lookinside (lookinside) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2019-07-24 08:01:00 |
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Entry tags: | #december 2017, jen, jen x sebastian, sebastian |
Who: Sebastian & Jen
Where: The McCarthy House
When: Evening, Wednesday, Dec 27
Status: Complete
It had been over three hours and the fog didn't look like it was going anywhere. Jen had gotten to use the landline phone to call the police station but it didn't work any more than her cell phone did. She was quietly freaking out now. It had been easier before she tried to call and she sort of wished she'd waited a little longer to do so but she was keeping a brave face for Phee's benefit. The last thing she wanted was to be some dramatic ball of anxiety, making everything worse than it already was. Her dad was fine, she told herself. He was just stuck somewhere worrying about her like an idiot because she was fine. She was in a house of magic, probably warded to the nth degree, they had power and she was okay.
Phee's mom was okay with her sleeping over but Jen was really hoping it wouldn't come to that. The fog had to go away soon. She was fine with spending the night, under different circumstances it could be fun, but she needed to know her dad was safe out there. She and Phee and moved down to the living room as they waited for dinner and Brianna had called Phee into the kitchen for something so Jen was alone for now, staring listlessly at the TV where Phee had a random comedy running. She'd seen it before so she didn't bother to pause when she left and that was fine with Jen. She needed to at least try to be distracted.
Though he’d tried to tell himself that the fog was just a temporary weather condition, Sebastian knew it was more than that. It felt ominous, like a danger unto itself, and he wasn’t entirely unsure that it wouldn’t suffocate anyone that wandered deep into it. At first he’d felt safe within the walls of his house, confident in the protection spells his father had placed upon the walls. But his father wasn’t home and, even combined, the remaining McCarthys didn’t know enough about magic to really benefit from their abilities. It wasn’t long before Sebastian started feeling trapped in his own house, the claustrophobia making him restless, wandering from room to room as he continued to convince himself the space was big enough. Huge, even. He wasn’t trapped. It was just air. All he had to do was keep breathing.
The sound of the television drew him downstairs. Walking into the living room, he stopped short, thoughts of the fog and enclosed spaces replaced by the Barrett twins. He knew Jen was over, but he hadn’t gone out of his way to talk to her, not since Hunter broke up with him. He didn’t know what to say and he could only imagine what Hunter had told her. It didn’t help that they looked alike, that with her hair pulled back they shared the same features. A part of him would have been happy never to see her again, but he knew she’d become a close friend of Phee’s and that wasn’t fair to either of them. It wasn’t Jen’s fault, so he felt bad for feeling that way. Tucking his hands in the pocket of his sweatshirt, he took a few more steps into the room. “Hey,” he said. “What’re you guys watching?”
Jen had been staring at the TV but she hadn't really been watching, her mind far away, fretting and coming up with stupid scenarios. She wasn't exactly startled by Sebastian's appearance but it still made her feel a little uncomfortable. She'd done a good job of avoiding him, the whole thing was just so awkward. "Hey," she said back, looking at the TV again and re-focusing on what was actually running. "You know, I don't even really know," she admitted. "It's supposed to be funny." Maybe a crime movie would be a better choice right now but she wasn't even sure if she could focus on an engaging good movie. Comedy had been the logical choice, nobody dying, nothing scary going on. She just didn't think it was helping much. "I think it's one of those Oceans movies. I couldn't tell you how many oceans though. Eleven, thirteen, fifty-two." She shrugged, one corner of her lips quirking up in a ghost of a smile before relaxing again.
Sebastian’s lips turned up for a second and he looked back at the screen. A second later, George Cloony appeared, followed by Brad Pitt, but he had no idea what was going on, so not Eleven. “I only saw the first,” he said. “I saw a trailer for a new one, though. With an all female cast. Looked good.” He probably wouldn’t see it though. He couldn’t imagine getting the guys together to see something like that. Even if it was a heist movie, they’d probably consider it a chick flick. Sebastian came around to the couch and sat on the arm for a second, watching the movie and trying to figure out what was going on. It was hard to pick up in the middle though and he found himself glancing towards Jen again. “Did you have a good Christmas?” It was such canned conversation, but he wasn’t sure what else to say.
