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 Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 12:25 am
The comments were ignored, and Noah smirked as his brother's dearest pet fluttered down, only to feel his grin melt away once the pesky feathered monster began to mimick what he knew was the most embarrassing part of the previous night's argument. He was thankful when Frank shut the little monster up, crossing his arms, and scowling for a moment as Era fluttered. "Oh yes, fairy tales, just the type of thing my brother would stay up all night to read." He teased, and clicked his tongue at Era, beckoning him closer as he cursed and croaked.
"Where, indeed." The younger man's tone seemed to shift back into seriousness. It wasn't hard for him to know where to start, and since his curiosity had long since gotten the better of him, he skipped right to the point. "What was all that, about how you should have seen it coming? Were you just mouthing off?" Noah squinted at his older sibling. Even if it had been some foolish tease, it had stuck in his mind. Frank had sounded so grossly sure of himself, and the younger Varick wanted to know why. "This wasn't some sort of stupid prank, was it??"
Noah wouldn't have minded, really. It all still felt like a horrible nightmare, but the little totem was still safely tucked away in the same spot inside the dresser when he'd checked that morning. He had stuffed it back even further before getting dressed. The object made him feel odd, as if his stomach were full of butterflies, and he was keen to destroy said feelings by distracting himself with work and alcohol. Thinking of the latter, he glanced around his brother's office for a moment. Never too early for a drink.
"Because if it was, I'm going to take a vacation, courtesy of you, Frank, and there won't be anything you can do about it."
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2014 4:41 pm
Noah was prodding the hornets' nest with that remark. Already hating this conversation, Frank glowered at his brother. "Poor No-No. Were you hoping I'd read them aloud to you, all tucked in?" That treatment was reserved for Erasmus only, now. Erasmus, who began toddling towards the younger Varick cautiously, unsure if the beckoning was the start of some trick. His 'uncle' could be affectionate sometimes and teasing at others but, spiteful about being hushed, the rook hopped onto Noah's knee and looked up at him expectantly with a soft croon. Frank tried to ignore that for now.
As it was, his brother's question had thrown him off-guard, rare in the ring and even rarer outside of it, and it only rekindled his frustration with the situation. Frank had been expecting questions about the Guardians, what he himself was most interested, but Noah had to dredge up his comments instead? Shooting him a look of exasperation, he hoped it made Noah feel sufficiently stupid. "A prank from Frank. Yes, because I'm just a little imp, aren't I?" Leaning forward, his sarcasm quickly twisted into something nastier.
"You're so keen to leave again, even after the mess you got yourself into. It's not a 'prank,' Noah, it's a mess, and if you want help dealing with it—you're going to need help dealing with it—you'd best stop with the threats and start listening to me." The older Varick punctuated his kindly advice with a haughty thumb-jab at himself, his other hand settling on a particularly weathered book on the desk. "What better help could you get? I'm a witch."
There it was, spoken with conviction even though Frank had long scorned it himself. Thinking he'd let that sentiment sink in for a moment, the man sat back and flipped open the book he'd grabbed, the pages within dog-eared and marked with his own impatient scrawl. It was a guide on different plants and their uses, an apothecary's friend and a book Noah might have found familiar from their childhood. And you know what? Frank still couldn't remember what foxglove was good for. He'd just liked the name.
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Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2014 2:03 am
"Oh, won't you, Frankie? It'll help me get to sleep so much faster." Noah batted his eyelashes as he talked in a small, mocking voice, hoping to rile his brother even further despite making a fool of himself. He stuck his tongue out after and reached to scritch Era around the neck, knowing well enough how to please him. He was certain it would burn Frank even worse, and he decided to see just how long he could hold the rook's attention. Any other day he would have been happy to torment Erasmus, but today he would use him to torment Frank instead. It was a cruel line of thought, he realized, but after what the old b*****d had done to him the night previous, it only seemed fair.
Noah could only grin wryly as his brother's mood plummeted further and further. He hadn't truly believed that it was a prank, he'd only wished so, the same way he wished that it was all a silly, drunken dream. Of course his brother had to grump and growl over how it definitely wasn't one, and a wistful sigh escaped him as he sunk into the chair and daydreamed about another vacation...until Frank's scolding lecture ended on a particularly attention-grabbing note.
"A witch. Ha ha. You certainly are acting like one." He spat, before changing his tone and squinting at his brother searchingly, head tilted. "How do you mean?" was instantly tacked on, as he tried to figure out if Frank was yanking him around again. As Frank leaned back, though, Noah's eyes fell upon the book, and his mouth fell open in familiar surprise. It reminded him of the only other person he knew who read that sort of literature; their mother. His whole body jolted forward, and suddenly he was wide awake, standing up halfway.
