psychicsam (psychicsam) wrote in btvsal, @ 2010-06-06 20:41:00 |
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Who: Sam and Skylar
Where: Chloe's Sugar Shack
When: May 18th, Morning
The dark-haired man reached into the back pocket of his slacks as he exited the yellow taxi, opening his wallet and handing the cabbie the fair plus a generous tip. They'd arrived relatively safely at the address Skylar had texted him over an hour before, a place that he now saw was called the "Sugar Shack." People frequently described nights like the one he'd just had as passing in a "blur," but that wasn't the case at all for Samuel - he remembered every detail, from the coolness of the whiskey glass against his palm to the taste of candy-flavored lip gloss, the comforting burn of a cigarette to the tinkling notes of a woman's laughter, and the plush softness of skin, cotton, and down.
Considering the night's activities, he was in surprisingly good shape - clean shaven, hair done, teeth brushed, though his clothes looked a little rumpled. He even managed to wake up with nary the sign of a hangover. Interestingly, it had been Haylee who had suggested he stop trying to look for Skylar and instead just try her cell; that Sky hadn't taken more than a few minutes to respond to his text amused the blonde songstress to no end. He must have done something right, though - he'd ended up with Haylee James' personal number and a promise that he would see her soon.
Adjusting his sunglasses, Sam moved out of the street and onto the sidewalk, casting about, surveying the outdoor seating area for his sister and her familiar multi-hued locks.
Oh dear. Skylar hadn't been expecting to hear from her oldest brother at all, much less hear that he was in LA and wanted to talk to her. Kind of weird really. She knew that it couldn't be anything too horrible since he had only texted but there were certainly levels of horrid that it could still be.
Then she passed by a news stand and saw what her brother had been up to since his arrival. LA had daily gossip magazines that it put out, and her brother was on it as 'Haylee James's New Beau.' Ugh, didn't her brother have better taste than some pop tart?
When the taxi arrived, she peaked over her magazine, looking him over. He nose caught the faint scent of a woman's perfume and other, less pleasant smells that she didn't want to associate with her brother. Oh this day was starting off WELL.
"Hello brother dear," she said to him. "I'd ask what you've been up to, but all I had to look at was the front page for that."
It wasn't as though they hadn't showered - they most certainly had. But, showering required nudity, and nudity led to... other things. The shirt needed to be laundered as it smelled not only of Haylee's perfume but also of cigarette smoke. Nothing a spin cycle and some detergent wouldn't take care of; he hadn't spilled alcohol on himself - that would have been a tragic waste of perfectly good Jameson's, after all.
Samuel opened his mouth to speak, but that urge was quickly squelched as his sister continued on. Then he spied the magazine in her hand. Reaching forward, he pinched the rag between thumb and forefinger and pulled it back so that he could look at the cover upside down. Sure enough, there on the front was a photograph of the silver-tressed, sequin-skirted pop star and himself. "Jesus Christ," Sam muttered, releasing the magazine and pulling out a chair for himself.
"They don't waste any time in this town, do they?" he asked, reaching for the pack of cigs in his shirt pocket, taking them out and dropping them on the table between he and Skylar.
"One night in town and I'm already front page news," he said, cracking a sardonic grin. "Morning, sis."
She could smell the cigarette smoke on his clothes as well, but, other than making her a bit nauseated, that wasn't the smell that was bothering her. Ugh, did he have to nail a freaking pop star?She wanted to gag, even if she knew that her parents might get a kick out of it. Nice people, bit ever the social climbers.
"Welcome to LA," she said to him with a slight smirk. "They do work very quickly here, as do you, it seems." She took a sip of her decaffinated coffee (caffiene was bad for the baby, after all) as she looked up at him. "Really, in this town you have to always keep your eyes open for those photographers, especially if you're going to run around with the likes of Haylee James."
"So, other than having fun with pop stars, what beings you to LA?" She couldn't help but be curious.
"It wasn't like I landed in LA with the notion that I was going to go out and bang the first celebrity I ran into. Things just sort of... happened," Sam said, spreading his hands, looking a little exasperated, then shrugged. For a moment, he actually looked like the perfect picture of a sullen teenager, but it passed as he wiped a hand over his face. He glanced up at his sister's face, noting that vague look of nausea, and reached for the pack of cigs again, tucking them away back into his shirt pocket.
