jmart corruption au

[eyediot]

Corruption JMart au for Rho

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[eyediot]

Hm. A part of you, anyhow.

[No, of course it couldn't be this easy. Jon keeps watching him for now, trying to see through the frost and ice.]

You are my assistant. And my friend. And someone very dear to me.

[curriculum_fictae]

[ The cold nips at him, pushing back, but he is the Archivist and this is HIS hell, thank you very much.

Jon can See that he's at the centre now. As much as Martin has a true form, this is it. Surrounding him are all the little shattered rooms, each with a fragment of him that could maybe be drawn back. The end result would still not be perfect, but perhaps the shape could be the same.

The figure stills a bit, his hand still gripping Jon's. Thinking hard. The first fragment remembers that well. Yes. he remembers... ]

I'm your assistant. Yes. The Archivist should have his Assistant.

[eyediot]

[He nods, something settling easily into the pattern of his thoughts. His Assistant.]

That's right. That's who you are. My Assistant.

[curriculum_fictae]

[ A moment of hesitation. ]

Then what am I doing in this bloody place? How long have you been without one?

[eyediot]

I think you may have gotten a bit lost.

It's... been some time. But I would be happy to take you back with me.

[curriculum_fictae]

Back ... where?

[ He lifts his head, trying to see past the walls of this room. ]

[eyediot]

The world. Everything outside of this room.

[Whether he can see past the walls on his own or not, Jon will show him. The apocalypse. The pain, the quiet bits in the cemetery and bone garden. The trenches and large overgrown roots. All of it. But coming from the Archivist, there's a peacefulness to it. A sense of not only belonging, but of rightness. This is how it's supposed to be.]

I would be grateful if you were to come with me.

[curriculum_fictae]

[ It's awful. It's terrible. It's ...

Exactly right? No. Not quite. There's something missing from this picture. ]

... You need an Assistant. Yes. I'll come.

[eyediot]

[He smiles at that, squeezing Martin's hand.]

Thank you. I've missed you.

[curriculum_fictae]

Of course. Can't imagine how you've gotten anything in order without me.

[ He laughs; it's a brittle noise. ]

[eyediot]

[It's brittle, but it means so much. Jon would destroy the world again for that laugh.]

I suppose I haven't gotten anything in order yet. I needed you.

[curriculum_fictae]

Of course you did. An Archvist is useless without his Assistant.

[ He stands, slowly, the ice around him creaking and groaning. Somehow he’s an even larger figure with the mist hanging off him like a cloak. ]

[eyediot]

Exactly right.

[Jon watches him stand, smiles as he takes in Martin's height and size with the mist.]

Exactly what the Archivist needs.

[curriculum_fictae]

[ Martin(??) sort of tilts his head as he looks down at Jon. ]

I’d say so. You’re smaller than I remember.

[eyediot]

What-

Smaller? No, you got bigger.

[curriculum_fictae]

No, you’re definitely smaller. I can tell.

[ he might be teasing. ]

[eyediot]

You can, can you?

[He can tell Martin- no. His Assistant is teasing which is.. nice. It's nice, he decides. But he does start walking back to the door, expecting his Assistant to follow.]

I guess you'll have to stay with me to make sure I don't get any smaller, won't you?

[curriculum_fictae]

[ The Assistant does indeed drift after him, his footsteps soft and heavy in the silence of the panic room. ]

I suppose so. You always were shit at taking care of yourself.

[eyediot]

[Back down the hall to the main room then.]

And you're quite wonderful at it, is what you're saying.

[curriculum_fictae]

[ The shade that Jon had talked to before is still lingering by his cup, watching. As the Assistant passes, he pauses, staring at the misty outline. ]

Aren't I?

[eyediot]

We'll see. We haven't had much chance to test that theory.

[But once he sees the other Martin shade, he pauses. Looks between them both.]

...Starting with I hadn't thought this far ahead to know what to do here.

[curriculum_fictae]

Well if you don't know, I certainly don't.

[ The Assistant hesitates. Reaches out his own slightly more solid hand to the shade? Who takes it reluctantly.

The misty figure fades into nothing, settling into the Assistant instead. The faintest FAINTEST flush of color at that: a hint of pink on his arm. ]

Ah. That ... definitely did something.

[eyediot]

[Jon watches that exchange, hoping it's for the best for Martin. Hope is what he can do here. He nods once it's done.]

I see that. I wonder if there are other fragments... [He glances around to look at other doors available.]

[curriculum_fictae]

[ In here, it's mostly just the door back to the hallway and the door to the centre/panic room. But in the hallway there had been multiple. Reassembly will take a long time.

The Assistant, meanwhile, cocks his head. ]

I think so. I think ... huh. I think I feel them, sort of.

[eyediot]

[He nods at that, reaching for the next door.]

Let's take a look, then.

[And they go through two or three more. Jon the Archivist arriving and talking to each one and bringing them back with his Assistant.

There are more doors waiting, but his eyes ache and he's freezing.]

I think- that might be all for now. W-we can come back.