[DRP] Shelter (Shiloh & Jamie) [FIN]

[Melancholies]

Copacetic

Everything that had happened was important, but it was more worth their wild to talk about it tomorrow. Things could wait, the sun was rising over the horizon, the clouds were dappled in pinks and purples and things felt fine. Whatever new bullshit there was deal with could wait. Whatever new heartaches had surfaced could wait. They lived.

All Shiloh could think about was getting home and slamming face first into his bed.

He squeezed Jamie's hand, having commandeered it again after their run in with Sonny. "We can get Denny's tomorrow." he told Jamie out of nowhere, "I can't stop thinking about pancakes now." and at that was a weak attempt at a laugh. Jamie's house cropped up at the end of the street.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Copacetic

"I'm pretty sure they have special holiday pancakes," Jamie said, looking down at the sidewalk and his feet as they stepped one in front of the other. It helped keep him grounded. Pair that with Shiloh's hand in his and he felt surprisingly alright despite everything that had happened. "I kinda want some of those."

Squeezing back, he gave their arms the tiniest of swings. Playful, but in that far too exhausted sort of way.

"Tomorrow... we'll talk about all of this, too, right?" The weight and feel of the small, pulsing stone in his hand was all too real. Right now he wasn't going to dwell on what the magic had done to Shiloh or how much more he'd have to worry, but it was something he felt they'd need to discuss.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Copacetic

Shiloh didn't mind. He liked how it felt to swing their arms like this. A little goofy, a little silly, a little childish, but... it was something he hadn't had in the past, so he savored having it now.

"Yeah." It took him a moment to get the word out, but one it was there he reiterated, "Yeah. We can talk about it tomorrow. I'm just—" he shook his head. Jamie knew. "—Tired, that's all. It can wait."

As he approached the front steps to Jamie's house, he felt comforted with how familiar it looked. "Hopefully the door's unlocked," he cracked, knowing that they had brought keys when they left the first time. Well. Hopefully Jamie still had the keys on him, anyway. He pulled on his arm, bumping their shoulders together affectionately.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Copacetic

"It's okay," he replied, "Me too." And he left it at that.

Paused at the front door, he couldn't help smiling, couldn't help bumping back. Shiloh always had this way about him, this indescribable ability to make Jamie smile when he felt like crying. As he reached for the knob he muttered a small, "Here's hoping." It was, by some miracle that made things feel easier and better—despite the fact that his keys were still in his pocket—the door swung open.

"U-Um... mom, dad?" It was early, maybe they weren't awake. Except his mother appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, looking surprised.

"Boys? When did you even leave." Then her eyes lit up and she papped her fist into her palm. "Oh, did you go for an early morning walk?"

Jamie let that sink in before quickly deciding yeah, better just go with that. "Y-Yeah! And, um, we're probably gonna go back to bed for a bit."

"Alright," she said with a soft smile, "Your father's still asleep, so don't be too loud heading upstairs." Honestly, there was something reassuring about how normal this all felt. Didn't mean Jamie was without questions; From his mother's reaction, it seemed like they hadn't been gone all that long.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Copacetic

If Shiloh had some weird ability to make Jamie smile in the worse of times, then Jamie's smile in turn had some weird effect on him in tandem; he couldn't not smile when Jamie smiled, it was almost impossible. The thought made his chest feel funny.

His mother being awake made him tense, but her casual reaction made him relax again. Still, he wasn't without any confusion—she took their appearance in stride. "Quiet as a mouse, ma'am." he said with a lopsided grin. He nearly booked it upstairs the second he was given the chance. Pillows and blankets had never seemed so tantalizing.

Two things hit him the second that he opened the door to Jamie's room. One: his mother hadn't even thought to question the weird rock Jamie was holding, and Two:

"What the ******** happened to your fish."

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Copacetic

So far things has been familiar, they'd been comfortable because of it, but as soon as they made it to Jamie's room everything changed. What the ******** happened to his fish. It was such a stark change that he nearly dropped the glowing stone. The sight has literally taken his breath away.

"I-I... I don't....I..." he couldn't find the right words to describe how he was feeling. His tanks had been something when they were normal, but now they were absolutely huge. More worrisome still, they were full of fish he couldn't immediately recognize. They were bigger, wilder, made of parts and pieces that fish usually weren't. They were touched by something and Jamie didn't immediately assume magic.

"Glubby!" he cried, letting go of Shiloh's hand to run to her tank. She was definitely different, but something told him it was her. "W-What happened to you?!"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Copacetic

"My god..." Shiloh was at a loss for words as he watched Jamie rush forward. "B-But?" He thought to Jamie's parents again, wondering how aware they were, wondering about all the other nuances of this world. He remembered the feeling he had at the beginning when they arrived; same, but different. It was dumb luck that he looked over and saw a calendar on the wall, certain dates highlighted or circled, numbers jotted down in the margins—he saw it then, the date.

Every day was crossed out, clear up to the eighteenth. "Holy ********." he felt the hairs rising on the back of his neck, but he forced himself to stay calm. "Holy <********>" he repeated, obviously unable to do that.

