dazlious | There's an anchor round my heart, dragging me down

Current Mood: cold
Current Location: On the side of the road somewhere
Current Music: "Halo", Oleander

Entry tags:

There's an anchor round my heart, dragging me down

WHO: James Sunderland, Laura (Silent Hill) and Harmony Cello (OC)
WHERE: On the road.
WHEN: Gravityverse, November.
WHAT: Lost people have a way of finding each other.
RATING: Probably PG.

The first snowflakes of the year were drifting down.

There was a time in his life when he would have been excited about that-- which was a very long time ago.

More recently was the time when he would have regarded it with apathy. Aside from being reminded that he might need to put on a coat, for the past three years, snow hadn't evoked much emotion in him.

But that was gone, too.

Now the sight instilled a flutter of dread in his stomach.

"JAMES! Hurry up, I'm cold!" came Laura's impatient shout from the car door.

"I'm trying, Laura," he muttered through gritted teeth, plunging his head back into the open hood of the car and reaching for the wrench again.

It had stalled on them for the third time this week, and he was starting to get worried.

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"Sorry," James mumbled apologetically for his rudeness.

He set the cup down and sighed again, looking at the tiny angel like one might a stray animal that they just didn't know what to do with.

"Laura doesn't... mean any harm. She's just... um..."

He rubbed the back of his neck for a moment, trying to think of a way to describe Laura that wouldn't make her sound like the Antichrist.

"... She's eight."

"Eight..." he echoed. Eight was a terrifying number. He'd never actually met an eight year old but he'd seen them on television. Mrs. Shirley's grandchildren were even younger and he'd seen them playing running and tumbling and biting games in the neighboring yard.

Harmony puffed a little sigh. He was overtired and frustrated and now that the movement had stopped, he was finally starting to get scared. "I really need to get back down South. The house needs me...I'm supposed to be advising a man named James and without me the whole house could go up in flames!"

Brows creased, James tilted his head.

What a funny coincidence...

"I'm gonna assume you must mean a different James than me..."

There you go. An introduction.

Sort of.

"Wh-- oh! Oh, hah, no. My James is...not as agreeable as you." He dragged his fingers through his hair and puffed out a weak laugh. If he was a better conscience, JW would have been a much kinder person.

"That is kind of funny, though. The James I see over is a James Walter. So that would make you James...?" He gestured vaguely, inviting the man to give up his last name.

"... Walter. Yeah, no I'm-- uh, Sunderland. James Sunderland."

As though by reflex, he extended his hand-- only to look at it, then at Harmony, and then sheepishly put it back down in his lap again.

He coughed.

This whole 'interacting with a tiny person' was going to take awhile to get used to.

It was going to be even harder to get used to once Harmony was able to fly again and perch annoyingly on James's shoulder. He notices the gesture and gives the man a sympathetic grin. He tried!

The angel stuck his hands into his opposite bathrobe sleeves and thought. What was he going to do? He couldn't do much of anything until his wings were in working order. A bath. He could do with a bath. And something to eat. And somewhere to sleep. But James had already taken him in out of the cold and wet, would it be selfish to ask for more?

Harmony chewed his lip. It was for the good of the Host. His homeworld.

"I don't suppose you'd let me stay the night, would you?"

It didn't take much deliberation. James wasn't the sort to throw people out when he'd already technically kidnapped them.

"Sure," he said-- and then, with a ghost of a sheepish smile, he added, "'Sides, I... guess it's not like you take up much space."

Harmony reached up to adjust his halo. "I try not to." His wings lowered to the tile and he heaved a sigh. He owed this man a lot. He resolved not to be a burden. Perhaps, just perhaps, while he was in his company, he could offer him a little advice.

It'd be nice if somebody heeded it for a change.

"what time is it?"

"Around eleven-thirty."

James jerked his thumb over his shoulder to the door that presumably led to the motel room.

