[Someday, someday— someday is nice, Octavian thinks, for both the promise of it and the lack of an immediate rush to the finish. Here they can be content to say someday and trust each other to mean it, where to other people someday may have actually been absolutely not, ever.
So. Someday is nice. The sunset is lovely, Viktor's skinny shoulder is surprisingly comfortable— it's all very nice, here. As is Viktor's story about his parents and his Academy, which makes Octavian laugh; never loud, but his shoulders shake with the small sound of it, and that much is readily noticeable.]
You walked right in? They should have given you the keys to the whole campus.
[And also not pigeonholed him as that strange professor's assistant, but that's a topic for another time, too. Viktor's intellect is wasted being assistant to anybody, Octavian thinks, and there's something about being impressed by the work of a "student" and shifting him over into a position with arguably less upward mobility than an actual student that feels... odd. Feels closer to "discarded immediately" than it perhaps should, but, well, hell if University darling and local wealthy prodigy Octavian can really speak to that.
But it feels odd.]
Your parents must have been proud. Did they know? Before you walked in?
[Or was the uniform just a nice gift, and Viktor had other plans—]
[ oh. the quiet sound of his laughter, the way his shoulders shake slightly with it — viktor freezes, or maybe the entirety of mars freezes around them instead, leaving nothing but him, head turning even though he knows he can't actually properly look at octavian like this, wishing he could see him, could make sure this quiet sound is forever embedded in his heart.
it buoys him, makes the smile audible in his voice as he says, ] Of course I walked in. Those in Piltover could never have imagined that a Zaunite could simply walk among them like that, or be smart enough to be there. Even though none of them were worth even a thought.
[ at least until that fateful trial. and he doesn't begrudge the professor; that viktor didn't get thrown out of there immediately is still a minor miracle, and being there to help heimerdinger did make it possible for him to talk to him, to learn from him, to have official, sanctioned access to the academy and its facilities.
and yet.
still, the question about his parents makes that slight edge of nostalgia seep right back in. ]
They knew. My mother thought it was a brilliant plan. My father thought I would be caught within the month. But they were both supportive. They knew that was the only real chance I had.
[ and he doesn't know if he has wasted it; and anyway, they both died soon after and didn't live long enough to even see him become the dean's assistant, let alone one of the minds behind hextech.
both of these things go right into that someday pile. ]
[Of course he walked right in, of course. Octavian can almost picture it, a much younger Viktor in his fresh little uniform, walking right in and putting everyone else there to shame by simply opening his mouth. It suits him, and Octavian feels a little tingle of warmth for Viktor's sake, that his parents were supportive of his idea.]
They sound kind. They must have been proud of you.
[He can't help but think of his own parents; they died not knowing what happened to him, although if he knows his family, he knows they would not have swallowed the "mysteriously left town overnight" excuse that was fed to the press. But, well, "My parents outlived me and died not knowing the truth" is also going straight into the someday pile.
He does lift his free hand though, to point... back over his shoulder, in the direction Viktor is facing. It's not a very precise point, but it's enough.]
My parents lived down that direction. Past the next bridge. And my university is over there in the old town center.
["Over there" is the way he's facing, but never mind it. Use context clues. He wonders if they could manipulate this dream actively, and he could see something of Viktor's home in turn, but hm. There likely isn't enough time to experiment on it.]
[ both of those things, in fact — kind and proud of him, always. he loved his parents immensely, and both of them passing due to the conditions in the undercity, well. it had fueled his desire to make a real change there, even more.
he hums as octavian points to somewhere past the other bridge, and then again when he speaks of the university; likely not in the same direction, because the direction he is looking into doesn't seem like an area to be called the old town center.... regardless, he notes these things, commits them to memory like he has done with every single detail octavian has told him so far. ]
Would you like to see either?
[ he doesn't know how much time they still have left in this dream, when it is that they will both wake up — which, how octavian is sleeping in the first place is a fascination, likely due to the simulation, but that is neither here nor there right now. what matters is they don't waste the time they have, here. ]
[Would he like to see either, Viktor offers, and Octavian quietly appreciates the offer for coming at all; Viktor would not go on walking tours of pseudo-imaginary cities for just anyone, after all. That, too, is a plume of warmth in his chest.
