[Hanna sounds rather rattled, coughing into his arm as he runs through that door he'd tried to avoid, and like before, the moment he steps through it, he's back on the Barge. A glance back to just an empty hallway rather than the scene he left behind, and he shakes his head. No. This has to stop, no looking back, just forward.]
Vinny, you there? I uh...I really need to talk to you about something. Heading to your cabin, you in?
The fact is: he hasn't. He's wondered if this is what he was sent here for, some anchor to let his god have an in to this place. Or perhaps it's just that the world will always change, always reflect these truths, the darkness within, that all places will eventually see the truth. Or, of course, it could just be a weird flood. Who the fuck knows how things work here? He could think those things but all of that requires more thought than he's been willing to put to any of it.
No, he's seen and heard people suffering and he's done what he's always done: been glad that it doesn't seem to be effecting him in any way, that the protections carved into his body and worn on his person are still effective, and let people do as they will.
None of them care about him, after all.
Jacob cares about his Father Vincent, but he knows he spooked him when he was finally honest. It's a mistake he won't make again.
Lark cares about his deal and if he thinks that having Vincent behave himself and act like a good little doggy is the way to go, that's fine. It's how he's behaved before, when others were in power. Keeping his mouth shut and staying out of trouble has always been plan one. He doesn't want to, or need to, be a hero.
For the most part, anyone else is incidental. Norton, not incidental but certainly not a concern, could happily fucking rot in the Otherworld, if that's what it actually is. The only other person was- ]
Yes, of course. I'm usually in.
Where else would I be?
[ No shifts to go to right this moment, and who would want to socialize? He has his library. ]
Uh, I dunno. Drinking your cares away while everyone is currently living through hell? Sounds like where I would love to be right now.
[He doesn't want to say anything over the network, not to incriminate himself anyways, he can do that on his own later when he figures out how to come clean about all of this, but the important thing is Vincent might know how to fix it.
Running up the stairs, ignoring the fact that he trips up them twice, catching himself on the railing, he gets to the right floor and opens the door to the hall, breathing out a sigh of relief when it opens to just more Barge. Opening doors shouldn't be that nerve-wracking.]
You up for a chat cause I'll be there in like thirty seconds and it's super important.
[He says as he stops in front of his cabin door, hands on his knees attempting to catch his breath. He was usually good with the cardio, but after all the magic use and running away from thing 1 and 2, he's not got a lot of gas in the tank. He knocks, just because that's what you're supposed to do, and waits impatiently outside, ready to come barreling in and confess is sins.]
[Getting absolutely hammered sounds like the nicest little vacation from reality in the way that the underworld wasn't, but he really should stay on task.
Opening the door, Hanna shuts it immediately behind him and leans against the door, letting out a very long sigh. He's got quite a bit of blood spatter on him, though it doesn't seem like much of it is his, thankfully or horribly, one of the two.]
So I'm going to preface this with I'm sorry, and I totally didn't mean to, but you have to promise before I get into it, you're not going to get like super mad and tell me to fuck off and fix my own shit, cause I really did try.
And if we just get the 'yes, Hanna I promise' out of the way quickly I can get into the actual 'oh christ, what have I done, please help me, God fucking shit dammnit' part.
Uh, well, I'm getting to that, and I don't- I don't kill people, well. Fuck...I try not to get them killed anyways. Who the fuck is Jacob?
[Hanna seems to have missed him in his meet and greet over the past 2 months. But, that's getting off topic. He waves his hands dramatically as if clearing some invisible smoke and walks forward, closer.]
What ever, that isn't the point. I- I might have done something, and I really hope you can help me, like. This...This shit all over the Barge? The monsters? I kind of, sort of think that I might have accidentally fucked up a little. Well. A lot.
[Despite how tired he is, Hanna is having difficulty standing still as he talks, wandering around the room nervously, half distracting himself with little things here and there, taking his marker out of his pocket and fiddling with it between his fingers.]
You uh...you know that book I borrowed? I've been translating some of the shit out of it, cause that's how my magic works, you understand the symbolism, you can cast the spell, it works or it doesn't. Just like, trial and error. So I maybe got a little ambitious this last month because it's fucking boring around here, and- [Hanna sucks in a breath, stopping short a few paces away from Vincent and closes his eyes tightly as he confesses.]
