entrancelogs | if there is love in your heart and your mind

Entry tags:

if there is love in your heart and your mind

Who: Victor Frankenstein (

lifeskills) and Evelyn O'Connell (

nascensibility) and Charlie Bradbury (

kickassqueen).
Where: Anywhere.
When: Backdated to Dec. 12-14th.
Rating: PG? It's Christmas, what could possibly go wrong!
Summary: The punch makes yet another victim act like a body-snatched version of themselves.

The Story:

_{[Escaping one world to take an extended leave of absence in another hadn't reduced the number of concerns on Victor's shoulders--more the opposite. It's only after he finds the punch set out in one of the tea rooms that he feels some of it start to lift.

It's not a feeling he's accustomed to. Goodwill toward mankind isn't the same thing as having kinship with them; having been locked away in a tower of his own making, the bricks mortared with isolation and feverish dreams, he'd lost touch with what it feels like to be lightened by a sense of affinity.

Victor Frankenstein doesn't have friends, it's as simple as that.

Until for three days of the week he does, like a beam of sunlight temporarily cutting through the heart of a storm cloud.]}

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[ For the most part, Charlie's just fine taking a look at all the wonder that's filled Wonderland.

Holidays for her usually mean something small, or some kind of office party if she's working in an office at the time. It always reminds her of family, which in turn makes her a little mopey. In an effort to get out of that funk, she's left her room with strict self instructions not to return until she's full of holiday cheer.

Once she's in the kitchen, she sees Victor. He seemed a little stuck up before, which you know. It's his thing, she's not gonna judge or be offended. Could have also been the whole newly arrived deal - it throws everyone off. This also doesn't stop her from saying hi. ]

Like all the deco? [ She asks in way of greeting as she brings a little bell she snatched off some garland, ringing it with a smile. ] A self decorating mansion seems like it would be way convenient.

_{[Even for the most snide, disagreeable Victorian, exchanging greetings is a must for a person when they've been raised to a certain standard. The art of making polite conversation with backhanded insults had to come from somewhere.

Come rain or shine, Victor is, as such, ready to return a lady's "hello"--it just so happens that today he's happy to do it.

Too bad he has a hard time understanding what Charlie's saying. He raises his eyebrows questioningly, but infers her general meaning.]}

Ah, the holiday apparel?

_{[Where he might have done the opposite on a normal day, he relaxes, stiffness transformed for a time into an easiness, not unlike the mansion's transformation into the Christmas lover's paradise.]}

Yes, quite. I've been thinking that myself. Miss Bradbury, yes?

[ Crap. One day, she won't be flinging slang around willy nilly...today is not that day.

And let's be honest, that day will probably not come to pass. As it is, she does a little facepalm at herself. ]

Yes, right, the holiday decorations. I feel like I need to give everyone a translation dictionary for encounters with me. And Charlie's fine, no need for formalities. [ She almost just said 'formal-y stuff' so she's improving already. ]

Is this like your favorite holiday? [ It's asked because he's being a little more friendly than last time. Not that unfriendliness ever deterred her, unless it was really mean. ]

_{[Even with the full force of the mansion's holiday punch behind him, Victor's still not a master of smiling with his eyes. He makes an amused sound, but it's subtle, as is the quirk to his lips.]}

I think it's just as easily a symptom of being from times far removed from one another. If your present is my future, I can only imagine language has taken on a mind of its own.

_{[He understands. And he finds informality somewhat more charming than he had yesterday, so he concedes to her insistence he use her given name, even encourages it with a belated gesture at her.]}

I suppose you can call me what you're comfortable with, then. _{[But in answer to her question, he can only tip his head to the side.]} Ah... no, I wouldn't say it holds any special meaning.

_{[Why do you ask, it's not like he accidentally drank something he shouldn't have, right?]}

Huh. No reason, just curious. [ She suspects Mansion Shenanigans, but she won't be quick to jump to conclusions just yet. Nothing wrong with a little cheerfulness, anyway, right? ]

How are you handling everything? Technology wise, you know. The phones can be a little tricky but they're simple enough. [ She's trying to lead in to asking him if he's watched any movies, and if not boy has she got some recs for him. ]

_{[The change in topic both welcome and appropriate, given that technological innovations are of interest to them both despite the obvious difference in their backgrounds. He's seen evidence she has some knowledge in the area.

Happy to avoid falling into an awkward silence, Victor smiles a bit in relief and relaxes at the counter he'd been sitting at before Charlie had entered.]}

Oh, if I'm being honest, it's been... a rocky transition. The theory of them hasn't progressed half so far in my "time."

_{[Which, as he understands, is a period considered archaic to some. Even so, Victor doesn't always like admitting he doesn't know something, especially something that comes so intuitively to other people as these communication devices. His pride has only grown in isolation.

