westwhere

Entry tags:

OTA

WHO: Ben and Anyone
WHEN: Backdated to October 26th-early November ish
WHERE: Can be vague / multiple locations
WHAT: Ben's hearing screams and has tossed this doll out so many times
WARNINGS: haunted doll, unintentional gaslighting, mild obscenities

One more Look
The doll was innocent enough. Handed to him by some child with dead eyes that didn't quite meet Ben's gaze as it lifted up doll in offering. Ben had picked it up, noting the uncomfortable resemblance to his brother Klaus, even down to its clothes, little goatee, and hair color, curls and length. Ben was about to return it to the child when...the child was gone. He left the doll out in the street. Somehow, though, that didn't stop the doll from finding Ben later.

It was the middle of the night, so only the people he's staying with would be aware, when Ben finds himself brought awake by the screaming doll. They, though, can't hear it. He grabs it from the foot of his bed and inspects it.

"Shut up," he tells it, firmly, like if he was talking to Klaus himself. Then he stuffs the doll under his pillow and slams his head on it.

At the Ghost
The next time, Ben rushes out of a place, carrying the screaming doll out in front of him. It doesn't move, and no one else can hear it, but he still doesn't understand why not. It's so loud. And very much Klaus. Only Klaus would be this obnoxious.

"You hear it, right?" he asks the first person he sees, and shoves the doll in their face. "It won't stop!"

Before I'm gonna make it Leave
Ben tosses the doll into the road, figures it will get trampled by passerby, ground into the dirt, but just in case, he grabs for a random person and points to the doll a few feet away.

"You see that, right? That I'm just leaving it there. It's doomed."

If he has to, next time, he's just going to burn the damn thing.

[OOC: Will do [, (, past, present, prose, whichever is most comfortable - I will follow. Feel free to contact me on plurk

metaljean, on this journal, or discord midknightcat to discuss ideas.]

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The fact that Five is suggesting he show someone should be proof enough that he's trustworthy. Doesn't he know how rigorous his screening process is?

"A friend." Although his brow furrows the moment after he says it. He's still not really sure if he's made up for what happened between them, but he also doesn't think this is the kind of favor Wrath would refuse. Curses are dangerous for everyone. "A demon, more specifically, but he can usually sense things like that. Maybe undo it if we're lucky."

"I need more than that, Five, like a name -" Ben stops when Five mentions he's a demon.

"Oh. I think I know him." He thinks back on his encounter with a demon, but no, he doesn't think he caught his name then, either.

"Unless you know multiple demons that know both you and Allison, here?"

Five did ask Wrath already, if he'd met his brother and if he could tell if he was really here. Alive. There's few others he'd trust to get confirmation from, and he's grateful Ben already had that meeting. Because he's a demon with all that entails, but also someone that's looked out for his family.

"His name is Wrath." And sure, that implies he's less-than-safe, so he's quick to add: "You can trust him. Him and his wife Emilia are about the only people you should."

True, there's also Kamala on the exclusive list of people Five trusts, but she can't help with this current situation.

"They should be able to tell what's going on with... this."

The extra information helps, as does the previous encounter with Wrath, who had done nothing to betray Ben's trust, yet.

"Okay. Lead the way, then," Ben gestures his arm toward the door indicating, yes, even in the middle of the night, they should go look into this doll situation. He's that desperate for a good night's sleep.

Ordinarily Five would be happy to consider this an emergency that they need to bother Wrath with in the middle of the night, but he hesitates to call in that favor. Both because he's in a weird place with Wrath to be demanding favors and because of Ben's unexpected urgency.

He stares at him, concern mounting again. Ben might be downplaying this.

"Is it screaming now?"

Whenever Five doesn't look at it, the doll does whisper to Ben. Can't handle anything by yourself, huh. Have to get your big-brother-not-big-brother? What is he anyway? Younger than you or older than you? Between all the dying and time traveling I can't keep up.

He looks at the doll when Five questions him, then back to Five and answers, "No." It's not a lie. It's not screaming.

Five can tell by the way his attention shifts to the doll that he's not telling him everything. He can forgive him for that, but he isn't in the habit of letting things go. Especially when they involve a curse. He gives him a few seconds to elaborate before getting impatient.

"What's it saying?"

