Alex | Julie and the Phantoms (ghostdrummer) wrote in valloic, @ 2020-12-01 18:03:00 |
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Entry tags: | !: action/thread/log, ₴ inactive: noah czerny |
Who: Alex and Noah
What: Chatting and stuff
Where: The Barns
When: Thanksgiving
Warnings: nope
Status: complete
Noah was full. It was one of the things he was aware of. He’d probably eaten way too much food and he possibly regretted it already considering how hard it was to stay awake at this point. He rubbed at his eyes, which had something to do with being tired and Homeward Bound. He’d forgotten how sad it was, but he was very much aware of it now. It was over and he knew there were probably things to do around with his friends, but he needed to walk. Mostly just to recover from his sleepiness. He glanced over at his friends, smiling a little as he saw Blue passing Gansey tissues. He also glanced over, noticing Alex wiping away tears. He considered his options, moving a little closer to Alex.
The fact that the boys were ghosts sort of drew him to them in a way that he wasn’t sure he could explain. He was sure that it made sense all the same. He stopped a little bit away, nerves taking over briefly before he pushed past them. “Do you want to walk around a bit? I could show you around or we could just walk.” Because sometimes it was nice to have someone to walk with. “There’s a barn Ronan lets me use for art stuff or you could tell me more about the band. Do you guys have any shows coming up?”
He’d realized, after talking to Reggie, that they were the first real concert he’d been to. He liked the songs he’d heard. They seemed pretty fun. Different from Murder Squash or Blink-182, but that was fine with him. He’d gotten into more kinds of music since getting to Vallo. “Oh, but...if we go to the art barn, you should probably watch out for glitter. It’s biodegradable, but still gets everywhere.”
***
Even ghosts could overeat and as grateful as Alex was for Hades helping them be able to do so, he was regretting his choices because he was uncomfortably full. That didn’t stop him from sitting with Noah to enjoy some movies. Even though Homeward Bound was released before his death, he’d been a teenager focused on the band and hadn’t actually seen it. He was glad that Luke and Reggie weren’t sitting too close because they’d never let him live down the fact that the movie got him teary-eyed.
He cleared his throat, hoping that Noah hadn’t noticed, and smiled at the suggestion to go for a walk. “Sure!” he said. “You can show me around. That’d be awesome. And, yeah you can tell me more about your art stuff.”
As he stood and stretched, he shrugged. “I don’t think we have anything booked at the moment,” he said. “We really need to look into finding a regular place to play and not just doing parties.” Though the parties were fun and a great way to meet people.
***
Noah smiled a little, hands sliding into his pockets. He glanced over at his friends again briefly before starting to walk. “I hope that you find somewhere to play. There might be some places around. I’ll ask Ronan and them. I know there’s clubs or places with karaoke nights, so maybe something else will pop up.” He was nothing if not supportive of all of his friends. Even the newest ones.
He looked around as they walked, watching various animals moving on the grounds. It was peaceful in a way. All the animals. It was a lot of work, though, so he did what he could to offer help when it was needed. Especially because there was a lot of poop to clean up. But he didn’t go into detail about that. “Most of the cows were asleep before. But now they’re moving around on their own, which is so cool.” He liked the cows. Even if sometimes they’d lick you and it was almost like an oversized dog licking you.
“But I’ve been doing a lot of different things at school. I am doing an art major, which is probably not what I was going to end up doing at home. My parents were cool, but I guess Aglionby is one of those places...where you’re supposed to amount to important stuff? And I’m not sure art or even Chicken Out was one of those things.” He shrugged slightly. He couldn’t be sure what his life would have been because he was killed before it could even begin to form. “But I’m also taking lessons in metalworking from Erik. He’s really cool. I’ve made a few smaller things, but nothing too big. I want to make a huge raven sculpture one day.”
***
“I’m glad I don’t have to worry about school,” Alex admitted. He’d been a decent enough student, but he much preferred playing music to studying. Of course, maybe if he’d gone to a special music school like Julie’s, he’d feel differently about it. Either way, he had no plans to further his education while he was here.
