Who: Aedan, Basch, Noah. When: Tuesday afternoon. Where: Craigcrook Castle, Edinburgh What: Basch and Noah move into the gatehouse, and stop by to talk with Aedan. Sometimes, being well isn’t simply physical. Rating/Warnings: Discussion of “Fight Club” at Arno’s pub Status: Complete
There wasn’t much to move, of course, when they moved over to the gatehouse. Noah had made a few comments about possibly moving into town, and talking about looking into getting an apartment, but - apparently they were good company.
Or something. He doesn’t entirely want to consider the idea in his head and find that he’s hallucinating all of this.
The gatehouse had a tiny kitchen, and it seemed like a good project to figure out what they had for dishes. Picking up something second hand would probably end up with a piebald mess of bits and pieces, but there was a certain appeal to that. “I was thinking of going down and talking to Ser Aedan,” Noah says. “Would you like to come along, Basch? I did tell him I’d bring by a mug of broth when we were done, to nag me to eat something.” He’d mentioned to Basch the - odd message about Aedan going out partying. This sounded like - well - about as wise as any bar crawl the army did while on leave.
Noah was usually the sober one, for those.
Of course it was about as wise as any bar crawl. Basch had been dragged on more than a few himself in his day, but he hadn’t really participated enough besides watching people act like idiots and making sure they all got back safely. And hopefully ensuring that nothing was broken. Sometimes that last one got a little bit out of hand.
“I could do that.” he agrees now, with a little nod. “It seems like a good idea, considering.” And there was the fact that Noah seemed to be good for him. So far, since settling in, he hadn’t done a LOT and it was probably time to change that.
“We could ask him if he’s heard of that pub. I think Ser Calum talked about it and said the family had visited.” Noah dusts his hands off and offers Basch a hand to his feet. “How do you feel? We could drag the fine motor control worksheets along if you’re up for that.” He’s not sure how tired Basch is. Mostly all they did was check out the space and carry their stack of clothes over.
“That wouldn’t be bad.” Basch accepts the hand, considering. “I could do for a bit of that. And it’d be good to know. “ he adds. “About the pub that is. I’m told good things, and it’s at least run by someone on the internet…” He pauses. “Our internet i mean. That could be a good thing. But if it’s SOME of the people I’ve seen...better we know.”
“On the topic of things I’m avoiding, I was thinking of asking someone, if I could figure out who and when, about having that kid over - the ex-soldier in London. He’s probably under twenty, and from the sound of it -” Noah shakes his head. “I wanted to run it by you. You don’t have to be around, if he comes over, and he may not even come in. He sounded a bit - melancholy. He’s guilty, and with good reason, but also - guilty in the way I am.”
Noah exhales and tries to think of how to help Basch picture the sort of - concern at foot. “He invited me over for tea, and we ended up walking around the block, but I think he was still realizing he did not have to let me in.” He fishes out his phone and pokes it a bit to send a message to Aedan. Might as well bring up the idea of incoming coloring books to see if the guy’s up for a bit of whimsy. Well - practical whimsy.
Basch nods slowly, wincing a little. ‘So, in over his head before he realized all the details and buoyed on by ideals at first?” He can see where that was definitely Noah, where it hasn’t stopped being Noah either. “That does make a lot of sense. It might be a good idea to…”
And that last bit has him raising an eyebrow. “That’s interesting, there. The boundaries may not have been in place, or…” He blinks a bit. “Maybe he’s setting his own for the first time? That could do it too. It sounds like he could use someone, you’re right.”
Aedan’s finishing up on a lesson module for the class he finally started doing the work for earlier in the week, and he’s fine with stopping for a bit after a lot of number crunching, so fine by him if they head over. If he doesn’t stop soon, he’s going to see numbers in his sleep.
