The Death March - Part Twenty-One
Title: The Death March
Part: Twenty-One - The Final Search
Previously: Prologue | One | Two | Three| Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen | Fourteen | Fifteen | Sixteen | Seventeen | Eighteen | Nineteen | Twenty
Prompts: writers_muses 39.6 - search
RP: with shaman_x. Thread complete.
Note: The links in this piece are background info as to how the Marchend Cauldron is found/John is contacted about it, courtesy of shaman_x. Thanks so much for you contribution to this plot, you've been awesome! OH! And the mentions of siryn_song, doug_ramsey, and tm_northstar all used with permission. Thanks, lovelies!
John sits at Saturday breakfast with his lover, Doug, and their good friends, Jean-Paul and Terry. They're at the All You Can Eat breakfast at the place by Doug's apartment. Well, Will's apartment now, until... until the end, and Doug figures out what he's doing with his life post-J.
Except, isn't a sad breakfast; they aren't being a bunch of emo young adults. They actually smile and laugh and John doesn't eat much but Jean-Paul makes up for that, and Terry and Doug laugh at the way John and Jean-Paul spend a good ten minutes arguing about how John did not (did too!) drool on JP's shoulder the other night while they watched the movie. Or, rather, when John slept through it, using Jean-Paul's shoulder as a pillow. And not (did too!) drool on it.
But underneath the surface, with all of them, they each have their own pain, their own suffering, with everything that's happen within the last couple months. Sadness and loss and guilt and all that other stuff. But they can't deal with it that morning, and so they carry on as if nothing was wrong.
John really wishes there wasn't. He wishes he could have Saturday brunch with his friends as some sort of tradition.
But he doesn't voice these thoughts, and neither do they.
They have fun together, and that's all that matters.
[Somewhere, some other place, some other time. Mike. Mike is looking... and getting. Mike has gotten it. The Marchend Cauldron. The last bit of hope that stands between John and the Final Death. Because, he's already dead. But is he going to live?]
In South Africa, two women are woken by the sound of their Finder, sitting on the bedside table. It starts to twitter and flash and very nearly vibrates itself right onto the floor.
Gwenyth opens her eyes, dark and hawk-like, staring at it. Beside her, Mariola stirs. She turns over, and leans her chin on her lover's shoulder as she stares at mystical device.
"It is here," Gwenyth says, her voice dark and unrefined.
Exactly the opposite, gentle, delicate Mariola nods. "I will call him."
Around the world, earlier in the day (but at the same time) in the American afternoon, John Allerdyce is sitting on the couch in the fancy hotel room he's staying in as he lives the end of his days. Terry took their leave of them and went shopping with Will. John sent Doug and Jean-Paul out to get some Dr. Pepper and some other groceries, as he stated the need to take a nap and that they should just get out. Even though they went out earlier that day, John felt some guilt about keeping them all cooped up while he tried to rest and hold on to the strength he had back. This couldn't be easy on them.
His phone rings. Looking at the caller ID, his heart skips a beat. (Because, to him, at least he can feel that that happens.) He recognizes the African phone number.
He flips open the phone. "John here." He listens as Mariola tells him. It takes him a second to grasp, because he just can't believe it. Deep down, he wanted this to happen, but he never really expected it. It shatters his acceptance of death, and hope finally surges. That alone might kill him, it's burning so bright.
"Where?" He pauses for a moment, then says it really loudly. "Genosha?"
That crazy motherfucker. He did it.
Right after he hangs up the call, John receives a text from Mike himself. John replies: ON MY WAY. SEE YOU SOON.
A note is left on the table. He knows they're going to hate it. Maybe they'll hate him. They probably should.
Doug and JP,
Gone to see a man about a bowl.
Don't tell anyone. Not yet. Just in case.
I'll call when I can. You're probably pissed, but I got to do this on my own. I have to.
Love you,
-J.
When Doug and JP return to the hotel, they will find that John is gone, and find the note in his place. And if they look real hard enough, and take note of it, the silver lockbox with all the Death March materials - minus the one - is gone.