"Actually, I'm here to see you," he replied, shifting in his chair, eyeing the magazine, then returning his attention to his sister. "Haven't seen you since Thanksgiving and, well... I thought I'd come out and catch up. See what your scene was all about." That was, of course, a lie, and he knew that she would see straight through him.
"Few people go out with the intention of banging a celebrity," Skylar pointed out to him. "The few who do usually can't get within ten feet of them without security jumping all over them." The last part she said with a little smile, since she knew just what was going on with Haylee's stalker.
She narrowed her eyes at him when he said he just wanted to check out her scene. "Because a person usually shows up to LA and not call until they are already there when they just want to see what's going on," Skylar pointed out. "What's really up?"
"Yeah, well, your older brother apparently has something of a silver tongue," Sam replied, tilting his head to the side as she smiled that enigmatic little smile. "She was in the VIP area at Avarice, and the staff apparently thought my last name was good enough to allow me up there as well. We had a good time."
Then, she decided to get serious on him, and his demeanor fell, his expression changing from slightly mischievous to sullen resignation. Samuel drummed his fingers on the metal tabletop, his eyes shifting away from his sister to look for a waitress. He could do with coffee.
"Something's... happened in the last couple of weeks. I can't explain it at all. And... I haven't told anyone else about this," he began, haltingly. "There's something going on with me, Sky. I'm... I'm hearing voices, and not in that, 'Let's write you a script for Abilify,' kind of way. This is... something else."
"Well, aren't you just lucky then?" she asked him. "They did ask me for a list of people I wanted taken care of it they ever showed up. I put your name on there just in case you came up for a social call." She had the feeling that this wasn't quite one of those, however. He would have called before making one of those.
She could easily see that something was troubling him. After a waitress came over and took his order, she listened as he explained what was going on with him. "You're hearing voices?" she asked. That was...disconcerting. Of course, knowing what she knew, it could be a number of things, and not all of them meant that he had schizophrenia. "What types of voices? What are they saying?"
"Don't worry - we're not talking Son of Sam or anything. The dog isn't telling me he's a reincarnation of the Archangel Michael," her brother quipped, frowning in irritation at himself. How do you bring up something like this to your sister? There really wasn't anything to think that she would be any more equipped to answer this question than anyone else, aside from her occasional interest in the supernatural.
"I think... I'm hearing thoughts, Sky," Sam said, lowering his voice when the waitress appeared with his coffee. He reached for the sugar, pouring a little in and giving the dark liquid a stir with his spoon. "Other people's thoughts. Everyone. Anyone. And... I can't control it." The elder James sibling looked back at his sister again, his frown easing. "I'm not crazy, Sky. I'm not."
She breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, because I'd rather not have to have you committed, to be honest," she said to him. She wouldn't want to have to explain that to their parents, family, friends, and casual acquaintances. Even more, she'd be worried about him, even if they could pay for the best of help that could be found.
"You're hearing thoughts?" She didn't sound skeptical. Just curious. "And this is a recent thing?" She shook her head. "I don't think you're crazy. This is something that can happen on occasion, although it's actually kind of rare." And can drive a person insane, if they couldn't learn to control it, but she wasn't going to say that at the moment.
"Trust me - I'd rather not be committed. Mom and Dad would flip if one of the four of us ended up in a psych ward somewhere," Sam retorted, taking a sip from his mug, brows lifting. That was really good coffee. Their parents probably wouldn't actually freak out about it, but there would be a great deal of concern, and Sam knew that there would be whisperings about the "crazy James boy" if word were to get out into their social circle.
"That's what I think it is - what they are, I mean," he continued, looking at her over the rim of his coffee mug, glancing at the magazine again, then back at her. He finally smiled again when she told him she didn't think he was crazy. "Yeah, it's not like you hear about something like this happening every day, Sky."
"It's hard to explain. If I'm in a crowded room, it's like a radio being flipped too quickly between stations, one voice after another, sometimes a bunch at once. If I'm just talking to one person, I'll usually only hear their thoughts." The smile turned mischievous again, and he showed her a grin. "Come on. Try me."
"They'd do more than flip and you know it," she said to him. "They'd lose their social status, and we just can't have that happen, can we?" She was teasing. Her parents, despite their constant care of their reputations, had always been loving and even somewhat indulgent of them. It was why
"You'd be amazed at what I hear every day," Skylar told him. Really, what she dealt with on a daily basis, like marrying into a family of mafia werewolves, would blow his mind. And she hoped he hadn't just picked that up from her thoughts. "So, does that mean you can read my thoughts then?"
