methuselah (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
singmod) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
singillatim2024-01-01 12:12 am
singmod) wrote in singillatim2024-01-01 12:12 am
Entry tags:
- *mod post,
- alluri rama raju: xil,
- benton fraser: lorna,
- bigby wolf: jelle,
- billy gibson: jelle,
- damian wayne: cass,
- edward kenway: effy,
- edward little: jhey,
- erichthonios: fey,
- francis crozier: gels,
- harry goodsir: karin,
- kate marsh: cheryl,
- kieren walker: cheryl,
- konstantin veshnyakov: jhey,
- lanfear: carly,
- levi jordan: cirape,
- nicholas wolfwood: joe,
- randvi: tess,
- renny oldoak (tav): jay,
- rorschach: shade,
- ruby rose: josh,
- thomas jopson: kota,
- tim drake: fox,
- tobi (lone wanderer): coeurl
prelude
How will you face this quiet apocalypse?
— Raphael van Lierop.
As the old year falls and the new year begins, the skies fill with light. An Aurora comes on the last day of December, and with it the usual signs of it: the ethereal noise, the cracks and pops in the air, the stuttering of electrics as they struggle to power on and then blare and flicker. It is, as Interlopers have come to know, business as usual — in terms of the Auroras within this world. However, something a little different happens this time.
Interlopers will fall asleep all over the town of Milton. Even the ones who fight sleep and try to stay up into the small hours of the night will find themselves drifting off for a short while — as if their eyes just feel too heavy to keep open, and their minds slip into a deep kind of quiet darkness without their realising. And at first, there is nothing — nothing but the quiet dark. Something peaceful, almost.
A dream comes.
The first thing you notice is blood in your mouth, the cold in your bones, the deafening din in your ears — as if you are caught in static and the sound of howling winds through pine trees. You are afraid. At first, you do not know why. You find yourself on your knees in the snow. The skies are filled with green light, the air is thick with smoke. And then the realisation comes:
This is the ending of all things.
You look up, to the sight before you: a huge, shapeless shadow. Towering above you, over you. A head peers down at you: a cluster of three wolf skulls, eye-sockets glowing green and terrible, and their three open maws, dripping with more green. The sound it makes is unnatural, you cannot put it into words. The darkness draws in, you are so cold, so tired.
This is the ending of all things.
It is so hungry. You are so tired. The world falls away, you cannot see the stars, the dark hiding them from view. Were they even there to begin with? Or did they go out? You have forgotten. And you know, you know—
This is the ending of all things.
The skies glimmer, licks of strange, colourful wisps curl above — a voice screams out your name, from the static and winds. Through the noise. A woman’s voice. You have heard this voice before, in the lights and noise. Do you see? What could be? What you could become?
Can you hold on? Please. A hand grips your shoulder, but as you turn — the dream ends.
For some, they snap into waking with a shout or cry. Some will shudder awake to find tears in their eyes. All over Milton, the Interlopers wake: shaken, unsure, afraid. They will awaken to the dark: the Aurora is gone — slowly fading from the night skies into an otherwise calm and clear night.
It is a new year.
no subject
[ He glances down at his hands, clicks his tongue, then looks back at the other man. ]
Yes. It was an extremely unsettling dream. I've never had one quite like it before.
[ Nightmares yes, but those are things he understands. He can usually find their source and address it, whether it be stress or pain or preoccupation on some unsettling thought.
This was something new. ]
Was it a familiar dream to you?
no subject
[ There's something a little quicker about that answer. Not too quick, but just enough that it makes him seem like someone who definitely doesn't want to be associated with strange dreams like that.
Even though he's having them now. There's no escaping that fact. The only thing that brings some faint comfort to that notion is the knowledge that at least it wasn't just his dream - that there isn't something messed up with him in particular. ]
Something about it though seemed.. [ .. his voice trails off, something in Billy's expression looking a little more complicated. He doesn't directly look at the other man, almost like there's something he's not sure he wants to say here. ] .. almost supernatural, as strange as that sounds.
