[prp] no thing of consequence can grow [alexis/jeremiah]

[Daekie]

It's been raining all week, it feels like. It's alright. Alexis likes it. It's a great backdrop to them destroying every relationship they don't deserve, really -- and there's never been any better celestial sign for that than 'the ******** heavens are breaking down upon our heads and a house vanished into thin air', has there?

Anyways. That's not the point. The point is that it's half past noon, it's pouring rain, Alexis is soaked to the bone, and they're perched on the rooftop of the police station in a hoodie a size too big and baggy jeans & a wrist brace on one wrist --

It's so cold. They'll probably get down and leave in ten minutes, maybe, when the cold starts really soaking into their bones and their hair is even more plastered to their skull than before. It's just -- the sight of the town from here, is -- it's nice. It's calming.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

The roof affords them a view of city hall - it's just right there - and the rest of downtown Ashdown, the marquee of the theatre brightly lit and visible even through the downpour and the distance down the street it was.

Jeremiah was actually coming back from lunch, having been called out for it by Algie (which still made his stomach twist), and was holding an umbrella over his head as he came up the steps to the department. He paused as he looked upwards.

Blinked.

That was-

He let out a sigh and turned to walk around the side of the building. From one breath to another, Jeremiah was suddenly there on the roof. His umbrella was still held in his hand, blue-green eyes staring at Alexis's back before he just walks forward and holds it over their head as well so they stop getting rained on.

That was his greeting besides the slight raise of his eyebrow.

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"...Mercer."

That's all the greeting Alexis affords him in return -- a slight twist of the head to confirm his presence, and a lift of the shoulder - but they sound...subdued. Quiet. Miserable, one might even say, with their hair - more obvious, now, it's been cut to a way that'd probably be short and fuzzy if it wasn't for the rain - plastered to their face like it's been kept there by glue and anger.

"'Sup."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Is there any particular reason you're on top of my building, Tucker?" he asks after a moment, after he tilts his head further in acknowledgement of the greeting. "Beyond the fact the view is quite nice."

Even with the rain.

They look different, as if that spitfire that had been weakened was gone instead of tired as it had been the last time they ran into each other.

The hair cut certainly leant to it.  

[Daekie]

"I like bein' on top of things. Haven't climbed much since the ball." Their left hand flicks out in an aborted gesture -- enough to show the brace they're wearing on it.

"That's why I'm up here. Why're you? Aren't you gonna hurt yourself, old man?"

Their words are carefully enunciated, even with the slang they always use - their lips are bloody. Alexis doesn't seem to especially mind. But the enunciation stops it from being worse.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah's eyes fall to their and he holds out a hand for a moment, palm up. He is wearing gloves and is dressed far too warmly even for the current weather. "If I may?"

Blue-green eyes just stare at the other barb but he can tell their heart isn't it. It's lacking in real bite. "The list of things that can hurt me is small and I'm up here because I saw you."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"May what," Alexis snaps, pulling their hands in and away. "I'm not down to touch police." But they don't stand up and move - they don't go anywhere. Not that they could, with Jeremiah at their back and in front of them only a few feet of roof before the drop, the only options to try to fight (and fail) or to run (and fall).

Neither is attractive.

"You're old. I push you off the roof, you break yer back, we're both ******** class="quote">

azuredreams

[azuredreams]

"Your hand, Tucker, may I see it?" If Jeremiah is bothered by the way they say police it doesn't show. Not much does aside from an occasional raise of an eyebrow or a quirk of his lips.

"I would never hit the ground," he told them and there's a smirk on his face. Yet the certainty was obvious. Jeremiah was a man who knew his abilities and limits. "Besides that, you couldn't even cut me with a knife if you tried." He paused a moment. "That isn't an offer to attempt it either, I don't recommend it. What I am saying is the blade can't hurt me."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

Alexis contemplates the offer -- their eyes go distant, and they go to bite their lip before realizing they can't do that anymore, sticking their tongue out instead. "...Fine. You gotta sit too, then." They pull the sleeve back, but make no move to manipulate the brace -- it's clear, too, with the sleeve removed that their hand has several recent scars. Almost like bitemarks, really, but. Too precise -- and with how deep the scars look, there's no way their flesh would be otherwise undamaged.

"Wasn't planning on stabbin' you. I don't feel like gettin' arrested."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah moves and, no moment of hesitation, sits down. They're next to him and he takes the hand into his own gently. "From the ball, correct? Some of this, at least. Other parts are too new." Or that is the way it looks to him.

His eyes glance upward and he says nothing about them not planning on stabbing him. Mostly because he would have known.

Daekie

part of this is from ezra, yes?

 

[Daekie]

"...yeah. Some'v it's from the ball." Alexis unstraps the brace gingerly, revealing their scars more -- there is a man's hand scarred into their skinny wrist, ghost-fingers wrapped tight around their joints. They don't seem inclined to go into how they got it, at least for the moment, however.

"...'m so tired of this ********' town. Of all of this s**t."

azuredreams

yep, frostbite scarring! it got magically healed by autumn but it still aint pretty

 

[azuredreams]

"Far worse than my back but hopefully without the same effects." Jeremiah let go of their hand. "I just wanted to verify that you ran afoul of who I thought you did. Thank you for letting me look."

Mostly because people who actually lived through a punishment from Ezra- Well they existed but it still was something unique.

That his handprint was now left on their wrist is rather poignant and a reminder.

"It can be tiring," he agreed, "and finding a balance or a moment to yourself isn't easy." Jeremiah gave them a look, a huff of breath escaping. "Admittedly, if I knew a way to put a stop to this all immediately I would probably do it."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"******** your back look like," Alexis mumbled, pulling their hand back and putting the brace back on when Jeremiah let go. "M'hand's just...cold. All the time. N' it doesn't work the way it used to unless I work on it." They pulled their knees up to their chest - a childish gesture.

"Iuno. I might just get out of here." They shrugged, but it was halfhearted. "Or stop lyin' to people about damn near everythin'. Or kill myself. One of those, probably."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"A bit like your hand, but all the way down my spine. You remember, don't you? In the forest? When Pax tried to light me on fire?" His back was literal ice, a jagged burn down his spine that was an icy blue. "Though in my case, it makes my entire body cold." There was also a level of residual pain that never truly faded but he had adapted as best as possible.

An eyebrow was raised, Jeremiah not quite used to this level of honesty from them.

"The last one of those ideas, I would weigh very heavily before you truly start considering it. The other two are at least considerable." Not lying would be good. "As for leaving town? If you do so for an extended period of time you'll find that those powers you've gained?" Like those sharp teeth. "They'll fade away."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"I've been weighin' that option my entire <********> life," Alexis spits. "And it's looking real good lately. And gettin' rid of all this? There's nothing bad about that." They sound like they're about to cry, actually, face tucked into their pulled-up legs. "Since I got here, all I do is get myself almost killed or get other people almost killed. "

"...'m sick of it n' I don't know what to do."

azuredreams