[PRP] I hate worrying about the future [Alexis/Jer]

[Daekie]

Alexis is doing -- better. As a rule, they guess. They're not doing great, but they're never doing great, and even though Nasir looked so hurt he's let them hide in their room for a few days until they felt -- better. Able to talk with people and unwind themself from their blankets and avoid the urge to chew their nails (too dangerous to ******** stim, them's the breaks) and to - and to go into work. They took a couple of days off, because they knew - they wouldn't have been able to - it wouldn't have worked. Not the way they were.

So they wear long sleeves and keep their hair down unless they have to, and layers upon layers, but today it feels like something's clicked. Like something makes sense, clear as day in their mind, some crystalline fracture going right down the center and splitting open some Atlantisian vault they didn't know they even held.

It's half past noon and it's a little rainy, just a bit, and they haven't left the house but -- it seems like the right time, maybe.

to: Mercer

hey

A pause of a few minutes passes before the next text.

to: Mercer

any chance u can get me to the othrwrld and back 2day?
wanna try st but not sure if dangerous
youre like crazy durable right

azuredreams

title is from fine, great by modern baseball, i was going to call it 'When all I wanna do is worry about everyone but me' but that was too long. curse you gaia character limits

backdated to maybe a week after okay, ophelia???

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah has been nothing but work and motion, constantly searching or reading and never not busy. His phone buzzes and he pauses for a moment, to pull it from his pocket and let out a breath.

Quote:

to: tucker
just meet me at my house.
i can move freely between places.
and, last i checked, beyond crazy durable.

Which is why Jeremiah is sitting on his porch, Hellbine curled in his lap and getting all the pets that he could stand, waiting for Alexis not too long after he sent his text.

Daekie

it is a good title, tho >3 curse gaia limits

 

[Daekie]

Alexis doesn't text back - they rarely do, if all that it'd serve to do is convey even more finality to the conversation. Compared to real life, their persona over text communication tends towards much less words. Maybe it's just a little quirk of grammar, really. But it doesn't matter.

They're scuffing their shoes, hair down and loose, all in drab teals and grays; and Alexis raises a hand in greeting when they come into view. "Hey. Cat got you prisoner, or you free to go right now? Like I said -- I have somethin' I want to try."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah flicks his fingers and Hellbine stretches before he hops down and goes to nap on his favorite spot on the porch. At least until the humans leave and then who knows the things he'll get up to.

"We're going now," he says and steps towards Alexis, within two feet of them. The world shifts for Alexis and, from one blink of the eyes to the next, they're in other ashdown. It's on a road that leads to the beach, the sound of the water able to be heard but not seen- not yet.

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

Alexis whistles in what might be appreciation. "Smart cat." But that's not the cause, and they both know it, so it can just go unsaid for as long as it wants. They know this road, used to walk down it every weekend before everything changed, sit on the sand until they started to burn and then make their way back and relax -- well. Not the point. They start walking with a tilt of the head to Jeremiah, inviting him to walk along at equal pace.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"You've no idea," he replies about the cat. Mostly because there are stories about the trouble Hellbine has gotten into. Instead he follows Alexis along, whatever face they set, as they walk to the beach.

It's quiet enough and he, as always, waits for the conversation to start itself in moments like these.

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

Alexis isn't calm - not calm, never calm, not unless their mind is somewhere far away and barely tethered to their body - but there's a cocky slant to their brows. It's a little reminiscent of the first time: a kid who saw something powerful and terrifying and decided to fight it, for better or for worse, because nothing said they couldn't and in that singular moment nothing stopped them (until Pax did and Jeremiah did, but that's not here or there, that's nowhere in particular).

There's what looks like a tiny skull braided into their hair, like a tiny mirror of their Court attire. No ribbons, no vicious eyeliner, no silver bracelet around their ankle: only the responsibilities they want, here, the ones they're ready for.

"...Haven't really talked to Zac the last couple of weeks," they admit, absentmindedly tugging at their sleeves. "'Cause I haven't been up to much. How much of it did you tell him? So when I see him again, I know what's already covered."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah is dressed as always, potentially too many layers (to combat the never ending chill he experiences without his husband around) and fashionable. His hair was reaching a point where it was a touch too long, his fingers raking through it absently. This is Jeremiah who is not putting forth the weight of Nobility or being Chief of Police.

