elfstoned | IC Contact Post [for savetheearth]

I'll keep ahead of you on foot for a while. Don't worry, the closest person is like half a mile away.

[Julien just cannot walk or run as fast as Aaron easily could, but right now, he's probably got the right speed. His stealth talents can make him silent but visually... in the weak sunlight he almost glows, somehow seeming like a gap in the trees to the most casual look.

He does know the way, and how to make a detour around the marshy area that he's not sure Aaron can forge through right now. Julien does not get lost anymore. There is a kind of map in his head and he can sense where he is on it, even from here on the ground.]

I should warn you, the house and grounds are walled off. I can get a ladder down, or you can come around to the gate.

[Chew, chew, swallow.]

What are the chances of going over the wall without being seen -- and without setting off alarms?

Fully one hundred percent, unless you're worried about what cats think.

[He's got his tiny phone out in his wing, the feathers moving.]

I've disabled the security. You can watch me land on the wall if you want to be sure. The closest house isn't actually visible from the top of the back wall, even for me. This guy takes privacy seriously.

I'll take the walls.

Right, then.

[Julien pushes forwards, unsnagging his bag from a branch, and jumping flaps his wings to land atop the ten-foot brick wall. Indeed there's no alarm.

There are no trees right around it. Under stubborn snow the grass is very long and tall weeds are everywhere, and some vines are making their way up the wall itself. The grounds aren't being maintained all that well in the owner's absence.]

Hang on a second, I'll get the ladder. It's rope.

[He'll wait.

It is unbelievable how sketch he looks right now. This is new levels of Aaron Strider: Dangerous Hobo.]

[He still looks a whole lot like Hiyoko, or those other humans Julien had seen at more of a distance in an older memory. The world had stepped on these people, and Yuuya - Julien knows his name now - had had kind thoughts about their resilience.

It still makes Julien close his inner eyelids when he pokes his head out over the edge a few minutes later, to roll the ladder down. It is rope, and wood rungs.]

Okay, I think it's secure. Can you carry your bag up? I could get it.

-Fair warning, this place is ridiculous.

I'll manage.

[Ridiculous or not, he'll take it. Aaron tests the ladder with one hand, giving it a firm tug, and then begins to climb. It's not slow going, but it's not as fast as he could have done two days ago.

When he reaches the top, he blinks -- and stares.

Julien was right. This is ridiculous. He doesn't have the heart to comment on it right now, but huh.]

Yeah, it's like that. Give that here.

[The yard is also not in that great a shape, and the outdoors pool is covered over. Still.

Julien start hauling the ladder up so he can dump it on the other side.]

Later I'll set you up with a pin number or just a card or something so you can do whatever even when the security's on, it'll think you're supposed to be here.

If it has a shower and a bed, it'll do.

[He helps haul the ladder up (it's easier with two people) and will start the descent. That goes rather faster.

Speaking of showers, Julien will pick up on it -- Aaron smells like he's been smoking again, and recently.]

Don't worry about it. Just head in - closest showers are in there off to the left, they're pretty Spartan. Pool showers, really.

[It's good to get off the wall. Two and a half feet thick, easy for Julien to stay atop, he keeps an eye out for Aaron's balance the whole time.

Oh, yes, he smells it and feels it as a stinging in his throat and chest, stronger since they'd both been up on the wall there. He's not sure if that's the particles clinging to Aaron and his clothes, or just some psychological reaction to the smell since he's struggled so much breathing secondhand smoke. He waits until he can unmoor the ladder from atop the wall, and there's a little more distance, before trying to clear the sensation away. His cough doesn't sound anything like normal coughing. Heavy, sharp exhales.

Better stay upwind, he decides. And put on a kettle for athelas.]

Edited 2015-03-10 00:31 (UTC)

[He is so far from picky right now. Aaron can handle being dirty, has been dirtier than this, but this is a kind of filth that sticks to him, weighs him down. He wants to wash the past two weeks off along with it.

Aaron gives Julien a nod and disappears.

He'll be in there a while. When he comes out, it's with his hair still wet, pulling on a t-shirt Julien will have never seen before. The clothes are clean enough to be tolerable, if not particularly laundry-fresh.

Aaron wanders deeper into the house, looking for something, somewhere, that he can lie down on.]

[There are lounging chairs and some couches he could curl up on, though they're in open, airy empty space and at least partially taken up by a variety of cats, who are ruining the aesthetic. And scratching on the wooden anime robot. Some kind of super-Roomba is noisily handling a recent puke.

Julien's white and blue fit in pretty well in the kitchen. He's made some kind of lentil soup and bit some athelas into a different boiling pot. Now he sticks his head out as Aaron passes the doorway, bits of green still stuck in his beak.]

