[PRP] Treadmills and Grapevines (Shun & Jamie) [FIN]

[saedusk]

Sometimes it just felt good to run. If he wanted to hoof it to Other Ashdown, provided he managed to stumble on a portal sooner rather than later, Jamie occasionally went rabbit and sped around the expanse of open emptiness until the restlessness faded. When he didn't—which, granted, was often—he went to the gym instead.

It had been Shiloh who turned him on to working out and it was something he'd actually grown to enjoy.

Upbeat music played in his earbuds, interjected here and there with something grungy he'd adopted as a favorite from Shiloh's playlist, as he jogged on the treadmill. It was still so strange to run and run and hardly feel anything resembling fatigue, but magic was weird like that and Jamie supposed it was a boon in the end, not a bane.

Blade Kurodaaaa

 

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun wasn't one to use the treadmills too much, but now and then he used them at the gym. This was especially the case if the weather wasn't all that great and he felt like running.

After getting his stretches and warmups done, he made his way over to the machines, tilting his head as he spotted a familiar face there. As he came up to the neighboring treadmill, he nodded once to Jamie in greeting.

Saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Seeing someone he recognized wasn't too unusual, it was a small town after all, but Jamie looked legitimately surprised to see the detective when he turned his head. At first he only nodded back, but after a moment of thought he slowed his treadmill to a walk so he could say hello. For the few times they'd really talked, Shun never seemed like the most social, talkative person, but it had been a while and Jamie genuinely wondered how he'd been. It would be alright for just a second, wouldn't it?

"Um, hi, Sh... Shun," he greeted, sounding a touch awkward at calling him that and not Detective Kuroda. It was something he'd been trying to work on, even if it felt out of place. He hoped he wouldn't mind. "How have you been?"

Blade Kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun started up the machine and began to gradually go into a jog. He cast a glance to the side as Jamie addressed him.

"Jamie," he greeted in turn. Though at the question of how he's been, he just sort of grunted. There was the matter of his left eye. But aside from that...

"Things could be worse, I suppose. I have been keeping busy. What of yourself?"

Saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Things could be worse. That was the goddamn visitor mantra, Jamie thought. If he didn't recite it to himself daily, it would be far too easy to crumble under the constant pressure. He looked straight ahead again, but kept his own machine on a steady walk, switched off his music, and wiped loosely at his forehead.

"Same..." He hadn't lost an eye, at least, though he tried not to let himself delve into thoughts of the All-Seeing or the shadowy leech creature he and Shiloh had recently tangled with. Unfortunately, his thoughts were riddled with the recent events of Other Ashdown and it was hard to pretend they didn't exist. "Things have changed," he said, "I've been trying to keep up and trying to, y'know, figure it all out—what's different, what's not."

Blade Kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

"Yes... that is something a number of us are trying to do I believe," he murmured. There was still a lot he didn't really know about the other version of himself that he pretty much took the place of. Thankfully he hadn't had any encounters where he was supposed to know someone and he personally didn't.

Shun's voice then dropped to a more quiet tone, "For both the normal and magical things..."

The situation with Pax came to mind.

Saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Jamie hummed a low response in his throat, an affirmation that yeah, the magical things were just as wack. If not more so, to be honest. The encounter with Pridey was just as fresh in his mind, it was something he hadn't stopped worrying over. The fact that his magic was so far out of his control and his health appeared tenuous at best made Jamie wonder if he wouldn't hurt himself or someone else and what his passing might mean for the Otherworld.

"The other day we found the Prideful One," he finally said, his voice a whisper only loud enough to hear over the treadmills. There weren't many people around, at least, and this bank of machines was free save him and Shun. "He looked really bad."

Blade Kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

He figured that since Pax was dying, something would be wrong with the other two as well, but he wasn't sure just how bad it would be. His recent talk with Jeremiah touched on some of it, but focus was elsewhere with that conversation.

"How bad, exactly? I found Pax near where Heliodora used to reside. He is dying."

Saedusk

 

[saedusk]

"It's true then... Pax is dying," his voice was sullen, "I dunno if it's right to say Pride is dying, too, but... he said he's lost control of his powers and honestly he kinda looks like he might keel over any second." Even just recalling made Jamie uncomfortable in that powerless-to-do-anything sort of way.

"Do you remember Blackfriars? The building on the other side... he completely destroyed it. I don't completely understand, but I think it has something to do with Heliodora and the others dying. He said there was a seal on him and Pax that was anchored to the principals, but now it's just one person and it's-" he made a face, trying to choose his words carefully, "-I think it's too unbalanced, maybe."

Blade Kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

"Damn..."

That didn't sound good in the slightest. Apart from Jamie's assessment that Pride looked really bad, the fact that his powers were out of control was something to be concerned about as well.

"Yes... Pax has a metaphorical and somewhat literal chain that has been broken. He is missing... a lot of something. But... wait you said there is just one person?" he started, pausing while looking over at the young man, "Someone that is not one of the original principals?"

Saedusk

 

[saedusk]

"Missing something..." Jamie muttered, wondering what that something might be. Maybe it had something to do with the seal Pridey had mentioned, with the change of hands. It was another one of those things he didn't quite understand.

"Just one person," he affirmed. "He said it was a girl, one of the nobles—even if she might not be anymore because of the new sigil—and that the seal might've done something bad to her. I remember Jeremiah saying something like 'it would twist her up inside,'" but he didn't know exactly what he meant by that or where he'd heard it. "We both kinda think... the seal on Pax and Pride was passed to Melany..."

Blade Kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

"...Melany, really?"

Shun furrowed his brow, trying to think about what that might mean.

"I thought there were just the three principals that made up the cage. Did Pride tell you what the fourth seal was supposed to do?"

Saedusk

 

[saedusk]

"Melany, yeah. She's one of the only ones who seems to fit the description. It's not a lot to go on, but..." he shrugged. Honestly, that was his best guess. Jamie loved puzzles in video games, but he was starting to realize real life puzzles full of magical implications were a lot harder to piece together.

He played with his lip ring between his teeth before continuing, "Pride and Pax... they're a lot like Sunny, that's what he told us. He said Adoelle was the one who wanted their powers sealed so they'd be more controllable. I guess she, um, accused them of being the reason that... how did he say it... 'monsters patrolled the crossroads and corpses rose up after three days.'" It was hard to forget something like that.

Blade Kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

"Zombies... really?"

Or maybe they were like the fetches. Fetches were rather corpselike.

"So she sealed the three and bound them to the principals, as well as the mysterious fourth component? But... if she was sealing their powers, why did Pax lose all of his upon the breaking of his chain?"

He would have figured he'd end up more like Pride, where it was going out of control.

Saedusk

 

[saedusk]

For a brief moment Jamie considered the question, then shook his head. "I dunno exactly. I heard Noeh lost her powers, too, but she isn't actively dying. Pride did mention it was because Noeh was different, younger than them by centuries."

He wasn't sure what this would mean to Shun, if anything, but added, "Apparently Pride's been around since the very beginning of all this. He said his name used to be Jennifer."

Blade Kuroda