bigapplesauce | So Who's Going to Watch You Die? [closed]

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So Who's Going to Watch You Die? [closed]

Daniel scans the intersection for the twentieth time in the past five minutes, hands crammed in his pockets. He's not anxious and he's certainly not fidgeting. Well. Not overly.

And if he were, hypothetically, fidgeting and shuffling and shifting in one place restlessly, it'd be completely justified given present circumstances. He's just a little on edge, mostly thanks to shared group dreams which are, apparently, possible - something he's recently discovered in the worst way imaginable. He'd been hoping all morning that leaving the apartment and interacting with the real world for a bit would brush away the last few echoes of the nightmare, but there's still a chill in his spine regardless. Expected, but no less unwelcome.

So, yes, he's a little concerned, primarily about Seth. It's true that Seth has lived here for longer - much longer - and he'd acted like he was used to the shared nightmarish experiences by now. Daniel has more than a few issues with that sentiment (the foremost being that horrible nightmares in which people get impaled and imprisoned and die should not be something one gets used to, personal history with nightmares aside) but he's also hoping Seth can clear up a few questions about the Dreaming. It might not have been real in the strictest sense of the word, but it had certainly felt like it.

Also he is worried.

That line of thought just keeps looping on back.

Daniel's phone buzzes, a text from Seth. Soon the phone returns to his pocket as he crosses his arms, takes stock of the intersection again, and waits.

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Seth can't help but grin a little at the tangent, though. "Times Square first, then," he decides, checking his pockets for wallet and keys and everything, heading for the door. They can figure out where to go from there. Get the main tourist thing out of the way first. Hey, maybe Daniel wants to check out Hard Rock Café or something, who knows. There's plenty of distractions there. "Wanna grab a cab or walk? It's a bit further than where you came up from the subway."

"Either one's fine," Daniel says, unhelpfully neutral. "If money's an object I'm definitely all right with walking." Manhattan is no rocky alien planet, after all.

"So, Times Square." He nods to himself, jams his hands into his pockets, and follows. "That's good. Good, uh, good central reference point." He's big on reference points. Reference points are the cornerstones of both translation and navigation, a common ground, and thus a doubly important factor. Times Square sounds like a better reference point than the one he's been using, namely Lucy's apartment. At least he now knows how to get to and from there which is a marked improvement from a few days ago.

Edited 2014-10-13 02:26 (UTC)

"It's not," he answers immediately, to the topic of money. Did he mention the not paying rent bit? Because that really helps a lot when it comes to amount of spending money he has - or leeway for variation in income. And he's pretty sure Gabe wouldn't let him starve if it got that bad.

"Well, as long as you don't ask anyone to meet you just 'at Times Square'," he answers, also stuffing his hands in his pockets. "It's a surprisingly big area, like four blocks long, and generally pretty tourist-filled."

"Well, yeah, I just meant, uh, you know." One hand dances in an animated, lateral circle. "Generally. Directionally. Logistically. You know." He walks a half-step behind, maybe slightly nervous. Not nervous. It's standard anticipatory jitters, the same old excitement that comes from entering a new environment. Because on some level, yes, it is just Manhattan, New York, Earth, the Milky Way, a standard location in a recognizable section of the universe, but it's also Manhattan, New York, on an Earth in a universe that has entirely deviated from the one he knows in a multitude of ways. The differences could be immense. The potential for discovery could be huge.

Also Seth is being very kind and very patient in willingly showing it to him. That may be a related aspect.

"Well, you've got Bethesda, Times Square, and Tompkins Square Park. Got some good reference points uptown, midtown and downtown," he answers, leading the way outside and heading east, keeping an eye out for a cab.

"Um, Tompkins Square Park is the one right outside Wilmot's," he adds, realising Daniel might not know that even if he was there. Presumably he hasn't been north of the Upper West Side, but then, Seth hasn't really either. And you get in trouble if you try to leave Manhattan. That's something Seth knows very well.