It really was the worst kind of small talk but Jen could see and appreciate that he was making an effort to be nice and welcoming so she didn't hold it against him. "It was nice," she said softly. "Quiet, it was just me and dad." He knew that though and that was the elephant in the room, wasn't it; Hunter. "How about you? Are you doing okay?" Those really were two questions but whatever, it was worth asking. Hunter had been a dick to him and Jen was more than willing to acknowledge it even if she'd be forced to take her brother's side in most things.
Sebastian wasn’t even sure when Hunter left. It seemed so weird that he would bail on his father and sister right before the holiday, especially when he was going to be spending the rest of the year with his mom, but the more he thought about him, the more he wondered if he’d ever really known him at all. It had been weird not to have Trip home this year for Christmas. He imagined it was far worse when it was your twin. “It was okay,” he said. “Not really what I’d hoped for, but…” He shrugged, trying for a small smile. “It’s been rough, but I’ll be okay.” It was a more truthful variation of what he’d been saying for weeks now, the key being that he would be, eventually. He knew that even when he didn’t feel it. Everyone asked how he was doing, but it had been long enough that he no longer felt like he could be honest. He should be over Hunter by now, so that was the face he did his best to put on.
Jen actually didn't think he should be over her brother. She hadn't had feelings like that for anyone ever but it was a loss and those were hard to handle no matter what kind they were. Sebastian was well within his rights to be sad or angry about it all, especially with how in love they had seemed. "You will be," she said with a little nod. "Provided this fog doesn't end up being some supernatural crazy that kills us all." He lips quirked again, this time into a wan smile.
However long it took, Sebastian knew that someday he’d be able to move on. It just frustrated him that he couldn’t seem to do it now. His feelings varied by the minute, sometimes sad and depressed, sometimes angry and bitter, but they’d yet to calm to the point that he wanted. It still hurt, especially if he let himself linger on the happier moments, so he tried not to think about it at all. “I wanted a distraction, but this wasn’t really what I had in mind,” he told her, returning a sad attempt at a smile. “I think we should be safe, so long as we stay inside.” And yet he itched to open a door, to give them a means of escape. It made him feel torn in two, logic fighting against an irrational fear that refused to listen to reason.
"I wouldn't really mind if the phones actually worked," Jen admitted. "I usually like the fog. This one is just a lot thicker than I'm used to. Crazy thick. So I guess I'm stuck here until it goes away." At least she didn't feel unwelcome yet, even Sebastian - the most likely to dislike her presence in the house - was being friendly so that was something. "Hey if it... makes you feel any better, I don't think it was anything you did," she offered up, even if she wasn't sure if he even wanted to talk about it.
Sebastian stared at Jen for a beat, finding himself having to choose between two conversation topics that made his anxiety spike. They could discuss the fog—the suffocating, possibly supernatural fog—or his breakup with Hunter. In a weird turn of events, Sebastian actually preferred the later. His breakup was less likely to induce a panic attack at this point. “I’m…pretty sure it was everything I did,” he said, eyes dropping away to focus on an obscure point somewhere between them. “If I hadn’t come out… but then, he’d probably be sick of hiding. I dunno. Every way I turn it, I feel like I made a mistake.” But what infuriated him the most was that Hunter seemed to go along with it, supporting him until it was suddenly too much, like he’d been making wrong moves all along without knowing it.
Jen didn't really know. Maybe Sebastian had fucked up, maybe he'd done something horrible that neither he nor Hunter were talking about. She gave him another wan little smile and shrugged softly. "I love my brother but he's an idiot," she said softly. "And he wasn't the same after-" she hesitated, glancing at the doorway in case Brianna was suddenly there, listening. Of course she wasn't, she was still in the kitchen with Phee. "After you know, the whole demon thing. Like he went from shallow and happy to shallow and depressed which is just a shitty combo." She pulled out her phone in the hopes that there were any bars but the reception was as dead as ever. "I'm glad he's not here. He'd be flipping out."
