[PSL] time travel, time travel
Jun. 16th, 2020 06:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
[ 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? ]
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? ]
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Date: 2020-08-06 03:08 am (UTC)For Jon, it's a quick, perfunctory knock on the door and the feeling of presence outside, like a storm cell on the horizon, an awareness that crowds even though the medication.
For Algric, however, he seems to walk right past the Lonely-afflicted man, with no more of a hesitation or a spare glance than anyone else.
At first. It's a moment later that his footsteps slow, and then stop.]
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Date: 2020-08-06 03:14 am (UTC)But the Eye's gaze is enough to make him stiffen, even if it's only in passing like this. He slows by inches, shoulders going taut as his hands grip the small casserole dish in his hands. Rather against his will, he turns.
Oh. Oh god. Elias himself, of course it's him, how stupid had Algric been? He should have waited, or disappeared, or -
It's too late now. On Elias's side of things, the blurry figure in the hall slowly begins to come back into sharper relief. It's still terribly challenging to focus on him, and the markers that identify him as Martin regardless are, perhaps, markers that Elias doesn't concern himself with.
But there is no disguising the Eye's mark that has the secondmost solid grip on him, that gives him a painful burning brand somewhere behind all the fog. Nor the Spiral's tendrils wrapped around him so completely, as much a part of the pattern obscuring him as the fog itself. ]
C - can I - can I help you?
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Date: 2020-08-06 12:38 pm (UTC)(It pulls at something cold and gentling around him. Something soft and distancing that kept the immediacy of the fear at a slow curled, pushed the terror away, that told him that self loathing was just the practical, realistic choice... and it began to burn off it like fog in the sun. He can feel the weight of the full, real gaze pressing shifting towards him.)]
Ah. Yes, yes I think you can.
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Date: 2020-08-06 12:55 pm (UTC)He pulls what he can of that miserably cold blanket around him, fighting against the heat burning it off in slow layers. Don't See him, don't See him, please don't ... ]
O-oh. Well. That's ... lovely. I'm in a bit of a rush, but--
[ He attempts a step backwards, away from Elias. ]
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Date: 2020-08-06 01:03 pm (UTC)[It's so mild. It doesn't have the intensity of Jon's compelling. But it bypasses Algric's head and settles in his legs, locking his knees.
The child smiles, face still stony and serious, but his hand lifts in a shy little wave.
The Eye's gaze creeps closer, sliding along familiar anxieties, lovingly sweeping along the dread of the unqualified, the unloved, the unnoticed... Looking for him.]
I'm looking for 32-oh-.... one, is it? Sims.
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Date: 2020-08-06 01:15 pm (UTC)Yes. I. Well, it's - just round the bend, I think.
[ Another layer burns away, exposing a left hand. Oddly scarred, a finger missing. The mark of the Flesh is a bright scarlet against the rest of him. ]
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Date: 2020-08-06 01:23 pm (UTC)Hm? Ah. Right you are.
[And abruptly he's free. Those around him simply move on as if they'd never been trapped into this horrible tableau.
Those crisp, clean footsteps echo as the monster ... seems to have taken what he needed? Some unknown measure or quantity, and was satisfied?
Elias leaves him, instead, walking calmly towards Jon.]
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Date: 2020-08-06 01:31 pm (UTC)Oh god, Elias is going to see Jon right now. And Algric doesn't know what Elias saw? If he knew it would be fine, but he doesn't know!
Unhappily, he creeps along behind Elias, following the man despite all his instincts screaming not to. ]
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Date: 2020-08-06 02:13 pm (UTC)How fast and well CAN you hide, Algric?]
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Date: 2020-08-06 04:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-06 04:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-06 07:30 pm (UTC)And - winces at being called Algric, good lord. What was he thinking?
But it's saved him. Jon is telling the truth now, isn't he? Algric is ... Algric. Not Martin. An Archivist has renamed him. ]
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Date: 2020-08-06 10:58 pm (UTC)But there are ways to find out more. In fact, the Institute is dedicated to the best way of them all.
