[PRP] a pack of smokes (sonny & jeremiah)

[shibrogane]

"Not in the downstairs," said Sonny, scandalized. "And not where Father can smell either. It makes him sick." They rolled their eyes, in that moment more of a teenager than they'd maybe ever been. "In my room with the window open. Duh."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Of course not downstairs," Jeremiah looked equally scandalized. Mostly because smoking was something rare at his own home, though Algie had been able to do so more frequently of late.

"I once promised to sit with and smoke a cigarette with," you was not appropriate but he still thought it, "and, for my birthday, I was gifted with an entire carton of Davidoff Classic cigarettes."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"Those are pretty fancy," said Sonny, pouring the hot water from the kettle over the tea leaves. "Many happy returns for your birthday. Papa usually writes me really sweet cards..." They frowned, summoning a tray from a high cabinet and two teacups after it. "I guess not this year..."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

That had Jeremiah frowning briefly, wondering if perhaps- Well, this was Sonny not Sunny and her relationship was different before. Even Liam and Renard had filled the shoes of lives they had not lived this time around.

"When is your birthday?" he inquired, moving to help get the tray and tea cups. "I don't think I ever asked you that."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"April third," said Sonny. "I'll be one hundred and thirteen this year." They smiled. "Anyway, wanna go upstairs? Father won't be home til later and I don't think he'd mind anyway."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

If anything told him what he needed to know, that age did so. He remembered Sunny, he remembered how old she was, and this Sonny before him was practically a baby.

"Might as well bring the girl scout cookies with us then to go with the tea," Jeremiah replied, balancing the tray in hand with tea supplies and ready for them to lead the way.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Sonny nodded. "Yeah," they agreed, and they led the way upstairs.

Their room was in the attic, and encompassed the whole floor. There were myriad paintings leaning against the walls, heavy fabric drapes covering the slanted ceiling and the low walls. Sonny was small enough to fit beneath them; Jeremiah would have to duck. At thirds throughout the attic were gabled double windows. One of them had a pile of pillows and ottomans, the detritus of an eternal adolescence, and it was to this window that they led Jeremiah.

They settled down and pulled a low table over from beneath the window. "I like this window," they said, opening it to let the chill March air in. "I can see basically forever..."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah ducked, following after in a slight hunch to make sure he was not going to hit his head at any moment or disturb anything. Once the table was pulled towards them, he was setting the tea tray down and sitting himself.

His eyes turned to look out the window, though he watched them out of the corner of his eye. "It's a good view." Certainly, one could see a great distance. "You spend a lot of time at this window?"

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Sonny shrugged. "Not too much. Papa gives me homework, and Father quizzes me on it later, so I study downstairs a lot. Or there's all the paintings, and books, so... I mostly come up here when I'm lonely. Sometimes the crows come to talk to me."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah was pouring the tea into cups for each of them. "The Prividaniye collection?" he inquired, pouring them both cups of tea before he was adding a dash of cream to his own (the only thing that went into it).

"Do the crows bring you stories? I've a friend who they like to bring gifts to," his lips twitched a little, "and sometimes snacks." He shifted then, moving to the satchel that he had taken to carrying with him sometimes and looked inside to pull something out.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"No," said Sonny. "They're commissions from people Papa and Father used to know. Although I know a guy who paints under the name Prividaniye. His boyfriend calls himself Norsha." They giggled. "It's funny, both of them picked each other's names, you know? It's funny, but also sweet."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Norsha?

Jeremiah was admittedly curious. "Is that someone in town then?" Though, if it was a painter in town with a boyfriend ... "The best nicknames are often funny and sweet, though for me they are for those I truly care about."

A moment later he produced the carton of cigarettes he mentioned, setting them out. There was a bow on them. "A bit early to be a birthday gift but you can have them all the same."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"Yeah," said Sonny. "Liam loves him a lot. I think if I wasn't around, Papa would've adopted Aleksy like... fifty times by now." They laughed, and looked at the bow-clad cigarettes, and said, "Thanks, then."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Aleksy is special," Jeremiah agreed, somehow not surprised that it was Aleksy. Spektor, after all, was something of a giveaway- though he wondered about the journal he had read ages ago briefly.

"... but perhaps not as special as you are to your Papa." Which was important, in his opinion. Sonny was something different, something that was not at all what he was used to.

"You're welcome, Sonny, I had meant to bring those by sooner but I've been busy."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Sonny shrugged. "I'm magic," they said. "His miracle baby. There's nobody else like me in the world." They opened the box of cigarettes and extracted a pack, offered one to Jeremiah and lit one for themself with a snap of well-manicured fingers. "Though I guess there was someone like me in another world."

azuredreams