[PRP] Sun Sets & Set Ups (Hayden & Jarett)

[Olivia Solace]

It was early afternoon, but one wouldn't gather with the days that had grown shorter. Only in a few hours time would the dark of night be upon them, and he would have to content once more with the glowing of the bottle. He was certain it glowed so brightly in the evening because it was scared of the dark around him, but it would have to soon learn to deal as he, being a creature of habit, slept during those hours. After all, running on little sleep was damaging to the father of two, and he needed every ounce of energy he could gather.

Hayden had his boys in tow with him that afternoon, like he did every afternoon, and was returning from a bit of grocery shopping for that night's dinner. He had decided to let the boys choose what they wanted and for some reason Canté was hell-bent on having grilled cheese with strips of bacon in the middle, and tomato soup with melted cheese. Benjamin didn't object, and Hayden actually thought it sounded rather tasty coming from a child whose preferred food stuffs were things with loads of sugar in them.

They walked down the road at a steady pace, each holding their share of the groceries. when Benjamin noticed a small well near where they were walking. The boy felt intrigued by it and quickly stammered over to it to peak down inside. As he did so Canté made a face and spoke up, "Benji get back here with Daddy! I'm too hungry for you to be playing games."  

[Rown]

He was told to go home for the day over the intercom, his boss not even taking the time to come down the stairs and dismiss him, leaving Jarett to wonder if the others thought the sorry state of his appearance lately meant he was diseased. He wasn't, naturally, but he felt like it recently thanks in part to what he tried to pass off as hallucinations. There was no way what he'd been seeing could have been considered real, there was no way things he'd left in one spot could appear next to him so easily.

Keeping all this in mind Jarett had brought the strange bottle with him to work, keeping it on his desk as a rather ornate paperweight. He liked the beautiful color scheme it presented to him, not to mention the sheer weight that kept things in place, and for a while he pondered if using it as a doorstop would be too presumptuous of him. If the heavy door had decided to swing back it would more than certainly crack the glass, and he didn't want to risk that. Now that the day was over the bottle was in the bag he carried over his shoulder, its round shaped bouncing into his hip as he walked along.

The sun was low and the sky was dim, perfect for him to not wear his sunglasses in should he so choose, but he pressed them over his pale eyes anyway as he set out. Dinner would have to be made quickly if he wanted to get some reading in before dark fully set, the idea of lighting candles a waste when there was no need to do so, and Jarett found his pace quickening as he tried to make menus in his head. Something light would be a salad, something heavy that was quick to make could be a stew. . .

He kept thinking like this, his hand pressed to his chin as he walked, until he came to a familiar passing in his route. It was a normal well, usually left alone, but this time there seemed to be a child standing near it. Jarett paused in his walking to see what was going on, a frown started on his face.  

[Olivia Solace]

Benjamin rolled his eyes at his brother's remarks, instead being more interested in the well before him. He had seen it before hundreds of times, and passed by it the same amount, but never had he actually taken an interest in it till now. He didn't have a very bright glowing bottle to chuck into it until now.

He turned to his father and brother who had stopped to wait for him to indulge his random curiosity when he addressed them, "Hey, if we chuck the bright shiny bottle down here do you think we'd be able to see the bottom of the well?"

Hayden shook his head at his son's hypothesis, wondering where exactly he got his crazy ideas from, because it certainly wasn't him. He placed the grocery bag he was holding on the ground to alleviate his arms and placed a hand on his hip as a sign that he wasn't exactly pleased with the extracurricular activities going on, but he was willing to tolerate it.

"I'm certain it would, Benjamin, but we won't be chucking the very bright, rather expensive glass bottle into the well, understand? After all you both picked it out as a gift for your mother, and what would she think if you decided to chuck her gift down into a well?"

Canté managed to pipe in some words in junction to his father's, "Besides! The bottle would just get angry and shine brighter! Than you wouldn't be able to see down into the well."

All this talk of chucking the glass bottle down into the well just made Hayden ever more the tired. He'd figure out a way to get that little glass container to stop shining so brightly eventually, even if it meant locking it in a closet.  

[Rown]

Glowing bottles getting tossed down wells? Children being hungry? This was beyond Jarett's scope of understanding, his head hurting from being tired as well as the bruise that clung to his temple like a kiss, but there was no way to really get past these people without being rude and pushing. It was even less possible now that the man had set his items down, and Jarett politely cleared his throat to get their attention.

If you're going to toss anything into the well I'm pretty sure it's against the law and a possibility of a fine may occur."

. . . that's not what he meant to say. What he meant to say was 'could you please move' followed by 'have a nice day' but it seemed like his mouth was moving before his brain was. At least his accent sounded good, today being popular for his strange brogue. He'd been working a bit harder than usual on this one, hoping to have it perfect the next it needed used - and it was just so.

"But if you're going to go all out and toss a bottle in, I have one as well you may throw away. It's not serving me well as a paperweight, and I'm rather interested in seeing what would happen."

He reached into his bag and pulled the monochrome bottle out, its smooth and cool surface spreading against his hands. He liked the feel of it, he liked the color of it, but he also liked watching parents get mildly annoyed when strangers suggest things to their children.  

[Olivia Solace]

Unfortunately for Jarett his plan to annoy Hayden with the suggestions to his children had backfired. Instead of the children being interested in the bottle he had just retrieved from his bag their father was the one who had made a quick bee-line to him, wanting to inspect the bottle in question. It was absolutely amazing, and almost exact duplicate to the shiny little bottle he had back home, except for what was going on in the inside.

"Most peculiar," Hayden muttered, probably creeping out the man before him with his intrigue,"I have a bottle exactly like this at home, save for the contents inside. Ours has this disturbingly bright light and I'm forced to lock it in a chest at night hoping no light escapes."

Canté wanted none of this, as he simply wanted to go home and have his grilled cheese and bacon sandwiches. He went to go grab his father's bags and wait there as his father indulged in his curiosities as his brother did.

Benjamin eventually made his way over to where his father was in inspect the bottle himself, nodding his head in agreement with his father's words, "Looks like our butt-warmer."  

[Rown]

". . .Butt-warmer?"

Jarett almost dropped his accent as he spoke with surprise over what the young man before him had said, though he was impressed with how he'd kept it going and managed to keep his tone even. He was doing his best to listen as well and get information, perhaps more of a clue as to what it was he had come to possess.

"And you say you have one that is quite similar and produces bright light? This one here does nothing of that sort, though it seem to find its way into high places where it proceeds to fall on me."

He was wondering if he should expect this body to try and blind him sometime soon, and if it were going to do so then it would clearly be in his best interests to get rid of it - now.

"Do you suppose this one will do the same thing, with light I mean?"