James McCarthy (justbreezy) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2019-03-14 17:52:00 |
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Entry tags: | #december 2017, james, james x sebastian, sebastian |
Who: Sebastian and James
Where: The McCarthy House
When: After school, Friday, Dec 8
Status:
It had been such a weird week that Sebastian was just glad it was over, that he had the weekend ahead of him, free of another basketball game. Normally he enjoyed them, but the team was falling apart, their conflicts off the court making them a mess while on it. He was thinking it might be fun to catch a movie with Hunter, or maybe hit up that Gingerbread thing down on the pier. It was the sort of cliche date type thing that they hadn’t been able to enjoy until recently, so it actually sounded fun, even if he didn’t normally care about gingerbread houses. With the holidays coming up, they likely had a lot of opportunities to hit up that kind of thing, so if Hunter wasn’t interested tonight, they could always do something else. Sebastian didn’t care so long as they got to hang out.
But before he could do anything else, he needed to at least stop by the house, drop off his backpack and let his mom know he wouldn’t be home for dinner. If that was the case. Sebastian wandered in the back door, typing up a message to Hunter as he headed through the house and towards the stairs, aiming for his room. Once he had a chance to plan things with Hunter, everything else would fall into place.
His path to his room was intercepted by his father who'd grudgingly been waiting for him to come home. James was in his office, the door open as he listened for the telltale signs of Sebastian coming home. It always sounded different from Phee, louder, faster, more confident maybe, either way he could always tell them apart. He hadn't wanted to talk to Sebastian at all but after what happened the night before he needed to stop acting like a petulant child and put his Dad Hat on. James didn't think most dads needed to deal with this level of nonsense though. A Persuasion spell. The mere thought of it made the air around him cold and his chest tighten with irritation.
He caught Sebastian before he bounded up the stairs, clapping his hands loudly together to get his attention and pointing back toward his office. "My office," he said sharply. "Now."
Sebastian hadn’t even expected his father to be home, let alone waiting for him. The clap caught him off guard, so much so that he almost jumped, and stared at his father in confusion before slowly heading towards his father’s office. “Okay,” he drawled. “What’s up?” They hadn’t been speaking a lot lately, so much so that Sebastian had started to avoid his father, but he didn’t think that warranted the kind of anger that seemed to be radiating from his father now. Maybe this was what he’d been waiting for, the blow up that never came with him coming out. If so, Sebastian felt completely blindsided, nowhere near as mentally prepared for it now as he’d been the week or two prior.
"You are unbelievable," James said wearily as he followed him. "I haven't told your mother about the magic because it would kill her but don't think for a second I'm letting that go." He physically pushed Sebastian through the door when he thought he was taking too long getting there and closed the door firmly behind him. "Now, you care to tell me what the fuck you were thinking?" As he spoke he moved around Sebastian to the other side of his desk though he didn't sit down; he didn't think he could sit for this, there was too much angry energy flowing through him and if he tried to relax it would just get worse.
Sebastian shuffled forward when his father pushed him into the study, staring back at him with wide eyes. He’d gone from feeling unprepared to completely confused, unable to follow what his father was talking about in the slightest. He felt like a fish, his mouth opened with no real words as he tried to respond, and even when he got there didn’t feel like he had anything intelligent to say. “I don’t… I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he frowned. He tried to think of the last spell he’d even performed, but his magic had been so erratic lately that he hadn’t even been practicing like he had before. He needed to learn better control before he could continue, otherwise he just made a mess of things.
James stared at him, clenching his jaw and narrowing his eyes. "Is this really how you want to play it, Sebastian?" he asked. "I don't think you realize just how much trouble you are in, just how fucking angry I am with you and just how serious a transgression that was last night. You don't get to play dumb." There was a little tell tale twitch next to his left eye as he glared at his son. "Sit down."
“Last night?” Sebastian asked, shrinking back a bit as his father seemed to tower over him, a feat not many could manage when he was almost six feet tall himself. But then his father always felt bigger than him, especially when he was angry and right now he was clearly pissed. Sebastian did as he was told and sat, taking a deep breath from the thin air. He could never tell who was making it hard to breathe, his father or his own anxiety, but either way it sucked. “Dad, I— I’m sorry, I don’t—What did I do?”
James was on the verge of slamming his fist down on the desk when he caught the look in Sebastian's eyes. Angry or not, he recognized that look and it was sorely lacking in the defiance and arrogance he'd expected to find there. If he was faking the worry then he was a better performer than James gave him credit for and he was going to ace that goddamn school play he was in. Unaffected by the air, James took a deep breath to center himself then tilted his ass against his desk and folded his arms across his chest, glaring down at his son as he tried to read his damn mind. That wasn't a thing he could do unfortunately, so he was as at a loss as any mundane parent would be. "You tried to leave this house last night," he said, the words slow, measured. "You set off the alarm. Are you trying to tell me you don't remember that?"
