Duplicity IC Inbox

[fingeronthebutton]

(Will make this look nicer later!)

Comments

un: thearchivist; text

[compellingstatement]

[Jon's doing this right this time. He has Martin sat beside him on the sofa, able to look over his shoulder to see the conversation. This isn't going to be like the other times. Jon's determined.]

Did you die like the rest of us on that space ship?
It's something I've been wondering.
If you did, it raises a vast array of very interesting questions.

[Questions like: 'Have I been panicking over you dying for more than half a year when it doesn't actually matter here?' Then again... everyone had died.]

[fingeronthebutton]

Jon, if I had died then there would have been negative repercussions. You and I both know this.

[compellingstatement]

I wonder about that.
Are you saying you can see what's happening at home right now?
Either you weren't there, we didn't actually die, or the limit of bad things happening only extends to those of us already in Duplicity.
If all of us died together, it's difficult to say if your dying had any effect at all.

[fingeronthebutton]

My gaze reaches far. It always has.

[compellingstatement]

[Jon squints at that, entirely uncertain whether to believe it or not. Unfortunately, the man could just go rifiling around in Martin's head if Jon demanded he prove it. And Martin's the only one who could confirm things.]

You've told me yourself you're not omniscient.
Only so many eyes.
Tim wants to kill you, as I'm sure you're aware.
I'd like you to explain to me exactly what will happen if that happens.
I don't see that I have much of a vested interest if he does at this point.
Agnes is protected by the Desolation.
Daisy's protected by the Hunt.
Martin's beyond your grasp, as is Gerry.
Melanie, as well.
I don't like Tsurugi or Dorian.

[That's... not entirely true. He has complicated, but mostly negative feelings about Dorian. Also just going to leave out mentioning Tim and Ginger... Or Basira.]

Anyone alive at home is likely suffering a date worse than death.
And we both know I deserve to die as much as you do.
So, I'll need a reason to bother with trying.
Unless you wanted to tear up your employment contract with me.
I suppose that could be reason enough for a favor.

[It's playing with fire trying to intimidate Elias, but Jon's never been one to let a little thing like potential immolation stop him.]

[fingeronthebutton]

I believe you are leaving out some names of those tied to me.
Besides, you may not like Tsurugi or Dorian but you would feel responsible if something happened to them.

[compellingstatement]

[Guilt twists inside of him. Elias isn't wrong, but Jon's trying desperately not to let his guilt and fear rule him. He presses himself a little more against Martin as he types his lies.]

If I die when you do, my feelings won't matter terribly much, will they?

[fingeronthebutton]

Yet you can't stop thinking about it, can you. It eats you up inside as you consider it carefully. Even now you lean into the one you love because you know that you cannot face me alone. You don't have the strength.

And so it continues to chew away at your heart, your soul. That gnawing sense of guilt that you are the cause if you follow through with your plan. That you will cause further suffering if you let it happen.

In the end, you recall innocent faces like Ginger and you can't pull the trigger.

[compellingstatement]

[On some level, Jon is aware that Elias is Seeing him whenever they have these conversations. Whenever he has any conversation, really. The other avatar might be looking on through someone else's eyes. But all at once, the idea that Elias is looking at him through Martin's eyes strikes him, and Jon jerks away from his boyfriend with a panicked start. His pulse picks up.

The sensation of being watched is almost comforting these days, familiar in its horror. But that's the Watcher, not Elias. It suddenly feels like pinpricks over his skin, the weight of a monster actually weighing down on him.]

Close your eyes. Don't look at me. [The order is snapped at Martin, Jon bristling as he tries to type a hasty reply.]

I'm not the one pulling the trigger, you ass.
It's Tim.
And a handful of others who keep telling me I ought to just let them kill you and bring me your head to mount on the wall.

[Alessandro's particularly graphic in his overtures. Rafa's been less visceral, at least.]

Tim's much less concerned with 'necessary sacrifices' than I am and I said I wouldn't stop him.
After what you did to him, you'd deserve it.

[fingeronthebutton]

Oh Jon.

It's too late.

[And he leaves it on that ominous tone. He won't reply to further messages from Jon just to sink him further into panic.]