Event: Consolidation Theory, Part Four and Five

[snowblindmods]

Characters: red-marked characters and their new friends
Location: ???
Date: Morning 354, Morning and Day 355
Summary: A quiet morning and a confusing morning, or maybe they're both, or maybe they're neither.
Warnings: gore, psychological horror, warn for specifics in the subject lines

Part Four OOC Post
Part Five OOC Post

Comments

cw: self harm

[howdull]

[Sherlock moves to the very edge of his cell to get a better look at Will. He knows who this is, he can connect the voice to one he's heard over the tablet before, and he has to wonder why he's come in defence of John. The two tend not to get along, if the arguments he's witnessed are any indication.]

That sounds like a viable option to me.

[And one he's been considering himself.]

Nothing I say will keep John from protecting the other people here, that is where he finds his greatest self worth, and that will provide the best protection against further disassociation.

cw: mentions of suicide

[ex_this_ismydesign36]

[ Will held himself as still as possible when Sherlock came closer. His bandaged hands were folded up across his chest, partly to ease the throbbing pain and partly in classic defensive body language.

He did not want to be here, in front of Holmes. But regardless, here he stood. ]

Normally, I'd agree with you, and him in that sentiment. [ He said softly. After all, this was a man who took himself over the side of a cliff in order to stop the monster he had hunted for so long and the monster he had become. ]

But this is beyond that.

He's not doing this because it fulfills a sense of self worth. He's doing it to punish himself, and not for [ Will lifted one mitted hand, motioning to their circumstances ] for what's happened here.

[ Well...]

Not entirely.

[howdull]

[The body language was that of someone afraid - afraid of this? Afraid of him? - Sherlock would estimate that it was a fear of everyone. Though it's possible that this is a nervousness retained only for him, having been told of his deductive prowess.

And that just means that Will has something to hide.]

I am trapped in this cell.

[It's said with slow and dry tones, as if pointing out the obvious to a fool.]

Even if I had the inclination to go and speak to John, how do you expect me to undertake that at the moment?

[Of course he has the inclination to, he's worried about John and he cares, but those are things not for the view of strangers.]

[ex_this_ismydesign36]

I don't. [ Will responded, without taking any umbrage at the tone that suggested he was an idiot.

He was used to this sort of derision from people. Status quo attitude. Boring. ]

I did what I could for the time being and I believe that giving him lines to focus outwards rather than inwards will help him get through this. [ Will glanced around with his eyes, brought the back to Sherlock's face for a moment and then looked away again. ]

But when we're out of here [ yes when not if ] and the urgency and distraction of the immediate need to help others through this is lifted. He's going to shatter.

[ Alright, he brings his eyes back to Sherlock and this time holds them in place. ]

He needs to shatter. He can't keep going like this. He'll hurt more people if he tries, and then he'll snap again and again under that guilt. It will become a vicious cycle that will become like an addiction.

[howdull]

[Will evidently doesn't know John Watson very well, because the man doesn't shatter. He's much more likely to keep pushing it inwards and find small but damaging ways to harm himself - drinking, isolating himself, disassociation - but he won't completely collapse.

At least, Sherlock doesn't believe he will.

This cycle of guilt and desperation is an addiction already, hand in hand with his addiction to danger, and Sherlock doesn't know how to break him of it. Some things are just too deeply entrenched. But that doesn't mean that he doesn't care.]

Your observations are fairly astute, but wrong in several ways.

[John doesn't hurt others when he forces things down, only himself.]

It doesn't matter, it's irrelevant in the end. You must know that I already know all of this and have seen how John is faring for myself.

[ex_this_ismydesign36]

[ Will slowly tilted his head and considered Sherlock's words. He probably resembled Winston at the moment, as he tasted each uttered syllable, then drew them apart from one another.

Words are pack hunters.

Slowly his head straightened and he watched Sherlock for a long moment, before he smiled and glanced downwards. ]

No. [ He said, in an almost wondering tone. ] If you knew all of this you would never have let it get this bad.

Watson is a lot of things [ Will continued, looking up at the moldering ceiling and around as he spoke. ] most of which I don't like. But he is devoted to you, at a level that suggests he sees what other people never will.

[ Will slowly brought his eyes back to Sherlock. ] You're not the psychopath you want us to believe; not entirely. Which tells me that if you were full cognizant of your friend's mental state?

You would not let it get this far.

[ Lowering his gaze, Will went to shove his hands in his pockets, only to remember that they were never going to fit. Darn. That was his version of a dramatic, swooping exit ... foiled.

Ah well.

He turned, give Sherlock one last glance and then began to walk away. He suspected that this man would never admit to taking on any external input. Certainly not from a stranger. He was too rooted in his own mind.

Which was understandable.

Perhaps a few of his words would plant, like an irritant in an oyster, in the man's brain. If so, then this was a conversation well worth it. ]