|
|
Post by DanteMGalileo on Sept 5, 2018 18:43:05 GMT -5
"Yep, Jordan's the name."
The younger of the two brothers stretched himself out on the sofa, to the clear displeasure of William. "Will here says I lack ambition beyond doing what I'm paid for, but honestly? Chasing dreams doesn't fill the belly."
"I..." William paused. "Never really thought of it that way. I always think you're just flitting about doing the bare minimum, no drive, all you care about are your cigarettes and sometimes spicy food." Whack. Smack to the back of the head.
"That's because you don't try to think about it from my point of view." The younger male glared. "Honestly, I don't mind flitting about doing the bare minimum. You and Leanne both got bits of Mom's legacy to carry, yeah? ... That's private, but I'm sure there will be something that spills the beans later. I didn't inherit much from her, so while I'm not as freakishly strong as you or as magically gifted as Leanne, I don't have that kind of weight on my shoulders." He smirked slightly. "I can just be me. And if I just wanna flit about doing the bare minimum? Yep, that's me. It's kinda fun having the freedom to be a little bit capricious."
"... Y'know, that does sound kind of... tempting?"
"What? You, capricious? Oh, no. You'd be terrible at it."
"YOU JUST IMPLIED I SHOULD DO THAT."
"Hahaha..."
|
|
|
|
Post by ParamountKeymaster on Sept 6, 2018 20:08:20 GMT -5
Paul chuckled at the brothers' bickering, almost feeling a twinge of jealousy over their blunt but still notably warm banter. At least they had some understanding of each other. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Jordan. Hanging out with William and his friends has certainly been interesting."
"To say the least," Kenny mumbled with a coy grin, hopping off his chair. Paul might've been intrigued by their fraternal relationship, but he was more curious about Jordan's lifestyle. "What exactly do ya get paid for, if ya don't mind me asking?"
After giving his young roommate a smirk and a light nudge on the arm, Paul turned to Kelsey. "So how're you holding up? I feel like I've been kinda lost in my own thoughts. Didn't wanna leave you out."
"Oh, no, you're fine," Kelsey mumbled, rubbing her arm. "I'm doing alright. Just trying to take everything in stride. World-ending cults aren't exactly a new concept for me."
Despite her calm tone, it was clear from her eyes that Kelsey had something else entirely on her mind.
|
|
|
|
Post by DanteMGalileo on Sept 6, 2018 20:20:44 GMT -5
"What do I get paid for?"
Taking the chance to shove William off the couch, he got a "OW" from the older one. Grinning as a sulking William pulled up a chair in defeat, Jordan fully stretched himself out on the couch. "What do you think I do for a living, short stuff?"
"Oh, no, not in front of the kid or in polite company..." Leaning forward to no doubt cushion the incoming headache, William made a small groan as he placed his face in his hands.
Hearing Kenny's guesses, the green-eyed blonde smirk. "Oh, I don't do anything quite like that, though there was the one guy who really knew how to use his tongue... I kill people for money. Some people are just too dangerous to keep around, y'know? So that's where people like me come in. Break in, poison a drink, rig a shower, choke a guy... I get paid, the world is short one asshole, everybody comes out better. ... Sometimes I have to go back on my contracts though. I'm not killing an innocent."
"Why are you like this?"
"Because I don't have a stick the size of mainland Saia up my ass?"
|
|
|
|
Post by ParamountKeymaster on Sept 6, 2018 20:36:45 GMT -5
"Huhhh..." Kenny didn't seem the least bit put off by Jordan's descriptions of his occupation. If anything, the idea seemed to excite him. Granted, he did just briefly question if Jordan was a male prostitute, so him being an assassin probably wasn't going to shock the foul-mouthed ten-year-old. "Dude, that's f***ing cool! What's your kill count?!"
"Should I be concerned how into this you are?" Paul questioned, trying and failing to stifle a laugh.
"Hey, you know what kinda s*** I've had to deal with back home." Kenny playfully twiddled his fingers and cast Paul a devilish grin like a cartoon villain. "Why should I fear death?"
