InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "potter potter potter"

Shiloh (auguries) wrote in bellumlogs,
@ 2009-12-10 22:47:00

Entry tags:

willful child

Who: Aaron and Shiloh and a box of lucky charms
What: ~~The birds and the bees~~ A roller coaster
Where: The kitchen and the main building hall
When: Before this, which might not happen
Warnings: ~~Anatomy?~~ Sexual discussion, prophesies and bad reactions from the empathic clairvoyant

Shiloh hadn't precisely been eavesdropping on Aaron the night before, but he'd heard enough to know there was a girl and breakfast food involved.

He didn't quite understand everything about his brother yet. He was spending most of his time worried about this building and whether it was a good choice for Aaron. He'd been aware of all the things his mother had said about Aaron when they were growing up, but he hadn't believed them. He knew all about the Devil and demons and how they infested the world and affected man, but he'd also held his baby brother in his arms, and he knew Aaron wasn't what his mother said he was.

But, Shiloh was learning, Aaron was special. That's how Shiloh looked at it - not as a problem, or a thing to be fixed or feared. It was just Aaron. And it was Shiloh's job to make sure that nothing got in the way of Aaron being happy, despite his extraordinary ability.

And the building worried him. Not just because of the murder they'd witnessed or the man in Shiloh's bedroom, but because this place was strange in a way Shiloh didn't know in his bones. Shiloh knew where Satan lived - he walked that territory every day, and he was comfortable in it, knew how to navigate. This place was not like that, but neither was it the promised land.

He hadn't gone to work the evening before, because he hadn't found a way to deal with the effect of his job on Aaron, but that couldn't continue. He would have to find a solution for that also. But the immediate concern was Aaron and breakfast.

He walked out into the living room, clad conservatively in a white ribbed Henley and a pair of very loose, khaki overalls, and he stopped in the center of the living. "Aaron, we need to talk," he said, noticing his brother over the cereal immediately.

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backoff
2009-12-11 04:41 am UTC (link)

Aaron was already dressed. He'd been up for an hour already, messing around in the bathroom and wondering if his hair should stick up like that (roguish?) or if he should try to flatten it down (debonair?). Should he wear the blue shirt with the moose on it or the white shirt with the moose on it? Wait, no, moose were for kids. Did he have any shirts that didn't have moose on them?

It turned out that he didn't have any t-shirts without moose on them. But he had one of those plaid button-ups that could cover up the moose, plus the hoodie (no moose, just a copse of stitched pine trees), and the jacket with the extra pockets. The latter two were on the couch that was now officially Aaron's couch, since it was the only piece of furniture in the entire apartment besides his bed that he'd sit on. He was leaning against the counter and spooning cereal into his mouth when Shiloh showed up. His expression went wary immediately. "About what?"

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	auguries 2009-12-11 04:48 am UTC (link)
	Shiloh walked to the kitchen, he took a condom out of his pocket, and he placed it on the counter beside Aaron's cereal bowl. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	backoff 2009-12-11 04:53 am UTC (link)
	Aaron blinked, then turned scarlet red from ear to ear. "What the hell?" He grabbed the rim of his cereal bowl and pulled it out of range of the offending object, scooching over himself. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	auguries 2009-12-11 04:55 am UTC (link)
	Shiloh tried very hard not to smile, but he failed. The grin was strange on him, a thing rusty and unused. He nudged the condom closer again, and he waited. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	backoff 2009-12-11 04:56 am UTC (link)
	Scooch scooch away. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	auguries 2009-12-11 04:58 am UTC (link)
	Shiloh nudged again, the condom moving closer, almost touching the cereal bowl now. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	backoff 2009-12-11 05:00 am UTC (link)
	Aaron picked up his cereal, bowl and all, holding it possessively to his chest as he backed off into the center of the room. "I don't need that," he said, sounding a little strangled. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	auguries 2009-12-11 05:06 am UTC (link)
	Shiloh picked up the condom packet, and he turned around and watched Aaron's cereal-laden retreat. His voice was very calm, matter-of-fact. "You have to be safe, Aaron. You have no way of knowing if she has diseases, and you don't want her to get pregnant." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	backoff 2009-12-11 05:10 am UTC (link)
	Strangled, and maybe half an octave up: "I know, I mean I have my own. God, I'm not six years old!" Mortified, Aaron looked around for somewhere else to be. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	auguries 2009-12-11 05:12 am UTC (link)
	Shiloh pointed to the couch, then sat down on the opposing one himself. He was calm and nonplussed, though he was starting to worry about the future security of the cereal bowl. "Sit down. Have you had sex before?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	backoff 2009-12-11 05:16 am UTC (link)
	Aaron stared at the ceiling. "Oh my God we are not having this conversation." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

auguries
2009-12-11 05:20 am UTC (link)

Shiloh took that to be a 'no,' because he assumed that someone comfortable with sex wouldn't be so embarrassed by it. He didn't know it was a standard reaction for teenagers when discussing sex with elders - see, Shiloh considered himself the adult in their relationship, much older than Aaron was.

