open

[somakemelaugh]

who: Undertaker, Ciel, whoever!
what: Memory swaps!
when: Oct 9 - 23
where: Undertaker and Ciel’s apartment, various locations around the city as needed
warnings: Sadness and possible gore and Undertaker being an adorable idjit


For Ciel

Dreams these days are random for him, born out of the weirdness that goes on in his head and in his daily doings in the city and often combining to make something too far out of reality to confuse him into thinking that he might be awake and doing something out of the ordinary, as some dreams are wont to do. But sometimes, they’re quite the opposite. Sometimes, they’re terrible and fill him with the kind of horror that his customers - living or dead - might have experienced shortly before they found their way into his funeral parlor back home.

This one is much like that, for wholly different reasons. For instance, the face looking back at him as he stares into the mirror, adjusting a tie over a suit that he hasn’t worn nor seen in decades, is one he recognizes and does not. Clear of the scars he now carries, eyes visible and a startling blue, hair shorter and decidedly more blonde than gray, it’s a face he hasn’t seen in well over a century.

Somewhere behind the scene, watching it from his current body in resigned unhappiness, he goes tense as a familiar voice calls to him in the memory.

”Ah, there you are, Cedric! We’re waiting for you!”

The view turns as the man in the mirror looks away from his reflection. From an open doorway, another man stands, smiling, clearly excited. This man is younger, with dark eyes and hair of the same yellow cropped close to his head in an almost military cut. He wears a darker suit and looks quite sharp as he shakes his head. Then a look of shy nervousness briefly darkens his features.

”I was starting to think you’d changed your mind.”

The laugh that comes from the man in the memory is not Undertaker’s own, and it is all at the same time. He approaches the younger and puts a hand on his shoulder. The nails are flesh colored and short and the scar on his pinky finger absent like the rest.

”Oh, Thomas, you know I wouldn’t do that to you. I’ll be out in a moment. I just want to…”

Undertaker turns away, unable to watch anything more, and it’s then that he realizes he isn’t alone in this. Away and to the side stands Ciel.

It isn’t the first time that he finds himself glad for the hair hiding his eyes, but now it’s for a whole new reason.

Comments

[sweetlies]

He didn't quite know what he was looking at. The man looking into the mirror bore enough resemblance to Undertaker that he could probably place them as family but he couldn't see him as the reaper he'd grown up seeing appear in the manor to see his father. Without the long, silver strands, or the scars, it was hard to recognize him, since Ciel was half blind.

And the name, he couldn't know to connect it to Undertaker. The teen had no point of reference, even as he glanced away and spotted Undertaker watching as well.

"Under... taker..?"

[somakemelaugh]

There is a moment - one, brief moment - where his composure isn't up to par, where the veil falls and Ciel can see a little further past his walls. But then the moment is gone, and the grin is back, and he ignores what happens on the strange screen behind them, laying part of his soul bare against his will.

If this is a dream, he wants to wake. If it isn't, he can sort the pieces out later.

"Fancy meeting you in a place like this, milord. Ah, and what a strange place it is."

[sweetlies]

This was beyond out of the ordinary, and he seemed to be spending his life wading through the supernatural and hard to believe the past few years. Ciel took a couple spends forward, eyes wide and watching 'Cedric' before looking to Undertaker again.

The effect this had one him, it was hard not to notice, even if it was brief. Whether he knows anything about Undertaker or not, he knows enough about people. This scene bothers him. What the teen couldn't figure out was the why and a part of him was screaming not to pry.

"This- where are we?"

[somakemelaugh]

It would be hard to play the fool, he thought, looking back to the scene as it continued to play out before them whether or not he wanted it to, though if there had been a way to make it stop, he would have leapt at it and confessed a bit of the truth while he was at it. Whatever had done this hadn't touched his grin or his tone, but it cut him deep in a way he was quick to cover up.

And now Ciel knew it, too. "Your guess is as good as mine." He stepped boldly closer, the movement making his skin crawl under his coat, and reached out to the image to try and touch it; his hand slipped cleanly through, as if it were nothing more than a fog, and he turned away, grin stretching wider. "Fascinating what this world will do to us, isn't it? I wonder, is this all even real?"

[sweetlies]

He looked between the man and Undertaker again but he hasn't shown his face much since the Campania, it was impossible to draw any real conclusions, so he frowned and circled the man again, squinting a bit in the hopes his good eye might pick out something notable. And then focused on Undertaker again.

"He looks a bit like you but I've never met anyone like this before. And... I've never been anywhere like this."

It made him uncomfortable, honestly. The last time this happened, they'd been drawn into Riverview. And despite that having worked out well enough so far, he wasn't keen on it happening again.

"A hallucination of some sort?" But he hadn't had anything that the two other them hadn't worked on themselves. And the windows weren't open to let in any pollen like when he'd lost his memory.

