❝ — He looks like anybody you see on the street. But when he grins, birds fall dead off telephone lines. ❞

independent, highly selective randall flagg, aka the man in black, from the stephen king multiverse.

CROSSOVER AND OC FRIENDLY. MAY CONTAIN NSFW + GORE.

ABOUT — MEMES — STARTER CALL

follows back from @phaseshiftings. written by max.

Jack is squinting his eyes at him. Helena, meanwhile, sounds awfully kind in comparison, which makes Rhys feel a little more stupid about having put his hands up like he'd been caught stealing something. They move awkwardly to link behind him instead.

"We, uh..." Rhys meets Jack's? John's? gaze with a small smile, then turns to meet Helena's eyes instead and nods. "Yeah, we've met. Jack--" Fuck. The man's upper lip curls in disdain, even as Rhys quickly backtracks with, "Mr. Weiss greeted me at the door."

"I might've kept him longer than I had to," Jack-John says, the hand that had been placed on his chest moving now to wrap an arm loosely around Helena's shoulders. "But, you know, had to make sure this wasn't some punk trying to scam us out of something."

"There's-- I don't want anything from you, Mr. Weiss. Sir."

"Oh, well now you sound like you do."

Rhys sighs. John's lips purse.

"It's-- it's nice to meet you, though, ma'am. Sir. Uh, I didn't know Angel still had family, actually, until she told me. She's helped me a lot with getting Atlas back up on Promethea. I owe her..." Gaze shifting towards Angel, Rhys' smile grows, even if a split-second later has him facing her parents again. "I owe her a lot, actually."

Taking the bottle off the table-- the label alone shows its age-- he comes forward and holds it out towards them. "I got you wine. It's an aged Bordeaux from Earth..."

"The Chateau Margaux," John says. "Yeah. I was just telling my wife how weird it is you'd know about it."

"Weird because--?"

"Oh, because you looked too plain for a Chateau Margaux."

"I..." Rhys bites back his scowl. "Right."

"Still," John says, looking to his wife and daughter, "boring's better than dangerous, at least." Unbeknownst to Rhys, this is John-speak for he's fine for now, as if his family needs the reassurance. "You two gonna be okay if I leave you with this guy while I clean up?"

...But they were trying to be better people.

Even the insults from John; these were comparatively tame compared to what the man once known far and wide as Handsome Jack could say. Gently dislodging herself from the embrace offered by her husband, Helena nodded as if that was the determinative action to send John upstairs and give the poor young man a breather from his constant scrutiny.

"Yes, my dear. Go do what you must, I'll keep Angel and Rhys company," Helena reaffirmed, both hands gently nudging John away and then finally turning to their evening guest once the sound of the retreating steps confirmed that her husband was no longer within hearing range. "Thank you for the wine, Rhys - I'm sure it will go well with the dinner. I just hope you won't be disappointed to learn it is not homemade - none of us are very good in the kitchen, I'm afraid, but we do know some great places to order from."

Helena gestured for Angel so her daughter could fetch a corkscrew for them from one of the cabinets behind her, the older woman then picking up the glasses for a drink next and taking care of the wine. "Angel, you told me you two had created a language together. Do I have that right? Did you manage to settle on a name for it?"

Out of all of the people at the Weiss home for that night, Helena was the least savvy one in relation to coding; her brain appreciated science, however of another kind and more traditional - Angel's mother had limited interaction with the technology that her daughter saw almost as an extension of herself, and which John had also dominated with ease. Apparently, Rhys was just the same - a fitting pair indeed for their darling girl, even if John sounded like he would fight a rakk hive with his bare hands before he allowed for anything less than strictly professional between the young couple.

Her heart lifts at John's eventual statement—she's been acutely aware of the rising and ebbing of tension in the household since Rhys' arrival (though her observation may be out of habit, used to navigating the cracks and pitfalls of Handsome Jack's instability). But if Rhys has really passed the litmus test, then it seems there isn't much for her to worry about after all.

"We'll be fine," Angel echoes, smiling lightly.

She crosses over to the cupboard Helena indicates, handing the corkscrew over to her mother and passing a glance of pure relief in between them as she does so. As fond as she is of John, she still fervently wishes he wasn't so overprotective, even if she knows he means well—and it seems Helena has picked up on this, which she's grateful for.

Her mother's question makes her laugh, though (and secretly Angel wonders, not for the first time, how her parents got together when they are so clearly different in some ways). "Yes, a proprietary programming language," she replies, half-amused and half-excited to be talking about something she has an acute interest in. "Um, Rhys wanted to call it... 'Rhys and Angel's Super Fun Time Awesome Language,'" and here she has to pause to mentally confirm she'd gotten the name right, "and we did call it that for a bit, but it was way too long. In the end we decided on Telamon."

basically i was looking over the protective prompts and the hero prompts and it hit me that like. the unbridled angst and vibes of the whole “post-battle” scene, or a scene set after an attack or a disaster or smth, needs to be ADDRESSED!!! and so y’all get the full weight of my angst today, sprinkled with a lot of teamwork and selfless and sacrificing vibes. i hope you enjoy! do NOT add further contributions to this list!!! i will curse your potato crops!!!

DIALOGUE PROMPTS.

