[PRP] Stir crazy (Shiloh & Jamie)

[Melancholies]

Shiloh was laying on his back in bed, his gaze fixated on the ceiling fan above him and the cheap plastic glow-in-the-dark stars that adorned the surface. They were Jamie's idea, but Shiloh had no complaints to them. That wasn't the focal point of his thought though.

"UGH!" He sat up suddenly, arms thrown in the air, hands ruffling through his hair aggressively, "I can't do it anymore! I can't!" His voice was a little hoarse. Sometime after the meeting he'd gotten sick again, and Jamie was very polite in expressing his quiet desire that Shiloh Beaumont stay in bed, even despite the letters from Odal.

"There's gotta be something we can do. I swear I'm getting better!" Cough, "M-Mostly! I'm almost there." He was reaching to swipe the letter off of the nightstand again. It'd only be like the fiftieth time he's read it, no big deal.

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[saedusk]

"I'll give you that," said Jamie from across the room where he was cleaning out one of the large aquariums. The way he said it sounded so chill when compared to Shiloh's sudden outburst. It was like he was used to it. Maybe because it had happened already, multiple times, but who knew. "You're getting better, but you're not better yet."

Shiloh was lucky his hands were wet and slimy and gross or Jamie might've been tempted to tip him right back over into bed. Instead he disappeared to wash them while Shiloh went over the letter for what was probably the fourteenth—no, definitely the fifteenth—time.

"I really think you should relax a little more... I know it might not seem like much, but we do have a month," Jamie softly scolded as he reentered the room. Then he sighed. He wanted to do something to help, too, and he knew Shiloh's restlessness would only spiral out of control at this rate. Instead of saying no, he sat down on the bed and asked for the note. "Lemme see... Maybe there's something." There was a silent lay back down attached to that, though.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"UGH." Shiloh fell back over angrily, but despite the temper tantrum he was being... relatively well behaved. He wasn't trying to escape downstairs or out the window anyway like he was a few days ago, so that was a plus right? He let Jamie take the letter with a pathetic whimble of a sound.

"I'm just worried people're gonna ******** it up, y'know? We don't have a lot of time, and we don't know what we're really doing." He was rubbing his forehead vigorously, but after a while he let his arms fall down onto the bed. A moment later and he was nosing around like a hog until his head found Jamie's lap, which he promptly settled down onto like a pillow. Love meeeeeeeeee...

"Ollie won't answer my texts either." He whined. "Do you think he's out there doing stuff? What if he gets hurt? It'll be my fault 'cause we fought..." You see, a bedridden Shiloh was a Shiloh with all the time in the world to think, "Why is my body so ********' useless? You'd think the magic would take better care of you being a principal and s**t. Like, 'ohh, you gotta live for stuff to stay peachy-king, why don't we start by giving you magical pneumonia'."

A Shiloh with too many thoughts was a bitchy Shiloh.

"I guess we already have the charter." He kept rambling, wanting to make suggestions but knowing Jamie was the one in charge of this situation.

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[saedusk]

Jamie didn't miss a beat. Without even looking away from the letter, he slid his fingers into Shiloh's hair. It was mussed and tangled from all his flailing around in the sheets when he thought Jamie wasn't looking. I do love you. I love you so, so much.

"I think you just have to keep trying with Ollie," he said, his voice low and empathetic. "He's stubborn, but you guys have that in common. If he's out there doing stuff, we just... have to support him, okay?" That was the best course of action, Jamie thought. Keeping him in the dark was what caused the rift in the first place, after all. It hurt him to see Shiloh upset, but the two of them would have to communicate and work it out at some point. If not on their own, then he'd push them.

"Hey... maybe we could start small? Y'know, try and get one of these elemental things? I mean, I have no idea what they are really, but maybe if we do some research..." He gently swirled his fingertips against Shiloh's scalp. "I know you've been deeper than hell in this charter stuff and you wanna do everything to see it through, but you're sick and you need to take it slow or even you won't pull it off." Leaning over, he looked him right in the eye. "Promise me?"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Bullshit." He puffed his cheeks out. What was that about Beaumont's and their stubborn streaks? "I can do whatever the hell I put my mind to. I'm unstoppable. I'm like a force of nature."

A tiny, pathetic little wither of a dandelion sprouted from the top of his head, only to wilt and fall over under the stress of its own weight. Shiloh seemed aware of this.

