savetheearth | You're My Playground Love [Closed]

[This may have actually been a terrible idea, Julien realizes as he takes stock of himself. Public place and all, for all he knows this is some kind of pulse trap. He hasn't seen anything worth noting either.

...He feels a bit off now. Disoriented. It's pretty mild, though. He adjusts his drawstring backpack and shakes his head. At least it doesn't appear that anyone's watching them in particular. Turning a bit he surveys the others.]

I think I'm good. Maybe we shouldn't go in just now, though.

[Alex has never cut school before. It's not like he's a goody two-shoes or anything. It's just that it's always seemed like hanging out at the mall (as if he doesn't do that enough on the weekends) or whatever has never seemed worth the world of trouble he'd be in if he got caught.

The numbers club is starting to change that. He's grounded, possibly indefinitely, right when he needs to be free to get around, to learn stuff and do things. Important stuff, about himself, and the danger they're in. Maybe saving-the-world-type things.

So when the buzzing becomes an intolerable distraction--too loud to ignore, but too quiet to make any sense of, if there was sense to be made of it--he holds on until chemistry ends, then slips away during the class change, determined to get to the bottom of it.

He's relieved to see he isn't the only person with that idea when he runs into other-Alex and Julien. The buzzing gets louder as they approach Tuning Towers, which, duh, he tells himself, is only to be expected, but it seems to be buzzing inside his head, too, and Alex does not feel normal.

He has the presence of mind to get some distance between himself and the other two (and, more importantly, from the strangers around), half-thinking his tail might take on a mind of its own and appear like it did in the mines.]

This feel-zuh really weird...

[Then it looks really weird, in a way Alex can't identify at first. His vision swims, resolves itself. But resolves itself disorientingly, dizzyingly, into the tower in front of him, the street behind him, other-Alex and Julien and the side of his own head at an angle that should be impossible to see at all. It isn't until he finds the top of his head, hands all but flailing, trying to make sense of his oddly-multiplied line of vision, that he understands what's happened.]

Oh shit.

[Alex almost never swears, but sprouting two extras eyes on antennae seems like it calls for it. He hastily crams his arms over the top of his head, trying to squash the stalk eyes down and out of sight.]

[ Though he's already been here once, the buzzing is still as uncomfortable now as it was then. It echoes in his head all the way down to his bones, and the ground rumbles up at him from the soles of his feet, making him feel uncomfortably insecure as they meet somewhere in the middle. Thankfully, his Echo was already gone and over with thanks to his visit a few days prior — the same feeling, shaking him a little looser from his life, and an odd suit left folded up in room when he returned.

Now, no Echoes are appearing to add that awful third layer, but it's still pretty raw, all things considered. ]

Nothing's changed. Since the other day, I mean... it felt just like this.

[ Banagher glances over at the other three, brows knit, just in time to see Alex the younger shift away. It's then that the distress sort of filters in, but that's only the tip of the iceberg when it came to weird, because watching him sprout an extra pair of eyes like a snail was definitely really noticeable oh my god. Banagher cuts off the noise of surprise quick enough to not draw more attention and goes to grab at Alex's shoulders in an attempt to get him to duck.

Marveling could come later, right now they were in some serious trouble if anyone saw. ]

Get down.

[ His eyes dart to the other Alex, a little panicked.

JACKET, STAT. ]

Ho- [ ly shit. he doesn't finish that expletive, already pulling at his sleeves to remove his jacket. he tosses it over younger alex's head, moves to wrap his arm around his shoulders and get him moving. ]

Man, this isn't the place to try out your dumb tricks, you're gonna give those old ladies a heart attack. Wait another month, yeah?

[ pls run with this. ]

[It IS a pulse trap he should have known better-

Julien's pupils expand and contract rapidly as he turns in a half circle and manages to survey the scene in an instant. There's some looking and frowning but not a tremendous amount of interest. Banagher's on one side, Alex the elder's on the other, Julien moves to the front as the jacket's being positioned and speaks loudly and fast.]

I think - there's the migranes again, c'mon, your work ethic's great but I'll spot you for rent, okay? It's okay, we'll just lie you down.

[Alex is definitely ducking--cowering, in fact, under the jacket that seems to just appear (how? four eyes and he can't process what they tell him). It helps restore the world to something resembling its usual appearance.

He doesn't have any idea if Other-Alex and Julien are both improvising the same story; inept street magician or something? It doesn't really matter, just needs to be plausible enough to deflect attention and not make any cops take an interest.

