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Jake comes downstairs with Oy at his heels, freshly bathed and looking for the first time in months as if he's had a decent night's sleep. He's even got that content expression back on his face, and the long-absent journal under his arm.

He takes a seat at the bar and orders a sandwich.

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Cuthbert nods understandingly. "When he...when his younger self was here, did you see him at all? I was there when Eddie and Susannah spoke to him, and I know it wasn't easy for them..."

"I came down here one night and spoke with him, yes. He ... knew about what happened, and about his older self."

He remembers the younger face with the eyes that haven't changed.

"Is that how you knew him?"

The grin turns wry. "I knew him when we were both snot-nosed kids who'd never held a gun. But...that was how I remember him, from just before I came here."

Jake smiles faintly as he tries to imagine Roland as a child and fails miserably.

"He's changed."

Oh, so many thoughts and levels of meaning behind those small words.

Alain sees Cuthbert talking with a young man who can only be Jake. He comes over, with a smile and nod for Cuthbert, and a fist to his forehead for Jake.

"Hile, gunslinger."

Jake's smile spreads across his face and he presses a fist to his own forehead.

"Hile, gunslinger."

Cuthbert's grin widens as Alain joins them.

"Alain Johns, Jake Chambers. I think you both already know each other by reputation."

Alain nods.

"Aye. Faced Roland at thirteen, he said." He shakes his head, smiling. "Younger than any I've heard of, and that's including Ro'."

At one time Jake might've turned red, or looked away, or stammered some reply.

That is years and worlds away, however, and so he merely nods and keeps smiling. "True. I've heard that Alain was the quiet and steady while sai Allgood was much like our Eddie."

Cuthbert chuckles. "Indeed. And Alain's already had the dubious pleasure of my introducing him to Eddie."

Drily, "They get along, aye."

He rolls his eyes good-naturedly. "Two ka-mais in one ka-tet. You and I must be extra steady, it seems, to balance out those two."

Just as with Eddie, there's the slightly strange sensation of meeting someone and knowing them instantly as ka-tet. It's a good feeling.

Jake laughs and shakes his head. "I think Eddie may be a sight worse than Cuthbert, if that's possible."

He winks at the older boy and then shares a look of amusement with Alain. The feeling is almost tangible between them, and although it may be strange it serves to ease whatever tension remains in him.

We are one from many.

"Well, I had a gunslinger's upbringing and all." Cuthbert says solemnly. "I'm sure even Eddie would be a bit less...like Eddie...if he'd had Cort keeping him in line his whole childhood."

He glances from Jake to Alain, and grins. Ka-tet. He can feel it, too.

Alain looks at Cuthbert with mock amazement. "Cort kept you in line? I'd hate to have seen you without, then."

Jake manages to keep a straight face. Barely.

"I seem to recall stories about how he smacked you upside the head a good deal more than your companions, sai Allgood."

Cuthbert looks very seriously at Alain. "You haven't spent enough time around Eddie yet, obviously."

Then, as Jake speaks, Bert lets out what can only be described as a cackle. "Oh, aye. You'd think he might've showed a bit more hesitance to scramble what little wits I had. Well, I paid him back for all eventually."

Alain just grins.

"He does have a point, I'm afraid. Eddie's humor is a bit questionable. And even funnier than the jokes is watching Roland try to make sense of them ... or berate Eddie for being stupid."

"I don't get a lot of his jokes, I have to say. Too many references to culture I'm ignorant of." Cuthbert looks sad for a moment, then grins again. "But then, that puts a cap on how foolish we can get, so mayhap it's not such a tragedy."

Alain pictures Roland trying to make sense of Eddie's jokes, and grins more. It's an expression he's seen a great deal, on a younger Roland's face.

To Cuthbert, cheerfully, "And we all are glad of it."

"Ka-mais through a wheel, say true," Jake says, still grinning. "It shocks Roland more when I participate, I think. He expects it from Eddie, but not from me."

Cuthbert snorts. "Eddie always has struck me as the type to have a corrupting influence on the young."

Alain's grin at Jake does not say that he enjoys the same thing, now and then. Not at all. Of course not.

To Cuthbert, he says mildly, "You'd recognize it well, I wot," and has a sip of coffee.

Jake orders himself a cup as well and sets it aside to cool for a moment.

Their banter reminds him strongly of his own tet and it's impossible for him to lose the smile.

"We're perfectly able to corrupt ourselves but you're handy to have around."

Cuthbert laughs again at that, and bows with a flourish. "Well, we're here to serve."

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honest-johns.livejournal.com - 2005-03-19 04:16 (UTC) - Expand

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