ioduanlogs | catchall | September

Entry tags:

catchall | September | open

Characters: Zephyr, X, anyone else who feels like it
Date: Septemberish
Location: Dreaming Bridge, Aifaran
Situation: Many, lots
Warnings/Rating: Will warn in thread headers if it gets there

A | X | Dreaming Bridge | Closed

"Hey, buddy, got a sec?" This is without preamble as Zephyr ambles home one day from another of his assorted odd jobs. He flops headlong into his bunk without waiting for an answer; but he adjusts after a moment to look sidelong over at X, thoughtful.

He doesn't actually bother to get up.

B | Faith 2 | Open

"Please hide me." This is said very earnestly as Zephyr ducks into the shop and heads for the nearest friendly Dreamperson. He jerks his head outside; there's a Ban Om acolyte just standing there. Watching. Smiling.

Zephyr looks, to say the least, harried.

C | Meta 1 | Open

So Zephyr's been doing a bit of exploring this month, more consciously than simply going where work takes him. Looking into areas he likes, areas that might have nice apartments to live in. Places he could consciously call a home, instead of just kind of... drifting.

Unfortunately, today the yimo's mapping is on the fritz. Seems like interference, but who's he to judge? Zephyr trips into a ditch, mutters a curse, and thumps it before shoving it back into his pocket. There is some muttering to himself. "That's what I get for trying to use a damn map, I guess."

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Conan takes a look outside, and immediately scowls irritably."Not those guys again."

Seriously, didn't those people have anything better to do?

"What, again?" Zephyr glances back over his shoulder, outside, and then over and down at the kid. "How many times have you seen this happen? Are they always this annoying?"

More to the point, it doesn't immediately look like the smiling acolyte outside is planning to come in, but Zephyr's not going to call it good until he sees them actually walking away.

"This is the fifth time I've seen them bothering someone. And no, sometimes they're worse."

Conan starts to plot.

More memories of her experiences as a child had been seeping in as more time passed. Devin taking care of her was the oddest for some reason, but she'd already thanked him for that. Valdis didn't thank people often, too stubborn and prideful for her own good, but Devin had been a reliable friend, something she couldn't ignore. Zephyr, however, probably had no idea who she had been, and she didn't know if he would have helped if he had known. Valdis knew very little of the man, but his past hostility didn't mean his kindness could be ignored...Maybe X was rubbing off on her, she'd have to watch out for that.

Tracking Zephyr through the city was difficult, she knew his scent and how his emotions felt, but lacking a solid reading of his soul, she couldn't track him as she did so many others. It was almost sheer luck that she found him now, seemingly lost, and quite grumpy about it. Valdis hesitated to approach, he seemed like a grumpy person by default and she lacked the time for hostility, but she owed him, and she disliked owing people. Then he tripped into a ditch and she had to stifle a laugh. Luckily, she was well practiced in hiding her true thoughts.

"Lost?" she asked as she came up next to him.

Oh, great, this day was definitely awesome.

Zephyr didn't dignify this with a response at first, opting to get himself out of the ditch and on level ground. Level ground that did not have him being shorter than Valdis.

"Nah," he said, resettling his jacket and shoving his hands in his pockets. "Just following the wrong directions."

Just because he wasn't clear about how to get back where he'd came from yet, didn't mean he was lost.

"Can I help you with something?" This was polite, but only polite; there wasn't a lot of warmth in it.

Valdis was pretty sure that was the very definition of 'lost', but she didn't track him down to argue semantics. His attitude, however, made her not entirely thrilled to actually say what she knew she should say.

"You already did, actually," she said casually, her expression neutral, "And I wanted to thank you."

How far could she push without making him walk away? The man wasn't being outright hostile, but she could probably get him there in less than a minute. Yet that was not her goal.

"You seem rough around the edges, but I can tell you aren't as...hostile as you let off."

"When did I do that?" It was an honest question. Zephyr had very little recollection of actually helping Valdis, except maybe standing guard while she and X had their talk? But that had been a little while ago. "I mean, you're welcome, I guess, but save it for when I've actually done something, huh?"

He didn't have to have atrocious manners. He just forgot about good ones most of the time. He tilted his head, indicating a direction parallel to the ditch. "I think I'm headed this way, if whatever you have to say can be walked with. Seriously, what makes you think I'm not just an asshole?"

Because he was, really.

Valdis shook her head, "It's nothing that requires us to be stationary."

Zephyr was a highly skeptical person who played the jerk better than Devin did, which was saying something. Though she supposed she did cheat with her ability to feel emotions. Zephyr was far more honest in his hostility than the Vampire.

