land_lover: (Father's son)
Jamie Young ([personal profile] land_lover) wrote in [community profile] shatterverse2008-07-16 02:14 pm

(no subject)

It starts the usual way: A flash, a bang, a person standing, disoriented, near a long stretch of deserted road.

But this man falls to his knees-

(thousands of voices; screaming, crying in his head; anger and despair and everything in between, and he can’t fight, can’t ignore, can’t resist them; stop, stop, Goddess why won’t it STOP)

-and clutches his head, letting loose an agonized shout of surprise.

Then it's over, and it's like it never was.

Jamie lowers his hands, noticing in a detached manner that short strands of blond hair come away in his fingers, and sits back on his haunches, blinking. The last thing he remembers is laughing at a joke -- a bad one, with three tavern wenches and a statue -- and climbing a ladder to get at the apples high in an Olau tree. His shirt still smells like the orchard: sun and fruit and green, growing things. Had he fallen? Is this a fevered hallucination brought on by his broken body and healing magic gone wrong? Grace never could get the hang of it. She’s probably given him an extra thumb.

No. All’s right with that.

Digging his fingers into the earth beside the road, he watches it sift back to the ground. It's chunky and rough, but not dry. Even so, it's clearly not the smooth, dark soil of Olau. Jamie sniffs his hand, frowns and pulls himself to his feet. The road crests a hill to the west. Maybe there's something on the other side to explain what's happened; maybe not. Nothing to do, he supposes, but to start walking.

He'll get back to the pain (voices) in his head later. When the mood strikes.

[identity profile] alls-fair-in.livejournal.com 2008-09-18 04:50 am (UTC)(link)
This time round, rather than preparing herself for a kiss or looking expectant for one, Eleanor turns her head even further away from Jamie. He's not the only one who can play hard to get.

Admittedly, it's not in her character to do so normally, but the rules have changed since he denied her earlier today.

"Nuh uh uhhhh!" she chuckles, snatching the pill bottle out of his grip.

"There's no way the first two are working yet. You can have some more in four to six hours."

[identity profile] alls-fair-in.livejournal.com 2008-09-19 06:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Secretly pleased by the way the turnabout is going, Eleanor pops the top off the pill bottle and helps herself to four tablets. They're dry swallowed en mass, without any change in her expression.

Finally, she looks back at him and narrows an eye at his query.

"Like, what kind of head pains?"

"I took some heavy hits from the trees, but my helmet protected me pretty well."

[identity profile] alls-fair-in.livejournal.com 2008-09-19 08:56 pm (UTC)(link)
"No," Eleanor admits. "Nothing like that."

Furrows of concern appear across her forehead.

"I'm no doctor, but that doesn't sound good, AJ."

"It just started when you got here though, so I'm thinking it's probably not a tumor or anything like that. Could just be a side-effect of the dimensional relocation. You came further than me, after all."

She rolls onto her side, so she's properly facing him, and returns a hand to the area above his temple. A light but tender stroke follows, less tantalizing and more caring than her previous finger-work.

"Let me know if it keeps happening, okay?"

[identity profile] alls-fair-in.livejournal.com 2008-09-28 10:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh yeahhhh. That's what Eleanor is talking about. She might not have seen it coming, but she's been wanting it to happen too, and she's extremely happy to play her part in it. Her fingers curl into Jamie's hair and she lets out a murmur of gratification as the kiss progresses.

So caught up in the moment is Eleanor, that she doesn't notice their host's entrance either, until the woman announces her presence. She grunts in annoyance. She's loathe to break the kiss, regardless of how hungry Jamie might be, so she waves her free hand in an effort to shoo Emily from the room. It's likely a futile gesture given how courteous Jamie is, but she has to try.

Emily dithers a bit as she takes in the scene.

"Oh! I'm sorry you two. I can come back later."

[identity profile] alls-fair-in.livejournal.com 2008-09-29 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
Damn right it's a top five kiss! Eleanor's had plenty of practice herself. It's only a shame that it has to end before she can properly assert her experience into it.

Above flushed cheeks, her forehead buckles unhappily when Jamie withdraws. She treats his gaze to a brief narrow-eyed glare, then switches her focus onto the tray-bearing woman. To say that Eleanor's a bit ruffled would be a gross understatement.

Emily blinks owlishly at the couple, uncertain of which instruction to follow. The girl looks ready to kill, whereas the boy looks kind and welcoming.

"Erm... it's good to see you're both feeling better," she says, trying to cover her embarrassed floundering with perkiness. "I can just leave the food and go if you like?"

