kayakking | (no subject)

To put by the door so we don't lose them?

[ Algric just. Takes in a breath. Calm down, it's fine... ]

Okay, okay ...

[Jonah watches him for another second before going. Passes right by the front foyer and goes straight to their room to get some fresh clothes to change into. Stopping here and there to look at himself in the mirror at the new scars, hours fresh, and sighs.

Then back to the front door ready to leave, stopping to make sure he has both sets of keys.]

[ Algric frets back and forth for a bit while he does that. Trying to give Jonah space, but not wanting to get in Tim's way either, and - and -

And Jonah's at the door. Relax, he's not leaving. He's not leaving, right? But he looks like... ]

Jon?

[He pauses, fixing the cuff of his sleeve now in proper clothes. Glances over his shoulder.]

Algric.

I - um - tea is ready? Are we going to sit down together...?

Are we?

Because if it's going to be me being yelled at some more, than I'd rather take a walk.

[ Algric lowers his eyes. ]

I won’t yell. I promise.

... All right.

[Tim hasn't exactly had his round yet, so as much as Jonah isn't looking forward to it, it's only fair.]

And - and I did make tea. Let me get you a cup?

[ And well, Tim is already in the kitchen. The bad arm is wrapped up in ice packs from the freezer and wrapped in tea towels. It sits on his lap below the table. And... his own mug of tea is generally untouched, he's focusing entirely on his phone. ]

[Jonah hesitates in the doorway, but. He did say he'd sit. And seeing Tim sends a stone of guilt through his insides before he sits at his abandoned mug from earlier.]

So. Um. [God. What does he even say.] It, um. I-it's over and done with.

Yyyyyeeeppppp. Yep it definitely is.

[ He lifts his gaze from the phone and looks up at Jonah, hesitant and guilty and everything with it. Also the orchestrator of his own problems...

Just this sharp contrast from Jon who has pulled away, cut himself off, and made good on this insane turn on their lives... From the Jon he knew, it really seemed like Algric's 'I KNOW HIM HE'S A MENACE TO HIMSELF' was overblown... until now. ]

I got a couple questions.

[A ssssssslow, forced inhale. He nods, wanting to lower his eyes but. He makes himself keep watching Tim.]

All right. O-of course.

Like, I kind of get what happened when we- I don't know, fell in? Sort of.

But... what we walked into- what we came back to. Was that what I think it was?

[ The very near end of the world... ]

[He doesn't understand what 'fell in' means - he knows what happened, there on the cusp, but not what it means-

His shoulders go a little stiff before he exhales.]

Yes.

[ To know but not understand is... well, it's very Eye. ]

Soooo, the thing this whole thing was to prevent.

... Yes.

[There isn't any way around that. No excuses could cover it.]

[ He breathes deep and careful, cooling the jump of fire in his veins. He thinks about asking if Jonah's okay but... good lord, how COULD he be? Even if he'd admit it at the moment, and he knows how stubborn Jons get.

And he didn't trust them.

He rubs at his face. ]

Well, at least you got to kill him. There's the bright side.

Yes, I, um.

[Gods. He can't help how he fiddles with his fingers, rubbing at them absently. Not there, they weren't there- he can almost feel the line of where skin and bone had stopped if he focuses hard enough.]

I did.

[Maybe that was why he had gone. Of course there was the anger of being lied to and his trust broken, and maybe the strings he couldn't see tugging him, but maybe he'd also gone for his own revenge. His own wanting to end things on his own terms himself.]

...What now?

[ Maybe if he'd VOICED WHAT HE WANTED BEFOREHAND... Well, it would have been it's own series of arguments.

What now. That's the question. ]

That's going to depend. I'm not going to pretend I'm not an absolute mess of ... everything right now. [ Smooth and elegant, Stoker. But he can't quite find a word that encompasses the maelstrom behind those very level words. ]

I want you to stay. I want to work things through. [ That was just the barest fraction bubbling up. He takes a deep breath. ] But I don't know what you want yet.

What I want?

[What does he want?

To live peacefully? To be understood? To take Elias' office and see everything? To take the throne below, his rightful position and his rite now that it's empty and calling-

Jonah moves both hands to under the table, one gripping the other tightly. Ignore the weird feeling of where his skin feels different along the knuckles. Feels a hairline crack in his ring.]

I'm not sure what I want yet either, if I'm being honest. We should - a day. Just... At least tonight, rest. Recup.

That? That I can get behind.

[ He lets out a shaky breath, and feels a bit better for it. ]

Rest up, make sure you're okay. We'll work on things later.

Me? I'm fine.

[He isn't.]

I just-

..Just...

[He sees Tim. Tired, worn threadbare, hurting. Just as angry and betrayed as himself and Algric, for different reasons. Jonah reaches one hand out, just. An offer, his voice low.]

I am sorry, Tim.