jamie delacroix // lonely fish fancier // were

[Ashdown Crier]

prompt.

lately it's been hard for jamie to get up and easier for him to stay up

not that he hasn't been sleeping properly

just that it feels right to be awake when the sun is down

and maybe he can see a little better, too

 

[saedusk]

Schedule Change


There hadn't been much of a bedtime in the Delacroix household, at least not since Jamie was in elementary school. He was a good kid, got his homework done, got up for school without any prodding. His parents trusted him to call it a night when he needed to and he almost always slept at a decent time. Occasionally Jamie was too restless to fall asleep, but those nights weren't anything that tended to last much longer than a few.

It wasn't really all that concerning when one night after turning off all the aquarium lights he wasn't quite ready to drift off to dreamland. Instead he stayed up and played Pokemon (time to start a new game for the one millionth time), eyes narrowed against the brightness of the screen. Eventually, after a gym or two, he saved and readily passed out. It was normal and Jamie thought nothing of it.

The next morning he'd been exhausted, more so than he remembered feeling in quite a while. Getting out of bed was a chore beyond a chore and by the time he finally did it was too late to shower. Jamie spent the rest of the day worrying about whether anyone could smell him despite the fact that he'd only skipped a single day, but that was to be expected. His entire life revolved around guaranteeing himself others wouldn't find even the most minuscule reason to judge him.

At first his parents didn't comment on how droopy he looked. When the next night and the one after that wound up the same as the first, Jamie still chalked it up to that normal, occasional restlessness. It was temporary, it would pass. He might've gotten further in just a few sessions of Pokemon than he tended to any other time, but it wasn't cause for concern.

It never really dawned on him that something was off until his mother told him at dinner one evening that he ought to go to bed early. When he looked in the mirror, he could tell why.

Like any good kid, Jamie listened to his mother. After dinner he went straight to bed, hoping his fishy friends wouldn't be too confused by the early lights out. He slept like a rock until the sun went down and even an hour or so after dark, but as if someone had set an alarm in his head, he was awake far, far before he actually needed to be. Hell, awake would've been an understatement. It was a strange feeling, the tired alertness that hung over his head as he sat up in bed and looked around his room. Even through the darkness, he could see the faint forms of his fish swimming idly in their tanks. That night, Jamie played Pokemon until the sun came up.

"You don't look so good, hun," Jamie's mother announced as she set a bowl of fruit loops down in front of him. By now, Jamie didn't feel particularly awful. He'd been up too long for that, but from the way her brow creased he assumed he looked like s**t. He spent the remainder of that day wondering if anyone else noticed how bad he looked. If they did, no one made mention of it. Not that he really expected them to.

The longer this went on, the more obvious it became that Jamie's schedule had re-aligned itself into something completely foreign to the average person. The process had been slow and subtle, but now each day when he got home he crashed immediately, napping until dinner. Getting up for dinner got harder and harder each day and his parents began to worry aloud more and more. It bothered Jamie to know he was burdening them with those concerns, but sleep hit him far too hard to deny it. After dinner was the same story, flop into bed, pass out with ease, wake up after dark feeling like it was morning.

It became increasingly difficult to keep his fish on a normal schedule, too. After the one day a week he let them fast, he'd completely forgotten to feed them the next morning, only remembering when he woke up for what had become his nightly ritual. Sometimes he'd play games, sometimes he'd watch his fish swim through the darkness, and still others he'd sit by the window, admiring the street below and the faint light from the moon. It was on one night like this that Jamie decided he'd go for a walk.

It felt like such a normal decision. Going for walks after school had been one of his favorite pastimes, but lately he'd completely forgone it in favorite of stumbling home to crash. Now, wide awake in the middle of the night, he wanted to get some fresh air he could actually enjoy.

Jamie felt like an absolute delinquent as he snuck past his parents room and down the stairs, grabbing a jacket he'd left on the back of a dining room chair before quietly walking out the front door.



to be continued in Midnight Wanderer

 

[saedusk]

Dreams of Ceiling Fish
a conclusion to Midnight Wanderer


The first thing Jamie did when he got inside was untuck the empty icee cups from the crook of his arm and throw them away. The second thing he did was pour himself a glass of water, the aid to his convenient excuse, if need be. Taking a small, delicate sip, he let his eyes unfocus at the dimly lit kitchen wall for a moment. The strange flip-flopping schedule he'd been dealing with had been surreal all on its own, but going for a walk in the middle of the night and hitting it off with someone who actually wanted to be his friend felt astoundingly dreamlike.

Maybe he'd been asleep the whole time.

Shaking his head to clear the sudden derail of his thoughts, Jamie finally made for the stairs. It was time to get the few hours of sleep he could before it was time to get up all over again. Honestly, he still felt pretty awake, but that would all fly straight out the window when he tried to force himself out of bed to turn off the alarm. Lately he'd taken to setting more than one, on the loudest setting, and making sure his phone was halfway across the room. It was about the only way he could make himself get moving without relying on his parents' intervention. With how they'd been worrying more and more lately, he didn't want that to happen if he could help it.

The trip up the stairs was deliberately slow and calculated. This was Jamie's childhood home, and if there was one thing he knew, it was which stairs creaked and where. Though the overzealous caution wasn't really necessary, his parents were both still well asleep in their bed and the water clutched tightly in one hand was a perfect excuse, he couldn't help himself. Jamie was a worrier. Maybe he came by it honestly.