For the moment he is simply Jeremiah.

"... that there was an incident in other ashdown at a lake, that you were saved," he says slowly, head cocking as he looks at them out of the corner of his eye, "and that perhaps you need some time to go over things." Things was a wide and varied subject but Alexis also had many things that they were working through.

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

Alexis is silent for a while, after that. Their eyes are focused on the road beneath their feet, step after step, no witty retort or observation at Jeremiah's expense prepared or going to come at all. They can appreciate him saving some of the questioning for when they're ready - but - it's still -

they dig their nails in behind their ear and scratch, for a few seconds, for that grounding pain. It's hidden under their hair, anyways. (There's never dirt under their nails anymore.)

"So - " Alexis clears their throat awkwardly - "how's yer life?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah just watches instead. It's what he's good at and it's why his eyes are no longer quite so human and why they catch the oddities more while missing the normal things. His shoulders roll and he lets out a breath, a near sardonic huff of laughter.

"There's a Principal unaccounted for, Pax is likely dying and there's little to be done, I've got to find a document to ensure we can recreate the Court to be something less toxic, there's something that is tearing up bits of other ashdown as it pleases, and I've got to run a police department. So," he says slowly, head tilting to look at Alexis, "busy."

Never not busy. Yet he was not buckling under it. If anything, he flourished under the pressure.

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"Good luck with that," Alexis shrugs, pulling their hands down from their neck and into their pockets. Their tone is ambivalent. "Dunno who any of the Principals are. I just know 's not me." There's a little bit of bitterness, of course, because so much of what magic has done is hurt them and -- it didn't even want them enough to let them die for it, eventually -- it would have been a noble death, that way. It might have had meaning. But it'll never happen, and there's no use lamenting the past when the future is such an unknown, ugly thing.

"You thought about asking the Fetches who they used to be? 'Fore they became Fetches? That kinda info might help, if they're not..." shrug, shrug - "iunno. Constrained by bullshit magic guide laws or something. If some of them are from older cycles, they might know more. Mine's been teachin' me how to whittle."

It's an attempt at conversation, nothing more, nothing less. The silence unnerves them, when they're with Jeremiah.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"In most cases, there seem to be things that prevent them from talking too much. Their own lives, their personal history? Yes, but details of the previous eighteen cycles? Those seem to be lost but even, when she was alive, Heliodora seemed equally constrained by some force." Jeremiah's posture shifts as he talks and he is, once more, the Noble of the Court.

His fingers twitch at his side before he stretches them out and glances towards Alexis.

"Besides, I think I've an idea about someone who might have an idea. If not them, I've no idea who else. The other options are not ones I wish to pursue at the moment."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"Winters was still kind of human, wasn't she? They ain't. Even if it's just who they were, who tithed them -- it seems like that sorta thing'd be useful to try and figure out who's been in the court before, yeah?" Another shrug. "But what'm I talking about, I don't know s**t."

The ground begins to shift to sand under their feet, and Alexis' posture changes a little, now that they can see the water finally -- the tension goes out of them. They're home. Any water is their home, and they have a faith in it that they hadn't before; a faith that their home will always return them to their people, whoever those are.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"... not precisely but she was closer to human than others." Jeremiah meant Heliodora. "As for fetches? Not all of them are those who have failed the trials of Nobility. Some are simply people who were unfortunate enough to become stuck here, to be changed by the magic that makes up this place."

He watches as Alexis relaxes, as they become more loose-limbed and not frozen. Jeremiah is not entirely a fan of the other ashdown beach, for a number of reasons, but it's a place he knew they would enjoy and be comfortable around.

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"Still. I feel like they could tell us a lot." From behind, it's hard to tell Alexis' expression; their voice is neutral, not colored one way or the other on the subject. "Wick won't talk about it, but I think that's 'cause he doesn't want to, not 'cause he can't; 'n I'm not gonna force him. 's rude."

Considering they wanted to not-really-metaphorically take the old guard of Nobles by the neck and force them to agree to rewriting the laws of the Court -- it's a bit hypocritical, maybe.

The sand would feel nice between their toes, if their toes were open to the sky; and as their eyes lock onto the sea, it starts to curl up the sand towards them, glittering trails of water snaking up the beachfront, like dogs coming to greet their master.

azuredreams