And, with the condition that John Allerdyce is in? If he wants to fade away and disappear, remain in secret and go unnoticed, he has no problem with doing so.
You can't track a dead man.
Getting to Genosha isn't the easiest of tasks. It takes John a couple flights (still using fake ID, but what else is a deceased man to do?), and some waiting for a ferry to take him to the island. It's dusk on Sunday, Genosha time, when he finally gets there. He steps onto the dock and sees the vast space, scattered with rebuilding efforts, John feels oddly attuned to this place. Some mutants find it eerie or creepy, sad and painful, this place where so many of their kind were killed in mass genocide. It's a place of death, but it's coming back alive.
John can relate. Hopefully.
It's hard to track down Mike at first. John is tired and exhausted, and the little energy he has left is nearly gone, and that seems to make the Death March curse repel people even greater then before. He literally has to grab some guy by the shirt, force him to look at John, and even then, he can't look John straight in the eye. But at least John is able to get instructions on how to find Mike. Everyone here seems to know where Mike is, they just don't want to tell John. Or can't.
And so John begins his trek. Couldn't Mike have picked someplace a little closer to the docks? But maybe Mike didn't know how John was going to get there. He didn't use the makeshift airstrip, because John didn't charter a plane in. He doesn't have one to get, and he didn't want to ask anyone to use the Blackbird to get him over. (John doesn't like it much anyway, he nearly died on it one time. It might have done him in before he got to get where he needed to go.) But, finally, away from the camps and buildings and most of the other civilization that is beginning to show it's face again on this island, John thinks he sees Mike.
Mike, full of light and casual and sitting up against some wall.
John wants to fall to his knees. He almost wants to cry. He wants so much for this to be true that his heart is about to burst right through his chest. There are a million and one thoughts going through his mind, and Mike can't hear any of them. Maybe, if things are good... maybe he will soon.
And all John can think to say is, "Hey, Mike. So. How's it going?"
Part: Twenty-One - The Final Search
Previously: Prologue | One | Two | Three| Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen | Fourteen | Fifteen | Sixteen | Seventeen | Eighteen | Nineteen | Twenty
Prompts: writers_muses 39.6 - search
RP: with shaman_x. Thread complete.
Note: The links in this piece are background info as to how the Marchend Cauldron is found/John is contacted about it, courtesy of shaman_x. Thanks so much for you contribution to this plot, you've been awesome! OH! And the mentions of siryn_song, doug_ramsey, and tm_northstar all used with permission. Thanks, lovelies!
John sits at Saturday breakfast with his lover, Doug, and their good friends, Jean-Paul and Terry. They're at the All You Can Eat breakfast at the place by Doug's apartment. Well, Will's apartment now, until... until the end, and Doug figures out what he's doing with his life post-J.
Except, isn't a sad breakfast; they aren't being a bunch of emo young adults. They actually smile and laugh and John doesn't eat much but Jean-Paul makes up for that, and Terry and Doug laugh at the way John and Jean-Paul spend a good ten minutes arguing about how John did not (did too!) drool on JP's shoulder the other night while they watched the movie. Or, rather, when John slept through it, using Jean-Paul's shoulder as a pillow. And not (did too!) drool on it.
But underneath the surface, with all of them, they each have their own pain, their own suffering, with everything that's happen within the last couple months. Sadness and loss and guilt and all that other stuff. But they can't deal with it that morning, and so they carry on as if nothing was wrong.
John really wishes there wasn't. He wishes he could have Saturday brunch with his friends as some sort of tradition.
But he doesn't voice these thoughts, and neither do they.
They have fun together, and that's all that matters.
[Somewhere, some other place, some other time. Mike. Mike is looking... and getting. Mike has gotten it. The Marchend Cauldron. The last bit of hope that stands between John and the Final Death. Because, he's already dead. But is he going to live?]
