[Introduction: Jack Benjamin] Escape from the living death

[true_n_the_dark]

[Spoiler (click to open)]He'd done it. Jack had asked his own father to kill him, to order his execution. Thomasina had said, "Your father wants for you a living death, to brick you into a wall with someone who loves you - who you can't stand the sight of... until you produce an heir, which Silas will take, and raise right this time

Comments

[sandman_slim]

Stark just wanted to piss in peace, not come on some scene out of every tv drama ever.

"Shit!"

At least he didn't just slam the door and leave it for someone else to find; maybe he was feeling more charitable today, or maybe the whole 'Brienne thing' was mellowing him out.

"Come on, asshole. That's no way to get out of here..." The Nephilim kneels in the water by the bath, reaching out to check the wounds and for a pulse and is glad when he finds one. He's got no qualms dragging a naked guy out of the bathtub and grabbing towels and the like to staunch the bleeding.

"You die on me, I'm going to kick your ass when you come back," he growls, tying off one wound tightly.

[drleonardhmccoy]

joining in by invite...

McCoy is walking down the hallway, he's been searching closets and abandoned rooms for any sort of medical implements that he can collect, when he hears the words, 'die on me...' He tightens his grip on his makeshift medical bag and runs the last few steps into the room. "--Jesus." He runs in and drops to his knees on the wet floor, glancing over at Stark before taking a look a the wounds. "I'm a doctor. Any idea how long he's been like this?"

[sandman_slim]

McCoy is lucky Stark's got his hands full of unconscious naked man or he might have gotten clocked for startling him.

"I don't know. Found him like this just now. Probably a new guy, never seen him before."

[true_n_the_dark]

Well, the good news is, he's got a pulse (if probably fainter than is healthy), and though he's bleeding profusely, he's definitely salvageable.

The bad news is, the only reason he's not resisting is that he's passed out.

He'll be coming to eventually, though.

[lifeinhallways]

It will be night before she sees him.

Michelle will see Jack, but Jack will not see Michelle. Unlike when she met Mordred, this time, she's sure. This time, she will not hide, as there is the safety of seeing him from a window. There's nothing illuminating her, but Jack, the moon, the stars, the way he walks, the way her body clenched in fear, she knows it's Jack.

The last time she saw him, he nearly had her shot. While Rose was wrong about so many things, she wasn't wrong when it came to Michelle's unborn. She would do anything to keep Jack from being near her child, and, for now, that means keeping away from him.

Watching for a few minutes more, she turns to flee, abandoning the room, looking for someone to help her.

[A Michelle post will go up soon about this, if anyone wants to see her.]

[true_n_the_dark]

They stitched him together, put him in a bed, and expected him to do nothing, those two men who got him out of the bloodbath he'd created for himself.

They told him where he was, but for now, he's thinking this is one of Silas' tricks.

Exile, or something.

He's walking under the moon, trying to find his bearings. Trying not to think, if at least he can't sleep. He has no idea his sister has seen him, or that she is even there.

He'll eventually crawl into bed, in the wee hours of the morning, after emptying a bottle of bourbon.

He'd missed drinking himself to sleep.

[All good, just writing him for voice, no interaction yet, as agreed. <3]

[ao_ji]

Perhaps while he's out walking, the moon will black out for a moment as a great shape, darker than the surrounding sky circles before coming in to land.

Temeraire shakes his wings out and bends to take a drink from the lake.

[true_n_the_dark]

This is as close to a OMGWTFHAAAAA icon, so that's what we're using. In effect, though, Jack's reaction is very much more of the staring and disbielief kind, until he realizes this is exactly what he bargained for.

(Or so he thinks.)

And so...

"Well, I guess one of you showed up," he calls to what he thinks is the devil.

[danielshadow]

Daniel is sitting in a common room, humming to himself while he draws with crayons and eats a sandwich Uncle Tony had made for him as a snack.

[true_n_the_dark]

It's one day later. Still alive (much to his chagrin), Jack is out and eating pancakes that someone left out in the kitchen. He'll be damned if he ever has eggs again for breakfast.