Ben's expression tightens to Five's question - he got found out, fast.

"Nothing important. It's just being ridiculous." He does not want to have this conversation of who is older. They're supposed to be the same age. What does a doll know of that, anyway?

"Ben." He tries not to sound annoyed. He's not, but he also isn't going to drop something potentially critical to understanding the nature of a cursed doll. All he's doing is making him assume the worst.

"What did it say?"

He frowns at Five.

"Were you always this stubborn?" Haven't all of them always been stubborn? Despite the controlling nature of Reginald Hargreeves, at least.

"It says it doesn't know if you're my little brother now because of appearances, or older brother because of how long you've lived."

Oh. Five continues to frown, unsure if Ben was projecting on the doll or if it knows everything Ben does.

"Sorry I asked." Is that what he and Klaus usually talked about? Either way, he feels compelled to clarify for the both of them: "Older, by the way. Significantly."

And thus in charge of whatever the hell this is.

"Does it sound like Klaus?"

It's not exactly the topics they would talk about, but the banter feel of it isn't much different.

Ben now frowns at Five. Then he levels out a hand and places it around Five's height.

"I'm not sure it works that way, either."

For a second, Ben doesn't look at Five, then he mutters, "Yeah. It does."

Five narrows his eyes, mildly offended, when Ben points out his height. He isn't much taller when he's older, so it's not even a valid point.

"It works that way. The thing that doesn't add up is why you look older." Five's mishap in time travel is perfectly explainable, but why did Ben's ghost grow older? Something to do with Klaus, surely. Klaus who may or may not be taking up residence in a possessed doll.

"Klaus was here, I'm told." He frowns. His memories still haven't returned from that moment in time, so he can only go by what Allison relayed. Trying to think about it too much always brings on headaches. "I hate to say there's a chance he's really in there, but anything is possible. You two were obviously linked."

It's not remotely valid, but it's feels good to pull in such a petty matter, anyway.

Ben sucks in air with words on his tongue, then pauses. "You're right.... That actually doesn't make any sense." He's not sure he wants to even think of the implications, right now.

Five says there's a chance the doll could even be Klaus, and Ben bends it at the waist and gives it a serious look. "I guess I should stop trying to leave it out in the street and dump it in the trash, then." A shrug. "Just in case."

If he asks, Five would at least give him the grace to say he's as old as he's walked this earth, alive or dead. From what he understands, he was with Klaus the entire time, and if that doesn't age a person nothing will.

Maybe it's that simple.

The doll is more complicated, but as much as Five doesn't pity him, he nods in agreement. The thing is clearly cursed, but they need to find out how exactly. There's always a chance they get thrown a curveball.

"For now. Although if it is Klaus, he might not object." He did find him crawling around in the dumpster during his brief dash through the academy back in 2019. Before he can get too far though, he wants to make sure he doesn't get his hopes up either way. "There's also a chance it's pulling from you. It's done that with me, a few times. Not dolls, but... reflections. Usually had something to do with atonement."

Maybe it is that simple. Ben isn't going to mind if that's the case. He deserves the years and aging after that. If it's anything else, they'll have to worry about it later - they can't do much about it from here.

As for the doll, Ben seems to hold it more reverently, thinking it could truly be Klaus, now. Even if it was just some sort of ploy, some curse drawing from his mind, why risk it?

"I did have one of those reflections. With the dark water? That wasn't fun." He looks down at the doll.

Ben dealt with the dark water and he's just finding out about it now? Five flexes his jaw, but keeps his temper in check. He's not mad at Ben for not immediately telling him as much as he's angry with himself for not finding out because he was distracted by something less important.

"Mine was a ghost." Simply stated, for the record, so Ben isn't caught off guard. He knows about the dark water though, and how dangerous it can be, so he won't be dropping this for the time being. "What happened?"

It just never came up in conversation. Ben might learn, at some point, he needs to brief his brother almost like Reginald after a mission.

"What did this ghost do?" Since Ben is getting asked questions, he's going to ask in return. Okay, no, that's not fair. He's honestly curious.

He shrugs a little. "Water me said some horrible things, and that friend of yours, Wrath, he helped take care of him. So I didn't have to." Ben was particularly grateful for that.

