[ open ]

[aeturnus]

who: Cain (Jacob Kane) [aeturnus] / You!
what: Catch-all for the rest of the month
where: Floor Six, out in the city, Gramarye
when: July 15th-31st
warnings: n/a, will edit as necessary. pls tell me what he'd see on your character, though!

Floor Six.
[ Cain's not one much to outright bug people in their home turf. Unfortunately for the people that live on the sixth floor of communal housing, it's also his home turf and so he's definitely made himself comfortable in the meanwhile. For quite some time now, he's had a table set up in the corner of the central room with various bits and bobs and inventions — more recently, they've begun to take more concentrated shapes such as a briefcase or something circular of the same size. There's a notebook laying on the disc and, for those who know technical jargon, it appears to be working out methodology for allowing the objects to go down and up in size without harming the structural integrity. It notes his own laptop as the first example which is probably why this isn't all typed down in the first place.

There's a small bear that accompanies Cain around the floor half the time, has been around since mid-June when he recovered from the Chalice's power, strange but perhaps not too strange for where they all are right now. It speaks in simple utterances but appears to enjoy all the floormates, especially if they feel like giving it food. Where is it the other half of the time??? Good question.

Aside from that, most days he cooks for himself and others if asked. His cooking skills are fantastic, definitely above bar even when he's just making something quick, and he never really minds sharing. Once a week, however, he seems to plan something more specific and even starts setting up the making of a cheesecake; when he puts that one in the freezer to set, he puts a note on saying it's off-limits. Weird!

Other than that he's probably got a lot of books around his bed and always seems to be doing... something even if it's quiet. Finding him truly at rest and unbusy is near to impossible. At least he still sleeps sometime, at the very reasonable hours of 4-9AM. ]

Out & About.
[ There's a lot of time spent out in the city. When he isn't working on his job, projects, magic lessons, physical training, or language lessons for friends, he's wandering. It's about 40/60 since not everything is done all at once or on the same days and he knows how to structure himself. There's still too much to see in the city and more often than not he wanders just to cement the buildings and businesses in his mind, keeping an eye out for anything new or places that may have shut down or changed due to people being relocated or going home.

There's some of that, but not as much as he'd hope or expect.

Still, he forges on and keeps an eye out. Things happen all the time and he'd rather not miss it. Or at least he'd rather be there in person because inevitably everything ends up on the internet. Sometimes he'll even have purpose, such as shopping for groceries or checking out various tech shops as if he can discern their secrets just from window-shopping. ]

Gramarye.
[ Cain's here once or twice a week for multiple reasons. Much as his world is about as magical as a brick (ghosts and Reapers aside), he's found an aptitude for it within himself and takes lessons from Victor von Doom and Lucretia. So, of course, he stops by and peruses their books where he can.

Most notably he's been helping Lucretia with her project to collate information on various worlds' magical influences and how casting works there, so sorry not sorry if you get stopped to answer a few questions or maybe they just need some clarification on a statement you already made? Or maybe he's just hogging the copier because Lucretia takes Many, Many Notes and he needs versions of them for himself too.

He's probably hogging the copier the most, tbh. ]

For Loki (616).
[ Although Cain's notably been avoiding showing up to Tony's lab directly, after sending that game-like testing application to Tony (okay, maybe it really is just a game pretending to be something useful), he stops by to see if it's helped on the progress of the actual things. Unannounced because it's more of a work location than a home location and he figures if Tony's general attitude and work ethic are to base anything off of, he's probably there, right? Right.

So he shows up, laptop-phone-ridiculous-thing in his pocket and a few things he's been working on in his bag. That it doesn't seem occupied at first glance is surprising, but he'll go ahead and enter anyway. Not like a security system is really going to do much more than alert people he's here. That's the whole point. ]

Hey... Tony?

Wildcard!
[ Think of a scenario I didn't? Hit me up here. If you aren't sure whether it's cool or not, find me at biomagnet, biomagnet#1925 @ disco, or PM me! ]

Comments

[smokedout]

He's a dog. Not much else to him - all he cares about is following orders and learning things, just like me.

[It actually grounds him a little, thinking about how much he and Brink have in common.]

You're learning magic? What does that even mean?

[aeturnus]

Like I said. He seemed nice.