"Did we pass through there when I was drunk?" Daniel asks in the most politely neutral tone he can gather. Thankfully he hadn't been completely wasted, maybe just mildly tipsy, so he still has a mostly full memory of the whole thing. He might be having trouble recalling specific scenery, but he's choosing to own that one up to being distracted and tired at the time. And not that drunk.

He files away the other names for reference and possible future research. Getting lost has not resulted well for him in the past.

Seth smirks a little at the question, especially the tone it's asked in. "No, it's like, across the street from the pub. You know, the huge green area right across from where you entered?" he answers, just a little teasingly.

"Right. That. Makes sense. A lot more sense." He was not that drunk. He just can't remember the specifics after leaving Wilmot's. Which is normal. "Okay, good to know. So that's Tompkins, all right. I know about Bethesda courtesy of the Rift and Times Square is, well, a given," he rattles off, ticking them off on his fingers. "Those are the majors, then?"

"Well, no," Seth answers, though doesn't elaborate for a second, busy hailing an oncoming cab. "They're just, you know... Places you've been - or will be at very soon - that people generally know where are. To be honest, people most just use street intersections and districts for reference. Maybe subway stations," he explains, getting into the cab.

"44th and 7th," he says to the driver, then turns back to Daniel. "Like, right now we're in the theatre district. More specifically, Hell's Kitchen."

"Ah," he says in succinct reply, getting into the cab after Seth. "So that's the area you live at. And the place I'm at is, uh." Lucy told him once, he remembers. He made a point of memorizing the area to avoid getting lost and having to ask directions from people who very obviously do not want to give directions. "Right - Upper West Side. Columbus and 92nd."

There, he's not a complete directional loss. He's already mentally mapping out the city as best as he can.

"Right," Seth affirms. "Columbus is the same street as 9th avenue, it just changes name uptown. A lot of the avenues have both names and numbers. You get the hang of it after a while."

He pauses a bit, looking out the window, then turns back to Daniel and says - more quietly now, "By the way, I'd appreciate if you didn't tell people this is where I live."

"Ah yes, I'll endeavor to not tell the three people I know. Even though one of those people is actually you so, uh." He realizes too late that levity might not be the best strategy here and shifts tack. Instead he meets Seth gaze, solemn and straightforward.

"I won't. I promise." He's kept lesser secrets under threat of torture, so what's one more? And Seth seems sincere enough about it - whatever context Daniel is lacking, it's probably something important. And he won't betray that.

Edited 2014-10-13 05:49 (UTC)

Well, Seth's not exactly unused to humorous responses for his serious requests, so he would've accepted the first answer too, but he smiles and nods at the promise. It's pretty damn uncommon for him to lead someone he's really just met straight home, but he's gotten the impression he can trust Daniel, especially after last night.

"Well, apparently you hang out with Satan, so..." he jokes back. And then he pauses. "Then again, he already knows where I live."

"I didn't know it was Satan," Daniel mutters, fully aware of how ridiculous that statement sounds but he looks up sharply at Seth's next words.

"Woah, really?" Seth doesn't sound worried about it, but, well. It's Satan. Literally Lucifer. Daniel's had to deal with some weird things before, but never of the ilk of actual Satan. It's forced him to pretty much re-evaluate his entire understanding of the differences between human interpretation of myth and religion and what truths those things hold in actuality, as well as wonder how much of the biblical Lucifer mythos is rooted in fact and then stop wondering because that's terrifying, thanks.

"Are you, uh, are you safe?" Which sounds weirdly protective, but it's not strange to be worried about a friend incurring the wrath of the very real and probably very angry Devil. Not that Daniel helped at all in that department. "I mean, are you, um. That doesn't sound very good."

"Well, he doesn't know me," he answers, and wants to continue elaborating, but bites it back. "Long story that's not mine to tell," he adds instead. Granted, 'my friend and neighbour is the actual archangel Gabriel and the brother of Satan' isn't actually that long, but it's definitely private. While Seth feels like he can probably trust Daniel with his secrets, it's not for him to decide whether to trust him with his friends' secrets.

"We've got sigils up everywhere, should be fine," he adds reassuringly. Though really, he's decided his main defense against Lucifer is just going to be to stay uninteresting to him and out of his way. As much as he can at this point, anyway.

