☞ like nobody's won and we're safe at the end.

[stomped]

who jack + isaac
what now with 70% more fourth-walling
rating pg-13
warnings video game trauma.

[ It's a new thing every day, Isaac finds as he walks past the television. Gaming systems have come along way (at least what he's seen), but ultimately, it's all the same. He glances around the apartment briefly, a slight prickle of paranoia riding the rise of his spine. These definitely weren't there before, but then again--the television didn't plug in, the goddamn house ran off of embarrassment, and well. Just well. Leaning down, Isaac grabs the controller and sees the pair of cases that are laid out next to it on the low coffee table.

Haha. No.

You can't be. This is not serious. This isn't even real life right now.

Isaac picks up the top one and hums, popping in the disk. Oh hey. There's the remote (where the fuck were you when we needed you the most, asshole?) Slumping down on the couch with the controller in both hands, he passes through the introduction without much of a qualm aside from the fact that he ends up tilting his head a bit. Oh hey, Jack--Great things. Definitely great things. Except then the plane's going down and Isaac is cocked forward in his seat, clearly concerned that they just went down in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

The game is pretty interesting (not every day you get to play as someone you know).

"Now, would you kindly find a crowbar or something?" the game says.

There are those words. ]

( BIOSHOCK | DEAD SPACE | THAT NIGHT )

Comments

[unkindly]

[Jack hears the television starting up and doesn't give a second thought to it... until he hears what sounds astonishingly like his own voice.

And then the voice of Andrew Ryan. There's no way he could forget that voice.

Disturbed and more than a little curious, he makes his way to the living room to see Isaac on the couch and an incredibly familiar scene on the screen, albeit pixellated.

He stands frozen in place, staring at the screen.

How...?

And then Atlas speaks.

"Would you kindly..."

His hand clench into fists and he takes a sharp breath. He's not talking to you he's not talking to you but he's not forced to go find a crowbar or... the wrench he's so familiar with even. He's fine. Apparently there's enough difference between himself as a person and himself as... a video game character? That it doesn't affect him.

Breathe deep, Jack. It's okay.

He moves around and sits down on the couch next to Isaac, a little stiffly.]

What... [He has to swallow and clear his throat a bit, it's gone a little dry.] ...what are you doing?

[stomped]

[ He hadn't expected Jack to show up at such an appropriate (or inappropriate) time. All the same, he nods to the screen. ]

I found it just sitting there and decided to have a look. Didn't think it'd be... well... this.

[ Isaac's gone and found himself a weapon anyways and is now beating some lost soul in the face with it...

Interesting blood effects, he surmises. A bit grotesque. He loots the body (simple really, obvious no doubt), and continues on. ]

Is this... this is how it was, right? It's you.

[ Because he knows. He can tell, especially that voice, those tattoos. ]

[unkindly]

[It's incredibly strange to see his life depicted this way, from this perspective, almost like he's living it again but... not. He sits back in the couch and scratches his head.]

Yeah. That's... pretty much exactly it.

[He'll find the first plasmid any minute now.]

[stomped]

[ It doesn't take too long for that to happen, and afterwards Isaac has a very concerned look on his face. ]

Shit--

[ Because video game Jack is falling off the railing and blacking out in between flashes of various characters that move on by and Isaac is absolutely sure that he's done something wrong because holy hell, he should be dead by now? These people look like bad news.

But not a single one touches him, only crouches, peers, observes, scuttles away.

"Nothing like a fistful of lightening--" ]

Huh... he's got that right.

[unkindly]

Yeah.

[God the first plasmid hurt. They all did, really, but the first one was killer. Still, he wouldn't have gotten very far without it.

He's torn between a mesmerized kind of silence and the desire to talk about what's going on, to tell Isaac just why he's frowning every time Atlas says something, or Ryan interrupts, or whatever.

So he sits in silence, watching as Isaac plays his life. It's a very strange feeling.]

☞ ( comment 23.5 ) just before "would you kindly" reveal

[stomped]

[ You know, Isaac thought this was all smooth-sailing really. The Splicers stayed dead, and hell. All they needed was a good couple shocks or a blow from the shotgun to go down (the Brutes tended to take a bit more but, hey, there's only so much). It's when he learns how to get into Andrew Ryan's office that something odd happens.

There's a flicker of the lights and Isaac jerks a bit, leans in with the controller because that probably means something. Lights going out always means something very unpleasant.