If you want to go sleep I'll get this in the fridge. Just uh... you can try there, the canopy curtains will keep it dark.

[He comes out the rest of the way, considering - yes, sure. In slightly awkward Sindarin:] Here it is safe. Rest. I will guard.

[....Aaron, if asked, wouldn't know if it's the athelas or the food or the Sindarin or the sleep-dep, but something about all of it drains the last of his energy from him. His eyes sting; he passes a hand over his forehead.]

You did not have to do this. This was not asked of you, but I am grateful.

[The feathers on Julien's head and neck fluff up in an affectionate 'expression', and he has to pause to decide what to say, how to say it.

Okay, just a little bit of snark, though there's nothing insincere about it. What was the right way to say... got it.]

I love you too. Rest.

[All the fight's gone out of him. Aaron goes where Julien pointed, and it's not thirty seconds before his breathing changes, turns shallow.

He won't wake up until tomorrow morning.]

[An hour in Julien checks on him and spends some time measuring and evaluating Aaron's changes with his eyes, and staring at the changed, familiar face ~~like a total creeper~~ before easing the blanket over him and leaving, closing the door in an attempt to keep the cats out.

He's not glad this happened, but he's glad Aaron came here off the streets, and it is good to provide and care for someone again. He feels like he hasn't done that in a long time.]

[~~okay, Edbird Cullen, watch him while he sleeps, whatever~~

When he finally wakes up properly in the late morning, he nearly doesn't get up. At first, he rests an arm over his eyes and thinks very hard about just staying where he is.

If he were any less hungry, he might have stayed there another few hours, but further delay cannot be borne.

Slowly, ponderously, Aaron stands, running a hand through his too-long hair. Now that it's clean and dry, the gray in it is much more obvious. He makes his way into the kitchen with heavy steps, and drinks an entire glass of water in about ten seconds. Then, he goes to the refrigerator, and starts fishing around for the soup he thinks he remembers from yesterday. There's still not much energy in it -- he's moving automatically, ungracefully.]

[~~He learned from the best okay.~~]

That one's waffle batter. You want the square one, for soup.

[Julien's come up behind him, not too close in case of Aaron startling.]

Go microwave that. I'm making waffles, whether you want any or not. Should I put the kettle on again?

[What exactly are you implying, watching people sleep is part of his job

Aaron is surprised -- Julien moves damn near silently -- but he recovers quickly and shakes his head.]

That won't be necessary. I'll be fine.

[His hand closes around the right container, and then he makes his way to the microwave. Eye contact is at a minimum.]

[~~Now it's just a hobby.~~]

Let me know if you change your mind.

[Giving him space, Julien gets to pouring the waffle batter into the right implement, talking absently as if to himself. Listen or don't.] Made this up earlier, but I could use a second breakfast.

Mmm.

[The microwave is set, and the wait is excruciating. Aaron's jaw is set, his hand restless on the countertop, but he's not fidgeting as much as he might otherwise be, if he were this hungry.

He's still moving more slowly than not when he takes it out. Aaron is going to sit down, test the temperature with his tongue, and decide that it's not too hot to drink. Right out of the container.

Fuck spoons. Ain't nobody got time for that.]

[Julien decides to save his comment - wow, I thought I was the only one who drinks like that now - for some later time. It looks less hygenic when Aaron does it. The facial hair, no doubt.

There are less trivial things he wants to say, but he doesn't know if now is a good time. What he can do that probably is in good time is be here. Provide.

The first waffle is done. Julien tips that on a plate, steaming and banana-y, then pins most of it down with a fork so he can tear off one of the quarters with his beak and shove the plate down the counter at Aaron. He holds his quarter while pouring more batter, then drops it on another plate and eats it in an uncivilized manner. No butter or toppings at all. Also, pinning it with a thumb and tearing chunks off to gulp down.

Silverware is hard.]

[Silverware doesn't goddamn matter. Aaron looks at the waffle. He doesn't hesitate long -- he's been smelling it for the last few minutes, and it would take more willpower than he has right now to refuse it.

He'll tear pieces off and eat it by hand. Eating food is more important than being civilized.

When the soup and waffle are done, Aaron sits back in the chair, letting out a long breath. He feels about 75% more like an actual living person now.]

Morning.

...is it morning?

Ten ack-emma, or so. You were out for fifteen hours. [a novel he knows Aaron has read had a hard-bitten police chief use 'ack-emma' for "a.m".

The second waffle came out a bit ago, a little burnt where the banana mixed in disagreed with the metal. Julien has also brought out a blenderized mush of strawberries.]

You want this? There's butter and stuff if you don't like them with fruit. And stick the soup thing in the sink, will you? There is a dishwasher, thank God.

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