[PRP] depths of self-discovery (temperance & jeremiah)

[azuredreams]

Seeing the post on the listserv told him what he needed to know. Perhaps he might not have had reached out but he felt a need to, especially given how much had happened while Temperance was gone (though Rabbit had kept her informed) and how much Hart had gotten involved.

An email exchange lead to a text exchange to Jeremiah knocking upon Temperance's apartment door. He had an oddly bulky bag on his side, made out of old worn material (and looked rather fitting with his relaxed clothing, for once not a three piece suit but he did have a jacket on), and looked less like the Chief of Police (or Noble of the Court) and more Jeremiah Mercer (except that he was both of those things even now but shhhh).

The Semblance of Unity

'cause you know i use silent hill songs too much, here's this one.

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance opened her door, feeling oddly nervous. "Hello, Chief Mercer. Come in." She gestured for him to enter and moved aside, taking a seat at the rickety little card table she had. There were boxes piled along the walls and her shelves were bare. Temperance was going to move.

"Have you happened to see Hart at the court?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Miss Clark," Jeremiah greeted and stepped inside. Once the door was closed, he shifted the bag on his shoulder some. "Is there a place I can set this for a moment?" He paused and shook his head.

"I've not seen her, no, but I suspect she may not necessarily make an appearance openly since you defeated her." A thoughtful look crossed his face. "... and she may be setting up your demesne within the Court." It was what Fell had done, readying the place for him and then Adze had helped once Algie had passed his Trials.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Of course - the counter or the table." She had no idea what was inside and desperately wanted to pry. "Have a seat; I'm sorry there's not, um more places to sit. I'm in the process of moving."

She interlocked her fingers and leaned on them. "I haven't seen Hart since, so I wonder... Anyway, so-" Temperance sighed. "How long did it take for you manifest powers? Rabbit told me a little."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah moved to the table, pulling out what looked like - of all things - bento boxes and a tupperware container. "I was not actually sure what you would take as potential comfort food, so I took a guess."

He glanced towards her and raised an eyebrow. "She'll make an appearance before you, sooner or later. Your her Lady now, the Noble in which she serves." That she had overcome Hart would likely go a long way. "Around a week? They started to manifest around that time, for Algie as well. Though some abilities took a bit longer to discovered if only because of what thy are."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"A.. bento? For me?" She looked at the bentos as if they might bite her. Temperance never had had anything resembled a homemade bento before. Still, she gestured for Jeremiah to site.

"I'm pretty sure she hates me, though. I gather you get along well enough with yours?" Temperance glanced down at her hands and sighed. "I'd hate me, too. I kind of cheated."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Onigiri too," which was what was in the tupperware, "which I've not made in years." So it ended up being a bit of a project but the kind he did not mind so much. He took a seat, sliding the bento boxes towards her. One was sandwiches, another looked like wraps.

"I do, though we have a bit of a row over the meeting before the Conference." Though it had been due to the knowledge that their fetches, who served them, in truth served the Spinel Lady. "Cheated?" That got an eyebrow raise. "You also have to keep in mind that the fetch that took my place is dead." The reason why he got along with his fetch was likely tied to this.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"You didn't poison them, right?" she said lightly, pulling the tupperware close. It reminded her of middle school field trips with packed lunches. "Thank you." Temperance sighed.

"Yeah, I suppose it was a bit of a shock to discover that the fetches owe their allegiance to the Spinel Lady more than their own nobles. I didn't expect Shiloh to talk her down, though." She picked at the seaweed on one of the onigiri. "Most nobles eliminated their fetches. I did not... I drugged her and told her it was poison and she was dying."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"You are welcome, I had thought something like this might be a comfort after getting back." A small pause. "... and that you may not necessarily want to cook or do anything else other than acclimate and make things your own again." Temperance was, after all, moving.

"He continues to impress," Shiloh did, "and I am not, in honesty, surprised he was able to. If anyone could, it would be him." Jeremiah leaned back in his chair, snorting as Temperance explained how she had won. "That is rather ingenious, to be honest." He let out a small breath. "Adze, Algie's fetch, is also the same that replaced him. Though he clocked him and made him yield from what I understand. I -" his fingers stretched out and then closed into a light fist, "killed mine with my own hands. It is not one of my better moments but he was not going to stop until death claimed one of us."