"You mean witch, as, like mum?" he stammered a bit, his brown eyes glowing with surprise and something akin to wonderment. Their mother had been so keen to teach them both about the Old Ways, only to find that neither of them had inherited any of that magic...or so they had all believed. He leaned his hands on the desk, peering at his brother closely. "How did you find out? How long have you known?" He was getting off the previous topic, but he didn't care. He couldn't fathom the pain that his brother's late-blooming abilities had bestowed, and had instantly assumed that Frank was some sort of healer, akin to their mother. His eyes were glued to his sibling as he waited for him to speak.
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2014 9:34 pm
The bratty Noah of today was a world of difference from the pitiful Noah of last night, but to Frank, who hadn't slept, the change seemed too-quick and certainly very unwelcome. He looked about ready to smack his brother around again, but it was hard to say what was riling him worse as he glanced at his familiar. There was Erasmus, wings lifted as he leaned into Noah's scritching, giving a contented wheeze. He was just being spiteful, surely. Since when did they get along so well?
Still, Frank did not move to get Erasmus back, partly because he knew that's what the boy wanted, and partly because Noah did a good enough job of shooing the rook himself as he startled, Erasmus flapping up in surprise of the sudden movement. He settled instead on the jockey's shoulder and tugged at his shirt collar, still wanting attention, and perhaps made a bit nervous by the repetition of the word 'witch.' It was a word that came up often when the rook was a young thing, in heated conversations where both of his pseudo-parents were left upset. Even now, he could see a repeating pattern.
Trying his damnedest to brush off his brother's very transparent attempts to provoke him, and it was a hell of a feat, Frank continued. "Not exactly like Mum, no. I found that out because I don't understand a word of this." He closed the book, tossing it onto the desk with all of the irreverence he showed anything else that wasn't shiny and valuable. "There are different kinds of crafts a witch can have, Noah."
He'd explained the first part well enough, speaking as condescendingly as if he'd known all along, but it was the second question that gave Frank a pause. Of course he hadn't always known. It was the part he'd been dreading to explain, honestly, and he hated that he felt dread at all. His fatigue suddenly felt all-too apparent to himself, and he seemed to forget his brother for the moment, opening a drawer to rummage around for a cigar before remembering—he'd smoked his last not too long ago. Growling, he slammed it closed again, frustrated gaze returning to Noah.
"I knew ever since Penny and Ed were killed, and I hadn't stopped it from happening. Even though I saw it in a dream." It was probably best to say it simply, and it was the first time he'd admitted it in words. Not wanting to dwell on that fact, though Noah probably wouldn't let that little admission go, he added quickly, "I see other things before they happen, too. Like the outcomes of your races." It was something he would have liked to lord over Noah, his words smug enough, but his sudden slouch, broad shoulders drawn tight as he looked away, betrayed his troubles. Instead of his usual two modes of simmering-disgust-to-open-rage, Frank looked, for once, uncertain. "...But I didn't see this coming. You, being Chosen, I mean."
What did it matter, really? Would he have tried to stop it? Could he have? His brother was clearly shaken up by the whole thing. It was maddening. He could only tighten his fists when he heard Erasmus, still perched on Noah's shoulder, say his name. Frank, in his wife's voice. In his father-in-law's voice. The rook was excited to hear of his old family, and fidgeted on the younger Varick's shoulder, burbling snippets of warm conversations that should have stayed buried.
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Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 2:14 am
Noah picked up on Frank's glance, smug as he gave the bird's neck a good rub. Even he was a bit surprised that Era would hang around for so long, but he liked to think that his relationship with his 'nephew' wasn't all that bad. All too quickly, though, keeping Erasmus' attention and using him to get under Frank's skin were completely forgotten as Noah absorbed the information that his brother was revealing to him. He didn't even notice as the rook fluttered up to his shoulder, hands remaining planted on the desk as he leaned in, eyes wide.
"There are??" He looked baffled. Of course, he knew quite a bit about the Old Ways, the Wardwood, and the legends...but there were those subtle things that he had no clue over. Details, he supposed, that wouldn't have mattered even if their mother had pointed them out. Hell, maybe she had at one point, but the knowledge she possessed had never really held any great importance for him or his own path in life. It was interesting, yes, but not crucial. At the tug on his shirt collar, he finally reached up to smooth a hand down the rook's back in a half-distracted attempt to calm him down, though his eyes never once left Frank.
