myicebox | Zaknafein Do'Urden and Caesar Salazar Meet. And are immediate bros!

Zaknafein Do'Urden and Caesar Salazar Meet. And are immediate bros!

When Caesar wasn't at work doing science, he was at home doing science. There were limits to how many of his ideas that he wanted to hand over to his workplace. Not only were there so many rules and procedures that simply got in the way, but he wanted to retain ownership of the more interesting ideas at his disposal. So that took them to the here and now.

Caesar wanted to play with viewing other universes, and he was pretty sure he wasn't going to get approval to do it from his boss. He also didn't want a corporation to take the technology and use it for financial gain. No, this was a purely scientific endeavor. It was important that it remained so. Mind you, he knew there was a risk of his company being angry enough to put him out of a job after he published the paper on this, but he'd be able to find another job easily, considering his skill set. They'd likely pay him even more.

Not that he wasn't paid well now--he was, judging by how his apartment was furnished fairly nicely. It was all mostly normal furniture, chosen for utility (how comfy, multipurpose) over design. It geared mostly towards the modern, but the couch was definitely a big green monstrosity of a thing with poofy seats, backs, and armrests.

Two bedrooms. One bedroom was his, and the other was being used as his lab. He'd at least covered the floor with a protective covering so that it wouldn't get ruined (too much). This was where he was now. Nice hardwoods and crown molding in a bedroom where a Murphy bed was up against the wall in case he had guests. (Mostly so he could sleep in this room instead.)

It was pretty high up, on the eighth floor of an apartment building overlooking a still somewhat busy street. It was Friday evening, and it meant Caesar could work out the bugs on his new toy all weekend instead of go out and be social like normal people. Which his therapist probably would have preferred, really. But Caesar was happy now. Maybe a little lonely, but he chatted with Rex regularly, and both visited at least a few times a year.

But that was an aside that Caesar was not even thinking about at the moment, and would probably be snippy with the narrator if he had any idea about her existence. Right now, he was focused on peering into other universes, mostly because he could, partially because he wanted to prove some of his theories, and a very slight, but more pressing than he would like, need to prove one of his coworkers wrong.

The system was fairly simple: a console hooked up to a server rack, both hooked up to the a metal doorway with various doohickeys on the inside of it to create and maintain the gateway to another world. I also had some more equipment in the front of the doorway to create a force field that would block anything trying to come through. It was all along one wall of the room, opposite the bed.

He was finally ready to switch it on. It was either going to work or cause their part of the universe to implode if he got his calculations wrong. Oh well, c'est la vie.

It was a simple boot sequence, all started by a big red button that Caesar had installed in the console because he found it funny. Everything hummed to life at once, and Caesar tried to keep a grin off his face. Each check and test passed one by one as the sequence went through all of them, and then the portal itself fired up, followed by the blue force field a second later.

Suddenly, Caesar was peering into darkness through the portal as it stabilized. He frowned a bit. It was theoretically working, but... It was pitch black. Nothing. No light at all.

And that's when his machine finally caused the power to dip for a moment, and the UPS for the force field failed, causing it to hum and fizzle out of existence. Caesar stared at the portal, dumbstruck.

"... That wasn't supposed to happen."

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Zak, on the other hand, feels no remorse about what just occurred. He's left bodies in similar condition by way of his own swords. It's so common place in his life, in all drow lives, that he doesn't even think that much of it besides the bizarre way in which it had happened.

His attention is drawn back to the human at the sound of retching. It actually takes him a few moments to realize what made the other man sick, and it's fairly sobering in it's surprise. It answers a few questions at least, about who this man is.

Someone who is unaccustomed to death.

Standing, Zaknafein wipes his blades clean and slides them back into their sheathes, giving the wizard a moment to himself before he slowly approaches. He makes no attempt to touch Caesar, but he does bow faintly.

"I am sorry." He says, hoping his intent is at least readable. Being brought here may have been an accident, but they had been after him. The fight, for what it was, is his fault and his alone.

Unaccustomed to death in this sense, yes. Never in person. Only from a distance. Now suddenly right in front of him, the scent burning his nostrils. It stopped Caesar's mind from thinking beyond the moment, the breaks screeching as the horrific moment slammed into his thoughts and sent them scattering.

A wizard. In a way, Caesar really is one. A lot of his what he does is practically magic. His ability to throw up is not one of these things.

By the time Zaknafein addresses Caesar, the man is only dry heaving, resting on his knees. He doesn't know the words, but he knows the sentiment. The emotion translates.

