I. Jones (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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bigapplesauce2015-02-13 07:46 pm
i_jones) wrote in bigapplesauce2015-02-13 07:46 pm
Entry tags:
- character: daine sarrasri,
- character: gabriel,
- character: greta baker,
- character: iman asadi,
- character: rashad durant,
- character: the balladeer,
- dropped: calliope,
- dropped: ianto jones,
- dropped: nicholas rush,
- dropped: seth,
- dropped: the doctor (12),
- dropped: the tardis,
- dropped: zagreus,
- retired: peter vincent
ain't no party like a tardis party [open to everyone forever]
Once you get to the TARDIS - because you did follow those blue balloons through Central Park, didn't you, you got that clue, and maybe those of you with good (or not-bad) intentions found it a little easier to find, and were drawn to it, even - anyway, once you get to the TARDIS, you find a sign on the door, which is ajar. No, not that sign, a handwritten sign taped to the front that says PARTY (I PROMISE) with an arrow pointing inside. And yes, oh, isn't the console room nice, how merry-go-round, whatever. More importantly, there are signs on every door out of the room that say assorted things like PARTY THIS WAY and ALSO THIS WAY and JUST PICK ONE REALLY. There is one festive balloon tied to the console.
If you go through any or all of the doors, you'll find yourself in a room with a very large pool (that one might say looks like this one except much grander in scale). The pool is lined, not excessively, with taps in various shapes, sizes, and colors. Some pump out bubbles, some foam, some clouds, some... who knows? Surrounding the pool are chairs and tables with appetizers, desserts, drinks, and various types of cake. Also pie. There's a jukebox tucked into a corner playing a mixture of 80s songs, unfamiliar songs from various points in the future, and the occasional song in an alien language with a good beat. There are rooms if you need to change, and some doors might even take you to the wardrobe room if you need a bathing suit. And I guess you could explore further if you really wanted to, but why do that when you can party? Because most doors will probably lead you back to the pool room, let's be real.
If you go through any or all of the doors, you'll find yourself in a room with a very large pool (that one might say looks like this one except much grander in scale). The pool is lined, not excessively, with taps in various shapes, sizes, and colors. Some pump out bubbles, some foam, some clouds, some... who knows? Surrounding the pool are chairs and tables with appetizers, desserts, drinks, and various types of cake. Also pie. There's a jukebox tucked into a corner playing a mixture of 80s songs, unfamiliar songs from various points in the future, and the occasional song in an alien language with a good beat. There are rooms if you need to change, and some doors might even take you to the wardrobe room if you need a bathing suit. And I guess you could explore further if you really wanted to, but why do that when you can party? Because most doors will probably lead you back to the pool room, let's be real.
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Now, the question is what to answer, and Seth tries to figure out Rush's motivation for wanting to know. Obviously he would want to know if someone from the same universe is here - particularly someone from the same... um. Military organisation? Something like that. But what does he intend to do with this information? If he's human, and he was working with Ancient technology, is there a chance he's not on Daniel's side?
He would kind of like to ask Daniel for advice or approval on this, but that doesn't really help him in the moment, unless he simply refuses to answer. In the end he decides that even if it turns out they are on less than friendly terms, Daniel can take care of himself. Apart from a rather prickly exterior, this man hasn't shown himself to be particularly dangerous so far.
"My friend, Daniel Jackson," he answers at least, going to cross his arms - then realising he's still holding a fucking appetiser, which he now finally tosses in the wastebasket.
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"No," says Rush in flat disbelief. "No."
No. Absolutely not. He is not accepting this. This is not acceptable. Of all the vast, infinite selections of D-branes for him to land in, he had to be dropped into the same one as fucking Jackson? The odds would be laughable if they weren't so rigorously, incomprehensibly stacked against him.
For fuck's. Sake.
Seth couldn't know that. He couldn't - shuffling and physical uncertainty aside, he sounds quite confident that he is, indeed, referring to the same insufferable man. Too many similarities are aligned. It is impossible that he is not mentioning some other he-of-the-formerly-Ascended, as that category happens to be extremely singular and Jackson just happens to be its sole fucking occupant.
