queenofseers | ic inbox (mask or menace)

[he scrunches his eyes up again, annoyed that there's STILL TEARS FALLING. the TMI field wouldn't make him feel emotions like this, but it's certainly keeping another friend is going to die and you can't do anything about it running through his head.]

Probably has, we just don't know it yet.

Absolutely nothing will make me check Bwitter right now, thanks. What if my fingers move without my permission? I don’t even bweet that much anymore! [ Because she’s become a total recluse, but let’s ignore that.

She turns and looks at him, sighing at the continued tears. Jesus, she didn’t think he cared that much. Not that he didn’t care, but... ]

Hell. Listen, are you alright? Do you need me to go off somewhere? Because I know this isn’t actually either of our faults.

[he snorts a little, despite himself.]

At this point I wouldn't be surprised... [he shakes his head.] I'm alright. Sorry, I don't-- want to put this on you. You got enough bullshit, right? Forget about me.

[...]

Are you... okay?

I’m never okay, Archie, wasn’t that obvious?

[ Oof. She didn’t mean to say that, really, and it shows in her expression. She grimaces and looks up at the sky, cursing mentally for once. ]

That’s- that’s a bit too much. I’m not that awful, it’s just that I’m going to die and this place could turn into hell at any moment. [ God- ] Fuck!

...Don't be angry, but it kind of was. Wildly. From the start.

[he rubs his face again and sighs.]

I'm gonna get us a cab back to your place, alright? Arceus knows it's better to have emotional breakdowns in private.

If you want to be even, you were completely weird from the beginning, too. [ She huffs. ] Wow, we're fucking rude today, too.

[ She rubs her forehead, but she knows Archie is right. ]

God, yeah, we'd better. I'm not broke enough that I can't contribute, you know.

[he laughs again, despite himself.]

I'll accept that! I'm consistently called weird! [ahhh... he gets the uber, shakes his head.] I'm not broke either, y'know. I got a couple grand from Blue and Red when the bastards ported out, along with Blue's engagement ring.

...

Ugh. Ignore that last part.

Oof. Are you serious? That's fucking depressing.

[ She huffs, tugging the cloak she's in a little closer, realizing it's a bit cold just because she's recalling how much warmer a car will be. ]

Frankly, I don't even know why people would try to get married here. I mean, I get it, but I'd be too worried about it ending like that. [ God, wait- ] Fucking hell, and now I'm saying rude shit about your ported-out friends. Sorry. This sucks.

It's a reminder, [he says, without being able to stop himself.] I can't bring myself to be rid of it, and all it does is remind me that all our relationships here, no matter how much they mean or how they were fostered... none of them mean anything. None of them are real.

[jesus christ, archie. he shakes his head.]

Um. Ignore that, too. The cab'll be here in five.

[he takes his coat off to put around her shoulders in the meantime.]

Nope, it’s- you can keep it, I’m being lazy. [ She...seemingly pulls an extra jacket out of nowhere in her cloak, although there’s actually a hammerspace there. ] Breaks my look, I guess.

[ Putting it on, she gives him a thoughtful look. He’s said he’s lost a lot of people before, to the point that she’s not sure how he does it. ]

They were from your world, right...? I’m sorry. I hope you’re not alone, because I might as well be, and it’s absolute bullshit. Baphomet was annoying and Lucifer was a total bitch, but I’d take either of them over being trapped here with Woden.

[he shrugs an okay, slipping it back on.]

I'm sure they do goth coats... [said with a little smile which... sigh.] Niko got Ported back in which... [he rubs his face.] Yeah. Red and Blue were basically my shitty adult kids, then Niko just completely despises me. Which-- fair enough, but he's still a young teenager in a world that's completely different from home. I'm the only other one left that would get his issues.

[he makes a face.]

Maybe one day Woden will be ported directly into a woodchipper, if we would be so lucky.

Edited 2019-02-09 16:28 (UTC)

Yeah, I saw Niko. He seems...still like kind of a force of chaos, but maybe a little more stable. I don’t know. But it’s bullshit if you have to deal with him alone, so I might as well keep an eye on him again when I can find him.

[ If she’s going to be responsible for Martin, she might as well branch out, at this point. She felt like she should keep an eye out for Niko, anyway. ]

Ha- we’d have to get him into the woodchipper in my world first. If I ever get ported out and back in, I’ll let you know if that happens.

Thanks, [he says, as the cab pulls up. gestures for her to get in first, though he doesn't open the door for her. he's not THAT much of a gentleman.] That battle showed only good things.

[even if thinking about his situation with niko and the people from home here makes him simultaneously extremely tired and wired with anxiety. he doesn't mention it (thankfully, seems like opening his mouth at all is a risk), but archie imagines cass knows how that feels quite intimately.]

Hmm... best of luck with that. How many woodchippers are in England? Enough?

[ Cassandra raises an eyebrow at Archie letting her in first, but at least he didn't act all gentlemanly about it. She gets in and then makes room for him, thinking as she does so. ]

Eh, probably. Not like there's a ton in London. We'd have to fight off the Valkyries and fly him off to the middle of nowhere...

But honestly? I'd like to think he'll just die in a fire somewhere and we won't have to put up with his bullshit. Not like that's going to happen. [ Especially considering the last thing she remembers from her world. She leans back and rubs her forehead, suddenly tired. ] I've been here nearly a fucking year. What the fuck.

[the cab is warmer, fortunately, and archie slides in after her. he's just being polite cass, god!! the cab driver kind of... glances at the topic of conversation, but seeing as it was an app order, all he does is clarify the address. archie gives a confirmation, then leans back.]

