reverie⚡inbox

[striketwice]

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

( code from supersuits )

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[vecna]

[Well, he has Henry with him now to poke and prod.]

...So, what did happen?

[striketwice]

Not anything you haven't personally already seen.

[vecna]

[Personally?]

So then, that younger version of you...

[With blood painting his face. That would be Henry's guess.]

Let one person in, and the whole prison gets to see it next. That's bad luck on your part.

[striketwice]

[ Alec breathes out something like a laugh. ]

Yeah, what the hell did you do, man? Forget to lock the door on your way out?

[vecna]

[His lips quirk.]

I always leave the door a little ajar. [That's a joke, right? Henry???] But maybe it didn't help to have that memory at the forefront of your mind at the time.

[striketwice]

[ BRUH ]

I always figured if anything was gonna come back and haunt me, it was gonna be that moment. I just... you know, would have liked a little breathing room in between.

[vecna]

[Just so he can slip back in more easily the next time. :) But it's fine, Alec, you're a special case.]

But if you've earned yourself a tarot card, that must mean you resolved something.

[And that part would be something Henry's not seen. Something that really needles at his curiosity, now.]

[striketwice]

[ Unsure if that's a good thing or not... ]

Yeah, a thing or two. Like maybe this whole self-imposed isolation bit I've got going on isn't all it's cracked up to be.

[vecna]

Oh? I still have a hard time imagining you as a people person. That said, maybe this revelation of yours worked to my benefit, too.

[Regarding Alec’s willingness to… well, make the offer that he did.]

[striketwice]

Oh, I'm definitely still not a people person. That kind of thing doesn't change overnight, if ever.

[ His grin skews a little lopsided, but it's a subdued version of his usual smirks. Something perhaps a smidge more genuine than he usually puts on. ]

But yeah, I'd say it did.

[vecna]

[He notes the dimly subdued expression; feels as though he might be privy to something more sincere, despite Alec’s usual sardonic front.

He smiles at him, his own wryness blunted at the edges.]

No complaints here.

[But heaven forbid things get too genuine in such a short window of time between them, and so—]

Second question. How familiar are you with the arcana?

[striketwice]

[ Yeah, no. That was enough. The moment passes and it's back to business as usual. ]

What, like all the tarot card stuff? I know the broad strokes. Why?

[vecna]

Because I’m not that familiar at all. And since we both produced Tower cards, apparently, I’d like to know more about what that’s supposed to mean.

[The illustration did not look very, ah, kind. But neither of them are kind people.]

[striketwice]

It's usually nothing good, but I'm sure you figured that much out already.

[ He pauses his writing again, taking a moment to fish what definitions he knows up out of his memory. ]

Usually it represents sudden change or disaster. Upheaval. Something big and traumatic and unavoidable. Sometimes it's associated with pride or falsehoods, like all that you believe is a shaky foundation.

[ Gee, doesn't that sound familiar. ]

So, you know, fucking great club for us to be a part of.

[vecna]

[That sounds both very familiar and very fitting for Henry. Even the part which references a "shaky foundation," which he would have balked at earlier -- but after his own encounter with his Shadow, and in the presence of Alec, no less, there's no point in pretending it doesn't apply in some way.]

I don't know. Change and upheaval aren't always bad things.

[striketwice]

[ He wouldn't have included that part if not for what the two of them went through just a day prior. ]

You think so?

[vecna]

If a system is flawed, then upheaval might be exactly what it needs. To be broken so that it can be rebuilt again.

[That is practically what Henry believed himself to be doing. It's no surprise this place had assigned him the Tower arcana, in that case.]

The illustration just paints it in a less-than-flattering light. That poor man falling off the tower...

[(He thinks it's kind of amusing, really.)]

[striketwice]

So in that scenario you, what? Fancy yourself the bolt of lightning instead of the tower?

[ Alec is of course aware of the parallel that Henry is drawing. Alec himself has been responsible for his own share of upheaval.

The corner of his mouth quirks. ]

Stealing my gimmick.

[vecna]

[Henry makes an amused noise. Yes, he does fancy himself the bolt of lightning. Hawkins was the tower.

Though he supposes that much doesn't apply anymore, does it?]

Please. You can be lightning anytime you like.

[striketwice]

I appreciate it.

[ Idly, as he goes back to his work. ]

Branding is important.

[vecna]

[He watches him work, deciding to find a place to sit nearby. The trunk of a fallen tree, likely toppled over in last night’s chaos, works just as well.]

Is that really your trademark in your world? Your lightning magic?

[striketwice]

Kind of? It's not like I put my name on anything involving my work. At some point I picked up using a lightning bolt as a signature. Like an emoji, not a real one.

It just worked out that way because lightning is the element I'm best with.

[vecna]

[An emoji… Henry knows what those are now, aren’t you proud.]

So it’s a calling card. Like my grandfather clock.

[striketwice]

I was wondering about that. Why the clock?

[vecna]

Did you like them? They’re awful, aren’t they.

[(Fond.) That’s not answering the question, but please appreciate his dramatics first.]