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Post by Rowan on Mar 2, 2021 10:57:59 GMT -8
Initially, Rowan was stalling as a show of force, but at this rate they would still be there by the time he started his next shift. Everyone was nervous and everyone was beating around the bush. He took his hands out of his pockets as well, out of respect - someone would have to make the first move or nothing would move.
“Something tells me this isn’t a social call. What can I do for you, Golden Boy?”
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Post by Golden Boy on Mar 2, 2021 11:10:54 GMT -8
Anxiety spiked adrenaline, eyes contracting as Rowan moves.
"You're helping out Tanner, right?"
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Post by Rowan on Mar 2, 2021 11:18:31 GMT -8
“Helping out? You mean with his medication? Yeah. Least I could do after the concussion.”
Tanner had been there when Rowan was still adapting to his new reality. Helping out with the Eternal Echoes and studying was a given.
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Post by Golden Boy on Mar 2, 2021 12:27:52 GMT -8
More glamour burned as Golden Boy's serpentine eyes tracked every movement the Snowskin was making. Taking a breath as the Darkling stilled. On Rowan's end, not only did the Hunterheart's gift take him by surprise, but how it manifested. Rather than the cold, predatory fear that would freeze a mark in its place, the siren's song roared silently to flood his mind with overwhelming sensation that his mind struggled to process the outside world.
The Fairest was in his face, clear anger and frustration painting his features as he ranted about the various ways he could ruin his life, spinning and shoving him against the pole, but it fell on deaf ears; because frankly the illusion that was tearing its way through his mind was some of the best peace he's had in a while.
The whispers of paranoia were drowned in the amber flashing. This kid wouldn't hurt anyone.
"Don't ever fuck with my motley again!" Golden yelled, shaking him with serrated teeth grit together, frustration rising at the other's flat expression. He wanted to see fear manifesting from his hex.
He didn't know.
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Post by Rowan on Mar 2, 2021 13:39:53 GMT -8
He could get used to this. His mind was quieter now, not as crowded with all the ways he could die at any given moment. Words brushed against his consciousness, accusations that felt out of place in the moment of bliss. Rowan had to scrape his mellowed mind to formulate some kind of protest.
“ What? No. I’m not messing with them, what are you talking about?”
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Post by Golden Boy on Mar 2, 2021 15:40:48 GMT -8
Focusing up, Rowan's reality stuttered for a moment, watching the Fairest's expression turn raw with his response. He didn't feel safe anymore in that moment, as the Oath of the Freehold strained against the younger Hunterheart's vendetta. The force was incredible, but-
The Darkling dropped down, hearing the loud bang as the metal rung behind and above him. Golden's face twitched, blood dripping from the headwound as he stared down at the asshole who was enabling his motley member. His eyes welled either from physical pain of splitting his skull against the pole, or just the situation at large. The Wyrd needled at his potential crime, giving him pause.
"Shut up."
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Post by Rowan on Mar 2, 2021 16:00:47 GMT -8
Ugly memories reared up - something half forgotten, about lunch money and lockers at his back. His head swam from the rapid movement and the sensation flooding his brain. It felt like every high speed bike ride down a hill and every Christmas morning wrapped into one neat little package and injected into his neurotransmitters. As he tried to talk again, his words slurred from the high.
"Look man, if iss 'bout the money, I can give it back. I still havit."
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Post by Golden Boy on Mar 2, 2021 16:19:38 GMT -8
Golden stared unblinking, blood sliding into his eye as he hung there and read the room.
There wasn't a trace of guilt in Rowan's words, just blind confusion. His mind wanted to twist it that just meant the guy was some kind of sociopath; that he was righteous in his loyalty, and something was finally within his control to correct. Shoulders hitched and he covered his mouth, backing off in a stumble and breaking eye contact.
"Oh fuck."
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Post by Rowan on Mar 2, 2021 16:29:12 GMT -8
Oh fuck.
If there ever was a sentence that Rowan related to with his entire being, it was this one. Colours and patterns swam in front his eyes and he sat on the ground. His focus was burning fast, his conscious mind too eager to escape into the peaceful paradise that was being offered. Everything was just peachy.
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Post by Golden Boy on Mar 2, 2021 17:06:17 GMT -8
The Fairest worked his jaw. He could just leave him here. Golden Boy himself had his head split open and an aura of cold that extended beyond the cover of glamour; walking Rowan back to his usual route would draw attention.
Call your motley.
"Absolutely not," he muttered, focusing on the puzzle as a lovely distraction from how close he had come to being an Oathbreaker over a misunderstanding.
His head hurt.
At least Rowan was having a good time.
