snowblindrpg | [log] Strange Things Are Happening to Me [closed]

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[log] Strange Things Are Happening to Me [closed]

Characters: House, Haurchefant, Dorian, and Emmanellain
Location Building 19
Date: Days 68 - 70
Summary: The event happens and at least three of these people are hallucinating. This will get interesting.
Warnings: House is his own warning, but general spoilers for Dragon Age and Final Fantasy online are likely.

[On day 68, they make it to the building, coming in pairs to escape the lizards. Its where House had been heading, and he'd been forced to take Haurchefant along... and Haurchefant had told Emmanellain who had taken Dorian along. At the moment, House doesn't want to be around anyone. He's feeling nauseous and dizzy from the lizards, the initial symptoms not dissipating, even after more than an hour. He's also suspicious, paranoid. He's been traveling with these two, but someone had stolen one of his bottles of Vicodin. House is pretty sure it was Angel for Rhys and Clayton. There's nothing that he can actually do about that right now, though. Which just frustrates him more. Hiro turning up in the obits is the icing on the cake.

Sparrow Langley's house is where they are, though, a standard single-story house with a kitchen, living room, dining room, bathroom, and bedroom. There's a hanging bird cage in the living room, but the door has been left open and there's no sign of bird remains inside. "ALPHONSE ELRIC, STEPHANIE BROWN, GREED, EDWARD ELRIC, DAY FORTY FOUR, TRAVELLING EAST." has been carved into one of the walls. A cardboard sign on the dining room table reads "DAY 61, REACHABLE SHELTER TO EAST, RESUPPLY POINT TWO DAYS EAST."

No one's symptoms are letting up. In fact, they seem to be getting worse.]

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[What the actual hell? His dad's sense of humor is demeaning... belittling, not frustrated sarcasm. What's going on? He crosses his arms, expression shifting to mild suspicion.]

What do you mean 'home isn't there?' Where's Mom?

[Is this a trick? No. Dad doesn't do tricks. They would be 'beneath' him.]

[Dorian feels vastly underqualified for this conversation.]

I wouldn't know. Probably not where you think. And I think if you ask me more questions you'll regret it in a few minutes and then you'll make me regret it. More than I already regret getting involved.

For the record that was a completely selfish decision on my part to avoid hearing you groan about your leg later.

[Okay. Yep. There's zero chance that person there is his dad. Invasion of the pod people? Evil twin? ...Good twin? Some sort of costume? But they're on-base. He can see the walls of their living room, sparse, neat, everything an officer's quarters should be.]

Who are you?

[Because there's no way he's going to stop asking questions.]

What'd you do with my dad?

[Even if he hates the man, there's still a stranger who looks exactly like him there, and that's mildly terrifying. And unknown threat rather than a known one.]

Edited 2015-12-30 18:32 (UTC)

I've never met the man.

[And he'd never been more glad not to know an asshole. Telling House to calm down seemed like a counterproductive idea.]

I don't know what happened. Do you feel nauseous, dizzy, disoriented? There's an illness going around. Maybe he went to see a healer.

Can you describe what you see?

[House makes note of the fact that this man hasn't answer the first question. He's young, but he's not stupid.]

You're saying I'm hallucinating.

[He looks around the living room, eyes falling on familiar spaces. The pack he'd put together for his escape is lying against the sofa. The symptoms are there, though.]

I'm in the house. Our house on-base in Okinawa. [His gaze is intensely distrusting, but at least there's less outright hostility.] You look like my dad. You were my dad. Who are you?

[Don't think he's forgotten that question, Dorian.]

Is my leg supposed to hurt?

Yes, very good. What you're seeing does not match where you are. I've been told we are in America in a place called Alaska.

My name is Dorian and it's a pleasure to meet you again. Your leg does hurt normally and you should get off it.

[Dorian was not going to recommend adding drugs to a hallucination.]

Alaska? [House isn't really as good about hiding his emotions at this age as he'll become. He stares at Dorian, fear beginning to take over. His flight had been for New Jersey. The guy's already said he doesn't know what's going on. And House has no recollection of how he got here. Not to mention no recollection of getting sick or any idea why this should be so real.]

I'm Greg. Where are you from? Is there a way to stop you looking like my dad? It's really creepy.

[He doesn't move from where he is, but House does put more of his weight on his good leg.]

If there were I would in an instant. To me you look close to my parents' age. You looking at me like I'm a responsible adult is making me feel old. It's not an enjoyable feeling, Greg.

[Dorian steps back as far from House as he can. He doesn't want to crowd the... child. Or make him panic.]

[House's brows knit, and he holds out his hands, looking down at them, then over toward a mirror nearby. He tries to turn toward it and walk over, but ends up stumbling and going down hard on his knees, clutching his thigh. He gasps out in pain.]

I'm thirteen. What are you even talking about?

[Panicking might be hard to stave off. He's pretty good, but he's a teenager in this memory. These things happen.]

I'm not old. Why am I in Alaska? What are you doing here? I'm just trying to go home!

Thirteen? You got an early start on the running away. I didn't begin until I was fifteen.

Maybe I'm not seeing you right. [He's trying not to wince too obviously at House's reaction.]

We came to this house after a meeting with some other people who are staying here. Everyone started getting sick. I had a nosebleed this morning and I'm queasy right now. We- We all want to go home. Or at least not here. We haven't been able to find anything to get us outside city limits.

What, is it a blizzard outside, mister? Just get to the airport.

