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WHO: Magnus Burnsides and YOU??
WHERE: Around Maurtia Falls
WHEN: Throughout the Mandrake Plot
WHAT: The Mandrake will be helping Magnus revive his lost memories! Hurray! Unfortunately, his memories and mental state are going to be degrading throughout, and he'll be steadily going back in time in his years-worth of MOM material, will become increasingly confused, and will lose his MOM and post-stolen century memories entirely. Player's choice on where in this degradation you come into!
WARNINGS: Major TAZ spoilers!

o1. EARLY MEMORY LOSS/LIMITED REGAINS

[ Magnus can be found in his home, at the wrestling ring, at the gym, at the park, or at the bar, generally wandering about and looking slightly befuddled, prone to staring into space and having to press his hands against the sides of his head, squeezing his eyes shut as though trying to focus on something just out of his reach.

Or, of course, you can see him standing outside, staring up at the moon with a small gasp. ]

There were two moons! Why were there - fuck, that doesn't make any sense. I gotta call Taako.

[ Taako's not here anymore, bud. ]

o2. LATER MEMORY LOSS/REGAINS IN FLASHES

[ Once again, Magnus can be found at his home, the bar, the gym, the ring, or the park. He's looking even more lost than he was before - still willing to jump into trouble if he sees anyone hurt (he will never be rid of that particular impulse), and is more apt to stopping sporadically, looking around him with a look of distinct distress spasming across his face. He's remembering things he hasn't in a long, long time - and his knowledge of this world is fading with it, available only in bits and pieces.

More than that, his life back home is starting to slip from his grasp as well. Wherever you are, you may see him lift a chain from underneath his clothing, two rings dangling off of the end. He'd normally look at them with sorrow, or tenderness, or a smile. Now, though? ]

What..

[ He's just confused. ]

o3. LAST MEMORY LOSS/COMPLETE REGAINS OF TSC

[ All of a sudden, Magnus darts towards the nearest shop window, eyes wide, something a little like panic on his breath as he presses a hand flat against the window. He's not looking inside. He's looking at himself. He can't remember - he can't remember where he was before he got here, he can hardly grasp onto as much as he should, but there's one thing that's standing out to him. With one finger, he reaches up to prod at his left eye. It's scarred now, but there's nothing else there. No bruise. No black eye. ]

What the fuck? [ He tugs at his scarred face, the wear and tear there, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, the crease in his brow. ]

How did -- when did I get old?

o4. WILDCARD

[ Go as you please! If canon-familiar, feel free to request any canon tidbit of interest you like - if not and you'd like to discuss it, you can hit me up on plurk/via pm/etc.! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ The thing about the Mandrake is, it's not as if she lied. She wanted to change Fortunato's eyesight, and she did. He's seeing better than ever.

It's just that he's been seeing things that aren't there, too. But this- when he wanders into the living room and looks out the door, seeing Magnus standing there- he wants Magnus to be real. He's choosing to believe it, even.

Even if he's going to have to explain what's gotten him all these scrapes and bruises. It's stressful to try to flee things that aren't there.

He walks out slowly, warily, perhaps enough that Magnus may not notice him. And then he reaches out, touching Magnus' arm, simply for the confirmation of his presence. ]

Magnus? M-Magnus.

[ Magnus hasn't forgotten Fortunato. Not yet. He knows what they've got in broad strokes anyhow, even if some of the finer details slip his mind. They had met in a school once, and he'd -- gotten shot? No, that was when they were in the forest. And Fortunato had been bleeding. Or maybe he hadn't. He'd made Fortunato something when they were trapped in there. A -- a duck, maybe. Must have been a duck. Ducks have always been his specialty.

For a moment, all he does is stand and stare at Fortunato, puzzling it out, and then he shakes it off as though it had never happened in the first place. What do the details matter? He knows that Fortunato's like a weird little brother or nephew or something to him, he knows that he loves the kid, and he knows that he wants to help him with whatever he can. That's enough. He's never been the sort to need stupid details anyway! His brain's filled with fuzz half the time anyway. It's fine. It's normal. ]

Hey, kid! What's going on?

