[OPEN] It's a kind of magic

[reticence]

[ooc info: faolan has just gained a new metahuman power and he doesn't know how to process it. cue him feeling like he's going crazy! :')]

A. ON THE STREET
When Faolan woke up this morning, he hadn't anticipated there being anything all that different about the day. Truth be told, he didn't have any plans besides work, and thus as he dragged himself out of bed and towards the coffee machine in his kitchen that Lancelot had given him, he was already somewhat bored with it.

It was once he left the house, his Mr Grumpy mug full of coffee in hand to prepare him for the train ride in, that the city seemed to get a little more exciting. More exciting than really it should have been, for that matter. The first time he'd bumped into someone on the street that he had recognized as a witch and felt the brush of a cat against the back of his legs and the smell of burning sage, he had thought he just hadn't woken up enough yet. Too suggestible to the stimulations around him.

After the third time passing by a spot and getting a flash of sensation, accidentally jostling into another person and hearing things that no one else could, Faolan is well and truly spooked, and he looks it too. He doesn't know what's happening, but this isn't natural. Not for him at least. If he didn't know better, he'd have thought he was sensing ghosts, hauntings, but that can't be right either. Not unless there's something big and nasty following him around specifically.

B. HILLINGDON HOUSE
By the time Faolan gets to Hillingdon House, he makes a beeline up to his office where he intends to hide for the rest of the day. In the quiet of that particular space, it seems whatever this mysterious malady he had been afflicted with on the commute in seems to have abated. That is, until he has to look up a record for a file he is working on and stepping into the basement where they keep their paper files, nearly passes out from the combination of smells, sounds, and senses threatening to overwhelm him.

The file he was working on abandoned and forgotten on the table at the bottom of the stairs, Faolan manages to make his way back up and into the kitchen, where he slumps against the counter and struggles to collect himself. Water, he should get himself a glass of water. He glances at the water faucet, suddenly afraid of even attempting something so mundane as that.

C. LANCELOT'S [CLOSED]
Faolan doesn't know quite how he makes it through the rest of the day, but he does. He thinks about calling someone, a taxi perhaps, to get a ride home direct, but what if he's stuck with something there in the cab with him the whole time. He finds himself jumping at shadows as he makes his way to the train, uncertain whether what he's seeing or hearing is really there or a figment of his imagination. No, not his imagination -- of whatever it is that has come over him like this.

Unsurprisingly, Faolan is not paying attention to his commute, working on autopilot and seeming on the edge of a panic attack the whole train ride over. It isn't until he's stepped off the train and onto the platform that he realizes he hasn't taken himself home, but to the station near Lancelot. Clutching his bag close to his shoulder, he contemplates turning around and getting back on, but the promise of a listening ear and perhaps even a comforting embrace is too great and has him making his way away from the station towards Lancelot's flat.

He can only hope, Faolan thinks to himself, as he spooks himself on the walk over and winds up nearly running the rest of the way to the other man's front door, that the other man is home.

Comments

[reticence]

Faolan shuffles inside at Lancelot's bidding, honestly surprised that he doesn't seem as much of a mess as he feels. Or maybe he does, but maybe it's all that different from his normal state, such that Lancelot doesn't notice at first. Does he always seem unstable to the other man, he wonders helplessly, just in time to catch his name in Lancelot's conversation.

He bends over in the attempt to placate Lily and give himself something else to focus on besides the stream of questions running through his head -- what's happening, what's wrong with him, who was that and how much do they know -- but the decision doesn't end up the wisest of choices. As soon as he ruffles his hand through her fur in the attempt to get her to relinquish her prize, he hears barking. Barking...that sounds strangely like talking? Or attempting to. He stares at Lily for a long moment and then glances up at Lancelot. Who seems to have ended his phone call and -- had he said something to him just now?

"I..." Faolan struggles to find anything to say to explain himself.

[knightscode]

The pause and the way he trails off is cause enough for concern, and Lancelot frowns as he takes a sip of the cold water -- re-caps the bottle and sets it down so he can pace over to Faolan.

"Faolan?" he prompts, and reaches out a hand to run down the man's arm carefully. "Is everything all right?"