"You know what. Don't even say it." His eyes slid shut from Jamie's hand tangling in his hair, but it was obvious he was grumpier than hell about the whole situation. Even with feeling Jamie's piercing gaze through his eyelids, he didn't open them. "I gotta see this through to the end. No matter what."

But whatever, I promise...

"They need two of every item... thing... right?" He was seeming more compliant now that they were talking business. "Fire, air, earth, water... I bet we could make something like that. Maybe." He sniffed. "You like water, I like water. Do you think we can find any fancy books in that library you went to?" He rubbed at his eye, "Maybe we could make more if we knew what we were doing for sure. We're both pretty magical." He wiggled his fingers as he got ahead of himself.

"'Sides, I'm only sick cause I'm stressed. If I keep laying around stressed then I'm never gonna get better." Shiloh's probably pitched this argument at least ten times.

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[saedusk]

Poor little dandelion, it tried so hard. Despite the failure, it made Jamie smile, but he respected Shiloh enough to keep his mouth shut. Instead he leaned the rest of the way like a protective cocoon over his boyfriend's ailing body—all so he could give him a nice, firm, affectionate smooch on the forehead.

"Two of every elemental thing, yeah, that's what it says." One more kiss, a softer one, then he pulled back some to give Shiloh room to breathe. "I wonder if I could use my aquarium knowledge somehow," he paused, then laughed, "Probably not. I bet you're right, though, the library over there probably has something."

Giving Shiloh another once over, Jamie sighed and finally relented to his argument. "I guess keeping you cooped up all day isn't good, either, but if you start to feel too bad we're coming right back."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh sat up immediately, face still warm with Jamie-kissies. "You never know!" He sounded invigorated. "You might be able to work it in somehow. This thing... it has to represent water somehow, right? Imbue it... with... something, maybe through a sigil, or..."

He was swaying a little as he thought.

"I'm gonna get dressed." And he was up and rifling through the closet suddenly. A pair of pants flew hazardously in Jamie's direction shortly there after. "Either way, maybe we could find like, like a guide or something, or just some suggestions." He was pulling new pants on, though he left them messily undone while he fumbled with a shirt. Shiloh, why can't you just do one thing at a goddamn time? "I mean, I dunno where else we could look to research this stuff. Google? Google ain't gonna do s**t."

He put his hands on his hips when he was triumphantly dressed, the clean change of clothes making him look much more lively.

"Lemme know when you're ready to gooooo."

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[saedusk]

If there was one thing Jamie hated about trying to keep Shiloh from overexerting himself it was how easily he fell into mope-mode and how awful it made Jamie feel. Watching the will drain from his eyes was as exhausting as being sick himself. And yet he'd kept it up, forced bedrest and lots of fluids, because stress had done a huge number on Shiloh and he could barely walk for a while let alone function on some sort of big, important mission.

Now that Jamie finally let him up and promised him a hand in all this, though, you could literally see the determination swelling in him again. It was refreshing, even if he had to dodge projectile pants like he was in some kind of thriller movie.

"I thiiink I'm ready right now," he said, looking down at himself for a second before nodding. He'd been up and dressed for a while now. "Oh, no wait, lemme just change my shirt. I might've gotten some gross fish water on it."

So he did, into something light and cute, but he grabbed a jacket for Other Ashdown. "I'm sure we'll find something there. That place was huge." With a little smile, Jamie grabbed Shiloh's hand. "Come on, let's look for an entrance."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"I could probably magic the door into an entrance." He said, but he knew Jamie was more or less in charge of this expedition, and his response would get something like 'No no mister! No sick-magic!'

"You look pretty cute though." He added after a moment, hand squeezing around his. "Thanks for agreeing. You know I appreciate it right? I appreciate youuuu." He bumped their shoulders together. "Lead the way, yeah?" I'm sure you could magic up a door too, or something. He snorted, I keep forgetting you're like stronger than steel and stuff, it makes me feel like one of those dramatic broads in the movies when they're like ohhhhh swoooooon.

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[saedusk]

"There's actually something I wanna test out," he said, "So, um, lemme try first, okay?" It was Jamie's nice way of saying exactly what Shiloh presumed he would: no sick-magic! Even so, he looked to be in a genuinely agreeable mood now, especially seeing the light return to Shiloh's eyes. It made him feel better about giving in, even if he was vaguely concerned the stress sickness hadn't totally loosed its talons from his boyfriend yet.