[ The moons, he's remembering the moons --

No. No, Fortunato doesn't need to worry about a thing like that. ]

[ Something about Magnus' answer, that he is jovial as ever, jolts something in Fortunato's heart. To some extent, it's reassuring; to another extent it's in such contrast to what's going on that it makes him paranoid.

If Magnus has already spoken to Sabrina-

He looks around, arms moving up to hug at himself unconsciously. He nervously eyes a bloody mark on his pants from a scrape. ]

Magnus, have-

[ Is Sabrina here? Would he know for sure if she was here, if he saw her? ]

Is...who is home?

Well, there's you, and me, and...

[ Magnus pauses. He looks puzzled, one hand rising to grasp at the back of his neck as he looks around. The place looks different. Wrong. It's supposed to be different - more things everywhere, more furniture for Merle, a sense of liveliness that it's lost. Did they move all the furniture outside? What happened? ]

...I thought Taako and Merle were home, but they must've stepped out. I haven't been able to find them anywhere. Ain't picking up the phone either.

[ Who?

Wait. Fortunato does know those names, actually- Magnus and Angus have mentioned them both. They're no longer here, and Fortunato hadn't known them. Why does Magnus think they were here?

Unless. ]

...No. Magnus, they- they have not been here, for a long time. [ He finds himself totally winded. ] We must- [ He lowers his voice. ] Where is Sabrina?

What are you talking about? I saw them just the other day. And I - who's Sabrina?

[ God, his head hurts. When he concentrates too hard, all he can feel is static overwhelming his every attempt to get his head set straight. He looks away from Fortunato, brow furrowed as he presses his thumb and forefinger into the bridge of his nose, shaking his head against the roar of it. Sabrina. Sabrina. He knows that name. ]

No, shit, I... [ He shakes his head. It's coming back to him now. But it's taking longer and longer the more time that passes. ]

Right. Sabrina. Of course. Don't know what... [ He shakes his head again, muttering to himself. ] Why do you want to know? She doesn't tell us where she's going most of the time anyway.

[ Oh. Oh. Fortunato doesn't respond for a moment, trying desperately to put these pieces together.

If Sabrina was trying to "fix" him, to "fix" his eyes- then if she altered anything about Magnus-

No. No, no. He can't do this right now, not when he's barely sure Magnus is real. Not when, for a moment, he thinks his arms are bleeding, and he startles for a second, thinking he notices it.

He takes a shaky breath. ]

Magnus- Magnus, something is wrong. Something is wrong with Sabrina. She- she isn't-

[ Isn't herself. He's not sure if that's literal or not. ]

No. I remember. She - she was nice. She's a sweetheart. Nothing wrong with...

[ It's almost all he can remember of her, their last conversation. She'd been sweet as sugar, hadn't she? No reason not to trust her. He bounces the tips of his fingers against his mouth, as though even that much takes all his effort to remember. ]

She said she was gonna help fix me.

[ So it's true.

Fortunato feels oddly choked up, for a moment, simply as a reaction to how completely overwhelmed he is. He swears he sees hands on his arms in his peripheral vision. He knows they aren't real, and it takes all his strength not to swat them away anyway. ]

...She told me that, too.

[ Part of him wants to go inside and lie down. Another part of him knows Sabrina could easily just come home. He grabs Magnus' arm, and gives him a tug. He's going to lead them...who knows where. But not here. He'd just wanted to be home, before, but seeing Magnus, knowing Magnus is in danger- he knows better. ]

What was she gonna fix? Your eyes?

[ It's not a difficult assumption to make. Fortunato rarely seems to let it hold him back, but it's flung him into distress before, and his life would be easier with his vision - and without the pain of how he lost his vision, from what little Magnus has been able to glean, though even that feels obscure, fuzzy. He knows that Fortunato has had a painfully tragic life, for how short it's been, but where was he? He was in a room... a cell...

But then Fortunato's tugging at him, and it's a sign of his own disorientation that he simply allows himself to be tugged forward. ]

What are you doing?

We- we have to leave.

[ They really do. Even before this, paranoia was sending Fortunato into a spiral; with the idea that he may be responsible for a out-of-place and vulnerable Magnus, it's only getting worse. If Magnus notices, his hand on the man's arm is trembling.

He has no idea where they're going to go, but they're going to go. Take the Porter, maybe. Message Angus and Tina and tell them to get out of there, too- he should've already done that, they're children-

The road has a body lying over it.

