forum Runner's Start (Private)

Started May 19, 2019 by Deleted user

tune

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"Never heard of them," he admitted, scooting the tiniest bit closer. His free hand reached up of his face as he turned back to the sky, gently touching the bump over his right eye. And old habit, it seemed.

"Then consider yourself lucky. She's got a mean streak and is paranoid beyond belief. It's only gotten worse over the years." She snorted. "Then again, I've met worse."

"I can't imagine the job being that easy," he said. "Give her a break. "

"She shares the job with four other Kings and Queens, and slowly drove her adoptive daughter to insanity because she didn't release her pent-up magic—for selfish purposes, mind you."

"Maybe I'm just not that judgemental," he admitted, scooting a bit closers once again.

She didn't move away, just watched him curiously. "I'm a New Yorker—being judgemental is in my blood," she joked.

"I don't really have a place where I'm from," he mused, tilting his head in thought. "American, I guess?"

"I just assume I'm from New York because that's the only place I can remember," she admitted. "I was put into the foster care system when I was just a newborn, so who knows where I'm actually from?"

"My mom spent a lot of time in Charleston, South Carolina. Never really knew why. She despises southern accents and refused to let me outside most of the time so that I wouldn't pick one up." A soft smile grew on his face as he let his mind sink into the memory for a moment, looking the calmest she'd ever seen him.

The corner of her lip curled up in a slight smile as she watched him. "She sounds amazing," she said, no hint of the twinge of jealously slipping through her voice, no matter how much her heart twisted. At least he had someone that cares about him. Sure, Tessa had Cin and the others, but it would be even better if she had biological family that cared about her as well.

"She tried her best to keep me away from what she was," he said, the smile fading slightly. "Even to the point where she didn't want me doing magic unless I absolutely had to, so I wouldn't draw as much attention from her enemies."

Tessa blinked, frowning. "From the standpoint of a child, that sucks. But from someone constantly hunted down for using magic…it makes sense," she said slowly, rolling onto her stomach and resting her head on her arms. Her eyes were trained on nothing in particular.

"It makes even more sense when you think about how unique my magic is. She always told me I had infinite potential." He rubbed his nose on his right forearm. "Now I understand what she means by that."

Tessa hummed in acknowledgement, not sure what to say about that. By now, she was used to all sorts of magic, but even Cinthia and the others had limits. Looking at Runner, it was hard for her to see any sort of unlimited power coursing through his veins, let alone the blood of Rhianon.

He glanced over at her and grinned slightly and her disbelieving look. "I take after my dad a bit more than Mom would like. From what I heard, he wasn't that bad of a sorcerer, either. One of the reasons why Mom loved him so much."

Tessa hummed again, reaching out in front of her and turning her arm over to look at the multiple scarred slashes. The jealously had shaped into nothingness, as what usually happened when people talked about their families.

"I'm boring you with all of this, aren't I?" he asked, returning his gaze to the sky.

"No," she said, tucking her arm back under her chin. "It's nice to listen for a change. I usually never shut up."

"Well, why not tell me a little about you past?" he asked, rolling onto his side to face her. "I've been blabbing on for half an hour now."

"If you think that's a lot, then you're in for a surprise if that's the topic you want me to talk about," Tessa said with a huff of laughter, idly drawing a random pattern into the loose dirt.

He shrugged, rubbing his nose once again. "I've always been more of a listener than a talker."

((I hope your sweet sixteen was better than mine))

She hummed and considered the pros and cons, then came up nearly empty for the cons. "Okay, then prepare for a sob story like no other," she said with a snort. She pushed herself up to a sitting position and tucked her legs beneath her as she tilted her head up towards the sky, staring directly at the sun. Her pupils turned to vertical slits in response to the direct sunlight.

"I've never met my parents until very recently, and even then it's been…It's been rough. My father is a complete dick, and my mother pretty much bows to my every whim to make me like her. I've got three siblings, but I only really know one. The other hates my very being, and the last one is oblivious to every wrong I've done." She rubbed at her caved in cheekbone as she continued. "Foster care will do that to some people, especially if you've been in it from birth for 16 years."

All Runner could really come up with was, "Hm." I mean, what else was he supposed to say? He isn't a psychiatrist, and he couldn't relate to anything she had said. Sure, him and his mom were separated for 8 years, but without any memory of it, it doesn't really affect him the way it would for anyone else.

((Ah, right. Well, happy birthday, whenever that was))

She flicked her gaze over at him with a quirked lip, more amused with his lack of a response than anything. "I told you we'd be here for a while, did I not?" she said. "Anyway, long and complicated story cut short, I was in 20 different homes by the time I was 16, and most of those years were spent on the streets."