Are you familiar with the 'Halo of the Sun'? [He peaks one eye open as he stands stiffly, trying to gauge his reaction, hands in tight fists at his side.]
[ Vincent is many things, but stupid (despite what some might believe) is not one of them. A miscalculation on the level of devotion his adopted sister might have towards him, given their past, is not a mistake he intends to make again.
But as soon as Hanna starts talking, all the pieces so easily fall into place. It's not that he hadn't recognized some of the signs, as little as they bothered him. Someone from Seattle would hardly remark on the rain, after all, or Chicago the wind. The fact that he had come from Silent Hill, Maine, meant that he hadn't thought there was anything particularly strange about the strangeness of this place taking that form.
And even less now that he knows that someone actually invited such things.
Hanna will get to watch the face journey of 'oh, really?' to 'oh, that's hilarious' to deep sigh this is going to get pinned on me' followed by 'oh you have got to be kidding me' with that last question. ]
The Halo of the Sun. You mean... this Halo of the Sun?
[ He holds up one of the little embroidered banners he has hanging from one of the bookshelves. ]
You mean one of the central symbols of my faith, the Halo of the Sun? That Halo of the Sun?
[ He will undo the buttons on one of his shirt sleeves and push the material up and show a scarified version of the same. ]
[He manages to open both eyes to watch the journey Vincent goes through, noting that in there, he didn't really seem to be all that mad. That was a good sign right?
And then he started to point, Hanna suddenly realizing that what he'd drawn on his cabin floor was kind of all around the room, and he'd only been in here the once, so he hadn't exactly noticed.
As he rolls his sleeve up, Hanna's hand grips his other wrist, practically squirming as he shows him the scarred image on his arm.]
Y-yes? That...uh. That's the one! Ahahaha, I...I didn't think it was going to work, so I just had fun with it, translating, and who ever really means it when they put god and the devil in their symbology anyways? I just- [He keeps coming up with excuses, and isn't sure if he can shut up, they keep just falling out.]
Didn't expect this. Or want this, and I've been trying to fix it since Monday, and nothing has worked, but I figured you'd be mad. And then everything just continued to get worse...
[ Vincent has taken confessions, many of them in fact, and not always with a booth in the way. ]
Scholarship is well-served by taking more than one book and cross-referencing. If you'd taken some time to read the mythology that went along with the tome you took, that juxtaposition would have made more sense to you. After all, what one sees as the devil and what another sees as god can often be the same thing, no?
[ Vincent definitely looks like he's keen to get into the philosophy discussion around this as much as he is to get this fixed. After all- ]
I- I don't get a good one often, and it's been a hot minute since I had two or a whole fucking library! I might have gotten lazy, or excited, or just sucked in because it was interesting, but regardless, it's-
[He had said monsters. It's a word he rarely uses, because he's friends with quite a few things people might consider monsters, but what he saw in the underworld... the two figures that had followed him around, that had killed David?
They weren't really monsters. Just a truth he didn't want to face.]
Got the wrong prescription on, probably. But- we can talk semantics all day, I honestly love the speech, like- [Hanna does a quick golf clap because it is definitely deserved.] Totally into it, but do you know how to fix this? Because I'm fresh out of ideas, and my tank's been running on E since like, fucking Thursday and people are dying because I fucked up.
"You mean that the unrighteous have been purified by the trials that show the darkness within their souls that must be scourged clean?" but there's so much scorn and disdain in the words that there's no possible way to think he means them honestly.
He shakes his head.
"That's what that world does. Some of my Order believe it to be the path to Paradise." Beat. "I think they're insane."
But he does close his book and turn to put his feet on the ground.
"Which is why I, of course, know how to counteract it. I've had to do it before."
"Jesus fucking Christ your Order is wild dude. What the hell?" Hanna is totally fine with crazy shit, but that's a little too much on the side of crazy crazy for him. He's thankful that Vincent isn't right on board with it because he might have to rethink a few things like their friendship or whether or not it was a good idea to come to him for help.
