[ The light changes and Jaime drives again. He could say it's hard to picture doing something because your family does it, but it isn't; for as long as Jaime can remember, he'd been home tutored in more than the basic curriculums, meant to be groomed into the lord of modern finance that Tywin Lannister was. He was supposed to take over the family business as the eldest son and he knows this more than anything.
He knows the disappointment, too, more than anything. ]
If you work for a family thing, I suppose you're just as fucked as me.
[ Schadenfreude's never let him down.
That, and it's crazy to think of generations in the past doing what Alex does, of generations in the future all doing the same thing. A family of police is something else, indeed. ]
[ Another laugh. Yeah he guessed Jaime was right. Alex was fucked . . . well and truly, fucking fucked. ]
It's not like we run a fuckin' business, it's just shit that you get involved in. Avenging the world and getting rid of ghostly bastards. You'd be surprised at how much people fuck with the undead. Y'know the amount of houses I've been to and had to sort shit out because people don't know not to play with Ouija boards?
[ God, Alex hated those fucking things. Why did people think it was a good idea to play with things that weren't meant to be played with? Whoever invented that damn board needed to be killed. It really fucking pissed him off. ]
I don't know about less scarred -- [ Alex paused and considered telling Jaime what had happened to him four years ago, and how he only had six years left to live. ] -- but I guess it won't matter in a few years anyway.
Lots of things don't matter after a few years. [ The fact that Jaime's life has become loveless for a hateful woman almost three decades after he dedicated his life to her is proof enough of that. He brings a hand up, dragging it down his face, and blinks once to stave off the hilariously infinite bitterness of it all.
Yeah, it's best not to think about time.
Jaime straightens, tilting his head from side to side. It's only about half an hour left and they'll be at the hotel, and Jaime can leave Alex and go home and fall face first into the floor. ]
What's a Ouija board? [ A rant, he's sure, will pass the time easy. ]
[ Alex grunts in agreement and nods. Yeah. That's right. It seems he's not the only one bitter about something, but he won't ask if Jaime won't. He figures it's probably a conversation for another time.
Maybe. He looks up at Jaime's question and sighs. ]
It's a board with all the letters of the alphabet on, a 'yes' and a 'no' and some other phrases and people - dumbasses use it to try and talk to spirits. Ghosts. Y'know? Anyway, it creates a mess and demons and shit pretend to be loved ones to communicate and if they're not closed properly it just...
[ Not that Jaime believes in any of this crap, really. But there's little else he fears more than whatever lies ahead of dying; something that powerful and inevitable sounds like it ought to be impossible to change. ]
If it's any consolation, [ and he knows it probably isn't, if Alex and his family is so far gone into the supernatural world and everything in between ] I'm stuck working for a dumbass who can apparently invoke a fire ghost.
[ Or whatever it is Alex called it. ]
And I still will after this haunting business is over. [ Pause. ] I'm just assuming not all your cases are hopeless.
[ Cheat death. Even if that meant getting someone to do it for you and switch places. Alex didn't even know if his dad was in Hell when he made the deal - he just knew he wanted him back . . . because he wanted to try and have some kind of relationship with him. ]
Last time I tried to help someone cheat death I just got fucked over myself, so...
[ His voice is low, murmuring, and he picks at a loose thread on his shirt as he talks because he doesn't want to look up at Jaime and see what his reaction to that was. ]
Looks like we're both gonna be in Hell forever, then.
Yes, [ it's all he can say with his utterly limited context, that much is certain, and frankly Jaime doesn't need to know any more than the absolute minimum ] though I suppose your situation is slightly worse. [ He shrugs. They both know what Prime Minister Baratheon is like. ] Marginally.
[ The hotels in a university area aren't extravagant, so the building Jaime pulls up in front of isn't especially tall. It's pretty, though, with simple decor and a pleasing colour palette, and Jaime finds a parking space easily, killing the engine and stepping out.
Again, he holds Alex's door open for him. It's more protocol than anything, and once Alex is out it's shut firmly once again. ]
The Prime Minister's accommodations are on the sixth floor. [ The highest one, in a modest place like this. Jaime has the keys already, so they skip the front desk and go straight to the staircase. ]
Be glad you're not the one who has to lead him up towards it.
