Jessup, King Of Fashion
1500 Words
Jameson POV
“You boys are mine.”
That phrase echoed in my head for a minute. Looking at King Sebastien, there was no doubt in my mind that his blood flowed through my veins. And while I was excited, I also felt like we were, in some ways, being disloyal to the man that raised us. For some reason, while we were searching for them, I didn’t feel that way, but hearing another man call us his sons made me wonder how Mom and Dad were feeling about all of this. I made a mental note to ask them about that later and tried to push it to the back of my mind so I could focus on what the king was saying.
“So once the tests get here,” King Sebastien continued, “do you want your warriors to stay here until we get the results? Either way, I plan on escorting them personally to the lab and ensuring that no one touches them besides the lab techs and myself. And you’re sure you can have them here by tomorrow?”
I glanced over at Alpha Terrance, and he nodded. “Yes,” I told King Sebastien. “Alpha Terrance said we can have them there by then.”
“Good,” he replied. “I’m planning on flying back tonight, so I’ll be able to meet the warriors at the airstrip. What time will they be here in the morning?”
“We’ll have the warriors fly out as soon as it’s light out,” Anthony told him. “So, probably around 7:15 or so. That should put them there at around 11:30 our time, 1:30 your time. Will that work?”
“Works perfect,” King Sebastien replied. “I look forward to getting these results.”
Jonathan grinned at him. “So do we, Daddy-O!”
The king laughed. “Well, there’s more proof that you’re my boys. You always were the prankster, Jonathan.”
We laughed.
“Also, there’s something else you should know, Your Majesty,” I told him.
“What’s that?” he asked. “And, if those test results are as expected, no more of this ‘Your Majesty’ stuff.”
I nodded. “Yes, sir. Anyhow, I just thought you should know that Arthur changed the spelling of our names.” I spelled them out for him, and he sighed.
“That will take some getting used to,” he told us. “I’ll be sure to let Queen Havannah know that, if the results do indeed prove that you’re ours.”
We chatted with the king for a couple of more minutes, including giving him both of our phone numbers, before saying our goodbyes.
After hanging up with him, Anthony checked the time on his phone. “It’s almost time for me to meet with Jessup,” he told us. “Are you boys still wanting to meet him?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but before I could even make a sound, I saw a flash of light in the corner of my eye.
“If they don’t want to, they might want to consider leaving now,” a voice anwered.
In the corner, where the flash of light had been, a man materialized right before our eyes. He wasn’t quite as tall as Jonathan and I – he was maybe a couple of inches shorter – and his short blonde hair was in disarray, as if he’d just walked through a wind tunnel. His sun-kissed complexion suggested that he spend a lot of time outside. And as he walked towards us with a huge grin on his face, I could see the humor sparkling in his light gray eyes.
He walked over to Jonathan and I and stuck his hand out. “What’s up, my dudes?” he greeted us. “I’m Jessup, the coolest wizard you’ve ever met.”
We both laughed as we shook his hand in turn.
“I’m Jameson, and this is my brother Jonathan,” I told him. “And seeing as you’re the only wizard we’ve ever met, you’re definitely the coolest.”
“And with the best fashion sense too, I might add!” he replied.
I had to laugh again at that. He was currently wearing a pair of fluorescent yellow sweat pants, a brightly colored shirt with every color of the rainbow, and neon green sandals. He seemed to have a very, ah, unique taste in fashion, to say the least.
“Hello, Jessup!” Anthony said, coming over to greet him with a warm handshake. “Dressed as appropriately as always, I see,” he joked.
Jessup grinned at him. “But of course. I’m always dressed appropriately, my man.”
After Jessup had greeted everyone, cracking jokes all around, he looked back at Alpha Terrance and Anthony. “So, my dudes, shall we start with the shield around the cells?”
Alpha Terrance nodded. “And if you have time, we have a rather uncooperative prisoner that doesn’t want to be honest with us. Can you help us out with that?”
Jessup grinned. “Why, certainly!” he quipped, in the same way it would’ve been said by Curly in The Three Stooges.
Everyone else laughed, but Jonathan and I must have looked confused, because Alpha Terrance looked at us and smiled. “Jessup here reads minds,” he told us. “Even your thoughts aren’t safe, just so you know.”
We laughed.
‘I’m going to test him a bit,’ Jonathan told me in mind link.
“Test away!” Jessup called over his shoulder as we all filed out of the room.
It was the others’ turn to look confused as Jonathan and I laughed. Jonathan explained what had just happened, and they all laughed with us.
“I don’t think there’s any one of us who hasn’t tested Jessup on that at some point,” Anthony told us.
“I haven’t,” Luna Ana protested.
“Nope, because you’re nicer than the rest of these yahoos,” Jessup joked. “But we did have a much more eventful first meeting than anyone else!”
As we were walking towards the cells, Alpha Terrance told us the story of how his psychotic ex and her equally psychotic mate had kidnapped Luna Ana not long after they found out they were mates, and how Jessup had been called in by Ana’s brother to help with the rescue.
I looked over at Luna Ana, who was walking in between Alpha Terrance and me. “I’m glad that all turned out well,” I told her. “And you met your long-lost brother that you never even knew existed?”
She nodded. “I did. And it turns out that he’s mated to Terrance’s twin sisters, Tanya and Tania. But they’re not of age yet, so they’re still living here until they turn eighteen in a few months, and he visits all the time. He just took over as Alpha of our neighboring pack, Howling Winds.”
(Side note: The twins’ names are pronounced differently. One is Tanya, like it’s spelled. The other is pronounced Tan-I-uh.)
I smiled. “It must be great to be able to get to know him.”
She grinned at me. “It is, and soon you’ll be finding out what it’s like to get to know family members you never knew about.”
I laughed. “That we will.”
I noticed Jonathan, who was walking on the other side of me, was being uncharacteristically quiet.
‘Bro, you all right?’ I asked him in private mind link. ‘Jessup, stop listening in,’ I joked, hoping to make them both laugh. It worked. I felt something in my mind close off, which Donovan told me was Jessup blocking himself from our conversation.
‘I’m just nervous,’ Jonathan replied.
‘About the results?’ I asked.
‘Yes, but not only that,’ he replied. ‘I’m also kind of anxious to see what Jessup will find out from Lyle.’
‘Me too,’ I told him. ‘It’ll be interesting to find out exactly what his intentions are.’
A few minutes later, we arrived at the cells. Jessup stopped just outside, seeming to zone out for a few seconds. Then he turned to Alpha Terrance and said, “Shield here is still in tip top shape, dude. Now, let’s check the ones inside and have us a little fun with Mr. Lyle, eh?”
I hadn’t heard anyone actually say Lyle’s name, but I’m guessing someone either mind linked it to him, or he’d picked it up from our thoughts. I looked at Jessup and he was grinning at me.
“I picked it up from your thoughts before you kicked me out of the conversation,” he told me, still grinning.
It appeared that I had a lot to learn about him.
“Yes, you do, my man.”
- Writer
