[PRP] Otherworld date night (Shiloh & Jamie) [FIN]

[Melancholies]

Shiloh came to Otherworld a lot. It was quiet, he didn't fear it as much as he used to, and it gave him a lot of personal time to think. Granted, he still ran into people (or things) from time to time, but they were surprisingly manageable compared to the normal people he had to deal with on a daily basis. Magic users were the preferred persons of any conversation.

Regardless, it just made sense to come here with Jamie when he wanted some alone time, right? They still shared the house with his parents and they didn't really have anywhere else to go. Otherworld was blanketed in a powdery layer of frost and the streets were wide and vast and completely empty.

"It's kinda peaceful, don'tcha think?" He turned to Jamie as he spoke, squeezing his hand at the same time. "I mean, it was peaceful with the rain too, but the normal weather is kinda neat. I haven't noticed anything else super off though." that had been the "reason" for coming in the first place; Other Ashdown paranormal investigation bonanza, but Shiloh hadn't been expecting to actually find anything.

"We should try practicing our magic together sometime, actually. It's been a while." And it sounded fun. As he got done saying it though, a very pungent smell of rosemary hit his nose. He didn't say anything outwardly, but his sniffer was definitely going a mile a minute.

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LETS DO THIS

 

[saedusk]

"The new weather is nice," Jamie agreed, a peaceful sort of smile on his face. The hand that squeezed Shiloh's in return was pale pink and soft—gloved, of course, though they were thin and not at all useful against the weather. It was more for show than anything. There certainly hadn't been any switches flipped, but Jamie was more adventurous than he used to be when it came to the cute sort of clothing he secretly (or not so secretly) adored.

"I liked the rain, too, but it's nice to take walks sometimes and not get completely soaked." Speaking of the weather, when Shiloh mentioned practicing together, Jamie's eyes lit up. Playfulness sparkled in their depths.

"We could build snowmen!" he exclaimed. "Magical snowmen. That counts as practicing, right?" There was a laughter in his voice. Even if there wasn't enough snow on the ground to make real snowmen, they could do anything if they put their minds to it. But then- "Shiloh... what's up?" It was hard not to notice the way he snuffled like Jamie did when he was a hare.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh was broken out of his sniffing by Jamie's comment about the snowmen, which made him snort out a laugh in a pffffAHAHAHA sort of way. It probably wasn't actually that funny, but Shiloh's reactions to Jamie were always over the top and dramatic. "Magic snowmen huh?" His grin was miles wide, nose pink and ears pink and cheeks pink.

"It's probably nothing," He replied as he unconsciously sought out the smell. His plants itched underneath his skin. "I just smell... I dunno? Rosemary I think?" For being some weird sort of plant guy, he still didn't know his plants that well at all. At least rosemary was a common smell, so he felt confident enough in the answer.

"Probably nothing." He repeated with a matter-of-fact nod.

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[saedusk]

"Rosemary?" he asked as he took a big whiff, too. Once he was paying attention, it didn't take much for him to notice the scent. "Wow, what, I dunno if that's nothing. There's literally no one else around. There's nothing. So where would it be coming from?"

It didn't make much sense—even if this was Other Ashdown where things didn't have to make sense—and that all on its own made Jamie curious. Shiloh would know better than anyone that curious Jamies didn't tend to let things go. "Okay, maybe the magic snowmen can wait. I wanna see if we can find where the smell is coming from. It'll be fun. Like an investigation or something, y'know? Moonwalkers are supposed to do stuff like that, right?"

He was totally bullshitting, but though there was a fifty percent chance it would turn out to be nothing, the other fifty said it might be something good.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh raised an eyebrow, "Uh, I don't think so? You're just the Otherworld police, not the Otherworld detectives." He was teasing. It was hard not to; Jamie was so easy and he loved to play around with him.

