destinystrings | Slow Down, You Crazy Child

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Slow Down, You Crazy Child

Who: Maugris and Johnny for the first thread, then Maugris and OPEN
Where: A little restaurant in Virgo near the border with Libra, then wandering through the city back in the general direction of Pisces (so somewhere in Virgo, Leo, or Capricorn)
When: July 12th; just after nightfall, then during the 13th hour
Summary: Maugris finds someone he's got something in common with and has some dinner, then decides to see this whole 13th Hour business is about.
Warnings: Probably nothing in the thread with Johnny. 13th Hour threads will probably involve violence, possibly accompanied by foul language.

Maugris stepped off the tram, grateful that they ran as late as they did. He'd probably end up walking back... but considering his plans for the night after this, that might be just as well. He glanced around, and yes, there was the restaurant.

He really, really hoped this was the right move. But if this Johnny guy was Kindred, he might know if there were others in the city - and how things got managed around here. If he was really, really lucky, there might be some sort of system set up for getting ahold of blood without going after people at all. But he'd just have to see... hopefully they could talk privately enough to manage this.

Oh, well. Nothing for it but to find out. He took a deep breath, a habit he'd never quite shaken, and stepped into the restaurant.

---

Well, that had given him a lot to think about. Maugris whistled to himself as he headed back toward the apartment building. Slow down, you crazy child, you're so ambitious for a juvenile - but then if you're so smart, tell me why are you still so afraid?

He took his time, enough that he was certainly still out when the sky turned red and the buildings changed around him. His lips twisted a little - the changes were an unpleasant reminder of Metatropolis's fate - but he kept going, still whistling nonchalantly. When will you realize, Vienna waits for you? It was still a long walk back; time to see if he could entice something to come out so he could give this Persona thing a shot.

What turned up gave him a bit of a start - a little floating cape with a jack o'lantern for a head. "You're not one of the Pumpkin King's, are you?" he asked. "I don't even have his damn ring anymore." The Pyro Jack just laughed at him and twirled in a circle, and flames spouted from its lantern. Maugris dodged away, but not fast enough - the flames licked at his jacket, and he couldn't help but cry out as the flesh of his arm started to burn.

But the damage - though it was quite nasty - wasn't the worst of it. Vampires feared fire even beyond their ample reason to do so, and while Maugris usually managed to resist, this time the Beast's instincts were too strong for him. He broke and ran, running as fast as he could away from the source of the flame. But the Pyro Jack had found prey now, and it followed. So anyone else out and about would find a vampire deep in Rotschreck being pursued by a laughing Pyro Jack.

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"Thanks. It takes a long time to master, though, and it's not nearly as versatile as your PSI looks." If he could heal, throw up shields, and attack... to be fair, his Thaumaturgy was pretty versatile on its own, but it was still narrow, and relied on a finite resource.

"Nice to meet you, too, Lucas. But yeah, inside sounds like a good plan." With the force fields between them and any more flaming pumpkin-headed creatures. He should probably try and steer them toward Pisces, unless he wanted to either end up making a mad dash there later or explaining his condition to Lucas and forcing the poor kid to find a way to get a sleeping vampire there without a fatal suntan.

Something caught his eye in the rough area where the Pyro Jack had disappeared, though, and he stepped over to it and stooped down. "What in the...?" It was a pile of coins, each marked with a symbol - ħ, an h with a stroke through the stem. "It's like a game of D&D. Kill monster, receive cash. Don't know if this would even be any good, here - I think they just use yen, don't they?"

Lucas follows behind Maugris, peering over his shoulder and blinking in mild surprise. "...Oh. It's like Dragon Points. But I remember they said we have, um... things to trade with if we show them our card." The concept of money was still relatively foreign to him - virtual currency even more so. Lucas stoops down as well and pockets one of the coins, if only because it was a curiosity. "I wonder if he was out shopping..."

