Sterling Svaner (graspednettle) wrote in fableless, @ 2017-05-21 23:15:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! log/thread, aspen sams, jasper sampson spencer |
WHO: Jasper Sampson-Spencer and Aspen Sams
WHEN: May 6th
WHERE: Aspen and Roman's place
SUMMARY: Opening Scrolls
WARNINGS: None
STATUS: Complete
Nervous energy bubbled underneath Aspen’s skin. So Jasper knew who he was now. It was still incredibly strange and the amount of similarities between them had gotten to the point of ridiculousness. Aspen had always blazed his own trail, internally burying deep the utter feeling of being alone. He did not grow up around Talemates, nor had he had a twin to even banter with. Aspen had taught himself that it was better to be alone because then he would not have to disappear into a set like he had in his Tale. He followed the beat of his own drum, and maybe there was worry deep down that he ended up more like his former self than intended- a little more Lost Boy and a little less responsible adult. Now that Jasper knew who he was now, Aspen was unsure whether he should be happy to finally have him in his life, have him knowing who he was, or whether he should just leave the poor guy alone. The first order of business was the scroll he had been so unwilling to read in the first place. Did he really need another life in his head? Why did people care so much? Jasper had a good reason, they were on the edge of their 30s and if none of them had made it to late in their life that was a trend they should know about. The roommate situation worked out well for him. Roman and him were rarely home at the same time, not that Aspen stayed at the house often. He stayed out late, no matter if he was working or not. His patterns around town were nothing of a typical fashion. No bar he would go to as a regular, no time he would come home, the only thing he tended to do was leave the house early for a morning run. That way he had a place to stay, keep his dog, but him and Roman did not need to worry about being in each other’s business. Dressed in a hoodie and jeans, Aspen chewed on his thumb, staring at the scroll and waiting for Jasper. Who was he to argue with the importance of the scroll? Jasper, for his part, was still trying to keep his age problem under wraps. There was no need to freak everyone out about it if it was nothing to worry about. The excuse came easy because of how close it came to his excuses about not telling his family about his sexuality for such a long time. But that was dependant on Aspen telling the truth. He’d already half discussed that with Eddie, without revealing his Tale Twin’s identity. He would be watching carefully to see if Aspen’s reaction was genuine. It would be hard to gauge since he didn’t really know the other man but he was determined to watch his reaction carefully, looking for any kind of questionable overreacting. Once he was at Aspen’s, he knocked on the door, then waited. There was more to all this scroll business than it seemed on the surface. There had to be. Being a Tale in a mundane world was strange enough that cracks in the sky and objects falling with their true names and past lives seemed over the top. Answering the knock, Aspen still felt weird looking at the other man. In the other lives did they look so much alike? Was this something that was as common between them even when they did not have blood passing between them? “Hey… Come in. I have Pilsner in the fridge.” Aspen guided his not-twin inside to the kitchen. “Hi.” Jasper gave Aspen a nod, then walked into the apartment. Like he did in any new place, he took note of the exits. “Sounds good,” he commented. Once he was fairly certain Roman wasn’t in the apartment (he’d listened for any movements outside of the two of them) he asked, “Everything going well with your roommate?” “The best it can,” Aspen smirked. “We barely see each other. Which I think is how he wanted it anyway.” A small golden-furred dog with large ears timidly walked into the room, his nose sniffing the air before he greeted the new man. “And that’s Koon, my dog. He’s a little shy and quiet, but he gets use to people quickly. It’s more like having a cat with a better attitude.” Jasper smiled at the dog, kneeling and putting his hand palm up for it to sniff. “Hi Koon,” he greeted the dog. Jasper looked back over at Aspen, then asked, “How’d you come up with that name?” A shy smile spread on his lips, his lips pulled in as if he did not want to say. “It was the name of my teddy bear... “ With a shrug, Aspen pulled open the fridge and retrieved two beers for them. Being alone, though awkward, still felt like he could say things more openly. He liked Ryan, he knew Ryan would know, but he barely could speak aloud about his Tale to his fathers. “I want to apologize for how weird I’ve been around you. This is all so… weird. And now these scrolls.” Aspen handed Jasper a beer before taking a swig of his own. “Was I in yours? Could you give me a hint as to what I might find in mine?” The memory was so insignificant to the First Twin that it hadn’t even registered. But his Tale self had known a teddy bear named Koon that belonged to his twin. That wasn’t something that could be faked. No one else from their Tale ought to have known that one. It gave Jasper a small bit more confidence that Aspen was who he said he was. “Ah, well, neither of us could have expected this.