Abstract Theorems and Actuations

[chaseandoldlace]

Who: Chase and Uther
What: Books!
When: Mid October
Where: Starts at Bookshop Cassanova
Rating: W.T.F
Status: Once more, to the breach!

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[pendraeg]

Managing a household--two young, constantly growing, lively children; a small assortment of animals, including a dinosaur; the castle itself, stone and grounds alike, and Uther was contemplating some grazing livestock to keep the grass in check--was a full-time occupation, even with the help of Chase and the conveniences of modern technologies. Winter was coming, and the castle had long since been fitted with heat and water and electricity, but Uther would always be a medieval man at heart, and he liked to see that they were as well-prepared for the cold season and the short days as if none of these devices existed. So there was wood to be chopped and seasoned, and feed to lay in, and stores to stockpile. There were windows to insulate and structures to reinforce and leaves to clear

[chaseandoldlace]

Branches slapped at half-bared arms as Chase pushed through trees that dropped their leaves at the slightest bend, and in less time than he expected, he was meeting Uther's gaze across the courtyard. The ax came down in a way that seemed to accentuate the cosmic joke Chase found himself the punchline to. Bringing the Abstract back to the castle was the equivalent of putting all their heads on a chopping block, but he hadn't known where else to go.

Uther was the only person on this universe he knew who might know how to destroy an evil magical artifact.

"Hey, Majesty..." Chase took a few deep breaths, waving nervously as he approached--it was a gamble, even telling the young king about the Abstract, but he didn't have a choice. "Uh, you got a minute? I found something we need to maybe...talk about."

[pendraeg]

"Yes, of course," Uther responded immediately. He set the axe securely aside and picked up a cloth to wipe his hands and brow. He turned to Chase, searching his face for further clues as to what he might hear next. It wasn't only that something was wrong, Chase was uncertain about it as well, seemed uncomfortable with broaching it.

He had twisted his bag away even from himself, holding it defensively. "What is it?" Uther asked, trying to show he was ready to listen, concerned but also curious.

[chaseandoldlace]

He lead the way into the great hall, wincing at the sound of the twins and Old Lace playing a game of tag--not that Chase had ever doubted it, but she had always been a rather exceptional nanny. But then, OL was used to Molly and Klara, who were...exceptional in their own right

[pendraeg]

"It is," Uther murmured, watching Chase run his fingers over the words. It was as though the text was there for him, the groupings of letters lullingly easy to decipher. By whatever trick of Aternaville's nature, English, spoken and written, made itself available to Uther, but it was as though through a pane of imperfect glass, and there was always the slightest, scarely noticeable of delays. It took effort to communicate here, although it came more easily the closer one was to one's interlocutor, the more you could already guess what he was going to say, or how he was going to say it. But read too long, or watch a movie, and Uther inevitably closed the day with a dull headache

[chaseandoldlace]

It took a moment to parse through the antiquated language; when Alex had "translated" the Wilder's Abstract he'd read it to them in plain, easy to swallow 21st Century Left-Coast English. He'd been terrified then too, hearing the story of how the Gibbhorim had summoned their families, and set them to the task of forging a new world in blood and fire.

Chase could feel the same shiver through Uther that had gripped him just over a year ago, the fear of seeing something familiar where you least expect it

[pendraeg]

He had been reading on, as though compelled, of the dark alliance and all that it had done, obscured in the text's distant reticence. Understanding what it must have done to him, and unable to continue giving voice to those dreadful words. But, allowing Chase to tear his attention from the book, Uther tried to explain

[chaseandoldlace]

Subtly and nuance were far from Chase's strong points, but they didn't need to be for the implications of Uther's words to strike as deeply as they did. The longer he spoke the larger and hollower a void seemed to open in the center of Chase's being, putting his mind on the edge of that yawning abyss from which the horrors of his past and the terrors of the present writhed in some sick mating ritual that balked at the natural flow of time and reason itself.

For a brief moment he squeezed Uther's hand painfully tightly as though afraid he might lose his balance on solid ground.

"So lemme get this straight, Robert and Tina Minoru, my best friend's psycho evil wizard parents might have had something to do with your brother's murder? Along with this Vortigern guy? Okay, okay, at least they haven't unleashed like, some sort of undead voodoo on anyone at home, that's good, right, yeah that's good. Wait, how is that good? If the Minorus are running around going all Dark Souls on ancient Britain they won't have to do anything in the