Sam couldn't help but smirk at that; socially conscious though they may have been, their parents were nothing if not loving and devoted. In many ways, their parents avoided a lot of the negative stereotypes that circulated about the very rich and their attitudes toward parenting and children, a fact for which he had always been grateful.
"I can - I mean, I'm not, not right now, anyway," he replied quickly, waving a hand to allay any concern. "But that's only because I'm actively preventing myself from doing it. I'm trying not to - no one needs anyone else digging around in their heads. But it can happen if I'm not ... keeping my guard up, I guess." He shrugged a little deeper into his chair, the smirk remaining on his lips. "It could be useful for poker, I guess."
"Good," she said when he told her that he wasn't reading her thoughts. That would just expose him to a lot more supernatural stuff that he was prepared for right now. The ability to read minds was probably screwing with him enough right now. After they figure out what was going on with that, then they could establish the fact that monsters were very, very real.
"It would work great for poker," she said to him. "We should talk to Ben about this. He might know someone who knows more about mind readers than I do. I really only just know that they exist, well, outside of you, obviously."
"I don't plan on using it at all, Sky," Sam replied, looking down at his cup of coffee, brushing his fingertips rhythmically across his forehead. Whatever this was, it seemed to be causing him some amount of distress. Skylar's elder brother was not known for his dark moods; true to form, the moment passed, and that smile of his returned - perhaps a little tighter than before, but it was there - his eyes shifting toward his sister.
"And in case you're wondering - and I know you are," he teased, "no, I didn't use my superpowers to get into Haylee's hotel room. That was all James family charm." The smile widened until it was a toothy grin, and he gave her a wink.
"You don't give me enough credit," Skylar said to him with a slight laugh. "I actually assumed that you got into the room with James family charm. You and I both know that it doesn't take the ability to mind read to get into a girl's hotel room." Oh, Skylar definitely knew that. All it took usually was a couple of nice words and maybe buying a few choice drinks.
She leaned over onto one elbow and looked at him for a moment. "So, I'm guessing you're looking for a way to turn this new power off then? When did it first start happening?"
"No, I guess it doesn't," Samuel replied with a chuckle, taking a long, appreciative sip of his coffee. Some part of him had wanted to peek into Haylee's mind last night, to find out just what it was she saw in him that made her take him back to her room. He didn't - any telepathic eavesdropping had occurred accidentally - and it was enough for him to know that she felt a bond with him, that she trusted him.
"But it's a damn good thing that she reciprocated, because if she hadn't, I probably would be sitting here with my arm in a sling and my neck in a brace." Her bodyguards were very large men.
He set his mug down and sighed, his gaze moving out over the mostly vacant tables. "Yes. No. I mean... I think so," Sam replied to her question about his condition. "Something like this, I mean... it doesn't have to be a bad thing. It could even be a good thing. But... I can't control it, and that's what's driving me crazy. It's like... having a swarm of bees in my head."
"I guess it's a good thing that she reciprocated," Skylar said with a slight smirk. OK, she was mostly teasing. She actually didn't know Haylee James at all. Just because they were both in the music business didn't mean that they actually knew each other. She had only started seeing her around recently, and she was sure that had to do with Ben sort of offering her sanctuary at Avarice and giving her body guards.
"That's something that you'll have to think about then," Skylar said to him. "We can probably find a way for you to get rid of it, but there's probably a way for you to control it, too, so that you're not randomly reading thoughts that you have NO business reading." She smiled when she said the last thing. "How long are you planning on staying in LA?"
Sam narrowed his eyes at his sister in a mock scowl as she teased him. "You might not be particularly fond of my limbs, Sky, but I am," he countered, giving his coffee another stir, the metal spoon clinking softly against the ceramic. His dark eyes shifted to the bottom of the mug, realizing it was almost empty.
"Yeah, that's something to consider, I guess. This all came on so quickly that I just... I freaked out. I thought I was going insane. I didn't know what to do, Skylar. But I'm not planning on going all superhero with this if I can't get rid of it. No yellow spandex for me," he replied, shaking his head, waving a hand in a dismissive gesture.
