un: jaycetalis | text

[hexcope]

[So getting used to this new kind of technology was certainly an… experience. He still isn’t really comfortable with the idea of a video recording of himself, and even an instantaneous voice transmission is beyond the level of tech he’s accustomed to so text is the way to go. Unfortunately, he’s using this like some sort of magical LinkedIn, so it’s a very formal letter style he’s got going on.]

Hello,

My name is Jayce Talis. I’ve noticed there’s a few buildings here that seem to be laboratories. If any have availability to lend a room or two, I have research and device development I would like to work on. Ideally if there’s any access to a forge of some sort, that would be preferred, but not required. I have a personal reference if necessary to demonstrate good character.

[He notably does not say anywhere that there will probably be explosions.]

Thank you for your time.

Comments

[cantilevers]

Expect you'll be hounded regardless. Defacto leadership vibes and all.

[Vander had be nudged back towards diplomacy with his fists now and again lately, but he would prefer to avoid a fight if he could. He was on his own island with no true alliances for now.]

[Yay! Bring on the black lung afflictions!]

[hexcope]

I know. I should be used to it by now, shouldn't I?

[And yet he's not. He still feels the tight thrum of anxiety when he's yelled at or disappoints someone, he feels his eyes well up when dealing with situations every other councilor seems to handle in stride. He's the first to start getting overwhelmed by his emotions at meetings- why did they make him the leader?]

[Inventing Vander a Hexmask...]

[cantilevers]

Does anyone truly get used to disappointing people? Leadership is just a cost-benefit of people for and against what you have to say.

[This was old hat for Vander. He'd started leadership young, but he had seen that their styles weren't the same. There was a benefit for being to the sidelines as he was to observe things.]

[hexcope]

[Maybe when his chest feels so tight like he can't breathe, the uncontrollable shaking, and the nausea, are all just is how everyone feels when in this sort of position? That's probably the case.]

At least it's a smaller group now.

[And not a whole city with two warring populations that he's responsible for right now.]

[cantilevers]

A smaller set of knives is just as dangerous as a large set of knives. These blades happen to cut both ways too.

[Considering the fate of their world hung in the balance and there were multiple people vying for control of the 'plan', he was skeptical of everyone's actual agendas.]

[hexcope]

What do you mean by that?

[He didn't think he'd done anything wrong yet.]

[cantilevers]

You and Caitlyn are trying to manage the agendas of Zaunites. We do things differently. You'll be at knife-point more often than you're probably comfortable with.

[Both literally and figuratively.]

May I provide you a piece of advice?

[hexcope]

Of course.

[He hopes Vander knows by now that Jayce trusts him. Which admittedly, isn't difficult to achieve, but.]

[cantilevers]

Stand firm on the position you take. You can make compromises on it where you must, but acquiescing to Cait immediately undermines your credibility. You two should work out your positions before those kinds of gatherings with the others.

[Look, honesty. One of three key points to building trust. Which is what he wanted.]

[hexcope]

[Even though he agreed to the advice, he can't help but feel defensive. But since this is written and not spoken, the big long message he intends to send gets slowly backspaced away, his proverbial tongue bitten for a more diplomatic response.]

Thank you for your feedback. But if you have anything you'd like to say further on it, I think it's a better discussion to have face-to-face.

[Where other people can't see it, and maybe he can have a little more of an emotional response without judgement.]

[cantilevers]

Of course. You can discuss most subjects with me.

[He has no idea everyone can see it. Sorry, he's behind the time and just learning this technology. He's more than happy to help where he can.]

[hexcope]

Where can I meet you?

[cantilevers]

How does the Kiramann residence sound to you?

[It was safe from most eavesdroppers, and she hadn't said he couldn't come back.]

[hexcope]

Sure, let me give her a heads up first.

[And get changed. He was in his Casual clothes and now he needs to be in his Business Casual clothes.]

[cantilevers]

Of course. If she isn't willing, there are other locations.

[hexcope]

She is. Come on over. Do you like hot chocolate?

[cantilevers]

I couldn't tell you. I've never had it.

[Vander had little to fill his time of the day, which in and of itself was maddening. He made his way leisurely over to the Kiramann mansion, by now familiar with both its location and its layout once he was granted admittance to the grounds. It seemed odd for him to be here still despite having spent a few days here to recover. These sorts of places had never been welcoming to him at any other part of his life.

He made his way inside the mansion and it was only by virtue of having to memorize navigation in the mines for years that he could travel through the long hallways and peek into extravagant rooms.

He went to find Jayce, of course, which was equal parts guessing and luck to find the young man. This was a fancy maze after all. It was only after seeing the crest that he realized that this was the house name that started it all with the kids robbing the place. Grayson was right: this place made everything in the Lanes look like a candy store.]

[hexcope]

[When Vander eventually finds Jayce, he's in the kitchen, finishing up making the hot chocolate he offered. Two mugs of the boring white variety, with a little bit of spill over on the side from too much milk or too much aggressive stirring.]

Oh, I didn’t hear you knock. Here,

[He hands over one of the mugs.]

Hot chocolate.

