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

[azuredreams]

"Considering that some were murdered, it is understandable if their memory is spotty or they wish to not discuss things." After all, despite having said that not all were failed Nobles, several were and that was part of the reason why they looked as they did.

Undead and decaying.

"I was told," he says as he watches the water race and curl towards Alexis, "that madness is partly why we do not see more Nobles. Most do not take well to the immortality, that should we fail, we will watch those we care for live again and again in repetition while we are outside of the cycle."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"We'll have all the time in the world," Alexis huffs, "but we're not gonna be able to use it if we lose our minds. When it resets, if we fail -- we won't be part of that world anymore, right? Just the otherworld. We'll just have t'watch more people make those mistakes again." For once, they're not upset about it; Alexis sounds reasonable, contemplative. They've never been good with sympathy, but putting it like that, the way Ezra and Melany were is -- understandable. Not relatable. But understandable.

The water curls up their legs like vines, not quite touching the fabric, floating half an inch apart -- their fingers curl, ever so slightly, almost imperceptibly; and it leaps to their wrist and settles down, almost like bracelets, for a second - chunky rings floating around their wrist - and they open their hand again, and the water splits around their fingers and rushes down into the air to coalesce into a sphere. What water didn't make the climb up their legs circles, repetitive, brushing away sand and smoothing the ground, geometric patterns half-traced through the sand; Alexis steps forward and leaves no footprint behind, gazing out at the sea.

"I won't let that happen." There's a noble sort of tension in their shoulders. The orb roils - twists - deforms - and slowly relaxes back into its' shape, reaching questing droplets out for Alexis' fingers. "But shouldn't we make contingency plans to save what we can, in that chance we fail, right? We can't just assume we'll fix it."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"The problem is that we do not have all the time in the world. Not now because there is a finite amount of time left until a reset potentially happens- it's some time in the fall of this year. We'll either fix things or, as you said, we'll watch." Jeremiah rolls his shoulders and watches as the water coils and moves to Alexis's unspoken commands.

"Part of redefining the Court via the charter is about making contingency plan should we fail. To make adjustments that we may be in a better place to influence and help those that are still bound by the cycle of rebirth."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"Yeah, better place, sure," Alexis snorts; the water twists up their wrists again in spiralling circles and settles around their neck like a collar, letting their gills flare open under it; most of the rest stays where it is in a perfect circle, finished smoothing out the sand, with just a flick of their wrist to cease its' movement. "How many of us would you say are in better places now then before we got tithed? And how many of us will make it past the next cycle to the one after if this one fails and that does too? Don't talk like we won't turn on each other, even with preventative measures. Just because it's less time doesn't mean we won't all lose our ******** minds."

Alexis steps forward, and the water builds under their steps, boosting them up on pillars; they c**k their head at Jeremiah, owl-like, a good six inches off the ground. "Anyone who's not a noble gets reset with the world, right? So what would your plan be: write down who's safe to tithe and steal them away immediately?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

There are icy scales on Jeremiah's skin almost immediately, though it is still an unconscious reaction on his part. The mood shifts and he takes note of it in this manner; ice creeping up the back of his neck and along his arms without thought. Water that washes near him freezes, his head tilted at a slight angle as he watches Alexis. He straightens a moment later.

"You speak as if these are not things I'm not aware of. The world," Jeremiah's voice shifts, something calm and cold, "is not sunshine and rainbows. It is, quite frankly, far from that and what we are a part of - what we have been a part of for countless ages without knowing it - will likely drive most mad."

There is something measuring in his gaze on Alexis, his eye bright. "As for my plan?" He scoffs. "No, that would be ridiculous. To tithe more people? Who have no idea why? I won't support tithes taken unwillingly, let alone throw them into a situation like this."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

Alexis stops and takes a deep breath as soon as Jeremiah's voice shifts - their eyes stay locked on him, focus-bright, but their shoulders heave up and down with the force of it. (Their collar of water thins to a paper's-width, stretching to cover their entire neck, like some high-necked nobility outfit. They see the scales; they're more perceptive than some think, and a thin bead of water runs up their spine - it could make mock-wings, if they reached out, if they stretched their mind so far. But not yet, maybe.

Behind them, the ocean parts in a wave, magnificent, frightening. Alexis is sweating, a little, but their jaw is set and their fingers barely shake. That was precision, before; greater amounts than they had before. This? This is force, and restraining it. They need to know it won't happen again. If it does, here -- Jeremiah will be okay. That's the only reason the nerve will even come.)

"If we lose our minds, who's going to dispose of us safely, so we don't just continue it over and over? My idea of a contingency is something where, if we can't be trusted not t'tithe by kidnappin' anymore, they can put us down without all falling on each other's swords."

"This wouldn't be happenin' if they hadn't kidnapped tithes, right? ********. I don't know." Their voice breaks on the last word, frustrated, angry; but the water stays poised in a wave, waiting for an unseen okay.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Tucker," he says, and then he sighs, "Alexis." There is no worry or concern but his defenses are up all the same. An attempt at control is obvious, Jeremiah sees it in the bead of sweat that doesn't roll downwards but moves to join the rest of the water.

"... the Court happened because there was already something going on," he replies, "because there was no structure, because the dead," fetches he reasons, "were not saying dead. The fact of the matter is that the Court filled a void and there are fail-safes within it but we can build in more if necessary. To stop those that have lost their minds, to prevent more damage.

"This is not because they kidnapped tithes, this is all because of the cage. All of it. Without the cage, the Court would have never existed."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"Not the Court -- us. Being here. Having this discussion, and it bein' more than just hypothesis and guesswork. And the magic didn't want me for a principal caster, anyways. What failsafes can we really build without tearing it down and -- starting -- again?"

