06-11-2015, 05:55 PM
Good to hear Vanders still had a sense of humor after all his magic got turned-on. Jay limped on in the room and spied out a place to toss his stuff for the night. As it was almost entirely hooked to him somehow, he began the methodic process of decluttering his body and emptying pockets. "The wizarding stuff wear you out? Like a workout?"
Seemed to be the case, Jay thought as he gave Vanders a quick look over. Their regular day to day work was tiring in a good kind of way, but wizard workouts seemed to amplify the load. Without the added benefit of looking better naked, either.
He labored to the floor, and unlike Vanders, was perfectly content to lean against the wall. Pillows were luxuries around there saved for the injured... or well, seriously injured... so Jay popped off his outer shirt, rolled it up and stuffed it behind his head. The fresh air momentarily felt good on his forearms, and he longed to strip out of the remaining t-shirt, but he doubted Vanders would appreciate the smell. He seemed fresh as a daisy out of the shower. The shoes stayed on for now. He'd change socks in the morning.
His mind was blessedly blank when Vanders stirred the air with his admission. Jay frowned and slowly nodded. "You were a cop before the Legion, right?"
Cops probably didn't drive around listening to people scream in the distance, powerless to do anything. They were the boys in blue, knights in shining armor come to save the day. While these third world, jungle theaters could rip a man's soul to pieces until he learned to buffer out the horror and accept his commander's orders to sit tight and listen to hell be unleashed.
On some level, Jay wished for the good old days of army-on-army land wars. Where a king rode out in front of a line of soldiers to lay waste to another line of soldiers until the winner was the group least hacked to death. A man knew his enemy then.... the other banner. Africa, South America, whatever it was, war today felt like the good guys were battling barbarism itself. They hacked at women and children, the weak targets, as decoys or excuses, and were too cowardly to face a real line of soldiers. Gorilla warfare. Terrorism. Why couldn't there just be one evil in the world, with twisted minions and hordes of faithful practitioners to fight? How much simpler would it be then.
But that was fantasy.
"You'll get used to it. Or eventually you'll snap and go ape-shit crazy at the worst possible moment and get yourself discharged."
Jay opened his eyes, rolling his head toward Vanders. He couldn't say that's what happened to him, but maybe on some level, he wanted Jared to know he wasn't the only one.
Seemed to be the case, Jay thought as he gave Vanders a quick look over. Their regular day to day work was tiring in a good kind of way, but wizard workouts seemed to amplify the load. Without the added benefit of looking better naked, either.
He labored to the floor, and unlike Vanders, was perfectly content to lean against the wall. Pillows were luxuries around there saved for the injured... or well, seriously injured... so Jay popped off his outer shirt, rolled it up and stuffed it behind his head. The fresh air momentarily felt good on his forearms, and he longed to strip out of the remaining t-shirt, but he doubted Vanders would appreciate the smell. He seemed fresh as a daisy out of the shower. The shoes stayed on for now. He'd change socks in the morning.
His mind was blessedly blank when Vanders stirred the air with his admission. Jay frowned and slowly nodded. "You were a cop before the Legion, right?"
Cops probably didn't drive around listening to people scream in the distance, powerless to do anything. They were the boys in blue, knights in shining armor come to save the day. While these third world, jungle theaters could rip a man's soul to pieces until he learned to buffer out the horror and accept his commander's orders to sit tight and listen to hell be unleashed.
On some level, Jay wished for the good old days of army-on-army land wars. Where a king rode out in front of a line of soldiers to lay waste to another line of soldiers until the winner was the group least hacked to death. A man knew his enemy then.... the other banner. Africa, South America, whatever it was, war today felt like the good guys were battling barbarism itself. They hacked at women and children, the weak targets, as decoys or excuses, and were too cowardly to face a real line of soldiers. Gorilla warfare. Terrorism. Why couldn't there just be one evil in the world, with twisted minions and hordes of faithful practitioners to fight? How much simpler would it be then.
But that was fantasy.
"You'll get used to it. Or eventually you'll snap and go ape-shit crazy at the worst possible moment and get yourself discharged."
Jay opened his eyes, rolling his head toward Vanders. He couldn't say that's what happened to him, but maybe on some level, he wanted Jared to know he wasn't the only one.
Only darkness shows you the light.