"My name wasn't always Valdis," she explained, "It was once Meira. I believe you met her awhile back."

"Oh," Zephyr said, bland and blunt to cover the utter shock. Some of it showed on his face, regardless, he knew. Still. He had to try.

He knew something about name and their changes. With a shrug he started walking. "You were a pretty cute puppy, then," he said, prodding intentionally. Something made him think she wouldn't be too happy about being called cute. "Real polite, too."

Contrary to Zephyr's plans, Valdis felt nothing in regards to him comments about Meira, she simply shrugged, "Meira died a long time ago, we will never be the same person again."

Yet she felt no sorrow for the loss, Meira wouldn't have survived her life.

"And I am quite capable of being polite," she added, following after him, "You just happened to step in at the wrong time."

Unfortunately, Zephyr could relate. "Sorry for your loss," he said, somewhere between automatically glib and genuinely sincere. He pulled his hands from his pockets so he could lace them behind his head as they went, the picture of uncaring save for some faint tightness around his eyes.

Lillium...

Yep, dwelling on that was a terrible plan. Zephyr made an effort to shake it off. "Nah, that's what I mean," he said, carrying on. "There's a difference in acting polite, and being a polite person. You're good enough at being polite right now, but I don't believe you are polite. Y'know?"

He might still be trying to prod her. Not his wisest move, but a good distraction.

"Don't be," Valdis replied, her tone clear of emotion, "You can't mourn someone you never knew...and she was too weak to survive my world."

There was a catch in his aura, a hitch of some kind of pain that he tried to quell, but couldn't quite manage it. Valdis shrugged at his observation, not allowing herself to rise to the weak bait.

"I never claimed to be a kind or good person," she said, keeping pace with ease, but not watching him for any reaction, "But you aren't a saint either, are you?"

There was a dark edge to Zephyr, one that might be solved if she let her gaze drift to the soul plane, but she refrained. There was no need to violate his privacy due to mere curiosity.

"Sure you can." This was wistfully edged. Zephyr cut himself off there -- didn't really feel like sharing that bit of drama immediately -- but that was how he'd been saved in the first place. His partner had remembered without remembering. He changed tacks. "Feelings just kind of happen sometimes, and people are always weak. That's why they band together or hire mercenaries or... whatever. If only the strong survived, we'd have a really shitty world."

Whoops, again with the philosophical. Zephyr shook his head. "No one is," he said. "But I wasn't talking about kindness or goodness. I was talking about politeness." He forced a grin; it felt more genuine after a few moments. "You can be a good person and still be kind of a dick."

"Spoken like someone who has always known companionship," Valdis needled, "Not everyone has that, and my world is less than ideal for someone like me."

She paused, wondering where to push, or if she should. The man seemed to have less hostility than a moment ago, more inclined toward conversation. It could be a good thing.

"Devin fits that description far too well," she pointed out with a sly grin, "But you are correct about politeness, it's a learned behavior, one I picked up on for survival alone. It works for humans, as do many other aspects of personality. I do, however, attempt to be sincere with people here."

As needles, they mostly failed to prick. Zephyr shrugged. "Kind of sucks," he said, and, "Hey, less than ideal doesn't mean impossible. I know I'm being really sickeningly optimistic here, but sometimes... sometimes the people who don't know how to stop hoping are right, y'know?"

This was a level of conversation he could cope with. Prickly, but entertaining enough. At least until someone hit a sore spot. Zephyr wondered how far off that was from happening.

He was a little less convinced about Devin, but for the moment he let it be. "That's charitable of you. Probably works better in the long run."

"I've lived in reality far too long for that kind of hope, and despite your words, I have a feeling you have too."

Valdis, not being here to pick a fight, had no reason to search for sore spots, though her empathy made her capable of it. She shrugged, unwilling to argue a pointless argument.

"It has so far, though sincerity doesn't equal 'kind'." And that had gotten her in some trouble in the past. "I'm not for everyone, though some have reluctantly found it refreshing."

"Maybe." Another shrug. Zephyr kept doing that, like he could actually shake off whatever emotions he was having with the gesture alone. He couldn't, but it was worth a try. "I know a couple of people who have it, though. And I believe in them. So... it's kind of the same as hoping, just a degree removed."

He was aware it was a weird point of view, but that was as far as he was going to try to explain it.

"Well, sincerity isn't necessarily nice, and nice isn't necessarily kind, so it stands to reason that sincere isn't necessarily kind, either." They kept making leaps. At least they were -- sort of -- on the same page, as far as Zephyr could tell. "Better to know where you stand?"

