Tim W█████ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
postictal) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
entranceway2016-09-12 12:04 am
postictal) wrote in entranceway2016-09-12 12:04 am
Entry #88
[The video feed clicks on to feature an unassuming shot of the crisp gray sky, accompanied by the restless crunching of footsteps drawing closer. Abruptly, someone picks up the thing and spins it around with a faint flare of static that's gone as quickly as it flickered up.
There is, briefly, a face visible on the screen, dark hair and dark eyes and brows knit together in an expression puzzlement and concern. Then the feed flips around again and starts panning around the area in a slow sweep, handled in the same way someone might a handheld camera. It's both too familiar and too surreal, and he fumbles at the last second, dropping the angle so the network instead gets a lovely view of scuffed sneakers crunching through a patina of fallen leaves.]
So seasonal change sure is a thing. Like, really a thing. Place doesn't mess around.
[His tone is dry, the words drawn out with a slow, weary indolence. He doesn't seem to realize he's actively broadcasting at the moment. He's just taking video in the same way - how Jay would, and even now the memory is painful and sends a pang of regret thrumming all the way to his bones. It's just such an easy, obvious reflex. Practically instinctive.
The crunching of his footsteps halts abruptly as something seems to occur to him.]
So I can post now instead of reply, is that it? Wait, why now? What makes this so -
[The feed snaps out, evidently by mistake.]
There is, briefly, a face visible on the screen, dark hair and dark eyes and brows knit together in an expression puzzlement and concern. Then the feed flips around again and starts panning around the area in a slow sweep, handled in the same way someone might a handheld camera. It's both too familiar and too surreal, and he fumbles at the last second, dropping the angle so the network instead gets a lovely view of scuffed sneakers crunching through a patina of fallen leaves.]
So seasonal change sure is a thing. Like, really a thing. Place doesn't mess around.
[His tone is dry, the words drawn out with a slow, weary indolence. He doesn't seem to realize he's actively broadcasting at the moment. He's just taking video in the same way - how Jay would, and even now the memory is painful and sends a pang of regret thrumming all the way to his bones. It's just such an easy, obvious reflex. Practically instinctive.
The crunching of his footsteps halts abruptly as something seems to occur to him.]
So I can post now instead of reply, is that it? Wait, why now? What makes this so -
[The feed snaps out, evidently by mistake.]
no subject
Nope, the only piercings I have are the ones in my ears.
[Although, she wouldn't mind getting a few more, now that Tim's mentioned it.
For a while, Chloe is quiet, just listening to the forest sounds around her. There's not much to hear; just the gust of the wind and the rustling of trees. Tim was right though; there are shadows everywhere, making it almost impossible to distinguish shapes. Chloe turns her attention to her cigarette, which is practically finished by now. She is wondering if she should start on a second one; she straightens up.]
So, are we still doing this thing? Or are we gonna spend the whole night, smoking? Because that's fine with me too.
no subject
[Because now that he's thinking about it at more length, setting out into an unknown stretch of woodland armed with little more than a camera is just about Jay magnitudes of stupid.]
Besides, this is usually the part of the horror movie where the dumb kids decide to keep going and end up horribly regretting it, huh?
no subject
[Chloe grins.]
I dunno about you but the dumb-kid-who-decides-to-keep-going is usually me anyway.
[Because Max is usually the cautious one. The one who makes sure to stay out of trouble and would be pretty peeved when she finds out that Chloe's gone wandering off in the middle of the night with a dude she hardly knows.
She takes one last drag from her cigarette before throwing it on the forest ground and stepping on it. Chloe looks through her pockets for another stick, only to find spare change and a used handkerchief.]
Damn it, I'm out. You still have some on you?
no subject
Evidently, Tim is doomed to forever be the Only Sane Man in other people's adventures. Presumably it's a part he doesn't even play all that well. He can't even keep the people he's supposed to be protecting alive.
He digs out his pack of cigarettes and offers it to her without missing a beat.]
Jeez, man. Try to have some self-preservation, y'know?
[He might not be capable of smiling all that much, but he can tell a dry joke here and again.]
no subject
[Chloe takes one stick from the pack and holds it out so Tim could offer his lighter next.]
Self-preservation? Ha!
[She laughs at his joke.]
Yeah right.
[There's nothing self-preserving about chasing down a psycho artist or offering to die for everyone else. The only person who's really made an effort to keep her alive is Max. And that's something she'll forever be grateful for. Chloe's always been scared of dying. But most of the time, she's too reckless to realize that death is just a few feet away. Max was always the one who's held her back and saved her skin. She literally would not be here if it weren't for her.]
If you want a real lecture on self-preservation, you should meet my best friend.
no subject
Think I already did. Max? Brown hair, joined in to mock me about nitpicking your slang?
[He mostly sounds amused, or amused as someone can sound without actually cracking a smile.]
no subject
Yeah that's her. Although she doesn't really mock people. She's too nice for that shit. She usually tries making jokes but they're mostly corny and just fall flat.
[Chloe loves Max to the moon but really, some of her comebacks are just so... well, Max. She looks at Tim with a curious expression, careful not to exhale smoke right in his face.]
