Who: Jack and Finn What: ‘Look After Him’ When: 6th June 2020 (Backdated) Where: Jack’s stall to his wagon Rating: Low Status: Complete
It had been another successful night for Zion, or at least that was what Finn was thinking as he did one last walk around of his tank. Even though they had been stuck here in New Orleans in 2020 for a few months now it seemed like the people were still enjoying the ‘retro’ feel that Zion Mystique had. Of course there was absolutely nothing wrong with his tank, there never really was, but that was just his routine after each show, making sure that all was fine helped him sleep that bit better of a night.
After leaving the tent that housed his show Finn decided to do a loop of the grounds, the humidity was thick in the air and while others might complain that it made them perspire Finn didn’t mind it at all, he could draw in this atmospheric moisture and cool himself down, or if he really felt like it - make a tiny ball of water. Tonight though he did neither, he could feel that there was rain on the way and that put him in a good mood, he did love a good storm.
As he was nearing the portraits stall he could hear raised voices, his pace slowed a bit and he hoped that he wasn’t going to walk into some kind of disagreement - water elemental or not he still had that fiery Irish temper. Then he noticed a flash of red hair as Abigail appeared from behind a tent and away from him, Finn doubted she had even noticed that he was there.
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Jack huffed as he folded his easel and shoved it into the bag beside him. Somehow it went in as the bag retained its shape. “I’m goin’ t’be careful.” He murmured as he started to pack up the paints from a small folding table beside his chair. “Jus’ because y’see someth-” He paused his muttered speech as he saw Finn come into view. “Oh, hey.” Jack nodded, realizing his argument with the carnival’s seer may not have been the most covert. “Good showin’ t’night, ey?”
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Finn hadn't actually heard any of what was said between the two, it was just the raised voices that had drawn his attention. He had continued to walk forward and he saw it was Jack that Abby had been arguing with and offered the other man a smile. "Yeah, still drawing in the crowds." Which to Finn was a surprise in itself, part of him was itching to move on, but he knew that might not happen for a while yet. They could only wait and see. "Earn some coin?" He asked, nodding down at the art supplies that Jack was picking up.
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Jack nodded. “Seems that people have more money t’spend on things like art here.” He acknowledged. Back home it was only those who were a little more well off that did- or a few who saw him the first week and saved up to get a portrait the last week. Typically he made more off tips than actual sales. “But longer we stay, slower I get. Can still make a bit off those who think it’s a trick.” He said, picking the small basket from under the table to show the tips he’d brought in. “Wrist’s a bit sore, had a few elaborate requests t’day- charged them a fair amount though an’ they thought it was a deal. Coulda prolly charged even more.” The difference in prices was amazingly different. “But I bet escape acts never get tired.” He chuckled, adding more to the bag that held a miraculous amount.
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Finn was amazed at Jack's artistic abilities, even if he did use a bit of magic to make it look like the quick sketching was a trick, but then again they all used their abilities in some regard or another. He looked down at the basket with some notes in it, Jack was right that people now seemed to not value money as much as they did back in their own time. "The only one who gets tired is me." He gave a little smirk. "I've had to change how I do my show. Have someone check my cuffs but not in a way that gives it away, stay underwater for longer and struggle more. Morbid bastards almost want me to drown." Not that he ever would, especially with the constant curtain of bubbles that filled the tank and oxygenated the water that allowed him to breathe. "I do miss the peace and quiet though." Even the nights were noiser now with constant sounds of cars or other vehicles all the time.
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“I can only imagine how bad it would be if we were closer to the city.” He laughed, finally putting the table into the bag. “Least you’ll be able to not have to worry about being so over the top when we get back.” Jack mused, quickly correcting himself. “If we get back.”
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That was true, in the city it was so busy and so noisy that he always felt himself rehab when he got back to the security of Zion. "I don't think I'd be able to sleep at night." The wagon did block out quite a bit of noise but it still filtered through somehow. Finn chuckled softly at the idea of being over the top if they got back. "I've got faith, we'll get there somehow... eventually." He wasn't religious nor did he know how it was all done but he had faith, after all Kristoph had come back.
