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 Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2016 6:47 am
It was dark out, but not chilly. The street lights, where there were any, illuminated just enough of the sidewalk to see where you were going. Sometimes Jamie found himself unable to sleep at night, same as when he'd first started to awaken to his role as a moonwalker, and it was nights like this he fell back on an old routine.
Sneaking out so his parents wouldn't hear got easier and easier each time and his guilt lessened, too. Normally this was the point where he'd text Shiloh and they'd meet at the swings or the 7-11 for icees. Shiloh needed his rest, though, whatever sleep he could manage. Jamie wasn't going to take that from him, not now.
So instead he walked alone along the deserted streets, grateful for the quiet that came with the hour. It afforded him time to think and a moment to breathe. So he did, deeply and soothingly, until the playground was visible through the shadow of night.
The swings were hidden behind the playhouse from this direction, but he thought he heard their chains lightly jangling. Probably just the wind. There was a slight breeze tonight, after all.
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2016 4:14 pm
The most mundane Thorne had done in a long time was to go on a walk.
Chris was out watering plants, and he'd taken the time to simply let his thoughts soak through him as the night wore on, until he'd become too restless and taken to the streets to prowl them out of his system.
Somehow he'd managed to cool off, settled in an abandoned playground. With no one around, he'd even allowed himself to shift, the abandonment of the mortal form nearly like a breath of fresh air, a relief. There was something that made him feel more controlled with his wings fluting a soft song through the air, the chains on the swing rattling softly as he settled on it, balancing to the rock and sway his wings created with every gentle gust.
He was so focused on balance that he barely noticed Jamie's approach at all.
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2016 8:29 am
Truth be told, Jamie hadn't expected to see anyone out at the playground this late. The last person he expected to see, though, was Thorne. Or rather, this new Thorne who greeted him with wings spread wide and horns that reached towards the stars. If he hadn't already experienced Other Ashdown, if he hadn't dealt first hand with Shiloh and his newfound nobility, he probably would've been more startled than he was.
That didn't mean his heart didn't thud a little louder when he came around the front of the swings.
"T-Thorne?" It wasn't quite the greeting it should've been. He tugged his beanie down further over his head though he had no hare ears to hide anymore. Hiding from Thorne would've been pointless anyway. It was more habitual, spurred on by a vague sort of camaraderie. A sort of, oh, you have some pretty non-human parts too now, huh?
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Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 12:13 am
Thorne started at the voice and turned, his wings flaring wildly and giving off two powerful flaps that unbalanced him from the swing. There was a strange, graceless topple from there on out, which ended with Thorne grunting on the floor of the playground, wings outstretched on either side of him and glittering to reflect the deep hunger of space.
He stares upside down at the small moonwalker, half dazed, heart thumping heavily in his chest, and says, "Jamie?"
He rolls over onto his belly and pushes himself to his feet. With a graceful few beats, his wings shake the dirt and sand from them, and he runs a few fingers over his antlers, just to make sure they are clean as well.
"What are you doing here? Isn't it a bit late to be out?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2016 7:14 am
It looked like the sky had fallen.
Graceless or not, Jamie would've called the sight impressive. He'd seen people with ears, people with claws and teeth and furry tails, but he'd never before seen someone with a wingspan so wide that looked as if it could swallow anyone whole. They reflected the stars in a way that would've had Jamie mesmerized if he hadn't been more worried about Thorne's wellbeing.
"A-Are you okay?" he exclaimed, voice cracking with concern as he quickly jogged over. He shielded his eyes against the tail end of gust before his hands hovered in front of them like he didn't quite know where to put them. Jamie wanted to help, but it looked like Thorne had himself plenty together on his own.
"I, um, I couldn't sleep. Sometimes I... go for walks at night. I don't live that far away." Rubbing the back of his neck, he tried not to look guilty. He'd been over this in his mind so many times, now wasn't the moment to let the guilt seep back in. "Why are... you here?" It was hard not to let his eyes drift over those brand new appendages.
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 6:07 pm
Thorne exhaled sharply, chest rising and falling as he shook out his antlers, the light of them shifting as he did so. He looked at Jamie with a small smile, playing with the edge of a fawn-spotted elven ear.
"I'm fine," he said, "I can stand a little bit of a fall. You just surprised me." He crossed his arms loosely in front of his chest, leaning against the rusted bars of the swing set and tilting his head down at the rabbit moonwalker. It was his first time seeing Jamie one on one in awhile.
Thorne looked up at the sky when Jamie asked him why he was here.
"I can't sleep either," he said quietly, "It's hard now. Some nights its better. Most, actually. But sometimes it's just too loud." He looked back down at the other, a small, trying smile on his face. "How have you been?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2016 4:36 pm
"It hasn't been easy." Something in Jamie didn't want to admit that. He moved to sit on one of the swings, fingers wrapping loosely around familiar chains, ankles crossing in the way they always did. It felt selfish to think of himself in all this when Shiloh and Thorne and the other forced tithes were the ones dealing directly with the consequences of what had happened. In a way, he could empathize with them, at least as far as alien transformations and introductions to abilities no one ever quite asked for were concerned.
Again he looked up at Thorne and lost his thoughts in the depths of universes his wings displayed. It was rude how long he stared, but there wasn't any ill will in his eyes. It was simply a sight he found beautiful despite hardly knowing what Thorne had been forced to go through. There could be some solace in adversity, couldn't there?
"I probably don't have to tell you that, though," he finally continued his thought, nudging the swing into a gentle sway. "I wish... they taught you how to deal with this magic stuff in school. I don't really understand what you and Shiloh are supposed to be doing. A-And I... don't know where I fit in. Where any of us fit in..."
