{Statements of the strange and unusual

[myheadisaprison]

Crossover 'verse between The Magnus Archives & The Bright Sessions.

The Gist: my jerk Damien [heydrb] has Been Through A Lot and essentially was yelled at to GTFO of town by the guy he's accidentally in love with someone very important to him. In his fleeing, he decided to go to London, where he found Jonathan Simms [the_archivist].

Since then, I've low-key handwaved him vaguely ~getting integrated into the group~ at the Archives: here with Jon [the_archivist]; here with Martin [buffeted]; and here with Tim [kayaking].

Any players from either podcast are welcome to crash here, so bring your friends! Feel free to play off of each other all over the post whether Damien's included or not! :D

Comments

@the_archivist {Long nights, no peace, I feel like everybody's eyes on me

[heydrb]

Maybe it's just the nature of the place-- Jon had tried to warn him, before he got 'too entangled' in The Archives business, but Damien hadn't listened-- but it's just downright impossible to sleep here most nights. Somehow, he always feels like he's being watched. And yet, it seems the most reasonable place to stay. These people... they were... they were in awful spots, the lot of them, this place had ruined them all in their own ways. Damien felt like perhaps he was lucky to already be ruined, long before he found his way here. Maybe it was why he found his way here, in all the places he could have done, since he moved to London.

Tonight, though, it isn't the being watched feeling keeping him awake. It certainly doesn't help matters, but-- well, it isn't the root of it tonight. That's... someone back home. He's sat in a chair in what must qualify as a break room around here, staring at a name in his phone for longer than he cares to admit. He can't, he knows he can't talk to Mark, but it doesn't make the desire of the idea go away at all.

He hears someone shuffling into the room and his head snaps up. "Jesus, Jon, make some noise when you walk into a room." he shakes his head and pockets his phone.

[the_archivist]

He leaves the Archives so rarely these days that time has rather lost meaning for him. He sleeps when he's tired (or when Daisy drags him down to the cot in the tunnels and makes him), and eats when someone brings him food because they don't like him leaving unaccompanied in case- well.

So his sleep schedule is odd at the best of times, and it isn't strange to find him wandering the Institute at odd hours, like some sort of ghost.

He startles when he hears a voice, and blinks blearily at Damien. He'd been lost in thought really, not paying much attention to where he was going.

"Oh- sorry." He frowns, brow creasing. "You did hear me because you noticed I was here."

[heydrb]

There's a beat before Damien just shakes his head, "Not the point, man." he scrubs a hand over his face. "What're you doing up anyway?" Not that he's really got any room to talk, does he? Well, they aren't talking about him, so he's not too worried about that just yet, thanks.

[the_archivist]

Jon snorts at that, but goes to sit down at the table, and slumps over it. "I'm often up at this time. I don't sleep well. And I try to- well, it isn't as though I have a life outside this place these days. Does it really matter when I sleep?"

[heydrb]

"I'm not sure anyone does." he admits with a soft huff of amusement. "There isn't much room for sleep in this place, is there? Always something going on..." Possibly more so than even back home, with Dr. B and The A.M. and that was kind of saying something.

"Do the people that make their statements ever... really know the truth about the things they've seen and experienced?"

[the_archivist]

"No. No, none of us sleep well these days." The others have nightmares, even if they aren't ones he can see (and god he is thankful that their contracts prevent that at least), and he tries to avoid sleep, or forgets about it. He hadn't slept that well even before he'd come to work at the Institute.

He considers that. "Some of them do. We've had the occasional cultist or other servant of one of the powers come to give statements. But mostly, while they know something strange happened, they aren't aware of the truth. The human mind if remarkably good at rationalising things."

[heydrb]

From what he's seen so far, he can't say he exactly blames them. There's no shortage of insanity in this place.

One thing Damien hasn't really seen a ton of evidence of so far is the way Jon just... Knows things. It has been explained, sure, but it isn't the kind of thing that's the same on paper as in practice, is it? He's not sure he fully understands how it works either. He's at least pretty sure it isn't like Chloe's mind reading, at least.

"Making up excuses, more like." he scoffs softly and shakes his head.

[the_archivist]

Jon can't exactly explain it well. He doesn't understand how it works, except that it does. There is a door in the back of his mind, and beyond it is a great ocean of knowledge. Sometimes it drips through. The Entities don't work on human logic.

"Maybe so. It's a protective measure. People rationalise things, or make excuses, and pretend as hard as they can that what they saw or experienced can be explained away, because the alternative is so much worse."

[heydrb]

"The real problem is when they let it drive them. That fear of what they don't understand. Wanting to do everything to understand it, no matter the kind of lines they have to cross to do it." Damien probably doesn't realize how obvious it is that he's being too specific for it not to be some kind of vague, personal anecdote. But he also isn't offering up any more information, either.

Still, he can't keep his mind from drifting to Mark and The AM, the experiments the other man had suffered at their hands. Experiments he knows more details of than he should, because he'd forced Mark's hand in telling him, but... still.

[the_archivist]

"Yes, that... that does sound like it could be a problem," Jon says weakly. As if that isn't the very purpose of this place, and his existence serving it.

God, part of him itches to drag the whole story out of him. He wants to know, but Damien isn't an official employee and the nightmares would be terrible and also it's just... the wrong thing to do.

"If you're trying to avoid that kind of person, you have probably chosen the wrong place to spend time."

[heydrb]

"You guys got a secret basement full of powered people experiments going on?" Because then he might have some words for you, buddy.

But it's true, really. He probably shouldn't be here, is probably already too late to truly and completely turn back, even without the contracts signed. The Eye probably has, well-- an eye on him already, now.

[the_archivist]

"Oh god no," Jon replies, although he does cast a dubious look down at the floor of the Archive. There's probably no secret lab down there. At the same time... he wouldn't be shocked. Surprised, but not shocked. "I don't think the kinds of things we deal with much go in for science. Maybe the Dark? But they wouldn't be here."