Alex Kralie (
rosswood) wrote in
entrancelogs2016-07-22 06:26 pm
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one man who thought he knew a way to always get through [open]
Who: Alex Kralie and you
Where: The gardens, the kitchen, and then the fourth floor
When: July 22nd
Rating: PG-13 (guns, mental health and trauma, panic attacks and dissociation, self-harm, Alex's foulmouth)
Summary: Alex returns from his canon update, four years older and filled with self-righteous frustration. Also he has a gun now. Prose or brackets, I'll match either!
The Story:
gardens; playing tricks on the mind, thought that he'd won this time
Where: The gardens, the kitchen, and then the fourth floor
When: July 22nd
Rating: PG-13 (guns, mental health and trauma, panic attacks and dissociation, self-harm, Alex's foulmouth)
Summary: Alex returns from his canon update, four years older and filled with self-righteous frustration. Also he has a gun now. Prose or brackets, I'll match either!
The Story:
gardens; playing tricks on the mind, thought that he'd won this time
The breath is choked in his throat from the arm that looped itself around his neck, squeezing and squeezing even though he clawed at it. He aimed for the eyes, but his fingertips touched only smooth plastic. He managed to utter one final strangled shout, and when he breathes in again, he's somewhere else.kitchen; he’s roaming corridors and lies in wait for us all
Green grass, a temperature easily more bearable than Alabama's ungodly heat, hills and flowers in full bloom. If this is what dying feels like, consider Alex underwhelmed. One hand automatically reaches for his neck, fingertips scraping about a week's worth of stubble, the bruises clustered around his throat where that masked bastard nearly asphyxiated him by crushing his windpipe. It still throbs, like the rest of him, but he doesn't grimace, or flinch, or groan. His jaw sets. He's stomached worse, far worse, and will likely suffer more for what he's had to do.
And all thanks to Jay goddamn Merrick.
His grip tightens on the gun in his hand. Two bullets went streaking out in his shock at being beset upon from behind, but neither scored hits on their intended targets. At least if anyone was dragged here with him, he'll be prepared. He'll be...
Memories that were formerly prickling behind his eyelids abruptly come spilling back. Wonderland. Of course.
So he's back again.
And he's alone.
The rustle of footsteps through grass sparks a flurry of panic rising in his chest, and he spins around to train the piece on whoever's approaching. Sorry, whoever you are. Instinct's a bitch, and his nerves are shot to hell thanks to almost dying just now.
He's been living on the road for longer than he cares to admit. He's been eating out of gas stations, fast food joints, going long stretches of time without anything but the plasticy water bottles cooking in the trunk of his car for god only knows how long, and he's tired of it. Now that he's starting to remember the way the place is set up, the first place he heads is the kitchen to make himself a goddamn sandwich.fourth floor; but now you're just empty
He sets the gun on the counter with a quiet click. Then he thinks better of it, and keeps it tucked in his waistband.
He eats ravenously, with little regard for the mess he's making or who he might be offending with his nonexistent table manners. He hasn't eaten genuine food for weeks and maybe months, shut up. He's had no time for it, between Jay being a total moron and Jessica getting involved and Tim being the way he is and Amy being -
The sandwich abruptly starts to taste like ash in his mouth. He...Amy is...look, okay. Okay. He did what he had to, okay, she was getting into shit and she had no idea and it's not like he wanted to do it, but she's - and he had to - and -
Alex braces both hands across the countertop, eyes screwed shut behind his glasses as he tries to get a fucking grip on himself and not panic because he's not panicking all right, he's not, he's definitely not, he's just - he's fine. He's fine, he's fine, it's all fine, just breathe like a regular human beingeven if he's not, not anymoreand act like you aren't some kind of hollowed-out fucking shell. Act like a person.
Instinctively, he gropes for the soothing side of himself (it's got to be himself, right, that voice that hums that it'll be fine, even if it hurts to hear any of those words slamming into his head, distorted and twisted and humming with a sense of wrongness he can't place), but it's gone. It's gone, and he's alone again. Alone and - fuck. Fucking shit hell goddamnit.
He's ended up on the floor somehow, back pressed against one of the cupboards, the handles digging into his back but that's fine, it's all right, and fingertips sunk into the flesh of his arms and - and that's fine too. They're scoring long red streaks down his forearms and a few of the scratches have drawn blood, but it's cool, it's fine, he's got this under control if he could just think through the grayed-out slowness of his own thoughts and turn back to his lunch, or dinner, or whatever's become of the sandwich lying abandoned on the counter, and stop freaking panicking over nothing.
