postictal | ic inbox; entranceway

[Yeah. Okay. So he...it was obvious from the start that something had happened. The cut down his side, the bruises peppering his skin, the taste of blood in his mouth paired with the encoded messages plastered on the network - yeah. He knows what happened.

So how's he...broach this, exactly? What does he do? He's never had to explain how this shit works to someone who's never encountered it.

...fuck.]

did i hurt anyone

My body and a little bit of my pride.
But I lost track of you.
I didn't see anyone, though, and no one was reporting anyone else missing.
So I think no one died.

[She wishes she new a little more about this, to reassure him better. Wishes she had had a way to keep better tabs without exposing his life to Wonderland proper, even if he kind of did it himself.]

What about you?
Are you hurt?

i'm fine

[Tim is not fine. Tim got cut up by someone wielding a scythe. Not that he's got much of a clue as to who did it or with what, but there's no way in hell a gash that long comes from a fucking pocket knife.]

sorry.

You don't have to apologize to me.
I came looking for you.
Alex... told me about some of the symptoms of the thing that chased him.
All the static and everything.
I figured it had to be you.
Didn't want you to get hurt but I kinda whiffed that when you started throwing punches.

Do you need anything?
I guess, more or less, can I get you anything that you need?

[Oh, good. When the hell was she gonna mention this, huh? When it was convenient? The hot rush of frustration swells on his tongue, a snapped-out, contrarian drag of sarcasm that would forcibly eject her from the conversation and render this entire thing moot.

Stop.

Breathe.

Close his eyes, concentrate. Fight back the prickling nausea and terror raking like fingernails beneath his skin.]

What else did Alex tell you

[Mmmm, maybe she shouldn't have mentioned that, considering Alex had about the same reaction when she stumbled into the problem, too. She is damn good at this not worrying him thing.]

Nothing else. I stumbled into that info.
Found him panicking in the kitchen, said a word out of line, he thought I knew something I didn't.
He didn't want to talk about it as much as I bet you don't.

[It's a little blurry, when and where she picked things up. How he talked about how he'd usually text because his videos got corrupted. Panic about something following, about something finding. Her job is putting these things together, tactical necessity. It doesn't serve her well in simply talking to someone.]

[She could be lying.

She could be - not that she ever gave the impression that she'd be the type of person to lie. But it's impossible to know. It's always fucking impossible to know. He just has to trust that she's being truthful, and when was the last time trust got him anywhere?]

he shouldn't have said anything

We'd known each other a while at that point.
He'd already come to me with sensitive information before.

Listen. I didn't mean to scare you with this.
I just thought you might be hurt.

[He came to her? With -

That doesn't sound like Alex. Either that, or they were damn close, really damn close. That should be more concerning than it is. How much does she know? How much did he tell her, exactly?

Is this how Jay felt?]

i'll live

[He got hacked up by someone with a sword or some giant fucking bladed weapon, but that's par for the course as far as his less agreeable self is concerned.]

'Living' and 'being hurt' are two pretty distinct things.
I've had survivable injuries before that hurt like hell.
I don't mean to push, I just figured I should check up, seeing as I might've given you some of those bruises.

i got help at the clinic.
i'll be ok.

[Foreign bruises whose origins he can't recall are normal. A leg crushed by some unknown object, leaving it a mess of broken blood vessels and jagged bone - he can handle that too. A slash to the chest just got to be part of the deal.

Nothing worse than what he's already lived through.

That's good.
Sorry I tried to chase you down in the woods, then.

[She still feels a little guilty; the hurt he did to her was minimal, and she's used to being the damage sponge.]

it's fine.

[He probably deserved it, given the way that...thing operating his body likes to act.]

did you tell anyone

No.
Not my business to tell.
I'm not that much of an asshole.

[He'd laugh, but it's not very funny. It's not even remotely funny that Jay doesn't clear that hurdle of not that much of an asshole.

That Jay didn't.

Didn't clear that hurdle.]

thanks.

[She doesn't even know. Whoops. This drama runs deep and she's barely skimming the surface.]

You don't have to do this alone.
I want to help, if I can.
If you need it.
Alright?

it shouldn't happen again.

[And that's sure as hell not a promise he can keep. But she doesn't need to know that either.]

Well.
Let me know if there's anything I can do.
I don't blame you if it does.

it shouldn't.

[And she should. But he doesn't want to draw this conversation out any longer than he has to.]

Alright.
Good luck.

[She can't force it out of him, so she'll have to leave it there. But she hopes he'll reach out, if he needs it. She really does.]