[phone calls OTA] Technical Difficulties

[st_abby]

He'd passed by the alien, gleaming thing in his room a hundred times by now, or nearly must've done, and hardly stopped to examine it. It was strange, but so were most other things in this place. A shiny, awkward looking device attached to the wall by means of a long cable, set on one of the little tables that seemed to litter these rooms. It had neat rows of square buttons with numbers etched on, and a handle, so Vax'ildan had supposed it was meant to work some feature of the room in a way he could scarcely imagine. He didn't want to break it, but eventually the boredom and curiosity got the better of him, much like with the door locks. It would probably fix itself, if it came to that.

After the first few moments spent listening to the monotonous warble that came from the handle, Vax'ildan reached to jab a finger into a button. When it beeped but did no more, he pushed another. And a third...

OOC Note: If you would like a thread with Vax, please leave a top-level comment to this post and he will reply! No need to pre-arrange, but as one does when learning new technology, he may disconnect the call etc. accidentally or your character may tell him to leave them alone in very few words if they so choose - most of these threads are likely to be short.

Comments

[st_unning]

"Of a sort," Alcuin said. "Yes. I used my position to gain information. Some of it was listening and observing, some of it was inspiring loose tongues."

[st_abby]

"I've never been clever enough for that," Vax admitted freely, not seeming bothered by the admission. He thought back on the Briarwoods, amongst other encounters. "The skulking about in the shadows, I do that very well. But talking to someone convincingly - that's a whole different skill set."

[st_abby]

The bookish answer reminded Vax of Percy. The more practical part... "Have you had much experience with them?"

[st_udious]

"Enough," was the answer Vax'ildan finally got about that. "Most of my dealings have been with angels and demons, other gods and demigods here and there. The fae don't cross into our world very often, there aren't too many places where they can anymore. Most of those are over in Europe anyway. As for other supernatural entities, werewolves, vampires, shifters and the like, I'm not a hunter and most of my knowledge of them is purely academic. I belonged to a group dedicated to study and the preservation of that knowledge, not slaughter."

[st_unning]

It was a skill set that Alcuin had, though it was also more complex than that... Oh, damn. He really was not going to have a better opening to confess to Vax about his past than this.

"Yes," he agreed. "Though, Vax... do you remember I told you that the religious doctrine of my people is 'love as thou wilt'? This takes many forms, but one component is the Servants of Naamah. In very simple terms, it is a religious order of courtesans." He had learned this word in one of he romance novels he had read, and determined that it had a better connotation than others. "That was my other role. So you can see how these things fit together."

[st_ockandbarrel]

The odd machine that he'd dismantled at least four times now without successfully discovering its function was making noise. Quite a lot of noise, actually, and different than he was used to. (Bangs were far more common, in Percy's world. He'd tried burning a bit of the machine once it was obvious that everything in this room would come back in the morning. So many things about this place reminded him of Scanlan's mansion.)

Percy set down the motor he was fiddling with and went to the machine. He knew the top part came away and unpressed some kind of lever, so he began there. It did seem to fit nicely into his hand.

The noise stopped, but the flat tone that he was used to hearing was not sounding. "Curious."

[st_eadiesthefour]

A device that let people talk from a distance. Oh, how useful that could have been needing to get messages from the Louvre to the garrison and back. Imagine if the musketeers had been able to get their orders in the voice of the one giving them instead of relying on a seal or hand which could be forged. On the other hand, just that sort of forgery had saved the queen's life once.

Enough. Thinking of home wasn't going to get Constance there. "It... is... what?" she asked carefully, but uncertainly, forming the words. If she was learning about new things, she might as well learn from the beginning what they were called in English. Hopefully easier than understanding how they worked, which would probably always seem like magic.

[st_abby]

"You don't know the half of it yet," Vax's voice piped up from the earpiece. "Percival, is that you I hear?"

[st_abby]

Alcuin spoke of it as if those things - love, sex, religion, courtesans, and spying - all went together quite naturally. And if that was the sort of world from which he came, that made sense.

Vax'ildan came from a very different world. Even if they had both of them been from Exandria, or the other way round, they still would have led very different lives. His expression, even before he'd made words to respond, suggested that he didn't actually see how they quite fit together at all. "I... When you say 'courtesan,' do you mean... Like with how you tried to thank me before?"

[st_unning]

Alcuin might have answered the question with dignity, but the second half of it caused a slight flush to come to his face. He tried to maintain his dignity anyway.

"I mean that people paid me for sex," he said. "Yes. But it's also... it's more complicated than that. And I would not offer myself to someone I did not want. Not anymore."

[st_abby]

Vax paid him a small smile, for that. He was hardly the first to cast stones at anyone for the profession they chose. He didn't begrudge Alcuin for making his living in such a way. But it was good to know he hadn't felt as if he was obligated to offer himself either.

"I didn't mean to make you blush," was what Vax ended up saying apologetically. "It's hardly your fault this place seems so backwards to what you're used to."

[st_abby]

In truth, Vax didn't understand it yet himself. Most likely, it would be something that Percy would work out first, being the brains, and then could break down into very small words for Vax. Though to be honest, Vax didn't care how it worked, exactly, so long as it did. "Wires that carry voices," was as best he could manage it.

[st_unning]

"I wouldn't say that it's backwards, just... well. It is different."

He looked at Vax. "I am more than that," he said. "There is much more to me. But it is still the case that, a Servant of Naamah - " He paused. Hesitated. Then finally said, "I am not saying this to be boastful, but simply as a statement of fact. What I offered you - where I come from, it is something of great value. I would not have offered if I did not want it, too. But I still wish that there was some way I could repay you."