[ Just because the goals are simple doesn't mean the attitude doesn't matter. At that question, however, he laughs lightly. ]

I'm learning the theory and being taught the practice. Apparently there's some systems where it doesn't have to be an innate power to channel it.

[ Like so. He tosses his hand up in front of himself and casts prestidigitation, which is literally the only thing he can do from Lucretia's type of magic so far. With it, there's a small shower of green sparks in the air in front of them that fades before it even drifts far enough to touch anything. ]

[smokedout]

[Dodger actually jumps back at the sudden sparks - it isn't a sign of actual panic, but a definite twitch of unease at the sight.]

Who uh... who's teaching you that?

[Because that looks a whole lot like the sort of handsigns Taako uses... and he's ended up jumpy from that whole affair.]

[aeturnus]

Okay, I think we need to put an embargo on wordless surprises today.

[ It's said ruefully because yeah, he realizes that was his bad now. Apparently it's just in the air today. That said, he does give a curious and someone concerned look for the reaction to some harmless tiny sparks. ]

Someone named Lucretia. She works at Gramarye.

[smokedout]

[He takes a deep breath, and... yeah, he doesn't know who that is. So he just nods, bashing himself silently for making a fuss.]

Yeah, I just uh... ran into some trouble with magic recently. [He's fussing with the wraps on his wrists, but at least not scratching at them.] Those sparks all you can do?

[aeturnus]

From that practice, yeah. Working on the rest. There's another one I'm figuring out too, but even actualizing it is harder.

[ Cain... why are you learning two different types of magic at once? (Answer: because his curiosity and capacity for learning is insane.) That said, he just wiggles his fingers without doing anything specific. ]

What kind of trouble?

[smokedout]

[His face is a bit pink, which shows up pretty clearly on his ashen skin, but he trusts Cain and only Cain with the truth about that encounter.]

I got my ass kicked by a crossdressing elf wizard.

[And somehow he gets the feeling Cain will know who he's talking about.]

[aeturnus]

[ He does, which is why Cain gives a sympathetic wince. From what he knows about Taako, that guy's experience is no joke. That said, he also realizes that he is indeed learning a similar type of magic to the one Dodger is iffy about. ]

Ouch.

I'll be honest with you, though, it's the same kind of magic that I'm learning. Don't intend to do anything particularly violent with it; that's just one of the many uses and there's plenty of other ways to get that done if I need it.

[smokedout]

[He offers a small grunt of acknowledgement... trying not to be nervous about that. If Cain can trust him not to sic Brink on him, he can trust Cain not to use his magic on him. It would be... a fucking mess for both of them, if they got in a fight with those.]

Just keep it away from me, and I'll be fine.

[aeturnus]

[ Cain laughs, because that one is easy. ]

You got it. I'll make sure to keep the practice away from you, no problem.

[ They're about to the market by now, so Cain takes a bit more of a lead here. Knows what he needs and where to get it by now, so it should be a short trip all around. ]

[smokedout]

[Dodger offers a small laugh in return - a tentative noise, but hey, it's always genuine around Cain. And while they're shopping, he mostly follows silently while glancing around at different things.

A few times, when he thinks Cain isn't looking, he'll teleport away and return with his hands in his pockets, or hastily placing something in there. Nothing big or valuable - a candy bar here, a few coins he might have found on the ground there. A wallet, once, albeit a light one with little in it.]

So.. why are you learning magic, anyway? Aren't you sorta set already, not dying?

[aeturnus]

[ Cain notices the movement sometimes but doesn't comment, because it's not his place. Their deal was just not to pull anything over on Cain and so he keeps his side by not demanding anything more. Whatever Dodger wants to do to keep his attention is predicated on that deal, not general behavior, or else he'd just be expecting something completely unfair.

So. He leaves that be for now.

At the question, he doesn't look up from the item he's checking on but he does tip his head with an enh sound. ]

Functionally, yes, but I like to learn and this is something entirely new from anything I've seen before. It could be useful, and it would help in understanding the portal and its malfunction that's bringing people who don't want to be here. I've got science down, not so much the magic.

[smokedout]

So you're learning it for the sake of it? Or... helping people, I guess.

[Both seem like pretty pointless endeavors... but he just shrugs.]