[somakemelaugh]

The boy's close examination of the memory still playing out right next to them bothers him deeply, but he lets on to nothing. It's not a slip he can really afford, he tells himself, as he always has. Before things had been so much easier to conceal, though the walls around him have softened however slightly around the Earl.

Still, it's something he'd like Ciel not to figure out, not yet, and he's watching him keenly - as well as he can with his eyes - to see if the boy is starting to make the connection even while he pretends this is all just a new game the city is playing.

"He does, but you've never called me by that name before, and I've not even heard it in years. Maybe it is a hallucination. Maybe it's those plants again." He reached down to a palm to slap his ring hard against a finger. It just as he thought it would. "Still hurts, it does. What do you think happened to us?"

[sweetlies]

"No... No, you've only ever been Undertaker to me." He wasn't sure about how it was with his father but he could remember most people saying 'Undertaker' around the twins as well.

Even though he was still curious, Ciel stepped away from 'Cedric' and back to Undertaker, watching him as he slapped a hand to his ring. Even he couldn't help a faint wince, imagining how that felt. He'd slammed a ringed hand against things before and could remember a bit how it had felt. It was never pleasant.

"I don't know. I've barely gotten used to how advanced the city is as we are, I can't guess at this." Wasn't Undertaker the smarter one here with so many more years on the earl?

[somakemelaugh]

He gave a soft sound, bemused with that. Oh yes. He had always been Undertaker to everyone. No other name, no other identity other than what he did on a day to day basis. Made things simple, kept it clean. No one to ask questions, no one to pry into his business when his business was mostly with the dead.

It hurt, not enough to make him wince himself but enough to let him know whatever this was, it wasn't entirely a dream. How could it be? More than that, how could they get out of it now that they were stuck inside, watching something he would really rather them not have to see?

"If only I could say I knew something more. That's not information I could sell you even if I wanted to." He took another look around, wandered back behind the memory itself to disappear in the sheen of it briefly, then reappeared again, frowning briefly. "Thick as the worst fogs in London in the morning. Even I can't tell what's farther back beyond it, if there is anything at all."

[sweetlies]

Sometimes he had wondered why no one questioned him further but how deranged he'd sometimes seemed surely kept them distant. Anyone else probably felt how dangerous and private the man could be. Ciel himself had never worried about it. Before it was because Vincent kept them safe, and then it was because of Sebastian. Now it was Undertaker himself that gave him that sense of safety.

"It doesn't seem quite like the kind of situation you'd want to sell anyway." This... somehow felt very private. Why would they be there though, if it was.

The teen moved to join Undertaker, frowning. So probably not London, where ever they were. However they were there. He looked around the room, hoping to spot something that stood out.

"And they have nothing that particularly stands out to tell where we are. I don't even see a noticeable signet." Not unless he got closer to really look but he almost didn't want to, in case they suddenly became noticed.

[somakemelaugh]

Rather than respond to that outright, he giggles and looks around as well, noting nothing more out of the ordinary. There are parts of his existence he'd like to forget, parts of it that he'd like never to have to reveal. If he must, then he must, but he doesn't think it will be like that. Or at least, he's hoping. The boy is smart, if nothing. He would make the connection eventually, but Undertaker didn't want to be around to see it.

"No, indeed not. Strange, isn't it?"

Then it happened, all at once, that he felt himself cradled in warmth and shrouded in darkness. He opened his eyes, startled to find them suddenly closed, and found himself lying on his side in his own bed, the haze of the dream he had been within lifting lazily as reality and awareness settled in its place. He wiggled his toes, curled his fingers, testing his limbs slowly to make sure they were really there.

In his chest, his heart hammered still, threatening to beat its way out of him, and he took a few deep breaths to force himself to calm. What an odd, odd dream.

[sweetlies]

He wasn't even sure what to look for, and that giggle didn't seem to offer any extra hints. In fact, the man wasn't giving him much of anything at all. He might be frustrated if it were Lau or someone else but Undertaker was a mystery and always had been.

"It is-"

Oh.

He didn't expect to wake suddenly, reaching for his patch out of habit and then stopping as the memory of the dream starts to push it's way forward. He tried to remember all the details, not wanting to forget anything about the man, Cedric, or where they'd been. And then he turned over, feeling Undertaker shifting.

"Are you awake?" Were either of them awake?

[somakemelaugh]

He'd been of a mind to go get a glass of water, something to clear his mind, shake the feeling that had hold of him after the dream ended so suddenly. Maybe he wasn't careful enough in leaving bed or maybe Ciel had already been awake for whatever reason. However it was, the boy gave him pause and he sat there, half in a sitting position.

"I am. Go back to sleep, milord. Everything is fine."

