InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "keep your strength up sunshine"

Eames (legerdemainist) wrote in makebelievelog,
@ 2012-07-15 12:40:00

Entry tags:

eames, regulus black

Who: Wee Danny Eames and older Regulus Black
What: Smoking on the roof! Like they ever do anything different
When: Saturday night
Where: Castle roof
Rating/Warnings: PG: swearing? Teenage woes?
Status: Incomplete

Danny had found a good spot to hole up. After he'd been up on the roof with Alisha, they'd gone downstairs and Danny had found his way to the dining room. He'd grabbed some food, and then he'd lifted some more for later since he was always always hungry. Elaine kept telling him he had hollow legs or he'd been eating tape worms or something gross, since he could eat like he'd been starved for a week, and he still stayed scrawny. He'd just started lifting weights to see if that would help him get bigger, but there was nothing to show for it so far, not really.

He'd got a bit turned around as he wandered through the castle, and couldn't remember where the rooms he'd woken up in were, so he just headed back up to the roof with his stash of food and started going through the music on the mental little phone thing. It had speakers, somewhere, and they sounded pretty good too, for all that the phone was tiny, so the little corner of the roof that Danny had claimed as his own was soon full of the sounds of music both familiar and completely new to him. He quickly worked out how to skip over the classical music since that reminded him too much of home and the other stuff he had no interest in, and he soon managed to spend most of the evening lying on his back listening to music, smoking through his remaining cigarettes and eating the sandwiches and bits of fruit he'd brought up with him. Much like a night where he had to stay at home, really. All it was missing was his sketchpads, paints and pencils. And his mother and father would have ignored him anyway other than to tell him to stop wasting his time on drawing and to turn his stupid music down, so the lack of anyone else didn't bother him in the slightest. He missed Elaine, though.

It was dark by the time he sat up and pulled his tee-shirt and shirt back on, and he realised he probably should try and find somewhere to sleep. He was all for staying up all night, but if he was honest, this place freaked him out a lot, and he didn't know anyone at all so it was probably best if he got inside and found a bed to sleep in. He had two cigarettes left, so he lit one before fumbling at the phone to try and turn off the music, and completely missed hearing the door to the roof opening and closing.

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royalvenant
2012-07-15 01:14 pm UTC (link)

Regulus had a hunch where young Eames might be. All those years ago, when he had first arrived in the Land of Make Believe, he had staked out the roof as the spot to go for angst riddled ruminations. There was something about its height from the ground, coupled with the wind that always tugged at the hairs at the nape of one’s neck, and perhaps even the stone of the towers and wall surrounding the roof. It was solid and while at the same time being liberating. It drew in those seeking that kind of comfort.

And Eames, from what Regulus had read on the network, was one such seeker. He was worried.

He pushed open the door and was rewarded to find the boy he was looking for. He paused before walking fully onto the roof, but when he did he cleared his throat. He didn’t comment on the late hour, he knew his presence alone would be unsettling for the young version of his friend enough as it was.

“Care if I join you?” He asked, holding up his own pack of cigarettes to show his intent.

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legerdemainist
2012-07-15 02:46 pm UTC (link)

Danny jumped at the sound of someone clearing their throat and scrambled to his feet as quickly as he could while the older man approached. He hid his cigarette behind his back and quickly blew out his lungful of smoke. "I'm just go-," he started, then looked up at the man as he spoke and realised that he knew him from earlier, from talking on the phone. "Mr. Black.. Hello," he said, glancing down at the phone as he did so, as if he was going to check.

"I was just leaving, so you can have the roof, sir," he said as he looked up once more, before sticking his phone in his pocket and trying to head for the door. He paused before he started walking, and pushed his hair back from his face. "Could you tell me where I'm staying, please? I, uhm. I got lost earlier, and..."

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royalvenant
2012-07-15 03:46 pm UTC (link)

Regulus worked ever so hard to suppress the smile that threatened his calm expression. He knew very well what his young friend was doing; the boy had been not so subtly talking about it publicly for all to read. Plus, the quick duck of his hand behind his back, and the exhaling of a lungful of smoke, wouldn’t fool the blind.