He leans against the window and looks up once the buildings get taller and they start passing theatres. "Right here's fine," he says a bit more loudly to the cab driver, fishing out his wallet.

At the mention of sigils Daniel's eyebrows rise and his mouth drops slightly in quiet realization but he stays silent until they're out of the cab and in the relative privacy of non-enclosed space.

"That's what those were?" he asks in muted undertone as soon as they've exited to the sidewalk. "The sigils. Er, wards, whatever they were - those were all over the apartment building. Er, Lucy's. I mean, it was halls, doors, windows, everywhere. I couldn't translate the language and I didn't realize -" He cuts himself off, quietly frustrated that he hadn't put together the whole "Lucifer" thing sooner, never mind that he would have no reason to jump to the conclusion of the real, actual, theoretically flesh-and-blood Devil. If they're intended to ward off that sort of evil and, more importantly, are currently succeeding, then that gives Daniel a firm basis in the Christian biblical mythos as far as linguistic interpretation goes. Deciphering the script and meaning behind the sigil could definitely be useful in the future, and that will only work if Daniel can discern what it is.

"And they keep him, er, Lucifer, the Devil - out? And away?" he asks. He's distantly conscious of the fact that this is not the best time or place to be having this conversation, but there's still that lurking concern for Seth's well-being. But it is the actual Devil they're talking about here. Daniel thinks he's entitled to a little worry for a friend.

Seth's glad to hear the sigils are up around the rebel apartments, and that people took Gabe's warning to heart. Hopefully they've done the same at Romac. To have such large collections of rifties open to a being whose first action in this universe was to put a fist through someone's chest, well. Not ideal.

"Should do, yeah," Seth answers. "It was drawn up and shared by someone who actually has familiarity with this particular version of Lucifer." While he'd gotten the impression it wasn't 100% fool-proof and probably could be circumvented eventually, it should provide some protection.

"Version," he repeats, resigned. He shuts his eyes, driving the edge of one palm into the bridge of his nose. Of course. Lucifer might not have come from Daniel's own universe but that doesn't mean there aren't thousands of other iterations of him, just as powerful and accessible to the Rift, spread out across an endless array of universes with their own personal Hells and Heavens and Devils, that have an equal chance of getting unceremoniously flung into Manhattan without warning.

That is a severely unsettling thought he does not need right now.

"How is it ever gonna be enough though?" Daniel finally asks, dropping his hand. The sheer overpowering scope of what it is that's landed in Manhattan with them has just gone crashing into him all over again. "There might be wards or sigils or whatever - and they're all over the place, but aren't you worried he'll find a way to circumvent them?"

Seth waits sympathetically while Daniel realises that living near a Rift is actually kind of terrifying. It's something everyone goes through. Repeatedly. And there's not all that much to be done about it. It's one of those things that just eventually just becomes a fact of life like any other, and you can't worry about it all the time, but that doesn't mean it's not any less scary.

"Of course I am. But he's not the only terrifying thing here, and my strategy of just staying out of the way has served me well for months," he answers, patting Daniel encouragingly on the back. He'd tried getting involved, and, well, that got him locked up, so.

"C'mon, mate. You've got touristing to do," he adds with a smile, heading to lead the way to where the Times Square opens up to them.

"Your assurance tactics could use some work." But he smirks as he says it and follows, good-natured and trying his very best not to think about Seth's casual implication of even more terrible things living here with them (he does not succeed). And while Seth might be content to steer clear of any trouble, for Daniel this might as well be a innate physical impossibility. Interstellar explorer, insatiably curious Earthly ambassador, blunt force instrument of idealistic cultural sensitivity, and completely and utterly lacking in any form of instinct for self-preservation.

For now he can dismiss thoughts of Devils and whatever other nebulous horrors he's unaware of, because Seth seems genuinely eager to show him around Times Square. It's a welcome distraction, really, even if Daniel knows he'll inevitably return to worrying about Lucifer at some future point.

