[open]

[ghostlocked]

Who: Harlan Halliday, Newt Geiszler, and whoever else
What: Catch-all log for post-Deserted reunions/September
Where: All around town
When: In the days following the Deserted event/whenever in September
Warnings: Probably some mentions of suicide/self harm in some threads. I'll cw tags accordingly.

I'll be doing closed starters for some folks I've plotted with ahead of time, but if anyone wants to hit up Harlan or Newt (either to check up on them after Deserted or just in general), go for it! I've put up individual headers for them.

Comments

HARLAN

[ghostlocked]

closed to kyna

[ghostlocked]

[Because Harlan is a little scattered as he attempts to check on everyone he knows all at the same time, and also because he absolutely does not want to barge in on any sort of Kyna/Wash reunion, he starts with a text. It fits their friendship, anyway.]

ur back right? u ok?

[evocation]

[He'd be barging in on Kyna being glued to Wash, maybe, but at the moment she's still reeling, trying to make sure everyone she cares about is back and safe. She's in the middle of texting Tucker when Harlan's message comes through, and her chest tightens with relief.]

i'm back
where are you? are you safe?

[ghostlocked]

im omw to find del. he wasnt home.
im scared hes not back but hes probably back. everyone else is back.
yeah im safe. im ok.
mostly.
wtf was that?
i was with wash.

[He's also reeling, and is thus all over the place.]

[evocation]

yeah, he told me
i woke up and he was just there
i don't know what the fuck that was
an event?
but the gods weren't even around so wtf do they get out of it?

closed to hayden

[ghostlocked]

[It takes a while for Harlan to muster the strength to drag himself away from Michael. It's stupid, he knows, but he can't shake the feeling that Michael will disappear again if Harlan looks away for too long. Still, he does make his way back to his own apartment eventually. He has other people to check on.

John Frusciante zooms out of his arms and across the room to scratch on her favorite terrible chair, and Harlan beelines for Hayden's room.]

Hayden? You home?

[Please let him be home.]

[demonsional]

[Hayden seems to have made himself an impressive sort of cocoon in his already practically cocoon-like bed that Harlan had built for him. At the sound of Harlan's voice he explodes outward from the covers, but makes a mess of trying to leap for his effective-guardian as his legs tangle inside of them in the attempt and then he's rolling forward hands over head until landing at Harlan's feet.]

Wah!

[It starts off as a cry that's meant to be some kind of indication that he's happy to see him, probably, but then it just turns into sobbing, so. Failed steps 1-3.]

[ghostlocked]

[Harlan jumps as suddenly there's a mess of red hair careening in his general direction. He isn't sure why he didn't prepare himself for that reaction. What other greeting could he possibly expect from Hayden?

Harlan crouches down, and then quickly realizes this is going to require the big guns, so he sits instead.]

Hey, come here. Everything's okay now.

[He's had quite an emotional day already though, so he gets it. He rubs Hayden's shoulder with one hand, coaxing him to peel himself off of the floor.]

[demonsional]

[Hayden uncoils from his twisted position and mess of sheets, propping himself up on his hands to stare up at Harlan with his big watery eyes and tear-stained cheeks.]

Why do they keep making you leave?

closed to michael; cw drug use, suicide

[ghostlocked]

[The only way Harlan's been able to sleep these past few days is by getting absolutely blasted. Alcohol would knock him out quicker, but he stays away from it and sticks to his dwindling pot stash instead. He gets sad when he drinks. He can't afford to compromise himself like that now.

Unfortunately, the side effect of smoking is that he wakes up a few hours later, sober but out of it, like his head's been packed with gauze. It's not too difficult to fall back asleep in that state. He's hardly capable of doing much with his mind that foggy, so staying in bed is about his only option.

When he wakes up this time, though, he can feel the weight of someone next to him. What? He rolls over, half-expecting Faith to have followed him home and crawled into bed with him because, out of his three companions, she's the only one that seems bonkers enough to do such a thing, but—]

Michael?

[It's dark, but it's not the first time Harlan has woken up in a dark room with Michael next to him. Harlan just knows it's him.

Holy shit. It was an event.

Michael is starting to stir, so Harlan wraps an arm around his middle and presses his forehead against the nape of Michael's neck. It was an event. He squeezes, curling his body against Michael's desperately, like he might vanish again if Harlan doesn't hold on tightly enough. It was an event. It was an event.]

wow i don't have an appropriate icon for this

[aroundthecoroner]

[Michael comes to a sort of hazy consciousness the second Harlan says his name. He jerks at the touch, his usual conditioned response to being woken up suddenly. At first he thinks it's a threat, and then he thinks it's a dream. Just him being desperate and hearing things. Sleep paralysis, maybe. Wouldn't be the first time.

