Abraxas: Inbox

[restingstitchface]

✉ ☏ 🎞

This is Dr. Crane. I'm not available right now but my answering machine is. Maybe you can hold a conversation with it instead?

Comments

[oversight]

Why is it that I've seen you hanging around Jayden's place more than once?

[restingstitchface]

Twice is only once more than once, detective.

[ordinar]

Hi, um

I don't know if you remember me. It's ok if you don't. We talked once, like, a while ago. You said you were a psychologist back home, and you were offering your services here too.

[There's a question implied somewhere in there.]

[restingstitchface]

[There's no name to the words. Not until he reads the signature at the bottom. Handy feature, that. How wonderful it was to have it pointed out. Now all he needs is to remember who this is.]

Well, I already made the offer, that if you need support I would be available. Do you have questions? Or would you like to make an appointment?

A delivery...

[oversight]

Sometime in the early morning hours, a box is left outside Crane's door at the Sarstina. Its top is open — unwrapped, perhaps to differentiate it from a gift — and inside are bits and bobbles fashioned into matching pairs in differing colors. The gears, screws, and other scrapped parts make up rudimentary chess setup. The contrast between the two sets of pieces leaves one primarily gold in color, while the other half is primarily silver. The board is parchment and its tacked to some scrap wood, with each alternating box hand-painted. Not perfect, but serviceable.

There's no note, but it's probably obvious who dropped it off; however, if Crane goes investigating, he'll find Blake's room has been vacated, cleaned, and the door has been left open for the next renter to come along.

[oversight]

Did you find any players for your game?

[restingstitchface]

You are talking about that chess set, I presume?

[What other games am I playing, officer?]

> pre event

[thearchangel]

Hey, Garrus here - you mentioned meeting in person. I've got some free time for a minute, if you do.

Or we could try that Horizon thing. Either way.

[restingstitchface]

Ah, Mr. Vakarian.

I tend to be hands on with work these days. Up with the dawn, back after dusk. I hardly make it back till late. The Horizon would be the most convenient choice.

[oversight]

I haven't seen you around in a bit. Have you been busy working?

[restingstitchface]

I'm always busy.

Do you want something or is this a courtesy call?

[stations]

Hi, I'm not sure if you remember me, my name's Jack. I was here when you first arrived, and we talked about scheduling an appointment, but I think I disappeared before we ever got around to it.

I was wondering if you're still
You know
Seeing patients?

[restingstitchface]

𝒴𝑒𝓈 𝐼 𝒶𝓂.

𝒲𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝒷𝑒 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓊𝓂𝓅𝓉𝓊𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒶𝓈𝓀 𝒾𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓇𝑒𝓆𝓊𝒾𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓃 𝒶𝓅𝓅𝑜𝒾𝓃𝓉𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉, 𝑀𝓇. 𝒯𝑜𝓌𝓃𝓈𝑒𝓃𝒹?

[ordinar]

Hello. Dr. Crane?

Could we talk? If you're not too busy.

[restingstitchface]

𝒜𝒽, 𝑀𝓇. 𝒲𝒾𝓁𝒽𝑒𝓁𝓂. 𝒪𝒻 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒 𝓌𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓉𝒶𝓁𝓀.

𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝐼 𝒹𝑜 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊?

sometime in the winter

[monomachy]

[the gift is wrapped in plain brown paper tied with a piece of red-dyed twine, adorned with a sprig of fresh cypress. it is left otuside jonathan's place of residence, and likely hasn't been there long before he finds it. a hand-bound leather journal lies beneath the paper, with a note written in an elegant hand:]

A place for you to keep your own thoughts, as you help others sort through theirs.
-Diana

dec 25th

[princessvegas]

[ On the morning of December 25th, outside of his room at the inn, Crane will find a gift wrapped in unidentifiable brown paper. Care has been taken to make it look nice, but leave no clues as to the gifter. Inside, he'll find a fountain pen of impressive quality, alongside a bottle of high quality ink. There is no included note or any other indication of who might have sent it. If Crane is wise, he might try to find someone who can detect charms and spells on objects... but then again, it will be quite the challenge to find anyone in the Cities with expertise on Wild Magic.

Merry Christmas, Crane. ]

[catholica]

( matt murdock is the last person that would ever admit that he needed therapy. even if, deep down, he knows that he needs it and he's probably needed it for awhile. but, there was just never any time back in hell's kitchen and he was too busy being a self destructive asshole and almost dying to really seek out any help.

abraxas is different. he's different here. he's surrounded by different people here and maybe he doesn't want to be stuck in the doldrums of his depression.

he tells himself that this is just informational, just a way to see if this was even something he can handle. he's been peripherally aware of jonathan crane for awhile, even talked to him once or twice, but taking this step?

it's making him a little nauseous. but, he's there and he's not going to turn tail and run. not yet, at least. check with him again in about twenty minutes to see how it goes. )

[restingstitchface]

[People find it difficult to accept help. Some deny they need it. Others refuse to seek it. Fewer still possess the insight and the bravery to cross his threshold. That earns this man his curiosity if not his respect. He welcomes him to take a seat and leaves his notebook alone.]

