and at last i see the light (for Davin & Kat :D)

[jamesthorn]

As soon as James opens his eyes, he knows something is wrong. It's too dark for one thing. When he rolls out of bed, he stumbles into something hard and he's cursing the pain in his foot. He needs his gun, but there's nothing there when he reaches his hand out. All he finds is a cool draft in the room instead of his nightstand...and a smell. Something stale and musty. He's able to quickly deduce that he is not in his bedroom by the time he gets to his feet. That was not his bed. This is not his house.

He looks down at himself. These aren't even his clothes. Though he remains calm on the outside, his pulse is elevated, racing with panic and adrenaline, but he remains calm. Whoever has taken him, he doesn't want to alert them that he's awake. Though if he's been taken there are no guards in the room, no one here to watch him. It's just an empty stone room. He actually isn't sure...what the hell he's wearing either. He looks around further once his eyes adjust, and he finds a small circle window covered by wood shudders. With a grunt and his shoulder, he manages to push the window open. Once he does, and he gets a look at the world below him, that's when James really panics.

Not again, he thinks. Not again. The last time this happened to him....it was Violet Coombs. Where she trapped him in that labyrinth deep beneath the town, where he almost died. He hasn't seen Moira in months, and Violet too. How can this be happening again. This...building...room...wherever is a tower of some sort, suspended high in the air. All he knows is this is not Siren Cove. This is not a world he's ever seen.

He stumbles back from the window, overwhelmed for a moment with confusion, and he falls stunned into a wood chair. He tries to recall the last thing he did last night, and all he remembers is going to bed like any other night. He read a few chapters of a book. Checked his messages. That was it. He sits for a long time trying to think...

After several seconds of that, he jumps up from the chair and heads for the heavy iron door in the corner and decides to leave. Except he can't because it's locked. He's trapped in a room....in this tower...in this strange place with no way out.

Comments

[davin]

This is so much food. He's never had so much food in front of him and even though he's starving, he remembers his manners. He eats with gusto, but he doesn't stuff his face or talk around his food. Still, he can't help the pleased noises that he lets out as he eats.

"I think it would take a lot t'scare me off," Davin says with a fond smile. He wants to ask if James' family liked him, but he's a little afraid of the answer. William doesn't seem like the most pleasant man, and he can't imagine that he would appreciate James being with someone like Davin. Not only a peasant, but a magical one at that. "This is nice, though. I'm a little overwhelmed, but I'm glad t'be here with ya."

He picks up his milk with reverent hands and takes a long sip, licking his lips and grinning as he sets it down. "What else do we do?"

[jamesthorn]

James matches Davin's enthusiasm for the meal they've been served. He hasn't eaten all day, and after their long trek to the castle, he is actually pretty hungry too. "Honestly, this is all very strange to me as well," he says, taking a sip from the glass in front of him and he places it down with a smile.

"I dunno. I guess, just this---" He waves his fork at the food in front of them. "We eat dinner. Watch movies. Sometimes we stay at my house or yours. We just kinda spend time together. That makes sense, right?"

[davin]

"I suppose it would be, aye?" Davin chuckles and takes another bite of his steak. It's not that he forgets that James isn't familiar with this version of himself, but he just looks so at home here. Davin feels so comfortable with him, and sometimes it's easy to forget that there's something wrong with the situation. "It does, except for the movie part. I don't know what that is."

He laughs again and looks up when a servant enters, telling them that dessert will be along shortly. Davin boggles a bit at there being even more food coming and then opens his mouth to speak, but defers to James instead, leaning so she won't be able to hear im. "Should we take dessert in your chambers? We might be more comfortable there, instead of being out here in all the - " He waves his hand around at the large, lush dining room - "y'know, royal stuff. And we might be less likely t'run into someone ya supposedly would know."

Davin blushes at the suggestion and realizes only after how bold that was, asking someone to slip away to their bedroom, but it all goes along with how at ease with James he is. Doing something like eating cake in bed with him doesn't seem like something out of the ordinary until he stops to think about it.

[jamesthorn]

James agrees with a nod, pushing away his half-empty dinner plate. He can't possibly eat another bite of food, so he gestures at the servant to catch her attention once she re-enters the room carrying a tray with what appears to be a tea set. "I think we'll have dessert back in the guest chambers," he says with a nod. The young woman gives Davin a momentary glance, but she tells James everything will be ready shortly.

"Well---" He leans back in his chair, wiping his mouth with his napkin. "You and I have definitely caused a scandal tonight." Davin's probably right though that they'll want to be hidden away. Chances are if there's a horrible version of his father in his own world, there's one in this one too. Standing up from his chair, he looks over at Davin. "I think it's a good idea we keep out of the way. I believe my father would be able to tell I'm not myself. I'm uncertain how he'll take the news."

[davin]

"I'm sorry," Davin says uncertainly, but James doesn't necessarily seem bothered by the fact. "Maybe if ya sleep in your own room, it'll settle?"

Davin frowns though, because he suddenly finds that he hates that idea. He doesn't want to be separated from James at all if he doesn't have to be, and that's such a sudden and somewhat overwhelming realization. "If ya want to, I mean."

He's blushing and he looks at James shyly from under his lashes, and then he stands up and places his napkin on the table as they exit the room together. "That was my thinkin'. I've never met your father, obviously, but he doesn't exactly have the best reputation. Ya may be able t'avoid him until the ball, if we're careful."