“Yes,” Regulus answered, “I can show you, but stay-” He turned the carton in his hand over, tapping out a cigarette. He’d long since taken to igniting his cigarette with a wandless, wordless spell. By the time he’d raised the stick to his mouth the thing was lit. He pulled once on the stick, then continued as he exhaled, “Let me finish one of these and then I’ll walk you through. We’re on the South end roof and your rooms are on the other side of the castle, it’s a bit difficult to just explain.”

“And…” he nodded down in the direction of Eames’ hidden hand. “You might as well finish that while you wait.” Regulus wasn’t so naïve to think Eames wouldn’t light up again the moment he was out of sight. In the long perspective, Regulus knew it would be a futile fight, and there were other battle more worth his attention right now.

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legerdemainist
2012-07-15 07:37 pm UTC (link)

He nodded when Mr. Black said about finishing his cigarette, but didn't say anything. He was too busy being more than a bit stunned by the man's self-lighting cigarette. Shoving his own cigarette back into his mouth without even thinking about it, it was only when he was about to take another drag that he found his voice again. "How'd you do that without a lighter, Mr. Black? If you don't mind my asking." He was well aware that most, if not all, adults had no time to answer his usual stupid questions, something his mother had drilled into him since he was old enough to start attending dinners and social functions with his parents, and most of the time he did as he was bid and only opened his mouth to talk to people who asked him something. That obviously meant that he spent a lot of time being quiet and well-behaved. Every so often, though, he couldn't help but ask questions and this was one of those times. He shut himself up by working on making sure his cigarette hadn't gone out while he'd been hiding it, and then inhaled yet another lungful of smoke.

He didn't bother doing any fancy tricks with the smoke like he'd done earlier around Alisha; it was rare enough to find an adult that didn't mind him smoking, he didn't want to annoy the man any further. He just blew the smoke out away to the side, and waited to hear Mr. Black's reply.

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royalvenant
2012-07-16 04:37 am UTC (link)

“I don’t mind at all,” he answered first. His tone was sincere. Eames’ question was hardly intrusive to this older version of Regulus. The boy was curious, who wouldn’t be? He took a moment to find a spot to lean against on the wall, and situated himself before continuing.

“Magic,” he said simply. “I’m not pulling your leg, either. I’m a wizard.”

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legerdemainist
2012-07-16 06:32 pm UTC (link)

Danny's face fell when Mr. Black started talking crap. He'd thought he was pretty cool up until that point, letting him smoke and not acting like Danny should just get out of the way as quickly as possible. Ducking his head, he let his hair fall back over his face and stepped back from the man, shoving a hand in his pocket as he took another drag on his cigarette.

"I'm fifteen, Mr. Black. I'm not a child, you don't have to make things up if you don't want to tell me."

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royalvenant
2012-07-17 04:01 am UTC (link)

“Daniel,” Regulus said, “I make it a point to almost never lie.”

He could see something of a demonstration was in order to help Eames believe. He withdrew his wand from where he always kept it up his sleeve. He considered what the best spell would be. Apparating was right now, he knew how Eames disliked that mode of transportation. It would need to be spectacular enough as to remove most of the boy’s doubts. He settled on a charm and stuck his cigarette between his lips before placing his pack of cigarettes on the retaining wall and waving his wand at it.

Blue-green light wisped out of the end of the wand, undulating in the air as it traveled to the pack. When it reached the pack, enveloping it in light, the thing lifted from the wall and floated to a spot in front of Regulus and Eames on the roof. Suspended there it began to transform. It enlarged, started changing color from white to black, sprouting fur and appendages, four-five-six. In the end, one developed into a curled ‘C’ shape of a wiggly tail; opposite that, the floppy ears of a canine head. Between the two ends, four awkward legs ended in paws too large for a puppy so small. The thing was squirming in that energetic puppy fashion before it was even lowered to the ground.

Once on the ground it ran, or flopped, towards the first promise of affection it could see. Eames. It yapped playfully at Eames feet, lowering its front end and wiggling its back as if its tail was the origin of all motion.

