I Moderate (i_moderate) wrote in we_archive, @ 2006-03-14 00:33:00 |
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Entry tags: | delirium of the endless, jake chambers, malcolm reynolds |
i_throwplates Have I Come to This Again? [Open]
It always happened like this. The pain. The loss. How the world outside his body dulled, while the world inside was expanding to a multiverse of pain.
And then, silence. Stillness. An absence of everything that was so much worse than the pain.
As he did each and every time, Jake Chambers of New York opened his mouth and screamed as life slammed back into his body. It was only a matter of seconds before his body remembered how it was supposed to behave. The painful overstimulation was gone, and the boy looked around curiously.
"Roland?" The first word to leave his lips, the name of his father. The man who was truly his father.
Roland. He'd been with Roland. In the Keystone world. He'd pushed Sai King out of the path of the truck, and took the lethal force on himself.
It didn't horrify Jake as much as it would have horrified others to remember the details of his death. It was the third he could recall. But this one was different. Death was final in the Keystone world. So why was he here now?
"Roland?" he called again, a note of uncertainty making him sound like the eleven-year-old boy he was. Not the cold and natural-born killer that he also was.
The satchel of Oriza plates was heavy against his hip. Jake wondered briefly if he'd had hem when he jumped from the car. Then he just hope that the dishes had given Sai King one hell of a fucking bruise.
Jake looked up at the skyline, through the misting rain. There was the line of the Empire State Building. And over there, that looked like Central Park. Right? Was he back in New York again?
Familiar ground. That was all he was looking for. He was heading towards the park when he heard footsteps. Jake spun, each hand dipping with blurring speed into the satchel at his side, and lifting a plate in each hand, ready to throw.
From: [info]i_likefeesh Date: 03/14/2006 12:16:59
"AaaAaAnnnNnDD...."
Delirium took in a deep breath as she sang.
"i FelL in LoVe wITh bIG tomAToEs... dAanCinG iN frAnCEE... bUTnotWhENbRuDDerwAsthErEdURingThEblAcKd
The youngest of the Endless cleared her throat.
She stuck her finger in her ear as though to tune her vocal chords.
"i cOMe acRoSS a siLveRR strIpEy mUShrOOm and I fu-Ly-lY-lY-ly luh-LIEEEEe. flY! fLy!"
The first thing Delirium noticed when she saw Jake (and to clarify they came long into each other's line of sight before she actually saw him) was that he had some large plates without any large tea cups to go with it.
And they needed color.
Which they very shortly had as they became commemorative Babylon 5 plates. Colors and starts were good.
She cleared her throat and began to sing some more, feeling her job was done. "i'M taKINg a WalKing in THe wooOooOOoodss.. aNd iTs nICe outSIde... smElLs of giaNt roBOts tHat aRE dEaD buT thEY arE noT beCAUse tHEy aRE roBots! ...lIKe a gWUHin-googooGOO-GWEh-gO!"
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 03/14/2006 12:39:53
Jake managed to stop himself from flinging the Rizas when he saw the girl. He heard her singing a moment later, and his eye began to twitch as the pitch of her voice changed as her finger moved at her ear.
A moment later, before he'd even had a chance to do anything, the plates in his hands changed. Stunned, he let go of them, and they dropped to the ground with a clatter of metal.
He looked back at the girl curiously, something in his mind warning him from trying to touch her. Mentally, that was. Something like that could get a boy in a whole lot of trouble.
"Um. Hi?" he said, kneeling down to pick up the fallen plates and look to see what had been done to them.
From: [info]i_likefeesh Date: 03/14/2006 12:48:18
Delirium watched the boy examining his plates and frowned. Then she started to sniffle.
"iF yOu dOn'T lIKe tHEm i CAn cHAnGe iT..."
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 03/14/2006 12:58:22
"No, it's not that... it's just..." He looked at the designs painted on the plates. It was the only thing that had changed. The edge was still razor-sharp, and the weight and balance unmodified.
