⇨ The Tourist Trap: PROLOGUE

[ringleaders]

Who: Anyone, anywhere in Portland.
When: Any time before the start of the event.
Where: Portland area, in the new reality.
What: Once you've submitted your AU summary, you can use this post to do some CLOSED THREADING to play out some character interactions that happened before the event start. This means that memory regains will not be in play yet. Open top levels are not allowed - these threads are intended to sort out closed interactions between planned backstory connections, during the week leading up to the actual event start.
Warnings: Could be anything.

PORTLAND, AS YOU KNEW IT↴ The shift went unseen and unfelt. One moment you were one person, and the next, another. This before all that, though, in the new life that you remember living here in Portland. No memories of your true self have arisen yet, and at the time this was the only life you knew. Did these events truly happen at all? Or do they only exist in memory?

Comments

Works fine!

[nobodyperfect]

Axel freezes when he's spoken to. He's tempted to nod, to hide, but what's the point? He shakes his head instead. He's not ok, neither of them are. Neither of them have been for years.

"It's too cold." That's his excuse, as he wipes at his eyes. He IS used to Ignatius's realm, so that's reasonable. A fire fae, or their changeling, wouldn't be comfortable in a chill night, and the nights here are only just warm enough to keep the garden alive and the plants from drying out as they breathe.

[notyetsore]

"...Is it?" Ginko wouldn't know, seeing as how he... doesn't really have another point of reference. The Rose Queen's realm is all he's ever known; so far as he knows, this is just how nights are.

He hesitates, then speaks up again, quietly. "What... was it like where you were before?"

[nobodyperfect]

"Warm. Hot. The walls were fire, there were no... green things." His eyes were a novel color, part of why he was kept around so long, but at the same time, he had to be given to the Queen eventually.

His little wings shudder at the cold, an unconscious reaction to thinking about it at all, and the shiver spreads across his body. He rolls to his back, but doesn't face Ginko; his face is still tear-stained a little bit. He does call a little lick of fire to his hands, though, an inviting glow in the dark night. It's enough to keep him warm for now.

[notyetsore]

"...Oh."

It sounds... bad, honestly. He's not going to say as much, but his tone might betray his discomfort with the idea.

And then there sure is fire right there, and Ginko draws back with a quiet gasp, shoulders hunching. "--You can do that?"

[nobodyperfect]

While there's no immediate response to Ginko's tone, Axel still glances over. He didn't mean to scare the other changeling, so he swiftly extinguishes the fire, shaking his hands until it's gone. The fire that makes up his hair dims and dies down slightly; he's a little embarrassed.

"Yeah, sometimes." He's half fire fae now, it'd be weirder if he couldn't.

[notyetsore]

Ginko relaxes a little, leaning toward Axel with some curiosity, now that he's not being ALARMED by the existence of fire.

"There's not a lot of fire around here. Probably 'cuz of all the plants."

[nobodyperfect]

"Makes sense." Axel rolls over to face Ginko. "Do you think I'll get in trouble?"

It looks like he's thinking about something. Maybe about if he'll get in trouble, maybe about something else.

[notyetsore]

"Maybe. I dunno if there's been someone here who can do that before... but you can't get in trouble if they don't find out."

Which sounds easier said than done, but he figures it should be fine as long as Axel doesn't actually set anything on fire.

[nobodyperfect]

Axel nods, still thinking. He's quiet for a bit, until finally he speaks.

"Is the Rose Queen... nice?" Ignatius wasn't. Axel can still be burned, that much is certain, and expressed on his back.

[notyetsore]

For a couple seconds, Ginko just looks at Axel as if he'd grown a second pair of wings.

"She's..." He shrugs, and looks away. "She doesn't yell much or anything."

In other words, he's reluctant to speak against her, but...

[nobodyperfect]

Axel just nods. He's not sure what to think about the Rose Queen just yet; Ignatius is all fire and temper, where she's been both harsh and affectionate to her little "gift." It makes it hard to say what she's like, but if she's not nice...

