OTA

[prince_of_nymphs]

 The hardest part was keeping the lies straight.

"I thought you were only having one of your eyes done?"

"I did, the other I had done abroad- It was a spur of the moment choice..."

"Your so pale now..."

"The medication, it doesn't sit well with me."

"You're so thin!"

"No appetite. It'll get better though, I'm sure."

He'd anticipated that though. He'd known he'd need to lie and fib left and right, until people just accepted he could see again- And that perhaps he was still a touch unwell. What he hadn't anticipated, however, was the resentment that many of his old friends seemed to  suddenly feel towards him. It was one thing when Fin was a rising star- But pitiable because of his disability. Now, however... Now he was already receiving television and film offers left and right, and that... That apparently upset a few people.

He'd been leaving one of his favourite coffee shops when he nearly walked right into Phil. A man he'd worked with many times in small productions. A good actor, but older- Perhaps past his prime in the eyes of many.

"Oh! Phil, how brilliant to see you," Fin had smiled, offering his hand, and looking puzzled when it wasn't taken.

"Brilliant is it?" Phil replied, raising a brow and ignoring the offered hand. "So posh sounding these days, Fin. I don't remember you being posh- Not when you were sleeping on the streets, begging for parts. ...Wouldn't know you were dragged up in Manchester with that posh voice you put on."

Fin's smile faded slightly, and he forced an uncomfortable laugh. "Bad habit, I suppose," he said awkwardly.

"Not a habit," Phil assured him. "Just as fake as the rest of you, that's all."

Fin's smile faded completely then, aware that people were staring now. "Right," he said awkwardly. "Well, I should... I should be off."

Phil smiled then, a vicious smile. "I suppose so. That casting couch wont get warmed without you. ...Catch something, have you?" he added, looking Fin over with a sneer. "Should be a bit more cautious, Fin. ...Or is it Finlay now?"

Fin didn't answer that, he simply turned away trying to hide the embarrassment he felt as he started walking and brushed off a young woman who tried to stop him for a selfie.

Comments

[prince_of_nymphs]

"Lovely," Fin smiled. "Lead the way then"

[jageskro]

Jag did just that, glancing at Fin when he fell in stride with him. "Scheduled the surgery for Halloween, did you? Not superstitious, then?"

[prince_of_nymphs]

"It sort of crept up on me," Fin said carefully, looking uncomfortable. "It was a bit unexpected. ...Unscheduled."

[jageskro]

"Good job making the most of an unscheduled opportunity, then," Jag grinned at him, genuinely happy for him.

[prince_of_nymphs]

"Yeah- Yeah that's true," Fin nodded, wrapping his arms around himself and looking uneasy.

"Can I ask you something, Jag?" he asked once they were in the pub.

[jageskro]

"'Course, yeah," Jag agreed, stopping on his way to the counter.

[prince_of_nymphs]

"Have you ever seen something you couldn't explain? Something that shouldn't be real?" he asked quietly.

[jageskro]

Jag paused, wet his lips, then answered, just for Fin's ears, "I am something you can't explain." Some people tried, with words like mutants and gene and - but that still didn't register to him. They were just words.

[prince_of_nymphs]

Fin cocked his head at that, confused, but also curious.

"...What do you mean?" he asked.

[jageskro]

"Let's grab a drink, and a booth, yeah?" Jag offered, something like a 'please' in his tone of voice. He probably shouldn't have said anything, but Fin had asked, and he'd blurted it out before he thought better of it.

[prince_of_nymphs]

Fin nodded, following and wondering if Jag was some sort of fae as well... Though he didn't look terribly fae.

He ordered a beer at the bar, then paid for their drinks before slipping into a booth.

[jageskro]

Jag sat down across from him and took a sip of his Guinness before wiping the foam off his upper lip. Then he leaned on the table, and propped his hand up against the tabletop, to hide what he was about to do from view of everyone else. He called forth a small flame and let it dance behind the cover of his hand. "Fire. I do fire."

[prince_of_nymphs]

"Elemental magic then," Fin said, admiring the flame and smiling softly, since magic was all he knew of. "That's remarkable, Jag. My lover, Will- He's magic also. Fae, actually. ...And my eyes? That was no operation."

[jageskro]

That was a lot of information in a very short span of time, and as Jag extinguished the small flame, he decided to latch onto the last one, for now. "What happened, then?" he asked, eyebrows raised curiously.

[prince_of_nymphs]

Fin fidgeted slightly, scratching his jaw, then looking down at his hands. "Will and I, we woke in the strange place. I'd had the operation, and I could see a bit- But not enough. I knew I was a burden, that he could get hurt trying to protect me- But then there was this book, and it offered me my eyes back- and I said yes. I said yes without knowing the price."

He swallowed hard then, looking away. "I know it sounds mad, but that's not even the strangest part.

Reaching out, he took Jag's hand and pulled it towards where his pulse should have been, beneath his ice cold flesh.

[jageskro]

Jag frowned, but let Fin take his hand where he wanted it. And then frowned more deeply as he realised not only how cold Fin was, but that there was no pulse. "What...?"

[prince_of_nymphs]

"Death," Fin replied, his voice low and soft. Nervous, almost. "Or... Or something terribly close to it."

[jageskro]

"You're living dead," Jag sussed out for himself, remembering the terrible tales of muló Dora used to tell him. He pulled his hand back slowly, frowning at Fin - in confusion, rather than anything else.

[prince_of_nymphs]

"My pulse in exchange for my eyes," Fin nodded, looking down at his hands as he wrapped them around his beer.

"I didn't know... I didn't realize that's what I was trading."

[jageskro]

"What is it like?" Jag asked, and took a drink from his pint, watching Fin. Now he realised that how pale he was wasn't just him not having seen enough sun in a while.

[prince_of_nymphs]

"It's... Well, it's cold, mostly," Fin replied. "Like I can't get warm. ...It's an odd feeling."

He sipped his beer, tugging his coat tighter around himself as he tried to get comfortable. "I feel weaker- Actually, I know I'm weaker. Though there are some small perks. I heal quickly, remarkably quickly, actually."

[jageskro]

"And at least you can still have beer," Jag added with a small smile. It was a joke, but it was also true. Not about beer specifically, but food and drinks in general. He couldn't imagine not enjoying those things.

[prince_of_nymphs]

"That's true. I'd be heartbroken if I couldn't enjoy food and drink any more," Fin confessed. "I do love to eat. I could empty a buffet left to my own devices."

[jageskro]

"Not if I beat you to it," Jag replied with a grin, then sobered up. "Would you have made the deal, if you'd known?"

[prince_of_nymphs]

"I don't know," Fin confessed. "It's wonderful being able to see. I missed my sight more than I can put into words. ...But there are drawbacks. Terrible ones. ...Ones I'm not sure I can speak of."