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victory_road2016-10-18 03:04 am
secondhandsome) wrote in victory_road2016-10-18 03:04 am
004 ♟ open log (ecruteak)
Who: Timothy Lawrence and anyone hanging out in Ecruteak
Where: Ecruteak City
When: Like all through mid-October, really
Summary: Tim's had a rough time, so obviously this is a great time to come say hi to him!
Rating: Like PG-13 at worst? Some references to traumatic stuff will happen, but nothing explicit.
[ a - ecruteak inn ]
[For the first few days after he's back in Ecruteak, Tim... doesn't really leave his room much. He just... doesn't really feel up to being anywhere else, both physically and mentally. It's only rarely that someone might spot him out in the halls for something. Generally, he ducks back into his room quickly enough, but you might catch him before he does that.
Even just out in the hallway like this, he's doing his best not to show his face too much. Even if you approach him, you might not be getting eye contact. Hell, it's kind of impressive if you even get a good look at him at all.
What little you'll be able to see of him, though... Well, let's just say he's not looking too good. Even putting aside the... obvious change.
Or, hell, maybe you're not leaving it to chance. His room is right there, it's easy enough to visit him there. Who knows how eager he'll be to talk if you decide to knock, but hey, worth a shot...?]
[ b - around town ]
[After several days, Tim does start actually leaving the inn now and then. It's not that he feels all that great, but he can't really stay inside for the rest of his life. Tempting as that might be.
It feels... awkward, being out and about. Compared to some of the people stuck in this world, he doesn't stand out so much, but he sure feels like he does. Because... yeah, there's the scar, of course. It's hard to miss the big, upside-down V now adorning his face. Only part of it isn't visible, as he has a bandage over his left eye. That's there for everyone else's benefit as much as his own, honestly. The whole thing looks painful, but at least not as fresh anymore.
Some people do stare and that's enough to make him regret coming outside, but... fuck it, he needs the fresh air. And so do his Pokemon.
Mostly he's keeping to himself. It's easy to spot him in quiet parts of town, sitting alone as he watches his Pokemon play. All his cats need the chance to actually get out. Well, and his Ditto, but it's also looking like a cat right now, so good luck spotting it. The only one of his Pokemon that's not doing her own thing is the Espurr who refuses to leave Tim's lap.
Of course, he's also just a little jumpy at the moment and the Espurr's picked up on that. So be careful as you approach. Because as soon as you get close enough, a blue glow appears underneath the small cat's ears and she stares directly at you with those big eyes of her. At least Tim's there to calm her down.]
Whoa, h-hey... c'mon, it's okay... [He sighs a little as he pets and shushes the Espurr.] Sorry, she's a little, uh... wary of people.
Where: Ecruteak City
When: Like all through mid-October, really
Summary: Tim's had a rough time, so obviously this is a great time to come say hi to him!
Rating: Like PG-13 at worst? Some references to traumatic stuff will happen, but nothing explicit.
[ a - ecruteak inn ]
[For the first few days after he's back in Ecruteak, Tim... doesn't really leave his room much. He just... doesn't really feel up to being anywhere else, both physically and mentally. It's only rarely that someone might spot him out in the halls for something. Generally, he ducks back into his room quickly enough, but you might catch him before he does that.
Even just out in the hallway like this, he's doing his best not to show his face too much. Even if you approach him, you might not be getting eye contact. Hell, it's kind of impressive if you even get a good look at him at all.
What little you'll be able to see of him, though... Well, let's just say he's not looking too good. Even putting aside the... obvious change.
Or, hell, maybe you're not leaving it to chance. His room is right there, it's easy enough to visit him there. Who knows how eager he'll be to talk if you decide to knock, but hey, worth a shot...?]
[ b - around town ]
[After several days, Tim does start actually leaving the inn now and then. It's not that he feels all that great, but he can't really stay inside for the rest of his life. Tempting as that might be.
It feels... awkward, being out and about. Compared to some of the people stuck in this world, he doesn't stand out so much, but he sure feels like he does. Because... yeah, there's the scar, of course. It's hard to miss the big, upside-down V now adorning his face. Only part of it isn't visible, as he has a bandage over his left eye. That's there for everyone else's benefit as much as his own, honestly. The whole thing looks painful, but at least not as fresh anymore.
