<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: guess what
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: you left your socks here? i know
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: fuck that's where they went
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: i washed them
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: i think they ended up under the sofa round 2
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: woops
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: thanks
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: but no lol i was gonna say i think i guessed it. the answer
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: ??
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: how you snuck up on me
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: did i?
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: yes! anyway doesn't matter.
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: oh. okay
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: kind of sounds like it does if you texted me abou tit
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: honestly i think i'm running on residual caffeine
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: have you considered water
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: coffee contains water
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: I'm turning fi loose on you
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: who?
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: oh
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: how much trouble am i in?
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: none if you don't know her
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: phew
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: i don't like being in trouble
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: you strike me as the type who likes trouble
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: there a difference between being in trouble and Being In Trouble
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: fair enough
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: i was gonna say you're definitely trouble but as I remember it you were in me
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: :fingerguns:
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: :)
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: what's the answer
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: oh lol i mean
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: :sparkles:
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: ????
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: oh my god i'm not *typing it out loud*
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: you aren't typing anything out loud
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: how do you know
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: :magicwand:
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: are youd runk?
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: i used my hands
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: i had a good time too
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: are you asking me out in a weird drunk way
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: wait are we even talking about the same thing
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: i'm not drunk
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: what answer are you asking for
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: are you not complimenting my dick game
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: oh my god if i was complimenting your dick game i would say 'damn, man, you were fucking great you should definitely fuck me again', which you really should
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: i am not fkn prudish about sex
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: didn't want to make you swoon or something
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: i was talking about socks earlier
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: all hot and sweaty around your ankles
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: no that's why i took them off
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: you can come over tho
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: get your socks
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: should i bring anything for my socks
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: peaches
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: actual peaches
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: fresh peaches?
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: yeah
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: but peaches come from a can.
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: no they don't??
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: they were put there by a man
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: ???
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: in a factory downtown
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: i guess
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: i thought there were like more stockyards and stuff
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: ugh okay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvAnQqVJ3XQ
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: that's kind of catchy i guess
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: i will bring peaches. are you expecting like 5, 10, or a hundred?
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: surprise me
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: i think it's going to be v difficult to do that
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: but i'll try
<TXT> From Ji-Ho to Gareth: ok just text me when you're at the building
<TXT> From Gareth to Ji-Ho: *some time later* okay hi i have peaches for socks
Gareth turns up at the door of Ji-Ho's apartment with a large string bag of exactly 14 peaches, and weirdly he's also balancing a couple of starbucks cups. "Peach ice tea," he explains when Ji-Ho opens the door, thrusting one towards him. "Surprise?"
"I'm surprised." Ji-Ho takes the tea -- both cups, actually -- before handing one back to Gareth and reaching for the bag instead. "Wait, this is more helpful." He takes the _bag_ and _one cup_ and brings them to the counter of the teeny lil' kitchenette to set them down next to the nicely folded socks. "Kind of expected you to end up at the door ass-first. Guess I was wrong!"
"Oh, *peaches*," laugsh Gareth after a moment. "Well, I didn't want to assume. I thought it was a fair exchange, clean socks for peaches," he says with a shrug. "Thanks. For looking after them." He seems to honestly mean it as he steps inside, carefully shutting the door behind him once the juggle of peaches and cups is done.
Ji-Ho leans back against the counters and drinks his tea. He gives Gareth a sliver of a smile over the rim. "It's definitely not a fair exchange. I didn't realize they weren't mine until I was folding them. Thanks, though." He pauses, then says -- _resigned_ -- "I just really like peaches."
Gareth shrugs at Ji-Ho, sipping at his own tea. "Well, it's an exchange. I guess it doesn't need to be fair."
Ji-Ho snorts audibly. "I'm gonna eat a peach or two, but if you wanna maybe--." He points back over his shoulder. "You didn't have to get weird in your texts."
"Okay, I actually don't know what you're asking," Gareth says warily. "Sorry. I didn't *mean* to get weird."
"If you wanna flash some ankle. Skim some socks. Magic wand. Sparkle fingers." Ji-Ho wiggles his fingers, which do not at all look sparkly.