It just so happens that on this particular day, Zephyr ducks into Die Rosa Tulpe--and lucky for him, the Fool is at his table in the corner of the cafe, absently applying a layer of varnish to a wooden puppet. When the doors open, he peers up from his work to see if the prospective customer is here for a coffee or to investigate his artwork--and is surprised to see Zephyr instead.

He starts to smile. "Zephyr," he says.

"Please hide me," Zephyr replies.

The Fool blinks. Huh.

Outside the shop, the lingering Ban Om devotee sheds some light on the situation. The Fool frowns and rises lightly to his feet, crosses over to the shop's front doors, and secures the latch in place. If Klaus is cross with him later, that is a risk he's willing to take. "What a strange friend you seem to have made," he muses aloud dryly, looking out the window.

The Fool's pretty much always good in a pinch, Zephyr thinks. Probably. He hasn't experienced a situation where it isn't at least nice to have the Fool around, so far.

The point is that there are worse choices than to ask to be hid by him.

"Thank you," he says fervently at the click of the latch, and throws himself into the empty chair by the Fool's table. "That's not a friend. I've never seen them before in my life, and I'm getting really sick of getting followed around with that kind of smile."

"...I'm getting really sick of getting followed around with that kind of smile."

"Truly? I cannot imagine why." He's kidding.

The Fool turns back around and crosses over to the table, his closed-mouth smile a touch sly when he looks at Zephyr again. He settles himself back down into his seat and crosses his legs at the ankles, collecting up the small puppet he'd been working on previously. The varnish hasn't dripped anywhere, thankfully.

"I imagine he will wander off eventually," he goes on, eyes returning to his work as he brings the brush up to apply a layer of rich oil to the finely grained wood. "In the meantime, I'm glad for your company, given it's been quite some time since I last saw you." There is only the vaguest admonishment in his tone and the glint in his eye. srsly man where u been?

"Just for that, I'm going to follow you around smiling creepily for a day," Zephyr informs the Fool, with absolutely no intention of actually doing so. It's an empty threat, and that probably shows. Oh well. How long has it been since he made a threat his friends actually believed...?

Oh. Right.

Zephyr rubs a hand across his eyes and slouches deeper into his chair with a heavy sigh. "Yeah, it's been a while. Sorry. I'm not always the most social guy."

"Yeah, it's been a while. Sorry. I'm not always the most social guy."

It wasn't an admonishment the Fool had actually expected an apology for, and he scoffs lightly, waving it off with his brush. "I am sociable enough for at least three of you," he teases instead, quirking another smile, then sets the puppet down and considers his work with his chin in his hand. "But it has certainly been a memorable month, hasn't it."

For reasons both good and bad.

Zephyr catches X in the middle of writing, something short and somewhat oblique despite the meticulousness of the letters. He glances up, startled but unsurprised, and gives the other man an amused look as he flops onto his bunk.

"I have as many seconds as you need," X answers. "What is it?"

Zephyr is briefly distracted by the desire to be utterly facetious, but manages to contain himself.

"I've been having a thought," he says, sneaking up on the idea as he props himself up on his elbows. "How long have you been here? I mean at the Dreaming Bridge, but I guess Aifaran in general works, too."

He looks for a moment like he might be about to plow straight on through the thought, but ultimately subsides to wait for X's input.

"Since the month it was extremely cold," X answers, tapping his pen and staring thoughtfully into the distance somewhere past Zephyr. "January, I think. There was that festival where all those people went missing around the funhouse... that would make it about eight months, give or take."

He looks back at Zephyr properly, head cocked, curious. "Why?"

"I haven't been here quite that long," Zephyr admits, flopping back down to rest his chin on the pillow, "but I'm getting kind of bored of the Dreaming Bridge, to tell you the truth."

Also it's a little depressing to constantly see new people and never have them be people he recognizes, but that's neither here nor there.

"What I'm getting at is how would you feel about moving out?"

The wide-eyed surprise isn't an answer on its own, but the time stretching before X answers might well be.

"Moving out?" he says at last, like the idea has never crossed his mind even as an idle thought. And it hasn't; the Bridge never gave him a reason to leave, not even out of boredom like Zephyr suggests. Now that he's considering it, he's not convinced he could afford it, or that he wants to leave the one place he could be sure of meeting anyone he knows from his home world.

"I --" he begins, stammering a little. "I haven't -- given it much thought. I guess I'm not used to turning down a free bed when there's one available."

"Yeah," Zephyr says, more or less patiently. "Moving out."

He lets X work through that, and the initial answer isn't super hopeful, but-- whatever, it's not like Zephyr had a whole lot staked on this plan in the first place. It was just a thought. Definitely just a thought.