Caesar looks up at the other man, eyes wide and afraid--although not of Zaknafein. His sword has been put away. It's not necessary anymore. Caesar has seen fights before. Has seen violence. But he's never seen a man sliced so cleanly in half. Fourths. Whatever. He's breathing hard despite having barely exerted himself, adrenaline pumping through his veins.

For the moment, he's in shock, trying to process what just happened. Someone just died so quickly in front of him.....

He's seen eyes like that before, on those so young they hadn't learned how to turn their fear into rage. Those with eyes so stricken with fear and pain rarely had long to live, but in this instance he'd been spared by what amounted to the simple act of closing a door.

Zaknafein finally kneels and places a hand on Caesar's shoulder, tentative at first but firm as he looks into the other man's eyes with an expression of calm sincerity.

"You are safe now." He says gently, then looks back over the carnage that occurred in the small room. This must be where the man sleeps. Zak surmises that it is going to be quite some time before sleep comes easily for the wizard again, if ever.

Finally, he turns back to Caesar and taps his chest, then points to the corpse, and then at the portal. He keeps his fingers pointed at the portal for a long moment, hoping that it will help get his point across.

Open the door again and he will leave, take his danger and his mess with him.

It's only the one of a handful of times that someone has put a reassuring hand on his shoulder since the death of his parents', although Caesar startles for a moment when Zak first rests his hand. Rex did, once when he reaffirmed they would always be brothers. Other times as Caesar started to process their parents' deaths, and Rex did his best to be there for him (once he cottoned on to what was happening, anyway). But this was different--like someone older.

Caesar manages to meet his gaze after several moments, and then the man speaks. Reassuring, gentle. Caesar isn't sure exactly what he's saying, but either way, his shoulders relax. He works to control his breathing, finally starting to pull back some aspect of control. It almost reminds him of his dad when he was little. God, he still misses him.

He doesn't follow Zak's gaze when he looks away, not wanting to see the corpse. Caesar only snaps back to attention when Zak begins to try to indicate something. It isn't too hard to figure out. Zak is excellent at charades.

"But you'll likely die," Caesar's eyes widen as the request and what it means snaps into place--his voice only rose slightly before falling again. "Are you sure?"

The only time he'd ever truly been able to show this kind of empathy had been with Drizzt. The relationship they'd shared, as innocent as it was, had to be kept a secret. The strength they'd found in each other meant they had also become each other's greatest weakness, something Malice had managed to weaponize.

It may be an uncommon gesture for him, but it's perhaps the only thing he can offer this man whose life he'd unintentionally turned upside down.

The concern in Caeser's expression and voice is only something he'd ever seen with this much sincerity in his own son, and the thought makes his heart ache. So to reiterate the point, he repeats the motion, pointing at himself, the corpse, than the scorched wall where the portal had been. He could very well die, but it's a risk he needs to take.

"It is how it must be."

It's clear what Zaknafein wants. He wants to go back and risk everything. There must be an important reason for him to return. Caesar suspects this man fights for a living. He obviously--

--has pointed ears.

Caesar squints at them. What. Those ears are definitely pointed.

"Are you an elf?" He asks incredulously, and well--the man is pretty handsome.

Wait. Elf. Swords. That was possibly a spell he saw light from behind him.

Caesar sits back on his legs. "I just opened up a portal to a... Dungeons and... And Demons universe?"

No, that wasn't quite the right name....

It at least distracts him from his shock and horror for a moment. And if it wasn't for a dead body in the middle of his floor, he'd be freaking out in excitement, having contacted a being from another dimension whose physics were so unlike their own. But there's a very a very dead person in the middle of his floor. And he just vomited--and it's the smell of both that keeps Caesar on task.

"... Sorry." The confused smile fades back to concern; Caesar doesn't exactly like sending people back to their probable deaths. "I'll work to get it open again."

To Zaknafein, the concern and honest worry is spectacular. To Caesar, it's simply being human. You worry about your fellow man... Elf. Show concern and compassion. It's what you do. Which is where they stand now, with Caesar shifting his weight so he can stand easier, but not standing up quite yet.

Edited 2016-06-13 15:25 (UTC)

Demons would actually be the more appropriate word, considering the company noble drow houses keep.

Zaknafein tilts his head slightly as Caesar seems surprised into a moment of calm. It doesn't occur to him that this man may not know what an elf is. Perhaps not his specific breed, but surface elves are supposed to be plentiful beyond measure.

Still, what he knows of the surface world has surely been twisted by the hateful designs of those raised on the same propaganda as he. The most he knows about humans is that they make effective slaves.

When Caesar seems to be gathering himself, Zak pats the wizard's shoulder and stands, offering his hand as a help up.

