[PRP] the whisperer (alg & shun)

[iloveyouDIE]

Adjusting to your own life after someone lived it was one thing, adjusting to your own life just different was something else entirely and Algernon was still trying to figure out this new world that had been put before them all. It was a world where magic was known and of course feared. As if there hadn't been enough things in his life that could give rise to judgements on his lifestyle.. now magic was tacked onto the end of the list.

He felt rather uselessly behind in his own life and was taking time, bit by little bit, to put the pieces back into place.

In other ashdown the professor sat with several books spread on a table in front of him under the shaded overhang of a desolate shop. It was overcast here today but there was no rain. He was trying the little bits he'd learned from Gloom about coaxing the shadows and making Dark Light but things were shifted and he was also so finding the confidence, the hang of things, was taking him a small bit of work.

Still the shadows hung behind and under his chair, more than usual darkness, they moved and snuck like they were alive and he was totally fine with it.

blade kuroda

a thing

 

[Blade Kuroda]

Apart from the changes in weather, it didn't seem like Other Ashdown had changed all too much with the creation of the new world. It was somewhat of a constant, he supposed. Though, he didn't really feel particularly more comfortable here or there. There wasn't really a place that quite felt like home. It wasn't the case before, and it certainly wasn't now.

He had taken note that a few shadows seemed to be moving about a little more than usual near some of the storefronts. As he approached, he saw Alg there with a few books on the table before him.

"Algernon," he greeted, as he walked towards the older man, "Seems the shadows enjoy your presence... or something."

iloveyoudie

 

[iloveyouDIE]

"Shun," Alg glanced up with a small smile, "Hello..." He looked down and around his chair and nodded with a bit of a one shouldered shrug. Shun could probably call him Alg or Algie at this point in their relationship but he didn't seem the type for nicknames.

"Gloom taught me how to coax them.. in a small way. Real light hurts them so I'm working on getting the hang of the Dark Light again." Mostly because things had changed just subtley enough for him to feel off kilter. He needed small reminders that he was still himself and could still do the same old things he could before.

"What brings you to this-" He looked around, "-side of things today?"

blade kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun made his way over and sat at the other end of the table for now.

"Dark light?" he asked. He wasn't entirely certain what it was, but he could only assume that it was some sort of false light source. Maybe. It was curious to see how Alg worked with the shadows too. It was a bit different than what he did.

"Just... a walk, you could say. There are fewer changes in Other Ashdown," he replied. There was a tilt of his head as he added, "Does regular Ashdown not... entirely feel right because of all the little changes here and there to you?"

iloveyoudie

 

[iloveyouDIE]

"Yes the air's different," Alg seemed to sigh, as if the change were some level of disappointment to him. The truth was that he wasn't very good with change and since he'd come here - though now it seemed he'd been there a while - everything seemed to change constantly. "And I don't get worn out using my abilities at home.. But now we have to be more careful."

Because while his husband was known to be magical, it turned out he was not. He'd found multiple interviews with himself about his books where he'd gotten testy to be questioned on such topics. At least this version of him wasn't so far off in temperament from himself.

Alg reached down towards the shadows, fingers waggling lightly, and murmured to them. After a moment some shadows pulled away towards his palm, gathered and formed a dark luminous orb. It was almost like seeing something put under a 'negative' filter. It gave light while still being dark.

"A dark light," He let it go over the table where it hovered above his books.

blade kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun nodded slowly in turn, "That is... an understatement."

He did not envy Jeremiah, who was a known magic user in the public eye. The detective had managed to keep his own abilities under wraps. Or perhaps his counterpart was not able to use magic. He had no idea. It was an issue when he kept little to no personal record.

As Alg demonstrated the creation of a dark light, he leaned forward and observed with intrigue.

"Interesting..." he commented, "What else can you do with the shadows?"

iloveyoudie

 

[iloveyouDIE]

"Really only that.." Alg shrugged and chuckled a little, "And I think it's less to do with me and more to do with them. It's not magic so much as dealing with a living thing.."

As much as the shadows around the table seemed alive, they were hardly like a pet. It was more like having a feral animal, nice when you were nice and extremely dangerous when you weren't. They were as scary as they could be helpful and he was still finding the balance there.