After what felt like an eternity, a damn near mountain climb, he made it to his door. The sound of his father's quiet snoring from the room across the hall was a relief and Jamie let himself slump against his closed door for a few minutes, slowly nursing the glass of water. No reason to waste it.

Or well, he might've just been stalling. It was time to try the whole sleep thing. The way he turned the knob was just as slow and careful as his stair adventure had been, but it was finally the home stretch. With a small sigh of nervousness but relief in the very same breath, he slipped inside and shut the door behind him.

It was dark, but Jamie didn't have a hard time finding his way around. After the walk, his bed felt even cozier than before, his jacket discarded on the floor and the covers pulled up to his shoulders. He sat for a moment, staring across the room at the silhouettes of his fish with a smile.

"You guys don't even know..." he murmured into the darkness. "I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. I still almost don't even believe it." That was a promise Jamie would keep. It didn't matter that they never talked back, he often told them all about his day, good or bad. In the morning he'd tell them all about Shiloh as they gobbled down their breakfast. It would be wonderful.

Yawning, he teetered over and hit the bed with a flump. The ceiling was swimming with glow-in-the dark fish, but the light hadn't been on in a while and they were all dimmed to nothing. Jamie could still see them, though, the ridges of cheap plastic against the smooth ceiling. They made him smile too, almost as much as his real fish did.

With his last thoughts a mixture of tomorrow's lunch with Shiloh and swimming ceiling fish, Jamie closed his eyes and didn't think of anything else.

 

[Ashdown Crier]

prompt.

wander carefully, little one.

 

[saedusk]

Fish Don't Dance
in response to An Invitation


With the door still open and the faintest chill of air conditioning seeping out into the summer heat, Jamie's eyes remained glued on the invitation held carefully between his fingertips and the key resting solidly in his palm. To be fair, the unexpected guest would've been more startling only months ago, but despite the worry that stirred in his stomach, none of this had actually come as a surprise. Other Ashdown had its claws in him, deeply, and Jamie knew he would heed the call. Maybe, if he was lucky, this really would be just a regular old dance. Maybe those who lived beyond the veil enjoyed a good party, too?

Nah, Jamie wasn't that stupid. His gut told him this wouldn't be a normal party. Hopefully, fingers crossed, he'd be wrong about that.

Tucking the key into his pocket, he finally closed the front door and trudged up the stairs, grateful at least that his parents hadn't been home to witness the disappearing act their visitor had pulled. On the other hand, a small, selfish part of him wished they had been, so they could tell him no as they looked him in the eye and that would be that. Jamie wouldn't have to attend any weird Otherworld get-togethers. He shook his head, knowing it was wishful thinking.

"The weirdest thing just happened, Glubs," he mumbled as he retreated to his room, shutting the door behind him. In response, Glubby 'Glub Glub' the Second said nothing. "Some guy brought me an invitation." He pressed it to the glass for her to see and she flittered closer, elegant in the water, even for a goldfish. "I guess I should be happy... I don't usually get invited to stuff like this."

There was a small, bitter smile on his face as Jamie took the invitation back, flipping it over and rereading the words for the hundredth time. "I have a bad feeling, though. That place isn't a joke. It says we can go in pairs, though. Do you think Shiloh would go with me?"

The answer any other time would've been a resounding yes in Jamie's mind, but recently things had been different. Now as he thought of his friend, his very best friend, there was a sinking feeling in his gut. Shiloh had been acting strange lately. Maybe he'd done something wrong... It was hard to parse through his thoughts, so he shook them away.

"I guess I should figure out something to wear..." he said next, leaving Glubby to her own devices as he moved towards the closet. Formal wear wasn't exactly a staple of his wardrobe and he feared asking his parents to take him shopping for something would raise unwanted red flags. At least he had some money saved away and with a transfer or two could make it on the bus.

Before that, though, Jamie needed something to calm his nerves. Pulling out his phone, he sent Shiloh a quick text about icees and something important before putting on his shoes.

 

[saedusk]

 

[Ashdown Whaler]

congratulations, risers!

you now have the honor of completing the the world of our dreams challenge. to complete this most excellent quest and unlock the powers that lie within, you must complete these requirements.

• a RP wherein Jamie and Shiloh retreat to other ashdown to explore and find themselves lulled to sleep
  
• a RP where Jamie and Shiloh awaken to find themselves in a dreamscape
  
• a solo (750 words each) from Jamie and Shiloh exploring the dreamscape and returning to one another
  
• a RP where Jamie and Shiloh notice that something is darkening the dreamscape and preventing their awakening
  
• a DM RP of Jamie and Shiloh facing this together and discovering their new power
  
• a RP of Jamie and Shiloh waking and exploring this new shared power of theirs
  

in exchange, your character will unlock:

DON’T CHASE THE RABBIT - Shiloh and Jamie now have the ability to meld their minds together in a process very similar to drifting (see: really gay pacific rim s**t). Their shared conscious allows for them to combine their strengths and utilize magic in a much more potent way, enabling them to unleash spells much stronger than they could alone. In addition to relative proximity, It takes a small amount of time to both set up and back out of the drift safely, as well as concentration to maintain the meld. Any shift in focus can result in the drift breaking, which consequently gives both of them "mental whiplash"—this can include but is not limited to headaches, nosebleeds, disorientation, tunnel vision, etc.

have fun, and let us know when you've completed your requirements!

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

a thing