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legerdemainist
2012-07-17 09:09 pm UTC (link)

He scowled and turned as if to head for the door - he could try and find his rooms by himself, thank you very much - but then Mr. Black pulled a stick out of his sleeve and did... something... and then the cigarette pack was surrounded by odd lights and floating and changing, what the fuck?

Danny was incapable of ignoring any dogs, no matter what sort they were, be it huge St. Bernards, tiny little yappy bastard dogs or... strange puppies born of cigarette packs. He was down on his knees without even thinking about it, letting the pup scramble all over him and lick his face. "I... he... get down for a moment, pup ...how did you do that? I was up here all evening, I would have seen... but... Magic's not real... is it?" he stammered as the pup did its level best to drown him with licks, "...Mr. Black?"

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royalvenant
2012-07-19 02:26 am UTC (link)

Regulus walked towards the two young pups playing on the roof. He crouched down and stretched a hand for the four-legged one to have something else to taste. The floppy-eared puppy was confused at first, you could see in the way the muscles bunched above his eyes but then it was a routine of going from one human to the next, getting in as much affection as it could.

“Of course magic here is real. There are dragons flying over the mountains, are there not?” That was a slightly unfair question. Dragons and magic weren’t mutual inclusive. You could have the one without the other. But they did often seem to go hand in hand. “Where I came from magic was a part of everyday life. I went to school to learn how to control my talent. There was an entire society of witches and wizards, a government, customs, a culture derived from the ability to control magic.”

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legerdemainist
2012-07-19 07:49 am UTC (link)

"Yeah..." he replied when Mr. Black asked about dragons, and almost launched into a description of what the dragon had been doing while it had been flying above the castle. Mr. Black kept talking, though, so Danny bit his tongue and stayed quiet. He didn't even ask questions about this whole society of magic-users. He knew better.

The puppy returned to trying to scramble up his chest, so he wrapped his arms round the pup and carefully supported the little guy as it did its best to snuggle him to death. Danny just kept watching Mr. Black, though. What if he turned other things into animals? Or, or what if he could turn invisible or start flying or turn into other people? That would be well cool, he thought. And he already knew Mr. Black could control fire, from how he'd lit up. Hopefully, the man would explain more but again, Danny knew better.

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	royalvenant 2012-07-19 11:40 am UTC (link)
	“I’m sorry,” Regulus said, realizing he’d cut Eames from saying something. “You were about to speak and I didn’t let you finish.” He took that moment to move from a crouched position to claiming a spot to lean against the retaining wall. “If you have questions, be all means,” he gestured by waving his hand, “ask away.” (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

legerdemainist
2012-07-19 07:19 pm UTC (link)

The puppy nearly done itself a mischief, trying squirm out of his arms as Mr. Black moved over to the wall, so Danny put the little dog down and let it bounce over towards the man. He got back to his feet, frowning when he realised that his cigarette had gone out while he'd been playing with the puppy, and stuck his hand in his pocket for the lighter he'd found earlier.

"You don't mind?" he checked, moving over to sit on the wall beside Mr. Black. He finished relighting his cigarette, and then looked round at the man's profile. There was something about him that reminded Danny of the man he'd woken up beside, something around the eyes and the set of the jaw, perhaps, but he couldn't place it. Not yet. Maybe they were related?

"I was just going to say about the dragon that had been over the castle for most of the afternoon, but you've probably been here longer than I have so you'll have seen it before. And I... They're stupid questions," he said, shrugging as he finished speaking and looking down at his feet, since he had his legs crossed at the ankle and was bouncing his heels off the wall he was sitting on.

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royalvenant
2012-07-20 03:55 am UTC (link)

Regulus waved away Eames’ concern over the cigarette. Children were resourceful, and Regulus knew Eames was a particularly capable of getting what he wanted. Telling him no on this would be a losing battle. He focused on the puppy who had taken to nipping at his hand and thigh.

“I doubt they are stupid questions.” Regulus wouldn’t go as far to repeat the trite phrase teachers and instructors were always saying regarding the non-existence of stupid questions. No, in his opinion there were most definitely stupid questions, but his experience had taught him they more often than not came from idiots. Context mattered. Eames was not an idiot, simply uneducated about magic and unable to discern the more pertinent questions from the rest. “Go ahead.”

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