[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

[kayakking]

Right? It'd be so much better if we were just working the nice, weird but not fatal job we thought we were in.

...

But it's- We can do this.

[eyediot]

[He takes a deep, steadying breath. Idly thumbing at Tim's hand, not even realizing he's doing it. It's just something keeping his hand busy.]

I agree. We will do this. And we'll all make it out. I won't let you die, Tim.

[kayakking]

[Tim feels his face and ears warm before he even processes the one-two hit of that. The man's a menace. An absolute menace. The only good thing is how absolutely oblivious he is.

Fine, he's just going to enjoy it. And rallies a bit.]

Keep that in mind yourself. Apparently, we were a two for one special.

Lets just... be smarter about this time, if we can.

[eyediot]

[Yeah, sorry, Tim. He has literally no idea what he's unconsciously doing. It doesn't help when he looks up at Tim and his eyes are clear, and. Pretty intense, given the subject matter.]

...Yes. Let's. Don't, uh. Don't much like the idea of me dying either.

[kayakking]

[That is... a look.

Fuck.

... Tim would like to go back to like, ten minutes ago when he was blissfully unaware of literally anything that could make this trainwreck of a person attractive.

But at least the topic gives him an excuse to pull his hand back (though he can still feel the idle path of that thumb) and run his own hand through his hair.]

There's at least months to plan. But at the rate he actually talks about it, might need all of that time to get the details as to why we die.

[And if there IS a better way.]

[eyediot]

[Ah. Physical comfort action completed, that's... Over. He does sort of feel at a loss of what to do with his hands now, though. So he settles for just. thumbing along the seam of the armrest.]

Yes, he's... It was easy to get him to talk about things when he didn't realize where he was when he first showed up. But I think... Now he's more afraid of maybe messing things up worse. So we just... Need to carefully plan and ...I-i dunno. Reassure him we definitely won't do anything stupid.

[Jon.]

[kayakking]

I'm sitting here with you on the very same page as you and hearing that just shot an INSTANT sense of alarm that you're going to do something stupid.

[DEAD ASS SAID OUTRIGHT.]

No. Nope. What we have to do is convince him that without the information we are definitely going to be even MORE stupid than previously thought.

[eyediot]

[Jon just. Stares at him.]

As always, you are the pinnacle of understanding.

[Yeah, Tim has the right of it. But Jon kinda motions for the papers he gave him earlier.]

Something that might help, some, in the future. He has a mobile now, I'll-- Write the number.

[Jon your phone is literally still on your lap just text to him like a fucking mid-30-year old millennial you old man.]

[kayakking]

[He gets the paper out or risk not ever receiving it from his proto-boomer boss. God.]

That... Yeah. About time actually.

I can't believe you still have a land line. I mean, I'm thankful you did. But still absolutely amazed.

[eyediot]

[He stops mid-writing to raise his free hand in exasperation.]

Why does everyone keep saying that? The flat came with one, so I use it!

[But back to writing the number.]

[kayakking]

Because it's nearly as much of an antique as you are.

[It's a light and easy retort.]

[eyediot]

[That just gets a derisive sort of snort through his nose before he hands the paper back over.]

We're nearly the same age, you realize that.

[kayakking]

Younger. Which means you have way less of an excuse.

[eyediot]

Pretty sure this is where someone is supposed to say something about 'young at heart' to justify your behavior.

[kayakking]

If I have no shame, I don't need to justify anything at all.

[eyediot]

God, and there is nothing truer than the fact you really have no shame. [Like it's just. The fucking worst.

And yet if Jon didn't like him so damned much, he would've fired Tim ages ago for his inappropriateness. How dare he have that much charisma.]

Thank you, Tim. [There's a deep exhaustion behind those words. Someone who hasn't been emotionally open in years finally getting a lot of it out in such a short time and the energy that it drained out of him.]

[kayakking]

[And now Jon can't fire him. No matter how much both of them desperately want Jon to.

Tim folds up the accounting- Tim refuses to think of it as a statement, just out of obstinacy alone.]

Hey. We're friends, yeah?

[It seems his way of saying, you're welcome. He pushes himself up, and takes a second to drop a hand on Jon's, with a brief squeeze, before moving past Jon's immediate line of sight.]

I'm going to go check on Martin. But uh, hang out a second. I'll get presentable and see you back to your place.

[eyediot]

Hm? Oh-- Sure.

[Not what he expected. He was already mentally planning the best route to take from here at this hour.

He makes a mental note to figure out something he can do to pay Tim back for all this. Nothing in any official capacity - while everyone may think he's underqualified, he's not going to go the extra mile to show favoritism either - but maybe something just. Between them.

While Tim does all that, he'll get his food and get his things back together in as easy-to-carry as he can. When Tim comes back, he'll already be in the front foyer.]

[kayakking]

[And then there's Jon, shredded like a cat toy, with an evil geass in his head, still thinking about propriety like they were GOING BACK TO WORK.

Tim isn't long. There's not much that can be done about the generally worn look, but there's a lot that a quick shave and a change into a button up shirt and slacks can do.

He passably looks like a much more put together person than the one who'd been across the table from Jon these hours. He pulls his jacket down and opens the foyer door for Jon.]

Right. Lets get a move on.