[ Alex says nothing for the rest of the journey. If only Jaime knew just how right he was about Alex's situation being worse. It didn't matter, though. Not anymore.
He scooped the journals up, shoving them quickly back into his bag because he wanted to be the one to open his damn door, but there Jaime was again - a knight in shining armour, it seemed - door open and closing once Alex was out. Blue eyes looked at the hotel, taking in the details and wondering what their policy was on laying down a shit load of salt around all the windows and doors.
The sixth floor. Didn't seem much of a problem, but when Jaime made a joke about telling Robert, and having to show him the way, Alex actually laughed. Properly. ]
Yeah, rather you than me, bud.
[ Alex could imagine it now; how angry Robert would be - most likely blaming Jaime for it - and how he'd huff and puff his way up the damn stairs. He laughed again at the thought, following Jaime up the stairs. ]
If this thing is a Tulpa, there's not much we can do but try and convince Robert to change his train of thought. And figure out where he's been looking at the sigil. Does he have a journal? Or... books he's always reading? Anything like that?
[ It didn't take them long to reach the sixth floor, and whilst the corridor didn't give much reason to think the hotel as fancy, the room Robert was in certainly did. It was large; like it took up a quarter of the top floor on its own. There was a large, king sized bed on one side of the wall, with a TV facing it. A couch sat in a corner, next to the standard desk and chair that hotel rooms had. The room had an en-suite, and when Alex looked in and flicked the light on, saw that it had both an individual bath and shower. ]
Hey - imagine Robert tryin' to get out of that bath.
[ Alex said over his shoulder to Jaime, a smirk on his face. Maybe they were reaching an understanding over their mutual dislike of the Prime Minister. ]
I could fill the thing up with water and get it blessed and then let Robert sit in it all night so he's protected. Then we could just go out and get drunk and not have to worry about him.
You give too much credit assuming Prime Minister Baratheon reads anything. [ It was becoming a bit too easy insulting his boss-- easy enough that Jaime knew that at this rate, he really never would stop. He bit his tongue against saying anything especially incriminating about the thought of him stuck in the bathtub, but the thought of leaving him there to get drunk on wines and spirits... ] And you give too little credit thinking he wouldn't have my head for getting drunk without him.
[ Jaime didn't even get drunk. Of the three Lannister children, he was the only one acquainted with sobriety.
Robert Baratheon truly was a terrible leader, however. A shame, really, since he was a powerful revolutionary in his prime. Funny that it was only when he had the power to make change that he became too lazy to make any of those changes to begin with.
Unlike Alex, Jaime was satisfied taking a seat at the chair by the desk, its body turned so he was facing the rest of the room and the man that rifled through it. To Jaime, this was all standard fare-- there was nothing out of the ordinary he had to take note of-- but he supposed whatever absurd rituals Alex had to do warranted all of this.
Then he frowned, head tilting slightly as he considered where the house sigil might be seen. ] ...he might have newspaper clippings. [ And he had a picture of Lyanna Stark at his desk, and gods knew that Robert couldn't look at her without thinking of how desperately he wanted to kill the Targaryens. ]
Gods, [ because ancient as it was, the Lannisters had more attachments to the Light of the Seven than any version of Christianity ] he might have thousands of things.
Don't tell me I have to look through his belongings for all of them.
[ It seemed, at least to Alex, that any tension between the two of them was slowly ebbing away. Unless he was just finding himself relax for the first time in a while, and perhaps his guard was coming down a little. Only a little. It was why he was finding it easy to laugh at the words Jaime said. ]
C'mon, you can't get your head chopped off anymore. Don't worry 'bout it.
[ Alex comes back into the main room so he can look at Jaime. He plops himself on the large bed, bouncing as the springs push back against him. ] At least the bed'll hold him. [ He smirks, and then they go back to talking about business, so his expression turns serious again.
Alex's eyes stayed on Jaime as they talked. And Jaime mentioned thousands of things and how he'd have to go through it all. Alex gave him an unfortunate grimace. ]
Maybe . . .
[ He started. If it was a Tulpa. He still wasn't completely sure, because he hadn't seen the thing himself. ]
If it's any consolation, I'm fairly sure I'll have to sleep in the same room as Robert until this thing is over.