Sebastian’s brows drew together as he shook his head, none of that ringing any bells. He’d been in bed by eleven last night. If he was going to sneak out, he wouldn’t have been stupid enough to set off the alarm. None of what his father was saying made any sense. “No. I didn’t— I really don’t know what you’re talking about. Are you sure it was me?” It seemed like a silly question, but maybe someone had set off the alarm and his father was assuming it was him. That made more sense than him forgetting about something he’d done.
For a while James was quiet, staring at Sebastian while both trying to read his expression and maybe hoping he'd falter in the silence. When he finally spoke it was calmer than before though he really didn't feel calmer, he just felt upset in different ways, the rage giving way to a slew of emotions he couldn't quite name. He knew one of them was worry, worry that Sebastian was lying to him, more worry that he wasn't lying to him because that... Might be worse. "I want you to realize that if you are lying to me right now that means something is very wrong with you," he said quietly. "We're talking possible brain damage or a curse, whatever it is is serious and instead of punishing you I'll have to take you to the hospital for brainscans. Lying does not get you off the hook, it just causes more problems, do you understand me?"
“What?” Sebastian asked, confusion giving way to panic as his father started talking about brain damage and curses and he wasn’t sure which was worse. Neither made any sense. “I’m not lying about anything!” he said, that feeling in his chest tighter now, the air definitely too thin for normal breathing. “I didn’t go anywhere last night. I went to bed. If you’re saying I— that I tried to leave—“ He started shaking his head, unable to accept that possibility. It didn’t fit into reality as he knew it. “Why would there be something wrong with my brain? Who would have cursed me?”
James was almost convinced now that Sebastian wasn't lying, the wavering of his voice, the wide-eyed stare... Maybe this was what Brianna had been afraid of, maybe this was what her branch of the family went through when their magic was awoken. Even if he didn't remember that still left the fact that he'd used dark magic that night and that was something he had to have learnt from someone. James certainly hadn't taught it to him. "Who taught you persuasion magic, Sebastian?" he asked, his calm a stark contrast to Sebastian's panic. "Did Reagan Kelly teach that to you?"
“What’s persuasion magic?” Sebastian asked, his mind still trying to piece everything together. He couldn’t follow his father from one thought to the next, not sure how this possibly related to possible brain damage and not quite ready to leave that threat behind when he’d never understood it in the first place. “Reagan taught me hexes. Focusing on my element. Moving things with my mind. All real beginner stuff, she said. And I haven’t seen her since you started teaching us.” Not that they’d had a lot of lessons lately. Sebastian’s coming out had seemed to put a stop to that. It was disappointing, but at the same time Sebastian doubted he could have focused around his father if he’d even tried to continue, so maybe it was for the best for now.
For the first time ever, James wished he could ask Brianna all about the problems her family had with magic. He hadn't wanted to involve her in this, not wanting her on his case about their kids learning magic but now... He still didn't want to but he was going to have to tell her something while he worked this out because things would change at home for now. He would need to change the alarm code, make sure his kids were where they were supposed to be at all times, maybe get Troy to come home for a week or two while they sorted this out. He could only hope it wouldn't take longer than a week or two. "This may very well be why your mother's side of the family doesn't practise magic," he muttered. "Something happened last night and if you really don't remember it then we're all in trouble. You tried to leave the house, you tried to use persuasion magic on me to let you leave and now you claim you don't know persuasion magic and that you don't remember anything that happened."
Sebastian ran his fingers through his hair, trying his best not to panic. He could handle his magic acting up as it had been, but this was actually terrifying. He hated the thought of him doing something and not remembering it, even worse if he was doing magic and not remembering it. It made him feel like a threat, not only to himself, but to everyone else. “I really don’t remember,” he said. “I don’t know how I would even know something like that. Or where I was going. Or… or anything.” He frowned, still trying to find a reasonable explanation. “Could I have been sleep walking maybe?” It was a stretch, but he liked that better than being cursed and he knew Jules had been having weird issues with dreams. Maybe this was something similar.
James got to his feet and put his hand on Sebastian's shoulder. "I don't know," he muttered. "We'll figure it out. Until we do, I'm changing the code, I don't want you to slip out of the house in the middle of the night and put yourself at risk." He'd need more magic wards around the house as well and then more research. It made him wish Brianna had her family grimoire and he would need to ask her about that, whether she had any idea where it had ended up. "I want you to tell me if anything happens that you feel is out of the ordinary, no matter how trivial you think it is."
Sebastian nodded in understanding, a little annoyed that he’d put himself in a position where he couldn’t let himself out of the house if he wanted to, but this would be safer. If he was sleepwalking, this would prevent him from wandering out into the cold where he could potentially freeze to death. “Are you gonna tell mom?” he asked, worried about how that would go over as well. They’d been on good terms lately, but this would bring the whole magic thing back up. And now she’d be right. Maybe he had done something that put him and everyone else in danger. It made him almost sick to think about.
