[PRP] too much to talk about (shiloh & jeremiah)

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah had said he would call or drop by and, as it turned out, was drop by. There were too many little details to talk about and he was certain, with the thought of two Principals missing, Shiloh was probably worried.

Worried was also likely to be an understatement.

It was why he had chosen drop by over calling. It was also why he had let a certain small feline tag along, though as he knocked Hellbine was sitting on his shoulders and very focused on grooming Jeremiah's hair.

He'd fix it after the small white cat was no longer on his shoulders.

Melancholies

set like ... not long after that listserv post, lol. i s t g i can type your username, I CAN.

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh had been expecting him, but it sure didn't seem like it. The knocks at the door went unanswered for an awkward period of time, until there was finally a sign of life at the door knob. It turned slightly and then jaggedly slipped back to its original position, followed by a muffled thud. This process repeated a couple of times until the knob twisted all the way, and the door gave way when a gentle breeze pushed on the now unlocked entrance.

There was nobody at the door.

Bean dangled precariously on the door knob. How he got there was a mystery, but he seemed proud despite his clumsy struggling.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah had been about to text Shiloh, or perhaps Jamie in case the other was resting, when the door went unanswered for so long. Right as he had his phone out, he realized that there was a slight turning of the handle.

Then a thud.

Hellbine gave an inquisitive mew, stopping in his grooming of Jeremiah to peer at the door himself. When it finally opened, a breeze pushing it open, he was hesitating to step in before he went ahead and peered inside.

"Bean?" His eyebrows rose, a hand going to rest underneath the knob so that he could drop onto it if he wanted. "You certainly are something," he told the sprout. "Are you greeting me for Shiloh?"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Bean wiggled and flailed before dropping onto Jeremiah's hand with his plobby body. His tiny hands strated to furiously groom his white dandelion floof, and after a moment he offered a tiny squeak. Hellbine was greeted with a curious head tilt before he turned his attention back to the Large Human.

"Meep." 'Said' Bean.

He was pointing down the hallway(?) or at least motioning to a place further within the house. The entryway opened up almost instantly to the stairwell on the left, while a large dining room sat on the right. A little further in was the living room and the kitchen, and situated on the back wall was the patio door.

This door was wide open.

Bean squeaked again, this time at the large, erratically placed bush that was, er, growing in the middle of the backyard. It looked a little too mint green to be considered normal. Bean flailed towards it.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah followed Bean's instructions, though he moved to hold his hand up to his shoulder. Mostly so that Bean could sit there and because Hellbine was definitely wanting to nose at the small thing.

Hellbine's brain was definitely translating Bean as precious plant baby. It lead to some very interesting mews and chirps and gentle headbutts (so as to not topple Bean).

The silver-haired man was blinking curiously at the backyard, at the strangely large bush that was ... Well, it did not look local. "This what you wanted to show me?"

It wasn't like the bush was Shiloh, right? Though he might have grown it.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Bean accepted the offering of the shoulder, but seemed disappointed at the lack of long hair to coil himself up in. There was a weird four-legged furred human thingy, but Bean just wasn't sure what to do with it, especially because it made weird sounds. Despite that, he chirped back, pleased to see their languages sounded the same even if he was unable to actually communicate.

Bean was on top of Jeremiah Mercer's head when they finally made it to the backyard, his tiny arms trying to find satisfaction in the older man's short hair. This led to no real avail. Instead he nodded as Jeremiah's question before slowly climbing his way down to the ground, his pant leg functioning much like a fireman's pole.

He squealed at the bush as loudly as he could muster, but there wasn't any response. A few moments later he was poking around in the bush, and then... he vanished into the thicket. Soon, he emerged with a hand.

Thankfully, the hand seemed attached still.

"Beeeaaannn noooooo." Came the tired, pathetic voice of Shiloh Beaumont, who seemed to be hiding in the bush.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Despite the inability to communicate, Hellbine at least could chirp. Never mind that was the sprout trying to find hair to coil in, the top of Jeremiah's head was the place to be (because it was kept slightly long on the top, shorter on the sides).

When Bean clambered down the small cat watched, sniffing at the air. Jeremiah merely raised an eyebrow, crouching down as he watched Bean disappear. The squeal had Hellbine jumping off his shoulder, the cat sniffing more at the bush until Bean disappeared and soon a hand came back out.

So Hellbine was nosing at that, realizing it was Shiloh.