[st_abby]

Vax inclined his head a bit, to show he was listening, though it took him a moment longer to sort out what to say. He thought he was beginning to understand that for Alcuin, it wasn't just the offer of a tumble in the hay, but something of great significance - beyond even the measure of coins and debts. He spoke of it like a cleric spoke of their worship, and he'd said as how it was religious in its way.

"I would've seen it as a precious offer no matter where you were from," he promised. "I still can't accept it, as things are." He'd already explained himself, and he knew Alcuin had heard him, so Vax didn't say the words over again. His heart ached a little to wonder what Keyleth would have made of all this. She probably would've laughed at his embarrassment of riches, with a smile brilliant as sunlight on a breeze, but only for knowing that he wasn't a man to stray at the crook of a finger. Not even from a very beautiful young man who had more reasons than most needed to be willing.

"I only acted as was needed in the order of things, when it was shown to me, Alcuin." He smiled a little, offsetting the seriousness of the words a bit. "But I'm glad it was for someone like you. And I may have need of your skills yet, someday." He said it without thinking it all the way through first - and then actually looked a bit sheepish. "Well, your, you know - the other skills, learning from people."

[st_abby]

"You're a scholar of such powers?" It was a curious profession, to be sure. "And if you're not a hunter, then... What is it for? Just for learning's sake?"

[st_unning]

Alcuin couldn't help but look slightly amused at his misstep at the end, but eventually he just stepped forward and laid a hand on Vax's arm. "You are a very good man, Vax'ildan," he said, entirely sincerely. He was no longer upset, and he did not feel stung by rejection. He was only happy that Vax understood him, did not judge him, and that they could be friends.

[st_abby]

There was a pause as Vax looked at him, something sober and mindful the words stirred. "I'd like to be," was what he said for it, quietly, and he reached to squeeze Alcuin's hand in return.

That settled, he turned his attention to other matters. "Anyway. Didn't you come over to teach me how to use the phones?" He hadn't forgotten that it was supposed to be the other way round, but Vax knew he still had some learning to do and practice to be had before he felt sure of how to use the things.

[st_udious]

"We're preceptors, beholders, chroniclers of all that which man does not understand. If the situation warrants it, we share our findings with a few trusted hunters – the very elite. They do the rest. Most of the time, there's no need to involve anyone outside our organization at all but-" Henry cleared his throat and forced himself back on track. "Magic and monsters where I come from aren't... It'd be easy for a pack of werewolves to tear apart a town, for example, because so very few people believe they're real at all. There's a barbaric culture among hunters, a shoot first and ask questions later kind of life style that might...well might drive some of the smaller magics extinct entirely or slaughter innocent people. The order is, as a whole, less concerned with the innocence part and more worried about the balance. Sometimes a smaller evil is necessary to fight a bigger one, even if the only fighting that smaller evil is doing is simply existing so as not to create a power vacuum. Even so, someone has to keep a record and someone has to bother actually having a conversation with the things that go bump in the night." There was a soft thunk as he kicked his feet up on his desk.

"You know I had a very nice conversation with a dragon once. Lovely young lady. Several very nice conversations with a dragon, actually, but the latter ones I was definitely bait for. She still had to die, of course, but I learned a great deal." He would've worried that the elders were trying to murder him when the did things like that, but they wouldn't've dared.

[st_reetwolf]

"I could bear knowing what I'd lost if I thought I could get it back. But I don't." She consciously injected a little more cheerfulness into her tone. Getting upset would only lead to more upset, which was honestly a serious pain in a soft place. "I'll keep your offer in mind, though, it's quite kind. Thank you."

[st_abby]

"I know fuck-all about mind magic or the brain," Vax admitted. "But I've some experience facing problems too big for one person. Problems too big for a number of people, even." Large, scaled, fire-breathing, city-devastating sized problems. "I don't know that it's out of kindness so much as wanting to get through this other-world trauma alive, but I'd rather figure out sooner rather than later who can help whom around here and how, yeah? And it doesn't hurt that you're likeable either, wolfie."

[st_reetwolf]

"Awwwww." Now the cheerfulness, with a thread of laughter, was completely un-forced. Even though the point he'd made was both serious and true: if nothing else, someone who could help with mind and/or magical matters could prove to be highly useful even if she decided to keep her blank space blank. "Same to you, elf. Nice to know I don't need to worry about peppermint oil in the hallways on your account." Not that she had been, at all, but it could be in the nature of a gift: here's how you mess with scent-based trackers.

[st_abby]

"I wouldn't," he agreed, when Vax took her meaning. He'd known that Trinket had a similar sensitivity to smell, but he'd never given thought to trying to cancel that out. Tracker mammal problems, for sure. "Sorry about the bird smell, anyway. I'm well used to it by now, but I know I'm not exactly springtime fresh from the armor."

[st_reetwolf]

"Don't worry about it. I've smelled worse." Much worse, much more persistent, much less ignorable. "For one, Corporal Nobby Nobbs. To give you a general idea of his cleanliness, he actually had to carry around a signed chitty stating that to the best of his examiner's knowledge and on the balance, he was most likely a human." And that didn't even get into the fact that he genuinely seemed not to know what soap was for or his tendency to buy the cheapest and largest bottles of perfume he could find.

[st_abby]

Vax was making a face before he stopped to consider that Angua couldn't see it to appreciate it. And he'd thought that Scanlan and Grog were bad. They had been, even for him not being an exactly fastidious fellow himself - but that sounded miserable. "I'd rather not try to imagine that smell, if it's all the same to you."

[st_reyofsunshine]

"Oh?" Rey said. The syllable hung in the air for a second before she finally continued.

"With a sword? Or with some other weapon?" A pole and a lightsaber were two very different weapons. While she managed to hold her own against Kylo Ren, it was only because he had been badly injured by Chewbacca. In a fair fight, Rey is certain she would have lost.