[open] serve me the sky tonight

[alphaophiuchi]

WHO Draco Malfoy and OPEN.
WHAT Fantasy week takes its toll.
WHERE Hell House, the hostel, the streets...wherever, really.
WHEN Wednesday through Sunday. Please specify if you want a certain day.
WARNINGS Deathly Hallows spoilers? I'll edit as necessary

Comments

[alphaophiuchi]

He'd been able to keep himself relatively calm during the explanation - as calm and objective as he could manage, at least - but as the topic began to slide back to his Mark, he'd begun to shake visibly again. He knew that it was of his own doing, that it was his decision to say anything at all, and that there was a few doses of a calming drought somewhere in his room. At the same time, he knew that it was good to have allies in this place, where people didn't see him just for the supposed injustices he'd performed upon people: Draco focused on that small point - that Ianto would defend him as long as he didn't do anything. That no matter what people said past this point, as long as Draco did nothing to jeopardise Ianto's trust, he would probably have it.

"N-no, but..." Perhaps it was irrational after all. But that didn't make the pain any less real. "No. No one else can do this, though. And there's only two of us in the entire city - not a chance that it could be some...fluke or..." Draco exhaled, trying to mirror Ianto's calm. "I don't know what it is."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto nodded, taking in the information that Draco was giving him. "The other person in the city with this Mark. Have they been experiencing anything similar with it hurting? Have you spoken to them about it at all? Because if not, if it's only you..." He sighed.

"This city... It gets into your head. It can do things to you that are mad, make you think things that aren't real, aren't true. And unless you have proof that that's what there is going on here. That this... This Dark Lord of yours is truly within the city, then. That may be what it is." He paused for a moment, frowning. "Is there anything you might be able to take to help with the pain it's causing you, or is it not effective against this sort of magic?" he asked, softly.

[alphaophiuchi]

It hadn't occurred to him to go to Snape; the chances of him being put down as a pathetic child who couldn't handle the Mark were too great. Besides that, there were certain things he'd never been able to deal with well - being a Death Eater was one of them, and one he bore alone. Until now, it seemed.

Dracp swallowed thickly, furrowing his brow slightly as Ianto explained. Was he actually just going crazy? Was that it? The city getting to him on a grander scale than he initially anticipated, rather than Voldemort actually showing up and torturing him from afar? It would certainly explain away why there had been no actual sightings of him, though Draco had to admit that he'd thought he'd seen him out of the corner of his eye more than once.

"I've been...taking a few things," he finally murmured, looking positively ill at the idea that it was merely in his head, that he was beginning to see and feel things that weren't real. That was the first sign of his sanity going, after all.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto frowned at the look that the other man was getting, and decided that he needed to speak up with examples of how the city got to people, but it was the city, not Draco himself, that was doing this.

"A few months ago, before you came here, something happened. There was a mistake with someone trying to attempt to get out of here, and so rather than a window opening to your own world, the world you belonged in, people started to see windows to worlds where they had never existed. Worlds where everyone was better off without them. And only the person themself could see that window. But that doesn't mean that something's wrong with you. I saw a window myself, and you know me. Do I seem like an unstable man to you?"

[alphaophiuchi]

The window. Well, Draco remembered that. He had found it in nearly his first week of being there. It really hadn't done anything for his self-esteem, particularly since he hadn't known anyone until getting absolutely trashed down in some seedy looking bar; of course, he'd met Scott that night, lo and behold.

He swallowed again, nodding slowly. "Merlin's fault, wasn't that? They were...hard to deal with." To say the least. Considering he honestly didn't remember most of the incident, save for being sufficiently depressed. "I'd just arrived then."

Blinking himself firmly out of his own thoughts, Draco glanced back up to Ianto then, brow still furrowed. "You're far more grounded than most people here."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto nodded, appreciating that that point had worked in his favor. "Then you know that it's not got anything to do with you. This city, it picks people. Randomly. And it makes them do, feel, believe things that they shouldn't. But that's not their fault, and it's got nothing to do with the people themselves and everything to do with the fact that this city gets to you in one way or another."