"Can I just say that I'm sorry that you even have to do it again? Like, dying really should have taken you a bit further away from the chaos of home and I kind of sucked it right back to where you were at." He is practically bouncing to leave though, get up to his room and stop this because it's terrible and he has no idea how this is going to play out, but it's very likely it won't be pretty at all.
"Also, hope you can do something about the fact that I can't touch the damn thing, it seems to want to exist on a different layer of reality, and I've been trying to pin it down all week. Fucking thing is tricksy AF."
"Because you didn't do the proper preparation, more than likely. Or have the appropriate means to exist on all levels of reality," he says absently. Vincent is hardly perfect when it comes to these things; esoteric studies are hardly without their trials and tribulations.
"It's still impressive," he'll note. He shakes his head. "I never had the power to manifest such things myself, not that I wanted to. Prevention and reversal were always my areas of interest, especially given Sister Claudia's... 'devotion'."
And the Book of Memories, but that's neither here nor there.
"Let me get some supplies together and we can walk back to your room. We'll need to access the sigil, undo it, and then do a counter ritual." A wry smile. "Don't worry. Nothing will bother you traveling with me."
"Was that in like, chapter 3 or did I just miss some shit when I read through. I really don't think there was a section on...existing on all levels of reality." He frowns as he thinks about it, wondering if he'd sealed the thing first before he cast it, if it would have been fine and easy to erase. He really shouldn't be thinking about next times or what would have worked to begin with though, and he stands back, shoving his hands in his pockets as his head follows Vincent.
"I uh, had a little help from a staff I was given. Gives me a little boost on top of my regular shit, but it's been out of juice all week." Which is also why he's thinking he himself is tied to it as well and what that's going to mean when they get there. He'd been trying not to die the past week, seeing as he hadn't said anything to anyone about what he'd done, but now he's thinking it's just going to be an inevitability to pull the metaphorical plug.
"Can I help? You need me to grab anything? Or like, carry shit so you can-" he pauses, "Wait, seriously? Have you just been chill all week? Man... I really should have said something sooner."
"The book you took has to do purely with the ritual and esoteric aspects, the 'functional' instructions, which I thought you were going to use to explore the system itself on a purely academic level," he says as he starts looking through the shelves for a few things. He pulls one off and opens it up, flipping through until he finds what he needs before closing it again and putting it back. He does this a few more times.
Then he looks up.
"They didn't think to mention it, no doubt, for the same reason most instructional manuals don't mention getting up from your bed and getting dressed in the morning: the assumption being that anyone who would attempt such a ritual working would be fully prepared otherwise."
He picks up one more, but this one he's bringing with him. It's settled under his arm.
"First to the garden upstairs. Then to your room. We'll discuss how you can help in a moment." He looks over at Hanna. "And yes, you should have said something sooner if you're this distressed at the results of your work. Scholarship is best pursued with peer review, no?"
Hanna watches him, trying to keep still, but it really isn't working. He feels like his sense of urgency and Vincent's really isn't on the same level, but he's not going to rush him, he's the one that caused the problem in the first place, and at each little 'jab' at his lack of forethought, his mouth pulls a harsh line, pretty sure he deserved every single one of those.
"I mean, sometimes you just gotta add in the 'caution: contents hot' on the cup so idiots don't get burned." And in this example, he's the idiot.
And while he would think that yes, yes, next time, if there was a next time, which he hoped not, he should have said something sooner, but...peer review? Never even occurred to him. "Oh...I never had anyone to review with me. Not that I didn't think you were like, capable since it's all your books, but... studying has always just been me, myself and I." Even when he got a partner, he hadn't shared much. It just wasn't how he operated. If there was something he needed to know, it was usually said as he was needing to know it, which...in retrospect, probably isn't that helpful.
Like now. "It would probably be more fun that way, though." A pause, "I mean, if you're not like, restricting my access to your library." Which, he was totally expecting and kind of part of the reason why he hadn't said anything until now.
"If you'd done this intentionally, I certainly would have," he says with a small huff and a theatrical flutter of a hand, tossing the idea to the winds. "But as it was instead the spirit of inquiry that led to this situation, I can hardly fault you."
He walks around to grab another book and something from his desk that he shoves into his pocket.