I know, silly, I know. Just like the leader he was meant to be, Jamie guided Shiloh out to the sidewalk in front of their house. I appreciate you, too. I mean it. Everything you've done and everything you're trying to do... He felt like a total sap.

Try not to swoon too hard, but if it happens, I can catch you. No problem! Shiloh would feel what amounted to a mental laugh and a wink in his mind. Even so, Jamie seemed to be looking around for something.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

You better! If I hit my head I might get another concussion, pause, concussions suck. You ever had one?. He laughed out loud.

"Sure, have at it." He was always more than eager to watch Jamie test out his own magic, especially given how much it'd grown in the late. "Should I call you something fancy? Captain Jamie?" He gasped with a realization, "Lord Jamie of the Court? The Court of the Beanling one. Man, Court would be a lot different if Bean was there..." He blinked, "Did I ever tell you that's enough letters for a fetch? Maybe there is a Bean... The pseudo-bean. The anti-bean. The Otherbean."

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[saedusk]

No way! I'm strong, I'd definitely catch you. Jamie still felt undeniably weird exclaiming something like 'I'm strong' and meaning it in a literal sense. I don't... thiiink I've had a concussion before, so I'll take your word for it.

Nobody would be getting any concussions while he was around!

"I just kinda noticed something the other day is all," he said before he grabbed Shiloh's hand and led him down the sidewalk. "Oh gosh, I hope there's no Otherbean. Little Beanie is too pure for evil doppelgangers." Jamie made a fist with his other hand, but it immediately went slack when he stopped mid-step and hoped Shiloh wouldn't bump into him too hard.

"It's really here..." he murmured, staring out the ground. You trust me, right Shiloh?

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

The look Shiloh gave Jamie said a million things at once; 'what the ********?' 'are you kidding?' 'who the hell do you think I am?' 'did you really just ask that?' the list went on. "Um," Jamie had asked mentally, but Shiloh spoke aloud, "Of course I trust you? Where the ******** have you been? Geeze."

"But what were you looking for? I don't see it." He was scrutinizing the ground, "Oh... ohhh. It must be something only you can see." Shiloh was blinking rapidly, "Well that's fine."

Shiloh had bumped into him, but it wasn't that rough, and he remained squished up against his arm.

"Well, whatever. You know I got your back."

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[saedusk]

That made Jamie laugh. "I know, I know, I'm sorry! It just felt like the right thing to say, y'know? Like in the movies right before something dramatic happens." Not that going to Other Ashdown was all that dramatic, not anymore. They'd done it what, a million times?

"It's a portal. I've looked for Otherworld entrances before without any luck, but I always kinda... keep trying because it sure would be nice to be able to get over there by myself." Finally he'd found one. Not just one, though, multiple, and that made Jamie feel certain in the fact he'd have no trouble getting himself across the veil again.

"Okay, here we go," he said, gently tugging Shiloh into the literal hole in the ground. It wasn't like a traditional hole, fortunately, and they wouldn't find their legs broken and spines smashed when they landed on the other side. There was a distinct, sharp, and extremely real sense of falling, though. The world shifted around them like it would any other time and after a few moments they'd been safely deposited in Other Ashdown as if their feet had never left the ground in the first place.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"A portal?" Shiloh's eyes got wide, "Huh, that's... that's different. Wait, like in the ground? Like—?!"

Shiloh had been speaking, but he'd also been letting Jamie drag him along as he did so. Sure as s**t, despite there being nothing there, the ground gave way to gravity the second they stepped into the opening. Suddenly he was standing there, and Jamie was standing there, and neither of them looked any different sans the mussing of their hair. "Wow..." Shiloh looked dumbfounded, "Holy ********. That was a thing."

He looked over at Jamie with a stupid smile on his face. "It felt like a rollercoaster. Oh! Oh ********, Jamie, we should go to a theme park. I've always wanted to go to a real one." He sniffed, "Not the little dinky fairs, but those are good too. Funnel cakes." He shook his head, "Anyway uh, we're here for a reason, right."

Shiloh had never been to the library, but he let his feet guide him the same way he let magic guide him. He wasn't magic like Sonny was magic, but there was no doubt to the affinity within him. Another thing Shiloh had noticed was, since the inception of their mindlink, they spent a lot of time in silence now. Thing was, it wasn't true silence, because now they had the background noise of their heads buzzing back and forth, communication occurring in concepts and colors and memories.

"Oh," He snapped out of it, "This is it, right? Sorry, I've only been half paying attention. "Do you just... knock?"

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