snowblindrpg | [log] Lean on me [closed]

Entry tags:

[log] Lean on me [closed]

Characters: The Sorcerer Not-Yet-Supreme, Star-Cat, Star-Lord, and the Librarian
Location: Building 318 and various
Date: Day 339-343
Summary: The visiting of Flynn Carsen to the clan of Snow.
Warnings: References to character death, drowning, blood (because this is a scary building), more CW's in ensuing threads.

318: The stench of blood is thick in this garage, with blood long-soaked into the concrete floor, staining nearly the entire expanse. There are empty wooden tables to be sat on if you would rather not sit on the floor, though they've all been flipped as if in anger. One of the tables has been broken into pieces and burned, and another has pieces missing as if someone had begun to break it into pieces but was interrupted. The whole place has a hostile air to it, and the walls sound like they're breathing at night. "ALPHONSE ELRIC, DAY TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY TWO, CONTACT @LELRIC FOR ANY ASSISTANCE." "ALPHONSE ELRIC, DAY TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY SIX, PLEASE CALL @LELRIC FOR ANY ASSISTANCE NEEDED." and "ALPHONSE ELRIC, DAY TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY EIGHT, FOR ANY ASSISTANCE PLEASE CONTACT @LELRIC ANY TIME." are written on one of the walls.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Flynn takes out one of his envelopes and stashes the hair inside so it won't fly away or get contaminated by the blood. Because that would ruin the results, surely.

"You only found out later? That must have been... well, surprising. And yeah, I guess your mother must have been quite worried about that if she knew..."

Maybe Peter could have come to work for the Library. If they were from the same universe, which they probably weren't but it was a nice thought. One that he will share with the real Peter once he's back.

"Why didn't you ever go back? To Earth? I mean, you do have a spaceship..."

There's a twitch that makes the blood stream shake when the burning hits again. He steadies his arm, not wanting to spill any.

"--yeah, that was seriously surprising," he adds, trying to make his voice not hitch until after the burning dissipates. "I can't imagine how worried she must have actually been. I wish I had...a chance to talk to her about it." His voice trails off, and actually does hitch.

He coughs and goes on.

"I never got around to it." A pause, he can't help but say the real reason. "...Earth is the place where my mother died in front of me." He sounds raw. "I was...afraid, I guess. Memories. I didn't want to deal with...with any of it. It...hurts, y'know? Stepping foot on a planet where she's no longer alive...but she should be, she should be and she's not?" He wipes at his eyes and glances up. "Norfinbury's different, it doesn't seem like earth earth, it feels like another planet."

"You're scared of going back to Earth?" A pause as he listens to the explanation. "I guess that must be very painful. But wouldn't you like to visit her grave? I went to my dad's all the time and--"

His voice stops there, too, because that is nothing he wants to get into.

"Well, as someone who spent his entire life on Earth, Norfinbury doesn't feel like Earth at all. More like a nightmare. The actual Earth is a lot nicer, you know? I really miss it."

The burning hits and he shuts his eyes a moment, gritting his teeth even more.

"...yeah." His voice shakes, a mix of both physical and emotional pain. "Dude, I don't--"

He's not sure if he should be telling anyone this, but the compulsion was there, and he was pulled along--

"--I'm afraid of seeing her grave, okay? That just makes it more real, that just proves she's dead and she's down there and she shouldn't be, she should be up and walking around and here and she's not, she's there underground and I can't...she's not here and won't ever be here again--"

God, that ripped a hole right straight out of his heart, and he bites back a stifled sob--something he hasn't put into words ever, something he didn't like thinking about, didn't want to think about--

"Yeah, must be great." It's bitter, spat out.

"I'm sorry. I--" Flynn presses a knuckle to his face, closing his eyes when he takes that. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about that, I shouldn't have-- I know that's very personal and painful and--"

Where was he going with this?

"It is."

Peter may be hurting but so is Flynn and he misses Earth and he misses everything Earth stands for and the Library and Judson and Charlene and Cal and pledging his life to keep Earth safe. "It really-- it really is. And when I give you the grand tour you'll see it."

The real Peter will see it.

[Peter can't answer a moment, he can't talk, the burning is too much and what he just said is too much and the blood dripping into Thermos cup makes it all seem just that much worse, and what is he even doing here, why is he doing this--the gasp of pain mixes with another stifled sob and he's trying to keep it together.

Finally, he takes a few deep breaths, unsure if he was about to run or yell or cry--a swallow, and a cough to clear his throat. His voice still sounds extremely raw.]

...I don't really want to talk about it anymore.

[He trails off quietly. He means both the previous topic and the grand earth tour.]

Okay.

