hurry, hurry [OPEN]

[theguideless]

Date & Time: 2/20, nighttime
Location: All over the friggin' place – near the houses, the starting point, the hold etc.
Characters: Martin Darkov, YOU?
Summary: Gotta find a way out of here, man.
Warnings: N/A



No, no, no...

Martin's thoughts were in time with his panting – a mistake right away, he realized, once he felt his throat start to really feel raw and tight. That's not how you're supposed to run.

But he'd gotten scared. So scared. Everything was just...just too much at once. He didn't think to calm down, breathe through his nose when he ran, take stock of where he was going. He had no idea if he was going in circles or squares or anything, just--

I have to get back to Olvoski. I have to. I have to. Have to, have to...

"Gnah...hah..." He had to stop again, bent forward with his hands on his knees, panting hard. Nasally whimpers escaped here and there, the worst of which he fought ferociously. I must not cry. I must get back to Olvoski.

I must!

It made his shaky legs move again. Bleary-eyed and blind to real direction, he ran, seeking out the shape of a body who could, who just might be able to tell him what he needed to hear.

Comments

[theguideless]

"I don't know," he blurted, not thinking on it. He shook his head. "An...hour or two, or. I don't know. I was trying to figure out the...compter-thing I got, but--" The last headshake was the most feverish. "I didn't want to mess with something that wasn't mine anymore. I still have to go."

[iwasinpakistan]

"Okay. Take it easy." The tone of voice was the same one he'd use with a horse on the verge of bolting. It seemed like a pretty apt comparison. "They give you a place to stay?"

[theguideless]

Martin looked reluctant, glancing down and away. "The lady took me to a building...and a room, but." He shook his head again. "But I don't want it, because I really have to get back and get started, or--"

[iwasinpakistan]

"So, what? You just gonna stay out here until you get the problem solved?" Like Eliot was anyone to talk; he'd been back to his own assigned place a grand total of three times, only when he was sure nobody else was there.

[theguideless]

The prod caused Martin to waver, as if he was physically jabbed. He looked back up at Eliot blankly, growing more troubled as he turned it over in his head. No, no...no, he was right. He didn't know where else to go.

He didn't even know where he was currently in relation to anything, either.

"No," he muttered, dragging the heel of a hand across his cheek.

[iwasinpakistan]

"Right. You're gonna use your head, keep your eyes open, wait for these assholes to slip up and give us an opening to get back home through." As pep talks go, it wasn't the most eloquent, but Eliot wasn't the guy to go to for that, anyway. He was still leaning against the wall, posture almost casual, as if escaping the clutches of cross-time kidnapping was really just a matter of timing and nothing to get too worried over. Every problem could be boiled down to simple tactics and their proper application, after all.

[theguideless]

His gaze stayed downcast throughout the advice, slow to really latch on to what was said – slower still to convincing himself it was a good thing to do. Even then, it was the chance that something would come up, not of his own doing. He couldn't do it, it seemed.

But when he looked up again, it was as though he were seeing someone else instead of Eliot. He had the same cadence as Victor – the one who had managed to drag Martin out of his room after months of cowering, got him back to work, made him stronger...A little flicker of familiarity in a huge, alien situation.

Martin gulped, mouth tugging on one side.

"Yes, sir," he said, shaky and cracking. He nodded a little.

[iwasinpakistan]

"Good man." Eliot's mouth turned up at one corner in a faint, approving smile. Pretty much as much of a smile as anything usually got out of him, actually.

[theguideless]

The kindness made Martin shrink, feeling enormously guilty about it. His face flushed again, shrugging his shoulders as high as he could to use his collar as a kind of mask – as much as he could, anyhow. He was causing an awful lot of trouble for a human he didn't really know and wasn't allowed to talk to anyway; grandfather would really let him have it if he ever heard...

"I'll," he pushed away from the wall quickly, hopping back a couple steps. "I'll...I'll go. I'll do what you said, sir. P-promise."