she knows that this was about her first. Jayce looks down at her and takes in a deep breath, shakily letting it out.

"Viktor's fading. The healing isn't working anymore. We always assumed his illness would adapt and push on, and it happened. We're hastily working on the Hexcore and figuring out how to fix him medically and magically." Well, the Hexcore isn't magic per se, but Jayce's magic is part of it. This is all said in sort of starts and stops, blurted out from an emotional place, and then paused.

"If we can't cure him by the end of the month, it's over."

The project that they had been working on, it comes to mind to Wanda fairly quickly, as Jayce speaks of what it is that they have been doing—the reason why they've been doing it. Truth be told, Viktor didn't look great the last time she had seen him in person.

It's easy in the Horizon to mask away imperfections and health issues. This much catches her by surprise. She can see how troubled Jayce sounds.

What is worse? Not knowing when death will come, or knowing the exact time and date of its arrival?

Wanda reaches out with a hand, places it on Jayce's cheek. She can feel the tension, the emotion, just under the surface. He's not doing well, is he?

"Then you should go be with him, and focus your efforts on the Hexcore," is what she says. She appreciates him coming here to meet her, but — she can tell where his heart would rather be, right now.

The truth is his heart may know where it wants to be, but it's aching too. Getting some fresh air was necessary, his mind has to be clearer if he was going to be able to accomplish anything. That is one of his fears right now, that he isn't at his best, so dragged down by fear and sadness.

"I'm not the only one involved in the surgery, there's a lot of balls flying through the air. We don't have a surgeon we can use in Cadens, so Strange is helping walk us and Nadine through it. There's still testing happening." There's Alucard too and his serum. So many things going on at once. It's why he could take a few minutes to come here, he is not a part of every single thing leading up to it.

Jayce sighs and touches her hair to his cheek, closing his eyes briefly. They're burning so by the time he opens them again, there are tears shimmering. He has never really been ashamed of crying, which is a good thing since he is a sensitive man and prone to it. Anyone would feel that way about this.

"It honestly will be a miracle if we can pull this off, Wanda. Everything is against us. We don't have the right doctors or the safest equipment, we barely know what the Hexcore really is." For someone who tries so hard to be optimistic, he's struggling.

Scientists, for all the logic and reason that they use, tend to confer with terms such as 'miracles' quite often, don't they? von Strücker was guilty of it before—now Jayce. Wanda doesn't know about miracles or not, but she knows that one forges the path one intends to take, for better or for worse.

She glances up at him.

"Don't speak like that." About what could go wrong, about all the things he's uncertain about. "There's something magical about hoping and positive thoughts, silly as it may sound."

Perhaps it was different with her, with her probability magic, but Wanda inherently used wistful thinking to stop the second bomb from exploding in her apartment.

"Just try, okay? And — if you want to separate from the situation for a moment, we could... have something to eat. Something indulgent? Sweet? Spicy?"

Jayce laughs but it's a watery sound. "It's not silly, usually I'm the idealist." And he is. For a scientist, he's remarkably full of hope and able to see what seems impossible. He witnessed a miracle that saved his life, and then he made it happen for himself later on. So he really does usually have a positive attitude. It's just difficult when fear is so powerful in him right now.

He sniffs and nods, looking down at her with his best attempt at a smile. "Please, let's just have a bite. You can tell me what you think I could make Matt for his birthday." A distraction honestly for even a half hour could be good for him. "I was thinking a better walking cane, with some magical enchantments and better metal, I could make his life much easier."

promise me

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we can wrap on this!