Walking forward cautiously, there are a few corpses on the ground, but the next thing he knows, they're up and about, lunging in for the kill. ]

Shit--I thought they stayed dead!?

[ Isaac is very upset about this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He thought he was safe okay! ]

[unkindly]

[Oh these guys. Jack hates these guys. But... he can't help but be amused by Isaac's reaction.]

They do. These fuckers just like to play dead. Think they're clever or something.

[stomped]

[ Life would be easier if you could, you know, stomp the shit out of these things. So instead, Isaac lights them up and gives them a good shot with his gun. ]

Goddamn why can't I just... cut off their limbs...

[unkindly]

Because they're not Necromorphs, Isaac.

[He leans on his legs.]

In the end they're still people.

[stomped]

Make life a whole lot easier though.

[ Isaac makes a bit of a face. He'd beg to differ with these Splicers. Maybe the Little Sisters, sure. But Splicers? No. Isaac has very little pity for things that come rushing at him from the dark aiming to slit his throat. ]

[unkindly]

[That night, it's Jack's turn to take the couch. They take turns since there's only one bed and... well. They had both agreed it was better this way.

But Jack can't sleep. The words of Andrew Ryan echo over and over in his head, his face glaring and shouting at him as he hits him over and over...

He sits up, rubbing his face. This is ridiculous, he's not going to get any sleep like this. There's got to be something...

...his gaze falls on the stack of games from earlier in the day. Pushing aside the case labeled "Bioshock" he picks up the one that says "Dead Space." He stares at it.

Well. Why not?

He puts it in...

...and he spends the rest of the night playing it.

When it's over, he sits back into the couch, staring at the screen. He puts the controller down.

That was.

Huh.]

[stomped]

[ It's about 9am when Isaac gets up (getting used to real time again isn't easy. The sun cresting the horizon always gets him up no matter how much sleep he manages). Yawning, he slips out of the room in a bit of a daze, only to see that Jack is sitting there on the couch with the TV on and the console on just as well. ]

Morning?

[unkindly]

[Jack just kind of blinks. God it's weird to see Isaac just. Standing there. After doing all that.]

...is it?

[stomped]

'Bout nine, yeah.

[ Isaac walks over to the couch and sits himself down with a sigh, mussing his own hair a bit into place before looking at the TV, raising a brow. ]

You didn't sleep.

[ Not a question. A declaration. ]

[unkindly]

[Jack has the decency to look a little guilty at that.]

Couldn't. Not after...

[Nope. Not finishing that sentence. He lifts the game box and tosses it in Isaac's lap.]

Played that instead.

☞ some ridiculous time at night

[stomped]

[ He's tried.

And tried.

And tried again.

The couch never agrees with Isaac, and whether it's the house talking or the nightmares or Nicole or the way his hands are damp and shaky, he doesn't know, but he's up and carrying the pillow he's been using over to the bedroom. Fuck it. They will be grown men about this.

He starts off by sitting on the corner of the bed. ]

[unkindly]

[Jack would have liked to sleep like the dead but it's unfortunately not the case. He's not tossing and turning, but his sleep is haunted by shadows of nightmares, ones he can't quite catch but disturb him all the same.

So when Isaac sits down on the bed, Jack is sleeping too lightly not to notice. He opens his eyes and sits up.]

...Isaac?

[stomped]

[ Isaac looks over his shoulder. ]

Sorry--couldn't sleep.

Couch...

[ He fumbles. ]

Couch is a bit rough on the back. I must be getting old.

[ That covers up the nightmares. Old man pain. Yes. ]

[unkindly]

You're not...

[The denial is cut short as Jack decides it's way too late... or early, or whatever, for that kind of thing so he just sighs a little and starts to move toward the edge of the bed.]

All right.

[Switching, right? That's what they're doing.]

[stomped]

[ No, that's the opposite of what they're doing-- ]

Stay.

[ It's too quick, a little desperate, but Isaac doesn't have the time nor the capacity to cover it up. ]

☞ isaac gets up and finishes bioshock like a boss

[stomped]

[ Isaac is wakes up blearily in the morning, surrounded in a comfortable haze of warmth and tightness. Something fairly weighty rests on his chest--makes it a bit hard to breathe, but when his hand slightly comes up to find out what exactly it is, his mouth falls open a bit.

Right.

Last night.

His fingers rest in Jack's hair briefly before he glances at the doorway, slightly ajar. Laying down like this when he's not tired will just make him anxious... so he'll start the gradual process of. Untangling their limbs. Somehow Jack has a leg thrown over his hip and Isaac has one pressed in between his legs. Their arms are just... a mess--Isaac doesn't even know how he has decent mobility of one.