"Shiloh?" Jeremiah blinked, surprised enough to slip into using his first name. "Are you ... hiding in there?" Hellbine was already disappearing into the bush, following the arm. There was a person of importance in there.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Not hiding! I'm just—Helly?" His hand was retracted back into the bush as Hellbine nosed his way in. After a few moments the entire bush shivered in a weird way, the leaves curling in on themselves, the branches melting down like candle wax. Eventually the entire thing withered into magic, leaving behind one ragged looking Shiloh and a cat in his lap. Bean seemed overjoyed and rushed over, his head furiously slamming against Shiloh leg (Shiloh seemed a little put off by the behavior; it seemed to suggest he hadn't quite figured the Sproutling out yet). "Beanie, why you gotta do that? Geeze..."

He scooped the sprout into his hand and deposited him into his jacket hood. "Sorry, I know you called..." Shiloh looked a little guilty, "I was just. Uh. Having a moment." He looked up, "Both the principals are gone! Two of them! That's two that are unaccounted for. Am I next? Like, I don' care if I die, but now it's like not just me dying it could be so many more people."

"Plus, like, if I died then Jamie would kill me. I'd be double dead."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Hellbine was busy trying to groom Shiloh, nosing at his arm and doing his very cat best to ease the stress that was palpable. Jeremiah just raised an eyebrow at Bean, hitting the leg, and then Shiloh as he deposited the Sprout into his hoodie.

His expression softened as Shiloh explained and he let out a sigh. A deep breath was taken before he spoke, well aware it was likely to be his last steady breath for a moment or two. "I'm well acquainted with double dead that can happen. I've no doubt Alg would not find a way to bring me back and kill me again for being so stupid as to get myself killed but I digress ...

"It isn't-" Jeremiah's throat felt tight. "It's only one principal-" His hand rubbed the side of his neck as if that would help. "-unaccounted for. The Tree is-" He broke off, frowning, and took a wheezing breath.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh almost blanched, "W-Wait wait wait what?!" His eyes were huge, mouth gaped slightly, "You know about the tree now? Where are they? Are they okay?" And then the anger seeped in, "Did you whack 'em for ********' with Sonny?"

His hand was absentmindedly patting Hellbine on the head, despite his attempts to groom him.

"Why are you wheezing like that?" The effects of a geas hadn't dawned on him.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"I know-" Jeremiah broke off again, fingers curling around his own throat. "They're-" He forcibly moved his hand away from his throat, thinking of Sonny as they had seemingly tried to choke themselves.

"Can't do- anything to- them." His eyes were brighter than usual as he was turning an interesting shade of blue tinged with purple that had nothing to do with his own naturally cold state.

Hellbine's grooming had stopped for the pets but now he was letting out a worried mew.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh had calmed down for a moment, but now he was rapidly starting to get worked up again. "Are you choking? Hey? ******** I don't know CPR Mercer don't have a heart attack." Having that kind of certification took guts; Shiloh just didn't want to put his mouth on anyone who wasn't Jamie. "Wait—"

They'd apparently geased Sonny into silence. Had they geased Jeremiah too? His eyes narrowed.

"They... they..." He blinked slowly, "They... did the same thing to you that they did to Sonny, didn't they?" His lips pursed into a thin line.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Would- you- kindly-" Jeremiah gritted out and then finally dropped to a knee, fingers curling in the earth and trying to force air into his lungs.

There was no vocal response to Shiloh's last question, on a jerky nod of his head as he tried to breathe.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Was someone saying timber? If a Jeremiah fell in the woods and no one was around to hear it, did it actually happen? Chances were yes, because Shiloh had never seen Mr. Strength And Stature dip to one knee like that, rendered so pathetic by the strength of someones magic. Was it the noble geas? Everyone knew it was a thing now. If that was the case though, then it would've had to be someone at the meeting...

...and that was still a lot of people.

"Okay, okay, stop trying to do whatever the ******** you're doing, you're gonna have a hernia or some s**t." He was wheezing like he was about to panic a little, Bean watching curiously from the hood with unblinking eyes. What did you see, Bean, in Jeremiah's struggling? Hosta's were starting to writhe around his legs.

"So Meri's still missing, but the third principal is alive..." He furrowed his brow, "And a ********' sneak. Great."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah just nodded, shifting to sit on the ground and rub a hand at his throat. The constriction of it began to ease up, air flowing back in as he breathed slow and deep. "Not the," his voice was hoarse, "Noble geas."

Then he was pulling in a breath, eyes closed. Hellbine stayed in Shiloh's lap for the time being, though he was giving his people-dad looks every so often. Mostly because Jeremiah seemed like he was recovering and Shiloh seemed like he was not, so he was doing his very best to help. That did include nudging along things that were already growing.

"More like," he spoke again, still rubbing at his throat, "to asphyxiate than a hernia. They're-" Jeremiah swallowed. "overly cautious given what happened to the previous set of Principals." A pause. "Not that I necessarily bloody agree with the edict upon Sonny but be it their heads." There was a sharp gasp, Jeremiah coughing and scowling at the same time.

Melancholies