Product Placement
Peter Solarz
cherry valley forever
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@theartofmadeline
Cosimo Galluzzi
we're not kids anymore.
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
todays bird
pixel skylines
Janaina Medeiros
Claire Keane
Game of Thrones Daily
One Nice Bug Per Day
Cosmic Funnies
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
dirt enthusiast
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Monterey Bay Aquarium
Mike Driver
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@jacobasterbunny
cestrumblue:
“He is. Kenny has never had a malicious thought for anybody.” That was his own, anyway. Cestrum was never sure about what Kenny’s voices told him. “He will be there for you, if you need him.”
“Well it’s worked out so far. It’s been a couple of weeks and all, it’s good.” Jacob shrugs sitting back on the bench with a small sigh. “It’s sort of been a wild ride for the last while.”
Worrying
bettysnooze:
She knew there would be a lot of waiting now, waiting for Jacob to understand, to become comfortable with her again, to remember. She wondered if he ever would. Betty gave a small smile. “Yes, that’s a good place to start. You can trust me,” she said quietly. “You don’t have to yet, I know this must be very strange but…you can trust me,” she added with a nod. “Is there anything I should take note of? Things that might make you uncomfortable?”
Jacob shrugged. “I imagine you probably know better than me if we are family like I’ve been told.” he says with a small shrug. “I don’t...I’m alright really, it’s been a couple of weeks now. I’m not living where I used to, I’m staying with a guy called Kenny? And Lola is trying to fix it apparently. Nothing really...important I don’t think.”
Beach trip
whatxverlolawants:
“I think he did… I mean, I don’t know for sure, I never told you and we never really talked about it, but I don’t think he had any reason not to tell you.” Lola had never asked Jake, because she didn’t want to talk about Kenny’s condition behind his back, or without his permission.
“Yeah, you’re in line to be the next Guardian of Hope.” She told him, specifically opting not to mention that it was also the role of the Easter Bunny. “The Guardian of Hope is one of those responsible for looking out for all the children of the world, protecting them from evil and making sure that hope stays alive in their hearts.” She explained. “That’s about right, you love a good workout… did you want to go to the gym sometime? We could… go together, if you want.”
Jacob hums absently thinking of the strange friend he was living with before shaking his head. He’d had many opinions on the kid, so he trusted that he would be good to hi, no matter his state of mind.
“And what sort of things does the guardian of hope do?” he asked her. He wondered about his memories, would he have to start thinking of something else to do? Would he have to start actually living a different life if Lola didn’t figure out how to break the curse? He did sigh very lightly pushing his body backwards so that he could lay on the blanket they shared. “I suppose so? I didn’t realise I had a membership somewhere? But I suppose I do huh?”
Beach trip
whatxverlolawants:
Lola shrugged. “He didn’t tell you? Well, he’s not that odd, considering… he promised me he’d tell me if the voices wanted him to do anything bad.” She was concerned about it, but Kenny was an adult. She wouldn’t make him seek help unless there were signs he might hurt himself or others.
“You were never lazy,” she disagreed, sitting down on the towel next to him again. “And I’m pretty sure you know every language in the world as it is, that’s a lot to know already. You just didn’t want to spend a lot of time learning something you wouldn’t use, since you already know what you’re going to do. The only reason you even came to University is because I was going and we wanted to live together.” She explained, Jake had never said as much but it was what she’d always figured. “Besides, you spent so many hours at the gym everyday, I don’t think you wanted to spend that time studying instead.”
“If we’re supposed to be such good friends before all this memory stuff right? Do you think he told me about it before?” he wondered. Maybe it was something that Lola had figured out one day and taken a vow of silence about it.
“I already knew what I was going to do?” he wondered aloud before going quiet. The decision to study at all had been so that they could be together? That was...certainly something. But he couldn't deny that the more time he spent with Lola the more he did like her, he could see himself with her how she described. It was awkward however, she was being so careful around him, and it would be strange to...like...someone who loved another version of you. “The gym explains the eight pack then right?” he says looking down at himself.
Beach trip
whatxverlolawants:
Lola had never paused to wonder if his skin could burn, but the sun was damaging anyway so she figured the sunscreen couldn’t hurt him. She giggled when Jake echoed her thoughts about Kenny, and she finished up with his back, wiping her hands on a towel as she stood up.
“Well, his father was known as the Mad Hatter.” She explained, that was why Kenny was so focused on semantics. “Tell me if he does anything too weird… he’s had a handle on the voices for a while but I still like to check up on him now and then.” She worried about him, even if she didn’t voice it often. “Yeah, I think you just wanted a major you could ace. But you met Kenny there, so it was worth it.”
Jacob looked up at her as she stood above him speaking. The news about voices in Kennys head was certainly just that news. Jacobs brows furrowed as he thought about it. “He has voices in his head? He hadn’t seemed that odd to me.” he comments with a frown.