He turned the plates over again and heard sniffling. Looked over and saw the frown. "Oh, no, don't cry, I beg ya," he said, slipping back into Calla slang as he and the others had been wont to do since their time in the town. "They look good, say thankee."
He took one plate and tested the weight, still pleasantly surprised to find it otherwise unaltered. "How did you do that?"
From: [info]i_likefeesh Date: 03/14/2006 13:01:55
How does one explain perception and madness and the fabric of reality and the personification / perception of thereof? Especially, as in this case, when you are the said personification of such things?
"i jUSt dO."
Delirium managed to compose herself for the time being, though she still looked a little glum.
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 03/14/2006 13:39:12
She still looked glum. Jake put one of the Rizas in his satchel to ponder over later, and showed the other to her. Mindful of the sharp edge, he traced his fingers over the colors and faces now decorating the plate. "I don't know who these are," he said. "But it looks like something out of that old show Mrs. Shaw was always talking about. Star Track, or something."
He shrugged. "It's nice, though." He added a smile, hoping she'd feel better. Maybe then he could try to ask her where he was, and hopefully not sound insane.
From: [info]i_likefeesh Date: 03/14/2006 13:51:30
"yEs. iT iS lIKe thAt bUt it ISn't," Delirium nodded agreeably.
'thErE arE lOTs of COwboYs iN Hesseinviperwindy-dOO," which was the name Delirium had given the City. "aRe yOu lOOkinG fOR a cOmm sTatioN, tOo?"
Delirium's hair started to wriggle as a flying fish started to carry off a few of the less important details and memories she'd stored of this place.
Delly did not appear to notice this as the blue and orange swirled fish that tasted like cotton balls and stir fry swam/flew just above her head.
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 03/14/2006 13:56:21
The words 'comm station' flashed in Jake's head, but the flash was muted by the much more intensive word - COWBOYS.
Jake looked at her, blinking at the fish, but then touched her arm, resisting the urge to use the touch. "Cowboys? What do you mean by coybows?"
This was a city. The buildings, the cement, the streets and sidewalks. So what... what cowboys did she mean?
From: [info]i_likefeesh Date: 03/14/2006 14:00:28
"i SaW a cOwbOY bUt hE diDn'T waNt tO caTcH rAscAlly VarMInts wiTh mE. hE waS lOokInG fOR hIS fRiEnDS. bEcAUse hE miSSeD thEm. i thINk. I hAVE a HaRD tIMEs rEmEmBERing ThINgs rIGhT eVEn tHoUGh i KNOwed mORe tHAn mY SiBLiNGs doooO."
Pause.
"sOMetImeS."
Delirium looked up and spotted-- "oOh! lOOk! a FIShiE!"
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 03/14/2006 14:13:29
Jake took a breath, and tried to keep his voice calm.
"What did the cowboy look like?"
He tried to silence the voice screaming "ROLAND!" in his mind.
From: [info]i_likefeesh Date: 03/14/2006 14:17:45
"uMMs..."
Delirium absently tried to snatch at the fish that swan and darted out of her reaching grasps.
"hE iS taLL and hE hAs bLuE eYeS aNd bRoWN hAIr anD taLkS kINda pReTty kiNDa lIkE yOu dID anD hE hAD a sIX shOOtEr tHInGamAjIg hOLstERed aT hiS siDe."
Delirium paused and though about the description, finally adding after some thought, "i LiKE hIs panTs."
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 03/14/2006 14:31:44
And Jake suddenly forgot how to breathe.
Roland! Father! My father is here!
"Thankee!" he cried, throwing his arms around her. "Thankee big!" He pulled back, just a big, looking into her eyes. "Do you know where he is?"
From: [info]i_likefeesh Date: 03/14/2006 14:34:35
Delirium smiled and while her arms didn't return the embrace, her chin rested pleasantly on Jake's shoulder.
"i THinK thE fiSHee hAs eEt. mY mEmoRIEs. fROm mY heAd."
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 03/14/2006 14:57:05
Without thinking, because if he would have thought too long about it, he wouldn't have thought it possible, Jake caught the fish in one hand and pushed it into the girl's ear.
