Or maybe he wanted to fuck around with them. You said the Distortion screws around with reality. And lies.
[ She walks with him, holding his hand, and guides them back out of the maze. Ava's gaze is almost everywhere, mostly keeping an eye on the people they pass, concerned more for Jon's safety than his worries about something that may or may not exist in this world. ]
Michael wasn't Michael. [He sighs, frustrated.] As I was going up the stair, I met a man who wasn't there. He wasn't there again today. Oh, how I wish he'd go away.
Helen isn't Helen. Helen isn't Michael, Michael isn't Helen. But Helen is Michael is the Distortion. It leads you in circles. Circles that make no sense. Am I making sense?
[ What does that even... She shouldn't go skimming his thoughts, but she doesn't need to. She knows that's a poem. She knows it has something to do with the Spiral. ]
Considering it's an Avatar of the Spiral, I'm guessing it's not supposed to make sense. Spiral patterns are like that, like fractals. And you're sort of making sense. Helen and Michael...were different people and then became the Distortion?
Fractals. Yes, yes. [Like what Mike Crew was running from. Mike pursued by Michael? It could almost be funny. But the Distortion isn't all the Spiral is. No more than the Archivist is all of the Beholding.]
Different people, but the same thing. Like gloves for a hand. I think... I think the Archivist is more than a glove? But less than a hand. Maybe? I don't want to be a glove, Ava.
[ She glances his way as a deeply-set frown makes its way over her expression. What can she even say to that? This is where his path has led him...and it's not fair. She reaches out to put an arm amicably around his shoulders, draw him close to her for a half-hug. ]
You shouldn't need to be. You don't have to be the glove, Jon.
I don't want to be alone anymore tonight. Will you stay with me, Ava? Please? I have other places we can go. Check. Check for... we were looking for something. The Spiral! The door.
Where are we going?
[They're out of the hedge now and he's not even sure where they really are. Has he been here before?]
I told you: I'm taking you home. It's three in the morning and you can settle for a little bit before you go looking for anything else today. There's no door in the hedge maze, Jon. I don't know if the Spiral is here.
[ She won't say it's not but she also doesn't want to give him the impression that she's fighting him. Just putting it off. Maybe he'll be more receptive to that. ]
I'll still stay with you. 'Til a little after sunrise.
[ The necklace will help but she still doesn't feel comfortable being out. The paranoia of being killed is always there. ]
It could be at home. In the basement. Helen was in the tunnels. Maybe she likes it underground. No... no, that's the Buried. Other mazes. Remind me before you leave. We need to look up other mazes in the city and check them.
[He'll follow along easily with her where she directs as they walk. Though, he'll occasionally point off to the side somewhere and insist there's something he can see to investigate. Sometimes it might even be more than a hallucination. For the most part, though, he'll be easily distracted and redirected until they're walking along the tree-lined drive to Alessandro's house.]
There's a raven that's been following me. I don't think it's anything like a writing desk.
But Jon is pliant enough that he doesn't go scuttling off while they head back, and the few times he does try to walk off, Ava just kind of nudges him back along the path. It's like herding a goat with the attention span of a goldfish. ]
Okay, Alice, you're going just a little delusional on me. Nothing's following us. I wouldn't let it, I promise. Look, we're just about at your house.
[There is, in fact, a solitary raven in one of the trees near the house. Depending on how much Ava's paying attention to a black bird against a dark tree in the middle of the night, she might notice that's... odd. Also, it's a witch's familiar, if that might be something she'd sense.
Jon stumbles a little as they mount the porch steps and he goes to unlock the door.]
[ She doesn't notice it at first, not really, not until they get closer to the porch and the light turns on. Then she notices it a little, just hanging out. And she probably would shrug it off if Jon wasn't, you know, also being delusional about it.
So she gestures at it, getting close enough that most birds would fly off. ]
Shoo, get out of here.
[ And it doesn't. It crackles at her, and she frowns. ]
Uh. Yeah, why don't you make tea? I'm gonna... I'm gonna look at this for a second.
[ Except by the time she looks back, the raven is gone, and she hadn't even heard wings rustling. That's...spooky. ]
[Jon leaves her to chase the bird away and makes it to the kitchen. He starts by turning on the burner and then getting down the tea. What else does he need for this? There's something else. She'll find him staring intently at the stove top inside.]
You heat the tea up, but it's just going to burn... Cups! I need a cup.
[There's still an ingredient missing, but it escapes him in the moment.]
[ She follows him in not long after, closing and locking the door. Maybe she should talk to Alessandro about doing blood wards or something to keep people out of the house who shouldn't be there... But then, Jon just goes out and finds trouble on his own, doesn't he? It'd probably just be a lost cause. She'll still offer, she guesses.
Ava comes to the kitchen to find him just standing there, looking over the stove top. Gently, she reaches around him for the kettle and goes to fill it with water. She then returns it to the stove top. ]
[The kettle! Yes, yes, of course the kettle. He made tea this morning, didn't he? Yesterday morning... some morning.]
Just... Just give me a moment.
[Jon fetches down a pair of mugs and puts the teabags into them. One is definitely Martin's touch in the house as it's covered in gamboling kittens.]
You're the guest, Ava. Thank you for coming over. [He likes it when she's over.] We can talk more about the Spiral. It's the key to escape, I think. Or the Distortion, at the very least.
Edited (Phone, please do not autocorrect house to House...) Date: 2019-09-28 03:58 pm (UTC)
[ If he says so. He still doesn't look like he's totally got it covered. But she goes to sit at the table in the kitchen, watching him as he pulls down mugs. ]
Yeah, well...I'd rather be here than chasing you down outside at this hour.