"And in truth, this library was in my private chambers and before that, kept only for the most devout and accomplished among our order." He had enjoyed raiding their stores, like all the forbidden fruit he could ever want plucked at his own time and pace because he held the purse strings and rebuilt that which Dahlia's fanaticism had brought to ruin. "Hardly the sort of place one expects children to stick their fingers in the electrical sockets."
"The spirit of Inquiry really fucked everyone over, so I would say I'm still surprised you're not mad. Not like this is a 'oh we can just buy a new one' sitch after I broke a dish in the sink." And he has no idea what he's going to say once this is fixed. Was he going to say anything at all? Probably.
He swallows a little hard, squeezing his eyes shut as he tries not to think about the consequence as Vincent finishes up gathering his shit, blinking them open when he mentions electrical sockets, "And here I've been telling people I'm not a grand master of anything, and I'm suddenly given access to some high level shit. Don't tell anyone or they'll want magic lessons." He tries for a joke even if his heart isn't in it.
"So, uh...when this shit is over, I wasn't planning on letting anyone know where I got my info from, you can take the book back. Don't want us both getting shit because I fucked up."
"My warden will know," he says breezily enough. He knows what will be required here. And that means, he knows what will happen when he does it and what that will mean.
"You intend to take responsibility for this, then?"
"Hopefully they aren't a prick about it." Because he's not really sure who Vincent's warden is. He obviously hadn't been paying attention to announcements aside from the ones where he kept getting set up with teenagers.
"I mean, even if I could get away with it, I feel like I have to say something." He might be good at telling lies and skirting around the truth, but that's when it doesn't really matter. "Even if no one ever found out, I would know, and that's...that's kind of a lot to have to carry around by myself. I'm not really big on hurting people or putting them through psychological torture."
How lucky for you. He does not say. It doesn't even show on his face. Instead, he nods.
"Nonsense, you're hardly carrying it on your own, now, are you?" he says cheerfully before he sighs and moves to open the door. Oh, he can sense what's out there, like heavy steps on a metal floor. He knows the difference. It's just...
It is what it is. Such is life.
"Say whatever you need to say. And of course, if you care to give confession, you know my hours in the chapel."
That's very clearly a joke but also... sort of not. Sometimes, it's hard to tell with him.
"Uh, I guess so, but again, the psychological torture part is a big no no, and I should fess up in case someone sleuths it out instead. I have a hard enough time convincing people I'm not secretly some kind of murderer or what ever because I got pulled here in the first place, though I guess if I confess some people might not believe it was an accident...Fuck man, why does doing the right thing have to suck so much?"
Hanna follows after him, still a little unsure whether or not it really would be fine if he was walking with him. What was the radius on that anyways? Like, shoulder to shoulder? Or ten feet behind?
"I don't have to like, hold your hand or what ever to make sure I don't get sucked back in to hell do I?"
That phrase: 'why does doing the right thing have to suck so much'. It hits something in him, and a little crackle in the facade finally hits the surface. He pauses for a moment, and it's obvious that he's thinking of something, considering something, but it's not something for the moment. No, some of the haste has started to hit him.
"No, though we may travel through the Otherworld, nothing will give you trouble as long as you are with me. Consider me your faithful shepherd, hmm?"
"That's a relief..." He sucks in a breath, having tried not to think about it, but he doesn't know if David's body would still be down there. The shifting nature of the 'Otherworld' as he called it made it rather unclear.
"My friend helped me get out earlier. I couldn't exactly carry him out when the fuckin' things chasing me weren't going to stop just because he went down. They were pretty singularly focused..." Which was incredibly familiar and terrible and another thing he really didn't want to think about. All that curly red hair really wasn't subtle at all.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Audio
[Hanna sounds rather rattled, coughing into his arm as he runs through that door he'd tried to avoid, and like before, the moment he steps through it, he's back on the Barge. A glance back to just an empty hallway rather than the scene he left behind, and he shakes his head. No. This has to stop, no looking back, just forward.]
Vinny, you there? I uh...I really need to talk to you about something. Heading to your cabin, you in?
