(no subject)

[fifth_garde]

[He'd drove all night, habitually remembering to drink from the cold flask of cheap coffee he'd picked up from a diner and even more habitually to chew on aspirin. He had to keep the pain in his arm at bay, occasionally it would spasm causing him to jerk the wheel to one side. His eyes were aching, and either that was because of the exhaustion or the emotions which were rattling around in his head, both of which weren't things he was able to take care of right then.

He'd eventually caved in and put on the radio, listening to some random popular music station so he wasn't left with just his own thoughts. He didn't exactly enjoy the music but it was better than utter silence, every now and again he'd press a wad of napkins against his temple, which had crusted over but wasn't entirely finished bleeding yet.

Finally reaching the town he'd left Owen in earlier that day, or actually the day before considering it was now five in the morning, he could've simply ran but he'd either end up running into a wall or phasing half way through one and winding up dead.

He parked the car in the same car park he'd left the BMW and transfers the chest from one trunk to the other, after all he'd rather ditch Al's car for the stolen motor, regardless of the convenience of having a car with actual insurance papers.

Finally he drags himself into the corridors of the hotel, it seeming deadly quiet for the fact it was so early, he vaguely remembers Owen's room number having only seen it once before and slumps against the doorframe, tapping lightly on it and hoping Owen would hear.]

Owen? 's me... I mean, Five, y'there?

Comments

[magicalmishaps.livejournal.com]

You will eventually. You've burned through god knows how much adrenaline. You have to let your body rest. ...And your mind, too.

...Well, if the Mogadorians were able to track your last location, I would suggest that you get as far away from the place they found as possible.



You could always come back to England with me, if you wanted. I have... contacts, resources, that could be very helpful to you.

[fifth-garde.livejournal.com]

I could?

[He considers it, it would be his first real move by himself. Sure he'd spent a lot of time in different hotels and motels all over the world but that didn't mean he'd ever had another home. He swallows thickly and lies totally back against the pillows, closing his eyes.]

I guess I could, I mean.. it's a great offer. It's new 'n different...

[He sighs and dreads the outcome of his next question.]

What does that make us then? Friends, roommates, casual fuckbuddies? [Yes, Five was all colours of deep tonight...]

Owen fails so much at this, I'm sorry. :| :| :|

[magicalmishaps.livejournal.com]

I, uh.

[Damn it, Jason would not ask him that if he were firing on all cylinders! Owen is so very bad at this.]

Er. No. Yes. Maybe? All... Of the above? More? I don't-- You know, I've never, um--




How about we just think of it as 'title pending', for now?

Ahahaha, Jason is bad.

[fifth-garde.livejournal.com]

[His head was swimming a little more now, especially with the fact that his adrenaline was rapidly leaving him.]

Title pendin', that works for now. Never did like labellin' things.

[He rests his head on Owen's shoulder, sighing.] 'm sorry, layin' this shit on you. When are you, I mean, when are we goin' t'England anyway?

He's doing better than Owen! He has legit reason to be all messed up.

[magicalmishaps.livejournal.com]

I do. Usually. ...But this sort of defies categorisation, and for once, I'm not going to prod at it.

[That feels oddly comfortable, and Owen turns his head, resting his cheek against Jason's still-damp hair.] If you keep apologising, I'm going to poke you in your shoulder-wound.

The day after tomorrow. But... I can change the ticket to earlier, if you want, and... Do you have a passport that will get you through customs?

J is just doped up and will die if he falls asleep w. Owen...

[fifth-garde.livejournal.com]

Hey, that'd make you a bad nurse. Pretty sure threatenin' the patient is frowned. [He laughs breathily.]

I do, I mean I don't always run from place t'place. I like flyin' 'n that's not in my list o' skills.

[Usually Jason would move away when things start to get comfortable, but he figures there's nothing in the way of it right now and maybe a bit of comfort would do him well.]

Though, what class d'you fly...? [He might force Owen to upgrade his ticket or something, considering he may be in a bad way but that doesn't mean he likes people.. after all the only humans he spoke to he singled out to begin with.]

It has to happen some day! :P

[magicalmishaps.livejournal.com]

Well, tough luck for you, because I'm going to be a doctor, and they've often got a crap bedside manner.

[If Owen is going to let him anywhere near his permanent living space, they'll have to get very comfortable. He's picky about people seeing and touching his things.]

