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Post by ParamountKeymaster on May 27, 2016 11:41:39 GMT -5
Evan shrugged. Tiering was by no means on his to-do list either, but given the events up to that point, he had come to grips with the idea that it was a very real possibility, one that Clockwork was going to be constantly hounding him for. Why else would Alex have stolen his alt self's quest bed? Even he had to understand that it could very well happen somewhere down the line. It even seemed like he even accepted it more so than Evan did.
Whatever came to pass, Evan could take it. What really got to him, though, was Alex's faith in him. It was nice to know that he trusted Evan enough to fight for him and his teammates, and the little smile he gave the thief said it all. "Thanks, man. I'll do my best. You can count on that."
Having quickly finished his meal, Evan leaned back in his seat and took a moment to ponder. "We're gonna make the most of this, and we're gonna make it work. So... do we know what the next step is?"
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Post by gantzgun74 on May 28, 2016 17:32:04 GMT -5
....... The thief stuffed the rest of his fries into his mouth...
Really it was more because he didn't want to answer then anything else. The truth was he had no idea. The game was pretty directionless itself, but at least they had the sprites at the time to vaguely keep them on path... This was a brand new situation, unlike anything he or Lizzie had seen before, so the only means they had to knowing what to do next lay with Kendall and Brendan.... WHICH ANNOYED HIM GREATLY. Those two had already proven unhelpful, so he had little reason to think they could do much more.
The fact that they knew so little, and that there was so little they could actually do infuriated him. He wanted something to do. After everything that had occurred, he was ready. He was finally ready to start growing stronger, to start showing this world what he was capable of... But the WAIT...
It would've been more bearable if he had SOMETHING.
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on May 28, 2016 19:52:51 GMT -5
"Alex...?" Evan leaned forward, casting the thief a worried look. A lack of direction would've been disheartening enough, but the fact that Alex wasn't even answering him just made him more concerned. "Dude, if you don't have a plan yet, you can just tell me and we'll-"
Evan slumped and frowned, irritated by the awkward timing of his phone's Pesterchum alert. Once he got over it, he smiled apologetically at Alex and pulled his phone out. "Half a moment..." He was just going to check it. If it wasn't anything imminently important, it could wait.
-- clockworkAngel [CA] began pestering paramountKeymaster [PK] --
CA: New Year's Eve. You'll be exactly where you need to be. You'll know what to do.
-- clockworkAngel [CA] ceased pestering paramountKeymaster [PK] --
"......" At first, Evan didn't really have an adequate response to Kendall's sudden intervention. After mulling it over for a few seconds, though, the familiarity sank in, prompting a chuckle out of him. Though he hadn't explained what was going to happen in typical Kendall fashion, the fact that they at least had a set date and the knowledge that they would catch on when that date arrived was enough encouragement for the keymaster.
"Dang time angel..." Evan smirked at nothing in particular, put his phone back in his pocket, then gave Alex a confident grin. "New Year's Eve. Whatever it is we have to do next will happen on New Year's Eve."
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Post by gantzgun74 on May 28, 2016 20:32:35 GMT -5
................ The Thief looked quite unamused.
".... Look, I understand that you trust the guy and that he's okay and all that.... But can I say, just for the record, that I do NOT like how smug he is?" For however negative that commentary sounded, the bitter undertone made it sound more humorous then bad. The reddening face almost made him appear cute just to add insult to injury.
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on May 28, 2016 20:50:20 GMT -5
"Smug?" Well, there was a word that Evan would never have associated with the Angel of Time. "Dude, what's gonna happen is gonna happen regardless of Kendall dropping any hints. He's just telling us when to expect some action. I know I appreciate it."
Evan sipped his coffee, then took a deep breath and raised a hand. The last thing he wanted was to rekindle any feelings of distrust. He had to be cooperative and empathetic with Alex. "But... hey, at least we have some direction. And when it all goes down, we'll be ready, and we'll know what to do."
