reverie⚡inbox

[striketwice]

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

( code from supersuits )

Comments

[vecna]

I don't believe you. [ :) ]

[striketwice]

[ Just gonna eat this sandwich now. He doesn't have to acknowledge anything. Especially not after he gave Henry so much shit over his spiders. ]

[vecna]

[Sir he sees right through you. HOW'S IT FEEL.

He takes a bite of his sandwich, too.]

I guess if you're fine with leaving us at a disadvantage in the future, I can't exactly change your mind. We'll just remain uninformed.

[striketwice]

[ STOP PERCIEVING HIM. ]

I'm not gonna leave us at a disadvantage, Henry.

[vecna]

[Shrugs a shoulder.]

You seem to be willing to.

[striketwice]

[ Mildly, after another bite of sandwich: ]

Fuck you.

I'll do some digging, alright?

[vecna]

[He’s amused by Alec’s concession; his smile actually reaches his eyes.]

I don’t even have to read your mind to play you like a fiddle.

[He’s teasing. But a little more seriously-]

It’ll help if you do, though. Do some digging.

[striketwice]

Fuck. You.

[ He tries so hard to put some bite into those words, but it doesn't really work. Whatever sharpness he hoped to achieve is stolen away in the face of a real smile from Henry.

He knows better than to draw attention to it, but that's going to stick with him. ]

Yeah, yeah. I'm on it, so don't worry.

[vecna]

[It doesn't linger for very long, his expression returning to its default politeness, but proof of its existence is poignant enough — rare for anyone to ever see it.]

I’m confident you’ll deliver, Mr. Lightning Bolt.

[striketwice]

Thanks a lot, Spider-man.

[ Since they're nicknaming each other now. ]

[vecna]

[Oh, he knows that one. (If he strains to borrow a memory or two from a dead teen.)]

Oh, no, I don't need any more names, Alec. I already have an alias, remember?

[striketwice]

So you do. Dare I ask where "Vecna" came from?

[vecna]

Where do you think? Everything from that alternate dimension, those... children name after some fantasy game of theirs.

[striketwice]

The kids gave you the nickname?

[ And they have a name for the weird dog too, apparently. ]

Now I just have to know. What game?

[vecna]

[Yes. Those kids are such a thorn in his side. It's ridiculous.]

It has dice, and...

[Not helpful. Plenty of games have dice. Henry closes his eyes; when he possessed Will Byers, what had been there, in the recesses of his head-? He claws through old memory.]

Something with dungeons.

[striketwice]

Okaaaay. Dice and dungeons.

[ It didn't sound familiar at first, but now having said it out loud, it's like the light instantly comes on. ]

Dungeons and Dragons?

[vecna]

[His recognition is less like a lightbulb and more like a twisting of a frown across his face.]

Yes. I think so.

[striketwice]

[ Henry should recognize this look. It's the look of Alec trying not to laugh. ]

So not only were you constantly getting thwarted by a bunch of kids, they're a bunch of D&D nerds to boot.

[vecna]

You keep saying that.

[He’s NOT AMUSED, look at this fake smile.]

But the last I recall, things were going as I wanted them to. I had been so close to returning.

[And then this place happened. And Alec happened.]

[striketwice]

Whatever you say, Old Man Smithers.

[ He allows himself a chuckle over the reference, but then, a bit more seriously: ]

Sure you're not gonna be disappointed with not going back?

[vecna]

[He’s not even going to attempt to understand every reference that comes out of Alec’s mouth.

The question, though, prompts a dimly questioning look. He takes a moment to reply, not because he doesn’t already know the answer, but because… how does he articulate it?]

If I return to my world, I’m still fighting tooth and nail to get what I want. If I go with you, I already… have it. In a way.

[Broken pieces sticking together. Someone well and truly the same as him, in a world that doesn’t need fixing as long as that remains the baseline.

Eyes seeking Alec’s face, his expression.]

Or am I being too presumptuous?

[He has been, before.]

[striketwice]

[ Henry meets his gaze, and something sparks between them. That same live wire, thrumming undeterred. Even if they wanted to, it feels like there's no pulling away from one another's orbit. Whatever this is, they're in it for good. Which is just as well because Alec would rather things stay the way they are. Broken pieces sticking together.

The corners of his mouth lift, ever so slightly. ]

You're not.

[vecna]

[Yes, there it is again. That gravity he has, the one that Henry has slowly become so, so malleable against. Moments like these verify what he already inherently knows: he’s the one caught in Alec’s orbit, not the other way around. If this man is his anchor, then he goes where he goes — to a completely different world if he has to. That’s an easy, easy decision. The easiest he’s ever had to make.

His world isn’t his home anymore, after all. Maybe it never was.

Alec smiles at him, so faintly, and Henry wants to reach out and touch him. He is self-aware enough to resist that urge, but it makes him feel restless in his seat, just sitting here, looking at him.]

...Good. Then it’s settled. The last thing I would ever be is disappointed. I know I won’t regret it.

[striketwice]

[ It is so, so weird to know that when Henry says he'd have no regrets — no regrets over following Alec, sharing his space or his company — he means it. Henry tells a lot of half-truths. He lies by omission enough to give Alec a run for his money, and yet... this is genuine. He knows it is, some way. Somehow. ]

Guess that makes two of us, then.

[vecna]

[Utterly genuine. Henry spins lies and half-truths as gracefully as a spider spins a web, but he has always been clear about what he wants.

He’s looking at him right now.

And the sentiment returned does so little to guide his focus back to his food.]

Then all that’s left to figure out are the logistics. What exactly happens when I go back with you?

[He has no idea what Alec’s community is like, other than very secret. What other psychics are like. (Probably not like him.) He doesn’t really know what Alec’s day-to-day life is like, either.]