theclipper_tlv | Audio/Spam

[Anyone who's met Jacobi for more than fifteen seconds would be forgiven in thinking that this isn't Jacobi. This isn't the same man who packed explosives gleefully while being a sarcastic brat all at the same time. But Jacobi knows this. He knows what this is. So he's cheerful in a way that he had to once be literally programmed into.]

Hey guys! This isn't so bad, right? We're definitely going to be alright, aren't we? I mean! At least we have some food and water and a place to sleep! That's progress and something we can look forward to! We just need to work together and keep our chins up, right?

[Spam]

[It's easy to play the part when he isn't actually with anyone else. But Jacobi is frayed at the edges, and he knows that this won't last. There's even a time when he wishes for the regulator again. The very thing that had taken his freedom from him. And those times are when he paces his room like a caged tiger.

And that room is as much his prison as he makes it. Jacobi doesn't leave his room except when forced to work or forced to sing or forced to be social. He will take visitors, but he won't be pleasant to be around. He knows he can't graduate that way, but it just feels so good to be angry. Especially at first.]

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So imagine a chess game, on a board the size of a world. And a game that spans thousands of years.

[ He lifts a hand and wobbles it. ]

In that game? I'm... closer to the Queen than the King. But the metaphor stands.

King's important but the Queen does all the work.

[ He nods. ]

Got it. I didn't do all the work, my Aunt Pol and Grandfather and the other Disciples did thousands of years of work. But I'm the one who had to do the... big stuff.

Like kill a god.

Cool.

Did you do it?

[ He nods. And there's something... indescribable in his eyes for a moment. There's something terrible in killing a god. How it happened... that's terrible too. But... it is what it is. And he's very much moved on. ]

At sixteen.

Huh. That's - a lot to do at sixteen. But I guess if your whole family are just - at whims, it probably makes sense, huh?

Honestly, I'm struggling. What do you say here? Sorry you had kill a god when you should have been getting in trouble doing other things?

Cuz that - blows.

[ He shrugs. ]

I used to ask 'why me' a lot. But I did eventually get an answer:

[ He spreads a hand with a wry smile. ]

Any time there's something so ridiculously dangerous that no rational human being would even consider trying it, they send for me.

It's literally what I'm built for.

Huh. Well, we have that in common. Except in a less - cosmic, literal sense.

So is that what you're doing here?

[ There's a look that says 'my sympathies' before he moves on. ]

I'm assuming so.

[ He scratches his ear. ]

I came on here trying to adjust my wife's lifespan to match my own. But then I discovered what this place was like. Someone tried to hurt one of the kids and I lost my temper.

[ He tilts his head. ]

I'm a king. A politician. And a-

[ Dammit, it's so hard to talk to people not from his world sometimes. ]

-someone with a cultural inclination towards knowing how to keep buttoned down. I could get out. But...

It's not the right time, yet.

Hey, I'll trust you with that.

But I need to get out and find my fiancé, wherever the heck he ended up. So I'll try and play the game.

[ That... is when he gets a bit of a crooked smile on his face.

Garion's face is a rather curious thing. Most of the time, he has the ordinary face in the world, utterly unremarkable. He's just another hayseed. But there are two things that can make it something else: when he's angry, which right now? No. And when he smiles. And right now, right now there's something to that smile that's undeniable. ]

Oh, I'm starting to think that time's coming soon. So...

If you need anything? Let me know. I might be able to help you out.

That's a very vague offer. What sort of things? How?

[ He pauses for a moment before he closes his eyes and seems to be concentrating. His hand is open, and as he flexes it, there's a soft sound almost like a bell. When Jacobi looks again, he'll see a tiny flower there, a little lopsided and soft in color with a scent that's the most beautiful thing he's ever smelled. ]

I can make things. Harmless things. I can also do a few other harmless tricks.

Ah.

[And he hesitates for a very long moment.]

That's - interesting. Do you have to be able to visualize what you're making?

The better I understand it, the less energy it needs. But I'm really good at learning things quickly.

[ He learned to read from scratch as a teenager in two weeks. ]

Huh. Well, if you want to stick to natural things, I would love a couple of piece of pyrite. It would really spruce up my room and make it a little cheerier in here. I've always really been into rocks.

Describe it for me? We might call it something else. I'm not familiar with the word.

Fool's gold. Looks like gold but isn't.

Ahhh. That I know.

[ He looks over at Jacobi thoughtfully.]

I can't make a piece you could hurt someone with. What about fool's gold sand?

Sand won't work. I need the nodules. Can be half the size of my palm, though, if that helps. I don't even think I could throw that hard enough to hurt.

That I can do!

[ There'll be another moment of concentration, a strange feeling of air without the air moving... and then that soft bell-like sound. Then he's holding out a handful of those nodules.]

[He takes them from him and grins.]

Hey, see? They're so pretty and not at all dangerous.

[Unless someone wanted to make some sparks. He puts them in his pockets.]

Thanks.

Happy to help. After all, aren't we supposed to be?

[ Deep deep (Alorn) sarcasm. ]

[He laughs.]

Yeah. I guess. Hey - I didn't catch your name.

Garion.

...unless you want the whole thing?

[ His tone begs him not to want the whole thing. ]

You?

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