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 Posted: Fri May 05, 2023 5:21 am
Orien slumped back a little more in his chair as Jett continued, adjusting himself so his shoulder was a bit behind Kaelan’s so he could lean into him easier. He was tired. Hungry. Overwhelmed. He looked forward to curling up with him and sleeping.
He wasn’t looking forward to climbing the stairs to their apartment.
“Look at Mr. Fancy over here,” Orien grumbled under his breath about the business card, but didn’t give Jett any more grief about it. Probably because it was so fancy that Orien was easily feeling outclassed. Not that he was in any class to begin with, but he didn’t want to start being judged for being included with the dregs of the earth.
Kaelan, though. He was perfect and wonderful. Anyone would be lucky to have them help save their future.
“How many others are there? I mean… if they’re working on building a world to stay safe, there’s got to be a lot, right?” Orien shifted uncomfortably and leaned his chin against Kaelan’s shoulder. “I’m not really good with people.”
He was sure Jett would agree that was obvious.
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Posted: Fri May 05, 2023 9:40 am
Jett shrugged. “Don’t have to be. You get a little stronger, you can carve out your own little space. You don’t have to be around anyone you don’t want to. Just because people are working towards the same goal doesn’t mean they always have to work together. However, that’s not an invitation to butt heads or try to pick fights. We’ve got kids as young as,” he shrugged, “I don’t know, fourteen, fifteen. I didn’t recruit them all, I don’t want to get kids involved in this. The other Senshi, I’ve met kids younger than ten. I’m not sure what they’re thinking, awakening them to this so young.”
He’d disliked it even before he had kids. Now, it just pissed him off more.
Kaelan rested his temple against Orien’s while they listened to Jett. He didn’t remember when their fingers had laced together so tightly but he squeezed his hand again to reassure him. Mr. Fancy probably had more than enough cash to cover dinner, and the more he talked, the more Kaelan was convinced that this wasn’t a joke.
Which was a relief–sort of! The idea of a magical world that they could build made his heart pound. The idea that the world was in danger, not so much. The idea that they could be in danger, extra not so much.
…But Jett seemed like he had everything under control. And he had recruited them. So he must have seen something in them, right?
The fear of failure suddenly weighed heavy on his shoulder and when he tried to swallow, he found that the lump in his throat was impossible to dislodge.
“It’s hard to say how many there are, but I’ll say we’ve got a smaller number than the others. That’s not a bad thing. It means they don’t see us as too much of a threat. So let them stay at each other’s throats, we’ve got free reign to do whatever we need to. Which isn’t much. We have to drain a bit of energy–it’s harmless, painless. Like giving blood, or having a long day at work. Not ourselves, not unless you want to. I was working on that when I found you two in the park. But you collect the energy of the people you come in contact with, just a little bit, and give it back to Mirrorspace. You’re taking a little bit of disposable energy and using it to build a world. I think building a whole new universe is worth a little bit of sacrifice.”
Easy to say when it wasn’t your energy, anyway. Jett had absolutely no guilt or remorse for taking what he had, and he probably never would.
“Doesn’t matter who you get it from, just that you get it.” Suffice to say, that was a lesson for another time, not here in the middle of a diner Jett rather liked. “But there’s no punishment if you don’t, I’m not going to hound you for anything. This is all voluntary. But. It’s worth it. I’ve never doubted it, not a day in my life. Everything I’ve done, I’d do again.”
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Posted: Fri May 05, 2023 10:05 am
Collect energy to give to Mirrorspace, and in return create a world that would be safe when Earth inevitably collapsed in on itself. Orien didn’t quite understand the scale of things, or how much they would have to do to catch up with everyone else, but a world with Kaelan, away from the horrors that they’d both already experienced on Earth was…
It was an idea he wanted to see come to life. He squeezed Kaelan’s hand back, and while he wasn’t sure what to think of Jett, he seemed to have already made up his mind. It was just a matter of if it would be possible.
“I don’t know when we’ll have time,” Orien admitted, and he sounded more remorseful than he meant to reveal. “We barely have time to sleep. We’re either working or trying to figure out ways to get enough money to either pay rent or eat.”
He didn’t know why he was sharing this with Jett. Maybe because he wanted him to know that he wanted to try, but would it be possible to create a world to live in while also trying to survive the one they were currently on?
“Kay is donating plasma to help us get by. I just started another job. What can we do that will be… I don’t know. Worth anything?”