Is he sick? Has something terrible happened?

[reticence]

Faolan shivers as the other man reaches out to touch him, and it isn't because of the touch itself (though there have been times admittedly where Lancelot's attentions had sent shivers through his body). It's because through that touch, he can feel Lancelot's fae magic, as if the sun had just come out from behind a cloud. But on top of that sensation of warmth, he catches hints of other things, which make little sense to him as he stands safe in Lancelot's living room. A flash of fear, the snap of jaws. And other things, sounds, voices, people that he does not know and can't understand.

He lets out a shuddering breath and then it registers to him that he is standing mute in front of the other man after having shown up to his flat with no explanation at all. Is everything alright, he asks, and Faolan can only shake his head in response to the question. "I..." He tries again, glancing at the other man, his dark eyes wide and perhaps even a little frightened, "I don't know what's happening. I feel. I feel as though I'm losing my mind..." It would hardly be the first time in front of the other man, he thinks bitterly to himself.

[knightscode]

That's definitely a no, then. Without much else to go on Lancelot is hard pressed to work out if this is illness or midlife crisis, though. He loops one arm around Faolan to hold him a little closer, trying to ease his fears with the reassurance of touch.

"Sit with me," he murmurs, "tell me what happened."

Then Lancelot is gently coaxing Faolan to walk with him over to the futon, Lily following and fussing in front of it as Lancelot toes off his shoes and tries to arrange himself so Faolan can lean into him as much as he wants. Lily hops up a few seconds later and stands nearly on top of them, tail swishing as Lancelot repeats hey, Lily no, come on, sit down girl until she finally backs up a little and flops beside them.

[reticence]

Faolan allows himself to be led to the offered seat. At least the flash of sensation is over -- for now. He wonders whether it will keep getting it every time Lancelot lets go and touches him again. Every time he touches him. He starts a little as Lily jumps up to stand on them and he gets another flash of barking, but it's briefer this time, luckily. It takes him a moment, longer than it normally would have, but he finally settles against Lancelot's side, tipping his head to rest it on the other man's shoulder as he forces himself to take a breath and calm down.

"I don't know what happened," Faolan admits. "I just woke up this morning and... Now I'm seeing things that aren't there. Feeling things that aren't really happening. I..." He turns his face into the other man's shoulder as he mumbles, "I swear that Lily was just trying to talk to me. This isn't normal."

[knightscode]

Lancelot stays put, one arm around Faolan rubbing at his biceps slowly.

"I don't know about that," he says finally, "what are we considering normal?" He flicks a smile, turns slightly to rest his cheek against Faolan's hair. "To be fair, I do talk to her a lot myself. I'm not surprised if she'd like to get a word in herself."

[reticence]

Faolan huffs out a breath into Lancelot's shoulder, both exasperated and enamored with the other man's sense of humor at once. He appreciates it, though, and moreover appreciates Lancelot himself in this moment. Forcing himself to continue to breathe and calm himself, he nuzzles into the other man's sweatshirt before turning his head to simply rest against his side instead.

"I'm sorry," he says, after a moment. "That I didn't call ahead. I was headed home, but. Then I found myself getting off at your stop instead. And so..." He shrugs slightly. "I thought it might be better to talk to you about this in person instead." He can only imagine what such a phone call might have gone like, had he wound up slowly driving himself mad alone in his apartment instead.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," he says quietly, after a moment.

[knightscode]

"Well," Lancelot says softly, "why don't we work it out together? Tell me a little more about what's been happening. I'd like to think I'm quite good at weird things by now."

He may not be any kind of resident expert, but he's definitely seen and heard a lot of strange things. Shifting to lounge a little more comfortably he lifts his hands to gently comb through Faolan's hair, trying to soothe him through it. It isn't so bad, see? Lancelot doesn't mind, Faolan, so just keep talking.

[reticence]

Faolan leans into the other man's touch and settles himself further against him. He appreciates the gesture, not only the physical one but Lancelot's soft and supportive words as well. "Thank you," he says, turning to flick the other man a smile before settling and trying to think of how to explain himself.

