itinere | Closed to Raven Kids

Entry tags:

Closed to Raven Kids

Who: Raven kids
When: The entire month of July
Where: Mostly the Barns, but I'm okay with it being used for anywhere in town
Warnings: Let's just make it R for everyone's sake. It might have everything in it.

With the lights out, the month of July takes the shape of some sort of weird slumber party. During the day everyone goes about their business. Adam works, Gansey researches, Ronan bugs the ever living crap out of Adam. Noah and Blue do whatever Noah and Blue do. Ronan suspects they’re still adjusting to this place. He knows it’s got to be a big adjustment for Noah. It’s probably not an easy one for Blue either who’s more accustomed to being around the craziness of 300 Fox Way rather than the craziness of Monmouth.

He knows it’ll be awkward at first, but when the electricity fails Ronan suggests that everyone stay out at The Barns. There’s plenty of room and several things that don’t use electricity to work like toasters and one shower that never runs out of hot water. Ronan feels better having the people he cares about under one roof, particularly when they’re not sure what the hell else is going to happen. Gansey agrees readily enough, always happy to have all of his people close by.

While The Barns allow everyone the space they need so that no one is piled up on top of each other, it is lacking in bedrooms. There’s the bedroom that Niall and Aurora shared, Matthew’s bedroom, Ronan’s bedroom and Declan’s bedroom (they can draw straws for that one). Ronan didn’t give anyone (including Adam) a vote when he claimed his room for he and Adam. He told the others they could sleep wherever the hell they liked. The couch in the den was pretty damn comfortable.

The Barns are also cluttered with dream things. The house, for the most part, contains the bits and pieces that function properly. Aurora had seen to that. However, there’s an entire barn full of frustration dreams for everyone to explore. The animals still lie sleeping where they’d been when Niall had died. For the most part, Ronan doesn’t mind his friends picking through the things and exploring. Niall’s office in one of the barns is locked and it’ll stay that way. He’d prefer that no one touch the mask on the wall that he’d had that awful dream, but it’s really only off limits to Adam (who knows that by now).

Explore, settle in. Ronan really is happy to have everyone here, to be able to share this with everyone.

[You’ve all read the book. Feel free to make shit up about the Barns. If you’ve got questions, ask and I’ll do what I can to answer them. Treat this as a month long mingle. Play with it and have fun. Adam’s birthday thread down below]

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Adam hasn't told anyone about his birthday. Ronan knows because he knows things. He finds out things, particularly about Adam. Ronan makes it a point to tell everyone else in their little circle that July 3rd is Adam's birthday. He spends several days arguing with Gansey and helping him plan the party. In the end, they end up on a party yacht that Gansey found docked with several other boats at the marina. The one thing Ronan can agree with: beaches are bullshit (not Gansey's words) because of the sand that gets everywhere.

On the morning of the 3rd, Ronan won't give Adam a choice but to go with him. There are swim trunks and swim wear on the yacht. Thanks to Gansey and Ronan, there's also a plethora of food as well as a birthday cake. There's a ridiculous banner that says Happy Birthday, Adam hung over the main deck. Ronan's awful music (you're welcome) is playing over the speakers. The yacht doesn't have a destination in mind when it leave the dock and it will idle to a stop in the middle of the ocean. There's snorkling gear, wave runners and various kinds of inflatable water toys for them to play with. Enjoy! Ronan is pretty sure it's Adam's first birthday party.

[ Again, treat this as a mingle, make threads etc and so on ]

Noah wanders. He never wanders too far, but he wanders. Maybe it's part of still being a ghost, who knows. He wanders around the Barns, touching things, then wanders some more. He goes to the closed doors but he doesn't go in, he sits, he stands, he wanders. He doesn't want to get in anyone's way, after all.

It's probably not surprising that he's feeling at loose ends. He doesn't have a purpose here: he can't do what Adam does, what Ronan does, he's not smart like Gansey and ... well, he's not Blue.

So, he wanders.

It's surprising, but not that surprising, that she's ended up in this place. Persephone can feel the magic of this place right to her very fingertips; she doesn't need a mirror or two to see that.

Persephone wanders the streets of this place, watching, her skirts floating around herself, her hair, too. Occasionally, she'll whisper something to herself, look around, and she'll either continue in the direction she was meant to be going, or right her course.

That's how she ends up in this place. "Of course," she says to herself. No Maura, no Calla. But ...

Ah. Well, this will be interesting, won't it. She starts toward the house, knocking on the front door.

Adam has never actually celebrated his birthday. He was going to let this year slide on by like it always did. But somehow -- somehow -- Ronan had figured out when his birthday was. He had thought they were coming to the beach as he and Blue had discussed to just be together at the beach. The yacht is... ridiculous. But Adam plays along because as Ronan goes, so goeth his nation, apparently.

