maskormenacelogs | Wake from a dream where I was stuck losing my teeth

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Wake from a dream where I was stuck losing my teeth

WHO: Chauncy Anderson and David Klein
WHERE: Maurtia Falls
WHEN: Early June
WHAT: Aaaawkward meetings
WARNINGS: N/A so far

Over a month until the bar exam. Sure, it’s good to have the time to brush up on what he might have lapsed a little on, and to figure out what laws are now currently impacted by this strange alternate history Earth, but overall, it just feels like a waste of time. He has a lot he intends on doing, and it’s stalled because of this.

But that’s nothing he can change.

Just like how he can’t change where he lives, until he gets back his proper career. A receptionist’s paycheck isn’t going to be able to pay for a proper condo.

It’s been a long day. He just wants to go home and relax, maybe do a little more studying later on.

At least, that’s the intent. As he’s getting his keys out of his pocket, he notices someone arriving at the house next door to him, who wasn’t the Ambassador, or the other man who lived there. No, this was…

Someone else.

Someone he’s getting a weird feeling from.

A fate-bound feeling.

Despite his instinct to open his door and lock it behind him, Chauncy steps away from his house, across the lawn to get a better look at who’s there.

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He's standing outside the home labeled simply "#5", staring at the door as if he could somehow will it to disappear. There's hope in his head that this is still some divine prank. That Thoth, or Anubis, or Osiris himself has barred entry to the Du'at. That this is somehow a dream that he'll wake from. That he'll find Takara. That he can repeat the day, where he had woken up beside the man he loved-

His hands grip tighter to the cane he uses to support himself, heaving a breath inside his lungs as if to keep himself steady.
And if he doesn't wake? If this is his new reality? If somehow the spell had gone wrong, and he'd been brought to some other dimension...?

Well. He'd have to prepare himself, wouldn't he.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees someone approach, and he turns to face them. The recognition crosses his face. The heart in his chest lifts.
He's not alone, at least.

"Chaunce-?"

Chauncy stops dead in his tracks, as he also recognizes David. Shock quickly fades, blending into realization, and then something closer to a glare.

"You don't get to call me that, Mr. Klein."

There’s something, well, off about Chauncy. The defensive stance. The anger in his voice. Calling him by his last name. The smile fades, a sort of hurt building in his eyes as he adjusts himself.
“... I understand why you might be angry with me, I wasn’t supposed to be at Thoth’s abode-“

Why is he looking so upset? Seriously?

"What are you talking about?"

David sighs, running his hand through his disheveled hair- not the usual slicked back style but curls, still rather mussed from the night before. A pause as he tries to figure out just what to say. Just what Chauncy means.
“I should have told you I was going. Kept your group from arriving. I just thought, with it being neutral ground...”

Edited 2018-06-06 03:27 (UTC)

"Stop, stop," Chauncy says, raising his hands and gesturing, in case his words aren't enough to get David to cease.

"I don't know what you're talking about, and I've decided I don't care. I was really looking forward to having this world to myself, but now you're here, ruining it. So let's get this out of the way now: I'm not going to talk to you, you don't talk to me, we go about doing whatever, while also not talking to each other."

“I'm- ruining it?! That’s a rather strong opinion, don’t you think?” The humor and apologetics in his voice are all but gone, his face darkening as he takes a step towards Chauncy.
“Chauncy- oh, my apologies, Mr. Anderson, the last I saw you was in Memphis. Do you honestly remember nothing about last night or are you simply being cruel?”

And now he has the audacity to act like he can be offended?

Chauncy also takes a step forward, eyes never pulling away from David. Who was... still a threat, yes, and he could easily lose to him in a fight, but, David wouldn't actually kill him.

Probably.

"I haven't even been to Memphis," he says, exasperated. "I was in Georgia."

David stops his advancement at that. Slows and grinds to a halt as he stares down Chauncy. He’s telling the truth, the back of his mind says- parses out the abilities to tell when he’s being deceptive. For the most part.
“... Jekyll Island?”