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Posted: Fri May 05, 2023 10:20 am
It was more honest than Jett had expected, and while he’d kept a calm, professional demeanor so far, there was something slight that changed. An understanding, maybe. But more questions, too.
“Everything is worth something. I lost a lot of sleep figuring out how to find the balance. Are you two in school?”
A sore subject for Kaelan, who had gotten out too late to attempt the Spring semester, and who was growing a bit distressed waiting for anyone to respond to the emails he’d sent out about maybe attending the Summer semester. If he could qualify for financial aid. Or a loan. It was just a hazy dream, a loose idea for now. He’d only faintly floated the idea past Orien, but there was already a list of things that they probably weren’t eligible for, and he was anxious it would be another dream hitting a dead end.
“No,” he answered. “Not right now.” Maybe not ever. He pulled Orien a little closer.
Jett didn’t ask; maybe he saw that there was more to the subject than Kaelan seemed willing to discuss–or maybe it just wasn’t that important to begin with.
“It’s a shame you two left so quickly when you came into the store. Looked like you had a decent piece. Dabrovik is in high demand these days, I’ve got a customer trying to complete her collection. If you find more you’ll have to come see me. I’ll pay better than whatever you can find in the fountain. And it’s a bit more legal. Where are you working right now, do you like it?”
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Posted: Fri May 05, 2023 10:35 am
Maybe he’d said too much. He could feel Kaelan shift against him, and he moved his arm to wrap around his waist to hold him tighter. For the longest time, they were all each other had. They relied on each other to survive. It was harder now, and maybe Orien realized that.
Knowing that the piece Kaelan had brought in was valuable made Orien squeeze his eyes shut in shame. Because of his inability to just… breathe and not take things personally, he had sentenced them to eating the cheapest things they could scrape together from clearance shelves.
“I’m sorry, Kay…” he mumbled quietly to him, because he felt like he needed to apologize again. It was never his intention to make Kaelan suffer, and yet he ended up doing just that.
“The Cafeteria,” Orien answered about where he was working. It was a school lunch style restaurant where people went in and picked up the plates they wanted to eat. Nothing fancy. “Washing dishes,” he added, because it wasn’t like his personality would make him a good waiter. “And I just got a new job at night taking out trash from offices for that… law firm with the fancy name I can’t pronounce. But that one is under the table. I just needed something to hold us over in case--”
In case he got fired from his other job. As for liking it, he thought the way he wouldn’t look up at Jett answered that well enough.
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Posted: Fri May 05, 2023 1:47 pm
“It’s okay,” Kaelan said quietly, reassuringly. The validation that it was worth something meant that he hadn’t been wrong. He’d been so afraid of rejection or mockery that he’d pushed the idea away. He raised Orien’s hand and kissed the back of it. He loved him more than any trinket, no matter how much it might or might not have been worth.
Jett nodded but fell quiet for a moment when the waitress brought them the appetizers and drinks. He skewered the fried mushroom with a fork to let some steam out, but it was a clear invitation for them to help themselves to anything while they waited for the rest of their food.
When she was gone and well out of earshot, he picked up again. “Well, I respect how hard you’re working to keep afloat. I’ve been fortunate in my business, we’ve done well. We’ve expanded quite a bit over the years. I’d like to keep things moving in that direction. I deal in antiques,” he said, but that was the obvious part of it. “We’ve got the storefront, brick and mortar and online. An auction house, where we do a lot of estate sales. A warehouse. An office in the city. A restoration shop. A big business needs a big work force. I’ve even got dishes that need to be washed. We just sold a casserole dish for four thousand dollars this morning, someone’s got to make them look good for the pictures.”
Kaelan bristled again, because that sounded very much like it could have been a job offer, but he did not want Orien around four thousand dollar glass. He loved him, more than anything, but he didn’t want him to be under that much stress. “What other jobs do you have?” he blurted, because he’d rather be embarrassed than let Orien be self conscious.
“Depends on what your skills are. Or what you want them to be. I’ll pay for proper training if you think the job’s a good fit for you. I treat my employees very well. Even better if they’re in the Court.”
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Posted: Fri May 05, 2023 2:03 pm
If Jett hadn’t started off by saying that he respected how hard they’d been working, he might have taken everything else he said as shoving his good fortune in their faces. It was obvious that Jett was successful and had plenty of money to go around, especially if he had warehouses and stores and expensive casseroles.
Kaelan must have sensed Orien’s trepidation at the idea of working with such expensive dishes. He appreciated Kaelan, and he appreciated the idea of maybe different jobs because Orien wanted to make sure they had enough income so Kaelan could get through school.