Sebastian followed Jen’s gaze, but there was no one there. He hadn't told his mother about Hunter being possessed and he didn’t see a reason to bring it up now. It would just be another thing he kept from her and he didn’t need another item on the list. “I didn’t even realize he was depressed. Or shallow,” he frowned. Again, he wondered if he’d ever really known Hunter. Maybe he was shallow himself. He hoped not, but it felt like he’d been wrong about a lot lately. “He’s safer away from here. Everyone probably is.” It made him wonder why people kept coming back. What was the draw and would he fall for it himself? “Why did you stay?” He asked, looking up at her. There was no judgement there, just curiosity.
Jen shrugged. "I'm happier here than in Portland," she said and that much was true. Maybe she liked morbid things, even when they were terrifying. She also had friends here now, ones she felt closer to after a short time than she ever did the people she knew in Portland. "And I didn't want to leave dad." She looked at her phone again, that nervous knot in her stomach tightening. "I hope he's okay." At least she only had to worry about him and not him and Hunter who was safely away with their mom far away from this fog. Maybe the fog was just fog and she was fretting about nothing but she couldn't keep from picturing her dad crashing his car as fog enveloped him too fast to be natural. "But yeah, I kinda love this place. I don't even know why."
"When things aren't bad, it's home," Sebastian offered, though it was his answer, not hers. "It's where my people are." His friends and his family, the people who knew him best. As excited as he was about college, the prospect of being completely alone and far from home scared him. He knew that it was supposed to be comforting that everyone else was in the same boat, but it didn't do much yet. Maybe it would help him relate to his peers. "Does he have anything to help keep him safe?" he asked. "Does he know what might be out there?"
Jen's heart felt like it lurched at that question and for a second she thought she might cry because no, she was pretty sure her dad was in the dark about all these things. He'd given her a weird look when she talked about witchcraft and hex bags, he didn't know about the demon that possessed Hunter. She should have told him, she should have done more to warn him, she should have... She shook her head, then shrugged. "He's a cop," she said quietly. "He's trained for... things. He survived the last fog and he's smart. Really smart." She was reassuring herself now more so than answering Sebastian and once she'd spoken she started chewing on her lip, staring at the TV without really seeing it.
It wasn't the first time that Sebastian wished he was a more useful witch, one who knew spells that he could use to help protect people like Jen's father. Or Greg. Or Jules. Anyone, really. He knew he couldn't protect the whole town, but she looked so worried that he wished he hadn't asked at all, not without being able to offer something. Maybe if they all survived whatever this was, he could make her some hex bags for her father. Or Phee could. Jen was her friend, not his. "He'll be okay," he said for her benefit. "He's got his gun and-and I'm sure this'll pass. It doesn't seem dangerous, just stupidly thick, you know?"
"Stupid thick," Jen agreed and it was a funny phrase that could probably apply to somebody's butt too so it made her smile a little. "I'm just glad I was here when it hit and not at some grocery store or something. There's no way you can go out in that." If they weren't still on Christmas vacation they would be stuck at school and that just sounded like a horror movie to Jen. Stuck with a bunch of jocks and teachers with nowhere to go? Yeah, no thanks. She probably would have taken refuge at the library with Phee - if she could find her because their phones didn't work - so that wouldn't be too bad but still. Gross. "There are definitely people out there who are stuck at work right now, sucks to be them."
“Grocery store wouldn’t be too bad. At least you’d have food,” Sebastian said with a little smile. “Worst place would be, like… the cemetery. Or a church. That just seems super creepy.” He was also sure that anything outside was bad news, but didn’t want to think too much about who might be out in the cold. Or in their car. Jen’s dad was very possibly in his car. “Being at work would suck if you worked someplace sucky. Do you have a job?” He never had to have an official one, though he’d been considering it lately. It would be nice to have a little cash. His only issue was time. He couldn’t possibly be involved in all the extracurricular activities he was in, plus keep his grades up, plus work part time.