"I wanted to wait till Laura was asleep, just in case... y'know..."

The angel nodded grimly. Oh, he knew. He reached up and rubbed his neck, swallowing as he did so. He'd seen...so many mutilated barbies in his day.

"Suppose I should find somewhere to hide for the night." He glanced up at that accursed, sticky cup and suppressed a shudder. He wasn't going back in there, that was for sure!

"Yeah... um..."

He rubbed his neck with a scratchy sound-- hadn't shaved in awhile-- and looked around. There wasn't much in here. They rarely unpacked when they bunkered down for the night, beyond basic toiletries and some snacks.

And on top of that, they had to think of something that Laura wouldn't mess with and discover unwittingly.

"... Hm... hang on a sec."

Getting to his feet, he lumbered out of the room.

Harmony fluttered aside to let James pass and dared to follow him as far as the door frame to lean around and get a better idea of where they were staying. He took in every side table, every dresser, ever electrical outlet his eyes passed over.

You always had to be ready to use anything as a shelter when you were only six inches tall.

The motel room was dark-- a vague lump on one of the two beds was probably where the little girl who accompanied James was, blessedly asleep and unable to pop any heads off of small creatures.

A television at against one wall, still popping quietly as it wound down.

At the far bed, James stood hunched over, fishing through a duffel bag for something. After a couple minutes of shifting its contents around, he seemingly found what he was looking for and started to head back over, literally tiptoeing past the bed where Laura slept.

Edging back into the bathroom, keeping his feet far from the tiny angel as though afraid that he'd somehow step on him even while looking straight at him. He shut the door as quietly as he could before sitting back down on the toilet and holding up what he'd found.

It was a sock.

"I leave these lying on the floor all the time and Laura never touches them. I... figure maybe I could just put this one on the other side of the bed and it could... I don't know, it's kind of like a ... a sleeping bag."

... It had sounded like a good plan in his head but now that the words were coming out of his mouth, it was getting stupider. He looked at Harmony a little sheepishly, as though worried the angel might be offended by the suggestion that he should sleep in a piece of footwear.

"... It's clean, I promise."

The feathers on his shoulders prickled when he spotted the lump that was Laura among all the good hiding places the room had to offer. He wondered if he was judging the kid too hardly. They hadn't technically met. Maybe...maybe if he did slip up and get found out, the girl would be enchanted by him the way other small girls are with things like Tinkerbell...

Oh, Harmony.

When James returned, the little angel was quick to get out of his way. When the man presented the sleeping back, part of Harmony's insides crawled. FEET HAD BEEN IN THAT. GIANT HORRIBLE SWEATY FEET. NO. His eyes briefly flickered to the man's boots and then back to his face. Oh, God. Harmony was a king, damn it, and kings kept their composure. He drew himself up and thanked his host for such a generous offer. He had to be thankful.

"That will be perfect. Thank you."

HE'S DOING HIS BEST HARMONY GOSH.

Even though the tiny angel managed to avoid going into histrionics, James seemed to be aware of the lameness of his offering.

He looked away, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"... Sorry there isn't much else..."

YOUR BEST IS GROSS, SUNDERLAND.

"That will be absolutely fine." Harmony put his game face back on. He wouldn't be with them much longer, right? He'd survive. "Sooner to bed, sooner to rise!"

8( HE TRIED.

Another shaky grin pulled across the green-coated man's face.

"Heh, yeah... uh, good idea. Um... c'mon."

He lowered his hand. It would be rude to make Harmony WALK all the way over to the bed! That was like... a mile to someone so small. :(

Harmony drew himself up to his full height and marched aboard. It was sort of nice having a flat hand offered so generously. In his ears of advising he'd been picked up by his wings, his coat collar, his head, his leg, his shorts.

This James was already a vast improvement over his James.

There would be no further grumbling or questions from Harmony that night. They no doubt had a long day tomorrow and if the angel had his way, he would not be spending it in an old soda cup! He was going to have some decisions to make!