He blinks. No it doesn't. He needs to get used to this.

Ah, right- Magnus asked him about his eyes. ]

And...yes. She was.

Fortunato -- Fortunato, stop.

[ Magnus finally gets his wits about him enough to stop in place, staring down at Fortunato in a way that would be intimidating if Fortunato wasn't used to him by now; he doesn't always mean to tower over people until, of course, he does. Right now, he's just confused. Concerned, really. ]

Tell me what's going on. How the hell am I supposed to help you with - with whatever's got you in a bunch if I have no idea what the hell is happening?

[ Fortunato, as is somewhat usual when he’s startled, stammers for a moment. He was hoping Magnus would come along without much protest- they can’t just stay here. But, then again, perhaps he’s underestimated any degeneration in Magnus’ mind.

At the very least, the man knows who he is, even if he’s remembering people who ported out around the time Fortunato arrived. He should be grateful.

He looks around warily, then speaks in a low tone. ]

Sabrina...she did this to me. And she did things to you. I do not think she is...the same. Something happened. And- it is not safe with her.

[ He hasn’t let go of Magnus, though, even if it seems he could. ]

[Steph's out shopping, seeing how things are outside of De Chima, maybe picking up a gift for Cass, all the usual things. Something that still strikes her about living in this universe is how much free time she has somehow, despite everything going on. She's got her job and she's got Batgirl, but... wow, is she really missing college? That might be it.

She's drawn out of her thoughts about tertiary education when a guy in front of her runs up to a store window. It doesn't look like there's anything so exciting inside that's prompted this response, but maybe she just doesn't get it. Or that's what she thinks, until he starts speaking to himself. At this point, one could possibly assume he means "oh boy did the years go by quickly," but she's not getting that feeling from him.

Steph walks up behind him slowly, almost carefully like she's trying not to surprise him.]

Hey... you okay?

Oh yeah, just peachy!

[ It's an immediate reaction; they don't always let on what's going on every time that they enter a new plane. Magnus has always been a little more upfront than the others, but he's also been more inclined to simply ignore it when he's the one not feeling well. But he knows that he must look like a basketcase, especially when he keeps on glancing away from the young lady who'd stopped him to look back at his reflection, eyes darting back and forth. He's not one to panic. He knows he's not. This, though - this isn't right.

His attempt at a smile falters. ]

That was a lie! I know this sounds like I might be, uh, a little crazypants but I have no idea where I am. And last I checked, I, uh. Didn't look like this? It's not a bad look, don't get me wrong. Rugged, and all that. But, uh... not really me.

[She smiles back, though the concern in her eyes is pretty obvious. But well, they're both trying! And that's good enough!]

Okay, so first things first... I'm guessing you don't remember when you were brought here? There was like the government and they were like hey multiverse stuff blablabla and all that? Which probably also sounds... crazypants.

Second things second, what did you look like before? Just younger than this? Or entirely different, like a different person? I feel like all of that is stuff that could happen here and technically be normal cause like I said, it's crazy.

[Realizing all this might not be reassuring, Steph takes a moment and sighs.]

Sorry, this probably isn't helping, is it?

...well, you're not treating me like I'm crazy, so that kinda helps, [ Magnus says, shoulders slumping. He's used to that - anyone who's on a ship hopping from world to world bringing stories of their doom by some supernatural force tends to be treated like they're crazy every once in a while. It's not that it had ever bothered Magnus too much - all right, it bothered him a little - but he usually had the rest of IPRE at his back. And he usually didn't find himself so profoundly changed like this.

In the face of it, it's just a relief to have someone believe him, but that doesn't exactly help his hangdog expression. ]

I don't remember anything to do with the government or the multiverse or any of that shit. Just... it's like I blinked, and suddenly I was here.

[ He places one hand on his face, tugging a little at his cheek. ]

I looked younger. Fewer scars. [ He hooks his index finger into the corner of his mouth, tugging it out a little. ] More teeth. This is more than aging. It's --

[ He glances back in the mirror, at those unfamiliar scars, signs of a life and not just some supernaturally caused aging. He could have gotten behind that. This? ]

...it's living.

