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[viktorymaker]

Note: Viktor has been dropped from Recollé.
Thank you for playing with me! ❤

Viktor Nikiforov

hi~! you've reached me ♡. if you have something to say, just leave a message. i'll call you back!

VOICE | TEXT | VIDEO | ACTION

Comments

7/13

[daemonized]

[All for the sake of bingo, Viktor is going to be a getting a call from an unknown number. The area code seems to denote that it's from someone/somewhere in the city, at least.

Ring ring! Pick up, stranger.]

[viktorymaker]

[ All for the sake of the bingo!

Viktor is used to getting calls from unknown numbers, but not on this phone, so... Hmmm. He lets it ring three times while he walks up to the desk where he'd left his phone, then picks up. ]

Hello~, Viktor speaking.

[daemonized]

[The sound of the voice on the other side is flippant and airy, lacking any sort of awkwardness that might usually entail from dialing a complete stranger.]

Hello, Viktor. My name is Ardyn Izunia. I hope I'm not interrupting anything?

[viktorymaker]

[ Well, that will make everything easier! He doesn't dislike that sort of attitude at all, in fact that makes this more interesting. Now he's curious. ]

Not at all, Ardyn. How can I help you?

[daemonized]

[Well, this will be an amicable conversation, then! At least, it certainly gives the impression of being one.]

Well, I'm sure you've heard of the bingo craze that's been going around, haven't you?

[viktorymaker]

[ It certainly does! ]

Oh, I have. I'm playing too-- ah! Did you call for a conversation with a stranger?

[daemonized]

I did, indeed! You're quick to catch on.

[On the other side of the line, there's the sound of an amused chuckle.]

A conversation with a stranger, yes. So, you and I count as strangers, don't we? Let's find something of interest to talk about.

[viktorymaker]

Something of interest...

Say, what if I share a memory with you? It's not the most traditional way to break the ice with a stranger, but my bingo card will appreciate it! If you tell me what kind of things you're interested in, I'll try to make it interesting for you.

[daemonized]

A splendid idea. And if it'll help you with your card, all the better for it.

[He pauses for a moment, as he thinks.]

As for what I'm interested in... well, I'm a professor of law. I also own three cats, have a small collection of scarves [IT'S NOT SMALL, ARDYN] and people say I have the most striking fashion sense they've ever seen.

[viktorymaker]

[ He laughs quietly when he hears the last part. ]

Oh, that's good! I've always had an interest in fashion. And I worked as a backup dancer for K-pop acts years ago, so I definitely appreciate a good fashion sense. I could tell you a few anecdotes from that time that might double as horror stories...

[ Now he's the one who pauses, considering. ]

Hmm. But I'm not sure how to interpret this bingo slot, so I should tell you a Retrospec memory to make sure it counts. [ Ardyn can hear a hint of a wry smile here. ] Those aren't nearly as exciting as my regular memories, but I hear that's unusual in itself.

[daemonized]

A K-pop act? I don't know, I'd call that fairly exciting.

[But... of course he's interested in hearing about Retrospec memories.]

But if you like, I'll not say no. Tell me about a memory that Retrospec has granted you.

[viktorymaker]

It was a fairly exciting time, I have to admit. [ So exciting he became a spy as a result and eventually had to quit dancing... But he's not going to say that to a complete stranger just like that! So he laughs instead. ]

OK. I'll start with a bit of backstory. I'm a choreographer now, currently on hiatus. I came to Recollé more or less one year and a half ago to take over and hire teachers for the new Dance!!! Studio... I forget what it was called before. My boss, a friend from years ago, bought it. Have you heard of the place?

[daemonized]

[Well, knowing that he was a spy would definitely add even more to this growing first impression. But for now, Ardyn will remain understandably oblivious.]

I haven't, but now you've managed to erase a bit of my ignorance by enlightening me. Do continue.

[He will continue to listen!]

[viktorymaker]

[ Good, IC!oblivious is good.

Viktor laughs at that comment. ] So now you have!

I'll be honest, I'm not sure I can make any of my Retrospec memories interesting. They didn't get too creative with my story, if they really did make it up.

I remember going on hiatus just as I did here, moving to a different country and choreographing as well... Except instead of being a dancer, I used to be a figure skater. I also have shared memories with a teacher at the studio and with one of the students in my advanced classes, since they were the skaters I choreographed for.

[ He pauses and smiles fondly here... If Ardyn's paying attention, it should be audible. ]

In the end, the most exciting Retrospec memory I have is of this teacher buying the wedding rings we now wear. If you'd told me I'd find something like that exciting half a year ago, I would have laughed.

[daemonized]

[Ardyn listens, not interrupting. It's impossible to convince him that any Retrospec-related memory would not be interesting to him, simply because of the mystery that each one is surrounded by; a narrative, incomplete, for the lot of them. How is there no mystique in that?

He does hear that smile in his tone, as well. The words are laced with a sense of faraway fondness.]

How very romantic. [There's nothing condescending about that; ah, his (not-so) secretly romantic, bleeding heart.] What do you make of the parallels of these memories, versus those of reality? Mine unfortunately do not line up so nicely with my current occupation.

[viktorymaker]

[ Wow, hearing this called romantic feels strange. A good kind of strange! But strange nonetheless... Ardyn is the first person he tells about that, after all. ]

I'm not sure what to make of them. I remember a point of my life where I could have pursued figure skating instead of ballet, so it feels like a realistic alternate version of reality. Something that could have happened.

[ A happier version of his life-- that's is what he doesn't say. Anyway! ]

What was your occupation in that other life?

[daemonized]

Who's to say that it cannot happen now? If even not as a career, perhaps you should consider it as a hobby that needs picking up? If you're interested in triggering new memories, it may be an avenue worth exploring.

[At the question, though, he chuckles lightly.]

Ah... not a usual kind of occupation, I must admit. From what I have gathered so far, I was some sort of traveling healer.