[THE SELF ESTEEM IS RANCID, SORRY....... The outfit of every single Luke icon really takes me on a ride.
He's still working on the helmet--well, it isn't a helmet, not with the pair of legs and torso over in the corner of the lab. It's definitely that thing's head probably. But he pauses his work to focus on Luke. His brows furrow, and he sort of shakes his head.]
He's... alright? He stayed with us a bit in the room because of Throne. Nosy. He's very nosy, and he loved teasing me as much as possible. Why?
[LMKSJDHGKH GOD YOU'RE SO RIGHT at least this one is for a fantasy AU I think but still. I tire.
Luke watches him work, nodding slowly as Viktor talks. Honestly, what he actually says is less important than his tone and demeanor; since the vibes aren't immediately rancid like they are with SOME people (Scien), Luke takes this as a green light to go ahead.]
He explained some of his abilities to me. His healing, and his revival. [A beat.] I was wondering if you'd be interested.
[Because the thing is... Luke wants to live. He does. He remembers the way his heart raced at Aaron's promising words, and the ashy bitterness that filled his mouth when he'd learned he'd only gained two more months.
But he doesn't want to live the way Viktor does, he thinks. He doesn't often allow himself that kind of kindness. He lies so often to others--but the lies he tells to himself are almost always for the sake of better serving them. Otherwise, he faces the hard truths, so that the ones he loves don't have to. That has always been how he lives.
Viktor, on the other hand--Viktor has... if not hope, then stubbornness, or maybe spite. He hasn't resigned himself to his fate--has denied to the extent that it caused such friction between him and the Relivers, back in those early days. And even with their deaths, he seems to believe that they can be rescued, unlike Luke, who has only recently started to sniff cautiously at the possibility.]
[The smile he gives Luke is small, though not strained. He understands Luke is trying to help in Luke's own way. He's thoughtful.]
Throne mentioned this a little before I died. About Temenos. It was... incomprehensible to me, how easily possible they made it sound. To just... bring someone back, heal them, without any kind of consequences. After... everything I had gone through, after what I had done to Sky. And it's... that simple? With magic? The magic Jayce and I struggled to harness, the one my former mentor condemned. I can see why, of course. That sort of power... where I'm from. I can't imagine the wars it would wage.
I was skeptical. Then... wherever we went, the place with Throne's memories... I saw it work. Not the revival part exactly, but the healing. [He shakes his head and leans back some.] I'm not sure how to answer your question.
I guess it's only natural I am... Otherwise, I'm still just a dead man walking even if, after all of this, I go somewhere else.
[It doesn't surprise him to hear that Throné had talked about it--she's a graveyard favorite for a reason, after all. It also doesn't surprise him to hear that Viktor had trouble believing it, as that inclination towards believing in logic and science first is something they share.]
I asked him if there were any risks or caveats, and he said no. [Imagine being a healer from an RPG. So convenient. And Temenos may not be the most honest person on the ship, exactly, but Luke doesn't think he's sadistic enough to lie about this.]
...I don't know if it'll be possible. But if the opportunity comes up, then I think you should take it.
She said the same thing. I don't know... how effective it will be on me exactly.
[WILD. FUCKING RPG MAGIC!!!!!!!! Shaking Luke's hand in being, like, wtf about no caveats. He laughs, once, airy through the nose. He peers pointedly at Luke.]
And what about you? There are quite a few of us in the same predicament for some strange reason, yourself included. Will you also let Temenos heal you?
[RPG MAGIC BE OUT THERE!!! Luke also doesn't know if it would work on him... Temenos like "well I could kill you and revive you and then it would probably be fine" and Luke just like :upside_down:
He'd figured Viktor might ask, but he still doesn't answer right away, leaning his head back as he considers--both the truth, and what he wants to say.]
I don't know. [He settles on, eventually.] I don't know him that well. It's a hard thing to trust.
[Especially for people like them, those who are so used to studying things, or being able to take them apart and figure out how they tick.]
[Thoughtfully, he sits there and watches Luke's face for a long moment. He thinks Luke is entirely too closed off, but he also understands very much why that is in this regard.]
It's hard to trust after your trust has been broken, sometimes many times and sometimes only once. It's hard to trust people you don't know, too. People from other worlds.
...I had a mentor once when I was a boy, not the one from Piltover. This man had left Piltover so he could run experiments Piltover would never allow. He had... created a giant salamander mutant. Rio. She was very sweet, but she was dying. I helped him look after her and feed her. But one day... I went in to feed her, and I found her wasting away, hooked up to tubes forcing her to stay alive. I felt betrayed. He didn't care about her the way I did. He only cared about... keeping his mutation alive for research. So I ran away.
[He shakes his head.]