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Post by gantzgun74 on May 30, 2016 2:01:30 GMT -5
"I mean he's a know-it-all..."
Meh... HE might as well just drop it. It was apparent Evan wasn't going to see the same thing... Well fair enough, he had known Kendall longer then the thief did. "Okay okay... Just be grateful we're getting information as we go.... Even though I'd probably be a bit MORE grateful if we got it with a bit more time to prep up for whatever happens..."
.... He noted Evan's expression and cleared his throat. "... I'm sorry, you're right. A little direction every now and then is better then nothing."
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on May 30, 2016 9:49:25 GMT -5
Evan merely shrugged and continued to idly sip his coffee. Even though he didn't agree, he could at least understand why some people might find Kendall's tact to be frustrating. He had grown accustomed to it, was all; more often than not, he understood why the angel behaved the way he did. Hopefully Alex could warm up to him in the same way in due time, because Evan didn't want to play this game without Kendall.
With that said, Evan mentally went over each point they had covered. They knew when to expect their next mission, they had reached a mutual understanding, they'd forgiven each other for the Mt. Bonsai incident- Wait, did they ever make that official?
"Um..." Bearing that in mind, though, something else occurred to Evan. "Okay, the last thing I want is to sound insensitive, and if you don't wanna talk about it, I'll understand. Buuuuuut... that... thing that happened on Mt. Bonsai... with... you going all... dark side on us...... I don't have to worry about that, do I?"
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Post by gantzgun74 on May 30, 2016 21:06:29 GMT -5
................. Alex gave Evan a stern glare, taking in the question... He understood the question, heck he more then understood... But...
"..... That's a part of myself I can't escape."
At Evan's expression, Alex let out a breath. "Do you have any memories of your experiences with your dream self? Because if you did, you might remember my encounter with a troll by the name of Orcana."
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on May 30, 2016 21:17:21 GMT -5
Evan raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth, but before he could tell Alex that that didn't exactly answer his question, Alex had changed the subject. He paused for a breath, quickly getting over himself. He had asked plenty of questions already. It was only fair that he be given some in return.
"Yeah, actually, I can remember my dreams pretty well. And yeah, I remember her... and the angry one that wants to kill me, but that's neither here nor there."
The look Evan was giving Alex from behind his coffee cup was hard to describe. He seemed to be looking right through the thief yet pitying what he found inside.
He recalled the image of his alternate self being confronted by a troll. He remembered thinking at the time that said troll looked similar to the one on the battlefield.
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Post by gantzgun74 on May 30, 2016 21:24:26 GMT -5
"Actually, she has more to do with this then you think."
? That likely caught Evan's attention as Alex, while usually one to grimace by normal nature, was now close to snarling. "During our game, Orcana advised me to open a void portal to the furthest rings, a voided out space and the home of the horror terrors. Those Tentacles you remember back on Mt. Bonsai." ... Yeah..? So...? It was unsure where the man was going with this. "When I did listen.... The Horror Terrors told me many things... To such a degree where they can take control of my mind either if I let them or if I lose control of my senses."
........... ".... Orcana knew perfectly well what would happen if I listened to the Horror Terrors. Afterwards she said so herself, telling me that by doing what I did, I gained the power to 'kill my friends' to help them god-tier without guilt... A good friend of mine, Arti, died by my hands and came back the Knight of Light." ........... OH...........
"Which explains two things... First, the Grimdark form... But as I explained, I can control the Horror Terror's influence, in fact I can do that better then usual these days.... And second... Why I will always hate any version of Orcana, Adult or otherwise... And why you should never trust any of them either."
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on May 30, 2016 21:46:16 GMT -5
"Oh."
Evan looked down at his now-empty cup for a moment before setting it aside. Then he leaned back and sunk deep into his seat, eyes low and mouth shut. Brendon had told him many things, right down to the very tragedy that sent Alex here, as told to him by Kendall. That was something he hadn't known, and while he was well used to hearing the horrible things the game had done, he still felt upset for having brought up such a touchy subject. Like... dang. Of course, it still didn't answer his question, but Evan opted to let it slide. No sense in making this all about him. Again.