Pure. Dead. Fucking. Brilliant.
"Oh, fucking perfect," he fumes under his breath, turning partially away to press the heel of a palm against the center of his forehead, which has predictably begun to ache in annoyance. "Of all the endless possibilities, it had to be the same brane as fucking Jackson." Of course it is. Is the man so deeply intent on shadowing him that fusing into the dark little corners of his subconscious simply wasn't enough?
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Seth's kind of unsure where to go from here - the conversation took a rather unexpected turn. He feels like he should probably inform Daniel of this development though, so he pulls out his phone. Rather than having to describe and explain, which would be highly impractical just at the moment, Seth decides to take a photo - he doesn't much care whether Rush would object to that at the moment. His level of worry and compassion for Rush has definitely taken a backseat with this new development.
He ends up accidentally taking a short video snippet instead, but that's probably just as well. And well-timed, too. He writes a short message, then sends it to Daniel, before pocketing the phone for a moment.
"So you know each other, then?" he asks, putting on an inappropriately casual voice.
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He stalks back to Seth, seething and bristling over the idiotically tremendous amount of coincidences that could have allowed this absurdity to occur.
"How do you know him," he demands, his rapid flare of temper leveling into suspicion. As far as he can tell, this man doesn't share their universe, but as consequence would have it, he knows Jackson.
Of course he fucking knows Jackson.
Jackson makes every effort to seamlessly ingratiate himself with as many useless, unremarkable civilians as possible.
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And it's not like Seth hasn't even seen it before - the way the other members of the, what was it, SGC? The way they talked about him, and seeing him in action... And now hearing Rush say that everyone within the SGC knows him. It's just really difficult to mesh with the Daniel he knows. To Rush he might be Jackson, but to Seth he's just Daniel. The one who sits around sticking post-its to Seth's face, or buys him gratitude coffee, or bustles around his kitchen making chicken and pasta, or makes his heart skip a beat with the way he smiles.
"We're friends," he answers blankly. "He came to me a month ago asking for help and advice on rift powers." He figures it's probably for the best to make it clear he's not actually from their universe, that they met in this one. His phone beeps in his pocket, and he pulls it out, then writes a
rushedbrief reply.no subject
The knowledge of Rift powers is nothing new. ROMAC gave him that elementary briefing, so to speak, and he understands simple notion well enough. The thought of Jackson wielding some sort of power is the least terrifying concept Rush can imagine - he is fairly certain the man is entirely incapable of employing his energies towards anything other than to benefit some unimportant figure of personal importance.
"Tell me, has he died at any point since his arrival?" The remark, although appropriately biting, is not fully intended to emerge as a sneer, which is precisely what it does. "Was he possibly given the power of frequent resurrection?"
Fuck knows the man needs it.
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"No. Though not for lack of trying." The second bit is half-muttered, Seth thinking back to how one of the very first things Daniel seemed to do was antagonise the fucking devil. Great plan, there.
"Um. How do you know him, besides reputation? Have you met?" he asks, frowning curiously. His phone pings again and he looks down at it. "Cos he doesn't know you."
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"Of course I have," he hisses, irritation spiking with every unbearable second. "Everyone has. The man makes a fucking point of familiarizing himself with everyone in the fucking base and attempting to bond with them personally."
Rush had stonewalled the man, effectively and repeatedly, upon being brought on board the Icarus Project, but every sincere attempt to drive him off seemed to simply make him more determined.
"He was instrumental in the project I was involved in, if you must know." Instrumental in not allowing the project to die, in fact, and Rush will grudgingly admit that Jackson's incorrigible sanguinity was one of the project's few tethers to the most vital resources that resided in the uppermost regions of the SGC's military strata.
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And that taken into account, well, Daniel really should recognise Rush. Which means, unless there's some weird highly specific amnesia involved here, means either it's a different-but-almost-identical Daniel, two versions of the same person verging off a little from each other in that one met Rush and the other didn't. Oooor.
"What year was this?" he asks slowly, frowning. Daniel's from... 2005, right? Rush could be from more recent. It wouldn't be the first time something like this has happened in this city.