I'll have Crobat find him and drop a shit on him, consider it a one year anniversary gift from me, [he says with a faint grin.] Aye, two years here. Feels like a decade though, don't it?

[he glances over at her.]

What were you doing out? I just realised I've completely disrupted it.

You know, that'd be fucking incredible, but then I'd just get all worried about him going after you. He's been way too fucking quiet. Clearly he's going to reveal he installed a teleporter into my home and he'll murder us all in our sleep.

[ A pause. ]

That's...extreme. He'd actually brag about it before doing any murdering. But I don't really put anything past him at this point.

[ She turns back to Archie and shrugs. ] I was getting coffee before going to the library to hole up without any people around me. I already had a pair of very awkward conversations with Rex and Martin.

I've had far more powerful gods try to kill me. He doesn't scare me.

[that's a bald faced lie! look at that, the tmi field didn't catch it.]

Oh, good. So it's the worst situation it could be. What happened with them?

Ha. That's not going to stop me from losing my mind over the idea, but- thanks.

[ It nearly gets a smile out of her. Not completely, though... ]

God, most of the general awkwardness you'd expect, but- [ She glances at the driver and then lowers her voice. ] Martin came pretty close to actually talking about what his life was like. But it made him really fucking upset. He had to leave and everything. Did I tell you Rex thinks therapy's a bad idea?

If it makes a move, contact Aegis. I'll see if we can't help-- or at the very least offer some additional protection for you or anyone you think he'd target.

[he looks away, nodding in understanding, then coughs suddenly, inhaling.]

I-- pardon?

I don't want him to target all of you. Even if you're probably the ones most equipped against him...

[ But Rex's reaction is a far more stressful topic, one that had bothered him enough that it torpedoed an entire conversation. Normally she and Rex think so alike it wouldn't be a problem...but she didn't expect him to worry about something like that.

She turns back to Archie, speaking in a whisper now. ]

I think they must have had a bad opinion of talking to professionals in his world- at least with the clones. He kept saying Martin's fine the way he is and he doesn't need to! It was like he didn't get it. Like it'd imply something was bad about his kid, rather than, you know, it existing to help his kid. Christ, Rex needs to talk to someone too, if you ask me.

[archie stays silent for a moment as cass speaks, thinking it over. when he replies, he's at the same volume she's at. he's not always loud? who knew!]

About a year ago, there was a teenger that got ported in here. He'd come from a real bad situation and-- physically and mentally he was a wreck. I was still in government housing then, so we met when he showed up at the same place. I did my best, even though it wasn't really... that great, but he eventually ended up going to hospital to get the help he needed himself. He got out and it was all well and good, but the way shit is here, he backslid a little.

[he sighs.]

He got ported out a long time ago, but the last conversation we had before he left was him telling me that it only go so bad because I didn't do enough to help him-- that his mental break was essentially my fault. I know it wasn't, entirely, but it was still horrible to have a conversation like that. I'm thinking-- maybe Rex thinks that Martin needing that help from someone else would mean it's his failure as well. I don't think Martin would speak to him like that, but... I don't know. Maybe I'm just projecting.

...Jesus fuck, Archie. I wouldn't even know what to say about that on a day when I could control what I say. That's a fucked up thing for him to say to you- even if he was a little out of it.

[ She's had enough experiences with the mental distress of her own friends that she can be sympathetic. Still, it's not an easy thing to hear. She sighs and leans back against the seat, trying to bring her thoughts back to Rex and Martin. ]

That could be it. Martin's his, and we're all kind of protective. But the way he was talking...he didn't see how it could help at all. And he said he thought Martin would think the same way he does. And, god, the shitty part is he's probably right. We'd have to go into overdrive to convince that kid we're not telling him he's broken if we actually got him an appointment.

It makes me worried for when Martin or Rex inevitably port out and don't come back.

[he says with a shrug. far more blunt than he's like, but... that's sort of the name of the game, today.]

I don't doubt it. I wouldn't normally, but if they ever agree to it I'll tell him I've been using the same service for the better part of a year. Maybe it would help to know when the people around him need help, they go for the same thing.

[he looks out the window as he says this-- archie doesn't know cass's own situation and he certainly doesn't want to sound accusatory.]

I won't do anything without Rex's sayso, though. Him and Andy are the closest thing Martin has to a legal guardian and the one he trusts and knows the best.

Don't make me think about that. I get stressed enough just thinking about how I would feel about that.

[ She says it quite bluntly herself. They're not allowed to approach that, now. ]

Maybe...I'd hope Rex wouldn't dismiss it if you told him that. I'm not going to be that asshole that tells you you should, but it might actually help. And-

[ She rubs her hand across her forehead. ] I think Rex and Andy are the only ones who Martin would trust if they told him it was okay, too. We're close to him, but they get him. They're more like him, I guess. We're...too different.

[ Cassandra hadn't realized that would hurt to say, in some ways. She can't even put her finger on why, yet. ]

[he just grunts; after gaining and losing so many found families, archie can't help it constantly weighing on his mind.]

I don't plan to use it as an ace in the hole, or anything. Just so he knows we're not trying to push him into something neither of us have no experience with. If he dismisses it, then it'll be what it is.

[it doesn't bother archie-- at least... he doesn't think it does. is that how he truly feels? he's not sure. when it comes to how he actually feels about anything, it's so habitually repressed it's just kind of a dark fog.]

It's just... going to be harder if Rex needs it as well and refuses to even consider it. I'd rather he weight his options instead of kneejerk, but... I guess we gotta accept that it might not even be something that happens. Forcing it would be against the entire point.

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