TMA!Jacobi and Jon

[mrballisticsdummy]

"Are you sure this is the place?" he asks the driver, who was already speeding off, leaving Jacobi in front of the old building.

"Thanks for your help!" he calls out with false cheer, rolling his eyes before trudging his way up to what he had been told was the Magnus Institute. He doesn't even flinch at the screech of tires that comes from blocks behind him. He doesn't have to see the car erupt into flames as a very confused driver crawls out and phones for help. That's chaos for someone else.

Instead, he takes the steps up, backpack on his shoulder. He had flown all the way out here, so it's not as if he's going to be missing any leads. Besides. He has an appointment.

The closer to the door he gets, the more uncomfortable he feels about this. It's like a whisper of wind against his skin, a suggestion of something dangerous, but Jacobi's never let something like that bother him. He walks through, hands in his pockets.

Comments

[mrballisticsdummy]

There's something in the way he says Archivist that makes Jacobi shudder just once. It doesn't sound familiar to him, but there is recognition there at a deeper level. A primal level. He ignores it, pushing it away as he does all of his other feelings. He can't completely destroy it. Besides, the man in front of him doesn't - shouldn't inspire any of those feelings.

The Archivist should be - intimidating, he decides. Something this Jonathan Sims is not. Not - outwardly, at least.

"I'm looking for a knife. Not like a butter knife or anything. I have a picture of it." He takes out his phone and searches through it, letting the backpack fall with a very metallic clunk. "There are some other people looking for it and they're - not the sort to make appointments, so I'm pretty sure I'm the first." He pauses.

"Unless you are here by yourself in which case - uh - maybe you shouldn't be?"

[epistemological]

The metallic clunk gets a glance but he puts it out of his mind, as he can find out what's in there soon enough. The mention of other parties looking for something, that catches his eye.

He still won't say if they're alone.

"What sort of people?"

[mrballisticsdummy]

"Um, my people? My - former people, I guess. I just got back from space and fell in with a bad crowd. You know how it goes."

He finds a picture of a knife in his phone and holds it out to him. A blurry picture of a picture of a Polaroid of a knife, made of iron. The handle looks like it's made of rubies, but they're far, far too bright.

He turns the screen towards Jon.

[epistemological]

"Former... people," he repeats, as he's clearly trying to get a handle on what he's talking around. But the mention of space? That's something else. After all, space is no escape from the Fears. But it does narrow the likelihood.

He looks at the knife.

"And what were you hoping to find out about it? We don't exactly lend out the artifacts. For obvious reasons."

[mrballisticsdummy]

"Well, consider the first part a warning," he tells him softly, pulling his phone back and pocketing it before Jon can consider getting too close. "You know. Bad guys who like fire a lot want it. And I'm not looking for a loan, Jon." Because that seems proper. "Do you have it or not?"

[epistemological]

"I can neither confirm or deny the presence of the knife," he says, fastidious and firm in it. But he presses his lips in a bit of empathy before he adds-

"...they aren't anything to worry about. Haven't been for... a few years now."

He doesn't know how long he's been in space, after all.

[mrballisticsdummy]

But Jacobi will go ahead and answer that for him. "It's been a couple of years," he admits. "Since I've been here." He pauses. "You took that news pretty well. I'm not Mark Kelly or anything."

[epistemological]

And a lot of the facade sort of breaks as the 404 error shows on his face and he blinks.

...it feels like more of a blink than it is, weirdly enough.

"Mark... Kelly? I'm not familiar."

[mrballisticsdummy]

"Went to space? Or wait. Was that his brother? No, I'm pretty sure they both went to space because one twin was used as the control for weird experiments on how space works. I mean, the company I worked for was lightyears ahead and - " He laughs. "Get it? Lightyears. It's a space joke. Anyway. There was space involved."

[epistemological]

"Oh!"

And the recalibration of him realizing that Jacobi is talking about more mundane things and not- not everything that he deals with?

It definitely breaks the strange, imposing impression he'd had.

"I didn't- yes, of course there was space involved. A-are you implying this knife is one of theirs?"

[mrballisticsdummy]

For the first time in a very long time, Jacobi laughs and there is no anger, no heat, behind it. It's a genuine, surprised sound.

"What? No. Look, you've lost the plot. I came looking for this because a contact told me that other people might be after it. But the news is old because I've been in space. A fact that you seem to he way okay with, even though I'm not famous. That was the reference."

Oh shit. Is he turning into Eiffel, making stupidass references?

He picks up his backpack again, the metallic clanking of magnesium casings sounding again. "Look. Do you have it or not? It's pretty important."

[epistemological]

"Well, if you'd been in space with Fairchild or that outfit out of Ny-Ålesund, I might have a bit more objection," he says primly before he glances towards the stairs to the rest of the institute. He frowns at the question, biting his lip a little.

"Let me... see if I can find it. Can you stay here?"

[mrballisticsdummy]

Jacobi raises a brow at that. "Don't care much for the dark.." He shrugs.

"I'll stay," he says, though he has every intention of snooping. "Whatever you say."

[epistemological]

He looks back at Jacobi as he starts to move towards the deeper parts of the building.

"Stay there, please." A pause. "And I will know if you don't."

[mrballisticsdummy]

That gets a very shitty salute.

"Sure thing, boss," he says, adjusting his backpack. But as soon as Jon is out of sight, Jacobi is absolutely going to try and find his way into anything he can. Fortunately, he has no intention of burning anything, but - hey. A boy can snoops.

[epistemological]

...which is why Jon walks back in a few moments later, frowning in irritation.

"What did I just tell you? Are you four?"

[mrballisticsdummy]

He might have his hand raised, about to open a door. He might have already fiddled with the lock. But when Jon catches him, he flashes a grin.

"Hey, neat trick," he says with absolutely zero regard for the look on Jon's face.

"Did you find it?"

[epistemological]

"How was I supposed to do that when you waited less than half a minute to start mucking about?"

The angry substitute teacher energy is high here.

[mrballisticsdummy]

That's strangely endearing for Jacobi, who meets that energy with amused class-clown vibes of his own.

"What's behind here?" he asks instead of answering the question.

[epistemological]

Oh the eyeroll is mildly epic as he starts walking over.

"None of your business. Now do you want me to look for it or not?"

There might be a bit of zing on that, whether he meant to or not.

[mrballisticsdummy]

Jacobi flinches a little, but doesn't itherwise react.

"At this point? I don't really care. It's more curiosity and wanting to just...finish what I started."

[epistemological]

He notices the flinch... and he winces in return.

"Sorry about that. I didn't- it gets away from me on occasion."

[mrballisticsdummy]

He can't help but look to his hands. "Yeah, I get it. But it's fine. That doesn't scare me," he assures him, finally admitting to knowing a little more than he did before.

"The truth, I mean. It's a good way to...break things."

[epistemological]

There's a pause... and then a slow nod. And he looks to where Jacobi had looked. Glances over at him.

"Are you... you're not with the Lightless Flame, are you? Yourself, I mean?"

[mrballisticsdummy]

"Nope," he says, popping that last sound dramatically. "Not for lack of trying on their part. And I considered it. Briefly. For about three seconds. But uh...I don't like mindless idiots too much."