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| No title. |
| (2014-03-31 - 2014-03-31) |
| No description. |
| Leo | Evening is settling into the city about now, the temperature dropping with the winter season still not having given up it's tenacious hold on the world. In some areas its more like they let that season stay as long as it wants to, but Spring is soon to come in and usher it out like an old friend who's stayed well past the time to turn in. A few trash cans clang in an alley somewhere, cat's yowling. The city doesn't seem to sleep at night, as some places tend not to. Right now Leo was just trying to find some food. It had been a week or so seemingly since he'd arrived there, not really understanding what had happened back at his world, it had fallen of course, but right now he was just glad to be free of the White Queen and her castle, but he also had no where to go or anyone to turn to, so he was scrounging around for takeout or food businesses had tossed out, kind of like a rat. He kept his head down, course, he didn't want to run into any of the gangs that might have been about, hell he'd only just started not bolting from people at first sight. Many a times he'd stumble upon bums or prostitutes and wind up freaking out, still having some kind of fear that maybe the White Queen wasn't dead after all, and maybe some familiar faces would come out of the dark, looking for him. |
| Zerum | The dark elf known as Zerum Valos had come to Deling in a bit of a hurry, hoping to elude the authorities who might've wanted to pursue him after his episode over at the jail in the Traverse Area. Having riddled the prison full of holes after ripping out a plethora of their support beams and walls in an attempt to free Rhiannon, he was eventually forced to retreat before he could penetrate the inner sanctum that would've allowed him to meet with success. Deling City was not far and so within a day's time it was quite plausible that the dark knight could reach it. As a realm that was said to have been influenced by a witch named Edea, at least within some of the more seedy circles, Zerum had learned that such a place might be willing to house someone like himself until the dust cleared, at which time his name would become a vague memory. There were far worse of fiends to deal with than Zer, so as he became welded with the rest of the anonymous civilians in the World of Ruin, the sinister culprits would stand out in stark contrast, causing him to fade into obscurity from the minds of those seeking harmony. One person seeking harmony, who was perchance finding it difficult to locate was Leo, a young man scavenging off of the dumpsters in the city in the alleyways. Trying to stay off the grid for awhile, even inside of a realm like Deling, Lord Valos happened to hear movements in 'his' alleyway. Leo had just come around the bend from the neighboring street, and Zerum turned his attention upwards, while remaining seated against a wall, under a makeshift awning constructed from tattered cloth, which was keeping him dry; there had been a mild drizzle for the last hour or so.... Even so, Zerum's penchant for detecting pressures and sounds informed him that soon enough, there would be a downpour, "It's going to get extremely moist, soon." Zerum had designed the awning to be long enough for him to lie beneath horizontally, so it clearly could afford to shield two or three people if they were sitting upright, and since the dark elf was indeed sitting, for the moment, it meant that the little alcove could feasibly shelter Leo, too, if the boy was willing to take a gamble. |
| Leo | It was luck that Leo had taken up vagrancy in a town that had a magical kind of history to it, and indeed had even been lorded over by a witch of sorts. He didn't know who any of these people were fortunately, and likely better for it. What he did want though, was food, and maybe a dry place to sleep for the evening. It was easy to rip stuff off from vendors and the like using a few magical tricks, sleight of hand stuff, he knew how to do things like that. Except now all the shops were closed, and the people who might have little things to eat had all gone home. As he hung over the edge of a dumpster, he pulled out what looked like a few slices of cold pizza using his teeth, his hands instead balancing him on the edge, looking over to the side where he'd heard the voice. He didn't care about the rain, but suddenly someone was talking to him, the blood draining from his face as he suddenly felt quite a bit... vulnerable, or maybe scared, sitting there with the pizza hanging from his teeth like a dog that'd been caught rummaging through it's master's food. "Mphh?" he muffled something thanks to his mouth being full, retreating back and hopping down from the dumpster, intently tearing into the pizza that had been discarded some time that day, thankfully. He ate quickly, on the spot, just in case he had to drop the food to vamoose. |
| Zerum | He wasn't a humanitarian, so it wasn't as though Zerum was about to go out on a limb and beg to have the privilege to help another person in need, even if he wasn't a true hellion, either.... so when Leo responded with his nondescript sound effect that implied both curiosity and confusion, the dark elf shrugged his shoulders, "Suit yourself. But your old, cold pizza certainly won't taste any better if it's all squishy from soaking up the water coming down..... Even if the sponging effect doesn't dillute the flavor, the texture will be totally unlike that for which it was designed." The large sylvan could tell Leo was some kind of victim of abuse, but then.... if Zer was too insistent about foisting 'help' on Leo, it wouldn't've seemed genuine anyway, since predators and swindlers were usually the types to pressure one into accepting an offer of some kind. No traps here, no sir.... just a dark skinned dark knight in a dark alley offering a nice spot in the shade to a teenager who was living hand to mouth; with this instance being an exception to the rule, Leo hadn't even bothered to grab the article of discarded food with his hands, and gave his mouth a chance to do all the work. |
