01 | video | @lazarus

[benhargreeves]

[ Public speaking is far from Ben's forte, but the good thing about uploading a video like this is that he can do multiple takes. In the frame behind Ben are shelves full of books; he filmed this in that little anteroom of the library that he and Peter had unearthed from the rubble.

He gets right to it; no introductions, no small talk. ]

Can anyone with experience at interpreting maps, handling old and fragile documents, or just anybody who speaks multiple languages please get in contact with me? I found some interesting stuff in the library a while back but I'm not making much progress with it.

[ A pause, and he seems about to terminate the video. Then he adds as an afterthought: ]

Oh, and I guess if anybody is just looking for something good to read to pass the time, I can help out with that. I can check if a particular book is down here, or recommend something.

[ Ben's self-appointed himself as the de facto librarian of the Anchor, because he wants to contribute in some way, and he's always been a bit of a bookworm. ]

Comments

[eudorapatch]

Have you ever read one of those bodice rippers? Completely unrealistic, and not in the good way. Besides, questionable consent seems to be a pretty common theme and it's-- not for me.

[ She won't actually say that it's fucked up. Even if she feels that it is. It's fiction, and judging the actions of fictional characters against the standards of the real world seems kind of useless, in the long term. Still not her thing, though. ]

I think I'll take the kraken and the doorstop. Hopefully one of them will stick.

[benhargreeves]

They're not all as bad as you're making it sound, but they're not really my preferred genre either.

[ Ben loves a good romance novel now and then, but he's obviously not about to say that NOW. ]

Good choice. You should let me know if either of them are good. I could use a little escapism, too.

[eudorapatch]

[ If she had thought for a moment he was the type, she would have kept that opinion to herself. And maybe she's just been exposed to the wrong ones, but the type of smutty novella that the Tías pass around between their little group, reading in the shade of a tree at the park or in someone's back yard while the younger kids play around them, somehow being watched like hawks even though every woman has her nose buried in a book, those have never been her taste. All the drama of kidnappings and mistaken identities and a no being worn down into a yes. Why can't it just be yes?

She's letting her mind wander to keep from being present in the conversation. She needs to not do that. ]

I will report back. If you just... set them aside someplace for me? I'll try to get down there tonight.

[ That's it. That's all she really needs to say. The conversation is over. And yet... ]

Do you-- I mean, I know we stopped talking about it. I probably shouldn't even-- Never mind.

[ Grown-ass adult over here. God, she sucks at this when it's her own life. Like, to a staggering degree. ]

[benhargreeves]

I can do that.

[ He thinks that will be the end of the conversation, too. Because Patch has showed no interest in talking to him further, despite his offer to listen if she ever needed to. And Ben gets that, and respects it.

So it's a surprise when she keeps going. And that surprise becomes worry when she starts to ask something, cuts herself off, criticizes herself, and tells him to ignore the whole thing. He is for sure not going to do that now. ]

Do I what?

[ But that isn't enough, he thinks, and tries some light coaxing, mingled with encouragement. Maybe it will be easier for her like this - not in person, but with some distance and the filter of a network between them. ]

I told you you could talk to me if you needed to, about anything. I meant it. That wasn't an offer with an expiration date.

[eudorapatch]

[ Well, shit. If he's just going to lay it out like that. ]

What makes you so sure that no one else was coming for your brother?

[ Direct. Direct is good. ]

[benhargreeves]

[ Oh we're just going right to this, huh? Well... no time like the present. And in a way it's easier to do this remotely, for Ben's sake anyway. He just hopes it is helpful to Patch. ]

I know my family. I know how they react to situations. I know Klaus. He's an addict.
Has been since we were kids. When he disappears, no one goes looking anymore. They just assume he doesn't want to be found, and usually, that was true.

[eudorapatch]

[ It's been eating at her, and with Ben's reply, she's actually really glad that she asked. Not realizing he was gone, that's not something she'd considered. She knows how she is with her family. If one of her siblings ever went missing, there would be no doubt immediately. The people who vanish without anyone noticing, in her professional experience, they're usually those who are totally and completely disconnected from the people around them. That's not the impression she got from the Hargreeves siblings, so the idea that they wouldn't go looking...

The reality is still sad, but it's better. ]

I'm a little ashamed to admit that that wasn't how I'd been picturing the situation. Thank you. I feel better.