Before Martin was consigned to die in the Lonely, he never really felt the Eye before. Not like this, the crawling sensitivity, the pervasive feeling of not only someone near but LOOKING. --
And he feels it now. Maybe he wouldn't have needed to, seeing the expression on Jon's face, and the odd momentary tableau where Jon seems to be pinned by nothing more than the gentlest of fingertip. But the words rake against Martin. He knows, can feel the same warping, defining cut in the air that is now an anathema to him (that burned that horrid hatred into his own self image) delicately dip through Jon.]
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Date: 2020-08-06 03:21 am (UTC)Yes?
[So tired and drained but straining to be consciously aware.]
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Date: 2020-08-06 12:41 pm (UTC)Goodness me. That's far worse than they'd reported.
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Date: 2020-08-06 01:34 pm (UTC)Oh!
Elias. Hm. That's. Hm. Patently not good? To anyone seeing him, it's just his boss coming to pay visits to an injured employee that got hurt on the job. Nothing wrong with that. But something in Elias' voice has his blood steeling and he can't bring himself to even try to move.]
I- yes, they. Probably didn't want to worry you too much.
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Date: 2020-08-06 02:16 pm (UTC)[The visiting chair creaks as Elias settles into it, one knee crossing over the other, and hands folded on top of them. From the way Jon is settled in bed, he can't see the man's face, but he can feel the stare.]
And.. feel some responsibility. Naturally, I've cleared your leave- pending you finishing off the requisite paperwork when you return. But... do you have everything you need? Someone at home to help?
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Date: 2020-08-06 02:20 pm (UTC)...Yes, I. I do. And I'll be sure to finish the papers when I return.
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Date: 2020-08-06 02:30 pm (UTC)And that is good to hear. Who is it?
[That last question sounds so amiable. Like small talk. But the static fizzles and crackles in his ears, and the question seems to slither through the medicinal haze.]
If you don't mind my asking.
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Date: 2020-08-06 02:34 pm (UTC)Hm? Oh, Algric. A friend. Had nowhere to go, so I've been letting him stay with me for a short time. Honestly, I've been considering just letting him be a roommate on the lease.
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Date: 2020-08-06 02:49 pm (UTC)Then, Jon will see those hands shift, finger steepling.]
Well. I suppose I'm a little old fashioned, but... I do care about you, in my own fashion.
Do be careful of strangers, Jon.
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Date: 2020-08-06 02:53 pm (UTC)He's an old friend, Elias. I've got nothing to worry about from him.
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Date: 2020-08-06 03:07 pm (UTC)Mm. Well, you would know best.
...
I should let you get some rest, I think. I look forward to seeing your speedy recovery. I know you do have a bit of a problem not burning it at both ends, but do try to take care of yourself, Jon.
[The hands settle on the armrest before the center of that awful gaze that seems to press him into the bed rises further.]
Oh. While you have more than enough time accrued, I would like to see you in when you have the energy. To, well, take the statement.
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Date: 2020-08-06 03:10 pm (UTC)[The weight so carefully and masterfully pinpointed to his chest causes him to have to catch his breath for a moment. Must be the exhaustion and all, surely. Not some kind of strange sleep paralysis where he simply can't move.]
R-right. Of course.
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Date: 2020-08-06 03:24 pm (UTC)Except it came with that horrible, paralytic pressure, something that seized every nerve he had and kept him right there. Helpless and supine, supplicant for the next, precisely enunciated words to burn into his mind.]
Don't forget.
[And then it was over, wrapped back up into the comfortable explanations of how opiates affect the senses, how much the pain drives the mind to odd ends. They settle and wrap like a blanket around those simple, clear words rattling in his mind.]
See you soon. Do take care of yourself, Jon.
[And the pressure slides away as Elias turns, taking that first step to the door.]
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