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“Sooner rather than later, assuming…” Jack shrugged slightly, knowing he was probably saying too much. But the conversation with Abby had him a bit rubbed the wrong way. “Things work out alright.” His eyes glanced in the direction the redhead went as he adjusted his blanket on his lap. He was all packed up, his entire stall surprisingly fit inside of a small, thin bag.
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Finn nodded, they did seem to work out in the end. "Change of scenery would be nice." Maybe it was just in his blood that he didn't feel comfortable staying in one place too long, even if they couldn't get back to their own time it'd be nice to see how other cities had developed over the century. He looked down as Jack was all packed up, he knew enough after all his time in Zion that things weren't always what they appeared. "Can I wheel you somewhere? Give your wrists a rest." He offered, knowing that Jack wasn't always accepting of such an offer.
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Jack nodded as he pressed the lever that released the brake on his chair. “Thank you. ‘Preciate that. Jus’headin’ back t’the wagon.” He watched Finn move behind his chair and start to push.
“Can I ask y’somethin’?” He wondered aloud, continuing without waiting on a response. “If y’had a chance t’fix a mistake, a real boner. Even if it were somethin’ that could hurt ya, but would help others… would y’do it?”
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Finn pretty much knew the entire grounds of Zion off by heart, he started pushing Jack along a route that while it wasn't the most direct one, it would be a smoother ride for the chair. Plus it was a nice night out.
"I would." He answered. "Though I'm not really known for making the best decisions, maybe I'm not the best person to ask." Finn did have a good heart and would do anything for those close to him, even if it resulted in his own personal injury. "My Ma used to tell me that if it comes from the heart then that's all that really matters."
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Between Kieran worrying about him, Kristoph feeling protective and cautioning him and Abigail basically telling him that she saw his- well… maybe he was just looking for someone to tell him that he shouldn’t give up.”Mine always told me I was stronger than people thought.Never to listen to no one who said otherwise.”
Jack ran his hand through his hair, Kieran had given him a cut so his locks weren’t as long as he’d let them grow. “I really hope she’s right.”
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He gave Jack a soft pat of reassurance on the shoulder. "She is right. There are many people out there who don't have the willpower or the stubborn pig-headedness to go through all the trials that life has thrown at you over the years Jack, they'd just find a place to wallow in their own pity."
Finn knew that from experience, he had gotten so close to just giving up after Miriam died but her had found a passion here at Zion, and someone who loved him for who he was.
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“Not always a matter of willpower.” Jack said softly, shaking his head as if to say ‘ignore that’.
“Hopefully Kristoph can figure how to save Edi… then maybe we can all go home.” It had been long enough and the rumors were hard to stop in Zion, everyone knew that Edi was missing (even if they didn’t know how). He was surprised the fact that it was his fault they were in 2020 wasn’t common knowledge yet- probably because the carnival’s leader was protecting him again.
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Finn had heard about Edi but he knew there was nothing in his own abilities or skills that would be of any use in the search to find her, he just hoped that wherever she was, she was still alive. He hadn't heard the other rumor though he knew to take everything another carny said with a grain of salt, they weren't the most truthful people in the world, but they were his people.
"It would be nice to get back home, though we do have an idea of what to look out for in the next hundred years." The Great Depression and World War 2 were the ones that stuck in Finn's mind.
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“Assuming it all happens the same.” Jack had never messed with time travel until the accident, but he knew enough to know that it was a fluid state and not everything they read in books today would come to pass for them when they returned. How it worked exactly, he didn’t know. He only knew it worked. “I do miss it. This new time is just… it doesn’t feel right.” He commented. Jack wasn’t sure exactly why he said it, it wasn’t something he’d even admitted to Kieran. But ever since he’d brought them to 2020, time just felt wrong. Maybe it was because of his magical sphere, he knew he was in the wrong time so he could feel that difference. Like putting on clothes that just didn’t fit quite right.
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“Can only wait and see.” There were some things that Finn guessed were going to happen regardless, but maybe other things might not. The only time travelling he read about was in Jules Verne’s book and he still couldn’t get his head around that. “I couldn’t agree with you more there Jack, I do like some of the freedoms that people have in this time… but we definitely do not belong here.” While it was great to see couples of the same sex getting married and adopting children, a life he only dreamed of with Riley, it made Finn crave those more simple times they lived in.
