[ prp ] Hello, it's me (America & Renard)

[lizbot]

A thunderous knock. A supportive lift through the tides of magic. A door shutting. A friend's mention of a busy father. A warning, that she was something to kill if necessary. For everything she'd had heard about Renard and the slice of time she'd actually been in his presence, America never really felt she knew much about the man people sometimes called The Enemy. Hardly anything at all, really.

There was enough, though, to be a little hesitant, in calling him. Enough to make her hand shake and misdial the first time. The second time, it looked right and she took a calming breath as the line rang.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Renard answered the phone.

"Hello," he said. "This is Renard Leroux. To whom am I speaking?"

It sounded like he was somewhere with a computer, by the clacking of the keys, and the phone-deadened piano music in the background. Maybe an office?

lizbot

 

[lizbot]

"Hi, Mister Renard, this is America Jones. Sonny's friend? I was calling to see if we could meet..." her voice trailed off, questioning the wisdom of meeting the man in person again. "Or, you know...not meet, maybe this could be done over the phone. Sonny mentioned you were a busy person. I don't want to like...bother you or get in your way?" The last was said in a wobbly little croak.

shibrxogane

 

[shibrogane]

"If you were bothering me, I wouldn't have answered the phone," said Renard. The music in the background clicked off. "What is it you want, Miss Jones?"

lizbot

 

[lizbot]

"A piece of the thing holding Professor Noor, if that's possible? Oh but maybe he's already out? You know a lot more about these things than I ever will, sir. But if he's still stuck I want to do everything I can to get him out safely. Oh and there's this deer boy Pax. He's in trouble, because of Heliodora being dead and something being wrong with the third, the tree, and maybe because of court stuff I guess the other deer people are in trouble too? And Sonny said she doesn't sleep and that's so sad, that's a terrible thing and I don't know how to not mess things up further for all of them, and I don't want to die, okay? I'm trying really hard and I don't want you to kill me can we talk this out I can't I can't..."

She couldn't breathe for a moment, her words had been a long train of panic and fear going totally off the rails. Finally taking a deep breath, she went on, awkwardly, "So um...Professor Noor's trap..a piece...of it...would that be okay?" She had been wrong before. She definitely wanted to die right now.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Renard was utterly silent for a solid minute, and then he said, "I do not intend to do you any harm, Miss Jones," like he was utterly dumbfounded by this concept. His whole pause-and-statement thing said where did that come from.

"If you need a piece of the trap he's in, then you will have to meet me," he said. "I swear on my daughter's heart that I'll do you no harm. I'm at the house, and will be there for the rest of the day. Call ahead, please."

lizbot

 

[lizbot]

During the silence, America's breathing turned audibly uneven, a quiet hiccuping sound came over the line before he finally answered her. The girl sat down hard at the reassurance, her legs giving out with the relief of it. Maybe he didn't know. Maybe he never had to know. Maybe she could make sure Sonny never...

NononoNO. NO. NO. NEVER. Must not. Don't even think it. The urge to call Sonny immediately after to apologize was so strong it felt like a frog was ready to jump out of her throat for it.

"O-okay, sir. Alright, thank you," she said faintly, voice a little disjointed from the, quite frankly, self-inflicted emotional upheaval of the past few minutes. "Bye."

After hanging up she had a small panic that that'd been a rude way to end the conversation. She called again a half hour ahead of her arriving at the Shore House, and then spent the whole trip over doing her best to not think about being one of the principals. It was definitely someone else. America Jones was a Warg and a Friend of Sonny and absolutely nothing else of interest. Why would somebody harm little ole her? Gosh! What a silly thought to have had. Ha ha.

By the time she knocked on the door, she had successfully deluded herself into not having a panic attack over Renard being in like, stabbing...or throttling...shooting? Magical lighting striking? Distance of her.

Ha ha. He could probably just end her with a mean thought from several towns over anyway. Oh god.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Renard answered the door. He didn't look terrifying in the real world; he looked kind of like... a dad? Not like a sweater-vest-and-collared-shirt dad like Liam, but like, the fancy dad that insisted on taking everyone to art museums and Civil War memorials. This was the dad that made you do your own dioramas for science class even though all of your friends' parents were doing theirs, and then helped you with the research.