Once the little man was safely standing in his palm, James stood the rest of the way up-- slowly-- and started to head back into the other room.

He tiptoed past Laura's bed and over to his own-- gently depositing Harmony and the improvised sleeping bag on the opposite side of it. He didn't think Laura would pay even the slightest bit of attention to a sock on the floor, but just in case he was feeling like it'd still be a good idea for it to be relatively out of sight.

"We, uh, don't really have a set time we get up, but... um... want me to leave out some food?"

What did tiny angel people eat?

... Did they even NEED to eat?

Maybe they ate sunshine and fairy dust or something.

He hopped back to the carpeted earth and shook out his new sleeping bag. The angel peered inside experimentally and when he saw no minute creepy crawlies he slapped it down to the floor and started the awkward business of trying to wriggle inside, wings and all.

"I'm mostly just tired...but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to breakfast."

Once he was laying down, Harmony snatched his halo out of the air and tucked it down into his bag so that he didn't make any light.

"Good night, Other James...and thank you."

He ached all over. Anyone who'd ridden most of it in a smelly old van and then the rest of it crammed into a cup would too. He'd fully planned on laying awake and fretting and staring at the electrical outlet across from him but in no time at all he had fallen fast asleep, completely exhausted.

All things considered, it was in fact a very clean sock for someone who was homeless.

Harmony, you should totally be grateful.

"All right... and you're welcome."

James stood for a moment, before realizing that there really was no way to clear the air and dispel the general awkwardness of a tiny winged man sleeping on the floor in one of his socks, so he just cleared his throat and headed around to the other side of the bed. There was some general rustling as he sat down and pulled the covers over himself... and then silence.

The rest of the night passed without any major event.

For the fist few hours, exhaustion let Harmony sleep dreamlessly. Then the strangeness that followed James like a raincloud started to seep in. The little conscience was out in the open without any protection beyond a sock. He felt cold. His dreams slowly filled with cramped, wet, creaking halls that were unfamiliar to him.

Harmony almost always knew what he was having nightmares about. It wasn't like he had any shortage of material stowed away in the back of his mind--waiting for him if he were to ever blip home. He wandered these halls with a morbid curiosity but worry soon overtook him. There was a feeling that was starting to weigh down on him and make his feathers prickle. It was that awkward feeling you got when you were visiting a friend when you were little and they got in trouble with their parents.

It was light when the little king woke up but he never remembered opening his eyes. He simply became aware that there was light and that his feathers were still standing on end.

"Ugh."

The first thing Harmony would notice was that the television was on.

Not that he could see it from where his little sock-sleeping bag was, but the sounds of Saturday morning cartoons were loud and clear.

It was an old Powerpuff Girls episode being rerun, by the sounds of it-- and ALSO by the sounds of it (aka the dull snoring coming from directly above him), James was not the one watching.

Harmony shook all over and fetched his halo out of his sleepingsock. He balenced it on its orbit and sat up, stretching his wings. They creaked a little but finally the one he'd injured could unfold all the way without sending horrible stabs of pain into his spine. He gave them both a soft flap before letting them fall limp.

"Let's get 'em, girls!" came from the television as Blossom led the charge against evil.

Harmony's feathers, which had only just started to smooth out, stood on end again. That did not sound like a program that the man who rescued him from death by exposure would watch. He only had to duck a little to walk under the bed to the edge nearest the television. He peered out cautiously. Maybe the girl was still in bed. Maybe they had watched something else late last night and it swapped over to cartoons for the morning.

Harm, do YOU remember the TV being on last night?

PROBABLY NOT CUZ IT WASN'T.

From his new vantage point, he had a very nice view of the girls pummeling an equally-brightly-colored villain on the screen of a small TV set on the dresser-- and he also had a good view of a pair of skinny little legs merrily kicking away over the edge of the second bed.

Laura was awake, all right.

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