networkinthenight | @parker

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@parker — text.

I haven't met everyone, so for those of you I haven't met: hey, my name's Peter, wish circumstances were better etc, and I'm going to admit I don't really do this a lot, so you'll have to bear with me.

I know we've just had a meeting to discuss how we can be more prepared in the future and how we can try and limit repeats of the Lighthouse expedition and the party, but that was before Robin and the Doc shared with the class what they know about the World Eaters. New and old, we're all roughly on the same page as far as that's concerned.

Saying it'll be worth putting our heads together at some point to work out how we're going to deal with that threat is an understatement, but... It'll be worth it. Apparently the quickest way to send us all on a one-way trip to definitively not existing is by not working together, and I'll be honest and admit I'm pretty keen on avoiding that.

(That doesn't mean now, for the record, but we've got a time limit and this doesn't look like it's one of those situations where you can cram all night with a jugful of coffee and hope for the best at 8am, day off.)

(And while we're here, can we all agree that murder is bad? Yes? Great.)

I haven't had the (questionable) luck of coming across anyone from my version of Earth here, but we can basically sum it up with: stuff happens. Invading aliens, not-so-invading aliens, pod people, body snatchers, you name it, it's probably happened. I don't want to assume that's the case for everyone here, but I've spoken to enough of you that I feel pretty comfortable going out on a limb and saying that most of us have had experiences that kind of stretch the definition of 'normal'.

Which also means we've got enough experience between us all to make some kind of headway.

(That's the long way of saying "okay, so", by the way.)

There's been a lot of encouragement about exploring Beacon and pulling together whatever we find into something cohesive to be able to figure out a survival plan, and that's great but it's not without its risks.

In life, I had a tech company. At the moment, I've just got it on my tablet, but I've been messing around with something I came up with back home. Think of it like GPS, but with fewer (read: no) satellites.

Radius isn't unlimited and it's not totally foolproof, but if anyone's heading out into the forest and they've got any concerns or reservations about ending up separated from whoever they're with, or unable to find their way back to town, let me know.

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You do-- [that actually makes Quentin crack a smile for the first time tonight, after that polite and well-rehearsed one that he might have thrown Peter's way when they first met all of ten minutes ago. But still. It's a smile and it's wry and Quentin let's go of his hair to raise an eyebrow at him.]

I don't think kids say that. I think old people think kids say that, when, uhm, when it's really just another way of saying fuck you? I mean. Doing-- I'm just going to stop talking about that now and. Yeah.

[Sitting down properly, Quentin curls his legs up and rests his elbows on his knees.]

I can see why those trackers aren't as easy as I thought they were going to be. I'd have to follow you and your tablet around? In the dark? And-- how close does your tablet have to be? Because if it's close, it's kind of. Maybe. Not that good an idea? Because of the lanterns? We'd be visible for miles.

Old—! [ incredulously, because that's obviously the part of the comment that he's just going to latch on to for all for five seconds. ] I'm going to pretend your 'stop talking about that' is referring to the bit where you just called me old.

[ but okay, fine—. the topic at hand: ]

Definitively? 100 yards. Anything further than that, I can't make any promises. It'll pick the signal back up if you lose it, as long as the tracer isn't damaged in any way. The thing you'll have to watch out for is it being discarded, or just falling off whatever you attach it to. [ there's a moment where he pauses, shooting quentin a sidelong glance. ] I'd say I don't come as standard, but given the circumstances, I'm not sure I'd recommend doing this alone. [ a pause. ] How were you planning on ensuring your chosen spirit doesn't notice you tagging it, by the way?

I didn't mean-- look, we're about the same age, I think? So, I'm not like calling you ancient or anything?

[Oops?]

But you'd give me your tablet, just to be absolutely clear on that? [Wow, trusting.] Maybe I'm not going alone? I mean, I have Eliot and he's, uhm, he could maybe come along? But. You can too, if you want. I didn't really plan anything beyond just tagging one of them and waiting to see where that takes me? [Planning is for other people] but I'd stick it on with a spell? Or, some of them have pockets, so I figured I might try to slip it in there? I mean, I have no idea how big it is and-- and I'd have to practice the spell a few times. To make sure it really sticks and doesn't just hang there for, like, a minute and then falls off?

[ peter eyes quentin appraisingly for a moment — quentin looks to be a few years younger than him, but for all intents and purposes, sure, they are a similar age. still, there's a difference between old and ancient and wow, thanks for not calling him the latter. ] That's comforting, thanks.

[ I didn't really plan beyond—. okay. there's a loose plan there, and it doesn't sound like it's something quentin's going to rush headfirst into, which gives time for a more solid plan to come to fruition beyond 'tag! you're it' because as it stands, it sounds like a loose idea of something to do that could get results, but is just as, if not more likely, to get someone hurt if they tagged the wrong spirit. ]

Preferably, no, but if it came down to it and I was doing something else? Sure. [ a beat and a quirk of his lips, ] But just to be clear, there's nothing on my tablet that I need to hide, so the only thing I'd lose is a convenient method of communication, and— [ he waves a hand dismissively. ] Let's be honest: if it gets to the point where you, we, whoever has to leave my tablet behind, I think there's slightly larger things at stake than whether or not I'm going to be able to check my messages at two am. [ pause; concession. ] —Pockets should be fine.

