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]

"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."