| Leo | Leo was in fact busily snarfing up that cold pizza like he hadn't eaten for a week, though that was due to habit by now, if it was in his stomach he couldn't drop it while fleeing. Course, it was mostly gone as he ducked down a little and his sandaled feet slapped against the cold, damp pavement--that might have been dusty before, still had small particles of rocks and pebbles scrunching underfoot. His fingers curled around the crust of the pizza as he nommed it a bit noisily, before finally letting his hands fall away form his face, trying to clean his cheeks with the back of his hands in a way that seemed decidedly cat-like, just from the body language. "Wh-who are you?" he asked, voice a bit gravelly from still trying to clear his throat, voice sounding high and with a distinct tone of a German accent. Jah jah, schnell schnell~ |
| Zerum | Zerum watched as Leo gobbled the old scrap of bread covered in tomato and cheese, which inspired him to start snacking as well; a man who was seven feet in height, and wearing dense mail was one who could work up an appetite just by existing. "I guess you wait to eat like one pig waits for another...." Valos says, teasingly, not really caring that much that Leo started dining without allowing the dark elf to dine with him.... on the other hand, far be it for a dark knight to be beyond a little bit of abrasive chiding, even if this particular minion of shadow wasn't as sadistic as many of his ilk. He picks up his sack, and draws out a half of an entire cheese-wheel, which is followed up by incisions being made to cut a wedge-shaped slice from the body. Suddenly, a dog from some distant block howls, which from that range would hardly seem intimidating to anybody, let alone an enormous, armored sylvan.... nonetheless, he feigns a temporary overwhelming of fear, tossing his arms outward, causing his cheese to soar all the way over towards Leo, and even past him! The cheese is now well beyond Zerum's range, and he'd have to bypass the boy to fetch the thing, which meant that it could've easily been considered a writeoff. "Hmm... those stray hounds can be so startling....." Valos states, as he calmly begins to cut away another piece from his half-wheel. He wouldn't bother with the slice of cheese that ended up on the ground, anyway, because it had been contaminated with a myriad of unidentified germs. Typically, Lord Valos did /not/ approve of folks getting within two to three yards of himself, as evidenced by how he treated Echo and Morrighan, but since this kid was as destitute as they looked, thus seemingly powerless, Zer banked on the notion that Leo wouldn't be able to take him down.... beyond that, the drow was on the far right of his little hovel, which meant Leo could easily sit to the far left and they'd never end up touching one another, if they were careful. "My name is Lord Valos. But.... here... in this land? I might as well just be Mister Valos." |
| Leo | "Wh-why are you wearing armor?" Leo was naturally a bit suspicious, course, he didn't want to run into any of the White Queen's people, but this guy didn't seem to be coming after him exactly, either. A few more shuffling footsteps brought him closer and soon he was kneeling down with his feet flat against the alley pavement, his knees bowed out in front of him as he hunched down there, still chewing on the remnants of that pizza, mostly the crust. He blinked a little as he saw the cheese being brought out, though he didn't seem to eye it hungrily. "Ah, it has been so long since I had real cheese... this stuff they put on this bread doesn't seem too much like it.." he seemed to lament, shrugging a little. Hearing the animal a block away his ears seemed to prickle at the howl, looking around a little animatedly. His pupils seemed narrow, though wider now than they might have been in the light. He crouched down a little closer to try and get some of the shelter there, though he hadn't cared about the rain, he didn't want to be wet /all/ evening, exactly. |
| Zerum | With Leo askin several consecutive questions, Zer figured that he was beginning to earn the boy's trust; he wasn't sure if the teen would be worth anything to him in the grand scheme of things, while, by the same token, it didn't really cost him much to say a few words and toss away some of his cheese. In any case, the piece Valos had chucked was on the end, so it had been exposed to the air awhile, causing it to be slightly dried out, albeit still far superior to whatever the pizza was topped with-- Zerum could afford to squander some of his booty without suffering tremendously. Valos could easily tell by now that Leo was some manner of hybrid. He wasn't quite human /or/ animal, but to the dark elf, humans were just as alien as any other sapient non-elven breed, so the boy's appearance didn't strike him as being any further peculiar than would have an 'ordinary' homosapien. Finally answering the boy's inquiry, Zer retorted, in a relatively deadpan voice, "They have laws forbidding indecent exposure in this city. If you're looking for the nudist colony, then you need to do some inquiring on your own, because I dunno where the closest one is." He shrugs his shoulders; well, it was at least /ONE/ good reason he chose to wear armor, right? |