I think... if you are comfortable with it, you should take it, too. I might not know Temenos well, or trust the magic, but... I do trust Throné, and she vouches for it.
[He would be right... thinks about how Luke is so tsuntsun even towards his own doctor. Stupid.
Luke listens, his expression softening in sympathy. Even though it's extremely funny that Viktor is telling him to trust someone after saying "I trusted a guy once and it turned out to be a bad idea actually"]
That must've been awful for you. [Viktor really does have such a kind heart. It's part of the reason Luke passed this offer on to begin with--he knows Viktor wants to do good in the world, and Luke thinks he should have that chance without having to feed some creepy purple thing his flesh.]
I'll think about it. [...A little more softly--] I trust her too.
[
He does not tell Viktor that Scien offered to fix him and that he trusts Scien more than Temenos]
[OH MY GOD STOP THISSSS THE BEDSIDE MANNER IS SO BAD HERE!!!!!!! Like is a fucking bottom masochist in this regard.]
The magic was there. In the place I had been, the one with Throné's memories. I was able to use it--poorly, but still. If it is anything like what I experienced... it isn't so bad.
[A small smile.]
It is... less I don't trust them and more... Scien's unkind words made me want to do it myself.
[LISTEN HIS DOCTOR BROKE INTO HIS HOUSE AND STOLE HIS STUFF ONCE, SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE THAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIP,,,
BUT ALSO HELP. He snorts.]
You're going to let that guy dictate what you do? Come on.
[Luke's CR with Scien is (static noises) and unfortunately he does think Viktor was in the wrong back then but that doesn't mean he won't roast Scien when he wants to]
Viktor makes a little bit of a face. Not at Luke, of course. ABOUT SCIEN........]
Yes, I will. Any man who accused me of being a thief after I tried to speak to him about his research, who told me I was better off dead, and who said I couldn't hope to help anyone else because I couldn't even help myself without his involvement...
[Okay well now he's sitting here thinking that Viktor is going to run out the clock and die from stubbornness, and he really doesn't have any room to judge, but he's judging anyway, a little--
--but fortunately he is a trained undercover agent, so he knows how to prevent himself from revealing his thoughts, and he just nods.]
Alright... if you're sure that's what you want.
[Maybe he will email Temenos and tell him to do it when Viktor is sleeping]
I think we learned last week that I can outrun you. [STOP JOKING ABOUT THROWING POOR VIKTOR IN THE BARN. But his tone is light, gentle.] But I promise that once we deal with the dead thing, I'll decide what to do about the sick thing.
[Luke would absolutely break this promise if he felt he had to... but despite all his thoughts about all this, he does, at the end of the day, want to live. He just wants to take care of their WEIRDLY SPECIFIC GROUP first.]
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Luke... [The fact it is week four, and he is still SHOCKED when anyone else wants his attention or company in any form.] Sure.
[OF COURSE HE'S IN THE LAB. He gestures to a stool.]
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He comes over and takes a seat, giving him a tired smile.]
This might seem like a strange question, but go with me on it. How do you feel about Temenos?
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He's still working on the helmet--well, it isn't a helmet, not with the pair of legs and torso over in the corner of the lab. It's definitely that thing's head probably. But he pauses his work to focus on Luke. His brows furrow, and he sort of shakes his head.]
He's... alright? He stayed with us a bit in the room because of Throne. Nosy. He's very nosy, and he loved teasing me as much as possible. Why?
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Luke watches him work, nodding slowly as Viktor talks. Honestly, what he actually says is less important than his tone and demeanor; since the vibes aren't immediately rancid like they are with SOME people (Scien), Luke takes this as a green light to go ahead.]
He explained some of his abilities to me. His healing, and his revival. [A beat.] I was wondering if you'd be interested.
[Because the thing is... Luke wants to live. He does. He remembers the way his heart raced at Aaron's promising words, and the ashy bitterness that filled his mouth when he'd learned he'd only gained two more months.
But he doesn't want to live the way Viktor does, he thinks. He doesn't often allow himself that kind of kindness. He lies so often to others--but the lies he tells to himself are almost always for the sake of better serving them. Otherwise, he faces the hard truths, so that the ones he loves don't have to. That has always been how he lives.
Viktor, on the other hand--Viktor has... if not hope, then stubbornness, or maybe spite. He hasn't resigned himself to his fate--has denied to the extent that it caused such friction between him and the Relivers, back in those early days. And even with their deaths, he seems to believe that they can be rescued, unlike Luke, who has only recently started to sniff cautiously at the possibility.]
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[The smile he gives Luke is small, though not strained. He understands Luke is trying to help in Luke's own way. He's thoughtful.]
