[PSL] time travel, time travel

[curriculum_fictae]

[ 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? ]

Comments

[eyediot]

I don't know how to figure it out!

[kayakking]

Yyyyoouuu could start with communication. I realize you're a 120 year old man and need a six inch distance during courtship and a long and sultry series of correspondence to warm up, but there are modern solutions.

[eyediot]

Excuse you.

[TIM THAT'S YOUR BOSS. But also your friend who, despite his absolutely flabbergasted expression right now, is glad you're his friend.]

Don't need anything sultry.

[Not his thing really. ZING that's one for Jon, eighty-five thousand for Tim.]

[kayakking]

[It DOES get a laugh, at least. Possibly in its sheer, baffled ridiculousness.

He looks at Jon over the lip of the glass, delivering a deadpan:]

I'll keep that in mind if I ever decide to complicate this already convoluted plotline.

[eyediot]

Do not.

[Not that Tim's ever really been privy to any discussion of Jon's (happy lack of) sex life, but lord.

He finally takes another sip of his glass.]

[kayakking]

[He lets the charade go with a laugh and a slight wave of his hand.]

Yeah, yeah. I see how it is.

[eyediot]

Hmph.

[It's just the quietest, most polite huff as he goes back to his drink.

God he shouldn't even tell him this but. If it gets the attention off himself, then.]

I think you're Officer Basira's type, actually.

[kayakking]

What? Seriously?

[eyediot]

Yes. She asked about you as, and I quote, "the hot one. Has the same scars but sort of makes it work".

[kayakking]

Hhuuuuh. I mean. I AM a catch. Can't say I blame her.


[At the mention his fingers rub at one of the pocks at his jawline thoughtlessly.

She IS one of his types: Short, serious and composed ENTIRELY of being a bad decision.]

I've sworn off police though.

[eyediot]

Probably smart after your last "run in" with them. All three of them.

[kayakking]

Okay.

That-

That wwwaaaas on me, but I hold that one was a matter of failed delivery, not that it was a bad idea in its pure and untried state.

[eyediot]

You're right, it wasn't a bad idea.

[Beat.]

It was a terrible idea.

[kayakking]

[Tim drops his head into his hands. The indignation is muffled.]

You don't get to say that.

[eyediot]

I think I just did.

[kayakking]

Denied. Completely denied.

How did we get onto that utterly restricted topic again?

[eyediot]

A high school romance novel that is our off-work hours life right now, apparently.

[kayakking]

[There is a long stare that only someone who worked that entry level of submission reading before getting promoted out. Someone who worked in the peak of the Young Adult boom.]

...

God. It really is. Complete with ghost romance and apocalypse warnings.

It needs at least two more passes through an editor.

[eyediot]

Or a whole rewrite.

And it's not a ghost romance!

[kayakking]

Right. Sorry. Semi-tragic time traveling stranger with permanence issues in a will they wont they love triangle with a spooky librarian and his coworker.


...

Shit. It would actually sell.

[eyediot]

That really is the trouble of the situation, isn't it.

[kayakking]

[He finishes the last of his glass, and sets it down with a click, exhaling loudly.]

That's it. That officially makes it too much.

[eyediot]

What do we do about it, then?

[kayakking]

[He snorts at that.]

I am absolutely the wrong character type to affect the plot significantly.

[eyediot]

I don't know. You're the strong loyal friend type with a mysterious backstory that characters come to when they need solid advice.

I think that's enough to affect the plot.