Eliot the Spectacular (highkingeliot) wrote in thedisplaced, @ 2018-02-26 09:57:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log/thread, eliot waugh, julia wicker |
Who: Eliot Waugh & Julia Wicker
What: Eliot and Julia chitchat over coffee.
Where: Coffee Area
When: Backdated. Early morning, February 14th
Rating: PG, for playful innuendo.
Anyone who spent a good amount of time around Eliot knew that he wasn't one for mornings. He had a preference for spending the better part of a morning in bed before eventually slipping out from under the covers to spend the rest of the morning getting ready for upcoming afternoon and evening. Of course, as he was a very social person with a deceptively full schedule, his preference was more than often ignored. He'd been able to indulge in it more with the cruise ship but since they'd been in port, he was functioning more like he did during his Brakebills tenure. Up exceptionally early, with caffeine immediately in hand, and working on his appearance before he'd do anything else. Today was even more an outlier. The sun wasn't exactly up yet but Eliot was already down at one of the coffee stands, fully dressed and regimented, hand in his pocket while the other held onto his phone and idly thumbed through the network. He and Kylo were intending to head off for Gondor once again this morning. Having already ventured there on the first day, in the company of Steve and Q, the pair had decided that they needed to give the area at least one more day of attention; and that additional day needed to be just between the two of them. It had seemed like the best spot to spend the Holiday. Eliot surmised he could have asked Quentin for advice on this but he and Kylo had more or less decided on their own that they wanted to loop back around to the area. Instead of sporting his usual clothes, Eliot was wearing something a bit more akin to the wardrobe of Tolkien. While he'd already decided that the elves were the most fashionable, he was wearing garments that suited the the world of men, in shades of blue. Finally, he looked up from his phone and pocketed it, looking ahead at the line in front of him. Julia looked tired. It wasn’t just the hour. She was two spots ahead in line and hadn’t noticed him yet, waiting for her turn to order. Being in a new place, in a new bed, in a new room meant waking up every few hours. When it became late enough in the night to be considered early morning there was a daily calculation of whether to give up and get out of bed, or make one more attempt to sleep in. It depended on why she woke up. Basic restlessness meant it was safe to stay in bed. But anything beyond that made sleep so unappealing that she attempted to coffee her problems away. At her turn she ordered a latte, extra shot, and it was then she turned to look at the line behind her and was startled when she saw Eliot. The clothes didn’t look so unusual on him though. Relaxing just so, she stepped away to wait on her latte and commenting on his choice of attire said, “Going out?” With this hour, not many were awake enough to be social. The comment was enough to snag Eliot's attention, at least enough to look in the direction of the voice, and then a slight smile took over his otherwise drowsy expression. "In a bit," he answered. If he didn't have somewhere to go, and intent to get back to his room with the coffees in hand as soon as possible, he'd ordinarily have stepped out of the line to saddle up by Julia's side for a few moments of polite conversation. He didn't do this at the moment but he did shift his body in her general direction as he waited for the line to continue to move. "We're heading to Minas Tirith," he added, as a way of continuing the conversation. He didn't offer up who the other half of 'we' was but he figured Julia was keen enough to figure it out on her own. "Are you?" He didn't necessarily assume she was going out but it wouldn't have necessarily been a surprise with the port they were currently in. Julia shook her head. Things between her and Quentin’s friends were at least better than they could have been. For one, Eliot did not refer to Julia as the Hedge Bitch. She had no reason to suspect he wouldn’t have if he felt that way, so automatic plus. It had taking robbing a bank together to … start to get to whatever they were. Maybe Q had told Eliot the details. Julia was too tired to ask. “I don’t really--” Julia was cut off as her order was ready and she stepped up ahead to pick up her latte and then wait back in line for Eliot to order his drink. “I guess I don’t really see the point,” she admitted. “I saw a little.” Eliot raised an eyebrow with that statement. He supposed it fell in line with their previous discussions. She wanted to get back to the quest and get back to finding a solution to their lack of magic. And, upon last discussion, she'd been talking about trying to maintain memories so they could potentially save Penny's life. But, he didn't see the point of not enjoying oneself while they were here, at the very least. He didn't expect her to transition into his mindset, of wanting to never actually leave, anytime soon but some joy should be taken. "I don't know. We've been at sea for so long now that any chance to explore anywhere is a welcome one," he commented. This was how it was for him, at least. He was next in line and he held up a finger for a moment to Julia, so he wouldn't be rude for stepping away from the conversation, and proceeded to step forward. He ordered Kylo's prefered variant of coffee and than a tall cup of plain black for himself, with double espresso shots. Then he took a step back to look at her. "I bet Q would take you all around if you asked him. He's quite the tour guide," he offered up, with a smile. Julia shrugged. “I think there’s someone else he’d rather be spending time with. If he feels like hanging out, he’ll ask. I know we throw around the best friends word a lot, but…” Julia sort of frowned to admit anything like this outloud, “We are. I’m not saying we’re not, but our friendship now is kind of based on helping each other. And if he doesn’t need my help