sorserer | ( office hours & overflow )

[With his head tilting away slightly, Hakkyuu watches Stephen sidelong, still suspicious and tense all through the body, but with some slight points softening. Shoulders dropping just a little, glare shifting from what he thinks might be murderous to just sort of adolescent irritation as he seems to assess what Stephen has put on the table.

Is the saucer of milk spoilt or poisoned though? Apparently it's still hard to tell.

This is perhaps the weirdest part, that he does know Stephen, but all the places where he got his information about him is fuzzy, like playing back a video where certain people on screen have been blurred out and their voices altered beyond recognition. So Stephen is in focus, Hakkyuu knows him, and he knows they know each other, but he can't grab onto solid facts and moments. It's maddening.

After a moment, he snorts and flops unceremoniously into the chair Stephen suggested he take up a while back and he effectively refused, arms crossed over his chest and his head cocked back to stare pointedly at Stephen.]

So what are you here for, doc? And don't say the city put you here--you look like the room was made for you and you know it.

[ stephen shrugs. it’s a simple question with a simple answer. ]

You’ve seen where I live. [ the broken-down rooms in the down that he nevertheless refuses to leave, too proud to live at the mercy of a dominant. a sanctuary can be anywhere, if you put in the work to secure it. the only thing stephen really needs is himself. ] Can’t look a gift horse in the mouth. [ eyebrows up. ] You probably wouldn’t either, under ordinary circumstances. We’ve talked about those streets of yours.

[ he recalls the other tumbler to him, or rather, it appears. a little wave of his fingers and it’s topped up again, this time with an ice cube intended for these situations, a single and somewhat big clean-cut block. he doesn’t use magic, though, to send it skittering across the table in front of hakkyuu again. ]

Come on. You’ll thank me later.

[There's a little uptick in the rigidness of his shoulders again, like that fight or flight barometer is flickering in his head again but this time it settles quickly as his eyes settle on the glass in front of him.

It takes him a few seconds, coupled with another few back and forth glances between the offering and Stephen's face before he takes the tumbler and settles back in the chair with all his fingers clasped around it from one hand like a beer stein. It's not like Hakkyuu tends to hold his whiskey in an especially refined way, more with on-going familiarity that means he can tip and tilt it any which way, use it as a speaking prop, let it dangle between his thumb and middle finger, probably rest it on the back of a hand if he wanted and jostle it around with only his knuckles to make the ice clink on the sides.

Now though, he looks down at the drink and it doesn't feel right in his hand. Too high class, ice too neatly cut, like it's all for aesthetic and not for drinking, an accessory.

He can remember the burn from the glass he downed earlier already, and maybe that alone is already making his judgement a little weird, so now he's got this glass in his hand, he just kind of holds it for the time being. And when he speaks, it's a marginally softer, not by much, but closer to the tone of conversation than before even if there's an undercurrent of defensiveness.]

You don't know my streets. But I know where they've put you. [He shifts the glass to move the ice around.] It's not like where you're shacked up back on your earth though, is it? You're in some building in one of them big richer cities, right?

I am. A site of untold power, drawn from the foundations of the earth in conjunction with the greater cosmos. [ a pause. ] Can’t get any cell reception in there. And they won’t refurb the basement.

[ sigh. resting his chin on his hand again. ]

I used to stay in places like these. For work ... conferences, mostly. So this is a little nostalgic.

[Despite his best impressions of being stoic, Stephen's glib remark about the Sanctum being an untouchable relic makes Hakkyuu smile. Almost laugh, even.]

You miss it? The surgeon thing with all the fancy stuff or is magic more fun these days?

[ huff. ]

Well, fun is different now than it used to be, that’s for sure.

[ he toys with the lip of the glass again, terrifically casual. he always considers his words carefully whenever he’s talking about his past, his current circumstances, his responsibilities. stephen’s callous at the best of times, but no one can accuse him of taking what his life is now for granted.

and then he lifts the glass for another measured sip. ]

Not in all ways, though.

