You take care of yourself

Elijah

[how did I sleep?]

Dice: 4 d10 TN7 (4, 9, 9, 10) ( success x 3 )

Alexander

Summer has arrived in the city, with clear skies and soaring temperatures. Although the potential for sudden downpours is always there, today the residents have been spared and have been making the most of the good weather. The streets are crowded with men and women of all ages baring skin in the eternal worship of the sun. Coffee shops and restaurants spread tables and chairs over the sidewalks to attract customers.

But now the sun is slowly working its way down towards the horizon and the light of the early sunset streams in through the window. Kalen’s pale form looks almost healthy in its golden glow. Strictly speaking, visiting hours had already ended. He should be alone to rest. But resting is all he – or, rather, his physical form – has been doing since that night in the club. Where his mind is, Alexander has no idea. He’s been mostly out of contact with everybody. Other than a short exchange of voicemails and post-it notes with Grace, he’s pretty much in the dark with what’s going on at the moment.

Oh, Alexander… He’s sat in the chair that he’s pulled up to the side of the bed. Comfortable, because it’s one of the small things that can be done for the friends and relatives who spend endless hours sitting at bedsides hoping for the best, and sometimes waiting for the worst. He’s in uniform – short-sleeved blue shirt, badge, blue trousers, belt, boots. There’s a book resting on the bed, folded open to mark the page. Alexander? He’s asleep, propped up on the railing at the side of the bed.

Elijah

If anyone asks, his name is Elijah Dane.

he's gotten pretty good at saying it, offering a hand and seeming confident with it. He fakes it well enough, conveniently forgets his ID and explains that it must be in his wallet or at the hotel room or anything else. Elijah has been lying through his teeth to be here. A consistent, constant act that he is neither proud nor ashamed of- it was what it was. The sky was blue, the grass was green, and sometimes you have to tell people what they want to hear in order to get what you need.

There had been some flirtation with a pretty nurse, something to the effect of seeing when her shift ends. He might see her when the shift is over, provided he doesn't end up crashing in Kalen's room. He'd come with Jenn a couple times, usually when Jenn was the one who was driving. So, that's your friend? she'd asked. Bit her lower lip and fidgeted.

Jenn only came with Elijah a couple times, and always waited outside. He knew hospitals made her uncomfortable. He'd only asked her to come twice. Now was not going to be the third. He came to the room, noting that there was a sleeping police officer and his first thought was to be tense. The blond man, in his jeans and his button up shirt and vest and pocket watch (because pocket watch) wondered if he needed to be honest about anything. If he could lie to a police officer and how this was going to go pretty badly.

The way he was draped over the bed was telling, though. He knew better than to lay a hand on sleeping people, but he came and did it anyway, put his hand on the man's shoulder and gave him a little nudge.

"Hey," he half-whispered.

Alexander

At least two of the local mages had discovered that it’s not the best of ideas to surprise Alexander with a hand – or a hug – from behind. Neither had ended up with more than a bit of bruising, though. So how does Elijah fare? Surprisingly well…

The newcomer gently tries to wake the sleeping policeman, with a bit of a shake and a gentle greeting. Which of the two had the desired effect is unclear, but the results are quickly apparent. No slow crawl into wakefulness, Alexander’s eyes flick open. He stands quickly, knocking the chair back onto the floor with a bang. A hand sweeps up, knocking Elijah’s away, and he takes a step back. Conscious thought follows instinct before things go any further.

“Hi,” he greets the vaguely familiar man. A yawn escapes before Alexander can suppress it. “Sorry. Have we met?” He crouches to get the chair back up on its feet, keeping his attention on Elijah as he does.

ix-is-lurking

[You don't mind spies?]

Alexander

[Not at all!]

Elijah

His reaction is immediate. Alexander stands, pushes his hand away and Elijah took a step back immediately. There was a tension, a knot in his stomach and he waited. He waited like he knew something was going to happen, like he was gauging how far he could get in the event that things went south. Not far, Elijah decided.