Jen shook her head. Her parents were fine with her doing work in the summer but they wanted her focus on school in the winter which made sense. She was doing pretty good with her grades but that had more to do with homework than anything. She fell asleep during class way too often. "I babysit sometimes," she said with a little shrug. "But I don't do that as often here as I did in Portland." She didn't think Sebastian had a job but then again she didn't really know him at all. "Do you?" she asked, thinking Phee had been pretty smart - and lucky - to get a job doing something she loved.
“No,” Sebastian said with a shake of his head. “Kind of wish I did, but my grades come first, and then I’d probably have to drop something to have time for one. I sometimes do yard work for neighbors. Clean pools, mow lawns. Shovel snow.” Nothing impressive, but enough to earn some pocket money when his allowance wasn’t enough. If he could do something like what Phee was doing, he would have, but the opportunity hadn’t presented itself and his own magic lessons had dwindled down to practically nothing. He looked towards the windows, feeling his anxiety begin to peak again. “I wish there was some way to make this fog go away.”
"Too bad your dad's not here, maybe he knows some neat trick," Jen said and glanced at the window too. There were a lot of witches in town though so if there was a way, maybe it would be gone by now. Or maybe they all had neat see-in-the-fog tricks and could go wherever they wanted. She didn't really want to think about the fog since it made her think about her dad and that way lay worry. "Not a lot of pools to clean in the middle of winter. Do you guys have one?"
“Maybe,” Sebastian said with a twitch of his lips. “If he does, he hasn’t taught us.” Which was an annoyance that was becoming a bigger and bigger deal to Sebastian. This was why he’d gone to Reagan, because he didn’t want to be defenseless, and there he was again, feeling useless when he was sure they were surrounded by something supernatural. “Yeah, but you’re right, pool cleaning generally stops this time of year. We have a cover we pull out over it. I do a lot more snow shovelling until spring comes around.” He was trying to see if he could use magic to aid him, since snow was just another form of water, but melting it made ice and that just made things worse. “Did Hunter tell you about us?” he asked curiously. “Or Phee?”
"Phee," Jen replied. "Once she knew that I knew about Liam." She looked at the window again and pushed herself to her feet, wandering over there. "You should try," she said. "You can move water, right? Maybe you can move this fog a little. Not from the whole town, obviously, but away from this window." It was something to do, something small and hell, maybe he'd find some intense power within himself and make it all go away. Not likely but why not try?
That was something, wasn’t it? That Hunter had kept his secret? It wasn’t as comforting as Sebastian thought it might be. At least he was gone now, far from anyone who’d care what Hunter might have to say about him. That made him feel better for some reason. Sebastian rose to his feet, following Jen over to the window. Looking out made him feel boxed in and his heart began to beat faster, but he put his hand on the glass and began to focus. “Is fog more air or water?” he asked, giving the cloud outside a push. It seemed to swirl away from the window, giving a tiny glimpse into the space only a foot from them, but was immediately filled back in a moment later. As he pushed harder, the elements seemed to go into battle, his magic warring for dominance against something far stronger. Inside, another entity took interest, and suddenly there was a small flame, a ball of light, moving out into the fog. It didn’t get far before it was swallowed whole and Sebastian wondered to himself where it had come from and where it had gone. If he’d done that, he wasn’t all that sure how. “That’s… not very promising.”
"No it's not," Jen sighed and gave him a wan smile. "Oh well, at least it looked really cool," she said and she didn't think she'd ever get sick of watching people use magic like this. It was beautiful and powerful and made her feel a little jealous and insignificant. "I hope you didn't set anything on fire out there," she added, arching a brow at him before heading back to the couch. The fog made her feel a little claustrophobic too and she didn't really want to be close to it.
“Yeah, me too,” Sebastian said quietly. Experimentally, he reached out for the fire, surprised when he could feel it and extinguish it. At any other time he might have tried it again, attempted to conjure and hold a flame in his hand, but he was too distracted by their situation to think about it. The air settled and the fog ate up the view once more, leaving him feeling even more uneasy than before. Forcing himself to look away, he joined Jen on the couch to watch a bit of the Ocean’s movie. Phee would return soon and they could go eat dinner. Then maybe the fog would lift and they could all breathe easy again. Maybe pigs would fly. It was worth hoping for, but he feared they were in for a long night.