Edited 2016-06-13 22:25 (UTC)

Caesar really wishes he had more time to talk to the stranger, but at the same time, even Caesar has some priorities. And one priority is not having a partial dead body in the middle of his floor. And the elf wants to go home. To possibly die. Because warriors were like that, weren't they? All those old stories, the warrior would fight to the death to protect what was important to him..

He takes the hand and stands slowly, feet mostly steady. He nods to Zak and goes to find a towel to at least wipe his face to make sure--well. You know.

Caesar looks over his equipment as well as he can in the darkness, walking over towards it as he throws the towel aside near the trash can. (He's not throwing it away, but he's making sure he knows it's. Because: ew.) He frowns a bit as he starts trying to boot the thing up.

"I can't guarantee this will work again since I shut it off so quickly," Caesar stated, knowing the elf couldn't understand him one bit, although the concern would certainly translate well enough--maybe not the intent, though. "We'll be lucky if I can even bring up the BIOS."

Zak would have very much like to sit and talk with the wizard, curious as to the truth of humans compared to the rhetoric spouted by those at the academy and in positions of power back in Menzoberranzan. There are a lot of things he will likely never learn the truth of, but he can at least be content in the knowledge that his skills are likely far beyond what Malice can throw at him.

If he can only get to Drizzt...

While Caesar goes off to make his preparations, he takes a moment to look down at the bisected drow warrior, spilling blood through the hole he'd left in his neck. It was quick, at least, having ended the poor elf's life before the true realization of what had happened set in.

He's pulled out of his thoughts when Caesar speaks again. It's unclear what's going on, as he'd never seen any spell worked in such a way before. Machines perhaps? Somehow that seemed counter to a wizard's lot, but he just watches curiously for the time being as we waits.

Especially with humans so much further along in their understanding of the world and human nature. Caesar isn't the best at it--actually, he's pretty bad at a lot of it--but he's still better off than a lot of other people. At least to the fact that he's a pacifist at heart and cares about those around him. Even someone brand new.

Caesar tries to bring up the consoles and computers, one by one. With each successful boot, Caesar's shoulders start to relax. So far, so good. He's going to be able to send him back--

And then he gets to the final machine. Which boots successfully. He's even got the coordinates--the ones he stored in his head. All the equipment seems functional. Everything is working perfectly.

Except for one thing.

Caesar stares at his status screen, moment slowing to a halt, and lets out a little "oh" from the back of his throat, looking back to Zaknafein with an apologetic expression.

"... It's lost its calibration. It'll take months for it to recalibrate again...."

Zak eyes the scorched wall, then his gaze trails along the doorframe and all the strange attachments. While he's fairly certain this was all some sort of accident, the paranoid, ever vigilant part of himself that only knows the painful realities of the Underdark can't shake the feeling this may still be due to some grander design.

The longer it takes for the portal to come up again, the more nagging that feeling becomes. Zaknafein turns when the hum of the computers kicks up again, watching the human go thought the strange somatic motions to get the spell to work.

The glow from the monitors still makes him wince. They're not much brighter than the illumination he's used to, but there's something about it that makes it harder to handle. His eyes don't seem to want to adjust properly.

When Caesar speaks his brows furrow and he gives the human a helpless look, not understanding what he means.

The helpless look gives Caesar pause. Here is a swordsman from straight out of a fantasy novel relying on him to get back home, even if it is to his death. Caesar can see the desperation in his eyes. As far as this elf is concerned, it's life or death that he gets back home.

So Caesar tries to think of anything that he could use to calibrate it on the fly. Something concrete. Something real. Something--

That is also a prototype, just like this machine. A scanner that used atomic structures and quantum theory and a bunch of other things that Caesar is pretty sure is only partially working. But it's worth a shop.

"... I have something I can try." Caesar moves again, going through a few boxes to try to find it. "It might not work, but I can try."

Zaknafein continues to look on with an ever growing feeling of helplessness. What he knows of magic is so far removed from anything the sees here, so he couldn't even begin to help even if the wizard could explain to him what he needed.

As much as he's trying to trust the man, there's a heavily paranoid part of him that can't let go of that ingrained anxiety and expectation of betrayal. It keeps rising and waning, but he has enough hope to keep it from becoming overpowering.

Even if it did, what good would it do him? He would never get back without Caesar's help.

So he does his best to stay out of the way, but watches carefully everything that's going on.

Caesar isn't the best at reading emotions, but when he focuses, he can read people well. He had focused on Zaknafein's desperation before, and had seen it for what it is--there is something important that he left behind. A person, most likely. It's a feeling that Caesar once experienced so deeply, when he found that his baby brother was still alive. The desperation of getting his brother out safe and sound. Perhaps that was what it was like now.

