Revenging Angel - The Rise and Fall of Harvey

[ss_buttcrack]

Who: Crichton (Harvey), Lt. Tayrey, Dr. Watson, Arthur, Cassandra, Erin, literally anyone is welcome to jump into this mess
What: Here's what you missed last time.
TL;DR: Harvey stole some revenge-loving daggers that were in Tayrey's care and used them to murder Valdis. He made Crichton watch. This is the place to play the fallout directly after.
When: Sep 30 for the murder, Oct 1, and forward for the fallout. Will include later dates in Oct, as well.
Where: The Brig + Various locations stated in the starters posted below
Warnings: Blood, Death, Gore, Violence, Mind-control, mention of Drugs/Alcohol Addiction, will warn for more as necessary


This is a nightmare. This is his worst nightmare come to pass. Valdis...frell. Is she going to come back in three days? After watching her die like that, he's terrified she might not. It's his fault. It's all his fault. He should have known Harvey would still be plotting behind his back. Why did he ever let himself believe it could be safe? He should have stayed locked in the brig.

God... help him.


In The Brig - Guard Duty - Open
This is where he belongs. This is where he should have stayed in the first place. This time, however, he can't stand to be alone. He's begged anyone and everyone he knows to, essentially, play guard duty on shifts. He can't let himself fall asleep unless there's someone there to watch him. Even then, it's hard. The dark circles under his eyes grow more purple by the day as he constantly starts to nod off, only to jerk himself awake again in a panic.

It will go on like this for days. He'll refuse to take one step out of this cell, not even to go get food. Not like he has much of an appetite anyway. Besides, he knows if he walks out of here the first place he might wind up is in front of a bar. He's let Valdis down enough already... he can't risk it.

Find him huddled up in the corner of the brig under a blanket once again like a sick case of deja vu. If it's your turn to watch him, he'll point to his pulse pistol sitting over on a chair outside the cell and say, "Use that on me if I try to leave."

[ooc: feel free to handwave Crichton asking for your character's help.

Rise & Shine
Harvey is dead. Crichton had to die with him. Now, three days later, only one of them is back alive.

At 6:00 a.m. sharp, Crichton takes a deep breath in. His eyes fly open and he sits straight up in his bed. Is it done? Is he gone? Is Harvey really gone?

Crichton searches his mind, trying to access that place where he and his mental clone used to meet. He can't. It isn't there. Harvey isn't there!! The weight of him is lifted. For the first time in so, so long, Crichton is alone in his own mind.

"YES!!" He jumps out of bed and dances in place right there on the carpet, with a few more excited whoops and hollers for good measure.

"He's gone! HE'S GONE!"

Crichton might be so distracted by his own celebrating that he may or may not notice if he has company in the room with him. But, the more the merrier today. He's finally free!

----

The celebrating doesn't stop there. Good God, he's so hungry. People brought him sandwiches while he was down in the brig, but he'd only picked at them half-heartedly. Not much appetite. Well, guess what's back now?? He could eat a whole cougar.

Find him spread out in the buffet later that morning with five plates in front of him, greedily shoving every type of breakfast confection into his mouth like he's worried they're going to vanish off his plate. They are, but they're vanishing into his stomach! Food has never tasted this good.

Wildcard options open: Let me know what kind of starter you want and I'll make it happen. Keep in mind this will be the last chance to participate with Harvey. He'll be perma-dead at the conclusion of this plot.]

Comments

[theotherright]

You'll never take him alive!

Buoyed up by the twin victories of Harvey being gone and not having to explain himself to anyone, Arthur is more than happy for Cassandra to come in. After three months in a pit with only one shirt and no changing rooms, he's not even thinking particularly about what she might see.

When Cass comes in, she'll have a view not only of Crichton, but also of a knobbly sack of skin and bones in pyjama pants, rummaging through the wardrobe and grinning like it's the best day of his life.

[not_the_last]

On the whole, it's a good thing she briefly saw Harvey in Crichton's dream last month, because it means that she does not mistake the nearly-skeletal figure for the description she's heard. It startles her nonetheless, before she recognizes a terribly starved-looking Arthur.

For her part, Cassandra's in a heavy quilted silk robe, and has her hair pulled back in the hastiest of twists, and aside from that one swift glance at Arthur all her attention is for --

"Crichton," she says again, "are you all right?"

