i_seekthetower The Sun Rises [Babs/Jake]
The morning sun shone in through the bedroom window, and the gunslinger winced at its brightness. He couldn't remember the last time he had slept so soundly. It had been a peaceful rest. And even though his body still ached a bit, and his mind still felt the effects of the temporary psychosis, he felt considerably rejuvenated.
He sat up, pistols still tied about his waist -- he'd been too weary the night before to remove them -- and glanced over at the sleeping figure of the boy. Jake. The boy who was. The boy who always had been. Everything made sense to him now. He'd had two histories running through his mind. Two pasts. Two separate tracks that had each happened. Now they finally combined and made sense.
He was whole once more.
Roland slipped out of the bed, stretched his arms up above his head, and paused to peer at his reflection in a mirror above a dresser. Haggard described him well. He was in good need of a shave and a bath. A change of clothes would have suited him too. Or, at least, the washing of the garments he was currently wearing. But there was something even more important than that, and his growling stomach let him know almost immediately. He needed nourishment. And so he wandered the distance of the halls, the twists and turns, until he came upon the kitchen area. Where hopefully that woman, Barbara of Gotham, would be cooking something.
If not, then everyone would be subjected to gunslinger cuisine. And albeit edible and sustaining, not exactly chef's choice.
From: i_throwplates Date: 05/24/2006 08:38:59
Jake slept better that night than he had in weeks. He started to rouse when the gunslinger left the room, but his waking was slow and rested, not hurried. He took his time with it, and was just sitting up when Roland reached the kitchen, hungry.
Jake was hungry too. He didn't remember the last time he'd really eaten. Babs was still asleep (it was just something he knew - the source of his strange ability had ceased surprising him some time ago), so Jake climbed out of the bed to help Roland find something that was edible.
And hopefully didn't have the gustatory appeal of cardboard. That may not have bothered Roland, but Jake prefered some flavor in his food.
He stepped into tehe doorway of the kitchen, smiled, and said, "Hile, Roland."
From: i_seekthetower Date: 05/24/2006 08:45:46
Roland couldn't have looked more misplaced than he did at that very moment standing in the middle of a modern kitchen. It was like someone pulled him out of one of those old black and white westerns on the television -- TV Land reruns of Gunsmoke -- and plopped him in the real world. He looked awkward. But still, no less aware of his surroundings. He heard the boy coming from down the hall.
He tilted his head and looked at Jake. The boy had a knowledge about him. Not exactly the same kind that Roland had, but a kind that in a way surpassed his own. As if he knew what was to come. He was the boy from the way station. But he was not the same boy.
"Long days and pleasant nights, Sai Jake."
From: i_throwplates Date: 05/24/2006 08:52:55
"And may you have twice the number." The usual response to such a greeting. Jake grinned. "I think I may have to wait a few years more for my nights to be so pleasant, do it please ya?"
Jake moved to the refridgerator, pulling it open and taking out a carton of eggs, loaf of bread, and a carton of milk. After a moment, he added a packet of bacon to the collection. Bacon would be nice.
When he looked back at the gunslinger, there was a sad understanding in his eyes. "I think our whens have crossed, Roland. You don't remember the Callah, do you? Topeka? Blaine? Lud?"
From: i_seekthetower Date: 05/24/2006 08:59:06
Roland watched as the boy made his way around the kitchen with ease. Of course. This was his world. Or, at least, a similar replication of it. It made sense that he understand the contraptions around him. Roland only understand them from his moments spent in the minds of The Prisoner, the Lady of the Shadows, and The Pusher.
So he sat himself down in the nearest chair.
"I remember the doors. Three doors. I remember Eddie and Susannah. And her counterparts Odetta and Detta. I remember Jack Mort. And I remember one of the twelve. The bear. Shardik ... or Mir. The great guardian of the beam."
And that was all.
From: i_throwplates Date: 05/24/2006 09:20:26
Jake frowned and shook his head. "I wasn't there when you found the doors. It was later, after you were on the Path of the Beam, that you drew me. Eddie, Susannah, and you. In Mid-World."
He stopped what he was saying, starting to cook. Bread slices went into the toaster, strips of bacon into the microwave.
He was starting to wonder how much he could say. He was from a future that Roland didn't know yet, carrying information the gunslinger would only learn later. Things about Susannah. About Eddie. About himself. The Rose. The Key. Sai King. Black Thirteen.
It was unfair. And what would happen? Would they all return to the times and places they had been taken from? Or were they here now, until the next death took them?
From: i_seeall Date: 05/24/2006 09:56:03
Babs had been sleeping soundly. Midnight duty be damned. An email sent to Max had given the girl that job back at the mansion. She was capable enough for a night seemingly so quiet, and since Babs hadn't been woken in the middle of the night by sound of alarm, she assumed that Max had handled everything well.
She'd just needed to sleep. And the ten hours had been... heavenly wasn't even the proper word.
When she woke up it was to the faint smell of bacon, which made her move a bit faster than she might have in the mornings. Not only because she was hungry, but because it meant that one of the males in the house, both of whom had been insane last night, was opperating her stove or microwave. It wasn't Helena; she would have been at work by then.
Babs got out of bed and quickly slipped on a more proper shirt over her tanktop, leaving her shorts on. She moved out of the room and got into the elevator, heading downstairs.
"I see we're up early today," she commented upon entering the kitchen, looking around just to make sure nothing was in flames. But it was just Jake standing by the microwave. That didn't seem too horrible.
From: i_seekthetower Date: 05/24/2006 10:05:46
If it was a campfire, Roland could have done well to cook them something edible. The ends would no doubt be charred though. All this mechanical madness, however. Things from the past. And the future? Parts of the world that would eventually move on. Just not here yet. One day. Not yet.
The gunslinger's attention immediately went to the door at the sounds of the elevator. Creaking metal against metal, mechanisms and wires. Things he didn't understand and didn't trust. When she moved she sounded like Susannah and it brought a painful feeling to his chest. When she arrived, he stood for a moment. A Gilead tradition of politeness. Then he sat back down.
"May your days be long upon the earth, Barbara of Gotham."
Up early? For the gunslinger the hour was late. He could have made good distance by this time if he was in better health. Perhaps after breakfast. Perhaps then he would try to locate the path of the Beam again.
From: i_throwplates Date: 05/24/2006 11:18:16
Jake gave her a smile, picking up a pan and placing it on the stove. "Hi. How do you like your eggs? I can do scrambled, or... scrambled."
The bacon was sizzling nicely in the microwave. The coffee-maker had been noticed, and passed by Jake. Roland may have preferred coffee, but that was one instrument Jake had never known how to master. The microwave had been simple enough.
From: i_seeall Date: 05/24/2006 11:59:48
It was early, she was being greeted by strange greetings so it wasn't really much of a surprise when she had to stop for a moment, look around some more, and gain her barings before she could answer both Roland and Jake.
Roland finally recieved a, "good morning," along with a smile both to he and Jake. "Scrambled's fine. You seem to be doing better this morning. Both of you."
From: i_seekthetower Date: 05/24/2006 19:15:26
Roland would have preferred over-easy, but he was starving. So he would take what he got. And since it was Jake going through all of the trouble, there would be no complaints.
He ran a few fingers over his brow and peered out the window, the sun shining a glimmer off the edges of the metallic items in the room.
"Might I have something to drink?"
The gunslinger wasn't going to presume that they had the likes of coffee in this world. He was still in unfamiliar territory, and had been ever since he left Gilead so many years ago.