curriculum_fictae: (Default)
Martin K(nife) Blackwood ([personal profile] curriculum_fictae) wrote2020-06-16 06:15 pm

[PSL] time travel, time travel

[ Martin had always known that Lukas would kill him in the end. If not along the way, then surely at the end, once he'd gotten what he wanted out of Martin, whatever that turned out to be. When the Lonely rose up to swallow him, he'd accepted his impending death with ... what?

What did he have left, really? Numbness, mostly. A hallucination of Jon in the Lonely, looking for him, but - but that was impossible, ridiculous. His mind playing cruel tricks. He settled himself down in the frigid surf, knees drawn up close to his chest, unshed tears frozen to his cheeks and lashes.

And then. A door. A door that shouldn't exist, that couldn't exist. That he shouldn't take at all. The Lonely was terrible, yes, but it was quiet, and it was peaceful. Martin was aligned enough with it by now to very nearly enjoy it, in a strange and terrible way. The Spiral would be infinitely worse than this quiet beach.

But ... it was hope, too. In a strange way. Hope enough that Martin found himself turning the door handle and stepping through, leaving the false comfort of the Lonely behind him.

The transition was unpleasant. Long. But Martin couldn't remember it after; he only remembered stumbling out through the door of a supply closet somewhere deep in the Archives, blinking up at the dim bulbs that pretended to be sufficient. What time was it? Had he escaped? Where were Lukas and Elias now?

And where was Jon? ]
eyediot: (like a stained glass window)

[personal profile] eyediot 2020-08-05 02:17 am (UTC)(link)
No--

[Okay he wasn't before but now he is.]

It doesn't matter anyway. [It's not what he came here about!!] What matters is treating this bourbon with the proper respect you didn't show the whiskey the other night.
eyediot: (*deep inhale*)

[personal profile] eyediot 2020-08-05 02:17 am (UTC)(link)
I probably wouldn't have taken the promotion either.

[He grits his teeth at the disinfectant. How can something good and helpful burn so badly?]

...Full disclosure, I think... I think there's something down there, as well. In the tunnels. I didn't... stay long enough to find out for sure.
kayakking: (054)

[personal profile] kayakking 2020-08-05 02:33 am (UTC)(link)
Now that, is an ill that I am prepared to remedy.

... Don't tell me you poured the rest down the drain.
eyediot: (and I never even saw her face)

[personal profile] eyediot 2020-08-05 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
Hm? Oh, no. I had a glass and Algric ...

[Oh god he'd had the other three, hadn't he? Lord.]

Slept quite soundly, apparently.
kayakking: (023)

[personal profile] kayakking 2020-08-05 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
Right. So, we're trapped.
eyediot: (so I bookmark my DSM)

[personal profile] eyediot 2020-08-05 02:37 am (UTC)(link)
I suppose so.

For now.

[If he could just fucking WALK they could have evacuated with everyone else.]
kayakking: (047)

[personal profile] kayakking 2020-08-05 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
You know what I hate? Right now. Specifically at this moment.

That I'm sitting here actually debating the ethics of dialing 999 with a monster about.
kayakking: (048)

[personal profile] kayakking 2020-08-05 02:40 am (UTC)(link)
[He swallows the urge to ask if that was how Jon found out. But GOD he wants to know.]

Yeahhh, that uh, that'd do it. Not going to lie, he looked like he needed it even before we got into the heavy stuff.
eyediot: (gotta get to the bottom of this)

[personal profile] eyediot 2020-08-05 02:47 am (UTC)(link)
[Sigh.] It's not my favorite moment, I agree there.

I haven't heard it for a bit now.... Maybe it's gone.

[He definitely thinks it's gone. Like, permanently. He just can't really put his finger on whY GOD IT'S HAPPENED AGAIN DAMN IT, EYE, STOP SLOWLY TURNING HIM INTO A MONSTER.]
eyediot: (cause I need to remember my place)

[personal profile] eyediot 2020-08-05 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
I think we all did, really. Probably should've prepared for everyone to sleep there. Or just done it here.