The quarantine's pretty shitty... but I never feel like going home. I wonder what sorta crazy paradises people come from that makes going back worth it.

[aeturnus]

More like self-improvement. I want to get back home eventually and understanding this technology is probably a once in a lifetime chance. Or... once in a regular lifetime.

[ There's the possibility that his own reality will come to similar technology naturally and of course he'll probably be around to see it, but something like that — Cain only imagines it so far in the future that he probably won't even remember this anymore. So it kind of counts, right? ]

For me, I have something I need to finish, no way around it. Even if this place is pretty nice.

[ Yeah, Dodger just called it shitty but Cain doesn't see it that way, not for what it is. ]

[smokedout]

[In all honesty, when he says 'shitty' he means 'boring', anyway. The quarantine is an absolute paradise compared to the gang wars and super-powered crime running rampant in his reality. It's just that growing up constantly fearing for your life and then suddenly not needing to really gets to some people.

Which is of course why he has to keep tradition going here.]

Why bother with it? You're here now. No way for the consequences to hit you if you stay. Might as well just forget about it, make a new life.. like the locals want you to.

[aeturnus]

There's people back there I can't abandon. World balance kind of stuff, if you believe it.

[ He shrugs a shoulder, glances over to him. ]

Might have figured it out by now but I'm going to outlive all the locals here anyway, and I don't want to get caught up in some situation that's not even my problem because I decided to stick around and sight-see for a while.

Doesn't mean I won't take the break when it's offered, though.

[smokedout]

[He's quiet for a while, mulling this over in his head. He just learned a lot, but again, it only gets filed away because he can't help himself. There's also a twinge of stress at the thought of Cain actually succeeding and getting all the people who don't want to be here out... that would mean bad things for both the part of Dodger that wants to rule the world, and the part that wants friends.]

How old are you, anyway? Serious answer this time.

[aeturnus]

Eight years shy of twenty-eight hundred.

[ If there's one thing Dodger might realize about Cain, it's that there's some knowledge he holds incredibly close... but his viewpoint on what matters and what doesn't definitely doesn't tend to line up with the majority of other people. His age isn't really an issue unless someone else makes it one, and especially not if they realize he's impossible to kill anyway. ]

[smokedout]

Jesus fucking Christ.

[Okay, that answers that. Cain decidedly does not age... and it sort of explains why he keeps getting a paternal vibe off of him.]

You know it's bullshit you're gonna look that good forever, right?

[aeturnus]

It's bullshit I'm gonna be a lot of things forever.

[ But he's really very amused by the reaction. Not bad, just a little startled. Besides, he's gotten everything he needs and is about to pay, then they're on their way back. Burgers will commence shortly. ]

If it helps, I didn't choose this, though.

[smokedout]

That just makes it more bullshit. A lot that good should be something you earn. Y'know, hate yourself for what you did to get it, that sort of shit.

[He takes a moment to snatch a few packs of cigarettes from behind the checkout before rejoining him.]

So, what, were you an experiment or something?

[aeturnus]

Well, that much is true.

[ Cain please stop speaking in riddles, jfc. Only this one is pretty straightforward: whatever he did wasn't on purpose but it led to this whole... situation. ]

No, nothing like that. I still don't know entirely why it happened.

[smokedout]

So you're telling me that you're never going to die, and never going to age, and it just fucking happened because the planets lined up for you? That is... so fucking beyond unfair.

[At least Dodger's getting a good laugh out of it. He can almost see how fucking pissed his old boss would get, trying to kill this man repeatedly and failing.]

[aeturnus]

I mean, I could pop that bubble if you want, but it is essentially... yeah, somehow, I won that lottery.

[ He just shrugs, shouldering his bag now that it's full of paid-for groceries and starts heading on back. Most of the time it's not terrible at all and some other times he wishes he'd just died with Remus or instead or anything other than this. ]

[smokedout]

I'm just glad I don't have to worry about you... and pretty lucky I'm on your good side.

[Somehow. He still doesn't really know how, but now he knows he should really appreciate it.]

But, y'know... you're gonna outlive everything in your home world, too, so why not enjoy the quarantine while you got it? Not bother with the portal and shit.

[Translation: Don't leave him alone.]