zenderael_rl | [Duncan/Gabriel] - on Things Man Was Not Meant To Know

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[Duncan/Gabriel] - on Things Man Was Not Meant To Know

Who: Duncan & Gabriel
When: Monday, 9/12
Where: World Library, Pariskret
Before/After: After Gabe e-mails Duncan
Warnings: TBA

[Duncan's schedule was calming down a bit after four weeks of being packed to the gills, and without any important meetings left for today, it was easy enough to score some time away from the church by telling his auxiliary bishops that the Asha wanted to meet with him.]

[He isn't recognizable as the Vahishta when he shows up at the World Library, dressed as he usually dressed on Earth in jeans and a band T-shirt, with the addition of a long-sleeved undershirt despite the warm weather, and a very finely-crafted longsword worn at his left hip. One perk of being the Vahishta: not having to work your way up to the top-tier adventuring gear. He does have a guard with him though, which is something he's still getting used to. He did insist on the paladin coming in plainclothes, so as not to advertise the fact that Duncan is a VIP.]

[When they reach the library, he spends a couple minutes just standing outside and staring at it, because that is fucking amazing. This is the first time he's seen it in person. And the Eiffel Tower standing over one corner of it--! This is so cool.]

[When he's done fanboying (he is never done fanboying), he heads inside to meet with Gabriel. Please don't mind the mile-wide grin as he stares in awe at everything. The World Library was one of his favourite set-pieces in the game.]

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[Gabe, unfortunately, doesn't have the luxury of dressing more civilian-ish, not when he's in the Library. He is, however, dressed more like an average, everyday mage as opposed to the Asha, not wanting the good robes to get too dirty. After all, he doesn't want them to get ruined while he's poking at whatever the Asha was messing with.

Honestly, by the time he heads down to the main hall of the Library, Gabe's head is still spinning with everything he's learned about what the Asha before him did, though he puts on his usual happy smile the minute he sees Duncan. No, hugs, though! See how he remembers, Duncan?]

Hi, honey~ Welcome to the Library~

[it is very thoughtful that you remembered not to hug him, Gabe. good work.]

[Duncan just looks so excited to be here. he barely even looks at Gabe as he approaches him.]

Oh man, how do you get anything done? This place is so fucking cool.

Hey, it's not all fun and games in here for me. Between lessons, golem maintenance, and going through the former Asha's notes, I'm lucky I have time to breathe.

[He pauses, eyes widening a bit before he digs into a pocket of his robes]

Oh! Before I forget this time!

[Gabe holds out his hand to Duncan and offers him three sharp-looking teeth.]

Warhound teeth, as promised ages back. I was going to give you them back before the merge, but I got blindsided by certain things. Hint hint.

[He'd mention Duncan being the Vahishta, but given that he's in civilian mode, he figures that's a bad idea.]

[the sudden shift in tone pulls his focus back to Gabe. he sees the teeth and stares at them in open wonder, reaching a hand out to take them.] Oh, wow.

[he closes his fingers around the teeth, and then his eyes flash back up to Gabe, a hint of guilt on his face. he assumes Gabe means the fact that he was, um, sort of dying at the time...]

[nervous laugh] Yeah...things... [uncomfortable and awkward trailing off...]

[he clears his throat and pockets the warhound teeth] Sooo... Tour?

[Gabe grins.]

Should I waste your time with the boring stuff like the training grounds or do you want to see something cooler than the Eiffel Tower?

[yes, thank you for rolling with that subject change. he smiles, a little relieved, and then back to excited again]

Show me motherfucking everything.

Save the coolest thing for last, then.

[Gabe tugs on Duncan's hand off down one of the side hallways.]

First stop is the door to the basement, which we are not going into, but only because Beatrice won't let me yet.

[Gabe points it out.]

If we all get a day off sometime, maybe we can go down there and check it out. What do you think? There's supposed to be some pretty nasty stuff down there.

Edited 2013-09-03 02:57 (UTC)

[aaaaaaaa world library tour *_____* ]

[the paladin sighs and follows behind them]

Oh man. That's the fucking raid, isn't it? Have you ever been down there? Like, in the game? That shit is crazy.

I am definitely not ready to play support for that motherfucker yet.

No. Nayan was never high enough, so I only ever saw it in screenshots people posted on the forum. It looked insane, though.

[And we're off again! Gabe's strongly resisting the urge to latch onto Duncan's arm. He doesn't think he'd appreciate it.]

Honestly, I'm kind of glad Beatrice won't let me go down there yet. It sounds slightly more terrifying than Mezzron was.

[in this context, he'd be willing to let it slide.]

[side-eye] You know, even if she did allow you down there, you could just...not go.

What was Mezzron like?

No, I couldn't. It's part of the Library, too. I need to see it, even if it's just the once.