[it's in the park where riptide catches magnus-- this particular one has the yoghurt stand he was assigned to work at when he was first ported in. riptide isn't sentimental, he tells himself, but he does come back every now and then to hang out with the one employee that doesn't find him completely insufferable.

this is why he sees magnus. he grabs a pot of the frozen stuff off the counter of the cart and saunters over, other hand in his pocket and holds it out to the poor confused lad.]

You drunk? It's not happy hour!

Huh?

[ Magnus takes the pot of frozen yogurt, but makes no move to eat it - nor does he make any moves to look particularly enthusiastic about it either, as he usually would be. He just takes it out of the instinct of being handed something, which isn't necessarily the wisest thing to do, but his WIS scores have never been particularly high anyway. ]

No. I'm just... [ He has no description for what he is. Beyond confused, he supposes. ]

...hey, pop quiz. How many moons are there?

[riptide doesn't seem to notice the minute changes-- not so much because he doesn't care or isn't paying attention, more so that he doesn't know how to look for them in a human face.

he shrugs a shoulder.] Trick question. Which planet?

[ ... ]

[ Magnus looks up at the sky. ]

...well, this world's only got the one, so I guess that's all we can go off of. [ What's he talking about? This is stupid. ]

Never mind.

Oookay. [wow, this is VERY unlike mr magnus burnsides. riptide is perceptive enough to know that.] You gonna tell me what's goin' on?

[ Magnus is still looking at the sky as though it holds questions for him, getting more and more aggravated until he tears himself away from it and looks back at Riptide, shoving his hands in his pockets, shoulders raised and tense. This shouldn't be getting to him. But it is. ]

Memory shit. I keep on... remembering things that don't seem like they're all, uh, in keeping with what I know from home, right? But the only people I'd want to ask about it from home are fucking gone.

[ He's missed them for so long. But now he misses them more than ever. Would they have answers for him? What would they even say? ]

Oh.

[riptide grimaces; he's not been in the same situation with the memories, but he knows the feeling of desperately missing the people that have the answers you can't comprehend.]

Sorry. Is it a Porter thing?

[Fuu has been cautiously exploring Maurtia Falls once again. She knows a number of people in the city now, enough to necessitate visiting often, so there's really nothing else for it.

When she sees one of them, her initial reaction is to smile, but that expression freezes before it's even halfway when he stops dead to stare at a pair of rings on a necklace.

She approaches, taking care not to try and startle him.]

Mr. Burnsides? Is something wrong?

[ Magnus knows her.

He thinks he knows her, anyway. He should. He knows he's been here, and that he's been here for some time, and her face is oddly familiar with those large circular lenses and that coiffed blonde hair. He just can't seem to remember her name, or how he knows her. He knows that she knows him, though. And... he thinks he knows she's kind. It's not with complete incomprehension that he turns to face her, but puzzlement still hasn't left his face. ]

I --

[ He could lie. But Magnus has never been a liar. ]

I don't remember where I got these. That's all.

[ That's not all - but it's a start. ]

[Fuu tries to cover the look of concern on her face. It's no good just fretting--there's a problem here that needs to be solved.

She hasn't seen his necklace before, admittedly. But she's seen Magnus' memories, and it isn't too difficult to guess what two rings on a chain are. That he wouldn't remember them...]

Are you certain? [She presses her fingers to her lips for a moment. Fuu has experienced a lot of things, but now that she thinks of it--this is her first encounter with amnesia. How best to approach it?

It is Magnus. Being direct is probably best.] They look like wedding rings, to me.

...yeah. They do. Little plain, though.

[ They are. A smaller, smooth wooden band for her, and the larger plain metal band for him. The two of them hadn't wanted anything fancy; it didn't suit them, and they wanted to make them themselves. Not that Magnus remembers that. He doesn't remember much right now. He knows he works for the Bureau, but the past keeps slipping through his grasp, and he keeps remembering other things, other things that couldn't possibly be right.

He sighs, removing the chain from his neck and letting it spool in the palm of his hand. ]

Pretty sure I'd remember getting married. I haven't even had a serious relationship.

[ Not that that has anything to do with it. Even if he was in a serious relationship, he wouldn't jump to marriage. But that makes it even odder, doesn't it? He only remembers little things, little bursts of romance and shared intimacy and joy spent on the road, then a whole lot of nothing. Maybe it's just that it's hard to find romance when you live life like Magnus. ]

They must belong to someone else.