Or maybe it's Pratt, or one of the other unlucky stragglers. Maybe it's whatever terrible thing seemed ready to descend at any moment. It can't be real, can it?

Michael's hand goes to the arm around his waist, his other for the head pressed against his neck. And it's Harlan's arm, it's Harlan's hair. It's like he never went missing in the first place. So wait, which part was fake? The part where he vanished, or this?

Michael's thoughts are temporarily interrupted by screeching as the Visitor abruptly picks up on its target again. And, well, that seals it. It's real. It's real.]

Harlan? Oh my god.

[He tries to turn and face him, which, given that Harlan is suction-cupped to his back, causes kind of an awkward twisting position where neither of them are quite getting what they want. But that doesn't matter. Michael's just desperate to touch as much of him as possible.]

mood

[ghostlocked]

[He leans back as Michael starts to flip around, giving him just enough room to do so before pulling him in again. He takes advantage of the readjusting to wrap both arms around Michael. He twines his fingers in Michael's hair, closes his eyes to listen to his breathing. It was an event.

Harlan thought he would be crying by now. He cries at everything. The fucking Star Trek theme makes him tear up some nights. Why isn't he crying? Why doesn't he feel anything?

His middle may as well be a black hole. There's something hovering around the edges, a faint glimmer of relief and love and it was an event, but it's all vastly eclipsed by the horror that it almost wasn't. This was too close. Harlan was so sure he'd hit the end of things and now he hasn't and he could not be more thankful, but he hasn't figured out how to process the transition just yet.

The crying will come. He'll break down soon, maybe in a few minutes or maybe in a few days, and he'll stay broken for a while. That's predictable. That's preferable. He knows how to put himself back together afterward. Mostly.

Until then, he's stuck in the heavy dread that comes with a near miss. There is a world out there where some version of him woke up this morning and found the same empty bed he's been finding for too many mornings already and will continue to find for all foreseeable mornings. There are a lot of worlds where that is the reality. Somehow, he's ended up in this one, where Michael is back oh my god he's back but christ that was close. That was too close.]

Where were you?

[It comes out flat and hoarse.]

NEWT

[completelycrazy]

closed to hayden

[completelycrazy]

[Seems like the town is back to normal. Cool. So it was an event, it seems. Dick move, gods.

Newt would super love his salamander back, though. Semiyon had Beep Beep, so she's back in her cage, safe and sound, but Chimney is nowhere to be found... And Newt has a suspicion as to his whereabouts. Problem is, finding Hayden requires monster hunting skills way beyond his ability. Here's hoping he'll answer his phone.]

Hey, kid! It's Newt. Did you take my—uh, Chimney? Do you know where he's at?

[demonsional]

[Hayden screams when his phone rings. Newt doesn't get to hear that part, but I feel like it's important enough to note. Fumbling, he manages to catch the call in time after first running in a panicked and confused circle, and then takes a deep breath.]

I have the package!

[completelycrazy]

[Newt tilts his head away from the phone as Hayden is suddenly screaming at full volume. Great!]

Wait, really?

[He... somehow didn't expect it to be this easy, but he's glad that it is.

...Well.]

You're talking about the salamander, right?

[JUST CHECKING.]

Where are you?

closed to semiyon

[completelycrazy]

[Newt doesn't immediately realize that the town is back to normal. He's been trying to shut everything out, to ignore just how bad the situation is or might be in the future, which means he's been pouring himself into his research down at the lab. It's annoying, having to work without electricity, but that makes it all the more interesting of a challenge. He's also basically been living in the lab, so it's not until early afternoon that he heads back to the house to feed the monsters.

When he walks in, it's pretty clear that he's not expecting anyone, least of all Semiyon, to be there. He's wearing a ratty t-shirt that he's definitely been wearing for days, and he's let his hygiene fall to the wayside. Hope you like some intense stubble, Semiyon.

He shrieks when he finds Semiyon going about his business in the kitchen, and then stops short like he's just been caught sneaking out of his room after bedtime.]

Oh, uh... You're back, huh?

[bespectacledsnake]

[It's about the reaction he should have expected from Newton Gieszler: high pitched and ineloquent. Though it is actually a relief to see him, Semiyon can't resist the opportunity to tease Newt.

He raises a single brow, shooting an intrigued look Newt's way as he leans back against the counter]

I see you've enjoyed my absence.

[completelycrazy]

What?