| Leo | Leo would catch the cheese, sniffling it almost a bit suspiciously before bringing it to his lips and having a few nibbles at it. It was indeed of a much sharper and desirable flavor than the processed mozerella that had been on that pizza. The teen did indeed resemble several animals in several strange ways, his eyes, ears, that long draconic tail with the spaded tip... like several different animals had just started sprouting up here and there. "What? am I not wearing enough?" he looked down, a little self-conscious, though normally he might not have cared. He wasn't trying to show too much skin there with his tunic, not by his own doing anyway. These were just the clothes on his back when he'd fled. "I don't quite understand, but you seem alright, I'm Leo," he nodded a little to the dark elf, that spaded tail of his lilting and lashing about behind him slowly in a way that more resembled a cat's than a reptiles, just with the motion of it. |
| Zerum | Wagging his wrist indifferently, Zerum tried to offer further assurance to Leo that this was in no way an inconvenience to him, losing that piece of cheese, to motivate the young one to do a little more than nibble, hopefully, "Bah.... that part of the wheel was old anyway.... Good riddance to it...." This additionally was a way to help sell the idea that Valos wasn't terribly fond of Leo, or one to show charity to others. If people started to think he was a sentimentalist, who knows what stunts they'd try to pull, what with so many other alleged 'dark knights' reforming to the side of 'good'; this isn't to say Valos was /bad/, per say, but he was determined to be a fence-sitter if he could help it-- the Valii /were/ known for their partiality towards being.... well.... impartial! "You asked me why I elected to wear armor, and now you're asking me if you're properly dressed; you're beginning to make me wonder if you're some kind of fashion fanatic.", he sighs, before snapping his fingers, "I'll tell you what. If you want an accurate answer, then go to the nearest police station, and start stripping. Every time you remove a garment, you can ask them if you're suitably dressed, up until they arrest you. That's when you'll know that you need to adorn more." And there was his advice for Leo; not advice Zerum himself would really capitalize on, because he was quite content to /have/ to wear a full suit of armor, but it was something for someone else who felt insecure about themselves, which was undeniably untrue of the dark one. It was hard to tell if he was being serious, or facetious.... or some of both. All that could be said was that he had his own way of doing things, and when others wanted to know how to live their lives, he would provide obvious answers that didn't really say much as to Zer's opinion on such matters. Glancing at the tail, Zerum made a mental note to be watchful of all of Leo's appendages, because otherwise he might be missing a wallet if he didn't consider that tail. "You appear to be in unreasonably dire straits, Mister Leo....." He raised a brow, inquisitively. |
| Leo | Leo didn't seem to mind the fact that Valos seemed a little cold, he seemed used to such. He blinked a little and leaned back at his replay, but didn't seem to be upset by it. "Fashion? you're wearing f-full armor in the rain, don't you have clothes?" he seemed just a little incredulous there. Poor Leo, he didn't know Dark Knight's practically /lived/ in their sadistically constrictive armor, was part of their 'deal' at least the traditional ones, anyway. "Police...?" he wasn't so sure what to make of that bit, tilting his head, a bang of charcoal black hair getting in the way of one eye, which he quickly brushed away. "I should wear more? okay, well, when I get something new to wear, if I get some money, that is," he seemed a little confused there. He was from a rustic society where new clothes was a thing only when extremely necessary, he was far from the idea of buying new clothes just for 'fashion' or the like. "Jah, you could say that," he nibbled a little bit on the cheese, considering it. He seemed like he'd finish it before he moved on, he didn't have many places to carry it. "Just Leo, tis my name," he also didn't want to comment that he likely would have a hard time remembering his full family name. |
| Zerum | Zerum scratches the side of his head when Leo persists in his interrogation of the bit about having chosen to wear armor, which was just slightly beginning to grate on the elf's nerves, however, Valos remained mostly relaxed, "I'm not in the rain. There's an awning above me. I foresaw it, and took shelter. When the rain is gone, the awning I'll be out and about." Of course, armor was expensive, and in many places, a declaration of one's prestige, since they costed thousands, but in the sylvan's case, it actually enabled him to levitate, along with high-vaulting, so the metallic costume embellished his person as frequently as he could possibly justify it. All doubts are banished from Valos' mind that Leo is impoverished, once the hybrid admits it.... not that a verbal confession would've been confirmation if the previous facts hadn't matched the testimony, "Hmmm... I could use another hired-hand. You'd have to get yourself educated as to the