middleofsomewhere | Jema'grethy: Memory Cave

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Jema'grethy: Memory Cave

Passengers see a vision, an instance of someone's life, before just as suddenly - they find themselves inside a cave. It is light, a strange moss glowing on the walls and ceiling illuminates the cave nicely, and it is large enough for them to pace around in without trouble.

They're not alone. In the cave with them is another voidtrecker; maybe someone they know well, or maybe someone they've only seen in the aisles of the train. But they are together in this cave, and they will come to find out that it was one of their memories that the other witnessed. And them, one of yours.

The cave has no exit, at least not yet. They know that it will, eventually. When the time is right.

But for that time to come, they first must talk...

(OOC: Memories can be written either in this post or over here)

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"Of course you'd say that," Jake mutters, a little smile tugging up at the corner of his mouth.

He breathes, smiles...and he's out on the other side again. He has a little more to think about on this last day, and just when he thinks it's over...

This time, the memory is a little different. Jake and Spark stand together, and rather than Spark seeing through his eyes...they're both watching from the outside, as if watching a TV show.

Jake's standing in an apartment hallway. He knocks on a door, and an older man in his pajamas opens it.

"Jake! I'm...sorry I couldn't make it to the party, I'm subbin for a buddy who's got an early flight. I'm sure you're upset," the older man says, clearly clamoring for an excuse.

"Actually I'm not upset at all," Jake answers with a curt shake of his head.

"Yeah?" the man smiles hopefully. "Great!"

This time, disdain creeps into Jake's expression. "No, more relieved. You know, you were always my hero, but I think I'm finally starting to see you for who you really are. A regional airline pilot whose landings are the worst, and a pretty selfish guy who genuinely doesn't care about being a dad."

"Jake, you don't understand. There was a downdraft on the runway it's not my fault," his father protests. Jake rolls his eyes and mouths an 'oh wow'.

And when Jake finally speaks again, his disgust is clear. "Look, I've been making excuses for you my whole life, but you're a pretty awful father. And until you're ready to be a good one, don't call me."

He turns on his heel and walks away, and as the ghostly Jake pushes past the real one and Spark...all that disgust on his face crumples into sadness.

Odd how the memories matched. Not that Spark knew that would be the case.

The two of them would be standing and watching the memory of a severe looking man in pristine clothing. Everything about him looked like someone who had zero sense of humor. His hands were behind his back as he glared at the two teenaged boys on the sofa.

Adrien sat stiffly, looking down at his hands on his knees. The other boy looked... well after that last memory, it was clearly Gregory Deegan with Adrien's exact coloring. Blond hair instead of red, Adrien's green eyes, the same skin tone. The same height. But that part was harder to see, because Where Adrien was sitting forward on the small sofa, the other boy was leaned back, seeming utterly unconcerned. He was wearing baggy cargo pants and a Tee shirt that read: "My jokes are berry berry bunny" with images of rabbits that looked like they had been made out of different kinds of berries. Nestled in his blond hair was a headband with floppy bunny ears; embroidered into the back of one ear it said "Hoppy to 'ear you!".

His sneakers were white with little hand drawn rainbow colored rabbits on them, as if a bunch of different artists of varying skill levels and styles all had fun with markers.

Every time Gabriel's eyes flicked towards the teen with the rabbit ears, his lips twitched even further down. He focused on the other boy first. "Adrien, your teachers say that you are doing well in your classes. I expect this to continue."

"Yes, father," Adrien said, sitting up to look his father in the eyes.

But the man didn't allow the eye contact. He turned his back on the boys. "Adrien you may go to your room now."

"But father, I..." Adrien started.

"Go, Adrien," Gabriel said in a non-nonsense tone.

Adrien hesitated, torn. The other boy shook his head slightly. Adrien deflated and stood. "Yes, father." He rested a hand on the other boy's shoulder as he passed for a moment. A look was traded between the boys, behind Gabriel's back. Sympathy in both directions. Adrien left, closing the door behind himself.

Gabriel turned back to the other boy. "Why can you not be more like your brother?" he asked, disapproval heavy in his voice and expression. "From all your teachers I hear how well Adrien is doing and how much of a disruption Garfield is."

"Wow, full first name, they must really be... hopping mad... huh?" Gar asked, leaning back further like he was settling in, draping an arm over the back of the sofa where his brother had been.

"This is not a joke, Garfield!"

"Only because one of us lacks a sense of humor," Garfield said, smirking a bit.

"Young man, I am this close to sending you to a boarding school halfway across the country! I am tired of you being a bad influence on your brother!"

The boy snorted and started petting one of his long bunny ears absently. "We both know you're not gonna do that, pop. After all, we both know your reputation matters more to you than either of us do."

"How dare you!"

He went on as if his father hadn't spoken. "And if you send one of us away, that proves that you can't handle us. Well, me. I guess you might actually care about Adrien since he makes you look good." He shrugged. "But how to deal with one son's twin? C'mon, read any story there is always an evil twin. Isn't it better that I'm just lazy and charming rather than evil?" He smirked, seeming amused.

"I have had quite enough out of you, young man!"

"What are you going to do?" Garfield asked, shrugging his shoulders. "You can't ground me, we stay in the dorms, we're only in the faculty house you and mom live in on weekends and breaks. So what... get a teacher to revoke my after school activities? You'd have to admit you need help and we both know that you won't do that."