Some people do stare and that's enough to make him regret coming outside, but... fuck it, he needs the fresh air. And so do his Pokemon.
Mostly he's keeping to himself. It's easy to spot him in quiet parts of town, sitting alone as he watches his Pokemon play. All his cats need the chance to actually get out. Well, and his Ditto, but it's also looking like a cat right now, so good luck spotting it. The only one of his Pokemon that's not doing her own thing is the Espurr who refuses to leave Tim's lap.
Of course, he's also just a little jumpy at the moment and the Espurr's picked up on that. So be careful as you approach. Because as soon as you get close enough, a blue glow appears underneath the small cat's ears and she stares directly at you with those big eyes of her. At least Tim's there to calm her down.]
Whoa, h-hey... c'mon, it's okay... [He sighs a little as he pets and shushes the Espurr.] Sorry, she's a little, uh... wary of people.
[around town]
Or, maybe even especially when that's the case.
In any event, he has no interest in bothering the doppelganger while the man is skulking around in the inn. He's seen the poor idiot's face. Even without all of the other helpful clues - Athena's grimmer-than-usual expression, her blood-spattered clothing, and The World's Greatest Souvenir - he doesn't have to be a genius to realize what's been done to the guy. He may have a deep and disturbing appreciation for badass scars, but even Krieg can recognize the difference between a badass scar obtained by being more badass than whatever caused the scar, and a scar obtained while strapped to a chair by a megalomaniacal psychopath who doesn't understand personal boundaries and the unwritten rules of common human decency.
It's pretty bad when a Pandoran Psycho has a better understanding of acceptable behavior toward allies and friends than some guy who claims to be an actual honest-to-god hero. And while Krieg may still be learning the finer details of common human decency, he is learning. It's not difficult. And it's kind of nice.
It's Murder Chicken who notices the doppelganger first. Like his trainer, the Combusken has been giving Tim some space. Unlike his trainer, for some reason MC seems to think that since Tim is now outdoors, space must no longer be necessary, and it is clearly time for him to claim his rightful and long-denied head-pats from the man.
No one knows why he likes having his head patted so much. He's not going to have an easy time when he evolves and grows taller than pretty much everyone he knows save for his trainer.
But that is small chicken angst for another time.
Of course Krieg notices when his little buddy darts away, and naturally follows him.
He recognizes the antagonistic, protective look in the little purple cat's wide round eyes, and honestly, he approves.]
She's smart.
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Just try something, buddy. Give her a reason.
The rest of the cats, still doing their own thing, don't seem to really notice. Or maybe they figure that since Tim seems calm enough, everything's fine. And he is doing okay here. Krieg's... intimidating, he's not gonna lie. But when they'd talked before, that had gone pretty okay? And Athena trusts him enough, so that's good enough for him.
...Not that he doesn't still look nervous, but he hasn't really stopped looking nervous since he first got to Johto. Maybe a little more so now.]
Smart and she's got some, uh, bad experiences, let's just say... [Experiences he can relate to an awful lot, ha ha... ha...] Things didn't really work out with her first trainer.
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Krieg is used to people looking nervous around him. The doppelganger's expression is nothing new, although at the same time it is vaguely satisfying to see such an expression on that particular face.
It's not the right person behind the face, though.
He knows. He doesn't think Handsome Jack would ever look nervous around him, anyway.
Furious, maybe. Which is just as good as far as Krieg's concerned.
When Tim explains...vaguely...why the little folded-eared cat is so nervous, he regards the little creature with a new understanding, before nodding and flicking his gaze back up to the man's uncovered eye.]
Next time Shield Lady won't get to have all the fun by herself.
[Even though she did give him Jack's mask, he's still a little bitter at being left behind. Krieg wanted to snap Jack's neck, too!]
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Yeah? Feel kinda bad about getting left out, huh?
Kinda think Athena needed that, though.
[Tim's tone there is... surprisingly neutral. Is it weird that he kinda doesn't know how to feel about Athena kicking Jack's ass? Not that his feelings on it are negative, god no. But you'd think there'd be satisfaction there. There would've been before everything went to hell for a while.
Hell, when Athena told him about Jack dying back home there was absolutely satisfaction.
Now he just sorta feels... numb? It's really weird.]
But yeah. Always next time.
