IC inbox.

[viciousabyss]

ELI

@viciousabyss

☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠

NAME: Eli Azrael
AGE: 40... ish
HOMETOWN: Kingdom of Solterra, Feywild

yo. its eli. hit me up.

CODE

Comments

[viciousabyss]

your +1??? are you for real?

[Eli really is his only friend, and they're not even friends. Gods.]

or is this some weird prank

[holedaddy]

[Eli isn't his only friend. He knows... two other people. Kind of. Eli is just... the only one he can ask in confidence without feeling like he's intruding! That's - that's all.]

if you don't want to, you can just say so.

[viciousabyss]

[Ughhhhhhhhh.]

i'll go with you if you promise not to be turbo annoying

[holedaddy]

i won't. i was actually hoping this could be. i don't know a... a do-over? maybe?

just. hah. last month really... it was kind of an eye opener you know?

[he just wants someone to look for him next time. maybe he really is pathetic]

[viciousabyss]

i could fuck with a do-over.

last month sucked shit, yeah. were you taken?

[holedaddy]

...yeah. i was.

were you?

[viciousabyss]

no. my partner was, and a bunch of my friends.

are you ok? i mean, stupid question, obviously not, but

[holedaddy]

[...shit.]

oh. i'm... sorry to hear that. how's your partner, uh. dealing?

as for me, i'm fine. [he isn't, not really, but he's already dumping enough as it is] i'm sturdier than i look, and. well. a lot of others had it... worse

[viciousabyss]

he's really tired and distant. nightmares. it's been rough to see him like this, and worse that there's not much i can do

no one who went there is fine so don't bullshit me. it doesn't matter who had it worst. every single person taken had their autonomy violated, their psyches damaged, and gods fucking know what else.

[holedaddy]

yeah, i get that. sleeping has been... rough. it's helped me to have a project to focus on, if that helps any. keeps me busy and not in my head.

which. fine. i'm as fine as i can be considering i'd been one of patho-gen's many guinea pigs. happy?

[viciousabyss]

i guess i was thinking aparallaxia could be that. ive been doing some art too for hugo's gallery. whats your project?

no of course i'm not happy.

[holedaddy]

...aparallaxia, whenever i get there. there's another personal project of mine, but it's... i haven't put as much time into it as i should have. last month really put into perspective how much i should.

you do art?

i don't think anyone is after last month, really

[viciousabyss]

what is it?

yeah just angsty charcoal drawings nothing too pro
oh and i do tattoos

[holedaddy]

something that probably shouldn't be talked about where our off-brand big brother can see.

[yeah, he's talking about YOU, patho-gen!!]

oh, that's neat. i, uh. i only really do sketches or skematics.

[viciousabyss]

i truly don't give a fuck. but fine, tell me on the way to the place.

skematics? what's that?

[holedaddy]

[oh shit, he spelled it wrong. But... Eli hasn't noticed. Nice. Act smooth, Johnathon. Act smooth.]

they're like... blueprints! but not as detailed picture-wise, though they have as much information to them. i use them in engineering - easier for me to deal with than trying to render all the parts.

i will definitely tell you along the way

[prepare to be info dumped on, Eli]

[viciousabyss]

engineering, huh? surprised you didn't fall in with jayce and the science bros. you should be a good help in figuring out the barrier for aparallaxia then

well. lets go then. meet u at the portals in a couple hours?

[holedaddy]

i don't work well in big groups.

[Not anymore, anyway, if he ever did. Doesn't help that the last group of people he worked with laughed him out of the building for looking like this. He only really got along with Olivia, and she ended up a skid mark under a semi.]

besides, i think i'd rather put my time into something better. more productive. too many cooks, you know?

but yeah. meet you there in a couple of hours

and, uh.

thanks

> action

[viciousabyss]

that's real

[And now he's even more intrigued about what Spot is working on.]

sure man.

See, Eli can be nice, sort of.

He packs up his backpack with a ton of stuff he might need, as though he's staying in Aparallaxia for a few days, because... You never know. You truly never know. He learned that in the Feywilds and the Shadowfell, and it remains true here.

He shows up at Patho-Gen HQ, and they eye him warily, until he explains he's just there to use the teleporters, and then... Well, they continue to eye him warily. Whatever, fair enough. He feels uncomfortable here, so he messages Spot that he'll meet him on the other side of the portal, and steps through to the Karterian side of the bridge.

[holedaddy]

Johnathan doesn't keep Eli waiting long. He doesn't have nearly as much on him; there's a pack he's scrounged up slung over his shoulder, a loose shirt and shorts. It's out of place for the cold weather, but - it's not like he gets sick anymore.

Still, he looks enthusiastic! As much a man without facial features can, anyway. There's a bounce to his step, a fidget to his hands, and the rest of him almost vibrates with that kid excited for his first field trip energy. Yeah, he. Doesn't really get out much, let him have this, okay?

His hole shrinks down to a dime when he spots Eli, and by the time he makes it over, it's taking up most of the smooth expanse of his face.

“Uh! H-hey! I'm - “ His fingers tap nervously at the strap of his bag. He may have forgotten all that he'd wanted to say. “...thank you. For - for coming with me. I know we haven't really… gotten along, but I appreciate. This.”

[viciousabyss]

Spot looks... Like a dork. And, in contrast to his usual dickishness, he's actually being nice.

Eli raises a brow. It all seems a bit suspicious. He could really have had a change of heart, or he could be manipulating Eli into helping him.

"Why are you acting so weird? Seriously, what happened?"

Did the kidnapping really make him re-evaluate... Everything, or was it something else?

[holedaddy]

“Wha - weird??” One hand fists at his hip, his shoulders hunching. “I - I give you my heartfelt gratitude for coming along and I get called weird for it?? Rude.”

Despite the airs he’s putting on, he is very much avoiding eye-hole contact. He’s already been chipping himself open over this, does he really need to gut himself more?

Looks like it's time for a subtle subject change.

“S-sssso, uh. How far is the walk, anyway?" Nailed it. "Do I, uh. Need to portal us along to save time? Because I can do that.”