[open] nobody knows it but me when i slip

[scowlish]

Who: Onni Hotakainen; Ben Hargreeves, open to anyone else who might be in the Library
What: Onni has a bit of a personal problem and turns to the Library for help.
When: mid-September
Where: Library
Format: Whatever you like. I started in brackets, but I do love prose.
Notes: He'll be running into Ben on the first day but the research will take longer than that and I'd love some additional threads. For the non-canon-familiar: 'luonto' is a word for the spirit/life force of a Finnish person, 'runo' is a Finnish magic spell.



[Probably, he should have told Reynir by now, but Onni isn't exactly the type of person to share his vulnerabilities, even with people he likes. So when he'd discovered that he can still see and hear spirits, that he's still aware of and capable of using the power of his luonto and still goes to his haven in the dream space, but isn't capable of using runo anymore, he hadn't mentioned it. Gone on as if things were normal, even though he feels almost completely vulnerable and exposed in this strange place without any familiar method of self-protection.

It takes quite some time to talk himself into trying things another way - the Finnish gods aren't within his reach, he is too far from home, but if there are spirits here, there must be something else here he can call upon. It galls him, enough that he's felt prickly for a week straight, the thought of reaching out to foreign gods for protection, the thought of what that might do to his relationship with his own when he goes home. But the truth is, he can't be without his mage powers, for his own safety, for Reynir's, or for any of the other people here.

So it's just a matter of finding out what there might be here to call upon. Starting from scratch on his training. A huge pain, but not impossible.]

❄ For Ben

[Eventually, he settles on the Library as the best place to look for that kind of information, if such information exists. He feels on edge as he walks inside - it's not much bigger than most libraries he's attended, besides the big one in Mora, which is a little disappointing. Of course, he doesn't register that the computer banks are part of the library or really what they are at all. Computers are something he knows about in a passing sort of way, but he doesn't recognize them in this form. What he sees are books, lined up on shelves, some in his own language, others in languages he doesn't know or recognize.

Running his fingers over the spines, he tilts his head, glances up as a man comes out from behind the other end of the shelf - his dark hair is cropped short, and his dark eyes look calm enough, even if there's a strange aura about him, as if his spirit is far too big for the size of his body. Onni tilts his head, looking at him from under his fur hood, mouth set in a straight line.]

Do you know much about the books here?

❄ Open

[Of course, it takes much more than one day to do the type of research he needs to do in a place like this, so he comes back for a while every day, in the afternoon while Reynir is working on the garden in the upper levels and doesn't need his help. Cross-legged on the floor of the Library, still wearing his fur hooded cloak, he leans over to peer at the papers and books on the floor in front of him.

When people enter, he generally doesn't pay them much mind, at least until they get close enough that Onni can ask for help with his research. Whether it's a blunt 'can you read this?' or asking if they'll hand him a text, he isn't above requesting someone's input.]

❄

OOC Note: If your character wouldn't approach him directly, feel free to just put them nearby and I'll have him ask them something. If you want to wildcard, go for it! If you want to plot first, hit me up on discord at coffee #6251, in game chat, on plurk at caffemisto, or by PM to this journal.

Comments

[benhargreeves]

[ Ben listens quietly to Onni's explanation, expression calm and contemplative, showing no change apart from a small furrow that deepens between his brows. It's all pretty heady stuff, magic and gods and the rest of it. But Ben was already used to the impossible, even before he came here. Death and life blurred in ways that shocked others, forces that couldn't be explained, fate and perhaps divine will.

Ben doesn't know all that much about Finland. There hadn't been almost any books about it in his father's library - a few on its history, but Ben hadn't read them. He'd always been more interested in fiction, anyway; harder to distract himself from his own life with a dry chapter on the history of trade routes.

