Jonathan Sims (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
the_archivist) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
apocalypsehowcomm2022-05-06 01:00 am
the_archivist) wrote in apocalypsehowcomm2022-05-06 01:00 am
Heart of Darkness [Open]
Who: Jonathan Sims the_archivist and you!
When: Late April-May
Where: Various locations, including ADI HQ and around town+the train
Summary: Catch-all for the month
Warnings: Scars, monsteryness, injuries, burns, violence, horror, self harm
Recovery - Post Interrogation, around ADI accomodation and town
He hurts. It isn't a new feeling. He has been hurt before and in the same way too. Jude Perry's hand melting against his, the blast of explosives tearing him apart, the scorching heat of a building filled with flame. It makes his muscles burn, and joints ache to the point where he's walking with a cane.
But it is healing. And while the pain is real, there's something distant about it too. He knows it will heal, that he will feed and recover and he will be whole once more.
He isn't sure that's actually a good thing. It's been strange since arriving here, escaping the apocalypse, how different some things feel. He still feels fear, but it isn't the same. He supposes it's hard to have a normal reaction to fear when you've spent months being the core of them, when you know them more intimately than anyone else ever has.
He thinks his fear might be broken.
Any philosophising aside, the pain does make it harder to get around. He's slower walking, gripping onto the head of the cane, and steps are agony. He still goes into the office though, burying himself in futile research.
He does visit town as well, finds himself hungry and watching people with stories pass by, trying to hold himself back.
Well Read
A book fair is something that Jon is very interested in, both because he could do with more things to read, and potentially use as research, and also because... well, news of books being donated by a mysterious benefactor is something that rather puts him on edge.
The mention of books on his library card that he definitely didn't take out, and the name of one of them, Eye in the Sky, is enough to make him give a long-suffering sigh.
Still, it's a good book fair, and he picks up several volumes that seem like they'd be useful.
He's persuaded to sit down at one of the laptops for a quiz.
It starts normally at first. Questions about books which he flies through, and then, slowly he starts to feel that familiar pricklying against his skin, like he's being watched. He almost wants to look around to see if- if Elias is there.
Would you sacrifice a friend to save the world?
What?
Would you rather live as a monster or die as a human?
That's not-
Would you doom another world to save one person?
He digs his fingernails into his palms hard enough to draw blood, and stares at the screen, trying to fight that feeling that is far too much like reading a statement, like reading that- the ritual.
"You already have everything," he mutters.
Training Wheels Off
Jon has caught plenty of trains, but there's definitely a difference between the tube and this sort of train. Eighteen hours at home would get him a good chunk of the way across Europe, while this is just what? A state over? If it's even that.
Of course things can't stay calm so he can enjoy it.
The mutterings start; stories of being locked into shrinking cabins, of scratch maks and fingernails. Sounds too much like the coffin for his comfort. He's happy to investigate if people have encountered it, and to accompany them if necessary.
And then the darkness comes. It is... a tangible thing, feeling his sight blotted out so thoroughly. The Darkness had always been in opposition to the eye, and this is no different.
But he remembers looking into the heart of the Black Sun and making it shatter too. He grips onto that memory, forces down his fear as much as he can.
He doesn't look at the window, or try to find the source of the tapping.
"I'm here," he says quietly, "if you need a reminder. The darkness ends, eventually."
[OOC: Totally open for other things as well! You can find me on the Discord or on Plurk![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
zaliachimera
the_archivist and you!When: Late April-May
Where: Various locations, including ADI HQ and around town+the train
Summary: Catch-all for the month
Warnings: Scars, monsteryness, injuries, burns, violence, horror, self harm
Recovery - Post Interrogation, around ADI accomodation and town
He hurts. It isn't a new feeling. He has been hurt before and in the same way too. Jude Perry's hand melting against his, the blast of explosives tearing him apart, the scorching heat of a building filled with flame. It makes his muscles burn, and joints ache to the point where he's walking with a cane.
But it is healing. And while the pain is real, there's something distant about it too. He knows it will heal, that he will feed and recover and he will be whole once more.
He isn't sure that's actually a good thing. It's been strange since arriving here, escaping the apocalypse, how different some things feel. He still feels fear, but it isn't the same. He supposes it's hard to have a normal reaction to fear when you've spent months being the core of them, when you know them more intimately than anyone else ever has.