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t say for sure. I’ve only opened one, when I, or my Tale, that is, was a woman by the name of Brenda Phillips. She happened to know about two other lives, one where I was Theo Winters and another where I was Samuel Connor. Brenda didn’t seem to have any memories of knowing Second Twin, so I can’t say for sure whether they were around or not.” “Oh right, you said that didn’t you.” Anyone with half the skill of a detective could tell that Aspen did not necessarily feel confident about the scrolls. The dog licked Jasper’s hand before padding off to curl up on the couch near where Aspen had left his scroll. The object had been hidden since Jasper left it in his desk, not wanting Roman to see it, or anyone that might come over as Roman’s guest- if he had any. Running his fingers through his hair, he gestured to the couch and scroll. “So, I guess we should get this over with… What happens to the scroll once the memories are taken from it? Does it still say the name on it?” The writing had not appeared magical, but considering it was a scroll full of a past life, the next step was endless. If it stuck around, Aspen would likely burn it as soon as Jasper left. “Yea.” Jasper nodded his head. “It’ll still say the name so if you want me to take it again, that’s fine. You’ll have all the memories whether you have the scroll or not,” He paused, thinking that statement over, “As far as I know, at least.” “One of the librarians wants to archive them which seems like a good idea, so I could always deliver it there as well.” “No, it’s fine. I’ll keep the scroll. I don’t think my roommate cares too much about my tale as long as I pay rent.” Blue eyes glanced down at the scroll and then back up at Jasper as he sat down next to his down on the couch. “I know I can be rash in my reactions. I speak before I think a lot of the time. But I do want you to know that I don’t mean to offend you with my feelings toward hiding my identity. It’s not you. It’s not who we were. I wanted to meet you for most of my life.” He scoffed at himself. “I wish we could have been born brothers…” Chewing on his lip, he shook his head and grabbed the scroll. Without hesitation or waiting to watch Jasper’s reactions, he opened the scroll. Memories rushed into his head, the life was not his last one like everyone else had found first. In a blur of movement, Aspen was off the couch and flying in the upper corner of room. His back pushed against the wall before the scroll could hit the ground with a thump. Surprised, Koon jumped down grabbed the scroll in his mouth and hid underneath the table it had been sitting on. Aspen patted his body, checking to make sure it was still there. “That was… like nothing I’ve ever felt. Oh my god…” He dropped down to the floor, his breath laboured with the intensity of a life flashing before his eyes. “You said you were a girl in your last life? This… this one had you in it…” His furrowed brows rose. “You were my brother again.” Aspen grabbed his beer, ignoring the dog for the time, and downed the entirety of it. “Fuck…” If Aspen had wanted any reaction from Jasper after commenting about his wish, the other man didn’t wait for it. Instead, clearly in the throes of experiencing what it was like to get all your memories at once. Jasper thought back to how much he’d wanted Jemma to be the Second Twin, but that was something he’d let go of a long time ago. Aspen was what he got and Jasper still wasn’t sure how to feel about that yet. “Was I Theo Winters or Samuel Connor when we were related?” Jasper asked, trying to figure out how their lives lined up. He wasn’t entirely surprised the Twins were biological siblings in another life. But at the same time it was a weird kind of information to live with now. Especially since the two of them hardly knew one another. And Jasper really didn’t have any intention of opening what he believed to be Theo’s scroll. “Theo. I was Tobias Winters.” He huffed, setting the empty bottle down and sitting in the chair across from Jasper. Aspen could see why people lost their shit, the amount of information in such a short amount of time was intense. Running his fingers through his hair in his one of his various quirks of trying to get ahold of things, Aspen shook his head. “I swear to god, it’s like a fucking joke at this point.” Maybe things would have been different had visited Woodsbridge earlier in his life. Maybe this life was meant to suck no matter how much he did- he could lose himself in art or sports or nature, but he had a large section of himself missing because of the lack of siblings. He had made up so many excuses not to be there or talk to his Talemates about who he was. Figures he would have been in Woodsbridge in a previous life. Aspen had his hand to his head, lost in his thoughts and the new life in his head. Jasper nodded his head, then took a sip of his drink. “If I’m doing my math right that’s my latest