[As usual with Molly because of his utter disregard for personal space half the time, he all but leans over Magnus's shoulder before he speaks, his brow raised.]

Did you just now figure that out? [He's gently teasing, the corners of his mouth lifting up in a smile. Hello, friend, he's not saying, but the ease of his demeanor speaks volumes.] Hey, Magnus. I can recommend some makeup if you want to make yourself look a little less...distinguished.

[ Magnus spins around to see a Tiefling - not all that odd in the grand scope of affairs, but absolutely odd here in this strange place, filled with enormous metal battlewagons and droves of humans milling past. Molly should look familiar.

But he doesn't. Instead, Magnus looks him over, taking a step back to get the man out of his personal space, keeping a good distance between the two of them. ]

Who are you, and how do you know my name?

[Molly—blinks, suddenly unmoored, adrift. The shock of Magnus backing away from him, asking him that question, stuns him for a moment, and Molly wants to get back in his personal space and shake him, ask him if he'd run into some magical trouble or something. Anything.]

It's Molly. Mollymauk. [He forces a smile onto his face. It's me. It's me, I brought you your wife's ring, I'm your friend, you know about my past, what happened, how did you forget?] We're friends, or at the very least we're friendly acquaintances. Are you all right?

[Suddenly he wonders: is this how Cree would feel, if Molly ever dropped the lie and told her the truth? This empty yawning abyss under his feet, this gnawing horror in his chest, this grief heavy on his heart—he should've lied, first thing, but he can't go back now, he ran his damn mouth and now the truth, that vicious little bastard, has gone and bitten him on the arse.]

What?

[ That stops Magnus in his tracks. No matter that whole friendly acquaintance thing, the first thing out of Molly's mouth was friend. And Magnus... Magnus has made a lot of friends over the years. A lot of them survived. A lot of them didn't. But he didn't know any of them or consider them friends for any longer than a year at best. Usually less. It takes a while to get to know someone, a while to become friends. But here's this fellow he doesn't even remember, acting like he's even been here long enough to make friends.

He looks back into the store window to see his reflection, something a little panicky in the quick, jolting movement, then back at Molly. Could he have...? No. No, he couldn't be. ]

I can't remember meeting you in my life, [ he says truthfully, deciding to go for broke. What does he have to lose? ] And last I remember, I looked a good, uh - fifteen, twenty years younger than this. So yeah, I'm a little - a little not good? [ Something in his gaze hardens a little at that, determination setting in. If he's going to get answers, Molly seems like a good candidate. ]

So I'm gonna need you to elaborate a little on the whole friend thing, bucko, because I'm at a loss.

Well, you saved my—

[No.]

...We met in a—

[No.]

I was—[No. He rocks back, then gives a tired sigh, scrubbing his hand over his face. He wants to lie. He wants to spin some bullshit yarn about debts and saving people and something that's suitably tragic, but he can't find the words. Can't bring himself to even try more than a half-hearted attempt.]

I was alone when I got here. There weren't any other people who even knew what a tiefling was, and that was—getting to me, just a bit. And then we met because you were offering to sell off some surplus substances, [aka drugs] and you were the first person who didn't ask me what the fuck I was.

[Which is pretty sad.]

There's—more to it, of course, but you'd have to ask me questions. I don't really know how to tell this story.

Surplus substances...?

[ That doesn't sound like him, Magnus thinks, but he's never been in a time or place where it's been feasible. He's been too busy with everything else that he has on his plate to consider anything other than what's necessary. Getting stronger. Finding the light. Saving the world. Running when they fail.

Magnus rubs at the back of his neck, tilting his head a little, clearly skeptical but not enough to actually feel as though Molly's lying. He doesn't seem like he's lying, it just sounds like... it's not him. ]

And you -- you only knew me? Nobody else with me? Couple of elves, a dwarf, a gnome? A couple of humans? I'm not, uh... you sound like you think you knew me, at least. But that doesn't sound like the sort of shit I've ever had time for.

Sir, did you find a grey hair? Is that what's happening?

