undergrounds | july catch-all for desmond

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july catch-all for desmond

1. all of july: job hunting
Desmond might have a place to stay for now, but the little bit of money he was given isn't going to last forever, so that only means one thing: he needs to find a job. Keeping to Circle Daybreak and other witch-friendly territories, Desmond walks along the streets, keeping an eye out for any signs in windows that indicate a place might be looking to take on an extra pair of hands. Unfamiliarity with the city, though, means he has a hard time navigating, and it takes no time at all to get lost.

Meaning it's time to accost a stranger, giving them a sheepish grin. "Do you have a minute? I think I took a wrong turn somewhere."

Otherwise, you might see him come in to a bar or a shop, looking around for the owner or someone who looks like they might be in charge. If they're otherwise occupied, he might turn to you instead. "Sorry, but would you happen to know who I should talk to about getting a job here? I heard they're hiring."

2. all of july: bird's eye view
There's no better way to see the city than from the roofs, so Desmond can frequently be found hauling himself up along fire escapes and -- occasionally -- architecture, though he's careful to try and do it out of sight of main thoroughfares. Still that could mean you see someone scrambling up the side of a building,hear a scuffle of feet outside your window, or a soft thump and some low swearing from an alleyway when he doesn't quite stick his landing the way he's supposed to.

Once he does get to the rooftops, Desmond pulls out a pen and a map of London, turning it around in his hands and flipping through it until he gets to the page that corresponds to whatever he's looking at right now. Narrowing his eyes, he tries to match the skyline and the landmarks to the map.

"Guess who built this place never heard of urban planning, did they?" he says out loud, to no one in particular.

[ ooc; need me to write up a custom starter? want to tag in with something completely unrelated? just shoot me a pm! ]

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Rhys left. He left a few days ago. And yes, Cole knows why and Cole knows that it's important and Cole knows that he and Evangeline couldn't stay but Rhys left and Cole couldn't leave and now Cole's alone. He's alone and he's terrified. He had a few people here who might be friends, might be people who could help, and one of them is Desmond. Desmond the spirit medium. Desmond...not his friend, not yet, Cole didn't really have friends, lost and lonely as he was. But Desmond could be one.

Thankfully, as Rhys left a few days ago, Cole hasn't completely faded away to nothingness yet (but he's so scared, tense and terrified, worried that it would happen soon). He still had some of his powers. And he could still sort of feel Desmond, he could know where he was. So SURPRISE, DESMOND you've got a frantic ghost teleporting just right in front of you and Cole just honestly doesn't know and/or care what Desmond's doing right now, especially considering he's on the verge of a panic attack.

"Can you keep me whole?"

Might need to take this conversation slowly.

Given that Desmond was in the middle of buying himself groceries for the week, yeah, Cole just about gives him a heart attack, since he manifests right in the middle of his shopping basket. He remembers the ghost from a bit ago, the one whose alley he'd never quite gotten around to visiting (and seeing in front of him now, he feels both guilty and worried -- can ghosts take things personally?). But when Cole immediately opens with that, his expression just turns to pure confusion.

"Wait -- what?" What's that supposed to mean? Also, they're in the middle of a store aisle, like the worst place to have this conversation ever.

Edited 2017-07-09 01:17 (UTC)

Cole has not realized in the slightest that Desmond's busy. It's entirely possible that he's forgotten that people don't want to be bothered while grocery shopping. So, Cole just still manifests in the middle of the shopping basket, not even bothering to move, a bunch of tomatoes creepily hanging out in the middle of his body, while still looking so worried all the while.

"Rhys left. I can't feel him anymore. You have to help, make me whole, keep me from hurting!"

He's not going to go back to that. That anchorless state of him haunting the alleyway, confused, worried, not understanding anything, lashing out to try and get people to see him. He refuses to be that Cole again.

Desmond glances up and down the aisle, quickly. Luckily for them, the only other people around right now are a frazzled-looking housewife trying to find the best bargain on the shelf, accompanied by her chocolate-smeared toddler -- who happens to be staring directly at them both, sucking on her thumb. Desmond leans forward, frowning at Cole.

"I don't understand what's happening," he'll admit that readily enough. "I'll help if I can. But I don't think I can do that here." The grocery is not a place for occult doings, generally speaking.

The problem with Cole is that even with Rhys's help, he still has a tenuous grasp on his powers. So, as he clenches his fists, can of baked beans telekinetically explodes at the end of the aisle. It's not out of malice or anger or anything: Cole's expression and Cole's tone of voice is one of pure fear. This is just him reaching out, reacting with his powers in ways he doesn't expect.

"Then where? We need to do this quick. I can't...I won't let it happen again."

Someone shrieks at the sound of exploding canned produce and the toddler, startled by the sudden noises, instantly begins crying, making even more noise. Eyes darting around the aisle, Desmond decides he might as well give up his groceries as a lost cause, and lets his cart go, stepping away.