"That... I'm not real sure about. I'd really only planned on staying here until this problem got dealt with. I didn't plan on, y'know, meeting anyone. But then, for all I know, I'm just the flavor of the month... or week... or hell, the evening. I have no idea." Another sip of coffee and his eyes slid back toward her again. "You know, Haylee made the comment that she hadn't met you yet. I know you hate her music, but, well... could be fun, sis."
"Oh I'm sure your limbs would be fine," Skylar said right back to him. "Most body guards would only rough you up a little and then toss you out, anyway." She had employed them in the past, plus she knew of the bouncers at Avarice and Saints and Sinners. None of them would do MUCH more than a general roughing up.
She laughed a little at the yellow spandex comment. If only he knew what SHE was up to in her spare time. "I'm not sure I can picture you in yellow spandex," she said to him. "I'm kind of grateful for that inability, actually. Very, very relieved." Because no one should have to accidentally picture their siblings in spandex. That was a crime against humanity.
"Did she give you a number?" Skylar asked him. "You can always ask her if it was anything. True, it can come up as a little...well, scary...so maybe call her up and ask her our for coffee or dinner or something? If she says yes, then you might have a future."
Sam smirked at her comment about bodyguards - she would know, after all - but when he was sitting in Haylee's hotel room, he'd very much felt like he was taking his own life in his hand with that first kiss. Fortunately, she'd reciprocated. "She did," he replied, waving over a waiter and gesturing to his coffee. "We exchanged numbers. I'll give the idea of coffee or dinner some thought, but I'm not going to obsess over this like some starstruck fanboy."
Coffee refilled, he took a sip and sighed with satisfaction, settling back against his chair. "Well, enough about my problems. I haven't seen you since November. And... unless I'm terribly mistaken, it looks like you, sister dear, are in the 'family way,'" Sam mused, tilting his head to the side, eyes lowering briefly to her abdomen. "How far along are you?" he asked with a genuine smile.
"Give it a couple of days and give her a call," Skylar said to him. "I'm sure that, if she's have as intelligent as you seem to think she is, then she'll jump at the chance." She could tell her brother was smitten, even if he wasn't wanting to come off like a start stuck person. He was smitten with her not what she did for a living. She hoped the girl wanted to go out with him, for his sake, if nothing else.
"Oh yeah, family way," she said, looking down at her belly. She wasn't using being pregnant as an excuse to gorge herself, but she was still starting to show at this point. "Five months along," she said, looking up and smiling brightly at him. "Just called mom recently about it. He wasn't exactly planned." She had HOPED to get married before having the baby. She still wasn't good at pulling that off, it seemed. "Still, wouldn't trade him for the world."
"We'll see," Sam replied, fingering the rim of the coffee cup. She could, most likely, see his mind drifting away briefly to the night before. The elder James sibling broke his reverie with a shake of his head. It was idiotic to moon over someone like that. Rich and well-connected their family may have been, but this - dating an international celebrity - was an area in which his expertise was lacking.
"Five months?" he asked, a smile returning to his face, matching his sister's. "Hm. That's twice now, sis," Sam chided her, shaking his index finger at her. She'd been unmarried during her first pregnancy as well, shortly before her marriage to Gwen. "You're just lucky that our parents are the progressive sort. I imagine that
"I think that our parents are just really glad that I'm willing to reproduce for them and give them grandchildren," Skylar pointed out to him. She had only been interested in women for so many years that, for the longest time, they had sort of resigned themselves to the fact that Skylar herself would not be giving them any grandchildren, which was apparently important. But now they already had one from her, and another on the way.
"
In truth, he couldn't be happier for her - she seemed positively head-over-heels in love with Ben. Moreover, Sam wasn't the sort to condemn anyone - let alone his own flesh and blood - for having a child in a less than conventional fashion. Looking at her sitting there across from her as she smiled, he knew Skylar was happy, and that was enough for him. "Well, for what it's worth," Sam said, shifting again in his chair to find a more comfortable position, "I think it's terrific. I can't wait to meet the new addition." He smiled at her again, looking proud.
"I'm glad to hear that. That girl is doing her best to become a grown up as quickly as possible. I'll give her a call or text her while I'm in town. With all of us living so far apart, I don't get to see enough of my sisters. Maybe I should consider this a permanent relocation," Sam mused, only half-serious. "Or, I'll find a place with month-to-month leasing and at least stay until the wedding. I'm sure I can figure out some way to keep myself occupied between now and then."
