Jake's Room Archive
The very epitome of run-down-apart
ment chic, Jake's bedroom is relatively stark. There isn't even a bed, just a long, sad looking couch, with a secret, light-tight compartment where one my expect to find a fold-out bed hidden. There is one window, which has been boarded up from the inside, an attempt to keep out the light, though cracks exist where one might peep out to see.
An old floor lamp, an empty box-crate, and a decrepit looking dresser with a mirror dusty on the edges are the only other pieces of furniture. There's a pile of laundry in one corner, whether it's clean or dirty is not immediately apparent. A guitar has been propped up against the arm of the couch. The dresser is covered in pillar candles and shiny jewelry, combs, makeup, and other feminine items, the sudden clutter seeming somewhat out of place with the emptiness of the rest of the room.
It wasn't the storm, or even the dream that woke Jake up. No indeed. Growing up next to the Kingsbridges had left him wary of nightmares, but somewhat used to them as well. What woke Jake up was the new smells.
They didn't just suddenly hit him like a punch to the face, and he couldn't tell you exactly WHAT it was he was smelling- at least not in his human body- other than it WASN'T the ever present stank of rotting garbage long over due for pickup mixing with the cologne of an army of unwashed homeless using the world as their toilet. Really, the absence of these smells was... quite pleasant. Never the less, he suddenly found himself awake, and on edge.
This was not New York.
Head lifting, he was somewhat confused to see, through the slats on his boarded-up windows, that it was night. Normally he woke an hour or two before sunset, partially to have some time to himself, partially to prepare for the evening.
"Nina- Nina, time t'get up," moving off the hollowed out couch that served as his girlfriend's daytime resting place, his alarm level only increased when she wasn't there, sleeping inside the hidden compartment as he had expected. Nina was a late sleeper. She never got up before him. Something was wrong.
The rundown apartment bedroom seemed undisturbed, but Jake was on full alert now. Nina was gone, his sleeping pattern had somehow been disrupted, and there were... smells. Unfamiliar ones. Not bothering to put on shoes- he'd likely lose them anyway- and still wearing the ratty jeans and wifebeater from the previous evening, he headed to the door, head jerking back when he opened it and found not his hobble of a living room, but some unfamiliar hallway.
On full alert now- he quietly slipped out.
||Continued in HH Her Way or the High Way||
||Continued from HH Her Way or the High Way||
The room was as Jake had left it; slightly decrepit, and empty of any other life. He moved quickly to the couch to shove the top back into place, covering Nina's secret sleeping chamber again, and then looked around. He wished he could do something about the laundry, but there was really no place to hide it. "Uh-- so." he gestured to the couch. "Yer welcome t'sleep here, if you like. If it's not comfortable, though, I'd understand."
Soren paused as he looked at the room. "I have slept in worse places," he said, looking over at the corner of room at the laundry. He had slept on top of a pile not much different from that one. "There was a long stretch where I was homeless. Worse than homeless. I lived in the woods, without any contact with anyone." He hated remembering it, but it kept him a little more humble.
Jake raised his eyebrow slightly at Soren's comment. Yeah, his room was kind of a hole, but that didn't mean Soren had to AGREE with him. He shrugged it off, though. Kid was just being honest. "Nothin' wrong with the woods. I've done my time there, as well. It's lonely, but at least you can set your own rules."
"I was six years of age," Soren said absently, stepping up to look at the mess on the dresser. His eyes studied everything, the jewelry, candles, everything. "Rules were hardly the first thing on my mind." He looked back at Jake, a sort of coldness coming over him at the memory of being stuck in the woods without the ability to talk, being shunned by everyone, starving nearly to death. A shiver ran down the small archsage's body and he blinked, dropping his gaze to the floor.
Jake tried to suppress his annoyance. He was starting to feel like everything was a contest with this kid. No matter what it was, he'd been there, done that, and got the t-shirt. He pushed his hand through his hair. It was probably just the hour, the stress. Everyone was on edge. "Well. ... Yer not six any more." It was about all he could offer. "There's a blanket over the back, there, if'n you get cold."
Soren picked up on the change of tone. That was something he was good at. "Maybe I should attempt to find my way back to my own room," he said, his voice tightening. Although he would be all night trying to find the right door, Soren was willing to try that, mainly because he had no idea what he had said to set Jake on edge. He had been stating facts, that was all.
Jake's eyebrows raised. "It's in the hall, about five doors down, on the opposite side. I smelled it while we were looking for mine. I thought- didn't you say you'd be uncomfortable in your room?"