When they'd talked about the beach, Adam had thought there would be more sand and maybe some hot dogs. This is much, much different than what he had imagined.

If he looks out of place on a freakin' massive yacht, it's because he is. He has on black and blue swim trunks and a ratty tee, faded blue and worn almost threadbare in some places. The tee has some writing on it that is indecipherable at this point. His feet are slipped into some flip-flops. It should be noted that the swim trunks and flip flops magically appeared this morning. Whether Ronan bought or dreamed them for him or Itinere gifted them to him, he doesn't know.

So Adam Parrish is celebrating his birthday for the first time... on a yacht. Thanks, rich friends.

If Noah thinks he's in anyone's way, he's wrong. Adam is glad to have Noah here because Noah is the one person who is entirely neutral to him. Adam has no reason to get pissed with him. He's not sleeping with him. He didn't ever want to date him at one point. So see? Neutral. It's a comfortable friendship, he thinks... as long as Noah wants him around, of course.

So it's while they're both wandering that Adam runs into Noah and hopes that he isn't getting in Noah's way. They haven't really spoken since the big reveal in which Noah had looked very strange during the immediate aftermath of it. So... Adam is slightly awkward when he greets him.

"Hey." He says. "What are you up to?"

"Um." Noah's hands flail then get stuffed into his pockets as if he's been caught doing something he shouldn't. "I'm just ... looking around, I guess." He shrugs, and his hands come out of his pockets.

Noah just is strange or awkward; it isn't Adam's fault or even AdamandRonan, anymore than its GanseyandBlue. Noah just is Noah. "What are you doing?"

The knock could be heard from the kitchen where Adam Parrish is pouring steaming water out of a kettle that has no plug, but somehow keeps itself piping hot and full of water. The water is never ending. It never has to be refilled. The Barns is full of things like this. Things that are things, but just a bit off. Magical. Adam fits in here fairly well, he guesses. He is now a magical thing as well.

At the knock, he hurries to the door and opens it, ready to tell whoever it is to go away or Ronan will be angry that someone he doesn't know is on his property. Who he finds there, however, is a surprise of all surprises.

"But... how?" Persephone is dead. But she's here. How is this possible?

"And it's you." Persephone smiles, reaching up to touch Adam's cheek. "I should have known. This place, it's - it's very strong." Her hands fan out around her. "This whole place, but this place," she says, meaning the house and surrounding lands, "this place is very strong."

"Trying not to mess anything up." Deep down, he knows that Ronan doesn't care. He wouldn't have invited all of them here if things were off limits. But the fact that it's the Barns makes this a sacred place, he thinks. Also, he remembers a certain mask that Ronan had screamed at him over some time ago. Adam tries not to touch too many things since then.

Adam wants to ask him what had been up with him in Monmouth after Ronan had kissed him and declared their status to the group. But he backs out at the last moment and shoves his own hands in his pockets. "You wanna go for a walk? Explore some?"

She touches his cheek and her hand is warm, not cold as he figures a dead person should be. Normally, Adam flinches when people touch him so suddenly, knee-jerk reaction from living life as Adam Parrish. Not Persephone. She's one of those few people that Adam has let in. He's not sure when or how it happened, but it did.

"It's the Barns. It's Ronan's family home." Almost everything here is a dream thing. The magic here is very powerful. "Uhm..." He hesitates and then steps aside to let her in, closing the door behind her. "Blue. You need to see Blue." Or, vicariously, Blue needs to see Persephone.

"Okay." It isn't as if Noah has anything else to do. "Are you okay, Adam?" he asks, already moving to walk with Adam wherever he wants to go.

If Adam asks, Noah will tell him. He'll tell him that he's happy for them both. He just wishes Adam seemed happier, all told.

"The Greywaren." Yes, that too seems logical. Stepping inside, Persephone looks around. "Blue is here? I would imagine then, that - yes. It is very loud here." So Gansey must be here, too. "And the - " She was going to say Snake, but she doesn't. "The ... the - " her hands flutter. "The one who'd died?"

Ronan actually wanders much the same way. He's checking to make certain that things are just as they're meant to be. He's also unaccustomed to being cooped up this way. His insomnia is full swing and that makes him more restless. He wanders with his earphones on, but pushes them off his head ot hang around his neck when he sees Noah wandering through the Barn that contains all of Niall's frustration dreams.

Noah may not have a purpose, but he's still Ronan's best friend whether he's a ghost or not. Gansey is like his brother, Adam is his boyfriend and he and Blue are on the way to becoming friends. Noah is his best friend. That's enough of a purpose for Ronan and he's glad he's here. He's glad that he can finally show Noah the Barns because he never could back home.