[ cheesy wink number, like, two at least. ]

[Hakkyuu gives him a flat stare for that, practically radiating: you're being old and lame but he doesn't say it and instead just sort of rolls his eyes.]

Is it better or worse here?

[Apparently it's now rapid-fire-questions-for-Stephen hour.]

Which part? Fun, magic, good scotch ...

[ he trails, then makes a hand gesture, gallant. and eyebrows arched again, needling. ]

The other stuff?

[ yeah, by now he’s cottoned on to hakkyuu’s discomfort about, at the very least, his body. sex too, probably. it’s all in the small gestures, the hunted animal wariness in his eyes, how he’d pointedly avoided looking at the bed. ]

[His expression scrunches, like he's smelt something unpleasant before making an audible scoff for good measure.]

I know your feelings about the other stuff. [There's a silly question about how he knows in his mind, but he does know and tries not to think on it too long otherwise some very vivid images crop up. Maybe he saw it broadcast on the network sometime...]

I mean the other... other stuff. You got the--[He gestures at his own throat and the black mark there.]--same coin toss so I know where you get tossed as far the city's thoughts on you go. But some people hate this place so much it's like torture and others seem to wrangle things so it's pretty good here. Sometimes here is better than where they come from.

So the other-other stuff, doc. How does that measure up? Experiences, access to stuff, people. Do you hate it here?

[ hakkyuu knowing his feelings about the so-called “other stuff” makes his mouth quirk, but he’s content to let the subject pass. he has to consider the question, anyway, like he always does when hakkyu asks him questions that openly offer to slip beneath the skin. ]

Sometimes I can see the appeal. A place designed to strip you down of all pretenses.

[ surrender, stephen, the ancient one’s voice singsongs in his head, accompanied by a memory of bitter cold. it’s a memory that comes back to him at inopportune times in this city, and more than once his answer surged up inside him petulantly: i already did. i already am. ]

But how many hours in the day can you really spend like that, realistically? They put you through your paces every two days, after a certain point there’ll be nothing left to learn. About yourself. About sex. About ... [ with distaste: ] “deceit”. It’s asinine.

[ swirling his drink once, slow and thoughtful. ]

I guess you could say I get bored. But the company’s been good. No complaints there.

[There's a slight discomfort in Hakkyuu's body as he sits there, listening to Stephen speak. He likes his voice, his cadence and careful choice of words, the confidence. What makes Hakkyuu uncomfortable is how much he wants to pull his legs up onto the chair and just listen. Hilariously, he wouldn't think twice about doing that if he were in his contemporary body and mind--he'd just do it, settle in for the chats, get drunk, get bored, get in Stephen's space, make a mess of the shiny, swanky room, leave smears of sweat and cum on the polished wood finish...

It takes him a moment, but he does pick up one leg from the floor, then the other, to pull himself more deeply into the corner of the chair, huddled around the glass with the slowly melting ice like it's hot cocoa.

Then, finally, he takes a very experimental sip, like he's expecting it to scold him, but the steadily added water makes the bite less sharp.]

So how's that different to home?

[He lifts a hand to count down on his fingers.]

Learn about yourself, sex, deceit, company, life, goals. How's that any different to home? When you stop learning, doesn't it just mean you're dead?

[It's closer to how he might normally speak, but somehow still just a little wrong, perhaps in the way it's delivered--less pointed, less knowing, like when children ask whyyyy? to everything an adult tells them until the reasoning is excused for most of them.]

[ it’s pretty cute, a smaller version of the man he knows bundled up in the corner of the chair. for a second stephen could possibly forget that this is his friend, that they’re supposed to push and pull with fists and words and teeth; for a second he’s just any other kid, someone stephen probably wouldn’t know that well but might indulge occasionally. he doesn’t know too many young people back home. ]

Fair point.