He had already taken care of the school's minimal security; Hostile Takeover was rote to his nature. "Come on," he hissed, hauling the older Changeling up from the concrete, "We're going for a walk."
A handwave clicked the lock of the door, leading Rowan by the hand as he made sure everything was secure behind them — he had wanted to beat the guy up, not get him fired. Helping himself to a cookie, the Fairest hustled the other to the school bathroom, steps quiet as he checked ahead to make sure there were no surprises in the empty building. Dragging Rowan into the first bathroom with a horizontal mirror large enough for the two, he hesitated; seeing himself reflected with a dazed Darkling in tow. He felt small again, desperate, afraid for what comes next. His periphery glittered, eyes watching and waiting for the opportunity to take his bargaining chip for another day of living.
Was it kidnapping? Leaving Rowan there senseless in Whitney as the sun went down seemed just as detrimental as scoring his flesh with the Hunterheart's claws. He wouldn't thank him, but he doubt the Autumn courtier would protest the alternative, given the choice.
"Sorry."
Shivering and looking paler by the minute, he jumps onto the counter and fumbles for a few minutes trying to get Rowan to step up; shifting positions until he had to lift one leg at a time to get the guy to sit docile on the ledge of the sinks. His hand marks the mirror.
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Post by Rowan on Mar 2, 2021 17:27:35 GMT -8
Something cold and liquid across his skin. Was he going for a swim? How nice. He had some sense of being led, but it didn't bother him. He felt better than he had felt during the Purge: calmer, happier.
Someone was bending his limbs. Was it Golden Boy? It didn't hurt, not in the way it hurt when Rowan did it himself. There was a care in the touch where there was usually stubborn resistance by pesky and unnecessary things like Reality or Nature. It was a nice chance of pace. When had that become the norm for him, to make violence to his body to fit it into a box? Something more useful, something easier to deal with. Oh well, all that didn't matter now.
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Post by Golden Boy on Mar 2, 2021 17:48:34 GMT -8
The world split into an impossible kaleidoscope of layered fractals and cascading light — the Contract allowed one to make sense of it and navigate, but you needed to know where you were going.
Golden stumbled out of the closet mirror in the old motel. He had a room rented under one of the dozen pseudonyms; as long as money was on the table no one gave him guff. He never liked bringing people within him, with the amount of things that could go wrong in there despite his stable loops. Slowly glancing back to make sure the Darkling wasn't salsa or a latticework of cuts, he let out the second breath he was holding, sighing quietly as he noted the frost.
He was getting low again.
Shouldn't bother the Snowskin, though. He sat Rowan on the bed while he parked himself on the single beaten chair to start assessing a timeframe for a safe Harvest. He ate another cookie.
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Post by Rowan on Mar 2, 2021 18:42:29 GMT -8
"Where are we?" Rowan demanded when he finally came back to his senses. He took in the room, felt the mattress under his fingers. Golden Boy was seating across from him, blood on his face. He was getting ready to check out in the metaphysical sense when he noted the cold and the frost. He had to push down his FoF response by remembering what happened during Yule. Then the conversation with Tanner came to mind.
"You're running on fumes." Morbid curiosity suggested he peeked at the Twilight from the safety of a Gravewright.
No, there were more pressing issues. "What was that all about? What did you do to me?" His Mantle filled the room with whispers as he waited for an answer. It had better be a good one.
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Post by Golden Boy on Mar 2, 2021 18:59:20 GMT -8
"Sorry."
The Fairest slid the classroom gift to Rowan as a morbid peace offering. "I kind of blamed you for his relapse." And wanted revenge.
That wasn't answering the more important questions, though. "Just a motel — I forgot the name, but I could give you the directions and landmarks. I didn't want to leave you there helpless while the sun went down; my bad. I froze you with my sight, you know, like how a cobra does it?" he shrugged.
"I don't have a car, but there's money under that sheet if you want." He idly cracked the thin layer of ice that had taken over the water in his glass, before taking a swig.
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Post by Rowan on Mar 2, 2021 20:49:34 GMT -8
"That's strange. That's not how it usually- Wait. Back up. Relapse?" His head turned to the Winter, setting aside all thought of curiosity. "No. No, he said he made a mistake when filing for insurance." His eyes lost focus as his mind tried to wrap around what Rowan had just learned. "That he couldn't get his prescription renewed and that he was going to fail his Eternal Echoes test."
"He... He lied to me." He had to lock his elbows to keeps himself from letting his body fall onto the bed. He had trusted Tanner. The Page had always looked so professional, so- put together? 'No, not always. You just chose to ignore it.'
The scars.
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