abraxaslogs | Tʜᴇʀᴇ's ᴀ sᴘᴀɴɴᴇʀ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀᴋs, ʏᴏᴜ ᴋɴᴏᴡ (closed)

( It takes a week or two for them to finally meet — largely because it doesn't occur to Jack, who doesn't have a great memory at the best of times and is a total recluse at the worst of them. When it does happen, it's actually kind of an accident.

They're in the Horizon, because of course they are; they kind of have to be, thanks to the faction disparity at play. Jerry's finally made his connection, and the two of them are hanging out at the gas station when Kyle comes by. Jack seems pleased to see him — which is probably weird, considering how much time he's spent lowkey (can it be called lowkey if Kyle's already outright called him out on it?) avoiding the guy recently. In his defense, his reasons for avoiding Kyle are totally moot in the Horizon. Plus, he's actually in a pretty good mood, attributable almost entirely to the long-haired golden retriever of a man sitting beside him behind the counter. )

Oh, hey!

( He says brightly — or, you know, as bright as Jack ever gets, which is really just a shade more pleasant than his usual apathetic monotone. )

That's the guy I was telling you about, my ninja roommate Kyle. Kyle, this is my Jerry.

( You're probably wondering about that last bit. So, what happened was: his brain totally stuttered trying to make a choice in the span of a split second between my friend and my best friend, and in its hasty conflict, managed to omit both options entirely. Hence, my Jerry. Such are the mysterious inscrutable ways of Jack Townsend. )

Edited 2022-11-28 20:05 (UTC)

[ Jerry lounges with his chair tipped back to balance on its back legs and his feet up on the counter, a lit cigarette between his lips and a Nintendo Switch in his hands. He has it angled toward Jack, apparently showing him something when someone enters the gas station.

Of course, he immediately leaps up at the word 'ninja,' dropping the Switch on the counter so he can bow at the waist with one fist against his other open palm. ]

Osu, sensei!

[ He manages to say with surprisingly good intonation for still holding the cigarette between his teeth. ]

I am, as always, your humble student. Teach me your way of the shinobi.

Edited 2022-11-29 05:45 (UTC)

[ Kahlil is both surprised to be so brightly welcomed by Jack (all recent things considered) and to find a stranger in the gas station. For some reason, not as many people as Kahlil would guess are lured into this place by the promise of greasy foods and knick-knacks.

Both ninja and my Jerry get a raised eyebrow. Kahlil has given up trying to correct the former. Jerry is a name that sounds familiar, though. He starts to greet him when-

all of that happens.

Both eyebrows are raised now and he's glancing from Jack to Jerry. With a flick of his wrist he rips a seam in space, vanishing and reappearing behind them. ]

What's that? [ He points at the Switch.

Look, if you're going to keep telling people he's a ninja, he'll just start showing off. ]

( Judging by how perfectly calm and unaffected he is, it's not the first time he's seen Kyle do this. It barely even registers, actually, and he doesn't miss a beat when he casually answers the question suddenly coming from just over his shoulder. Sort of answers — probably an incorrect interpretation of the question. )

Bayonetta 2. Apparently it's kickass, but I stopped paying attention like twenty minutes ago.

( Jerry's been showing a largely unresponsive Jack, who's been staring down at the open book (Space Nuns: 2077) on the counter in front of them next to the Switch. Evidently Jack's got no reservations outright saying he's been completely ignoring him. That's kind of their dynamic at this point. It works for them, this is how they bond.

Anyway, the point is, show off all you want, man. He would too, if he were a teleporting ninja priest. )

Holy shit!

[ Jerry shouts, spinning around and pointing. He finally grabs the cigarette as it falls out of his open mouth, so it doesn't end up dropping on the floor. ]

Dude! You have to show me how you did that.

[ He doesn't pay Jack any mind, despite his rudeness. Whatever, man. There are more important things going on right now. Like a real-life fuckin teleporting ninja. ]

[ Kickass. Nayeshi words are fun.