Oh. That's when he met Wrath. Five deflates some of the offense he was building, because he did actually know something about that. Maybe someday he'll stop overreacting to every little danger Ben runs into, but he hasn't yet reached that point.

It occurs to him that ghosts might be a particular interest for Ben. It was hardly the first Five had run into, but it was the first he would have personally liked to put an end to.

"The ghost was part of a group that messed with time. It made me see someone else I cared about." Leaving out that it was Dolores that he saw, and that he was so desperate to talk to her again that he kept that going a lot longer than he should have. Does Ben even know Dolores? He made a point not to explain her to his family, but it's hard to tell when Ben was around and he wasn't aware. "They wanted everyone to be at peace with the time loop they created, or some other bullshit. These kinds of tricks are nothing new."

While he will be a little sarcastic about it, and maybe defensive, it is sweet Five cares so much. Ben isn't going to deny that.

Ben wasn't very aware of the Dolores situation, more because Klaus hadn't been present for most of her presence.

"No," Ben says firmly. "No more time loops. We need to get out of those, not tolerate them." So that's what he thinks of that.

It's nice, if a little pointed, that Ben has an immediate reaction to time loops. He would mention that what Five did was never a loop, but he does agree with the general sentiment. He doesn't trust a single person not to screw up the universe the moment they start manipulating the timeline, and it was always idiotic that group thought they'd be able to contain it forever.

"We broke it. Not without consequence, but it's done." He is an authority on the subject, and he wouldn't have stood for anything less. "All I was saying is that it's out there; the ability to change time that had nothing to do with me. We can't assume anything is impossible, because I've been seeing the impossible since I came here."

"So many consequences," Ben also says, a little pointedly, looking directly at Five, seeing as Five's current form is a direct consequence of messing with time. He isn't sure how he feels about the going back in time business. They had to. Of course, there are still the consequences to the place they find themselves in.

"What about here? What kind of consequences have there been?" He lifts an eyebrow.

"You've only seen the impossible since getting here? I feel like we did the impossible quite a bit, ourselves."

Five looks briefly uncomfortable at the way Ben reminds him of something he doesn't need to. As if what he looks like is the only consequence he suffered, but it is the thing he's most embarrassed about. It's been years now and he's sure to have grown in that time, but he's hardly spent a day when someone hasn't mistaken him for a kid.

"...There are a different set of rules here. I've never figured them out, and I've tried." There was a time when he stole volumes of books trying to understand magic, and it's still a mystery to him. Too many contradictions. Being able to calculate time travel and spatial jumps are a completely different beast.

For a moment he looks like he's stuck on what could be a sizable tangent on what happens when you break a time loop. It was messy and did nothing to show off his expertise in something he's never mastered, so it's somewhat transparent when he pushes them back to the task at hand.

"What happened isn't relevant right now." Rant successfully contained, he jerks his head towards the door. "Let's get your doll looked at."

Ben notes the discomfort, something to keep in mind for later, but, well, it is a consequence. Still, Five doesn't verbally respond, so neither does Ben.

"Seems like most things are different here," Ben mutters. Like water, how powers work in full. Now this. "Could be worse. At least you remember me and Allison." Not remember them would be a huge problem.

It is very transparent, but Ben can't blame Five, either. They do have a task in front of them.

"Is it not relevant?" Ben asks, but his tone isn't serious. He lifts the Klaus doll and nods his head, all the same.

Something complicated passes over Five's face at Ben's response, but he remains firmly on the task ahead. Curses are nothing to leave alone, and he'd really like to figure out if Klaus is stuck inside that thing. Probably not, but he can't rule it out until he confirms with someone who can sense what's really going on.

"Not relevant to this situation, but if you really want to know I'll tell you on the way." He grabs the door and gestures for Ben to follow him out to take care of this right now, despite the time of night.

It will give them something to talk about on the way there, aside from cursed dolls, and he'll find it's something that Five has no trouble expounding on when it's not solely about his failures. Once he gets to hear his entire opinion on time loops, how this one broke, and what that means in the world of quantum physics in relation to them, he might find he should have heeded Five's warning.

Of course, once they find out it's not in fact Klaus trapped in there, that doesn't make the problem go away. But nobody can say that he didn't try.

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OTA

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Wrap on the doll?

wrap!