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Krieg shrugs at the doppelganger's assessment, gaze shifting briefly down to Murder Chicken - hamming it up, as usual - before returning to Tim's face.]
You're her friend. She needed it.
[He'll always be disappointed about being left behind, but he also gets it. He knows what it's like to be too angry to even be able to see straight. He'd felt that way when Angel had died, and then Roland right after her. He'd paid Jack back tenfold, in the end, him and the other Vault Hunters. It had been a long road in getting there. There had been no near-instant gratification, and there had been far, far too much of listening to Jack alternately rage and gloat before finally, finally, sticking it to him.
But they'd stuck it to him good. Krieg laughs at the memory, a quiet rumble of satisfied amusement deep in his chest.]
There's always next tiiiime!
[Never let it be said that Krieg the Psycho is not an optimist.]
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[ Around Town! ] (shall we say 15th? Then Chaos hasn't evolved just yet...)
The next time he saw 'Jack' with his Pokemon, Walter released some of his own to go and play. Jack had enjoyed his Pokemon, petting Chaos and smiling at Doll, even after she had frightened him. Maybe they could help better than he could. Before she could cause trouble though, Walter grabbed Chaos by the scruff and lifted her up. There were a lot of cat Pokemon around and she had already proven that she would try to fight just about anything that looked remotely like a feline.
Darkness perched on his shoulder and Doll hovered beside him, following him as he approached. When stared at by the Espurr, Walter merely returned her gaze, inviting her to look all she wanted.
"Jack."
the 15th works, sure!
So Walter's not someone he's expecting to run into. It adds an extra layer of discomfort that's there with every social interaction lately. He tries not to let it show; it's not like it's Walter's fault or anything. It's just... different, having someone not from Pandora see the scar.
"Oh, ah... H-Hey..." The Espurr is still staring intently, not convinced this is safe yet, but at least she's not aggressive. Meanwhile some of the other cats are very curious. Like the little Litleo that's walking up, curiously sniffing Walter. "Didn't expect to see you in this town."
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"Do not cause trouble, Chaos." The moment her paws touched the ground, she was immediately sizing up Litleo. It was clearly some kind of cub like her...but not a Shinx! She dropped into a playfight stance, hopping from side to side and giving playful growls. She needed to test this other cub's strength!
Walter raised his head, satisfied Chaos wasn't going to start attacking all the other cats. "I was here for the Ghost Festival. I wanted to revisit when there would be less people." Of course he saw the scar. It's quite literally all over Tim's face. But when you're raised in a situation like Walter's, where you were abused and regularly saw the children around you beaten and abused too, he at least knew how to be tactful about such obvious truama.
Quietly, he sat on the bench beside Tim. "I did not know you had so many Pokemon."
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Tim just lets them be. It looks like they're doing fine. "Oh, right, yeah... Yeah, lots of people can get here now 'cause of that. Kinda forgot about that."
Well, not entirely. More like he forgot it applied to more people than just Jack. He's been so focused on his psychopath of a boss, after all. Knowing where other people could fast travel to hadn't really been important.
"Yeah, just sorta... keep ending up with them, I guess? This one's... really new." He looks down at the Espurr, who's tilting her head as she continues to stare at Walter. "She's, ah... sort of a rescue cat, I guess."
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Walter looked down at the new cat. He recognised this 'Espurr'. Anders had one. He would offer his hand, but the memory of Tim's Meowth sprang to mind, so he kept his hands in his lap. "An Espurr. I've heard about them, but what do you mean by a rescue cat?"
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[The Inn]
[Visiting Ecruteak with a gift basket large enough she needs Amoz to carry it hadn't been on the list. But here she is, with a stuffed, witch hatted Persian in her arms and her shiny Houndoom behind her. She'd said she'd give the man who's forced to call himself Jack a few days, and this counts as a few.]
[She knows pushing never leads to anything good, but she isn't just going to leave him alone with whatever's happened. And of course he isn't alone, he'd said he's staying with friends, but... still. He means something to her, and she's worried for him and frightened of the greater implications. So she's here, dressed down in a pair of black leggings and a dark sweater, with a thrown together basket and good intentions.]
[She thinks that this man is a man who won't be distressed over the gesture, or her presence. So she knocks at the door of his room, to announce her presence. She hasn't bothered calling or messaging ahead, not giving him a chance to change his mind about her company.]