Crap crap crap.

You can do this, Alex, he tells himself, more a command than a pep talk, and tries to will the things to disappear again, and oh man, he's so embarrassed. But they'll be the same as the tail, right?]

Yeah, wow, that one's not ready for pry, prime time yet, huh? You were right, tare, terrible idea.

[ While they lay it on thick, Banagher is trying to gauge the reactions of the passersby as closely as he can manage. A vague tremor of upset, but it's trickling off fast. He glances over Alex's hunched down form and nods towards a quiet side street that'll lead them back around the block towards the Starbucks. ]

They're buying it, but we need to get out of here right now.

[ After all, maybe the public subscribed to the bystander effect, but you never knew who was looking down from the tinted windows of the tower. Which, in retrospect, could have been the plan all along.

Banagher leans over to peek under the jacket. ]

Hey, are you okay?

[ Just don't say you feel like throwing up. ]

[ he's more concerned about keeping younger alex moving than keeping up the charade, so he follows the direction banagher nods at and keeps quiet as they walk.

(man seriously, though, were those eyes?) ]

[Julien half-drawls, very casual as he keeps up. He doesn't look as if he's looking about at all. He is.]

Some water, a cold compress, a few hours... And practice later. We can snag someone else for the whole live audience thing.

[ugh kind of dizzy. A fresh fear gets to coiling in the back of his mind, but he pushes it down, it's not important right now.]

I'm okay, kay.

[He's lying, and it's probably obvious from how it comes out, shaky and too high, but he's okay enough to pretend, which Alex figures has to count for something.

He starts trying to concentrate on making the stalk eyes disappear as he lets the others tug him along, but he can't keep his focus; he's too worried that someone's going to decide they're suspicious and make them take the jacket off his head, and then they would just be totally screwed.]

Lemme splash some cold water on my face, fay-suh?

[If he can get into a restroom stall, or better yet, a single-person restroom, he's sure he can calm down enough to get back to normal.]

There was a bathroom in the Starbucks.

[ Which is his immediate response, because honestly, he would rather let Alex do what he needs to in the interest of recovering. But there's a hesitant undertone to the suggestion, like he thinks stopping might not be the best idea.

Someone else can take that decision out of his hands, because he's shooting a glance at Julien almost completely on instinct. ]

[ oblivious to julien's change, Alex keeps the bulk of his attention on younger Alex.

he doesn't like the sound of that idea, either. ]

How about we go straight to the truck? I'll get you some water after.

[Julien's head feels a little on the heavy side. He rakes one hand through his newly softer, even more newly redyed hair and blinks repeatedly, making sure his inner eyelids stay out of sight.]

...yeah. Let's go, we can stop at a different one.

[He can't see anyone watching them, and he's got the eyes for that kind of thing, but there could still be someone.]

[Alex nods. Whatever they think is best is fine. He stops trying to worry about changing, and instead worries about moving as quickly as possible, and not tripping over his feet, which are about all he can see. The jacket blotting out the stalk eyes' view makes everything feel claustrophobic and unsteady.

His head's still buzzing, making it hard to think straight, and he can't tell if it's from outside, inside, or both. He sort of thinks both. It feels wrong to have the stalk eyes--not wrong like oh shit I have alien eyes on my head. More wrong like a human brain isn't really meant to handle this.]

I can, um. Get the trick right, rye-tuh, probably. If I try it in a sitch, situation with less pressure.

[ Well, this is a sorry state for the lot of them. Pressing his mouth into a line, he finally feels like it's safe enough to break away from Alex and let the elder of the two support him. Instead he takes the lead, managing to pry his eyes from Julien too, and draws them around a smaller block of buildings where the sidewalk was mostly deserted. It wouldn't last for long, because let's be real, they're approaching a Starbucks and the pumpkin spice latte is back, but it'll hopefully give them enough time to get their bearings again. ]

Sorry. I should've warned you... I knew coming here could cause pulses. Strong ones.

[ Granted, this is. Pretty far from what he'd expected, even knowing that. ]

So now we have to worry about levels?

[ he doesn't sound happy about it.

mostly deserted or not, alex still thinks getting eye-stalk-alex into the privacy of his truck asap is the best course of action, so he's still walking.

to younger alex, he says, ] Almost there.

There's something I really, really don't want to get...

[He mutters that, taking on a hypochondriac paranoia. Is his nose running? His nostrils are dry when he touches his face but there's an unpleasant feeling to his throat. Is he sick? He can't be sick. Is he though? Not now, please, there's already too much going on!]

