[PRP] I hate worrying about the future [Alexis/Jer]

[Daekie]

"I mean -" Alexis shrugs - "I got kicked off senior year 'cause my grades sucked, but I ******** championed that s**t for two years. Magic shows up in this world at sixteen, right? So that woulda been junior year -- 's possible, I guess."

They notice that Jeremiah notices back, but there's no comment from him, so there's no comment from them. "Trying to kinda piece together bits and pieces when I see them, see how far things are different from what I remember. D'you know if I applied to work for Spektor?" Stretch and angle, stretch and twist; their gills stand out stark against their skin, faintly flushed from their usual dull-but-skin ******** you, old man, I never sleep."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Sixteen is the earliest reported," Jeremiah replies, "but it can happen spontaneously at older ages as well." He pauses, head tilts, before he continues on. "I was apparently seventeen when my magic manifested. Probably for the best, no need to attach magic to my hair going silver the year previous as well."

A path is walked around them. Jeremiah is not pacing but he is thinking, processing, working through things as he looks up at their question. He stares for a moment before he laughs. It isn't even his half-chuckle of amusement but actual full laughter. The ******** you is meaningless in the face of laughter.

"You applied, yes. Not hired." In the next breath, he speaks something in Russian. It is too much sass. "A few months later was when you were arrested."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

Alexis grimaced and faux-retched when Jeremiah laughed; the face a child would make learning their parents still had active social lives, the face someone made finding out their siblings had intimate encounters. It came so easy to them. "What's so funny, Spektor not hiring me 'parently sending me into a spirallin' life of crime?"

...like that, actually, it did sound kind of funny. They huffed, but there was a chuckle in it; they had to find humor where they could, in this life that still wasn't theirs, not really. "Don't get Slavic on me, I don't like people talkin' in languages I don't speak. Couldn't you just check my file to see when it manifested, right?" Alexis tried to keep on straight-faced through it, as Jeremiah laughed, stubbornly refusing to get up because they weren't sure their legs had remembered how to work yet.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Too much sass, Tucker," strangely, as he speaks, and translates what was said, he has a rather good Russian accent (though not as good when he faked an American one (and that is not done because it is terrifying), "though I suppose you could also look at it that way." Jeremiah chuckles a little more before he shakes his head.

It is funny. All of it.

"If your file is to be believed, it manifested a about five months before you turned seventeen." Though that information was from the other Alexis, so whether or not it was true was up in the air. Except that considering it was probably Jeremiah who took the information down, it was likely the truth. "Your file is so much thicker this time around."

He makes a gesture with his fingers. Going from about a fourth of an inch space between thumb and forefinger to nearly two inches.

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"You're welcome for the entertainment," Alexis preened a little bit, lifting their chin. At least they were notable, and they had to find the humor in it where they could. "Hope it makes good reading material. You should let me read it so I don't contradict my own story." They didn't sound like they figured he'd actually let them read it, but it was good to ask anyways.

One arm reached back to stretch cross-shoulders and their eyes closed with the force of it, and their fingers tap-tapped relentlessly against each other, trying to ignore the urge to scratch their arms - to pick and peel - to dig deep and leave nail marks all white on their skin. "Noticed it looks like some of the doors're reinforced, too, when I stopped by a few months ago. Pretty impressive."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Tucker, if you want to read it, simply ask when I am not busy and I can make arrangements." Jeremiah continues to move, his pace steady and the water freezes and unfreezes as makes his circuit.

He raises an eyebrow and they get a particularly bright, luminous eyed stare. "I do not want to know if you've been testing the doors at the department, Tucker, but I will tell you that it would not be wise. They are not warded but there is magitech involved that will still not feel too good if you try anything."

Except that he assumes they weren't. Not really. It was the kind of thing that one notices ideally when they used to have habits that they are now trying to quit.

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"Aren'tcha always busy, mister bigshot," Alexis snorts, "n' no, I wasn't trying to break your doors, I just noticed. They look different than they did in the old world. Figured it was probably something like that." They expect little, and they're rarely disappointed. It's hard to be let down when you never even wanted anything better than what you have.

"'Sides, figured you wouldn't want to bother with letting a known criminal read their own file, right?"

(Now, actually, they do want to test the doors; just to know what it feels like. But that's not a Good Thought, they can mark it as a bad one that'll just cause bad things, and it's discarded for the moment.)

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Never not busy but I can make time as necessary if you want to know what's in the file," Jeremiah says as he shrugs one shoulder. "If I had a problem with it I would have stated such. It just was not appropriate timing when you asked last as I was going over your file."

Or his other self had been because they had, not that long ago, been fitted with the anklet.

"... though just so we are clear, testing those doors is a violation of your agreement with the court."

Da3kie

word count to here: 2370

 

[Daekie]

"Why would I know when you can make time," Alexis shoots right back, "n' I'm not gonna test the doors, christ, can't I notice things without it meaning I'm gonna break them in my free time? I don't do that all the time." They lean back and collapse backwards onto the sand, staring up at the sky, motionless.

It's nice to relax now and again.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Ask, Tucker, or better yet: just tell me when you would like to do so." Jeremiah just looked at them as if he did not quite believe them but he simply shrugged his shoulders.

The fact that it was no longer rainy here was nice but he also had to deal with the fact that now there were icy scales on his skin that would need to fade with time. (Would you like some chill to go with your chill? How about more chill?)

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"I make time." Alexis wasn't evading, not intentionally. "People don't usually make time for me. Tell me when you're free and I'll show up, and I prob'ly won't climb on your roof or bother your animals." They traced their fingers through the sand, pulling a little pillow of water up through it to cushion their head, let their hair spread free. "No promises on the latter."

The ambient chill was nice, although they'd never admit it.

"Anyway, I've done what I wanted to do. Head back when you want, I guess."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Thursday, 3pm," he replied promptly. "It's after the day's meetings and before I head home or otherwise." So much for evading because Jeremiah had laid it out there for them to take.

He leaned, a finger touching to the pillow and freezing it (though their hair did not stick to it thankfully, because he was thoughtful in some ways). "Your control has grown, Tucker. It's impressive."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

Alexis sputtered, jerking upright, and almost kicked Jeremiah in the leg before they snapped back to sitting. It was impressive, how much energy they still had after that earlier display, after how much it had obviously drained them. "********, you a*****e, now there's cold sand in my hair, ******** rude --" they shook their head vigorously, and their hair went every which way, loose curls springing into shape.

"Fine, whatever, I'll be there. Tell the desk in advance so they don't b***h at me."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"You're aware that you could just use magic to remove what little sand is there?" Jeremiah simply gave them a look. "If you cannot, I certainly can do so."

There was a wiggle of his fingers, coldfire sparking over each individual tip of finger.

"Just tell the front desk you're there to see me. I'll have Preacher put it on my schedule as well."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

Alexis huffed - the sort of huff someone gave when something obvious had been pointed out they hadn't thought of. "Fine. You do it, then, 'cause 'm tired." But there was something mesmerized and awful in their eyes when they looked at the fire -- it was the same look their fetch had worn when he'd asked them their age, cold fire snapping around the two of them - and they stilled, unaware they were doing so, fingers coming to rest intertwined in their lap.

"Yeah, watch as Maria writes my name down as 'shithead number one'."

azuredreams