Damn you, Silas, ruining perfectly good breakfast food by association.

He's eating and staring at the kid, a bit.

He's wondering what a child is doing here, in Exile.

[danielshadow]

Daniel knows he's being watched, but he's not worried. After a bit, he turns to look up and smiles. "Hi. Want to sit with me?"

[true_n_the_dark]

That completely destabilizes Jack, who blinks, and stares harder.

"... no," he says eventually, but very slowly, like it was a difficult question.

Pause.

"... who're you?"

Seriously, this kid is normal, why's he here? (Told, not told, Jack is going to need a lot of framework, for a while.)

[killedthesnake]

Neville looks like a happy man. It's a good look on him. He's got plans for dinner and a evening walk with Zhane; yes, it's a date. One he's really looking forward to, actually. As he comes down the stairs in a jacket and tie, he's not in a rush because he's early. He wants to make sure dinner is still ready. He'd cooked a lasagna earlier, leaving it in the oven on warm, with a note for his fellow Mansion-ites to please not eat because it was made for a special occasion.

Jack can run into him on the stairs or in the kitchen. He'll likely be his usual, friendly self.

[true_n_the_dark]

Jack has frankly no idea what he's doing at this point. Separated from everything and everyone that he knew, robbed of his lifelong goal, lost in every possible sense of the term, he's adrift.

That's why he'll bump into the other man on his way up - while he would have (should have) spotted him, decided he was handsome and worthy of attention on any other day, today, he bumps into Neville by sheer virtue of self-absorption.

It's only after he spots him that...

"... Oh, sorry."

A little smile, lifeless. The stitches on his wrists are not apparent, but there's white gauze sticking out of his jacket.

[killedthesnake]

Neville doesn't notice the gauze right away, but the other guy's distraction is evident by sheer force of their bumping into one another. He might reach to steady the stranger, if typist allows, but his hands wouldn't linger.

He'll look at him more closely, to see if he knows him, but no, this man is a stranger. "No problem," Neville offers an easy smile. "Are you new here?" Because it's the obvious question, and might also explain the man's distraction.

[true_n_the_dark]

The lifeless smile is there, forced and false, not because of hypocrisy, but by practice. This man looks handsome, clean, cultured, and like the type of guy Jack would have wanted to seduce, in the secrets of his closet, in his past life.

And now he's trying, desperately, to fight despondency.

"Yes," he replies. "Apparently."

It's still all incredibly strange to him.

[everdo2you]

Bobby Ray has been out for an afternoon of strawberry picking. He'd come upon the patch by chance, and it immediately reminded him of his youth, growing up in rural Alabama. He promptly returned to the Mansion, grabbed a big bucket and spent a good hour filling it to the brim. He's intent on washing them off in the kitchen and then settling down on the front porch to eat as many as he can before his stomach protests.

[true_n_the_dark]

Bobby Ray, you are seriously way too adorable to be dealing with this issuetastic angstbucket. We command you, salute you, and send our sympathies.

At this point, Jack is defaulting to drinking. He's also realizing that no-one seems to care, so he's not bothering with the women, he might even like to get some action with someone.

Dizzy himself in debauchery, or something.

His self-destructive impulses have reached an all-time high.

And that's why an inebriated man is stumbling into the kitchen, looking for more liquor, so early in the day. Did we mention? he also barely slept.

We're so sorry, Bobby Ray.

[everdo2you]

Bobby Ray is holding a colander full of strawberries under running water when Jack stumbles into the kitchen. He looks up, a friendly smile on his face, but that falters slightly when he takes in the other man's state. Oh, damn. Poor guy.

He shuts off the water, drying his hands on a dishtowel and moves over to the stranger. Not too close, not getting in his personal space, but near enough to help if he needs it.

"Did the bar open early today?" he teases lightly. "I'm Bobby Ray. I don't think we've met."

[true_n_the_dark]

Bobby Ray, you saint.

"... there's a bar? I've just been having this stuff."

Jack waves a now empty bottle of bourbon at Bobby Ray.

Pause.

"Want some?" Oh. Right. "Huh. No more. Let's get some."