Since no one seems to mind he picks up the Switch and starts messing with the buttons. Nintendo. He remembers these things being much bulkier and the screen much smaller, less color.

A glance up at Jerry, and a grin. ]

Here, it's easy. Just think about where you want to be. [ He raises the device. ] Just like you think this up.

[ Outside of Horizon, though, he's out of luck. A small shrug, and he looks back to the screen where the incredibly tall woman is undulating. ]

Do you both work at the gas station?

[ Jerry seems comfortable behind the counter. ]

( So, Jack sees where he's going with this. The whole... it's the Horizon you can magically do anything you want thing. Yes. He understands.

However.

It also suddenly occurs to him that they're in a place where Jerry can learn actual magic, like. Out there. In the real(?) world.

And so with great earnestness, he ignores Kyle's question to instead calmly plea: )

Please don't teach him how to teleport. I can't handle the thought of the things he'd do with that power on an emotional level.

( The stress of this concept alone is genuinely, legitimately physically strenuous. Just. Immediately. )

Ohh, I get it. [ He drops his voice to a stage whisper, easily heard throughout the whole gas station, and nudges Jack (gently) with an elbow. ] Reverse psychology.

[ The ninja master never gets an answer to his actual question. Instead, merrily ignoring the attempt at starting a normal conversation, Jerry decides to try these hot new tips. ]

It is true that we're in the Mind Realm. [ He somehow manages to pronounce the capital letters. ] Ergo, anything I can imagine should be possible. If I wanted to turn this bag of chips into a bag of worms, it should be as simple as thinking it into existence.

[ He scrunches up his face, which is probably an unnecessary steps, concentrates with the bag of chips he'd grabbed from a nearby rack in hand, and-- doesn't go anywhere.

The bag of off-brand potato chips makes a menacing crinkling noise. From the inside.

He offers it to Kyle. ]

Et voilà!

[ The bag wiggles again. Jerry waggles his eyebrows.

If Kyle is brave enough to look inside, he'll find it full of worms decidedly off the string. ]

[ His gaze flicks between them. Truthfully, listening to Jerry speak is almost as entertaining as listening to Julie's musical accent, albeit in a different way. Jack sure does attract interesting people. Should he be surprised? Maybe his power calls them to him...

He sets the Switch down and somewhat dubiously takes the shiny, crinkling bag before pulling the sides and looking in.

With one hand he pulls one out, it's googly eyes googly-ing as he gives it a little shake. ]

Did you mean them to be... fuzzy?

( Jack very nearly asks why would anyone want a bag of worms? but then considers who it is he's talking to, and opts to disregard the question. It's Jerry. The inner machinations of Jerry's mind are an enigma, and he has long since accepted it.

He leans over Kyle's direction gently, carefully, just close enough to get a vantage point that he can see down into the bag.

He's braced to be disgusted, expecting the same kind of earth worms they sell for bait or something. Instead, he gets... )

Aw, they're cute.

( Props to Jerry for that. Oh, you know what- )

Hey, maybe you should give them to Rousma.

( Evidently Jack's getting a little fond of Kyle's sister-dog. )

Yes, obviously. They're worm on a string, man. Classic.

[ Jerry pulls one out too, giving it a little shake and wiggle with a sort of huh? huh?? face and another eyebrow raise. C'mon, dude. These things are hilarious. ]

See? Jack gets it.

...What's a Rousma?

[ He hands to bag to Jack. Jerry's enthusiasm over his joke is kind of adorable, but Kyle isn't sure if he's missing something here, so he just sort of... smiles back at him, nodding. Yes, of course he gets it.

At Rousma's name, though, his brow furrows for a second before he offers a kind of explanation: ]

She lives in my domain. Maybe you'll meet her sometime.

[ He glances at Jack, frowning slightly. He's protective of Rousma and Jerry is... so much. ]

( So, here's the thing: Jack isn't great at picking up on subtle social cues. He does spot the frown, he does pick up some kind of vibe, but it doesn't occur to him that he should drop the subject.