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“Soon I’ll- I think Kristoph will find a way home.” He corrected himself. “Then things can go back t’normal.” Or as normal as they could be in a place called Zion. “Have to say it is kinda nice to hear someone else have no question of goin back.” He rubbed at his arm. Jack had been practicing magic directly through leylines more than normal. His wings had been out more in the past month than they’d been his entire life. He was getting better at controlling it, but he still wondered if he’d be able to bring them back… was he as strong as his mother thought he was?
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He hoped that Jack was right, he was starting to feel a bit homesick for their own time, if that was at all possible. "I hope so, I miss the crowds that are easier to please." Which was true, the people now were more sceptical of pretty much everything but those back in their own time were much easier to please, even if it meant less money. "If there is anything I can do, I'll try my best." Not that he thought there was anything he could do, other than offer support to those who could.
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Everyone missed something. Some it was the quiet, others it was family, for some it was just something familiar. “Hey, can you do me a favor?” He asked after a long moment of silence. “If something happens… can you keep an eye on Kieran… make sure he’s okay?” Sure, Finn wasn’t as close to Kieran as others might have been, but perhaps a distant third party might be a good person to make sure that if the backlash from the spell was- bad, his boyfriend would have some support. Support who also wouldn’t let on that they’d been asked and cause Kieran to try to stop him.
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Finn’s brows creased a bit at the question, of course it wasn’t the kind of question he had been expecting, that was the kind of question that was asking when something bad might be around the corner. “Of course I will… you’re not sick are you?” Of course Finn was clueless about what Jack was talking about, but he was also a bit naive about the shifting of Zion from one place to another, it had intrigued him for the first few moves but after fifteen years of them he just knew that it was some kind of magic and something that was way past his realm of knowledge.
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“No.” Jack shook his head. “Not sick. Just… getting us back… fixing my mistake…” He rubbed his neck. “I don’t know what the cost is gonna be.” Death was unlikely, the type of magic he used didn’t often have such dire consequences. But there were plenty of other things that could happen that could be just as bad as death. The coma was worse… this magic was bigger.
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Finn nodded, even though Jack couldn’t see it. It seemed to make sense when the other man talked about his mistake, that for whatever reason they were in the future because of something Jack had done but he wasn’t about to blame him either. “You can do it Jack.” He moved a hand up and gave Jack’s shoulder a friendly and reassuring squeeze. “Even if you got us here by mistake I know that you can get us back.”
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“Thanks an’- don’t tell anyone, okay?” He sighed. “I dun think I could face ‘em all if they knew.” Even though Jack had done it trying to save Edi, it had still been because he’d not been focused enough. He’d let himself get pulled into the teleportation spell and… “But if yer needin’ t’know t’keep quiet… I’ll tell ya what happened.” He’d only really talked about it with Kieran, James and Kristoph- well Abby already knew and he wasn’t sure James had completely been paying attention. Still, it was a weighty secret he’d been shouldering. Part of him wanted to share it, but another part of him feared the outcome.
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“Cross my heart.” Finn replied, he was good at keeping these kinds of secrets, even though he tried not to keep too much from Riley, he would promise that whatever was talked about between the two of them would stay that way. It might also be easier for Jack to tell him seeing as they weren’t face to face, he often found that more difficult telling someone something when actually looking at them. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but if it gets a weight off your chest…” Sometimes that was all that was needed to make someone feel better, not keeping it bottled up inside.
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His fingers ran over the wool blanket on his lap. “You heard ‘bout the attack that happened that night.” Jack asserted, everyone had heard, that wasn’t a secret. It put two were’s in the med tent. Kristoph had died- temporarily. The Ferris Wheel had been downed. It had been hard to miss- at least the aftermath. If more people had seen the entire event, they would know what he’d done. “I was finishin’ up and almost back to the wagon when I heard the Eli.” He sighed. “I could hear someone callin’, and was so close… I had to see. One a’th’guys had this jar thing. I could hear Edi screamin’ round me. Don’t know how they was doin’ it, but they were takin’ her and the jar was doin’ it.” Jack’s fingers curled into the blanket. It did feel good to get it out, but remembering was hard too. “I tried to stop it, cast a spell but it didn’t work so I tried…” He swallowed. “I was thinkin’ if I could make the Jar older, break it down… then it couldn’t do what it was gonna do, right? But… I lost focus.”