"I mean, I guess we can though." He bumped their shoulders together, "It'll be like a special escort." He winked, "You're the secret police and I'm the cool affluent burg-shwa-zee Noble guy." He completely butchered the word, but his face remained smug regardless.

"It's kinda getting stronger, don't you think?" He said as they rounded a street corner.

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[saedusk]

There was a jerk against the hand Jamie held, like he'd wanted to cross his arms in that pouty way he did, only to realize he couldn't. "It's practically the same thing," he argued, falling right into the trap. It was all in good fun, of course, but Shiloh wasn't wrong when he said Jamie was easy. "You're lucky you've got me looking out for you, Mr. Burg-shwa-zee!"

Burg-shwa-zee made Shiloh sound more like the king of a burger empire than a court noble.

"Hey, you're right, though. Don't worry, I'm on the case!" He swung their conjoined hands for emphasis, then laughed, because wow he felt silly, but it also felt pretty damn nice to let loose and be the eighteen year old kid he was. Only Shiloh really made him comfortable enough to stop caring completely.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Oh my god you sound so stupid." He was howling with laughter, but it was completely endearing and not at all an actual insult. One could say this was how Shiloh actually articulated his affection—which was definitely more than true—though he was often times softer with Jamie than he would even think about being with anyone else. "You hear that Ashdown? We're on the case!" His put on a faux-goofy voice at the end, the only thing it was missing was a hyuck-hyuck.

Except he stopped in his tracks, head swinging around. The smell, the smell... down an alley way was a gently paved path of cobblestone, one that he was pretty sure didn't exist in regular Ashdown.

"Well Detective Delacroix?—oh holy ******** that rolls off the tongue real nice..."

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[saedusk]

"I think by stupid you mean..." he paused, long and hard for dramatic effect, "... cool as heck!" Just like Shiloh knew Jamie was easily riled, Jamie knew Shiloh was rough and gruff and poked fun because he loved, not because he hated. He ran a step or two ahead, but still their hands held them glued together. It was impossible to get too far.

"Woah, where are we?" he asked, finally settling, but only because he was genuinely confused by their new surroundings. The cobblestone was one thing, but the further they walked, the buildings on either side seemed to fade. They weren't completely gone, but they were surely remnant of their former selves, no longer opaque.

"Oh, huh-? Oh. Detective Delacroix... you're right, I like it." Pride was glowing on his face and he puffed out his chest. "Wherever we are, it's definitely not the same Otherworld we're used to." A brilliant deduction from the moonwalker detective.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Better start callin' you professor Layton." He knew how much Jamie loved the games, even if Shiloh himself was absolutely terrible at them. "But yeah, it's definitely changing."

As they walked further and further and further the scenery started to shift from the snow and the buildings into something ephemeral and then into something completely different from the get go. Swaths of flowers greeted them—flowerbeds and archways with hanging flora and so many things he couldn't even describe. The colors were unreal—but not—but were? They weren't like anything he could parse in the real world, and it completely baffled him as an artist. He knew his colors.

The scent of rosemary was no long pungent, but merely soft like the equivalent of a whisper.

"I have no idea where the ******** we are." He looked mesmerized, "But it's kinda pretty..."

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Right now, like birdsong in his head, Jamie could hear the soft jingle of the music box theme from the games. Professor Layton was a mainstay in his DS collection and it always would be. The music stayed with him until they reached the gate and stepped foot in the garden. It was almost overwhelming the way the colors exploded at the corners of his eyes, beautiful and magical and enough to totally distract him from his all-important role as Detective Moonwalker Prince Delacroix of Ashdown.

"It's so pretty," he agreed, his words a whisper. The leaves of a nearby patch of trees mingled together like an unexplainable rainbow, their branches heavy with what looked sort of like peaches growing in a color Jamie couldn't properly describe. "Look, look, Shiloh—peaches. Do you think we're allowed to eat things here."

Considering this was the Otherworld—it was, wasn't it?—he wasn't sure if he was super keen on taking his chances.

