jack morehead ⚡ harry potter (stagofsilver) wrote in dunhavenic, @ 2018-05-01 06:34:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log, * jach, c: jack morehead, r * laura, r: brynn stone |
WHO: Brynn Stone ( → Eleven) & Jack Morehead ( → Harry Potter)
WHERE: Dunhaven Park.
WHEN: Saturday, April 21st; evening.
WHAT: Double the visions makes for a memorable first date.
STATUS: log; complete.
As first dates went, this one had Brynn wondering why she hadn’t asked him out herself long before. Logically, she knew why: that even though flirting over the cups of coffee she made him should have been taken as a good sign, she’d taken it as playful kindness that didn’t mean anything more. That, instead of taking a risk, she held herself at a distance. It took time for her to warm up to people in a deeper sort of way; she’d been to enough therapists over the years that she knew why. The longer she talked to Jack, though, the more stupid she felt for holding back as long as she had, and for doubting his sincerity. He was great. He was nothing at all like her father. He was attentive and funny, he was kind. She’d already known that, but spending this time with him one-on-one cemented that feeling. In an effort to keep it going and get away from any prying eyes, she’d suggested walking to the park. It was still a little chilly out for spring, so she stepped a little closer to Jack as they walked, hoping to somehow absorb a bit of his body heat in the process. “It feels like spring’s taken forever to get here,” she commented, wrinkling her nose. “Or maybe that’s because I flew to Louisiana for a few days and forgot what cold felt like.” “Ssh.” Jack cautioned Brynn with an over-dramatic finger pressed against his lips. “Dunhaven Spring is an elusive creature. If you offend her, she may never come at all.” He grinned in her direction. “Comparing her to Louisiana is a sure fire way to get us another five downpours, three snowstorms, and some hail.” As she moved closer to him, Jack reciprocated in kind. Honestly, he didn’t mind the chilly weather one bit. The somber weather of Dunhaven winters actually comforted him. Maybe it was just that he’d grown up there, but the gloomy, grey skies had always brought him a sense of peace and home. And providing him with an excuse to be closer to Brynn wasn’t bad in his book either. He was actually a bit giddy with it all. Brynn was kind, and funny, and easy to talk with. She’d kept a stupid smile on his face for the entire evening. More than a few of Jack’s first dates over the years had been awkward and stilted. Barely any fun at all. But tonight everything seemed to click into place. There were no prolonged pauses or painful fake laughs. Everything seemed simple and fun. Eager to see it continue, Jack hadn’t hesitated to agree to her walk suggestion. As they walked closely together, their hands brushed against one another, which sent a jolt through his nerves. Acting on impulse, Jack laced his fingers through Brynn’s and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Bryn laughed and gave his hand a squeeze back. “I lived in New York City from 2007 ‘til last year, save for the one year I lived here, I think I can handle --” The ground swayed and shifted under her feet, and Brynn stumbled into another place. Lights blinked, and someone - Mike? Was that Mike? - held her hand tightly, telling her the bad man was gone and that they’d be home soon. His voice was full of promises she knew he could never fulfill, but this time, she wasn’t mad at him for lying. Sometimes you lied to a friend to protect them or to make them feel better when it felt like everything was going to end. She could still hear the monster. She could hear the walls creak. It wasn’t over yet. The hand left hers when they heard a screech and gunshots from the hallway outside. The monster burst through the door, and the boys tried to stop it but they weren’t a match. They needed her. She pinned it to the wall and still it screamed at her, angry. She was the one who’d brought it to this world, so she was the one who had to destroy it. ‘No more.’ She lifted a hand, and the monster’s claw reached out towards her. Her scream pierced the air -- ”Brynn!" Jack’s face contorted in terror. He didn’t understand what had just happened. One moment Brynn had been fine, laughing with him about the weather, and the next...she seemed to be trapped by something he couldn’t see. “Brynn, can you hear me?” Jack’s heart thumped loudly in his ears as he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, trying to snap her out of it. To wake her up-- ”Ginny!” Harry muttered desperately, shaking her by the shoulders. “Ginny, please wake up!” Horror gripped him as her head lolled to the side. ‘She won’t wake.’ That voice. Tom Riddle. Harry was on his feet again, worried and anxious. There was something else in here with them. A basilisk...they had to get out. He had to save Ginny. But there was something funny about Tom, the memory from an old diary. Lord Voldemort, his own memory whispered back to him. A name feared by nearly everyone. A name that no one dared speak aloud. This boy, this memory of Tom Riddle, was Lord Voldemort. He summoned the basilisk. Harry heard Riddle’s hissing voice. ‘Kill him.’ Brynn’s vision cleared as soon as the monster was disintegrated (as soon as she was, too), but Jack looked like he was somewhere else. Is that what she looked like, she wondered, when she’d been remembering, just now? It was one thing to dream, to wake up feeling like she remembered something new from a life that wasn’t hers. It was something else entirely to see something when she was fully awake. What had caused it? She could figure that all out later, though. Jack was more important than whatever she’d been through just now. She took his hand and tugged on it gently, trying to bring him out of whatever daze he was in. “Hey, Jack?” Her other hand reached up to cup his jaw. “I’m here, okay? I’m not leaving.” Her heart felt like it was going to jump right out of her chest, and she felt all shaky and unsteady. “Come back to me.” Harry’s racing to stay alive now. He’s only twelve. Still just a boy. But he has to find a way to stay alive. To make it out of this Chamber. The now blinded basilisk was coming after him by smell. Its massive tail whipped around the stone chamber. “Help me.” Harry pleaded to someone. To anyone who might hear him. Because without it he and Ginny both will surely end up dead. And suddenly there it is. The Sorting Hat. Frayed and patched, it seems completely useless. But it’s all he’s got. Harry jams it down onto his head. Immediately he’s forced to throw himself flat on the floor to avoid being taken down by the basilisk’s tail. And amid all his terror, somehow that hat does help him. It gives him the sword. Harry’s back on his feet now. The sword is heavy in his hand. It was forged for someone much taller and stronger than this skinny boy. But he’s a boy who will still fight, no matter what. He is ready. The giant snake lunged for him, fangs bared, and Harry dodged. The venomous fangs narrowly missed him, and Harry felt a surge of adrenaline. He could do this. The snake lunged again, and Harry threw all his weight behind the bejeweled sword. They clashed together. Harry’s weapon driven through the roof of the basilisk’s mouth, but he’d sacrificed himself to do it. One long poisonous fang sank deeper and deeper into his arm. Harry slid back down to the floor. White hot pain filled his small body. His vision went red. He was dying. But at least he wasn’t alone. Fawkes the phoenix was there with him. Crying for him. Harry could feel himself growing drowsy. As his eyes flew back open again, Jack saw only Brynn. No monsters. No death. He shook himself, as if trying to shake away the memories that seemed so intent on haunting him. He inhaled deeply and tried to slow his heart rate back to normal. “I’m okay.” His hand reached up and covered hers, pressing it gently against the side of his face. “I’m all right. Are you?” “That’s…” Brynn sighed, almost a dry laugh. What was ‘all right’ if she was seeing things? Getting triggered by a man holding her hand? “That’s a complicated question.” She felt better hearing his voice and knowing he was there, however, cheesy as that was. “I think I’m okay, though.” She looked around, then, to check if anyone else had noticed anything strange about them. Deep down, she knew she was still on edge because she expected something to creep out of the shadows. When she looked up at Jack again, it was with a little uncertainty and fear in her eyes. “Just - did you go somewhere else for a second there too? Because -” She kept her voice low so no one could overhear. “That was really weird.” Her voice was helping calm him down. It grounded him back into the present, into Dunhaven. He inhaled deeply once again and watched her as she looked around them. When their gaze met, he hesitated. Teeth anxiously chewed on his tongue for a moment. It was only that word too that let him nod. He wasn’t alone in this. Maybe whatever was happening to him was happening to her as well. That made him feel a little braver. He nodded. “Yeah. It was…” He sighed, and struggled to find the words. “Do you mind if we keep walking while we talk? I’m feeling a little antsy right now.” He paused. “Unless you just want to go home? I can drive you.” His brow creased with concern as he studied her. “No!” Brynn’s eyes widened. The last thing she wanted was to go home to Rhys and Lyllia and their questions, and to be left alone with her own questions and insecurities. If she walked away now after whatever happened, he might not want to see her again. Then, calmer, she continued, “no, I don’t want to go home yet.” She turned her hand so she could clasp his again, fearing for a moment that something else would set her off. She held her breath and nothing happened. Instead, she just felt the warmth from his hand, and felt like, for a moment, maybe everything would be okay. “I don’t want to leave you like this. And honestly I will probably have nightmares of the shit I saw so I’d rather put that off as long as possible.” Jack was surprised at the relief he felt when she said she wanted to stay. He didn’t want to go home either. Or more accurately, he wanted to stay with her. Somehow they were dealing with the same thing and he felt even more connected to her now. He took her hand again and rubbed his thumb against the back of her palm. After a moment, the pair set off back to the direction of the park. Jack’s shoulders were slumped a bit more than usual and he felt both amped up and exhausted all at once. “This is the second time this has happened to me now. My whole body freezes up and I get like, lost in these memories. But they aren’t mine.” “Yeah, me too,” she admitted. It was so unnerving to say outloud, even to someone who was going through the same thing. It felt real. “One time, I was in the middle of the frozen breakfast aisle at the grocery store. I was looking at the frozen waffles. I mean, what is that? And then I saw myself stealing like four boxes of Eggos. Like I just picked them up and walked right out.” She chuckled lightly. It was a little ridiculous once she put some distance in between that moment and the present. “The other times I was sleeping. Most of it …” Brynn’s voice trailed off as she tried to decide how to describe it. “It isn’t pretty.” The story about the waffles earned a small smile. He could just see her staring at those Eggos. And it gave him an idea for their second date. If there was one. “I’m just a little kid in mine. Around eleven, and…” His face scrunched up as those first memories began resurfacing in his mind. “It isn’t pretty either. I live with this horrid,” (Since when does Jack say horrid?) “aunt and uncle. They won’t give me a real bedroom in their home. I have to sleep in a cupboard under their staircase. I never