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"I mean that I," the hand returns to his temple, applying desperate pressure to alleviate the slow boiling ache and his own intensifying anxiety, "I do not typically keep track of time, it is an inconsistent, interminable little fuck and there is very little point in, in -"
He severs the sentence awkwardly, devoting his remaining faculties to not completely fracturing in the middle of the TARDIS, in the very center of a social function taking place within the TARDIS, this will not be workable if he does not lacquer some pretense of normal, acceptable, average behavior over his unending contempt for fucking Jackson and the minor surge of panic that he is here and will doubtless want to get to know Rush on some incredibly personal level that Rush is wholly uninterested in, as he does not want to be pried into and never has.
But.
This is salvageable. This is not beyond comprehension. Prior to Icarus
to what made Icarus possible, there was that time when Rush was not a complete social and mental ruin, and timekeeping was a more regular part of his mindset."I met Jackson," he says slowly, carefully, the words edged out between clenched teeth as he regains his fucking composure, "in - I believe it was - 2007."
Yes. That sounds more or less accurate.
no subject
And even after that, weeks passed without him really keeping track. Eventually he started making a point of keeping track of it, to always try to be aware of what day it is and what happened when, because it seemed to tie him more solidly to his life and his surroundings. Having to schedule his morphine doses helped. Now that he suddenly doesn't have that, he's found it a bit challenging to keep track again - he'll have to figure out some other way...
In short, he doesn't particularly blame Rush for not knowing. It's definitely inconvenient, but right now Seth seems to go back to more worrying about Rush's well-being. This whole thing seems to be rather distressing for him, and Seth doesn't really want to worsen it any more than he already has.
"Daniel's from 2005," he answers, frowning worriedly still. "He hasn't met you yet." Seth pauses for a moment, pocketing his phone again. He can send Daniel more messages in a bit.
"Would you like me to tell him to stay away from you?" he asks. If Rush decides he wants to see Daniel, it shouldn't be too difficult to get hold of him. The TARDIS would know how to get hold of Seth, presumably, and possibly even Daniel directly. But it doesn't seem like he wants to, and now that Daniel knows of his existence, it's possible he would seek him out and, well, try to bond. "He probably shouldn't know too much about what might still be his future," he adds. Whether that's true or just a convenient excuse is probably irrelevant.
no subject
Oh.
Oh, fuck.
It is a very good thing, Rush recalls wearily, that he did not delve into specifics.
"He's from a different point in time," he mutters, almost feverish in his relief, and the hand falls away, the pressure on his shoulders and chest now quite lessened. The thought of having to exist in the same city as Jackson is somewhat a more bearable prospect if the man has no idea who Rush is. Though amnesia would not be unusual for him either, apparently, if some fifty percent of the rumors that floated through the halls at Icarus Base are to be believed.
Seth has stopped talking. Seth has stopped talking, and is looking at Rush expectantly, and thus whatever it is he has just said has evaded Rush's limited attention, and he must briefly mentally scramble to construct an acceptable response.
"Jackson can do whatever the fuck he likes," he answers, exerting the utmost effort to inject all his concentrated disdain into each word. "I certainly don't care."
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He'll probably advise Daniel to stay away, even if Rush doesn't care. If not for Rush's sake, then for Daniel's own. He can't really know whether knowledge of his future is even relevant - he doesn't really get all the complicated science behind all that, and no one really knows what happens if someone manages to get back through the Rift - and if anyone even has managed it.
He gives a curt nod, then hovers awkwardly. There's no way they can salvage this conversation into anything remotely casual, and he rather feels like he's caused Rush enough worry. And he's not sure he wants to know anything about Daniel's future. Daniel's life after returning to his home, even. Perhaps. Seth doesn't like to think about it. (Seth generally has trouble envisioning anything past the next week, ever since he came to this world, but he does know if he has a future here, he'd selfishly like Daniel to be in it.)
"Right. I'm sorry I..." he starts slowly, but he's unsure what to say, what exactly to apologise for. "I probably shouldn't... I'm gonna go." Real smooth. He's great at this. Fucking hell.
no subject