To Jerry: )

She's Kyle's not-dog.

( And then a quick swap to Kyle, reassuringly: )

It's okay. Jerry's my best friend, you can trust him. I know he seems like a lot. ( A beat. ) Because- well. He is. But he's good, I swear.

Cool.

[ He doesn't follow this up with any questions, though he does look somewhat impressed. Definitely interested, eyeing Kyle expectantly. ]

Thanks, bud. I love dogs.

And... not-dogs.

[ He is assuming one is about to appear any moment now. ]

She's not really -

[ It's complicated. He gives both of them a slightly exasperated look, then shakes his head.

To both of them: ]

Bring the worms, and nachos to my domain. Next time.

[ With that he slashes a tear in the fabric of reality and jumps through, closing it behind him.

An easy out from awkward conversations. ]

( As promised, just over two hours after their talk, an unobtrusive figure emerges from the library to search her out. Dark hair, a little too thin, probably unsurprising that he's sporting sleepless shadows under his eyes — undoubtedly the look of somebody perpetually tired. Maybe a little more surprising, should she spot it, is the missing pinky finger on his left hand, or the slightly less immediately noticeable prosthetic leg he's sporting below his right knee.

Then again, depending on the way her abilities work, maybe all of that takes a back seat to the far stranger thing about Jack that's normally invisible and undetectable to the average human. He's weird on a cosmic level. She might be able to sense it, all the stored radiation, the void rift energy practically embedded into his DNA. An entire metric fuckton of it, actually — enough to make him a viable vessel capable of housing a god for a thousand lifetimes, give or take. There's something just a little bit impossible about him, not that he has the slightest clue about it at this point in his life.

When he greets her, it's as mild and polite as he generally always is — a little monotone, apathetic yet customer service pleasant. He's like the embodiment of Daria crossed with a slightly-dead-inside service industry worker. )

Hey, um, Sophia right?

( Just to make sure he's talking to the right person, because accidentally inviting a complete stranger back to his room would be awkward.

Once he's sure, he'll lead the way as they head there. His room's not far, and it's not solely his. There are four beds inside, though two of them appear to be unclaimed, the nightstands beside them vacant and unused. One belongs to Kyle, which leaves the furthest one to be Jack's. Easy to pick out which one that is, because both the nightstand and one side of the bed are absolutely covered in books. Like, seriously, he rarely ever uses his bed for its intended purpose and he's got kind of a book hoarding problem, so he's got three or four of them scattered around on the comforter beside where he normally settles in to read when normal people are sleeping. )

So, do you wanna do the Horizon thing before we talk about... all the other stuff?

Edited 2022-12-03 22:44 (UTC)

[ Standing there, waiting for him, Sophia is terrified.

She's meeting someone new!

Alone!

It's not like she hasn't done this before, and she has had enough experiences with very powerful, very dangerous beings, but being taken to a new world, with new rules and without the familiarity she has just begun to build...it's not good for her confidence. It's made her feel like the small, vulnerable doll with an hollowed out soul, eyes like crystals and absolutely no willpower of her own.

She has to put all of that aside the moment when Jack walks her way. Hobbles? Her eyes dart around him, recognizing the gait of someone with a prosthetic leg, and not the magical kind that is nearly impossible to tell. ]

That's me.

[ Sophia is five feet and change, long, messy brown hair and deep eyes that almost seem to shine by themselves if you look for too long. Or are they? She's pale and sharp, her body shape covered in big clothes. She's not wearing a dress, thank you very much. Pants and shirts and coats for now.

Sophia follows him, and as they walk she experiences something akin to her eyes getting used to the dark, but this is no dark. This is...something else. It's magic, but it's also...reality breaking pulses of energy, it's chaos and destruction and Sophia can literally feels its coils extending and contracting around him.