"Heh..." Kelsey let out a weak chuckle, then stood up and started walking towards the kitchen. "You guys can keep talking. I need a moment with Tri."
"No prob." Paul nodded back to her, keeping his eyes on Kenny but his ears on her...
|
|
|
|
Post by DanteMGalileo on Sept 6, 2018 20:55:37 GMT -5
"Oh, uh, yes! You don't need to be hearing what comes out of my little brother's mouth anyway!"
Resigning himself to just making sure Jordan didn't get too graphic in front of the ten-year old, William shook his head. "... Paul, in advance, I am truly sorry about my brother's attitude and word choice..." He glanced at Kenny for a moment. "Though, if... that is any indicator, I may have to worry more about my brother than your roommate."
Whack! Jordan's turn to get a smack to the back of the head, although the younger brother simply chuckled in response. "Do you have no shame, Jordan?!"
"Shame?" Jordan's smile grew taunting. "Nope. I sold that for my first dirty magazine years ago. Good on you and dragon man for keepin' it, though!"
"Well I suppose that makes sense n-" And the realization hit. "How long ago did you get that dirty magazine?!"
Shaking his head with a chuckle, he resumed chatting with Kenny. "Oh, 'bout ten now. Plus the two that tried to trick me into offin' an innocent guy. You're a little into this, aren't ya?"
|
|
|
|
Post by ParamountKeymaster on Sept 6, 2018 21:23:28 GMT -5
"I get around," Kenny replied with a light smile and a shrug. "I've seen enough death and fornication that I can't say there's much that shocks me anymore. Hell, I used to be a member of a team of vigilantes back home! A team that took on an actual f***ing eldritch god!"
Paul smirked and let out a stiff exhale through his nose. His eyes briefly flicked towards the kitchen...
"I'm not mad, okay? I- Look, I don't care what the angel decides to do. I'm just trying to figure out what I should do. ...... I haven't forgotten. I'll bring it up when we regroup. ...... I-I don't know. I feel like he should know; I don't want him to worry about me. But... would he be better off not knowing? I still gotta keep him away one way or another. ...... Okay, no. Awful idea. Didn't you hear what Kendall said? ...... Can you stop giving yourself a proctology exam for two minutes and acknowledge that he has a point?? The last thing I need is to get Paul into even more trouble."
The blue dragon man tried his best not to sink in his chair with dread.
---------------------------
"Christ, is this rain ever gonna stop?" Kenny grumbled, glaring out the window at the grey, hazy sky. "I've forgotten what the sun looks like."
"It's only been an hour, Kenny. Calm down," Paul gently insisted, ruffling the kid's blond mop. "I'm sure it won't make a difference to Will and Jordan's friends when we show up."
Leaving his bored roommate to mope, Paul smiled and nodded to Kelsey, who had opted to distract herself from her rattled nerves with his hard copy of The Disaster Artist. She stopped reading long enough to smile and nod back. Then Paul walked over to his bedroom door, getting close enough to hear Scott's low, raspy yet gentle snores on the other side. It felt wrong to bother his brother now, but Paul suddenly felt like he had so much to say.
|
|
|
|
Post by DanteMGalileo on Sept 6, 2018 21:40:10 GMT -5
"Eh, I kinda like it better like this."
William kicked back on the chair, leaning against the wall, long legs stretched out over the table. "The sky's always cloudy back home. When it's day, the clouds glow. When it's night, they dim. 'Parently, it's been that way for about ten thousand years, if our history books are any indicator." He sighed, sounding somewhat melancholy. "Mind you, some days it's kinda nice, but it just feels... unnatural. It's something a lot of people back home agree on."
"Eh, it's a matter of perspective." Jordan had taken to flipping through the channels on the "tee-vee" to pass time. "From our point of view, your clear skies are the weird ones." He paused, sighing. "Though, last night... were those stars? They were... kinda nice. It's a pity I'll never get to see them back home..."
|
|
|
|
Post by ParamountKeymaster on Sept 7, 2018 17:01:36 GMT -5
Stepping away from the bedroom door, Paul peeked around the corner and cast William and Jordan a look of sympathy. "Man, that's... No offense, but that's kinda depressing..."
