hugtopia_logs | One soldier down

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One soldier down

♥ Who: Verstael, Will
♥ Where: Verstael's ~~lab~~ home
♥ When: August 31
♥ What: Will lets Verstael know that Cor is gone.
♥ Rating: PG? Will be updated if necessary.

It was a normal evening, and Verstael had gone home to eat and prepare for rest as he usually did. He didn't expect company, standing in his kitchen with some strips of meat sizzling in a pan while he cleaned off his armor. No one wants a smelly Verstael, after all, including Verstael.

Everything seemed to be in place as far as he was concerned, so he wasn't expecting it when a guest arrived.

"The door is unlocked," he stated simply from his seat. Certainly not something that would have been true back home, but he hasn't need much security here.

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He didn't even make a post to the network this time.

It would be futile, wouldn't it? What would he even say, at this point? Messages didn't reach Cor's tablet anymore. He'd already spent the day checking everywhere Cor was likely to be. Each and every temple, the shop, the jail, the cafe, the botanical gardens, the reclaimed ruins on the outskirts of town..... Nobody else was going to have any further information, and there was no point in just announcing his absence to the world at large. That would just make it feel more Real.

Regis had already told almost everyone who really needed to know, everyone who had been close to Cor--even if they hadn't been on the best of terms before he..... went home. There was still one more person who ought to know, though, wasn't there? Those two hadn't been close by any means, let alone on good terms; Verstael well might not even realize Cor's absence unless it was brought up. But wouldn't he rest a little easier, knowing one of the biggest threats to his safety was gone?

(And maybe..... maybe actually coming to tell him in person was one more thing to keep him out and about in town today, one more errand to delay the inevitability of going home to spend the night alone with his own thoughts.)

There was the sound of the door opening once Verstael called out, and the familiar click of claws on the floor as Will and Arche headed in to meet him; the smell alone was enough to tell where Verstael must be. Even so, both that and his greeting lacked the energy they usually had. "Hi, Ver."

The initial reaction was so predictable that it might be comforting in it's repetitiveness. Soft pleasant surprise, followed by a hazy undercurrent of delight that soon settled into a more neutral feeling. He set the armor aside for now and immediately went to put together a few more supplies. A bit more meat. A bit more garlic. Something that looked potato-like. It wasn't as if it took long to cook some extra.

"You haven't come to my home in a while."

Which was just natural. Will was sharing a bed with someone else. He would have preferred it to be another way but he never held any resentment.

He wasn't the most skilled at reading other people, but he wasn't completely ignorant of it, either. As he tossed some more food into the pan he glanced over at Will. There was definitely a difference in energy and expression. Rather than naturally picking up on it, it was more like a collection of notes put together to draw a conclusion in his mind - Will appeared to be somber, which was unlike him.

"...Is there a reason for the occasion?"

"I guess not..... Sorry about that." It was comforting, to be honest. Verstael was a creature of routine, someone whose behavior ran like clockwork as long as all was well. Calm when he was excitable, predictable where he was flighty, logical where he was emotional..... A safe, stable rock, when it felt like the ground underfoot was crumbling away. In this house, at least, everything was still the same, no matter how badly the change had shaken him and Regis.

Will smiled apologetically, though the expression felt strained and fragile. "I thought you might want to know..... Cor is gone. He went back to Eos, I think."

"No need to apologize."

They were both adults. They did as they wished on their own time. He tapped the steak in the pan before flipping it, the incessant sizzling sound filling the room with the occasional pop of splatter from the juices. With a quick motion he flipped them both, and chose a simpler route with the potato fill-ins, packing those up and going more of a microwave-style with them. He didn't have time to wait for them in an oven.

"Has he? I had not heard." Though who would tell him? He'd had contact of various sorts with Cor, but no one would call them friends. It was unfortunate that he'd lost a potential source of information, but he didn't have a personal attachment. There was an awkward silence for a moment as he expressed no great reaction and continued cooking.

But he did realize that Will had a fairly strong connection with him. He didn't understand it but he'd never really bothered Will about his other relationships. Will was the one who would be most affected by this. As he placed a pair of plates and began setting the steaks on them, he glanced Will's way, "And you?"

He left it open-ended.