"Some crazy shit in here," Ronan says by way of greeting, reaching out to grab something that looks like it might have tried to be a teapot but with legs and no spout. It's cold to the touch, like a glass of iced tea. Thank god it doesn't actually walk.

Ronan isn't surprised to see Persephone in his kitchen with a cup of tea simply because Adam had come to find him, to tell him that Persephone had shown up. He's not surprised because this place has a habit of bringing the people you don't expect here.

He walks in without a word, grabs a can of beer out of the fridge and sits down at the table across from Persephone. He pops the top, takes a sip and watches Persephone a moment.

"So what's the last thing you remember back home?"

Ronan knows that Adam hasn't ever celebrated his birthday. He doesn't know it in the way that Adam has told him; he knows it because Adam Parrish's life sucked before he, Gansey and Noah brought him into their circle of friends. Sometimes Adam's life back home still sucks. As sappy as it is, Ronan has tried to make Adam life better here; he's tried to give him things that he doesn't have at home.

This yacht is sort of one of those things, not that Ronan has ever been on a yacht, but Gansey has (of course) and they might have gone overboard (pun intended) with this party. Ronan just wants Adam to have fun. He wants him to have a good birthday. As for the swim trunks and flip flops, those Ronan actually picked up at one of the shops in town. He waits until Adam is alone on one of the decks then approaches him, moving to stand beside him, forearms on the railing. He's shirtless, wearing a pair of black swim trunks and black flip flops. He'd had to put a ton of sunscreen on to keep from burning. He'll probably still end up with a sunburn. The sun isn't his thing.

"So yeah...might've fuckin' gone overboard." He looks sideways at Adam. "You hate it?"

Noah snickers a little, because, really, that's pretty much an understatement. There is a lot of crazy shit in here. But it's Ronan's dad's crazy shit, so it means something to him, Noah figures.

"Maybe I'm some of the crazy shit," he muses, one shoulder shrugging as he looks over at Ronan. Maybe he's been dreamed here. He thinks about that a lot.

While she doesn't flinch away, she does wince. The Greywaren is so very loud. She watches him right back, eyes wide and black. "I was looking for Maura."

And granted, she could have done it differently, but extreme measures and all that. "I know I died," she tells him, voice calm and whispery. At least she's nearly sure she died.

The difference Ronan has made in Adam's life here is monumental. It's a beautiful and terrifying thing for Adam. Beautiful because Adam has gained confidence and has learned that everything isn't horrible. Terrifying because he isn't used to having good things and what's given can so easily be taken away. What is earned can also be lost. Love is always pain, from the way he's watched and lived it with his parents and him. There's always a shoe to drop. Adam is terrified of everything Ronan has done for him, everything he and Ronan are and could someday be. But he's also too selfish to fully let go of it.

Except, it seems, for Blue. Blue, who wants to go home. Home, where Adam Parrish's life is not good. He hadn't started trying to find a way to open the door to Henrietta, not really. Because he was selfish. Because he wants this. With Ronan. But then Blue happened. And now, in secret, he's been trying to open the door for her. Because she said she wants to be home with 300 Fox Way, to finish their unfinished business, to find her mother. Adam is conflicted. Adam is doing it anyway.

By contrast to Ronan's pale skin, Adam's is sun warmed, tan and freckled in some spots. He has the skin of someone who's spent more time outside than inside, the hands of someone who has already worked hard in his life, even at just nineteen years old. Those calloused hands want to reach out and touch Ronan's shirtless top half, but they remain hidden against his sides with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Well I'm not seasick. So there's that." He says, settling for lightly bumping whatever of Ronan's side he can reach with his own side. He leans back against the railing and looks sideways and down to Ronan. "No one's ever done this for me. I like it."

That's always such a difficult question for Adam. His mind runs a mile a minute, thinking way too much, analyzing everything from all angles many times over. He worries over things. It's hard for him to ever really be okay since he's always waiting for the other shoe to drop. His entire life has been a series of dropping shoes. It's hard to be okay when you're him.

They start into a room that seems to be half den, half library. The walls are lined with books from floor to ceiling. Adam moves over to one of the walls and starts to peruse the books. He should just say he's okay. Easy question. Easy answer.

"Sure. You?" He asks, pulling a book off the shelf and opening it to find the words running bottom to top rather than side to side. He smirks and puts it back.

There is kind of a ridiculously long pause between Noah's question and Adam's answer that even Noah blinks when the answer finally comes. But he follows the lead and pulls a book down, fingers running along the cover.

His brow furrows. "Isn't it Ernest Hemingway?" He shows Adam the cover, the author listed as Ernest Hemingwhy?