Room forty-four, fourth floor. Bile curdles in his throat. It's like a sick joke, after all that shit that masked freak has pulled. Today is your last birthday.
He stands outside his room, still looking as haggard and exhausted and beaten and worn-out as he feels. He stands there for a really long time, momentarily lost in himself or not-himself or whatever alternatives to himself he can grasp at, really, he'll take anything, anything that means he doesn't have to live in his own insufferable head for five fucking minutes.
When he comes back to himself, his lip curls in a sneer. He flicks his middle finger up at the 44 symbol on his door, slow and deliberate.
Yeah. Fuck you, totheark.
gardens
"That doesn't work."
It's all he says before his gaze drifts over him cautiously. There's something different there even if he can't figure out what it is.
"Welcome back."
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And it takes him a moment to realize that his self-righteous diatribe is both in his head and wholly irrelevant.
Tall guy. Standing there like a gun pointed to his face means nothing. Alex blinks a few times, rapidly. Damon. Vampire. Right.
The gun lowers slowly.
"How long've I been gone?" His voice is rough, scratched at the edges from shouting, as if his vocal cords are bleeding.
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"Not sure. Someone put up a post asking where you were yesterday, but I think you've been gone longer than that."
A week's about the usual, but it's not like Alex missed much. On the other hand, it looks like he went through some hell back wherever he's from.
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He can check. Yeah. That'll be fine. He can check.
"Yesterday," he repeats with an air of skepticism. How long, he'd thought he'd have to ask, not how short.
He blows out a long breath. "Jesus Christ. Yesterday? Really? So it's been...it's actually been days."
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Gardens
"Not really interested in getting shot at the moment. Besides, you look like you could use the clinic. Why don't you put down the gun and I'll help you get there."
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But, right. He's got a ring of bruises around his neck. Probably looks worse for wear too. But whatever. That's fine. That's tenable. He's had worse.
"Who're you?" says Alex sharply, his grip on the small gun unwavering.
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He thought he took care of the little asshole.
"Alex," he says shortly, manners be damned.
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kitchen
"Alex? You came back."
He's really not good, and she kneels in front of him but not too close, not wanting to invade his personal space.
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Her name escapes him. Like Jay did, like Jessica, and it's not his fault they got away but christ this is unbearable. He grits his teeth, hard enough to feel the grinding of them, hard enough for his jaw to ache.
"Yeah," he manages at last, through the fog of his own thoughts, and he still can't remember why can't he remember is his brain just slow, sluggish from nearly getting the life choked out of it? "I'm getting that."
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But her concern isn't about herself, it's about him. "Are you hurt anywhere?" She glances at his arms, then back at his face.
cw suicide ideation
His fingernails bite into the flesh of hims again, and he shakes his head numbly.
"No. I mean, yeah. I know who you - " Breath. Deep breath. Out again. "I remember."
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cw some vague self-harm in here
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You know, if you eat all that at once, when you haven't for a while, you might make yourself sick. I did that once.
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HOW 'BOUT MAYBE YOU CHILLAlex glares at the guy who just ups and offers his opinion, and partially out of spite, doesn't slow down in his chewing in the least. He looks vaguely familiar, but Alex doesn't bother to track that line of thought. It'd be useless anyway.]
What's it to you?
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Just seen it before. People go for long enough without proper food, then make themselves ill. It won't actually help you feel any better.
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[He doesn't paw for the shape of the gun tucked away, but his hand twitches.]
Does Wonderland shit even count as real food?
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kitchen
"Kid. Alex." She kneels down, confirms it's him, makes sure not to touch him because wow, this looks like the opposite of anything good. "It's Shepard. Haven't seen you in a while."
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Kid, she calls him. Her name isn't coming to him. Good thing she gives it right away.
He grits his teeth and doesn't look at her, reddened half-moons torn into the skin of his forearms where he gripped them too tight.
"Wasn't in the area," he says. His voice sounds atypically distant, but precise, controlled, sharp, even while his body trembles.
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"Hey. Breathe for me, okay? Count five in, five out." She shifts her breathing to match, counting in her head. "I know Wonderland's messed up, but you're safe right now. You're in the kitchen, getting some food. You're gonna be okay." Shepard has no idea about his situation, and can't get into specifics, but hopefully this is... reassuring? Or something? Her basic qualifications for helping someone with a panic attack is that she gets panic attacks, and that's not an incredible qualification when most of those end in screaming and punching a wall.