"Me? I haven't started fading or anything, don't worry." His smile turns wry at that; Will waves a hand, as much to dismiss the possibility as to prove he wasn't just..... turning translucent or anything. That, too, was something he had diligently checked for. Whether..... going home (if that was even really where they went) was related to the vanishing illness or not, neither one seemed to be contagious. He and Regis were both fine, after all, and they had slept in the same bed with Cor more than enough to be infected if it was.

"It only happened this morning, so that seemed likely. I thought it might put your mind a little more at ease, though." Havenwell was now significantly safer for Verstael, after all. For him, at least, that was a good thing..... right? Arceus, he hopes at least someone benefits from this. Maybe then it wouldn't all feel quite so wretchedly unfair.

"Perhaps, though it's a loss of a source of information."

Which he did seem the value more. With the steaks plated, he took out the potato replacement and plopped them down with some simple butter on top, setting dinner on the small table. He sat, raising a hand towards the other seat to invite Will into it.

"It must also be a source of grief for you. You were lovers, were you not?"

And that, despite not necessarily being the type of thing he normally obsessed over, he considered bad. He didn't particularly wish to see Will upset.

"Yeah." There was no denying that, was there? Lovers. It sounded so..... he doesn't know. Formal? Archaic? Still, he had--does still, little good though it does either of them now--definitely loved him all the same. Maybe it hadn't been quite to the extent Cor and Regis had been--who could ever possibly match the intensity of that kind of love?--, but it had been theirs, and now it was gone.

Selfish of him to grieve over something like this, wasn't it? Cor wasn't..... wasn't dead. He thought. He hoped. Not yet, at least. Eos wasn't a hospitable place, but Cor had been surviving there just fine before he came here. Surely he would be fine there again, right? But now he wouldn't have either of the two of them to take care of him or keep him company, or save him if he got into trouble. Cor and Regis have both lost far more in this abrupt change than he has.

Will settles into his own chair, reaching for his plate; Arche trots over to rest her head in Verstael's lap, staring up at him hopefully. Good girls deserve steak too, right? "It'll be okay. I guess I always knew something like this would happen eventually. I just..... didn't expect it would happen so soon."

After all, they couldn't stay in Havenwell forever. Eventually, all of Aellyn would blossom with new life again. Eventually, their job would be done. What use would the gods have for them then? They'd all get sent home. Back where they belonged. What kind of fool had he been to ever believe otherwise? He never would go to Eos, no matter how much Cor or Regis or Verstael wanted him to.

He rubbed Arche's head before picking up his fork to eat. Seasoned steak was for humans, especially when it had garlic on it. "I've learned that nothing is inevitable, not even our own deaths. With the right information and innovation, we can accomplish anything."

Taking his first bite he let the flavor melt on his tongue, pausing to glance down at the insistent Arche again. Well, if she wanted something to eat...

He set his fork down and went to the replicator to ask for another piece of meat, this one uncooked and unseasoned. That should be more suitable. He tossed it to her and sat himself back down.

"Have you decided where you will be staying?"

"You make it sound so easy when you put it like that." Will couldn't help but laugh a little, even as he started eating. He may cook for Verstael more often than Verstael cooking for him, but he had to admit, the man's steak was leagues better than any he was capable of. Meat was never his specialty. "Then again, maybe it would be easy, for someone like you? Someone had to invent the Lor, after all....."

He..... hadn't actually thought of it that way until now. Under normal circumstances, Magolor could go anywhere, see anyone, do anything his heart desired. As long as the Lor was with him, the entire multiverse was his playground; even after they all went home, Magolor could visit anyone he wanted. Normal people might not be capable of it, but..... maybe Verstael could figure out his own way to even cross the gulfs between worlds and dimensions with enough research. If he thought it was even worth researching at all, that was.

Arche, meanwhile, was delighted to be rewarded for her patience. She did a little hop to catch the meat in her mouth, flames licking out of the sides of her muzzle as she seared it. "Not yet. I don't want to make anything happen to Regis, but..... he's probably hurting worse than anyone, too. I should keep an eye on him to make sure he'll be okay."

"'Easy' may not be the word, but in time I will figure it out."

