The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had

[penrosestairs]

Arthur is having an unusually good day. He's both morally and professionally pleased with himself for once, a rare occurrence in a profession where a man doesn't exactly make friends and always do the right thing. This time however, he's happy with the result of his actions because everyone benefits from said result. He exits the airport, suitcase

Comments

[onlypotter]

Harry nods. It makes as much sense as anything else. He's keeping his focus directly forward so he doesn't have to look at Arthur, because it is confusing. He doesn't know that he'll ever get used to it, but at least they won't be immediately mistaken for one another. They look different enough.

He freezes at the sight of the hole. This is unexpected. As if his first time leading a wanderer back to the tower couldn't get any weirder, there has to be some hole that seems to be the perfect size for that wanderer to walk through.

"I'm... not really sure," Harry admits and then shakes his head. "It's not normal, which is saying something for this city. I don't-- Did you do that? The Rift changes people when they go through it. Maybe this is... how it changed you."

It still doesn't explain how it's changed him or what that bloody hole is.

"It didn't hurt you to put your hand through it." It might mean that it's safe. Might, but that's a lot to bet on a might, not that Harry hasn't done that before. He's wagered his safety on a less certain bet.

[penrosestairs]

No. Arthur looks like the really uptight version of Harry. Additionally, he's about a decade older and it shows, but not so much physically as in his eyes. They're worn, like he's seen too much. His life hasn't exactly been painful, especially not in the way Harry's has, but he's been more than a bit morally lax. Part of the job, and sometimes it wears on him. He's seen people kill for the pettiest things and really Chicago is a bit of a vacation.

He shouldn't find the hole so amazing because it's so terrifying, but Arthur lives half his life in dreams now. For reality to be like this is almost a dream come true. If reality was more like a dream, then extractors wouldn't seek an escape so often. Arthur can't dream outside of an extraction, and that's almost painful.

"I couldn't do it before I got here..." he remarks, shaking his head. "This is new, very new..." The hole closes up completely and he steps away from it, taking his die out and rolling it between his fingers. It's almost like a nervous twitch, constant and necessary. "Is there someone that can help me figure it out?" Arthur isn't going to dwell. He's going to figure all of this out.