here then…” She shrugged. “I’ll be there for him when he does, and if I ask, he’ll be there for me.” But he had new friends and interests. Julia had always told him to grow up and while she wasn’t looking, in a way, he had. “Kylo seems nice,” she said, changing the subject. “You’re kind of a bigger nerd than you let on.” Julia’s brows raised and she may have been teasing him just slightly. Eliot disagreed. Having been in Quentin's company, in this situation, for nearly a year, he knew how much the other boy had missed Julia's company. It had been discussed on occasion but it wasn't on Eliot to clarify that to Julia. Quentin needed to do that. After all, Eliot could have been wrong, he supposed. He'd been wrong about Alice. He shrugged in turn. "He and Steve spent time with Kylo and I. I don't think he'd be against spending time with you, regardless of needing help or not," he commented, as his hands shuffled back into the pockets of his pants. Then a smirk. He prefered it when others didn't come into meeting Kylo with preconceived notions. They were able to formulate their own opinions. It was better. "I haven't the slightest idea of which you speak," he said, a grin widening. “Yeah, he would have shown me his lightsaber except someone already had it,” Julia said, her own smile growing despite her very valiant attempt to keep a straight face. “I swear to god I thought you were joking when you mentioned Star Wars on the net. I mean, Harry Potter almost makes sense because I could see J. K. Rowling as a magician who visited another world and wrote books about it. But Star Wars? Still makes no sense. Apparently Obi-Wan Kenobi is on the boat but I didn’t think Kylo would know if he looked like Ewan McGregor or not and honestly, I’m not sure I’m prepared to know the answer to that myself.” She didn’t completely ignore his comment about Quentin, though. Julia’s eyes looked down at her drink and she sipped it. “I know Q would spend time with me if I asked. That’s not really the point. He has a crush. He should get to be happy. And I’m not really ready to be happy being here yet. I don’t need to rain on anyone’s parade.” "I have a very firm grip on his lightsaber," he commented, with such a grin that he almost was a definition of the cat that got the cream. He couldn't help but huff a bit of a laugh at her statements, as he pivoted just for a moment to pick up his two coffees, nudging his head off to the side for Julia to follow him now. "Oh, it's Ewan McGregor. Sorry, spoilers, but yeah," he said as he set down the spare cup he'd gotten for Kylo. "I only know because he looks practically identical to Remus Lupin. Q and I pay a bit of attention to Mr. Lupin," he explained. Eliot watched her as she spoke. He remembered how long it had taken for Quentin to even begin to consider being happy here. He'd been patient with Q but it had been exhausting. "You don't have to be happy about it," he offered up, "but you also don't have to stay on ship while being down. Might as well see the landscapes or whatever as you process everything?" “Yeah, I also don’t have to risk the local sentient tree population somehow knowing who I am or what I’ve done. So far, Middle Earth is a lot more touristy than the books, but given my limited experience in Fillory I also know just how fucked up things can get. No thank you.” Julia sipped on her latte which was almost cool enough to drink down, adjusting her pace to follow Eliot and his longer stride. Julia was about the same size as Margo. “I… went shopping and tried on some of the costumes for fun,” she admitted. “Honestly, I’d rather just talk to all the other people who do magic from other worlds and see what I can find out.” She didn’t know just how important seeking that knowledge was to who she was. Julia figured it was because she just didn’t have the benefit of learning at Brakebills that she was always jonesing for more magical knowledge. “And maybe hold a real Harry Potter wand,” she said quietly. He could not give her shit for that after his lightsaber remark. The trees. There'd been a brief mention about Julia and the nymphs. This mention hadn't necessarily been forgotten but it wasn't something he thought of until she brought that up. He nodded his head as he sucked in a breath. "Yeah, right. Fair." He couldn't argue against that logic. "I've not done that," he commented, idly. He'd purchased regular clothes so that he could blend in but thus far he'd not taken any of the costumes that would alter his appearance. He didn't want to grow shorter and have excess hair in random spots. He was too vain for that sort of thing, even though there was an unusual shadow of stubble growing that hadn't been shaved off that morning. And it wasn't just a day's worth of growth. "There's plenty of people to talk to. Some are more open about it than others." His mind flashed to Ronan and the misunderstanding the pair had last year over magic. He pushed the thought from his mind as quick as it had arrived. "Mmm, the Potter people are social. Have you spoken to many of them yet?" “Besides Petunia? I met Lupin at the party and I’ve spoken to Ron and Percy Weasley over the net. I think Percy and I are going to check out the Shire. I felt sort of bad for him. I don’t think he has many friends here.” He was also quite a bit older than he had been in the books, so maybe he wouldn’t be as insufferable as the books made him seem. Or maybe Julia was going to have a very long day when they met up. “Have you tried spells from other worlds yet?” Julia asked. He and Q had been here for a year. They probably had time to explore that if it interested them, but while Julia was always hungry for that sort of knowledge, she didn’t assume. Her eyes locked on Eliot for his response said as much. "Ask Percy if you can hold his wand." His grin turned up at her with the quip before he shifted to lift up his own coffee cup to his lips. "I don't talk to any of the Weasley's. Emmeline brought Charlie around a couple times but that was before they split," he said with an idle shrug of his shoulders. "You'll have to let me know how the Shire is. I don't