Fading sun, what have I done

[albuquerque]

Who: Severus Snape and closed threads to: Alice Liddell, Barty Crouch Jr., Voldemort, Hermione. Otherwise OPEN TO EVERYONE.
What: The aftermath of Mirror Verse
When: Days 365 through to 367-ish (up to and including the earthquake)!
Where: Various places around the city
Rating: PG for now, though there will be some violence at some point.


[Upon returning to the real Asgard, upon realising with sick dread that he's returned without Lily, Severus goes into hiding for the following two days. It's the only thing he can do while war is still waging outside. He's so bone-weary, feels so physically and mentally broken, that he can't face another moment of devastation and destruction and terror. He can't bare to think about Lily still being trapped there, unsafe, lost, her life horribly in danger.

He's failed her. Again. Seems that's the curse he has to live with: always failing the very woman he secretly, desperately, longingly loves with every wretched fibre of his being.

Despite how sore he is, how much he's aching in his muscles and deep in his bones, how heavily lost in a murky depressed fog he is, he throws himself into working on school schedules and doing what he can to organise school matters from the privacy and safety of his own place. It gives him purpose. Gives him focus. And when the explosion of heat suddenly sweeps across the city, Severus is safe enough to have to only duck down with a scramble under his desk, although the heat that settles heavy and oppressive in every nook and cranny is like being trapped inside a burning oven; very soon, he's scrabbling and tearing at his clothes, desperate to get them off and away from his perspiring skin.

In fact, it's the heat itself - and the apparent end of warring giants that's followed in its wake - that prompts Severus to eventually decide to venture out onto the streets. The heat is blazing, hotter than any heatwave he can remember ever hitting Britain; with very few clothes to call his own save those he arrived in Asgard with all those months ago, he has no choice but to don only his black slacks and white shirt, lest he faint from heat exhaustion.

Though he desperately wants to roll his sleeves up, he doesn't - his Mark has faded back to a faint reddish outline, dead and dormant, but he doesn't want to see it, doesn't want anyone else to see it. He'd rather swelter than ever let his shameful Mark see the light of day. His shirt clings wetly to his back with pit stains under his arms; his black hair clings in sweaty strands to the back of his neck while his forehead is bathed with perspiration. His face, however, despite being ruddy with the heat, is pale, withdrawn, pinched with a deeply repressed bitterness that's dangerously simmering beneath the surface.

It's not just the heat that's getting to him - it's the stubbornly unspoken thoughts and even more stubbornly ignored feelings about the previous several days bottling up inside him. Waiting to explode. Like a ticking time-bomb.

He will be found frequenting the Great Library and the school building he's bought, traversing between the two at regular intervals while he moves everything across to his new office. And in between his trips to the library or to the school, he can also be found making stops at cafes and shops for a much needed drink. Or he can sometimes be found stopping by a fountain or crouching down by a running tap, splashing cool water over his face. Or he can sometimes be found sitting on a bench in the street when he's too overcome by the heat to be able to stay on his feet any longer, broodily staring at the ground or down at his hands.

Anyone is free to stop him, although they may find themselves on the unpleasant receiving end of Severus' very short fuse. One should only approach him at one's own risk.]

[[ooc: Snape will mostly be around Odin district, however feel free to have your character bump into him anywhere, really. Feel free to also have your character bump into Snape post-earthquake on day 367. Prose or action tags are both fine with me! I'll match whatever you reply with. c:]]

Comments

CLOSED TO ALICE (d366)

[albuquerque]

[It's not that he's been avoiding Miss Liddell. Rather, he hasn't quite known exactly how to approach her in light of having seen her small, lifeless body that day, strewn amongst the mangled playground. It's an image he's never going to be able to rid from his mind, no matter how much he tries. In fact, it's that very memory haunting his thoughts whenever he lets his mind wander too much that has stopped him from contacting his student at all.

But almost three days after seeing her on that awful afternoon, after the sky had fallen and after he'd chased Jamie down to assist him in the aftermath, Severus decides he simply must visit her, even if it's just a cursory visit, to see that she's alright.

He's making his way towards Thor district, to Miss Liddell's place; Steven follows after him, plodding along with a fatigued listlessness to his step while his feathers wilt under the oppressive heat. In his hand, Severus is clutching a small paper bag, something he'd decided at the last minute to bring along with him before he'd set out from his place in Hel. The heat makes the journey seem like it's never going to end but, at last, he sees Thor house in the distance. Only a short distance to go. Thank Merlin.

