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Space Cowboy



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Sat Oct 27, 2018 10:15 am
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soundofmind says...



You look a little lost, Space Cowboy.

Image

by @saen and @soundofmind

Maahes and James have a complicated friendship. And by complicated, I mean unusual. By various forms of circumstance, they've found each other in spaces between worlds, or through reality-bending artifacts that transport them across the universe where they somehow find each other.

But in all of their ventures and wanderings, James has never found himself on Maahes's home turf. So when James wakes up in the back of Maahes's space-ship in the middle of Maahes's search for his summoner, a lot of confusion follows. Somehow, they'll have to find a way to get James back home.

But it'll be good for them to see each other again in the meantime.
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.






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Sat Oct 27, 2018 10:26 am
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soundofmind says...



James


James knew the moment he started coming to consciousness that something was not right.

The cold, hard metal floor beneath him was not the blanket he'd laid on the dirt by the campfire. The air felt enclosed and filtered, and it smelled like dust. There was no light or warmth, and it wasn't because the fire had died down. As he slowly opened his eyes, he hoped for some visual answer to his confusion but found none when he was met with darkness.

He could hear a soft humming... a repetitive kind of white noise that he didn't recognize.

Hesitantly, he rose to his feet. He tried to reason where he could be. Had he been captured in his sleep somehow and not woken up? Drugged? Taken to a metal cell? Was he underground? Was that why there was no light?

The anxious thoughts rushing through his brain came to an abrupt stop when he bumped into something hard and felt it fall away, then shatter on the ground. It sounded like glass.

Though a moment ago, he had been determined not to panic, he found himself panicking and he froze. His heart rate spiked and he stared out into the darkness, desperately hoping for some kind of answer.
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.






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Sat Oct 27, 2018 10:39 am
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Mageheart says...



Maahes


For the first few moments following the crash, he tried his best to convince himself that the noise had been a figment of his imagination. There couldn't possibly be anything back there that could have led to something breaking in the middle of an interstellar journey. And he had just been back there a few hours ago - nothing had been there back then. But try as he might to ignore the sound, it had definitely been there. He took a shaky, deep breath.

He was sure if he had a heart, it would be racing right now.

He reluctantly got to his feet and approached the back of the ship. He was trying his best not to panic, but it was almost Halloween and he and Vala had just spent yesterday binging horror movies. Gulping, he reached a hand out to hit the button that would open the doors to the back of the ship. Torn between closing his eyes tight so he couldn't see what was there, and just getting it over with, he nervously touched it.

The door opened. Light flooded the storeroom, and he found himself staring at a very terrified looking person sitting on his floor. He let out a startled cry and stumbled back into the front half of the ship, bumping into a couple of pieces of equipment in the process.
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.





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Sat Oct 27, 2018 12:14 pm
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soundofmind says...



James


James couldn't bring himself to move as he heard the approaching footsteps, and when the door opened with light, it only gave him more questions than answers.

He did not recognize the man standing over him at all.

Whoever he was, he was probably somewhere around James's own age. He had black hair and was wearing simple clothes, but the bright red jacket stood out. The clothing was unfamiliar in structure, and it vaguely reminded him of previous interactions in other universes and realities. Whichever they were exactly, he couldn't've been sure, but he had a dreadful gut feeling that he was nowhere close to Nye, and that was only confirmed when he looked behind the man into the rest of the metal contraption.

Everything was intimidatingly foreign. The technology was the likes of which he had never seen. But for some odd reason, the man felt familiar. Like he'd met him long ago, probably in passing.

He tried his best to pull himself together, glancing down at what looked like a shattered vase beside him before he stood up.

His body was trembling, though it wasn't horrendously obvious.

So much for pulling himself together.
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.






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Sat Oct 27, 2018 12:56 pm
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Mageheart says...



Maahes


As the man stood up, Maahes just barely managed to regain his own balance. He tried to stand still and strong to hide how terrified he felt about this whole situation, but he knew he was visibly trembling. He resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn't be able to hide his fear.

But now that his initial terror had faded, he found himself able to look at the man with a more rational state of mind - and he quickly realized his fear was for nothing.

It had only been a month since he had last seen him, but it must have been longer for his friend. James looked better than he had during their last stretch of time together; Maahes was glad he was no longer at death's door.

"Thank God," he said, sinking into one of the chairs at the front of the ship with a relieved sigh. "It's just you, James-"

He paused, blinked and stared at his friend. Horror quickly took the place of his euphoria, and his face grew pale. James wouldn't know who he was! This was the same sort of situation they always got into, so he knew exactly how it would play out. He'd ramble, James would get defensive and angry, he'd ramble some more, and then one of them - usually James - would finally say that the mysterious stranger was Maahes.

But before he could panic over having to explain himself, he suddenly remembered what James had come up with the last time they had run into each other. His hand shot up, and he placed three fingers on his lips.
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.





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Sun Oct 28, 2018 12:44 pm
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soundofmind says...



