. (terryinthesky) wrote in downfallrpg, @ 2010-03-18 01:21:00 |
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Entry tags: | # group, # meeting, 2015-08-29, joyce, landon, terry |
A Chat Between The Big Guys
Who: Terry, Joyce and Landon
When: Joyce's room
Where: 8:30pm
Terry headed upstairs from the ground floor as quickly as he could manage it, already worn from a long day and then the stress of finding Terrence, Dhaval... He could hardly believe this had happened, and so soon after their trip to the hotel. He wondered if the incidents were linked, but that was something he could discuss with Joyce and Landon as soon as they were all together. He found Landon easily enough, waking him up from a nap to get him into the hall. The redhead had seemed... off, but Terry had tried not to pay too much attention to it. For the time being, this was far more important. Together they sought out Joyce, and within a handful of minutes Terry was at her door, knocking. He wore a look of stress, his expression strained. He hadn't quite told Landon what had happened yet... only that there had been an emergency, and the three of them needed to talk now.
Landon was still groggy from his nap, his eyes sleepy and his hair tousled. He'd awoken next to Loren... well, perhaps "next to" wasn't the right phrase. He'd awoken to the blonde man curled up against him, limbs tangled, a head of soft blonde hair pressed against his chest. Looking down at the younger man, Landon had felt his heart stammer and then inevitable confusion set in. The last thing he remembered was dozing off while talking with the British man about... something. He could only assume Loren had fallen asleep too and they'd curled in against each other, subconsciously seeking comfort. The knock on his door had startled him into waking and he'd had to slowly pull himself from Loren, careful not to rouse the other man.
Standing beside Terry now, he ran one hand through his curls, suppressing a yawn. He'd heard about the... thing that had attacked Dhaval, but not in detail, and was still a little too out of it to press Terry for answers. He could feel the brunette's stress, the emotions and hinting of thoughts so strong they created a pressure behind his eyes. Leaning against the door frame, the Bostonian gave their head leader a once over, trying to assess how he was handling his newly elected position. Landon had been one of the people who had voted for Terry. The older man seemed to have the right presence, and a sense of direction. Landon was glad he'd accepted the position, and even more relieved that he was already on top of talking to the other two elected leaders. Giving the professor a smile now, Landon glanced at Joyce's door. "We've got a lot to talk about, don't we?" He asked, breaking the silence.
After her interesting morning encounter with Zane, a punching bag and Chinese philosophy, she'd had a light lunch and made a patrol of the hotel, ensuring that the doors to the stairwells were all properly propped open and trying to figure out if more accessibility could be provided for the sweet young man in the wheelchair. Dhav. Yes, so much to do, so little resources...
She had kept herself busy for the remainder of the eighth day after the Apocalypse, assessing the food they had, how much of it was perishable, what the likely options were for keeping things cold long enough to ensure the food was still edible. She made notes on what she remembered from her grandmother about pickling. It wasn't rocket science, but it was still something that wasn't done by a lot of people anymore. She silently thanked her family for being just a little old fashioned. That and for great-grandma's chocolate torte recipe.
Joyce was sitting by the window of her fifth-floor room, squinting at her pad of paper in the pale remnants of the sunset, sipping on her precious bottle of water. Water collection. They could set up something on the roof, maybe. When the knock came, she finished the sentence she was writing, set pen and pad aside and unfolded her tall form from the chair. Dressed for the weather in a tank top and shorts, her auburn hair pulled in a ponytail, Joyce reached the door and peered through the peep hole - just because. If there could be two more different looking people in the universe standing there, she didn't know who they were. Apples and oranges. One looked tired and the other looked tense and either way, it wasn't a social call.
Unlocking the door and pulling it wide, she smiled. "Hi," she said and sighed. "Duty calls, I take it?"
Terry had waited as patiently as possible until the door had come open, eager to fill the other two in on what had happened downstairs, needing to seek their advice on what to do with the stranger. "Hi," he returned, nodding at her question. "Unfortunately, yes. We have a lot to talk about. Do you mind if we come in...?" When Joyce signaled that it was alright, Terry headed inside, followed by Landon. "There was an attack." And here they were, diving head-first into the conversation. Terry wasn't good at picking the right moment or the right words, not when someone he'd known had just died. The words had simply come out, too explosive to be restrained any longer. "Dhaval let a kid into the hotel. He attacked him. Dhaval's alright," Terry told them, holding up a hand as though to stop any panic over him. "But... we lost Terrence. The attacker killed him. The... the details aren't really clear right now, because Dhaval wasn't entirely conscious the whole time. That's the best sense I can make of it right now. The kid seems confused and... weird. He's part snake, on the bottom half. We have him locked up right now, but I'm... not sure what to do beyond that."
