ArchivedLogs:NA

NA
Dramatis Personae Iolaus, Jackson
In Absentia	2014-02-03 '
Location NA
As the evening fades into the night, a group of people in the basement of a church quietly fold up metal chairs and rack them against the wall. There isn't much talking among them; not anymore, anyway, as they quietly toss away paper coffee cups and file out of the church. The time for talking had started earlier, with the chairs in a tight little circle, and speeches all starting with the same formulaic beginning. "Hello. My name is Mike, and I'm an addict." "My name is Tom, and I'm an addict." "My name is Richard, and I'm an addict." It was not Iolaus' normal church, but he was there all the same. "It's my first time here in a long time. I think I stopped coming... five years ago or so, after I'd been clean for a while. But, as they say, you never stop being an addict. I started using again a few months ago, when the disease was taking over. But I've been clean... just over a week now. The start of a long road back." By the time the meeting is over, Iolaus' already tired expression is worn to exhaustion. Only a week clean, it is no surprise he isn't looking his best, and it shows clear on his face. He steps out of the room slowly, hand trailing along the banister for support as he steps up the stairs towards the exit of the church. There's a warm touch soon, at Iolaus's opposite elbow. Despite his /flagrantly/ colourful attire, when Jackson wants to be, he's remarkably unobtrusive. One of the benefits to being an illusionist; now that he wants to be seen, he fades into place at Iolaus's elbow rather seamlessly. His touch is fiercely warm, as it often is. Even if the vivid colours outside have faded from the world, /he/ still bears his own. Purple shiny Doc Martens, loose-fitting blue UFOs with black mesh, blue and silver-embroidered bell-sleeved shirt, black t-shirt reading 'be nice to sex workers :)' in pink on the chest, grey hoodie with stripey torn rainbow overlay patterning. His fingers at Iolaus's elbow make for a warmer support than the banister. More colourful one, too, with their glittery black and silver-and-blue starred nailpolish. "Thanks for coming, Jax." Iolaus says, softly. "I'm sorry that I've been... not the best..." He trails off, pursing his lips. "Guard-ee the last few months. And probably even less so the last week," he says, wryly. "Alec was muttering about slipping me something just to shut me up yesterday, so I suspect I've been even more of a pain in the ass than usual." His normally quick smile is small, and it fades quickly back to a simply tired expression. "Let's grab something to eat before we head back home. I need something in my stomach before I put up with the fucking 6." Iolaus glances both ways down the street as they head back into the slowly sleeting night air, tugging his hood up over his head. "Mexican, maybe? I think there's a place a few blocks that way on the way to the station. Can you even eat anything at a mexican place?" "Y'really don't need t'thank me, Io. An' I kinda gotta figure that, uh, workin' under that sorta deadline to, y'know, save the /world/ sorta puts a bit'a stress on, sir." Jax blushes, pausing just inside the door to start putting back on his winter layers before heading back out the door. There's another transformation as they step outside, similar to the bright shift of colours that had been happening up through that afternoon but -- in reverse, really. Iolaus grows a little more /drab/, perhaps. Just a little /different/ in his features, hair a muddier brown, eyes a little bit browner too, lips thinner, face narrower. A little taller, a little plumper. "Oh sure, I can do a lotta Mexican s'long as I stay away from cheese an' sour cream, mostly." Jax shivers, tugging his mittens more firmly into place. He walks a little stiffly, wincing and readjusting his hat to sit more properly away from his eyebrows. "Sir, jus' --" He hesitates, hands shoved into his pockets as he looks over Iolaus's now-unrecognizable face and then starts down the street. "S'there anything I can do that helps?" "Oh, I had all the good reasons in the world. At least, that's what I told myself. If I can stay up a bit longer, maybe I'll find it sooner. If I can just think a bit clearer, maybe something will come to me. Just one more test, just one more trial, just one more model...." Iolaus trails off with a little laugh. "I'm not sure I was wrong either. I must have worked the hours of two, three people while we were down in isolation. But now...." Iolaus falls into silence for almost a minute before he starts back up, as the restaurant comes into view with its neon sign about a block down the road. "Not really, I'm afraid." Iolaus says, softly. "It's something I got myself into, and I'm the only one who can pull myself out. Put up with me, I guess." "Sir, with all due respect, that's a giant crock of bull. I mean, yes, I can't go to your meetings for you -- though I sure can go /with/ you -- but there ain't a whole /lot/ of problems in the world that you really truly gotta go alone. An' thinking that there is is pretty much this huge thing that makes people keep fallin' back into problems over an' over." Jax just shakes his head, walking briskly along beside Iolaus, head tipped back up towards the sky. "I been around a lotta folks fallin' into a /lot/ of -- pretty deep holes the past year. An' weren't a /one/'a us dug back out alone." Iolaus makes a noise that is not quite assent. "Maybe. I'll be fucked if I know what you can do though," he says, a little bit grumpily. "I'm most worried about holding it together when I'm working. If this got out..." he trails off and shakes his head. "I'm not blind to the politics, Jax. This could do the clinic a lot of damage if it got to the press, nevertheless what it could do to me. Help me keep it together, and help me keep it quiet, I guess." He glances in through the window as they approach the restaurant, looking around it before he opens the door for the other man. "I /am/ an illusionist," is all Jackson answers in reply to this as he follows the incognito Iolaus inside, quiet and simple.