john childermass (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
atouts) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
lostcarnival2016-12-17 11:03 pm
atouts) wrote in lostcarnival2016-12-17 11:03 pm
Entry tags:
[OPEN] how long is forever?
WHO: Childermass & anyone.
WHAT: Childermass returns from his unfortunate vacation in the Matrix.
WHERE: The carnival, Trailer #19, the cookhouse.
WHEN: End of D32, on into D33.
WARNINGS: Mentions of torture, will update if anything else comes up.
[ D32, by the tree phones; closed to the first person to find him ]
Why he'd been released after giving so little information, Childermass can't be sure.
He wondered if they had picked up anyone else, someone more likely to talk about the carnival than he was. Perhaps that had made it less useful to keep at him, when someone else was more chatty, although if that were the case, they sure didn't mind trying to keep on "convincing" him. After all that effort, just to have him wake up back in the zoo, intact again, for the most part (the memory of broken fingers still has him rubbing his knuckles, often and uncomfortably). Part of him — the sensible, forever cautious part — wanted to stay and find out, to know, but the rest of him was exhausted. Caution be damned, he needed to get out, so that was exactly what he did.
Funny how only a few days ago he was telling Mr. Strange how bizarre it was to already consider the carnival home, but stumbling to the nearest phone and finding himself back among the trees, with that mad circus up ahead, is a relief. Back at last, after nearly five days of missing, he'll let out a sigh and lean heavily against the same tree the phone is hooked up to.
Now here's a man who looks worse for wear, but at least he's still standing, right?
[Late D32-D33; open to all]
Afterwards, whatever it is that comes afterwards, Childermass will be wisely leaving his supervisor a note about taking a day off to rest — if that's no problem, of course — and then holing up in his trailer to, for the most part, sleep. It won't be very restful, though, so more often than not he'll be found up with tea, trying and failing to write for any real length of time, or spending an awful lot of time staring at ceiling from where he should, but isn't, sleeping.
Basically, trying to avoid everyone, but he'll probably answer the door if someone shows up, assuming they're polite about it at all. Considering the door isn't actually locked, the odds on that might be against him.
Or, failing all attempts to get some actual rest, on the day after his return, one might find him having, by some miracle, made his way to the cookhouse. If only for some coffee and to — again — get absolutely nowhere with writing in one of his various memo books.
WHAT: Childermass returns from his unfortunate vacation in the Matrix.
WHERE: The carnival, Trailer #19, the cookhouse.
WHEN: End of D32, on into D33.
WARNINGS: Mentions of torture, will update if anything else comes up.
[ D32, by the tree phones; closed to the first person to find him ]
Why he'd been released after giving so little information, Childermass can't be sure.
He wondered if they had picked up anyone else, someone more likely to talk about the carnival than he was. Perhaps that had made it less useful to keep at him, when someone else was more chatty, although if that were the case, they sure didn't mind trying to keep on "convincing" him. After all that effort, just to have him wake up back in the zoo, intact again, for the most part (the memory of broken fingers still has him rubbing his knuckles, often and uncomfortably). Part of him — the sensible, forever cautious part — wanted to stay and find out, to know, but the rest of him was exhausted. Caution be damned, he needed to get out, so that was exactly what he did.
Funny how only a few days ago he was telling Mr. Strange how bizarre it was to already consider the carnival home, but stumbling to the nearest phone and finding himself back among the trees, with that mad circus up ahead, is a relief. Back at last, after nearly five days of missing, he'll let out a sigh and lean heavily against the same tree the phone is hooked up to.
Now here's a man who looks worse for wear, but at least he's still standing, right?
[Late D32-D33; open to all]
Afterwards, whatever it is that comes afterwards, Childermass will be wisely leaving his supervisor a note about taking a day off to rest — if that's no problem, of course — and then holing up in his trailer to, for the most part, sleep. It won't be very restful, though, so more often than not he'll be found up with tea, trying and failing to write for any real length of time, or spending an awful lot of time staring at ceiling from where he should, but isn't, sleeping.
Basically, trying to avoid everyone, but he'll probably answer the door if someone shows up, assuming they're polite about it at all. Considering the door isn't actually locked, the odds on that might be against him.
Or, failing all attempts to get some actual rest, on the day after his return, one might find him having, by some miracle, made his way to the cookhouse. If only for some coffee and to — again — get absolutely nowhere with writing in one of his various memo books.
no subject
"There's not very many Nightriders, and it's a big city. Even if I can't help very much... I can't just stay here, either. Not while my... my friends are in there."
no subject
Which is probably a harsh question to ask her, no matter how he tries to gentle it (which is, admittedly, not by much, because this is still Childermass). Not that he should really try at all. The fact is it's not only a big city, but now a big city with an enemy who knows they're there, watching, waiting.
"It isn't a game, Chiaki. What happens in there is as real as anything that happens out here."
no subject
"Do you think I don't know that?" She stops walking and turns to him. She's only known him for a month, but she still worried about him enough to go looking in the Matrix, for him and for Carly and Tamaki as well. She shouldn't be getting attached like this, she knows that. It's dumb. But she has anyway.
"That's why I can't just stay here. Our friends are depending on us, Nightriders or not. Can we stay here in safety while all sorts of things might be happening to them?"
She doesn't know what happened to John. If he never wants to return, she really can't blame him. But she can't just leave the others behind.
no subject
But he isn't going to back down from disagreeing with her here. He steps back, steady enough to stand on his own, and raises his eyebrows at her, questioning.
"And what will you do if you find them? Do you think you won't be noticed? I could not evade them even with magic. They could see right through it. Worse, they could be anyone, at any given moment."
no subject
"I'd come back here. Tell the Ringmaster."
no subject
Though considering she has a better grasp at manipulating the Matrix, maybe she could. Childermass just wouldn't want to bet on it.
"Besides that, if they did not bother to kill me, so I cannot imagine why they would kill either of the other two. And believe me, I gave them more than enough reason to."
no subject
She can't not. But she doesn't want to upset him, either. So she sighs.
"... Okay. Let's just... get you back to your trailer, okay? I'm sorry, John..."
no subject
If that's the end of that conversation, well, he's just as glad to let it go. Whether she does stay out or not, it's not as though he can control that. He can only advise against and so he has. That all said, he'll turn back in the direction of the carnival and continue on.