[ Angus pops up next to Magnus, shouldering a backpack full of books and grinning mischievously. They've been living together for such a long time now that Angus has gotten pretty comfortable with goofs and teasing, and he can dish 'em out as well as he can take them (although Magnus's goofs lean more towards physical stuff like noogies, while Angus relies on sarcasm).

Except... except Magnus genuinely sounds upset in a way that Angus can't quite pinpoint, and he has a sudden, sinking feeling that this might not be a goof. ]

... Sir?

[ Magnus turns to see...

A kid. A little twerp, really, with nerdy glasses and a mischievous smile and a big ol' mop of hair, looking at Magnus as though he knows him. Sir, he says, which doesn't make sense because there's nothing unfamiliar in the way the kid is looking at him.

His frown deepens. His brow furrows. Maybe he's just a passer-by who thinks he can make fun of whatever confused fellow he comes across. Magnus sure as hell doesn't know. ]

I don't see how that's any of your business.

[ It could be a familiar rebuke. But there's no recognition in Magnus' eyes. ]

[ The last time that Angus can remember Magnus being this short with him had been back when he'd followed the man into an underground fighting ring. Magnus had been angry, sure, but... that's just it, he'd been angry with him, he'd been upset and concerned for Angus's welfare because he'd walked into a very dangerous situation.

Angus would take the fighting ring incident a hundred times over rather than this cold, impersonal frown and the total lack of recognition in Magnus's eyes. He steps back, mentally composing himself so that he can come at this from a different angle instead of getting upset. He can feel hurt later, right now he has to figure out what's going on. He's a detective, that's what detectives do. ]

I... okay, my bad, I guess that was a little rude. Are you... feeling okay? What's wrong?

No shit it was rude, [ Magnus says bluntly, hardly in the mood to get made fun of when he's trying to have an existential crisis in peace. He shouldn't be so rude. As far as he knows, Angus is one of the locals, and so much of the time, their mission is contingent on getting along with the locals. Who knows? The kid's dressed so fancily that he could be the mayor's son, or whatever. That's usually the sort of thing he sends the twins in for - Rustic Hospitality usually works best on people with, oh, slightly less expensive clothing - but they're not here right now. His frown is still small and pinched, eyes tight as he turns to slowly look Angus over.

He can figure out what's going on with him later, no matter the nagging fear that something's gone wrong between planets. For now, he needs to figure out where the fuck he is. And where to stay. City like this, he can't just camp out on the street. ]

I'm fine. If you want to help, you can start by telling me where I am.

... Ohboy.

[ Well, this is about a hundred times worse than he'd first thought. Angus searches his face for any hint of familiarity, any sign at all of a potential goof. Of course, there is none, and Angus's heart breaks a little, because Magnus is staring at him like a complete stranger, someone he loves has gotten really messed up somehow, and he hopes to whatever gods are listening that this fuckery isn't permanent. ]

Um... okay. Okay. You're in a city called Maurtia Falls, and may I ask what the last thing you remember is? Possibly some kind of head injury?

[ Because fuck it, he will put on a Disguise Self and recruit M to help him investigate the underground fighting ring, if that's what it takes to unravel this. ]

[ Magnus rubs at his face irritably, looking away from Angus for a moment. Of course that's what anyone here is going to go for. It's not as though they haven't been accused of as much in the past, alongside lying, swindling, cheating and otherwise bamboozling their way through the universe, which in fairness to them, is only true some of the time. ]

No. I know exactly who I am. This isn't some bullshit amnesia thing. The last thing I remember I was -- I was on the Starblaster, not that you know what that is. We go to different planes all the time, and I'm guessing this is the latest one we crash landed on.

[ He raises a brow at Angus. Maybe he can be good for something. ] You see anyone else around that looks just as lost as I do? There's six of us. Me, two elves, two humans, and a dwarf. We have a habit of, uh, standing out. If you've seen them, you'd know.

[ Wait, what? What? ]

What?!

[ Some of Magnus' words are staticked out in a way that's nauseatingly familiar, but the rest of it is phrased just vaguely enough that several details manage to get through the mental fog. Words like 'crash landed' and 'me, two elves (who's the other one?!), two humans and a dwarf'. Angus stares up at Magnus for a few moments - and you can tell he's really gobsmacked because he just yelped 'what?!' instead of 'I beg your pardon?' or something equally polite - before pulling a notebook out of his backpack and hurriedly jotting notes down like a nerd possessed. ]

I-I mean, no, I'm sorry. An elf and a dwarf were here a while ago, I can... I can take you to where they lived, if you like.

