[prp] look at this photograph (Jack & Jer)

[medigel]

The sheer number of photos left in his camera from the paracausal event was eerie on its own, but the quality of them weren't bad either. He had poured over them with voracious curiosity, but they weren't able to tell a full story on their own. Time to make some visits.

Jack eyed the USB they had been copied to as if by merely holding the data, it too would become magical. Who knew really. Apparently there were some magitech items about now after all.

Making sure the nicotine patch was out of sight, he slung his coat on and drove into the cold and rainy afternoon. While some things had changed in Ashdown, at the very least most buildings had remained the same. In minutes he was rapping on the door, to the Mercers', careful not to hit too hard or too quickly; he wasn't sure what exactly triggered that unlocking power.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah had just gotten in after work - another day, another wealth of small differences - and he tugged the door open after the second set of raps. His head inclined slightly, seeing Jack there and pulling the door the rest of the way open.

"'lo, Jack." A little less formality after the close quarters for the time they had spent in the library, though some parts of it were hazy because of feeding their magic into holding the way back open. "Come on in."

A small white cat, not much larger than a kitten, was winding it's way through Jeremiah's legs to sniff at Jack. There were vibes with dainty pink flowers growing like a mohawk on it's head.

medigel

 

[medigel]

Giving the kitten a curious glance, Jack bowed his head, half in greeting and half to avoid banging his head on the doorframe, and stepped in. "Thanks again for seeing me," he said as he followed after. "I can't imagine the busy schedule you have now, so I'll try not to take too much of your downtime," the slightest pause as he remembered, "Chief Mercer."

He felt itchy and restless these days, like he wore the timeline as well as a poorly tailored and rough threaded coat; or maybe that was the newfound cigarette addiction talking.

"Is there a place you'd rather we talk in?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Mercer is fine, or Jeremiah, considering the setting. It's only Chief for formality when necessary or if I'm at work. Work has been a touch hectic with what passed but nothing I can't handle." The door was closed after Jack stepped all the way in, a gesture made towards the first archway that lead to the living room. It was dominated by bookshelves and hundreds of books lining the walls except for where a bay window was with pillows on it's seat.

"The living room is perfectly acceptable or if you'd prefer, we can take this to the kitchen and use the island in there as well as the stools." He paused a moment. "That place is quicker, especially if you're going to want a drink or something."

medigel

)< )< i thought i had tagged this. wtfh me. q ___ q i am sorry, medi.

 

[medigel]

While considering both options, he couldn't help but pause to look at the flowery kitten again, arrested with an impulse to pet it. Pets hadn't been allowed in either timeline...Jack wasn't sure why it was wanting to distract him now. Maybe the temporal displacement and the state of his apartment made him lonely.

After all, he was calling on acquaintances for help. And Jack never really did social outings before.

"Given what I have, maybe a drink is due," he said at length, and he bowed into the kitchen after Jeremiah.

He produced a laptop from his bag and set it on the island tabletop. Leaning over it rather than taking advantage of the stools for now, Jack quickly flipped through several folders (as he kept a keen organization online that he had trouble with offline) before stopping at a long list of images titled "A01," "A02," and onward.

"Have you noticed any changes since then?" he asked, looking up from the screen.

azuredreams

das ok it's happened to me too!

 

[azuredreams]

Said flowery cat was actually thoroughly interested in Jack and quite insistent on following. In fact, once the man sat down it was promptly on the stool next to him. It blinked at him very slowly and very solemnly.

"I'll get drinks. Whiskey? Vodka? Scotch?" Jeremiah arched an eyebrow, because that was what he took Jack to imply. "That's Hellbine, he's an othercat and, I've been told, my familiar on the occasion when he feels like it. Not that that it means much other than he listens to me."

The silver-haired man disappeared towards the living room, towards the liquor cabinet, waiting to hear Jack call out what he preferred. "There's magitech in my home," he called back himself, "and everyone in town, and otherwise, is well aware that I am quite capable of using magic. We've been dealing with coming up on forty-six years of the road not taken but now it was differences."

medigel

 

[medigel]

He was actually taken aback that Jeremiah would offer the more expensive goods. "Just a beer would've been fine," Jack answered with some distraction, his gaze shifting back towards the cat. "Still have to drive. But I won't turn down some scotch." He just had to be careful that he didn't invite another unwanted vice; drinking would be harder to quit than smoking, unless magitech had come up with something equivalent to a nicotine patch for alcohol.