“I think so. His family were - racist, from the sound of it, and pretty content with tossing him into a bad crowd.” Noah shrugs slightly. “I feel a bit like he’s constantly hoping I don’t call him weird and run for the hills, but he seems decent. Just - learning his own path.” He looks at his phone and passes it over to Basch. “Looks like we’re go for talking to Ser Aedan. Want tea for yourself? I’m mostly doing the broth in commiseration.” And the doctor said he should eat more.
Basch glances at the phone,reads, and nods, smiling. “Well, he sounds a BIT better, at least. As for the other one, does he realize we’re all from weird places compared to each other? I mean, should someone point that out someday or do we let it go?” He’s genuinely curious about that aspect of things. It’d make SENSE to maybe do that, but on the other hand, if he’s escaping evil and paranoid about that fact….hard to say.
“Tea would probably be a good idea. Ah commiseration. But if it gets you eating.”
“I swear I did eat, before,” Noah points out, snagging his coat before they cross back over to the main house. He suspects that Basch will plop the silly hat on his head, but - might as well let him have fun. “I made oatmeal, sometimes, late at night.”
He trails off. “You know - talking to him about the - worlds might be good. I did give him some clues that our place wasn’t - here. But - he might need to hear it. It might help. I could see he’s kind of - assuming that the weird that is familiar to me is just - people who aren’t his family.”
“Still.” Basch eyes him a little. “Supplies can’t always be depended on to get through, or they run short.” He’s seen what that’s like, too. And he can’t say he thinks it’s been good for Noah overall. It’s probably messed up the way his metabolism even works. “You could still use it.” And he’s giving Noah that particular sibling look, the one that says he knows all. Sometimes that can be effective.
“Or he’s burying himself in what seems normal for this world, so much that he’s hiding a little from what he left behind.” He suggests. “I think that either way...it might make him more comfortable to think of home.”
“We’re in charge of the supply lines,” Noah points out, and puts his gloves on. Fine. “Ready?”
He snagged the list of supplies and his studying homework as well. He’s been working through what he’d need for a basic food handling license, mostly because there’s a graveyard shift available, baking bread for a local bakery. It has the advantage of not needing a high school degree (which, he’s explaining via saying he’s from a war zone and looking haunted) and - well - it’s a way to earn money. Sleeping at night is already hard, with the darkness reminding him of - a lot of things. High school diplomas or whatever the proper term is for basic schooling looks like he’d need to understand local history and government.
“Then that means you’re probably likely to skimp when it comes to yourself, to make sure things pass along the way.” Basch counters, though he’s smiling anyway, as they set out, though he DOES grab Noah’s hat and shove it into his hands, because of course he does. What else would he be doing if he wasn’t looking after Noah SOMEHOW? Considering all that’s happened otherwise, that’s really only fair right now, he figures. Things should go back to how they used to be, shouldn’t they?
He’s been wondering what sorts of things he might end up doing in this world, but the problem there is that, really, there’s not a lot he would feel comfortable with outside of security, perhaps. That might work out around here, but there’s nothing definite like Noah’s plans yet and that does bother him a little. He keeps meaning to ask someone who knows the world better, especially when he realizes all Noah’s looking into, but for now, well, he’s still uncertain and not sure it’s a good thing at all.
Aedan’s shutting down his computer and setting the notebook he’s been scrawling numbers in aside when it seems close to time for Basch and Noah to be getting there, and heading out into the hall so he can be the one to greet them, instead of a random security goon, then opening the door when he spots them coming, leaning out a little to actually get AIR.
...Okay. so that’s a dramatic response to his situation right now, but they don’t have to know that. Instead he’s waving them both in easily enough.
Noah waves. “Hey. Wanted to ask you annoying internet questions, and other questions. And offer something to make up for it.” He slides a mug over to Aedan. “How did the homework go?” He’s feeling a lot better. The sheer fact that they’ve been sleeping close to normal amounts of sleep (even if it’s largely due to noon naps, since - Basch did not seem to handle darkness any better than he did) has helped.