He nods quietly again, looking out over the beach they’d come to. “So I used to be quite Lazy then...not wanting to learn anything new.” he speaks. His impression of the Jacob that they’d lost was mixed. Some said he was kind, but a lot also said he’d never smiled and seemed grumpy all the time. He had a six pack, but yet he was told of the multiple naps he’d take and apparently his ‘easy a’ major.
cestrumblue:
“Ah, yes, I know him. Quite well, actually,” he said with a single nod. “The Hatters and Alice are central characters in our story. There would be no Wonderland without them, I would say.”
“He seems like a good enough guy.” Jacob comments glancing at the other boy for confirmation. Seeing the other as an outside opinion he can trust as he hadn’t seemed to know Jacob very well anyway.
Worrying
bettysnooze:
Her eyebrows rose slightly at the use of third person, to refer to himself. Betty paused again, lowering her gaze to their feet so she could think. None of this felt right, all she wanted to do was find whoever cursed him and make them change him back – but she also knew she couldn’t just leave him like this. It felt so wrong watching Jacob act like the brother she knew no longer existed.
“Well…I’ve known you for a long time. If you have any questions or…if you wanted to know anything, anything at all…I’ll answer them for you. We…we don’t lie to each other,” she added softly, almost hesitating to mention it.
He looked across the small girl next to him. How was the other Jacob friends with so many small people? Small, nice, and kind people. He didn’t understand as so many people avoided him he supposed because of either his size, the tattoos or they knew him from before. He knew he was described as unapproachable by some in the other Jacobs classes.
“...” it made him uncomfortable to know that this was yet another person who knew him very much more than he even knew himself at the moment. But over the last few weeks he’d been getting used to the idea. And at this point he’d take any help. “We don’t lie...okay...I guess I’ll keep going with that?”
cestrumblue:
“I…was once cursed,” he said slowly. And the person who cursed him had been Lola, but he highly doubted she would curse her own boyfriend. Then he heard who Jacob was living with. “Oh, really? I might know them,” he said, waiting for Jake to reveal who it was, though he already had an idea.
“Kenny Hatter.” He told the caterpillar. “I imagine you know him if you know of wonderland, everyone I ask about wonderland has mentioned the hatters or an Alice. I’m not sure the reason but there’s that.”
Worrying
bettysnooze:
Betty continued to feel at a loss on what to do to help Jacob, but now there was an overwhelming sense of pity too. It was hard not to, though she fought it off as much as she could. She knew Jake didn’t like being pitied now, she assumed he wouldn’t like it either in his current state.
“…if you don’t want to go to classes, you don’t have to,” she said, quiet but firm. “In a situation like this…you need to take your time. Do the things that would make you feel comfortable. So…unless you like going to class and find comfort in that, then I don’t think you need to go to class,” Betty decided, with a short nod.
He looked up at her and blinked. “I don’t really know what else I’d do with my time.” he admits. “I already skipped so many of his classes.” he adds referring to this other Jacob as another person entirely. “But all I’d do all day was wait for someone who knew what was happening to stop by, that’s when I started going out of the apartment...but...I can’t really remember where anything is.”
Beach trip
whatxverlolawants:
Lola stood up once he was finished, moving around behind him to take her turn smoothing the sunscreen over his muscular back, reminding her body to be good while she was touching him. This was purely professional, health-related touching, she told herself even as her stomach twisted.
“I don’t think you ever did meet her, actually. I only met her once, at a clothing store. She was odd.” She didn’t want to say bad things about Kenny’s ex, so she left it there, even knowing Kenny could be a little odd himself. “How are your classes? That professor still giving you a hard time?” She knew that Jake had used to like correcting one of his professors back when he had his memories, and that professor always gave him a hard time, only now Jake had no memory of why.
He sat still as she ran her hands over his back. He was fine with it for ow. He recognised that this was so that he didn’t burn, though hearing about his healing factor he wondered if he even could burn in the sun.
Jacob nods. “Kenny can be a little...odd.” he responds not realizing that he’s echoed her thoughts exactly. “Though he calls it ‘madness’ when I ask about it.” he adds with a shrug, shoulders moving under her hands. “A bit, but I find it easy because apparently I already knew the language and language wasn’t one of the things taken from my memory, so it’s not too bad...”
Beach trip
whatxverlolawants:
The way he touched her skin sent a shiver up her spine, making her crave more contact. She missed little touches like that, the way he would touch her back or her leg whenever she was close enough. She leaned into his touch before she could stop herself, her body responding to his automatically, instinctively.
“I never liked her,” Lola admitted. She’d never said as much to Kenny, but she rarely liked her siblings’ significant others and Kenny was probably as close to her as her siblings were. “She was never good enough for him. Is he very upset? Aside from the break up music.”
He pulled his hands away from her once he wad one, noticing the way she lent back and beating a hasty retreat before things got too strange for them both. He wasn’t opposed to the contact as he might have been weeks ago, but it was still a sort of strange feeling to know she knew him so much better than he knew her.