[ss_buttcrack]

"Yeah," he answers warmly, spreading his arms to welcome her closer for a hug. "I am. Cass, I'm more than okay. It worked. Harvey is really gone."

[theotherright]

Arthur doesn't know how much of this was planned in advance, but Cass is here at the appointed resurrection time, and she clearly knew about it before Arthur did. That fact and the warmth suddenly in Crichton's tone make something unpleasant happen in Arthur's stomach. He buries himself a little more busily in the wardrobe, to hide the change in his expression.

This isn't about him. This is about Crichton being free of the voice in his head, a thing unironically normal to want and possible to achieve.

He remembers the day each of them learned about the other's passenger, and its crimes, and their hope to be permanently free. It's taken a while, but look: that's both of them now, free. And he feels a strange, sad mirror of the anger that Crichton showed when Arthur admitted to trying to keep his passenger around.

...wow that was a sudden mood swing, don't mind him he's just really invested in finding the right Hawaiian shirt to match these pyjamas.

[not_the_last]

She moves in for the offered hug, intending to keep it brief but then having trouble letting go.

"I'm so glad," comes out muffled against his chest. "I -- I'm sorry I couldn't be more help earlier but I'm so glad it's done."

[ss_buttcrack]

Crichton can sense some kind of shift in Arthur, but he ignores it. He's not going to let this day be spoiled by anything. He's free. He's goddamned earned this hug, and he doesn't want to let go either.

"Cass... I didn't want you to see me like that. I'm sorry. Did she hurt you? Did she say anything to you...after I...?" Died.

[theotherright]

He emerges with something. Safety pins in the label mean this shirt is his; the number of them means, if it mattered particularly, that it is blue.

Arthur doesn't interrupt, but dresses, and listens. He wants to know this part of the story too.

[not_the_last]

She shakes her head, and then reluctantly draws back enough to look him in the face. "I know it wasn't what you wanted, and I apologize. But I needed to see what happened, in case ... in case anything went wrong."

(She's aware of Arthur in the room, listening, if not necessarily aware of his emotional tenor at the moment. She's not sure how she feels about him right now, but also doesn't think it's particularly relevant.)

"She did nothing to me. Just extracted the chip, and broke it -- I still have it, back in my cabin, I didn't think it was wise to just leave it there."

[ss_buttcrack]

"I just... didn't want you to have to see another family member like that." Because he's still her uncle in his heart. So, he's relieved to hear she wasn't hurt.

But, when she tells him about the pieces, he smiles with such gratitude. "Could you get them for me? I... I really need to see it with my own two eyes. Please?"

[theotherright]

"Well," says Arthur, very quietly. He couldn't honestly say he never thought about just pulling the chip out, though he never got desperate enough to suggest it out loud. Presumably it wouldn't have stuck without Tiamat's magic.

The more he thinks about it, the more abrupt this feels. One day Harvey has Crichton sobbing in the shower, and then a few days later he's dead. But it's always abrupt, isn't it? You always have unfulfilled plans, and regrets. He hopes very much that Harvey died with regrets.

He starts buttoning the shirt, and adds his own question to the conversation, conversational compared to the emotions happening over by the door: "Is Tiamat still in attendance? I hope we've not swallowed a spider to kill a fly."

[not_the_last]

"Of course," she says to Crichton, and is already drawing away from him to go back to her cabin when Arthur speaks.

It's very, very hard for her to gauge what underlies his tone, and her glance flicks to Crichton to try to read his reaction. The last she heard, after all, they were not on good terms.

"Tiamat has withdrawn," she says, her own voice gone similarly cool and conversational, "of her own volition, or so she said. Valdis is back in control of herself."

[ss_buttcrack]

At that "well" from Arthur, Crichton seems to remember he actually does share a room. Right. Guess he'll have to fill Arthur in on some things. But Cassandra is first out the gate with that, which is good because Crichton didn't know this part yet. He meets her questioning gaze with a tiny nod. Yes, it's okay for Arthur to hear this.

"She let go on her own, but she's still in there. Frell. Hard to feel happy for myself knowing she's dealing with that, still. I'll talk to her soon. Go get those pieces. We're not going anywhere."

He will wait for Cassandra to exit before turning attention back to Arthur. "Got some burning questions while we wait?"

[theotherright]

Arthur nods at the answer, trying not to look too visibly relieved. It's not quite the same as Tiamat being excised, but it's better than her retaining control. The change in Cass's tone doesn't go unnoticed, but... she's Crichton's friend, not Arthur's. It's not a surprise. (She's someone he told about Faroe, whispers part of his mind, drawing ice between them.) (She probably knows what you did to him, whispers another, pulling him back until she's a blurred shape beyond that ice.)