"You haven't. Have you thought that a condom might make it easier not to be," he thought, paused, "overwhelmed?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	backoff 2009-12-11 05:24 am UTC (link)
	He shot Shiloh a furious look. "We are not talking about this." He turned on his heel and took his cereal to the kitchen sink. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	auguries 2009-12-11 05:27 am UTC (link)
	Shiloh kept talking, just as calmly, but loudly enough so that his voice would carry. "Are you planning on keeping most of your clothing on?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	backoff 2009-12-11 05:29 am UTC (link)
	Desperately clattering in the sink and running the water to drown this conversation out. "I'm not planning anything," fantasizing, yes, planning, no, "God, mind your own damn business!" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	auguries 2009-12-11 05:33 am UTC (link)
	Shiloh stood, and he walked to the kitchen again. He sat on one of the barstools, and he folded his arms on the counter. "Aaron, please, can we discuss this? I understand you're embarrassed, but you shouldn't be. Men have known women intimately since the Garden of Eden. It's normal and healthy and as intended." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	backoff 2009-12-11 05:35 am UTC (link)
	"I know all this already." Frantic handwaving. "I don't need to hear it." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	auguries 2009-12-11 05:36 am UTC (link)
	Calmly. "Then tell me what your plan is." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	backoff 2009-12-11 05:40 am UTC (link)
	"I have no plans. I'm just going for breakfast." Even if he just ate. His bag was on the counter, and he grabbed it and headed for the exit. "Bye." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	auguries 2009-12-11 05:42 am UTC (link)
	Shiloh was on in his feet before Aaron made it halfway, and he grabbed the back of one of Aaron's many shirt collars with bare fingers. He was exuding worry - over Aaron, over work, over Shane, over the apartment building, over this unknown girl. It was something deep in his skin. "We aren't done." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	backoff 2009-12-11 05:47 am UTC (link)
	"Grk," Aaron said, as he was hauled to a stop. He grabbed his shirt collar and yanked it forward so he could breathe, whirling around with one elbow up. He caught Shiloh in the middle of the elbow and broke his grip, swift, entirely painless, and backed away toward the door. His face was set stubbornly. "I said I have to go." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	auguries 2009-12-11 05:50 am UTC (link)
	Shiloh's eyes glazed over, and he froze, all the feelings completely seeping away from him instantly. One minute there, the other minute gone, as if they'd never existed. "Six's howls fill the night When the Color of Warning Is touched by the brother of Moses." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

backoff
2009-12-11 05:54 am UTC (link)

Aaron turned white. Only one thing made people drop from his senses like that. The backpack hit the floor. Crossing the space between them in a lunge, Aaron reached forward and caught Shiloh by the front of the shirt in a strange reversal of their previous position, absolutely certain he was going to drop to the floor at any moment. He barely even heard the words.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	auguries 2009-12-11 05:57 am UTC (link)
	Shiloh didn't drop. In fact, he didn't even realize anything had happened. Everything slammed back into place a second after the last syllable was spoken. "Wha-" he frowned. Aaron hadn't been this close a moment ago. His gaze went to the bag on the floor, then to Aaron's terrified looking face. "What? What is it?" He cupped Aaron's cheeks, worried. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

backoff
2009-12-11 06:03 am UTC (link)

And just like that, it all turned back on again. Like a switch flipped, and he was Shiloh again. But a moment ago, he'd been dead. Really dead. Dead like you fall on the floor and never come back again. Just like dad.

Aaron lived in a world where people were feelings, sensed long before he could make out the shape of them with his eyes. His father had been happy, distracted, only moments before he died. Then, three rooms away in the garage, Aaron had felt a spike of fear--and then nothing. A gaping, empty, nothing. Because death took everything from you, but it started with your feelings first.

Aaron knocked Shiloh's hands off of him. His face was still white and absolutely frozen in terror, and he stumbled back away from him, whirling around blindly. Still without a coherent word or thought, he picked up his bag, threw the door open, and ran out of the apartment.