He thinks his fear might be broken.
Any philosophising aside, the pain does make it harder to get around. He's slower walking, gripping onto the head of the cane, and steps are agony. He still goes into the office though, burying himself in futile research.
He does visit town as well, finds himself hungry and watching people with stories pass by, trying to hold himself back.
Well Read
A book fair is something that Jon is very interested in, both because he could do with more things to read, and potentially use as research, and also because... well, news of books being donated by a mysterious benefactor is something that rather puts him on edge.
The mention of books on his library card that he definitely didn't take out, and the name of one of them, Eye in the Sky, is enough to make him give a long-suffering sigh.
Still, it's a good book fair, and he picks up several volumes that seem like they'd be useful.
He's persuaded to sit down at one of the laptops for a quiz.
It starts normally at first. Questions about books which he flies through, and then, slowly he starts to feel that familiar pricklying against his skin, like he's being watched. He almost wants to look around to see if- if Elias is there.
Would you sacrifice a friend to save the world?
What?
Would you rather live as a monster or die as a human?
That's not-
Would you doom another world to save one person?
He digs his fingernails into his palms hard enough to draw blood, and stares at the screen, trying to fight that feeling that is far too much like reading a statement, like reading that- the ritual.
"You already have everything," he mutters.
Training Wheels Off
Jon has caught plenty of trains, but there's definitely a difference between the tube and this sort of train. Eighteen hours at home would get him a good chunk of the way across Europe, while this is just what? A state over? If it's even that.
Of course things can't stay calm so he can enjoy it.
The mutterings start; stories of being locked into shrinking cabins, of scratch maks and fingernails. Sounds too much like the coffin for his comfort. He's happy to investigate if people have encountered it, and to accompany them if necessary.
And then the darkness comes. It is... a tangible thing, feeling his sight blotted out so thoroughly. The Darkness had always been in opposition to the eye, and this is no different.
But he remembers looking into the heart of the Black Sun and making it shatter too. He grips onto that memory, forces down his fear as much as he can.
He doesn't look at the window, or try to find the source of the tapping.
"I'm here," he says quietly, "if you need a reminder. The darkness ends, eventually."
[OOC: Totally open for other things as well! You can find me on the Discord or on Plurk
Well read
Too bad she's also really nosy, and definitely just caught the sight of one of those questions– "...live as a monster or die as a human?" Her face scrunches at that. "What kind of choice is that?"
Re: Well read
He takes a shaky breath. "Ah- a very bad choice?"
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There's a tension, there, that she can't quite place. Her eyes narrow into a curious squint. "You wanna... do something besides sit awkwardly in that chair?"
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He takes a breath. "I think it should be possible to move away. I've been able to look away so it's definitely not as strong as- it's grip is not unbreakable."
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He deliberately doesn't look around when he stands up, though he can feel it. Doesn't he want to check? Doesn't he want to know?
"I think I would prefer to be well out of view."
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She offers her hand for the taking. "Come on," Ainsley isn't exactly a touchy kind of person, except with very select people (mostly her brother), but right now everything that grounds him from that computer is probably for the best, and it's not like they have to hold hands for the entirety of the walk or anything.
"Outside?" she shrugs a little. "Little fresh air couldn't hurt, right?"
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"Outside would be a good idea. The further away from that the better." If he thought he could get away with smashing the computer he would. It probably wouldn't do any good, but it might make him feel better.
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"So, how long have you been here?" she asks as they walk, glancing over at him. "I'm Ainsley, by the way."
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How has it been that long? It doesn't seem that way. And sometimes it seems like a lifetime.
"Jon. I'm Jon."
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Something about the time and the name click just so. Why does that seem significant? She's pretty certain she's not met him before now. "Oh, are you Martin's boyfriend?" The anxious mess of a man had helped her not long after she'd gotten here, during some of the mess that Dunn had made.
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...she hadn't really been asking had she?
He gives her a startled look when she mentions Martin. "Does everyone know Martin? And yes. I'm his boyfriend."
He shouldn't be surprised. Martin is a generally nice person. People like him. It's something that Jon has never managed himself.