"Okay those were two very different conversations," Gareth points out wryly. "Look I'm just gonna go sit on your couch with my tea and try and untangle this conversation somewhere along the way."
"Okay. Good luck." Ji-Ho follows after a moment. First he washes the peaches -- all of them, like he is gonna plow through a whole bag and doesn't want to stop to wash each one -- and then he sets them in a bowl to drip-dry over the sink. Then he follows.
Gareth eyes Ji-Ho as he washes the peaches, flopping back onto the couch and slurping at his tea, dropping his head back onto the cushions. "The tea's good tho."
"Yeah, thanks. I did a really good job holding it." Ji-Ho takes credit for the tea that he had no hand in creating or producing and gives Gareth a sly look over his shoulder. "So tell me about the two conversations?"
"Best tea holder in Chicago," Gareth confirms, grinning wryly. "Well, in one of the two conversations I alluded to the fact that *someone* has clued me in to the ooooooooh," he says, wiggling the fingers of his free hand. "And in the other conversation I was telling you that you were a great fuck and I'd like to do it again some day."
Ji-Ho takes a nice, long sip of his tea. "Ooooh?" he asks with eyes slightly narrowed.
"Fuck I don't know what to call it. The Accords?" Gareth says carefully. "Fuck was I wrong?" he suddenly realises, going pale.
"Oh, man, that'd be super awkward if you were." Ji-Ho looks at Gareth with a fascinated expression as he leans forward and asks -- like he really, really doesn't get it -- "What makes you think I have any idea of what you are talking about?"
"Urgh, well. There was the whole... thing in the park," Gareth says with wave of his hands. "And since everyone *else* is in on it..."
"Fuck I don't know what to call it. The Accords?" Gareth says carefully. "Fuck was I wrong?" he suddenly realises, going pale.
"Oh, man, that'd be super awkward if you were." Ji-Ho looks at Gareth with a fascinated expression as he leans forward and asks -- like he really, really doesn't get it -- "What makes you think I have any idea of what you are talking about?"
"Urgh, well. There was the whole... thing in the park," Gareth says with wave of his hands. "And since everyone *else* is in on it..."
"Oh, the park. So what do _you_ think is going on, then?" Ji-Ho asks, pulling a knife from a drawer to MURDER GARETH FOR HIS KNOWLEDGE. No, j/k, he applies to a different kind of peach and cut the peach in half to remove the stone and then slice.
"Fuck, Ji-Ho. I mean," Gareth looks uncomfortable, eyeing the knife for a moment as he shifts on the couch. "I have no fucking idea. Supernatural shit, that's about as far as I've been told. And really, sure, I'm gonna do my research and learn about it, but everyone just wants to live their lives, right? I'm not trying to cause trouble, you know?"
Ji-Ho pauses ... and then starts on another peach. TWO PEACH PLATE. "What _do_ you know, then? I'm not asking for any names, mind you. But."
"Uh. Well, I know that I feel like I should have just kept my mouth shut but I've never been good at that," Gareth mutters into his tea. "But uh... werewolves and ghosts are real, as is magic, and-" he waves his fingers in the air ooooooh spooky. "Other supernatural things that uh, are 'left behind' to replace someone and sometimes those someones come back. And really that's it, that's the limit of my knowledge."
"A fetch," Ji-Ho says, which is maybe the first time he's been more or less direct that he knows what Gareth is talking about. He brings the plate of peaches over, as well as his iced tea, and he folds into a seat with one leg drawn up beneath him. "Do you know who leaves the fetch there, and where the people they are replaced go?"
"Oh," is Gareth's response, relief entering his face for a moment that Ji-Ho's not going to call him insane. He shakes his head at the question. "No. I don't."
Ji-Ho takes a slice of peach. Then another. "Mm'kay, well. Where do you _think_ they go?"
Gareth sips his tea and then puts the cup down. "I hadn't got that far, to be honest. It's what, day 3 of me learning that this shit is real? I'm still processing its existence."