Hm... ]

[unkindly]

[Ordinarily, Jack is a light enough sleeper that Isaac's movements would have woken him up.

But he was apparently far more exhausted than he realized, and Isaac's presence was enough of a comfort that Jack is sleeping more deeply than he has... perhaps in his whole life. There are no nightmares, only relaxation and rest, warmth and comfort.

His breaths are deep and slow, and he's not moving anywhere any time soon.

It's entirely possible the only thing that could wake him up right now is an airhorn in the ear.

He is going to feel so refreshed when he eventually wakes up, hot damn.

Right now though, he's out like a light.]

[stomped]

[ This is good. Isaac takes notice and begins the process of untangling them, finding that leaving the bed is growing to be a slightly less appealing idea because Jack is warm and the air outside is a little cooler. All the same, he manages to leave Jack laying--partially on his side and on Isaac's side.

Kind of sprawled out.

It'll do.

He could use the sleep.

Isaac makes his way out of the bedroom, closing the door softly behind him and glancing at the television and the game console. He didn't finish Jack's game last time--Jack wasn't exactly in any mood to relive more and Isaac wasn't going to force him to sit through all of it. Making his way over, he sits himself down on the couch and picks up the game, placing it inside and starting up the old save file.

Throughout Rapture, Isaac sees it. The way that everyone here was affected by the Plasmids, by consumption, by the need to compete and be stronger, better that everyone else around them. It isn't until Fontaine tries to "would you kindly" him, that he chuckles. Because Tenenbaum's done him the favor of removing that... of saving him from that godawful phrase.

But apparently, as he should have suspected with Fontaine, the asshole has more tricks up his sleeve as soon as he utters the words "code yellow", Isaac's brow furrows as he watches the screen contract, glow red briefly--his heart. What a fucked up, sick--Isaac bites his tongue sharply, makes his way through the varying levels. He breathes out a sigh of relief when this Lot 192 business is found, albeit the side effects are annoying as all hell--but they are easily remedied when he finds the other dose.

You know, everything was going pretty well--even the whole becoming a Big Daddy thing, okay?

And then these. Vocal cord shenanigans start and Isaac blinks slowly, brought back a bit to laying down in the machine, flat on his back. It's ultimately for the good of everything. It's going to help him finish. Get from point A to point B. Fontaine sneers his case--it's not a two way street. Just a dead end.

The scene is quick, but all the same Isaac finds himself irked all the same. Rusty claws down your throat sound just as bad if not worse than needles in your eye. Goddamn.

But now everything in this game, everything comes down to this point, where Fontaine is at his best, but, Isaac believes, Jack is as well. Playing this game is strange considering the one he's playing as is... sleeping in the next room over. He casts a glance at the bedroom briefly before the sequence begins. Fontaine starts with fire, and Isaac relies wholly on the crossbow (it's pretty handy, even with the reload time). He does what he can, setting traps up here and there around the room when time allows him, cycling through various plasmids to give him a hand (literally). Fontaine cycles through three forms until the final time Jack has to stab Fontaine to remove the Adam from him. A black husk, Isaac is sure it's over until Jack is backhanded half way across the room.

And well... things go a little better, even as Fontaine continues to berate, thinks he's won...

You know, saving the Little Sisters was definitely the right choice. Isaac sits there, watching the ending credits, Tenenbaum's voice narrating a smooth chain of events, a natural cycle of life... even if it's... still a little bittersweet in the end.

Isaac looks at the control and watches as the screen on the television goes black. With a sigh, he lays himself down on the couch and thinks about it. Thinks about Rapture, about Fontaine, about goddamn Code Yellow--enough to make his brow furrow deeply. He rubs a hand over his face. What a fucked up lot to be dealt. ]

[unkindly]

[Apparently, Jack really needed the sleep. It's sound, it's deep, and he doesn't wake up until just as Isaac finishes the game. It's the echoes of the final fight with Fontaine that wake him up, nudge him out of sleep, and when he finally dresses and makes his way out of the room he finds Isaac lying on the couch.

Well. He certainly looks like he's thinking about something serious.]

Hey.

[He walks up to the couch and leans on the back of it, looking down at Isaac.]

Are you okay?

[stomped]

[ Isaac startles, but just nods. ]

Yeah--I'm fine.

[ He reaches up and pats Jack a bit on the arm, slowly sitting up. ]

You slept hard.