He did, however, very much want to invite Hellbine into his lap.

"You make it sound like that's a bad thing they know." Jack reached out to see if the othercat would let him pet it. "My understanding was that people preferred those with magical capabilities with certain responsibilities." Granted, he was still trying to make sense of both timelines period...

xazuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah reappeared with a bottle of scotch. "I've got beer in the fridge. They're brews from Darlene's, made by the owner." A pause. "Owners. I keep forgetting about Killian." Since he had spent years with it being Borr and Darlene, then just Borr. Yet now it was Borr and Darlene and Killian that changed to Borr and Killian.

Given permission, Jack's lap was immediately invaded by the small white cat. Hellbine promptly started purring and settled quite comfortably into his lap. He knew the ways to get pets, okay. On the top of his head, a center stripe of pink flowering vines grew.

Rolling his eyes, Jeremiah set the scotch bottle down and a pair of shot glasses before he poured them each one and but the lid back on the bottle. "Government work, police work, things like that. Not so big on teaching positions or anything in the medical field." His shoulders rolled, trying to ease the ache that never quite went away. "... and it's both good and bad that people are aware. In the end I do not mind but there's a perception that people have of those with magic. It isn't always a good one even if I am the Chief of Police."

A good one at that according to all the news reports. Jeremiah had made something of a name for himself with being progressive and forward thinking.

medigel

 

[medigel]

"Borr co-owns?" Jack asked with a confused frown before his memories realigned. "Oh. Right. I'll take one then." And meanwhile, the othercat became the subject of the all important question: where was that scratching sweet spot?

With a thankful nod, he tossed the shot glass back with his other hand and made a face. "I noticed the lack of magic around medicine, yeah...I guess for now that's a good thing. But I personally envy having the ability to project yourself as capable in that regard," he told Jeremiah candidly. "Whatever other people think, being able to defend yourself in a world where magic runs a little freer is handy. And that's not counting if your husband gets involved, too."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Apparently has for years." Jeremiah moved towards the fridge and pulled out a beer and slid it across the counter to Jack. It landed exactly where he wanted next to the man's laptop after bumping against a couple things on the counter. (There may have been a bit of an eyeroll at that.)

As it turned out the sweet spot for Hellbine was right under his chin. A couple good scritches and the small cat was a loaf in Jack's lap.

"Magic and medicine can get particularly dangerous if one isn't careful or doesn't know what they're doing. So I can understand not wanting to mix the two." Even if there were things that could likely be cured or fixed with magic, the damage it could cause was monumental. He could understand the desire.

"Yes, it is." Being able to defend himself was handy. "It is just disconcerting to go from a reality where no one knew to one where everyone does." A brief pause, Jeremiah downing his shot and then speaking again.

"So far as we've been able to tell, Algie is not known to have magic. As it stands, it truly does seem like the government, local or otherwise, employs those with magical capabilities as both a way to keep an eye and to handle those who use their magic in ways that is harmful." To society, to people, to the environment ... "Though no one has come up with magical restraints that actually work as of yet." He let out a breath. "I could probably go on about this with all that I've been having to catch up on."

medigel

 

[medigel]

"Mm..." He grasped the beer but didn't pick it up just yet. "Right then." Abandoning chin scratches for the moment, Jack turned the laptop to Jeremiah where the series of photos lied.

"Apparently my camera came back with a movie's worth of photos of what happened," he explained. "Most were easy to group together--clothes and settings and all--and I've divided them up into four folders as such. One for what looks like the 20s, one for the hippies, one for the 80s, and one I've just labled as 'The White Void' since I wasn't exactly sure." Everyone who had gone through seemed to have been snapped in a picture, and more besides: there was Algernon, Sunny, and other familiar faces smeared about.

He then lifted the bottle for a gulp. "I was hoping you could help me piece together what happened in their time periods."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Well," he said slowly, "that's certainly helpful." That his camera came back with pictures of things that happened in the meta.

A hand raked through his hair before it drummed on the counter. "I've talked with a few people already about what happened in some of these periods. I can likely, I believe, name most of them as well help work things out."

His eyes cut back to Jack. "I know the least about the 20s, though I believe my admin was there."

medigel