"Do you remember now, say thankee?"
From: [info]i_likefeesh Date: 03/14/2006 16:08:59
Delirium blinked and then smiled.
"tHAt's bEttER. he IS aT thE spAcesHiP bITs. oR biT. i ThiNk. uNLess hE iS noT. thEn hE iS noT thErE."
Delirium took Jake's hand, and because she wasn't sure exactly where it was, picked a direction and started walking because, eventually, it might appear anyway.
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 03/14/2006 19:44:54
"Spaceship?"
That made Jake blink. What would Roland be doing with a spaceship? Unless it was some new fangled thing tat he thought would get him closer to the Tower. And if that was the case, Jake sure as anything didn't want to be left behind.
He held onto the girl's hand and followed her, hoping against hope that she was leading him to his father.
From: [info]i_likefeesh Date: 03/15/2006 01:19:38
The City was a labyrinth. Delirium, perhaps more than all other residents, felt very much at home. She felt safe. Warm. Secure. Squiggly. It pleased her that the streets required no directions, that they simply were. It pleased her that they swam like fish and drifted away for periods of time like butterflies.
Delly hoped she and all her new friends would be able to stay here for a long, long time.
Her shadow flopped and dragged behind her as they walked and she clutched onto the boys hand. Sometimes she hummed and sang nonsensical songs.
It was then that they came to the spaceship bit.
"hELlO? mR. mAAn? dO yOU miSS yOuR kA-teT? 这是一个大家庭,你呢? "
*Is this one of your family?
From: [info]i_misbehave Date: 03/15/2006 01:52:34
The ruined vessel was a strange blend of down to earth construction, and otherworldly purpose- The metal was rusted in places, and clearly was missing a vast portion of it's bulk.. Still the portion of hull, and solitary wing were huge.
At the calls, and the approach of the two, there was no immediate response- just the breeze tugging at the long brown leather coat that had been hung up on a portruding bolt. From 'within' (the other side of the hull) there was the sound of bootsteps, and a gruffly voiced, "That you, Delly?"
From: [info]i_likefeesh Date: 03/15/2006 01:57:23
"uH... yESs..."
She hadn't exactly left him in the most polite manner. Exploding into fish so that you could avoid answering a difficult question was probably pretty rude. Even for an Endless.
"yOur spAceshIp bIT lOOks lOveLy," she tried to offer as a way of an apology.
From: [info]i_misbehave Date: 03/15/2006 02:24:20
yOur spAceshIp bIT lOOks lOveLy
"Lonely, more like-" the lean wanderer voiced dryly, as he stepped around the hull and plucked his long brown coat off it's hanging, drawing it on and giving a look at the youngest of the Endless through the brown hair which insisted on getting in his eyes.
"Who's your friend?"
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 03/15/2006 07:24:38
No matter how much his eyes tried to deceive him, no matter how much his heart begged for it, this man was not Roland Deschain.
The disappointment hit Jake like a blow to the chest. He staggered back, tears blinking in his eyes, and sat down, hard, on the ground.
I can't do this again, he thought. I can't. Ican'tIcan'tIcan'tIWON't.
Dimly, he heard the man ask about him. "Jake," he answered, looking at the ground between his legs. "My name's Jake."
From: [info]i_likefeesh Date: 03/15/2006 18:16:36
Delirium messed up. Delirium messed up and this was now her fault. Delirium messed up and this was all her fault and she might as well have thrown the small boy (who was actually quite close to her own size) at her sister Despair.
The youngest of the Endless frowned and looked up a bit helplessly at the man who was a gunslinger whether he knew it or not. But why should he have any answers for what Delirium had thrust upon them both.
So Delirium crouched down and leaned low into the grown. Her head poked into the view of Jake's down cast head. She frowned a little. Because it hurt.
It hurt when her hair became more even and her eyes became two soft brown colors. It hurt her a lot. And butterflies and starshine and the smell of gun smoke mixed happiness mixed with memory mixed with possibility filled that little space between them.