[And then Duncan asks him about Mezzron and... Gabe shudders]

A lot more wolfish than I thought he'd be, but I wasn't even fighting with him for that long. I only came in towards the end. [Because he had looked down and Lera had been in trouble. Gabe remembers that all too well.] I psyched myself up a bit too much, I think, but he's a god, you know? And we couldn't even kill him. Just hurt him a lot. I think in the end, he only left because Ezra and Rhys killed Aerveas.

[eyerollllll, he thinks you're making that a bigger deal than it is, Gabe.]

[He has to bite his tongue to keep from gushing inappropriate questions about Mezzron. it's just so cool okay?! that one of his friends fought a god--!!]

I don't know if you can psyche yourself up too much when gods are involved. I mean, that's some hardcore shit right there.

[No, Duncan, he's being good and taking his job seriously. You should appreciate this. :| Besides, Aerveas didn't, and look what happened to him. Gabe's totally not saying that, though, since Duncan isn't calling him on it.]

Well, yeah. If he comes back, though, he's definitely not going to be happy. [Gabe winces a little] I kind of sort of maybe threw a meteor at him.

[Duncan takes his job seriously too but he's not suicidal about it!]

[pause.]

[dead serious] Gabriel.

...That's pretty fucking badass.

You think so?

[Gabe might be beaming a little at that.]

I was just planning to use it on the wall in Bastan, but it was more convenient than trying to freeze him like I did Aerveas' elemental. [He pauses, frowning as he glances over at Duncan] Sorry about the huge hole in the wall, by the way. That's totally my fault.

Oh, they fixed that, don't worry about--

Jesus fuck, Gabriel! [like he's suddenly realized what they're talking about. he grabs Gabe by the shoulder, facing him]

Do you realize we are standing in the World fucking Library, talking about how you fought the God of War inside the Likeness Chamber? Do you ever stop to think about how fucking crazy our lives are compared to a year ago?

[Whoa being grabbed okay this is new. And then when Duncan tells him all that, Gabe just smiles and shakes his head.]

Yeah. It's kind of weird.

[Honestly, though, Gabe barely remembers what life was like a year ago before all of this started happening. He's been so engrossed in things changing and going crazy by now that it's almost second nature now.]

Is it sad that I'd happily take this over stressing about exams?

Kind of weird?

[Gabe, Earth merged with a video game and now they are two of the most important NPCs in the game, and it's only kind of weird?]

At least when I was stressing over exams I didn't feel like I had the fate of a nation in my hands.

Eh, I don't know. I'm starting to like the responsibility.

[Gabe pauses and glances at Duncan.]

No one's allowed to know I said that, by the way.

[he looks at Gabe and points toward the paladin who is tailing them]

[said paladin looks back at them and gives a shrug. look it's not his job to pass around gossip okay, he doesn't care about your dumb guild leader insecurities.]

[Gabe just kind of blinks at the paladin for a minute or two. Honestly, he hadn't even noticed him until Duncan pointed him out.]

...okay, he isn't coming in my office when we get there.

[Aaaaaaand they're off again.]

Not gonna argue with that.

[the paladin seems neutral about that. the Asha's office is pretty safe, so he's got no issue with waiting outside. That's pretty much the norm for guards anyway.]

[let's just fast-forward past the rest of the tour and assume Duncan was ecstatic and fascinated by everything Gabe showed him. What's that thing that's cooler than the Eiffel Tower? Let's go there.]

[Well, Gabe's definition of "cooler than the Eiffel Tower" probably varies greatly from Duncan's, but magic is infinitely cooler than a building, in Gabe's mind, so!]

And this is my favorite part of the Library!

[Gabe tugs Duncan to their second to last stop, one of the main reading centers of the Library, which normally wouldn't be all that impressive, apart from, you know, the floor to ceiling books. At least until you notice most of the books are moving around by themselves, off onto carts to go elsewhere, onto tables where people have requested them, or back to their appropriate spots.]

A lot of the rooms in the Library do this, but this is the first one I stepped into when I came here, and I just kind of stood here for, like, ten minutes watching the books move. I thought it was so cool actually getting to see it happen, you know?

Oh man...

[he stands there staring in awe for a moment. it is pretty amazing. not just the books shelving themselves and whatnot, but the fact that this place is just packed to the fucking brim with books written by Zendereans.]

[There are histories here with more information than any lore collection, research notes, details about the world that it is impossible to get anywhere else. The sheer amount of otherworldly knowledge in front of him is more impressive and awe-inspiring than any amount of functional magic could ever be.]

Can you-- [looks to Gabe] Can you like, ask for something and the books answer?

Well, I don't think they talk. [Not that he's tried to see if that's a thing. He's getting an idea for when they get books aimed towards younger kids, though.] But the Library's pretty good about knowing what you need as opposed to what you think you want. You just need to ask and the best books on the subject tend to show up one way or the other.

[Grinning, Gabe gestures to the room]

Go on. Try it. [And have a light poke at your arm, Duncan!] You know you want to.

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