He doesn't think about that now, though, focused on rediscovering the scanner. It isn't long before he finds it, once he moves a couple of boxes and finds it right where he left it. It's a small, handheld thing, looking similar to a tricorder. (Caesar is a Trekkie, of course.)

"I had nothing to test this on before, but I'll try to get the location of where you were from you," Caesar spoke calmly, fiddling with the device as he walked up to Zaknafein. "I'm suspecting the calibration won't be exact, but that should give you a chance to escape the people you were fighting."

He hesitated for a moment, put his free hand on Zak's shoulder in a comforting gesture, then turned the device on and began scanning his dark-skinned acquaintance, pointing it at his chest and slowly moving towards his stomach.

A situation like this would make anyone tense, but Zak has been through over four hundred years of constant high anxiety living. He tenses up considerably when Caesar touches him, despite knowing well enough the human means no harm by it. The clutching of muscles is almost painful, and the... wand? Staff? Clearly a magical device of some sort doesn't aid in his ability to relax.

Instinctively a hand goes to the hilt of his sword and he takes a step back, red eyes locked on the device as though expecting it to launch some sort of magical attack. The hinderance of the language barrier is not helping matters any, because for all he knows the words being uttered could be the incantation of some spell.

"What are you doing?" He growls uselessly, knowing the other man can' understand him. Zak also knows that killing him will likely trap him in this place forever, and he's trying desperately to allow this to happen. All he can do is pray what he's been told about humans is as much a lie as he wants to believe it is.

Caesar fails his charisma check, to the surprise of no one that knows him. The moment he feels Zaknafein tense underneath his hand, a gesture that the drow had used to reassure him a moment ago, Caesar knows he's messed up. He steps back, eyes widening for a moment, seeing Zak's hand go to his sword. And then he looks down to the device in his hand, following Zak's gaze.

Then, he glances back up at Zak, doing his most reassuring voice. "... I'm not going to hurt you. I promise. Zak, it's okay."

Caesar hesitates, then turns the device around in his hands to point to himself, movements slowly, keeping his eye on Zak as if asking permission to continue. He would be more worried about his own safety, but the sooner he gets the scan in to calibrate the system, the better. He'll worry about his own safety later. The elf did just reassure him.

"Please?" Caesar keeps his words simpler; the fewer, the better Zak might be able to figure some out.

The gesture he himself had used, but that was before the other had something he could not even begin to comprehend pointed at him like it was some sort of weapon. Still, he's more than smart enough to understand the foolishness of his reaction, and taking in a slow breath he drops his hand away from his sword belt.

His eyes remain on the device for a long moment before looking back up to Caesar's face, red eyes tight with frustration at their lack of being able to communicate. The other man is trying, that much is at least certain. The wait is what stands out to him, the care to get permission is such a seldom thing that he nearly misses it.

Then he finally nods, though he still doesn't seem capable of relaxing as he half expects the thing to need to take some of his blood for the spell to work. That, at least, would make some sense to him.

Caesar sighs a bit in relief when he doesn't get slashed for his efforts. He lets his shoulders relax a bit. Okay, Zak is letting him work.

Good thing he's scanning himself first, regardless. Caesar quietly does the same sweeping motion he did with Zak, turning it on with a little beep about at his chest area and then moving it downwards. Then back up and down once more. Caesar smiles a bit as the scan is complete and some information is shown on the screen.

He turns the brightness down after a moment of thought and turns the screen to show Zaknafein. "See? That's it. Now your turn, Zak?"

A question, asking permission with his voice even if the other man does not understand his words. Look, he's not dangerous, okay? Caesar even thinks he can show the elf how to hold it, just to be sure.

Zak watches the other man with an air of skepticism, actually twitching a bit at the beep. The innocent sound is so blatantly unfamiliar to him that it startles him.

Still, the motion seemed innocent enough. No blood, no pain, not much of anything that he can discern. Not even the telltale flash of light that accompanies most magic. There's part of him that can't help but feel a faint bit of curiosity about what's happening before him.

Looking at the screen as it's offered does not assuage the confusion permeating the drow's expression, or the feeling of helplessness as the moments tick by, leaving his son alone to fight a hopeless battle alone. He'd never be able to forgive himself if...

He shakes the nagging fear from the forefront of his mind, letting it fall back to simmer as he tries to focus on the task at hand. Zak makes no effort to touch the thing, but he looks back up to Caesar. "Do what you must."

Finally. Caesar can tell when Zak finally calms his nerves again and gets them under control. The demonstration succeeded.

