[PRP] running back (kaleb & nasir)

[Grey Dragon]

"I should be able to find my way back," Kaleb blurted out awkwardly, shaking his head and waving one hand as if trying to ward off the notion that he needed anything in return. "It's okay, really, I'm just glad it didn't end up lost! Most anyone would do the same thing, right?"

He was about to take another nervous gulp of water, but instead paused, and regarded the bottle in his hands with suspicion. The gulp was downgraded to a tiny sip.

"Thank you though, for the water," Kaleb added. If he did deserve anything for the good turn, in his mind that bottle of water and the friendliness it was offered with more than covered it.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Are you sure?" Nasir didn't want to have Kaleb be lost, though he nodded that most would likely do the same. He fidgeted a moment with a hairclip in his hair before he paused.

"Wait, were you heading somewhere? Oh and you don't need to thank me for the water. With all that you did to keep up with me, it'll be good to rehydrate."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb nodded. He would be fine. He hoped.

"I wasn't going anywhere in particular," he said, picking at the strap on his messenger bag. "I don't have any more classes today, so I was just going to find somewhere to read."

Sure enough, the bag itself looked like it contained as many textbooks as possible. No wonder Kaleb had been out of breath.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Oh ..." Nasir did notice the bag looked heavy and then looked back up to Kaleb. "Well, do you prefer quiet spots outside or inside?"

He was genuinely curious now but also because he was possibly thinking of showing Kaleb a couple places.

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb smiled shyly, thinking about all those nice, quiet places he liked. "Both, really. I like reading outside because it's so much more peaceful out here compared to the city, and it's really nice when the sun is out. But indoors is nice too, I used to-"

He cut off abruptly, realizing he had been about to talk about the old couch he used to have in his apartment before the Halloween incident, and before history had changed. Even when he realized there was no way Nasir would know the couch had fallen victim to magical time distortion, it was too late to fix his initial gut reaction.

Kaleb blushed, his fingers now nervously twining with the strap on his bag. He must have looked like such a weirdo, and wanted to hide in a hole somewhere.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Nasir smiled, mostly because it was easy to see Kaleb slip into thinking of places he enjoyed and that was always a good thing. On the other hand, the way that he cut off and the look on his face ...

Used to.

His head tilted and then a little light bulb flicked on. "Did you-" he started and then stopped, biting at his lip as he tried to think. "Have a ... rough November?" How was he supposed to phrase it? Nasir was probably entirely off base but ...

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb's picking fingers froze on the strap of his bag, and he nodded slowly. "There were... a lot of changes," he said vaguely, glancing up to judge Nasir's reaction. Singling out that month in particular spoke volumes, but Kaleb was still cautious, just in case.

"I used to have a really comfortable couch, by the window in my apartment, but now that's where my roommate has his computer desk." That was only one of the many alterations that had awaited him that day when he returned home, but perhaps one of the most poignant losses.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Nasir nodded earnestly. "Yeah, there really was but I ... kind of feel like I slept through most of November and missed all of the changes?" Was that clearer? He did not know but he did remember Ollie's words about being mindful about what he said in regards to magic.

His fingers were unclipping and clipping a bright barrette in his hair. "I was lucky though ... We had this old couch we found when we first got our place? It smelled horrible but we eventually got it cleaned and now it smells like home." He shook his head. "... on the other hand we got a new pet. A ferret."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb mulled it over for a second. Most people he talked to weren't aware of the changes that had happened, even a phone call back to his parents seemed to confirm the personal events Kaleb remembered were not necessarily the ones that had actually happened. But this was the first time he had talked to someone who remembered the changes and hadn't been at the strange void.

"That actually sounds kinda nice, I wish I had slept through it," Kaleb admitted with a small smile. Although Nasir had been nothing but friendly, it was having the same secret that finally got him to relax. One of his many worries was gone for now, and it's absence was visible in the reduced tension of his shoulders, and the stillness of his hands.

"Some things have been really confusing since the holidays, but a new pet sounds like a good thing. I've never actually met a ferret though, are they friendly?" He asked, still a little shy in his curiosity.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"I think we got the better end of the deal with sleeping from what I heard but it was still really odd." Nasir's voice dropped, so that it was just heard by Kaleb. "Went to sleep in November, woke up and it was December." So it was still something else that had been hard to deal with; that much lost time and having to account for the fact that there was a life that was lived during that time.

