biomagnet: (⇒ you still don't believe)
Dr. Sefton Lowell ([personal profile] biomagnet) wrote in [community profile] knickknackery2011-03-12 04:30 am
Entry tags:

who hears us when we wish?

WHO [personal profile] biomagnet and [personal profile] swatswithdragons.
WHAT Space and time are relative between dimensions. One minute in one world could be an entire month somewhere else. Sefton's grown up, and Lance is about to learn what happened in the interim.
WHERE Dr. Lowell's lab, then the Sevii Islands near the Kanto region.
WHEN 2054 for Sefton; 1999 for Lance.
NOTES We're silly. More crossover 'verses! Sefton is 26, Lance is 24.
WARNINGS So much fluff, you'll probably explode. Not get cavities. Explode.

The lab should have been silent. It was the dead of night, after all, when most of the sensible people had gone home to sleep. Sefton, too, would usually be among them. Instead, he had the CD player humming at quite the respectable volume while he tapped away at the computer in front of him, intent on the readings. It was fascinating. The lab had finally gotten permission to study one of the most mysterious infused artifacts humankind had ever known. The doorknob itself was nothing spectacular, having been made in the 1800s for a mansion somewhere in London. Its mystery was simple but confounding: marks like chickenscratch etched into the metal, humming every now and then with an indeterminable sort of energy. It sat innocently inside the observation booth, with a lead wrapped around the narrowest point to try and catch a reaction when it activated.

How could anyone leave when there was something like this to be studied? Excitement wasn't quite the word to describe how Sefton felt about the opportunity; interest and curiosity would fit better. His interest in infusion was intensely personal, after all, and his connection with the world's greatest puzzle gave him some sort of purpose. Without it, he would probably still be that terrified, isolated kid wandering the country.

Now, he was a frightened, lonely man with incurable wanderlust and government funding. The more things change, he mulled idly. He dragged himself out of the chair with a large yawn, moving to the other side of the room to retrieve the cup he had left there. His journey was halted when the knob began vibrating, its regular hum gearing up into a whine, and he darted back to the console. The readout was going insane, displaying more than Sefton could keep up with. Before he could make the judgment call on whether to retrieve someone else or observe the phenomenon while it happened, the air shifted, tore open, and swallowed him whole.

The sensation (floatingfalling) was brief. Sefton barely caught a glimpse of blackish creatures swimming through the colorful expanse of space before he was ejected quite rudely on the other side. He crashed into the sand below with a pained grunt, rolling onto his chest. Before he could register that it was suddenly day and outside and on a beach, the world twisted, turned, and faded away.
swatswithdragons: (quiet amusement)

[personal profile] swatswithdragons 2011-03-22 05:22 am (UTC)(link)
It was actually remarkably common in Lance's homeland, considering the regularity with which people went travelling on foot. The Outside, on the other hand ... not so much.

Lance snorted. "Come on, Beem, how d'you think I supplemented my income back in ... the city. Hakuryu and I went fishing regularly and sold a lot of it fresher and cheaper than what the markets did."
swatswithdragons: (smirking)

[personal profile] swatswithdragons 2011-03-22 07:06 am (UTC)(link)
'Go have fun in the puddles'? Lance shot Sefton an amused look; that was definitely not the sort of thing the Sefton he remembered would say.

"Careful, cub," he shot back, shaking out the line to make the lure jiggle. "You wouldn't want to be insubordinate now, would you?"
swatswithdragons: (grin)

[personal profile] swatswithdragons 2011-03-22 09:32 am (UTC)(link)
Lance picked up a piece of wet moss from the side of the rock and threw it in Sefton's direction. "Insolence."

And yet there was laughter in his voice, because this was nice.
swatswithdragons: (smirking)

[personal profile] swatswithdragons 2011-03-23 08:41 am (UTC)(link)
"Watch what?" Lance asked innocently, again with a bite of humour he didn't really try to keep out of his voice.
Edited 2011-03-23 09:09 (UTC)
swatswithdragons: (innocent)

[personal profile] swatswithdragons 2011-03-24 11:42 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh, I already am," Lance answered lightly, tugging pointedly on the end of his line. "I can fish and be a nuisance at the same time."
swatswithdragons: (quiet amusement)

[personal profile] swatswithdragons 2011-03-25 09:19 am (UTC)(link)
"Yep." Lance nodded, flicking the line again to draw the attention of the fish in the water. "I'm great at multitasking one thing at a time."

It shouldn't have been this easy to banter. He remembered being able to banter, back when he was disassociated, and now that he wasn't it still felt ... strange. Especially because people would look at him and wonder whether he was putting it on or covering up.

Somehow he was relieved that it was--and yet the fact it was at Sefton, an adult Sefton, made it even stranger.
swatswithdragons: (preparation)

[personal profile] swatswithdragons 2011-03-26 05:11 am (UTC)(link)
"What d'you think I'm doing, insolent cub?" Lance asked dryly, just as there was a tug on the line that had nothing to do with his frequent little jerks. Without missing a beat he gave a hard yank to make the hook catch and then reeled in the line around a thick, sturdy piece of wood.

The fish that splooshed out of the water was wriggling and of good size--as most were, given how infrequently fishers came up this far. But it wasn't enough for the two of them. "How many fish d'you eat?" he asked.
swatswithdragons: (innocent)

[personal profile] swatswithdragons 2011-03-26 09:43 am (UTC)(link)
Lance shot him a sidelong look. "'Not a lot?' Did your appetite fade since I last saw you? If I recall, you needed a lot of energy to burn."

Then he shrugged. "Four fish, then, and you can have the smallest. It's not like I don't have some garbage guts' around to take care of the leftovers." The last was pitched just loud enough for Dragonite to hear, and hear she did, snorting disdainfully.
swatswithdragons: (unimpressed)

[personal profile] swatswithdragons 2011-03-27 06:57 am (UTC)(link)
This explanation got Sefton a flat look and a definite note of exasperation. "I am not letting you get away with semi-starving yourself because you don't want to put me out a few extra minutes time, cub."

Good gods, the more things changed the more things stayed the same. Even though it wasn't actual starvation, because Lance knew how that felt, it was still a stupidly self-effacing reason.
Edited 2011-03-27 07:03 (UTC)
swatswithdragons: (innocent)

[personal profile] swatswithdragons 2011-03-27 11:36 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh, I was hoping you'd help me," Lance said breezily, killing the fish with a quick knife-jab in the right spot and setting it aside in a pothole in the rock before casting his line out again. "Always a necessary part of the camping experience, gutting fish."

Well, at least he didn't laugh.
swatswithdragons: (incredulous)

[personal profile] swatswithdragons 2011-03-29 12:04 pm (UTC)(link)
"Didn't say you did," Lance pointed out, "but as long as you're here ..."

He threw a glance over his shoulder. "Well, if nothing else I can teach you how to cook it. Fish are a staple."
swatswithdragons: (incredulous)

[personal profile] swatswithdragons 2011-04-05 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh no." Lance shook the fish at him. "I'm expecting you to be able to cook for me sometimes, here, and I'd like to make sure I don't get accidentally poisoned."

Joking, completely joking, with no hints that that had, occasionally, been attempted and once almost killed the wrong person.

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