“Annoying internet questions?” Aedan blinks. “I can try?” He’s not very good at any of it himself. He’s worked out BASICS, but unless he’s trying to type things himself, he’s tended to voice translate most stuff. “And not bad, actually. Having something to DO helps a lot. I’m through the first module so there’s a start. Never mind that ought to’ve been in January.” He makes a little face,shaking his head. “At least they’re flexible. How’s the flitting ... moving ... been?”
And Basch is adding a little wave in there too, though it’s SLIGHTLY more awkward in his case. He’s been mostly the silent elephant in the room for a lot of these moments with people, or he’s been hiding himself away. “Not bad, actually. Considering.”
“We might end up going shopping. I was thinking you could pitch it as a fascinating math and intelligent choices problem.” Noah smiles as he takes a seat. “I need to see what my brother wants. I know I at least would like a few more mugs.” He sets down what he brought. “I - didn’t know if you wanted us to see that message about going out for the night on Friday. Is there a way to tell if I’m on the wrong - clearance level?”
“Ooh shopping. Square footage and all of that?” Aedan sounds a bit amused, picturing how any of them walking into a shop might go. “Trust me I’ve still got no real idea how the conversion rates GO here.” He makes a little face. “They’re up and down, I swear.” When he was...away… the group that’d had him had blamed the Brexit thing for screwing up the economy, but he hadn’t been paying attention to that part. “Although straight shopping, things like that, mightn’t be so bad. And ah, that.”
He should’ve figured that it was better to block more people than JUST the ones he lives with from seeing it but, technically, there’s nothing anyone’s said to stop it either. “Usually if you’re not seeing something, there’re reasons for it. I didn’t think of either of you factoring into the needing to be barred from hearing about things stage.” He shrugs a bit. “The lock picture shows that SOME people who don’t need to see it don’t, but I figure you for trustworthy enough. You haven’t run off sending ravens to anyone to stop anything else.”
“Not really up to anything to make me worried,” Noah points out. “But - I was curious, someone mentioned a pub that your family had visited. It might not be too bad, and the manager’s like us. Not from here, from what I heard.”
He doesn’t think Aedan should go clubbing. He thinks telling the kid no is just going to make him do something more stupid. So - wait and keep an ear out to see how things go. Kid’s got enough people in his life to keep an eye on him.
Good. Aedan can relax with that information. It’s true he’s not really up to most things right now, and he’s not planning on overdoing anything. Just a nice night away from here, with people and something to do that’s not around people he’s related to. All that said, he does nod at the mention of the pub.
“Yeah, one of my mates owns it actually, and another runs most of the day to day. Arno’s from, well, it’s a world I can’t exactly describe, but he’s solid enough as people go. Throws himself into running things over there and keeping them smooth. He’s actually pulled me out of fight club more than once.” And at an eyebrow from Basch, Aedan slaps his forehead, remembering the first rule of FIght Club.
“Uh that’s out in the parking lot anyway, behind the place?” he offers, “And they’re not on every week. It alternates sometimes with live music or other ... things.” He’s not sure how you explain Karaoke. It’s something HE doesn’t entirely get.
“Not sure I’m up for that,” Noah says. “I haven’t even tried the practice yard, and Ser Calum’s implied he wants to join me at some point.” He flips to find the page he was working on. He was trying to do kind of a sunset, and it’s - been a bit weird to try to blend the colors for the sky. “But it’s - all right? Other than that?”
“It’s at least no weapons?” Aedan offers, grinning. “And usually if it’s nothing that needs serious healing, you can get your nose or jaw shoved right back into place then and there without taking TOO much of a penalty before the next round.” He sounds...oddly wistful as he thinks about this. “I mean, you might get your head slammed into the boards more than a couple times and people have to come and pull you off each other, but…” he laughs a little. “It’s the best thing ever, next to getting the right lead on a flying change. Uh horse thing.” he tacks on there, at the end. “Long involved explanation. If you’re around in a year or two, you’ll probably see Cas doing them, he’s got a lot of potential for that.”