“ can you hear me? hey… [NAME], can you hear my voice? “

“ come on… wake up. please… please wake up… “

“ oh! oh, thank god! i thought we lost you… “

“ hey, hey… look at me, okay? you gotta get up now. you think you might be able to walk? ‘cause they sent for back-up, and if they find us… we cannot let them find us. understand? “

“ go, go! save yourself! i’ll buy you some time! “

“ we both know i’m not walking out of this one. it’s okay, alright? it’s okay… just… do me a favor, will you? will you make them pay for this? i don’t care how. but… don’t let them get away with it. “

“ hey, how badly are you hurt? can you move? you think you can walk? “

“ if you can’t walk, i’m gonna have to carry you, alright? we can’t stay here. “

“ hey, look at me. i’m slowing you down, we both know it. it’s okay. i’ll hide and wait for back-up; you get yourself out of here. “

“ you’re gonna need to climb up on my back, you’re slowing us down with that injury. “

“ will you quit talking like that?! i’m not leaving you behind! “

“ what the hell are you doing here?! i told you to get out of here! “

“ you’re shivering… hey. hey, listen to me, okay? everything’s gonna be alright, i promise. here… take my jacket. don’t worry, i’m warm-blooded. “

“ i’ll get blood on your shirt… “

“ hey, don’t you dare close your eyes, you hear me? you die in my arms, and i’m gonna stick the dry-cleaning bill for this shirt in your coffin, that’s a promise! “

“ i know we almost died just now, but… am i the only one who’s hungry? “

“ we need to get you to a hospital… “

“ hey, come on now… you’re okay. you’re good, right? “

“ i must be hurt pretty bad if you’re being this nice to me. “

“ quit playing the martyr. we’re not leaving you behind. “

“ you know, i hate to be the negative voice, but… did… did we just lose? “

“ look at me… i’m not gonna make it. it’s okay, i’m fine with that. but… you can’t stay here. you’ve got a good long life ahead of you. and you’re smart, too; too smart to wait around here and waste that long life. so you get out of here, and you go live that life. live it for both of us. will you promise me you’ll do that? “

“ back-up isn’t coming. is it? we’re on our own, right? “

“ can’t sleep, huh? it’s okay. it’s probably all that adrenaline and shock; i can’t sleep, either. wanna keep each other company? “

“ i don’t give two shits about the back-up; i’m just happy you’re alive. “

ACTION PROMPTS.

as always, add a “+ REVERSE” to switch the roles!

[ CARRY ]:     having found the receiver in an injured/weak/unconscious state, the sender carries them in their arms to safety.

[ TILT ]:     the sender gently tilts the receiver’s chin up so that they can check to see if they’re okay.

[ PULL ]:     sender takes the fallen receiver’s hands and carefully pulls them up so that they’re standing once more.

[ WAIST ]:     sender, while physically supporting and steadying the receiver, loops an arm around their waist for extra support.

[ BACK ]:     sender crouches down slightly to let the wounded receiver climb on their back, giving them a piggy-back ride to safety afterwards.

[ HAIR ]:     while in the process of checking the receiver for injuries or other signs of harm, the sender gently brushes several strands of hair from their eyes.

[ TEND ]:     sender begins to care for the receiver’s injuries.

[ LEAN ]:     the wounded sender leans against the receiver for physical support.

[ SUPPORT ]:     the sender encourages the wounded receiver to lean against them for physical support.

[ PUSH ]:     the sender gently pushes the receiver back to lie down so they can check them properly for injuries.

[ COAT ]:     sender removes their jacket and drapes it around the shoulders of the trembling receiver.

[ BLANKET ]:     just as they’re all about to go to sleep, the sender covers the receiver with their own blanket.

[ AWAKE ]:     the sender, unable to sleep, gets up to go for a walk, and finds that the receiver is also unable to sleep.

[ TOGETHER ]:     when the receiver awakens, they discover that the sender has been sleeping next to them, arms wrapped around one another for warmth, comfort, protection ( or something more… )

[ BANDAGE ]:     the sender sits down across from the receiver and begins to bandage their wounds.

[ DRAG ]:     unable to leave them behind, the sender drags the wounded receiver out of danger and into a safe hiding place for both of them to wait until help arrives.

[ TOUCH ]:     the sender nudges or touches the receiver to check and see if they’re alright after the attack.

[ CLEAN ]:     the sender gently and carefully begins to bathe the blood/soot/ash/dirt from the receiver’s skin during a moment of calm.

[ PRIORITY ]:     when they arrive at a designated safe place, the sender refuses to be examined or cared for until the receiver is taken care of first.

[ PROMISE ]:     before leaving to get help/food/water/a rescue mission etc, the sender assures and promises the receiver that they’ll return safely, refusing to bring them along or to stay behind.

[ BROKEN ]:     after having promised the receiver that they’d return, it’s learned that the sender died during their mission. how does the receiver respond?

[ TRAPPED ]:     after having promised the receiver that they’d return from a mission, the receiver learns that the sender has been kidnapped or otherwise trapped, requiring a rescue mission to bring them home.

[ RESCUE ]:     the sender and receiver reunite after the sender embarked upon an infamously perilous rescue mission to save the receiver.

[ FOUND ]:     after a massive rescue mission to try and find the missing receiver, the sender is the first to find them just as the efforts are about to be abandoned.

[ HOPE ]:     just as the receiver is about to lose hope in ever finding the sender again, a message or clue of some kind is discovered that essentially guarantees that the sender is still alive, restoring the receiver’s hope once more.

[ CLING ]:     having finally been reunited, the sender pulls the receiver into a tight, overwhelmingly relieved embrace, clinging to them and burying their face in their shoulder. the whole deal. make it EMOTIONAL–

[ TEARS ]:     having finally found the receiver, or having finally been found by the receiver, the sender breaks down in tears of relief, fear, and many other emotions as they officially reunite.