[FIN] What's Behind Door #32? (Jeremiah & Kaleb)

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah pulled a card from his pocket, smoke smoldering off of it before he passed it to Kaleb. (The numbers of his personal cell had been lightly burned onto the cardstock.) "My personal cell is on the back. If you want to give me your number, I can also text you once we're back over so you can have mine in your log.

"It's no hassle if I was planning on being here anyway and, as I said, the more you work at this the better you will become. Studying, in this case, is quite beneficial."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb accepted the card gingerly, flipping it over to look at the back when he was sure the smoking thing wasn't going to burn him. He could only hope to have such fine control over magic one day...

He silently read the numbers over a couple times, committing them to memory before fishing around in the messenger bag full of books that always seemed to be slung over one shoulder. Once he located a pen, he wrote his own cell phone number on the card, under Jeremiah's singed number, and handed the card back.

"Thank you," Kaleb replied meekly, "I'll do my best."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah was pulling his phone out because while it had no reception here, at least his contact book and other things did work. So he was quickly thumbing the screen and putting the number in before handing the card back for Kaleb to take. "It has my email address as well, just in case you prefer that method of communication. Never feel like you have to thank me but you are welcome."

With a roll of his shoulders, seemingly stretching to stretch the muscles out, he tilted his head for Kaleb to walk with him again. He paused again after a couple steps, eyes catching on the little archway that was over the rough stone pathway of a yard.

"That look out of the ordinary to you?" he asked, fingers gesturing towards it.

Grey Dragon

lol it doesn't have to be, jeremiah's eyes just tell him it's a way out, so if you wanted to have kaleb notice it feels some kind of way as they approach ... : D

 

[Grey Dragon]

"Thank you-" he replied, choking a little on the end as he accepted the card. Thanks and apologies just came so naturally to him, it felt awkward to even think about omitting one. He tucked the card in his bag, and sheepishly avoided Jeremiah's gaze until they began walking again.

When Jeremiah paused, he looked over to see the simple archway. It looked like an old trellis, although whatever vines had grown green and lush over it were now browned and woody with age.

Kaleb looked at it for a minute or so, and then shook his head. It didn't look particularly remarkable, nor did it have any sign of fresh damage. He opened his mouth to say it looked normal, when he remembered that feeling he had gotten at the door of the house. Instead of looking, he closed his mouth again and tried to feel it.

"There's nothing there!" He suddenly exclaimed, surprised. "It's... less than nothing, right there. Like when you think you are at the bottom of the stairs, but there's one left and it's just... nothingness."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Really?" Jeremiah looked noticeably interested in hearing that. He stepped closer to archway, walking around it in a circle as his eyes went upward and then downward while looking at it. "It's a way back."

When he looked back to Kaleb, there was a brighter glow to his reflective eyes (as if he was more actively using his magic). "It's not a big crack but certainly if you walk through this you'll find your way back in Ashdown. I would say you might have found a way for yourself to find a way back, though the feeling likely won't persist in Ashdown to help you find a way in."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Immediately upon hearing Jeremiah's reaction to his comments, Kaleb was overcome with a wave of self-doubt. It was so easy to imagine things here on the other side, and despite all the new things he had learned during this meeting it was all too easy to wonder if he was just fooling himself.

At least until it was confirmed, that weird empty space he could feel with his... directed awareness, was actually something significant. Then the self-doubt turned to complete acceptance that he was in over his head.

"So it's... I can actually do that? If I find that feeling again, it's not just nothing?" He asked, trying to put everything together. Magic had been a hard concept to rationalize, but this proof that he also had magic in him, and was capable of using it... that would take some more time.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Anything is possible here, Kaleb. The magic works in ways for you to understand, if you let it. There's rules it follows even if they don't always make sense to us." Another reassuring look was given to Kaleb, Jeremiah gesturing for him to come closer to the archway.