"I... It's just when I get close to people. Things. It started today. I'm getting. Flashes of different senses that I suppose are somewhat related to them, but aren't really there." He turns to glance up at the other man again. "Does that make sense? Like. With you..." He frowns slightly, trying to think of how to describe it, what to say that might not be upsetting to the other man. "You touched me and there was. Sunlight...?"

[knightscode]

"If you start to sing 'you are my sunshine'," Lancelot says after a moment, "I'm going to tip you off this futon."

Straight onto the floor, and he wouldn't even stop Lily if she decided to leap down and to lick him too.

[reticence]

Faolan merely blinks at the other man for a long moment, as he stares up at him from where he rests against his shoulder. If he were another man -- no, more accurately, if he were at another point in his life, he might have broken into song right there and then. As it is, he opens his mouth and shuts it again, trying to find the words to say that, that is, he means, what he had meant was...

But perhaps it is because the day he has had. Perhaps it is because he honestly does not know whether he believes that Lancelot would actually do it. Perhaps it's because the man who would have sung aloud to him is still inside of him somewhere, but after a long moment of staring and stuttering at the other man a slow smile starts to spread itself across his face as Faolan tightens his arm around the other man's waist and says, in a low and gently melodic tone, "Youuuuuuuu--"

[knightscode]

Lancelot pushes.

It isn't with his full strength, which if Faolan is thinking about it hard enough will be obvious. Lancelot using his full strength can punch a door open and right now he's only wrestling at Faolan weakly to try and make him let go so he can tip him to the floor.

He doesn't actually want to hurt him, but he is putting some effort into it and Lily has noticed the struggle. She leaps off the futon in excitement and begins to pace in front of it, tail wagging.

[reticence]

Faolan turns to cling harder to Lancelot as the other man starts to push him away. He understands that Lancelot is holding back, he understands that he would never outmatch the other man, but he appreciates Lancelot giving him the pretense of normalcy here. Burying his face against the other man's chest and shaking, this time with laughter, as Lancelot struggles to throw him off.

"--are my sunshiiiiiine--" he continues to not quite sing, pressed into the other man's chest. Jerking slightly as Lily's cold wet dog nose presses into his side as she tries to 'help' and the conversational barking sounds in his mind again. This time he swears it sounds inquisitive -- god he really is losing his mind, isn't he?

"Stop, stop, I'll stop," Faolan protests at last, as he finds himself beginning to slip despite his best efforts to hold on.

[knightscode]

Lancelot laughs and eases back, tugging Faolan to lounge with him again.

"Who am I to stop a handsome man singing if he wishes to? Lily seemed excited by your performance too."

He grins and looks over at her, shrugs after a moment.

"I don't think you're losing your mind, though. The seelie court is the fae court of summer. It makes sense you might feel that from me. Perhaps you're more sensitive to it than you were before?"

[reticence]

Faolan allows himself to be manhandled back against the other man's side. So long as he's not throwing him off the edge of the futon, he's happy to have the other man push and pull him around.

He doesn't do any fishing as far as the 'handsome' comment is concerned, but he tightens his arm around Lancelot's waist in appreciation of it nonetheless. Appreciation of his compliment, and his support for that matter. He settles his head against Lancelot's shoulder once more and heaves out a sigh as he attempts to collect his thoughts.

"Perhaps," he echoes, thoughtfully. "But it wasn't just people that I was getting these things from, I mean. Lily?" He turns his head to look down at her, skeptically.

[knightscode]

He glances down at her thoughtfully, fingers reaching up to stroke through Faolan's hair again thoughtfully.

"She might have picked it up from being around me. Seelie magic, that is. I'm not so sure how it works, in truth, but you were not born with it after all. Perhaps you picked it up from me too."

Lancelot widens his eyes in faux-surprise, then looks between dog and man.

"Perhaps I'm infecting all of you with sunshine?"

[reticence]

Faolan hadn't really considered the development of his own abilities like that. Not the bit about sunshine -- he rolls his eyes a little at the other man at that -- but the idea that he might have gained his abilities from Lancelot himself. That he might have further gained abilities from Lancelot, the more time he had spent with him.