[ At least Jon is relatively safe here? Maybe? The raven still bothers her. ]
And why do you think that? Because it has a door? Where does that door even lead, anyhow?
[She's got him through the most challenging part, at least. There's a few minutes to wait for the water to heat up.]
The door, yes. The door can lead anywhere. There's a whole other dimension inside. I mean, it's sort of the Spiral's stomach, but you can still get out if it lets you. Or if you figure it out. Helen Richardson figured it out once. That's how she was able to give a Statement.
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winterfish
no subject
Date: 2019-09-21 04:03 am (UTC)[ She walks with him, holding his hand, and guides them back out of the maze. Ava's gaze is almost everywhere, mostly keeping an eye on the people they pass, concerned more for Jon's safety than his worries about something that may or may not exist in this world. ]
But Helen isn't Michael.
no subject
Date: 2019-09-21 04:30 am (UTC)Helen isn't Helen. Helen isn't Michael, Michael isn't Helen. But Helen is Michael is the Distortion. It leads you in circles. Circles that make no sense. Am I making sense?
no subject
Date: 2019-09-23 06:35 pm (UTC)Considering it's an Avatar of the Spiral, I'm guessing it's not supposed to make sense. Spiral patterns are like that, like fractals. And you're sort of making sense. Helen and Michael...were different people and then became the Distortion?
no subject
Date: 2019-09-23 06:47 pm (UTC)Different people, but the same thing. Like gloves for a hand. I think... I think the Archivist is more than a glove? But less than a hand. Maybe? I don't want to be a glove, Ava.
[It's said earnestly.]
no subject
Date: 2019-09-23 06:56 pm (UTC)You shouldn't need to be. You don't have to be the glove, Jon.
no subject
Date: 2019-09-23 07:03 pm (UTC)I don't want to be alone anymore tonight. Will you stay with me, Ava? Please? I have other places we can go. Check. Check for... we were looking for something. The Spiral! The door.
Where are we going?
[They're out of the hedge now and he's not even sure where they really are. Has he been here before?]
no subject
Date: 2019-09-23 07:45 pm (UTC)[ She won't say it's not but she also doesn't want to give him the impression that she's fighting him. Just putting it off. Maybe he'll be more receptive to that. ]
I'll still stay with you. 'Til a little after sunrise.
[ The necklace will help but she still doesn't feel comfortable being out. The paranoia of being killed is always there. ]
no subject
Date: 2019-09-23 08:36 pm (UTC)[Right.]
It could be at home. In the basement. Helen was in the tunnels. Maybe she likes it underground. No... no, that's the Buried. Other mazes. Remind me before you leave. We need to look up other mazes in the city and check them.
[He'll follow along easily with her where she directs as they walk. Though, he'll occasionally point off to the side somewhere and insist there's something he can see to investigate. Sometimes it might even be more than a hallucination. For the most part, though, he'll be easily distracted and redirected until they're walking along the tree-lined drive to Alessandro's house.]
There's a raven that's been following me. I don't think it's anything like a writing desk.
no subject
Date: 2019-09-24 04:47 am (UTC)[ Maybe tomorrow. He really needs to rest.
But Jon is pliant enough that he doesn't go scuttling off while they head back, and the few times he does try to walk off, Ava just kind of nudges him back along the path. It's like herding a goat with the attention span of a goldfish. ]
Okay, Alice, you're going just a little delusional on me. Nothing's following us. I wouldn't let it, I promise. Look, we're just about at your house.
no subject
Date: 2019-09-24 05:21 am (UTC)Jon stumbles a little as they mount the porch steps and he goes to unlock the door.]
Did you want tea? I can make tea.
no subject
Date: 2019-09-25 11:32 pm (UTC)So she gestures at it, getting close enough that most birds would fly off. ]
Shoo, get out of here.
[ And it doesn't. It crackles at her, and she frowns. ]
Uh. Yeah, why don't you make tea? I'm gonna... I'm gonna look at this for a second.
[ Except by the time she looks back, the raven is gone, and she hadn't even heard wings rustling. That's...spooky. ]
no subject
Date: 2019-09-26 12:19 am (UTC)You heat the tea up, but it's just going to burn... Cups! I need a cup.
[There's still an ingredient missing, but it escapes him in the moment.]
no subject
Date: 2019-09-28 03:41 pm (UTC)Ava comes to the kitchen to find him just standing there, looking over the stove top. Gently, she reaches around him for the kettle and goes to fill it with water. She then returns it to the stove top. ]
Here. Why don't you sit?
no subject
Date: 2019-09-28 03:53 pm (UTC)[The kettle! Yes, yes, of course the kettle. He made tea this morning, didn't he? Yesterday morning... some morning.]
Just... Just give me a moment.
[Jon fetches down a pair of mugs and puts the teabags into them. One is definitely Martin's touch in the house as it's covered in gamboling kittens.]
You're the guest, Ava. Thank you for coming over. [He likes it when she's over.] We can talk more about the Spiral. It's the key to escape, I think. Or the Distortion, at the very least.
no subject
Date: 2019-09-30 01:35 am (UTC)Yeah, well...I'd rather be here than chasing you down outside at this hour.
[ At least Jon is relatively safe here? Maybe? The raven still bothers her. ]
And why do you think that? Because it has a door? Where does that door even lead, anyhow?
no subject
Date: 2019-09-30 02:22 am (UTC)The door, yes. The door can lead anywhere. There's a whole other dimension inside. I mean, it's sort of the Spiral's stomach, but you can still get out if it lets you. Or if you figure it out. Helen Richardson figured it out once. That's how she was able to give a Statement.
And then Michael turned up an ate her...