"He's part what now? He's part snake? So like...wait. Really? He's part snake? Where is this guy?" The redhead caught himself after a moment, realizing that he was missing the point. "How... we need to figure out how to handle this..." The questions swirled through his mind. The killer was locked up. How did they handle it? In old times they would have simply claimed eye for an eye and killed the killer... but they were beyond that, weren't they? "You said he seems confused... confused how? Like he doesn't remember what happened?" Maybe it had something to do with him being part snake... or something. Landon had no idea.
Joyce placed one hand on her hip and the other over her mouth as she held still and listened intently to Terry and Landon. It was shocking, to be sure, and poor Terry seemed beside himself as he let the story unfold. Landon, too, seemed to have trouble wrapping his head around it. She wasn't far behind them. Someone had died. Terrence. God, she'd talked briefly with him just that morning, while passing on the stairs. He'd seemed like a very together sort of person and -
"A boy, who is part snake, has killed someone." Saying it out loud herself was part of being able to grasp the situation. "Terrence.... God, have you told...? But..." First things first. This was not unlike when her daughter's Guide group had found a dog in an animal trap while doing a scavenger hunt at the park. Steps needed to be taken to rescue it and panic needed to be contained, but the severity couldn't be ignored. "Where have you locked him up? Is he under guard? Can you tell what type of snake he is?" She was hoping the more information, the better. "How many people know?"
Terry was a little flustered by Landon's response to the situation, but understood it as well. He couldn't expect for everyone to be on the same page, especially considering only he had actually been there and seen what had happened. "So far, only the five of us know. Us three, Tayne and Dhaval. Tayne was with me when I walked in on it... Right now, Tayne is with Dhaval. I think he might have a sprained or broken finger. Nothing major. The snake creature is locked inside a room behind the main desk. I wasn't sure what else to do with him. I mean... do we...?" Terry was at a total loss. He had never imagined having to play judge and jury on someone like this, and over murder. But... it wasn't as though this snake creature was a part of their group, either. Obviously he had come in from the outs-- Terry stopped his thoughts where they were, not wanting to head down that road. The snake creature was still - at least somewhat - part human.
"Okay. So, there's someone with Dhav, but no one with the... with the boy. It sounds like he's been hit with the strangest mutation yet. Snakes. Good thing I don't mind them, but I'm not a mongoose." Whether either man understood the reference, she didn't know. "He's attacked us, but he's contained. This is good." She was glad that Tayne was looking after Dhav, but who was looking after Terry? "Here," she said and reached for her bottle of water. "Why don't you sit down for a minute and have a sip?"
"Yeah," Terry said, nodding about there being someone with Dhav. He cracked a tiny smile at the joke about not being a mongoose, but no actual laugh surfaced. He was too tired, too stressed, and laughing just seemed out of the question. At the offer of water, Terry took it with a solemn nod, moving almost as though he were caught in slow motion to take the weight off of his feet. He sat on the edge of Joyce's bed and sighed, pausing to run a set of shaking fingers through his hair. People were going to die. People were already dying. People he knew. People with faces and names and backgrounds -- and worse yet, people that had voted him in as leader.
"We need to figure out what to do with this snake boy. I don't even know where to begin. Like I said, he seems confused..." Terry stopped to take a sip of the water, his green eyes moving between Joyce and Landon quickly. "But it could easily be a trick. He played Dhaval for his pity and got into the hotel. What's to say he's not playing us now?"
"That's a good point." Landon agreed, sobering up a little. He leaned against the wall, looking between the two leaders. "Well... yanno, Ah do have mah mind powah. Ah could... kinda, go down an' talk to the kid, an' read his mind while Ah do it." The idea was out of his mouth as it occurred to him, and for a moment he was surprised at himself. It wasn't a bad idea. "Then Ah could tell if he was lyin' or whatever. Ah'll have to be careful that he doesn't feel me in there but maybe it'll help us, yanno, figure out what to do with him."
"Oddly enough, I was about to ask you about your telepathy," Joyce said. She couldn't bring herself to call it 'mind power', especially since she didn't have the elegant, Southern accent Landon possessed to make it sound more interesting. "I don't know what you do, exactly. Can you read surface thoughts only? Strong memories? Do you have to be in contact with someone to read them? Could you read the boy through the door, without him even seeing you?" She smiled. "Sorry, I think I've read too many of my son's comics. I just want to understand what you'd be putting yourself through and how we might be able to do this."
