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[clockworksoul]

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duonet id: steelsong

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ABOUT ME

Artificer, inventor, scourge of many an HOA. I will definitely, totally, absolutely get back to you as soon as I am able!

NOTE

May not actually get back to you in a timely manner.

Message @steelsong

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[clockworksoul]

You're quite the poet, I see.

[ He's sure that statement was rather pointedly directed, but he's not going to think about it. He does a lot of that, not thinking about things.

Instead, his eyes flick down to the pool of darkness under their feet, and back up again. ]

And what do you mean by that?

[verselet]

[He isn’t sure whether to feel a surge of pride at that remark, or just reply wryly. In the end, a little bit of both happens.]

I’m more poet than… tattoo artist.

[Haa.]

I told you. Shadow is wrought from nightmares. My own, kept inside, until they were so big that they had to be expelled. Made manifest.

[It’s basically true.]

But you’re having fun on a nightmare, so maybe I just don’t know what I’m talking about.

[clockworksoul]

Hm?

[ For a second, that statement doesn't quite make sense, but then those new memories slide in to provide helpful context. Oh.

Oh gods, then what is his own supposed job??? Help.

But more to the matter at hand— ]

Well, you've taken something deep and dark like a nightmare and shaped it into something useful, not to mention exciting. When life gives you lemons, and all that!

[verselet]

[This man... really does like to twist everything into a note of positivity, he thinks. A part of him wants to appreciate the stubborn effusiveness, the other wants to offset it with his own sardonicism, realism, cynicism, anything.]

Sometimes lemons are just lemons.

[Declan doesn't even know the nature of these nightmares. But that's fine. V wouldn't delve deeper into that subject, besides.

Instead, he loops the conversation back around-]

Does my job in this world surprise you? As I recall it, you've visited the shop now and again.

[clockworksoul]

Only with that attitude.

[ Spoken like a true inventor. Or an optimist. Or an optimistic inventor. ]

I guess I don't truly know you well enough to say one way or another, do I? But anyone who lets me come around and fix things, regardless of occupation, is a friend of mine.

[verselet]

[Spoken like a FOOL-- No, he's not really that put off by it. It's just strange to his ears; sits at odds with his own personality. This one, and the last.

Anyway, they're picking up a little speed now. Just a little.]

As expected of an inventor, who likes to fiddle and build and fix broken things. I also recall, associated with you... death robots.

[He means robots fighting to the death.]

[clockworksoul]

[ Oh. He seems to have noticed they're speeding up a bit and sets his feet so as not to go flying. ]

Death robots? You mean Adelaine?

[ But wait, the more he thinks about it, the more there are... two Adelaines? One is an arcane cannon. He built her with his own hands, and sends her out onto the battlefield to help him and his friends. And the other...

The other is definitely just as cool, if very, very different. ]

Oh!! Botbattles?

[verselet]

[They're just zooming quickly down this hall leading to the front of the house, don't worry about it. There's still time for conversation.

Adelaine. The name rings familiar to V, too, though only dredged up through these planted memories. Declan's secondary realization makes him wonder if he has an Adelaine back home, too, but for now, he raises his free hand and snaps his fingers in confirmation.]

Yes. Precisely that. Botbattles.

[Declan's something of a known entity in those circles, isn't he? My, my, how these memories are amusing, even if not wholly wanted.]

So much carnage. Steel on steel. Battles that showcase only the strongest. I love to see the ones that go flying.

[CALM DOWN V-- (he's always loved a good fight, though maybe this is the real him talking, and not his AU one)]

[clockworksoul]

[ The more Declan remembers about Botbattles, the more it sounds like the greatest thing on the entire planet. He's going to have to take this idea back home with him. Surely fighting robots will be all the rage in the whole if the Sword Coast in record time! ]

I love to see them all! What remarkable feats of engineering!! This world can't be all bad if there's something like that in it, right?

[verselet]

[A sound of amusement again. Such enthusiasm...]

So you'll be picking it back up? This hobby of your other self?

[It must be nice, already having the skill to pick up where these memories left off, so to speak. Unlike V, whose livelihood rests upon being able to ink tattoos into strangers' skin. That sure will be... interesting.]

And did you have an "Adelaine" before?

[clockworksoul]

As much as I would absolutely love to, the technology here is a fair bit beyond my ken! And without magic to aid me, I don't know that I could keep up.

[ A damn shame, that. Well, maybe he'll dabble and see what he remembers. He'd hate to leave such an interesting hobby behind. ]

Oh, yes. She's an arcane cannon that I built to help me in battle! I don't have her here, but she's with me in that other world. I shall have to show you some time.

[verselet]

[Yes, he does want to see her. Color him curious. An "arcane cannon" might not be the sort of "weapon" he's familiar with, but he's always harbored an interest in unique and interesting... arms, shall we say.

But first, he has to be cheeky about Declan not being able to keep up:]

Hmm. Only with that attitude.

[He echoes his words right back at him, very droll.]

/2

[clockworksoul]

[clockworksoul]

[ He barks out a laugh, doubling over a little with his hand on V's shoulder to keep him steady. ]

Damn! You got me there!

[verselet]

[Pfft. Satisfied with that, he chuckles a little.]

I hope you'd at least try to keep up with the times, because I might need you for repairs in my shop.

...But hold that thought.

[BECAUSE NOW THEY'RE REALLY SPEEDING UP--]

[clockworksoul]

Don't go breaking things on my account!

[ But he'd sure love to take a crack at busting open some of this new technology and putting it back together, anyway.

BOY THEY SURE ARE GOING FAST ALL OF A SUDDEN. ]

Hold that thought for what—??

[verselet]

[He'll probably end up breaking something because he doesn't know what the fuck he's doing, so it's fine.

But they sure are just speeding along for real now! And V's grin widens as he fixes his gaze on a point up ahead: the stairs that properly lead down to the foyer of the first floor of Dodo. It doesn't take a genius to assume what's going to happen if they don't slow down.

Which is that they'll probably go flying right over the set of stairs and go sailing to the foyer below at top speed.]

For a little excitement.

[clockworksoul]

[ Yes, he knows how physics works. He's an engineer (in some life or other), and he does the math rather quickly. They are definitely going over these stairs. ]

I hope you know that if we crash, I'm blaming you!

[ He does not sound all that bothered by that prospect, though. ]

1/2

[verselet]

[Oh good, he enjoys a little fun, too. V obviously doesn't look terribly worried about them crashing, even though one might imagine he'd break every bone in this fragile body if they did slam into the ground at this velocity.]

'Each outcry of the hunted Hare
A fibre from the Brain does tear-'

[Well that probably doesn't bode well. Or maybe it does? If they're just having fun here, what's wrong with them.

The darkness-scooter reaches the top of those stairs, and indeed goes sailing right over. They're careening down, down, down at worrisome speed, gravity making his stomach drop-]

[verselet]

[-with no more darkness beneath them, because Shadow is now an inky black void at the bottom of the stairs, right where they might land.]

'A Skylark wounded in the wing
A Cherubim does cease to sing!'

Ha!

[HOPEFULLY HE HAS A PLAN FOR WHEN THEY HIT THE BOTTOM, SURELY? HOW YOU DOING, DECLAN?]

[clockworksoul]

[ They’re soooooarin’, flyyyyin’—

I mean, Declan’s doing great! He gives a delighted holler as they go rocketing off the top landing, and the fact that their mode of transport is no longer beneath them doesn’t seem to be a bother. Declan’s still a dextrous sort of beanpole, so whatever happens he’ll be fine. ]

[verselet]

[PERHAPS BOTH OF THESE MEN SHOULD BE MORE WORRIED ABOUT FLINGING THEMSELVES OFF THE STAIRS--

But no, V lets out a low laugh as they streak through the air, tumbling down, down, until right at the last second, Shadow forms itself as little more than a big blob of darkness. Usually, this is followed up by a very rude spike attack, exploding and lancing in all directions.

Today? His familiar is just a big, blobby, bouncy beanbag, there to catch them both.

V's all gangly limbs when he's half-enveloped in the darkness, and his cane goes flying sometime when he lands, but that's fine, too.]

[clockworksoul]

[ Truly the best day ever. The trip was fun, the flight was great, and the landing is nice and soft. Declan's raucous laughter is only muffled by being half-consumed in shadow on the impact, but then it's back full-force the moment both he and V settle. ]

Oh, that was brilliant!

[verselet]

[Once Shadow is sure that these two idiots aren't going to break a tailbone, it shifts back into its panther form. This leaves Declan sitting atop its back like a cat-bench, and V just... sitting on the ground. Because the familiars also like to troll him sometimes, too.

He doesn't appear bothered, smiling that tilted grin of his, sitting up with an arm resting on a knee.]

We make our amusement where we can.

[clockworksoul]

Then I should thank you very much for including me in your fun.

[ He kicks his feet a little, rocking back on his new perch. ]

You struck me as a rather dire sort at first, you know.