He nodded to Draco's arm. "I don't think that you've got anything to worry about. I know that it might feel that way, but. If there's been no proof, then my guess is that this is just the city messing with you as well. After all, this Dark Lord of yours... People like that aren't the kind to just leave people hanging like that. He'd either have a use for you, or he'd let you go in one way or another." He bit his lip for a moment. "I know it's difficult, but. My advice would be to take something for the pain, if it helps at all, and wait it out. It shouldn't last for too much longer, especially if it's already been going all week."

[alphaophiuchi]

He had known that the city was bizarre, that it worked in mysterious ways as they said, but this was ridiculous; a city couldn't pick people. A city wasn't sentient. And yet, everything seemed to point towards it being slightly more sentient than the average city. Draco found himself compartmentalising everything he was learning in the conversation, focusing on it and the sound of Ianto's voice to drown out the stinging in his arm.

In a way, he was right: if the Dark Lord were there, he would have come to Draco and given him something to do. He wouldn't have just tortured him like this for weeks on end from a distance; any torture would be done in person. Perhaps Draco just hadn't been thinking about it right. "I will. And I'll remember that. The...everything." Like that covered it all. Draco nodded, deciding that it very much did, and that Ianto would get just how grateful he was for opening his eyes.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto nodded. "Good, I'm glad," he said. He didn't know what else there was to cover by his visit, but the other man did seem to be calming a little once he had responded, so...hopefully it had helped?

"For your sake, I hope it lets off sooner rather than later. But don't worry too much about work this past week, it's alright. We understand. Just... Next time something happens that might affect your concentration or possibly end you up in trouble, let us know, yeah?" he said, softly but firmly. "Owen and I may be your bosses, but we're there to help as well."

[alphaophiuchi]

Ianto, once again, had a point. After all, despite what everyone had said about Owen, the other man had been decent enough to Draco. Decent enough to give him that buggered spinning chair, at least.

He nodded again, having the decency to look appropriately apologetic. "I figured there were other things to worry about," Draco lied through his teeth. To say that he was too damn prideful, and believed he could take care of everything himself - only to be proven time and again that he was wrong in virtually every way - would be far more truthful. But he had a feeling that Ianto could figure that out anyway. "But...if it comes up again...I will. I'll say something."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto nodded, knowing that that wasn't why Draco hadn't said anything before but letting it slide for now. "Good," he said, gently, "be sure that you do. We really are here to listen, and I promise that we're not going to judge you unfairly or anything like that." Well. He wouldn't at least. But Owen was a good boss too, when it came down to it, so he didn't believe that there would be a problem there. "We're much more understanding of your situation if you actually tell us what's going on, alright?"

[alphaophiuchi]

And thus began Draco's mental note to open up and ignore his trust issues, because the people surrounding him weren't Death Eaters anymore. They were nice people, willing to help and probably more than capable of it. "Right. Makes sense. I can't imagine you giving lenience to anyone who couldn't prove they deserved it."

And then, on a belated note: "Apologies."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto shook his head. "It's alright. It's alright so long as you trust us from now on, yeah? I understand how this city gets into your head..."

Ianto stood up. "Well, I don't want to overstay my welcome," he said, gently. "You'll tell me when you feel better, yeah? I don't want to have to worry about you for any longer than I have to," he said, with a quirk of a smile. "I've got enough to stress me out as is."

[alphaophiuchi]

Draco rose to his feet as well, still not quite rising to his full height, as if shrinking down would concede Ianto as the alpha male between the pair of them, at least for now. He nodded lightly, as if moving too much would show off just how much he continued to shake.

"You're more than welcome here," he murmured, "I'll likely feel better soon. I'll...work on it." A faint smirk toyed upon his lips in mimicry of Ianto's smile, "I'd hate to add to your stress if I could help it."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto smiled in return. "I can stay, if you need company," he said, gently. "Although something tells me that you probably have all the company you can stand around at times." Seeing as how Ianto knew about the younger man's relationship with Zero, and all.

[alphaophiuchi]

Another smile twitched to his mouth, and he shrugged. "Maybe. But I wouldn't mind company now, if you weren't terribly busy. Zero's off for a bit anyway." If Ianto was subtly referencing it, Draco saw no reason to hide it; it wasn't like he cared who knew anyway.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto smiled wider. "Draco, if you would like the company, then I'd be happy to stay. So long as you don't mind spending time with your boss out of work. Well. One of your bosses," he amended. "Though I'm sure you see more of Owen than you ever do of me. More of him than you probably care to, sometimes," he joked, good-naturedly.