"Okay." Ji-Ho leans back, watching Gareth with thoughtful, narrowed eyes. He seems unusually focused: neither distracted nor -- let's be honest -- weird. Just. Focused. "Let me put it this way. The people who leave the fetches behind are powerful, and like all powerful people, they think they are the masters of their own little worlds. They get pretty unhappy when people leave. And the people who leave are always at risk of being discovered, and the powerful people finding and taking them again."
Gareth watches Ji-Ho just as intently back, clearly listening. He pales, swallowing hard before nodding. "I get it. That its dangerous. For them, more than me, I guess." He gives a small quirk of his lips. "I've had the shovel talk, at least, the 'you *cannot* tell anyone' one," he says, his lips thinning. "I guess I reached out to you 'cause I was pretty sure that you were involved? And I felt guilty that I knew but you didn't know. That I knew." His eyes cross as he tries to resolve that.
"I have gotten extremely off the wrong foot with people who know things before I tell them, so -- I guess I appreciate it." Ji-Ho gives Gareth a bit of a look of muddled confusion, then admits, "Mostly I just hang out with my own kind of people and like -- we can all tell each other apart at a glance. We see things you don't. So you don't have to _explain_ in the same way."
Gareth nods slightly at Ji-Ho. "Whereas I have to like... explain that I know and *guess* in the vain hope that I'm right, because I guess you can't tell just by looking at me, huh?" he says with a wry smile. "Well, I guess you can tell that I'm... not." He waves his fingers. "It feels rude to say that 'I'm a human', is it?" he asks Ji-Ho cluelessly.
"I can tell you're not _something_, but there's a lot of other kinds of weird. And yeah, _Gareth_, saying _you're a human_ is kind of _rude_. I'm not gonna protest the next time someone calls you part of the herd, or a snack pack." Ji-Ho lowers his eyes to the plate of peaches. Is he joking about snack pack?? About HERD?! Who knows.
"Ugh that's the second time someone's called me *Herd*," Gareth grouches, glaring at Ji-Ho. "And I *said* it felt rude, jeez, I was just *asking* so I don't put my foot in it. Look, man, I didn't even come over to get this deep into conversation about it. I just wanted to give you the heads up that I'm one step above completely clueless, that's all," he mutters, crossing his arms defensively.
Setting his tea down, Ji-Ho reaches out to Gareth with his un-peachy hand to fluff his hair as he crosses his arms and glares. "Aww, lookit you, you good lil' humie-herd."
"Oh my god you're awful," Gareth says, his mouth falling open as he realises he's been caught out. "You're as bad as... as me!"
"Let's not get carried away." Ji-Ho continues to fluff at Gareth's hair, pushing and pulling and teasing the strands as he tousles and tugs. "Only one of us in this conversation is _herd_."
"Firstly, fuck you," Gareth says, though the fight *rapidly* goes out of him as Ji-Ho pulls at his hair. "...doesn't that make you into bestiality?" he points out. There's some logic in there. Deep inside.
"You're not that much of a beast. You're pretty domesticated." Ji-Ho's eyes sharpen with brighter human as he watches the way Gareth grows malleable under his touch. He draws his head to the side, and then back. He pulls him around, just because he can. "I'm not one to think we're _better_, anyway. I think it's more ... mmm. Xenophile?"
"Yes it's true I'm housebroken," Gareth says, tugged from one side to the other without fighting it. Aww he's like a scruffed kitten. "Hrm..." he considers, his lips turning sharply upwards in amusement at whatever thought he just had. He doesn't voice it, watching Ji-Ho with curiosity.
"What?" Ji-Ho prods, investigating the quirk of Gareth's lips with the line of his gaze.
"It's super-offensive, I'm not gonna say it," Gareth retorts.
"Say it." Ji-Ho pulls on Gareth's hair, drawing him closer.
Gareth squeak as he's tugged closer. "I was just gonna say, does that make me a monster-fucker," he allows resentfully. "But it's offensive because it makes it sound like I think you're a monster. Which I don't."
