Jaime Freeman / Dorothy Gale (unselfish) wrote in fableless, @ 2016-08-05 09:02:00 |
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It starts with a dog. Or maybe it starts before that, but that's the moment he realizes. He likes dogs but this one is aggressive and pushes him to the ground. Jaime doesn't know what this whirling feeling is in his stomach, it burns through his body, and then a gust of wind comes from no where. The dog flies high up into the air over him, landing hard several feet away, whimpering out of fear. Jaime's parents look terrified, but everyone chalks it up to something unusual. What else could it be? That is the start. It happens other times. His parents work hard for the family, too hard, but they are affectionate until they're not. Their embraces are reluctant. Their looks are fearful. They tell him to stop one day, when he's eight, that there's something wrong with him, and he destroys the kitchen as a whirl wind surrounds him. They lock him in his room for a week. Things are better, he knows they are. They're going on a family trip! All the bags are packed and he has his little back pack. His mother packs it for him and she touches his face, brushes her hand through his hair, it's the first time she's touched him like that in a year. Jaime smiles and leans into it. He'll learn to stop and they'll learn to love him again and it'll all be normal again. His father brings him into the police station, he needs to pay a ticket, and tells Jaime to wait for him by the door. An hour later, Jaime's confusion takes him more inside the station. He's been taught to be respectful toward the police. He asks where his father is. Everyone looks concerned, and they're so much bigger than him. His parents just lost him, that's all. It's a big building. He grips his backpack tighter, it's Pokemon on the back, he got it for Christmas. He still doesn't believe it a day, a week, a month later. They tell him he's just temporarily going to a new home, until his parents are found, and he believes that. They forgot him like Home Alone. They are going to come back and feel terrible and he'll get extra toys in October and now they've made a mistake too, so they'll forgive him. He's nine. By ten, he's given up. It's the second foster home he's been in. This one has a foster sibling, an older boy, and Jaime actually likes him. They play soccer outside and he shares his Pokemon cards. Things are going okay there, he's getting comfortable, until two jerks from across the street try to take their cards. His foster brother has been in a few homes himself, and he's not really likely to let this go easily. To them, any item they own is valuable, any item they own is the only thing they're going to get if they're taken away. Jaime runs in to help him and there's a scuffle, and it happens again. Something grows inside of him, he swears inwardly to try and stop it, but then they're all blown back, harder than before, and he's still standing. The foster brother tells on him immediately, and it's only a few days later he's sent away. He plays it safe. He's been in this house longer than the past four, and even if they know about his wind, they tell him over and over it's safe. It's okay. The thing it, now he's scared because there's another thing abnormal about him on top of everything else. Jaime ignores the first time he felt that warm feeling in the pit of his stomach when his friend Tommy threw an arm around his shoulders. They talk about girls and he does too, even though he doesn't see the big deal. They're nice though, girls, he likes talking to them. It's not until during a sleepover he looks at Tommy and thinks what it would be like to kiss someone. And he's not thinking about a girl. Two years into high school and nothing changes. It's been three years since he knew who he wants to kiss and did nothing about it. When he stands before his new parents, looking at his shoes, talking about his confusion, he thinks about his bag upstairs and how it's already packed. This time he won't need to wait at a police station. He'll go somewhere else. It's not their fault. He won't be angry. Jaime gets it now. It's him, not them. They sense his fear. They both get up, he's afraid for a second, for an unfair second, and then he's being hugged. He doesn't understand. He shies away at first. They've always been kind. He's being held and told he's loved and it's okay, and Jaime doesn't get how that's possible. But for the first time since he got there, he believes them. He leans into their warmth and love, and he's finally home. Jaime isn't surprised when his parents ask him to come over, because they ask him to come over every week to fix their computer or iphone or tablet. He's had to order all their devices himself, but he's patient. They forget passwords a lot too, so he has a list of them at the ready. He's all smiles as he steps through the familiar doorway and into the living room where they're sitting. They look tense. A decade ago that would make him afraid, but instead he just tilts his head curiously. "Hey, what broke now?" They look at each other. "Jaime, sweetheart, can you sit down for a moment with us?" His mother asks, gesturing toward a chair. It's the one he used to lounge in when they watched movies together as a family, so