reverie⚡inbox

[striketwice]

REVERIE INBOX "THIS IS ALEC. MAKE IT QUICK." ⚡ voice . text . action ↳ OVERFLOW | REGISTRY

( code from supersuits )

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[striketwice]

Bingo.

[ He waves a finger lazily, as if to punctuate the statement. ]

Another brief history lesson for you. There used to be runes dedicated to healing magic, millennia ago, but wizards fucking suck and all that was lost to time and inaction because certain people wanted to keep it to themselves and now they're all gone.

These days, odds are better that you'll find a girl Talented in sex magic than you will in straight up healing. Ori's the first person I've ever met who can just do a spell and heal someone. It's like a god damn miracle.

[vecna]

[That is interesting, though not wholly surprising — of course something as useful as healing magic would be lost due to humanity’s tendency to keep all that is advantageous for them and theirs.]

Yes, but I can’t imagine some will treat people any differently than spells when it comes to keeping them for themselves. Right?

[Insofar as treating people like objects that happen to have unique abilities. Guess who has been there before!!]

[striketwice]

Bingo again. That's where I come in.

[ Though he figured Henry would be quick on the uptake. He was in a similar position himself for most of his life, after all. (And that is, frankly, one of the reasons why the whole situation with Sprezzatura rankles him. He won't say as much for Henry's sake, but he can't promise to be kind to her if it should ever come up.) ]

I mentioned Madigan runs a club, right? It's called the Griffonix, and it's a safe haven. Sacred ground. It's a place for women who share her Talent to live and learn to use their magic and make their own choices. The one thing the whole of magical society agrees on is simply that the Griffonix is untouchable.

So she has me track down girls with the same Talent who might be kept in— [ vague hand motions ] —less than savory circumstances. I go kick some doors down, portal some girls back to Vegas, and get a big, fat paycheck out of it.

[vecna]

[Oh. Henry gives Alec a look that might seem hard to parse, his mind churning — in actuality, he cannot help but run what he’s hearing vaguely parallel to his own past circumstances. How nice it might have been, to have someone rushing into the lab to free him before he spent so, so many years under the government’s thumb. How would things have turned out differently for him?

He supposes he won’t ever know now.]

Freeing those kept prisoner, in a way. [There’s something wry about him saying that, though the next bit is all too eager.] When we return to your world, I wonder… Is that something you might need help with?

[striketwice]

[ There's a pause as he looks over Henry. Did he ever hope that one day someone would come and do just that? Kick down the door to the lab and set him free? Bring him to someplace he'd be safe and loved?

Alec is several decades too late to have come riding in light a knight on a white horse. Perhaps now, though, this at least counts for something. ]

I wouldn't say no to a little telekinetic muscle in my corner. But only if you want to. I don't ever want you to feel like I keep you around just because you're useful.

[vecna]

No, I wouldn’t think that. And I would definitely want to.

[He can’t do anything about his time spent in the lab now, and any plans he had on remaking the world and wiping any and all trace of Hawkins National Laboratory off the face of the earth is now null and void, so to speak.

But if he can turn that disdain towards those of a similar mind, in a different universe… It’s an almost too-tempting thought for a man like him.]

I know what it’s like to be kept prisoner because of the abilities you happen to possess, and I know the sort of people that choose to do that to others. I think they deserve a piece of my mind, now and again.

[Maybe even literally.]

[striketwice]

[ Alec does assume he means that literally. ]

In that case, I'm happy to have you along.

[vecna]

[He smiles. Teaming up with Alec for his work never exactly crossed his mind until this conversation, but now it sounds nothing short of— well, fun. In a way only a terrible person would consider fun, probably.]

Just one more thing to look forward to once we’re free.

[striketwice]

[ Ironically, Alec's work for Madigan is probably the most genuinely good sort of work that Alec does. If only the D&D kids could see big, bad Vecna now. ]

Funny how those things keep piling up.

[vecna]

[Oh god, no. The D&D kids can never know.]

Almost too many to count. But just imagine it — I could give them such a scare if I had access to my other form somehow.

[He sounds all too excited about that.]

[striketwice]

[ His eyebrows go up at the idea, grin widening. ]

Oh my god. Oh my god, Henry. That would be the funniest fucking thing. The rumor mill would go insane.

[vecna]

[Wouldn’t it be absolutely hilarious. He figured Alec would think so, too.]

Would it? Even if I wouldn’t be the strangest “creature” in your world?

[striketwice]

You'd be something that no one would have any explanation for, and that would drive them crazy.

[ a laugh ]

Oh, I love it.

[vecna]

Good. Me too.

[He can’t wait. Can they leave this prison now?]

I can tell we’re going to have a lot of fun together, Alec.

[And isn’t “together” such a nice concept.]

[striketwice]

[ Alec never thought he'd be coming out of this whole interdimensional prison situation with his own personal cryptid. Let alone one he was romantically involved with.

What a crazy fucking place this is. ]

We really are. And that's not a word I tend to use for my day to day.

[vecna]

[What’s better than a boyfriend? A monster boyfriend, of course.]

Well, I’m not the only one this prison has changed, after all.

[Deal with fun!!]

But besides that… do you ever do any sightseeing when you travel for a job? Or is it all business, then headed straight home?

[striketwice]

[ No, Henry's not the only person who's changed. They both have tarot cards in their pockets to attest to that much.

Alec shrugs. ]

I don't usually play tourist, no. Why? Hoping for some globetrotting?

[vecna]

I don’t know. Maybe.

[Henry nearly shrugs.]

I’ve never seen much of the world. I’m assuming yours is similar to mine, at least geographically.

[striketwice]

At the very least, you're seeing Chicago and Vegas. The rest can happen after that.

[ Though after this place, even Alec is starting to think he's in need of a fucking vacation. ]

[vecna]

Considering I’ve never been to either, barring your memories, then how can I complain?

[Henry Creel isn’t ready for modern day Vegas.]

[striketwice]

You might still find a way to complain. 1986 to 2022 is quite the leap.

[vecna]

[An even bigger leap if you consider that Henry hasn't really been in human society since 1959.

But surely it's fine.]

And yet I still don't think it'll be more of a culture shock than this place. I'll do what I can to fit in.

[striketwice]

[ UNSURE. ]

I guess we'll just have to see. Is there anywhere in particular you'd want to go?

[vecna]

[That’s an interesting question — or maybe more accurately, it’s a difficult question for him to answer. Henry Creel, who was so disillusioned by humanity itself that he sought to remake the world, never had any particular desire to see every corner of the earth. No fondness for the places he did visit; and no expectation that things would be different anywhere else.

But things have changed. More importantly, the company would differ. And maybe new experiences will hold more worth with Alec at his side.]

…have you ever been to Australia?

[can Alec guess why this is the first place he mentions—]

[striketwice]

[ He lifts his head to give Henry the flattest stare. ]

Are you just saying that because you want to see spiders as big as your face?