[Your house looks big enough, Tim.]
kayakking: (022)

[personal profile] kayakking 2020-08-05 02:53 am (UTC)(link)
[Yeah, it uh. Sure is.]

God, honestly? I still do need it. Shit. Most of it doesn't even still seem real.
kayakking: (029)

[personal profile] kayakking 2020-08-05 02:55 am (UTC)(link)
[Tim, having no such occult Game Shark going on, looks far more dubious.]

... I can carry you, if you want to risk it. But I'm going to call not calling for an ambulance until off property.
eyediot: (*deep inhale*)

[personal profile] eyediot 2020-08-05 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
[As much as he despises the idea of being carried, the reality that it'll take them longer to get out if he tries to walk is worse.]

Agreed.
eyediot: (but my memory could not be saved)

[personal profile] eyediot 2020-08-05 03:00 am (UTC)(link)
I know. It's... Who could have known?

[Elias.

And Jon, if he'd not tried to run and ignore what happened to him as a child.]
kayakking: (013)

[personal profile] kayakking 2020-08-05 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
[Tim. But we're not going there.

Yeah. He's just pouring Jon another here.
]

I mean, I guess it's a little on the nose to expect an occult research institute to be an evil horror monster itself. If only genre fiction had gotten us a bit more ready.

[Because humor is way easier than actually looking at the daunting problem of what next.]
kayakking: (012)

[personal profile] kayakking 2020-08-05 03:14 am (UTC)(link)
Okay. So, we're doing this.

[Hang on, he needs a moment. Just a second to pull himself together. It's that same feeling getting ready to push open the trap door.]
eyediot: (my name was called by a last call spill)

[personal profile] eyediot 2020-08-05 03:31 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, if only.

[And if only Jon actually cared about horror fiction, he might have been a little more knowledgeable.

He finally moves his empty glass closer to the bottle. Ready for another glass now.]


I suppose there were warning signs. Not that I'd have recognized them.

[personal profile] eyediot 2020-08-05 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
I suppose so.

[While Tim does that, Jon... comes to terms with the fact he's had to give up his shirt and shoes for this little adventure. Ugh, he feels... almost naked like this. And going outside like this is worse.

He shifts forward, feeling stiff and pained but at least able to move. It'll be a hard fall when all the adrenaline finally does wear itself out.]


Whenever you're ready.
kayakking: (054)

[personal profile] kayakking 2020-08-05 03:34 am (UTC)(link)
[Yeah. It's a healthy splash for him.]

Uh huh. The first of which was the promotion in the first place.
eyediot: (from a fall from grace)

[personal profile] eyediot 2020-08-05 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
What-- [Rude!!] I, I work hard! I'm not bad at it!
kayakking: (054)

[personal profile] kayakking 2020-08-05 03:40 am (UTC)(link)
[TAKING A SIP.]
eyediot: (and the blackout killed me)

[personal profile] eyediot 2020-08-05 03:41 am (UTC)(link)
Plus I'm the only one that figured out Gertrude's filing system! [That's just called 'job security'.] And no one else seems to have any problem with it.
kayakking: (007)

[personal profile] kayakking 2020-08-05 01:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[Oh no, he's not throwing Martin under that bus just to prove a point. It can be just him that has a problem.]

You do realize that being good at research - which you are. And management - which you are not. Are totally different skills?
kayakking: (017)

[personal profile] kayakking 2020-08-05 01:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's not graceful and certainly no where even in the same country as painless for either of them. The recording picks up rough breathing, the creak of the slashed and burned stairs.]

All right. All right.

[It's muttered and distant. A moment later, the creak of the door is followed by the wail of the fire alarm rising suddenly in pitch as the alarm in the upstairs hallway filters through.]

What the hell is that?!

[CLICK]
eyediot: (take you with me)

[personal profile] eyediot 2020-08-05 11:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[Jon sputters, in only that way an Englishman can before resuming his drink.

He hates admitting Tim is right, but... He is right about this. Those are two different skills that he thought he had. Being in the position and all.]


I didn't-- I didn't come to talk about my supposed incompetence.