"Yeah, my hometown is covered in snow year-round, but even we have clear skies half the time," Kenny agreed.
Paul shrugged, leaned against the wall and looked out the window. "From what I understand, most of the stars in the island's night sky are actually other universes. I've never taken much time to really look at them, partially because of the city's light pollution, but... maybe also because I have stars at home, so I've never really thought to study someone else's."
Kelsey bookmarked her page with her finger, warily tapping the cover with her thumb. "Sooooo... these friends of yours that we're gonna go meet... what'd you call them again? What's their deal exactly?"
|
|
|
|
Post by DanteMGalileo on Sept 7, 2018 18:48:17 GMT -5
"Oh, yeah. Lobo and Loba." William let himself fall back down a bit on the chair. "They're angel twins. They've been around forever... Or, at least longer than must of us." A shrug. "They used to have a bar back on Honni Island- and apparently most of Purgatorio... But due to the recent food shortages, I guess they decided to shut down everything back in our world and focus on this one?"
"Honestly, your world is blessed." Jordan stopped flipping through channels to look up. "You've got food, skies that actually change beyond light levels, no magically-irradiated uninhabitable lands..." The younger blonde sighed. "I'm... kinda jealous, really. Back home, most folks just stay home unless they have to. That way they don't get harassed by thugs... or worse." He closed his eyes, seeming lost in thought. "... Though, from what I can tell, compared to some of our ancestors, we're fucking lucky."
"Yeah..." The older blonde appeared to agree with his brother. "We're still piecing things together, but the gist of it is that about ninety percent of humans became..." William paused, as if thinking of the right words to use. "... Nigh-immobile, almost-completely-sense-deprived blobs dependent on technology. The remaining ten percent or so ran the world, and they were allowed to, y'know, be... like us. Mobile, sensed, independent on technology... Every human and pelt on Purgatorio today can probably trace their lineage back to those ten percent..."
|
|
|
|
Post by ParamountKeymaster on Sept 7, 2018 19:24:18 GMT -5
"Oh, uh... more angels. Cool." Kelsey mustered a weak smile. She could already feel the headache coming on from Tri's eternal griping.
"Wow..." Paul took a seat, leaning his arms on his knees, staring intently at the brothers. "I... can't imagine what that must be like. Just trying to survive a single day in that dreary a world. Knowing that the state of the world was largely our ancestors' doing."
"My world was no bed of roses, if we're being honest here," Kenny muttered, trying not to tense up at the thought of how many times he had literally died.
"Still... as crazy as things can be here, I hope you guys have found at least a little solace."
|
|
|
|
Post by DanteMGalileo on Sept 7, 2018 20:39:57 GMT -5
"Eh. I'd rather have my world than the one it used to be."
William got out of the chair and stood up, stretching his arms. "Blob-person or mobile, for that matter. I'm... not entirely convinced even the mobile folks had it that great, having to run everything and at least pretend shit was normal, because, well... according to our sources, it started to go to hell around the thirty-sixth century at the earliest. ... Somehow, it lasted to the ninety-sixth century. Well, going by the old calendar at least. I'm... not sure what the year is in this world or any of your's, but it's the year 13125 for us..."
"Promise me your worlds won't become like our old one," Jordan added. "Oh, and I highly doubt your year 13125 matches our 13125. Fuck, I haaaaaate alternate calendars!"
|
|
|
|
Post by ParamountKeymaster on Sept 7, 2018 20:50:28 GMT -5
"I don't think dates actually matter where I'm from."
"Er... Yeah, it's the late 2010's in my world."
"Same. Besides, I doubt my universe will reach 13125. Jesus will probably come back well before then." Kelsey exchanged a flat sideways glance and a shrug with Tri's astral projection. "And when that happens, I'm basically f***ed."
Paul wasn't sure how to respond to that. Or William and Jordan's further analysis on their world, for that matter. So he opted to awkwardly change the subject. "So do humans, angels, demons and other such creatures all coexist in your world, or is it a little more complicated than that? Seems to me like folks in your world are at least a little more familiar with them than the general populace in mine."
|
|
|
|
Post by DanteMGalileo on Sept 7, 2018 21:20:49 GMT -5
"... It's a long story that we're still trying to piece together."