nature of this world a bit before I could really make the most out of you, but for now.... you'd be ideal for minor tasks, thereby, in turn, making you deserving of minor reimbursements." Zer folds his arms over his chest, "....I don't know how long you've been here, but you don't seem to be knowledgable about the cultural norms; if you were a conscientious objector showing non-conformity, then you might still be showing defiance of the establishment.... but you'd be doing it consciously, instead of ignorantly." He snickers, then waves his hand, "Okay. I'm convinced. I'll hire you, Mister Just." He doesn't want to be called 'Mister Leo', but he's apparently 'Just Leo', and Valos doesn't refer to people without honorifics, since it implied emotional affinity, so a mister, miss, lord, sir, madame, or otherwise was /mandatory/ from his own end. "You see.... I'm a man of the truest science. I seek all knowledge. Funneling it into specific applications is best, initially, but eventually, I hope to diversify into /all/ fields of study, so that nothing is beyond me. So, for me, munny is no object. I want munny? I send out some pulses, figure out what minerals, or metals are nearby, collect them, pawn them.... and then I can afford to do more research. The problem is that sometimes there are things cash alone won't buy, so I have to form alliances, because, in the end.... finances are just promisary notes, and if people don't have confidence in your credibility." He stares at Leo for a second and sighs, "....Never mind. Look. Do you want a job? Yes or no?" |
| Leo | The young man seems to enjoy the food at least, nibbling on the bit of cheese he'd been given. He seemed to nudge himself back a little when the Dark knight mentioned ignorance, since his tone of voice might have scared him a little. "I do not come from here, and I'm a stranger in this land, I have not been able to find my way back to where I come from," not that he'd looked especially hard, though he had looked. He'd mostly been confused, and it wasn't as if the path to his own world still existed. The chimerical boy frowned a little and shook his head. "Nnn-nono, see, I'm only called Leo, 'just' isn't part of my name," he gestured in the air with his hands a little distractedly that might have seemed like a cat, pawing at the air. He fussed a little before returning his arms down to focus on kneeling and keeping out of the rain, ducking more under the awning. "Aw, you are a man of scientific pursuits then?" if Leo had known better, he'd be a little more suspicious here, he didn't want to wind up in a hamster wheel, or anything. Though this probably seemed odd. What kind of professors wore armor?? "Ah, ah... I see, well if you are offering me work I guess I could try, depends what you need me to do," he nodded, not looking especially strong, but he was spry. He huddled in a bit closer to the armored man, wanting to keep out of the rain and pulling his legs in close, his tail sweeping in around him like a cat's to keep warm. "Mind if I sleep here?" he asked with a hopeful look on his face. |
| Zerum | The dark elf tilted his head curiously at Leo as the boy elaborated on his woeful tale, until deciding that it was just as he suspected; a newcomer who was lost and trying to find his way-- either back home, or to somewhere better, but whatever they wanted, it was not to be stumbling through the alleyways living off of half-rancid leftovers. That was what Valos' piercing mind detected through all of the information he was being inundated with, and soon enough, this was confirmed after Leo agreed to offer his service to Zerum.... provisionally. The dark knight wouldn't bet the farm on Leo being willing to steal babies from nurseries so that Valos could suck their blood and turn them into vampiric-infants that could be promptly returned to their cribs, then used to bite into their mothers' mammary glands, consequently turning /them/ into vampires, which could result in a whole plant of.... well, yeah, that wasn't going to happen. Maybe something a little more conventional would be necessary. In any case, Zer couldn't convert folks into vampires, not being one himself, and it was questionable if he could be turned into one, since there had to be biological prerequisites for what was compatible with vampirism, and what was not. "Yes, I am a scientist.... you see, the oldest origin of the word 'science' is the word 'skei', which means 'to cut', or, to separate one thing from another, so that they may be distinguished." He smirks proudly, ".....And if there is one thing I spend all my days doing, it is to disassemble, and then reassemble-- but don't worry.... I don't dissect organisms like yourself. I have bigger ambitions than to waste my time on the unreliable, undefinable expanse of medical dissection, which spends an eternity trying to isolate individual mutations which are liable never to truly reproduce themselves in exactly the same fashion as their predecessors." Letting that sink in before proceeding, he paused, "I'm looking for something more universally applicable. Let the folks with short life expectancies do their meager delvings into th...." He blinks astoundedly as he fellow curls up like a cat, asking permission to sleep in the same quarters as himself, with a countenance exhibiting hopefulness, which must've been proof that Leo now had invested /some/ trust in Zerum. Deciding his tangent was unnecessary, the dark elf shrugged, "I don't have a deed to this spot. You've got as much right to it as I.... so by all means, Mister Leo." He grins. |