|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 7:16 pm
There were things to be seen to and this was one of them. First, the favor and then? Then he was going to have to-
Jeremiah pushed that from his mind, focusing on the now as opposed to the dark thoughts that had crept back in after he had gotten back from England. It had been something of a rude awakening as they had been driving back to Ashdown. The detective had to pull over, everything suddenly too bright and blinding.
The jet lag had been far, far easier to deal with than the return of magic and the changes it had brought. It took even less time than usual to find a way over, his eyes seemingly even more sensitive than he remembered them being. Normally he would have brought Heliodora's umbrella with him but it was left behind to make a point.
No rain would fall on Jeremiah as he made his way through other ashdown, his will imposed in an area around him to keep it off. The detective had, if anything, began to change his views on magic since his last encounter with the burning man as well as come to an acceptance of the cold that was part of him.
He was not quite sure where to go and he let his feet carry him without a thought through the streets. Part of him was tempted to call out, but he had no idea what to call the being of eternal fire (because burning man seemed foolish) and somehow ...
Somehow he expected to be found.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 7:20 pm
"Have you come to a decision then, my boy?" The burning man appeared behind Jeremiah, as was his wont. Raindrops sizzled as they evaporated on contact with the man's cold fire. "Time's running short."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 7:47 pm
Somehow my boy was simultaneously better and worse than dear boy. Just like the realization that the burning man was cold fire, not otherwise which was unsettling. "I have," he replied, turning to look at him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 7:51 pm
"Do share," he said. There was that odd impression of emotion: something like how the elder statesman watched a pretty young intern, or how the wolf watched a rabbit. A predator. "What is it you'd like?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 7:59 pm
It was odd to pick up the traces of emotion from what was in front of him, the prickle of something not quite danger but almost- "Knowledge," he replied, any unease carefully hidden. "Guidance." Jeremiah was carefully phrasing it but only because of the trepidation there was about finally using the favor.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 8:10 pm
"You're being quite vague," said the burning man. "On what specific topic do you desire my guidance?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 8:14 pm
"Or weary of having to play word games," he replied and then sighed. "I want knowledge about The Enemy. Guidance in regards to something I've come to know about."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 8:19 pm
"Again, very vague. Shall I tell you its shoe size? Or perhaps I'll tell you its age, or place of birth."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 8:26 pm
"I'm sure that is as useful as knowing that it may, in fact, not like tea at all." Jeremiah shook his head. "However, I've something specific in mind- so none of those things." Briefly he finally noticed that the rain sizzled away as it hit the burning man before his attention turned back to it's face. "There are pieces of it," he finally said, "that it's been broken into or it broke itself into or whatever the case may be. "I want to know about the pieces, what they are, who they are as the case may be."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 8:32 pm
The burning man didn't have a snappy response this time. He stood there in silence for a long moment before crossing his arms. "You won't like it, dear boy," he said. "I'll give you this chance to reconsider."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 8:42 pm
Dear boy.Jeremiah's eye did not twitch but it was a close thing. "There are other things I could ask about, I'm sure, but I will likely not like them either." He had briefly thought to ask about Sunny specifically, to know what it was about her but- No.Some part of him still clung to treating her a certain way. "Besides, I've never been one to change my mind once I've made it up. I'm not about to start now." Yet now there was trepidation, worry and a slight spike of fear because of the burning man's response.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 8:54 pm
"I could tell you about another you," said the burning man. "A man could have been you, but wasn't." He didn't want to tell Jeremiah, that much was obvious: he dangled other information like a worm before a hungry fish. "Or the painter. Prividaniye would be quite interesting to you."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 9:07 pm
"The spectre?" He still thought, honestly, that that was too much of a coincidence. "I know someone who is already looking into that." Jeremiah responded but then shook his head. "I already saw another me, both here and in a painting. I've a mind that knowing too much about that sort of thing would make my path here and now that much harder to walk."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 9:33 pm
Gambit discarded, the burning man fell silent. His flames crackled, the rain hissed as it hit his skin. "Of course," he said. "Then on your head be it." Everything of Jeremiah's surroundings faded, like he was stepping within another book-memory. And then there's-- Ashdown-- Sunny-- A ring, silver and garnet-- Flock of birds-- And then the images come too fast to read, too fast to memorize, and beneath them all is a current of strangeness, like Jeremiah can't get enough air, like there was nothing there to breathe. If he cries out, he can't hear his own voice. There's nothing but the acrid tang of smoke in the back of his throat, a burning in his sinuses, and then--somewhere a terrifying, repetitive noise, sounds squeezed out of a protesting body. When the images filter off (a book lingers behind his eyes) Jeremiah is on his back on the ground. The burning man stands over him, and drops something on Jeremiah's chest. It is ice-cold. "Consider the debt repaid," says the burning man.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 9:52 pm
Jeremiah did not have time to snap back a remark - that it was always on his own head - before the world around him faded away. His vision swims a moment, as if his eyes are trying to reconcile what is going on because- The first parts are easy. The city and Sunny and a ring of silver and garnet and birds but what follows is not. He does not cry out, the sound caught in his throat because it's too much like the sensation of when the thing that had worn Zac's features had drowned him in burning sludge. It's a lot to process, the noise and the sounds and it sounds a lot like- What? He does not know but it is familiar all the same. For a moment it seemed like there might have been a break the sensations do not fade so easily. A book is there, not leaving at all and lingering as his chest burns. When he blinks, blue-green eyes glowing once more and fading, the burning man is there and it is the thump of something ice-cold hitting his chest that reminds him to breathe. A ragged breath is pulled in, his throat feeling oddly raw and nothing is said in response. There's only a slight nod of his head.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
