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Familiar Skies
Jul. 4th, 2018 08:17 amWhat captivates him the most is how much of Tamriel is the same.
A different world and a different sky that looks so very much like Earth during the day. Jim's brought a small satchel with him this time and while Stratos works with patience and kindness through Felix's remedial sword and magic drills he's playing around in the dirt and soil. He tests the minerals in the rocks and dirt, taking note on anything he can't identify but there is shockingly little that isn't the same as his own world so far as the elements go. Perhaps a rarer mineral might set the worlds apart but this planet is not so different from Jim's own home.
On a rare clear summer night in Skyrim though it is impossible to mistake this world for Earth. Felix and Jim occasionally curl up together to watch the night sky but it's the first time Stratos has joined them, sitting off to the side on the blue cloth Felix has spread out on the hillside.
"That's the Apprentice right over us yeah?" There are so many fewer stars here. Jim can't fathom how empty the skies are but what is there is a tantalizing void of wonder he longs to explore as deeply as he does the recesses of his own galaxy. It hasn't take him long to learn the core constellations by heart. "That's the one that makes you stronger, right?"
"At magic, perhaps." Stratos' reply is quiet enough that Felix doesn't even sulk at not getting to answer first. He pulls Jim closer to him with an affectionate squeeze. Stratos continues stroking Tiber who's curled up in his lap while his own gaze is turned upward. "The Lord grants those born under it's influence physical health. The Apprentice deals with magical sensitivity. Both for gain and for ill."
Jim's studied every map of this Stratos and Felix could show him. This world couldn't be any geological iteration of Earth and its continents in the past. Yet it boasts an eerily near identical calendar year with its own names for the months. It's own astrological signs in the stars overhead. What is Sun's Height here is July back home. The seasons match up. As always the differences come when magic and its effects come back into the equation.
"Do you ever get folks waiting to have kids so they'll be born most likely under a specific constellation? Since they give people gifts?" He can tell he's asked another one of those questions folks don't really think about over here by the way Stratos hums in either thought or checked words he doesn't deem fit for this kind of quiet evening and by the way Felix hurries to fill the silence as though they'll seem silly for not having an answer.
"The stars don't give us that much power. It would be an awful lot of waiting around and planning with no guarantee."
Power from the stars, every planet and moon and rock the body of long dead gods who watch over this world. Jim feels small here in a similar way he does at home but it isn't knowing there's so much out there here in Tamriel. It's knowing that what lies beyond the sky is a power he doesn't comprehend. It grows late when they all head back to camp. Felix stops Stratos before they've parted ways for respective tents and murmurs something to him before the say their good nights and tonight it is.
---------
The green is a flowing blanket of grassy farmland in Iowa that clings to the muggy July air not unlike some of the warmer eves in Cyrodiil at their cousin Marcella's home. It's so much flatter here though much like Felix had done Stratos is more agog with the farmhouse than he is the empty fields surrounding it. Felix gives him the grand tour of the place without any of the fun stories of mischief that's been made in these rooms while they wait for Jim. It makes Felix feel knowledgeable and useful and he only lords his Earth-knowledge a little bit over his older brother's head.
Stranger even than the house to the Elder Caelus is the outfit his little brother is wearing. The blue button up shirt is crisp and smart even untucked from sleek black slacks and boots but it's so different from the cuts of their own clothes. But Felix can hardly wear his tunics and leathers in Yorktown. He wears them like he belongs. Some day soon he will.
"Sorry I'm late. I brought food!" Jim's arrival might not be announced via the PINpoint but he's loud enough to make up for it. His face curls into a fond smile seeing Felix and Stratos sitting on the couch. Having real family in this house still feels so strange. Not unwelcome though. "I'll have to get you a set of clothes to wear when you come to visit, Stratos. I doubt that skirt I gave you still fits now."
He laughs at the look the elder Caelus gives and for once the memories of his altered body do not leave Jim cold and aching at remembered bruises around his neck. They eat while the sun sets before heading out back to the picnic cloth spread out in the back yard next to the telescope Jim's set up for them.
At first the pinpricks of light are bright but few as the sun sets and twilight begins to fade. Jim points out the planets visible--Mars is exceptionally close this year and draws the eye toward it's reddish light. But it's when Jim stops talking and just turns his gaze upward that all conversation fades away. Stratos remembers well the glimpse he caught of the night's sky from beyond the viewscreen on the Enterprise's bridge but this....
Jim lets Felix eagerly show off what he's learned about some of the constellations of Jim's world, kicking back on the blanket with a beer in hand while Tiber explores the grass looking for bugs next to him. He used to hate this farm, all the memories that it held. While he may not hold any love for its past Jim isn't so sure the future needs to be so grim. Felix is bright and eager in his words while Stratos seems to have sunk into an awed shock looking at the sea of stars above them. They'll bother Jim soon enough for lessons on working the telescope but for now the captain is happy to just relax and take in a familiar sky.