[sweetlies]

He was awake. If he hadn't been, Ciel might have actually tried going back to sleep, using Undertaker's steady breaths to lull him back to sleep. It wasn't an option though, so the teen leaned up, eyes moving towards Undertaker's voice.

"I'm not sure I can go back to sleep. I had too strange a dream..."

[hititwithacrowbar]

Oh, that was a headache and a half, Jason's head swam after that blurry vision. He had never suffered from vision problems but he felt like he had just put Barbara's glasses on and tried to read. He'd done it before to make her laugh the pain was the same, but this was longer. The more he tried to focus on the scene the easier it was to get somewhat of a grasp of what was happening.

He recognized the voices, knew outlines. The butler was apparently tall, well spoken, and clearly loyal. As they tended to be.

Dead children and jokes, and Ciel putting himself at the mercy of an undertaker's humor to get information. It was fascinating to say the least. He rubbed his eyes a bit trying to fix whatever the focus issue was.

"So, is this Undertaker, or Ciel? Whose life have I witnessed tonight?" He spoke into the never to see what answered, what the dream twisted into.

[somakemelaugh]

He stood not too far behind the man, grinning his amusement behind a hand as he tried not to burst out laughing at the memory. That was one he could recall well enough, though after his first unwilling dream-memory-whatever reveal it seemed quite tame. To him, at least. Even though he could only see it half as well through his poor vision.

"A bit of both, I suppose, though it's my eyes you see it through." Finally, he permitted himself a giggle and shook his head. "You make it sound as though you've done this before."

[hititwithacrowbar]

Jason reached up rubbing his eyes, even if he knew it was a dream and it wouldn't help any. "Your voice tells me it's yours as you can hear me, Undertaker. God, is your vision always like this?" He asked, not as rude as he might to most, for the most part he liked his two new Victorian friends so he didn't want to be a jerk but the blurriness hurt. "Dude, you need glasses or contacts."

He spoke closing his eyes for his own sake.

"The past few night's I've managed to end up in people's dreams, some in my own. It's weird though, I don't usually sleep this much. So, did he find the children?"

[somakemelaugh]

He came around to Jason's side, leaving space between them still, and watched the memory even as the other man shut it out of his vision. One hand held the other behind his back as he did, really rather enjoying this. "Has been for nearly a century, but I'm quite used to it by now. I'm not familiar with contacts, but glasses are more trouble than they're worth, to be truthful. I assume contacts are an invention beyond my time, yes?"

It was easier to rely on his other senses now more than he did his own vision, and easier to keep his eyes hidden behind his hair, as he had needed to do in his own world, without them. "It's been happening all over, then." He shook his head, thinking back on the memory he had shared against his will with his roommate. What a night that had been. "Couldn't say. All I know is I never saw any of them in my parlor, but there was a rather unusual house fire shortly after he visited me on this occasion. They say it destroyed everything but the stone in the walls."

[hititwithacrowbar]

Jason stayed with his eyes closed listening to both the scene play out, and the Undertaker, unlike his brother's he didn't have as easy of a time at it, but he was more interested in the conversation than the blurry scene. "How old are you...?" Immortals were nothing new to him, not after the All-Caste and Ra's Al Ghul, but the Undertaker was an enigma. "Yes. Thin plastic you place inside your eyes. But basically glasses you don't have to move. I have a pair that has cameras's built in." He stole them from Tim ages ago. They didn't work here but he had them.

"It would take some very hot fire to burn that hot back in your time. I wonder if it was to hide a crime scene." He spoke peaking one of his blue eyes open again before giving up and turning to focus on the man himself. Hoping as he opened his eyes that the Undertaker wasn't blurry.

[somakemelaugh]

"Hmm." That was going to make him think. He'd long stopped caring about his age; it didn't mean much to him anymore, but he had an idea. "Around 630 years old, I should think. But I stopped counting, so that may not be accurate." He gave a careless shrug and looked over at Jason, surprised at his suggestion.

"Plastic in my eyes? Have you seen my fingers lately?" He lifted a hand and curled his fingers with their long, dark nails, wiggling them at the man. "I trust myself, but not so far as to shove something in my face like that. I do need these for some small manner of purpose, even if you look like that to me." He pointed one finger to the fog playing out his memory in front of them. The people in the scene still moved, still spoke, but their edges were distorted, everything out of focus. And still Undertaker in the memory moved about as if he could see as well as any of them.

Then his grin widened. "An interesting thought. One could use a fire like that to hide a crime scene. Any of the bodies that might be within would be unrecognizable, if they could be found at all." Has he seen something like that before? Maybe.