he plops down into it without argument. The silence at first is what concerns him. He's uneasy now. "Starting to freak me out a little, what's happening?" Some ideas pass through Jaime's mind, none of them good. Someone is sick. Something bad happened. Maybe they're moving? This house is as much the three of theirs as it is their parents at this point. The ridiculous thing is he's a detective and sharply paranoid, and he's still not ready for it. "We've heard rumors ---" His father starts, and then looks at his mother and back to him. "People have come to us with concerns about you lately. They claim you've spending time with that witch teacher more than once, and we thought we'd just check in." "Out in public, on the network, at the ball," his mother chimed in. Jaime felt tension knot in his stomach. "But we know you have some friends who may not be the best choices. You have a big heart, we get that. You know how fond we are of Roz, all things considered." Another witch, and not registered, but one they did approve of long term. Jaime was kind, too kind, in their eyes. He sank down into his chair and didn't meet their eyes. What to even say at this point. A denial is easy. A denial is a preference. It's not real yet. There are a few weeks left. Jaime never lies to them. Lies of omission, but to their face? He says nothing, and that worries them more, he can see it, so he finally takes in a deep breath and lets it out. The air shifts around him when he does it, he can sense the particles. "We're dating." It feels like coming out all over again, but he's fairly certain this time won't end in hugs. They both react openly, with horror. "I told you!" She hisses at her husband, and they hold each other's hands comfortingly, to make it better. "Jaime, you can't do that, you have to stop. He's your enemy, you can't ever forget that. Remember?" She comes away from her husband to reach over and touch Jaime's knee, and it feels warm and loving, but it leaves him cold. "He's wicked, look at what he did to Lila at the ball, in that ridiculous dress. He's a witch. Think about Cadence Bone and his family!" Jaime comes up with excuses in his head, but they're not going to matter. Or be listened to. "He's not --- what you think, if you just got to know him ---" It sounds weak. His father's voice is stern. "We're not getting to know him. Don't even think of bringing him here, you put that thought out of your head." He gets up and his wife tries to grab him to calm him down, but he's not listening. "I've never been disappointed in you for a single day since you got here, but this, I don't know how to respond to this." And then he's out of the room entirely, out of the conversation. Jaime remembers the last time someone walked out of a room whenever he was in it, with that same haunted look in their eyes. "Whatever you need to tell your friends," Jaime finds his voice, strained, "if it requires you disowning me, I understand." The very thought breaks him, but it was a good long run. 16 years? Not bad, they lasted a long time. "But I'm not stopping." Of that he's sure. His mother's still there, and she shakes her head. "No, we'd never do that. We love you, Jaime, that's why we're concerned, can't you see?" She reaches out to touch him again, taking his hand. The first time she did that, he felt embarrassed that such a small gesture gave him comfort. "When Mayor Coleson wins again, things are going to change in this town, for good. We can't protect you if it changes against you." The fear isn't just for them, it's for him. Their influence only goes so far. They don't have the wealth and power to shield him. "Don't let this ruin your life." Jaime turns his hand in hers, fingertips to fingertips. "I love him," he says softly. It isn't the first time he's said it, and it sounds pained in this case, but it's true all the time. Truer now than it was then. "Mom, it's not just Mat, everything that's going on, I'm not sure it's the right thing anymore. I just don't know. It's one thing to believe something, and it's another to enforce it. What am I going to have to do? Arrest people for not complying? Arrest my friends?" It's the first time he really says it out loud to anyone. He's been troubled over it, and he's always known one thing to be true, and he still thinks it's true. But other things are true too. "I'm supposed to serve and protect everyone, not just some people." She looks more and more horrified at him, jerking her hand away. "He's already poisoning your mind. Mayor Coleson's doing what's right for us, what's right for this town. He's making it a safer place. You know that, or you used to." She gets up and almost starts to leave, but she stops and reaches out to touch his face. She looks in his eyes and then kisses the top of his head, tears in her eyes. "You are my son and I love you, but we can't support you on this. Don't ask us to. When it's over, we'll be here." Jaime sits there for a time after they're both gone, he can hear them talking in another room, just muffled sounds. Growing up hearing their voices behind a closed door was soothing. He leaves when he's ready, his mind heavy with all the thoughts swirling through it, but there will be no Rent and League of Legends tonight. It is what it is. There's no turning back now. |