[ Maybe if he sees the house, some more memories will come back? ]

Yeah? I guess that's as good a start as any, [ Magnus says, eyeing Angus a little more suspiciously after his exaggerated reaction. ]

I dunno if it'd be them. I haven't been here long enough for them to set up camp already, but - ah, hell, who knows with them.

[ Taako's a charmer. And Merle is - Merle isn't a charmer, but he could help by following along, keeping his mouth shut and not trying to fuck any plants on the way there. He jams his hands in his pockets, nodding at Angus. ]

Lead the way, little guy. [ They can still chat while they walk, however, which is why he's quick to ask, ] So, did you catch their names?

[ Under most circumstances, Angus is a pretty good liar. Unfortunately for him, those circumstances rarely involve Magnus. It's not that he doesn't think Magnus would believe him if he lied, it's quite the opposite - Magnus trusts him enough to give him the benefit of the doubt, which means that Angus would feel super guilty about it if he tried to get one past the man.

That said, this Magnus is fairly aggro and barely seems to trust him at all, so shaving a few edges off the truth in order to gentle things is probably the better approach, considering how close he seemed to a full-out existential crisis earlier. ]

Yessir. Taako and Merle. They were here for a while, time's a little bit messed up in this plane.

[ He's keeping a careful eye on Magnus as they walk, watching to see if any of their surroundings are striking a chord with him. If not, then he's hoping Uncle Jesse will be enough to knock some sense back into him once they're home. In the meantime... well, he's a detective, he can't resist looking for more clues. ]

Where did you say you were from, again?

No shit! That's them! [ Magnus exclaims, a slow grin spreading across his face. ] I knew they couldn't have gone far. I can't believe they went and got a house without me. Assholes, [ he says, nothing but fondness in his voice. They're assholes, but they're his assholes. They probably didn't even bother looking for him, did they?

As he walks, however, there's no sign of recognition in his gaze. He walks the streets as though he owns them, of course, but that's just the way he always is. ]

We're from -- uh -- we're from --

[ Shit. Should he tell the kid? He's pretty sure some of the more reasonable members of IPRE would argue against showing their hand too quickly, but he's a kid, and the best source of information that he's got. If it's a bad idea, he'll just tell everyone that the little squirt has an overactive imagination and he's lying through his teeth. It's not a particularly nice plan, but he reckons it's a pretty good one. ]

So, uh, listen. You're probably not gonna believe this, but me and my crew, those people that you met, we're not from here. We're from another planet. We've been going from planet and planet to help.

[ Okay, this has gone from 'weird' to 'absolutely buck wild', and Angus is absolutely WRITING ALL OF THIS DOWN FOR LATER. Or at least, he's writing down everything that he can decipher through the static - the stuff about other planets has been fogged over, but 'we're not from here' came through loud and clear. This all but confirms the second voidfish theory that he had earlier, and they're going to have one hell of a conversation once Magnus snaps out of this.

... Assuming that he does snap out of it, and Angus doesn't just have an amnesiac new roommate. ]

That... that does sound pretty crazy, sir, but I believe you! What are you helping with? Just... general do-goodery, or...?

Well, uh... this here is when it gets really wild.

[ And where he suspects he'll lose the kid, but hell, he may as well try, right? He jams his hands in his pockets, leaning back a little as he walks. Even the way he walks is different. His body is the same as it ever was, but there's a youthfulness to the way he's loping along, a cocky, almost arrogant bent that he's more or less grown out of over the past few years. ]

Y'see, kid, we've got more on our plate than general do-goodery. There's this thing that lands on every planet we're on. In fact, we chase it there. We call it the Light of Creation. It looks like -- [ He puts his hands in front of him, pantomiming. ] Well, a big ball of light is what it looks like. We didn't, uh, go super creative with the name. And wherever the Light goes, something...

[ He doesn't want to scare the kid. ]

...nasty follows. It's our job to recover it and get going to the next planet so the big bad'll lead you alone. Which means that if you've seen it, you're gonna have to hand it over. You clear on that?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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