The last three words are an effort, their teeth clenched, their eyes distantly focused on something else --their arm thrusts forward and the wave rushes --

and it stops before it hits Jeremiah, slightly before he could freeze it. It hangs there, mid-crest, and Alexis' legs are shaky - the water pedestals below them drop out of existence, just into puddles -- their brow is covered in sweat and there's a bit of blood blooming on their bottom lip from getting caught between their teeth, but -- it's stopped. All the weight of that water is under control as long as Alexis stays conscious. And despite the apparent exhaustion it causes them, they don't seem like they're about to pass out.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah simply stares at them as they speak and he is unmoving. The icy scales are visible moreso now, creeping into his hairline and along his wrists. What water was left around him was cold enough it would burn, not unlike the fire he was so fond of calling forth.

He watches as they exert control and then he sighs. Fingers rake through his hair. (He is, for once, quite happy that the cold does not seem to bother him so much here as it does in Ashdown. There, it freezes him and makes things so much worse, but here it is welcome and aside from the spike of pain between his shoulder blades, he is fine.)

"Magic," he says slowly, his voice even and steady and calm; it never raises in tone, "is malleable. Even with it's structure, there are ways to change things, to alter them. Not everything has to be built from the ground up, not everything is about tearing it down, because sometimes it is about using what you have to your advantage when it has ******** you over in all the other ways it can."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

The pain in their wrist flares, once, in response, and Alexis' hand shivers - shakes - the water starts to move again, but they pull it back, breathing hard; their fingers curl into a fist, and their arm's shaking visibly now, tension and strain and focus. "Y'look like a shitty dragon." That's all they have to say about that.

The water curls, pulls back, slowly -- curbing its' enthusiasm, their rush-forward tendencies, isn't a natural behavior. But it's something they're learning, or trying-to, which has to be so. "Not my type. Not my field. I break things down so somethin' else can grow, I don't build n' alter." Lazy circles, but it's digging swathes into the sand as it goes, pulling the sand along with it; this is so much more than they've done before, so much focus to split between keeping the water to their thoughts and their voice alive.

Alexis' face has gone the slightest bit pale. Their freckles stand out more that way.

They'll try the wings some other day. Maybe when Nasir's there. He'll think it's funny, and it'll make him happy, and that's what they want.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah rolls his eyes and snorts. "That could be," he says drolly, sarcasm evident, "because I am not actually a dragon. I am simply a Noble who plays at being one." He was not, particularly, a fan of the icy scales but they served their purpose and kept him safe.

... and he had to stay safe, had to be able to come home, because he could not do that to Algie or anyone else, for that matter.

His eyes flicker as Jeremiah watches them try to control it but he is pleased, at least, that they have found some measure of it with everything that's happened. Though he expects them to collapse at any point, such heavy use of magic often feeling like an extreme workout or running a marathon you were not quite ready for.

"No, I don't suppose it is, but we are Nobles, Tucker, and that means that it falls to us to keep this place safe from what goes bump in the night." There a slight twitch; a barely there smile. "Which does include us sometimes because we are tied more closely to the magic than others are. You are not required to play this part if you do not want it but it's there, waiting for you."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

Alexis' arm is shaking, and their legs are shaking, and their face has gone pale; but they refuse to let go of the water, not until it's back where it belongs, not until everything is absolutely safe. (Their free hand's knuckles have gone white, all balled up in the sleeve of their jacket - too big, always a little too big.)

"I." Their voice wavers. Keep strong, keep strong. "Doing what I can. What I'm good at. Works better that way." The water digs deep furrows in the ground, reluctant, but it flows back to the sea; and when it's all done Alexis drops their arm and staggers, sitting down, dizzy. "Holy s**t that was tiring, ********, I'm covered in sweat." They start to peel off their hoodie, slowly, unzipping -- they've no long sleeves underneath it, but -- mm. They've got to, at some point.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"... then continue to do so because it seems that you are doing better for that." Jeremiah watches as they finally drop and he approaches a step at a time. The water freezes, his cold having reached a point he was not fond of.

It would not go away entirely but at least by the time he got close, it was not uncomfortable to be next to him. Not entirely. "Not entirely surprising. You basically ran a marathon and now you're going to have to recover."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

One sleeve after another, Alexis pulls off their hoodie and ties it around their waist; their arms aren't any better than they'd been before, old scars - precise and not - layered over each other. The scarred bitemarks on their hand, the handmark on their wrist, and some sort of burn on the inside of their forearm where the skin will probably be a little bubbled forever; newer than the rest but not by all that much. What's the difference between a brand and a burn? They trust Jeremiah won't have too much to say about it, because they haven't been doing it actively; their fingertips will be shredded forever from their nervous habits during their durance, flicker-white scars cutting through their fingerprints, but -- no new cuts. New scrapes, new bruises, no new cuts.

"Whateverrrrrrr," Alexis yawns, like the shitty teenager they probably were, once; and stretches their arms back so far they click and pop for a good few seconds. "I was on track, this is bullshit. Why wasn't I on magic track."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah catalogues things when he sees them. His eyes were sharp and had noticed details others had missed long before they had become something magical that noticed the way the veil gave in places it should not have. It's how he has kept secrets for Zac, for Aleksy, for others that he cares for greatly.

He simply watches and listens and waits for people to speak when it truly matters and if they do not? Then he is there and that is, really, all that matters.

Just not at this moment.

"Fairly certain the other you probably was, I know mine was if all the books at the house are anything to go by." Jeremiah rolls his shoulder - the ache, the pain is ridiculous at the moment but he is used to ignoring it until he gets home - before he tilts his head. "You're probably going to be dead to the world once you actually try to sleep."

Daekie