"Miss Jones," he said, stepping out of the house and closing the door behind him. "Shall we?" He gestured towards the spread of empty land between the house and the cliffs. "I'm sure you remember that it isn't far."

lizbot

 

[lizbot]

There was something immediately comforting when she saw Renard. Firstly, and most importantly, he didn't look mad at her. Secondly, he looked like someone who absolutely knew what was best and could guide her with wise authority and strength. America took a deep breath and let it out with a small, shuddering laugh, letting go of some of the anxiety that had been plaguing her since...well, it was possibly her most constant companion in 2017.

It would be nice, to just let it all fall into someone else's hand for a bit, to just follow obediently.

"M-mister Renard, thank you for meeting with me, sir." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, ducking her face before too much eye contact could be made, and began walking in the half remembered direction. "Yes, it's um..." she explained quietly, "...a different perspective this way, though."

shibrogaxne

 

[shibrogane]

"I don't remember you being this shy," Renard said, mostly to himself. Then he seemed to brush it off. "Yes, I'm sure," he said, louder. "A piece of the trap, you said you wanted?" He paused several tens of feet back from the cliff's edge. With a strange, geometric gesture, he opened a door to the otherworld. On further inspection: not just to the otherworld, but to the cliff-face cave. He gestured for America to follow, and stepped through.

The light was misty and green, like the world viewed through an old-fashioned glass Coke bottle. Liam's crystalline confinement was as solid as it had ever been, though there were pock-marks showing the results of Renard's efforts to win his husband free. "It looks quite a bit different than last time, doesn't it," he said. "Stay away from it. I'm not sure whether your presence will induce it to change form again, and it's rather easier to see that my husband is in there like this."

It still reached for America, that presence gently tapping at her mind. America, America, it sang. America, come here. Let us take you. It sounded familiar, welcoming, the voice of someone she loved.

Renard didn't react. He didn't seem to hear it at all.

lizbot

 

[lizbot]

"Yes...to work on figuring out how to get him free," America replied softly, a small tremble as she stayed behind Renard.

"It looks a lot less.." Even though he told her to stay back, even though she was sure he was right and definitely intended to obey, America's voice stumbled to halt and she swayed forward slightly.

"Taym...?" Her voiced raised a bit, suddenly calling out to the crystal structure, "Why're you...take me where?" She took half a step and looked toward Renard, eyes suddenly shining with impending tears, "Is he in there now, too?"

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Renard whipped around to look at her. "Miss Jones," he said, sharp as piano wire, "stay where you are."

He didn't look back to the crystal, ocean-blue eyes fixated on America. This was likely why he missed it rippling, a hand forming from the opal stone to reach out for her. Come here, it whispered. We know you as none other. None other will love you like we do; come to us, let us make you stronger, prouder, braver...

lizbot

 

[lizbot]

Tears started falling freely, and she trembled at his tone. "Mister Renard...please don't be mad at me. Please...I can be better...they love me, they'll make me better..." America lifted a shaking hand.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"They?" Renard definitely wasn't hearing what she was. Now he looked at the crystal, at its reaching appendage, how far stretched it was for America's hand, only for a moment, and then he turned and manhandled America out of the cave, one hand on her arm until they were standing on air outside the well-camouflaged crack. "America," he said, his voice quiet, calm, an undercurrent of strain there. "What did you hear?"

lizbot

 

[lizbot]

With a small cry, America still tried to reach for the crystal, even as Renard pulled her out of that place. "Noo..." the protest was a small, pathetic sound.

It took a long moment for her to shake enough of that compelling whisper out of her head to realize Renard had asked a question. "It was...it sounded like Taym but more...like after a long, hard stretch when even a bit of home is as much of a heaven as I could ever want. It wanted me to come over to it, to come with them. They love..." she croaked and dipped her head with a flush. "They said they loved me and it felt true. They said they'd make me stronger, better in all sorts of ways..."

And it was here that she finally noticed they were high up in the air and she gave a small scream, suddenly clinging to Renard.

shibrogane