You got the door unlocked?

[Alex doesn't have any energy to spare to be mad about the lack of a warning. This kind of thing is getting to be par for the course around here, anyway. Though he would've appreciated a little bit of a heads-up.

He hears the beep of the alarm being deactivated, and, still hot-faced with embarrassment, manages to get into the truck. That helps a lot, just knowing he's not out in the open anymore, and he sucks in a few deep breaths, trying to will himself to relax.

He's used to dealing with the tail, but the eyes feel a lot weirder. It seems to take a while, though Alex knows it only seems to, but eventually the extra (alien) lines of sight dim, and he knows the stalks have shrunk back down to vanish into his head.]

Okay. Kay. [He pulls the jacket off his head, takes a deep breath.] I'm all right now. I am so sorr, sorr-ree about that, guys.

[Now that he's not preoccupied, he can see that Julien doesn't look well, and looks around at all the others.]

Did enn, anyone else get anything bad?

[ Banagher scrubs across his browline with the heel of his palm to try and disperse some of the tension, now that they've made it to the truck, at the very least. ]

That wasn't your fault, it's not like we get a choice.

[ Whether or not to have the pulses and what they were. Innocuous, or life-changing. Just to leverage the heaviness of the situation, he leans over to reach for his bookbag on the floor of the truck and rummage a water bottle from it. He twists to offer it out to Alex. ]

Here you go.

[ not wanting to add to the pressure, alex purposefully 'ignores' younger alex as he settles in. he glances back when he gives the okay, flashing him a brief, reassuring smile. ]

Yeah, don't worry about it.

[ since banagher's handling that, alex glances at julien, smile replaced by wary curiosity. ]

What don't you want to get?

[ what did any of them want to get tbh ]

[Instead of calling shotgun this time, Julien's settled for the back as worry and a tickle inside of his nose both mount.]

Just, uh, one of my last pulses was about a mutant flu virus that got pretty much everyone, so I. Uh. [Said more quickly than is humanly possible:] Oh come on you're not cued!

[He turns towards the window, jams his face into his elbow, and sneezes. It's very low-drama, no windup or head-jerking, not vocalized or seeming to involve his mouth at all, though his inner eyelids slide closed for a second. Fine droplets escape his elbow to speckle the window and there's the kind of dusty-sweet smell that comes with a sneeze. When Julien lowers his elbow a trickle of watery brownish fluid ventures down from one nostril, over his lips, rapidly drying and going crusty. Julien shifts in his seat to pull out a white cloth from one pocket but stops when it's halfway out, staring at the window.]

...ohhhhh, son of a bitch. [His inner eyelids close and his pupils adjust, shrinking to points and expanding large and shrinking again, and he kind of grimaces.] Really? Really? Oh my god. I... this might be it.

[Alex takes the water bottle from Banagher, hastily fumbles the lid unscrewed, and gulps down several sips. He resists the urge to poke around on the top of his head to make sure he's normal again.]

Thank-suh.

[He doesn't feel any less mortified at other-Alex's reassurance, but he definitely feels less like a jerk. He knows the pulse wasn't his doing, but he was still the reason all of them were in danger.

He told Anthony he always expects something to happen, and it's almost like Locke City is mocking him, trying to make those words all too true, when, as soon as his crisis is over, the next one seemingly looms. With a quiet, worried dude under his breath, he holds the water bottle out to Julien.]

I guess that answers my ques, question.

[ Meanwhile, Banagher's gone somewhat white, staring over the back of the seat at Julien like he's just sprouted a second head. He could see it? ]

No way, you're not serious. [ His heart drops into the pit of his stomach. ] We...

[ Have it? ]

We need to get out of here.

[ UM.

absolutely zero shift in expression, still looking at julien. ]

What makes you think that?

[Julien wipes his nose and chin, scrubbing off the crusty residue and waving off Alex the younger with the other. That nostril is mostly blocked now.]

...people don't usually get sick this fast. I don't, anyway. I was fine before - [Another low-drama sneeze, though he covers his nose and mouth with the cloth this time. Now both nostrils are running. He covers them both, his voice is a little muffled as he looks at each of the others with wide eyes. He looks alarmed but sounds steady.] - look, there's these colors to snot and stuff, right. They're different if someone's sick. And I haven't seen this one before.

[He presses the back of his free hand to his cheek, then forehead.]

And now I have a fever.

You're My Playground Love [Closed]

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