[ It's a second where he feels like closing off, but he can't.
Instead he bobs his head, nodding along with the request, and adding: ]
Yeah... we can talk about it.
[ A beat. ]
What -- god, I don't even know how to start a question... like even asking, what do you want to talk about that fucked-up -- [ His chin drops, fills his mouth full of air, and lets out a long exhale. ] -- that city? It leaves a lot open.
( she paused for a moment, reflecting upon her call with him and wondering if she should even ask him about the town. his reaction had indicated some kind of hesitation, trauma perhaps surrounding the town and she didn't want to open up old wounds. she knew she was angry when vincent had done that to her.
however she thought about it some more, remaining silent briefly before she spoke up again. )
I wanted to know more about what you knew about the cult there. I get it, it's a fucked up town and if you really don't want to dig up old memories I can respect that but, you understand right? I'm all alone here, you're the only other person from my world that I've met so far. I guess it's a weird kind of kinship? As fucked up as that is.
[ His head lifts up - a sensation of concern and anxiety wrapping itself around itself. He presses his lips together into a thin line. Even though they're not in front of each other, his eyes drift side-to-side.
Isn't it abandoning one teenager for another? Is that fair? No. ]
No, I get it. [ He bobs his head in a small nod. ] I really don't know much about the cult. I only heard about it from someone else. Honestly, I was trying to get out of that place. [ A beat. ] I was in a crash outside of the town... and wandered in hoping to find some way to get back on the road.
However, I came across monsters instead. People that I meant just kept talking about how the town was trying to show them something... how there was something associated with their past that they needed to resolve. Crazy shit. I didn't get any of it and just wanted out. [ He breathes out. ] I already found out that only way to get out of that town is to carry out like... rituals.
Nothing works like it should. It has to be solved the way the town wants it to be... the people I talked to called that rituals. I guess that is as close to encountering a cult like thing while I was there... but the cult itself? They stayed away from me. [ For the best, he might've bashed their heads in. A rush of anger and violence - something choking. ]
I've heard enough of what they're capable of... and don't intend to be nice if they happen to show their faces.
( if anyone asked heather, a raw and aching heather when her father died, she'd asked why she was given this view. the never ending cascade of bitter memories that didn't feel like her own, that rattled her mind and made her feel like she was going crazy. now, even with the regretful knowledge that she had failed at defeating god was on her heels, she was stronger. she accepted that the town was as much as part of her as she was itโ after all, wasn't it alessa who made that town the way it was indirectly? wasn't alessa heather? but....
was heather alessa?
as she visualized murphy and heard him speak about that town, she bit down on her lip and felt how cold his words seem to feel. rattling her brain like the revelations before, all of it sounding familiar. )
They stayed away from you.
( what would propel people like claudia and vincent to avoid him? was he perhaps not useful to their goals? but then again was he even there when heather was? but before she could ask, there he went and gave the answer.
she knew something was strange about it. )
Did they stay away from you because of what you're capable of?
[ Involuntarily, his fingers twitch - flinching backwards at her question of what he's capable of doing. ]
Possibly.
[ He already lied by omission to one teenager for months on end; he doesn't feel like he has it in him to do it, again. There is something in how she looks at him that makes him feel guilty - possibly because he can feel the lies building up in his throat.
A huffing laugh slips out - he already lied about the crash outside the town. Lying that it was a prison transport, at least.
His head drops before he lifts it back up. ]
Kill those monsters with just a brick and prayer... [ A beat. ] Sorry. [ Maybe prayer isn't the right word when they're talking about cultists avoiding him? ]
They might've been spooked by that... I don't know crazy thinks.
Murphy, if only a brick and a prayer could make the monsters go away.
( in that moment, in that very instance when she said those words it almost seemed as if she had invoked a past memory. her voice was lower then, almost haunting as she said those words but almost as quick as it came, it left and heather was left to dissect what this man was hiding from her. )
I know how crazy thinks, it thinks....I need to either out crazy the other crazies or stand down from the real crazy. It doesn't matter though, I'm starting to think you just got wrapped up in that town like I did. It never just allows people in it you know?
That's what ... I heard that before. But I really don't have anything for it to call to me about. [ He closes his eyes, mulling over what it could be, but gives up. ] ... someone said the town was trying to punish us for something... trying to show them something they were denying... I didn't really get it, myself.
