[FIN] a million miles (jordan & jeremiah)

[azuredreams]

As a rule Jeremiah was not one to chase down cats but this one had been of particular interest and he was trailing the cat through the city. He was actually being shifty about it, taking advance of his ability to move forward rapidly with only a thought.

The cat, a large fluffy cat with what looked like a beard full of flowers, had just come out of an alley and was currently making it's way down the street. Jeremiah did not seem at all bothered by the constant rain, a jacket on to keep himself mostly dry, and his silver-hair plastered to his forehead.

He disappeared briefly in a glimmer, reappearing at the mouth of the alley and having to take a step back as he almost immediately walked into someone. How had he missed them? Worse, had they seen him move as he did?

"My apologies," he said, letting out a breath and looking to the person he had nearly bowled over.

5roxility

this is legit. the first time i've done a start like this, XD. also jordan is welcome to recognize jer from the ball as his hair and height make him fairly noticeable.

 

[prolixity]

Did that cat have flowers in its fur? Jordan stopped wrestling with his recalcitrant umbrella long enough to stare after the animal, his steps slowing as he passed the alley, just enough for the person who emerged from the alley after the cat to bump straight into him. The umbrella, apparently sensing a distraction, chose this moment to collapse in on itself, and Jordan yipped a curse that was half directed at the umbrella and half at the sideways stumble he performed.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't see you there," he said hastily, and got the umbrella back open, somehow not impaling anyone in the process. The pattern of dampness on his hoodie suggested that this was not the first time this had happened.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah was already moving to make sure that the young man was alright, a hand going out to make sure he wasn't going to topple over because his umbrella was not obeying him.

"No, it's quite alright. I nearly ran into you, after all." His head tilted and looked at both the young man and his clothing and his umbrella. "Though perhaps your umbrella has it out for you as well ..."

Briefly distracted from his chase, it seemed.

Prolixity

 

[prolixity]

"It does, I'm going to chuck it in the dumpster as soon as I can get a replacement," Jordan grumbled, giving the implement in question a darkly threatening look. He shook his head a little. "Probably my fault for getting distracted," he apologized, and then remembered why he'd gotten distracted in the first place. "Uh. Did you see that cat that just went that way?" he asked, a little cautiously.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"It did," Jeremiah replied, bright blue-green eyes looking the way that was mentioned.

"You said it went this way? I'm actually trying to catch it." His focus shifted back. "No need for the apology either." He meant it.

Proxlixity

 

[prolixity]

"Yeah, it did. It looked like it had flowers in its fur," Jordan said, although not like he didn't believe it. It was weird, but he'd had a thorough introduction to decidedly weirder stuff lately. "You're trying to catch it?" Maybe he should just let the guy go, if that was the case.

He stepped back, though he had a faint frown on his face. This guy looked familiar, and Jordan was trying to place where he'd seen him before. It could have been that he'd just seen him around town, of course, but something was nagging at his memory.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"I am. It's a very particularly rare cat." Jeremiah tilted his head and looked the young man over. There was something familiar about him though he could not quite place it. "Have we met before?"

Anything that he could not place or remember- That was something that frustrated him to no end. For the moment it pulled him away from his attempt to find the cat. Which was probably fortunate as they were both being watched from the shadows now by said cat with flowers in his fur.

Prolixity

 

[prolixity]

Jordan frowned, his eyes going briefly distant as he tried to place where he'd seen the man before. Then he had it, and his eyebrows jumped. "You were at the -- the ball," he said, his voice a little uncertain. If he was wrong, he'd just sound like a weirdo, and there wasn't really any harm in that, right? But he was pretty sure. Even though they'd all been masked, even though he'd spent most of the night trying to evade the attention of a far-too-persistent othercreature with apparent designs on him.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Ah, yes, that's where I remember you from." Jeremiah smiled and inclined his head. "Yes, I was there." The man took a proper step back, hand held out in greeting.

"Detective Lieutenant Jeremiah Mercer."

Prolixity

 

[prolixity]

Jordan shook the offered hand, his grasp firm and confident, and replied, "Jordan Miller. Nice to meet you. Properly, that is." He hesitated. There were questions he could have asked, but none of them seemed appropriate just now, and he wasn't even sure if Detective Mercer was the right person to ask. He offered a polite smile instead. "I won't keep you. The cat's yours?" It seemed a logical assumption, if Mercer was trying to catch it.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah's grip was firm, though a little on the cooler body temperature side than warm. "It certainly is. I'm going to assume you just found yourself recently involved in all of this after the ball."

Letting go of Jordan's hand, his blue-green eyes flicked to look past the young man. "Actually, no. The cat isn't mine but I believe he might be related to my own." His attention went back to Jordan.

"So far as I've been able to tell animals can find themselves changed." His lips twitched. "Not like the talking ones we saw at the manor gates but flowers in fur and able to run faster than typically possible."

Prolixity

 

[prolixity]

Jordan thought nothing of the slightly cool hand; some people were just cooler than others naturally, and anyway, it was raining. "Yeah." He nodded. "I'd heard about weird things happening, but I'd passed them off as just people talking, you know? Then -- " he shrugged -- "all of that, and I don't quite know what rumors to believe any more." It came out a little plaintive.

"So you think the cat was a normal cat that grew flowers?" he asked, curious. "Not one that started out that way?" Both ideas were frankly kind of fascinating, the possibility that a normal cat could be altered like that or the idea of kittens born with leaves or flowers already sprouting from their fur. Buds, maybe, if it were the latter.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Have you seen the other side then? Outside of the ball?" Jeremiah let go of Jordan's hand, still not quite bothered by the rain even as it poured down. "I did the same thing," he admitted, "but I found myself quite involved with it."

The taller man gave him a reassuring smile a moment later. "I don't actually know but I believe that to be the case. I was given a kitten that has a mohawk of cuscuta on his head. It grows and is part of him, not harmful at all."

Prolixity

 

[prolixity]

"Not outside the ball," Jordan said. "That's the only time I've been there. Is it possible to go without an invitation?" He looked intrigued by the idea; it seemed that the events of the ball hadn't been traumatic enough to discourage his curiosity about strange things.

"That's fascinating. I wonder if they've all got the same type of plants or if it differs with the individual. Do they need to be pruned as well as groomed?" He laughed a little and looked around to see if he could spot the animal in question again.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"It is for those that are able to do so." Jeremiah tilted his head a bit, studying Jordan. "You dream about it at first, the empty streets of Ashdown. Yet they're not quite right. Everything is a bit dreary and it feels as if there's someone there but you never see them."

His lips twitched. "Or that was how it was for me. It varies from person to person." The question about the cats was easier to answer and he chuckled softly. "Hellbine's siblings all have different flowers than he does. His sister has violets growing behind her ears and his mother has a flower crown. I've never had to prune them and I wouldn't try- It hurts them if you do anything to the flowers."

And as if by magic (or not really) a rather large fluffy cat with sorrowful eyes was rubbing itself against Jordan's leg.

Jeremiah sighed. Of course it would appear just like that. Of course it would.

Prolixity