Right about now he's willing to admit to concerns where he might have just kept them to himself. She'd asked.]}

I've been studying their function, but it's the sort of thing that requires guidance in some areas. _{[Here it comes. He looks at her questioningly, trying not to let his expression bleed into expectation.]} If you're not busy, perhaps sometime I can pose more questions to you.

_{[In a friendly way! But... friendly still has a way of sounding like business, coming from Victor.]}

[ Thankfully for Victor, Charlie is always on board to offer her technological expertise. ]

You've come to the right lady. I happen to be way awesome with phones and computers. [ She's recently started building a computer in her room, actually. Standalone, no network, just in case. ] It's one of those adjustments everyone has to make, especially if they're from a time like you are.

Or even another world! [ Like if there's magic or something. ] On the opposite side of that coin, there are people who can show up from the far future and this stuff would seem like kids toys to them.

I've been reading about their development...

_{[But even someone from Victor's time can grasp the implication of how much knowledge books lack now thanks to digitization. He knows better than to think it offers a well-rounded education.

The corner of his mouth kicks up just a little.]}

You don't consider yourself from the far-flung future?

_{[The way Charlie dresses, the way she acts, the way she speaks... To Victor, she certainly seems that way to him.]}

I grew up watching Star Wars, Star Trek, and Battlestar, so my idea of the far future is way different. For one thing, we have a severe lack of shiny space suits where I'm from.

[ And it is a tragedy. Now she's thinking about how she is futuristic to him, in a way he probably never imagined. If he ever thought about those things. ]

Everyone assumes we'll have all kinds of tech advancements and medical advancements - curing cancer and HIV forever, computers implanted in our brains so it's easier to browse, I dunno, wikipedia or something.

_{[For someone as well-educated and well-read as Victor, it's a little unsettling to hear so many words in the language he's fluent in and yet have no context for them.]}

By "watching," you mean... the advance in motion picture.

_{[Is he close?]}

Normally it would be impossible to say without historical perspective. Time travel was ever a theory, not a proven rule. If you don't mind, what year is it? Wherever you're from.

Yes, that! On television. Everyone's got a TV in their house nowadays, and that means easy access to all kinds of awesome shows.

[ The most important part of her era, lbr. ]

It's 2013-ish where I'm from. I was walking through some kind of portal into the Land of Oz, so that might have made time go a little wonky for me.

_{[Once again, he will have to take her at her word regarding television programming. Victor hasn't had time for even the late 1800's idea of entertainment.

The Wizard of Oz is, unfortunately, entertainment that came about ten years too late for him to grasp the reference, but Wonderland (and Wonderland's punch) is teaching him to judge not. He lifts an eyebrow.]}

You mean this... literally?

As literal as I can get, pal! Most of the magic stuff is kept on the down low, but it's there. Oz is a world from a storybook, just like Wonderland.

[ She was so excited to go, too. ]

A little less capture-y, maybe. It was supposed to be my quest. The big one. [ And she sounds put out about it. ]

Did you have one of those back home? One of those with this big purpose and trials and all that good stuff?

_{[Assuming he accepts her answer as it is, accepting multiple universes, some of which may be interconnected by some kind of weak literary transmission of information, is a bit much. He clears his throat, saying nothing to the idea of Oz as a verifiable place. Victor needs more time than what she's given to unpack it all.

He considers his hands. He's not equipped for these kinds of conversations--the mystical, fantastical kind.]}

If you consider life a trial, then I suppose we are all facing our own. You talk about quests like the devices in fiction. Most people content themselves reading about them, not living it.

_{[He senses a certain hypocrisy even in his own words. Isn't his yearning for the ideals of fiction what had led to Caliban?]}

[ BELIEVE IT, VICTORIAN BRO. ]

I get that, I've read plenty of stories about grand quests and slaying dragons. I just always wanted in on the action. Maybe not extreme action, since I don't want to be all broken and drooling afterwards. Pretty sure that's how a lot of the really stressful journeys go, anyway.

[ It just makes sense, you know. Oz was going to be her fun time, her epic journey with a cute girl looking for her dog. Now, it's just Wonderland.

Which isn't too bad, since she's got some good friends around here. That helps. ]

_{[Victor blinks, expression giving little away. Not once can he say he'd ever desired Charlie or Malcolm's brand of action and adventure to give his life meaning.]}

Is exploring the known world not enough for people where you call home?

_{[He hasn't yet decided how to feel about the world drastically expanded by the developments of technology and the presence of magic. He has started to realize just how narrow his worldview had been until now.]}

For a lot of people it is. Growing up on fantasy novels probably gave me some childhood need to do the questing and the dragons and the saving damsels thing.