But what Onni's describing: magic that is voluntary and based on a request, rather than a demand...; magic that takes the form of spoken poetry...; magic that is useful for keeping people safe... well, it's hard not to feel a tiny bit jealous. Just for an instant. ]

I can see how you wouldn't want to call on them until you know, like, their names at least.

[ Maybe it's all imaginary, maybe Onni merely has powers, the same way Ben has powers, and this is just cultural tradition, the way he was taught to access them. Maybe he'd be able to do whatever 'magic' it is without any poetry at all.

But... it must be nicer with poetry. Must be better than Klaus with the ghosts that would never leave him alone, or Ben's whole relationship with the things on the other side of the portal, struggling to control them, to use them, hating and needing them... ]

Oh! And mine's Ben, by the way. Ben Hargreeves.

[ He picks up a book in one hand, waves with the other, then takes the book to a seat and opens it, laying it on his lap. ]

I'll look with you. It'll be twice as fast with two sets of eyes.

[scowlish]

[Back home, Onni has become used to both practical and unquestioning understanding of what he does as a mage and the skepticism of non-believers, like those people from Mora. In this place, he's had to explain what it is he does more times than he ever has in his life, and has often been met with skepticism, not always because the other person was a non-believer, but sometimes because they have other systems of magic that behave differently and haven't run into any different kinds of magic.

None of those things seem to be true of this man. He simply watches him with that calm, thoughtful expression and listens to what he's saying, takes in what Onni is explaining.]

Yes. That's the idea. In order to call upon a god or element, a mage needs to know the origin of it, its source.

[When the other man says his name, Onni blinks and nods.]

Ben Hargreeves. I'm Onni Hotakainen. Good to meet you.

[When Ben offers to help him look, he blinks, and one corner of his mouth raises just a little, his pale eyes locked on the other man's face.]

I appreciate it. I'd like to hear your thoughts on any of it.

[benhargreeves]

I, uh- haven't really got any thoughts, myself. I kinda don't know anything about magic or gods, but I'm a quick reader, and I can show you any passages that look promising.

[ For a few minutes, Ben just reads silently, scanning the pages for any keywords that might indicate he's looking in the right spot. His eyes are a little unfocused, just looking for mention of gods or legends or history or myth or spirits.

Spirits. He blinks, halting mid-page, and looks up at Onni. ]

Maybe this is a long shot, but I know a guy you could maybe talk to. I'm not really sure if he could help in your particular situation. But... if anybody in this place could, I bet it'd be him.

[ Hopefully, Cole won't mind Ben mentioning him in this context. It might be beyond the kind of help he can provide, but he is a spirit, after all. If anyone could have contact with or know anything about gods or spirits in this place, it would be him, wouldn't it?

And as much as he tries to make himself focus on just the words on the page, Ben eventually asks: ]

Can I ask a question? It's not research-based I'm just, y'know. Kinda curious... can everybody do magic where you come from? I mean is it like being able to do math or... ?

[scowlish]

[When Ben protests that he doesn't have any thoughts himself, because he doesn't know anything about magic or gods, Onni raises a brow. Ben adds that he's a quick reader and can show him promising passages.]

Sometimes fresh eyes are as helpful as an expert's. You know enough of the basics of my magic to possibly have some insight.

[Onni keeps reading, flipping through pages in some of the helpful books Ben had brought with him, making little 'hm' noises of acknowledgement as he reads, and glancing up when Ben says he knows someone who might be able to help.]

Is that so? If you'd like to introduce us, I'd welcome it. Or if you tell me his contact information I can use this thing- [He holds up the sat phone he has with him, which he holds a bit awkwardly.] -to get hold of him.

[After a few more moments of quiet, though, Ben speaks again, and Onni rests his finger against the page to mark where he'd been reading, to keep his place, while he looks at Ben, nodding his permission to the request to ask a question. And when he does, Onni makes a thoughtful little noise in his throat.]