"Well, I cannot speak for Lily," Faolan says, "but in my case, perhaps you might say that it may have rubbed off on me instead." He turns his head to glance up at Lancelot and offers his own expression of faux-innocence as well, though the slight flush creeping across his face is something of a tell of the fact that he is not quite used to such innuendo as that. At least, not with Lancelot just yet.

[knightscode]

"That's true," he says quite seriously, and he appears to frown a moment in thought. "Of course, if it's upsetting you then perhaps I should stop. I would not want to be the cause of any problems for you, you must know that. Perhaps we should sit further apart, too, just in case."

He moves to push at Faolan gently again, as if aiming to dislodge him so they can sit opposite sides of the futon.

[reticence]

Faolan's eyes widen again, although this time the expression is more honest on his face as his arm tightens again around Lancelot's waist. In all honesty, he doesn't truly think that the other man would do such a thing, but it makes him nervous even to hear it mentioned.

"Let's not get carried away with ourselves," he says, quickly. "What's done is already done, and besides." He flicks a smile up at the other man as he clings to his side, his voice acquiring another gently lilting, sing-songy quality as he continues, "Please don't take my sunshine awayyyyy--"

[knightscode]

The smile takes over Lancelot's features again easily and he stops pushing at Faolan, shifts to lounge with him more comfortably.

"Well, if you're going to ask so nicely who am I to refuse? You can have all the sunshine you like."

He tugs Faolan to press closer, turning his face into his hair affectionately.

"Especially if you're going to continue to serenade me."

[reticence]

Faolan turns his face against the other man's chest and huffs a soft breath out. If that is really all the whole day has been, the further development of his abilities brought on by his continued proximity to Lancelot's Seelie magic, then he supposes it's not nearly as bad as he had thought. Still slightly unnerving, especially given some of the things he had experienced -- it wasn't all sunshine and dogs barking, after all -- but certainly such an explanation is better than anything else Faolan had been considering all day.

"Oh, so now you like me singing to you?" he asks, with the quirk of a smile, nuzzling his face against Lancelot's ridiculous sweatshirt as he does. "First you're threatening to toss me off the futon if I do, now you're giving me incentives to keep going?"

[knightscode]

"Song choice could use some work, but you're not bad. Besides which, it isn't as if I'm serenaded often. I have to take what I can get."

Lancelot squeezes Faolan a little, trying for reassurance.

"Starting to feel better?"

About everything, about his visions of sort. It is why he'd been here, after all. Lancelot hasn't forgotten that, he's just carefully not focusing too hard on it.

[reticence]

"I'll make a note of that for next time," Faolan replies, with the quirk of a smile.

He settles further against Lancelot's side as the other man squeezes him closer and inquires about how he's feeling. He forces himself to take a deep breath and really take stock of things before he replies.

"Yeah," he says, "I. If that's really what this is... I suppose that it makes sense, in a way. It's just that." He squeezes his arm tighter around the other man for a moment, as he considers how to phrase it, before explaining, "A lot of bad things have happened in the city. Magically, I mean. I wasn't prepared to be able to see, hear, and feel them all when I woke up this morning, that's all."

[knightscode]

"A lot of bad things that aren't magical have happened too," Lancelot answers, and he gently toys with Faolan's hair for a moment. "But I understand. It's the same thing I feel sometimes. Like when you showed me that head and I made your office float. Remember that?"

He somehow doubts Faolan would forget a severed head, but some of the contextual things he might -- like Lancelot's alarmed attempts to describe what he was sensing from it.

[reticence]

Faolan pauses for the briefest of moments before offering the other man a small nod.Yes, he remembers when Lancelot had offered to help him with the case with the severed head. He remembers how the office had begun to float around them, as the other man had grown more and more disturbed by what he had sensed off of the thing. But he had not thought... Well, he supposes in retrospect it makes sense to connect that moment between what he had been experiencing all day. But he hadn't, not until Lancelot mentions it himself, that is.

"I went down into the basement, where we keep our records," he offers, by way of explanation. "To fetch something related to a file I was reviewing. I thought I was going to pass out, there was just so much..." He trails off, trying and failing to think of how else to describe himself before settling on, "There was too much."