etraya | un: jaycetalis

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un: jaycetalis | text

[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.

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Wow, permanent sleepover privileges?

[Teasing because he can't be serious about how much he doesn't want to live alone and appreciates this, actually.]

Guess I should start taking my shoes off at the door.

We can even stay up all night and paint each others' nails, if you like.

[Sorry Jayce, she's gonna be serious for a second.]

It's a big place to be alone in, and I... [But then she thinks better of what she was going to say, about Jinx and how the oppressive quiet of a completely empty mansion sets her on edge, and pivots to something a little less serious, though equally true:] I don't mind your company. [Little sister code for 'I love you and I like having you around.']

[He knows what she's told him- she was kidnapped by Jinx, right from inside her own home, entirely unnoticed. She probably knows what he's admit at some point- that if he's left alone with his thoughts too long, he starts spiraling in his own way.

It's beneficial to them both on a surface level, but on an even greater level, he missed her. They've both been going so hard in different directions, the last time they actually just hung out felt like years ago. Maybe it was?]

I'm not going anywhere, Sprout. Not unless you decide to kick me out.

[The video clicks on, showing her standing in the hallway outside her bedroom. She opens a massive pair of double doors into a bedroom that looks similar to hers, but mirrored. And without all the shooting trophies.]

I've got a room picked out for you. There isn't anyone to prepare the guest rooms, but we'll make do.

[It becomes apparent that she's got a stack of bedclothes in one arm, which she has no idea what to do with because she's never made her own bed even once in her life.]

[They are going to be a disaster together. You think he knows how to clean? Mr. Leaves-Sandwiches-On-Top-Of-Blueprints?

He also switches to video- for the first time ever- and he is incredibly bad at picking a good angle to hold it at. It's like all chin and cheek.]

It'll be fine. I'm going to get some groceries before I head over.

[~~And maybe also.......... a birthday gift.~~]

Good idea. We can cook dinner tonight. [She's almost definitely never touched an oven before. Obviously this will go really well.]

[And this is the story of how they burned down the Kiramman Mansion.]

Right. Yeah. Like...

Spaghetti?

[It was nice having a mansion while it lasted.]

That will do. We'll need a sauce with it, of course.

[She deposits the bedclothes on the bed, where they can be a problem for the future, and hurries out into the hallway, past her open bedroom door – there's a big map of Etraya that she's drawing and a bunch of scattered notebook pages on the floor in there, don't worry about it – and down several corridors and at least one or two staircases to the kitchen, talking as she goes.]

Living together will also make it easier for us to share our theories. There's a lot to learn about this place, and uncovering everything there is to uncover will go much more quickly if we can collaborate efficiently.

[She doesn't know where anything in the kitchen is, but she's gonna start opening cabinets looking for pots and pans.]

I've never made a sauce before, but it shouldn't be too difficult.

Yeah, tomatoes. Water. Oil?

[He also has no idea how to make a sauce. It's definitely tomatoes and maybe boil them?]

Right. We should also make note of the population. I don't know if it's a key to finding out how we were brought here, but it could help establish a pattern. Do you have a running dossier?

[He’s entered the Kwik Trip now, picking up random things as he goes. Tomatoes, check, oil, check, birthday cake… Maybe not that cake. There's gotta be something good in here somewhere.]

[That sounds right, but what does she know?]

Yes, I've started compiling notes. So far there aren't any obvious patterns, though most people I've met have at least one particular skill. New arrivals come in batches, apparently, at regular intervals. And Aurora claims not to know why any of us were chosen or--

[She finds the pots! Victory!]

Or why some worlds have more representatives than others. She says that only Echo knows, and that Echo is not available for questions. [A fact about which she is very obviously frustrated.]

Don't forget cheese.

“One particular skill?” As in any skill they’re good in, or something we all share?

[Makes sense for new arrivals in batches. He arrived in the same “batch” as the others from Runeterra, barring Caitlyn.]

Cheese, cheese… Parmesan.

[Well, it’s going to have to be that one. He’s also picking up a weird box from the freezer section, and looking it over.]

Do you know what a microwave is? And I know Aurora’s supposed to be around to help us, but there’s people here who distrust her. Has she done anything untrustworthy? Or is it just distrust for someone who’s giving us “answers” and asking for faith in return?

Microwave? [Never heard of it.]

I mean that each person is skilled in some particular area or another. Soldiers, scientists, detectives. Criminals. [It's a skillset. She may not like or trust Silco and his ilk, but she recognizes the brains, or muscles, it takes to be in that sort of position.