"I would rather be uncomfortable than unwanted," Soren said, taking a step backwards towards the door, his hand behind him to feel in case he misjudged and backed into the wall. It may have sounded cold to most people, but to Soren it just was. He did not want to be alone in his room, but if Jake was annoyed with his presence, he would leave.
"If you were unwanted, I wouldn't've invited you to stay." Jake was confused. Was this to do with his lycanthropy, again? "Yer perfectly safe here, I promise. I told you-- I ain't gonna hurt you."
Soren shook his head. "Your tone. You sounded annoyed." His hand met the wall and Soren stopped, watching Jake. "Typically once someone becomes annoyed with me, the next step is anger." This was said in a perfectly level tone. The archsage was well accustomed to this sort of reaction and it showed.
Jake smiled. "Soren... folks are allowed to have feelins. That don't mean they're gonna attack you." Of course, when SOREN had gotten angry, he DID attack someone. "Maybe things is different where you come from. I'm not sayin' caution's bad, but-- you know, there's a lot of stuff goin' on. Folks is on edge. Maybe I'll get annoyed, or maybe even angry some day, but that don't mean I don't like you. You're allowed to get annoyed and angry with me too. That's just bein' people. You just can't- attack people out of anger, that's all. Gotta use your words, or walk away." Nina had always been an 'attack out of anger' type, but after spending so much time with Jake, she had been getting better about it.
The archsage blinked, taking in what Jake was saying. So similar to Ike. The similarities were almost frightening for Soren. "My apologies," he said with a frown. "I will stay, then." Moving slowly back into the room, he inched towards the couch, looking it over uncertainly. It looked rather longer than he needed to sleep.
"Good." Jake nodded once, as if that settled things. He followed Soren's gaze to the couch. Misinterpreting the archsage's uncertainess, he offered, "Don't worry none 'bout kicking me out of my bed. I've been keepin' a nocturnal sleep pattern, so I'm pretty much up, now, anyway. Figgered I'd go explore this mad house that's been made ours."
Looking sharply at Jake, Soren seemed a little surprised. "You're are planning on leaving me alone in your room?" he asked, finding it an interesting thing that Jake was going to trust him. He looked back at the couch, part of him wanting to ball up something to put on the end so that his feet would make contact and he wouldn't feel quite so small. Unbuckling his belt, he slid the entire thing from himself before looking down at his outer robe, which he couldn't exactly be comfortable in.
Jake shrugged. "Well-- not like I got anything worth stealin'. And even if you did, I could probably track you down. 'Sides. You didn't strike me as the 'stealin' sort. You said you were uncomfortable in your room, an' since I wasn't thinkin' I'd be goin' back to bed any time soon, I thought maybe you could make use of it, least until we get things figured out a bit more."
"I won't steal anything," Soren agreed with a nod as he slowly pulled the outer robe off and over his head, fighting the sleeves for a moment as he caught it before it hit the ground, leaving him in his under shirt and pants, both of which were form fitting and showed exactly how tiny the archsage actually was.
"I know y'won't. Try and get some rest now, y'hear? We're gonna get this all figured out, one way or another, and then we can all go home." He wasn't sure who he was trying to convince-- Soren or himself. He wondered if this place had a kitchen. It seemed to him Soren could stand a good home cooked meal or two. Not that Jake knew how to cook.
Soren nodded, wanting to trust Jake. He needed to trust someone. It was difficult for him, though, because he usually didn't. Sitting slowly on the couch, Soren hugged his robes against himself. "Will you be back?" he asked quietly, sounding more like a child than ever.
"I will absolutely be back." Jake paused by the door, giving Soren what he hoped was a comforting smile. "If I find anything out, I'll come back sooner and let you know. But in the meanwhile. You sleep."
With a final nod, Soren sat back on the couch, his robes draping over him almost like a blanket. He watched Jake carefully before curling up tight and laying down against the arm of the couch, his legs pushed up against his chest.
Jake headed back out into the halls of the Halfway House, intent on letting Soren relax a bit, as well as possibly find some answers. What answers, he wasn't sure-- there were questions a plenty, and more than enough to go around. But maybe-- maybe he could find one or two.
||Continued in HH Her Way or the High Way||
Once the door shut, Soren lay down on the couch. There was a faint, lingering scent of canine. Soren pushed his robes into a ball and lay his head on them, feeling very small. But it wasn't long before the little archsage was slipping into sleep. Using spells always tired him, this one more than usual, and his mind shut down slowly until he was breathing evenly, eyes closed, and dead to the world.
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