The grounds were incredible and he definitely appreciated the tour. Being a city boy meant he hadn’t had a lot of personal exposure to farm animals before. “The arts are important,” he said. “I wish more people would realize that. Art and music and dance and poetry are enduring and say so much about our culture. More than history, if you ask me. I mean, history textbooks. Those are usually dry, boring recitations of facts. With art and music and the like, you can really experience what life was like for those people.”
Alex paused, looking slightly embarrassed. “Sorry.” He hadn’t meant to go off on a tangent like that.
***
Noah nodded a little. Not everyone liked going to school. He only really did it so he could get a degree in art. It wasn’t really necessary he guessed, but it helped him to learn more about various artistic outlets. He did have to take other classes still, but he was more interested in the art classes than the others.
As Alex rambled, Noah stayed quiet and listened. He agreed that art was more interesting to study than anything else and there was a lot to learn about the world based on art and music and everything else. He smiled a little after his apology, shaking his head. “You don’t have to be sorry about being interested in something. It’s good to have that. And I’ve learned a lot about snacks and Welsh Kings because of people I’m friends with. So it’s good.” To make a point, he casually bumped his shoulder against Alex’s and grinned. “So don’t worry about it. I don’t know that much about dance or poetry outside of like English class.” He looked around, running his fingers through his hair. “I like art, though. Sculptures are really cool and I made a cool flower crown. Well…” He squinted his eyes. “It’s metal with little loops so you can put flowers in it and it becomes a flower crown. But it was for a kid. So his head is smaller. I’ll have to make one that’s bigger or see if someone with magic can make it change size to fit the head it’s on.”
His steps had a bit of a bounce to them as he thought about potential magical solutions. He had no magic, but the concept of it all was very exciting to him. Pretty much all the friends he had were magical in some way. “It’s super cool, right?”
***
Alex grinned back when Noah bumped his shoulder and listened with interest as he talked about what he liked about art. “Yeah, I don’t really know much about poetry either,” he admitted. “I love to dance though.” Hopefully that didn’t sound too dorky.
“And oh, man, that flower crown sounds awesome. You could use it all the time because when the flowers died, you could replace them,” he said. Now he kind of wanted one. Was that lame? Hopefully not.
Magic was still new to him and he was a bit hesitant about it after their experience with Caleb. Though, to be fair, he wasn’t entirely sure what Caleb did was magic or if it was something else. Still, the people here he’d met that did magic were all nice so far. “And there is so much magic here. It’s kind of nuts.”
***
“Well, there’s probably a lot of chance to dance. People like to throw balls a lot here and so it should work out in your favor. I usually dance with my friends, but I don’t think I’m that good at it. My sisters used to make fun of me a lot, but it’s also possible that it’s just cause they’re my sisters.” He missed them. “But I guess I don’t take it too seriously? Even at the fancy parties, but there wasn’t much fun dancing at those.” He shrugged. It was society and he wasn’t that interested in it.
“Yep! That was the best part. Mostly cause Torunn’s brother super loves flower crowns. So I wanted to try it. But I’ve made knives and other stuff, too. Erik’s pretty great at teaching and doesn’t mind so much when I ramble a lot.” He hesitated for a brief moment, considering mentioning the possibility of a metal skateboard, before letting his thoughts slide back to magic.
“There’s a lot. Most of my friends are somewhat magical, which is super cool. I’m just...me.” He smiled. “Which is cool cause I have the best friends. And now I can make sort of magic but like...with art. But like a lot of people can do a lot of cool things. Mine are just like...mundane cool things. More physics than magic. Like the skateboarding. Which...I’m getting used to again. I’m thinking about making a metal skateboard. I dunno how well it would work, but it could be a cool art display if it’s not good for skating.” His eyes lit up briefly. “Or like one of those hanging displays that doesn’t look like anything until you’re at a certain angle and then you see the design. Like a cool skateboard design, right?” He paused. “I guess that it might be just as dangerous and likely to kill you as a regular skateboard...or more, since it’s all metal.” He cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck, “Or just be really cool and not kill you probably.”