Ji-Ho, rather than look offended, laughs. It's a little -- haha -- dark. "You have no idea what I really look like, you know. Anyway, what makes a monster? You might need to figure out your answer to that sooner rather than later if you're gonna try and move in these circles."
"I *refuse* to get philosophical about it. I've met monsters and they've been as ordinary as me," Gareth says with a shake of his head. Or at least, he tries to shake his head. He doesn't do very well at it. "Oh huh, you look *different* than I see?" he asks, curiosity perked, squinting at Ji-Ho like he could see through him. He cannot. "Huh!"
Quiet a moment, Ji-Ho's grip eases on Gareth's hair. He thumbs his cheek bone, fingers curling along the shell of his very human ear. "They change you," he says.
Gareth's eyes widen at Ji-Ho's tone, watching him closely now, head tilting into the touch. "Oh," he says intelligently.
Expression tilting toward melancholy, Ji-Ho says, "They change you, and then sometimes you change yourself. I traded who I was for the chance at freedom." His hand falls away, reaching back for the tea. "There's a mystery for you to hunt: a missing persons case where you don't know their name or what they looked like."
Gareth leans back into the couch, shivering into himself. "Oh," he says again, hugging his empty cup to himself. "I... yeah. Wow." He falls silent, mulling it over.
"Peaches are good, though." Ji-Ho's lips tilt as he finishes the tea, grabs the plate, and pulls it up between them. "You gonna have any?"
"I didn't get them for me," Gareth says, his voice subdued as he looks at the plate and then Ji-Ho. "But if you're offering..." he says, reaching out for a slice of peach.
"I'm not some kind of a _monster_, Gareth." Ji-Ho's smile is toothy. "Of course I'm going to share."
Gareth rolls his eyes at Ji-Ho. "Some people don't like to share *food*, you know," he points out, pointedly nomming the slice of peach, likely getting his fingers all sticky.
"If I wasn't going to share my food, I wouldn't slice it nicely, put it on a plate, and bring it over to you. I'd eat it over the sink like some kind of horribly gremlin, clutching it with two hands and devouring it," Ji-Ho explains like a reasonable person.
"Maybe you only eat sliced peaches and you wanted to eat them while sat here next to me," Gareth retorts easily, falling into the banter as he relaxes on the couch.
"It's true. I only eat peaches sliced with a silver blade harvested beneath the light of a full moon. All other peaches are going to send me into a spiral of toxins." Ji-Ho reaches for another slice of peach and says, "Good thing you brought me fool moon peaches."
"Welp I guess you're going to die becasue I'm pretty sure that was a stainless steel knife," Gareth says lightly. He doesn't know. He wasn't paying attention to the metal. "I'll give you a full moon," he mumbles, under his breath.
"Mm, you did. You will." Ji-Ho agrees with humor, unbothered. "How _would_ you go about finding the name of someone who doesn't know their name, though?"
"Yes boss," Gareth tells Ji-Ho with a wry smile. "Well, that's an interesting question. And if they didn't know what they looked like, that's harder. If you had a sense of.. hm, when and where? It could be used to narrow it down. *possibly* you could use DNA tracing but..." he trails off, considering Ji-Ho carefully. "I honestly don't know if... it would work. And I also probably wouldn't want to risk putting their DNA on... a systemm, you know? Just in case."
"That sounds like an 'I dunno' to me." Ji-Ho sighs. Only peach slices can console him. They disappear, nom nom nom, as he sits in thoughtful quiet. and considers Gareth's failures.
"It's an 'i dunno'," agrees Gareth. "But not an 'it's impossible'. I'd just need some time to dig." He pauses, looking over at Ji-Ho. "If you *explicitly* ask me to. I got here by sticking my nose into things without complete permission, so. You tell me. Do you want me to dig?"
"I -- mm." Ji-Ho looks down at the plate, which has become empty in ways that are mysterious to him, and stands up to collect the plate and empty cups and take them in to DEAL WITH. "No," he says from the lil' bitty kitchen. "I need more to give you. I got nothin'."