A phone buzzed on the desk. Looking over, he was immediately startled by the background of him and Jamie, but not him and Jamie, because this Jamie had longer hair and this Shiloh had a pinker face, not touched by dark ruddy eye bags. A text from Your Fave <3 <3 <3 was illuminated on the screen, along with a very scathing body.

"Holy ********>." he repeated again, obviously at a loss as he delicately handled the smartphone. Was this his? He quickly took the old busted up flip phone from his pocket, finding it odd when the reception on it refused to work. What the hell had they done.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Copacetic

He didn't have the wherewithal to know when it happened, but at some point Jamie managed to get the stone over on the desk and out of his hair. Now, hands free, they were both pressed to the glass of Glubby the Second's aquarium. "What haaaappened?" he repeated again, sounding distraught. Behind him, Shiloh sounded equally concerned, but it wasn't until the third holy ********> that finally peeled himself away from the tank.

"Shiloh... are you okay?"

"Are you okay?"

Someone spoke that wasn't Jamie. It wasn't Shiloh either. It was a soft, slightly distorted, but surprisingly gentle feminine voice. He spun on his heels. "W-W-Who was that?"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Copacetic

Shiloh's problems, in retrospect, were not nearly as pressing as the gigantic demon fish floating around in Jamie's room. They were small, trivial, very minor. "I don't know who this number is." he said flatly, or at least started to whenever Jamie started questioning the room.

He looked around, baffled.

"Who was what?" His eyes narrowed at Jamie, voice absolutely exhausted. "Nobody said anything."

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Copacetic

Like a top wound and wobbling, Jamie spun around again to face Shiloh. Eyes huge, he could taste all the anxiety from before on the tip of his tongue like copper. He swallowed, trying to urge it down. It didn't want to go.

"I-I... you didn't hear it?" he questioned, scratching idly at his throat, "But I- Well, maybe-" His fingers curled into a fist. It had to be the exhaustion. They were both beat beyond words and acting this way would only make things worse. "N-No, sorry, nevermind. I'm really, really tired. Probably just imagining things."

Heart still pounding in his chest, he joined Shiloh near the bed. Trying to sound more casual than concerned, but failing, he asked, "Weird text or-?"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Copacetic

He eyed Jamie wearily as he paced around, gesticulated, make a frantic mess out of himself and his emotions. Following his strong urge to drop it, Shiloh decided it would be best not to press on the voice thing.

"Yeah, weird text. Well, weird as ******** contact name." He showed Jamie the phone, the "are you still ******** alive, you ********>, the "Your Fave <3<3<3". His face was riddled with awkwardness. "Like, I have no idea who this is. Actually, who's phone this is?" He looked the smart phone over, "But check it out." He showed Jamie the background image of the two, posing for a stupid selfie.

"It's obviously mine or yours."

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Copacetic

"Yeah that," Jamie paused, looking the phone over a second time, "doesn't look at all like your phone. Or mine actually. Um-" Now he was squinting, attention honed in on the background selfie. It was cute, a good picture of them, but something wasn't right about it. "My hair's never been that long..." he muttered.

If nothing else, the edge of discomfort hadn't left him, but at least he'd moved on from the whole voice thing. Now he was stuck on the phone thing instead.

"That is a weird text, though... I don't recognize the number either and there's no one in my phone with that nickname exactly... A-And I mean... I wouldn't, um, send a text like that. Probably."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Copacetic

"It hasn't." Shiloh agreed immediately. Jamie's hair had been getting longer now, sure, but...

"But then I'm guessing this means it's mine. Actually..." he messed around with the touch screen, fingers awkward, before flipping the top bar down. The interface revealed the date—it was, in fact, December 18th.

"The ********..." He was pretty damn sure that they had only been in the eighties for a week or so at most. This was more than a goddamn month. He sat on the bed with a heavy thud. Looking at the small bedside table again, he noticed a pair of wallets, a glasses case, some other arbitrary nic-nacks...

He set the phone down. It could wait until tomorrow. It could wait until tomorrow. He let his head fall into his hands.

"I think," He started slowly, "That I'm going to just... go to sleep and see if this is all the same in the morning." He started to get up from Jamie's bed.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Copacetic

It could wait until tomorrow. Honestly, even if the entirety of it had gone unsaid, Jamie would've gotten the message. This was what they'd planned from the beginning, after all. A good night's rest and then they could start dealing with the repercussions of what they'd done. Now wasn't the time, not when they were razzed and tired and not thinking straight.

"Yeah... that's a good idea. O-Oh, um," he watched as Shiloh started to get up, "Y-You... don't have to go if you don't want to."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Copacetic

He stopped mid-step, head slowly turning to look over his shoulder. Honestly, he didn't want to leave, it just felt... courteous?

"Don't wanna be alone, huh?" It was a weak tease, but he smiled sleepily all the same. "I guess I can stay."

He flopped back down onto the mattress, not even caring about the discomfort of his jeans and his jacket.

saedusk