"Outside. Follow me." Moving as quickly as he can without breaking into an outright run, he'll sidestep the curious onlookers who've started moving towards the noise and find the nearest secluded alley, turning to glance over his shoulder every so often to make sure Cole's following. He doesn't know a whole lot about the rules of the Night Council, but he does know one thing -- not letting humans know they exist is the most basic rule there is, so Cole making a scene somewhere very public is something nobody wants.

"This should work," he exhales, after glancing around to make sure they're in the all-clear, then straightens, trying to replay the last few bits of their conversation before he booked it. "Okay, let's try this again. You said Rhys left? Your anchor? Why?"

Edited 2017-07-09 04:03 (UTC)

Cole follows, remaining a few steps behind Desmond all the while. He just straight up passes through walls and through other customers, not really caring about what he's doing, until they're in the alley.

"Evangeline was--" Evangeline was trying to exorcise him. To force him to pass on. He can't hate her for that, it was just her job, and he was dangerous.

"Evangeline had to leave so Rhys left as well. Their threads tied together, I could feel it." He had been feeling it for a while. Rhys loved Evangeline and Evangeline loved him as well. So when matters soured, when Evangeline got in trouble for not exorcising the alleyway ghost and Rhys got in trouble for helping Evangeline, they had to leave. The pieces of the answer are in Cole's mind but he's so worried right now, so scattered that he's not putting them together.

"I don't blame them. They're happy. It's just..." He trails off, looking over at Desmond with worried eyes. What's going to happen to him?

It's all rather bewildering for sure, since Cole's fragmented speech made little enough sense before the panic of being unmoored fractured even more. Desmond doesn't exactly know how he can help, granted, but panicking certainly won't improve anything. He doesn't think it would provide more clarity to the immediate situation if he knew who Evangeline was, either (he'll realize this much later, when he hears the witches of the coven gossip about it) but for now ...

"I don't really know what happens when a ghost loses their anchor," Desmond admits, readily enough. Most of the texts he've read are big into the whole 'passing on' and 'laying weary spirits to rest' thing. "Do you feel any different?"

"I feel less. I'm still Cole, I'm still me, but the pieces are slipping away. Falling and fragmented, like a tower about to tumble."

He's still Cole. And he can still do things that he did with Rhys and Evangeline, when he was full. But right now? He can feel the memories about to slip, he can feel his connections with people slip out of his grasp, and he wants to grab them and pull them tight and hold them and not let go. He won't go back to the scared Cole he used to be. He can't let that happen.

"You're a spirit medium. You have to keep me from hurting."

Desmond might not be an expert spirit medium by any means, and he's made a habit of not involving himself in other people's business if he can, but it's much harder to remain indifferent to a direct plea.

"I'm not a spirit medium yet," he admits, quietly. "Not really. But I can try something." He's only ever used the sight to try to identify living things -- a ghost might be different? -- but maybe it can give him some insight on how to help that he lacks right now.

"Then do it!" It's said without fear, without hesitation. If Desmond could help, if Desmond could do something to him to help, then Cole wanted that to happen. He wasn't going to go back to the Cole he was before. He couldn't.

Instead of answering, Desmond's going to concentrate, fingers moving by his side as he concentrates on forming the spell, mouthing the words silently. All it really does is let him see the type of supernatural being he's dealing with here, but maybe -- theoretically -- he would be able to tell if Cole was becoming something other than a ghost, like he seems to fear.

Edited 2017-07-14 04:11 (UTC)

Congratulations, Desmond. You have identified that the ghost...is a ghost. Hot damn you're an amazing witch. All of Cole's worries about becoming are mental, not physical, so they're not showing up in the spell.

Of course, that's not going to stop Cole from talking, worrying, confusing Desmond even more though accidentally giving unintentional answers at the same time. "I was changed then. A changed Cole. Can you bind me? Would that stop me?"

This would be easier if he knew what Cole looked like normally, but as far as Desmond can tell, there's nothing wrong with him -- he's just feeling frightened and scared. Trouble is, when you don't have a body and feelings are all you are, that can get unstable pretty quickly.

However, before he can open his mouth to offer reassurance, Cole keeps going, and Desmond frowns. Bind him? Why would he need to? It almost sounds like ...

"Cole," he says slowly, unconsciously putting emphasis on the world, like it might keep him from babbling further. "When you said 'stop me from hurting,' you weren't talking about hurting yourself, were you?"

Desmond's words, Desmond saying his name hushes him up. Cole's still tense, still scared, still looking like he'll bolt at any moment. At Desmond's question though, he nods, looking amazingly guilty and sad at the same time.

"I didn't mean to," he pleads, looking over at the witch with frightened eyes. "Sad and scared, alone and lonely. I wanted them to see and the only way for them to see was..."

Was hurting. Was Cole hurting other people. He thought it made sense at the time, he thought it was the only way, but now he knows that it wasn't, he was wrong, people got hurt for nothing. Because he was scared.