He looked at the man, and he tried to place him. He was familiar. Familiar ish, at the very least. The young man peered carefully at Alexander before nodding, "I think so? Kind of? I'm Elijah. It's… kind of a small world. How do you two know each other?"

Elijah was looking for something here. He was looking for a name, he was looking for the name that Alexander decides to use when he is referring to Kalen. Would he call him Eliot? Would he call him Kalen? The answer was telling enough. The young blond reached up to rake his hair back out of his face.

Alexander

[Per+Aware, now that we're paying attention]

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 8, 8) ( success x 2 )

Elijah

[Second verse, same as the first!]

Elijah

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 7, 9, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 5 )

Elijah

Elijah Poirot had a feeling about him. Something small and budding that was clawing its way forward, a feeling of being not in the eye of the hurricane, but the storm itself. That feeling of unrest, the feeling of tension and dissatisfaction. The feeling right before a riot breaks out in the streets. Something that wasn't chaos, but its close cousin.

Elijah

(I don't know if Passive Observation counts as a specialty, but! If it does!)

Dice: 2 d10 TN6 (5, 7, 10) ( success x 2 ) Re-rolls: 1

Alexander

Alexander has a feeling of being frozen. Picture standing on a mountain top in the perfectly still air. No wind, no snow, no movement. It's cold, but more than that. Frozen in ice? In time? In a moment? If Elijah remembers it from their previous encounter, he might find the feeling is a little stronger this time around.

Alexander

Elijah…

The name is familiar, as is the face. It takes a couple of moments for recognition to arrive, and it passes across Alexander’s face as it does. “From the park, right? With Lucy, Kalen and the others.” Would that be the answer that Elijah was looking for? The seat is set right, but Alexander doesn’t sit himself back down on it. Instead he picks up the book from the bed, sliding a slip of paper inside before closing it and putting it down on a table.

“I wasn’t expecting anyone else to be here. At least I haven’t bumped into anyone else visiting Elliot.” Because that’s the name that Kalen is known to the hospital by. And Alexander isn’t quite sure how far to trust the relative stranger. He rubs the corner of his left eye, picking out a little dried rheum. “Alexander, by the way.”

“We just bumped into each other a little while back. Along with a couple of others and a scarecrow.” Because that’s a normal thing to happen.

Elijah

Kalen. Not Elliot, Kalen. Elijah visibly relaxes, exhaling a long, drawn out breath. More than his lungs should have held since given the fact that Elijah had just recently smoked half a pack of cigarettes by himself not a few days before.

"Yeah, I was the guy that lost his cell phone," he replied, still high off relief and the dawning recognition that he has seen this man before. "And he told me about the thing with the people and the messenger and the storm. Didn't you do some translating for him with that?"

Because he could handle vague, because he could maneuver through vagueness. There was a cautiousness there, an awareness of each other and the feeling each of them gave off. Elijah shrugged, "he said that you're, uh, kinda new to all this crap too."

Alexander

Elijah relaxes, but Alexander is still cautious. Untrusting, maybe? But then the two have only met the once, and a brief and passing contact at that. The other still has the same kind of feeling as the other mages, the same resonance that becomes as much a part of them as their hair colour. A hint at the path that each of them has taken to the current moment. Even so, Alexander still stays on his feet. “You’ve definitely got the advantage over me,” he says in reply. “I’ve not heard much about you from the others. But then I’ve not really been sociable recently.”

Alexander snorts as Elijah says that he’s been told that he’s still pretty new. He doesn’t sit, but he does lean back against the table and looks at Kalen. He sighs heavily, tiredly, before he answers. “Not as new as I used to be.” That’s said quietly, with a whole heap of baggage behind it. “I don’t think that lasts long for us.”

Elijah

[awarepathy- because that baggage is delicious.)

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 4, 7, 8, 8, 9) ( success x 4 )

Alexander

Alexander is tired, mentally much more than physically. Whatever it is that's bothering Alexander is something that's been there for a while now and isn't getting any better. There's a melancholy there for things that have been done, and some fear for what is still to come.

