Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Posted on Sat Apr 10th, 2021 @ 7:38am by Alden Loxley & James Thomson

Mission: Back in Black
Location: Alden's Room
Timeline: Day 26 - Late Afternoon

James had been waiting for Alden to enter his room all evening. Keeping his own hatch open the younger Ezran had waited by the ladders for any sign of Alden approaching. Whilst he'd waited he toyed around with the cube that Tristan had acquired for him, nervously rolling the metallic brick around in his hands as he pondered on how he was going to about this.

Once he'd left Tristan, James had found that he had no idea how he was going to explain the artifact's sudden appearance, much less why he was being so covert in his handover. It had to be just the two of them, he doubted he'd last more than five seconds under the scrutiny of the entire crew. He felt sick upon acknowledging that he was intentionally separating his cousin so he'd have a better chance of selling the story.

After about an hour or so he finally heard his cousin's approach, his footfall being distinct enough after years spent around one another. With a deep sigh he slowly began his ascent, feeling shame when he halted at the top, waiting breathlessly for Alden to enter his own space. With the sound of Alden's hatch sealing he released a breath, taking a moment to collect himself. He felt like a child again, scared to tell Alden he'd just broken his favourite record. "Idiot," he mumbled as he finished his climb, quickly making it to his feet and over to Alden's hatch.

Without giving it a moment's thought, James gently tapped his foot on floor, "Hey, Alden. You got a moment?" He asked concentrating on sounding like everything was fine.

Down in the privacy of his bunk, Alden threw his shirt onto his bunk and kicked off his boots. Shower time, and he'd been looking forward to this all day. Just as he was about to run the minute's worth of warm water, a familiar voice followed a light tippety-tap of heavy boots on metal decking. James.

"For you? Always," the older Ezran called back. Socked feet covered the distance towards his small metal desk space and Alden took a seat on the surface. "Hatch's unlocked." As it almost always was. "C'mon down, cuz," he said, gifting the younger man permission to enter.

James quickly dropped into Alden's space, a little too quickly causing him to stumble. He was quiet for a moment before turning to face his older cousin, searching his face as he thought about where to start. At a loss he pulled the cube from his jacket pocket and promptly held it out to Alden, struggling to meet his eyes.

"I have something I need to tell you..." He began, shifting slightly, "and you really ain't going to like it".

Force of protective habit reached out Alden's arm to grab and steady his younger cousin as James stumbled. Worry creased the elder man's features for a moment - quiet with James? Quiet thought and that guilty look he'd not been able to entirely hide since he was a little kid - always fired up that pit-of-the-stomach concern.

"Why do have THAT?" Alden immediately reacted with shock and anger, the darkness in his frown utterly serious. "What. Did. You. Do. James?"

"It's a long story," admitted James, head bowed for a moment then raised in order to boldly meet Alden's own. "And it's all my fault." He handed the cube to the elder Ezran and sighed with the weight of the Verse on his shoulders. "This... this isn't the cube we took from the grave on Hera. This is a replica..."

The look on Alden's face suggested he wanted to trade more than verbal blows, but he clenched both fists to his sides and mustered up the patience needed to hopefully get actual answers. "Okay..." he said on a confused and irritated exhale. "I think you better tell me everything."

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