James


For a moment, his heart dropped into his stomach when he heard the stranger utter his name.

He knew that he wasn't on Nye anymore. That much was clear. But he had absolutely no idea how the stranger knew his name, and his gut was desperately hoping it wasn't another situation like the masquerade, or the cave, or anything of the sort. He had to keep himself from further panic until he saw the man's fingers go up to his lips.

He slowly stood up straight. He stared. It took a few seconds for it to fully register, but as soon as it did, he took a small step forward, and let out a shaky-breathed sigh. He leaned on the doorward of the room he was in.

"Maahes?" he asked weakly. "Is that you?"
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.






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Sun Oct 28, 2018 12:59 pm
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Mageheart says...



Maahes


"It's me," he confirmed. He got back to his feet and walked over to James. His friend's voice was weak and he was leaning up against the doorway, but it didn't seem like it was because he was in the same sort of situation as he had been during their last meeting. He was likely just startled by suddenly being brought from Nye to the back of Maahes's spaceship.

Then again, he didn't think James had anyway to know where exactly he is.

He came to a stop in front of James.

"We're on my ship," he said. "I don't know how you got here, but this time we're-we're not somewhere dangerous. At least, not anymore dangerous than Nye can be sometimes."

He switched his guise to the one that James was more familiar with - the Scarlet Lord's - and gave him a small, unsteady smile.
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.





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Sun Oct 28, 2018 1:06 pm
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soundofmind says...



James


James let out another sigh and ran a hand through his hair under his hat.

On a ship? So this was what Maahes meant? He shook his head, and looked up at Maahes, mirroring his friend's smile with a grin.

He should have still been worried about how he got there, and how he was going to get home, but in the instant Maahes changed his guise to the familiar face of the Scarlet Lord, he felt a wave of relief. With a growing grin, he thrust his arms forward and hugged Maahes tightly.

He was glad to see him.
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.






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Sun Oct 28, 2018 1:24 pm
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Mageheart says...



Maahes


He eagerly returned the embrace. It hadn't been long since their last meeting, but he always treasured the random times that they encountered each other. He was happy that he got to see such a close friend again, and was even more happy about James ending up in his reality this time around - he knew the ins and outs of the Milky Way Galaxy, and he could easily make sure James was alright.

To make things even better, James wasn't wanted here. He could just be himself, and, even though he was far from his own world, he could even go as far as enjoy himself while Maahes showed him the beauty of his beautiful Earth-

Just as he was in the middle of this train of thought, Maahes noticed a shape appearing in his ship's windows. His euphoria momentarily dashed, he remembered the reason he had been in his ship in the first place - an archeologist he had met on the planet in front of them during his time exploring the galaxy needed his help with some Alteran ruins that had just been discovered.

And he had promised to be there in little less than an hour.

He pulled away from the embrace.

"I know this is really sudden," he said, "and I really do want to talk more, but I have to go down to that planet and help out with some ruins that were found there. I promised I'd be there in a short time, so I don't want to let the archeologist there down..."

He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

As he hurried to the front to make sure his ship gently entered the atmosphere, he was suddenly hit by an idea. He spun around and stared at James. "Would you...Would you want to come down there with me? It might take multiple days to go through the ruins, and I don't want to leave you here all alone." He gave him a hesitant smile. "I could just say that you're a friend I'm traveling with - it's alright that you don't really know anything about Alteran technology."
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.





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Mon Oct 29, 2018 1:15 am
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soundofmind says...



James


James looked up at Maahes, slowly digesting what he was saying. With an abrupt nod of his head he said, "Oh - uh - sure," faster than he probably needed to, but he understood that for the first time in their odd friendship, he was the one imposing on Maahes's life instead of the other way around. Of course Maahes still had to go on with his life and of course, Maahes had commitments he still had to keep.

Still, he was glad Maahes invited him to go with him. The last thing he would've wanted would be to be left alone in the strange ship. He didn't think he could handle that.
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.






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Mon Oct 29, 2018 9:08 am
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Mageheart says...



Maahes


Before they left The Lotus, Maahes made sure to change his guise back to the one he had used when he had gone to this planet: Leonardo Cartwright, explorer and savior of worlds. (James knew of his work with the SGC, but he really wasn't a big fan of the idea of telling him what he had done before then. That would be far more embarrassing than he could handle right now.) The next hour seemed to fly by - it was an endless series of introductions as they moved through the bustle of the planet's main city, and, by the time they finally reached the ruins the archeologist had wanted him to look at, he was glad for some alone time.

(Even though James would be there too.)

The ruins themselves weren't anything special. They were certainly Alteran; that much was clear. She told him and James that the ruins had been submerged in the earth for quite some time, but that a recent batch of earthquakes and excavation attempts had freed some parts of it. But, unable to get past basic Alteran security measures, the excavation had come to a halt and now only James and Maahes were left to check it out.