“I’ll do whatever,” Orien said, because he’d already been at his lowest. He was pretty sure Jett wouldn’t have him do anything worse than he’d already done.
“I don’t have any interests. And I doubt any skills I have will be useful to you. But Kaelan is very intelligent and would be an asset to… anything. I’ll do whatever you need me to if, I mean. If it was possible for him to take classes. He wants to be a teacher, and he’s a great writer. And we’ve been dealt some pretty shitty hands. I’ll collect energy for him, too. We won’t neglect that. We just… need a break.”
He was so anxious that even though the food that had been set in front of them looked and smelled good, he didn’t want to start eating until he was sure he wouldn’t just throw it up.
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Posted: Fri May 05, 2023 2:14 pm
Kaelan’s face was red from the praise, and he was rapidly slipping into–what, anxiety? He was afraid of disappointment, afraid of getting his hopes up about something and having the rug pulled out from under them. He was afraid of Orien putting himself out there and getting burned.
“No,” Kaelan said quietly, quickly. “You’ll work yourself to death if you do all that. I can pull my own weight,” he insisted, and sat up a little straighter. “I want to help, too, you don’t have to gather energy for me. Besides, I’d want to go out with you, anyway. And,” he turned to Jett, “He’s hardworking. Really hardworking.”
Jett could have given them a moment to discuss it amongst themselves, but he didn’t want them to get worked up and worried. “I believe it,” he said, in a tone that almost made Kaelan feel like they might not have to put forth an argument to make him believe them. Jett continued, “Look, it’s a lot to take in at once. I don’t want either of you to bite off more than you can chew. If you want classes, we’ll see what we can do about DCU for the Summer semester. They’ve got some flexible online options if you’re worried about juggling things.”
“It’s–it’s more complicated than that,” Kaelan said, and was trying really hard not to get his hopes up.
“Then, we’ll figure it out. Doesn’t have to be complicated if you can break it down. I’ve already given out a few scholarships, it’s a good tax break so it’ll work out well for both of us as long as you’re serious about it. But we can talk about that later, we’ll want to talk about previous academics, intended major and what not. We’ll schedule something when it’s not so late, and when you’ve had some time to process all this. The job’s an easier part, you can come down to my office and we can work it all out. I don’t want you working at night, that’s the best time to gather energy. Sometimes it’s the only time, I don’t want you winding up on the news or attracting too much attention. If you don’t like working with people, I can get you set up in research, or writing out the listings. Doing pickups, or setting up estate sales. I’ve got a lot of positions. Maybe you’ll find an interest or develop some skills.” His gaze had drifted between the two of them as he spoke; they landed on Orien at the end. “Do you want classes, too?”
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Posted: Fri May 05, 2023 2:41 pm
“Classes for what?” Orien asked, not even to be a jerk about it. Kaelan was the intelligent one. Orien barely had enough to say that he had a high school level education, and that was only with Kaelan’s years of help. He didn’t want to get into too many details with others around, or when Kaelan was there. He didn’t want to stress him out or bring up past traumas that plagued them both.
Right now, his only goal was to make sure Kaelan was comfortable and had a good life ahead of him. If Orien ended up working himself to death, then at least Kaelan had the chance to keep living his life to the fullest.
He could tell that Kaelan was at risk for getting very upset, so he squeezed his hand they had laced together and turned to press a kiss against his cheek, before looking up at Jett again. He was right. They could talk about it later if he was really interested. Somehow Orien wasn’t sure if anyone cared enough to listen to a couple of teenagers, but they’d already trusted Jett enough.
If he broke it, well… they would just know they couldn’t trust anyone.
“Even if it wasn’t complicated, I don’t know how useful it would be for someone like me to try taking classes. There’s only so much information I can retain before it just starts to disintegrate.” He knew it sounded dramatic, but how many days and nights had Kaelan helped him study and study and try to learn things -- and he managed enough to scrape by, but Orien couldn’t recall much of the information they’d spent so long on. And he felt like he was letting Kaelan down by not being able to remember clearly.
“Come on, you eat the weird mushroom first,” he dared Kaelan, but he really just wanted to get him to eat something.
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Posted: Fri May 05, 2023 2:49 pm
Kaelan made a face at him, something between pleading and protesting, but Jett had ordered them to share, and Orien had suggested he have one, and. Well. He was hungry. He unwrapped his fork so he could poke into a small one nearest to him, always trying to be as unobtrusive as possible, and put the whole thing in his mouth.