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Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2016 12:49 am
Thorne glanced up at Jamie, his eyes soft and understanding. He knew that it hadn't been easy - on any of them. The Court had tested each and every person that had walked through its doors. Not as a trap, but as part of what it was by nature in of itself. As part of what it was built to do. It had tested in cruel ways, horrible ways, and Thorne now help a fraction of the power of it in his hands.
"I know," he said softly, "the Court was a brutal place. I had hoped - " He paused, trying to fit words into the new, rich tenor of his voice, unbroken, king-like. "I had hoped no one else would suffer from it. I wish I could have gotten him out."
Not like him. Not like Shiloh, or the rest of the tithes turned towards a bigger mechanism, a greater cause.
His laugh was slow and melodic, a deep sound that runs a current through the night. With ease he sat beside Jamie on one of the swings, wings neatly folding around him and the chains.
"It would be far easier if they did. Especially when growing new ears and appendages is part of the package deal." He glanced down at the other, rocking his own swing back and forth in a gentle motion. "I'm not sure either. Only that we're a part of the Court now. I want to make it better. I want to - change it." He reaches out a hand after a moment, and rests it like a ghosting, gentle touch on Jamie's shoulder.
"It will come to you and I'm sure you'll be incredible," he said, "And if it gets hard, I'll always be around to help if you need it. Until the day that you don't. The Moonwalkers and the Nobles seem to be intertwined. We'll find our way. We have to."
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Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2016 12:57 pm
"I wish..." Jamie started, mirroring Thorne's words with a voice no where near as smooth or sure, "I would've noticed there was something wrong." His head drooped as he clung tighter to the chains, curling his nails back into the heels of his own palms. "I-If I had noticed it wasn't Shiloh, then maybe... m-maybe..."
For a moment he went quiet, fighting back the impending tears. It was impossible to speak without making his battle obvious. Maybe what? Maybe they could've gone looking for everyone sooner? Maybe Shiloh wouldn't have been so hurt he had to forget to save himself?
There it was again, the selfish part of Jamie that wished—for as accepting as Shiloh was of their relationship—that his best friend actually remembered all the moments they'd spent together as he did.
A weak, shuddering breath was what Thorne gained for his touch, but the tenseness of his shoulders did ebb. Any sort of physical attention, good and gentle and caring, was more comforting than Thorne might ever know.
"D-Do... you really think that?" came the question, shivering with his lips, "Could I really be incredible?" When Jamie looked up at Thorne in that moment, his eyes were wet and full of stress, but edged with determination. "I-I want to help you make things better. A-And I want to learn what it r-really means to be a moonwalker."
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2016 12:36 am
Thorne exhaled softly, and looked over at Jamie. He wondered what to say, what to do. It was the wish of so many people he'd met - and some selfish part of him wished they had too. But there was nothing they could have done.
"Don't give yourself that blame," Thorne said, breath pluming white in front of his lips, the swing giving a creaking sigh as he swung back and forth with long, long legs, "It wasn't your fault."
He looks over at Jamie, his wings shifting and giving a soft flap, swaying him back and forth. He shook his head, the antlers pulsing a blue-gold glow, and his eyes dipped, considering the ground at his feet before he raised them back to Shiloh and smiled, rubbing a comforting pattern against the smaller were's back.
"Of course," Thorne says, his voice deep and strong and sure, caring, "You fought for Shiloh after all, didn't you? You want to protect him, don't you? That's incredible enough already, and you can only go forward from here." He smiled, a warm, gentle expression. The swing beneath him stilled. "I hope you do. The moonwalkers were once a force to be reckoned with, it sounds like. Maybe you can help lead them there again."
He tilted his head, and added, "More than that though, I hope you find yourself, Jamie. If there is anything I can ever do to help, just let me know."
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2016 5:42 pm
It was hard not to give himself that blame. Thorne must've known that, he thought. There was no way he wasn't the only one. At least there was some comfort in the fact no one had died, no one he knew of at least, save Adoelle. He pursed his lips. It was comfort in the loosest sense of the word. He chose instead to focus on the ministrations at his back.
"I-I want to try, I want to protect him, b-but I... also want to be equals. I want us to... help each other." The touch was calming and slowly his voice began to even out. It wasn't noticeable immediately, but Jamie was steadying himself. "And I... hope I can do something. I want to be a strong moonwalker. I can't escape it, so... I might as well embrace it, right?"
Jamie took in Thorne's new look again, his wings, his antlers, and smiled in a sympathetic sort of way. He was sure Thorne understood.
"Thank you, though... And, um, if you need me for anything, too... you'll ask, won't you?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2016 9:10 pm
Thorne gave a soft smile to Jamie, raw and unreserved. He was far different in this light than the harshness of day, the shell he built around himself to hide from the public eye. He felt like it would do a disservice to Jamie to be anything but truthful, to hide the truth from the younger boy.
"Then strive, Jamie, and I'm sure he will too," Thorne said. "Strive to push yourself forward, to keep walking. But don't ever think that you need to make yourself better. You're already a great person as you are, and I'm sure he thinks that too." He drew a soft circle against Jamie's back again. "You're strong as you are. You'll only get stronger from here, and you have people to help when you need it as well."
He grinned at the other, giving a gentle flap of his wings, the antlers pulsing a soft and rhythmic glow.
"Of course," he said, "I'd be honored to have you with me." saedusk and wrapped!! I'll start our new one soon! >V<
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