alwayskayaking | Duplicity Inbox

[Holy shi--]

Stay away from me. Don't you dare "look" at me! Don't think that what you use to be will stop me from protecting myself from what you are now if you come after me!

Edited (Adding quotations as he wasn't being literal with the 'look' ) 2020-11-23 05:19 (UTC)

[Jon can feel tears prickling at the edges of his vision now. Guilt and frustration are clawing at his insides. He wants to be angry, to feel be betrayed by Tim. But does he even have that right anymore?]

I'm not going to come after you, Tim.
Live your life.
I won't bother you again.

[Having no idea what has happened to cause this all Tim can think of is that Jon has lost his mind. Was this because he asked him to use his powers to check he was clean? Had he fully fallen to the beholding because of that? His stomach churns at the thought.]

If you hurt anyone I will find you. That's a promise to Jon. [Because that's why this happened, right? Jon is gone now? Jon wouldn't want a monster in his skin running around.]

[Oh, Tim.]

I destroyed our world.
How much more hurt do you require?

Jon said Elias tricked him. Are you saying that a lie? Why are you trying to goad me into killing you?

['Jon said.' Because if he's fighting with Tim, he's not Jon anymore, just the Archivist. Just a thing to be disposed of.]

I'm not.
On either account.
I'm pointing out there's already been a great deal of pain and suffering inflicted.
Some of it was Elias.
Some of it was just me.
He was pulling the strings, but I did everything he needed me to, to make it possible.

Why are you doing this?

Because I made a mistake.
I trusted you, and now I've hurt a woman you hurt.
Perhaps even more deeply.
Her name is Gilia St. Loe.
You were the second man she'd ever lain with in her life.
She thought you were sweet, kind.
That you cared for her.

And I broke her, Tim.
On your behalf.
Confronting her with what you told me.
Because I thought she'd hurt you.

[Wait, Jon was mad at him because of a monster?]

of course you did and of course you take their side and think im lying surprised you even believed me at all

I don't think you're lying.
I think your perception of reality is skewed.
Everyone who isn't human is a Stranger to you.
Those marks run through you like veins now.
Twisting and pulsing with poison.

And I don't need any magic powers to see that.

Please get help, Tim.
Psychiatric help.
You desperately need it.

[Read.]

[Tim shrugs] Because he was only begrudgingly putting up with me at the time and I annoy people with endless questions.

[He's certainly not offended by it, not even really that annoyed about it either. Jon and he didn't know each other that well back then and while he hasn't asked for more clarification since then he's sure Jon would be more forthcoming now]

Do you know why? or rather why they waited for that moment? Do they operate on a hive mind or were they doing Elias's bidding?

As far as we could tell they actually wanted to wait for a bit longer. Jon sort of stumbled onto their hiding spot by mistake. Found a fake wall in the archives and when they poked their heads through it; worms. Killer worms everywhere.

Yes; I believed they worked as a hive mind for as close as I ended up getting and I wouldn't want to repeat any of that day to confirm that. And I don't think they were exactly doing Elias's bidding. From what Jon told me is that Elias needed him marked by all the fears to complete a ritual that he wanted to do. Although, considering we nearly died? I don't think that was the full plan.

Can you go into any more detail of like what happened during the attack? You say Jon found a fake wall and found killer worms? where were you when this happened? and how did you manage to escape?

I've actually managed to avoid talking to the man while he was in the city but I got the impression just from the way Jon talks about him that while he might not plan everything he would have found a way to step in if his plans were in danger.

Me? I was out having lunch at the time so I don't know much about the start of the attack. When I came back there wasn't anyone around the office at all. Just the old tape recorder that Jon uses to record statements with laying on the floor so I stopped to pick it up.

Has Jon mentioned Sasha at all too you? She's a woman who works-- [No, that's not right. The woman in his head isn't Sasha because the real Sasha was gone.] --worked in the archives with us. If it hadn't been for her... [Tim shudders a little.] I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have made it. I had no idea that there was this... mountain of worms behind me and she pushed me out of the way as they lunged for me.