[He leans over to one side, hand propping him up as he tries to get his leg to move like it should and meets limited success.]

Or... gimme a ride in your car. I can probably find it.

['Probably' being the operative word here. But if it gets him where he wants to be, then he'll hitchhike as he can. He really wishes this guy would start looking like who he's supposed to be, though. Dorian? Fine. Just stop looking and sounding like his dad.]

I've got money I can give you for gas.

[Not much, but it's something.]

Yes, off and on. Sadly, I don't have a car or I would give you a ride.

[Keep your money, real or not.]

There are two other people in here, I don't know if you can see them. Perhaps my trying to talk to you is what's making me part of your hallucination. I can try being quiet and reading the network.

[House looks around, but he doesn't see anyone else. This is starting to get very frightening again. Two other people, some guy he doesn't know, sick, hallucinating, leg hurts like hell, stuck in Alaska in a blizzard.]

Yeah. Um... Try being quiet.

[Like that's going to work. He manages to pull himself up and limp-hop over to a chair. He's assuming this guy wasn't being serious about him not being allowed to sit down. If Dorian stays quiet, it will be some ten minutes later that he'll hear a muttered swear from House. He'll have been quiet and staring up until this point, which might make for a peaceful change.]

Dammit...

[House rubs his thigh hard with the heel of his hand. It's always a bad day when he falls. And of course he'd been trying to stand on his leg like there's nothing wrong with it.]

I'm going to assume we can skip the 'let us never speak of that again' crap, so could you hand me my cane?

[He motions over to where he'd been standing, and he'd dropped said cane on the ground.]

[Dorian did remain quiet. He didn't want to look like anyone's father, much less one like that.]

You expect me to forget that you told me to call you Greg?

[He handed House his cane.]

I thought I was thirteen. [The doctor bristles and holds his cane close defensively.] So, yeah, I do. Sorry I wasn't cool enough to be going by a pseudonym, yet.

[It will take a bit more prodding to get him to say much beyond that as he pulls the pill bottle from his pocket and pops a Vicodin.]

In the future, would suggesting you take one of those help or hurt when you're trying to stand like that, Greg?

[He was actually asking. Hallucinations seemed to be a favorite in this place.]

[The question, while important, gets set aside for a moment in favor of glaring at Dorian.]

My name is House. [Which, he realizes belatedly, he's only actually told Haurchefant in this group. Whatever. This is fine.] And just shut up whenever I'm hallucinating. Should be better for both of us. [Mainly because he won't be as likely to reveal things. House runs a hand through his hair, frustrated with himself. There is a part of him that wants to level the playing field, though. He can shift the focus off himself and over to Dorian, anyway.]

You said you started running away from home at 15... what was that even about?

Edited 2016-01-06 16:24 (UTC)

I'll remember you said that.

[Things are only blackmail material when people are ashamed of them. Dorian refuses to feel ashamed of most of his past.]

It was boring in the Circle. There were all sorts of places for a fifteen year old to find trouble in the city. I always planned to go back. I didn't always make it back before I was missed.

They get a little wary about you dragging you out of such establishments after you vomit on them a few times.

[Dorian keeps his tone cheerful and upbeat.]

Bored. Right.

[House suspects there's more to it than that.]

So the 'Circle's some kind of royal court?

No. It's where we learn magic. Vyrantium is a very prestigious one located in the capital. Undergoing my Harrowing there has a certain cachet. Excellent for social advancement.

[He'd been a wealthy brat who'd run away from boarding school to go visiting brothels and gambling dens.]

Now that I've proved I can withstand the temptations of demons, I'm free to come and go as I like.

[And House is casting the most supremely unimpressed look at Dorian now.]

Lucky you. I'd ask how 'magic' could be boring, but I'm guessing it's basically like any other class.

[If it's something common where Dorian's from, then there's little point in being grateful or awed by it.]

They were easy. They wouldn't advance me more than three years ahead of my agemates.

[For very good reasons having to do with emotional maturity. Boredom hadn't had as much to do with his behavior as fear of success. Boredom was what Dorian was generally willing to admit to.]

Then Alexius found me in a brothel and saw an opportunity to make an alliance with my father. He had the kind of projects I was interested in and needed a lab assistant. He could keep Magister Pavus's son out of trouble and in return the usual nonsense about bribery and trading favors so no one questioned why I was staying off on Magister Alexius's estate instead of going back home to get married.

Really, he enjoyed teaching enough that I think he would have wanted to work with me even if I had been a Laetan mage. Shame about him trying to end the world.

[Dorian's tone is airy and refusing to take any of it seriously.]

[House is feeling more and more uncomfortable with some of the parallels he can see being drawn here between them.]

Yeah, well, basic classes usually are a snoozefest. Whatever grade you're in. Do I even want to know what kind of pillowtalk you're into if you were chatting internships in the middle of a brothel? Especially with a guy who was psycho enough to want to end the world.

Who has time for pillow talk?

[Dorian's romantic history was filled with relationships where he'd overestimated the emotional investment of the other man and ones where he'd refused to attach. Either way, he had nothing to speak of on that front.]

It wasn't what he set out to do. More of an unintended side effect. I wouldn't knowingly associate myself with someone who tried to end the world deliberately.

[And Dorian understood Alexius's motivation even as he abhorred it.]

Clearly not you, stud, and here I thought we could get something nice going tonight. [He rolls his eyes.]

The best laid schemes of mice and men, huh? So did you help him unknowingly try to end the world, then? Seems like that might make somebody feel guilty.

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