***
Balls sounded fancy and Alex was decidedly not. The kind of dancing he liked also probably wasn’t the kind that happened at balls. Not that he had a lot (or any) experience at them so he couldn’t say for sure.
“Art is definitely a kind of magic,” he said. He liked when Noah rambled and wanted to encourage him to continue doing so. “And that would be rad if you could do something like that with metal. I mean, you’re already dead, right? So you can’t die again.” That was what he assumed at least, even though Hades had made it possible for people to see them all the time and allowed them to eat. Technically, they were still dead which meant they couldn’t die. Right? He hoped that’s how it worked.
He couldn’t help but think of Willie when he thought of skateboarding and he hoped that he was okay and Caleb hadn’t done anything to him. “Maybe you can make some kind of design for the front of my drum kit.”
***
Noah liked the idea of it being akin to magic. It was, like skateboarding, a bit mundane in a way, but then people who enjoyed magic and didn’t believe they could actually do it always seemed in awe of it. But the mention of the being dead thing gave him pause and he smiled, albeit a little sadly. “I was...but I’m not? I just turned 18 in September. Weird magic stuff. So I could die again. But I’m hoping not to.” Because that would be totally weird. And kind of depressing. “But I was kind of turned into a sheet ghost for a bit.” He stared down at the ground. “But that was just Halloween.” His smile was a little sad. “But I was sort of coming undone a bit...toward the end. You can’t stay a ghost forever, I guess...but I was going to sacrifice whatever was left of my existence to Gansey so he wouldn’t stay dead.” It wasn’t the first time his life was given in turn for Gansey living. He wasn’t bitter about it, though. Gansey was important to him...and even though he didn’t mean to get murdered and save Gansey the first time, he wasn’t mad that he did.
He forced himself to think of the more positive parts of the conversation, smiling more convincingly this time. “Yeah. That would be super cool. You should tell me what kind of designs you like and I’d be happy to do it.”
***
Was Alex still a ghost? Now he was having a slight existential crisis about it, though he didn’t want to let Noah realize how much of an impact his words had. Dying once had been bad enough and he certainly didn’t want to do it again.
He shook off those thoughts and focused on the rest of Noah’s story, wondering who Gansey was and why he’d been so willing to sacrifice himself. Was it a boyfriend? And, if it was, why did that make him feel weird? Sure, he thought Noah was cute, but he wasn’t planning to do anything about it. He liked having the other boy as a friend.
“Sure, I’ll have to think about it,” he said, deciding that talking about designs was a much safer topic. “Maybe see if the band has any thoughts on a symbol for us or something.”
***
Dying wasn’t something Noah looked forward to, but growing old was definitely one of the things that he looked forward to. He might’ve been too excited about the possibility of needing glasses one day or having creaky joints. Everything that could come with getting older. If he died as an old man, he would be okay with that.
Noah nodded at Alex’s words. “Okay. Well, whenever you figure it out, let me know. I’m happy to help.”
He stopped at one of the barns, moving to open the doors. “We’re here.” He walked inside, looking around. He had one spot in the right corner that had a tarp that was covered in paint. There was an easel to the left that was covered with a cloth. He was working on something for Ronan and various things for the rest of the Gangsey, so there were a few more hidden paintings. He had his table of things he’d made working with Erik. There was a knife, the flower crown, and various other metal things that were varied in how well made they were. He’d tried, but the more work he did, the better he got at it. “Sometimes I fill water balloons with paint and throw darts at them just to see how the paint falls onto a canvas. It can be a lot of fun.”
***
Alex entered the room and wasn’t sure where to look first. There were so many really interesting and cool things around. The items that were hidden underneath cloths he avoided, though he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t curious to know what was under them. He figured if Noah wanted to share, he would, but he also understood not wanting to let people see things until they were ready. It was that way with music too.
Gravitating to the table of metal objects, his hand hovered over the items, and he looked up, wanting permission before touching anything. “Can I?” he asked. “And that sounds awesome. Do you have any of those around?”