[He looks down at himself, like he's noticing for the first time just what a hot mess he is. Oops.]

I mean, not really? That was scary as hell, dude. I got stuck with a couple weirdos I'd never met before. From the guard, I think.

[Sorry, Cecily and Kain. Newt thinks most people are weirdos, to be fair.]

in the lab;

[hasitsthorns]

[ She comes out of nowhere, the sneakiest wolf yokai there ever was with a: ]

What'cha doing?

[ from right over his shoulder.

Actually, he just wasn't paying attention and she's enough of a little shit that she couldn't resist the opportunity to try and spook him. It's been a few months too so, like. Sue her. Maybe she actually missed him. He might not be her Newt but he's a Newt and he definitely livens things up a little. ]

[completelycrazy]

[When Newt is working, he gets into a zone. Tunnel vision is putting it lightly. Back at his own lab in Hong Kong, if Hermann was being especially irritating, Newt would just put his earbuds in and the world beyond his dissection table all but disappeared. It was heaven.

He doesn't have earbuds here, so Rosie's sudden voice puncturing the quiet lab right next to his ear... He yelps, jumping so hard that he nearly falls out of his chair.]

Oh my god! Don't scare me like that! Jeez!

[He yanks off his glasses and starts to clean them on his shirt, like a cat aggressively grooming itself in embarrassment after it biffs a jump. Oh, shoot, his hands are all covered in old blood and he forgot... Eugh. He yanks a towel off of the table and uses that to clean himself up.]

I could've been holding a scalpel, you know. You could've made me ruin this specimen.

[He's being a sassafras, but that's largely the adrenaline talking. He's not that mad.

Now that Rosie is able to get a closer look at what Newt's working on, she'll see that he has a songbird delicately cut open on his desk. It's a jabberjay, and he seems to be digging around in its neck. There's a haphazard stack of notes piled next to it. He's been drawing anatomical diagrams as he goes.

There's a big scribble across the top page—a byproduct of her spooking him.]

[hasitsthorns]

[ Some things never change. It's almost a comfort that any iteration of him would still be jumpy. ]

Sorry, dude, [ she says, about the specimen. She really wouldn't have wanted him to ruin it even if she isn't actually that sorry. The blond inspects the bird now. The diagrams. It brings back memories of House 1, watching Newt work his manic magic when he couldn't sleep.

If it wasn't the quiet hours of the early morning, it was when things were actually good. They sang Passenger songs at the top of their lungs and roped Jesse or Hiruma into it. She misses those days. She misses them. ]

Still hard at work as ever, huh? What're you tearing this little guy apart for. Just to figure it out?

[ She's interested in The Science even if it isn't her strong suit. ]

A few days post reunion / LAB

[bespectacledsnake]

[Semiyon has never been to the lab before. He knows where it is. He knows it's where Newt goes most of the time. But he's never had the interest. Something about dissections and internal organs doesn't exactly grab his interest. Particularly not after what he finds in the fridge a lot of the time.

But he's bored and feels like entertaining himself with a visit to his housemate, so he turns up, sticking out like a sore thumb in his tailored overcoat and collared shirt, and even moreso for the fact that he's carrying a large bucket on his arm far too casually as though it is a normal thing for elderly, well-dressed men to do.]

So. [He saunters up beside Newt when he spots him working] This is where you work.

[And yes. Beep-beep is chillin in the bucket]

[completelycrazy]

[Of all the people to suddenly turn up in the lab, Semiyon is perhaps the least expected. He harps on Newt for his work enough at home, and though Newt knows he's just teasing, Newt also knows that he's not, not entirely. It's gross work, this monster-studying business. Semiyon never struck Newt as a man who liked to get his hands dirty.

So color Newt incredibly surprised when Semiyon is suddenly standing next to his desk, bucket in tow.]

Oh, uh, hey. Yeah. This is where I work.

[He reclines in his chair to spread out his arms like the sight before Semiyon is impressive. It's not. It looks about the same as Newt's side of the dining room table (and then some) at home, all piled with various notes and sketches and small cage prototype parts. If Semiyon was wondering where the house's collection of coffee mugs has been slowly escaping to, he has found their migratory home on Newt's desk.]

What's in the bucket? You bring me lunch or something?

[He could eat. He sits up to peer into the—oh my god.]

What are you doing! Why'd you bring Be—why is the salamander here?

[bespectacledsnake]

[Semiyon simply arches one eyebrow and takes a calm glance between Newt and the salamander hanging out in the bucket.]

I am taking her for a walk around.

[How is this not obvious?]