She just wanted to cheer him up a little bit. Just a little bit.
I'm sorry, Jake. I thought you two knew one another. Please, you're stronger than my sister's will. Do not throw yourself at her feet yet. There will be more. They will come. You are loved.
It didn't last long. There were tears in her eyes as the fabric of her existence was ripped and stretched to accommodate something she was no longer meant for. Delight wheezed and was once more Delirium again.
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 03/15/2006 19:01:18
Jake didn't understand the change, from one to the other. But he understood what it meant. And he felt the pain that the transformation brought upon her.
He put his arms around her as she changed back, pressed his face into her hair, and let it stay there, breathing in the scent of her, how it changed from rain and honeysuckle to sour wine.
He was tired. Exhausted. Dying and living and being alone and being lost. Again and again and again. But the sight of Delight has pushed back that blanket of weariness, and Jake had remembered for an instand how to smile.
"Thank you," he whispered to her. "I just... I miss him. So much." He sighed. "Roland and Eddie and Suze and Oy."
From: [info]i_likefeesh Date: 03/15/2006 19:23:51
Delirium was surprisingly quiet, and exhausted. That was more than she'd given even her brother in his time of need. She just went limp, and her body decided to be next to weightless.
From the corner of her eyes she managed to look back at Malcom. Her two mismatched eyes were helpless and wide. She looked a bit like a fish flopping its last flops.
Delly was sorry. Delly was quiet. Delly didn't know what to do.
And Delly was still hurting.
From: [info]i_misbehave Date: 03/16/2006 01:27:18
Hell, they were just a couple of kids.
It was an easy thing to notice as the two little ones huddled on the ground holding onto each other for dear life. Sure he'd lost everything that mattered to him, but..
Well, bluntly put, Mal had been through worse. Kids should'nt have to go through that sort of thing.
The symbol of a lost rebellion settled once again over his shoulders, the captain without most of a ship walked over slowly, and crouched back on his heels, bringing himself a bit closer to the little ones' level.
"Every body's lost one way or another," he observes quietly. "A fella could count himself luckier than most, if he knew there were folk out there someplace worth findin'." A fresh breath was drawn before he sought out Jake's eyes with his own.
"Now I don't know who those people are you just went on about, and I don't know where they might be.. But I know a thing or two about bein' lost. So if'n you could use a hand findin' your way, I won't toss you out." Quietly spoken, he could imagine Inara berating him to 'be more gentle', or 'be a human being for once', as he turned his eyes to Delly, "Either of you."
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 03/16/2006 08:00:14
Jake struggled to compose himself, and looked up at the man with the gun that was not his dinh. Jake's eyes were shining, but there was no trace of spilled tears. If they had ever spilled at all, they'd been lost in Delirium's hair.
He nodded to the man. "They're worth finding." Another of Roland's phrases came to mind - the world he now thought of as home had left it's mark on him, that was sure. "There will be water if ka wills it, say thankee."
Jake slowly got to his feet, the sorrow on his shoulders weighing more than the girl in his arms, and he helped Del to her feet as well. "Thankee-sai," he said to the captain, tapping his throat twice with the first two fingers of his left hand. He'd seen both Roland and Eddie use the manuver, and it seemed like the respectful thing to do. Even if the custom was different. "I don't know this place," he explained. "Some of it seems familiar, but it's not where I'm supposed to be."
From: [info]i_likefeesh Date: 03/16/2006 13:05:38
"i caN'T stAy," Delirium responded. But she sounded miles happier with the way Malcom and Jake replied toward one another. Yes, she was right to give the captain the squiggly-square-purple-blue-solid-kinda thingie.
"i hAve tO go tO a tEA pARty!" Delly squealed and hopped a few times standing next to the boy. She bent forward to Eskimo-style kiss him on the side of his head. Then she gave Mal a great, big, squishy hug before releasing him.