Basch blinks and glances at Noah at this, eyes widening. He’d never have considered things like that would be a GOOD thing to people. He gets that there are people who enjoy fighting, but...seriously? Enough that you would go BACK? What?
Noah’s - looking uncomfortable. And he knows it. It’s - just hard to picture. He enjoyed the practice yards, yes, and preferred not using live steel on them, but that wasn’t an all out brawl. And it wasn’t the sort of - “I’m not sure I’m the right guy for it.” He can just picture getting knocked down and seeing Lord Vayne there. Or Basch. Or - anyone. Gabranth’s armor towering over him.
“Then probably not.” Aedan agrees. “If you don’t have the will for it, it’s just miserable. I couldn’t see Arno in, for instance. He’s ah … polished.” He makes a little face. “Very civilized. He CAN fight dirty but…” He shrugs. “It’d be a complete mess. Of course, these days, the ring’s not all that full, I’m on a BAN.” he sounds annoyed by that. “Otherwise, when that’s not going on? It’s a nice place inside. Quiet corners, all that sort of thing. Selection of cheeses.” he adds, “And wines. Not usually the sort of thing you’d expect but...Arno.” he shrugs. “And it tends to be a nice crowd. Nothing too out of hand if you’re worried about that.”
It’s part of why he’d like to branch out his interests a bit, admittedly, but he doesn’t need to say that here. “Usually it’s most of us filling the place up, I admit.”
“It sounds better than a military bar crawl,” Noah says. “Though admittedly, everyone was sure I had a dead sweetheart or I was married, early on.” He - hasn’t told Basch this story, has he?
“Hmm?” Basch leans forward a little, looking curious, “How’d that come about?” He’s definitely curious on that point. He does have to agree about the military bar crawl though. It’s amazing the unsavory things you can learn about people you respect that way.
“Well - some people asked if I wanted to join, and I said no, and -” Noah shrugs. “They guessed I was desperate when I was. That’s why the commander got me on orphan’s pay until I was adult. But -”
He trails off. He didn’t exactly think Basch would return. The bank account in their mother’s name was something Basch could access, if he’d thought about it, but - “Either way - I wasn’t interested in sharing my bed, or drinking. And I had a bank account under the name of Betenos where I was storing most of my pay.”
“Ahhh.” Basch nods slowly, wincing a little because, well, he’s reminded of how he lost track now, how fast he let things take his world over and how little attention he paid to the world outside of things. How much he did fail then, and alright, Landis was one thing, but his family…. He makes a little face. “That would explain that then, I think.” And he’s glancing over at Aedan, like he’s about to say something.
“I take it I’m gonna get hit with something profound.” Aedan says into that glance. “About, I don’t know, family and guilt or something?” He’s actually not trying to be a jerk the way he says that, but it sort of sounds it after it’s come out. “Low blow?”
Noah drains the rest of his mug and nods slightly. “It was our mother’s name.”
“Ohh.” Aedan nods, deciding he’s just going to go with this because he does like these people, and doesn’t want to annoy them yet. He’s writing it off in his head as something he doesn’t quite GET, but he doesn’t actually want them upset either. It’s something he CAN store away though, he decides, if he ever needs it. Seems like Basch got pretty flinchy about it, after all. “Right, say no more. I mean, unless it helps.”
Though, if that was the case, they should probably try...well, someone else.
“It’s...well, I was stupid.” Basch says simply. “And it hurt people more than I knew then. That was all.” It wasn’t, but he can cut things off there.
“I am glad you left Landis. I mean, later, looking back with clearer eyes on things.” Noah sighs and tries to change the subject. “I still take my wine like a Landisser, you know? I might end up just having something without the alcohol.”
Sometimes that was easier than explaining that watering down your wine was traditional.
“There’s an idea.” Aedan’s glad there’s something new to jump onto there. He’s not sure how upset they are, but if he can talk them out of it for now, at least talk Noah out of it, he can go back and poke at it later to smooth things over, because otherwise, it’s probably going to get pretty awkward around here. And it’s honestly been a bit already. “Elle usually does. Mages, alcohol, consumption laws.” he shrugs. “She’s a BIT young though I doubt they’d ask.”