Did demons need human tools? He supposed a Pyro Jack would want to keep a ready supply of fire extinguishers.

"I live in, um... Libra, I think it was. The other apartment is closer, though, and they're connected..."

"Right, the whole thing's digital, I think." He shrugged a little, not sure why Lucas sounded so unsure, but he didn't bother to pry. Maugris himself was a little uncomfortable with the concept of money that was entirely digital, since he was used to living mostly under the radar, but he'd survive. "Well, I don't know if they can convert these or not, but I guess it's worth trying. If they can it's a little more leeway if getting a job takes some time."

What he was going to use the money for, if the government provided the apartments, was open to question. After all, it wasn't like Maugris ate much at restaurants. Still, it was nice to have money, just in case.

"Right, the portal. I'm in Pisces, and yeah, that's closer. Probably easier if we stick together and you take the portal once we get to the apartment."

"...Right."

Lucas doesn't move to pick up any more of the demonic currency, though; Maugris was welcome to the rest. His thoughts on money would probably be of interest for amateur sociologists and the like, but now was probably a bad time to bring up the evils of capitalism. With another nod, he glances at their surroundings and sheepishly smiles up at the man.

"Do you mind leading the way? I'm not very sure how to get there from here... It all looks a lot different this time of night."

Blood red was a slightly disorienting color to tint the sky.

Maugris scoops up a handful of coins and shoves them in his jacket pocket, but doesn't take the whole pile. It would take too long to gather it all up, and if they can't convert it he'll be stuck with a bunch of useless weird coins.

"Trust me, I know it does. Sure, though, I can lead the way." If Lucas had happened to look up, he might have noticed that the tram line is actually quite nearby - Maugris has been using it to navigate. He's pretty good at finding his way around cities, and he's been doing a little bit of exploring, though not in the 13th Hour up to now. He glances back and forth for a moment, working out just how far he's come since the last time before the fight that he was in full control of his faculties, then gestures down the street. "This way."

He trots along behind the man, maintaining a steady grip on the baseball bat just in case. His purpose for coming out tonight had been more or less satisfied - idle curiosity about what this '13th Hour' was really like had been almost as much a part of it as fighting a demon and awakening his Persona, and he wasn't terribly sure he had liked what he had been exposed to. If this was the kind of thing that happened on a nightly basis... Well, the citizens were apparently supposed to stay indoors, but still. There would always be a straggler here and there.

His sense of duty is strong. Had he not been out here tonight, he would have liked nothing better than to go home, but...

"Mr. Maugris? ...Um. You're new here, too, right?" What with the Persona awakening and all. "...What do you think about all of this? Demons and... things from our heads."

He shrugs a little. Maugris is lousy at handling emotional issues, especially other people's. "Easier than trying to handle demons without things from our heads. I've tried; demons are a pain in the a- in the neck. I'm still kind of creeped out by the fact that the government knew we were all coming, to be honest. But, well... I guess someone's got to try to save this place."

He rubs his neck absently. "I just hope we don't run into anything else that shoots fire. You might have noticed but I'm... not really good with fire." He reaches out and knocks on a tree as they pass. Probably not much protection from tempting fate like that, but it's worth a shot if anything is.

"...Are you afraid of it?"

Lucas is an extraordinarily precocious kid, but that doesn't mean he never acts like one. He asks the question without a trace of embarrassment, blinking solemnly at the man.

"I used to be, too. I was afraid of a lot of things, actually... But it's not so scary once you're a little more used to it." His best friend shooting flames at every opportunity had cured him pretty quickly.

"What I meant earlier though... Um. You don't mind staying around here and doing what they've asked us to do?"

"Um... basically, yeah. I'm usually fine with small flames, but big ones or being attacked with it take a lot out of me to resist running." Maugris sighed, running his hand through his hair. He was debating whether to explain to Lucas just what he was - but explaining vampirism and the Beast to a twelve-year-old who seemed to have been having trouble with the concept of money didn't strike him as a rewarding occupation.

