ukan | IC CONTACT

"Let me stay and talk to Martin?" It's a request, one he's ready to have denied. "I don't want him to think I did this for any reason except to help you."

Jon nods and breathes in deep. Breathes out slow.

"He'll know it was me. But I would never tell you- it's fine. He'll be livid at me. I'll make sure of it."

"He can be angry at me, too." Lark, to his mild surprise, doesn't want Jon to take all the blame on himself. He doesn't want to be the reason his friend's relationship is strained, even if it's just for a few days.

"You have enough people angry at you," he says fondly with a shake of his head. "But mostly, it's just- he's very protective. And he's been having enough trouble connecting with people here. I'd rather he not be upset with you."

"People are always angry with me," he says, the same way he'd say 'my eyes are brown'. "But all right. I'll let you face his wrath alone. If he makes you sleep on the couch just keep your leg elevated."

"Of course," though he didn't add anything more defensive than that. "And that's my line. Though I suppose that does explain quite a lot."

"Now what does a nice archivist like you do to piss people off?" Lark grins. They're at the elevator, he bumps the button and waits, Jon still comfortably in his arms.

"Ha. ha. ha." Very funny. "...you know, I haven't actually upset anyone in some time. I'm starting to wonder if there's something wrong with me."

"You haven't been shaking enough cages," Lark agrees, grinning and maneuvering them inside the car. "I can't do it all by myself, you know. Can you hit the floor button for me?"

He reaches over and does just that.

"Yes, well," he huffs out, "you end the world and then un-end the world and you need a bit of a rest up before you're ready to bother people."

"What brought you back here after saving the world, anyway?" He's never asked. Jon's world is worse than hell, as far as Lark knows, and he hasn't wanted to dig at any wounds that might have a chance to heal.

“Because I’m going to need another deal to defuse the bomb that went off,” he explains. “Namely me. At the moment, I could go back and have the same bloody thing happen all over again. A more… decisive solution needs to be implemented.”

He knows how complicated Jon's world is. There are some worlds he knows he needs to just sit down and map out, make flow charts of: Jon's and Archer's specifically. But this is a problem he wants to understand better now.

"What, specifically, will your deal be?"

"Close the Entities off from my world," he says quietly, "off from every world. Restore all of the avatars to their humanity. However awful it might be...

"At least they'll have a choice as to whether be that awful. And even if it builds back up again, happens again..."

He rubs at the back of his neck.

"Hopefully it'll be centuries after I'm long gone before it happens."

"And if it does, you can at least leave a road map for someone to follow then," Lark says, always seeing the long game before he sees the details.

"Will it change anything in you?"

"...theoretically, I'd be human again. I'm, uh," he glances towards the door as his mind goes elsewhere, "I'm exploring options for that, just in case, however. I'd much rather not die if I don't have to."

Lark tries not to let his relief show, tries not to let on that he'd been feeling that subject out. He doesn't want Jon dead, and perhaps more importantly he doesn't want Jon to want to die.

"A human with a very impressive werewolf scar," he muses. "I think if the Admiral can save worlds, he should be able to grant you a safe world and a human body."

"One should hope," he says with a small huff. "Martin's going to take care of those I was originally covering with my deal. Well, those who haven't managed to graduate themselves, anyway."

That's a smile to Lark.

His head tips ever so slightly. "Wait- what was your deal going to cover? Or should I say, who? People here?"

He huffs a little, mostly in amusement.

"The way I worded my deal was to include anyone who acted as an archival assistant or who assisted an Archivist in their work. At the time, you had been here for ages and didn't seem to see any end in sight. So I... admit I was hoping that you would be considered on that list, as my assistant on the archive for the Barge."

He tilts his head towards the door.

"At this point, though, it would technically include Gerry, who's here now. In my wildest dreams, I never thought he'd show up here."

Lark opens the cabin door, shuts it with his foot, and looks for the best place to set Jon down. "You know, I'd still like to assist you. However, and wherever, I can. This," the biting, "isn't all I'm good at."

"But you are very good at this," he says as he points towards the couch, which is only a few feet from the door. He relaxes as he realizes that Martin won't be bothering them about this. At least for the moment.

"The fact is that I'm not... all that sure collecting stories is a good idea for me at the moment."

"You've mentioned it a bit before," Lark says, settling Jon down and then sitting on the floor beside him. "I got the impression it's a compulsion of sorts?"

How does he put this?

"...I'm fine. I want that clear. I am fine," because he doesn't want Lark to panic. "But there's something said among the avatars of my world: 'feed your patron, or he will feed on you'."

He look over from his spot on the couch.

"I choose not to 'feed' the way it would like. Meaning many of my powers are... wobbly. Difficult to control. And given the sort of people who come here, there's entirely too much chance of me, er... 'biting in' if I'm not too careful."

Lark just listens, not interrupting even to ask questions, paying close attention to Jon's tone and his body language and the bits he knows about Jon's history.

"Are you afraid of what will happen if you feed your patron here? That it might show up here?"

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