Terry looked up at Landon at the mention of his power, his green eyes widened as though he'd just been slapped with reason. "You just said the smartest thing I've heard in hours," he told the redhead. "No offense. I just... that's a great idea. I second Joyce's questions, though. We need to know the extent of your abilities... and, I know you've only just started to really get the hang of it, but if we ever really needed you to do something, Landon, this is it." Terry fidgeted restlessly, unable to help himself. He couldn't sit still, not when there was so much on the line. "We should try for it in the morning, after all of us have had enough sleep. We can go and question him, try to get answers if we can. Right now, answers are something we need badly."
Landon looked between Joyce and Terry for a long moment, his blue-green eyes quiet as he considered their questions. ''Ah'm pretty sure it'll work through doors and walls... sometimes Ah can't shut the thoughts out when Ah'm lyin' in bed.'' The redhead bit at his lower lip, a frown drawing his brow in. ''Ah'm just not sure if people can actually feel it when Ah'm in there yanno? Ah don't really go around pushing my way into everyone's minds.'' He shifted against the wall, uncomfortable. ''Maybe Ah should practice on someone else first.''
Joyce, being mostly of a practical nature - her sometimes whimsical responses and comments aside - nodded. "Right. Practice. Good idea. Why don't you try reading me? Should I sit down?" Not waiting, she sat on the bed beside Terry. "I won't try to relax or anything, because our boy won't be doing that. Is that okay?" She looked from Landon to Terry and back again. "I'm really fine with it, you know..."
Terry smiled a little to himself, trying to keep it private if at all possible. He found something wonderful about Joyce volunteering so easily, even if he'd been about to open his mouth to do the same thing. He took a sip of water from the bottle in his hands and scooted to give her a little more room on the mattress. "Go ahead, Landon." He figured Landon may be hesitant about it at first, but they needed to get this under control if they were going to go and "interrogate" this kid... especially without actually talking to him about it.
Landon found himself incredibly uncomfortable. He'd never been put on the spot about his power before, and now he found himself struggling to use it. "Uh, Yeah, alright... Lemme... Ah'm just gonna pull up a chair an' get comfortable." He did so as he spoke, his cheeks tinging red. "So um..." He closed his eyes, feeling for Joyce's thoughts, for any indication of them... for a horrible moment there was nothing. Landon was too nervous to hear anything but his own screaming mind. He swallowed dryly, forcing himself to relax. Just imagin' y'playin' a show. It was a silly thought, but it helped. This was just a sort of stage fright, no different from the sensation he felt before any show. Taking a deep breath, the redhead began to count backwards from ten, and as he did so, he felt Joyce's thoughts opening up to him, spilling forth. He followed them cautiously, remembering how he'd gotten sucked in to that girl's fear before, and then, with another deep breath, delved into her mind entirely. For a moment, the span of her mind was overpowering. He felt and saw a thousand emotions and memories at once, thoughts and feelings that he couldn't identify or comprehend. Stay with yourself. His mind advised and he tried to follow.
The young man was nervous and she felt badly for putting him on the spot like this, but she was glad he was game. He pulled up a chair, sat down and closed his eyes. Joyce kept hers open and she watched to see if there was any reaction, if she could tell whether or not Landon was reading her thoughts. There were questions - Are you there? Is there anything to see or is it just sounds? I've never thought about anyone reading my mind before. I wonder if you'll leave footprints...? -
And there were memories, of course. She wasn't able to sort them and though she felt she had nothing to hide, there were sad moments as well as happy and they were all apparent, if he looked hard enough. They were splayed out like and accessible like a Rolodex, spinning. A happy childhood, loving parents, school, friends, sports, modeling, meeting her future husband, having her children, watching them grow, her love for her husband, his lies and cheating, the divorce, being laid-off from GM, being so happy when her son was accepted into marine biology and her daughter became an apprentice in New York for a fashion house, as she had hoped.
Then there was the compressed time of the last eight days, involving terror, the need to survive, learning how to fire a shotgun, being capable of so much more than she had thought. Feeling so alone at night, no idea if Stephen and Jennifer were -
Joyce glanced at Terry. "Should I ask him if he's there yet?" she whispered.
Terry watched the two of them, not entirely sure what was happening. When Joyce asked him the question he smirked, shaking his head and gesturing for her to be patient. He looked to Landon, wondering how well it was going... if he was looking through her mind yet...