"It's just how your brain is likely perceiving the magic and reacting to the fact you want to get back to Ashdown." His head inclined, just slightly. "So if you find it again on this side, yes. You'd be able to repeat it. Though if you want it to become something that you can do on both sides? You're going to have to really work at it."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

When he got closer to the archway the sensation became easier to detect. It still felt odd to translate the almost proprioceptive feel of it to the presence of magic, but Jeremiah's words helped Kaleb make more sense of it. There were all sorts of strange ways the body perceived the world, like synesthesias and referred pain. How would the brain even begin to process magic without piggybacking on existing systems of perception?

"Wait, so if I get really good at doing something on this side, it might end up working over there too?" He asked quickly. It was almost a troubling thought, Kaleb wasn't entirely sure he wanted magic's influence to follow him that far, but it could also have it's uses depending on what he practiced.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah was watching Kaleb, though his eyes kept flicking to the archway every so often. It was odd in his vision and hard to ignore. "I could directly correlate several of the particular talents I have developed that work on both sides to having gotten really good at it over here or, of course, necessity. My eyes changing would be the best example. I was constantly searching for a way to see magic and I started to. Then, of course, it became something more than just that."

Which is why he flicked his hand upward towards his eyes to meant the tapetum lucidum effect. "On the bright side, I can also see in the dark, so it is quite useful though I do have to be careful sometimes."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

"You see it then, right there in that space? Instead of feeling something different about it?" Kaleb asked. Jeremiah had just answered a number of questions that had lingered at the back of his mind, which Kaleb had been a bit too polite to ask about. The reflective glow in Jeremiah's eyes was different, but it had never been particularly frightening.

Kaleb was more afraid of what magic might do to him, he wasn't strong enough to visibly stand apart from his peers yet. If Jeremiah's sight had affected his eyes, what would change as a result of being able to feel magic? The unappealing recollection of the channel catfish, with it's fascinating adaptation of taste buds all over it's skin, came to mind and made Kaleb shudder ever so slightly.

azuredreams

I AM SORRY HE IS JUST SO CURIOUS WHEN NOT TERRIFIED XD;;

 

[azuredreams]

"Yes," Jeremiah reached a hand towards the glimmer that he saw. It was slightly discolored and, to him, he thought he caught flickers of Ashdown through it. "It is like a tear in a sail, almost. If I put my hand to it, touch it in any way, I will find myself on the other side.

"Similarly, it can be somewhat distracting. My eyes are drawn to magic when people perform it but these things? They're always what have stood out most."

Grey Dragon

this would have appeared yesterday IF I HAD NOT CLOSED OUT AND LOST THE TAG BEFORE POSTING. also, jeremiah doesn't mind <3 ~ he will always answer questions if he can.

 

[Grey Dragon]

"It sounds distracting," Kaleb muttered, mentally prodding the weird void-space of the portal with his awareness. If he put in a great deal of focus he could just barely make out the edges of it, almost like feeling for a doorframe while blindfolded. It didn't intrude on his perception of the world, but he was also completely new to it all.

In fact, the amount of new things he had experienced just that day was mind boggling. Why did his encounters with Jeremiah so often leave him feeling like the whole world had just been turned on it's head?

"Maybe I should head back," Kaleb said quickly, glancing at the archway again. There were limits to how much information even he could absorb in one day.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"A bit. It does take some getting used to." Jeremiah shook his head. "It is probably best to go ahead and head back. You never quite know how long you've been gone sometimes and sometimes you'll wear out." His hand rested on the wood of the archway.

"I actually need to keep looking but you should head back if you've already been here for a while. I haven't had to rely on finding pathways back for a long time so I don't ever think about it anymore."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb nodded. This portal was what he had been looking for, after all.

"Thank you, for showing me all this," he said, suddenly shy all over again. "I'll... I'll work really hard."

Then he took a deep breath and stepped through the archway.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Anytime, Kaleb." Jeremiah gave him a smile, small and reassuring. "If you need help or there's something I can answer for you possibly, just text or call."

His hand was raised, flingers flicking in goodbye. Jeremiah watched as Kaleb disappeared through the archway and lingered a moment before he disappeared himself. Another part of other ashdown awaited him while he kept looking for his quarry.

Grey Dragon

this one is a wrap!