There was so much pride in that statement, but not entirely unearned. And, at least, he said will, as if it was already decided. He knew now that it was possible and his original vision of how much he would accomplish in his life had been woefully small-minded. There was no stopping him now.

With a fond passing glance at Arche, he turned his attention back to Will.

"What do you mean by 'make anything happen to Regis'? I would believe His Majesty quite capable of handling himself."

"If anyone could, it would have to be you." It was hard to believe in much right now--just as hard to believe that things could change as it was to truly accept the reality of the situation. What kind of unfair double-bind was that, honestly? Couldn't he just..... pick one, and stick with it? Or manage both, ideally?

Verstael was a brilliant scientist, after all. A genius, a visionary, an innovator. As long as he held onto himself and his humanity, he could do great things. Wasn't it doing him a disservice, to not have faith in his talents?

"He is. But..... He did fall into that coma before, when he got older. I don't want that to happen again, or for him to start fading away, too." Did those things happening mean you were more susceptible to it in the future, or that you'd developed an immunity? He didn't know what to think anymore, even if he wasn't helping bring this about. How much do they know about those conditions at all, really?

"I don't believe you were the cause. After all, others have also disappeared and suffered the same illnesses, and I do not believe you knew them. But as of yet we know little about it. Has he experienced any symptoms again?"

After all, Verstael didn't keep tabs on Regis constantly. Perhaps there was something he didn't know. He kept eating fairly steadily, wondering if perhaps he should get some food ready for the other pokemon as well.

"Not that I know of?" He knew, in general terms at least, what to look for. The disorientation and dizziness, the feverish weakness, the gods' animals lurking about to lead the victims to safety, the unnerving translucency--he hadn't seen any of it just yet. Regis had just been..... reeling, cut loose from his anchor, able to feel his magical connection to Cor severed.

That kind of deep, visceral loss..... it was unfathomable. Regis had already been through enough without him making it worse. As nonsensical as the idea of him doing so was--as much as he knew that shouldn't, couldn't be the case--, it was still hard to really feel as though it was all unrelated. That's his problem to deal with though, not Verstael's, isn't it? The man doesn't need to be bothered by something so stupid and illogical. ".....I'll keep an eye on things to make sure nothing else happens."

"It doesn't seem you need to worry greatly about it. His case... Also appeared different than other cases. What happened with Regis did not appear to be directly connected to other cases."

Finishing his food he took a comfortable sip of his wine. He wasn't holding back on the luxuries he could still afford himself. Sometimes the little things made it like being back home.

"Where do you plan to sleep tonight?"

Will just nodded at that, slow and undertain. What had happened to Regis--it was bewildering, honestly. The priests hadn't seemed to have an answer for it, the way they had with the vanishing illness. Regis had never quite seemed in danger of coming untethered from this reality in the same way. If anything..... it had almost seemed like..... like the world had tightened its grip in response to an answering pull from Eos, like it hadn't been ready to give him up yet.

But maybe that was just his imagination. After all, it wasn't as though there were any other cases to look at. "I hadn't really thought that far ahead. I spent most day checking around town, just in case. I should probably get home eventually."

But..... he kind of didn't want to just yet, even after the meal. Sleeping in a mockingly empty bed and waking up on his own time, instead of from Cor coming home from his run--the atmosphere of the house was going to be suffocating, staring that emptiness in the eye. Was it..... cowardly, wanting to stay here, just for a little while?

Everything always felt clearer around Verstael, somehow, easier to handle. He always seemed to know what to do, even if it wasn't the most..... advisable course of action.

"You can stay here as long as you wish," he offered. Maybe that would mean ten minutes. Maybe ten days. It didn't really make a difference to him. He both enjoyed Will's company and managed without it, if he wanted to go be with someone else.

And it was also slightly pragmatic. While it might not be the dead of night, it was getting late and he might not want to bother walking back.

His dish finished, he took it to clean it immediately. He wasn't one to leave anything sitting in the sink. "I don't care for how little we know about these situations. In time we'll have to uncover exactly how they work, or if they are even what we have been told."

It was unnerving. After all, Cor was hardly the first. And while Cor was a man who could take care of himself, children had also disappeared. That was something that could be disquieting for anyone, even Verstael. He just kept his focus on figuring out the why and how to do something about it.

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One soldier down

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