[PRP] proper meetings (cass & jeremiah)

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah was back within other ashdown but that, in all honesty, was not that unusual. He was, in fact, following the wings of a bright blue butterfly as it flew in front of him just a couple feet.

It came to a halt, seemingly hesitating at an intersection before he stepped forward and stood in it himself. His eyes were closed, mind going to trust that sense of his that let him know which way the danger truly was.

Not that it was easy because the sensation was all over the place and the fluttering wings of the butterfly certainly were not giving any clues.

demon_pachabel

actual cass to run into actual jeremiah in oad for adventure? y/y?

 

[demon_pachabel]

Of course now that she'd been there once, Cass found herself practically tripping into Other Ashdown on some days. At least now she was doing it when she was awake more often than just falling into it while she was asleep at home (or at Marcus's place. That had happened more than twice now and she'd woken up Marcus each time she jerked out of sleep from it. Poor guy). At least now she kind of knew what she needed to look for.

"Nope, not that one," she noted, playing Hokey-Pokey with yet another archway (you put your right hand in, you take your right hand out...) and shaking her head. "Alright, guess on to the next one," she sighed and quietly wished she had a convenient way to borrow Violetta sometimes.

Not that she'd be able to feed and care for the obviously otherworldly feline.

She'd mostly ignored the intersection as she turned the corner, focusing more on doors than the roads as she passed by Jeremiah almost obliviously. Either unobservant or mostly not worried about being attacked by things. She'd learn.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

It was probably a good thing or not because while she did not notice Jeremiah, she was noticed. Except it was not by Jeremiah.

This was her noticed by a rather small, entirely white (not unlike Violetta) feline. Except in place of violets behind the ears there was a mohawk of vines with pink flowering. Not that they bothered the cat at all. The cat brushed against her leg before primly going between them and heading towards his people dad.

Normally Jeremiah would have already noticed Cass but he was still otherwise focused. For the moment she was just something out of the corner of his eyes that he was going to look at in a few seconds.

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

C A T.

Cass had crouched down to try and pet the othercat before he was off again, this time with a very interested human trailing after them. "Kitty~ Meow meow!" animal-talker voice activated. She'd only paced a few steps after Hellbine before she finally looked up and noticed there was another person there.

".....You!" Shoot, what had his name been? He hadn't mentioned it, but Algernon had said he was his husband...it...was... "Jeremiah, right?"

Azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Hellbine was twining through Jeremiah's legs, the older man ducking down to hook a finger under his familiar's chin and scratch lightly. With Cass calling out like that - and then calling his name - he finally turned his own focus towards her.

"Yes," he said with a small, friendly smile, and standing to greet her properly. His eyes, still odd and still reflective, cut towards the vivid blue butterfly that flew nearby briefly before focusing entirely on Cass.

"It's Cassandra, isn't it or do you prefer Cass? I saw you join up with the listserv. Hopefully you're not here to tell me Hellbine lead you into other ashdown, he's not supposed to be doing that." A look was given to Hellbine who sat primly on Jeremiah's shoe. Like he could stop his people dad from moving.

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

Though not on purpose, Cass's attention followed Jeremiah's to the butterfly for that brief moment. She'd barely had time to really note anything about it before his reply drew her attention back to him.

"Either is fine." she smiled, "I'll respond to most anything as long as it's obviously directed at me." Which probably made 'late for dinner' a viable option she'd actually use as well. Not that anybody had tried that one yet. "I was less of a detective and your husband told me yours." She shrugged. "Nice man, Algernon is."

She glanced down towards Hellbine. "And no. Hellbine just said hello a minute ago and I'm....I'm a bit of a sucker for sweet fuzzy faces unfortunately." or fortunately if you were a sweet fuzzy face that wanted to sucker her for attention.

Azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Cass was treated to a more open expression sliding onto Jeremiah's face as she mentioned his husband.

"Did you run into him here or in Ashdown?" he inquired. It was not always that difficult to place Alg and himself as at least knowing each other, if only because despite the years they had been in Ashdown they still maintained their accents. Not that Jeremiah could not do a terrifying American accent that would break brains to hear.

Hellbine was cleaning his paw and then rubbing his head and flowers. He looked up at the mention of his name and let out a mew as if he was confirming that, yes, he was a sweet fuzzy face. It was now part of his string of titles.

"He's a bit of a brat," Jeremiah chuckled, "but he can be sweet. Don't let his size trick you, though, he's the same age as Violetta, they're siblings." For the moment, the butterfly was ignored.

If that was good or bad remained to be seen.

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

"Technically both?" Cass answered. "I believe the very first thing was that I held up the book he wrote and asked him if he thought it was good......" her eyes briefly went unfocused, as though implying how that exchange had went. "And then we somehow accidentally wandered through the veil and that was a fun adventure."

They'd both deemed Jeremiah dreamworthy, though Algernon had meant it in a very different way from Cass.

"Oh! Well, I can actually believe that." Cass had met Violetta, so looking at Hellbine it wasn't too much of a stretch to believe that they were related. Albeit Hellbine was tiny. "But yeah, no. Hellbine didn't lead me in here. I was kind of doing my own thing and I've discovered that doorway-looking-structures are kind of...." she gestured vaguely with both hands and then shrugged.

"Picky."

Azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"So you held up one of the Red Herring books?" Jeremiah inquired with a chuckle. The look on his face implied that it happened fairly often. "Unless you have a reliable way of crossing over, you'll usually find yourself on the other side without realizing it. Alg ended up here once while going from his office at home to the bedroom."

Hellbine seemed to be done cleaning himself and was moving off of Jeremiah's foot to look up at the butterfly that was still flitting around. It was, at this point, moving in a circle around both Cassandra and Jeremiah.