[ he’s thinking about it too, like the way he answers is important. it’s important to him to be honest to hakkyuu, who will remember this later, who will replay the conversation in his mind for signs of weakness. not even maliciously, just as a matter of fact. ]

In places other than here, people like their illusions where they are. To be dealt with on one’s own time, inasmuch as it’s possible. [ notable lack of i and me there, but it’s certainly about himself too. ] You don’t have to be a control freak to want that.

[Hunching up his shoulders, Hakkyuu doesn't look like he has much of an argument to that, at least not now. Stephen's right to be evasive in his words though because later, when Hakkyuu is wincing at the way this night ultimately goes down and is picking over what was said with a more critical mind, will get something else from Stephen's answer, something that's far more personal about the wizard himself in what he doesn't say.

Here though, he takes another, more substantial drink from the glass, a little bolder now its not punched him in the teeth, though it comes with a full body shiver this time, not as bad as the first one, but there all the same.]

Spoken like someone who hasn't grown up in a warzone.

[It's glib but not bitter, factual, and it gives Hakkyuu enough pause on his own words that his mouth kind of quirks to the side as he eyes Stephen, the impulse to be a brat surging up again as his teenage confidence builds back up again.]

You look like someone who'd be right at home in the Reach, too. Just set up and do whatever you want. Join the Ministry, get in good with the nobles, get a high standing position in the Pact, merchant guilds, whatever you wanted.

[It's not really said in the kindest tone either, a sort of resentment deeply baked in that has nothing to do with Stephen at all as he draws one knee up to rest his cheek against it.]

Come to think of it, you seem like you can just sort of slide in anywhere. Any world. Any time. You'd be a real snug fit anywhere you end up.

I don’t know if I believe that.

[ stephen might readily cop to being a survivor, but only of a literal kind: he’s difficult to kill. he knows this now, with a kind of operatic conviction: you put him somewhere in the multiverse, he’ll make his way. but here, and on titan, and in the five years he didn’t exist, he’d only ever been idling. part of a bigger machine, slowly and inexorably grinding towards purpose. ]

I believe it about you.

[ from anyone else it’d have shades of being complimentary, but from stephen it’s a simple statement of fact. confidence, too. he knows this man, one way or another, and he knows hakkyuu would do well in new york.

apropos of nothing, stephen thinks, i should make hakkyuu and vrenille a pizza. ]

[In one of their regular conversations, that would land differently for Hakkyuu in a way he'd take a long, hard drink over and not argue much about on technicalities. Here though, he squints one eye and snorts.]

So you're saying you don't think I know what I'm talking about?

[He leans in, over his drawn up knee like he's getting ready to challenge Stephen on the point.]

I'm not saying it to make you feel good about yourself or fluff up that ego of yours--it's already big enough you can see it from the top of a mountain. I'm sayin' if the walls of this room broke down right now, you'd make it out just fine, probably fix the place up with a snap of your fingers. End up in a world made out of water? You'd figure a way to breathe. Everyone's fighting or there's dragons to deal with or magic spilling out everywhere or... I dunno, whatever, you'd fit right into the mix and find a way to apply yourself somehow.

[He turns up his nose slightly, sniffing with a sort of 'so there' gesture as he takes another bolder swing from the glass.]

You're like a universal constant. Some weird, irritating force of nature that just sorta shows up and makes problems and brings solutions in all the right and wrong ways.

So don't insult me with that 'I dunno if I believe that' bullshit.

Edited 2022-06-07 16:07 (UTC)

[ it’s incisive, at least. even if stephen still isn’t sure he buys it, it makes him laugh anyway, full-throated, colored with the scotch he’s been drinking. ]

Alright, alright. Thank you. I think.

[It's hard to tell if he's disappointed Stephen doesn't push back more and instead concedes the point and Hakkyuu honestly isn't sure if Stephen is just doing it to piss him off or if he actually thinks Hakkyuu has made a convincing point. And not knowing which it is annoys him more as he sets the other man with a bit of a protracted sink eye.

