that one time travel psl

[eyediot]

sad bad end s5 jon and tim on a monster road trip



[Algric had given the trio a fair warning of what was happening. Not the specific details of what he was coming from, but he was from a little further along Algric's timeline, and came through Hilltop Road. Never pleasant, but he's here now. IT took a few days of settling, readjusting, and putting some firm self-imposed boundaries on himself before Jon felt comfortable enough to see the others.

After a few minutes of surprise and staring, Jon ends up sitting alone with Tim for a few minutes; the others having some things to take care of themselves. He sits there, fiddling a bit with his fingers, trying not to be self conscious. He can't do anything about the myriad of different, newer scars, nor about his black sclera or so many other things about himself now.

But god... Tim. Alive and not shouting at him right this second. How novel.]

Tim... I.. [Where does he even start.]

Comments

[curriculum_fictae]

[ Algric tucks into his own food readily enough. He still gets hungry for human food, it seems, and he's glad of it this morning. ]

You don't have to though. I really am happy just being here with you.

[eyediot]

I may not have to, but I want to.

[He wants to do this better. He wants this to be good, he wants to make this work in the best possible way he can. It's been ages since he's wanted something that wasn't just knowledge. In all honesty? He can't remember being this happy. Which says a lot of his own life.He reaches for Algric's hand proper to just hold.

Pa̡u͡s̕e f̢or̸ ҉l͠aưghter.

He blinks, ducks his head down with a smile because - He doesn't want to deal with that here.]

You know I love you.

[curriculum_fictae]

[ What was --

No, it was nothing, wasn't it? Jonah seems fine, and Algric is happy to squeeze his hand in return. ]

I do. I - I truly do. And I won't forget it either. So just ... be natural? If I loved you while you were prickly, I can absolutely love you now.

[eyediot]

[Surely just a trick of the lighting in here. The shadows blying the haunted expression for a blink before he's... fine.]

Oh-- I was prickly before? What am I now?

[curriculum_fictae]

Hmm. Adorably frumpy.

[eyediot]

I have never been adorable.

[curriculum_fictae]

You've always been adorable, Jon.

[eyediot]

Strongly disagree.

[He definitely was not adorable when he was stalking and accusing them of murder.]

[curriculum_fictae]

Mm.

[ He smiles, looking over at him. ]

You should Know how I felt about you the first time you shared lunch with me.

[eyediot]

...Do I want to Know?

[He rests a cheek on his hand, elbow to the table smiling back at hiI want what you want, deep, deep down in the hidden bit of you you’ve tried so hard to kill.

He coughs into his fist just - wow. Okay.

Trust.]

...You told me to, um. Let you know, the, the merry-go-round. If that happened again.

[curriculum_fictae]

[ Algric stiffens with alarm immediately at that. ]

Yes? Yes, I - I did. Is it happening again?

[eyediot]

Just. Quick flashes, here.

[Is it the table? Is it sitting at the table like this? Maybe.

He ever so casually stands, grabbing his finished plate and steps away. The sink should be fine.]

[curriculum_fictae]

[ Algric hurries to grab his own things, tucking them in the sink too. And just putting a hand on his shoulder. ]

Hey. I'm - I'm here, okay? Can you ... vent it or something?

[eyediot]

I-i don't think you'd want to hear it.

[He'll just clean this up. They'll go pick out some notebooks, and it'll be fine. Better than fine.]

Look, it's probably already over?

[curriculum_fictae]

Well - not especially, but -

[ He puts a hand on Jonah's shoulder. ]

Let's sit down for a bit. We can go after, okay?

[eyediot]

I--

[I'm fine. It dies in his throat. Jonah nods, a hand resting on Algric's arm.]

All right.

[curriculum_fictae]

[ He guides Jonah to the couch to sit. ]

What do you need? What can I do?

[eyediot]

There's nothing really to do?

[The couch is easy. And once he's out of the kitchen he seems fine enough, for the moment.]

Actually. A favor? Make sure there aren't any spiders about?

[curriculum_fictae]

[ Algric fetches him a blanket, then. And stands back up. ]

Of course. I'll go scour the room for you.

[eyediot]

[Before Algric walks away, Jonah grabs his hand, looking up at him.]

...Thank you.

[For once, he lets how utterly exhausted he is sip through. Squeezes his hand once before letting go. Even if it was just a flash of a memory, it still had some effect on him. That feeling that this is scripted. He has no say here. Did a spider even need to be present? The Web was one of the few he never got much information about in comparison to the others.]

I mean, I'm sure it's fine and there isn't one. But... All the same.

[curriculum_fictae]

[ Oh. Oh Jonah. Algric's eyes widen when he sees that - when he catches a glimpse of the abyssal exhaustion below. Poor Jon. Poor Jon ... ]

You're terrified this is all Web's doing somehow.

[eyediot]

[He shrugs.]

I did come through Hilltop... It's always been a possibility in the back of my mind.

[curriculum_fictae]

[ Hilltop. That place -

Algric shudders. ]

R-right. It's - it's possible, of course. We can't fight it. But ... it's possible that our goals are in the same direction as Web's?

[eyediot]

Maybe.

[He sighs, leaning forward and rubbing at his forehead. The flash doesn't seem to be coming back. A plus.]

Hard to even guess at, we can just hope that's the case for now.

[curriculum_fictae]

Yeah. And - and it's not like we have an alternative, right?