The snoring's going to drive you mad. [ Jaime smiled slightly as he said it, though (a tired smile, but that was some attempt at commiseration), and then he shook his head and looked down at his hands-- the flesh one, the false one-- where they rested on his lap. He could handle going through the bits and bobs of documents Robert Baratheon kept, he knew. He just didn't particularly want to.
Curling his flesh hand in, he lifted his head and looked at Alex where he sat on the bed. ] Do you need my help with fixing this room?
[ Because if not, he was just going to sit here waiting for Alex to get things done. Jaime didn't have any attachments to being useless, but it was a better alternative to pretending he understood whatever it was that Alex did, beliefs set aside. ]
I'm sure I've heard worse. You should've heard some of the guys I've slept next to before... [ And just like that, Alex had basically outed himself. Not that he particularly cared, Jaime could think what he wanted about Alex. And it wouldn't have made him blink an eye if Alex had said women, so why shouldn't it be the same? ]
Uh-- [ Alex looked around the room, wondering if there was any way that Jaime could be helpful. ]
Yeah, can you see if you can figure out a way outta here that isn't through the door? Just in case? If there's a fire escape ladder or anythin' outside?
[ Jaime rose a brow, but not because of whatever thinly veiled confession Alex might have made. He was just appalled the man thought he wouldn't have thoroughly documented the room already. ] No ladder.
The windows open on a latch, but it's a six-story drop onto concrete. [ Jaime shook his head. ] Be a terrible escape, that.
Possible in an emergency, though. [ Alex mused, walking over to the window so he could look down. There wasn't much that he could see because it didn't open all the way, which was annoying, but maybe... maybe he could make it work. ]
Too narrow for a person like us, or a person like Robert?
[ Alex looked over at Jaime with a smirk and then walked to the bed so he could take out the salt he'd brought with him. Although he wasn't sure it would be enough, he could at least make a start. ]
Here -- you can help with this.
[ Alex tossed Jaime one of the salt containers. It was just ordinary table salt, but it worked wonders keeping things at bay, and if they wanted to make sure Robert was safe, it was the easiest thing they could do. ]
Run it along the windows - make sure there's absolutely no space.
[ Salt. Alex liked to use salt for some reason or other, and Jaime could never comprehend it. Though he understood when he'd been told ages ago that it had some sort of cleansing property (a little bit like how it was used to clean wounds, wasn't that it?), he didn't much understand why.
But it wasn't his job to understand why regular old seasonings ought to keep supernatural presences at bay. So Jaime took the salt and poured as directed, albeit in a manner more clumsy than not.
His left hand was a useless, miserable thing.
Still, he got the job done. Fingers curled around the container, Jaime peered in to see there was still some left. He screwed it shut and walked to where Alex was to return it. ]
It creates a barrier to prevent supernatural things from coming in - ghosts and shit. Can't tell you how many times salt's saved my life -- not that it matters anymore.
[ Alex is talking as he goes, splashing holy water here and there in the room. He's not thinking about the words coming out of his mouth. Jaime seems to be doing a good job. ]
I'll do whatever I can to save him, but I can't do much until I get a look at what's haunting him.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
i pwomise i go 2 bed after sending this in Holy CHrist
[ The light changes and Jaime drives again. He could say it's hard to picture doing something because your family does it, but it isn't; for as long as Jaime can remember, he'd been home tutored in more than the basic curriculums, meant to be groomed into the lord of modern finance that Tywin Lannister was. He was supposed to take over the family business as the eldest son and he knows this more than anything.
He knows the disappointment, too, more than anything. ]
If you work for a family thing, I suppose you're just as fucked as me.
[ Schadenfreude's never let him down.
That, and it's crazy to think of generations in the past doing what Alex does, of generations in the future all doing the same thing. A family of police is something else, indeed. ]
Maybe less scarred.
no subject
It's not like we run a fuckin' business, it's just shit that you get involved in. Avenging the world and getting rid of ghostly bastards. You'd be surprised at how much people fuck with the undead. Y'know the amount of houses I've been to and had to sort shit out because people don't know not to play with Ouija boards?