Three days prior, right? Four, maybe? He had seen discussion on the Network about it. How sometimes people would be pulled from different times-
“The gods are cruel, playing this kind of prank.” He looks away, exhaling, huffing, but calming. Anger abated for now.

"Yes, Jekyll Island- how did you now that?" He didn't tell him. Yet.

David's anger might be abated, but Chauncy's frustration and confusion isn't.

"What prank?"

"Because you told me." He pinches his nose as if to stave off a headache.
"... The prank being that, if this is the Du'at, the gods have seen it fit to erase the last few days from your memory. And if this is some alternate dimension or universe, this 'Porter' has taken us from different times."

Might as well ease into it. There's no easy way to say "oh, and by the way, I've erased all my blackmail on you, we had another fling, and my jealous teammate tried to have you assassinated which instead killed Takara. Surprise, the future is terrible."

"... Look, I just got here. I haven't even gone into my home yet. Is there somewhere we can get coffee?"

"No," Chauncy says, to nothing specific, but to all of it. "This isn't the Du'at, and my memory is fine." But he's not going to go ahead and say 'yep, this sure is an alternate dimension.' Because that'd be admitting this place was half as crazy as he was trying to pretend it isn't.

He looks over David, suspicious. Not agreeing to get coffee ... yet.

"...What's the Du'at? Why are we both there?"

There’s a long, weary sigh, and he looks back at the door to his own home. He would prefer to answer this sitting down. Where he has time to think about his answers and how Chauncy might react.
“If I give you my relics, may I come inside?”

A powerful show of trust. Chauncy could easily take them and refuse to give them back. He could compel him, of course, but he’d rather...
“There’s a lot to discuss. Much has happened between a Georgia and Memphis.”

That is a lot of trust. More than he'd expect from David.

His expression doesn't change, still bordering between suspicious and irritated, but answers are more important right now. "Fine. Come on." He jerks his head toward his house, and begins to head back to it, taking out his keys.

He walks the few steps, bridging the gap between them. Hands gripping tighter to his cane as he draws near. He looks a mess- he know he does. Hair a mess, neck bruised, blood stains still soaked around his wrists. But he can answer all his questions and more. Carefully, he takes out his dagger from his jacket, holding it out to Chauncy By the blade. No threat. The only person who could be hurt by it being himself.

He's noticed David looks like a mess from his few glances, but he expect the other would. He hasn't seen him in a few days, and things have obviously rapidly deteriorated since then. But the bruises and blood go unnoticed, for now. Perception fail, apparently.

As they approach his front door, David hands him the dagger. As he takes the handle, it feels... legitimate. Real, and potent, unlike the sword they had stolen. The actual relic, not a fake. Not that he thinks David would. It would betray everything, if it was a fake.

"...and the other one?"

It feels strange, to remove the last relic from his hands. Twisting off the serpentine ring and handing it over, palm flat, for Chauncy to take. It feels so incredibly strange, to be fully rid of his relics- vulnerable. Human. But it's all he has to give for Chauncy to trust him, to get him to listen. So much had changed in the last few days- the knowledge that there was another way to bring the gods to task, to hold them accountable for their injustices. The marks on his neck, peppered down his chest, lingering reminders of their rekindled romance.

He only hopes that what he's done, what he's failed to do, won't smother it.

In the wake of Takara's death, he doesn't know if he can handle another blow. And so when Chauncy takes the ring he might cling to his wrist like it's a lifeline. It certainly feels that way. "Yours. Both of them. Until I leave your home."

He takes the ring now as well, and David grabs his arm. He can feel his desperation...

Chauncy could keep it. Both of these relics. What would David be able to do to stop him? Maybe a few commands, probably. Maybe he could resist them. Maybe he could have David unarmed, for his duration here.

It's too good an idea to ignore.

But Chauncy's morals win out, for now. Once inside the house, he places both the dagger and the ring on a table in the living room, and then gestures for David to sit on a couch.