"If you want, I can give you a list of questions that would be helpful to have answers to, partial or otherwise," Gareth says with a shrug of one shoulder. "And if you're able to fill any of them in, send em to me and I'll look," he offers.
"What would be _on_ the list?" Ji-Ho asks, curious. "Ooh, this is like twenty questions, but _me_."
"Honestly? Any memories at all. Any sense memories, feelings of familiarity when you taste or smell something. Maybe you really liked peaches, or grew up with a peach orchard," Gareth says with a wry smile, gesturing to the plate. "Your accent isn't completely Chicago native, that could give hints as to where to look, or which families to look into." He hesitates, leaning over the back of the couch. "Questions I'd normally ask that probably won't be helpful here are around physical attributes, birthmarks, any previous broken bones, that sort of thing. But uh..." he trails off. "Not as uh.... useful." He looks abashed. "Sorry."
"No, not really. I feel as though you would have to relearn your craft entirely to address the particulars of the strangeness you'll find among the Lost and the rest of the Accords," Ji-Ho says, rinsing his hands clean and coming back with a wet paper towel to toss at Gareth. "Sticky fingers," he explains. DON'T PUT YOUR STICKY FINGERS ON HIS CHEAP FURNITURE.
"Well, I guess I'll just have to relearn it," Gareth says, a tad stubbornly. "I like to be useful, you know. And I feel like I can be useful here in ways that might actually make me *useful*." That makes perfect sense to him. He catches the paper towel, wiping his fingers with them before rolling it up, sticky side in.
"Maybe," Ji-Ho agrees, and this time he drops down into a seat next to Gareth, closer, and reaches to haul him into his lap with a grip on his thigh to pull him across. "You're actually taking this all pretty well."
Gareth oofs as he's pulled into Ji-Ho's lap, relaxing against the Changeling cushion as he considers it. "I'm not sure I am ," he admits quietly. "I mean... trying to fix things, to solve them, it's a coping mechanism. I basically didn't sleep for three days as I tried to work it all out and broke down on a friend who very *very* kindly explained things to me. Sort of." He takes a breath, looking up at the ceiling. "I hit Darwin on the nose with a newspaper," he adds. "Turns out the time he saved my life, the one I don't remember? Is because he pulled me out of a scrap between two werewolf packs that I got in the middle of and I don't remember any of it because of, y'know. Stuff. So - I guess I've been in this a lot longer than I thought."
"You _hit him on the nose with newspaper_?" Ji-Ho stares at Gareth and then at the ceiling and he mutters something that sure sounds like, "Why haven't I tried that," which is not promising at all for future Darwin-trolling.
"Don't you dare steal my ideas," Gareth mutters, poking Ji-Ho in the chest.
"Oh, your _idea_. You think it's a _good idea_," Ji-Ho says with just a hint of the incredulous in his voice.
"I think that I got away with it because I'm me," Gareth counters with a wry smile. "And then I felt incredibly bad about it after I was done being angry."
"You should." Ji-Ho tilts his head to the side as he studies Gareth. "And he shouldn't let you get away with it. There are some who might take your arm off, and -- it's not always something people can laugh about."
"He's my best friend, Ji-Ho," Gareth points out, voice low. "I wouldn't have done it to anyone else *or* where anyone else could see."
"Okay, well. He's a big boy, then. He can handle it. Don't tell him I said anything nice." Ji-Ho gives Gareth's side just a lil' pinch.
"As long as you don't tell him you know I bopped him with a newspaper," counters Gareth, trying to eel away from the pinch. "noooo"
"Wow, that was the least convincing--." Ji-Ho pinches again, from the other side, in the least bruising pinch to ever pinch. He pinch-pinches Gareth from both sides, listening to the noises he makes with a rapidly growing expression of humor.
Gareth squeaks this time, trying to get away from both hands. He's totally ticklish, with basically no padding to stop Ji-Ho. He wriggles backwards, moments from toppling off Ji-Ho's lap and thus the couch.
Ji-Ho solves this by toppling Gareth off his lap and into the corner of the couch, and they stop talking about Darwin for a while.
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