[Video Post] un:redbird

[timmers]

[Tim has finally decided to rekindle an old hobby and get himself a camera. The video opens to a medium-sized mirror, from which you can see Tim holding up an SLR, dressed casually with a warm jacket, like he might be about to go out.]

It's been a while since I held one of these. Hope I haven't gotten rusty. [Tim smiles a bit wryly, thinking about the last time he'd held a camera.]

More importantly, I'm thinking of shooting a calendar to raise some additional funds for a couple of community activities.  I'm open to theme suggestions, if anyone has any.

If you're feeling braver than that, I'm heading out now to get a feel of things if anyone wants to be a test subject.
Just make sure you're not afraid of heights. [A grin for that, but you've been warned.]

Comments

[ikols]

No, nothing more than selfies. Billy's not ... [ Hmm, how to put this? ] He gets embarrassed easily, then defensive, and is more likely to abort than concede.

I think we should surprise him, then he can't flee the scene or make excuses.

[timmers]

Camera-shy? [He can totally relate.] I prefer being on the other side, myself. But maybe it's just a matter of getting the right motivation.

I don't know, I don't want to get wished out of existence or anything... [He's joking, mostly.]

[ikols]

He would never do that. Besides, I'd be duty-bound to bring you back! ... And he's far more likely to wish something nasty upon my head, anyway.

Trade, Tim; our photoshoot for a tour of the Sanctum where a bunch of hipster wizards live, the best from our universe!

[timmers]

Comforting. [Tim's voice is very dry.]

You mean the tour you really wanted to take me on, right? [Just saying. But if you really want to make it a 'trade'..] Sure, can't wait! The brochure wasn't much, but I keep hearing all about it.

['Hipster wizards' sounds like a reality TV show, but what can possibly go wrong?]

[ikols]

Well, [ don't call him out on caring, how rude, ] once I grant you access to bypass our wards you'll be an official friend of the house. I don't need an excuse to do that, but ...

[ But, yeah, he totally made one up. ]

[timmers]

[It's what friends do, dude. Just keeping you honest.] Cool. What does an 'official friend' entail, exactly? Do I get the secret password? 'Open Sesame'?

Wait: are non-metas not allowed? Is being your hired help my cover story if anyone asks?

[ikols]

It's all very austere and arcane, I'll write your genetic make-up and soul's imprint into the wards so you can cross the threshold of the house whenever you want.

[ No, he'll just use a hair off Tim's head. Why u lyin, Loki. ]

It'll be a painless but intricate process, it always of for muggles, but we'll get there in the end.

[Video] >>> [Action]

[timmers]

[Just don't surprise him, Loki! He might punch reflexively.]

So, that's a yes? I'll bring my fake IDs. See you there. [Tim taps off the phone and looks up the address- it's not too far, just in the residential area, it looks like. He takes a few more shots of the flooded river-- just as he hears a rattling growl. Looks like he might be a little late.]

[A couple of hours and a change of clothes later sees Tim at the Sanctum's front porch. It's--- pretty unassuming for a magical place, but exactly like how he'd imagine a kindly grandmother's house would look like. He walks up the steps and knocks on the door. If this isn't the right house then maybe he'll at least get some cookies.]

Anyone home?

[ikols]

[ The door swings open smoothly of its own accord, inviting Tim into the atrium of the Sanctum with its huge central staircase and corridors branching off in several directions. It's all much, much larger than it looks from the outside.

After ten seconds or so of silence, Loki jogs up through one of the hallways, hoodie and jeans on instead of anything that would suit the mystical setting. ]

Tim! I thought you'd be here sooner, sorry. I didn't hear you come in.

[timmers]

My fault, I ran into some trouble at the river, just like you said. [Tim smiles a bit sheepishly.] So I had to drop by the house to get a change of clothes.

[He appreciates that even gods understand the importance of comfortable homewear. That frathouse theory was getting more and more credible, though. He looks interestedly at the maze of corridors. Very Department of Mysteries. ] So. Interdimensional space pocket?

[ikols]

Sorta, yeah. Not the hardest trick in the book. You want to browse all the boring stuff first, snap some pics?

[ "Boring" meaning "Loki you shouldn't be in this room". ]

[timmers]

If it works, it works. [He fiddles with his camera a bit to turn it on.]

Sure, show me what you guys did with the place!

[ikols]

[ So eager! Loki hums in amusement as he leads Tim upstairs and through a winding set of corridors. ]

It was blasted apart before it was brought here, we had to renovate. It's a little more modern than it used to be, sorry about that ...

[timmers]

[It's not everyday Tim gets to explore a magical house that's not trying to trap or kill him for once! He peers attentively at whatever Loki points to.]

So it's an actual place from somewhere that got dropped off here?

[More importantly-]Will I get cursed or anything if I touch stuff?

[ikols]

[ He opens a few doors that have locations rooted in the jungle, shortcuts for wherever Loki wants to revisit. One opens on a ruined temple in a pretty glade surrounded by rocks, and he hushes his voice to a whisper. ]

Probably not, but I suggest you don't wander out of the mansion, there won't always be a door behind you to reopen if you do.

[timmers]

Wait--- are these connected to actual places? Or just really pretty boxes? [Surely it wasn't real- if it were, then wouldn't people theoretically be able to get out of Quarantine through here/ Not that being trapped in another world would be any better. The abandoned glade intrigues him enough that he does peer around for a while to take shots. He steps in cautiously, half-expecting something to jump out or the ground to collapse. He ducked down, balanced on his haunches to stroke the grass.]

Feels pretty real.

[ikols]

[ When Tim's voice causes a nearby golem to stir, Loki snags the back of his shirt to haul him back through the doorway into the safety of the Sanctum, slamming the door shut. ]

I said don't wander out of the mansion, genius. Yes, that was a real place on the moon.

[timmers]

Moon? Like the one we have up here or somewhere else's? [Tim is more surprised than chastised, but well, one didn't do hero work because they had great survival instincts.]

That's... pretty far out. [ba dum ching.]

[ikols]

Like the one you're currently living on, yes. Some of these doors lead to other places here, elsewhere in the jungle.

[ He tugs on a lock of hair behind Tim's ear, light and playful. ]

Come on, let's go see the room of antiques.

[timmers]

That's convenient. Then again, you get around fine without the doors. [Tim points out reasonably, remembering how they got to Trixie that one time.]

[He startles at the touch, clapping a hand over it reflexively. He's not used to people touching him anymore, but he recovers quickly, grinning again.] Sure. Any genies in a bottle? Ancient and powerful demons sealed in bronze vessels?

[ikols]

[ Someone sure is twitchy about being touched ... That's a question for another time, though, as Loki leads Tim deeper into the Sanctum. ]

One of the boxes plays a lullaby of whatever is in your head, but I suspect it had a different use a long time ago. There's also an apple of Idunn, which is mine. No nibbling unless you want to be immortal, please.

[timmers]

[He really definitely would rather not talk about it, but it's nothing specific to Loki, at least.]

A different use for lullabies? [Tim perks up a bit. Actual mythological artifacts would certainly be interesting.] So how much immortality do you get from a lick?

[ikols]

[ The antechamber of artefacts used to be brimming back on Earth-616 but has since seen a drastic decline in possessions. What remains is a collection of all the oddities he and Stephen have come across in the Quarantine or, rather, the Abandoned City. ]

Well, not much ... A small slice of the peel was used to stop mental deterioration and bring a man out of a coma a few months ago.