It's only once David's sitting does he notice...

The neck bruises.

They're made by a mouth.

Chauncy's eyes narrow a bit, but so far he says nothing about it.

"Now explain."

It's a dangerous risk- and he knows it. If Chauncy, at this point, does not trust him? He might not get his relics back. Might have to pull out knacks to scrabble for his power. Because he won't be left unarmed- he cannot leave himself open. Not when there's talk on the network of gods in mortal form, of demi-gods, of others.

But could he be so calloused as to push Chauncy away again with manipulation? With anger?

Slowly, he lowers himself onto the couch, staring almost forlorn at Chauncy.

"Where should I start?" There's a sigh, and he leans back, exhaling slowly. "... I should have warned you about Jekyll Island. If I had known you were going-" He shakes his head. Rakes his fingers through his hair again.

Edited 2018-06-07 16:57 (UTC)

"I didn't tell you beforehand on purpose." It had been a tip from Kotori. If he said where they were going, David might have wondered why they knew where to go. Or prevented them, somehow, like he had prevented them during the trip to Florida. Still, he remains cool in his cross, "It's too late for regrets there. What else happened?"

"I know." There's a weary sigh as he closes his eyes, as he pinches his nose. Maybe if he had been more open in communication with Chauncy- he has no space to blame the man, had forced his participation in this petty game with blackmail. And he had paid the price for it, hadn't he? Hannah's face, furious, twisted with hate, is burned into his brain. Takara diving to protect Chauncy. There had been so much blood around her brow. So much blood smeared on the floor.

"... Takara told me of a way to kill the gods. Something my father had mentioned to her. A way to bring them to justice that didn't involve Ragnarok. So your group and mine both went to Memphis." He feels sick to his stomach, honestly, now that he's got time to process the grief. The mistakes he's made. The petty little slights that had all accumulated into this.

"... It didn't end well."

Edited 2018-06-07 18:26 (UTC)

Chauncy listens, brows knitting together as David explains. Takara spoke to David, and told him a way to kill the Gods, specifically to avoid Ragnarok... And here he had been worried, about telling David too much. Takara told David more than he ever planned on doing.

Ridiculous.

He can't imagine a meeting between their groups going well, no. Not after New York.

"And? Of course it didn't end well, your group wants ours dead." Emphasis on your.

"'My' group wants a great many things. But only one of them truly wants you dead." It's a slip of the tongue, really. Because he had seen it. It's still replaying in slow motion, turning over and over in his head.

That split second of Tom reaching for Chauncy's throat. Takara taking the blow. Both of them, on the floor, Takara on top of him.

There had been so much blood.

"... Chauncy, I... We were supposed to be in the Du'at. In the Egyptian Underworld. To save Takara from death."

Someone actually wants him dead.

It's one thing when it feel like ... just circumstance. Getting killed by faeries in their Wild Hunt feels less like a targeted offense. Hell, even if he'd been killed in the hotel, it would have been more like it was because he was just in a dangerous situation in general. But no. Someone likely much stronger than him genuinely wants to kill him.

Christ.

And it doesn't get any better, it seems. Takara...?

"What?" He heard. But he doesn't comprehend.

Their bus breaking down near a Wild Hunt had been calculated coincidence. A streak of bad luck with uncontrollable consequence. He had been furious at Charlotte for doing something so dangerous. The Island? A mistake- he assumed Kotori had said something about their time there, and it had all gone downhill from there. But Takara's death was no accident. Chauncy being targeted was no 'circumstance'. And he's forced to admit that Hannah Sinclair is an element he can no longer control.

Maybe he never had.

"Mr. Sinclair was... Manipulated. He targeted you, tried to kill you. Takara took the blow. I..." He leans forward, face in his hands as he tries to catch his breath. "I was a fool. For going there. For not telling you. For asking you to my hotel room-"

Edited 2018-06-08 12:50 (UTC)

"What?" he repeats again, this time with less confusion, and more in slight outrage, shifting in his seat to be on the edge of it rather than relaxed. Not that he was very relaxed to begin with here.

