recolle | [OPEN] There is an exit here

Entry tags:

[OPEN] There is an exit here

WHO: Albert Wesker, whomever else decides to join him (presumably you!)
WHERE: Subway tunnels
WHEN: Sometime in January
WHAT: January event catch-all! Featuring going through luggage from the 1950s, playing piano kind of badly, memory-sharing, fighting a train, having a mild existential crisis, and otherwise exploring the subway tunnels with a bunch of guns. If there is something you want to do in these tunnels, we can come do it in these tunnels.
WARNINGS: None for the log itself? If things come up in the entertainment car, memory-wise, I'll put warnings on the individual threads, though.

[A. ENTRANCE]

[You know, there are a lot of things that can be done with the sudden appearance of tunnels like this; it seems like the one option that's not on the table is avoiding them entirely. Following that light down here today will lead you to find someone sitting on the edge of the commuter platform, above the tracks; he's dressed in what looks like black leather and from the look of it, you've come across him while he's checking his guns.

...His several guns. He's verifying that his handgun is loaded to his liking whenever you approach, but he's also got a large shotgun strapped to his back and what looks like an automatic pistol lying just to his side, well within his reach. And in case projectile weapons aren't going to get the job done today, he's got a good-sized combat knife sheathed on him as well, because why the fuck wouldn't he.

Whatever's going on with him, Wesker appears to be preparing for war, or at least some kind of battle in those tunnels; whether you're meeting up with him for pre-arranged exploration or you're just stumbling down here today and deciding that the guy who's armed to the teeth might be a good idea to take along (hey, maybe he knows what he's doing, maybe he's been down here before), feel free to approach him and figure out a game plan. After all, he's not opposed to moving in numbers, and maybe you'll get an adventure out of it.]

[B. TRAIN CARS - PART I]

[Granted, if you find him later, he's going to be taking his sweet time looking through those train cars; Wesker has always been odd about what's socially acceptable and what isn't, but it seems he's having literally no qualms whatsoever about simply raiding a bunch of currently-nonexistent people's stuff. In the passenger car and sleeper cars both, he'll be going through personal items – small journals that either have nothing in them or don't seem to be important and are quickly discarded, newspapers being checked for dates and events, clothing being laid out so he can get a better look at all of it...

...He seems to be looking for something in particular, though it's difficult to say what, exactly; either way, he's a weirdo on a mission going through a bunch of stuff that isn't his, just in front of God and everyone, and he's having...well, saying he's having a great time is an overstatement, but he's at least having an acceptable time. Sure.]

[C. TRAIN CARS – PART II]

[The fourth car will catch his attention eventually, once he's done invading the previous passengers' privacy; his handgun is drawn when he enters, though he'll put it up once it seems evident that there isn't a threat in here. The instruments hold his interest for a short while; there's an upright piano in here, and he can be found standing at it just kind of idly plinking the keys for a while. The sort of thing that indicates that maybe he knew how to play at one point, but hell if he really does anymore.

...He'll likely be in here until those doors slam closed behind him and anyone else who happens to be here with him; basically, let's see where things go in here and then you can get one of his memories on that screen – or one of your character's, if you'd prefer! I'm easy, come hit me with whatever. Or just deal with his shit piano-playing, that's also cool.]

[D. TRAIN CARS – PART "THIS IS STILL BETTER THAN THE ECLIPTIC EXPRESS"]

[...Okay, you know what, he's willing to deal with things like rats and vines and disembodied eyes and train cars with minds of their own, but he is not particularly here for the train car with a mind of its own. He'd been going to see what's inside it like your average Resident Evil person with absolutely no sense of boundaries when the thing had decided that it was a great time to be alive, and likewise a great time to, you know, develop approximations of eyes and limbs and shit.

Wonderful.

So today we have a man with an assault shotgun, absolutely no sense of self-preservation and not a single fuck to give, standing his ground and facing down a train like he's daring it to come at him. After a moment he unloads a well-placed shot into whatever the hell this thing has passing for a face; the gun has an alarming amount of stopping power on it but seeing as this thing is, in fact, a train, he's probably just pissing it off.