Re: Audio
The fact is: he hasn't. He's wondered if this is what he was sent here for, some anchor to let his god have an in to this place. Or perhaps it's just that the world will always change, always reflect these truths, the darkness within, that all places will eventually see the truth. Or, of course, it could just be a weird flood. Who the fuck knows how things work here? He could think those things but all of that requires more thought than he's been willing to put to any of it.
No, he's seen and heard people suffering and he's done what he's always done: been glad that it doesn't seem to be effecting him in any way, that the protections carved into his body and worn on his person are still effective, and let people do as they will.
None of them care about him, after all.
Jacob cares about his Father Vincent, but he knows he spooked him when he was finally honest. It's a mistake he won't make again.
Lark cares about his deal and if he thinks that having Vincent behave himself and act like a good little doggy is the way to go, that's fine. It's how he's behaved before, when others were in power. Keeping his mouth shut and staying out of trouble has always been plan one. He doesn't want to, or need to, be a hero.
For the most part, anyone else is incidental. Norton, not incidental but certainly not a concern, could happily fucking rot in the Otherworld, if that's what it actually is. The only other person was- ]
Yes, of course. I'm usually in.
Where else would I be?
[ No shifts to go to right this moment, and who would want to socialize? He has his library. ]
Re: Audio
[He doesn't want to say anything over the network, not to incriminate himself anyways, he can do that on his own later when he figures out how to come clean about all of this, but the important thing is Vincent might know how to fix it.
Running up the stairs, ignoring the fact that he trips up them twice, catching himself on the railing, he gets to the right floor and opens the door to the hall, breathing out a sigh of relief when it opens to just more Barge. Opening doors shouldn't be that nerve-wracking.]
You up for a chat cause I'll be there in like thirty seconds and it's super important.
[He says as he stops in front of his cabin door, hands on his knees attempting to catch his breath. He was usually good with the cardio, but after all the magic use and running away from thing 1 and 2, he's not got a lot of gas in the tank. He knocks, just because that's what you're supposed to do, and waits impatiently outside, ready to come barreling in and confess is sins.]
Re: Audio
[ A very wry chuckle before- ]
I assumed as such. Door's open.
Re: Audio
Opening the door, Hanna shuts it immediately behind him and leans against the door, letting out a very long sigh. He's got quite a bit of blood spatter on him, though it doesn't seem like much of it is his, thankfully or horribly, one of the two.]
So I'm going to preface this with I'm sorry, and I totally didn't mean to, but you have to promise before I get into it, you're not going to get like super mad and tell me to fuck off and fix my own shit, cause I really did try.
And if we just get the 'yes, Hanna I promise' out of the way quickly I can get into the actual 'oh christ, what have I done, please help me, God fucking shit dammnit' part.
Sound like a plan?
Re: Audio
Which says more than it doesn't. ]
Why would I be mad at you?
[ He frowns a little. ]
You didn't kill Jacob, did you? Anyone else, frankly, I'm fine with.
Re: Audio
[Hanna seems to have missed him in his meet and greet over the past 2 months. But, that's getting off topic. He waves his hands dramatically as if clearing some invisible smoke and walks forward, closer.]
What ever, that isn't the point. I- I might have done something, and I really hope you can help me, like. This...This shit all over the Barge? The monsters? I kind of, sort of think that I might have accidentally fucked up a little. Well. A lot.
[Despite how tired he is, Hanna is having difficulty standing still as he talks, wandering around the room nervously, half distracting himself with little things here and there, taking his marker out of his pocket and fiddling with it between his fingers.]
You uh...you know that book I borrowed? I've been translating some of the shit out of it, cause that's how my magic works, you understand the symbolism, you can cast the spell, it works or it doesn't. Just like, trial and error. So I maybe got a little ambitious this last month because it's fucking boring around here, and- [Hanna sucks in a breath, stopping short a few paces away from Vincent and closes his eyes tightly as he confesses.]
Are you familiar with the 'Halo of the Sun'? [He peaks one eye open as he stands stiffly, trying to gauge his reaction, hands in tight fists at his side.]
Re: Audio
But as soon as Hanna starts talking, all the pieces so easily fall into place. It's not that he hadn't recognized some of the signs, as little as they bothered him. Someone from Seattle would hardly remark on the rain, after all, or Chicago the wind. The fact that he had come from Silent Hill, Maine, meant that he hadn't thought there was anything particularly strange about the strangeness of this place taking that form.