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So he's definitely surprised at the sudden knocking. There's a brief moment of panic, because he's just so damn jumpy lately, but then he remembers there's really no way Jack would be here now. It could be Athena, but he thinks if she knocked it'd be a little more... forceful. There's still plenty of people left in the group, of course.
He doesn't even consider that it could be someone outside the group until he opens the door and oh god, it's Lust.]
--Oh, uh... H-Hey!
[Right. He did say she could stop by whenever, but when she said she'd give him a few days, he kinda figured it'd take longer. Not that it matters much if it's then or now, but well, he's... definitely caught off guard. Not that that's all that hard to do these days.
Anyway, hey Lust, your friend's looking a little different, huh? How about that.]
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[Well. That answers all of Lust's questions rather neatly, when he opens the door. She's wondered. Just what had happened.]
[And there it is.]
[Something lurches inside of her. The mark is still an angry, new color. God, the pain that must have entailed. Without thinking much, Lust reaches up, laying her hand gently along the right edge of his jaw, careful not to irritate the edges of the burn. She offers him a soft smile, careful not to let anything that could be mistaken for pity into her expression.]
[She feels no pity for him, he isn't a pitiable man. She's sympathetic, and her heart hurts for him, and she fears for him. She can't help it. Seeing him like this, his face freshly burned...she can't help but think of another man, who turned hard and bitter and broken beyond repair.]
Hello. I'm sorry for dropping by unannounced, but I thought it might be easiest for you.
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And the response he gets is... Well, honestly, he isn't sure what he expected, but this is... definitely better than that. It's the first physical contact since everything happened that doesn't make him jump, too.
He does look away to the side a little, though, unable to not feel awkward here.]
Ah, it's, uh, it's no problem, really. [It's not. Because she's probably right. If she'd announced it, he probably would've panicked, tried to get out of it, stress out the whole time... Yeah, this is better.] Ha, sorry, I know I'm not exactly looking great, just ah...
[Okay, no, he's losing his ability to words again, that's not good. He needs to fix that.]
Anyway, I should... be inviting you inside, so, um. I guess this is me... doing... that.
[...He did not fix that. Wow, Timothy. Wow.
Tim just... shuts his eyes for a second, trying really hard to resist the urge to facepalm at himself. Because that'd kind of hurt.]
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You look like a man who's recently been through an ordeal, nothing more.
[She drops her hand. It's bad, the mark, it is. But because it looks painful, because it's evidence of some awful trauma. She bends a moment, picking up the large plush a she enters. She hardly gives a thought to his rambling, he's in medical recovery. He's already mentioned hes on pain medications.]
Here. I understand this sort of gift is traditional, when one is recovering from some physical difficulty. And I thought if you couldn't make it to Halloween, Halloween could come to you.
[She gestures to the overflowing basket strapped to her Houndoom.]
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around town
What she can do, though, is approach the guy with a mug in each hand. It's hot chocolate, with whipped cream and a Ditto-shaped marshmallow on top. When Janey reaches him, she takes a seat next to him and offers him one of the mugs. ]
Hey, guy.
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Even if he still feels like an uncomfortable mess anyway, but that's just all the time at the moment. He'll get through that. Eventually.
...God he hopes he gets through that.]
Ah... Hey. [He looks down slightly, at the mug she's offering him.] Oh... Thanks.
[And as he reaches for it he actually stops a little short at first. He blinks at that for a moment, before he realizes the issue.] ...Shit, right. Freaking depth perception.
[Now there's something he hasn't really adjusted to yet. Let's just try that again and reach a little more carefully. Okay there, now he's actually got the mug.]
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No problem. Thought you might need it, y'know?
[ She takes a sip from her own mug. ]
How're you doing?
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I, uh... I'd say I'm fine, but I get the feeling that would be super obviously bullshit.
So uh... Fine-ish? I dunno.
[...Tim, that's not actually all that more convincing.]
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Still kinda bullshit. Sorry. But I'm hopin' that hot cocoa will help. [ She pauses a moment, and she waits to say the next thing when she's sure he doesn't have any of the stuff to choke on. ] Though, it seems like you already have a real fine lady friend to help you out.