***
Noah wasn’t so much hiding them from Alex as he was trying to keep his friends from seeing them. The one for Ronan was a raven surrounded by red flowers. Both the raven and the red petals were going to have glitter over them. He would see if he could find a way to keep the glitter from falling off onto the floor. Maybe something he put over the painting or magical assistance. It was easy to rely on magic here, which wasn’t really that abnormal for him.
When Alex asked if he could touch his things, he nodded. “Yeah. Go ahead.” Nothing was really off limits here. “I’ve gotten a lot better than I was when I started.” As for the question regarding the paint balloons. “I have lots of paint and some water balloons, but I haven’t made any yet, but if you ever want to do that, I can set it up and we can do it. You can invite your friends if you like.”
***
“That sounds like fun,” Alex said. None of them were artistic in that way, but he could see Reggie and Luke having fun with something that messy. Julie, he wasn’t so sure about, but he had a feeling if Luke was there, she’d at least give it a shot. They were cute.
He picked up the flower crown that Noah had told him about and turned it over in his hands. “So, you just like, started with a lump of metal and turned it into this? That’s amazing. You’re so talented.”
***
He was sure he could talk the Gangsey into it as well. Especially if there were snacks involved. He could put his paintings away that he was putting together. Though, Blue’s gift was more of a tactile art with recycled sweaters and various other things because he thought she would appreciate it. As long as things were biodegradable and reusable, it ended up appreciated. He couldn’t do what Blue could with clothes, but he could do weird little things for her.
He smiled some, rubbing the back of his neck and looking down to avoid the hint of awkwardness and the way his skin flushed. “I’m…” He bit back the habit of saying he was okay he guessed. He could picture Gansey’s frown at the thought. “Yeah. It’s pretty awesome.” He could admit that he’d done something good. “I hope to do even more things in the future. It can be a lot of work, but I like it. And Blue likes to see everything that I make. I think she’d keep every misshapen project I’d ever made if she could.” He smiled brightly. His friends were always super supportive. And Blue didn’t ever really want anything to go unwanted or unappreciated.
***
The flush of his skin was adorable, though the way he spoke about Blue made Alex wonder if she was someone special. He’d talked a lot about his friends and never mentioned either a boyfriend or a girlfriend. And Alex wasn’t even sure why he was so curious about that. Okay, that was a lie. He liked Noah. It was just too bad that he was so awkward about everything.
“Is Blue your girlfriend?” he asked. Wanting to keep all of his projects sounded like a girlfriend kind of thing. At least he thought. He’d never had one, obviously.
***
Noah stared for a long moment after Alex asked if Blue was his girlfriend. He didn’t want to laugh at the concept of Blue being his girlfriend because they’d kissed once, but that was mostly because he was safe. He couldn’t die already when he was a ghost, but he still found it a little funny. So the laugh was only slightly there, which was mostly because he couldn’t help it, but he was trying to. “No. Blue and Gansey are dating. She’s just one of my best friends. I’m not dating anyone.” He’d nearly dated someone, but things got...awkward very fast because his friends were very protective and Kieran having a boyfriend back home made things...complicated. Especially since there were a lot of feelings about that revelation.
“Unless something changed that I’m unaware of somehow.” He did fully laugh at that. “Which sounds super unlikely.” He moved a little closer to Alex, fingers lightly touching one of the knives. “I won’t tell her you asked. Even if she’d be nice about it...In case you’re worried about it.”
***
Well, that answered Alex’s earlier question about if Gansey was Noah’s boyfriend. He felt himself flush a little when he admitted that he wasn’t dating anyone. “I’m pretty sure you’d know if you were,” he said, trying to make it a joke and hoping he didn’t sound as awkward as he felt. “At least I’d hope so.”
He set the crown down and his hand brushed against Noah’s as he did. It was weird to feel it after all the time he’d spent as a ghost unable to touch anyone. “How many of you live out here?” he asked.
***
“I think so,” he replied, laughing again. “I’d like to know if I was dating someone before everyone else did.” He didn’t notice any awkwardness, but he did notice that Alex seemed a little flushed. He figured he was just embarrassed that he’d been mistaken about Blue.
