alwayskayaking | Duplicity Inbox

Popularize sea kayaking.
The locals are afraid of the ocean here.
I've yet to find out why.
It doesn't seem to be made of acid, and the worst we found was a kelpie menacing and eating people on one of the beaches.

[And really, one little kelpie can't be responsible for everything.]

It's been taken care of.

And fine.
Just give me a time and location when you've picked them out.

You want me to go out to the ocean where there are kelpies eating people? Oh yeah, sure, that seems way safer than going to a concert that might have a killer band at it.

Every hobby has its risks.
Honestly, I don't think the kelpies are a common problem.
But there are other ways to fill your time.
Take up modeling?
You'd be good at it.
Or go back to publishing.
You're a Dom.
It means you really can do just about anything you want.

Why do you feel like sculpting my body? You better have a lot of clay on hand. [Is he saying that just to get a rise out of Jon? He sure is.]

[He could make a very snide remark about the Spiral and the Worker in Clay, but Tim isn't really the right audience for that.]

You're very aware I don't do hobbies, even if you happen to.
I live a joyless life of work, Tim.
And unwarranted community service, apparently.

And you're telling me to get a hobby. You clearly need one as well. Tell you what, one day I'll show up at your office with some paint and model for you.

Bring paint into my archives and I will flay you.

[Nevermind all the things that aren't regulation that have been in his archives...]

Relax I won't get any paint on your statements or in your archives. I know how precious those are to you. At worst I'd steal some to get you outside more often.

[He bristles instinctively, even knowing Tim is teasing.]

And that will get flayed and banned.
Surely you've met more interesting people here to harass.
Any hopes for a contract?
I can imagine you've got at least four different people begging you for one by now.

Not yet. The only person I've offered a contract to turned me down so I'm still looking.

I didn't think you got turned down.
New experiences already!

Even experts fail now and then. It's how you learn.

I'm sure you'll find someone you can help, Tim.
I'd have suggested Martin, honestly, if we hadn't decided to contract the moment he got back.
I can think about it, if you'd like.
I know more Submissives than Doms.
Check who might need a contract coming up.

It wouldn't feel right to contract with Martin. It's best that you two contracted together. And I'm not looking to rush in and sign up with just anyone. Not when I'm suppose to be looking after them as part of the deal.

You have a big heart, Tim.
I know you wanted to keep Gerry safe.

[Should he know that? Jon can't remember. But... here they are.]

There are other people who could do with the protection you could bring.
And none of it has to be sexual.
My contracts aren't.
There's a woman here named Constance Blackwood, for instance.
I don't know if she found a contract, but she was having trouble.
Agoraphobic.
She'd only interacted with her family for years before coming here.
Completely human, as well.
Dorothy Gale, another human woman who's traveled across dimensions and lost so much.
Tomoe Himura, a human woman from early 19th century Japan.
She was very gentle and frightened the one time we met...

Traveled across dimensions and someone from 19th century Japan!? It's not that I don't believe you, but you have to admit those both sound INSANE.

[Jon raises a brow.]

Tim, you worked for a 200-year-old, evil cultist who wanted and managed to start the apocalypse.
Hashtag 'perspective,' isn't it?

I also still find THAT hard to believe. Even after being nearly eaten alive by worms. Elias just seems mostly like a boring guy who's really good at accounting to me.

Yes, he does seem like that.
It's part of what makes him so dangerous.
Like a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Well, at least he doesn't have an institute here. Although I feel like him being here is a good reason to shut yours down if he's really that dangerous.

[...]

I tried to shut it down a few weeks ago.
He wouldn't let me.

[There is a long wait before Jon gets a text reply. He wouldn't let Jon? It didn't seem right. It felt like he was missing some sort of context.]

Why? Did he threaten you? Can you, I dunno, go complain to the police here? You're a dominant and it's not like he is as connected in this city. [Tim assumes.] If he's threatened you what kind of powers does he have here? Would a gun work on him?

It's complicated, Tim.
Elias' abilities literally allow him to get away with murder.
It's how he got away with Gertrude's.
He can change any digital information at will, cut and splice it how he wants.
What's a video camera, if not a mechanical eye?
He can also See everything and he watches... probably constantly.
He'll likely know I'm telling you this now.

What he has is contracts.
One with Agnes as her Dominant and employment contracts with a woman named Ginger and a man named Tsurugi.
The times I've tried to fight Elias, he's taken it out on Agnes, putting her in Realignment, one of those Centers.
It was horrible.
God, what they did to her was so horrible, Tim.
Elias never threatens me, just... everyone else.
It's why I don't want you back at the Institute.
If you can get away, if he's lost his grip on you, you're safe.
He doesn't have Martin, either.
The Lonely saw to that.
Gerry I'm not sure about, but he's less associated with the Institute and more with the Ceaseless Watcher directly.
I'm a dominant, but anything I try to do legally, he'll just turn it around on me.
He has.
He's seen me put in Realignment more than once, as well.
I just look like a lunatic, and he's a model citizen.

Edited 2020-06-13 05:11 (UTC)

[He can splice digital content? Like what's on a phone?] I'm going out for a coffee. You want one? And I don't mean from the Persian. I'll send you an address?

[Jon's not sure he should accept in all honesty. But it's what Tim wants. He's trying to be accommodating.]

Sure.
Fine.
I'll meet you wherever you want.
Just... somewhere less busy, please.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

cw: discussion of abusive relationship dynamics

no subject

no subject