Don&#39;t believe in no-win scenarios

"Thank you." Schön rises, taking out his phone. Patting Jim on the shoulder, he advises him, "sit tight," before drifting over to the doorway as he calls one of his contacts.

Unless she turned it off, Verity's phone is going to ring.

From:

No, it's on. Right now, she doesn't have time or energy for dealing with her own problems.

She doesn't answer immediately because she's staring blearily at her phone and cursing.

"If this isn't an emergency, I swear to god, I will find you and make it one."

From:

Schön's tone is light, genial, and pleasant. "I'm sorry to disturb you, and I'm not entirely certain this is an emergency, but one of your brothers is with me, in your housemate's body, telling the story of an extraordinarily vivid experience he had while sleeping. I thought you would, at the least, want to know he is safe and in good company, and might also have some thoughts of your own on the matter."

From:

Of course it is. He's rarely anything else with her, these days (must treat the grieving girl with kid gloves, after all), and she'll appreciate it better when he's not waking her up. But boy is she awake now.

"Jim's there? He's okay? What happened? No, wait, I'll come get him. Where are you?"

From:

"We're at Number Three, Brownstone-in-Sphinx, Left Haunch." Directions to follow. "He is safe and hale as far as I'm able to determine."

From:

"I'll be there soon. Don't let him go back to sleep."

Nothing says 'fun times' like middle-of-the-night hikes.

From:

"Of course. I shall leave the door unlocked for you. Safe journey." With that, he ends the call, putting away his phone and turning back to Jim.

The act of putting away his phone also allows him to draw a slim vial of yellow liquid from his pocket. "Jim, might I recommend you drink this? It will remove any lingering fatigue you're feeling. An expert is on the way, and feels it would be best if you did not sleep again prior to their arrival."

From:

Jim doesn't know who Schon put the call out to, and it's probably for the best that he doesn't. Considering he had been in the tower when he woke up, there is probably a reason he didn't seek Verity's advice on this first. He looks up when the call is over.

Shakes his head faintly.

"Don't worry, I'm not going back to sleep." Habit rejects the strange liquid more than disdain. The urge not to take something he might be allergic to is still instilled despite being in a body that seems to be allergy free.

From:

"As you like." The vial is returned to his pocket without fuss. Settling back into his seat, he opts to try to make conversation while waiting for Verity to arrive. "Dare I ask how all of this came about?"

((We can time-skip to when Verity arrives via a truncated account of the intervening time, if you like. Jim can fill Schön in, if he's inclined.))

Edited Date: 2016-01-26 06:55 pm (UTC)

From:

Cue the montage of explanations leading Jim to this moment in the present.

((Time skipping works for me because of hectic workday, will be able to reply proper during lunch))

From:

Cue: one very cold Verity bursting in without even knocking. She's in her pajamas still with a sweater pulled over them, and she hasn't brushed her hair, so that's... that's a look.

Whatever.

She's got a coat and shoes and her glasses, nothing else is really important right now. Anyway, she makes stripey flannel pajamas work.

"What happened?"

From:

Schön took the time to kindle a fire in the fireplace while Jim was telling his story, and rises from his seat in front of the merry blaze when Verity comes in. "Ah, welcome, and thank you for joining us. Please, sit, I'll find another chair. Jim has related to me a peculiar dream he had, which seemed more significant than most. In it, three figures obliquely similar to his body's owner sought to engage his aid in striking against that individual." He's already uncovered another chair and is pulling it over; Verity's welcome to the warm armchair he was in.

"Now, I understand you may have been told things in confidence, and I will not ask you to break that trust. If you know something of Naugus relating to this, is there any course of action toward which you could advise us--or Jim, particularly, if it's not for my ears?"

From:

"V..Ver? What--" Oh hell, Schon called her. She was the expert he was talking about. Son of a bitch. "Schon I would have just gone to Ver's room and cried about having a bad dream if I'd known you were just going to wake her up anyway!"

Oh god.

"Which it wasn't by the way. Just a dream, I mean." He doesn't know if that's true. But Jim certainly seems to think it is more than that. "It was more of the ghosts in your head begging for help and mercy type of thing."