get food, and they shout at me constantly. I mean, can you imagine growing up that way?” He shakes his head. “This one was even worse, though. There was this...monster. It was coming to kill me.” ”And I think it did?” A tiny voice echoed in the back of his mind, though he kept that thought to himself. His lips pressed together in a thin line. As she listened to Jack describe what he’d been seeing, Brynn was struck by how similar their stories were. Raised by people who didn’t treat them well, locked away in small rooms, being shouted at or ignored. Brynn shuddered, and not because of the cold. It was horrible to see in dreams or whatever they were; it would be so much worse to actually live through it. And she’d always thought her childhood was rough, with a dead mother and a father who barely knew she was alive. It put things into perspective. “Mine was like that too,” she said. “Monster trying to kill … my friends, mostly. I could face it but they would’ve died.” She could still smell it. “I was going to sacrifice myself up to save them. I was just a kid, too. Twelve, maybe, I’m not sure.” Jack felt a surge of anger bubble up in his chest, which was odd, because he wasn’t usually prone to tempers. The whole thing was a confusing mess and he just wanted to do something to fix it. But he’d never be able to figure out what to do if he didn’t even understand what was happening. “I just wish I knew what it meant. I mean...is this like past lives? Visions or something?” He aimed a kick at a pebble in the middle of the path and it went skipping off into the darkness. He wouldn’t suggest that he was going crazy, though. Because it was happening to Brynn too, and that meant it wasn’t his brain taking a nose-dive into hallucinations. “Do you think it’s happening to anyone else?” “I don’t know,” she answered, frowning. “You’re the first person I’ve really told.” Brynn hadn’t even gotten into it much with Rhys, and he was usually the one she turned to with problems. She’d kept this one to herself, however, and had tried to manage on her own as much as she could. She hadn’t been able to figure it out yet, but maybe there was some value in not doing it alone. “Shitty past lives, if that’s what it is. Why do we get monsters and people locking us in dark rooms? We couldn’t be… space explorers or something cool. Like one shitty childhood isn’t enough? It sucks.” It did suck. Moreso for Brynn, Jack figured. Because at least he has one happy childhood. But still, it wasn’t fair that either of them had to experience abuse and trauma through these visions. And something told Jack that whatever was happening wasn’t just going to go away on its own. “Does it make me a total asshole if I say I’m kind of glad I’m not alone in this?” “God, no. I’m glad, too.” Maybe she should have felt bad for feeling that way, but Brynn didn’t. She couldn’t and wouldn’t wish it on anyone else, but if someone else was going through it, she was relieved to know about it than be left to think it was only her fucked-up mind. “I think it’s normal to not want to be alone. To know there’s someone who gets it. And to know you can lean on them if you need to… that’s a big deal. Everyone needs that sometimes.” He nodded in agreement. That was exactly it. Jack was someone who had always had a support system in place. Through his family. Through his friends at school. Through the guys at the firehouse. Whenever life had thrown something at him, he’d always had someone there to talk to about things. Dealing with something of this magnitude without being able to talk to someone about it had left him off balance. “You know you can lean on me whenever you need to, right?” “Yeah, yeah, of course -” Brynn’s voice faltered slightly, and she tried to compensate with a smile, but it turned out a little less bright than she’d hoped. She did believe him, honestly. She didn’t think Jack had a dishonest bone in his body. It was her, not him. Maybe it was time to be candid. “I’m used to taking care of myself,” she confessed, “not really … relying on anyone else. My mom died giving birth to me, and my dad, I think he couldn’t handle looking at me. My oldest brother, Rhys, he did the best he could when I was little, but he’s not my parent, and then he left for Columbia. You learn how to be on your own.” They’d reached the park as she talked. Feeling a little calmer than he had earlier, Jack led them over to the empty playground to sit on the swings. He’d been both saddened and impressed at her confession. She’d been through so much, but she’d managed to come through it all on her own. And now he had no doubt that even if they’d never shared this experience together, she would have been just fine dealing with it on her own. But he was also just as certain that he didn’t want her to. “This has got to be the realest first date I’ve ever been on,” he laughed softly. “But strangely enough, I kind of like it. And I definitely like you. I know you said you’re used to just relying on yourself, but I’d like to keep checking in with you. And not just because of whatever happened tonight. But because I genuinely want to see you again too. And maybe we talk more about this, or maybe we talk about badass dinosaurs. Either way, I think we should go get some waffles together soon.” Brynn couldn’t recall a date where they’d jumped into something this personal and deep so soon. She usually withheld a lot of her own life for weeks - until she was sure it might be going somewhere. She already liked Jack, but going through what they had together made her see him differently, too. “I like you too, if that wasn’t already obvious.” She pushed her feet against the ground, making the swing move back and forth slightly. “And I think waffles sound amazing, especially if you’re there too. This wasn’t exactly what I expected out of tonight, but… despite what happened, maybe because of it, it’s been better.” Jack reached over to hold her hand again. “I think so too.” |