She gave them everything that they could possibly need before they left: flashlights, their equivalent of walkie-talkies, and something to eat for lunch. Then she was gone, heading off back towards the city with promises of returning that night.

Maahes let out a heavy sigh, but wasted no time in getting to work. The security might have stumped the other archeologists, but he still remembered how to deal with most of them. All it took was a couple of codes into a holographic keypad, and the rest were all simply alarms - the archeologists had just been too frightened of the consequences of said alarms to push forward.

He typed one of the codes, and the doors to the ruins slid open.

He turned on the flashlight, then looked behind him at James. "Do you want to go in now?" he asked. "We could wait out here for a bit, if you want to catch your breath."
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.





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Mon Oct 29, 2018 11:08 am
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soundofmind says...



James


The entirety of the trip had consisted of James nodding like he understood everything that was going on.

And in truth, he did understand quite a lot of it, at least conceptually, but the reality that he'd awoken in a completely different world with aliens and different planets had yet to fully hit him. He didn't know what to expect in an alien excavation site. He'd barely had a chance to fully explore his own world's history, nevermind that of another's. But he didn't think taking a second to breathe was going to help him at all. It certainly wasn't going to help him take it all in. His mind had been overloaded the moment he looked outside the windows of Maahes's ship. The rest was just... numbing.

So he shook his head.

"No... it's fine," he said quietly, though he stuck close to Maahes like a child to their mother. "I'll just stay by you." And not touch anything.
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.






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Mon Oct 29, 2018 2:09 pm
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Mageheart says...



Maahes


Maahes nodded. "Okay," he said. He made sure his flashlight was at its brightest setting, took a deep breath and stepped inside the ruins.

He had been inside other Alteran structures before, but this one was far more preserved than any of the others had been. It felt like he back in the buildings of his childhood. He could imagine people bustling from room to room, heading towards important meetings and the nearest library.

But, unlike the buildings he had grown up in, this set of ruins had what suspiciously looked like a pod to the very back of the large hallway they were in. His nonexistent breath caught in his throat. It looked like it had a person inside of it - an Alteran.

"James," he whispered, "there's someone here."

He took a series of hesitant steps in the pod's direction. He doubted James knew what a pod was, so he started explaining it as softly as he could - almost afraid that his voice would wake its occupant. "Pods were something Alterans used," he said. "Someone could go to sleep in one and spend years inside it without ever aging."

He stopped in front of the pod.

There was a man inside. His long, brown hair looked somewhat wild, and his skin was pale from lack of sunlight. Stubble dotted his chin, just barely on the verge of a small beard. As Maahes raised a hand and tentatively pressed it up against the glass, the man's eyes shot open. They were light blue, but were so light that they almost looked white.

The pod opened with a click, and the man came stumbling out.

Maahes just barely managed to catch him.
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.





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Tue Oct 30, 2018 12:14 pm
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soundofmind says...



James


As soon as the man's eyes opened, James began to doubt everything he knew about life and death. It was like he'd seen a ghost, except the man was alive, somehow, by some ridiculously advanced technology or magic.

He wasn't easily spooked, but that was... too much for him.

As the man fell out into Maahes's arms, James ended up leaping back a significant few feet. His face flushed in slight embarrassment at the action, but he continued to stare down at the man in ever increasing confusion, trying to logically convince himself there was no reason to be afraid. Maahes had explained it after all. This was normal, apparently. People froze themselves in time. For whatever reason. Okay.
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.






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Tue Oct 30, 2018 12:27 pm
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Mageheart says...



Maahes


"Hi," Maahes managed to get out.

The man looked up at him. Confusion flickered across his face as he slowly removed himself from Maahes's arms. If his memory was right, Odris had said that the experience of being in a pod was a disorienting one. You went to sleep in one scenario and awoke in another.

"Hello," the man said, then looked - for the briefest of moments - a bit startled when he heard the sound of his voice. He slowly raised a hand and ran it over his chin and the sides of his face.

Maahes supposed that it wasn't impossible for someone to have aged if put in a pod for thousands of years, but then that brought up the question of what the man had been like before he had entered the pod.

"My name is Leo," Maahes said, though he was itching to mention his real name. But if this man had come from before or after his time among the Alterans, it would only cause confusion when they returned to the town. He turned and pointed at James, who looked absolutely terrified of the situation currently at hand. "And he's James."

The man was silent for a moment.

"My name is Kalen," he said. He reached into his pocket, grabbed a small thing from within it - too small for Maahes to make it out - and put his long hair up in a semi-decent ponytail. Now that he was standing on his own, Kalen looked taller than expected. He nearly towered over Maahes, and Maahes wasn't exactly ok the small side.

But that wasn't what Maahes focused on. He knew the moment he heard the name that Kalen wasn't really the man's name. He had given aliases enough times to notice the hesitant pause before a reply, and the name itself was something he was certain had come out of one of the books he had read as a child.

So who really was Kalen, and why hadn't he given his real name?
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.








A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.
— Steve Martin