And even less now that he knows that someone actually invited such things.
Hanna will get to watch the face journey of 'oh, really?' to 'oh, that's hilarious' to deep sigh this is going to get pinned on me' followed by 'oh you have got to be kidding me' with that last question. ]
The Halo of the Sun. You mean... this Halo of the Sun?
[ He holds up one of the little embroidered banners he has hanging from one of the bookshelves. ]
You mean one of the central symbols of my faith, the Halo of the Sun? That Halo of the Sun?
[ He will undo the buttons on one of his shirt sleeves and push the material up and show a scarified version of the same. ]
That one?
Re: Audio
And then he started to point, Hanna suddenly realizing that what he'd drawn on his cabin floor was kind of all around the room, and he'd only been in here the once, so he hadn't exactly noticed.
As he rolls his sleeve up, Hanna's hand grips his other wrist, practically squirming as he shows him the scarred image on his arm.]
Y-yes? That...uh. That's the one! Ahahaha, I...I didn't think it was going to work, so I just had fun with it, translating, and who ever really means it when they put god and the devil in their symbology anyways? I just- [He keeps coming up with excuses, and isn't sure if he can shut up, they keep just falling out.]
Didn't expect this. Or want this, and I've been trying to fix it since Monday, and nothing has worked, but I figured you'd be mad. And then everything just continued to get worse...
Re: Audio
Scholarship is well-served by taking more than one book and cross-referencing. If you'd taken some time to read the mythology that went along with the tome you took, that juxtaposition would have made more sense to you. After all, what one sees as the devil and what another sees as god can often be the same thing, no?
[ Vincent definitely looks like he's keen to get into the philosophy discussion around this as much as he is to get this fixed. After all- ]
Monsters, you said?
...they look like monsters to you?
Re: Audio
[He had said monsters. It's a word he rarely uses, because he's friends with quite a few things people might consider monsters, but what he saw in the underworld... the two figures that had followed him around, that had killed David?
They weren't really monsters. Just a truth he didn't want to face.]
Got the wrong prescription on, probably. But- we can talk semantics all day, I honestly love the speech, like- [Hanna does a quick golf clap because it is definitely deserved.] Totally into it, but do you know how to fix this? Because I'm fresh out of ideas, and my tank's been running on E since like, fucking Thursday and people are dying because I fucked up.
That's...That's not supposed to happen.
Re: Audio
He shakes his head.
"That's what that world does. Some of my Order believe it to be the path to Paradise." Beat. "I think they're insane."
But he does close his book and turn to put his feet on the ground.
"Which is why I, of course, know how to counteract it. I've had to do it before."
Re: Audio
"Can I just say that I'm sorry that you even have to do it again? Like, dying really should have taken you a bit further away from the chaos of home and I kind of sucked it right back to where you were at." He is practically bouncing to leave though, get up to his room and stop this because it's terrible and he has no idea how this is going to play out, but it's very likely it won't be pretty at all.
"Also, hope you can do something about the fact that I can't touch the damn thing, it seems to want to exist on a different layer of reality, and I've been trying to pin it down all week. Fucking thing is tricksy AF."
Re: Audio
"It's still impressive," he'll note. He shakes his head. "I never had the power to manifest such things myself, not that I wanted to. Prevention and reversal were always my areas of interest, especially given Sister Claudia's... 'devotion'."
And the Book of Memories, but that's neither here nor there.
"Let me get some supplies together and we can walk back to your room. We'll need to access the sigil, undo it, and then do a counter ritual." A wry smile. "Don't worry. Nothing will bother you traveling with me."
Re: Audio
"I uh, had a little help from a staff I was given. Gives me a little boost on top of my regular shit, but it's been out of juice all week." Which is also why he's thinking he himself is tied to it as well and what that's going to mean when they get there. He'd been trying not to die the past week, seeing as he hadn't said anything to anyone about what he'd done, but now he's thinking it's just going to be an inevitability to pull the metaphorical plug.
