Lucius Artorius Castus | Askeladd (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
afallon) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
maskormenacelogs2020-05-06 12:39 pm
afallon) wrote in maskormenacelogs2020-05-06 12:39 pm
I don't want it
WHO: Askeladd, Askeladd, and you!
WHERE: Porter cities
WHEN: while feywild magic is going nuts
WHAT: Askeladd gets stuck with an embarrassing voice, and then reverts to being ten.
WARNINGS: child Askeladd is likely to come with references to some heavy topics (i.e. slavery)
1. any Porter city
Askeladd is, clearly, settling in quite nicely. Today, he's taking advantage of the spring weather to sit at one of the outside tables set up by a local coffee shop, legs stretched out and feet resting on the opposite chair. He's leisurely reading through today's newspaper, taking an occasional sip from the cup on the table in front of him. And watching whoever else passes by.
That part is getting more interesting. A woman out walking her dog starts to hover, seeming to walk on air a food above the ground. Then two feet. She stops, dropping the leash in surprise, but all that means is that she stays in one place as she rises even more rapidly, leaving the now furiously barking dog on the ground.
Askeladd watches this with raised eyebrows. "Well, she'd better start walking towards a building."
Except his voice comes out octaves higher than it usually is.
That startles him. It's not funny.
2. Heropa, later any Porter city
He stands out.
He's tried to do his best not to. When he'd woken up in the strange set of rooms, he had taken his time. First to ensure no one else was there or apparently coming soon, then to observe out the windows, trying to figure out anything he could through looking at the place outside. It wasn't much, other than confirmation that he's somewhere completely strange. He has no idea where that is. And more importantly, he doesn't know where his mother is. He can't leave her. Unless this is an afterlife, and he already has...
Still, he could see what the other people here look like - dressed in strange, rich clothes. He'd have stolen something to wear from the rooms if anything would have fit him, but it's all made for an adult, not a ten-year-old. So he did what he could. Combed out his hair. Washed his face and hands, once he'd figured out the odd knobs next to the basin in what must be a bathing room (amazing, that). He doesn't look as ratty as he could when he steps out into the street. He's just still, unfortunately, dressed in a very worn tunic and trousers, stained with ash and dirt.
He hugs the sides of buildings, trying to make himself even smaller in an attempt not to be noticed, squinting at signs and wishing he could read. He lingers just within earshot of conversations, but the talk he hears of "bluetube" and "the Jeopardy elections" doesn't exactly help.
It's only a matter of time before he becomes an object of curiosity. One concerned woman asks him if he's a "new imPort," and it soon becomes a crowd of disconcertingly friendly faces, asking him what world he's from, whether he can do magic, and all sorts of outlandish questions. He's not used to this sort of attention (he's not used to being given much attention at all), and it makes it hard to come up with a lie to make them leave him alone. "I'm just on my way to work."
That leads to someone declaring that he's far too young to work, which is ridiculous.
In the coming days, he does manage to find some appropriate clothes, and blends in more as he wanders the cities. It's hard to believe that if he's been brought here, his mother hasn't been. He visits parks, repeatedly, reasoning that of all the places he's found they're the ones she would like best. Occasionally, if he finds someone who looks particularly friendly or notices that someone's watching him, he'll ask if they've met a woman named Lydia. She's ill. She'll need help.
WHERE: Porter cities
WHEN: while feywild magic is going nuts
WHAT: Askeladd gets stuck with an embarrassing voice, and then reverts to being ten.
WARNINGS: child Askeladd is likely to come with references to some heavy topics (i.e. slavery)
1. any Porter city
Askeladd is, clearly, settling in quite nicely. Today, he's taking advantage of the spring weather to sit at one of the outside tables set up by a local coffee shop, legs stretched out and feet resting on the opposite chair. He's leisurely reading through today's newspaper, taking an occasional sip from the cup on the table in front of him. And watching whoever else passes by.
That part is getting more interesting. A woman out walking her dog starts to hover, seeming to walk on air a food above the ground. Then two feet. She stops, dropping the leash in surprise, but all that means is that she stays in one place as she rises even more rapidly, leaving the now furiously barking dog on the ground.
Askeladd watches this with raised eyebrows. "Well, she'd better start walking towards a building."
Except his voice comes out octaves higher than it usually is.
