Library, Monday, 6/26

[tyler_gone]

Tyler yawned as he opened the library; he had slept even less than usual the night before. He gripped his coffee tightly as he settled in behind the desk.

The library was open.

[OOC: New job = I'm here until about 1:30 EST and will pick up any tags after 10. Also, Bob is a ghost only Tyler can see; that thread is locked and Bob's presence is NFB

Comments

[kawalsky]

Bob emerged from behind one of the bookcases. He wasn't even paying attention to Tyler as he wandered over to one of the reading tables and sat down in one of the chairs. His huge pecs made it difficult to squeeze in close enough to read the book from the seat.

He didn't looked at Tyler the whole time.

[tyler_gone]

"Help you?," Tyler said, more automatic than polite.

Then he registered who it was. "Bob?"

[kawalsky]

Bob looked up. "This is a good book, Cornelius. Tyler. Mr Durden. Sir." He seemed conflicted about which name to use. "It's about soldiers."

[tyler_gone]

"Tyler is fine," Tyler said absently.

He was on the verge of panicking; then he remembered this was Fandom. "Bob. Question? What's the last thing that you remember before you came here?"

[kawalsky]

Bob looked thoughtful for a moment before responding. "I remember everything. We were doing an assignment for Project Mayhem. The one with the ball and the coffee shop. Then the police came, and we ran, I ran, and then..." He trailed off. "You weren't there."

[tyler_gone]

No white light. No sense of peace.

Tyler walked over to the table and took a seat across from Bob. "I wasn't there."

There was a long pause. "Do you remember getting hurt?"

[kawalsky]

"I remember everything," Bob repeated with an innocence that didn't fit his appearance. "I saw them carry me home. I saw you. I saw you let them bury me in the back garden." He looked at Tyler. "I'm sorry." He shook his head over and over again and looked back down at the pictures of the soldiers in the book. "I wasn't a good enough soldier."

[tyler_gone]

Tyler buried his head in both hands as if he was pysically holding it together. "You were my friend. I shouldn't have-" He swallowed. "It was wrong. It was all wrong."

[kawalsky]

Bob teared up. "You said it was all right. You said.. I trusted you to.. I don't understand why you weren't there."

[tyler_gone]

I was busy getting very drunk and having a nervous breakdown. Oh, and freaking out my imaginary friend's girlfriend. That was fun.

"I don't know either," Tyler admitted. "I wasn't thinking straight. I should have taken on that mission myself, if we were going to do it."

"How are you here?"

[kawalsky]

"They let me out."

[tyler_gone]

"they, they, what they?"

Tyler stood up and paced the library. "People in my world, they stay dead. DOn't they?"

[kawalsky]

"They told me I couldn't tell you who they were. The first rule is that you don't ask questions. They let me out and they said I could come and see you again. I didn't get to say goodbye. I think I'm still dead." He turned his head to show the back of it, the disgusting mess of a gunshot still warm and raw, but thankfully not dripping. "See what they did?"

[tyler_gone]

Tyler gingerly reached out a hand to touch the wound, pulling back just before his fingers would have made contact.

Then he went back to the pacing, motions becoming more frantic.

"This isn't real, this isn't real. Dr. Pevensie cut back on my meds. You're a hallucination. Like Tyler."

[kawalsky]

"You're Tyler." Bob looked confused. "Are you a ghost too?" His mouth opened wider. "Did someone kill you?"

[tyler_gone]

"No, no. I'm alive. I think. Maybe, maybe someone should have." He drew a ragged breath. "Maybe this is my hell."

He sat down across from Bob again and tried to put the whole thing a way the man would understand. "Tyler was someone I made up," he said carefully. "He's a part of me, but he's not really me."

"I never wanted anyone to get hurt."