You might want to. Assist? Make him move? Tell him to something that isn't shoot a train. Um.]

[E. CENTRAL STATION]

[A literal light at the end of the tunnel, how...tacky? It seems kind of tacky. But you know what, it actually gets Wesker to lower his weaponry a bit, and after a while he's more than content to start looking around; the travel guides will get his attention before too long, and some of them seem more relevant than the others.

Welcome to Africa. Welcome to Brazil.

Welcome to the Arklay Mountains.

It's that last one that catches his attention fully; he picks it up immediately, paging through it for a moment before the whole thing begins to seem too surreal for his liking. He...knows this place, despite having never seen it in person – the dense forests, the estate that houses the large research compound and executive training facility (it even states that it was once run by A. Wesker and W. Birkin), the grand mansion nearby that's buried among the trees...

He's gone strange and very still; it's obvious that he doesn't know how to react and as such he quite simply isn't. He'd never had an attachment to these places in his memories; they were just a means to an end to him, then. But now...

He'll be here for a while.]

[F. WILDCARD]

[Have something else you want to do? Feel free to PM me or grab me on plurk at

InstantEternity, and I'll see what we can do! Either that or just sling a prompt at me and I'll roll with it, I'm flexible. o/ ]

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[...Is it really fine?]

If you ever want to talk about it, I'll listen. I can't guarantee that I'll understand, but I'd like to try.

[He won't press any further than that, though.]

[He goes silent at that; he isn't ignoring Jaeger at all, and that isn't his intention, just...let him have a few minutes to think about how he wants to put this into words. He'll keep walking while he considers; this tunnel has to come out somewhere, doesn't it? Even if it is starting to get creepy as hell through here, those fucking red eyes everywhere are back...]

...I've noticed for a while now that my thoughts have been becoming more like those that I remember. More violent, more...callous toward people who don't deserve it. Quicker to anger and lashing out. I've never frightened easily, but now it's less of a lack of fear and more a fascination with things that shouldn't elicit that reaction. There's an interest in people still, but it's more geared toward what they're capable of doing for me or whatever I'm trying to do at the moment as opposed to any interest in them or their well-being. How convenient they are, I suppose.

It's more than the fighting, it's everything. I know a part of me has always been that way, but the more memories I receive, it's harder for me to tell how much of it is genuinely that part of me and how much of it is him.

[Jaeger doesn't interrupt the silence, but he does keep a close eye on the red eyes that have surrounded them again. Nothing seems to be making a move just yet, but it doesn't hurt to be cautious.

Of course all that goes out the window when Wesker speaks up again. There are a lot of things that scare Jaeger when it comes to what Retrospec is doing, but the thing he's been most afraid of is becoming more and more like the man he was in his past life.

Needless to say, this terrifies him.]

...Oh.

[It's quiet and sort of hesitant, but it reminds him that he needs to say something in response to that. His free hand has come up to settle on his chest at some point during Wesker's speech and he forces it down to his side now.]

I see. I...

[Is I'm sorry the right sentiment here? He decides not to say it and changes direction instead.]

I can't say I've noticed anything like that myself. I think it's because I'm still so confused about everything that was going on. I don't really know my other self all that well yet. I have an idea of who he was, but I couldn't tell you why he was doing any of that.

Understanding like that... I'm not really sure what to make of it, honestly.

[It's scary. It's the most terrifying thing he's ever heard.]

...I know that sort of thing troubles you.

[He'd seen Jaeger's nightmares in October, after all; it'd be impossible for him to not know.]

I'll be all right. I'm not afraid of it, and as I said, I don't hate him anymore.

[...]

I'm glad you're not afraid of it. That...

[makes one of us]

...really would be awful. I'm glad to hear that you'll be fine too. I do worry about you sometimes, you know!

[That's light; he's not intentionally trying to deflect away from his own fears, it's just easier to try to lighten the mood right now. This isn't exactly the best place for a deep conversation about his fears when they're surrounded by those red eyes.]