Never mind the years that were slightly different. Nasir had never been so grateful that he wasn't that old before. Still ... he was glad that the sharing of the secret had helped Kaleb relax.

"He's really friendly and well trained actually ... !" Nasir was pulling out his phone, which had a small keychain on it that was a flying squirrel (it looked new). Pictures were quickly brought up of a blonde ferret in a pink harness that was going crazy and playing in snow (along with a tall, noodley blonde man with permanently stained fingers). "His name is Bud and nothing in the house is safe from him trying to run off with it but it's really cute to watch him."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

"I met someone on Halloween, right before everything happened. Apparently we studied together several times during that time I wasn't... here." Kaleb had no problem continuing the hushed conversation, his voice was soft to begin with, and he tended towards quiet even on the best of days. "It's really weird, I worry I'm going to say or do something wrong."

Kaleb leaned in slightly to look at the photo, this was now the second time a near stranger had shown him photos of their pets. Admittedly, Kaleb did get along better with animals upon a first meeting, and people who were passionate about their animals did seem to know what to do with a timid, rabbit-like person like himself.

"That's really cute," he said with a little smile, "I always thought it was strange how they bounced around so much. But they don't have the same history with domestication as cats or dogs, so I guess we just don't have the same expectation for what's normal."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Me too? At the worrying," Nasir admitted softly. "I still have the same job and everything but ... I have two bosses now?" His head lifted up briefly towards the end of the bar where Borr, the owner was, along with his husband Killian (they were an odd pair, given the considerable height difference - nearly a foot - and the fact that one was entirely white haired and large, the other smaller and red hair that was streaked a softer pink-grey due to age). "He's really nice and all but ... it's so strange."

As the pictures were swiped through, there was one that was more recent of a flying squirrel with the ferret. It was actually the flying squirrel nested in a soft bed and the ferret peeking into it.

"Bud's really cute and I just got him a buddy but ... they're so energetic." Nasir was smiling a bit. "Thankfully we also had a lot of books around the house and research about ferrets as pets too."

Grey Dragon

inspiration for the mention picture here.

 

[Grey Dragon]

"They aren't... involved in any strange stuff? You can't tell them about it?" He asked, thinking about his own situation. While his roommate was apparently just a normal person, his study friend was aware of the magical world and was also a part of it. Kaleb hadn't said anything to Horace about the time he was absent yet, but at least if he did he wouldn't sound too crazy.

"Really? I thought ferrets did a lot of sleeping... Are they nocturnal?" He blinked. "Wait, what's the grey one, is that a flying squirrel?"

azuredreams

That video is my new favourite thing.

 

[azuredreams]

"Well ... they know about magic?" As everyone did in this new reality. "... but they're not ... Borr didn't know about it previously and he doesn't seem to know about it now either. Nor does Killian." Nasir's nose wrinkled up and he sighed a little bit. "I think we all, at least those of us that work here, are kind of happy he isn't? Borr's like town granddad, you know? We want him safe."

He was glancing down with a smile as he realized what picture had come up and chuckled. The video was brought up a moment later, Bud clearly stealing the bed the squirrel was sleeping in with the squirrel in it.

"They do sleep a lot but when they're active, they're active, and they adjust to your schedule too sometimes. So when we're up, he's up and, uh ... yeah ... it is." Nasir shifted closer to Kaleb, leaning closer to the young man. He had a scarf on, a rather thick one, and when he pulled it to the side there was, nestled against his neck and in the fluff of the scarf, a sleeping flying squirrel.

"Trouble," he said, then paused with a small laugh. "His name is, I mean. He's, um, my familiar."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb nodded. After everything he had been through since being introduced to magic, and the things he had seen, he would have preferred to keep the people he cared about away from it all too. His parents probably would have worried about him if they knew what sort of craziness he had gotten into.

The video of the bed being carted off was met with a smile. "Sounds like a handful, I don't think I'd be home enough to take care of a ferret. Besides, I don't think they would get enough sleep with my new roommate's-"

Kaleb quickly cut off at the sight of the flying squirrel tucked safely inside the scarf. "Wow," he exclaimed, although his voice was kept to a low volume to avoid attracting attention. "A familiar, what is that?"

azuredreams