But the moment she can see it, she can define it, and the moment she grows used to it, the less it bothers her. In the end, it's just part of him, somehow. She now knows she couldn't just yank it from him, as she would probably tear him apart, physically, metaphysically, mentally, in every away. And chances are she could put a dent in reality too.

This is a little too big for her.

Then there's the other stuff, the "uncomfortable truth" thing that sticks out of him like a cowlick strand of hair. She just...swats it away. That she can do.

Once inside of his room, Sophia looks around. Head turning when he asks, she sighs. ]

Maybe we should see what we're dealing with first? I usually can put people to sleep with a touch, but I can tell you are...full of something. Something that would've either killed anyone else, or leave you a hollow shell of yourself.

[ She extends a hand, touching something that is not there. ]

Do you mind if I...try to interact with it? Carefully. Just to get a sense of what's latched into your soul.

( Well, for what it's worth, there are definitely worse people for her to meet than Jack. In terms of intimidation, expectation, danger, or bad intent, he's completely lacking in all areas. He's straightforward and subdued, a very even and consistent baseline in terms of temperament. Grey rock, medium chill, perpetually calm even in the strangest of situations. He may not be an automaton, but damn if he isn't a little robotic at times.

Like, for example, the way he reacts to being told that he's full of something that should apparently kill him. It's just a long pause coupled with a confused blink. He doesn't even recoil when she reaches out, though his eyes track her hand a little warily, and a gentle knit finds its way into his brow. )

I- wait, what? I'm not full of anything, I just have a brain condition.

( Sorry, Sophia. This poor dumb fool is completely clueless, and still a few months away from hearing the illuminating villainous monologue that'll eventually clear things up for him. This is news to him. )

Hm.

[ She retracts her hand, fidgeting a bit. In her curiosity, she almost made a blunder. ]

I apologize, Jack. That was very forward and inconsiderate of me.

[ Is it her place to explain (or try to) what's happening to him? Maybe, but maybe not. Still... ]

That said, I think I could give you a good night of sleep. But I have to consider the implications of it all. This is the kind of situation where I might get more to win than you. I don't want to take advantage of you.

[ She can tell, the power that basically consumes him is the kind she could take to herself, lessening the load he has to carry, easing his mind and empowering herself enough to actually put him to sleep. She would technically be using him to be powerful enough to help him.

Somehow that feels wrong. ]

Hmmm, and I thought memory loss would be the highlight of my evening.

( Honestly, strangely, the fact that she backpedals and considerately apologizes inspires more concern in him than if she'd been a bull in a china shop about it. Maybe because Jack is a little obstinate himself and it's an extremely easy second nature to rise up to a challenge when someone's being pushy, maybe because he's stupidly susceptible to kindness thanks to a lifelong lack of people aiming any basic care his direction. Whatever the reason is, he definitely couldn't articulate it.

I don't want to take advantage of you.

It's not really a red flag so much as a Kill Bill siren gently sounding in the back of his mind. An alert, an alarm ringing; this is important and significant and unsettling. About a dozen times more significant than when that freaky psychic lady forced a nonconsensual palm reading on him to tell him all about how he was "cursed" that one time. )

The implications of what? I'm- I'm sorry, I'm confused, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. What's happening?

( Maybe a better question is: does he actually want to know? Blocking out whatever this is and all of the Stuff that's bound to come along with it is pretty tempting — his default tendency to repress and ignore is warring pretty roughly with his occasionally irrepressible curiosity. Man, it's annoying when that side of his brain wins. )

[ Her expression turns regretful. ]

Jack...you're overflowing with energy, the sort I can detect. It's...a bit weird to put into words, specially because I don't know your world, so I can't tell exactly why or how it's in you. I don't think I have the right to say much else.

But you are...really weird. And I thought I was the weird one here.

[ And then she just shrugs. What a moment to be in. ]

...wanna ignore this for the time being and just, zone out in a different dimension or whatever?