[ God, Alex hated those fucking things. Why did people think it was a good idea to play with things that weren't meant to be played with? Whoever invented that damn board needed to be killed. It really fucking pissed him off. ]
I don't know about less scarred -- [ Alex paused and considered telling Jaime what had happened to him four years ago, and how he only had six years left to live. ] -- but I guess it won't matter in a few years anyway.
no subject
Yeah, it's best not to think about time.
Jaime straightens, tilting his head from side to side. It's only about half an hour left and they'll be at the hotel, and Jaime can leave Alex and go home and fall face first into the floor. ]
What's a Ouija board? [ A rant, he's sure, will pass the time easy. ]
no subject
Maybe. He looks up at Jaime's question and sighs. ]
It's a board with all the letters of the alphabet on, a 'yes' and a 'no' and some other phrases and people - dumbasses use it to try and talk to spirits. Ghosts. Y'know? Anyway, it creates a mess and demons and shit pretend to be loved ones to communicate and if they're not closed properly it just...
[ Alex shakes his head. ]
It's fucked up, man.
no subject
[ Not that Jaime believes in any of this crap, really. But there's little else he fears more than whatever lies ahead of dying; something that powerful and inevitable sounds like it ought to be impossible to change. ]
If it's any consolation, [ and he knows it probably isn't, if Alex and his family is so far gone into the supernatural world and everything in between ] I'm stuck working for a dumbass who can apparently invoke a fire ghost.
[ Or whatever it is Alex called it. ]
And I still will after this haunting business is over. [ Pause. ] I'm just assuming not all your cases are hopeless.
no subject
[ Cheat death. Even if that meant getting someone to do it for you and switch places. Alex didn't even know if his dad was in Hell when he made the deal - he just knew he wanted him back . . . because he wanted to try and have some kind of relationship with him. ]
Last time I tried to help someone cheat death I just got fucked over myself, so...
[ His voice is low, murmuring, and he picks at a loose thread on his shirt as he talks because he doesn't want to look up at Jaime and see what his reaction to that was. ]
Looks like we're both gonna be in Hell forever, then.
no subject
[ The hotels in a university area aren't extravagant, so the building Jaime pulls up in front of isn't especially tall. It's pretty, though, with simple decor and a pleasing colour palette, and Jaime finds a parking space easily, killing the engine and stepping out.
Again, he holds Alex's door open for him. It's more protocol than anything, and once Alex is out it's shut firmly once again. ]
The Prime Minister's accommodations are on the sixth floor. [ The highest one, in a modest place like this. Jaime has the keys already, so they skip the front desk and go straight to the staircase. ]
Be glad you're not the one who has to lead him up towards it.
no subject
He scooped the journals up, shoving them quickly back into his bag because he wanted to be the one to open his damn door, but there Jaime was again - a knight in shining armour, it seemed - door open and closing once Alex was out. Blue eyes looked at the hotel, taking in the details and wondering what their policy was on laying down a shit load of salt around all the windows and doors.
The sixth floor. Didn't seem much of a problem, but when Jaime made a joke about telling Robert, and having to show him the way, Alex actually laughed. Properly. ]
Yeah, rather you than me, bud.
[ Alex could imagine it now; how angry Robert would be - most likely blaming Jaime for it - and how he'd huff and puff his way up the damn stairs. He laughed again at the thought, following Jaime up the stairs. ]
If this thing is a Tulpa, there's not much we can do but try and convince Robert to change his train of thought. And figure out where he's been looking at the sigil. Does he have a journal? Or... books he's always reading? Anything like that?
[ It didn't take them long to reach the sixth floor, and whilst the corridor didn't give much reason to think the hotel as fancy, the room Robert was in certainly did. It was large; like it took up a quarter of the top floor on its own. There was a large, king sized bed on one side of the wall, with a TV facing it. A couch sat in a corner, next to the standard desk and chair that hotel rooms had. The room had an en-suite, and when Alex looked in and flicked the light on, saw that it had both an individual bath and shower. ]
Hey - imagine Robert tryin' to get out of that bath.