Then, he sways from side to side a bit, nervous, irritated energy in his body which eventually drives him to stand up again in a single, quick movement. Again, not as smooth a movement as he may otherwise dismount with, more like someone who is used to having to cut and run at any given second so it's about getting limbs moving fast more than it is about doing it with finesse. He takes the glass with him too, thanks.]

Not a compliment.

[Maybe a compliment, actually.

Apparently he's decided Stephen isn't any kind of threat after all so it's fine to just walk around the room, past the magician in his chair and somewhere behind him.]

So? You don't got any questions yourself? Just lofty observations?

[Goad, goad, poke, poke. He just wants to see if he can get a rise out of Stephen, since Stephen seems to be able to get a rise out of him with very little effort at all. What a prick.]

Edited 2022-06-07 16:30 (UTC)

[ not giving this version of hakkyuu whatever he’s looking for is its own form of goading, and it’s not even especially intentional, obvious as it is that hakkyuu himself doesn’t know what he wants from him. with hakkyuu in the condition that he’s in, it’s stephen who holds more cards than he’s used to, and he finds himself more deliberate than usual. because, again, when things return to normal it’ll determine how fast and how long hakkyuu bites back.

but deliberate isn’t the same as careful. and anticipating hakkyuu’s teeth is its own kind of pleasure. ]

Normally you don’t invite me to pry. And seeing as I don’t understand the effects of what you’re under, I don’t know how much you can tell me about what I’d want to know.

[ he rotates his tumbler slowly in his fingertips. ]

The magic taint. [ his words, never stephen’s. ] What is it?

[Normally. That's a word he doesn't like and yet also makes sense because he knows he and Stephen know each other pretty well.

He pauses directly behind Stephen's chair when the question arrives, which is likely a good thing so he can't see the way he frowns, searching his mind like he's trying to find a word on the tip of his tongue.]

I... don't think it's here anymore.

[What it is though eludes him. It doesn't feel wrong it not being there, but something isn't present and he knows that conceptually because everything about him doesn't feel right.]

Or... it's not here yet?

[He's trying, and the more he tries to grab at the smoke in his mind the more a sense of dread starts to rise in his stomach.]

I don't know. [That comes out quiet and less steady than he wants, so he tries again, this time dialling up the nonchalance.]

We got a lotta magic residue in Tyria. Tons of echoes and magical traces and whatever. That what you're asking about?

Edited (lol fingers too eager, what is html. i don't know her) 2022-06-07 16:46 (UTC)

Not necessarily.

[ but that’s an answer in itself: there’s a memory effect in play too. ]

You’re in ... Ebonhawke now, isn’t it. The city under siege.

No. I'm in Duplicity now.

[Gawd, Steve, keep up!]

[ stephen scoffs. ]

Wiseass.

[ that’s real mirth there. they’ll both probably find that part funny, anyway. ]

[It certainly makes Hakkyuu smirk to himself in that blind spot, pleased to have decidedly caught Stephen out on something. Take that!

He leans his weight against the back of Stephen's chair, lips pressing to the rim of the glass to take another sip as the liquid goes down much easier. Shhh, we're not telling Stephen he was right about that.]

Yeah, Ebonhawke. Though it's sorta busted. Walls all broken down, everyone scattering. Charr everywhere, but they're kinda more distracted by the dragon that's turning everyone to crystals, I guess.

[Shouldn't he feel a lot more disturbed by this? It feels like he should be. It's a major world event that's just happened. And then, after a brief pause, he hums thoughtfully.]

... Guess we're not really in an unbreakable stronghold anymore.

[ he can feel more than hear hakkyuu’s perturbation at his own nonchalance, but, well. it’s not as though he doesn’t understand, in some way. people still had to work, in the raw aftermath of the infinity war. still had to walk their quieted streets. ]

I suppose this city isn’t half so difficult in comparison.

It's okay.

[He turns to catch sight of the edge of Stephen's head out the corner of his eye as the edge of his mouth quirks upward and he slides over to take a seat on the arm of Stephen's chair. On the chair, mind you, not actually making contact with the sorcerer himself.]

Company's not bad, I guess.

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