really want to change into one of the costumes, but I know I'll be too tall for all their buildings." He then shook his head negatively. "A lot of the magic differs between universes. There's been some that works between the different ones but I've not branched out much. Pixie's been able to learn our magic, which leads me to believe we could learn anything from her universe." “Maybe I will,” Julia said, rolling her eyes a little. If she were being honest she really hoped Percy would share information about his world. And she wanted to hold a real wand from his world, so dick jokes aside, she wasn’t above asking him. Julia perked up at the mention of a pixie, though. “So… have you tried?” Julia asked him. “Magic from her world?” "Just remember, you have to keep a firm grip." He shifted his attention away from the jest, however, and nodded his head as he lifted his cup of coffee once again to his lips. "I did," he answered with ease. "Trouble is that she didn't have a lot of spells under her belt. She's quick as hell on learning but opportunities, I think, were kind of an issue." He set the coffee cup back down. "But I had her show me everything she did know. Made it easier to figure out where we needed to start with our lessons," he explained. "I was able to do her levitation spell. It works but it wasn't necessarily as effective as what we are already capable of doing." 'We' meaning himself and Julia. Julia’s lips went tight and her hand smacked Eliot mostly playfully in the gut for the wand remark. She shouldn’t have been surprised at the word we but it was the main part of Eliot’s speech she focused on. Her hedge background still came up, although usually with fifty to eighty percent less negativity and sarcasm involved. Very purposefully, Julia pushed out of her mind the first time she met Eliot. “I’m asking you something awkward,” Julia said, not bothering to get permission first like Quentin would have. “Why are you nice to me? You aren’t…” Julia made a face, not sure how to put it or what he even knew about her. “...Given the last thing you remember, it was a while before we were really on speaking terms.” She wanted to ask what he knew, but she didn’t want to have to speak the words out loud, either. His face erupted into a gleeful grin with the smack but it didn't linger. He was still sleep deprived and there were more important things to be spoken of, but he liked that she comfortable being playful around him. He then glanced down upon her as the conversation turned serious. His fingers curled around the coffee cup once again and he turned his gaze down to the lip of his lid, giving her question a moments worth of thought. "I've been here longer than anyone," he began, as a thumb moved to run over the edge of the lid. "And I've never gotten to experience waking with new memories. Everything I know comes from you all." He turned his gaze now back to her. "Quentin was the first to show here after Margo left. He gave me months and months worth of updates. He told me where we stand on the subject of you, because I wasn't necessarily thrilled when he started talking about you. He set that straight." "And if Quentin says we trust you, then, we trust you. Easy as that." It was true. Eliot took Quentin and Margo's advice to heart almost without question. Though, with some notable exceptions as of late. Julia nodded. She wasn’t sure what Quentin had included in those updates, he’d only mentioned telling Steve about her, but perhaps he’d taken for granted telling the others what they were only going to figure out in the future. The hedge decided, like Eliot, to just accept it at that. “Thanks.” And she meant it. It was a lot better than the alternative. “If I remember anything else, I’ll tell you. You seem like you’d probably understand.” Not that Kady and Penny wouldn’t understand, but Eliot had been here the longest out of the three of them, and least likely to hold it against her if the news was bad. Mostly. The promise came from the fact Julia didn’t have more news about his wife and daughter and she still felt a little bad about not being able to help in that department. He gave her a small smile and a nod in acknowledgement of the gratitude, before raising his cup to accent the acknowledgement. Another drink was had from it once it was lowered. "If you get a rush of memories, too, I hope." To Eliot's understanding, the only one that had experienced that thus far was Alice. Margo's situation had been leaving and coming back. It wasn't exactly the same. "Mmm, did Quentin talk to you about the Cottage?" He asked, now, diverting the conversation. Julia was curious about who got memories and why and when. But she was content to let that drop, and go along with the new topic of conversation. It wasn’t the sort of thing anyone seemed to have any answers for. “He mentioned it was in Texas?” Julia said. “You, Kylo and Petunia are living there?” The hedgewitch hadn’t actually asked or assumed if she would be living there or not. It was sort of an awkward topic of conversation that she planned on putting off until either someone else mentioned it or they all ended up back in Texas and she found herself without a place to live. "We do," he said. Of course, it was sort of a gray area in relation to Kylo, but Eliot had high hopes that Kylo would come back home where he belonged once they were back in Tumbleweed. "Margo and Penny are there as well. Alastor was there, but since he's departed, we'll need to pack his things up once we get back." "I suspect Kady will join us." He paused for a moment then looked directly at her. "There's room for you." It meant a lot to Julia that the invitation had come from Eliot. She suspected that Quentin would have wanted Julia to live at the cottage. But the division between classically trained and hedge seemed to become less and less important the longer they worked together. She may have been living at the cottage back home, but none of them knew that. To be asked, in a way, much earlier in their timelines heartened her. Her smile was small, but unlike most days, this one reached her eyes. “I would love that.” |