Cole's a ghost that kills people. Has killed people? It's hard to imagine, as guilt-ridden and obviously terrified as he is in front of Demond right now, barely making any sense. Someone had to leave, so his anchor left too -- was it because they knew what he'd done? No, that doesn't make sense, does it? Desmond can feel his mind starting to whirl and shakes his head, forcing himself to bring it back. Focus..

"I can still see you," he says, with more conviction than he feels. First things first, don't make the scared ghost any more scared, right? He wills the panic and confusion down, focuses on trying to hold calmness in his mind and project it outward, before he tentatively holds out a hand, palm up.

"But ... I need you to stop freaking out, all right?" How can he get ghost to calm down? "Do you have, uh ... a happy memory? Something you can think about?"

Without thinking, without asking, Cole grasps Desmond's hand, holding his hand tight between his own. Cole's solid for this moment and his empathetic abilities start to work. They go both ways: Desmond feels a little trace of fear and panic pull at his thoughts while Cole feels calm in his. The calm wins out and, as Cole starts to calm down, the spike of fear in Desmond's thoughts starts to vanish as well.

"I don't have many memories to begin with. Forgetting and forgotten, the spirit of the alleyway." There's a pause though, as Cole mulls things over. "The happy memories hurt now."

They all involve Rhys. Rhys who left, Rhys his first friend, his only friend. There was a reason, there was a choice, but it still hurts.

Even if Cole hadn't reached out, that would be the next thing Desmond would have suggested anyway. The little jolt of fear as they make contact is unpleasant, but training kicks in as easy as breathing, and Desmond wills it down, along with his surprise that it was there at all. He'd known ghosts could be influenced by emotions, but he didn't think it could go both ways.

"Okay," Desmond says, trying to tamp down the weirdness of hey, I'm holding hands with a ghost in an alley, this isn't weird or creepy at all! Cole feels strange to the touch, both solid and not, and if he concentrates too hard it kind of screws him up, so he thinks about something Cole could concentrate on instead.

"Do you like cats?"

Cats?

"I suppose so?" It's honestly nothing he's really thought about before. He's only really talked with one cat but sitting down, thinking about his likes and dislikes, it's something that Cole hasn't actually done before. So Desmond's question does distract him, but not int he way that the other man likely intended. What does he like?

"I think I like rabbits the best."

Rabbits, huh? Desmond can't say he has any opinion on those, but..

"... Okay. Well." He clears his throat, slightly. "Tell me about rabbits. What do you like about them?"

Desmond's pretty sure this isn't the way you ground a ghost, but hey, he's never been one to shy away from improvising. He won't let his own uncertainty linger, and focuses on continuing to project reassurance and steady calm, slowing his breath and letting go of his worries one by one.

"They're nice. Coming up close, nuzzling their head in your shirt, friendly and fun. We raised them for a while when I was alive. I liked them the best."

It's said without thinking, as an idle thought. Indeed, Cole doesn't seem to realize that he remembered an aspect of his life while alive. It's just a fact: he likes rabbits. And, whether he means for it to happen or not, Desmond's grounding technique works. Cole's distracted. And Desmond's calm, Desmond's steady, which makes him feel just as calm and just as steady.

So he remembers something about being alive? Desmond doesn't know much about ghosts (and he suspects he's going to have to learn some more very quickly, or he's going to feel enormously responsible if Cole gets loose and just ... starts killing people) but an ability to hold on to who they are, as people instead of just parts of themselves, is a good sign.

"Never had any rabbits where I grew up," Desmond offers in return -- one bit of information in return for another. It's not the kind of thing you can force, being an anchor, but if he feels like he knows a little bit about Cole, and Cole knows a little bit about himself, maybe that will help. Share something about how if they'd been raising them, it would probably have been for food and not as pets ... ? No, that's probably not going to help.

"Sounds like you had more than just rabbits, though."

Edited 2017-07-23 04:51 (UTC)

"Maybe?" What Cole remembers about being alive is scattered and tossed to the wind. Small details here and there. A name. A face. Nothing more coherent than that. Still, if Desmond wants him to try then that's the least he can do: just actually try.

"There were four of us. There were three of us and one other. Alone and afraid, we couldn't do anything even if we wanted to."

Desmond isn't sure he likes where this is headed, so it's probably time to steer Cole back to safer waters. "Hey, it's all right," he murmurs. "Don't think about that right now. Just, um, concentrate on me and try to think calm thoughts, all right?"

Cole nods. Concentrate on Desmond, focus on Desmond, he's got this, he can do this. His hands drift in and out of solidness, becoming tangible and intangible from second to second. However, when they are solid, Cole's just squeezing Desmond's hands as hard as he can, trying to soak up as much calmness and quiet from the other man as possible.

And hey! It's working! Good job Desmond, you're getting this medium thing somewhat down.

july catch-all for desmond

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