It was a rhetorical question. He sucked in a quiet breath, somehow managing to keep his mouth shut as Frank paused. The gravity of the revelation was just beginning to sink in, and though he'd thought of several more things to ask, he could see his brother's growing agitation. It was best not to press him. After the slam of the drawer made him flinch, the response to the second question came soon enough, and it wasn't anything he'd ever expected to hear. Noah felt his stomach sink, and he sunk back down as the blood drained from his face. Penny. Ed. He had known them too, not as well as Frank had, of course, but it was still a horrible tragedy in his eyes.
Noah let the comment go without saying a word, clearing his throat nervously as Frank explained further. There was no sense in dragging that story out of the dark, not if Frank wasn't comfortable discussing it yet (and there was no way to tell whether he was or not). By the time his brother was done, he was left speechless for a moment, trying to take it all in. He realized quite suddenly that he felt horribly for his brother, though he knew better than to show the man pity. If there was anything Frank hated, it was pity.
"That's...this is madness." He finally said, rubbing his face for a moment. He was tempted to ask why Frank had kept it a secret all that time, but with powers connected to such sensitive issues, he realized that there was a good reason for it. Imagining his brother going through an ordeal like the one he had described made his heart ache. He banished the sorrow the only way he knew how.
"No wonder you always do so well at the track, you ********' cheater." He smirked darkly, and reached up to ruffle Erasmus into silence, not caring if it ended up scaring him away. "Does mum know yet?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2014 3:52 pm
For the second time in Frank's long day, he felt a rare gratitude towards his brother. It was especially strange considering part of it was thankfulness for the way Noah riled Erasmus up into ceasing the echo of painful voices, his familiar cawing indignantly and flapping away from his careless ruffling, but he'd just have to make amends with the poor, constantly-interrupted bird later. As it was, Frank ignored the swears and grumblings now coming from the rafters, looking to Noah and relaxing just the slightest bit. He almost felt like he could have smirked back, even, but the elder just gave a lazy shrug.
"It's only cheating if you get caught." Words he lived by. "Mum doesn't know." He almost said Noah was the only one who knew now, but he immediately stopped himself short, thinking his brother would get smug about that. He opened his mouth to say instead that he'd figured their mother would be disappointed, then shut it again once he realized how uncharacteristic, and worse, pathetic that sentiment sounded, so close to being admitted like that. Not really knowing what he wanted to say, with the hardest of it now out in the open, Frank growled in frustration as he slumped back in his seat, running a hand over his face and looking as rundown as he suddenly felt.
"...Because I'm a witch, Erasmus is my familiar. Like Mum's rabbit," he tried, wanting to steer things back to what he felt was more relevant. "That spirit of yours will be something like that. Like a familiar. But you don't get any special craft." And there was the strange think he'd picked up on in his research—there had been witches respected and plenty in the past, but none had ever had a Guardian by their side. He wondered why that fact bothered him, but he did not share it.
Above, Erasmus quieted his griping. He did not join the brothers again, because they would probably only keep shushing him when he always thought they liked his words, but he did peek down. He liked when Frank said his name, and the word 'familiar' along with it. But he quickly turned around to give the witch his back when he made kissy noises up at him. <******** sake.'
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2014 6:14 pm
Noah could be obnoxious, but he usually knew when to reign himself in and show a little respect. It wasn't a subject he felt he needed to run his mouth about, so he snorted a soft laugh instead, the smirk lessening somewhat into a more sobered smile at Frank's response. Erasmus was all but ignored as he fluttered away, and the younger Varrick slouched slightly in his seat, eyebrows raising slightly after a moment.
"That's a surprise. I would have guessed that she'd be the first to know." He pondered offhandedly before scooting himself up again, fidgeting. Penny and Ed had passed away quite a while ago...which meant Frank had been sitting on his secret ever since it had happened. For good reason, Noah supposed, since it had come about so negatively, but his brother's newly discovered abilities obviously weren't all bad. He rested his chin in his hand and quieted as Frank began to talk again, far more focused than he'd been earlier. His sibling had stayed up all night in order to help him out, after all.
"Ohh." He squinted, trying to catch a glimpse of Erasmus, wherever he'd gone. Had Penny known? Could any old animal be a familiar? He would have asked, if Frank had not skipped onto the topic that was more immediately important to him.
"So...how will it happen? Will that little thing turn into a guardian, somehow?" He asked, referring to the totem. His brows had furrowed by then, as he peered across at Frank hopefully. He still didn't know what to think, or how any of it would work. Would the beast appear when he needed it? When the wolves came? Such thoughts had not ceased to plague him, and he shifted in the seat again, eyes darting up as his brother's bird grumped about in the rafters above. "Are any of these books a particularly useful read? I'll...I'll do whatever it takes to deal with this. I don't want it to cause us any trouble..."
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