[open] january/february catchall

[techmaturgy]

Who: Viktor and special guests and YOU
When: January through early February
Where: Cadens, the Horizon
What: open stuff, closed stuff, dangerous and illicit magical surgery, the usual
Warnings: the usual references to terminal illness including a steep decline and medical procedures/surgery. will list additional warnings as needed.

[open and closed starters in comments! This is also a general catch-all for Viktor’s do-or-die attempt to cure himself, and the events leading up to it, and his recovery (to come later). If you want a custom starter or something specific, just hit me up. full horizon details are here for any and all wildcarding needs. For everything else, I’m on plurk at whitticus and on discord at whitticus#8139.]

Comments

[techmaturgy]

Where I’m from, magic is an inborn ability. Hextech was our way to circumvent that.

[To give everyone access to magic. Here, however, magic is easy to learn—-harder to master, but at least they have the chance. Jayce especially has thrived, which such simple access to the ability. Viktor has his own theories, about how people connect with the arcane, but the Singularity itself has upended much of what he knows.

He understands that Claude is trying to add some needed levity to the situation. Viktor doesn’t really need to say what he’s worried about, in the event of failure. It’s all implied.]

Yes, I think I’ll be in need of some puzzles. Things to pass the time.

[godshattering]

So the name for this is Hextech?

[ Maybe not the device specifically, but it's something else he'll commit to memory if the device has to be dismantled after its use. One more way it can be a testament to Viktor's knowledge, even if it's only which can only be spoken of between what he's assuming is a handful of people.

It's not how fate works, Claude knows, to make plans for the future like they'll mean it's a guarantee everything turns out fine. Something he'd learned years before, and something Lysithea had been quick to remind him of when telling him about her illness. She hadn't wanted to speak of it again after that explanation of what it meant, and it'd been one of the few boundaries someone set that he'd respected. It's hard to not let some of that come into play here. ]

Puzzles definitely fit under something to pass the time. [ To say the least, though Claude considers that again since there's multiple kinds of puzzles out there - including his favorite kind, which is the ones that are ever changing. ] Related to that, sort of. You wouldn't happen to be a fan of chess, would you? I finally got my hands on a chess set here rather than in the Horizon alone, and if you'd like to learn to play I'd be happy to teach you.

[techmaturgy]

Jayce's term for it, actually.

[He'd been very insistent. Even from the start, he'd thought about the marketability of it. The name had served them well. Certainly has more of a ring to it than "new magic", especially when it's essentially the same thing.

More refined, Viktor would argue, but now isn't really the time to feel superior.]

I can play. I'd be happy to have a match, sometime. You'll have to pay me a visit.

[When he's recovering, is the implciation.]

[godshattering]

Good. I'd like that, and I think you might as well when you're looking for things to do- after. [ After is a good word for it, and then a possibly mischievous smile crosses Claude's face to go with his next thought. ] Since you know how to play, I should also warn you I know how to draw games out. Chess just might be a specialty of mine.

[ Useful for someone else who likes to solve puzzles, if he had to guess, and Claude's not really exaggerating about the number of ways he's made past games shift and even if it makes the offer of chess sound a little bit more like a threat than it probably should. That's all part of it, right?

The visit's going on his mental calendar every bit as much as it is for Viktor's, by the sound of it. ]

I'll look forward to our ridiculously long when you're ready for that to happen. I'm holding you to it, my friend.

[techmaturgy]

[After is a good word for it, even if they’re still dancing around the gravity of it all. That’s fine. Viktor doesn’t think he needs to have exhausting conversations about his health with everyone. He appreciates the fact that Claude seems to understand what’s going on and offers him optimism.]

I’m looking forward to it, then.

[It’s been a long time since he’s, well, had time for diversions like chess and puzzles and logic games. Maybe, if he gets through this intact, he’ll finally be able to rest.]

We’ll sure to update you when the time comes. Thank you, Claude.

[godshattering]

[ The mention of looking forward to it gets a smile from him and then a nod, as if this is something that needs to be confirmed and now has been. A plan for something in the future, even a near one, isn't something Lysithea always wanted to do. That Viktor is, even if it's for a board game, Claude means to uphold that as long as needed. ]

Good, then that's settled. And no thanks needed since it's been far too long since I've played someone who really knows what they're doing, so I'm looking forward to seeing what you'll bring to it.

[ Just to nail down that hope for their chess match to come, as close as Claude's willing to go to the idea it might not happen. It has to, if the orb - Hextech - is anything to go by. Optimism abounds.

Still, after one last glance to the glowing object and then back to Viktor, Claude nods again. ]

I'll be here as soon as you're ready for visitors, Viktor. You can count on that.