He shook his head. "I don't really mind. I was planning on moving on from where I was before soon, anyway." The idea had been solve the problem in front of him, then light out - probably somewhere like Southern California. Of course, circumstances had conspired to make things happen otherwise. "Besides, I like helping people. And don't like seeing innocents get hurt."

"Hmm..." He frowns slightly at this explanation, not seeming to find it terribly peculiar. Most people probably would be afraid of being set on fire. "I used to have something to protect against fire, but... I don't think it came with me here." RPG equipment was nice that way. "I can take a look for you later when I get back to my room."

He gives a quiet nod of agreement to the next few words Maugris speaks. "I guess... I'm not so sure I was ready -- or if I should move on yet. I know time stops while you're here, but it still doesn't really feel right..."

"You don't have to, really. It's... uh, have you ever heard the word phobia?" He thinks he'd better check. "It basically means the fear isn't rational. I'm still going to be afraid of fire even if it doesn't burn me." It would help with just how badly Maugris seems to burn, but Maugris isn't going to steal the poor kid's stuff when he can just avoid the fire.

"I know what you mean, but I don't know what we can do to get out of here. I plan on finding out, but until then all we can do is live with it." He sighs; this isn't really great on the whole reassurance department, but Maugris is well aware he's lousy at that. "Trust me, if I find any way of having a chat with that guy in the butterfly mask, I'll let you know."

"Mm... I understand. It's like when people are afraid of a bug even though they're pretty harmless." Lucas pauses to glance up at Maugris for a moment. "Do you think it would help if you just had more practice? If you'd like, I can try and help with something like that - it would all be fake, but it would just feel exactly the same. Nothing bad would really happen to you."

He laughs slightly as Maugris attempts to be reassuring. "I guess that's a good point, too. People say you can go home, but... no one really knows how it's supposed to be done. ...Maybe that's some kind of sign." A sign of incompetence or something, anyway.

"Probably not, honestly. It's... kind of deep-rooted." Maugris really doubts therapy is going to work on the Beast. It's instincts and something resembling magic at the same time. "Thanks for the offer, but... things are probably better off with me just dealing with it."

He shrugs. "A sign? Maybe. But signs can mean just about anything; it's all how you look at them. I just know I do plan to figure out what's going on here... and to help these people, if I can manage it."

Exposure therapy works on everything surely if he set Maugris on fire enough times he would get used to it. Lucas didn't even really mind PK Fire so much anymore; it was Thunder that had the nastier bite to it. Still, he acquiesces to Maugris's refusal with a slight nod.

"It must be hard, living like this - you can't ever really be sure of being safe... At least at home, they never came into Tazmily..."

He could see the apartment building standing tall in the distance as they begin to draw near.

"If the only help they can get is people from other worlds... it's hard to say no, isn't it?"

"Yeah... at least they only come out in a certain time, though. So it's not like you can't ever go outside for fear of getting jumped. And they've got the force fields or wards or whatever they are to keep them out of houses."

He won't bring up the disturbing things he's heard about people occasionally going crazy all at once. No need to scare the kid even if it sounds like he's seen a lot.

"But yeah. It's hard to say no. Then again, I never could say no to people who needed help anyway." Which gets him into trouble less often than he'd usually expect it to. Usually trouble found him regardless.

"No one should ever have to live with monsters outside their homes. Certain times or not." He sounds quite firm about this. "Homes are for families and... security. Being with the people you love."

Lucas's dominant personality trait is apparently being a huge sap.

"Have you done this kind of thing before back home, then, Mr. Maugris?"

"Mm... fair enough." Maugris doesn't elaborate on that response - he didn't keep in touch with his own family much even at home. It would probably put them in danger, and even if it didn't they'd probably notice he was a lot younger than he ought to be. He's not going to complain about Lucas being sentimental, though.