[ A sigh. ] I don't know what it could want from me.
There wasn't anything left in my life when I stumbled into that place...
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no subject
Date: 2026-04-25 01:27 am (UTC)Instead he bobs his head, nodding along with the request, and adding: ]
Yeah... we can talk about it.
[ A beat. ]
What -- god, I don't even know how to start a question... like even asking, what do you want to talk about that fucked-up -- [ His chin drops, fills his mouth full of air, and lets out a long exhale. ] -- that city? It leaves a lot open.
So... whatever you wanna know, I'm ... I'm here.
no subject
Date: 2026-04-30 10:51 pm (UTC)( she paused for a moment, reflecting upon her call with him and wondering if she should even ask him about the town. his reaction had indicated some kind of hesitation, trauma perhaps surrounding the town and she didn't want to open up old wounds. she knew she was angry when vincent had done that to her.
however she thought about it some more, remaining silent briefly before she spoke up again. )
I wanted to know more about what you knew about the cult there. I get it, it's a fucked up town and if you really don't want to dig up old memories I can respect that but, you understand right? I'm all alone here, you're the only other person from my world that I've met so far. I guess it's a weird kind of kinship? As fucked up as that is.
no subject
Date: 2026-05-04 02:39 am (UTC)Isn't it abandoning one teenager for another? Is that fair? No. ]
No, I get it. [ He bobs his head in a small nod. ] I really don't know much about the cult. I only heard about it from someone else. Honestly, I was trying to get out of that place. [ A beat. ] I was in a crash outside of the town... and wandered in hoping to find some way to get back on the road.
However, I came across monsters instead. People that I meant just kept talking about how the town was trying to show them something... how there was something associated with their past that they needed to resolve. Crazy shit. I didn't get any of it and just wanted out. [ He breathes out. ] I already found out that only way to get out of that town is to carry out like... rituals.
Nothing works like it should. It has to be solved the way the town wants it to be... the people I talked to called that rituals. I guess that is as close to encountering a cult like thing while I was there... but the cult itself? They stayed away from me. [ For the best, he might've bashed their heads in. A rush of anger and violence - something choking. ]
I've heard enough of what they're capable of... and don't intend to be nice if they happen to show their faces.
no subject
Date: 2026-05-08 04:38 am (UTC)was heather alessa?
as she visualized murphy and heard him speak about that town, she bit down on her lip and felt how cold his words seem to feel. rattling her brain like the revelations before, all of it sounding familiar. )
They stayed away from you.
( what would propel people like claudia and vincent to avoid him? was he perhaps not useful to their goals? but then again was he even there when heather was? but before she could ask, there he went and gave the answer.
she knew something was strange about it. )
Did they stay away from you because of what you're capable of?
no subject
Date: 2026-05-08 04:45 am (UTC)Possibly.
[ He already lied by omission to one teenager for months on end; he doesn't feel like he has it in him to do it, again. There is something in how she looks at him that makes him feel guilty - possibly because he can feel the lies building up in his throat.
A huffing laugh slips out - he already lied about the crash outside the town. Lying that it was a prison transport, at least.
His head drops before he lifts it back up. ]
Kill those monsters with just a brick and prayer... [ A beat. ] Sorry. [ Maybe prayer isn't the right word when they're talking about cultists avoiding him? ]
They might've been spooked by that... I don't know crazy thinks.
no subject
Date: 2026-05-08 04:57 am (UTC)( in that moment, in that very instance when she said those words it almost seemed as if she had invoked a past memory. her voice was lower then, almost haunting as she said those words but almost as quick as it came, it left and heather was left to dissect what this man was hiding from her. )
I know how crazy thinks, it thinks....I need to either out crazy the other crazies or stand down from the real crazy. It doesn't matter though, I'm starting to think you just got wrapped up in that town like I did. It never just allows people in it you know?
It calls them.
no subject
Date: 2026-05-08 05:24 am (UTC)[ His shoulders drop as he shakes his head. ]
That's what ... I heard that before. But I really don't have anything for it to call to me about. [ He closes his eyes, mulling over what it could be, but gives up. ] ... someone said the town was trying to punish us for something... trying to show them something they were denying... I didn't really get it, myself.
[ A sigh. ] I don't know what it could want from me.
There wasn't anything left in my life when I stumbled into that place...