curriculum_fictae | [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? ]

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From:

eyediot

[For his part, maybe being a bit sloshed right now is the best thing for this conversation. Jon shrugs, sipping his drink again. But it likely answers a lot about why Jon is... Jon, doesn't it?]

I... appreciate it. There's no changing it now. All I can think is I can't sit back and not do something. I just. I really hate spiders, you know?

From:

kayakking

[A whole LOT.

... That little tidbit slots in a little further.]

... Okay, I'm seeing a BIT about how you might occasionally want to launch Martin into orbit. The whole dancing jumping spider video was... ah...

From:

eyediot

[The memory of that scare sends a shiver up his spine and through his shoulders visibly. His whole everything sitting here with Tim stiffens and is almost enough to bring him back to sobriety.]

P-please let's. Off topic. This isn't about me.

From:

kayakking

Right. Right!

[He holds up one hand in apology, cringing. It's another long moment to settle, another pull of his own beer.]

It's uh... well, you've probably guessed. Clowns. The circus in general. For me.

From:

eyediot

Clowns.

[He says it like he's reaffirming it to himself. Coming back down from that little tinge of phobia as it starts washing away like the outgoing tide. He hasn't quite gotten the full picture of the Unknowing, or The Stranger. But he does know they have a lot of, ah, clown and circus related statements. And things in artifact storage.]

There's definite no shortage of that in our work... [Siiiip.] Do... I mean, would you. Like me to give those follow ups to Martin?

[HE'S TRYING TO BE NICE.]

From:

kayakking

[Tim sits up straight, abruptly, knuckles white.]

No.

[And then, carefully more mild, intensity shoved back under.]

No... I... Just need to know more. Okay. Just, until I have enough.

From:

eyediot

[Jon watches him, that intense look back in his eyes. Almost like he's sizing Tim up? Like he's trying to understand... And yeah. Yeah, he gets it. He smiles a little easier, sipping his beer. But his voice is still that... understanding tone, like when he's taking a statement directly from someone clearly traumatized.]

All right. I understand. I'll keep you in the loop of those, then.

From:

kayakking

[It's soothing. Hints at a chance to just... let it out for once, to just let someone GET it and understand. Jon can see Tim's shoulders relax a bit. That point of pliancy that statement givers always seem to settle into when they're just about ready.]

I... Thanks. Honestly.

From:

eyediot

Of course, Tim.

[And that's it. Jon isn't going to ask anything more. Tim is his assistant, and moreover a friend that he's repairing a relationship with. There's no reason to intrude more than he has to, especially not on something that's this deeply personal for him.

Except god he really needs to know.

But nope. Fight that urge to ask.]

We really should let Martin know about the Algric name. [Wonder what his reaction would be.]

From:

kayakking

[Tim perks up a bit at that, the tipsy little grin wide.]

... Can I?

From:

eyediot

Don't see why not.

[It's one thing if Tim mentions to him that they're going to be using Martin's old rpg character name to differentiate the two. It's... likely something not so great of Jon's the one to do it.]

From:

kayakking

[Tim's phone is out again so fast it's practically its own magic trick. He makes no effort to hide what he's typing from Jon. Though he sends it too fast for Jon to point out the swype for SUPER became SORRY.]

SORRY IMPORTANT NEWS

From:

eyediot

What-- You're doing this right now?

[Oh god if Tim tells Martin that he's here with Tim, it's going to look like they're just. Gos...siping oh god that is why he came isn't it?

Christ, this is a NIGHTMARE. HIS WORST FUCKING NIGHTMARE.]

From:

kayakking

Yeah? I mean, of course.

From:

eyediot

[Jon looks Tim dead in the drunken eyes.]

I. Am not. Here.

From:

kayakking

What?

....

Oh.

Oh.

[FINGERGUN.]

You got it.

From:

secreteary

????????????????

From:

eyediot

You-- You better.

[Jon's slipping back into that easy drunkenness. In the meantime, he gets up, sort of moving to the door of the kitchen and looking. The place is nicer than what he has himself, but... Tim seems to live alone? And there isn't.... really a lot of this that looks lived in. Except down the hall. He can just barely make out the glint of a glass... something, and then a bedroom beyond. Huh.]

What's in the case anyway?

From:

kayakking

Oh, you know. Old hobby stuff.

[There's a second bedroom, empty with dropsheets over everything. The first, however, is absolutely Tim. A queen sized bed sits in the far side of the room with what look like rumpled, silky smooth sheets. A desk sits just inside the doorway, with books, newspaper and magazine clippings, a few file folders that could only be from the Archive and certainly shouldn't be outside of it, sitting neatly piled by a desktop computer and monitor. The walk in closet is open and shows the wide variety of crisp but colorful dress shirts Tim is prone too... and some garish offerings that hasn't dared make an appearance yet.

But the case? The case is obviously a beloved point. Garage kits and collectors models sit, each carefully lit by LEDs to show off the best angle of a work of love. Deathscythe Hell sits above Escaflowne, and both of those above a model of the Space Battleship Yamamoto... and somewhere below that---

God he's a weeb.]

[Still in the kitchen, Tim is drunkenly setting to words a masterwork of sensitivity and subtlety.]

Algric Diggly.

[It's a few terrifying moments until there's EVEN A FOLLOW UP EXPLANATION AS TO WHY THAT TERRIFYING SPECTER OF THE PAST RISES.]

The name for Future Guy from here on out.