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

[He moves closer to watch. Hell, has he even cooked in this apartment himself, something that wasn't instant?]

Right, the. Two years in the past, yes, yes.

[He sounds preoccupied. And once he has a good idea of what Martin's doing, he goes to his board and looks at the pieces. Then carefully moves Sasha's name to one far side, grabs a new scrap and writes "Not-Sasha" and puts it in her place. Starts fiddling with Elias' paper.]

From:

curriculum_fictae

[ It's nothing special, but Martin has long experience in making do with cheap, limited ingredients. And ... he needs a little comfort, okay. Bribing Jon with food seems like a good way to avoid getting kicked out.

He glances over at Jon, watching him. ]

Exactly. My past self would definitely question an extra bank charge.

From:

eyediot

Of course, of course.

[It's so absent-minded, like he's not fully paying attention. He's preoccupied still, red string goes there, loop it here. Move Tim and create a new scrap about The Unknowing, and another under that, blows up and pin Tim there.]

We still have a lot of answers to find before anything else.

From:

curriculum_fictae

[ It's ... almost cute? And again, strange, that Martin knows so much more now. ]

I - I can answer some of them.

From:

eyediot

[That gets Jon to stop and look back at Martin. Then steps back and gestures to the board.]

Please.

From:

curriculum_fictae

Okay, er. Let me just -

[ He rests a wooden spoon over the top of the pot to keep it from boiling over and approaches. ]

You really need the Entities in here somewhere.

From:

eyediot

The... Entities. [Said as if he's never heard of them in his life and isn't sure he quite believes in the word.

Martin had babbled something about 'The Lonely' before, and the Distortion which... Hm.]

Paper's all there. [He'll take over the cooking for the moment while Martin takes the board.]

From:

curriculum_fictae

O-okay. Then. Well ...

[ He finds a clear spot below what Jon has set up already and then sets up a wheel with fourteen slips of paper. One for each entity, its name written out in clear block letters. ]

From:

eyediot

[Jon keeps an eye on the soup, stirring it occasionally so it doesn't stick. But he watches Martin out of the corner of his eye.

Fourteen. That's a lot of new pieces to the board.]

So... [Stir, stir.] Entities.

From:

curriculum_fictae

Right. They're like - eldritch gods of fear. Or maybe pieces of one big eldritch mass of fear, who knows. But they're behind all of the statements in some way.

[ Martin hesitates, then adds "Extinction" off to the side. And then, he snags a string and ties a connection between "Eye" and "The Magnus Institute." Also Elias, for that matter. ]

From:

eyediot

Hm.

[Crap crap crap, soup stop boiling like that. There's some mild panic from the kitchen but nothing to see! He's fine! This is why he doesn't cook like this grumble grumble.]

I... Suppose I did notice some recurring themes. I just assumed it was. You know. ...Natural.

From:

curriculum_fictae

Well - I mean, yes, sort of, but just super --

[ Martin turns just in time to see the pot start to boil over. He jolts back towards Jon with a yelp, instinctively reaching out to turn down the heat. ]

-- how did you mess that up!?

From:

eyediot

[While Martin turns down the heat, Jon immediately takes the pot off the burner to get it off the heat.]

You-You started it! You had it on this setting, I just kept stirring!

From:

curriculum_fictae

Yes I did! And it was fine because it was simmering, and the wooden spoon keeps it from overflowing when you're not stirring it!

From:

eyediot

But if you're not stirring it then it sticks to the bottom and burns!

From:

curriculum_fictae

You - you don't know anything about cooking, do you.

From:

eyediot

Oh- shut up.

[HUFF!!! He'll just. move out of Martin's way for now.]

From:

curriculum_fictae

Look, I'm just. I'm just concerned now.

[ Martin returns the pot to the stove and goes back to managing the pot and frying up the sandwiches at the same time. Clearly loads of experience here. ]

From:

eyediot

Don't be.

[Of that, he has confidence in saying.]

I've taken care of myself this long without issue. At least. Before all the. [He gestures to the board, his worm scars.]

From:

curriculum_fictae

[ Martin just eyes Jon. And remembers a coffin. ]

When it comes to taking care yourself, you are the person I trust least.

From:

eyediot

[You can't judge current Jon on stupid bullshit future Jon hasn't even done yet!!]

.. What's that s'posed to mean?

From:

curriculum_fictae

[ Oh yes he can. Can and currently is. ]

Let's - let's just say you're looking remarkably healthy right now. Jon.

From:

eyediot

I'm remembering before I woke up that I said I really don't know that I like Mr. Know It All From the Future Martin.

From:

curriculum_fictae

[ Ah. He flushes very slightly, the colour not quite reaching his cheeks properly. ]

S - sorry. I just -

Look, could you sit down? Dinner's nearly ready. And we can talk conspiracy theories all you like after.

From:

eyediot

... Sure.

[He's been getting a weird feeling. Like, there's very clearly parts of the story Martin isn't telling him yet. And he skirted around that whole 'man I love' comment even when Jon pointedly asked him about it.

But fine. Dinner. A very domestic dinner in a domestic flat with his domestic coworker and... friend? That stumbled out of a closet and claims to be from two years in the future. Very domestic.]