Landon had been too caught up in her thoughts to hear her questions immediately, so when he did finally process them, he stopped his looking around and focused on answering her. "Yeah, Ah'm... uh, Ah'm in. You can't feel me?" He answered the question aloud, though it took concentration. "Ah can see an' hear a lot of y'memories. Ah think if Ah really pushed you might be able to sense me here... maybe..." Currently he was simply taking her thoughts at face value, not pursuing or reading into them. Anything she thought could be a lie and he wouldn't really know... but she knew he was in her head. The Snake kid wouldn't have a clue, and all of his thoughts would probably be surface... Landon hoped.
She shook her head slowly. "I can't feel you, no. You're... You're in my head?" Joyce smirked a little. "It's a bit crowded..." Then she felt a tickle. Or maybe, a nudge would be a better analogy. "Oh..." she whispered, and in her mind she thought: I see you... She guessed that Landon had intentionally made his presence known. Would they be able to communicate this way? She certainly wasn't a telepath and they were all learning how his ability worked.
"Ah'm in here, yeah..." His frown deepened, mouth set. Without realizing he was doing it, he switched to mental conversation. Try an' hide something from me... if this guy is bad, he's gonna lie even in his thoughts... Ah mean, if he figures out ah'm readin' his mind. He waited patiently then, hoping that pushing for information wouldn't be too difficult.
Joyce nodded, so he'd know she'd heard him, and did her best to smother thoughts about being lonely at night and being scared every time she stepped outside. She did what she had to do and kept up a brave face and she'd rather not share that just yet with Landon or Terry. Maybe someday...
Terry watched in total silence, not wanting to interrupt whatever it was they were doing. He was intensely curious, his expression quizzical as the scene progressed. He shifted on the mattress, folding his arms over his chest slowly. He wondered vaguely how long it would take them to finish the practice session; he was eager to get any information he could out of the snake boy.
Landon focused hard on Joyce's thoughts, struggling with them. Her resistance was more difficult than he thought it would be and it took several moments for him find what she was hiding. With incredible effort, he found himself pushing. At first there was no give, her thoughts stayed strong, almost impossible to push down. Then there was a little slip. He pushed harder and felt her give entirely. Her insecurities and worries filling his mind. Almost immediately he backed away, slipping out of her thoughts, not wanting to delve too deep. "Ah... did you feel me push past your block?" He asked with a gasp, opening his eyes. He was dizzy, the feelings and concerns that had flooded him previously now gone and leaving him disoriented.
Her eyes widened and she nodded, feeling a little faint herself. Most fo that was probably from the effort to think about anything else other than what she was trying to block from Landon. "No... No, but you've... you've said that you have, so..." Joyce smiled a little. "That's good, right? Then our boy won't know that you're... poking around in his head?" She wasn't sure if she should ask or not, but in order to confirm it, she thought she'd better. "And so I... I know you got there... What one word would you use to describe what... what I was trying to keep to myself?"
"Anxious." Landon answered with a sympathetic smile. "Ah guess we know what Ah can do then. That's a start... Tomorrow Ah guess Ah'll go an' talk to him bright and early." He glanced at Terry. "Ah'll do my best to figure out what the kid's deal is..." He hesitated. "Do we even have a name for him or is "Snake guy" all we have?" He blue eyes sparkled with humor for the briefest of moments and then he yawned. "If y'all don't mind, Ah'd like to get some more sleep though." His mind flashed back to Loren, who had remained soundly unconscious when he'd slipped out of the room.
Terry stood up when Landon had finished, nodding to the both of them. "Getting more sleep sounds like the best thing for all of us..." He thought of the simple word, anxious, that it described the thoughts Joyce had hidden... A sense of guilt settled into his chest despite himself, as though somehow it were his fault she were so unsettled inside her mind. Sleep would do them all a bit of good. "And... snake guy is probably going to have to be our working title for him until we come up with his real name. Hopefully you can help us with that tomorrow, Landon." Terry sighed and looked to the door before taking a few steps toward it. "I'm going to turn myself over to my sheets. I'll see the both of you tomorrow."
Well, thank goodness that's over with... Joyce stood. "I think we've made some progress here. Sleep is a very good idea. I highly recommend it." She made gentle shooing motions with her hands. "Now, off you go..." Trying not to think of what Landon had read of her thoughts and grateful for his choice of that one word, she smiled at him and said, "I'm sure you'll do just fine." To Terry, she added, "If you need me for anything, don't hesitate, okay?" She knew they were quite capable adults, but times were strange and she was determined to help them - not smother them. Joyce opened the door with a sigh. "Night. Sleep tight."
"Goodnight Joyce," Terry answered, and both men exited together.