sciencesquid | IC Inbox

[He types up a question. Then deletes it. Tries a different question. Deletes that too. Finally, he goes with:]

Do you need me to come over there?

Please

I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry.

I'm on my way.

[He may suffer some delays due to glitching and being set back half the route at one point, but he makes it there! He'll storm his way up to the office if that's where he has to be.]

[Storming up the office is his best bet, since Peter's attempts to come down to the lobby have been excessively futile.

Peter is seated on a wall, half hunched into himself. When Otto finds him the teenager is rapidly cycling through shapes. Given the way his breathing is labored, he's struggling with how much it hurts. He's pressing his hands against his face, just trying to block out the way everything is going wrong.

It takes him a second to realize Otto is there.] Otto- I- [He starts and promptly glitches through the wall, and flounders before managing to haul himself back inside before he nearly falls a few stories.] Uh, I'm okay!

[Otto's own glitches have been minimal so far. Occasionally he'll slip to another location, or his webbed hands will turn more humanoid, donning the long pastel fingernails he had when he was a faerie. It's never too severe and never too far in space-time.

Looking up at Peter now, he's seeing something far more extreme. He had no idea it was even possible for this thing to get that bad.]

Peter... What... [He takes a few steps closer, holding out a hand in case he needs to pull the boy further inside the building.] Are you alright?

I've been- way better before. [He tries to take Otto's hand and just can't connected physically with the man.]

Gimme- a second, it'll be okay in a second. [He is desperately believing that for his own sake. He watches the glitching rapidly cycle across his hands. Human hands to rat hands, a mixture of both on one hand, to the other hand settling on something.

Peter will take that as a good sign, trying to reach out to Otto again to get off the wall.]

[This is terrifying to watch; not because of the twisted visuals, but because of how helpless it makes Otto feel. His hand went straight through Peter's own. That time when Norman was forced into a Shade form pales in comparison, it seems like.

As soon as Peter tries again, Otto's desperate to make it work. All he has to do is pull the boy closer, off the wall. Then they can go on from there, surely. So his hand tries to close around Peter's own again. Just in case it'll make a difference, his other hand goes for the teen's lower arm.]

[The fact he can feel the contact is enough to earn a relieved sound from the teenager. He yields to the pull, coming off of the wall and into Otto's grasp.

Relief is short lived as he glitches into his travel form. He flounders in the air wildly trying to get a grasp on anything.]

Really not a fan of this!

[Otto experiences great relief when he manages to pull Peter towards himself, only to be hit by another wave of panic when the teen pops into his travel form. He quickly holds out both hands to try and catch the little rat before he can fall to the ground.]

I've got you! Don't worry! [C'mon, land on his palms! Land on his palms!]

[He flounders in the air and manages to direct himself onto Otto's outstretched palms. He clings to his parental finger's hands, a little puffed up in surprise and fear.]

Oh, I hate that. I hate that a lot. [Normally he has some sense of control over his shape, right now, he does not.]

[Aaand caught! As soon as Peter's touched down, Otto brings him to his chest to hold him closer. See? Completely safe. Nothing to worry about. Nothing to worry about at all!!!]

It's alright. We'll... We'll figure this out. Whatever it is. [At this point, all he knows is that Peter supposedly caused it? But he doesn't want to ask outright.]

[This is definitely a rat clinging for dear life. Otto can likely feel how hard Peter's heartbeat going crazy at this point. Peter shakes slightly, trying to calm the animal instinct level of panic radiating through him.

Was it a big drop to the floor? No, not really, but the fact he keeps phasing through objects means Peter is afraid he would've fallen through the entire building. His words all come out in a jumble, tangled together.]

I- I need to find the puzzle that, that started this. I found something that could do something against the gods and tried to figure it out by myself.

[Otto can feel the heartbeat, along with the little shivers. It just triggers even more of that feeling of helplessness for him. All he can really do is hold Peter and help him feel safe, but it doesn't feel like enough.

He slowly makes his way over to the nearest chair so he can sit down. Maybe once Peter's in his lap, it'll be better. But that remark...]

The gods? You tried to cast some sort of magic?

[Peter slowly starts to relax once Otto is seated, loosening up just slightly. His tail curls a little around Otto's wrist, just holding on.]

I- yeah. [He needs a moment to take a breath and try to calm his heartbeat.] It's an artifact I found, I was researching it and realized what it could do. I should have waited to read more about it.

[Otto keeps both hands close to Peter's body- around it. It should offer some feelings of safety. Hopefully. And his first instinct is to scold Peter for playing around with forces he hadn't properly investigated beforehand, but he swallows any of those remarks before they can make their way out into the open.]

Can the effects still be undone? Do you know?

[Trust him, Otto, he's already beating himself up about the whole situation.]

I know, if I can find the puzzle, and solve it correctly this time, things would go back to normal. I missed just one thing on it. [He feels exceedingly stupid for missing that much, but the lacquered box was layered in symbols Peter knew enough about, but misjudged.]

[Yeahhh, the fact that Peter's being punished enough and taking responsibility for it is the biggest reason why Otto isn't saying it out loud. If Peter were flippant about this whole thing, it'd be a different story, but that's not the sort of kid Peter is. Otto's thankful for that.]

Alright, then... We'll search for the puzzle. What does it look like?

Its- about this big- [He nearly starts to gesture before remembering he is a very small rat.]

...Bigger than me right now I mean. [He gives a description of the lacquered box, and its strange symbols printed on its sides.] Its also just kind of appearing and disappearing, so its easy to at least see, just hard to catch.

[That's a pretty vague size indication, but with all the other details, Otto figures it should still be easy enough to recognize. He doubts there's similar boxes of other sizes flickering around Ryslig right now.]

I see... And it can appear just about anywhere, then? At any height?

Think originally almost rubik's cube dimensions, but marginally wider. Then after I- tried solving it, the puzzle started becoming unstable.

[Peter is trying to tamp down on his own frustrations with himself to just make this work.] At this point, yeah, it's so unstable its leaking magic everywhere. So its really hard to miss.

[He can't help but think about that magic box that Strange had to contain the 'spell gone wrong'. That's ironic. His expression strains a little, but a sigh is all it takes to relieve that tension.]

We'll just have to find it before it causes any more trouble, then. But first, you need to take a break.

[The irony is something Peter can't quite grasp, not yet. Maybe never. If there is one thing people are good at, its falling into the same patterns.]

I- [He seems on the verge of arguing, insisting he can keep going before a whoosh of air escapes him. He asked for Otto's help. He needs to accept it.] Okay, just- for a bit.

I still need to find it.

We will. We'll find it together. Two pairs of eyes see more than one. And rested eyes see even more than that.

[His thumb idly runs along Peter's back, smoothing down the fur a bit.]

[The gentle motion is enough to earn a soft little exhale from the pooka. His ears drooping slightly. His eyes start to drift close slightly.] I'll see how rested I can get, its... it's been a lot.

IC Inbox | Ryslig

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WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, OCTAVIUS. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 015.03.020.15 * OCTAVIUS has joined 015.03.020.15 <OCTAVIUS>** You've reached Dr. Otto Octavius. Please leave a message.