[ Sure, the fact they all suddenly showed up in this place is supernatural in the first place, but that doesn't mean that having to accept these things are real and exist isn't still ridiculous as all hell, alright. ]
Especially for it to be such a shared experience.
no subject
[ But he's only musing. ]
Well, with only one experience of it thus far, it would be difficult to pinpoint a reason behind it. It could be environmental, or the result of something we've eaten.
[ He draws his legs up and lets his hands rest on his knees as he looks over at the other man, taking in his gaunt appearance, the flickering wariness in his eyes. ]
Which isn't to say it was any less disturbing. It seems to have affected you quite deeply, in fact.
no subject
Especially since he's right on the money about that one. The dream definitely did disturb him. The only thing that helped settle it a little was that Billy didn't have to deal with it all by himself right upon waking up, but that doesn't mean the dream isn't clinging to him all the same, even now. He didn't realise it was visible enough for a stranger to be able to tell so easily though, and momentarily Billy starts looking more awkward, like he isn't entirely sure how to deal with someone pointing that out so easily.
For that moment, the awkwardness and uncertainty is definitely visible, even if the man quickly tries to gather himself once more. ]
Of course. Who could dream of the end of everything and not feel disturbed by it?
[ He'd say worried about it, but he doesn't want to come across as too paranoid. Or as someone who believes in these sorts of things to an odd extent. Because he's not, he likes to think he's not, but after everything, all of these things are slowly starting to feel a little bit too real. ]
No one wants to die.
no subject
No one wants to die, [ he agrees.
But here they are, in an environment not wholly conducive to continued survival, receiving strange dreams. Omens? He's never experienced any before, himself, but nor does he discredit those who claim to have them. ]
But it certainly is not the end of everything just now. Look – the sun is beginning to come up.
[ He points one mittened finger toward the horizon, where peach light is beginning to stain the snow and sky. ]
I don't know what we might be facing, William, but I'll tell you this: I'm glad not to be facing it alone.
no subject
.. he exhales a breath he didn't quite realise he was holding in, and that gets him to look back at Fraser instead. Billy observes him for a moment, like he's trying to read the other man that way, especially with that last statement being involved.
Does he have someone here he knows deeply? Is he just overly friendly? Billy isn't sure. If he'd have to guess, he would call it for the latter right now. ]
Do you consider the other people here your companions, Mr. Fraser?
[ The other might have gone casual, but Billy is just a little too used to societal norms to start using the other's first name. Especially when the only person Billy himself has ever done so with is the very same man he's sharing a bed with. It feels too intimate. ]
no subject
[ He's perfectly sincere in his question, looking over at the other man with the fire crackling between them and the scent of coffee in the air. ]
If you mean 'do I consider the people here my friends,' well, yes. Some of them. Some I don't know well yet. Some I assume won't enjoy my company. But none of that negates the very real truth that all we have here is each other, for better or worse.
[ He shrugs, slight. ]
It's amazing the kinds of bonds that can form when strangers are forced together. Living in each others' spaces, depending on one another.
no subject
The kind of bonds that form when strangers are forced together, huh. Billy isn't - wasn't, maybe, it's more complicated now? - really thinking anyone on either of those ships cared about him at all. Other than Hickey. And that, too, was complicated in its own way.
He stares down at the hot drinks, rather than looking at the other. ]
Mr. Fraser, if you would excuse me for being so straightforward..
[ Sorry for the formality, Fraser. Old habits don't die so easily, especially when Billy is so unused to speaking his mind for the longest time around anyone other than one person. ]
I think we have very different experiences. [ It doesn't sound like he's trying to put the other down for it though.
It almost sounds more like a confession, really. There's something a little withdrawn about it. ]
I am not entirely sure whether this community will be different from the last.
no subject
It's times like this when he thinks wryly of having to be transferred out of Moose Jaw after only five weeks due to his inability to mesh with the urban environment. He puts out a hand, apologetic. ]
Oh, I certainly don't mean to suggest my experience is universal. In fact, I'd be – if you don't mind the conjecture – extremely surprised if that were anything like the case. No, it's simply an observation I've made over various instances of seeing communities form and either succeed or fall apart.