[hititwithacrowbar]

Jason let the age jingle around in his mind. He doubted it was a Lazurus Pit keeping the strange man alive, granted, he was mad as a hatter at least if this memory was anything to judge off of. Granted, there was a certain level of madness Jason would happily overlook, since himself was listed as insane by Arkham Asylum. "The things you must have seen in your time..." Was all Jason could really think to say. How did he keep managing to find immortals with white hair dressed in black? He didn't think for a moment that The Undertaker and Essence were related, he knew his ex's family, but they looked a little alike.

Jason looked to the Undertaker's nails, well, yeah those would be bad. "Okay, no contacts for you. Shit." What else could he say? They looked like something a goth would wear, but well... yeah. Jason's eyes tracked the Undertaker more than anything else, he was more clear to Jason less of a wave of motion sickness waiting to happen. "Your other senses pick up for you where your vision failed hasn't it? That's why you move as well as you do." Simple science, something he would have learned in his first few months in Bat-Training...as well as sometime in school.

"It happens all the time." He'd burned bodies before as well. "Even if it doesn't fully take the body, it will ruin enough to make it harder to solve. At least in your time, ours we can figure out if a fire is arson, or if a person was dead before the fire started... a lot of thing." he rubbed at the back of his neck. "So, curiously, if your eye-sight is this bad, how are you certain you didn't bury any of those kids? Could you see the photos?"

[somakemelaugh]

His only response to that was a grin. The things he had seen, indeed. The books he could write, the stories he could tell. But no, he kept it now all locked only in his memory, to be revealed when he thought the time was right or when certain individuals needed the knowledge. He moved his hand around behind himself again and held it within his other, turned away from the memory and began a leisurely walk around the room that they were in. He'd hardly had a chance to really explore it the last time he had been in a place like this.

"That's right. Turns out, I'm not unique in that. If one goes deaf, the other senses make up for the lack. If one goes blind, it's all the same. But I'm not fully blind, only nearsighted. For instance, I could see those photos the Earl gave me well enough. I knew enough of their faces and ages to know about what size they should be when they came in through my door."

He tilted his head and ended his circle of the room. Really, there was nothing to it, was there? Just walls, no decor, light with no real source, no door, and of course the fog of the memory playing before them. "I did have one child who came to me in that time, but she was but a babe, far too young. Died in her sleep, you see. A terrible thing for the parents. Poor mother couldn't even come to the funeral, she was so distraught."

[hititwithacrowbar]

Even in Jason's short years, he felt old as could be from everything he had seen. He couldn't picture being that old, but, madness was a theme so, maybe that was the price of endless life. Jason's eyes still tracked the Undertaker, his interest on the memory was lost in favor of learning this strange man who was friends with the young earl.

"It's pretty common, in both humans and animals." He offered, while listening just the same. He wished Roy was in this world, if anyone could think of something the Undertaker could wear that wouldn't get in his way it was his former partner, the rockabilly genius. The young man stayed quiet as he listened to the older speak. There was much to be learned from just listening.

"I'm inclined to agree." He spoke, something in his tone almost sounded like he understood, but more his tone was because now he was wondering if Bruce had actually thrown him a funeral when he died, or did he have him buried and forgotten in favor of a suit in a glass case.

[somakemelaugh]

He hummed and looked back at the memory again, briefly. The next events were already known to him, the surprise spoiled, and it held no interest for him now. There, they had a problem. Jason wasn't watching the memory either, unable to bear the terrible viewpoint, and the dream they were trapped within seemed content to keep them there for the time being.

"I'll admit to a bit of curiosity about all of this. I've had it happen to me before this instance, but with the Earl. We were in close proximity at the time, in our sleeping selves, and we've come to an understanding. We're both from the same world. Yet here I am, with you now, and we share none of those things. What could have made this happen, if not some random choice we haven't seen?"

[hititwithacrowbar]

The viewpoint was worse than a tequila sunrise for him. He was good to let it go, having picked up most of what he could from the memory, there for leaving his attentions to the one non-blurry thing in the room.

"I assume random choice, although, I have at least met every person whose memories I have seen since this began, so maybe there is a connection there. Considering I was at a hotel tonight I know my body is no where near your or the Earls. Wherever you both may be." He just didn't see the Earl in the area where his favorite dive bar was. Though the amount he had drank would explain why he hadn't woke yet, he only slept long when he was drunk or to exhausted to care about the terrors.

[somakemelaugh]

He nodded, moving one arm to cross over his chest and the other to rest against it, one finger poking at the scar across his nose. "It does make sense. I've noticed the same thing myself. Not proximity, then, but simply familiarity, regardless of the depth of that familiarity. But what to be gained by looking at random memories like this? That's puzzling as well. I've far juicier stories to tell than this. This is just an every day occurrence."

He lifted his head again, eying Jason with a grin. "What about you, then? Were yours just as easy to pass over, or were they more personal?"