"Passageways are the most frequent but sometimes, if the magic is filling finicky, you could go through several before you find a way. Though the longer your at this, the easier it becomes. When it first starts for you it's more or less you getting pulled over but as time goes on you find yourself more attuned and don't have to wander so much to find them."

His lips twitched with a smile.

"Or you find yourself with an ability that lets you cross over or find a way over when you need it."

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

"That I did. He told me to read the inside of the dust jacket to make an opinion." which had mostly turned into her looking at it and then him and then back. It was amusing even in the moment. "I've...barely had time to touch the book since." mostly because someone kept adding to her required reading list. Cass had never read so much manga in her life.

"We didn't even get to the back of the store, so I'm glad to know it's universally that finicky." Can't even cross through an entire building. She'd get to look forward to that fun, then!

"So basically someday I'll just attract ways in and out like nobody's business and I'll look like freakin' Nightcrawler while doing it." Oh, Cid probably would have liked that comparison. Was it accurate to the comics? She didn't know. She'd seen Evolution. That was her knowledge set.

"Now see, that sounds convenient. If I could text out of here like a picture and a 'Hey, stuck in OAD, gonna be late to work' I'd be a bit better, but...." she just took pictures anyways. In fact, Cass thought about it and set up her camera to take a picture, pausing when she caught the butterfly in frame and looking up. Okay, that was briefly Fatal Frame.

Azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Well, not necessarily Nightcrawler ... I mean, I can move similarly but not across the veil in that manner. I suppose someone could manifest an ability like that if they truly worked on it. Magic can, and does, bend to strong will." Hey, look. Jeremiah had already made a movie reference once so it was not entirely out of place that he could continue to understand references.

"We've not yet quite figured out how to communicate across the veil. It disrupts signal and turns a phone into a camera or a recording device. However," Jeremiah let out a chuckle, "you may not necessarily be late if you end up here and then cross back over. Time is ... a bit more fluid here. Once I was here for what was nearly two months in Ashdown but here? It was more than six, I believe. I'm never quite sure."

The picture of the butterfly being taken brought Jeremiah's attention back to it. It's wings were fluttering quite quickly and it-

It darted off, leaving a sparkle behind it. The older man stared a moment and then dragged a hand down the side of his face. Not the time for this.

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

"Well, I more mean..mmmmm.. to people on the normal side of things. Because time is all wibbley wobbley here, what is a few minutes to us walking from point A to point B probably looks like teleportation to most people once we blip back out." Very, very unreliable teleportation. She was referencing the episode where Nightcrawler was shown to be travelling through nearly literal hell to 'teleport'.

That was the image she had in her mind.

"It'd make sense if the signal won't move because of...well..." she 'hmmm'ed thoughtfully. "I have a thought but I'm not sure how to word it. I don't science. Magic-science?" she waved a hand. "Magic." that became her explanation. She'd clearly spent too much time with Marcus when she'd been trying to consider explaining nonsense.

"Sounds like you had a not-so-fun Staycation though."

She would have admired her handiwork on the photo except that the butterfly was blurry and she now needed to try again. Without asking any questions, she began to trail after it, recording the trail of sparkles as she did. Because Cid got to see all of her Other Ashdown Footage when she had any.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Well, that is also if they manage to be there when we come in and out. Where you come in and where you come out are not always the same. Likewise, you could walk into a home and find yourself in a street in other ashdown." It was not all the time but it did happen frequently enough that it was unsettling for most.

"There may be some type of magitech that would be able to handle it but I've not yet delved into it. I honestly believe it's the veil that keeps things ... separated. Without it we might see a difference." Though removal of the veil would likely be A Very Bad Thing.

Or perhaps not but no one knew for sure.

He snorted at the mention of Staycation. "That is certainly one way to put it." Then Cass was moving and it was only her recording that stopped him doing something to move in front of her instantly.

"Oi," his accent bled through more than ever, "while the butterfly is pretty ... I need you to keep a distance. It's helping me track something." A pause. "In fact, it may be best if you walk with me."

demon_pachabella

word count to here: 1112

 

[demon_pachabel]

"Somehow, removing that sounds like a bad idea, though." she agreed out loud, unaware of his inner thoughts on that. Things had a way of suddenly misbehaving when their boundaries were lifted. Curiosity, perhaps?

She paused when Jeremiah called her out on her butterfly stalking, frowning and quietly hitting 'stop' on her video recording to shove her phone back in her pocket. Needed to save all that battery life, after all. No use recording all the sparkles and killing it just to miss out on something cool later.

"Everything over here is pretty, as far as aesthetics are concerned, but sure, okay." she made a point to take a few steps back obediently, though she frowned the entire time. "Should I be worried about you tracking something?" Should Jeremiah have been worried that Cass's instinctive reaction depending on whatever it was would likely be to feed it?

Azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"More than likely," responded Jeremiah, "and not a good thing, I think, to have the magic that is this place free on the other side." There was a slight pinch to his expression, something that was likely meant to be apologetic with the set to his mouth.

"If you like the motif of things caught between times, yes. There's also a garden that moves around here and it is quite pretty but-" Jeremiah gestured for her to pick up Hellbine. "If you'd not mine carrying Hellbine, I will explain."

He waited a beat, watching her and then moving after the small white cat was picked up. The butterfly was moving steadily and, as they moved, so did the sensation in the pit of his stomach. "I mentioned previously that if you saw something that looked as if it was a glitch, you should head the other direction? That," a gesture was made to the butterfly, "is an additional method granted to me to help me find it. If it's reacting like that, it is somewhere locally and my own senses are telling me similar."

It was why, at the top of his collar, icy blue scales started to appear on his skin.

demon_pachabel