[PRP] running back (kaleb & nasir)

[azuredreams]

"Is your new roommate noisy?" Nasir was genuinely curious. "We used to have more housemates, people who were renting the extra rooms, but apparently that changed and there's just one other person that lives there besides Wil and me ..."

His fingers were curled against Trouble lightly, stroking his fur before he let the scarf go back to where it was. Nasir's voice was soft, though he was not necessarily worried about someone seeing the flying squirrel, just overhearing what he was talking about. "I'm, um ... a warg? Like the Stark kids in Game of Thrones?" If Kaleb read that series at all (or watched the terrible television series). "So the little guy lets me borrow his eyes and ears sometimes, to see and hear through them, and that makes him my familiar."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

"Sorta, I guess," Kaleb said, not entirely committed to his answer. "He's in the music department, and really dedicated to his cello practice." He didn't really want to disparage his roommate for that dedication, nor was it a case of practicing at horrible times of the day, so technically the guy was doing nothing wrong. It just made napping hard. "I guess it must have been way noisier with more people sharing a place, I can't imagine living with two or three other people..."

It was a good thing Nasir continued to explain the concept of wargs, because Kaleb had no experience with either version of Game of Thrones. He was not too interested in fiction, but knowing this phenomenon was possible pushed it over the line into the territory of facts. And then it became fascinating.

"Wow, so you can see what he sees?" Kaleb asked, managing to keep his voice down despite the sudden enthusiasm. "What is it like, do you see with his acuity and range of colours? How well can flying squirrels hear?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Nasir was smiling widely, feeling better to talk about this despite the rocky start that he had had with it. "Pretty well actually ... I've never heard some of the things before until I listened through Trouble's ears. The world is a bit different, I can't really explain it, but the sounds. Oh and flying - well gliding - is an amazing experience to feel."

He had to keep his voice, it was really hard to do because talking about this sort of thing really was kind of exhilarating to share.

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb couldn't help but smile back. It sounded incredible, a whole new array of experiences that he could barely begin to imagine. There was nothing he could even think of that might compare. He was not exactly an adventurous sort, so even relatively weak comparisons like zip-lines or jumping off a high diving board as a child were beyond his comfort zone.

"Is it scary? The gliding?" He asked, entirely willing to be a sounding board for the experience. "How do you even end up with a familiar, is it just a regular flying squirrel or is it..." Kaleb's voice lowered slightly as a couple conversing patrons passed behind them, on their way out of the restaurant. "Is it special too?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"It isn't," Nasir replied in a quiet voice, his eyes might have even been sparkling. "There's no fear in Trouble at all when he does it ... He just goes for it and then he's in the air and it's amazing."

It really was.

"I can't really, uh ... explain it? Just one night I was in the kitchen and next thing I knew I was seeing through his eyes in the tree and watching himself through a window." His voice was still soft, still not very loud even as people went by. "I don't know? I mean Trouble's eyes are the same color as mine now. Oh and, um, you can become a warg if you really work at it? Like you can form a bond with some animals."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

"Animals are pretty incredible like that, I guess. When you see what he sees, are you also able to tell him where to go, or are you just a passenger?" Kaleb asked, leaning in slightly. A year ago he would have dismissed all this talk outright. Half a year ago even.

"You had Trouble before you became a... warg?" The word was unfamiliar in his mouth, and he watched closely for any hint of correction from Nasir. "I suppose it's pretty convenient though, that he can just hang out with you. What would have happened if you had formed a bond with something larger?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"I can kind of make suggestions and guide him, yeah. I'm not really that great at it but I know if I practice I could probably do so? Mostly I feel like a passenger though ..." Kaleb was given a sheepish smile, Nasir fiddling with one of the hair clips in his hair a little bit before he stopped.

"Ah, not quite. More like ... he was hanging around my house? Like he was trying to get my attention and then one night it just happened. I was seeing through his eyes and my boyfriend was scared because I kind of went all 'the lights are on but no one's home' on him until the connection broke." It had been scary, in all honesty, but then when he had talked to America - to Leila as well - it had made him realize just how great it kind of was.

"You can kind of pick a familiar if you want, though? For me it was spontaneous but I know someone who worked on it. Mostly it seems to be like ... local animals? Nothing really large but I suppose if Trouble had been something much bigger I would've accommodated. It's really important that you keep your familiar safe."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb nodded, absorbing all the information. Even after meeting an othercat, he hadn't given too much thought as to how animals experienced magical phenomena. If there were creatures that were just wandering out there looking for a human to bond with, that was kind of odd.

"So Trouble was a wild animal once?" He asked, and then paused. "There are other people who have familiars too? If this kind of spontaneous familiar thing happened to me, I'd be completely at a loss. I've been in Ashdown a few months now, and I still don't know too many people I could ask for advice. Or too many people with... you know..."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"He was and he still kind of is ... I just look after him and keep him safe." Trouble still preferred trees and the like, being outside, but he had adapted to staying inside the house with Nasir because of their bond. It made things easier.

"It doesn't always have to be spontaneous but I also didn't know what to do? I was kind of a nervous wreck for a while about it until I talked to another warg." His fingers fidgeted again, thinking about America and Mr Bitterberry. "You could always ask me, if you wanted? I mean I am learning the ropes too but I could at least give you an idea of what you're dealing with.

"... and, like I said, you can also train to do this? Like pick out something you want to form a bond with?"

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

"I'm just thankful I'm not dealing with the magic stuff all alone," Kaleb said quietly, looking down at his hands. "It's all still pretty overwhelming, I don't know if I want to train for anything. I'd be afraid to have something else to look out for."

Why did everything about this magical stuff have to end up being scary? He had come to Ashdown to find some peace, not get in over his head once more...

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"It's honestly reassuring to find out when other people know," Nasir agreed with a smile. "I was really overwhelmed, like I said, when I started getting the dreams and then found out I was forming a bond with Trouble ..."

His fingers brushed down against where Trouble was, though not too much to wake him back up if he was sleeping. "Probably better to learn the ropes, I think, before diving in. I might have been less scared if I had known about what was happening to me."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb nodded, sometimes he thought 'knowing the ropes' before doing anything was the only way he got by. Even something as simple as taking the bus to a new place could be made much less nerve-wracking with a map to look at ahead of time.

"The dreams were really scary at first, I didn't sleep much afterwards. I still don't, it's hard to go back to real sleep when your mind is so awake..." Kaleb smiled weakly, today was a fairly good day for being awake, but naps had definitely become a common occurrence.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Have you been over more than once?" Nasir asked quietly. "I mean ... I was having the dreams a lot until I actually started going over at least once a week.

"It was pretty bad for a bit because I was a nervous wreck with all the sleep I wasn't really getting."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

"I think I end up there as often as I dream about it now," Kaleb replied. "Sometimes it's hard to make up the sleep now, in between classes and stuff. I... accidentally fell asleep in the park the other day."

He sheepishly looked down at his hands, cheeks going pink. It was a good thing it had been a familiar face who had woken him up that day, otherwise the embarrassment might have done him in completely. Perhaps the only reason he could speak of it now was because Nasir seemed to have gone through something similar with the dreams.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"It does ease up. I mean, it did for me? Once I actually went there a few times and started to get the hang of things." Nasir gave Kaleb a reassuring smile.

"I kind of feel like it was bad for me because I was so ... I don't know ... Like I did not believe I was involved, that it couldn't happen to me. Everyone else is so involved and magical and I'm just ... Nasir, a cook."

Grey Dragon