People are crazy and times are strange [ open ]

[inequal]

WHO: Liam (Owen) [inequal] and ANYONE.
WHAT: Somebody else got struck by the memory rehab bug, thinks his name is something else. Now Liam's trying to deal with the idea that he might have his head screwed on wrong without being able to tell.
WHERE: All around the Cave, notably: the Bar; the Supply Depot; near the Living Quarters; a secluded corner.
WHEN: April 10th (Tuesday) through April 12th (Thursday).
NOTES: What the hell is consistent narrative name, do not even get me started on trying to figure out which one to use. IT'S JUST "HE" AND "HIM" OKAY.

His Tuesday started out simply enough, some murky memory (or was it a dream?) floating up to remind him of a white room and then... nothing, really. Probably just made it up. No, his day really started with a buzz in his head and a request for his husband to turn off the bloody overhead light, if you please, George.

That was his first sign that something was wrong. It didn't feel wrong, but the sheer comfort with which he identified as Owen Bates (not... Liam McNally or whatever name it was that George—Ken?—said it should be) gave him a shudder if he stopped to think about it for too long. Exactly why he immediately sought out Arthur Stieber at the Supply Depot and was told to swing by later that night after work.

Fine, whatever. He could wait another few hours. So he went with his spouse to the Bar and spent the next few hours ignoring the twitch in his foot and fingers. Scaring off the customers would not do, even if the only exchange he cared about tended to be the conversational sort and nothing to do with money.

He was out like a bolt by closing time and off to retrieve the pack of cigarettes as Arthur had promised. Horrible habit to get back into when he was still not physically addicted, but the psychological effects were already ingrained deeply enough. It wasn't until Wednesday that he had the chance to secret himself into an underdeveloped crevice on the west side of the Cave and finally light up. Hopefully the smoke would dissipate before anyone else caught wind of it, because despite popular belief, he did not try to bury himself in as much trouble as possible at all times. George Ken George would likely be worried and that kept him from lighting a second despite the urge.

The rest of Wednesday proceeded as normal... what accounted for normal in this place, anyway. Some exploration in the day and work in the afternoon, all the way to After Hours. Thursday found him escaping to the crevice once again, lighter and cigarette clutched in hand, then off to the Depot again with George to retrieve more rations.

It was perhaps the least exciting lifestyle he had indulged in for nearly sixty years. Nevertheless, Owen could not stop the dread coiling in his gut that the other shoe was primed just perfectly to drop any day now.

Comments

[inequal]

He startled, head turning to acknowledge the man who had come up beside him. He slowed his pace to something a little less obviously rushing and let his expression twitch into a smile. "Yeah, something like that," he allowed. "Doubt they'd close before After Hours, all said."

Stieber hadn't given Owen a specific time to meet him at the depot, simply 'later tonight', so he figured allowing himself a chat wasn't going to hurt anything. It would distract him just as much as a smoke would... maybe. Hopefully.

[littlealienguy]

"One would hope but at this rate, I often don't know what to think. It's a little unsettling." It was neutral enough statement. The man was almost certainly another Sleeper and confusion was to be expected still, even so.

Jonas had picked up on the man's initial rush before he slowed down. "I'm not keeping you am I? If your in a hurry, I understand."

[inequal]

Owen hesitated, then shook his head. "Nah, I can spare a few minutes if you can. No reason to scare anyone off just for wanting a talk, yeah?" It was true; as much as he really would have preferred to vet this stranger before making an appearance to him, Owen no longer had that luxury. He would have to deal with it, and pretend as best he could that it didn't bug him.

"Unsettling is a good word for it," he added, working his way backward in the conversation. "Good word for everything right now."

[littlealienguy]

And the man was obviously unsettled, Jonas didn't need to read body language to see that. But he wanted to continue the conversation despite Jonas giving him an out. "There are so few of us awake, we can't afford to scare each other off?" He said with a small smile to hopefully lighten the mood.

"I'm Jonas." He paused then started again. "Or John. I'm afraid I haven't quite got the hang of this yet." His brain still worked too fast for him sometimes, though now to his disadvantage.

[inequal]

There it was. Confusion over a name. The same confusion that Owen only had through the aid of his husband, one which he couldn't feel quite the same way as everyone else. Or maybe it was just backwards for him now, the name he should be clinging to remaining the awkward and unfamiliar where it apparently used to fit like a glove.

"Lucky man," said Owen. While he didn't intend to be overly cryptic, it sounded kind of cool like that, so he decided not to elaborate. It helped that he wasn't even sure where he would begin if he even tried to, and he couldn't shake the anxiousness off about consequences for talking about it in the first place...

Really, it was just easier to not explain himself. Doing so, he pushed through and held out a hand. "Owen Bates. Guess that makes you one of us, then." Figuring it out wasn't rocket science; just the fact that Jonas had initiated conversation in the first place told Owen all he needed to know about that.

[littlealienguy]

"It's nice to meet you Owen and yes, I am one of you I guess." Jonas had already deemed this man a Sleeper but what he couldn't place was the air of confusion that seemed to have taken hold of him during the course of the conversation. "Are you alright?"

[inequal]

"Fine," answered Owen after a moment. He shook his head as if to dispell that branch of the conversation. No need to draw more attention to it, right? Not when he still didn't totally understand what it was. "Don't see many Sleepers around outside work," he commented instead.

[littlealienguy]

Jonas knew a deflection when he saw one but he was diplomatic enough to let it go. Even if he was curious.

"Really? It seems like a lot of Sleepers are at the University, like myself, so we've all been restricted to the library it seems. Though I think we've scoured the entire thing and come up with nothing of note." It was frustrating, to say the least.

[inequal]

Owen chuckled at that revelation. "That so? Might explain a whole lot. Not one much for university myself. I just help run a pub that could easily run itself anyway." And damn if that didn't make him feel like he was just filling time, filling it with what they wanted until they wanted something else come the end of the month. It felt like helplessness. "Nothing, though? That's strange."

[littlealienguy]

Jonas actually was feeling much the same way. It seemed like for everything they found, it only led them to either a dead end or to a path was far to well marked to be suspicious.

"It's the strangest thing. I can honestly say, it's the first time I've ever done research that led no where. It's like...there's something there but someone too great pains to make sure we didn't find it, while attempting to lead us in a completely other direction."

[inequal]

"Then maybe we should keep pushing the way we've been going," murmured Owen thoughtfully. It was definitely within his nature to be contrary, being the kind of guy who would pull if someone told him to push and run if asked to walk. "If they're being so bloody obvious about it, anyway."

[littlealienguy]

"It would help to know where we're going but I suppose we'll figure it out when we get there." If this world didn't succeed in forcing them in the direction it wanted, into the roles it had set aside for them.

[inequal]

Owen sighed at that. "Walking blind. Not fun for any of the parties involved — only have to wait and see that our benefactors aren't visually challenged as well."