All drafts are queued, sped the queue back up to 3 posts a day, and now…I dunno. Make gifs or something because I’ve neglected that for a long ass time now
Month: September 2017
“Does anyone really try to put the lid back on that box after they open it?” he asked, a small laugh in his tone.
It seemed to him that it wasn’t really the sort of secret someone could just forget about and go on with the rest of their life without acknowledging ever again, even in the world as it was now. Especially in the world now.
“Tal’s sweet. I guess she kinda makes it a little easier to deal with. Most of the dogs around here are for security, so they aren’t exactly friendly enough to just hang out with.”
“A fair few. It doesn’t always go over well. Shock, you know?” He didn’t really catch the humor. He never really did.
He nodded. That made sense, in a way. “Tal…she’s been through a lot. Even before all of…this. Her mother abandoned her on the streets, her father didn’t know she existed. One of her aunts found her and brought her home. She really just wants to make sure that everyone is care for because of it. She doesn’t want them to be scared or lonely.”
I am awake. I am here. I am trying to decide on what I want to do. It’s between drafts or making gifs.
“Maybe, or maybe there’s one option we could look into that would give us our best shot at a straight answer. Probably best we don’t say anything to Mom about it though.”
“What option is that?” She hadn’t been able to think of any herself and she had been curious about all of this for years. “Well, yeah, mom doesn’t like mentioning it at all unless she’s trying to make sure we’re not going down that path..”
Jayne returned the nod in acknowledgement. Besides, he didn’t exactly want to cause shit for anyone who was just trying to get by in what was left of the world like he was, and they’d already shown him they weren’t a threat to him, so he’d keep their secret.
“So, what happens now then?”
“I suppose that’s up to you. We won’t interfere in your life or anything of the sort. You don’t even need to speak to us or anything like that if you do not wish. Although, I will say, Tal has taken a fondness to you. She gets attached to people rather easily. You have free will in all of this.”
More so than anyone on his end did, he supposed, knowing well enough that if one of the elders in his family stated they were to keep an eye on Jayne, he would have to.
Jayne waved away the apology and shook his head as though he didn’t need it.
“Guess we’re both in unfamiliar territory, huh?” he shrugged, his tone low and a little resigned.
“Not even sure what I’m doing right now. Most people around here would probably think I was batshit crazy if I told any of them about you guys. Don’t worry, I know this is probably something I’m supposed to keep my mouth shut about, regardless, right?”
He cracked a smile at that and nodded. There was no use denying the truth in his words.
“I would appreciate it. Sort of a safety precaution when people tend to hunt that which they do not understand and, subsequently, fear.” They really didn’t want any more people to die, especially if they came gunning for them. After all, they were just trying to keep what little balance remained.
Jayne stared blankly, the information just washing over him for the time being.
“Please, just… It’s kinda hard to get my head around this shit, so can we leave any details out for now? One thing at a time, yeah?”
He was trying, he really was, and he didn’t mean to sound rude, but even as a kid, it had been easy to overload him with too much, and his coping mechanisms only stretched so far without everything collapsing into an unintelligible mess that would take him far too long to sift through without exhausting himself in the process.
“Sorry, I don’t…usually have to explain anything to anyone,” he answered sheepishly, ducking his head a little. The last he wanted to do was overwhelm the other.
He fell silent, letting Jayne choose what he wanted to know and how much at once. It was probably easier this way for both of them.
He caught the little hesitation in Xander’s words, cementing what he’d suspected after he’d had a chance to process things.
“You mean Talyse, right?” he asked casually, his expression saying that he’d be grateful for complete transparency if he was going to accept these things existed.
“I mean, ain’t no dogs I’ve ever seen come close to her size, and most of the native wolf population are way upstate out in the wild. It’s usually only the sick and injured ones who drift back into the city looking for an easy meal, and Tal is neither of those things, so I figure she’s like you and Lux, at least as far as my general area of experience or explanation.”
Xander nodded, trying not to look completely guilty. “Was sort of trying to ease into that one.”
“She’s…similar. Her mother was a werewolf, her father is one of the Oneiroi. Dream weavers. Lux is half angel, half harpy. Which makes Lux an oddly good judge of character despite her inability to blend in well. I’m a little more muddled. My father is angel, death spirit, and a touch human. My mother is half dream, but her grandparents are Persephone and Zeus. Her grandfather is not one any of us choose to associate with,” he explained, trying to lay it all out without it getting too confusing.
Jayne’s eyes glazed over a little at mention of other beings. It was still too much for him to even try to imagine the scope of what he was dealing with right now.
“Yeah, well before this week, I ain’t never known about any of this shit, so.” he shrugged, tugging on a t-shirt that had a few small tears and stains in it, but was still wearable, given the circumstances of how they lived now.
“You might be surprised with what you’ve met or stumbled across. Most are better at blending in than Lux or..” he paused before shrugging, not really wanting to blow the cover on Tal just yet. He had seemed comfortable with her in her fur.
“I was, er… just seeing if it worked.” Jayne confessed, looking more than a little sheepish.
“It’s not every day someone tells you that you can contact them by burning a feather. I mean, it’s not really any day at all for me, until now.”
It was obvious that Jayne was still trying to find some kind of logical explanation to hang it on and coming up spectacularly short, at least in terms of anything within his own realm of knowledge. Another moment passed and he suddenly realised he wasn’t wearing much by way of clothing on his top half, leaving his scars more uncovered than he usually felt comfortable with others seeing, so he scrabbled to grab a shirt to hide them.
“I figured you would want to test it, it’s why I gave you more than one feather.”
He shrugged, hands sliding into the pockets of his hoodie. It kept him from fidgeting. While he was better with mortals than Lux was, he still wasn’t exactly great at it, a little more on the introverted side if he was honest.
“It was never a common occurrence, even before. There are less hunters these days which, in a sense, does make it safer for the other beings, such as shifters, to survive and hide.” It also made policing the more violent ones easier too, but it had the drawback of making their attacks more detrimental to humanity as a whole. None of which he bothered to mention.