Noah at least takes up the conversational opening. “What are the options like? In Archades it was usually - anything citrus with ice. Maybe carbonated water. Sometimes you got bitters in it, to tint it.”
“There’ll be a mix of stuff. A lot of soda water things if you’re into things being highly caffeinated.” Which Aedan does tend to be at times. “Things with mixing those, ah he’s got a lot of things on hand for mixing drinks that can be useful, I guess, if that’s what you’re about.” Aedan’s usually, when he manages it, without too many people shooting him disapproving looks, even though he can technically get away with it, a whiskey man himself, but. “I’m sure Arno can come up with something. He’s flexible.”
Noah reaches over to touch Basch’s arm lightly. You okay? He’d reach for his hands, but - he can’t really make himself do that without feeling horrible. Basch reaching out doesn’t seem as bad, because he can say that it’s Basch’s choice. “What do you think, Basch? That pub as a potential thing to try?”
Basch flashes Noah a little nod, and squeezes his hand. He’s less guilty than….sad about the whole thing and the fact that, well. ‘Hindsight’s a strange thing’ is one of those sayings that he thinks applies to the moment quite well. It definitely has done a lot for him a bit late to prevent most things from happening, but, well, it’s exactly what it is, and they’ve gotten a shot here, he reminds himself, so he settles for giving Noah the tiniest of smiles with that nod. He’s not okay, but he will be. “I could see us doing that, given the right motivation and time. And avoiding chaos and a lot of fuss. So there’s not a fight this weekend then?”
Noah slides his mostly completed page out of the way to pick up his study guides. “It might be an excuse to look around a little. Get a feel for places. If the weather’s nice. And if it’s not - well - dinner and people sounds like at least a change.” He kind of wants to stock their little freezer if it doesn’t work Maybe get some mushrooms, and he could test that half remembered thing with mushrooms and pasta that their mother used to make.
“That’s true.” Aedan agrees. “There’re a lot of little shops and things around, should have something interesting.” He’s trying to be helpful right now, considering whatever weird mood shift he made happen here. “And people. The people there are usually normal. Usually.” He pauses for a second, thinking that one over. “Well, you may want to avoid Riley,who you’ll know the second you walk in the place, even if he’s not up singing. He’s loud, and a bit prone to being…” He thinks a second. “Wild. Or...wait, what’s the word I’m...raucous. We’ve all learnt THAT the hard way.” he admits, rubbing his temple for half a second in remembrance. “The assassins aren’t so bad themselves at least as groups that come in go. The twins are a little, well, you’re siblings,you know how that goes. “
“Riley. I can remember that.” Noah flips over a page and eyes a page of recommended cooking temperatures for various proteins. Why this mattered for baking bread, Fates only knew, but - “Study guide,” he explains, tipping it around so Aedan can see. “I was thinking about getting a job baking bread at a shop in town. There’s some tests I need to pass. Basch’s been helpful with quizzing me.”
Admittedly, he was half awake making toast and getting quizzed about the difference between ground pork temperatures and whole cut pork temperatures, but - it worked.
“Really?” Aedan’s glancing over, and that’s pretty interesting come to think of that. “Sounds like an idea. I didn’t know you DID baking.” he doesn’t know a LOT about them, though, so there’s a thing. “Supposedly punching bread dough’s supposed to be...therapeutic. Or something. “ He’s pretty sure he’s heard that along the way. Probably somewhere he was talking to a therapist and tuned it out. He did that a lot back then.
“I have? I didn’t do it on a mass scale for the army in ages, but -” Noah shrugs. Peeling a mountain of potatoes wasn’t exactly cooking, in his mind. “It’s following a recipe. And it sounds like it’d be work I could handle. And I wanted to see how hard it’d be. Sort of - get our feet under ourselves.” Is that - pretentious? Basch might put up with that. The - urge to help them be stable, and that they could get some rooms if they had to.
