1.0 : video

[because_its_cool]

[A face comes into view, an older gentleman, wearing a white lab coat over a flannel shirt. He's studying the screen with one part curiosity, one part confusion, and one part terror.]

[He clears his throat.]

Ah, hello. My name is Doctor Walter Bishop. I just arrived here, and I'm not quite sure where I am. I know I'm in Saeng Seong, but I ... I seem to have gotten turned around. I was heading toward the apartments, but now I'm in a market of some sort.

[It's hard to place his accent, though there are hints of Bostonian and possibly London.]

I would very much like to find my way home now, if I could find someone who will stop trying to sell me things long enough to point me in the right direction.

[His tone is full of annoyance, but it drops away to leave him vulnerable again. His eyes dart from the screen nervously, then back.]

Yes, I would very much like to go somewhere quiet now.

Comments

[because_its_cool]

Everything. The smell of an empty room, freshly dusted and cleaned. The carpet under his feet, just thick enough to afford some warmth between the feet and the ground beneath. The small living area with just enough furniture to remind you that you weren't living somewhere people should stay for longer than a few days.

And there isn't a Peter here anywhere, not in a house nor a hotel room, or even angry with him all the way across a continent.

"Oh..." Walter turns around and embraces September, hanging onto him as if he's drowning, clinging desperately. "I can't do this again, I just can't. I can't lose them all. I can't do this. I can't."

[someonetowatchoveryou]

September blinks, but curls his arms around Walter anyway. It almost feels as though he's holding the other upright. Perhaps he is. He has no idea what to say, though, so he just holds Walter for several beats, racking his brain for the right words. One hand pats Walter's back.

He lets his eyes fall half shut, listening to Walter's thoughts. Just the surface thoughts, really, just what he's thinking and feeling right now. It's powerful, more so than any other mind he's listened to recently. Still, he can sort out the emotions.

"They will likely not have time to notice that you have gone," he murmurs softly. "Time moves much more quickly here than it does there." He gathers another few thoughts and takes a breath before continuing. "I know... a little... how it feels not to have one's family with one. I will help you. You do not have to be alone."

Whups, his eyes are prickling and watering a little.

[because_its_cool]

Walter leans against September, needing the contact. There aren't many people he gets that close to; while hugs aren't rare, they're only for people he trusts dearly. September once saved his life, saved Peter's life, and while the Observer hasn't exactly been a wellspring of positive information over the last twenty five years, he's been a constant, and Walter considers him a friend. He trusts him implicitly.

"But Peter, he's always helped me, even ... even when I haven't wanted it. He's always been there. I just got him back." He pauses, takes a shaky breath, and in a whisper, "What if I die here? No one would ever know, and I'd ... I'd never be able to say goodbye, and... and..."

He's panicking again, mind racing, horrible scenarios running through his head. Walter can stand up against many things, but this isn't easy at all.

"Maybe it'll be temporary, only a few days..."

[someonetowatchoveryou]

September will just hold him upright as long as Walter needs him to. He doesn't say anything for a small while, letting Walter get his words out. He pats Walter's back gently.

The other's fears of dying here stab at him the tiniest bit. "I will make certain that does not happen," he murmurs. He's done it before, after all. "You will be safe, here."

[because_its_cool]

Walter raises his head. He looks old, so much more than his sixty five years, and heartbroken. There's a shred of hope there, though, and it comes out in his voice.

"I can be your ... family? For you, if you like." Did Observers have families? He really, really hoped they did. "It's not much, but I can be useful." When did this man become so very, very small?

[someonetowatchoveryou]

They don't have families, but September sort of does. His eyes are warm when he looks at Walter, the closest he gets to a smile, really. "Yes," he answers.

That's a big step for an Observer.

"You do not need to be useful," September continues, leading Walter to a chair. "I have discovered that that... is the nature of family. It is a closeness that is... not conditional."

Sit down, Walter.

[because_its_cool]

Walter nod-nods, doing as he's guided. Chair. Sit. Breathe. OK.

"I'm still getting used to that, even after three years." He settles, closes his eyes. Rubs his face. Opens his eyes again. Scratches his head. His momentarily become lost in the greying curls.

"You're different here," he says quietly, after a time. "I remember August."

[someonetowatchoveryou]

There's a pause as September puts his thoughts to words.

"I have been here for three months and eight days," he answers softly, "during which time I have... realised that I have been changing for several years, now." His gaze drops, then comes back up again. "I cannot hear the minds of my people, here. I am... unobserved."

There's a beat and he adds: "It is... a kind of freedom."

[because_its_cool]

Walter opens his eyes, looking tired and still a bit keyed up, though he's miles away from how he was in the market.

"Is this the first time you've been apart? You and your people?"

He reaches out, tentatively, and rests his hand on September's arm. "Change can sometimes be good, yes?"

[someonetowatchoveryou]

"It is the first time. I find that I am not as... troubled by it as I was when I first arrived. Before, I felt cut off. Now I realise that I was not as much cut off as... set free."

When Walter places his hand on September's arm, the Observer does not look down at it in confusion, as he had done before. Instead, after a beat, he carefully puts his own hand over it, his fingers pale and smooth and warm.

"Yes. Change can be good."