Elijah

It's been a bad time," he replies, and it's the truth, too. There's a disconnect with Elijah, because he is relaxed but he feels like civil disobedience. Like turbulence. Like passion- and there he is all calm and relaxed but it's there under the surface. It would always be there, a part of him and not apart from him like he'd wanted for so long. "but if you wanna know anything, you can ask me if it helps."

An offer, an olive branch for some slight not yet committed. Alexander was tense, but more importantly, the man seemed tired. Elijah hooked his thumbs through his belt loops and waited for a moment.

"What all do you know about this? Do you want the run down on the situation?"

Alexander

Alexander pinches the bridge of his nose, sighing again. Elijah is sure to be dragging around his own history and issues and problems. And given better circumstances, Alexander would probably be the one to be offering help and support. But right now? He doesn’t really care. There’s enough left in him to avoid intentionally scaring Elijah away, or making things worse. “Thanks, but I think the person I need to talk to most is me. But I’m not sure we’re really on speaking terms at the moment.”

Silence descends on the room for a few moments.

“About all I know is…” He looks up at the open door to the room, nodding towards it. Hinting that this probably isn’t really the conversation to be having where anyone walking past could overhear, or walk in unannounced. Once the door has been closer – either by Elijah taking the hint, or Alexander if he doesn’t – he continues what he was about to say. “All I know is that something happened in a nightclub and something happened to the minds of 60-odd people including him,” he nods towards the sleeping man in the hospital bed, “and a couple more of us. I got a message about a member of some order-or-other getting involved in some way. Beyond that,” he shrugs, “Im pretty much in the dark.”

Elijah

"Do you know Grace or Lena?"

Alexander

"Yeah, I know them. I was kinda hoping Grace would be here this evening, but she hasn't been returning her messages. Why do you ask?"

Elijah

Elijah Poirot is certified crazy. Literally. Less than a year ago, he (the generally nonviolent and harmless young mage) threw a chair and broke television right before breaking an orderly's nose. The fact that he is the one who is going to be the emotionally stable one in this room is a thought that is bordering on disturbing. The statement the person I need to talk to most is me. But I’m not sure we’re really on speaking terms at the moment shouldn't have made Elijah grin, but it does, something brief and something flickering.

Alexander began his leading statement and the young man was already making his way tot he door to shut it. he lingers there for a second, hand on the handle and his thoughts wandering as they are prone to doing. He wonders, but he doesn't wander. The door is shut with the resounding click all hospital doors shut with, and soon enough he is present once again.

"Grace gave me the run down of what was going on when we were both here. She and Lena and Patience- I don't know if you know Patience, but she talks like an instruction manual- were going to go and investigate what caused all of this. Grace is trying to straighten things out,

"Apparently, what's happened is that AI has gone rogue, things went haywire, and people's consciousnesses have been removed from their bodies," he said this much, and it's met with a look of confusion. Elijah shakes his head and continues, "Grace and company are going in as kind of a mental extraction team. Someone's watching them to make sure nothing goes bad when they go do whatever it is that they do. They're… uh… having an out-of-body rescue mission."

A beat.

"It's weird. I know it's weird and it sounds crazy, but… yeah."

Alexander

In many ways, Alexander isn’t all that different from everyone else. Put a person in different situations and they will react in different ways. Face a crisis of some sort and it becomes easier to react on an almost instinctual level. Once the crisis is over and normality – or what passes for normality these days – reasserts itself and there is a different person standing in the wreckage. When those crises seem to be more and more common..? How do you know which one is really you.

Alexander nods silently when Elijah describes Patience, smiling a little at the way he puts the woman’s strange way of speaking. Sighs again as he comes to the end of the explanation.