"I've been teaching Gloom to read.. and in return he's showing me some things."

blade kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

"Hm.."

He had to wonder if the shadows felt anything particular with how he manipulated them. It hadn't backfired on him... yet.

"I have worked with shadows but... it is different. And I am kind of surprised that Gloom does not know how to read yet," he blinked. Shun thought that the shadow critter would have learned at some point in time in the past. Especially when taking all the cycles into consideration.

Iloveyoudie

 

[iloveyouDIE]

"Well theres shadows you can make and work with the standard magical way," Alg nodded and the the orb of dark light seemed to drift once it was left alone until it ended up absorbing back into the shadows under the table, "But I don't think those are alive."

Alg smiled about Gloom and idly rubbed his hand through his greying hair, "Gloom likes TV and video games I think. Understanding books is new. He gets signs and symbols.. I'm just teaching him the secret code," There was a quick wink about it, as clearly thing with Gloom had to be approached and handled in a certain way to make them seem fun.

Thankfully Alg was a teacher and had a knack for twisting things in just the right way to be interesting.

blade kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

"Ah yes, you are probably right in that regard."

In which he probably didn't need to worry about shadows being pissed at him for constantly freezing them over with ice.

At the mention of Gloom playing video games, he just sort of paused. A lot of games required reading. But he supposed there was still a difference between that and actually reading a book.

"What sort of tales does he read, then?"

iloveyoudie

 

[iloveyouDIE]

"Well we started with an alphabet book," Alg turned back to his own books. One looked like one of his novels, though the cover was completely different than the ones from before the rift-happenings. The other was his standard leather bound personal notebook. Only slightly bigger was a green gilded book that he flipped open and tapped on what looked like the sketch of a glyph. There was critical writing in multiple hands in the book, though while it was clear that one handwriting was his own, the other was no ones that Shun would recognize.

Mostly the grimoire, because that's what this was, wouldn't be very legible to the detective at all and it had little to do with his reading ability - magic.

"He knows how to do glyphs and while he hasn't taught me them, I've sort of paralleled it to letters and words for him. So we're working up from there. Alphabet to kids books and on.."

blade kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun idly observed the handful of books laid out onto the table. The novel was... interesting. He hadn't recalled seeing that cover before. Then again, he had noticed that the audiobook he had been listening to prior to the whole rift ordeal was... altered. This must have been another case of that.

"Truly starting from the ground up, then," he nodded. Gloom was possibly one of the very few other beings that he didn't mind. Though the shadow critter certainly had his... odd quirks.

"Is there anything in particular that you would like to learn from him?"

iloveyoudie

 

[iloveyouDIE]

"He's a cute little thing," Alg smiled. It was perhaps a bad reason to do something but anyone who had met Gloom knew he was one of the good ones.

Alg scratched his jaw, impreceptible stubble making a slight noise as he did so, "I'm not sure. I don't generally befriend with the intention of getting something out of it. I mean, I taught him to use the television remote and you'd think I gave him a million dollars.." He laughed a bit.

"I suppose my magical learning can be a bit more academic." Which meant everything was a bit of a learning experience and you never knew when something new would simply just crop up.

"How's your own training going?" Alg looked the other over, finding him very reliably the same as always. He liked reliable. "Anything different since-?"

blade kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

The imagery of Gloom going batty over using a tv remote was... something. It sprung several questions. What did he even watch? Did TVs in Other Ashdown actually broadcast things? Like what?

"I have become more adept with casting on this side of the veil. At least in some aspects. Your husband has been quite the trainer in that regard," he replied, "But no magical differences since returning from the rift. At least none I have noticed.

iloveyoudie

 

[iloveyouDIE]

Alg smiled fondly at mention of Jeremiah and nodded a bit, "He's always been a quick study. As long as I've known him.. so long as it's something interesting." He was very particular about who he shared with though. It was good that he found people he trusted enough to even bother teaching them things.

"Besides you two are probably a bit more similar in motivation and execution than you realize.." Both of them.

Magical differences there didn't seem to be many of and Alg nodded, "I've yet to go back to the court though. Might be a good idea to check up on just in case.."

blade kuroda