"i doN't thInK i'M lATe. we'Re inViTinG a lITTlE birD. so i HAve tO gO. buT i wiLL bE bACk somETimEs. unLEss mY oTHer siSTeR fInDs yOU fiRSt. bUT thErE aRE oThEr wOrlDS thAN thEsE," she replied easily...
Delirium picked up and dusted off her rumpled shadow. Clinging it to her chest, she skipped along the street. She didn't know where she was going, she just picked a direction.
"yOu caN'T gO bEcAuSE tHE jOkER woUlD mAKe a TRick oF yOooOU!" she explained. Skip. Hop. Hop. Off she started to go.
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 03/18/2006 10:53:27
The words struck him, hard. He remembered saying them. He remembered dying, that was the second time. Falling, watching as Roland passed him by. Go then, there are other worlds than these.
Roland, where are you? he thought desperately, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment.
A breath, a pause, securing the feelings inside, and Jake raised a hand and his eyelids, waving to the girl -- his friend, perhaps? -- as she skipped off for her tea party. He had no doubt that he'd see her again.
And he glanced up at the man he'd been left with. "So, what kind of a place is this?"
From: [info]i_misbehave Date: 03/26/2006 11:23:53
"Still workin' on that one, m'self," Mal muttered with a short lived smirk. He did'nt wave as Delly wandered off, as is her way.
Habitually sending a look around the city about them, "Mostly it seems a place pretty much like any other. Some folk dress different, and some customs change, but it's people. I'd guess some of 'em decent, others not quite as." Idly itching at the back of his neck, the lean spacer looked down to the kid who'd happened along and wondered out loud, "How long since you've had somethin' to eat? Gettin' dropped on your lonesome can chase off a fella's appetite, but even so.."
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 03/26/2006 11:47:48
It was a few moments before Jake could answer. And the truth was, he couldn't remember. Time was strange, but the last sure time he could remember eating a decent meal was in the horrors under the Dixie Pig, the feast of sandwiches and dried meats provided by Nigel the Robot, Many Other Functions. He was pretty sure there had been a meal before the assault on Algul Siento, but those memories had been overshadowed by Eddie and...
"I don't remember," he said, finally admitting the hunger clawing at his stomach.
From: [info]i_misbehave Date: 03/26/2006 13:52:37
"Huh. Well that ain't good," Mal pronounced, starting his steps back toward where he'd been when Jake and Delly made thier approach. "Come on," he muttered with a motion of his head, before striding unhurried around to the 'inside' of the ship.. or what would have been an inside, had the rest of the ship been there.
Several crates were scattered around, a couple had fallen off the grating, and landed on the City ground underneath. Black market goods that could have been worth a small fortune.. but now?
Now they were just proteins and apples.
A shiny red one was tossed to Jake, before Mal drew out and weighed in his hand an ugly looking block of pink nourishment, wrapped in metallic foil. "You got a plate?" he wondered.
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 03/26/2006 21:07:41
Jake caught the apple easily, and was pleased by that. Both the easy pluck of the fruit from the air, as well as the familiar shape of it.
The sight of the pink nonsense made him wrinkles his nose before the question reached his ears. Then Jake laughed. Laughed, with boyish peals that were befitting his age. "A plate?" he managed to wheeze. "If there's anything I've got, it's plates, say thankya."
Still giggling a bit, Jake took a plate from his satchel. "Careful of the edge," he said, holding it up, watching to make sure the man took care. The edge was razor-sharp, after all.
From: [info]i_misbehave Date: 03/27/2006 14:20:11
Mal looked curiously at the kid, as he burst out in laughter. One brow arched, the plain amusement the little fella was finding in the question bringing a mix of good humor and curiosity to the captain's expression.
Then upon sighting the plate, Mal muttered, "Huh. That's a helluva thing." Taking the plate, and testing it's edge (not drawing any blood or otherwise injuring himself), the once-rebel shrugs and sets the plock of protein down, before hefting the plate in hand and using it to cut the block into more manageable bits. Placing these then onto the plate/cutting utensil, he sets takes a piece for himself, before setting the bulk of the meal in front of Jake.