The question itself, however— the university has nothing for him anymore, he had already left it by the time he died, there is nothing there but a faint nostalgia, and his parents... Well. He'd been prepared to see Sterling and young Emory, to put them into their reunion scenario and see their faces, hear them speak, but his parents? Would he even make it through the front door?
So,] No.
[Not harshly said, just said. He's content with what they've already seen, and the rest is just... trivia.]
I would like to stay here with you. Until we cannot stay any longer.
[When night properly falls, maybe? He has no way of knowing, but the sentiment is the same.]
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expiationlogs2025-01-13 12:39 pm
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So. Someday is nice. The sunset is lovely, Viktor's skinny shoulder is surprisingly comfortable— it's all very nice, here. As is Viktor's story about his parents and his Academy, which makes Octavian laugh; never loud, but his shoulders shake with the small sound of it, and that much is readily noticeable.]
You walked right in? They should have given you the keys to the whole campus.
[And also not pigeonholed him as that strange professor's assistant, but that's a topic for another time, too. Viktor's intellect is wasted being assistant to anybody, Octavian thinks, and there's something about being impressed by the work of a "student" and shifting him over into a position with arguably less upward mobility than an actual student that feels... odd. Feels closer to "discarded immediately" than it perhaps should, but, well, hell if University darling and local wealthy prodigy Octavian can really speak to that.
But it feels odd.]
Your parents must have been proud. Did they know? Before you walked in?
[Or was the uniform just a nice gift, and Viktor had other plans—]
no subject
it buoys him, makes the smile audible in his voice as he says, ] Of course I walked in. Those in Piltover could never have imagined that a Zaunite could simply walk among them like that, or be smart enough to be there. Even though none of them were worth even a thought.
[ at least until that fateful trial. and he doesn't begrudge the professor; that viktor didn't get thrown out of there immediately is still a minor miracle, and being there to help heimerdinger did make it possible for him to talk to him, to learn from him, to have official, sanctioned access to the academy and its facilities.
and yet.
still, the question about his parents makes that slight edge of nostalgia seep right back in. ]
They knew. My mother thought it was a brilliant plan. My father thought I would be caught within the month. But they were both supportive. They knew that was the only real chance I had.
[ and he doesn't know if he has wasted it; and anyway, they both died soon after and didn't live long enough to even see him become the dean's assistant, let alone one of the minds behind hextech.
both of these things go right into that someday pile. ]
no subject
They sound kind. They must have been proud of you.
[He can't help but think of his own parents; they died not knowing what happened to him, although if he knows his family, he knows they would not have swallowed the "mysteriously left town overnight" excuse that was fed to the press. But, well, "My parents outlived me and died not knowing the truth" is also going straight into the someday pile.
He does lift his free hand though, to point... back over his shoulder, in the direction Viktor is facing. It's not a very precise point, but it's enough.]
My parents lived down that direction. Past the next bridge. And my university is over there in the old town center.
["Over there" is the way he's facing, but never mind it. Use context clues. He wonders if they could manipulate this dream actively, and he could see something of Viktor's home in turn, but hm. There likely isn't enough time to experiment on it.]
no subject
[ both of those things, in fact — kind and proud of him, always. he loved his parents immensely, and both of them passing due to the conditions in the undercity, well. it had fueled his desire to make a real change there, even more.
he hums as octavian points to somewhere past the other bridge, and then again when he speaks of the university; likely not in the same direction, because the direction he is looking into doesn't seem like an area to be called the old town center.... regardless, he notes these things, commits them to memory like he has done with every single detail octavian has told him so far. ]
Would you like to see either?
[ he doesn't know how much time they still have left in this dream, when it is that they will both wake up — which, how octavian is sleeping in the first place is a fascination, likely due to the simulation, but that is neither here nor there right now. what matters is they don't waste the time they have, here. ]
no subject
The question itself, however— the university has nothing for him anymore, he had already left it by the time he died, there is nothing there but a faint nostalgia, and his parents... Well. He'd been prepared to see Sterling and young Emory, to put them into their reunion scenario and see their faces, hear them speak, but his parents? Would he even make it through the front door?
So,] No.
[Not harshly said, just said. He's content with what they've already seen, and the rest is just... trivia.]
I would like to stay here with you. Until we cannot stay any longer.
[When night properly falls, maybe? He has no way of knowing, but the sentiment is the same.]