“It IS a good idea.” Basch nods. “At some point we likely WILL get tired of all of you.” He jokes, raising an eyebrow the tiniest bit, because he seems to be being sized up here somehow and...might as well play with expectations a little, right? “I’d thought something in the line of security work, maybe, when I could, though probably not here. I’m told that ruins things a bit.”
Which does get a snort from Aedan, considering. “Hanzo got to you?” he guesses, then he’s back to nodding at Noah. “That’s probably reasonable, though there wouldn’t be any rush more than likely.”
“I’m not sleeping well at night to start with.” Noah gestures. “It sounds better than pacing around and trying to not wake people up. I could see security work being decent. Or maybe self defense classes, if you could be comfortable with it. Training people to feel safe might work.”
And less likely to be a trigger teaching a grandmother to handle a purse snatcher versus dealing with a loud gang of drunks while being a night watchman or something.
“I could do that.” Basch agrees,. “Wouldn’t be so different from some of the things I did, really. If enough people were willing, I see where that might work out well. And you can never be too careful here, considering. We have been lucky, but we can’t expect to count on that forever, so keeping it in mind is good.”
“Nothing helping?” Aedan looks almost sympathetic for a moment there. “That is one of the WORST. “
“Nothing I’ve found yet,” Noah says. “It’s - bad for you as well?” And then he frowns a little. “Was that an unsubtle hint about both of us finding the practice yard at some point, Basch?”
It’s - not too terrifying. They’d probably be rusty and not really good for much of anything afterwards, but - he could face that. Having people there might make it worse.
“At some point in the future but not the QUITE near future.” Basch muses, “Give it a BIT more time, but yes, I think that would be good” He’s not quite sure he’s ready, but he knows that he wants to be, and in this environment? It should be calm enough to manage things to a level that isn’t overwhelming. He won’t say it out loud, but there’s a part of Basch that worries he won’t be able to make things work out the same again.
“Sometimes.” Aedan allows, shrugging it off as best he can. “Sometimes the best to do is just keep going. Not the greatest of ideas, but eventually, it’ll catch up.”
“Reading helps,” Noah says. “You could always message me, if it’s some horrible hour and you can’t sleep. It won’t be great literature, but I won’t be reading aloud to thin air.” The - sound helped. Something about a lamp, and a blanket, and cozily settling in made the darkness seem less - like darkness. Maybe it was a control thing as well? He could flood the room with light, but - he had enough. Maybe. Basch tended to sleep better in half light anyways. Not that they’d talked much about it.
“That sounds like it’d be okay.” Aedan isn’t really one for wanting to bother people, but. “You can try here too, if you need. I’m likely around somewhere doing something.” he’s never certain what that something is going to BE, and some of it’s fairly bizarre, but, coping mechanisms are strange things, he guesses.
“You’ll be comfortable with that? I’d probably be kind of - I don’t know.” Noah looks at Basch. He’s - honestly not sure how bad he was when he woke up from bad dreams. “Aren’t I kind of - quiet?”
“You are, a little.” Basch has to agree there. “It is...nothing terrible. Just different.”He adds, lest it come off like he thinks Noah turns into some kind of wraith of the night. “And dreams do make people…”
“Yeees.” Aedan tries, he really does, not to sound like that’s obvious to him, and he’s barely managing to hold it in but trying. “And, aye, of course I would be.”
“Clear it with the guards, I think. I could do that.” Noah stretches his back a little and shifts to sit more comfortably. He’s just close enough he can feel that Basch is warm. That - helps. “But - we could try it. I bet there’s probably things on the google for ways to get back to sleep. Probably more of those meditation suggestions.”
In his experience, anything that involves sitting still when a fire or the sun isn’t involved tends to just make his brain switch back to a sort of tactical kind of thinking. Too many hours standing around looking ominous in the back of meetings.