Oh, I didn't-- I wasn't going to look over anything on your tablet or anything like that, I just. It was just that everyone seem like they want to keep everything close to their chest? Tablets included, so I was just checking to make sure. It's not--

[Small frustrated noise, because hardly any of the things he wanted to ask about is coming out right, and he's really just sitting in the dirt, asking a stranger for favors when he's got nothing to offer in return except what ever results he might, and that's a very shaky might, get.]

I wasn't planning on leaving it behind, I was just-- surprised. I guess. I-- I have no idea what I'm actually doing here, but there's not enough information anywhere here to learn anything. It's all just-- it's just a lot of talk and no one is doing anything, but if we knew, if we could figure out where they go? If they go anywhere at all? Maybe that would help. Like, maybe that could be the next clue.

Generally, or do you mean information? [ not that the difference entirely matters — the sentiment raises an issue with trust that, at least amongst themselves, would be better avoided if they want to avoid being reset.

but then quentin makes a noise and whilst peter's not entirely sure what it's directed at, it manages to be a vocalisation of a feeling he can very, very much appreciate. he's been here three months and they're not really any closer to having a solid idea about what's going than they were when they first arrived — sure, they'd discovered bits and pieces, nuggets of information and way more creepy buildings than peter realistically wanted to see in his lifetime (un-lifetime?), but the majority of anything that seemed like it was worth something, came from doc ingram, or from robin, and—

—there's the question of how much of that can be taken at face value. ] —But okay. [ he doesn't bother to point out that he hadn't meant that he'd expect quentin to leave it behind deliberately ] I don't want to sound condescending and I'm sure you already know this, but things like this, they take time. Trust doesn't occur overnight; it's not ideal, but it is what it is. [ a beat. ] You know I'm on the same page as you, right? I wouldn't be here if I wasn't.

What?

[Since just trying to wing this, and hope to all hell that the words would just come to him from come magical place inside his own head. Or, like, divine intervention. Isn't working. At all. Quentin takes a moment, staring down at the ground and his own hands, twisting together and worrying the edge of his sleeve.

After a few moments of nothing but quiet and they're breathing, and maybe the distant sound of insects buzzing around. None of the city sounds he'd been living with for years and missed like he'd miss breathing for that first year in Fillory, no people walking around talking too loudly, sharing pieces of their lives with everyone around because talking quietly on the phone was just not a thing in New York. No loitering and no other lives brushing up against everyone elses. Not here.

Heaving a sigh, he looks up and tilts his head.]

I was suggesting the we all, uhm, trust each other like that? Trust is more than just sharing all our deep, dark secrets with strangers. But, we should be able to trust that all of us, every single one, wants to beat this. I don't even care if you just want to go back and be alive? If the others just want to solve this because it-- because it might be the only way to get that? Who ever did this, made a mistake and I'm willing to-- to do anything, to burn this place to the ground to make them take it back. I'd trust you to help me get that? Shouldn't everyone?

Woah, woah, let's stop short of burning an entire town, shall we? [ there are so many steps in between this being a totally uncool situation and deciding to raze it to the ground to — not even start again. ] I think we can probably trust that everyone wants some kind of resolution to this, whatever that is, but— [ peter stretches one arm out, then then the other in opposite direction, ] —getting from point A [ he holds up one hand ], to point B [ and the other hand ] is where the mistrust is going to come into play.

[ mister burn the town, dude, no. ] I'm not going to be the violence is never the answer guy here, because sometimes it is, but only in, like, a punch-to-incapacitate kind of way. If wiping out the town was the answer, I don't think it'd have been through so many resets. Sometimes the end doesn't justify the means.

I didn't mean it literally-- okay, so mostly I did. I just. I can't stay here forever? You know?

[Or maybe Peter doesn't know, maybe he's fully content to just stay here and work on this impossible puzzle until the reset comes and really, they don't even know what the reset is. It could be a memory-wipe on all of them and having to start over, again and again, because this could just as well be hell?]

There's no reason to mistrust the fact that we all want to solve this before we're either reset or-- or being eaten by the World Eaters. None of which sounds all to pleasant and I can live with never knowing which one is worse? But there are things we need to know. To make choices. Like, are we even dead? Where do the spirits go? What are they? Why did they attack?

I know, believe me.

[ he does, so much. mj will be worried sick, and he doesn't even want to think about what aunt may would be thinking; felicia. even jonah—. the lack of known factors about what this means for their homes makes him feel a little sick each and every time he thinks about it, a coil of panic in the pit of his stomach and his chest tightening just a little bit more the longer he's here—. ]

But there are some things I'm not willing to do to get there — someone else might be. Differences in approach are where any issues are going to come about. [ he runs a hand down his face, making a noise that's possibly a groan before continuing. (he hates this, he hates this so very much.) ] But let's return to the moral quandaries later, when they're both hopefully slightly more relevant and less — [ peter gestures vaguely with both hands ] arson.