The elder James sibling tilted his head to the side again, the better to look at his sister. "You look good, Sky. You look... happy," he said approvingly.
She smiled at him. "Well, he'll be here soon enough, for all the world to see." Well, to see in baby form, but that was way more complicated than she felt like explaining to her brother right now. Really, they were soon going to have to have a long talk about everything that was going on with the supernatural stuff, but now wasn't the time. Especially not in public. No freaking way.
"There are plenty of good places around here that you could stay at," she said to him, happy to hear that he would at least be staying for a while, if nothing else. She'd love to see him move here permanently, but she didn't want to push. If this thing with Haylee James worked out, maybe he would, though. "I'm sure we can find you something decent that will let you start off paying by the month."
"Thanks," she said to him. "I am happy. I'm happier than I ever thought was possible." And she had thought that with Gwen, but now she was even happier, if that was possible.
"I'll be happy to have your help doing some apartment shopping if it comes to that, Sky," Sam replied with a grin. "As it is, I've set aside a few weeks to see if we can get this... thing sorted out," he continued, gesturing to his temple. "Right now I'm just at the Hyatt Regency. And no, I'm not using the business account - just the Platinum," he explained, chuckling.
He hadn't anticipated this process taking more time than that, if it could be dealt with at all. It was supposed to be easy: fly to LA, find Skylar, see if she knew anything or anyone that could help, getting treatment - or whatever one might call it - and going back home to a normal life devoid of the constant barrage of stranger's thoughts. Amazing how quickly things could change.
"Well, see if you think Ben - or anyone else you might know - can help, and we'll go from there. We should make a point of spending some time together while I'm here, Sky. I'm just a phone call and a cab ride away."
"If you decide to stay, I'd be more than happy to help you with some apartment hunting," Skylar said to him. She would have loved to have another sibling in the area. Actually, she'd be more than happy to live at least in the same state as the rest of her family right now. However, she loved LA too much to do any sort of moving back to
She herself wasn't sure how long it would take to find someone to help him with his new 'gift.' She was sure that she or Ben could locate someone that might be able to train him to tune thoughts out and such, but she wasn't sure if there would be a way to actually get rid of it. Then again, Ash managed to turn Meredith back to a human from a vampire, so anything was truly possible.
"I'm sure that me or Ben can find someone to help you out. I'd be more than happy to spend time with you while you're here, though," she said with a smile. "You, me, and
She was a good sister, and sitting there across from her for the first time in six months, Sam realized how much he had missed her. Perhaps it was time for a change of scenery. Just because they had all grown up didn't mean they had to grow apart. Maybe this visit to
"We should absolutely plan on dinner Lyds. It'd be just like old times, only now, we can both drink in front of her." Sam suddenly looked abashed, glancing at his sister's abdomen. "Okay, well, I can drink in front of her, anyway."
"I need to shake a leg. I promised Dad that I'd be available for conference calls while I was away, and we've got one this afternoon. But yeah, let's plan on dinner," Sam said, shifting to reach for his wallet, taking out his credit card and laying it on the table. "And you better save me a seat in the VIP lounge when your band is playing at Avaraice, Sky," he said, pointing a finger at her for emphasis, that easy smile remaining on his face all the while.
She just laughed when he said that now they could drink in front of Lyds, and then corrected himself. "Well, trust me when I say that we could have drank in front of her before and she never would have batted an eye." She was just glad that the girl had calmed down a bit. Gideon had been a very good influence on her.
"Alright, you get going, then," Skylar said to him. "We definitely have to get together soon, all three of us, and just hang out for a little while." With the baby coming, the wedding, and a soon to be tour as well, they had better get in some hanging time soon before Skylar ran completely out of spare time to share with others.
"Yeah, I get the feeling that alcohol is kind of old news for the Littlest James," Sam replied, laughing along with Skylar. "I'll send her a text, see if I can meet up with her in the next day or two. I hope she's keeping out of trouble these days." The waitress returned a few moments later with his card and the bill, and Sam signed the receipt and tucked his card away.
"Let me know what Ben says, will you?" Standing from his chair, he crossed to the other side of the table and leaned down to give Skylar a kiss on the cheek and a squeeze of her shoulder. "Love you, sis. I'll call you later." Sam smiled broadly. "It's great to see you, Sky."