Open.

[element_wizard]

Alec sat in the window of the Inn, bent over a rullete. It was an instrument that looked as if could be a cross between a guitar and a lute. It was a new instrument, a gift from his Bardic Uncle Cricket for his coming of age. Back when Alec had traveled with his grandfather, he had been apprenticed to his Uncle, but it never went anywhere. Alec's voice was just not made for singing, something that was very important for a bard. But he still knew how to play a few instruments and now that he had some sort of attention span, he felt like trying to get a bit better at it.

His fingers lightly brushed across the strings as he tried to recall a favorite melody, wincing at the wrong notes he struck.

Comments

[nybard.livejournal.com]

"Apparently younger me told him that, one, he didn't know who he was, two, didn't have a brother, and three, wanted him to go the hell away."

[elementwizard.livejournal.com]

"Ooh... ow... yeaaah. That'd be bad." Alec winced.

[nybard.livejournal.com]

"Yeah. I've never seen him so torn up. Even after... after... what our parents..." Eric breaks off.

[elementwizard.livejournal.com]

Alec fiddled with the Rullete for a second, "I know if my brother suddenly said he didn't know me I'd be pretty torn up about it too... specially since my parents didn't have as much hand in rasing me as he did."

[nybard.livejournal.com]

"I'm the first person who really cared for him, besides Ace and Jaycie," he whispers.

[elementwizard.livejournal.com]

"And you're family... which makes you even more important." he shook his head, "But I doubt younger you knew that."

[nybard.livejournal.com]

"I was an idiot back then. And drunk off my ass." Eric's eyes smoulder as he remembers.

[elementwizard.livejournal.com]

"And your brother wasn't even born yet. It was a reasonable response for you to give, even drunk off your ass. You shouldn't be too hard on yourself for that. The one you should be hard on is if you meet an alternate who's your age and still drunk off his ass."

[nybard.livejournal.com]

Eric winces.

[elementwizard.livejournal.com]

Pause... "What? Did you meet a you like that?"

[nybard.livejournal.com]

"No. But the idea..." He shudders. "It would mean I never learned, never changed..."

[elementwizard.livejournal.com]

"..." thoughtful pause, "That would be...um... interesting."

[nybard.livejournal.com]

"If that means painful, yes."

[elementwizard.livejournal.com]

"Yeeees... though painful I usally reserve for realities like where I was a girl and married to Lorac with several kids."

[nybard.livejournal.com]

He winces again.

[elementwizard.livejournal.com]

"Sorry." He reaches into a pocket and pulls out a bottle of pills. "Bleeprin? I know that's not an image I like in my head."

[nybard.livejournal.com]

"What?"

[elementwizard.livejournal.com]

"Bleeprin. Bleach and asprin mixed together. It makes you forget the bad images and gets rid of the pain. It's much safer than banging you head against a brick wall. It's from work." He shakes the bottle a little.

[nybard.livejournal.com]

"I... think I'm okay, thanks."

[elementwizard.livejournal.com]

"Had enough trying strange drugs?" Alec asked, smiling as he put away the bottle.

[nybard.livejournal.com]

"You could put it like that, yeah."

[elementwizard.livejournal.com]

"They are kinda addictive too. You come to depended on the blessed white numbness when you see Legolas giving birth."

[nybard.livejournal.com]

"You... WHAT???"

[elementwizard.livejournal.com]

Alec jerked startled and then stared at Eric, "I... I never told you about my job... have I?"

[nybard.livejournal.com]

"No." He looks disturbed.