"A little bit. The city I used to live in attracted all sorts of weird things. Most of them didn't cause trouble for ordinary people much, but it was my job to keep it that way." Not strictly true, but he tended to make it his job anyway.

"'Weird things', huh?"

Lucas ponders on that for a bit.

"I wonder if every world has their own type of 'demons'. It doesn't seem like anyone's life is ever really easy." At some point in time, someone would see fit to inform him that all the monsters from his own world could show up here, but that panic attack could wait for another day.

"I guess I wouldn't be surprised. At least all the worlds that attract Butterfly Guy's attention - if he's looking for heroes to save this city, people who've already had to deal with problems in their own world probably look like a good place to start."

He sighs and glances around warily. They're almost to the apartment, now, and Maugris's sense of how life goes for 'heroes' has him worried their path is going to be blocked again.

As they near the doors, Lucas continues with his end of the conversation. "I'm not too sure that's exactly the kind of thing he's looking for..." Heroes were twenty year old cowboys who rode off into the sunset, not pre-pubertal little boys. "I guess it's probably true, though - there must be some sort of... criteria he wants us t -- ...Oh!"

Lucas steps dead in his tracks as the exclamation escapes him, his gaze directed at the obstruction Maugris had cleverly intuited would be in their way.

...If one squints, one can make out a small bug. Lucas reaches down with a finger and allows it to crawl on.

"There you are. I was wondering where you'd gotten to."

Hopefully, they pass through the doors now without any further interruption.

"'Hero' is just how it was described to me. Not like I really think of myself as one either." This isn't entirely true, but he at least tries to be modest.

Well. Maugris is pretty glad Lucas noticed the bug, because he hadn't paid a lot of mind to a little cricket. Leaving it stuck out here wouldn't have been great, if it's something Lucas was looking for. He does have to suppress the urge to make a Pinocchio joke, though. He just raises an eyebrow and asks, "Friend of yours?" Because there's enough weirdness running around that a kid having a pet bug isn't really worthy of too much notice.

"Uh-huh. I can introduce you."

The bug quickly scurries up Lucas's arm and buries itself unobtrusively in the boy's hair. It doesn't seem keen on being introduced.

"Mr. Maugris, this is my friend, the Stinkbug. Stinkbug, this is Mr. Maugris. You should say hi. ...Um. Not the usual way."

The thing reappears long enough to wave its antennae for a few seconds before it vanishes again. Lucas seems generally unperturbed by the fact that he's allowing a stinkbug to live inside of his hair as he makes his way inside the apartment building.

"Anyway... If you think about it that way, it's like being personally asked to do a favor, too. I don't think I would have said 'no' if he'd actually asked..."

"Uh, hello... Stinkbug?" Maugris is a little uncertain whether he should address the Stinkbug with a title. Then again, he's a little uncertain about addressing a stinkbug at all.

Maugris pushes the door open for Lucas. "Yeah... I probably wouldn't have, either. Though I might've asked to wait a little longer. Just a few minutes." It would have been nice to see whether he'd actually managed to save the city he fought so hard for, even if he'd been planning on getting out of dodge once the crisis was over.

Thankfully for Maugris's uncertainty, the Stinkbug doesn't seem interested in engaging in prolonged conversation or even prolonged eye contact. A faint chittering might be heard coming from Lucas's head region, but that's about it.

"Ah - thanks."

He steps inside and breathes a small sigh of relief. The wards didn't have the least effect on him, of course, but as he passes indoors, the almost palpable uneasiness created by the 13th Hour seems to lift.

"...Were you doing something important? I think I could've used a few more minutes, too."

Well, of course the wards did nothing much to them - though Maugris relaxed a little, too, once the barrier was between them and the demon-haunted streets.

"Yeah, something like that." How do you explain to a twelve-year-old kid that you wanted to see whether the city you spent two years trying desperately to save - sometimes against the best efforts of its inhabitants - was still there?

Slow Down, You Crazy Child

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