Business-- coach is making a bad thing worse, and first draws too much attention.

Soooome day.

[fifth-garde.livejournal.com]

Well 've got crap bedside manner in the mornin', 'n that's the only warnin' y'get. [He smirks.] That's one of the normal things you've yet t'learn.

[A smile tugs slightly at the corners of his mouth.] Good, I don't like sittin' with a bunch of people, or kids...

[He yawns suddenly, turning his head away from Owen as he does so.] I should move t'the other bed 'n sleep. Long couple of days.

[magicalmishaps.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes, I'm sure you're perfectly terrifying.

You'll have a very nice reclining bed, and no one within kicking distance of the back of your chair, thank god.

You stay here; I'll go. The less moving you do, the better. And try not to exercise too much of that bedside manner when I wake you up to check on you, okay?

[fifth-garde.livejournal.com]

Probably am, jus' wait.

[He doesn't bother waiting to see if Owen will leave but simply falls into a deep sleep. It isn't the best and he slumps gracelessly at some stage, no doubt indulging that horrible habit he had of drooling.]

[magicalmishaps.livejournal.com]

[Owen's on watch duty, so there'll be no sleeping for him. He will move over to the other bed eventually, though, and lie there, watching him. He's exhausted, but between student and Watcher training, he can make it through for another couple of hours. He picks up his book again, and this time, he's actually able to read like a normal person, and it actually goes in, though he does think again of Jason, and whether or not it might help to share his own experiences.

...Maybe, he concludes, in time. For the moment, however, he goes to wake Jason to check on him, putting a hand on his shoulder gently.]

Hey. Sorry to wake you. How are you feeling?

[fifth-garde.livejournal.com]

[He wakes with a start, sliding gracelessly off the edge of the bed with a thump. He pops back up in a moment, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth and then reaching for the pitcher of water on the nightstand.]

Good, honest. Much better. [He runs his hand through his messy hair, trying to paste a smile across his face.] I can probably fix myself up now, jus' need t'go down to the cars.

[He rolls his shoulders and cracks his neck, feeling incredibly stiff from the way he slept and gasping slightly at the pain that jolts through his system.] 's not gonna be pretty...

[magicalmishaps.livejournal.com]

[He's not really buying that, Jason.]

Are you sure you want to go now? No offence, but you look like death. What is it? I can get it for you.

[fifth-garde.livejournal.com]

Y'can't. I mean I'd love for you t'be able t'bring it to me but you can't touch it without hurtin' yourself.

[He rolls his eyes and takes another drink.] 'n thanks, 'm pretty sure I do look like shit right now, but that'll change in an hour.

[He walks haggardly over to his bag and pulls out a t-shirt, pulling it on partly with his hands and partly with small bursts of telekinesis.] 'n then it'll just be the tiredness 'n.. other things that'll have me worse for wear.

[magicalmishaps.livejournal.com]

And I can't exactly float it through the corridors without being noticed. ...Or, truth be told, probably without dropping it. I'm not... It doesn't always work for me.

I didn't mean it like that...! You look like you've been in a fight, that's all.

Well, let's deal with... What we can deal with first. It'll look better if you have company, so-- Let's go.

[fifth-garde.livejournal.com]

'm not even sure if it can be floated. I always have to have a hand on it before I use any legacies.

[He groans.] You're right, if anyone looks suspicious I'll just smile at 'em with my best pretty-face.

[He starts to head out the door and down the corridors, stopping every few moments for a quick breather. Eventually they're down at the car and he stops to lean against it, realising that lugging the chest would be impractical, and more importantly he had a better idea considering the lack of people in the car park.]

Second thoughts, get in the front seat. 'm gonna lie down in the back 'n let this thing work its magic. But, uh, y'know the magic thing.. any way you have a spell t'make things silent?

[magicalmishaps.livejournal.com]

Well, they seem to work differently to my magic, but... I wouldn't want to cause any harm to either it or me.

Just because that works on me doesn't mean it'll work on everyone else, you know.

[He frowns at how Jason seems to need to keep stopping, but it's still early enough that there aren't many people to see them.]

I... Yes. [Assuming it'll work.]

[fifth-garde.livejournal.com]

[He smiles, or rather.. winces facially, in what he hopes was a reassuring manner.]