In a manner of speaking, yes, if we're talking specifically about Finland. I think it works differently in Iceland and Scandinavia, but I don't know as much about their magic as I should. In Finland, almost anyone can speak a runo to ask for the gods to help them, and most of the time, the gods will give their assistance. But one isn't really considered a mage unless they can see and hear the spirits around them.

[benhargreeves]

[ Ben blinks, surprised and flattered that Onni would still want his insights even though he is hardly the most informed on the topic. Maybe he is fresh eyes. Maybe he can help out, here.

(What a good feeling it is, helping people in this way - not by scolding them and not by mutilating bad guys, but just... by reading, and being open to new ideas).

When Onni holds up the device, suggesting he call Cole, Ben wrinkles his nose slightly, shaking his head. ]

Oh, no no, he- doesn't really like those.

[ Probably best to give Onni some warning, actually, along with information on how to contact his friend. ]

I won't need to make an introduction. He's... sort of a mind reader? So, I can tell you where to find him, and if you go there... he'll probably already know I sent you, and what you're looking for, and whether he can help.

[ He might spend more time explaining all that and trying to make it sound credible, but this guy is someone who does magic and talks to elements and gods. Probably, Cole's abilities, his whole spirit thing, will make more sense to Onni than it does to a lot of folks.

Different kinds of magic localized to different countries? That's a new one, to Ben. But he doesn't interrupt, listening to Onni's explanation. He tenses a little, when Onni mentions seeing and hearing spirits, thoughts going to Klaus, immediately, of course. ]

What kind of spirits do you mean? Like... the spirits in trees and rivers and stuff? Or spirits like... the embodiments of emotions, say anger or faith or... compassion? Or do you mean... spirits as in ghosts of people who died?

[scowlish]

[Coming from a world and a place like he does, Onni has never been one to waste resources, and even the untrained intuition of someone who's new to a topic is a resource not to be ignored. Ben seems intelligent, well-read, and open-minded, and those are even more valuable resources, particularly rare.

The explanation about Cole and his dislike of the devices, closely followed by the explanation that Cole is a mind-reader of sorts, and that if Onni goes to him he'll probably already know that Ben sent him and what he needs, and whether Cole can help, is certainly interesting. Onni's brow raises a little more, and he makes a soft, curious 'hm.' He isn't particularly fond of the idea of his mind being read, but it will at least make things easier, and it isn't as if he has anything to hide.]

Alright, that makes sense. I'll look for him a bit later, once I've gotten as much as I can from these books here today.

[When Ben asks more about the spirits, Onni's shrewd, pale eyes turn to his face again, curious and looking for some sign of the purpose behind these very specific questions. Onni wonders if it has something to do with the strange spirit that dwells in the center of this man, bigger and darker than the man himself.]

All of those types. Finnish mages are first and foremost psychopomps, and one of our major functions is to guide the spirits of the dead to the afterlire, Tuonela, so they can enjoy their eternal slumber instead of wandering the earth in pain. But there are all sorts of spirits around us, in the trees and the animals and even the mist. I haven't personally seen any spirits that are embodiments of emotions, but I can't rule them out either.

[A pause, and he gives Ben a level sort of look, his head tilted just slightly to one side.]

Speaking of spirits I haven't seen before, can I ask whether these questions are related to that...?

[He gestures vaguely toward the middle of Ben's torso.]

I've never seen anything like it.

[benhargreeves]

[ Ben knows what a psychopomp is, of course - there'd been a time when he had wondered if Klaus was meant to be one, whether it might be a solution to the problems caused by his powers. But he'd never had much of a chance to follow up on that, considering he'd become a ghost himself shortly after, and Klaus had settled into a lifestyle of managing things in a very different way.

His surprise, when Onni mentions that he is someone who guides spirits to the afterlife, is obvious. Ben looks up quickly, expression solemn but otherwise unreadable. He wonders what he would have done, if he had met someone like this, during all those years he was trapped, unable to interact with the world, unable to grow, unable to move on. Would he have accepted help? Would he have been given a choice?