He only breathes out when she's gone.

"I think so." Arthur pulls at one of his cuffs in the pretense of neatening it, succeeding only in twisting it in circles. He's less guarded. He's still not un-guarded. But he shrugs, lightly, because he doesn't want to bring his own mixed feelings to the table. "I don't know. I-I suppose I'm still taking it in. When I spoke to Tiamat I was convinced she would just kill you."

...oh hang on he doesn't know Arthur talked to Tiamat. Um.

[ss_buttcrack]

HE KNOWS NOW.

"You talked to her?" Crichton rounds on Arthur. "Tell me that's all that happened. Please tell me you didn't try to...?" He doesn't even know what, but knowing Arthur it was probably something stupid.

1/2

[theotherright]

(oh he's such a dumb piece of shit why can't he keep his big mouth shut before he speaks)

2/2

[theotherright]

Long exhale. Briefly closed eyes.

"...to stop her, yes."

He knows he knows he knows he knows he knows.

Arthur finds the dip in his ribcage with his fingers, tracing the size of it through his shirt, assessing the damage more than not at all since he might as well do that openly now.

"Which, in hindsight, I do feel rather silly about."

[ss_buttcrack]

Crichton covers his face with his hands and utters a muffled, "For the love of..." What was he expecting? Really?

"You think?" Silly? He feels SILLY??

"She killed you." Statement of fact, at this point. "And now you're... what? What is that? Stop poking it! You're grossing me out."

[theotherright]

His eyes flicker as he recalls the death -- he's sure he'll be recalling it for a while -- but he doesn't elaborate beyond a slight nod. What would he say? That she didn't afford him the kindness of breaking his neck? What would be the point?

A deep breath. He can feel his chest expanding under his fingers. Does it feel strange at that exposed spot -- does his lung expand that little bit more where the gap is? Or is it his imagination?

"Euuuagh," says Arthur, critically. Yeah, he doesn't like this at all.

[not_the_last]

Cassandra has been hovering a little awkwardly in the hallway for a few seconds now, unwilling to interrupt the shouting. At the first pause, she breathes out silently and then gives a brisk knock.

"Hello?"

[ss_buttcrack]

And... Arthur is still doing it. Fine. Whatever. See if he cares!

Oh, Cass is back! Crichton spins around like he just got caught trying to sneak a cookie from the jar after midnight. They weren't fighting again? Who, them?

"Hey, come on in. Do you... have it?"

[theotherright]

Let the record show that Arthur has done absolutely nothing wrong since waking up from his extremely preventable death!

He lowers his hand quickly, guard up again, the brief and illogical feeling that he wants to hide his vulnerable spot from her passing over him.

Arthur doesn't add to the conversation -- there isn't much he could add: Cassandra's the one who kept the chip, the one who has the means to give Crichton some closure, and the one Crichton actually wants to speak to -- but instead backs up a step, and seeks out the wardrobe door again, pushing it closed and re-orienting himself at the same time. And now it finally occurs to him to wonder what, other than Harvey, Crichton himself woke up without.

[not_the_last]

"I do," she says, and holds out to Crichton a small clear plastic vial, sealed, with the broken fragments of the chip inside it. (It used to hold beads; she's moved them to a section of her jewelry box for the time being.)

"I wondered if it might not be a good idea to keep one piece of it separate, just to be sure that it can't be repaired, but ... I thought you would be the best judge of that."

[ss_buttcrack]

He carefully takes the vial from her, almost like he's afraid it could burn him. But it's just inert pieces. Just the shattered shell of his nightmares. For close to half a minute, he looks at it, entranced. This frelling thing. It's finally over.

Her suggestion rouses him finally. "Oh... huh. Yeah, actually, that might be a good idea. Maybe we should separate more than one. Don't Wayne and Flan have that safe room set up for storing things? Maybe I should give a piece to them, and one for you to guard, too, Cass."

[theotherright]

"That's a good idea."

Arthur feels both entirely superfluous to this conversation, and determined not to be.

"Can't hurt to be careful."

[not_the_last]

"I know a place I could store it," she says, "where it shouldn't be retrievable by anyone but myself. If that suits."

She can't quite help glancing at Arthur again, still not certain where things stand between the two of them.