TLV: IC Contact

[sixfeetofdirt]

Careful; I bite.

Comments

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

He puts an affectionate arm around his shoulder, giving him a gentle squeeze.

"I promised you I would let your shoes get dirty, didn't I?"

Now that the death toll's resolved itself, he's lighter. A little happier than he had been before.

He opens the door that he's already programmed into a mountanous landscape, the snow light on the ground and a chill in the air. There are big clouds distant in the sky, but it's otherwise a beautiful, sunny day, crisp air with a touch of early morning frost.

He slides on a coat he'd already programmed in. "How's this?"

[sixfeetofdirt]

"Oh. It's..."

He's silent for a few moments, simply taking it all in.

"I've never been anywhere like this before," he says. "Where are we?"

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"Montana," he tells him, handing over another coat. He might not mind the cold, but it's cozy and fits the aesthetic.

"It's where I've lived for a while. Down through those mountains, there's a valley. That's Hope County."

He didn't want to go there, but the snow capped mountains are breathtaking from here.

[sixfeetofdirt]

Astarion shrugs it on with a nod; he's dead, but he still feels the cold.

"Hope," he echoes. "How...ambitious. Did it ever live up to the name?"

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"I think so," he mutters. Gave us hope for after the Collapse, I guess."

He starts the walk, no real destination in mind.

[sixfeetofdirt]

"Ah. That's where you set up your..."

People get touchy about the word 'cult', he's aware.

"...operation?"

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

He chuckles. "Cult," he answers. He knows what it is and he doesn't care. "Yeah. John took care of getting the land and the money out there. Joseph set up."

[sixfeetofdirt]

Astarion nods diffidently.

"...we were dealing with a cult at home," he offers. "Its members weren't always happy to hear the word."

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"I don't like most people using it, but only because then I'm just a cultist to them. And I'm not."

He slides his hands in his pockets.

"What were your sort like?"

[sixfeetofdirt]

"Annoying," Astarion says. "They had organised around what they believed to be a new god, the 'Absolute'. Any one of its adherents would have killed for just a whisper of its favour, and - well."

He smiles sharply.

"A lot of them tried to."

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

He tsks softly. "Fucking shame. Did that favor do anything for them?"

[sixfeetofdirt]

Astarion laughs meanly.

"Absolutely not. Their 'god' was a vast hive mind from another plane, enslaved by three mere mortals."

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"Then it was for fuck all," he says with a nod.

Makes sense.

"We were just - planners. People didn't understand what our work really was."

[sixfeetofdirt]

"None of them? What were they doing with you, then?"

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"People outside of us. Of the community," he amends. "They were living their lives, weak and dependent on others for what they have and how they live. They thought were were insane for wanting to have no part in the sort of machinery that chewed up humanity and spit out sheep."

[sixfeetofdirt]

"Insane or not, they probably thought you'd just built a different machine."

'Chewed up humanity and spit out sheep' doesn't seem a million miles from the cult of the Absolute.

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

He nods, leading them along a slightly uphill path that overlooks the half-frozen lake. "Yeah," he says with a nod. "Maybe we did. Thought we were saving them, saving humanity, from fire. But we kinda fucked it all up."

It's the first time he's been able to say aloud that their priorities were maybe a little skewed. Maybe a little...terrible.

"We started out fine," he mutters. "All good intentions and shit." But he doesn't sound sure.

[sixfeetofdirt]

Astarion doesn't know the idiom about the road to Hell, but something similar floats through his mind.

"What changed?"

It sounds like it was built on shaky foundations when a cornerstone of the leadership had been convincing a string of women to murder each other and take on a new identity, but...

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

To be fair, that came after.

He shrugs at the question.

"Don't know. We moved. Got bigger. John started to crack under the pressure and Joseph, he - he didn't have patience for him in the same way. I was always the peacemaker."

Which he realizes is a ridiculous statement, considering. But they've all grown up.

"But I couldn't do it."

[sixfeetofdirt]

"And I suppose your followers noticed?"

Or maybe their following simply started to crumble through neglect alone.

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"No. The Bliss and Faith and I held up our end. John was recruitment. He was just - aggressive. Sadistic. Fucked up from everything that happened."

The path winds a but and Jacob follows it, leading them atop the hill that overlooks the lake. It's flowing, but there's ice atop the surface.

"I remember camping out here once. Froze my ass off because the cold came faster than I was prepared for, but I liked just - sitting up here."

[sixfeetofdirt]

"It's...peaceful," Astarion says, after a few moments of silence. Just feeling the wind in his hair, breathing in the chill air, watching the water below. "I don't think I've ever been anywhere so quiet."

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"Yeah. Thought you might like it."

The silence is comfortable, more than the Barge, the city, even his own mind.

He moves a hand from his pocket and takes Astarion's in his own.

"We can go down to the shore if you want."

[sixfeetofdirt]

"All right. Let me keep my hands, though," he murmurs. "I'd hate to slip on frost and drag you down this slope, mm?"

Also, walking hand in hand through a quiet place like this feels....

He doesn't know, he just doesn't like how it makes his gut churn.

[weaponwithoutpurpose]

"You think you can drag me anywhere?" he laughs, hands back in his pockets. He's well aware of what Astarion can do, but he covers it well enough.

He's not thinking through anything here. Not worrying about labels or words or feelings, just going off of what he wants, right there, in that moment.

He leads him down the slope, though does turn to ensure he is as sure footed as he thinks he is.

As he does, Jacob's boot slips on a bit of ice and the rock crumbles underneath him. He loses his balance, falling to his knees.