[Flynn stares at his hands. How can he feel so accomplished and awful at the same time? His face is burning, he doesn't know why.]

I'm sorry. I know it hurts. I'll... make it up to you, I'll figure this out and everything will be better.

Um...sure.

[Peter feels like he's been wrung out, like something in him's been chewed up, bit by bit, taken and torn away. He shouldn't have said all these things. But it was for the greater good, right? If it helped Flynn figure this out. He takes a few deep breaths, a little shaky from the intense, re-occurring pain, and the sharp ache in his arm and the blood that's filling up the Thermos cup.]

...how far are you on figuring this out?

I'm, uh. Pretty far ahead in the figuring out process.

[Really. Promise.]

I just have to... piece it all together. You know? Like a puzzle? I'm good at puzzles.

Good.

[He sounds relieved. This hurts a lot, but it's going to be worth it. If anyone could figure this out, it's Flynn.]

I wasn't that great at puzzles when I was a kid. I mean, the jigsaw puzzle kind. I finished like, one, but most of the time I lost all the pieces. Or ate one. They're really small and sometimes the colors looked tasty? [If that made sense. It made sense to tiny Peter, who assumed a bright orange puzzle piece would taste like an orange.

It did not.]

You... ate the puzzle pieces?

[How.]

Wait, didn't you say the same thing about your action figures? Is there anything you didn't eat as a child?

Edited 2018-04-20 21:12 (UTC)

Um, yeah?

[A pause.]

I wasn't a big fan of broccoli. So...broccoli.

[At least the burning wasn't so bad this time.]

What, are you kidding?

[He looks up from what he's doing -- what is he doing? -- his eyebrows shooting up.]

Excuse me, but broccoli is amazing.

Broccoli is pure evil in plant form and there is no way you can convince me otherwise.

Broccoli cooked and then roasted in a pan with garlic and breading is a tasty treat of green goodness.

That sounds awful. Blech.

A tasty treat? Dude. The only treats that count are ones covered in chocolate, filled with peanut butter, or 99% sugar.

While I will probably always prefer treats covered in chocolate and filled with peanut butter and/or 99% sugar, your opinion on broccoli is 100% uninformed and wrong.

Wrong? Wrong? [Uninformed, okay, he can get over that. But not wrong.]

Your opinion on broccoli is weird and unusual. Seriously! Who even ever likes brocolli with all its weird little leaves and it's unnecessarily crunchy stalk like it's some kind of mini-tree. You know, a tree is part of my family!

Edited 2018-04-22 09:28 (UTC)

[Well, Peter, if you don't want people to tell you you're wrong stop being wrong.]

Wh-- My opinion isn't weird?! A lot of people like broccoli! It is a very well-liked and versatile vegetable! And I'm not telling you to eat your family tree!

[W o w, b r o.]

It is so weird! That's a bold-faced lie. False. And yeah, you kinda are.

Edited 2018-04-23 15:20 (UTC)

What? How am I-- a vegetable has nothing to do with your friends! Are you calling your friend a broccoli? Because that's kind of mean if you don't even like it!

Oh, wait, what, so now you're calling me a liar?

Edited 2018-04-24 17:28 (UTC)

Groot is literally a walking talking tree, so yeah, he's probably related to broccoli!

Everybody lies to win arguments, it's not a big deal!

Broccoli is part of the Brassica oleracea family, and a biennial flowering plant that completes its biological life cycle in two years! It has nothing to do with trees!

And if you have actual facts you don't need to lie! Fact: Broccoli has been considered a uniquely valuable food since the Roman Empire!

It looks like a tree! Therefore, it's a tree!

Oh yeah? Fact: A uniquely valuable food to torture prisoners with and make them talk!

That-- that is not how botany works!

And nobody in the history of torture has ever been made talk with broccoli!

cw self-harm, torture, blood

cw self-harm, torture, blood, character death

cw self-harm, torture, blood, character death

cw self-harm, torture, blood, character death

cw self-harm, torture, blood, character death

cw self-harm, torture, blood, character death

cw self-harm, torture, blood, character death

cw self-harm, torture, blood, character death

cw self-harm, torture, blood

cw self-harm, torture, blood

cw self-harm, torture, blood

cw self-harm, torture, blood

cw self-harm, torture, blood

cw self-harm, torture, blood

cw self-harm, torture, blood

cw self-harm, torture, blood

cw self-harm, torture, blood

cw self-harm, torture, blood

cw self-harm, torture, blood

cw self-harm, torture, blood

cw self-harm, torture, blood

cw self-harm, torture, blood

cw self-harm, torture, blood

cw self-harm, torture, blood

cw self-harm, torture, blood