A loss of focus that had impacted, everyone… it hadn’t been a small lapse that made a flower re-bud, or his paint to get dried out and cracked because he got distracted. He’d taken everyone away from their own time- and hadn’t even prevented Edi from being taken.
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Finn listened as Jack recounted what happened that night, of course he was in his wagon with Riley but they had both come out when it was all over to see the carnage but didn’t know what had caused it, despite the rumors going around which he took with the usual grain of salt. To hear that some men had taken Edi with some kind of jar seemed a bit strange, while he had never personally seen Edi he couldn’t see how these men could kidnap someone with a jar, unless they had some kind of shrinking spell or something like in Alice in Wonderland. Still he tried not to think too hard on that subject as Jack continued to talk about trying to make the jar break.
“You did the best you could do Jack.” Even the best of them lost focus now and then, though most of them wouldn’t have had the ability to transport an entire carnival a century into the future, it just showed Jack’s true power which was far greater than his own.
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“I got tangled.” He shook his head. “Like when you’re doin’ the wash and a sock ends up in the sleep of your shirt.” He tried to explain. “Whatever magic moves us- it’s bigger than anythin’ I could do… but I got caught in it. An’ now we’re here.” Jack glanced back to Finn, finally. “But the Professor and I, we got a plan t’undo it. An’Kristoph’s on board… jus’... it’s bigger n’anythin’ I’ve done on m’own before.” And Abby said something bad will happen.
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He definitely knew what it was like to get tangled, mainly it was the sheets or in Riley’s limbs, but that was something Jack didn’t need to know. Thankfully he hadn’t had those problems with his abilities since he was young, it could be deadly in the tank. The reassuring hand returned to Jack’s shoulder. “If you were able to do this without their help, I’m sure you’ll do just fine.” Then again Finn didn’t know that it was Kristoph’s magic that moved them from place to place, he knew magic was involved but wasn’t sure who was responsible, it was one of those questions that was not asked.
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“Thank y’for listenin’.” Jack said, looking up and noticing they were getting close to his wagon. “Really appreciate it. An’ dun worry, we’ll let everyone know ‘fore we go home… so we don’t miss anyone.” He added with a small smile.
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Finn smiled, he didn't mind listening at all and it seemed like Jack was feeling a bit better now that it was off his chest so to speak. "I definitely won't be going out that night." He was looking forward to going back to their own time, even if it wasn't as glamorous as this modern one, it was still home. "If you ever want to talk, about anything, I'm all ears." He offered as they stopped just outside of Jack's wagon.
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“‘Preciate it.” He nodded, moving his chair to the stairs, he backed the wheel up to the bottom step. “Wanna see somethin’ neat?” Jack asked with a sly grin. He looked back at the wide top stoop of the wagon and clenched his fist as he pulled at a magical thread that seemed to connect the point at the ground with the top of the stoop. Jack wheeled back and was up the stairs in one move. It was almost impossible to see, even he had issues comprehending it (which is one thing that made space magic a bit difficult to pick up). Most people’s brains would have such a difficulty grasping the spacial distortion, it would be more like they blinked and he was up the steps in a second- appearing to teleport. He held his hands out in a ‘ta, da’. “Really though, thanks for listenin’ an’ the other… if somethin’ happens.”
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While it was something that Finn had not seen before and it had made him gasp to see Jack suddenly appear at the top of the wagon’s stairs, it didn’t really surprise Finn that Jack had such abilities and it answered the question of how Jack managed to get in and out of the wagon. He exclaimed in Irish Gaelic but then grinned up at Jack. “You’re a man of many abilities.” Growing up in carnival life the things that others were able to do didn’t surprise him as much as it might other people, afterall he was able to pretty much breathe underwater and so many thought that his ability to hold his breath was a miracle. “I’ll keep an eye on ‘im.” A smile and nod. “Anytime.”