"Oh. Hah."
Elias makes his way in without much commotion to it. There's certainly enough space around Jon's somewhat limp body sticking out like a sore thumb in the middle of the doorway and he makes use of it, eventually stopping to neatly fold his coat. Jon is not entirely sure he finds it in him to be surprised. Or scared. Or, maybe, he just doesn't have enough will of his own left to feel pretty much anything.
"Take the shoes," he clears his throat out, trying to find his voice. "Take the shoes off. Georgie doesn't—"
"I know."
Of course.
"Of course," he blinks first and shuts the door second.
They go by a kind of move-stare-follow protocol while Elias proceeds to make himself at home. Although it's mostly Jon doing the staring, Elias doesn't look at all. He walks across the flat blindly, like his muscles remember the floor and the corners. Jon supposes they might, in some omniscient and messed up way.
"Charming," Elias proclaims dryly at the thin mattress Jon came to inhabit.
"Indeed," Jon echoes.
Seeing the man plop down gracelessly in his thick flannel suit doesn't have the same effect anymore. Jon used to think it was some weird corporate thing, something they'd teach you at a workshop about great leadership. Make yourself approachable. Sit down with them on a dusty curb in the back alley, share a cigarette, address them by their names. Crush a man's scull into a purée in their office. Make them feel. Make yourself human.
"Don't," Elias said softly as Jon takes a breath in.
He reaches out a hand that Jon doesn't take. Instead, he sits at the opposite end of the mattress, feeling a sudden vertigo. Elias drops the hand into his lap, palm up. "You're burning up."
Jon cracks a hysterical laugh, heavily propping himself up. He feels a tug at his chest, a yearning for a solid form beside him, spitting "fuck you" in the viper's face — a sad, childlike desire, to call for Tim like he'd make all the monsters go away in an instant. Jon squints at the hungry void across from him, all alone, he's so alone, and the monster creeps closer. Elias takes his still burning, still bubbling hand in a firm hold and tugs until the void swallows Jon whole. He watches the fall of his own body, wet forehead pressed into the wooly fabric, bones twisted in an unnatural position. Elias jolts involuntary as Jon tumbles into him but sits still for the few excruciating moments Jon needs to collect himself. Mentally, mostly, because to recuperate his body on the ground — mattress, — and push himself up against the wall proves to be easier than walking.
They sit now, shoulders and sides touching, and Jon now can't see the void. He closes his eyes to be sure and pants heavily.
"What are you doing to me?"
"Nothing. You're just dehydrated."
"Sure."
Elias sighs and runs circles over his wrist.
"I might get sick," Jon adds.
"You are."
"No, I mean." He gestures vaguely, shaking off the cold fingers. "I mean puke."
"Mhm."
Jon makes an effort to pull his knees up and double over, curling in on himself. He breathes, fast and panicked, trying to will the nausea away and the cold hand returns to pet steadily at his back. Jon feels a very particular nothing about it being there.
"You..."
Killed. A complete sentence, not even an accusations, because Jon doesn't know how to finish it. Leitner. Gertrude. Sasha. You killed me, he wants to say, even when he's still hurting and breathing.
"Time and place, Jon. There's no use to try right now."
Jon squeezes his head between his knees and wants to wail. He wants to cry more and he wants Elias to be gone. He does get away, truth be told, the mattress shifts and pangs and Jon doesn't know if this twisted delirium of his is ever coming back until Elias carefully unfolds him.
"Don't get the wrong idea," he sounds almost amused as he cradles Jon close, pushing a bottle into his hands and palming greasy hair out of the way.
Jon drinks in gulps that hurt him more than the burning and drops his head onto the bony shoulder in some exhausted kind of surrender. Elias smells like the archives. Cologne and cigarettes, too, but mostly dry rot and dust. Never sweat. Never the must of a human body. Jon feels cold terror bite at his ankles and curls up again, this time pressing himself into Elias' rigid form, nose buried in satin. He doesn't knows gods, not the way his grandmother did, but he imagines this to be the smell of those catholic statues adorn in silks and left to stale for centuries on end.
Feed your god fearlessly and without hesitation, or it will feed on you.
He feels a gentle press to the top of his head. Might be lips or something else, Jon doesn't know, but he laughs coarsely, clinging to the shirt with bloodless fingers. "Don't get the wrong idea."
He doesn't really think there are any wrong ideas left between them.
Elias hums and it echoes all around. Jon speaks again. "Is this real?"
He's not sure if he's doing the thing, but Elias scratches at the base of his skull with repulsive tenderness and answers earnestly. "It is."
"What do you want?"
"At the moment?"
"I... Yes."
"For you to sleep, preferably."
"Why?"
Jon feels his pitying gaze. Like he's a blind rat staggering in a labyrinth under a watchful eye from the above.
"There's a job to be done, Jon."
Jon pushes away with a sigh, not meeting much resistance, and buries himself into the scattered sheets. Maybe this is the kind of acceptance the underground woman felt in the face of death. He never understood it before, not before a kiss touches his temple and slips onto his cheek. He's not sure he wants the touch. He's not sure if he resents it. Papers slide across the floor, a statement he won't read, not now, not in this room. He kind of expects footsteps and shutting of doors now, but instead Elias gives them some distance and seemingly settles for good, prickly eyes creeping up Jon's spine.
"Do you want to hurt Georgie?"
"No."
"Are you lying?"
"Not to you, Jon."
Jon turns his back on the monster in his bed and doesn't find it in him to care if he doesn't wake up.
happy pride!!!!!
Ghoap
Said this on Twitter too but I'm really running out of captions
I saw Loconte sing Mozart irl on accident and I've been losing my mind all over again ever since ignore me
They're my favourite telenova honestly
No actually let me explain the whole au because it's like a horrible y2k drama series. It somewhat follows the lore but with sci-fi tuned down a bit for the popstar drama
So, here Murdoc is trans and hides it from the public because he's Murdoc, and Noodle is either related to him or is his kid or something but instead of her canon origin she gets dropped off on Murdoc by someone from his past and he's stuck with her. He's bonkers in the head and horrible but there's like
Some minimal amount of trying and single parenting
Somewhere in the big in-band drama and many of Murdoc's disappearances he runs into Ace trying to start his big stage music gig and plays the evil producer man for him. Pretty, like, stereotypically, Ace's like 25, somewhat broke, somewhat silly, and Murdoc is well in his 30s, rich and insane. The problem is that Ace matches his bonkers energy perfectly and while Murdoc is in denial and "I'm just shaging my mentee like any other big musician" delusion Ace just wraps him around his finger. He's shameless about them, too, public and unapologetic and Murdoc doesn't even notice how he goes from producer man to Ace's groupie in public's eye. At some point reality and Ace's commitment catch up to him and he just runs for dear life, in love and pathetic and making everyone's lives 10x worse for next years
They go on and off their entire lives. Murdoc completely off the rails, Ace as his generally easy-going, kind, chill counterpart. He likes Murdoc for his brain and rare genuine affection, Murdoc is completely gone for him
So they just grow older, tired and less violent and Ace just never goes completely out of sight
Hello friend