"D'you have a family out there, you think?" Axel doesn't know if he does, he's been in faerie so long. What if he does but they've forgotten about him? That might be harder than not having one.

[notyetsore]

"...Maybe. I dunno." Which isn't to say he hasn't thought about it. He definitely has - and he's wondered, and hoped, and worried. "I guess I... probably do, somewhere."

Most people have families, right?

"What about you?"

[nobodyperfect]

"I dunno either. Maybe I'll find one if I can't find my parents." Or if something's happened to them, but he can't think about that. Can't even humor the idea. It might make it true.

"I think the queen is nicer than my other master, but I still want to see my family." He just blurts it out; it's a bold thing to say, he's pushing the boundaries of what he can get away with, but there's no sign of anyone listening. Just crickets chirping and frogs singing away around the forest.

... Of course, they are dealing with the fae. Any one of the animals could be a spy.

[notyetsore]

Ginko's eye widens, just a bit, as if he's expecting a faerie to appear out of nowhere when Axel says that.

But none does, and nothing happens, and he relaxes a little, looking around. Finally, his gaze drops to the ground again.

"...I do, too."

[nobodyperfect]

So he's not alone in that. He's not alone in wanting out. That makes it easier. In the last place, in Ignatius's realm, they had all accepted their fate, except Rita, who was too young to understand it. He feels a momentary pang of regret when he thinks about the toddler he left behind in that place of pain, but there was nothing he could do. Maybe someday she'll get out too. For now, though...

He stands up and walks over to Ginko. "Then let's go."

[notyetsore]

He looks up, surprise and confusion and maybe a bit of fear crossing his face. "...Go? Like... leave, right now?"

[nobodyperfect]

"Yeah! They're all distracted by some party or another, and I swear I saw a spot where the thorns are thin when I got brought here! We can make it if we hurry!" They can skip out on a night's expected sleep if it means freedom, right? Right. And besides, who knows how many chances they'll get?

[notyetsore]

"But--"

It's not like Ginko doesn't want to go. It's not like he hasn't thought about this before, about escaping. But somehow, now that the option might actually be available, he finds himself hesitating.

"Do... do you really think we could make it?"

[nobodyperfect]

"I do. C'mon, let's go!" He leads the way out of the clearing, and, lo and behold, there is a spot where the thorns are a little bit thinner a good 15-minute walk away. It's lucky he has a good memory, for the most part.

"Do you have anything you can do that she won't notice?" His voice is little more than a whisper. If asked, he could always say Ginko was just showing him around, but it might not fly with the guards.

[notyetsore]

Ginko follows close behind, though he keeps his arms tucked close to his torso, hands clasping his upper arms.

"Um... I think so." He nods slightly - then, stepping forward, sets a couple fingers on the vines, careful not to prick himself. "I can ask them to move over a little... probably not by much, though."

Sure enough, the vines start to shift a little - slowly, bit by bit, while Ginko's brow furrows and he focuses in on the plants. When the vines have moved apart by just a couple inches, Ginko lets go of them and steps back, letting out a shaky breath. "That's... the furthest they'll go I think. ...Sorry."

[nobodyperfect]

"No, this is a good start!" He grins at Ginko before conjuring another fire - this one a bit more than a lick - in the gap. The plants shrivel back, widening the space, and start to burn.

"She'll probably notice pretty soon, so we've gotta move fast." He lets the fire grow, and it attacks the now-dried bush with a vengeance, widening the gap until it's a few feet wide and several deep. There's a glint of light visible through the thorns now! "Stay close, it might grow shut behind us... Can you help it do that, actually?"

[notyetsore]

Now that the fire is less of a surprise, Ginko can more easily resist the impulse to lean away from it, even when it starts to spread.

He gives a small nod. "I can try... Let's go." He doubts he'll be able to move the vines by a whole lot, but it should help conceal their exit a little.