In South Africa, two women are woken by the sound of their Finder, sitting on the bedside table. It starts to twitter and flash and very nearly vibrates itself right onto the floor.
Gwenyth opens her eyes, dark and hawk-like, staring at it. Beside her, Mariola stirs. She turns over, and leans her chin on her lover's shoulder as she stares at mystical device.
"It is here," Gwenyth says, her voice dark and unrefined.
Exactly the opposite, gentle, delicate Mariola nods. "I will call him."
Around the world, earlier in the day (but at the same time) in the American afternoon, John Allerdyce is sitting on the couch in the fancy hotel room he's staying in as he lives the end of his days. Terry took their leave of them and went shopping with Will. John sent Doug and Jean-Paul out to get some Dr. Pepper and some other groceries, as he stated the need to take a nap and that they should just get out. Even though they went out earlier that day, John felt some guilt about keeping them all cooped up while he tried to rest and hold on to the strength he had back. This couldn't be easy on them.
His phone rings. Looking at the caller ID, his heart skips a beat. (Because, to him, at least he can feel that that happens.) He recognizes the African phone number.
He flips open the phone. "John here." He listens as Mariola tells him. It takes him a second to grasp, because he just can't believe it. Deep down, he wanted this to happen, but he never really expected it. It shatters his acceptance of death, and hope finally surges. That alone might kill him, it's burning so bright.
"Where?" He pauses for a moment, then says it really loudly. "Genosha?"
That crazy motherfucker. He did it.
Right after he hangs up the call, John receives a text from Mike himself. John replies: ON MY WAY. SEE YOU SOON.
A note is left on the table. He knows they're going to hate it. Maybe they'll hate him. They probably should.
Doug and JP,
Gone to see a man about a bowl.
Don't tell anyone. Not yet. Just in case.
I'll call when I can. You're probably pissed, but I got to do this on my own. I have to.
Love you,
-J.
When Doug and JP return to the hotel, they will find that John is gone, and find the note in his place. And if they look real hard enough, and take note of it, the silver lockbox with all the Death March materials - minus the one - is gone.
And, with the condition that John Allerdyce is in? If he wants to fade away and disappear, remain in secret and go unnoticed, he has no problem with doing so.
You can't track a dead man.
Getting to Genosha isn't the easiest of tasks. It takes John a couple flights (still using fake ID, but what else is a deceased man to do?), and some waiting for a ferry to take him to the island. It's dusk on Sunday, Genosha time, when he finally gets there. He steps onto the dock and sees the vast space, scattered with rebuilding efforts, John feels oddly attuned to this place. Some mutants find it eerie or creepy, sad and painful, this place where so many of their kind were killed in mass genocide. It's a place of death, but it's coming back alive.
John can relate. Hopefully.
It's hard to track down Mike at first. John is tired and exhausted, and the little energy he has left is nearly gone, and that seems to make the Death March curse repel people even greater then before. He literally has to grab some guy by the shirt, force him to look at John, and even then, he can't look John straight in the eye. But at least John is able to get instructions on how to find Mike. Everyone here seems to know where Mike is, they just don't want to tell John. Or can't.
And so John begins his trek. Couldn't Mike have picked someplace a little closer to the docks? But maybe Mike didn't know how John was going to get there. He didn't use the makeshift airstrip, because John didn't charter a plane in. He doesn't have one to get, and he didn't want to ask anyone to use the Blackbird to get him over. (John doesn't like it much anyway, he nearly died on it one time. It might have done him in before he got to get where he needed to go.) But, finally, away from the camps and buildings and most of the other civilization that is beginning to show it's face again on this island, John thinks he sees Mike.
Mike, full of light and casual and sitting up against some wall.
John wants to fall to his knees. He almost wants to cry. He wants so much for this to be true that his heart is about to burst right through his chest. There are a million and one thoughts going through his mind, and Mike can't hear any of them. Maybe, if things are good... maybe he will soon.
And all John can think to say is, "Hey, Mike. So. How's it going?"