Somehow the servants beat them to the room, and they enter to see them setting up dessert. Someone has lit a small fire in the fireplace and Davin looks around, noting how warm and comfortable everything looks. One of the servants gives him another look as they leave, but it's more curious than unkind, and Davin smiles as they shut the door.

"This is better," he says with a happy sigh, taking James' hand and leading him into the room. "Jus' you an' me."

[jamesthorn]

James sees the tray of desserts set up near the fireplace when they walk inside, and he's suddenly reminded of their night together at Davin's apartment on Valentine's Day. It's eerily similar, but just different enough. It's just like everything else in this new world. Davin is so much the same but just different enough, that James knows he isn't the exactly who he is supposed to be right now.

Still, that night at Davin's had been a good night so it's a pleasant rush of thoughts and memories. He pulls off the heavy coat he's wearing, glad to be out of it. These clothes may belong to the James in this world, but they definitely aren't his.

"Where do you live?" he asks as he pours them both cups of the coffee that's been left.

[davin]

"Um, not really anywhere officially," Davin says with a shrug. "I can usually stay above the pub if I do some of the washin' up an' stuff."

Davin isn't ashamed of his situation. He's still young, and he's doing the best he can for himself. Still, it's a little strange to be talking about it with someone like James, who is so well off. The smell of coffee distracts him from his discomfort and he comes over to sit on the sofa next to James, smiling over at him.

There is a chocolate cake and fruit sitting on the table and Davin furrows his brow a bit, suddenly seeing a vivid image behind his eyelids. He's straddling James' lap and cupping his cheeks as he kisses him and licks melted chocolate from his jaw.

Davin clears his throat and nearly knocks over his coffee, cheeks flushed a bright pink as he looks over at James with wide eyes. "Oh wow. I just - we've done this before."

He looks over at the cake and flushes even deeper. "There was chocolate. An' we kissed. An' it was - wow."

[jamesthorn]

James looks up from stirring a shot of cream into his cup, giving Davin a frown, clearly confused by the statement and the red in his cheeks. Until he mentions the chocolate and them kissing. However, the recognition of the memory only serves to confuse James even more. "You do remember," he says a little surprised, placing the spoon and cup aside and shifting a little so he can see Davin completely. "That means...something is blocking your memories."

It means that maybe this isn't a new version of Davin at all. He just needs to remember who he is.

He nods at him. "What you're talking about. It was Valentine's Day. Just a couple months ago. We ate dessert on your couch. You asked me to stay the night with you." He pauses thinking for a moment. "Your own powers can't break this spell?"

[davin]

"Yeah, kind of," Davin says thoughtfully, blushing as James looks at him so intently. What James says feels almost familiar. He remembers, almost, what it felt like to kiss him, and his cheeks go red when he mentions staying the night. He sees flashes of skin and bitten red lips, and he smiles almost shyly at James.

"Ya think it's a spell?" Davin frowns a bit at that, because he isn't sure what to think. His life feels so real. He remembers little details spanning back to when he was a child at the orphanage, so if it's a spell, it's an incredibly powerful one. "I don't know. Spendin' time with you helps, I think. I keep seein' like, flashes. They must be memories."

This is crazy. Davin should be freaking out or running away, but he just looks at James warily. For as crazy as it sounds, it doesn't feel crazy. It feels possible, and that's enough to make Davin stay where he is.

"Tell me more about us," Davin says, reaching out to take James' hand. "Make me remember."

[jamesthorn]

"That must feel strange." To remember the feelings, or the edge of feelings, but not have all the memories behind them, James isn't sure he'd be as calm. He carefully watches Davin's face, how it flutters between curious to shy to flushed, and he can't be certain about everything Davin knows or remembers but he clearly remembers something about their time together.

Then Davin takes his hand, and James eyebrows go up as he looks back at him. "Make you remember?" he repeats and softly shakes his head, feeling like that's a large task. A spell that can overtake an entire town doesn't seem like it's going to be broken by James telling a few stories. But he is willing to try anything to help.

"I can try. What do you want to know?" he asks.

[davin]

"I dunno, it's kinda nice. I've never felt this before, an' I like it." He shrugs and slides his fingers between James', bringing their palms together and looking up at him with a soft smile. James asks him what he wants to know and Davin's expression goes a little thoughtful.

"Are we like this as you remember, too? Am I the pauper t'your prince, I mean?" Davin furrows his brow slightly and looks down at their entwined hands. "Why d'ya even like me? I have nothin' to offer ya."

[jamesthorn]

James just shakes his head, seeing emotion pass over Davin's face that he doesn't completely understand. It is obvious that Davin in this world has lived a harder life, and that the spell has cast a strong enough spell to give him a full new set of memories. It's nearly unfathomable. "I think. This world and the one we're from is very different," he says. "There are no kingdoms. Or princes. You are not...you run a business. I think you are quite successful at it."

"It's not about offering me things. Things I have. I like you because you are kind and you don't expect me to be things that I'm not," he says with a smile. "And you're not bad to look at..."

[davin]

That pulls a laugh out of Davin and warms his heart all the same, giving him in the confidence to lean in and rest his head on James' shoulder like he's been aching to do since they sat down. A pleased sigh escapes him and he squeezes James' hand, bringing it up to press a quick kiss to his knuckles.

"You're not such a bad sight yourself," he teases, turning his head so he can look up at him. Part of him does believe what James is saying. There has to some truth to it, after all, to explain the flashes of things (memories?) that Davin keeps seeing, and the feelings that exist so prominently within him. "We'll figure this out, James."