“He doesn’t seem too...upset about it. He’s quietr than before though, but maybe that’s just around me. I’d never met her...or...don’t remember meeting her, so I was no use to talk to.” he tells her.
Beach trip
whatxverlolawants:
Lola finished putting her sunscreen everywhere she could reach, then she moved closer to him, kneeling next to him and pulling her hair forward over her shoulder to expose her back.
“What’ve you and Kenny been up to lately?” She asked, although it seemed weird to make small talk with him. Normally she’d know everything going on in his life, he’d text her about anything out of the ordinary and they’d talk about everything. Or, sometimes she’d just talk and he’d listen. She missed knowing what was going on with him, she missed living with him and sharing their lives. She even felt guilty coming here today, knowing that she should be working on a cure.
It was almost unconscious the way he reached for her back as she got closer. Running his hands gently over her skin as she moved her hair to the side. He’d catch himself frowning at the odd moment before deciding that it was probably something automatic he used to do.
“Kennys sort of girlfriend moved away and didn’t tell him...or at least that’s the impression I get from all the break up songs he’s been playing.” Jacob told her. He knew Kenneth hadn’t said anything to her himself, but it was hard to hide that stuff from someone you lived with.
cestrumblue:
“Jacob Edmund Aster. At least you know your name, Jacob Edmund Aster,” he said, with a single nod. Cestrum waited patiently, moving no part of his face though his eyebrows did rise a fraction. “Do you want to try to explain? I don’t mind. I don’t even mind if you are, as you say, messed up.” He paused, looking out to the town. “I come from Wonderland. Everyone’s mad there.”
“I don’t really know if I can explain well enough. Something about a curse, memories gone.” he says vaugly. He glances at the other and mentions. “I’m living with someone from wonderland, or at least that’s where he says he’s from.” he wasn’t living with Lola for the time being, for one the apartment only had one bed, and another was that it felt like a lot of pressure to live with someone who loved another version of you.
Worrying
bettysnooze:
“You really were.” Are? “But a lovable grumpy old man,” she added, chuckling. Betty took the phone, her eyebrows rising slowly. She immediately went ahead to find the photos, scrolling through the promised pictures of herself and the rest of the Guardian children. Their family. Betty pressed her lips together, and handed him back the phone. “…how are you feeling? With all of this?” she asked.
She asked him about how he was feeling and he looked at her with an almost lost expression. “I suppose tired? I go to the classes because no one wants the old me to fall behind if I get my memories back, everyone is introducing themselves and waiting for me to...click back to remembering them or something. They babied me for a while, but gave up on that pretty quickly.” he spoke.
cestrumblue:
Jacob had lost his memory. Cestrum didn’t know what to think. He effectively stopped working the same time Jake put his head in his hands. All the caterpillar could do was stare. Stare, and come to the understanding that something terrible had happened to his friend.
But he wouldn’t leave him. Not now.
“Jacob. You don’t sound sure,” he said, keeping his voice indifferent. “You don’t look like an Edward. You have the look of an…” Cestrum tilted his head, narrowing his eyes. “Edgar. Or… Edmund.”
“No I mean...it’s definitely Jacob.” he began not realizing that his first name was not under question until Cestrum kept speaking. As soon as he heard it he remembered Lola telling him the night of the dance what his full name was.
“Edmund. Jacob Edmund Aster.” he repeats back to himself staring at the floor. “I’m sorry.” he says finally. “I’m a bit...messed up right now. I...” he didn’t want to have to explain, not when he’d been having such a nice time being...normal.
cestrumblue:
“I suppose there comes a time in every being’s life when they feel renewed. I, myself, will have that time come one day,” he shrugged. Still leaning back, giving Jake his space, Cestrum paused and watched him for a moment longer before attempting something else.
“I am Cestrum Blue. Who…are you?” he asked slowly.
Maybe it was an odd way of saying it but Jacob rather agreed, at least for right now. Though from the stories he’s heard he’s already had some sort of renewal before.
“I am Jacob Eh...Edward? Aster.” he responds. And then his head is in his hands. He couldn’t remember his own middle name. He knew the first -everyone called him it after all- and the last was easy enough when he went to classes and they called him by that. But...no one but Lola had said his middle name.
cestrumblue:
Cestrum paused to think. He made a humming noise of acknowledgment to let Jake know he’d heard him. They had walked past this place before, he was sure of it. It was on the way to the gym Jake had brought him to once or twice.
“You ought to buy a map,” he said. Jake’s situation was becoming more and more clear. “Are you new here?”
“I feel new here.” he responded. “So yeah I guess so. I’m staying in a new place than before so I’m trying to get it all right in my head.” he speaks.
It’s nice actually he thinks, to speak to someone who wasn’t pushing him for answers or questioning him for information he didn’t remember. Expecting him to know who they were or be like he was before he was cursed.