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It's the first thing he does when he returns to the inn. Athena's already on the way to see Handsome Jack, something's wrong with Nice Jack, and his job is to check up on him to make sure everything is okay. Which it's not, that much has been clarified, but at least to make sure there's no dead bodies lying around. He's outside the door now, only a few down from his own, and he's scared. Jack went and worked out with him not too long ago. Rhys had been talking to Jack like they were friends. It's so stupid of him on so, so many levels but there's a part of him that's eating this up. The small part that idolized him for how long, which just grows stronger with every day.
What he experienced on Pandora wasn't the real Jack. It was an AI, based on four little questions and the ideas of a man who worshipped him as much as Rhys did. If not more. That wasn't the Jack he was speaking to now. So what he was going to see wouldn't be alarming, right? He wouldn't regret his decisions.
Right?
Rhys pauses outside the door, knocks three times. ] Jack...?
[ No matter the answer, if any, Rhys will let himself in and search. ] Jack, you in here?
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Really nothing, not even sleeping. He's just been lying on top of the bed, staring at nothing. It's time that he could probably spend thinking, but his mind is kinda blank right now. Has been ever since Jack took him to that basement a few days ago. He's not sure how much of that is the painkillers and how much is... everything else. When he does try to think he just goes to some dark places anyway, so it's probably better to avoid that.
It's because of that that the knocking, someone calling his n-- his legal name, just doesn't register right away. It's not until the door opens that he realizes that, yeah, someone is there.]
Uh, wh-- [He sits up and winces, cutting his sentence off. Fuck, okay. Right. Everything's still kind of a mess, he needs to take it slow.] Wh-What...?
[Tim's voice sounds... off. It's more than just sounding drained, the actual sound of it is wrong. It's almost as if there's a slight distortion to it, like someone lowered the audio quality on it. Despite this being, you know, in person.
...But the bigger elephant in the room is his face, of course. It's impossible to miss the scar. Or the missing left eye. It would be a perfect mirror for Jack's maskless face, if the brand wasn't the wrong color - just the normal color of burnt skin, rather than blue. It's only a few days old, too. It hasn't had much time to heal yet.
Yeah. He's not even a little okay.]
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Rhys had been near Tim, right after he got himself strangled half to death. He didn't...sound like this. Like he was hearing him speak through a window. But maybe it's just his hearing. Rhys almost dismisses that as he wanders in a little closer. And he sees what's lying on the bed.
His eyes go wide. Tim's face is scarred, blemished, disfigured to the point where he's almost unrecognizable. That's not what scares Rhys though. He's seen that exact same scar, the same missing eye. He saw the person talking to ghost Pokemon taking the form of his little girl when he thought Rhys wasn't around. ]
Jack did this...[ Rhys forces himself to walk closer. Mismatched eyes meet Jack's lone one, full of concern. ] Oh my god. Um. Oh god... [ Rhys isn't disgusted, not at all. He's freaking out.
Tim had been close to Jack. This is what happened. What's even going on? ]
Okay. Um, do you need anything? Ice? Painkillers? I mean...
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At the question, he blinks, not really registering it until a few seconds pass.]
I, uh... I-I dunno. [He really doesn't know, honestly. His first instinct to the option of painkillers is "hell yeah", but he's been taking a lot of those. Hell, right now he can't really remember how many are in his system.] Kinda already on-- on a lot of painkillers, don't know how much more of those I should be taking...
[At some points when Tim's talking, the distortion in his voice almost sounds like static. That's definitely not supposed to be happening. And it definitely wouldn't be happening to a regular person's voice.
Tim actually stops talking there and clears his throat, hoping that might make his voice sound more normal again. It doesn't. It just makes him wince, pain shooting through his throat. He'll just make a mental note to avoid doing that again. Fuck...]
Guessing... you don't know how to deal with a... a messed up voice modulator, do you? [...] Yeah, probably not...
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He runs a hand through his hair. What did you say when this was happening? What did you do? ] I...no. But I mean, there's got to be something we can do. Maybe going down to the Center would help.
[ Had he been there yet? Is that where he got the painkillers from? ] Maybe they have some kind of weird healing gun thing that'll help out that modulator. I only used one, but it was external.
If you want, I can help take you there now, Jaa- uhh. [ So yeah, being called Jack was probably the last thing he wanted. ] ...Not-Jack? Um.
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