Closed | Gansey & Ronan

[un_wir_greywaren]

Who: Ronan Niall Lynch, Richard Gansey III
What: Home Sweet Home Away From Home
Where: Noah Czerny Drive
When: Arrival Day August 15th
Synopsis: The boys find their way to the new home away from home and get a surprise they are not expecting.

~*~

Ronan can't stop staring at the sign on the fence leading down a familiar path. His heart thudding wildly in his chest because he knows he knows this isn't right. It's wrong. It's not real and it's so very real. He's a dreamer and he knows when he's awake. He knows the dreams are real in another world kind of way that he can't explain to anyone. But this is different. This is...it's a different kind of magic than what he dreams. A different power. It's...it's...

"It's home." He knows it's not. He knows. But he can't help feeling like he's got one foot in The Barns back home even while he's opening the gate to the drive leading to the biggest lie ever created. It's home and it's not. It's real only because he knows this isn't a dream. "Gansey..."

There aren't words for what he's feeling and he has no idea how he will feel walking down this road. Other than pissed, obviously, because he's not driving down it in the BMW or the Pig.

Comments

[affection_for_research]

Standing beside Ronan, he wasn't sure what to think. The land around the Barns stretched out before them. It looked the same as it had when they'd visited it a few days ago, but Gansey knew that it had to be an illusion. Or a facsimile. It wasn't the Barns. Not the Barns that Ronan grew up in, the one that Gansey had been welcomed into.

Without realizing what he was doing, his hand went to Ronan's wrist, wrapping around the battered leather bands. He needed the proof that his best friend was really beside him. That he wasn't hallucinating. Ronan probably needed to be grounded as well, but he'd never admit it. "It's... I know it's not true, but it looks true. Like something Cabeswater would give us because we asked."

Pausing, he considered that theory, realizing that it was as possible as any other they might propose. "Maybe this place is like Cabeswater. That would explain the cookies and -" He gestured with his free hand. "This."

[un_wir_greywaren]

Ronan didn't like it. Cabeswater wanted to give them what they asked for, what they desired, and the wrong thoughts would give them nightmares. But this...this felt like a magic created to lull them into a false sense of happiness and security. It was a lie. But it was a beautiful lie.

And Ronan wanted it badly enough he could forgive the lie.

For now.

"I don't think this is anything like Cabeswater. It's trying too hard-whatever it is-to make us happy. Cabeswater would give us monsters if we asked for them. This place gives us sunshine and beachfront property."

He looked around, suspicious of everything, and so very grateful for Gansey's contact.

"If this is a trick I'm punching Jerry's teeth in until the asshole in charge comes out from behind the curtain."

[affection_for_research]

"Cabeswater did that at first. Remember the fish?" They'd changed colors with Gansey's thoughts, his wishes. It'd been a delight at first, but the'd soon learned that Cabeswater was more like the magic of legends than Disney fairy tales. "But you're right. This place wants us to be happy."

Despite his apprehension, Gansey couldn't stop himself from smiling at Ronan's annoyance over sunshine and beaches. "There's nothing wrong with either one of those things. You might like the beach if you give it a chance." Staring out at the land stretched out beyond him, he couldn't see any trace of sand or water. "And I don't think this is beachfront property. It looks like the land near Singer Falls." So much like it that his heart ached.

"I should say that I disapprove of the punching, but I'm not sure if I do or not." With more caution than he normally used while exploring, Gansey took a step forward, just enough to cross over into 'the Barns', but not lose contact with Ronan. "Do you think Jerry can leave the information booth? He seems pretty settled in."

[un_wir_greywaren]

"It looks like home. But it's not." Ronan looked down at Gansey's feet as if he expected something to suddenly happen to him now that he had crossed over. But nothing extraordinary happened. he looked at the name on the sign post. "Do you think by naming the road after him means something?"

He'd be happier if Noah could be here, too. The trouble they could get into together. But he worried about them being stuck here and never being able to go home. This wasn't like Cabeswater. They couldn't just leave when they wanted.

"Sand in my ass crack isn't my idea of fun." He's skeptical, but he took a step. "What if Jerry is stuck in that booth."

[affection_for_research]

Gansey didn't know how to answer. No, this wasn't home, but it could be a version of it. It wouldn't be the same. Not without the others, not without Aurora, but then the real Barns would never be the same without the possibility of Niall returning.

That wasn't something that Gansey could ever suggest.

Looking at the sign, he tried to decipher what all of this might mean, but he lacked the data necessary to make any sort of conclusion. "I don't know. It might be named that because it means something to us." Maybe whatever had created a version of the Barns had thought having Noah's name somewhere obvious would make them feel safer. "I miss him."

Noah was probably safer back home, if lonelier. At least he'd have Adam and Blue to keep him company.

Letting out an un-Gansey-like snort, he gave Ronan a reassuring smile as when he stepped forward onto the fake-Barn's property. The smile wasn't quite real, but it should hold enough truth to be useful. "You can go to the beach and not have that happen. The mermaids should be fascinating." Making a face at the thought of Jerry stuck, he considered how boring that would be before shifting to a topic that was somewhat related to their welcome. "If we ask do you think he'd tell us where he got the cookies?"

[un_wir_greywaren]

"Noah! Get your fucking ghost ass here right now!" Ronan shouted into the sky and waited before shrugging. "Magic here. Magic there. Maybe he can hear us."

It was worth it to scream at him anyways. Ronan missed him, too.

"I'd prefer dragons. Mermaids are overrated." Nothing bad happened crossing over into The Barns 2.0 so Ronan relaxed and laughed quietly at the face Gansey was making. "Probably not. I get the feeling this place likes it's secrets. I'll set fire to the booth and if he jumps out we'll know he's not trapped."