"I already told you, I can't control the fucking weather!" Adrien glared down at him, fear starting to creep into his eyes. This guy had taken him God knew where to do God knew what and even though he was obviously on his last legs, he could probably take Adrien down without a second thought. "What do you want from me?"
“Your help,” Alex replied. If he didn’t get this guy to believe him then there was no hope for him or his world. He silently cursed humans for being the way they were, “I need your help.”
Adrien let out a startled bubble of laughter. "Me?" he asked incredulously. "You want me to help you with something? You do realize we're complete strangers, right?"
“I know. But we won’t be strangers for long,” Alex sighed, “Look, I know you think I’m crazy, but it’s true. It’s a matter of life or death now and if I dont get home soon then hundred of people are gonna die.”
"And if I don't get home and take my meds, I could die. I'm not going to follow you who knows where because you claim something bad could happen. I'm not about to risk my safety like that!" Adrien tucked his hands into his pockets. "Besides, I don't even know your name."
“I couldn’t even take you home in the first place, we wouldn’t make the jump without ending up somewhere we don’t want to be,” He rubbing at his face with both hands, “And it’s Alex. Alex Lowe.”
So his name was Alex. It fit, in a weird way. "Alex. I…" He let out a disbelieving huff. "Look, if I can go home and pop some painkillers, I'll hear you out. But keep it snappy, I have shit to do."
Alex released a sigh of relief. All he needed was one chance to explain, “Fine. Deal. All I need is a chance to explain… the three moons know it sounds crazy but still.”
Adrien blinked at the 'three moons' but let it go. Alex was probably just insane; Adrien would hear his babbling and then send him away without any trouble. "I'm Adrien, by the way. Follow me, you didn't zap us too far from my house. And… be quiet when you're explaining. My dad's home."
Alex nodded, using his sword to help him back to his feet. The chance of this working was slim, he knew that but he had to try. If he didn’t then everyone would have died for nothing.
Adrien led him to a rundown looking house on the edge of town, quietly slipping inside with Alex. He rifled through a basket in the kitchen until he found an orange pill bottle. "Explain," he ordered, pouring two of the little white pills into his palm.
Alex released a breath, “First off, have you heard of the multiverse theory?” He asked, leaning against a counter top with his arms crossed.
Adrien sighed, dry swallowing the pills and hefting himself up on top of the counter. He swung his legs idly. "I distinctly remember telling you to make it snappy.
Alex sighed, “Fine okay. Your world isn’t the only one to exist, there are hundreds and hundreds of others, all separated by the Void. Where I’m from, there’s a group of people who have the ability to jump between the Void and into these other worlds and universes. I’m one of those people, we call ourselves World Walkers.”
Adrien stared at Alex consideringly, forcing eye contact to see if he was lying. Or, like, high on cocaine or something. Anything that would stop him from starting to consider if magic was real because of some sad, half-dead 'world walker'. "And that's how you zapped us into that alley? World walker voodoo?"
“It’s not voodoo, and yes, that’s how I did it,” He rubbed at his face with on hand, “See my world is in danger, it’s under attack and currently losing as we speak. The injuries I have is from that battle. The only person who can help me stop the fighting is you.”
Adrien blinked disbelievingly at him, legs thudding to a halt against the cabinets. "It would take me a week to tell you all the reasons why that isn't true. First of all, I've never been special in my life. Second of all, my medical history is basically a novel at this point so you can fuck right off with that chosen one bullshit. I'd be killed instantly."
Alex groaned, rubbing his face with both hands now, “You experienced a jump. I’m not fast enough to run with out like that and it is true. And if you learned to control your powers then you wouldn’t die instantly.”
"Powers? Is this the whole 'calm down! you must control the storm'," he mockingly imitated Alex, "thing you were trying to pull earlier? Because I'm very unconvinced."
Alex felt like screaming. This was why he didn’t work with people, especially people from Earth, “You might be unconvinced but it’s true. You saw it react to you and your emotions.”
Adrien rolled his eyes, starting to kick his legs again. "There's also this amazing phenomenon- not sure if you've heard of it- called weather. Y'see, storms tend to gather really suddenly around here because it's Texas and God hates you and wants to rain on you when you're distressed."
Alex started pacing, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Okay, you might not believe me about that but what about when I jumped us from the street to the alley? What are you going to try and reason that with?”
Adrien sighed angrily because there really wasn't any way to explain it that didn't include magic. "I don't know! That's the whole reason I let you explain it to me in the first place, but nothing you're saying makes sense! Do you have magic? Fucking maybe. Can I deal with you telling me I have magic? Hell no! I'm 18, I would've found out by now if I did."
“Magic is a complicated thing. Sometimes it’s nit triggered inside you for years, some people go their whole lives not even knowing they have magic,” Alex took a few deep breaths to calm himself, “Look, when I have enough energy to make a jump I can prove it.”
Adrien sighed, hopping off the counter to rummage through his fridge. "I don't suppose you left your fantasy land with any money to buy a hotel room, did you? Where are you going to stay while you save up the energy? And how are you going to feed yourself?"
Alex rolled his eyes, “I’m sorry that when I’m in the middle of a fight my mind isn’t focused on money. Besides, my currency is different. I can just go back into the alley, I’ve slept in worse places.”
"Y'know, I was tempted to let you stay the night and feed you some leftovers." Adrien set down a Tupperware container full of chicken. "But if you're going to be an ass I'll just let it go." He shoved a fork into Alex's hand and grabbed a second container, this one full of salad.
Alex very nearly dropped the fork, blinking a couple times, “I can’t not be an ass, it’s just my personality.” He replied, shrugging his good shoulder.
"Then scale it back. You're getting on my last nerve." Adrien sat back up on the counter, digging into the salad with his fingers. He slid the chicken over to Alex. "Tell me more about this magic shit while you eat. If I hypothetically had it, how would I go about controlling it?"
Alex stabbed a piece of chicken and took a bite, swallowing before he responded, “Like anything, it takes time and practise. I can already tell your magic responds well to emotion. We’d have to go somewhere else to help you learn, it’s a bit of a time heavy mission I’m on but… control needs to be learnt. It’s all in your head. Once you’ve mastered control, you’ll be set with everything else.”