[Once handed off, he picks up his own cup and takes a sip.]

… Chocolate probably should have melted more.

[Oh well. No one ever accused him of being good in the kitchen.]

You look better.

[At least better than he had been when Jayce first met him, and better than the “party” Jinx had, given that Silco’s existence there seemed to sour his mood.]

[cantilevers]

[Vander walked into the expansive kitchen, so much bigger and nicer than he had ever worked in. He had been very careful when he had utilized this space to make a little food for himself. He noted Jayce's efforts and the spillage, but he expected the younger man was mostly inexperienced in a kitchen.

Sandwiches and soups maybe.

He reached out and took the mug, looking at the frothy steaming brown mixture. It was thicker than tea though not some of the strong coffees that he had drank. He lifted it to his nose to sniff it, and it did indeed smell like chocolate.]

Smells like chocolate. Did you... drink this often? Maybe with Caitlyn?

[He was probably looking better each day, and he supposed an apartment living alone and relatively safe and slowly trying to integrate with this new environment.]

Well, when we met, I didn't think I could look much worse. Maybe it's the fresh air.

[hexcope]

I always drink it during cold weather. Sometimes Caitlyn, sometimes my mother. Viktor liked it too.

[He leans against the counter, mug loosely held in one hand.]

Considering how bad shimmer use can get, it looks like you’re relatively unscarred.

[Something he might want to look into, on a biological level.]

But I do have something I want to talk about- what you brought up. How I acquiesced to Caitlyn.

[cantilevers]

It seems like something my kids would enjoy.

[He would probably let them have it too, then he'd send them out in the streets to cause havoc from the sugar rush. It wasn't he couldn't smuggle such items into the Lanes, but it wouldn't be considered high value compared to the other pathways he tended to dip his toes into.]

I consider myself lucky, especially considering I was on a significant overdose. [According to Sevika, and she claimed to have a good account of Shimmer use so he'd believe her on that front.] This place has use of me yet it seems.

[There was some indication that his usage and survival was abnormal. He didn't want to think about it more than he had to.]

That wasn't the problem. It was the timing.

[hexcope]

There's more to you being here than anything having use of you.

[This isn't the meat of what he wants to talk about, but that comment, however passing and only minutely self-depreciated it was, still needed correcting in his opinion.]

Of all the people from Runeterra to arrive, you're a missing piece. We're all from almost the same time, and if you hadn't been here, I could have theorized that whatever temporal and spacial distortions had to happen to bring us here, it would have been within a relatively short window. But that's not the case with you. At least half a dozen years between your last memory of the date, and mine.

You prove something, even I don't know exactly what that is yet.

[cantilevers]

[He shrugged his shoulders, not considering him missing much of anything. If what he had seen at the roundtable, he was only the one furthest in the past.]

Sevika and Jinx are furthest forward then comes you, Silco, and Caitlyn and then yes I bring up the rear. We are still a spread. [His issue was limited knowledge; he had historical dealings with the Zaunites, but only Jinx he would trust with any manner of information. Even then, he suspected she had reason to hide certain details from him.]

I am more concerned that Caitlyn has been here by her lonesome a few months and suddenly four of us are dragged in. Runeterra is huge, so why only take from Piltover and Zaun? Those are the more appropriate questions.

[He couldn't begin to guess why he was here still.] We need more time to determine what it all means, I expect.

[hexcope]

All questions are relevant. You can't write something off until you've explored why it was a factor to begin with.

[But that's a larger topic for another time. Jayce puts his mug down, and leans against the kitchen counter, palms on the colder stone surface.]

It's because of how quickly I changed my mind, right? It looks like I'll agree to whatever Caitlyn says, even if I had a different position originally.

[His brow furrows, and he drops eye contact from Vander to focus on the floor instead.]

And that's probably right. Caitlyn's been around for me longer than anyone outside of my mother. It would have put up a stronger front if I agreed with her initially, but I didn't know how strongly she felt about it.

I'm not going to be perfect at this. I'm not even going to be good at this. Every time I've tried to negotiate, find peaceful resolutions, make changes I thought would make things better- I've failed. So if you're going expect me to know how to handle these sort of situations... I don't know what to tell you. Don't put your faith in me. I'm going to do it wrong a hundred times before I do it right.

[cantilevers]

What if we're just the first? More of us from Runeterra show up. It's not like we will find agreement with the smaller group, let alone if more are added in.

[Vander was still holding his mug and had not yet partaken in the beverage, waiting for it to cool. He expected Jayce would overheat it anyway, and he wasn't looking to have to heal a burn this early in his tenure here.]

Hence why I suggested you two meet before any of those types of gathers and align yourselves on certain opinions. It doesn't have to be everything, but the large beats, you need to stand united. Those gatherings will always be Zaun versus Piltover on some level.

[He shrugged his shoulders.] Who said you had to be perfect? Imperfections make you human, and with experience comes proficiency, Jayce. [He hummed, expecting that was Piltover politics which he understood to be different and layered, nuanced and complicated.] We're talking because I have faith in you, Jayce. I think you have the potential to develop into a fine leader.