"Ah well, it's still nice. Hey," he tugged his arm, "let's keep walking. I wanna see more."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Peaches." He echoed with some sort of wonder, absolutely captivated with how pink they were. In a way they were almost creepy—their color and texture were odd in an off sort of way, like flesh—actual flesh—but they were still so... gorgeous and pristine and soft looking. It's like his body was feeding into his other senses as a result of being unable to process the colors in front of him.

It was dizzying.

"They're so cute..." He followed after Jamie as he tugged him deeper into the garden, his eyes wide. "We probably are? I dunno, it's gotta be Otherworld." Even if it seemed too good for Otherworld, with how gorgeous and bright everything was. "Jamie look."

They came upon what looked to be a gargantuan wisteria tree in full bloom. His was captivated.

"Y'know." He blinked a few times, "I think the only thing prettier is you." He said this straight faced, fully nonchalant, absolutely dead serious.

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[saedusk]

Jamie wasn't sure if it was the way Shiloh said it or the look on his face as he did that got him the most. Either way it pinged a note straight to his heart, warming it immediately. In return, Shiloh would get an accidental message, a short, mental wow that was obviously one of Jamie's powers getting away from him. The look that bloomed on his face after that made it obvious he'd noticed his own slip up.

"T-That's," he bumbled, pink cheeked and embarrassed. "You're silly, Shiloh..." Only now did he let go of the hand he'd been holding the entire time. It felt cold and empty, but he disappeared beneath the draping tendrils of wisteria regardless of the feeling.

He lingered near the edge, one pink glove visible beneath the flowers. It was an invitation: follow me.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh laughed, the sound soft and sheepish, "Am I? I don't think I'm that silly." The grin never left his face even as Jamie's hand left his own, eyes wide as he vanished behind the curtain of lavender. The smile shrunk, but still lingered.

"Now you're gonna play coy?" He joked as his hand chased after Jamie's again. Rather than yank him back, he allowed himself to get swallowed into the void. Jamie might have felt cold and emptiness, but Shiloh found warmth and completion here instead.

"You're awfully fearless, Detective. I can't even find you Jesus—" Though he eventually did knock enough of the hanging plants away to locate Jamie's face. "—And really, this just proves that you're sillier."

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[saedusk]

There was no answer to Shiloh's question, only silent beaconing. The only indication of his position, at least at first, was the gentle sway of flowers as they brushed against each other in the sea of purple. Jamie was moving closer to the trunk, but never so quick that he got away from him.

"Not fearless," he finally said, sounding right next to him. "Fearless is reckless. I'm just brave. Detectives need to be, you know." It was like he was trying to sound professional, educated on the subject, but instead he sounded as silly as ever. There was a softness to his voice that didn't fit the whole hardboiled police officer image. "I'm right here, though, can't you tell?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the wisteria curtain parted and there he was, smiling and just as pink cheeked as before.

"You're right, I am kinda silly. I get it from you." There was a short moment of hesitation and then he shot forward, planting a chaste little kiss to Shiloh's cheek before laughing and disappearing into the flowers again.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh would be lying if he didn't say that his chest warmed immediately at that comment. Here they were so many months later, so completely different than the children they started as at the beginning of all this bullshit. They were tougher now. They were strong—but with each other they still managed to retain their softness. Jamie was brave now. He didn't stutter and shy away from everything like it was the end of the world.

"Heeey! You missed my mouth!" He pouted as Jamie leaned in—kissed him—and left him still thoroughly off guard. Despite the protests he followed him, his hair tangling up in the wisteria but never in a way where it hindered his progression. Goldenrod stems bloomed off of the tips of his curly golden locks, mingling up under his beanie and down along his scarf. Even the ground welcomes him with lush footsteps of clover.

"Well, I'm still fearless. Dauntless. Sounds cooler than brave." Plus, Shiloh did a whole hell of a lot of reckless s**t. "Where're you even leading us?"

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