So, fine. You want answers and you think the spirits have them. We tag one, and start to track it without being spotted which— [ he eyes quentin for just a second. ] —sure, we manage it somehow. You've got magic. What do we do if it goes wrong?

Edited 2019-09-19 05:11 (UTC)

First off, just-- I can't actually set the town on fire? I just thought you should know that. In case-- in case you were thinking I might be someone who, uhm, sets fire to things? Because I don't? Usually. It's just. Fuck it, I couldn't even if I wanted to. Because pyromancy doesn't really work here. None of the spells work properly, but those ones, the ones that set things on fire are the worst. But all spells a off. Just. So you know.

[Because he wasn't, and Quentin holds his hands out and shrugs.]

Goes wrong how? If we get attacked? Because I have a few spells that do work, that doesn't set things on fire, but it pushes things away? And shields? Magical ones? I can do that.

[ peter holds both his hands up in a gesture of vague surrender. ] Hey, you brought setting fire to things up.

—Getting attacked is definitely at the top of my list of things going wrong, [ peter answers, before waving one his hands at himself. ] I know appearances can be deceptive, but there's a reason I went into science and journalism. [ which isn't strictly a lie, but the reason he's implying absolutely is not the actual reason. nevertheless— ] So any contingency we've got would greatly appreciated. [ beat. ] And a rough idea of what to expect which— shields is great, actually.

When did you want to do this, by the way?

I was trying to make a point. That somehow got lost in all the fire-setting? What I meant was, I know someone who's not supposed to be here and I would do a lot of things, uhm, cross a lot of lines to correct that? Setting things on fire just seemed like the easiest way to say that. But. I guess it wasn't.

[Eliot is just not going to stay here, point blank. First order of priority and if there was even the slightest chance that this was a portals-thing, he was going to force that door to swing the other way and get Eliot out.]

What other things could go wrong? Because getting attacked seems like something that might actually happen but anything else? That's just something I figured I'd deal with if or when it happened. [Like everything else in his life and Quentin stuffs his hands in to his armpits again, tilting his head at Peter.] Well. When I asked you, I really had no idea it meant you'd have to go too, but. I want to go as soon as I can?

[ peter makes a noise that may have started off as a non-committal hum but slides into a 'nngh' at the mention of crossing lines. he gets it: there are lines he's pretty keen on not crossing, not ever, please and thank you, but that doesn't mean he hasn't considered it, doesn't mean he's never come close, doesn't mean it won't ever happen, no matter how much he'd like to hope it won't.

so, eliot's important to quentin. if peter was in the same position, could he say there weren't lines he wouldn't cross? ]

Trust me, property destruction generally isn't the best way to make any point. [ peter exhales and glances up at the sky for a moment, running a hand through his hair before continuing. ] I don't have to, but whether I come or not, all I ask is that you go into this with a vague plan. That's it. That's the extent of my Ts and Cs. [ a beat and a quirk of his lips. ] But luckily, we've got about two years before we're eaten by what I'm imagining to be giant worms, so right now, you're limited only by however long it takes you to figure something out beyond 'track a spirit and hope for the best'. Like — making sure you know how to get back.

[If you knew, Quentin thinks, if it was you, you'd rethink that. But he doesn't say it, just huff in disbelief about Peter not wanting the world to burn if it had been his... best friend caught in this place.]

You think they're worms? Because I thought they'd be, like, these large people-shaped-- things? That would just. Stuff all of this in to their mouths. Worms. [A beat] That tracks. Probably more likely than people. Hungry people.

All I need is flowers. To find my way back? And, I'd find some before going out. Of course I would, it's not like I plan to not come back? I-- okay, fine. I can make a plan, and we can go over it, and then I can borrow one? And your tablet? Or you? I'm not-- I can do that. You can come and make sure I'm not destroying your equipment.

I guess it depends on how literal the world eating aspect of it all is, [ peter replies with a shrug. it's not the same, but it doesn't sound entirely unlike the inheritors, just a little less — specific. life and light instead of ... spider-totems. (but god, he hopes this is going to be less difficult to deal with than them.

and morlun, because — that guy.) ]

But sure. [ he stands up, briefly dusting the worst of the dirt off his trousers before picking up his rucksack and swinging it over a shoulder. ] That sounds good. [ a pause, and he shoots quentin a crooked smile. ] If not a touch Hansel and Gretel, [ but still. he waves a hand dismissively ], but as long as we avoid any wicked witches, I guess we'll be fine. [ beat. ] So— send me a message when you're ready.

I, uh, okay?

[Okay, so that's weird. And maybe it isn't. Maybe there was just some social cue he missed, it wouldn't be the first time and Quentin gets up as well, grabbing his lantern off the ground and stuffing his empty hand in to his pocket, standing around a little awkwardly.]

I've actually seen a gingerbread house. And the witch who lived in it. She was-- something. And scary. But sure, I'll message you when I have a plan.

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@parker — text.

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5 years later i'm soooorry

NO worries!

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