He winds through the streets and upon arriving at Miss Liddell's front door, he gives a quick, firm rap of his knuckles, then steps back and waits, hands and paper bag clasped behind his back. He hopes Miss Liddell is home.]

d366.

[brainiest]

It's been hell, trying to keep up with everything going on - her friends disappearing then coming back, the giants, the Gods, the earthquakes and her inability to do anything to really help - but Hermione has been dealing. She's managed by making herself as useful as she can possibly force herself to be, including looking after the rather lost looking bird that was the guardian of one Severus Snape. It was one of her first thoughts when she realised how many people that she knew were missing - she had to make sure Steven was looked after. He was an intelligent bird, of course, but even intelligent things needed a helping hand once in a while.

She's noticed Severus wandering around the library and she's given him a little space, at least at first; she doesn't want to overload him and she knows he's definitely the last person he'd want to see. Lily has already contacted her and told her about some of the things that happened in the alternate world they'd found themselves in and - she didn't want to think about that, the danger and horror that had been hidden just beyond her reach. Hermione still wishes she could've been there to help, she could've been useful, not wasted and tucked away in a world where all she could do was formulate plans.

But, now, it's been enough time and she brings Steven with her to the library, carefully soothing the bird with soft words and a promise that Severus is back now and that she's taking him to him. While the emu may have warmed to her a little he still doesn't seem to like her very much - he loves Professor Snape in a rather startlingly devoted way. She can't count the number of times she was woken up by a mournful sound as Steven settled himself in her room. Still, he had definitely perked up when Snape had returned - it was like he could sense him.

Approaching her old teacher warily, Hermione petted Steven's neck gently before letting go of him and allowing him to go forward and reunite with his master.

"Sir? I brought Steven back for you."

Day 365, evening

[iamaplague]

[Mitchell is at one of the pubs in Odin, drinking as if his life depended on it. At least if he drinks beer, no one has to die. So that's pretty much what he's been doing after his killing spree in mirror!Asgard, visiting all the pubs until the bartenders kick him out.

Now if Snape happens to visit that pub, he'll probably recognize the vampire he fought in the mirror verse. Except that now his eyes aren't pitch black, but a soft shade of hazel, and instead of looking bloodthirsty and terrying, he looks depressed.]

367 pre-earthquake SORRY ABOUT THE WAIT

[flightofdeath]

[Luckily, the library's temperature isn't nearly so bad as what it is outside. Voldemort's considered himself a shut in today, although a shut in at a public building nonetheless. At the moment, he is reading all he can on the Giants that were found in the mirror universe and Asgard after he woke (once again) without his powers. As such, he is enthralled in his reading, books piling up around his reading area.

He may not notice Snape, but Snape may notice him.]

[liquidsky]

[Barty has been lingering near the school building for a while, so he's not surprised to come across Severus. In fact, he has intended to run into him and so there's an honest smile on his lips when he spots him walking towards him.

Barty stays where he is, a shit-eating grin on its way and apprehension showing in his stance. He is waiting for Snape's move.]

368

[ffuckoff]

Since she got the job, Fiona has been showing up as early as she can, and staying as late as possible. It's a kind of single-minded devotion that drives her on; she's done almost nothing with herself since she got here, and that's not acceptable. She tells herself her boss is kind of (kind of) strict, and she needs to prove herself, and that's true, especially after such a poor showing in the other Asgard. This is her domain, more than any sort of fighting or violence, and she needs to make that show. But also, she needs to prove to herself she can still do this, that she hasn't become lazy in her idleness. She's still efficient. Brutally, unremittingly efficient.

After the big fucking earthquake, she shows up in her usual outfit (a marked difference from her usual parade of T-shirts and stained jeans; Fiona ties her hair back, applies a very light dusting of makeup, and puts on a modest grey business suit) sans heels. If she's going to walk to work through rubble and trash freed up from the earthquake, she's going to do it in comfortable shoes. She hopes black flats are a suitable compromise.

She also arrives with a mop and a broom slung over her shoulder. She's not sure if the place has got a janitor, but she's pretty sure a bunch of professors with college degrees are going to be willing to do the dirty work if there isn't a cleaning staff hanging around somewhere. The thought hurts her pride, a little, but she could probably stand some humility after the shitty, shitty job she's done in Asgard (and not-Asgard) so far. And, more importantly, the cleaning and grunt work, it's second nature. She knows how, she wants to be useful, so...

She comes in the front door, cleaning supplies in hand, and surveys the scene.