From:

"I know."

The fire looks lovely and she'd love to sit down and warm up, but Jim is her first priority so guess what: it's hugging time. "I'm sorry, sweetie, I should have warned you, but I honestly didn't think they'd bother you."

So... there's that.

From:

Well. That's rather a lot to have confirmed in an instant. Still, Schön hasn't gotten this far in the Nexus without an adaptable nature and an excellent poker face. It's easier to maintain with Verity and Jim busy in an embrace.

"Should I step out, so you can discuss the matter in private?" he offers, banking the goodwill of having made the offer against the value of what he might not get to overhear.

From:

"What?! No why would you do that." Jim insists, slightly muffled from Jim having Naugus's face mushed against Verity's shoulder. Mind the horn, Ver.

Verity confirming things has, if anything, made Jim more nervous. Because now these things are real and holy fuck they need help.

"That is the exact opposite of what I want you to do. What with 'oh yeah this is totally a thing' just being established here." He gives Verity a squeeze with that last bit, nerves getting the best of him and making him cling for just a moment.

From:

She knows how to hug her grandpa, don't worry about that. As for why Schön might leave... maybe cause that's exactly what the look she's giving him was suggesting? She likes him and all, but she doesn't want this to be fodder for his ongoing feud with Naugus.

But, as usual, what Jim wants wins.

"There's not much to talk about. I know they're dangerous and you shouldn't listen to them. We'll make sure you have some of that tea Viatorus gave me so they can't bother you anymore, okay? It'll be all right."

From:

Schön had been directing the question more at Verity, a follow-up to his acknowledgment that she had been told things in confidence. But since she seems to be relenting on the "step outside" position, he'll stay.

"And, as I have said, I can offer ways to protect you from the possession that concerns you, once you have your own body back."

From:

"Not just that. They need help." Jim looks from Verity to Schön several times. Something isn't adding up here. "They're dangerous? They gave me a warning Ver."

Okay sure everyone except Mr. Pinchy was kind of a jerk about it, but they did give him a warning.

"I have a prison of ghosts trapped in my head begging for help, and the first thing you say is 'oh, we can just shut them up with tea'?"

From:

"That's not quite the first thing I said, but yeah. Viatorus has been trying to figure out how to deal with them for months now. In the meantime, he and I agree it's better this way." Jim gets a quick squeeze before she draws back to shrug off her coat. Hopefully there's someplace to hang it; otherwise, she'll fold it over the back of a chair. "He's the dream expert, so I'm willing to follow his instincts on this one. Would you feel better talking to him about it?"

Then, wait. She gives Schön a confused look. "What possession?"

From:

"Jim expressed concern, evoked by the dream-figures' warnings, that Naugus would be able to forge some link to Jim's body and claim control of it again at whim. It is, we are told, a tool in his repertoire." Schön is careful, with both his phrasing and his tone, not to raise any accusations or attempt to state as fact anything beyond the fact that he has been told things.

From:

"He's told me himself that he's used to taking possession of bodies and expressed no qualms about killing my body off if I piss him off." Jim mutters. "I thought it was just a bluff until these guys showed up and SUPRISE he can totally apparently do that and has before also he hates me."

It's probably a blessing that Jim isn't in hos own body while he's freaking out about this. They don't have to deal with rapid pacing, scrubbing his face until it's raw, or any of his other nervous tics. Instead he just straightens in his seat and bites at his lower lip gently.

"This is just the worst."

From:

"He won't kill your body, sweetie. He may be mean to you, but he's not stupid enough to piss me off like that. His self-preservation instincts are too strong." Is that close enough to being on Jim's side for him to stop sulking about it now?

"And if Schön says he can protect you, I'm sure he can. He's sure he can, and I've never seen him be wrong about this sort of thing. So let's focus on these people you met in the dream. What can we do to make you feel better about it?"

Edited Date: 2016-01-27 10:48 pm (UTC)

From:

"There are places where even the most basic protective magics are effective wards against possession and mental influence, and such talismans are not difficult for a person of means to obtain." Schön is toning down on the smug, since that won't help Jim right now, but he wants his confidence to be clear.

From: