inbox — abraxas

[theidlemaiden]

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[cryptsleeper]

I still value your work and your designs.

I need something that either covers, obscures, or otherwise compliments my left ring finger.

[theidlemaiden]

𝘞𝘩𝘺? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳?

[cryptsleeper]

It may or may not just be exposed bone that's also stained glass now?

[theidlemaiden]

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯?!

[cryptsleeper]

I mean that it's just the shape of the bones hanging out, fully exposed, except they appear to be composed of stained glass and the colors change with the time of day.

[theidlemaiden]

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘫𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘳𝘺 - 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?

[cryptsleeper]

It hasn't brought any ill health effects thus far, and it has been like this since we returned. I had hoped it was just a residual effect, but I don't think it is.....

[theidlemaiden]

𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵.

[ He knows her well enough - eight hundred years or not - to know that she's sighing noisily wherever she is. ]

𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯?

[ Is that a nod to the sword that he wanted versus the sword that she made him? Maybe. ]

[cryptsleeper]

I worry about the possibility

I am unsure. I had a thought that interconnected swirls or something interlocking might hide some if it, but I am open to better ideas

[Al will admit he can hear the sigh, but there is also a sense of curtness that feels very unfamiliar. He chalks it up to Hilda's own state after...the whole thing.]

I can send you measurements.

[theidlemaiden]

𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳.

[ There's a pause that maybe comes across like she means to leave it there. Instead another message comes through. ]

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨?

[cryptsleeper]

Thank you. I'm at the office doing some clean up. Jaskier's made a lot of filled dough dishes, so the flour's everywhere.

[So that's how Jaskier's doing, at any rate.]

Right now I've settled into "I'm primarily mad about how the respective territories treated us" versus the actual eight centuries that weren't. And I am furious about that. I am also thinking of pausing my architectural work for a time.

Yourself?

[theidlemaiden]

𝘉𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.

[ Like ignoring it all together. Or trying to at least. ]

𝘐'𝘮...𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬.

[cryptsleeper]

Oh no. He did not bake. He has stuffed countless ravioli and pierogi.

Speaking of, would you like some? We're overstuffed with filled doughs.

[yeah okay hilda he kinda doubts that but al's going to be polite about that.]

The world at least feels steadyish beneath your feet?

[theidlemaiden]

𝘖𝘩! 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥.

[ Neither will the people she lives with. ]

𝘐 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵.

[cryptsleeper]

I'll give you a selection. It seems that one of the remainders of Jaskier's adventures is that his ability to work with herbs and plants translates into new culinary frontiers.

[He honestly loves it.]

I hadn't even thought about the sky. I was trying to contend with my nonsense and...I need to start to check on others. Who else have you touched base with so far?

[theidlemaiden]

𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦?

[ This level of teasing makes it feel like nothing strange had happened at all to any of them. ]

𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘶𝘭. [ There's a pause. ] 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥.

[cryptsleeper]

Well, it has been a while since we had a creative venture.

[Pop up pierogi restaurant? Alucard can see it.]

How's the rest of your list faring?

And have you checked on Viktor?

[theidlemaiden]

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦?

𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘹𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥.

𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥. 𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘰. 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

[cryptsleeper]

But that's just me. Not Jaskier and me. And it's a new medium.

It is. I'll be honest, I think this one is going to take more time to digest than the cult because the mindfuck is so distinctly different.

Did you get a sense of how he's coping? I've not checked in. Whatever terms you left him with, I....definitely got into a fight that involved some reckless lashing out.

[theidlemaiden]

[ There's time to talk about new creative ventures later. Her attention turns elsewhere, echoes of protectiveness for both the men from those eight hundred years rearing its head. ]

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘝𝘪𝘬𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵?

[cryptsleeper]

After I found out about the 800 years being a fiction, I went to go and try to prevent him from trying to make further modifications to himself in order to escape the reality of it. Words were exchanged and...I realized he hadn't been the friend I made for a long time. So I just left.

I'm not proud of it and I'm not sure how to go about apologizing so that it won't turn into a second round of the same fight. What he did back there....Hilda, I can't even articulate why it upset me so much, but it did.

[theidlemaiden]

𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴? 𝘖𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨?

[cryptsleeper]

The first part. Not even the losing the memories, it was walling himself off so much, refusing to be anything but his work. Forgetting that there's more to life than work. Then shrugging off every time I tried to approach him about it.

I know I have overly strong feelings about one's humanity, and that Viktor's need to alleviate his own pain is valid but...the balance went so far off, it felt like?

[theidlemaiden]

[ There's a beat of silence from her but after a moment she replies. ]

𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴. 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘪𝘳𝘪 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘵.

[ And she knows that he might view that as pity but it isn't that. Viktor's friendship means so much to her; the thought of abandoning him - anyone, that she cares for so fiercely - simply isn't an option. ]

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦.

[cryptsleeper]

You're not wrong that it'd be worse without someone to keep an eye on him - I think that's why I tried to do something similar.

I'm worried about the immediate future as well. I already suspect he's going to just throw himself into work to avoid dealing with any of the fall out.