"It's getting kind of wearing being here with a constant parade of roommates and then not-roommates," he says eventually, when it seems like X has said as much as he's going to. "And the odd jobs I've got going on are decent enough. We could manage to rent a place, I think."

In what is either complete coincidence or the universe conspiring to force them to interact, Devin is there to see Zephyr's mishap. Such are the dangers of mobile devices and walking. He hasn't forgotten Zephyr's commentary on his ability to be a guardian, and his gaze is appropriately frigid.

"You might try a paper map," Devin suggests coolly, standing at a little distance. His posture is forcibly relaxed. "Or barring that, ask for directions."

Oh, awesome, this guy.

Even in the ditch, Zephyr's expression cools noticeably, out of 'mildly annoyed' and into 'somewhat chilly.' "Where's the fun in that?" he asks, with a sort of casualness that is just a hair on the forced side. "Unless it's the kind of map with here there be dragons on it. Maybe I like getting lost."

You don't know him, Devin. And if you did Zephyr might be forced to change some things out of spite.

Devin arches an eyebrow. "You might consider coming up with a less transparent excuse for falling distractedly into a ditch," he says mildly. "Unless this counts as 'lost' or 'fun' in your book."

Do yourself a favor and don't try to pretend it is, Zephyr. Anyone with eyes can see it is neither of those things. He considers offering Zephyr a hand up for about half a second before deciding the likelihood it'll be taken is approximately nil. Instead, he moves closer - but not directly over Zephyr. Making himself appear threatening is unnecessary.

"If you can be convinced to get off of your metaphorical high horse while you're much more literally down to earth, I can tell you how to get where you're going," Devin remarks flatly.

The shittiest part is that even these same words, coming from Sara or Kana, would be about a hundred times better. From this asshole they're just grating and depressing. Zephyr clambers out of the ditch and aggressively shoves his hands into his pockets.

"Depends on the company," he says finally. "A bunch of really shitty things can get tolerable if you've got the right company."

Oh, he definitely shouldn't have said that. Zephyr presses on.

"I'm at least half wandering, anyway," he says, eying Devin. "Got an idea of where in the city I want to be, mostly, but I want to see what the neighborhoods are like. Apartment-hunting, y'know?"

It feels a little like talking with a sullen teenager, though the remark on company suggests that Zephyr has more reason to be sullen than purely uninformed dislike. Zephyr has friends, somewhere, and circumstances when he needs them. The instinct to dig into that is on the tip of his tongue, a barb always at the ready - but he doesn't say what comes to mind. If Devin decides to rip into him, he will at least do so based on grounded observation, and facts where possible.

And, as it happens, Devin has had a similar experience when it comes to the right company.

"Seeing as I live in an apartment, yes," he says dryly. "I am aware of both the concept and its practical application. Keep your eyes up if you want to see what a place is like," Devin suggests. He pauses and looks down the street with intensity he might otherwise reserve for a glare. "Watch the people, not the streets, and they'll show you something you won't find on any map. You might even learn something, if you're paying attention."

"And yet, if I keep my eyes up, I run the risk of tripping into ditches again." This is with a flash of self-deprecating humor; he's giving up the pretense that he meant to do that.

Hands still in pockets, Zephyr starts ambling down the street, jerking his chin at Devin. "Fair enough. If you've got something else to say, you can people-watch and talk with me." Because he doesn't really feel like giving this guy a whole lot of time out of his plans, but-- well, Zephyr's been wrong about people before.

Occasionally.

"This isn't even my shop -" Rutile begins to say as Zephyr makes his way toward them, but Zephyr's expression is one of desperation and they are too surprised to do much more than blink and let him through.

The shop itself is one of those slightly shady pawn shops whose sole advertising is cheap paper signs declaring GOLD FOR RHINN outside select establishments in Aifaran. Rutile is near the window when Zephyr ducks behind them and gestures out the window; Rutile sees the acolyte soon after, and understands immediately.

"Don't worry," they assure Zephyr, "no one respectable would ever enter a place like this. If they do, I'm sure the proprietor will chase them out in due course. He certainly seems on the verge of giving me the same treatment."

It's because they have neither gold nor rhinn, but that's not the point.

"Doesn't have to be your shop for you to be a meat shield," Zephyr says, mostly joking. He angles himself to better hide behind Rutile, and then considers Rutile with some thoughtfulness. "Or. Not meat. You know what I mean."

Probably. Also possibly Zephyr has unintentionally been an asshole, which, well. He prefers to do so on purpose, really.

"I dunno, I think you're plenty respectable." This has to be made clear before Zephyr gives up on hiding behind Rutile and just sits down on the floor. "Let me know when it's clear, will you?"

Or they might both get thrown out. Either way.

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catchall | September | open

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