devoutish | IC contact for snowblindrpg

Yeah, it's not very forgiving, especially if you're putting the fate of everyone on your own shoulders. But his world didn't exactly push him any other way. Him and his brother had to do everything themselves.

Anyway, let's cross our fingers for more practical people to arrive, and less superheroes. We could use some more puzzle-solvers too. If House ever bites it for good, we're pretty screwed.

House-- more Houses would be good, yeah. I don't even mind if they're fucking insufferable.

[ He chuckles at that. ]

I'd really prefer easier-to-work-with, but we'll see what we end up with. We really only need one person as hard to get along with as House, and we've got two. Sherlock's even worse, honestly- he just stays out of the way of most people because they don't interest him.

I used to be good at this sort of thing, myself, but this place- [ The amount of emphasis and drama on that word was way more than he intended, and he stops for a moment. ] Well, you understand how it takes bits of you, I'm sure. Don't have my ability, always in the wrong place, and now I can't keep my mind on what I want most of the time. It's infuriating.

[And that Alfie gets, too.]

Always was good at keeping my head, at home. Even in the war. You point a gun at my face and I don't even blink; I was proud of that.

But here, it's different.

Yeah. It gets in your head, here. Literally. Messes around with things that should be untouchable. It's a different kind of horror.

At least, I assume. I've never been in a war. But I don't think anyone's been actively altering brain chemestries during one.

Yeah, it's different. Worse in some ways, better than others. The scale was greater.

Yeah. There were a lot more people involved. Here, it feels like we're the only ones left on the planet. Might be true, might not. It's not our planet, so I guess it doesn't matter. But it feels awfully lonely, for someone from New York City. There's not even enough people here to make a crowd, even if we could all stick together.

Maybe that's a relief for some people, that less of us have to go through this.

It can be both, can't it. More lonely, but a relief all the same.

I guess. If there were more people, then maybe we'd be further along. Or someone would've noticed what happened. There's enough 'magic' universes for someone to be versed in trans-universal teleportation.

[ There's a short pause, and then he sort of chuckles at himself. ]

Eh, I'm just looking for some other way, something that'd give us an advantage. But we still don't know enough about what's even going on to know what we'd need. Wouldn't mind more programmers, though, too. Makes me wish I actually picked up that talking-to-computers ability I heard about awhile back, just in case.

What was the man like, that you would have had to kill to do that?

Ah-

[ That actually brings him up short for a moment, a difficult task at this stage. But he realizes he let his mouth run a little too wild. ]

Micah Sanders. He was just a kid. Eleven years old, smart. Probably smarter than his parents, after everything I heard about them. I wouldn't have- I don't think I would've gone after him, even without what I've learned here.

You don't kill kids, or have you got another reason?

I've always avoided it, even when that might've been the kinder thing.

[ Everything at the Walker home had gone picture-perfect, and he even found out that James' daughter had an ability, too. It was a bonus, but he hesitated as he pointed at her and she managed to hide. The whole thing had unsettled him, for reasons he didn't understand. Not then. ]

I think I've got an idea why that is, now. The whole- everything that happened in that tower, with the converts...while I was all messed up, I remembered something new. John thought it was a delusion, but it hasn't gone away this whole time. It's just gotten stronger.

Oh?

[ Right, he didn't actually say what it was, did he? He's hesitant, now, but he does spill it. ]

Yeah. Think I saw my dad kill my mom, when I was five.

Ah. That's a tough thing, mate.

Yep. [ He sighs. ] Apparently tough enough that I completely forgot it and most of my childhood. Didn't even know I was adopted until a couple weeks ago. But- it makes sense.

I'd like to face my dad down, make him answer for what he did, but- obviously that's not happening here.

[ He wasn't sure what to do with it, honestly. ]

Would you kill him, do you think?

Maybe.

Probably. I want to know why he did it. Why he didn't even wait till he was out of the parking lot, at least. Why he killed her like that.

But yeah. I'm trying to grow a conscience here, but him? I think I'd be okay with killing.

The parking lot?

Yeah. She was in the car, and fought with him... [ His voice gets something of a far-away quality to it, but he reins it back in. ] They were clearly yelling at each other, and he killed her with telekinesis and dumped her body out of the car. And then he drove off. I watched from the entrance to the diner.

[ It occurs to him that might not have been what Alfie was asking about. Oops. ]

Do you have parking lots back in your time period?

No, but I understand the meaning well enough. Fucking hell. What happened to you after?

I don't really remember. I assume I was taken in by the people I thought were my parents.

My dad- adopted dad- he left probably that same year. Went out for cigarettes, never came back. Mom was- [ How to put it? He goes with the harsher phrasing, because he has no idea if Alfie's heard of anxiety or panic attacks. ] -not very stable and needed a lot of help. I started working as soon as I could.

Mm. You've had a hard life, then. And yet, Norfinbury is what redeemed you. Funny how things work out, innit.

I didn't think it was a hard life when I was living it.

[ But he'd always known something was off. Monumentally off. ]

But yeah. As much as everyone hates this town- and with good reason- it has done me that favor. Took me out of my own situation long enough that I could see what was happening. I'm pretty sure I never would've known without it.

IC contact for snowblindrpg

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