We ended up splitting up as they chased us. She ran off out the office and I ended up running into the tunnels that we discovered that day under the archives. Managed to fight my way through to Jon and Martin who were trapped in a room by using some C02 canisters that we had learned slowed the worms down and killed them.

The three of us ended up getting lost down in those tunnels trying to find another way out that was safe. I'm not sure how, but we ended up losing track of Martin down there after running into more worms. Jon and I thought we might have found a way out, but she was waiting for us. Fought the worms off as long as I could but eventually the gas ran out and there were just so many of them. [He traces his fingers over some of the bumps of scar tissue the worms had left behind on his face and arms.] The last thing I remember was feeling them burrowing into my skin. Devouring me alive when suddenly the archives fire system went off and filled the whole place up with C02. I ended up passing out because of all the gas and by the time I woke up I was in quarantine.

At some point while Tim is out a letter is hand delivered into his apartment's mailbox. There's no return address and it clearly hasn't been postmarked. Inside are just two things, a business card and a note on a piece of scrap paper that just says "She's human". It isn't signed, though there's also been no effort made to disguise handwriting if Tim has seen it before.

Tim finds the card and the note. It's true that any number of people could have left it at this point, but there is one man who often leaves him anonymous gifts from time to time. "Alright, Jon. I get it." It doesn't look like Jon's handwriting, but Tim assumes it's a poor way to try and disguise himself.

He doesn't respond to the card right away, but he doesn't throw it away either. In fact he keeps it in his wallet and tries not to think too much about it. That is until after a long day of getting nowhere with his contract changes with Charlotte and another dead end with the cursed dildo he's been chasing after. Sitting at home quietly with his beer he takes out the card. Spinning it over and over again in his hand. Thinking quietly to himself before going to bed.

In the morning he gets up, has breakfast, goes to work, has a normal day, and then on his lunch break: he makes a call.

Edited (Adding a link!) 2020-12-10 22:04 (UTC)

tim - this is jack across the hall 1) i am sorry for my bad spelling. 2) ive started a contract with gilia st loe. she will be staying with me. i donot think you both want any thing to do with the other, but there are peeple who think they can make things better by making trouble in her name. she is not happy with this and i am not and I know youa re not. i have a proposal with her okay to talk about with you and her

[Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. This is why he should have let him bleed out in the lift.]

No. Leave me out of it.

[Yeah okay, this is about what he was expecting, tbh]

then may i tell you what we want to do? for all our peace? if it is a problem for you you may say no and we will work out another thing but we DO NOT want to do a thing that involves you that you do not want

I know now she didn't send people after me. I'll avoid her as best I can and she can avoid me. That's all we need to do. Leave me out of whatever you have planned.

i am glad to hear you say that. thank you. we just want to tell peeple on the network that. that no persons need to attack you for her sake and that she will not be happy with any 1 who does. i thot it would not be kind to do that without meeting with you, or asking you if it was a problem. I know surprises can be hard, when they are about a thing that you are having trouble with. she has said she does not want to contact you either. neither of you are the problems. people outside thinking they are helping are and i want to help keep them from escalating the problem again. for everyone.

If she stops bringing up what happen people will eventually forget about it. I'm not going to tell you two what to do, but I think it's a bad idea. At best it's just going to hurt her to talk about it again and at worst people will think I put her up to it and ignore her request anyway. [Shock! Tim actually admitting that the woman he called a "monster" might have been hurt because of this whole ordeal!]

you think that we should let it be. i will tell her this and ask what she thinks. it is not a bad point. the saying things on the network was my idea. since she does not have good grasp on who she knows that would fight for her. but i understand what you mean. even if we do not say anything, you do understand that if others do act in her name, it is not because she wants them to.

Fine. So long as she understands that I'm within my right to retaliate against them if I'm attacked. I'm not just going to stand there and take it.

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cw: mention of parasites, body horror, worms

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