"I've got you. Nothing's coming while I'm here. Breathe. Five in, five out."
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The fourth floor; hope this is okay!
To check up on him. To be there for him when he gets back.
...And to read his notes. His many strange papers. Maybe to even watch tapes. When else would Alex Kralie let her see that side of him? She had to take that chance... but he's now come back sooner than she expected.
Regardless, she's shocked to see him standing there, hand raised in his mean gesture at the innocent room numbers. She quickly closes the gap between them, calling out to him.
"Alex?" The closer she gets, the more she's sure it's him. But he looks so much more... fatigued. And older, too. God, how long was he away? Wonderland is so strange. "You're back!"
always!!!
It takes him a moment to recall her name, but it comes remarkably easier, quicker than any of the others.
"Max," he says, more as means of affirming of her name to himself than actually addressing her. Why's she here? She doesn't live on this floor. Has she been checking on him?
She knows, she knows, she knows. That's right. Because he told her. How much? His door might not've been locked - he didn't plan on taking a four year vacation to the Rosswood area, he'd just up and vanished spontaneously, and anyone could've gone through here and he hadn't been around to replenish his security camera tapes and he has to stifle a frustrated groan.
"I...yeah. Just got back." He looks at her warily as he opens the door with a brusque jerk of his hand. He expects a fine patina of dust to be settled over everything, but there's a notable lack of it. "I guess."
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She eyes him back just as warily, especially once he looks into his room. So what? She went in. That's not something she needs to hide, right?
"Are you okay? You look... older." She walks over to follow him into his room if he goes in. "I was worried."
Her mind keeps going to her pepper spray, stowed away in her bag. Who knows what he went through back home? Maybe he got better... she hopes, she hopes.
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UH SUICIDE IDEATION CW HOO BOY
WHAT IS THIS L:KASJV:LAK
everything is . f i n e..........
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Looks like Alex is back. He looks...well, like shit, but also maybe older? It's kinda hard to tell with humans, mostly because Sans doesn't know all that many adult humans. Just the ones who are here, and Wonderland probably isn't the sample group. No researcher worth his salt would ever accept this lot.
Sans mostly just wants to turn around and walk away, but...panic attacks suck. This reminds him too much of Alphys, or even of the rare occasions when he wakes up wrong and has to sit in the corner of his room for a little while until he remembers how to function.
"...hey. alex. can you hear me?"
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Literally anything else, his brain snarls back, sounding suspiciously like the blare of static that accompanies one of those cryptic fucking videos uploaded by what's-his-face - totheark. Totheark. What bullshit.
Then there's a voice and he looks up out of reflex and there's white, there's white and there's white and there's white and there's white looming over him and he wishes whoever was shouting would shut up until he realizes that it's him, he's the one shouting -
Alex doesn't even realize he's fired the gun until it's already happened, the tip of it smoking, the air sharp with the acrid smell of cordite, his grip on the revolver trembling.
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Normally, a dodge is exactly that, a dodge--verbal, mental, physical, just some kind of sidestep or lean and the swish of a MISS. If you can see it coming, you can dodge it, unless--well, haha, unless it's a piece of metal traveling at supersonic speeds toward your rib cage. The only think that's ever really been quick about Sans is his mind, so all it takes is the shout and the flash of metal to realize, okay, this was a terrible idea, and that's a gun, and it's aimed at him, and that means it's time to dodge.
He has very little experience with guns. Sometimes the anomaly comes at him with a gun, but it's empty, and Sans is pretty sure it just fires...maybe raw Determination or something? Doesn't really matter. What he knows about guns comes from books and movies and a few of those slow motion videos that involve a bullet shredding through some inanimate object. One time he actually looked up how fast the average bullet travels and yikes. Monster bullets aren't that fast. Half of them practically float.
Needless to say, he's good at dodging, but even he can't dodge real bullets. He has two options that boil down to "probably dying" and "probably not dying," and 0 seconds to decide what to do.
There's a brief flicker of electric-blue light, something that smells faintly of ozone, and abruptly Sans is about three feet to the right. The bullet hits the wall behind where he was standing and holy fucking shit, he had absolutely no idea that gunshots were that loud. His skull is ringing.
"alex, stop, it's me. it's sans."
The smart idea would be to teleport about a mile away and leave Alex to his devices, but. But. But the next person who walks into this kitchen is almost certainly going to get shot, and it could be Frisk, or Chara, or Papyrus, or anyone at all.
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cw suicide ideation
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