He liked mushrooms, but it wasn’t like anything he’d ever tried before. His face lit up briefly and he poked another one, this time holding it up for Orien. “I like it,” he said, offering him one.
Jett reached for his drink and took a sip from it, maybe to hide the amused expression on his face. When he was safe to continue, he spoke again. “I won’t pressure you into school, learning a trade’s good enough. Some people make by with less than that, but my mother was adamant I finish school. It’s not for everyone, but, you know. Single mom, probably trying to keep me out of trouble. And it worked out well for me, so I’m not complaining.”
Kaelan flashed a quick, unconvincing smile. He hadn’t been able to do anything with the letters he’d written his mother. Sometimes they were under the bed, sometimes under his pillow, sometimes on the table. He hadn’t been able to work up the nerve to start going through them. The temptation to chew on the inside of his cheek overpowered his willpower not to, but he was careful not to hurt himself. Mostly. “You must care a lot about the Court to do so much for, um. Us.”
“I do, yeah. I’ll do whatever I can to look after it and the people helping out in it. But it helps that you don’t seem like a bad pair.” A little feisty, but he wasn’t quite sure he could blame them if they were working themselves half to death and selling parts of themselves just to scrape by. “And sometimes you just need a chance. I got mine from the man who owned the store before me, I’ve been working here since high school. I had a bit of a rebellious stage, started getting into trouble. But he gave me something more productive to get into. I think he’d have done the same for you so,” he shrugged. “Worth a shot, right? And you two seem like you’ve got a lot of promise. It’s my job to see the value in something, I’d be a fool to squander good potential. You give me the best you have to offer and I’ll see that gets rewarded.”
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Posted: Fri May 05, 2023 2:58 pm
Orien cringed away from the mushroom that Kaelan offered him, making a face at it, but… if Kaelan liked it. And he was hungry. He drew in a breath and let it out in a huff before leaning forward to almost aggressively bite the mushroom off the fork. Just not hard enough to break his teeth!
Oh. Oh, it actually wasn’t that bad.
It took a few moments for Orien to settle from the initial repulsion of the idea of fried mushrooms but. Yeah, okay. It wasn’t horrible.
He opened his fork so he could start eating from the plates as well while Jett shared a little more about himself. He didn’t think he was good potential, but Kaelan? Absolutely. Orien would work as hard as he could, but he knew his limits. Even though he often pushed past them.
“You? Rebellious?” Orien couldn’t help but snort in amusement around a mouthful of mozzarella stick. “You look like you’ve never even colored outside of the lines. And you don’t look that old.”
Jett didn’t look old at all. Obviously older than they were, but not middle age even. It was hard to imagine him doing something to get in trouble when he had his fancy business cards and no nonsense, never bothered attitude.
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Posted: Fri May 05, 2023 3:17 pm
At this, Jett laughed. His brows raised slightly and he nodded. “I’m not that old. But my oldest’s seven. Before I had kids, I got into a lot more trouble. Now, they wear me out. I used to box. Less competitive now, but it’s still good exercise. You two are what, eighteen, nineteen?”
Had to be at least eighteen if they were donating blood and renting a place, but they still looked young.
“I was starting a lot of trouble when I was a kid. Fifteen, sixteen. I was mad. Pissed off at the world, pissed off at everything. My dad walked out on my mom and I when he got his secretary pregnant. So mom had to pick up a second job, she was stressed. I was stressed, I couldn’t do anything. I don’t know, started staying out late. Skipping school, trespassing. Picking fights. Picked a lot of fights.”
He didn’t seem ashamed of this; it was distant history for him. A part of his life that was long past. “He was a friend of my mom’s and stepped in, offered to give me a job. Antiques were interesting. A paycheck was interesting, too. Gave me something to channel my energy into. But. I hate people telling me what to do. Hated it so much I took over when he retired and made it my own company. I don’t think I could function with a boss, I’d pick too many fights.”
It was more open than Kaelan expected, and he listened respectfully but absolutely took every opportunity to keep his mouth full so he didn’t have to answer. He glanced at Orien occasionally, just doing his best to make sure he was comfortable and wasn’t getting overwhelmed. He could see their waitress moving around; they’d made a big order so he wasn’t surprised it was taking too long. Jett had asked her to bring things out as they were done rather than waiting for the full meal, so he anticipated she’d come by soon.