“No, that just about counts for sane these days. And once again we step in because there’s nobody else to do it.” That last part is quiet, almost as if Alexander is talking to himself. His attention returns to Elijah, though. “I don’t know how much you’ve learned so far, but we’re made up of three parts: the body, the spirit, and the mind. Take one away and the others eventually stop working.” He watches the other man, looking for the reaction when he mentions the spirit. Not so long ago he would have been the one questioning whether spirits existed. Now, he’s absolutely sure.

He looks back at Kalen, voice quiet when he asks, “How long have they been away for? Did they have any idea how long they were expecting it to take?” He’s sounding more concerned than he has since they started talking. Completely clueless of anything he can possibly do to help, but the familiar need to do something is starting to return.

Elijah

There are things that phase Elijah.

Mention of one's spirit is, most assuredly, not one of them.

He inhales, and he knew that he had something to do here. He had things to say, and he had to be present, instead of in the future or in the past (because we are all so content to live in the past, linger on what happens, live, something tells him, live because tomorrow you die. For once, that statement meant something, meant more because he had a friend who may not ever come back- live because others can not.)

"They don't know how long it's going to take, Grace's only been gone for… a week? Maybe a week, I heard from them last shortly after all of this happened," Elijah knew, at that juncture, that asking Alexander to come to grips with the idea of his friends not coming back was… probably not ideal. "I don't know if the break down of the connection between your self and the rest of the world is a science I really get, but I know someone's watching after Grace and everyone. The people from the club… it's been since the beginning of June."

His brows knit together, "hey, they're in good hands, things are going to pull through."

One way or another.

Alexander

The edges of Alexander’s lips are touched by a smile at Elijah’s reaction – or lack of reaction – to the mention of spirit. The history of why Elijah is so accepting of the concept of the spirit will have to be a conversation for another time though.

Elijah thinks it best to avoid the possibility that Kalen, Grace, Lena and the others who have either had their minds stolen or who are attempting to save the others might not survive. Alexander already knows that’s a possibility. Either they will or they won’t return. There’s nothing of fate in that belief – fate removes the potential for choice, for free will. Chance will play a part, the rest is down to them.

“Is there anything that Grace and the others need doing while they’re away? Their bodies are being looked after, but is there anything that needs taking care of in their day-to-day lives?” He doesn’t know enough about Patience or Lena to guess, and Grace works with Kalen so there shouldn’t be much in the way of loose ends there.

Elijah

"They had some time to wrap things up for themselves. I don't know if they do or not. I… uh… just kind of met her," he said. He shook his head, "I don't know what it is that Patience does, but I know that Lena met us here and she seemed like she was on the war path. I'll tell them you were looking to help, though, when they come out. Or you can."

When, not if. As though this were an absolute and would happen because he said so.

Alexander

“I’ll certainly talk to them when I see them again. But do tell them I asked after them, in case it takes a while for me to bump into them again.”

He seems to consider something for a few seconds before pulling out a card and offering it to Elijah. “Yell if you, or they, need anything. I’m not on that information sharing thing, so someone will have to call me if anything changes. Just… if you haven’t spoken to Grace much, you might not have had much in the way of MIB lectures. Be careful what you say over the phone, email, messengers and the like. It’s not just terrorists that are being watched for.”

That meeting with Grace and Eleanor could have gone so much better, but circumstances were what they were. He hadn’t been – still isn’t, really – in the right frame of mind for it to go any other way. But he’s certainly appreciating the value of it more now.

“I should probably go. I’ve got some things of my own to take care of.”

Elijah

"You take care of yourself," he said, a tone that was a little softer than he realized, but concerned none the less.

Elijah paused.

"Hey, you wanna have lunch sometime?"

Alexander

You take care of yourself

Alexander was starting to move towards the door when Elijah says it, and it catches him for a second. It was starting to feel like some of the more experienced mages were of the school of ‘suck it up, it just gets worse’ when it came to dealing with… stuff. So it’s equally soft that Alexander replies, “You too.” Because it does get worse.

He pauses again, one hand on the door handle, as the offer of lunch comes. “I’m not the best of company at the moment. But sometime, sure.” With that, he opens the door and slips out of the room, letting the door click closed behind him.