[...That'll get him a sharp look, at least; it's a bit more pronounced without the usual sunglasses on.]

Jaeger-

[He's aware of it, though, the fact that it's for the best to not get distracted by things like this now, but he doesn't like the idea of just leaving it there.]

...Talk to me about this. When we're safe.

Please.

[...Dammit. He doesn't want to talk about it, but he's been trying to be better about dismissing things like this. If he has a problem, he should talk about it, right? That's the habit he's tried to get himself in. It's a little concerning that he could so easily slip out of that.]

...Sorry. Yes, I'll talk to you about it once we're out of here.

[He's quiet for a moment before he just...shakes his head and keeps going; he doesn't know what to make of that, given that Jaeger doesn't usually do that to him anymore.

I shouldn't have told him.

It's the first thought that comes to mind, and it's the one he's going to have difficulty ignoring for a while. Because of course Jaeger isn't going to want to talk to him after something like that; why would he? For all his talk about how his feelings won't change no matter what happens, he's also made no secret about how much he hates the person Wesker used to be, so why -

Christ.

It's probably not much of a surprise when he doesn't speak for a while; he's trying not to let himself get riled to a point where he can't when he needs to, whenever this godforsaken tunnel ends, but it's. difficult.]

[For once Jaeger doesn't break the silence. He's quiet as well, trying to work out what the actual hell he's going to say once they're somewhere safe. He's going to tell the truth, of course, but admitting that he's terrified of what this means really isn't going to be easy. He knows how he is - the closer he gets to being honest, the more he deflects. That's how he's always been and while he's gotten better about it around Wesker, he's worried it'll happen again. He's just so damn scared—

It's certainly gotten him to be jumpier, anyway. He sticks close to Wesker, but his eyes are constantly trained on the things out there in the darkness and any movement gets him to tighten his grip on the briefcase, finger hovering over the button to transform it until he's sure it's safe again.

We've got to be getting close to something, right?]

[...Jaeger, they're rats, they're probably not going to kill you. Unless they have rabies, at which point they might kill you but we've got a few hours before they definitely kill you, and holy shit we're going to just be a pair of anxiety-ridden wrecks for the next several minutes until -

...There's light over there, light is probably a good thing, right? That usually implies a station of some sort...]

[Listen they may just be rats but he's kind of a mess right now, so—

Oh, look! Jaeger perks up the moment he sees the light and that gets him to settle a bit.]

Let's check it out, shall we?

[He just nods a bit at that; he's riled and it's probably becoming obvious despite his best attempts at not doing that, but either way there isn't a response forthcoming, let's just...go, all right.

Thankfully the central station is large, and bright, and...not full of rats. Praise be.]

[Praise be. Jaeger's absolutely fascinated by everything here, but his tense mood hasn't exactly evaporated entirely. While normally he'd wander off to check out whatever caught his interest at the moment, he's noticed that Wesker's still not speaking and he's definitely worked up about something so...]

Are you okay, Albert?

[He'll nod again, a bit more resolutely this time; just...let him clear his head, he's okay.

The station is...nice, if in that weird sort of way that the train cars were technically nice; it's something to look at, at any rate, and it isn't long before Wesker's attention is diverted there, just trying to calm himself down a bit.]

[...Yeah, he's not buying it. He'll follow Wesker over to the train cars to check them out, but his attention isn't on that. He probably should be more fascinated by them, but he's worried about his boyfriend.

He'll be quiet for awhile before speaking up again.]

...I'm sorry I got so jumpy back there. I'm usually not scared of the dark, you know.

[It's not nearly as flippant as it could be, at least.]

[...He knows.

He'll look over from...whatever it is he's currently trying to look at (he'll keep his distance from most things because holy fuck, the last large thing he touched didn't like him doing that, now, did it) but he doesn't reply right away, he just...can't seem to settle. After a while, he'll leave whatever's actually parked at the station be in favor of heading upwards onto the platform proper and closer to the shops.

Come on, let's go.]