The rest of what Onni says only registers dimly; stuff about spirits in the natural world, and from the sound of it he's never met a spirit of the sort that Cole is, before. Ben is about to explain that, that the guy he'd direct Onni towards might look like a regular human but is actually something very different, when Onni is gesturing at his stomach, asking if his questions are related to that.

The shock of it is like being doused with ice water. This has only ever happened once before - with Cole himself - someone looking at Ben and just knowing something is different about him. He is frozen for a few long seconds, silent, face paling visibly with surprise.

This guy is serious about being a mage, about being connected to the world around him. Can he sense the portal there, the creatures on the other side of it? Can he... communicate with them, the way that Cole had, but without even touching him.

Ben's breaths have quickened, his shoulders tense, but he tries to keep his voice as light and level as he can when he asks: ]

What, um. What does it- what do I look like, to you? I mean, how can you tell...?

[scowlish]

[The surprise, at least, is something he's getting used to, so when Ben looks at him so quickly, expression serious and a little confused, Onni isn't offended as he might have been when he first arrived. If someone doubts him, that says nothing about him and everything about them, as far as he's concerned. As he finishes his explanation, he glances down at the book in front of him, only looking up when he asks his question.

Ben's face looks as if he's been shot, he stares at Onni with his eyes wide, frozen in place, his breath coming faster and shorter, his shoulders tense. Onni blinks a little, tilting his head as he looks at the other man. Then Ben asks what it looks like to Onni, what he looks like, and how he can tell.

Onni blinks again, and shrugs.]

I can tell because I can see spirits. Not just from dead humans, but from other sources as well. At first I thought your spirit looked too big for the size of you, though that can happen sometimes, if someone has great power. After a bit, I realized there are other spirits tied with yours. Part of you, but not part of you at the same time. I haven't seen anything like it before.

[Brows furrowing slightly, he leans in a little.]

You know about it, then?

[benhargreeves]

[ Onni has no idea, most likely, of what a fraught situation this is for Ben. What a delicate stage he is at, right now, in how he views himself and his powers. The wrong phrase, the wrong reaction, could set him back months in the incredibly tentative and small progress he has made in not automatically counting himself a monster.

But Onni doesn't say anything about evil or malevolence or horrors. He just says his spirit is too big and linked with others. Tied, but not one. Ben just stares, jaw clenched and shoulders tight. Answering Onni is hard, and it takes him several moments to remember how to speak again, to wrap his brain around sentences and sense. ]

I know. I've known all my life.

[ He briefly thinks about explaining his siblings, the circumstances of their birth. If anyone is likely to have a unique reaction to that or interpretation of it, Ben thinks it would be this guy. But that would just confuse matters, so for now he merely says: ]

It's like you said. I have powers. There are these... creatures and I'm linked with them. I can open a doorway for them to reach into our world, through me.

[ And he touches a hand to his stomach, making it clear he's not speaking metaphorically, but physically. What Onni had seen as a concentration of energy or whatever is, in fact, a doorway. One that is, for the time being, tightly shut. ]

But before you ask, no, I'm not going to show you. It's really, really painful, and I only use it for life and death stuff. Because when they come through... it's to rip stuff apart. So. I would rather not get any blood on my books and I'm sure you can agree with that.

[scowlish]

[It isn't obvious why the situation is upsetting for Ben, or even the full extent of how upsetting it is, but Onni can tell that it is. There's a certain vulnerability that not even Ben's calm face can quite hide, when Onni looks at him, in his eyes and the way he holds his jaw and shoulders. But Ben answers, tells him he's known about this strange energy inside himself for his whole life, that he has powers, creatures inside him that are linked to him through a doorway into this world.

Through him. And the way Ben gestures to his stomach, the center of that strange too-large spirit presence in him, makes it obvious that he means literally rather than any other way. Onni is about to reply when Ben continues, tells him that he's not going to show him and that they only come through to rip things apart, that he'd rather not get blood on the books. At that, Onni's brows furrow a little and he makes a soft hum in his throat.]