So, no old friends in Wonderland huh? That's hella bad luck, man.
no subject
[Sweeping generalizations like that are easier. Easier than thinking about Jay and who he might've been prior to everything, easier than thinking about how his life had been so unremarkable and shitty and forgettable that he'd had no hesitations in hurling himself headfirst at the thing that would kill him.]
She seemed all right. "Corny" isn't so bad.
[Better than "pretentious".]
no subject
Yeah, corny is alright.
[She mutters.]
Adorable even.
[She clears her throat and makes her voice louder again.]
Okay, so no friends. What about family? Any nagging parents or obnoxious little brothers?
no subject
Sounds nice.
His breath almost catches and his distaste almost shows on his face, but he makes a show of containing it.
What about family? Yeah, what about family? Well gee, he'd sure love to know. His dad was a non-entity for as long as he could remember. His mom - he figured out she wasn't coming back after something like the fourth or fifth time she skipped out on visiting him at the hospital. If she ever had any other children, he never knew about them. No room for freaks in her perfect world.]
Nah. [But his tone is tired and easy as he shrugs, noncommittal.] Just me, for most of it.
been busy but now im back; i backtag sooo much i hope you dont mind!!!
Her expression softens but she quickly shrugs it off, uncomfortable to let Tim see her mushy side. Good thing their faces are both wrapped in shadows.
Chloe resumes smoking.]
I hear ya, dude. Having to deal with shit on your own? That was me for more than 5 years up until a few months ago.
nah no problem, i backtag indefinitely
[That's not so weird, he supposes, even if it feels like everyone here's got someone - a friend, a family member, someone from home. If someone from his home actually did up and appear one day, he's got no clue what he'd do with it. Run away screaming, probably. And that's an optimistic estimate.
He doesn't wanna think about it.]
no subject
Uh, not exactly. I mean, I had my mom and the step-douche- dad--
[Jeez, I'm still not used to calling David my stepdad.]
But it's not like I hung out with them 24/7. I actually made sure that we almost never see each other. And I didn't exactly have a long list of people who were dying to be friends with me. Getting kicked out of school can do that to you.
no subject
Well, I guess we got that in common.
[He doesn't specify what - mostly 'cause he means "all of it." And yes, all of it, with the exception of the getting kicked out of school bit. For him it was a medical file several inches thick, a dour demeanor, and several rumors about the "loonybin" he apparently hailed from. Growing up in a hospital did his social life no favors when he was finally released into the wild.]
Might as well have lived on my own, anyway.
no subject
Did you get kicked out of school too?
[Then she laughs.]
'Cause then we'd be hella cliches-- two school drop-outs, smoking and bitching about life in some dark, shady corner.
no subject
[His mouth twists wryly. It's not quite a smile, but it's about as close as someone like him can get to it.]
Kinda had a weird time growing up. No one wants to be friends with a crazy.
[He makes a circular gesture with one finger, level with his temple - the universal symbol for "off his goddamn rocker." More complicated than that, sure, but as far as everyone else is concerned? He's just some weird kid with a list of mental health issues longer than anyone's got time for.]
no subject
[Chloe stretches the word, intrigued by Tim's answer.]
Crazy how?
no subject
You know that weird kid who had fits in the middle of class?
no subject
Yeah, I get it.
[She points at the bottle with her cigarette.]
So, what's wrong with you?
no subject
[He says it with a faux grandiose air, like it's not a blight on his life, slips the bottle back into his pocket. Better to make this seem less bizarre, less strange and terrifying, than it really is. He has to. He has to make this work.
He can do that.]
Epilepsy, basically.
[Only instead of flashing lights, he gets doubled over by the presence of the imaginary friend that, until fairly recently, he was told repeatedly didn't actually exist.]
no subject
Epilepsy, huh?
[She takes another drag of her cigarette and exhales before continuing, oblivious to the fact that Tim might not be that comfortable discussing his condition to a complete stranger. As if Chloe was ever tactful. Harhar.]
How often do you get fits?
no subject
[Well, that's a dirty lie and he knows it. He's long since gotten over the fact that people are gonna ask rude questions. "Fits," yeah. Sounds familiar. Gotten the question dozens of times.]
And I hear this place restocks pretty much anything you need, so that's - y'know, that's nice.
no subject
[Chloe holds up the cigarette in her hands and grins at Tim.]
Boxes and boxes of cigarettes. Isn't that fucking awesome?
[A pause, followed by another long drag.]
That's probably the best thing I like about this place. Unlimited sticks and booze.
[Chloe laughs.]
Although, being with Max again is friggin' cool too.
no subject
He doesn't laugh, but he gets about as close as he can to it, which is a faint snort as he finishes his cigarette and grinds the heel out underfoot.]
Could be worse, I guess.
no subject
[She takes one last drag, before tossing the cigarette butt. Without the lit cigarette, the cold starts creeping into her skin again. Chloe rubs her hands together, the light in her hands shaking as she does.
She nods at Tim. It's been pretty cool that she got to smoke with someone here in Wonderland. First time that's ever happened. And hopefully it won't be the last.]
Well, thanks for the smoke but I'll probably head back now. Don't think I can stand the cold any longer.
[Chloe lets out a quick laugh.]
So much for exploring the woods but I can probably do that another day, when it's not hella freezing out here.
[She takes a few steps forward, then looks back at Tim, her face hidden in the shadows.]
You coming?
(no subject)