oceanview || ❝ two worlds colliding, there ain't no bargaining. ❞

[outlierdirector]

OCEANVIEW PATHS

but we can leave our gilded cages.

Two worlds colliding
There ain't no bargaining
No giving in without a fight CODE BY TESSISAMESS

Comments

[crazyisinevitable]

Yeah, I think you'd call me crazy. Not because of that, but because- [ He shakes his head and his frown deepens. ] Look, I don't know how to handle this, okay? Crazy shadow people running around in the woods, in town... People I can't see but are there. What do you even call her? She's not a person, but she's... something.

[ He rubs his eyes with both hands because this is all a lot for him to try and make sense of. ] I think you'd call me crazy because I spent so long pretending I didn't see things, and- I guess I can see things and I can't pretend anymore, can I?

[ To Alan, he thinks he sounds crazy. And what's crazier is the realization that he's actually trying to make heads or tails of this crazy world they're both in. ]

I don't- I don't want you to leave. [ He might not know very much, and he might not have answers to his questions, but he knows one thing: ] I don't want you to leave by yourself.

[ He's sure that Beth is going to wonder where this sudden change in attitude is coming from, and while he's not looking at the other Alan, the expression on his face is one wondering the same thing.

Maybe Alan never wanted to be apart from Beth. Maybe all the weirdness scared him at first, but maybe he realized that he could deal with a little weirdness if it meant getting to stay with her. ]

If you leave Cauldron Lake, I'm going with you.

[outlierdirector]

Polaris. [ Beth answers immediately, quietly, more like a child who has been caught with her hand in a cookie jar. ] Her name is Polaris. She's a friend.

[ « And probably the reason why whatever is in the Lake hasn't done anything to Alan. Or me. Aren't you? »

Polaris shifts around her in confirmation. ]

I wouldn't have called you crazy. Just... wondering why suddenly you believed it. [ Her gaze drops to the side. ] Yes, you've been able to see things.

[ « Things that have saved people's lives. I don't think he'd react well to that. Knowing that there's been things he's said or told me in his dreams I've had to report to the Buearu. He won't trust me anymore and maybe that's fair. »

Beth simply raises her eyes to the Alan who does admit to all of the weirdness. The Alan that she has the feeling this weird room belongs to. Her gaze settles on Elizabeth. She frowns. What the hell is she doing here?

What the hell is going on? ]

Maybe we should of left Bright Falls a long time ago.

[ Elizabeth sighs then. ] Leaving Bright Falls won't stop what's going on with Alan. It doesn't matter where the two of you go. You can ask him. [ A hand gestures to the one sitting beside her. ] He's been through it, you know.

[crazyisinevitable]

Polaris. All right. [ Something about the name just makes him feel... relieved without really understanding why. There's an undercurrent of not trusting any of this, but even though he still has a long way to go towards believing in the unknown, much less trusting someone like Polaris... the fact that Beth isn't running away from it helps somehow. ] If you say she's a friend, I'll believe you. [ I guess. What choice do I really have? I want to fix what I messed up, and I can't do that if I don't accept this as what it is. ]

I guess I sort of believe in it, because- I don't know. [ He pauses. ] I believe you more, though, if that makes sense. [ It probably doesn't. ]

So what does that mean, that I can see things? What does that mean for us? Should we leave Bright Falls?

[ He looks at Beth for an answer, but the other person in the room speaks up first. ]

What the hell does that mean? This stuff is just going to follow us- follow me everywhere? [ He finds himself glaring at the other Alan as if somehow blaming him for this. ] Should Beth leave, then?

[ The other Alan standing next to Elizabeth shakes his head, crossing his arms as he thinks about the situation in front of him. ] She could, but something tells me she won't. [ He levels a look of apology in Beth's direction. ] Besides, I don't think you really want her to go.

[outlierdirector]

[ Beth looks down again. It isn't hard to catch that undercurrent in Alan's tone. Not that she expected him to immediately believe her and consider Polaris a friend or ally. Still, it somehow makes her want to box everything she has just exposed back up and never speak of it again. Defense mechanisms she thought she left behind when she was married and had someone who wanted to spend the rest of their life with her. ]

She's not... always here. [ She tentatively tries to explain once more. ] It's been awhile since I heard from her.

I don't know what it means for you, Alan. I can't guess when this is the firs time...

[ Beth falls quiet despite the questions and the discussion on what she'll do. What does it matter what she does? This is Alan's path they're talking about. Not hers. She only stayed in Bright Falls because it was where Alan wanted to be... and because she could protect her home town. Though, it seems that isn't really needed anymore. not with the Bureau being there as they are.

Elizabeth sighs and pushes herself from the desk. She takes a few steps forward before dramatically gesturing with her arms to the two Alans. ] Your powers are YOURS, Alan. You can't run away from something that is naturally apart of you. Not thinking about it is simply ignoring it: not running away from it all. You see things from other places in time and space. Peoples lives. You always have, haven't you? HE has.

[crazyisinevitable]

[ That surprises him, for some reason. He just figured that Beth and Polaris were part and parcel, never really apart. He's not even sure how he knows that; maybe it's some kind of deduction that part of him thinks he shouldn't have. ]

Does she do that a lot? Leave, I mean?

[ But then Alan flinches slightly under the weight of Elizabeth's words. He doesn't normally react like that, but there was some strange kind of power or energy or what the hell ever behind it. He doesn't really like it, but there's a hell of a lot of things he doesn't like.

He lets out a breath and rubs the back of his neck. His gaze travels first to Beth, then to the other him, then back to Elizabeth. ]

If they're mine, why don't they feel like mine? Is it because I didn't ask for any of this? Let me guess: I have to figure that out for myself.

[ The other Alan decided his role here was to just observe, not talk. That's fine with him, really, given how he does nothing but talk sometimes. But he feels a pointed look from Elizabeth landing on him, and he figure he better say something or she'll jab him with her elbow or something. ]

I think... Trying to is enough. Putting in the effort. [ He glances at Beth. ] I think people can surprise you; you just have to ask for help sometimes.