[ The other man has a morose way about him that feels bone deep, and Fraser's sympathy is immediately invoked. He lifts the coffee pot, offering to warm the man's cup, and asks: ]
I'd be interested to hear about your previous community, if you'd like to talk about it.
no subject
And while Billy isn't exactly stoked to talk too much about anything that happened back home, it does feel unfair to hold that information too close to his chest when Fraser is standing here and offering him more than most people would. So after a moment of quiet, Billy offers: ]
I was with the Royal Navy.
[ Does that explain enough? It does to him. ]
Men stuck on one ship together are a kind of community as well, wouldn't you say so?
no subject
[ He refills the other man's cup, then tops off his own, as Diefenbaker rises slowly to his feets, stretches, and comes to lie closer to the fire. ]
Albeit one with a great many more rules and restrictions, I imagine.
cw: mention of period-typical homophobia
[ There's something just.. a little dry to the way he says it. Billy's demeanour still seems very carefully neutral, but just a touch of that can't help but slip into his tone all the same.
After all, imagine living a life where your very sexual preference is considered against the rules. The sort of thing that could get you punished. ]
Though I suppose that can't have been much different for you. [ Considering the way Fraser did introduce himself. Not like Billy knows what the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are like in the slightest, but he can make a few educated guesses. Putting 'Royal' in front of any structured organisation inevitably comes with a few specific aspects to it.
And Billy would like to see how much Fraser has drank the rule-abiding koolaid. Just in case Billy says a little too much here. He'll know how much to hold back. ]
no subject
[ He settles back, expression thoughtful as he chews over everything the other man is saying, as interested in the way he's saying it, the words he's choosing, as the topic itself. ]
It sounds as though you grated a little under so much restriction. I can't say I blame you.
He likes the rules, the order. He's always been a stickler for them, but he's perfectly aware he's a bit of an outlier.
no subject
He stares at the other - a little surprised by how easily Fraser saw through him, but.. then again, it's not like Billy was being all that subtle either, so maybe he shouldn't be surprised in the first place.
Still, it makes him think of what to say and not to say here, especially with how careful Billy has always been. He pulls his shoulders up into a tiny shrug, and then carefully adds: ]
I understand that you need certain rules, especially when you go as far out as the Arctic.
[ Especially when there are some of the usual sailor habits that Billy totally judges. ]
But harsh punishments can also be a detriment to morale. [ Especially when you're already stuck in the ice for years!! This is how mutinies happen!! ]
no subject
Things are different in my time. I understand the Navy is still very strict, but lashings are a thing of the past, as are most of the other harsher punishments. Not that it helps your circumstances, of course.
[ He rolls his coffee cup between his palms, thoughtful. ]
But I may be the wrong person to ask about any of this. My career has been about preserving the rule of law, and bringing in those who've broken it.
no subject
[ It's a very neutral statement on Billy's end. He isn't a steward for nothing - he knows perfectly well how to shove any sense of personal opinions or emotions down, out of view, and he definitely wants them to be out of sight right now. His first impression of Fraser wasn't so bad, but it's starting to shift now.
Sure, it's not like the other is sounding cruel here, but there's definitely some personal negative sentiment against anyone who could be okay with the general concept of punishment when sometimes people are punished just for being who they are.
Don't trust this man with anything, Billy mentally notes to himself, and then makes a side note right away to make sure to tell Hickey to avoid him too. This is exactly the kind of person Hickey would get in trouble with, after all. ]
Please don't let me take up your day with talk of a time that is far in your past then. [ See? Zero indication about what Billy thinks about any of what Fraser just said. Perfectly neutral. ] .. thank you for the drink.
no subject
But whatever the trouble might be, it's clear William doesn't want to discuss it, and so Fraser only nods, smiles warmly. ]
Of course. Thank you for the company.
[ He holds his hand politely out for the coffee cup. A rinse in the snow and it'll be good as new. ]
It was nice to meet you, William. Please take care.
no subject
And with the other's politeness, Billy doesn't catch on fully to Fraser realising very well just how hard Billy drew those walls around himself all the way back up. Instead he at least offers his own surface politeness of-- ]
The same goes to you, constable.
[ --before he leaves. ]