Kalim al-Asim (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
goldencharms) wrote2024-10-13 01:30 pm
goldencharms) wrote2024-10-13 01:30 pmfor @snizier
there will be starters here, and no one can find them, wee hee hee
goldencharms) wrote2024-10-13 01:30 pm
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[ of course he wants to know more, Jamil didn't deny it, even though he did try to move on. Still, Kalim's expression is concerned. He'd been trying to not stress him out, but were things really still the same? ]
What do you mean?
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School, this project, midterms are around the corner, the last club scrimmage was horrible, and on top of that I still have to look after y--
[He clamps his mouth shut, obviously too late to not do the damage, but worst of all is he hadn't meant to say any of that and now Kalim is naturally going to have upset follow up questions when this still is the last thing he wants to talk about. Something is wrong and he isn't going to figure out what as long as Kalim keeps distracting him with questions that Jamil apparently has to compulsively answer?!
Jamil's hand immediately shoots out and clamps over Kalim's mouth, regardless of if he was about to say anything or not. It gives him an excuse to dodge explaining himself, and maybe if he can change the subject quickly enough Kalim will forget he said it.]
--No. Shut up and let me think. Something is wrong.
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Eh? What do you mean?
[ he tries to withhold the hurt in his voice, but there's only so much he can do when the answer is so sudden and unexpected. ]
Am I putting too much pressure on you again?
[ he doesn't even have time to interrogate how he phrased that, honestly. ]
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[Jamil retraces the steps of the last several moments in his mind, trying to decide if his suspicion they're under some sort of spell has any merit. In truth, there's been nothing overt--his own impulses feel so ambiguous that he can't tell if he really is dealing with compulsion or exhaustion.
Which means it's time to test it.]
Kalim, I need to figure something out. Will you stop asking questions if I take my hand back?
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he can ask questions after he's finished thinking, that's what he'll do. ]
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[Slowly, suspiciously, Jamil removes his hand, like he's expecting Kalim to just bust out with chatter anyway. When he doesn't, Jamil rocks back on his heels and considers how to proceed.
Finally, after a few moments of silence:]
Ask me a question you already know the answer to. Something simple.
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He seems to be thinking about it a little too long, though, pressing a hand to his chin. ]
Why did you say it wasn't good to go into the garden shed?? I never really understand that...
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What garden shed? Wait--are you talking about when we were kids and were trying to hide from the cook? There's no way I was going in there, I heard the groundskeeper say it was full of spiders.
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Wh-- Kalim! I said to ask me something simple!
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[ his face is the picture of innocence and curiosity. After all, he didn’t mean to embarrass Jamil. And truly, maybe he doesn’t get it at all. ]
And I always wondered about that. So it seemed like a good question to ask!
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I'm trying to test something. That's why I said to ask something you already know the answer to!
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[ he places his hand to his chin, trying to think of something simple he already knows the answer to, but that just seems silly?? why ask something he already knows?
And that confusion is really starting to be more apparent on his face ]
Why... am I asking something I already know, again...??
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[Maybe invoking A Potential Threat will get Kalim to follow basic instructions!!!!!]
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[ he says without considering the deeper meaning of this. luckily, it's very easy to ask Jamil a question he knows the answer to, right? ]
What's your little sister's name?
[ is that how this works?? he still isn't sure, and he's still bothered by what jamil said before. Look after you... being stressed... Isn't that more important than all of this...? ]
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It takes some effort not to say Najma's name immediately, and the longer he holds out the stronger the compulsion feels, like a tug that borders on physical pain. In the end it feels almost forcibly pulled from him.]
--N-Najma.
[That seals it: there's something magic going on. In the very next instant it finally clicks what had been bothering him in the back of his mind the whole time--he remembers where he'd experienced that licorice aftertaste before. In Crewel's class, late freshman year.
Jamil stares at the ceiling, feeling his soul leave his body. This might be a nightmare actually.]
There was truth potion in the chocolate.
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[ Kalim trails off, thinking about that. Why would someone do that? ]
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Worried. He doesn’t understand, really, why Jamil is stressed. But the idea of being the reason for it… he hates it, he thought he’d been trying to pay attention more.
And he must have missed it. ]
Am I stressing you out?? Is that what you were trying to say earlier?
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Kalim, that's not the point! [There's an almost hysterical note to his voice.] This is my entire job! What if it had been poison??
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[ he says in response, immediately. his eyebrows draw together, and he frowns, thinking about how (or what) he wants to say next. ]
No one would do that here-- it was probably someone's idea of a joke. Or a prank!
[ he says, backing off a bit from his insistent tone, instead rocking on his heels lightly. ]
You really don't need to worry that much, Jamil.
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[Oops, Jamil is maybe going off a bit. This isn't even what he was upset about in the first place, but it's a convenient outlet for it 😔 After all, if it had been poison, they'd both be fucked and it would be his fault.]
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I'm sorry.
[ he laughs awkwardly, ]
But no way would someone have done something like poisoning here! I still really think that, so it's definitely a different kind of prank.
[ and he would have known as soon as he tasted it, after all. ]
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[But someone did. And that's the next order of business, after waiting out however long it takes for the effects to wear off (and they are doing exactly that, there's no way either of them can go out in public while they're this vulnerable): figuring out exactly whose wise idea this was. As soon as he has the thought Jamil begins running down his mental roster of all the dorm members. The most likely candidates would be anyone still holding a grudge from winter break, but nobody has been causing problems about that recently...
At some point Jamil had gotten to his feet in his consternation, and now he sits down on Kalim's bed with a heavy sigh. Great. This was supposed to be a homework session and now he has this to worry about too. Now he really is stressed.]
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[ he watches him pace, and settles on one of the cushions on the floor, tugging his knee into his chest. And still... Jamil hasn't answered his question. Was there something else?
He should be able to puzzle it out. but it's still frustratingly hard... He frowns to himself, the gears in his head trying to turn. ]
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Cheer up, Jamil! We can still do our homework, right? No more talking about poison or pranks! Besides, if it were really dangerous, I wouldn't have brought it to you at all!
[ wait. ]
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What? That's the entire point of bringing it to me in the first place.
[Did Kalim his his head???]
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