"Can I help? You need me to grab anything? Or like, carry shit so you can-" he pauses, "Wait, seriously? Have you just been chill all week? Man... I really should have said something sooner."
Re: Audio
Then he looks up.
"They didn't think to mention it, no doubt, for the same reason most instructional manuals don't mention getting up from your bed and getting dressed in the morning: the assumption being that anyone who would attempt such a ritual working would be fully prepared otherwise."
He picks up one more, but this one he's bringing with him. It's settled under his arm.
"First to the garden upstairs. Then to your room. We'll discuss how you can help in a moment." He looks over at Hanna. "And yes, you should have said something sooner if you're this distressed at the results of your work. Scholarship is best pursued with peer review, no?"
Re: Audio
"I mean, sometimes you just gotta add in the 'caution: contents hot' on the cup so idiots don't get burned." And in this example, he's the idiot.
And while he would think that yes, yes, next time, if there was a next time, which he hoped not, he should have said something sooner, but...peer review? Never even occurred to him. "Oh...I never had anyone to review with me. Not that I didn't think you were like, capable since it's all your books, but... studying has always just been me, myself and I." Even when he got a partner, he hadn't shared much. It just wasn't how he operated. If there was something he needed to know, it was usually said as he was needing to know it, which...in retrospect, probably isn't that helpful.
Like now. "It would probably be more fun that way, though." A pause, "I mean, if you're not like, restricting my access to your library." Which, he was totally expecting and kind of part of the reason why he hadn't said anything until now.
Re: Audio
He walks around to grab another book and something from his desk that he shoves into his pocket.
"And in truth, this library was in my private chambers and before that, kept only for the most devout and accomplished among our order." He had enjoyed raiding their stores, like all the forbidden fruit he could ever want plucked at his own time and pace because he held the purse strings and rebuilt that which Dahlia's fanaticism had brought to ruin. "Hardly the sort of place one expects children to stick their fingers in the electrical sockets."
Re: Audio
He swallows a little hard, squeezing his eyes shut as he tries not to think about the consequence as Vincent finishes up gathering his shit, blinking them open when he mentions electrical sockets, "And here I've been telling people I'm not a grand master of anything, and I'm suddenly given access to some high level shit. Don't tell anyone or they'll want magic lessons." He tries for a joke even if his heart isn't in it.
"So, uh...when this shit is over, I wasn't planning on letting anyone know where I got my info from, you can take the book back. Don't want us both getting shit because I fucked up."
Re: Audio
"You intend to take responsibility for this, then?"
Re: Audio
"I mean, even if I could get away with it, I feel like I have to say something." He might be good at telling lies and skirting around the truth, but that's when it doesn't really matter. "Even if no one ever found out, I would know, and that's...that's kind of a lot to have to carry around by myself. I'm not really big on hurting people or putting them through psychological torture."
Re: Audio
"Nonsense, you're hardly carrying it on your own, now, are you?" he says cheerfully before he sighs and moves to open the door. Oh, he can sense what's out there, like heavy steps on a metal floor. He knows the difference. It's just...
It is what it is. Such is life.
"Say whatever you need to say. And of course, if you care to give confession, you know my hours in the chapel."
That's very clearly a joke but also... sort of not. Sometimes, it's hard to tell with him.
Re: Audio
Hanna follows after him, still a little unsure whether or not it really would be fine if he was walking with him. What was the radius on that anyways? Like, shoulder to shoulder? Or ten feet behind?
"I don't have to like, hold your hand or what ever to make sure I don't get sucked back in to hell do I?"
Re: Audio
"No, though we may travel through the Otherworld, nothing will give you trouble as long as you are with me. Consider me your faithful shepherd, hmm?"
Re: Audio
"My friend helped me get out earlier. I couldn't exactly carry him out when the fuckin' things chasing me weren't going to stop just because he went down. They were pretty singularly focused..." Which was incredibly familiar and terrible and another thing he really didn't want to think about. All that curly red hair really wasn't subtle at all.
Re: Audio
Re: Audio
Re: Audio
Re: Audio
Re: Audio
Re: Audio
Re: Audio
Re: Audio
Re: Audio
Re: Audio
Re: Audio
Re: Audio
cw mention of self harm
Re: cw mention of self harm
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)