( His first stupid, intransigent thought is that he doesn't feel like he's overflowing with energy. He feels fucking exhausted, because he almost always feels exhausted — though, admittedly a little less so since he died and navigated the cosmic realms of what comes After and Outside of time and space and All Things in order to soft-reset reality for stupid, complicated reasons. Whatever he did in the process of all that seemed to unlock the potential for real, honest-to-god rest for an hour or two every couple of nights. Before that, things were... bad. Things were really, really bad.

He's still not within a mile of anything remotely healthy. He's not even within range of good enough, he's just not actively deteriorating anymore. It's a precarious place to be — precarious enough that anything going wrong (like, say, the Heralds touching down last month) has the potential to fuck up his entire tentative balance. What he almost did to Kyle...

That can't happen anymore.

He's going to have to consider this later. He's not going to be able to disregard it entirely like he'd otherwise like to do.

But he'll absolutely take the opportunity to table it for now. )

Yes please, zoning out sounds good, thank you.

( Politely, but with maybe a hint of strain lingering in the back of his voice. Anyway, focus on the task at hand, Jack. )

Um.

( He does a quick glance around, a tactical assessment, then moves to start sweeping up the books off of his comforter to make room. As he starts piling them up on the nightstand, he runs through the explanation to give her an idea on what to expect. )

This is how they taught me to do it, and it worked when I took Kyle there, so I guess we'll stick with that. You're gonna wanna sit down, and then we do that really... cliché Hollywood meditation séance hand-holding thing with our eyes closed, and I can kind of... pull you in with me.

[ Sophia moves to seat in front of him, trying not to feel as uncomfortable as she actually is. ]

And, I won't know who I am, right? Just...my name, my Arcana...what else? Oh, will I remember not remembering? Or is the entire experience just not going to stick with me?

[ In a way, maybe that would be for the best. Sophia isn't sure she wants to remember how is she going to act in Horizon. Still...if she does something incredibly embarrassing she might want to know, so she can apologize. ]

Do we...do we hum?

( Jack patiently weathers the flurry of questions. Though she's got his full attention and he's waiting for her to pause long enough for him to answer, there's nothing particularly hurried or expectant about it. This is a man very, very used to standing behind a counter weathering the highest boss level Karens you have ever met. He's practically a zen master when it comes to moments like this.

As he does so, he settles onto the bed's surface criss-cross apple sauce, with a little bit of subtle, deliberate adjustment of his prosthetic leg to keep it in line and keep it from digging into his other calf. )

We don't have to hum, but I guess we can if it makes you feel better? ( For some reason, the first thing that comes to mind is that Rusted Root song. Maybe he'll pitch that if she decides to go that route. ) You'll definitely remember not remembering. It won't last very long, as soon as we leave again it's over and you're good to go.

( He holds his hands out palms up — the left one missing its smallest digit, which would probably make him self-conscious if he actually remembered it. It doesn't cross his mind yet. )

No judgments about whatever your amnesia response is, for what it's worth.

No no, you just do what you do and I'll follow your lead

[ She crosses her legs as well and takes a deep breath. Truth be told she would be humming something else but to each their own.

She holds his hands back, firmly. ]

Yeah well, easy for you to say.

Oookay, let's do this.

Cool.

( He says, ignoring the slight awkwardness he feels wrapping his hands around hers. He closes his eyes. Breathes in slowly, exhales slowly. The room goes still and quiet. Eventually, gradually, he begins to sink — and as he goes, he gently pulls her down with him.

The next time she opens her eyes, it'll be to Jack carefully letting go of her hands, the two of them no longer sitting but rather standing side by side in an empty spot in the Horizon — the place her domain will go, presumably. On the far more modern t-shirt he's wearing, the symbol of the moon belies his arcana like it's a graphic design.

He studies her expression, gauging her reaction with a little bit of subdued concern. )

Hey. You okay?

Edited 2022-12-04 21:09 (UTC)

[ She feels the push, and then her world gets turned outside down. Her mind goes blank. She's overtaken by an immense sense of oneness.