scroll. And the one that I don’t intend to open.” Whatever concerns Jasper had that the other man might be lying about his Tale were swept away. He seemed to be genuinely reacting and Jasper felt the Tale Tingle well enough to know he definitely was from his Tale. He waited to allow Aspen to get used to the thoughts in his head. “I know it’s a lot to get used to, but I hope you don’t regret opening it.” Blinking over at Jasper, Aspen shrugged. It was all kind of tormenting if one thought about it. Yet another life where he had a sibling, yet another set of memories that did not fit his life now. And to feel the death; how could anyone want to open more than one scroll? What masochists wanted to feel their past selves die again and again for however many lives they had. “I’m not likely to open any others, if that’s what you mean.” Aspen slouched down in his chair, the dog leaving his scroll beneath the table for the chance to lick Aspen’s hand. “I can’t even tell you how long your life was… Not that that was the point of me opening this.” Truthfully, Aspen wanted to have a beer with Jasper to figure out if they could even be friends, and he had been determined to not open the scrolls, because the previous lives meant little to him. Aspen had only opened it because it was important to Jasper. “That’s fine,” Jasper assured him. He assumed that meant Aspen did regret opening it. There was nothing either of them could do about that - what was done, was done. “But there is a reason I asked you to look at this one,” He paused, feeling a little more anxious about Aspen’s answer now. “I hope you’re still willing to tell what age Tobias was when he passed?” Aspen gave Jasper a soft smile and sighed. “At this point, Jasper anything you want to know about me or the past life… you can ask. I wasn’t trying to hide from you- not really.” There were other reasons to his own insanity and distance. “Tobias died in a car accident at 22.” He shrugged. “Your theory is becoming more likely,” Aspen bit his lip. “If it means knowing that we should be making the most of this time, I guess I would open my others, but I’m not going to be the guinea pig for it. Feeling a car burning around you is…. How people could open their scrolls like it’s nothing to die over and over in your memories is beyond me.” The news was the exact opposite of what Jasper has been hoping for. And, if anything, confirmed his fear about his Tale directing his life. Jasper frowned, “Yea, I don’t get it either. I know Theo burned too.” Another weird coincidence, but not one he wanted to be distracted by at the moment. “Which was why I didn’t really want to open that one. Brenda died quickly from impact but I think Theo’s situation would be more prolonged.” “If your last life remembered their names, maybe the town has information on how old they were when they died? That way you get further information without having to live through it.” Aspen was unaware if Jasper had already looked into the names or not. The memories still so fresh in his head, Aspen might not have been the most altruistic person but he would not wish the memories of such a death inside anyone else’s brian, so looking up known names would be the first thing he went to. Tobias did not have previous life names to give him. He had been wild and free, very close to who he was as a Lost Boy, but taking the opportunity to get away from town life with his brother when he had died. “So, do you really think we don’t grow old? Is that even a thing that could be linked to our Tale? I mean, you and I fly, but the other lost boy in town doesn’t? We have far too many uncanny similarities, but what part of our lives does our Tale really influence?” Jasper shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not entirely sure if it could be like our power, something that always follows us through our lives.” He scratched the back of his neck. “But the question of how much influence our Tales actually has is a huge political argument in this town. I just don’t want this life expectancy to be linked to me. Or any of us, really.” Aspen nodded. “Yeah… I mean as police officers our life expectancy has always been lower than the average person.” Aspen had largely ignored the political ramblings of the town. His own outlook on life fell into a certain aspect of what was argued- as he did not want to be just another replica of someone else- but he did not understand why there were people so determined to mark a line in the sand and say a choice had to be made. “Did you want another beer? Or we could order food? I’m kind of hungry now.” He nodded at Aspen’s comment, it was true enough. But that danger somehow felt a bit sharper now, with these memories from Brenda, and confirmation from the only two other Lost Boys he knew that they’d had short lives as well. Though he hadn’t expected to stay long after the scroll reveal, he thought it was probably better to stick around. As much as unease Aspen’s presence caused him, there was still a large part of Jasper that wanted to get to know his Tale Twin, the part that’d been waiting around for the Twin since he’d become cognizant of his own Tale. “Yea, sure, let’s eat.” |