James sighed heavily because he no longer knew the answer to that question. He hated the thought of being wrong, that he should have listened to Brianna's concerns, that maybe she'd been right all along about magic not being a good idea for her kids. No... He'd try to fix this first. "Not yet," he muttered. "We don't need her worrying when there's nothing she can do to fix things. I'll tell her you're grounded and that you tried to sneak out, you're just going to have to take one for the team to explain why we're changing the code. Unless you'd rather tell her." The last was almost a challenge and he watched his son with a look that said as much.
Sebastian rubbed his hands over his face, then looked back at his father, meeting his eyes before he sighed. “No. She’ll freak out and remind me it’s my fault. I’d rather wait until we know more, if we can.” He paused for a second, biting nervously on his nail as he considered something. “You think this is why my magic’s been acting up? It’s been weird since they broke the curse.” He knew he wasn’t super skilled, but he felt like he’d been better before the curse had been broken. Now he was hoping he was the only one affected by this mess, otherwise they’d have to tell his mom and sister. But so far Phee’s magic had seemed just fine, at least when they’d had lessons with their father, and he hadn’t heard of his mother or Trip having problems like he was.
"Probably," James replied. "Maybe it's a family thing, maybe it's because they used your blood specifically to break the curse. I'll start looking into it today." This wasn't really how he'd wanted to reconcile with Sebastian but it seemed like he was forced to interact with him again, possibly to save his damn life. He sighed quietly, remembering how someone had once said sighing could act like a reset button and it was probably true. "How do you feel?" he asked. "Has anything changed that you know of?"
Sebastian didn’t for a second think that any of the issues between him and his father had been resolved, however it didn’t surprise him that his father was willing to speak to him in order to ground him for something unrelated. Neither of them expected to be dealing with this so-called family curse again, but he was sure that once they got past it his father would go back to ignoring him. “I feel okay,” he answered. “Kind of tired. Nothing’s changed.” Except everything had. In a matter of weeks, his life had changed dramatically. He just didn’t think that was the kind of change his father was talking about.
Tired could mean a lot of things. Tired from a long day at school, tired from being a teenage boy and going through growth spurts, tired because of depression, tired because there was something very wrong. James tried not to latch onto that word but it was hard when he was trying to find clues on what was going on. He nodded in silence for a few seconds before getting to his feet and resting his hand on Sebastian's shoulder. "I'll figure this out," he promised and he had every intention of keeping that promise, no matter what it took. "I'll fix this. You just focus on school and the plans you've got for your future." He might still be upset about this whole coming out thing but he still had ambition for all his children, Sebastian included.
There was so much shit going on in his life that sometimes Sebastian forgot that school and college were supposed to be priorities. He felt like pointing out to his father that, if he was actually cursed, then that was a much bigger deal than his upcoming calculus test, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. He didn’t have the knowledge nor the power to stop whatever was happening to him, so he really should try and not worry about it while his father worked on fixing it. But Sebastian had always been a worrier. “Okay,” he sighed, then slowly rose to his feet. “Let me know if you learn anything new?” He would normally expect to be left in the dark, but this was his life they were talking about. He needed to know what to expect, especially if he might not remember it.
James normally liked keeping his family in the dark when it came to most of his affairs but not knowing what was going on was likely to affect Sebastian in a negative way. Maybe no news was better than bad news but James had no intention of failing to sort this out. "Of course," he said earnestly. "But for now you need to tolerate me keeping a close eye on you, just until I find a way to end this." It might not take long but James knew too well that even a week was like an eternity to a teenager.
Sebastian’s jaw tightened as he held back a protest, the suggestion making him bristle. The last thing he needed right now was additional attention from his father, but if something was truly wrong with him then he supposed someone needed to be keeping an eye on him. He just would have picked almost anyone else. “Okay,” he sighed, sure his frustration was obvious at this point. “I’m gonna go… hang out in my room. Play video games or something.” It wasn’t how he’d planned to spend his Friday night, but his options were limited at this point. Hopefully his father would get this figured out soon, otherwise this was going to get old fast.
James wasn't oblivious to the annoyance but this time around Sebastian was actually entitled to it so he didn't let it get to him. He stopped himself from suggesting homework instead if only because Sebastian had been through enough right now and despite everything James trusted him to take care of his duties. "I'll see you at dinner," he murmured. "I won't talk to your mother until tonight so... Enjoy the peace while it lasts."
“Thanks,” Sebastian said with a soft snort. This sucked enough as it was. He didn’t need an uncomfortable dinner conversation added to it all. Rising from his seat, he gave his dad a small attempt at a smile, then headed back up to his room. It was still eating at him that he couldn’t remember his attempt to sneak out and it wasn’t until he was back upstairs that a thought occurred to him—What if it had never happened and his father was just using this as a way to keep him locked down? It sounded unlikely, but was it really less plausible than a curse that made him do things and then not remember them? He sincerely hoped that wasn’t the case. He wasn’t sure he could live in a house that reached that level of deceit and he didn’t even want to think about what it meant that he was already worrying about it.