That startles him. It's not funny.
2. Heropa, later any Porter city
He stands out.
He's tried to do his best not to. When he'd woken up in the strange set of rooms, he had taken his time. First to ensure no one else was there or apparently coming soon, then to observe out the windows, trying to figure out anything he could through looking at the place outside. It wasn't much, other than confirmation that he's somewhere completely strange. He has no idea where that is. And more importantly, he doesn't know where his mother is. He can't leave her. Unless this is an afterlife, and he already has...
Still, he could see what the other people here look like - dressed in strange, rich clothes. He'd have stolen something to wear from the rooms if anything would have fit him, but it's all made for an adult, not a ten-year-old. So he did what he could. Combed out his hair. Washed his face and hands, once he'd figured out the odd knobs next to the basin in what must be a bathing room (amazing, that). He doesn't look as ratty as he could when he steps out into the street. He's just still, unfortunately, dressed in a very worn tunic and trousers, stained with ash and dirt.
He hugs the sides of buildings, trying to make himself even smaller in an attempt not to be noticed, squinting at signs and wishing he could read. He lingers just within earshot of conversations, but the talk he hears of "bluetube" and "the Jeopardy elections" doesn't exactly help.
It's only a matter of time before he becomes an object of curiosity. One concerned woman asks him if he's a "new imPort," and it soon becomes a crowd of disconcertingly friendly faces, asking him what world he's from, whether he can do magic, and all sorts of outlandish questions. He's not used to this sort of attention (he's not used to being given much attention at all), and it makes it hard to come up with a lie to make them leave him alone. "I'm just on my way to work."
That leads to someone declaring that he's far too young to work, which is ridiculous.
In the coming days, he does manage to find some appropriate clothes, and blends in more as he wanders the cities. It's hard to believe that if he's been brought here, his mother hasn't been. He visits parks, repeatedly, reasoning that of all the places he's found they're the ones she would like best. Occasionally, if he finds someone who looks particularly friendly or notices that someone's watching him, he'll ask if they've met a woman named Lydia. She's ill. She'll need help.
no subject
The sorry makes him blink up at the other boy, surprised not just by the words but the sympathetic tone. People are oddly sympathetic here, but he doesn't expect it. Would never expect it from someone who somehow recognizes him.
He shrugs, turns his attention to the side. "Thanks for checking."
no subject
Which is about the point he realises too-late that he hasn't actually introduced himself (to... Lucius? Lucius Artorius Castus? is that his real name, then?), because he'd still, instinctively, felt like the other blond already knew. Must have already known.
So he adds, "My name's Luther Hargreeves. If you... need anything, or wind up with any questions, or... or something. You can tell your version of this thing," he taps the communicator, "to call me."
If this strange effect lasts much longer.
But god knows how long these things last, these days. He'd hoped for a one-day turnaround, but it's already lasted longer than he'd like, trapped back in this body and stuck wrangling a Number Three who also doesn't remember the twenty-odd years between then and now.
no subject
He does still have a question. It would be better if he could figure out a way to be subtle about it, could maybe use one of those machines to help him approach it sideways. But there's no helping it. He has to ask while Luther is here, or he might not get any chance at all.
"You said you met me as a man. So how did you recognize me?"
no subject
"Weird things happen here. You might've noticed that, people having unexpected abilities and stuff? Maybe even magic? Well, a while back, some kind of magic led to people seeing each others' memories. I saw you as a kid, and you saw my childhood. So I knew what you looked like."
The whole expo disaster was more tech-based, really, but having seen Askeladd's muddy origins in the forge, this feels like the safer way to explain it. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
no subject
Is the stupidest explanation for something he's ever heard. Other times and even other worlds, well, it's not entirely impossible, with magic involved. But just being able to see into someone else's memory...it manages to be even more outrageous. He's heard plenty of stories of other worlds and lands that are only connected to earth by a thread, but he's never heard any stories of that.
It's the self-consciousness that makes it convincing. Luther clearly knows how ridiculous it sounds.
"But you're the only one who remembers."
It being convincing doesn't mean he's completely convinced.
no subject
"Look, the girl I grew up with, she woke up looking a lot younger and she's lost all memory of the last seventeen years, too. So you're not the only one out there. Believe me: this whole thing is a huge, huge pain."