Noah was aware of Alex’s hand brushing against his, eyes flickering to the hand in question, but he didn’t look up at the other boy. His hand just moved slightly. “Oh. There’s six of us, but Syd works here, so she comes around a lot. It’s Ronan’s farm. But Adam, Gansey, Blue, Matthew, and I live here. Henry used to also live here, but...he went home.” He looked a little sad about it. “He was also dating Blue and Gansey. It was pretty cute. I know they’ve both been really sad about him leaving.”
***
“Three people dating each other?” Alex said. “How’s that work?” Poly relationships were not really a thing in 1995. Or at least not a thing that was openly discussed. It had been difficult enough for him being openly gay and he’d never really tried having a relationship. The closest he’d gotten was his flirtation with Willie and, well, that hadn’t exactly worked out.
He shook his head. “I mean, I guess it’s none of my business. I just never heard of anything like that,” he said. “It’s nice that you have all your friends together. I’m so glad that Reggie, Luke, and Julie are all here.”
***
“I guess it just does? I dunno. They spent a lot of time together. They liked each other.” He hadn’t really thought about it as something unusual because he’d seen the way that Gansey sort of relaxed and seemed happy and he was happy that his friends were happy. “I guess they worked through things the way anyone does?” He’d only really had one serious girlfriend and she’d cheated on him with the guy that killed him. So that was awkward.
“It’s okay. I don’t think it’s bad to be curious. As long as it’s not like...a mean thing.” He hoped it wasn’t cause he thought Alex was pretty cool. He’d liked Murder Squash. At least he said he did. “I’m glad they’re here. It took dying to have them, so I guess it was worth it a little...and also cause Gansey didn’t die. I mean, it was still bad, but compared to the guy I thought was my best friend before...you know.” He shuddered slightly, quickly rerouting his thoughts to something else, like the fact that he was here and wasn’t dead and even if Whelk showed up, he wouldn’t be able to touch him. “Anyway...It’s nice to have them here. And I’m glad your friends are here, too. It’s the best.”
***
Alex shook his head. “No, no, I was definitely not trying to be mean,” he said quickly, not wanting Noah to get the wrong impression. “Just, you know, when I came out, it caused a lot of issues with my parents, you know? I can’t even imagine how they would have reacted if I had a boyfriend and a girlfriend.” Not that he’d want a girlfriend, but still. He was pretty sure his parents would have spontaneously combusted at that.
“It makes it a lot easier to be here not alone,” he said. “I mean, I’ve met a lot of cool people. Like you.” And there was his blush again. He was so bad at talking to people sometimes.
***
Noah nodded at Alex’s words. I’m sorry your parents and you had issues cause of it.” He leaned over a little, letting their shoulders touch. It was a way to be there for him. If he needed it. “I think my mom would have loved me no matter what and my sisters. I mean, I got into trouble all the time for jumping on tables and driving too fast. They never really made a big deal of it...but I feel a little bad for it now. But I didn’t really...I dunno...think about it till recently? So we never talked about it. So I don’t know for sure.”
It was easier not to be alone. He wasn’t sure what he’d have done in a new place without his friends. Alive. He hated to think of any of them alone. He smiled when Alex called him cool. “I do my best to be cool.” He laughed. “I mean, not really. I just try to be myself. But I’m glad we met. You’re cool, too. Just so you know.”
***
“Thanks,” Alex said, bumping Noah’s shoulder with a smile. “I guess we should head back, huh?” They’d been gone for a while and if his friends noticed, he did not want to deal with them making comments or asking questions. He liked having Noah as a friend. If it ever went beyond that, he wouldn’t object, but he also wasn’t the type to push.
***
Noah looked up at Alex before nodding. “Yeah. We should probably.” He’d had a nice time out here and he almost regretted that they had to go, but he was pretty sure his friends might notice he was gone if he was gone for too long. “Come on, then. I can tell you some funny stories about the goats while we walk back.”