I wasn't going to ask to see them.

[It's simple, and best to get that out of the way right away. Lifting his eyes, he meets Ben's gaze, his own pale and intense.]

That would make sense, though, with what I can see. That there are many of them and that they're powerful.

[Squinting slightly, he tilts his head and his eyes flick up and down the length of Ben's body, observing the pale blue shape of his visible spirit.]

Do you have any other questions about what I can see?

[benhargreeves]

[ Ben isn't really sure why, but he believes Onni, when he says he was never going to ask for a demonstration. There's a gravity to him that makes Ben think he is telling the truth. It's... nice. To meet someone who seems totally unafraid of whatever he sees in Ben's aura or spirit, but who takes it seriously.

He is at a loss for words for a few long moments, mulling over what Onni had said. The terms are so neutral: Ben knows there are many of the creatures, he knows just how powerful they can be. Is there more he wants to know?

His gut reaction is to say no. He doesn't want to know, doesn't want them there, doesn't want anything more of them in his life than there already is. For just one second, he wonders if he could ask Onni whether, with his powers back, he would be able to sever the connection.

But who knows what that would do. It might kill him. It might unleash them into the world. Or it might leave him powerless, when some new danger emerges, and Klaus or Cole or Peter or Kieran or Pratt or whoever might get hurt and he wouldn't be able to stop it. ]

Do they - do I seem...

[ Ben crosses his arms tight over his chest, meeting Onni's gaze, expression dire and hopeful at the same time. He finishes, quietly: ]

...evil?

[scowlish]

[When Onni explains a bit more about what he sees, he can watch Ben's body language closing up, can see him shutting himself down, his expression sombre and pensive. Onni gives him space to think, knows that he isn't the only one who needs time with difficult conversations and questions.

But despite that, Onni watches Ben, studying his face, trying to read whatever he can as Ben thinks it over, tries to get his thoughts in order. And then he asks if the things Onni had sensed seemed evil, if he himself seemed evil. Onni's brows raise, and he shakes his head.]

No. I don't sense evil in you, or them.

[For a moment, he's quiet, rearranges some of his papers thoughtfully, trying to work out how to explain.]

At home, there were spirits who were corrupted by the Rash. It's a disease that obliterated most of the Old World, that twists the minds and bodies and souls of people and animals infected. That makes their spirits hungry and desperate, turns them into predators. It's a corruption because it isn't how they're meant to be. But even those souls aren't evil. They're tormented, tortured from living with their pain and grief.

[For a moment, Onni keeps looking at him, squinting slightly as if he could get a better view of his spirit and the spirits of the creatures connected to him that way.]

Your spirit is the same as anyone else's. And their spirits are more like those of animals. I don't sense any corruption, let alone evil.

[If he can, he meets Ben's gaze, his expression intense.]

Why would you think that they're evil?

[benhargreeves]

[ Ben doesn't immediately relax, when Onni tells him he doesn't sense evil from him. It doesn't really work like that. But he at least does not get any more tense or withdrawn. He listens in attentive silence as Onni starts talking about his own world. Ben has heard about a lot of other realities since coming here, and this one? Sounds like a raw deal. A little like Julie's world, though Ben's pretty sure their zombie situation didn't impact animals, and Onni said this is a disease, not an undead thing.

Even so... it sounds pretty awful. For someone who can see spirits the way Onni said he can, seeing ones that have been all fucked up by this world-ending disease that makes them, in his own words, tormented? Sounds bad. Sounds a little like Klaus, hounded by the ghosts of people who died in such miserable ways, full of pain and grief and anger. ]

Oh.

[ It's more or less what Cole had told him as well - that 'they' weren't malicious, weren't cunning and human-like and wicked. He said that their consciousness was alien, but like an animal. That their violence was the violence of a wounded and confused and overwhelmed animal lashing out at a reality that was nothing but pain to it.