Sometimes, in the dark hours of the morning, he would remember the smear of ash that had been the fetch that had tried to take his life. Then he would get up and work on things until either sleep reclaimed him or it was time to face the day.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"I think," she said, after a moment. "Many kill their fetches. The upheaval and feeling of betrayal is too much. It's a part of the tithing process, perhaps = that emotional distress. A part that should be nixed." Temperance had imagined, briefly, killing her fetch, and had rejected the idea. She wouldn't have been able to live with herself, regardless of what her fetch had done. Sometimes the inability to kill or do lasting harm was a burden, although in a different way from killing.

She sighed. "Surprisingly, it seems like Hart was largely concerned in becoming a better me, in carving out a sort of space her herself. I came back to closer friendships with classmates, acceptable grades... She graduated for me. There's a bachelor's-" she pointed to one of the boxes. "That I only earned part of. The more I learn about Hart, though not form her mouth, the gladder I am that she still lives." It was a strange feeling.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"I think, perhaps, I could've forgiven those things. In fact, not unlike Hart, he decided to do better at my life than I did. Pushed for more and did it with an ease that I, at the time, did not have. Though I came back to discovering I was to be Chief of Police and not a bachelor's" His head tilted. "Now that I think about it ... I believe the first time you actually spoke to me, it was not me at all." Jeremiah remembered the meeting noted down in his old calendar.

"What I could not forgive," he moved back, "was that he abused and hurt someone- took advantage of a friendship in a way that is entirely heinous." Perhaps if the fetch had simply stuck with trying to be better than Jeremiah and had not done what he did to Aleksy and others ... Jeremiah shook his head.

"What is done is done and there's little to be accomplished. I do agree that the tithing process needs to be changed. Rabbit, in my opinion, did well with you. Helping you achieve more with your powers, seeing you grow, is absolutely what needs to be done." His lips twitched a little, a wry look on his face. "I don't think you're necessarily wanting to hear me go on about this, however."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Even so... I don't think it's up to me to decide to end someone' life, ever." Temperance tried to think back to when she and the Chief had first spoken. It seemed so, so long ago. "Right after the ball, I think? Connor had told you were Melany was..." She sighed. So long ago.

"Rabbit left me alone quite a bit, but then he seemed to get.. inspired. It was altogether painless. I gather many are not like that at all. It's a highly imperfect system."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah smiled a little at hearing that Rabbit was inspired with Temperance. To him it implied good things before speaking. "As you said: it's a highly imperfect system and I will be the first to admit that I was not, at the time, necessarily in the best place mentally.

"My actions then are not something I approve of but ..." He shook his head. "No, the process is not painless. My own tithing- I leave it at I am well acquainted with what it feels like to be burned alive." His fingers twitched, a faint smolder appearing and then disappearing. Nor had he actually been a knowing tithe. He had been found at an emotional weak point.

Jeremiah let out a breath, a small huff of wry laughter that nearly escaped. "You know, I realize now that the fetch that was in my stead would have likely done the same as Hart. At least, assisting the Spinel Lady. He was the one that escorted her back to the other side."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance realized her own tithing had been... fortunate in that Rabbit was a gentle man. She'd been prepared for far worse, had even ask Melany. Her mouth twisted a bit. That was neither here nor there.

"The fetch? Oh, the replacement, not your current." She tapped her fingers thoughtfully. Chief Mercer had been one of the many to kill their replacements. "She's a forceful presence; I can't say I'm really surprised." Temperance held no doubts that Hart would have broken her hand if allowed. Once again, she wondered if he had some sort of ulterior motive in coming here.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Temperance was going to be disappointed to learn there was no ulterior motive. Jeremiah was, in most cases, ultimately lacking in them. "Yes, Fell would not have- Well, no. I cannot say that. She may have done so," especially considering she had held Alexis as the Spinel Lady had taken their power, "but not to promote herself. Simply to be of assistance."

He shook his head. "In any case, Hart will become your greatest asset when it comes to the Court. Especially if you wish to continue furthering your clinic and helping the beings of that world." Jeremiah remembered, not long after he had truly become a Noble, that he had started having to respond to requests from the beings of that world. Little matters here and there, but still-

Things that needed to be tended to.

The Semblance of Unity