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]

"He says I am his evermore. That we were fated to fall in love," Fin replied. "I used to think that was rubbish, but I have to admit- I do feel bound to him. It feels true."

[jageskro]

"That's - kind of amazing," Jag stated with a small smile, before he chuckled. "And kind of terrifying, too."

[prince_of_nymphs]

"Quite," Fin agreed, laughing nervously. "He's been a rock though, through all I've been through. He's been the one stable thing in my life."

[jageskro]

"That's family, for me," Jag said after a few seconds' thought. "That rock. It's family. It's amazing, that you can have that with someone who isn't."

[prince_of_nymphs]

"I don't have a family," Fin shrugged. "Mum hates the sight of me, Dad vanished years ago. Will's all I've got. Will, and my friends."

[jageskro]

"Well, fuck your bio parents," Jag said simply, and drank to that. If he'd counted on his, he wouldn't have had a family for some very long years now.

[prince_of_nymphs]

Fin laughed at that, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. ...A small part of him hoped that one day, when they saw just how much he'd accomplished, one of them might come around and finally love him again. The way they had when he was young.

[jageskro]

"Who needs them, anyway," Jag added, and shrugged. "You've got your fairy prince, and your friends." He was assuming they weren't the same friends Fin had mentioned earlier, given the context.

[prince_of_nymphs]

"That's true. My life has many people in it, most of whom I care for, and I think care for me," Fin nodded. "As I said before- I'm lucky. I never mean to sound ungrateful."

[jageskro]

"You didn't," Jag assured him with a shake of his head. "But it never hurts, reminding ourselves we're lucky." He knew that he was, with the circus.

[prince_of_nymphs]

"To being lucky," Fin smiled, holding his glass up in toast.

[jageskro]

Jag smiled back, and raised his glass to tip it against Fin's. "To being lucky."

[prince_of_nymphs]

Fin drank his beer down in one go, waving the server down for a pitcher this time- Then deciding to order some nibbles as well. He was too thin to drink on an empty stomach. He could already feel the edges blurring a bit, and that was never a good sign.

Besides, Fin could always eat.

"So your talent," he asked once they were alone again. "Magic, power... Whatever it is you prefer to call it, I mean. You use that in your performances? Aren't you afraid someone might notice?"

[jageskro]

"It's all about dosing it right," Jag answered with a shrug. "Most people don't know how fire works, so it doesn't matter if I fuck with the laws of physics a little here and there. I used to use it a lot more at the circus - people believed there was hidden gear allowing me to do what I do. But busking, it's more - fire that trails a little more, burns a little brighter, or using old outdated gear that don't work as a prop."

[prince_of_nymphs]

"That's terribly clever," Fin smiled. "Must have taken a remarkable amount of control to master. ...Or is it just like breathing?"

[jageskro]

"Oh, no," Jag laughed, shaking his head and thanking the server when he brought them their pitcher. He poured both of their glasses as he explained, "It took me a while to do anything worthwhile with it. It took me a while to even realise that I could."

[prince_of_nymphs]

"When did you learn you had that ability?" Fin asked, thanking Jag for the top up, and sipping his beer.

[jageskro]

"It just came out one day, I was twelve?" Jag answered with a small smile, remaining purposefully vague. It was definitely one of those things he was just fine not talking about in detail. "But then it was months before I actually tried to do anything with it."

[prince_of_nymphs]

"Remarkable. ...Do many people know?" he asked.

[jageskro]

"A few, yeah," Jag confirmed, a happy glint in his eyes at the thought of who those people were. "Family and friends, yeah?" And Val, who fit into neither category, really.

[prince_of_nymphs]

"I worry sometimes that too many people know about me, and about Will as well. Like perhaps I'm putting us both in danger," Fin confessed, falling silent as the server dropped off their food. Just potato skins and some chicken wings- Both of which Fin happily dug into.

[jageskro]

"If he's that dangerous, I'm not sure you're not putting them in danger," Jag stated, after a beat. He shrugged. "I just don't want to hide who I am from the people that matter. It's worked out so far."

[prince_of_nymphs]

"I've never thought about it that way," Fin replied, pausing long enough to pop another nibble in his mouth. "He is a bit terrifying."

[jageskro]

"And I've just gone from curious to meet him to..." Jag paused, and chuckled, shaking his head. "No, I'm still curious to meet him. Reckon my survival instinct's shit."

[prince_of_nymphs]

"I think he'd like you," Fin replied with a soft laugh. "I don't think you'd have any reason to be worried, or to rely on any instinct."