To hear that confirmed from Onni, a stranger who would have no reason to soften things to make him feel better, means a lot. Ben hangs his head in relief, exhaling and doing his best to pull together his fraying composure.

He looks up, meets Onni's pale eyes, only for him to ask that. It's a perfectly reasonable question, but that doesn't make it easy to answer. Ben is silent for several long moments, wondering what to say, how honest to be. It's a complex topic and an extremely vulnerable one and he doesn't know this man at all.

But how is he going to get better at talking about any of this if he doesn't practice? Klaus would've answered already - offered up the truth (wrapped up in a joke) without even being asked. He'd always been so much less of a coward than Ben, when it came to admitting in plain words that their home life was fucked up. ]

...My dad taught me they were. And nobody ever questioned it. So- I always assumed it was true.

[ So... there's that. ]

[scowlish]

[The truth is that his world is awful, there's a reason he's called it a terrible place. Grateful as he is to be alive and to have people he cares for that still survive along with him, it's not a good world to be from. The spirits he sees are twisted and tormented, for the most part, and he does what he can to console them, to help them move along, but there isn't much to be done sometimes.

When Ben doesn't tense further, just says 'oh' in that quiet voice, Onni breathes a sigh of relief. For all that he's not the most sensitive person, and tends to be tactlessly blunt, Onni is observant, and it hadn't escaped him that his answer held some importance for Ben. When the other man lifts his gaze and looks at him, hesitates for a few moments, and then explains what his father had said and how others had simply gone along with it, Onni understands.

This is a person who's grown up being told he harbours evil inside him. Someone who was taught that he was a vessel for evil. It's no wonder the questions were so hesitant, so loaded with implication.]

Mm.

[A pause, while Onni gathers his thoughts and then speaks, his expression softening and his voice both earnest and sincere.]

I can see why you might think that. It's like the beasts at home. It would be easy to think of them as evil monsters because of their corruption, because they attack, because they kill and spread disease. But they're simply sick, corrupted against their will, and hungry. They can be saved in death, to return to the skies.

[After a moment, he continues, his voice careful and gentle.]

These creatures you're connected to...they aren't even corrupt. They're simply hungry animals, maybe confused or injured, lashing out as animals do. If they're not even corrupted, how could they be evil? And if they were, why would that say anything about you?

[benhargreeves]

[ As Ben listens to Onni, he keeps still, keeps his face as calm as he can. The only change is a slight twist to his eyebrows, as Onni is comparing him to the beasts of his own world, the ones that are corrupted and kill and spread disease, but that aren't evil. But Onni's tone is reassuring and he's clearly building up to something, so Ben swallows and keeps looking at him and staying still - apart from his hands. He his half-rubbing half-scratching at the base of one thumb, an unconscious gesture of nervousness and discomfort.

He isn't sure if Onni's questions are rhetorical or not until the mage pauses, leaving Ben a space to speak. But he can't. His throat is all closed up, the words tangled and out of reach. He bows his head and manages a bare little shrug. It's all so new to him, taking apart these beliefs. It's a shocking thing, to hear them questioned at such a fundamental level. He'd never really considered that even if those creatures were evil, that wouldn't implicate him, the same way he'd never considered that they might not be all the things Reginald said they were.

Ben's sure that any good impression he might have initially made by being helpful about the library and recommending a chat with Cole has been erased now. Onni must think he's this sad, overemotional, messed-up weirdo. Which is not inaccurate, but even so. Ben would like to think he's usually better at hiding it, than this. With effort, he manages to get out: ]

I - don't know.

[ He reaches for the book he'd been scanning and pulls it over, lifting it and all but burying his face in it, shutting out any view of Onni, cutting the conversation short. It takes a few minutes for him to be able to focus enough to get through the page and flip to the next. ]