Have a seat. Take a load off.

[There are two glasses and two bottles of water: sparkling and still.]

Would you like something to drink?

early june; post event 18

[assembles]

[ There's been a lot to work through, a lot of people to catch up with and rumors to dwell on, and so Steve hasn't immediately contacted everyone.

With Crane, there are additional complications. Steve may have distanced himself from a lot of people in his supposed godhood, but his relationship with Crane (or Anthropos) had been outright antagonistic.

The question is how much of that had even been real, and it seems unfair to judge him for events that never actually took place. Steve can't help but be unsettled by it all even so. Even if none of it was real, it does feel as if their god personas were at least slightly informed by their actual selves.

Rather than let it stew, Steve goes for the straight-forward option and eventually reaches out. ]

Crane? It's Steve.
How are you holding up after all that?

[restingstitchface]

[Antagonism is a trait he encounters often. Half of it due to provocation, the other half to domination. Back home, criminals and prisoners had thought him weak and threatened him physically. But their role had demanded compliance and he had easily switched their positions.

He had enjoyed the reversal. But this past month? Satisfaction was a feeling he had disconnected from. It had become something to pull apart.

Still, it had existed. Like this message he is analysing down to every word.]

𝒲𝑒𝓁𝓁, 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒷𝑒𝓁𝒾𝑒𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝑒 𝒾𝒻 𝐼 𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹 𝐼'𝓂 𝒹𝑜𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝑒?

[It has taken some time for this man to send a message. And it takes him no time to answer.]

𝐼'𝓂 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝑒𝓃𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜𝑜 𝓈𝑒𝓇𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈𝓁𝓎. 𝐿𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝐼 𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓅𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈, 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝒾𝒹𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝒹.

[nadine_he_loves]

Hey Dr. Crane.

I just thought I'd check in. I probably should have before this, but between readjusting to normal life and finishing up my exams I kept putting it off.

So here I am, checking in. How are you doing?

[restingstitchface]

𝒲𝑒𝓁𝓁, 𝐼 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓈𝒶𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓈𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝒻𝑒𝓌 𝓂𝑜𝓃𝓉𝒽𝓈: 𝒶𝓈 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝒶𝓈 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒷𝑒 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑒𝒸𝓉𝑒𝒹.

𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓈. 𝐼𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒𝓌𝒾𝓈𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒶𝑔𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒.

[inferiority_complex]

So I'm told you're the shrink?

Just a regular one? Not like telepathic or something?

[restingstitchface]

𝒲𝑒𝓁𝓁, 𝓈𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝑒𝓃𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝑒𝒶𝓇𝒸𝒽 𝓉𝑜 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓉𝒶𝒸𝓉 𝒾𝓃𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓂𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃, 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓈𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝐼 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝒶𝓎 𝓎𝑒𝓈? 𝒫𝑒𝓇𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝓉𝑜𝑜 𝒿𝑜𝓋𝒾𝒶𝓁 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝑒 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓇𝑒 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓀. 𝒟𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓃𝑒𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒶𝓁𝓀?

[catholica]

Hey.

You around?

[restingstitchface]

𝒩𝑜𝓉 𝒶𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓁. 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒶𝓃 𝒶𝒸𝓆𝓊𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓃𝑒𝑒𝒹 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒.

𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒹𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉?

[inferiority_complex]

Hey I'm just checking in.
I think I saw some things and.

Are you okay?

[restingstitchface]

𝒜𝒽, 𝑀𝓇 𝐻𝒶𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁. 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓇𝓃.

𝑅𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝒶𝓈𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑒𝒹, 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝓅𝒶𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝓎 𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓀, 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒹𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝓂𝑒𝓃 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓅𝓈𝓎𝒸𝒽𝑜𝓉𝒾𝒸 𝒷𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓀𝒹𝑜𝓌𝓃𝓈, 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔. 𝒯𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝑜𝒾𝓃𝓉, 𝒶 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝒻𝑒𝓈𝓈𝒾𝑜𝓃𝒶𝓁 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝒶𝑔𝓇𝑒𝑒𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒻𝒶𝒸𝑒𝒹. 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓃𝑜 𝒻𝓊𝓇𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑒𝒸𝓉𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓈 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝒸𝓇𝑜𝓈𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓊𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝓈𝓉𝓊𝒷𝒷𝑜𝓇𝓃 𝓅𝑒𝑜𝓅𝓁𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑒. 𝒫𝑒𝓇𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓈 𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓏𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓅𝑒𝑜𝓅𝓁𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂𝓈𝑒𝓁𝓋𝑒𝓈.

[Chris will understand he isn't just talking about Viktor. After recent events, Chris might even understand why he cannot be done with people.]