"You're lying to me, aren't you?" This was all too insane sounding. Tom trying to kill him, Takara dying for him, going to David's hotel room-

The marks around his neck-

"You're fucking lying to me right now." Not a question anymore.

David's head snaps up at the outrage, indignation scrawled across his face at the accusation of lying.

"I'm not. I wouldn't lie about this. You know how much Takara means to me-" How could Chauncy think that? How could he be so-?

“You came to my room after you met with Thoth. We had a few drinks. One of my associates saw us together. And she’s more manipulative than me, she could easily have-“

Edited 2018-06-08 13:22 (UTC)

"I know how much she meant to you-" Past tense. Apparently, Ragnarok became more important.

"I don't know what part of this is more unbelievable- your astounding incompetence here, or that that I'd-" Go to his hotel room. Have a few drinks. The marks on David's neck...

It's too much.

“My incompetence? Or that you’d what-? That you’d-?” His fist is clenched tightly, and were it not for his ring being removed, he’s certain that a proverbial maelstrom of chaos would be swirling around him, as it always did when his emotions flared.

“I’m. Not. Lying. The last thing that I remember is drinking a potion to go diving into the Du’at to save Takara. She means more to me than apparently you believe. Just as you still do.”

Edited 2018-06-08 14:49 (UTC)

He doesn't answer the question, doesn't fill in the blanks for the sentence he left off. It's damning enough as it is.

Reasonably, he can tell David isn't lying. He's a lot smoother when he is, and it's this barely contained anger that proves he's telling the truth. But if he's telling the truth, then that means...

Takara is really dead. And she died, saving him.

How is he supposed to be able to live with that? Knowing that, and now being here, with nothing he can do about it?

David could tell him they slept together half a dozen times in between his time in Georgia and apparently the future where he winds up in Memphis and he'd believe it‒ he had a weakness for David, even now‒ but he must have known it'd be a mistake. Knew it would be dangerous in some manner, and clearly it was. Someone died now, because of his bad choices.

Conflict is written all over Chauncy's face, but he's firm in his words when he speaks:

"Get out."

It's not the words he expects to hear. Not the anger in them, not the conflict on Chauncy's face as he looks up. Startled. Disbelieving.

In his mind- in his timeline- less than twelve hours had passed since he had given himself fully to Chauncy. Since he had let the man take him apart, piece by piece. He had given him control. Given him the ability to break him so cleanly.

And he does it with these two words.

"What?" He's stunned. As if maybe he didn't hear right. Desperately trying to hold on to some hope, some semblance-
"Chauncy, please-"

"I don't want to talk to you. I said as much earlier." He swallows hard, regretting the words even after they leave him, but in this moment, he's too proud to renege on them. His eyes drift down, from David's face to his neck, to the bruises and bites that... he had left there, apparently. They had really...

He settles his gaze at the floor. Can't look David in the eye. "Leave, David."

"Chaunce-"

His heart is breaking once again, had barely been mended in the last twenty four hours. His hands are shaking as he slowly, slowly stands. Rage. Anger. Pain. He keeps them tamped down as long as he can. Saying nothing as he moves to the entryway. It's only once he's cleared the living room does his anger and pain give way.

He lashes out, fist slamming into the wall. Angry at himself above all. Angry for leaving him two years ago, for pushing him away. Angry for blackmailing him, for everything he's done, for how he's ruined the one last good thing in his life.

He slams his fist into the wall again, leaves a hole this time, ignores the pain that's bursting in his knuckles, the blood that wells against his skin. With a single sweep, he knocks his relics and everything else off the table in the entryway, one last lashing out. The dagger he leaves. The ring he retrieves, but shoves into his pocket.

When he leaves, he slams the door. Let it shake on its hinges for all he cares.

He's going to the nearest bar to drink and forget and mourn all the wrong he's done.

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Wake from a dream where I was stuck losing my teeth

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