[...Okay, maybe words just aren't happening right now. Something must have happened in Wesker's head but like hell if he knows what. Jaeger falls silent and follows after him, still trying to puzzle out what could have happened.

He'll poke around the shops once they get there, though he doesn't seem particularly invested in anything. This is fascinating and all, but it's kind of hard to get really interested in anything at the moment.]

[The quiet seems to settle him a bit more, as does having something else to focus on; he'll glance over once in a while, just to verify that he isn't ignoring you any.]

It's...stress, that's all.

[And that's quiet, spoken while he's checking out one of the windows and decidedly not looking over, but at least it's out there.]

You're all right now...?

[At least it's something. After a moment Jaeger reaches for his hand, if Wesker will allow it. Not because he thinks Wesker needs the contact any but because Jaeger does.]

I'm... I'm okay. My shoulder still sort of hurts and I worked myself up a bit too much back there, but I'm doing better now.

[He's going to keep doing his best to be honest.]

...Good to know.

[He's not going to press further than that, though; he's not certain he could make himself, even if he wanted to.

He'll allow the contact, though, so at least there's that.]

[Good. Jaeger grips Wesker's hand tightly. He doesn't want to let go, okay.]

...Do you want me to wait until we're home to talk about that?

[He wouldn't mind the extra time to figure out what to say, but something still feels weird here and he thinks this might be the cause of it.]

...We can talk here. There isn't anyone else here with us.

Okay.

[...]

You remember that dream you saw several months ago, ja? I haven't been having as many dreams like that lately, but I...

[Come on, don't freeze up now. Jaeger shakes his head and forces the words out.]

I'm scared. I'm so scared of becoming that person. I don't want to treat those closest to me like they're unimportant, I don't want to become someone who only finds enjoyment in messing with others. I don't know enough about him, so for all I know I could be getting closer to him with each passing day and that idea...

[His grip tightens on Wesker's hand.]

I think... I wouldn't care anymore if I was exactly the same as he was. And that's what scares me most.

[He's not looking at Wesker as he speaks, but he's not really seeing anything else either.]

[He'll take that all in quietly; he's not really looking at much, either, just focusing intently at the empty space about three inches in front of his face. The only thing he reacts to physically is Jaeger's grip tightening; he doesn't look over, he just returns the gesture, taking a moment before he replies.]

Your reactions to things are enough to make it plain that you aren't like that. Nowhere close.

[It's quiet, but it's a response; it's difficult to find words, but they're happening, at least.]

...Perhaps we were always going to be like them. Not exactly, not even close to exactly in some cases... But close enough for us to see some of them in ourselves. It gives some sort of credence to what Retrospec has been saying, at any rate. About their souls, and how they relate to us.

It's why I'm not afraid anymore. I don't like it, and I don't want to accept it. But that's the understanding that I've come to, I think - the knowledge that there isn't a clear-cut difference between who he was and who I am. I'm not...changing, it's just who I've always been.

[He's kind of vibrating a little, though, once that's out there; not quite shaking, just...his nerves are very active, he can feel them.]

If you don't want that, then establish differences. Decide who you're going to be now and adhere to it. I'll help you, with whatever you decide to do. You know I will.

["I'm not...changing, it's just who I've always been."

That's what gets him to look up at Wesker, though he doesn't interrupt. He waits until Wesker's done and then some, to really process it. He understands better now, he thinks. The idea that they've always been like this and they've always been some level of close to their past selves isn't terrifying; it's not exactly the most comforting either, but it's easier to bear than to think that he's changing to become more like his past self.

His grip tightens again, but he'll loosen it a bit when he realizes what he's doing. He's definitely not letting go of Wesker's hand, though.]

...I know you will. That's one of the many things I love about you.

[Wesker knows what he means by that, surely. It's not as direct as Jaeger would like, but at least he can get the word out for once.]

I'll do that, then. I think I can at least start with being more honest in general - the man probably couldn't manage honesty if his life depended on it.

[It's still a pretty big leap for someone like him, so after a moment he amends that.]

Well, I can try to be more honest to the people I like. That seems like a more realistic goal.

[OPEN] There is an exit here

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