[ Alex said over his shoulder to Jaime, a smirk on his face. Maybe they were reaching an understanding over their mutual dislike of the Prime Minister. ]
I could fill the thing up with water and get it blessed and then let Robert sit in it all night so he's protected. Then we could just go out and get drunk and not have to worry about him.
no subject
[ Jaime didn't even get drunk. Of the three Lannister children, he was the only one acquainted with sobriety.
Robert Baratheon truly was a terrible leader, however. A shame, really, since he was a powerful revolutionary in his prime. Funny that it was only when he had the power to make change that he became too lazy to make any of those changes to begin with.
Unlike Alex, Jaime was satisfied taking a seat at the chair by the desk, its body turned so he was facing the rest of the room and the man that rifled through it. To Jaime, this was all standard fare-- there was nothing out of the ordinary he had to take note of-- but he supposed whatever absurd rituals Alex had to do warranted all of this.
Then he frowned, head tilting slightly as he considered where the house sigil might be seen. ] ...he might have newspaper clippings. [ And he had a picture of Lyanna Stark at his desk, and gods knew that Robert couldn't look at her without thinking of how desperately he wanted to kill the Targaryens. ]
Gods, [ because ancient as it was, the Lannisters had more attachments to the Light of the Seven than any version of Christianity ] he might have thousands of things.
Don't tell me I have to look through his belongings for all of them.
[ He will, won't he. ]
no subject
C'mon, you can't get your head chopped off anymore. Don't worry 'bout it.
[ Alex comes back into the main room so he can look at Jaime. He plops himself on the large bed, bouncing as the springs push back against him. ] At least the bed'll hold him. [ He smirks, and then they go back to talking about business, so his expression turns serious again.
Alex's eyes stayed on Jaime as they talked. And Jaime mentioned thousands of things and how he'd have to go through it all. Alex gave him an unfortunate grimace. ]
Maybe . . .
[ He started. If it was a Tulpa. He still wasn't completely sure, because he hadn't seen the thing himself. ]
If it's any consolation, I'm fairly sure I'll have to sleep in the same room as Robert until this thing is over.
no subject
Curling his flesh hand in, he lifted his head and looked at Alex where he sat on the bed. ] Do you need my help with fixing this room?
[ Because if not, he was just going to sit here waiting for Alex to get things done. Jaime didn't have any attachments to being useless, but it was a better alternative to pretending he understood whatever it was that Alex did, beliefs set aside. ]
no subject
Uh-- [ Alex looked around the room, wondering if there was any way that Jaime could be helpful. ]
Yeah, can you see if you can figure out a way outta here that isn't through the door? Just in case? If there's a fire escape ladder or anythin' outside?
no subject
The windows open on a latch, but it's a six-story drop onto concrete. [ Jaime shook his head. ] Be a terrible escape, that.
Ventilation's too narrow for a person, too.
no subject
Too narrow for a person like us, or a person like Robert?
[ Alex looked over at Jaime with a smirk and then walked to the bed so he could take out the salt he'd brought with him. Although he wasn't sure it would be enough, he could at least make a start. ]
Here -- you can help with this.
[ Alex tossed Jaime one of the salt containers. It was just ordinary table salt, but it worked wonders keeping things at bay, and if they wanted to make sure Robert was safe, it was the easiest thing they could do. ]
Run it along the windows - make sure there's absolutely no space.
no subject
But it wasn't his job to understand why regular old seasonings ought to keep supernatural presences at bay. So Jaime took the salt and poured as directed, albeit in a manner more clumsy than not.
His left hand was a useless, miserable thing.
Still, he got the job done. Fingers curled around the container, Jaime peered in to see there was still some left. He screwed it shut and walked to where Alex was to return it. ]
Is salt really going to save my boss' life?
no subject
[ Alex is talking as he goes, splashing holy water here and there in the room. He's not thinking about the words coming out of his mouth. Jaime seems to be doing a good job. ]
I'll do whatever I can to save him, but I can't do much until I get a look at what's haunting him.
no subject
[ This is the only time in Jaime's life he'll ever encourage seeing ghosts. ]
Do you need me for anything else? [ Jaime won't be offended if Alex says no. This isn't his area of expertise, after all. ]
I'll wait outside for you to finish. Then I'll take you to your room.