She sighs.]

More than one person I've spoken to believes Aurora is lying. Including Vander. I don't know that she's done anything untrustworthy. I don't know what to make of her. I... Everything's so much more complicated now, isn't it?

[Guess it's not a thing they'll do. He shrugs, tossing back into the fridge the "microwave" food. Maybe there's something in here that needs an oven instead... Ah! That. Perfect. Just need candles now.]

Complicated, yeah. And... heavier.

[He's been trying to not burden anyone else, but whenever his mind drifts, he thinks to Viktor and Mel. How a part of him feels hollowed out, without either of their presence. Would Mel know what to do in this situation, who to trust? Would this place have a cure for Viktor? He's glad Caitlyn is here, he doesn't know what he'd do if she wasn't, but even then, if he doesn't get some sort of lab set up soon, he's going to feel the desperation for something familiar set in.]

I don't think we should trust her implicitly, but we don't have any other choice right now. It'll be better to keep on her good side until we have a reason to not be.

Agreed. Whether she's lying, or deliberately hiding the truth, or not, it doesn't make sense to antagonise her. Or to automatically assume the worst with no evidence.

[She pulls out a couple of pots and sets them on the countertop. Now, to find the tableware. She's only now realising how big the kitchen is, and it's a sobering realisation, in a way. A reminder that her old life, the life in which she never really spent time in the kitchen, in which she never had to learn where the tableware is stored, is gone beyond recovery for the foreseeable future.]

We'll figure this out, Jayce. I promise. [She's got to believe that's true.]

You don’t have to promise that.

[There’s sympathy in his tone, as he picks out over a dozen candles, realizes there’s no more left, and figures this will have to do.]

I know you want to figure this all out, I do too, but the answers that we’re looking for…

[It’s not impossible, he’s sure. But if the people who have been here for almost a year- a year- haven’t gotten any closer to figuring things out…]

I just don’t want you blaming yourself.

[If it turns out this is beyond them, their capabilities.]

As though you don't like to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. [Said with affection.]

I doubt it will be easy, but I'm not giving up. If the answers are there, we'll find them, however long it takes.

[She finally finds two plates, two glasses, and two sets of cutlery, and lays them out on the counter next to the pots.]

Though you should hurry back. I'm not keen to do it on an empty stomach. And don't forget something to drink, unless you're particularly fond of tap water.

Tch.

[An exhale of a laugh, because yeah alright. He does that as well. He almost wonders if it's something he picked up from her, now that he thinks about it.]

Yeah, I'm hurrying. Do me a favor and stay out of the kitchen when I come in. I have a surprise for you.

A surprise?

[Curiosity? Piqued. Detective brain? Activated. She's not gonna purposefully try to spoil the surprise for herself, but she can't help but subconsciously try to solve it like a little mystery.]

If you insist.

[She glances around at her very good job of setting out the pots and plates.]

I think I've got everything ready here, anyway. I'll wait for you in the dining room.

[When he finally arrives, he yells out from the front door to announce his presence before scurrying into the kitchen to set things up. After some struggling with the oven, he calls her in to the kitchen to see what he's done.

It's probably the lamest birthday celebration Caitlyn's ever been thrown considering the extravagance of the Kiramman family and how Jayce only remembered to do it at the last minute. On the main island counter sits a little dessert, with a single lit candle in it (not much room to fit as many as needed, he might joke), along with a birthday card propped up next to said cake.]

Time's weird now, but if it's winter, your birthday probably happened within the past three months. Or I could be wrong, and you just get a cake anyway.

[A birthday-related surprise is on the list of possibilities that her brain generates as Caitlyn sits in the dining room, tapping impatiently on the massive mahogany dining table as she waits for Jayce to call her. It's winter, after all, and that at least puts them near her birthday.

She's accustomed to elaborate food served in courses, gifts sent from people she doesn't know who care more about impressing her mother with their generosity than with giving her anything she'll enjoy or use, and the sort of look from her mother that says she's creeping closer to the age that she'll need to start taking more responsibility and behaving more as a Kiramman ought to. Her favourite part of most birthdays is getting it over with. A little cake with her best friend is a much better way to mark the occasion.

She blows out the candle and grabs two forks, holding one out to him so they can share the dessert, small as it is.]

Twenty-two. I'm catching up to you.

[As though he won't also be turning a year older, the next time summer rolls around.]

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