He shifts the scanner in his hands so that he's holding onto it properly to scan Zaknafein. The movements are the same, once again done slowly, scanning from his chest to his stomach. Caesar grins a bit after he sees the screen upon finishing the scan.

"It worked!" Caesar uses the tone of his voice, slightly exaggerated, to convey a good result. "It's not perfect, but I'm going to try to open the portal a bit away from that area you were fighting in if you don't mind."

Then with another grin and knowing he wouldn't get a full answer, Caesar turned around and walked over to connect the scanner to his machine. Work began soon after that, with Caesar bringing sub systems online as he waited for the calibration to finish.

"I should have you home soon!"

Caesar would have liked to learn more about the strange being now standing in his guest bedroom, but the drow was too anxious to get back home. He would have to survive with observing that world now that he had managed to locate one that was interesting. That would take some alterations, but Caesar was excited to think of all the papers he'd be writing about this soon enough! Aliens! Aliens from another universe! The entire scientific community was going to collectively soil their pants.

The wizard sure looks happy, which he can only take as a sign that things are going well. Or at least, in the direction the human wanted them to go in.

Zaknafein's anxiety continues, if only because he's standing around doing nothing while his son could very well be fighting for his life. The most he can do is try to take heart in the fact that Drizzt is strong, that he trained him well and can hold his own.

"It will not be much longer, my son." He murmurs under his breathe staring at the scorched wall as though he could make the portal open through the force of his will alone. He will save his son, or die trying.

Looking down at the burned, bisected body on the floor and gets an idea. Taking it by the arm, he shifts it around to make it easier to grab and throw through the portal as a distraction should he need it.

Edited 2016-07-04 18:25 (UTC)

It takes a couple of minutes for Caesar to get things online, and another minute to alter the settings to open a little away from the area that Zaknafein had been in. Not that it's 100% accurate anyway in terms of location, as the calibration is only an initial and not a more precise one, but it'll be enough. Caesar waits for it to detect an open area, and then he smiles.

He gives Zaknafein a thumbs up before pointing at the still closed portal. "Ready?"

... Okay, he's holding the dead elf by the arm. Caesar's pretty sure he means to throw the body if there's something on the other side when the portal opens, but that doesn't stop it from being creepy.

Yes, he's setting up the corpse to be hurled as a weapon. The dark elf, on the other hand, doesn't seem at all bothered by the idea, regarding the body as little more than refuse that he can do with as he pleased. His hatred for his people runs deep, and while there will ever be the wonder if he and his son were not alone, if there were others struggling with the pain of their existence as they do, he cannot let that curiosity make him hesitate lest he be the one dead on the floor.

Zaknafein looks back over his shoulder at the human when he speaks, following the gesture to the wall and nodding. Already he can feel the anticipation for battle burning through his veins and he shifts his stance, grasping the dead drow warrior's arm more firmly as he waits for the portal to open.

We need to have a talk about self-hatred sometime, Zaknafein. Except not right now. Later. Because right now, there's a portal to open.

Caesar observes the drow prepare himself for a moment; good, he understood what Caesar meant to do. He breathes a small sigh of relief. Now, he hasto hope that whatever is waiting for them on the other side doesn't decide to come through and kill them both.

It is too bad, really. Caesar wishes he could have asked Zaknafein some questions. He looks to the camera he has set up in the corner of the room. There's at least recordings of what happened, he now remembers vaguely. It's still only going to give him so much to work with.

He's really trying not to think about the dead elf. Really trying not to. Can he really talk to his therapist about this? He'd already talked to her about some of the other nonsense that had happened in his life. This is pretty much believable since it's him.

"Okay," Caesar breathes in and out slowly, going back to his work on the console. "Okay. Let's get this started."

Components come to life in a succession of humming noises, fans spinning up and processors computing away. The lights flicker a bit again as the power draw increases, and then it happens.

Where there was only a view of a scorched wall a moment before, now stands what is clearly a doorway into another world. Pitch blackness, save for the feeble light from the monitors streaming into the portal and some other lights far off in the distance.

Except it's not quite all dark. There's fire in the distance, flames quickly burning out now that they have nothing to consume. And then a figure stumbles, looking up at the portal and going still as he stares in confusion.

"Zaknafein...?"

The figure is clothed similarly to Zaknafein, twin blades in his hands, similar to the other drow. The swords clatter to the stone floor of the cave.

"Zak, I--"

The reason why the swords slipped from his hands becomes apparent after a moment, as Drizzt follows their path and collapses to the ground between them.

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I know there's a joke here about the dead drow but I'm not feeling witty today.

XD

I guess my dark sense of humor is just rusty. Also 1/2

I guess I don't need many icons if he immediately falls unconscious, huh?