His anxiousness eased again; the diner was comfortable. The food was good. Nobody had chased them off. Jett didn’t seem like he was going to drop them with the bill or come out point to some hidden cameras.
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Posted: Fri May 05, 2023 5:48 pm
“You box?” Orien scoffed around a bite of food, nodding to indicate that Jett was right about guessing their age. It wasn’t as though he had many people teaching him manners -- although he learned more by watching Kaelan over the years. “I bet I could take you in a fight. You don’t look so tough. Kay, you think I can totally take him on, right?” he nudged him with his elbow because of course Kaelan would back him up.
It was weird that someone would tell them about themself. About their history and everything that came with it. Orien could understand the anger and hate for the world.
But he wasn’t about to start unloading his history in a diner. Especially while they were eating. And he didn’t want to stress Kaelan out.
“So does that make you the Court’s boss too, or are you just picking fights?” Orien asked as he took a small break from eating to drink some water.
And then, quieter because they’d been told to keep their identities secret, “I felt that power. That was… was that normal? Kay and I didn’t feel like that.” There was something different when those giant wings were out, but he had no idea what it meant.
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Posted: Fri May 05, 2023 6:49 pm
Initially, Kaelan nodded, but he gave Orien a look that said please do not pick fights. He had absolute certainty in Orien! Most of the time. At the very least, he’d give him hell. But he didn’t like the idea that this guy was a skilled fighter and Orien was still thinking about fighting him.
…But it made sense, probably. He didn’t want to feel weak. Orien would rather assert that he was too strong to mess with early on.
Jett didn’t seem to have any ruffled feathers, though. He looked amused and shrugged. “I like to think I’m the boss. No one gives me orders. I’ve only ever met two who have the power I have, and one of them’s been gone for years–good riddance–and the other one’s busy with her own things. I don’t see them so much anymore, but I doubt they’d have the audacity to try and tell me what to do with myself. I’ll take suggestions, but.”
He fell quiet and reached for his drink, and Kaelan might have thought it was a strange place to break until he saw the waitress approaching with their milkshakes, salads and soups. He didn’t know how Jett had known; he hadn’t turned around. Was he psychic, too? Or–
Jett sat up and smiled at the woman, thanked her as she set everything down. She promised to be back in a few minutes with the rest. As she walked away, Jett’s eyes moved just over their shoulders and Kaelan turned to look and–
He’d been watching her reflection in a picture frame on the wall. Okay, good. Not psychic. Probably. Hopefully.
Kaelan moved his free hand to curl around the warm bowl of soup; he was glad for the extra warmth, but it didn’t take long for him to pick up his spoon so he could get started.
With the waitress gone, Jett spoke again. “You can get stronger. The more time and effort you put into working on yourself. Gathering energy, fixing Mirrorspace. All of us have an aura about us. You can feel anyone close to you, and you give off one of your own. Dark Mirror has a specific aura, Negaverse has a different one, and so forth. You can feel where someone’s getting their magic from and how much power they’ve accumulated if you focus. So, yeah. That power’s normal for me. I don’t need it often, it’s a huge beacon. I’ve got some special perks that come with it–that mirror you two went into. More magic, more power. But I can get the job done without tapping into it most of the time. I’m a good fighter even without the magic. If you want to fight some time, sure. We can spar. But maybe we should get you a good health insurance plan, first. Just in case.”
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Posted: Fri May 05, 2023 7:35 pm
Orien sat up a bit straighter when Kaelan gave him that look. He wasn’t picking fights! He was just saying that he could totally kick Jett’s a**. Although he couldn’t help bristle a little when it was suggested he have a good health insurance plan.
Just in case.
He was trying to relax around Jett, but now he knew why he didn’t care if his back was to the rest of the diner. Because there was a reflection he was watching. Seemed like that was a natural adaptation for someone who was leader of the Dark Mirror Court, but whatever.
“Are you offering a health insurance plan?” Orien grumbled as he stared down at the soup he’d ordered. It was warm, and like Kaelan he put his free hand around it to warm it. The spoon was next but--
He’d picked it up to lower into the bowl, but immediately dropped it with a splash.
His cheeks flushed and he reached down to fish the spoon from the soup. It thankfully hadn’t fallen all the way in, but as he picked it up it slipped from his trembling fingers again.
For a moment, he was tempted to just pick up the whole bowl, but… he could already imagine that going poorly, even if he used both hands. But he also didn’t want to let go of Kaelan’s.
Reluctantly, he carefully pushed the bowl away from him and reached for a napkin to wipe up the soup that had splashed out.
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