A different world and a different sky that looks so very much like Earth during the day. Jim's brought a small satchel with him this time and while Stratos works with patience and kindness through Felix's remedial sword and magic drills he's playing around in the dirt and soil. He tests the minerals in the rocks and dirt, taking note on anything he can't identify but there is shockingly little that isn't the same as his own world so far as the elements go. Perhaps a rarer mineral might set the worlds apart but this planet is not so different from Jim's own home.
On a rare clear summer night in Skyrim though it is impossible to mistake this world for Earth. Felix and Jim occasionally curl up together to watch the night sky but it's the first time Stratos has joined them, sitting off to the side on the blue cloth Felix has spread out on the hillside.
"That's the Apprentice right over us yeah?" There are so many fewer stars here. Jim can't fathom how empty the skies are but what is there is a tantalizing void of wonder he longs to explore as deeply as he does the recesses of his own galaxy. It hasn't take him long to learn the core constellations by heart. "That's the one that makes you stronger, right?"
"At magic, perhaps." Stratos' reply is quiet enough that Felix doesn't even sulk at not getting to answer first. He pulls Jim closer to him with an affectionate squeeze. Stratos continues stroking Tiber who's curled up in his lap while his own gaze is turned upward. "The Lord grants those born under it's influence physical health. The Apprentice deals with magical sensitivity. Both for gain and for ill."
Jim's studied every map of this Stratos and Felix could show him. This world couldn't be any geological iteration of Earth and its continents in the past. Yet it boasts an eerily near identical calendar year with its own names for the months. It's own astrological signs in the stars overhead. What is Sun's Height here is July back home. The seasons match up. As always the differences come when magic and its effects come back into the equation.
"Do you ever get folks waiting to have kids so they'll be born most likely under a specific constellation? Since they give people gifts?" He can tell he's asked another one of those questions folks don't really think about over here by the way Stratos hums in either thought or checked words he doesn't deem fit for this kind of quiet evening and by the way Felix hurries to fill the silence as though they'll seem silly for not having an answer.
"The stars don't give us that much power. It would be an awful lot of waiting around and planning with no guarantee."
Power from the stars, every planet and moon and rock the body of long dead gods who watch over this world. Jim feels small here in a similar way he does at home but it isn't knowing there's so much out there here in Tamriel. It's knowing that what lies beyond the sky is a power he doesn't comprehend. It grows late when they all head back to camp. Felix stops Stratos before they've parted ways for respective tents and murmurs something to him before the say their good nights and tonight it is.
---------
The green is a flowing blanket of grassy farmland in Iowa that clings to the muggy July air not unlike some of the warmer eves in Cyrodiil at their cousin Marcella's home. It's so much flatter here though much like Felix had done Stratos is more agog with the farmhouse than he is the empty fields surrounding it. Felix gives him the grand tour of the place without any of the fun stories of mischief that's been made in these rooms while they wait for Jim. It makes Felix feel knowledgeable and useful and he only lords his Earth-knowledge a little bit over his older brother's head.
Stranger even than the house to the Elder Caelus is the outfit his little brother is wearing. The blue button up shirt is crisp and smart even untucked from sleek black slacks and boots but it's so different from the cuts of their own clothes. But Felix can hardly wear his tunics and leathers in Yorktown. He wears them like he belongs. Some day soon he will.
"Sorry I'm late. I brought food!" Jim's arrival might not be announced via the PINpoint but he's loud enough to make up for it. His face curls into a fond smile seeing Felix and Stratos sitting on the couch. Having real family in this house still feels so strange. Not unwelcome though. "I'll have to get you a set of clothes to wear when you come to visit, Stratos. I doubt that skirt I gave you still fits now."
He laughs at the look the elder Caelus gives and for once the memories of his altered body do not leave Jim cold and aching at remembered bruises around his neck. They eat while the sun sets before heading out back to the picnic cloth spread out in the back yard next to the telescope Jim's set up for them.
At first the pinpricks of light are bright but few as the sun sets and twilight begins to fade. Jim points out the planets visible--Mars is exceptionally close this year and draws the eye toward it's reddish light. But it's when Jim stops talking and just turns his gaze upward that all conversation fades away. Stratos remembers well the glimpse he caught of the night's sky from beyond the viewscreen on the Enterprise's bridge but this....
Jim lets Felix eagerly show off what he's learned about some of the constellations of Jim's world, kicking back on the blanket with a beer in hand while Tiber explores the grass looking for bugs next to him. He used to hate this farm, all the memories that it held. While he may not hold any love for its past Jim isn't so sure the future needs to be so grim. Felix is bright and eager in his words while Stratos seems to have sunk into an awed shock looking at the sea of stars above them. They'll bother Jim soon enough for lessons on working the telescope but for now the captain is happy to just relax and take in a familiar sky.