William shuffled awkwardly, trying to recall what his studies had told him. "There's humans, who've been around since Old Purgatorio, as we call it. Then there's pelts, people who can transform into animals. They only started appearing after what we call the Bane... That's the period after Old Purgatorio collapsed but before Purgatorio as we know it arose. ... My guess is that magical fallout did it."
Noting Kelsey, he gave a weak nod. "Demons... Imago says that they were around before the dinosaurs. Or at least appeared long before humans did. Apparently, they were for the most part content to live away from human societies... Didn't save them, though. If Imago is telling the truth, then by the 96th century, the mobile had hunted them to the point that they were endangered..."
"Oh, and they can bone with humans."
Smack. "I didn't ask for your comments! Anyways... angels... shit. This one is vague... Apparently, they made contact with Old Purgatorio. The demons didn't like that, so they started a war. Humans got caught in the crossfire... At least that's what accounts say. The demons lost, and most of them were banished to... somewhere..."
|
|
|
|
Post by ParamountKeymaster on Sept 8, 2018 10:33:02 GMT -5
"I see..." Paul mumbled, rubbing his arm, going silent for a moment simply to process all of that information.
Kelsey slowly nodded. "Seems like there are quite a few differences between the angels and demons of our worlds. Our angels are basically servants and soldiers, tasked with governing and defending Heaven and watching over humanity. Demons are actually descended from angels who fell from grace in pursuit of free will. The three races live in technically separate realms, but they're all connected within a shared space." She tapped her chin. "I am curious, though... do your demons have a hierarchy? Is there a such thing as ar-?"
CRACK
"Ahh-!"
D̵̡o̸̷̢u͏҉̧t̨ us̢j̢͞a̶̛l̛͢il͜ ̡s̷͞w̨̕ee̵̢k̵̨m̛o̕͏n̴̛͏ì̡c͝ ̷́͡w҉͢è̷͝r͢͜ ̷͞v͢͝͝u̡t̶ḩ̸͝a҉ ̴͏m͜͡a̷r͘f̵̛e͘͡de̕l̀ơ̷m̴҉.͢͡ ͟C͢l͜a̧x̛ ͡v̀ó̷e̷͞͝nl͏ly̶̢l.͠ J͏ac̸͡i͘ ̢ge̛o͡u̢̧ ̧́c̢̢o̸̧͝n͘͏f̸́͘n͡͝ ̡i̷҉h̨͜k҉ ̶͟͏wù̷x̀̀.̧͡
Kelsey cast a worried glance at Paul, the dragon man holding his head and gritting his teeth as if the lightning outside had somehow indirectly struck him. "P-Paul, are you okay??"
"Yeah... I'm fine..." he grunted. "Just... Just a headache."
Kenny warily screwed up his face. He could swear he had seen this behavior before. At the same time, though, he wasn't sure how comfortable Paul would be discussing it in broad company, so he simply shrugged and said, "S***, guys, I don't think this rain is stopping anytime soon. Can we just go? It's not like any of us are gonna melt."
|
|
|
|
Post by DanteMGalileo on Sept 8, 2018 13:41:50 GMT -5
Paul's sudden lapse into... whatever caused William to jump, and Jordan to visibly cringe. "Holy shit, dude! The hell was that?!"
"Some sudden onset headache." Jordan stated simply. "... Or maybe a sign of things to come? ... Eh. Whatever. It's probably nothing major. C'mon, we're leaving. I'm sure none of us want to stay in the rain for very long..." The younger of the brothers went to grab his cloak, scowling. "Especially not me. Son of a bitch, for all the good stuff this thing does, drying fast isn't one of them!"
"Mind your language, and mind your volume." William shot a quick glare at Jordan. "You sure you don't want to wait for your brother? ... Eh, fair enough. At least leave him a note though. I can tell you, some people are fond of not doing so..."
Jordan smirked behind his bandana, pulling the cloak on.
|
|