Throne mentioned this a little before I died. About Temenos. It was... incomprehensible to me, how easily possible they made it sound. To just... bring someone back, heal them, without any kind of consequences. After... everything I had gone through, after what I had done to Sky. And it's... that simple? With magic? The magic Jayce and I struggled to harness, the one my former mentor condemned. I can see why, of course. That sort of power... where I'm from. I can't imagine the wars it would wage.
I was skeptical. Then... wherever we went, the place with Throne's memories... I saw it work. Not the revival part exactly, but the healing. [He shakes his head and leans back some.] I'm not sure how to answer your question.
I guess it's only natural I am... Otherwise, I'm still just a dead man walking even if, after all of this, I go somewhere else.
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I asked him if there were any risks or caveats, and he said no. [Imagine being a healer from an RPG. So convenient. And Temenos may not be the most honest person on the ship, exactly, but Luke doesn't think he's sadistic enough to lie about this.]
...I don't know if it'll be possible. But if the opportunity comes up, then I think you should take it.
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[WILD. FUCKING RPG MAGIC!!!!!!!! Shaking Luke's hand in being, like, wtf about no caveats. He laughs, once, airy through the nose. He peers pointedly at Luke.]
And what about you? There are quite a few of us in the same predicament for some strange reason, yourself included. Will you also let Temenos heal you?
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He'd figured Viktor might ask, but he still doesn't answer right away, leaning his head back as he considers--both the truth, and what he wants to say.]
I don't know. [He settles on, eventually.] I don't know him that well. It's a hard thing to trust.
[Especially for people like them, those who are so used to studying things, or being able to take them apart and figure out how they tick.]
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It's hard to trust after your trust has been broken, sometimes many times and sometimes only once. It's hard to trust people you don't know, too. People from other worlds.
...I had a mentor once when I was a boy, not the one from Piltover. This man had left Piltover so he could run experiments Piltover would never allow. He had... created a giant salamander mutant. Rio. She was very sweet, but she was dying. I helped him look after her and feed her. But one day... I went in to feed her, and I found her wasting away, hooked up to tubes forcing her to stay alive. I felt betrayed. He didn't care about her the way I did. He only cared about... keeping his mutation alive for research. So I ran away.
[He shakes his head.]
I think... if you are comfortable with it, you should take it, too. I might not know Temenos well, or trust the magic, but... I do trust Throné, and she vouches for it.
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Luke listens, his expression softening in sympathy. Even though it's extremely funny that Viktor is telling him to trust someone after saying "I trusted a guy once and it turned out to be a bad idea actually"]
That must've been awful for you. [Viktor really does have such a kind heart. It's part of the reason Luke passed this offer on to begin with--he knows Viktor wants to do good in the world, and Luke thinks he should have that chance without having to feed some creepy purple thing his flesh.]
I'll think about it. [...A little more softly--] I trust her too.
[
He does not tell Viktor that Scien offered to fix him and that he trusts Scien more than Temenos]
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The magic was there. In the place I had been, the one with Throné's memories. I was able to use it--poorly, but still. If it is anything like what I experienced... it isn't so bad.
[A small smile.]
It is... less I don't trust them and more... Scien's unkind words made me want to do it myself.
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BUT ALSO HELP. He snorts.]
You're going to let that guy dictate what you do? Come on.
[Luke's CR with Scien is (static noises) and unfortunately he does think Viktor was in the wrong back then but that doesn't mean he won't roast Scien when he wants to]
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Viktor makes a little bit of a face. Not at Luke, of course. ABOUT SCIEN........]
Yes, I will. Any man who accused me of being a thief after I tried to speak to him about his research, who told me I was better off dead, and who said I couldn't hope to help anyone else because I couldn't even help myself without his involvement...
Yes, I most certainly will prove him wrong.
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--but fortunately he is a trained undercover agent, so he knows how to prevent himself from revealing his thoughts, and he just nods.]
Alright... if you're sure that's what you want.
[Maybe he will email Temenos and tell him to do it when Viktor is sleeping]
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I appreciate the offer to consider, don't get me wrong. I'll... think about it.
[He is still running off a lot of spite here.]
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Yeah. You don't have to decide right now or anything. I just wanted to make sure you knew it was an option.
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Unfortunately, you can't escape me saying the same thing to you, you know.
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I think we learned last week that I can outrun you. [STOP JOKING ABOUT THROWING POOR VIKTOR IN THE BARN. But his tone is light, gentle.] But I promise that once we deal with the dead thing, I'll decide what to do about the sick thing.
[Luke would absolutely break this promise if he felt he had to... but despite all his thoughts about all this, he does, at the end of the day, want to live. He just wants to take care of their WEIRDLY SPECIFIC GROUP first.]