fionnuisce | kaisou inbox

I...sort of? Back when the library appeared, it...

[Deep breath. Waver poured two drinks, then pressed a faintly scarred right hand to his head.]

It might be a long explanation if you want the context. But the short version is 'he knew some version of me in some parallel timeline'. I don't know him back at home, and I don't know if I ever will or not.

Ah.

[Okay, the soup is heating up, so August steps out of the kitchen to check on Waver. He'll also take that drink with a small little "santé", because he is his aunts' nephew and why use English?]

But here, what the fuck does any of that matter.

It doesn't, past the fact that I possess a healthy mortal terror of the Eighth Sacrament Assembly. But you asked if he was from my world, and the answer is 'yes, and also likely no'.

As to Escardos, whether or not his own current life matches up to his past life in any respect is something that worries me, because mages are not usually people who come from normal or stable families.

[August just gives Waver a Look because yeah that says a lot about your home life huh?]

Like, how unstable or not normal are we talking? Because I mean, my battle deck is technically my dad's soul. Or past me's dad's soul, something like that.

Don't look at me like that, my parents were normal explicitly because they weren't career mages. [he is not having implied slander in his house]

Mage families are...dangerous. Our whole society runs on some practically medieval levels of archaic shit. Violent infighting between siblings and branch families is not only common, it's expected. The only thing mages care about is the advancement of their bloodline and Magic Crest--basically the amalgamated knowledge of their family name. [Sighing, Waver rubbed the back of his neck uneasily.]

As a mage, Flat Escardos is brilliant and more powerful than I could ever hope to be in a thousand years. But he's...'eccentric' is the best word for it. He lacks common sense and discipline alike. To a traditional mage family, he probably looks like the worst kind of liability or ticking time bomb.

[With no small note of disgust:] I feel like I don't need to tell you what mages do with liabilities.

[August shrugs at being corrected. He's just saying! You implied it!

But yikes. He takes a drink of whatever Waver poured.]

Speed up the ticking. Fuck, I think there's some demons who wouldn't touch that shit. But if he's not a mage here, there's a good chance his family's just...normal? Comparatively?

I want to believe that. Logically, you're probably right. Hiring assassins is a little more difficult in an ordinary world where freelancers aren't an established career path.

[Which just left the issue Waver didn't voice; the uncertainty of not knowing what Flat would have turned into without a teacher stubborn enough to put up with the incessant ticking, metaphorically speaking. He wouldn't assign nearly so much vital importance to himself personally, but the concern still tugged at the back of his mind like a fake smile at the corners of one's mouth.]

...I'm just worried about him. My students are...in a lot of cases, no one else in the faculty wants to look at them twice. Escardos more than most.

[Wave won't say it, but August is smart enough to put two and two together.]

And without someone like you, is Flat okay?

...I don't know. I just know the idea scares the living hell out of me.

I bet.

[CONCERNS]

Is he going to trust you once his memories return?

...yes. I mean, depending on how he handles it? I don't know what it's like to regain memories like that, I can guess it's disorienting at best. But the Flat I know...I'd like to think my students know they can rely on me, him especially.

He's not-... [dangerous, Waver wanted to reiterate, but the truth was he couldn't be half as sure of that right now as he wanted to.] ...His heart's in the right place, even if his goddamned brain isn't.

Pure of heart, dumb of ass?

[Waver snorted a brief and exhausted laugh, pressing a hand to his eyes again.]

An accurate enough summary.

[August does not say "wonder if he's Jun's type" but only because Jun is not here to tease.]

Are you going to go digging to see what you can find out on him?

[if jun wants a constant migraine, perhaps]

...I probably should. Doubt I'll like whatever I can find, but if his parents are the assassin-hiring type I'd rather know ahead of time.

At least he's a streamer, which means he probably has a PO box, which means it can be traced back to him. Probably. If he's as dumb as you said he might just use his home address.

Oh, I seriously doubt he lives with his parents. Odds are they'll be a country or two away at the very minimum. But I've picked up a few things I probably shouldn't know about tracking people down and erasing one's traces. So long as 'Escardos' is still his real family name, I should be able to follow that thread well enough.

I feel obligated to suggest a private investigator, but I'm not stupid enough to think you'll use one.

[But. Hm.]

If I can get him to let me do a reading for him at some point, I'll tell you what I get.

Well, I never said I was as good at it as my mercenary friends, Maiya would have had a folder's worth of past and current locations by now, sorted by ease of access to sniper positions. [isn't it funny how things can sound like a joke and not be one] But if I hit a dead end, I just might resort to that.

...thanks. Really. You and someone else have already offered to help keep an eye on him, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate that.

[Shrug!]

This is all so much bullshit, and Zodiac does fuck all. Honestly if I thought it'd help I'd suggest we all, like, storm the fuckin' barricades and take Zodiac out. But it won't, so we gotta keep an eye out for each other, yeah?

Who knows, someday things might get bad enough that it does come to that. Until then...yeah, you're right. I guess I just...

[He trailed off with a tired laugh, reaching for the glass and taking a drink.]

...I've been doing everything on my own for too damn long. Threw aside my own name to accomplish what I needed to do as a mage instead of a human. I've been really stupid to keep trying to live like that in a place this removed from what I know as reality. So...maybe this whole mess is just for the better, even if it might end up dangerous for me later.

Hey, it's what you know. It's not your fault you can't break that habit. But, seriously, you're not alone here. We're all in the same bullshit boat, so you can ask us for help.

[A beat.]

Most of us. Unless you wanna risk portals to dinosaurs again, maybe don't ask Varian for help.

[Good kid. Agent of chaos, though.]

Hey, if he pulls that stunt again maybe I'll fall clear out of this city the same way I fell in. But I won't hold my breath and hope to be that lucky.

Professor, do not encourage Varian to make portals.

It was just a joke. I'm not that crazy just yet.

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