And then she's standing there. When Jack lets go, her hands fall to her side. She's standing there, completely expressionless, very much like a computer getting a reboot. She's wearing very modern clothes as well. Worn jeans, a heavy brown jacket with a simple white shirt and a big scarf loosely wrapped around her neck

It takes her several seconds for her to actually react. She blinks, gasps and takes a step back, eyes wide and expressive. Her hands shoot up to her face, smushing her cheeks. She then proceeds to give herself a particularly vigorous pat down. She turns around, then twists and looks at herself up and down. The symbol of The World is emblazoned on the back of her shirt, big and vibrant.

Only then she seems to notice Jack. She blinks at him, and then smiles. ]

Hey! I'm...I'm Sophia. [ Her attention is drawn to her hands again, which she looks at with great interest. ] I'm...physical. Huh. Somehow that feels off. Is it supposed to feel off? Do I...exist?

[ She takes a couple of steps away, then turns around. She's lost, so very lost. ]

( It should probably register to him more strangely that the first thing she says after her name is I'm physical. Jack has a tendency to miss the finer details — the product of a sleep-deprived mind, too many years on too many drugs that didn't actually help the source but only mitigated the symptoms. Also, a very weird life that tends to make stranger comments slip through the cracks. He doesn't think to ask about it.

Instead, he busies himself with looking as non-threatening as possible (which isn't really something he needs to worry about, he's average height, skinny, and he's missing limbs even in the horizon, he doesn't exactly paint an imposing figure). She's met with his palms gently up in a placating kind of surrender, and probably the most medium-chill monotone version of reassurance a human's capable of while still being genuine. )

Hi. I'm Jack. You definitely exist, you're just having some temporary memory loss. It's sort of a... magic psychic plane dreamscape side-effect situation.

Why are your hands up?

[ He's...cute, like a mouse back up into a corner. Not like the kind that bites, but more like the kind that starts squeaking when you lift it.

So no, she doesn't feel threatened.

His assurance of her existence is taken with a grain of salt, although she cannot tell why. ]

I know most of those words, but the sentence itself doesn't really make sense to me. Why am I here? What is here?

( Why are your hands up? He glances down at them like he's only just noticing it, and... realizes he has absolutely no idea. Well, that's stupid. He lowers one back down again; the other goes instead toward scratching absently at the back of his neck.

It's also about this point that Jack remembers he's probably one of the worst possible people to be doing this, and that he shouldn't be put in charge of explaining this to anyone when he barely even understands it himself. You'd think he'd have learned this by now, but apparently the lesson isn't sticking in his memory banks. )

Um. This is- it's called the Horizon. It's not actually real, but it's a place where a group of people can connect with each other and meet up. I think... I'm pretty sure you want to be able to help people, but a lot of them are too far away, so coming here is the only way you can really connect with them face to face. At least, that's the impression I got.

It sounds like I'm dead...but I don't feel dead.

[ She turns to look at the image on her back, then hums pensively for a moment. ]

Yes, I'm The World, that's what I do. I think. I feel like that makes sense.

[ She turns to Jack. ]

Not sure how can I do much of anything without memories though.

It's okay, this part's pretty much over. The memories will come back as soon as we leave.

( He holds out a hand again — not that it's necessary, it's just... kind of automatic. He doesn't know how else to lead her back out again, he can't quite put it into words. Leading somebody by the hand is more instinct than anything. )

After this, you'll be back in control of everything. The first time's always weird.

Tʜᴇʀᴇ's ᴀ sᴘᴀɴɴᴇʀ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀᴋs, ʏᴏᴜ ᴋɴᴏᴡ (closed)

ᴋʏʟᴇ & ᴊᴇʀʀʏ

he's cringe and i'm sorry

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he's perfect u shut ur mouth

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sᴏᴘʜɪᴀ

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4give me for dropping off the face of the earth