He's fine, by the way.

Adam nods. The Greywaren. He belatedly wonders if Ronan will be upset with him, letting Persephone into the main house on the hallowed grounds called the Barns. But then he thinks he doesn't care. There is no 300 Fox Way here. Where else would Persephone go? She should be where Blue is. Blue will want to be where Persephone is. Gansey will want to be where Blue is. Ronan will want to be where Gansey is. Noah will want to be where Ronan is. Adam...

"She's here. They're all here." They, being Ronan, Noah, Gansey and Blue. Not the full house of 300 Fox Way. Persephone seems to always know what he means to say anyway. Sometimes she even knows what he won't ever say aloud. Adam is only kind of used to that.

But the most notable question. "You died. But you... appeared to me. To finish teaching me what you could. I don't know how..." How she appeared to him. How she's here. Is she a vision? He had felt her touch his face only moments before.

Of course they're all here. Persephone could feel all of them. And of course, with Blue here, amplifying everything, it's no wonder that it's so very loud.

"I know," she tells him. She knows she died. But death is hardly permanent, it seems. "How close is the ley line? You've been repairing it, haven't you?"

She reaches over, hand covering his again. "You haven't been letting it take over, have you?" He doesn't need to let the ley line tell him what to do.

Though he would never admit it, Ronan has tried to make that difference in Adam's life. It's easier here; Adam is more accepting of it here, or he had been. Back home he tries as well but their lives tend to get in the way. In a way, Ronan agrees that love is pain, but Ronan thinks life is pain. That's just how it is. The difference between Ronan and Adam is that Ronan thinks love (and life) is worth that pain. It's masochistic of him, but in some ways Ronan likes that pain. He understands pain and pain makes everything real. It's the reason that sometimes Adam looks like he's been in a fight after making out with Ronan. As for what they could some day be, Ronan hasn't thought too much about that. He tries not to think too far in the future because Ronan doesn't do well with change and the future is all about change.

When Ronan finds out that Adam has been looking for a way to open the doors, he's going to be so hurt which will look like anger. He's going to jump to conclusions; he's going to assume that Adam wants out of this thing that they've got. He's going to want to know why Adam didn't talk to him about it and most importantly he's going to want to know that if they go through that door what happens to he and Adam. Ronan doesn't think that Adam will let this thing survive back home. He doesn't think that he'll willingly suffer the consequences of them: the wrath of his father, Declan's disapproval (though Ronan will take care of that) or the examination of this thing by the other students at Aglionby. Because of that, Ronan is selfish. He wants to stay here. He knows that their life is on pause back home. He wants to keep it on pause. Matthew and his mother are fine; Declan is an asshole; he's happy here and Ronan didn't think happiness was a possibility for him after Niall was murdered.

Ronan loves that contrast between their skin, even if he'd never admit it. He loves the way Adam's body looks alongside his, all tan limbs and wiry, lean muscle. He likes the way Adam's calloused hands feel against his skin. When Ronan is in the same room with Adam he almost always wishes they were alone.

He smirks at that comment, looking up at Adam. Everything in him aches to feel Adam trace the tattoo on his back the way he's done so many times since they've been here. He leans ever so slightly so that his shoulder presses against Adam's arm. He nods, the expression on his face pleased if one knows what to look for. "If it makes you feel any better, it's the first time I've ever been on a yacht too."

Leaning over, Adam looks at the binding of the book and smirks. That one sounds like such a Ronan thing to do, to rename a classic and well-known book or author into something ridiculous. The same way in which he curses or comes up with ridiculous phrases in Latin. It makes Adam internally scoff, blanch and roll his eyes all at the same time.

"Ronan did that. You know he did." He says softly, moving away to pass an end table next to a plush armchair. The table has a lamp on it that lights up as he passes it and then goes off again as he leaves it. It's not plugged into anything. There isn't even a cord.

This house itself is a mystical thing. With Ronan and Adam here, with Blue... of course Persephone could feel them all. He wonders, briefly, if Noah still has that magical feel about him since he's no longer a ghost. "Noah's not a ghost anymore." He volunteers randomly.

He gestures to the North, or what would be the North, of the Barns. "The lines are all through the forest out there, up close to the mountains. I've been keeping up." Busily. Because Ronan has no idea how much he's been dreaming and Adam wants Ronan to be able to dream whenever he wants.

So when he says he's been keeping up, that means he's been in charge of it... so far. "I'm in control. The tarot deck you gave me helps a lot. And I'm getting better at scrying."

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Closed to Raven Kids

Happy Birthday, Adam

ota

ta-da! near the tail end of the month

ota

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Perhaps some time after Adam has answered the door?

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