Right, well y'might wanna do that, 'cause 'm probably gonna scream.. a lot. This thing, it doubles the pain just to heal it... [He says this all in a groaning voice, he'd used the stone twice before and absolutely hated it. He finally digs it out of the chest and slides into the car, hoping that Owen follows suit.]

[magicalmishaps.livejournal.com]

[Owen will do just that, sitting into the front passenger seat.]

It does what? That seems horribly counter-productive...

[He frowns, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tries to recall how to cast a silencing charm. It's a lot like a protective field, except there needs to be something in it to prevent the transmission of any energy... He mumbles the words, although he has no way of testing it from inside the barrier.]

...I think we're good.

[He hopes.]

[fifth-garde.livejournal.com]

'm sure it'll work great.

[He smiles as well as he can before he puts the healing stone on his tongue and lies backwards onto the leather. That's when the first wave of pain hits him, bearable to begin with but which grows in intensity, he can already feel his injuries knitting themselves together but its an incredibly painful experience, he gasps with the pain and his gasp becomes a growl. It isn't long before he's let out a scream as it feels like someone's picking apart the tissue inside his shoulder.

When its finally finished doing the job it was meant to his breath is coming out in sharp gasps but as a general feeling he's a lot less shitty than the morning. He sits bolt upright in the back seat and climbs into the front of the car, pulling down the mirror to look at his face.]

Wow.. I really do look like shit. [He pulls a packet of cigarettes from the glove compartment and lights one, offering one to Owen even though he knows he doesn't smoke.]

That was fun.

[magicalmishaps.livejournal.com]

[He's hoping. And, in fact, it actually does hold-- or at least, no one comes running to check on them, which is good.

He's nothing short of amazed seeing Jason's injuries heal, but considering it extracts what is clearly a very heavy price, he also hopes it's something he doesn't have to see again. Owen watches him from the rear-view, biting his bottom lip. It is very, very difficult to watch someone --anyone-- writhing around in pain, especially someone you care about. Which, he has to sort of slowly realise, he does.

He waves off the offer of the cigarette.]

I'm good. Although if I had one of those to hand right after you called me last night, I'd probably have taken it. You scared the hell out of me, for the record. ...Are you feeling better now? You look better, regardless of what you think.

[fifth-garde.livejournal.com]

There's a bit of, uh, muscle pain. Mostly from bein' tense 'n shit. Nothin' a fifth of whiskey wont fix.

[He begins examining himself in the mirror, his eyes look darker than usual and his lips and cheeks seem a little pale around the edges. More importantly, his skin just didn't look great. He needed another shower, with actual soap and a shave rather than just water.. and tears. Speaking of, there was still a bit of redness to his eyelids which he'd fix up the moment they got back upstairs.

He takes a deep drag of the cigarette, blowing it at the mirror and flipping it back up. Once again he's shuffling through the glove box this time for the eye drops he kept in there, he'd never admit it but it'd be times like this he could have done with wearing his glasses for a couple of hours. He leans backwards and lets some of the liquid into his eyes, blinking rapidly as he runs his free hand over his face.

He knew he could hold himself together now, he just had to go about his daily things without worrying about anything more than thirty seconds ahead.]

'm hungry, 'n regardless what y'think.. I need some kind of sprucin' or whatever.

[magicalmishaps.livejournal.com]

[Owen watches that appraisal, not even complaining about the smoke inside the car.]

Then we go back upstairs, I order room service, you clean out the mini-bar, and we both get some proper rest.

A couple of hours sleep and you'll be as pretty as ever. ...And I can re-schedule that flight for tonight, if you want.

[fifth-garde.livejournal.com]

No... no room service. [He groans.] We're goin' to a diner, 'n we'll sit down 'n eat. The alcohol isn' necessary just yet.

[He finishes his cigarette and slides out of the car much more gracefully, stretching his arms above his head and hearing a satisfying array of cracks. He stuffs the cigarettes into the pocket of his jacket and heads back into the hotel corridors, waiting for Owen to catch up.]

[magicalmishaps.livejournal.com]

[Which he'll hurry to do, after taking only a tiny moment to look Jason over, purely from a medical perspective, nothing to do with him looking uninjured and thus attractive once more at all.]

What's wrong with room service...?

[Owen travels a lot and he hates eating alone in public. Room service is like his saviour.]