"I am chaperoning the prom. You are officially not allowed to attend."

"Wow..... that's your big punishment, huh, old man? I'm not allowed to go to a date type event? When we both know I don't date? Sure. Why not ban me from all the dances in advance, then you don't even have to see me to yell at me in person anymore? We both know you'd prefer that."

Gabriel looked sour, like he had just eaten something disgusting. The look he gave the boy was one of pure loathing. "You just wait, young man. Your punishment is coming. Now, I'm sure you have homework you should be doing." A clear dismissal.

"Should, probably. But we both know I'm going to wear a dog themed outfit tomorrow and tell everyone my me ate my homework anyway..."

"Get. Out. Go to your room."

"My room here or my dorm room?" Gar asked, not moving a muscle to leave.

"Out. NOW!"

Gar shrugged and lazily stretched out his feet, like a cat debating if he was going to get up.

Gabriel's eyes fixed on his shoes and narrowed further. "Those shoes were brand new and expensive! What have you done to them?!"

"Well, I got bored in class so I drew a rabbit. One of the girls saw and asked if she could draw one too. Soon everyone wanted to, so during math class, they multiplied." He bounced to his feet.

"OUT!"

"I hare ya, I hare ya," He gave a saucy salute and headed out into the hall. He was all arrogance and smiles until the door closed behind him. Adrien was standing there waiting, and caught him as he collapsed, crying silently into his brother and clinging.

"Shh," Adrien said, leading him away quietly. "It's okay, Gar," he soothed.

They headed down the steps but ducked into the kitchen. Gar leaned against a counter and let Adrien sooth him softly.

"Hey," Adrien said quietly after a bit, "look at it this way, you broke my record."

Gar made a sound that was part snort, part sniffle, part chuckle. "He does always spend more time yelling than praising," he muttered with a teary smile.

Adrien nodded. "Yeah."

"So yay, attention," he said with a weak chuckle. "Alright then," he scrubbed at his face, hiding traces that he had been crying. "LEt's get back to the dorm room, I have lots of work to do."

"Homework?" Adrien asked, almost hopefully.

"Nah," Gar said, throwing an arm around Adrien's shoulders. "Planning what I am wearing to prom, of course..." They headed out of the house together, laughing, but the pain was still there behind both boys eyes....

Jake blinks as he returns to reality. It's just him and Spark now, and a strange piece of a puzzle in front of him.

"Wait...what's going on? Who were those kids?"

He does suspect, but he wants to see what Spark will say about it first.

Those... NOT GOOD NOT GOOD NOT GOOD! But he tried to play it off.

"Adrien and his brother. I was their cat for a while in the place we were before the Train. Well, Adrien's cat. I don't think his brother likes me all that much, we generally ignore each other..."

There, he's given that excuse so many times it had to sound natural by now, right?

"...ignore each other so much that you're never in the same room at the same time?" Jake asks, playful with a sharp edge behind it.

There was a moment of glare, his furry body tensing. "I was in the room that memory or you wouldn't have seen it," he said, trying to come across as casual.

"...oh! Right. You were in the room. I believe you."

Jake relaxes a moment, sinking back onto his heels. "So those two brothers...sounds like their dad's kinda harsh, huh? Demanding perfection?"

At least he gave them attention...but? Low bar.

"Exactly. I was under the sofa." Which didn't explain how they saw what happened when the kids left the room...

He snorted to the question though. "You kidding? That Storm he had to be nice because people are watching. Usually Adrien is lucky to see his father five minutes a month. Seriously, the man seems to have been born a grump."

Edited (Got my paid back) 2022-06-29 07:59 (UTC)

"Geez, and my dad just ignored me," Jake muttered, shaking his head. "Did he at least feed you?"

"D... Gabriel?" he shook his head. "Gabriel ordered his staff to see to it his sons were fixed for things like food. Adrien made sure I was fed."

Jake quirks a brow again, but....hey, they have time here. "And what about that other teenager? Did he take care of you?"

"Other... oh, Gar? Nah. Told you, we didn't like each other. He thought pouring some cat food in a bowl was enough to feed me! Like I'm some ordinary cat! I have a special diet, special needs! I do not eat cat food!" He sounded so indignant.

"Only fish, right," Jake remembers that much. Feeding a cat cat food isn't the worst thing he could do...but it sure is rude.

And probably not true.

"But for that to be your sad memory....you still care about both of them, right?"

"Well... I mean... yeah. My first family, before I went to that world, was the Deegans. To see how Miranda and Donovan treated their kids and then see the Agrestes... how could I not care? They clearly needed a cat."

"It's....really tough out in the world. A lot of people become parents who aren't really cut out for it, or get derailed by stress, or...all kinds of things. But you've gotta remember you can always find a family anywhere."

He sure did. And he misses them so much.

"I wish I could find my family here," he mumbled under his breath.

Oh....oh, that hurts. Jake lets out a small breath and looks over at Spark.

"...you're struggling too, huh? Sorry. I always hear people talking about it, but...seems like every time I get close to somebody, they leave."

"And sometimes they never even show up."

"I know how that one goes," Jake murmurs quietly. "Haven't seen anyone from my world. I miss 'em...but maybe it's better that they're not going through this? I don't know. But I get lonely. It's confusing."

Ah, a mix of contrasting feelings.

"Nah, I've been in both boats. The one where they're with you has more fish when you balance the scales."

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Jema'grethy: Memory Cave

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