The delicious aromas of home-cooked corn chowder, pork chops, mashed potatoes and more reach Eleanor and Jamie, complimenting the appetizing look of the spread. Eleanor had snacked while Jamie was being tended to, but she's not going to say no to a decent meal.

"That works," she replies, in a sharper tone than Emily deserves.

[identity profile] alls-fair-in.livejournal.com 2008-09-29 03:48 am (UTC)(link)
"Ethan's your brother?" Eleanor asks, her nose wrinkled in mild confusion.

She's calming down now. The promise of good food can work wonders on frustration. She's already starting to ready herself for the soup, by propping her pillows up more vertically and shifting into a more uprightly seated position.

"Huh. I thought you were husband and wife. Or a couple at least."

Emily titters. "Oh no, dear. Ethan's my big brother. Sorry we didn't make that clear."

"Well, there ya go," Eleanor follows up, a little boggled that she'd made such a glaringly bad analysis of their relationship. "I'm guessing Dan isn't your son either then."

"Nope." More gentle laughter from Emily. "He's our young bubba."

Eleanor shakes her head helplessly. "Wow. That's wild."

[identity profile] alls-fair-in.livejournal.com 2008-09-29 04:26 am (UTC)(link)
Eleanor catches Jamie's glance. She looks a little dubious herself all of a sudden.

"The rest?" she queries.

"Er... thanks. Don't worry about extra clothes for me though. I've got plenty of luggage stored on my bike."

She supposes that Jamie could use some though. And the addition of a few contemporary garments to his wardrobe certainly wouldn't be a bad thing.
Edited 2008-09-29 04:27 (UTC)

[identity profile] alls-fair-in.livejournal.com 2008-09-29 06:57 am (UTC)(link)
Eleanor hopes that Emily isn't going to rifle through her pannier bags in order to bring her something fresh to wear. There's private stuff in there. Like a weighty stash of marijuana she was going to sell to Lincoln frat boys before she got transplanted here. Um...

Banishing the worry, she reaches over Jamie's vacated mattress space to the nightstand and helps herself to a bowl of the chowder. And a spoon. Jamie could stand to learn a thing or two about civilized eating habits from her.

"Jeans," she informs him, noticing his pants-centric intrigue. "They're very hard wearing. Pretty popular here on Earth."

For various reasons, some selfish and some unselfish, she's glad to see him able to stand without too much visible pain. She keeps her eyes on his semi-naked form as she makes a start on the soup, unabashedly content to drink in both things at once. Sure, she's seen his body before, but it's different now. There's a distinct lack of other people's hands all over it.

And he's conscious.

[identity profile] alls-fair-in.livejournal.com 2008-09-30 04:44 am (UTC)(link)
Eleanor nods distractedly in response to his comments. The soup might as well be ditch water for all that she's tasting it. She's far more focused on his actions than anything else at the moment. And who can blame her?

Once the jeans are in place, her verdict is that they look exceptionally good on him. However, the only broadcasted sentiment is one of disappointment.

"I was enjoying that view," she mourns, and playfully elbow nudges his arm as he's raising his first spoonful.

"Why'd you have to cover it up?"

Eleanor clearly has no intention of getting dressed, even if they are going to talk to Ethan at some point.

[identity profile] alls-fair-in.livejournal.com 2008-10-02 09:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"Arrogant bastard," Eleanor snorts.

It's amused and fond; impossible to take the wrong way.

"The way our luck's been going today, your head'll explode before I get another chance. All I'll be left with is a pair of bloody jeans. Hardly a fitting legacy."

[identity profile] alls-fair-in.livejournal.com 2008-10-04 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
Eleanor gives him a proper frown now.

"I'm comfy," she protests. "And it's late. We can talk to him tomorrow. I just want to fool around and then get some sleep."

She snakes an arm around his waist and edges her fingertips into the top of his jeans.

"C'mon, AJ. We've been through a lot today. We could use a break before we do a Q and A."

[identity profile] alls-fair-in.livejournal.com 2008-10-04 04:42 am (UTC)(link)
Eleanor offers him a distinctly flat look in return.

"I'll be fine," she monotones, and deposits her soup bowl on the nightstand at her side of the bed. Loudly. She then stretches across to where the clothes are lying, and begrudgingly retrieves her pair of jeans.

It's a deliberate move, in that it causes a lot of extra stomach, thigh and buttock flesh to be revealed. Jamie's just going to have to live with that imagery for the next little while.

"You're gonna make this up to me later, jerk."