"So this is Times Square, then?" It's very...big. And tall. Daniel tips his head back to take in the full breadth of the area, corner of his mouth jerking in a diminished smile, because he's standing in another universe's Times Square and that's sort of amazing.

It's more or less impossible to just stand still right here, with everyone bustling about, so Seth leads the way northwards. "It's more impressive at night," he answers. The colourful lights really stand out then, and it's like the idea of New York comes alive, somehow. If he had to get unceremoniously dumped and trapped anywhere, at least the Rift chose a pretty interesting place, with lots of variety and life. "Although, I guess it's not all that impressive after visiting alien planets..." he adds as an afterthought.

"You're kidding, right?" There's that familiar enthusiasm, lighting in his eyes and in the smile that's begun to form in earnest. "I'm in another, a, a whole other universe. I'm interacting with what is technically a brand new culture on a vast and intimate level in what is probably the best first contact situation I've ever been a part of. It's like modern day anthropology, it's phenomenal." It helps that he's here with someone who seems sincerely, honestly happy to just ease him into all of this. He...doesn't add that last part. It's implied. He can leave it implied. It's implied enough.

"Besides, I've been here for, what? A week? And no one's actively tried to kill me yet, so it's already better than, like...eighty percent of the planets I've been to. Eighty-five, maybe. I've never actually had a statistical analysis done." He's joking, mostly. Except he is curious about the statistical analysis part.

It's very difficult not to be charmed by Daniel's enthusiasm. And it's reassuring, considering Seth isn't a very good guide and has no idea where to actually bring Daniel.

"Ah, well, give it time. Took about a month for shit to really hit the fan for me," he jokes, and immediately sort of regrets it. Daniel's already shown to be very curious and incredibly Understanding and Sympathetic, and Seth probably can't just make comments like that without him wanting to know the backstory. Not a topic Seth wants to bring up, certainly not while he's trying to get Daniel to enjoy himself.

"So, this being a whole different culture and all, have you actually noticed any big differences? Ones not directly related to the Rift, I mean," he says, changing the subject.

Whatever unspecified amount of shit that struck the proverbial fan, Seth doesn't seem keen on talking it despite being the one to bring it up. Ordinarily Daniel is a firm supporter of the "talk about our feelings individually and in detail and at length" school of thought, but their wandering topics of conversation have already covered some severely sobering stuff. It looks like Seth has just reminded himself of that, so Daniel goes along with the subject shift. He's grateful to have the excuse, however flimsy, to not think about some of that for a while.

"Well it is pretty fascinating to see how everything sort of evolved around it," he says, trying his very best not to go ninety miles a minute without much success, "just this whole mass economic shift to accommodate the Rift. You've got organizations, clinics, the whole nine yards, and the effects are so widespread but just so - controlled, you know? Considering the variety of what you get coming through the Rift, that's pretty impressive. You, you took all that unpredictability and volatility and you normalized it." Even more impressive is how open knowledge of the Rift and its side effects are to the public, though Daniel has to concede that it would be a tricky thing to hide.

"It's the ripples that sort of thing leaves on society that intrigues me the most, not so much the thing itself. Though, okay, that's pretty big too." He pauses for a moment to reconsider. "Yeah, all right, really big."

And yet Times Square stands, apparently not so colossally different from the one in his home universe, deceptively normal in appearance.

Seth nods thoughtfully, hands stuffed in his pockets. He wonders how much backstory Daniel has actually gotten about the rift. Given he hasn't had any official Romac or Rebel representatives to bother about it, probably not as much as he'd be interested in. Seth doesn't know Lucy and has no idea how much she could even tell him. Most people's interest in this stuff beyond what directly affects them doesn't seem to be huge. Seth isn't really that interested out of plain curiosity, but he's picked up a lot after being here so long, and from trying to keep up with what's happening to keep himself safe and informed.

"Well, the Rift only became active a few years ago, and it's been kept relatively quiet, so there aren't that many ripples to be considered," Seth answers. "This isn't the only one though - there's ones in San Francisco and Chicago too. And other places of the world, but it's hard to get confirmation. Tokyo, London and Moscow are pretty safe bets, though."

So Who's Going to Watch You Die? [closed]

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