because there's only so much barricading woods can do while also trying to calm mason down. when the fevers really grip him he's back there, nightblindness threatening to plunge him into darkness again, some american grasping his arm and telling him things in a western language he doesn't understand

- the environment and woods' presence tend to quickly put him at ease every single time. but it's worse when he gets sick, his body threatening to dip into fevers time and time again. it's made worse by the guards trying to force their way in every time mason's yelling at imaginary foes at night -

but woods'd put a stop to that fairly quickly. instead it's the ankle bracelet, the monitored phone line, the car parked outside at all times. the inside is familiar: aging wallpaper, creaking bed in the guest room, threadbare sofa, full ashtray. no matter where mason's brain thinks they wake up, -

he recognises cathy and david most of the time now, but they're still staying with her parents, and that's probably for the better. because while he's most likely not going to commit any (more) treason, he's also hardly sane. the cia's original plan had been a safehouse, 24/7 supervision by guards -

they've let him out of the secure facility by then. he's under no illusions what the ankle bracelet he's wearing is for, but at least after months and months of vorkuta, then 'nam, then the facility back home - at least he's now in as homely an environment as possible for him for now.

cia tells him it's to be expected, malnutrition, whatever. make sure you get plenty of sunlight and eat an apple every day they tell him, and then it's back to psychological treatments, which - half of them wouldn't even be effective if mason could form a coherent thought for longer than a second

and the thing is. at first woods absolutely makes fun of him for it. third time that quarter that mason is absolutely KO'd by the sniffles. oh, he tries to pull a brave face, walk it off; but his head is cotton, he can barely hear, or think, hasn't slept properly in days

mason whose immune system has taken a nosedive after vorkuta. who catches the sniffles at the tiniest hint of a virus floating past him. whose go bag that he takes on weird cia black ops missions is 50% clothes and 50% flu meds and paracetamol and tissues and throat soothing candy

still can't stop thinking about how mason and woods wore practically the same jacket in blops cold war... you can't tell me they're not boyfriends!!!!!

ask and you shall receive 🫡

#ghostsoap #joesart

He totally made posts about Goncharov