[ She's not too bothered by it, she has fun. That's what matters. ]

What do you do back home, anyway? [ Oh, she's heard stories about Frankenstein and his monster but the man before her definitely doesn't fit her imagine of the guy. ]

_{[Reading about the fantastical is a vastly different thing than chasing after it with arms outstretched, but Victor supposes he can't judge her way of thinking, having done the same thing once.]}

How lucky for you, that the universe turned out to be a much larger place than expected.

_{[If such things as dragons, and magic, and multiple worlds suit her, then the more power to her. He smiles the slightest bit, but it doesn't last long when she asks about him and his background.

Until now, Victor had lived in cold and unyielding reality, not a story.]}

Scientific research. _{[The shortest and simplest answer.]} Nothing half so otherworldly.

_{[Perhaps just as extraordinary at times, but still rooted in the world of man, the corporal.]}

[Victor Frankenstein doesn't have friends.

This is the reality that Evelyn understands, much the same as Victor in their experiences with resurrected bodies, only she chose to follow a different route in coping with the inherent trauma and guilt that follows. Victor Frankenstein has no friends and Evelyn is sympathetic to his plight, of the firm opinion that at least one understanding person can help to ease the burden, as it has done for her.

Victor Frankenstein has no friends and is usually keen on avoiding her, which is why it's so terribly odd to see him here in the library where she's gathering supplies and considering knocking down a shelf or two to use as a barricade.]

Vic- [No, no, he found it too familiar, didn't he?] ...Doctor?

_{[It's true, he has no friends. Whatever tenuous relationships he'd built in the months prior to coming here and in the months since are still fledglings, too green to count on his sins not coloring them black, and he's made sure to find ways to keep himself occupied so as not to make enemies in a place where he's at a loss to defend himself.

But little of that matters today. Today, his heart feels exorcized of its concern, if not the sum of its demons.

Concern for at least one thing, if not concern for Wonderland's seemingly slow and steady descent into bedlam under the veneer of holiday cheer.]}

Mrs. O'Connell.

_{[For once, his approach isn't characterized by the conflicted need to carry on as is or retreat.

His gaze goes to her work.]}

Are you occupied with a project?

[First and foremost, she is impressed that he hasn't chosen to shy away from her, because working around Victor is like trying to get a new horse acclimated to your presence. His approach is noted, and Evelyn looks at him as though he's grown a second head.]

Have you not seen the network? I'm-

[All right, looking over what she's got, it isn't entirely obvious, but there's a large box marked Munitions and an open one she's inventorying for foodstuffs.]

We're worried about the Jabberwock. It may cross to our side, and we ought to be prepared.

Occasionally.

_{[Unless she meant the chatter generated by the strange dream, he hadn't heard of anything else on the network that required his immediate attention, and hadn't grown into relying on the devices for news with the devotion of someone born in the technological age.

From the time he has so far spent gleaning information from others, Victor has gathered that disaster planning isn't exactly uncommon here, however. He merely cocks an eyebrow, encouraging her to continue in her explanation.]}

Edited 2015-01-14 03:32 (UTC)

...there's a monster,

[she clarifies slowly, in the event that he had not heard her the first time. Evelyn has the sneaking suspicion that Victor suffers from the same selective hearing that afflicts many other men she knows.]

Here. In Wonderland. [A beat.] Or...there's going to be. Are you not concerned, Vi- doctor?

_{[Victor doesn't see cause for one strange dream to incite him to panic. If they did, he'd be a far more anxious person than he already is thanks to his own restless sleep. As of recently, he's also becoming familiar with monsters.

Had he been a clairvoyant capable of divining what's to happen in the future and not a scientist, perhaps he'd be more outwardly agitated at the idea of one finding its way here to the mansion, but as it is he only regards her watchfully.]}

Yes, I've read the poem.

_{[But as for why he isn't taking the same sort of precautions:]}

But I can't say I know much more about it than that it's a real creature. _{["Real" depends on one's definition of reality.]} You've encountered it before? What exactly are you expecting?

[If he's read the poem it is then certain that he has difficulties with taking the nonsense words seriously. Frumious? Whiffling? Until she witnessed its devastation firsthand, Evelyn possessed the same reservations regarding the sort of havoc a literary monster could wreak.]

Death,

[she replies plainly, because dancing around a subject has never been her forte.]

Violence. I am imagine you are familiar with both, and are aware that our fragile order of things here should not be further disrupted.

_{[Well, of all concepts in the known universe, death is the one Victors knows best. And she knows that as well--or at least she strongly suspects as much with or without him confirming it.

He accepts this warning without too much difficulty. Wonderland is a place to be wary of, he understands that.]}

It is a very fortunate person who isn't familiar with both. _{[Monsters are a different matter...]} This... creature has appeared before?

_{[She speaks like someone who's facing a reoccurring threat.]}

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if there is love in your heart and your mind

December 12th!

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