His blank expression turned into a hard scowl when, once again, his darn phone disrupted the somber atmosphere. Out of force of habit, Evan pulled it out just to see who it was, even though he was really not in the mood to find more things to worry about.
-- arcaneGhostbuster [AG] began pestering paramountKeymaster [PK] --
AG: YO EVAN WHATS TEH NAME A THAT LIZARD GUY U KNOW
Nope. Not in the mood for this.
After promptly setting his phone aside, Evan calmed back down and looked up at Alex again. "I'm not gonna lie. I'm... really not sure what to say here."
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Post by gantzgun74 on May 30, 2016 22:14:16 GMT -5
"All you need to know is that I don't ever intend to go Grimdark again... I've hurt too many people with that transformation already..." And there went the thief, closing the subject firmly. "In fact, I'd been controlling that pretty well up till that day."
Then Evan used the Paramount Key on him...
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on May 30, 2016 22:28:06 GMT -5
"Yeah..." Evan placed a hand on his sternum, his fingers fondling the key tucked inside his hoodie. "That... Look, being serious here, we both let our emotions get the better of us. I was upset that you were trying to bail before hearing my side of the story... but I know that's no excuse. I was strong enough that I could've just pulled you back down. Locking you was completely superfluous and unfair. I swear I only lock people when I absolutely have to, but that... yeah, even disregarding Clockwork's interruption before I could undo it, that was just selfish of me."
Lord knows that word was one that had been cycling through Evan's head for weeks.
"I just... wanna put all that behind me. I wanna stop feeling like a total nuisance."
Evan was hardly aware of what he was saying by this point, thinking out loud without even realizing it. Sure, he believed that the could and should help, and he was prepared to give it his all... but he wanted to be a friend, not just a replacement.
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Post by gantzgun74 on May 30, 2016 22:47:25 GMT -5
.............. "..... Hey... Evan." The thief stood up from his seat, finally finished with his food... He then motioned for Evan to do the same. Once the two were on their feet, the thief looked Evan over. It was clear that, from this point forward, things were going to be a work in progress... Evan would need to find his own path... But at the same time, he needed to know that everything between him and his team-mates was going to be okay.
In another time, in another life, he would have just talked Evan out of his funk.... However, in this life, in the here and now, that had not worked...
... Maybe he did learn something from his dealings with Orcana.
"..... We're going to go outside and do a little exercise. Basically, we're going to exchange punches."
At Evan's panicked expression, Alex smiled. There was no smugness in it or any pretense for harm. In fact, the expression looked warm... At least before he looked away. "You think you're the only one with problems?" ? "I continue to feel guilty for rushing the game in our session, for having Evan play the game before he could understand what was happening... I feel guilty for taking Swift away from him... And not even a few weeks ago, I almost did it again, this time to you."
.......... The thief shrugged. "As for me? I'll be honest, I've beaten wholesale ass for a lot less then the Paramount key... But for you? Because you've already subjected yourself to the key and apologized to me for everything... I'm thinking about... 30% power... fair enough?"
The thief meandered to the bar, slapping twenty boondollars on it for the waitress and walking out the front door.
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on May 30, 2016 23:03:31 GMT -5
"Ummmmmmmmm... What?" Evan was still standing at the table, barely even acknowledging that Alex had paid and left. Was Alex... seriously insisting that they settle their differences through fisticuffs?
...........................
......................................................
.................................................................................
"No seriously, WHAT??"
...........................
After about thirty-seven and a half seconds of mulling over what the heck had just happened, Evan dashed out after Alex, carrying his overcoat on his shoulder and wearing the expression one wore when they were two hours late for work. "WHOA WHOA WHOA HOLD UP! L-Listen, I think we've reached an understanding, right? We all got problems with lack of communication and giant monsters, I get it. Is this really necessary???"
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