snowblindrpg | [log] The Pit [open]

[Sorry, Tess. He'll try not to be adversarial in your direction. And all the charms and stones he's wearing are very non-denominational: crystals and coins on the charm around his neck, leather cord and polished gemstone beads on the bracelets around his wrists. Very new-Age hippy-dippy.]

Cool. The bigger dracoforms are extinct where I'm from, but some of the smaller ones are still around, supposedly. Deep jungles and mountains, mostly.

[He sounds genuinely appreciative, and at the warning makes no attempt to touch. He'll just look.]

Didn't catch the name, but we talked before. The Beatles.

Tess.

[She doesn't expect him to recognize her by name; wouldn't really expect it even if she named her pantheon -- as far as she can tell all the people here are pre-Ragnarok, even this guy.]

This is Roy-gee-biv. You're probably the first person I've met here who's got anything like him back home, even theoretically.

[Which increases the odds that he's from her same world.]

[The fact that she's familiar with magic, even a little,, makes him reconsider her strangely stand-offish attitude. At first he'd thought she just thought he was crazy. Now?

Well, if she's from his world, she probably knows magicians are dangerous. That would also explain it. He doesn't offer to shake hands, but just nods amiably. Clever.]

Red-orange-Yellow-green-blue-indigo-violet. Cute.

There's a lot of crazy stuff in my world. Some of it's scary as hell, but some of it's pretty cool. I used to have a two-hundred pounds were-lynx as a roommate. He ran a vintage music store in Denver.

...You're also the first person who didn't need it explained.

[It doubles up as a second color-related acronym, too, but no need to bog the conversation down with details. Some of the edge is gone from her voice and expression. Good job, Rhys. And, too, the legitimate surprise at the next bit helps throw her off her standoffish game.]

What, seriously? I've never even met a were-anything.

I pick up a lot of random trivia. I've been around.

[He smiles just a little, at having gotten that little bit of goodwill. He also likes animals of all sorts, which might be a point in his favor.]

Weres and shifters are probably the most common supernatural around, in my world. Most of them are pretty normal, just want to blend in, do their thing and be left alone.

That's the way it is for a lot of us. Avoid the crazy.

[He shrugs easily.]

I know they exist where I'm from, I just don't, uh...run with that crowd.

[In other words, weres and shifters register below titanspawn -- and waaay below actual titans -- on her danger meter. That's to say nothing of other deities.]

[Rhys gives her a crooked smile, and rubs at the back of his shaved head.

He misses his hair.]

I was on the streets, so...it was my crowd. Not a lot of choice, but a lot of them are good people.

There was the bad stuff, too, but...that's everything, you know? Human or not. I saw just as many humans doing horrible shit as anything else, it's all just...us.

[He snorts a little, and forces himself to straighten.]

Sorry. I get weird and philosophical when I haven't slept. I'm also an empath so I see a hell of a lot of things whether I want to see them or not.

[She's silent a long moment, an odd look on her face.]

Yeah. Yeah, I know, everyone's -- human or not or whatever, everyone's...a lot of things. Can be a lot of things. I try not to, uh, judge by...kind.

[And yet she's been looking down her nose at the vampire...and at Rhys.]

Can you feel it here? I thought most people lost their...stuff.

Nah, my powers are gone, but I guess I've had enough practice to sort of see things. Or maybe just to be relieved that they're gone, right now. Because I know this place would be awful if I could see it the way it really is.

[You have no idea, Tess. And Rhys is fairly sure that if she knew what he was, aside from "not really human", she would shut down the network and delete him forever from her contacts.]

Not judging is good. It gets to be hard. When it's a line between what's dangerous and what's just...scary because it's different.

[And she's pretty sure that if he knew her true nature he'd recoil in the name of his own goddess. It's actually been kind of nice not having to worry about politics while she's been playing mortal...even if she's not all that great at letting go.]

Plenty of people can be dangerous but choose not to be. Or are only dangerous in the wrong situation....

[Like you, anti-buddy? The look she's giving him is maybe a little too contemplative.]

[Rhys just gives Tess a sad smile. Bring dangerous doesn't carry any special pride for him, just necessity.

And the things he's done? Well. He had his reasons.]

It's good to know how to fight when you have to. Sometimes you don't get the choice.

Ugh. Don't I know it.

But that's what I have Roy for. Theoretically, of course.

[Not really. RGBV's no match for anything that could actually threaten Tess in her true form, so she's never called upon him to defend her.]

[Rhys smiles, and there's a faint and tired fondness to it. He leans a little closer to Roy, though doesn't try to touch him. He knows better.]

Good to have the company, too. Is he a familiar, or...just decided to hang around?

Uhhh....

[Tess makes a face. She hasn't exactly kept her nature completely under wraps, not after the other conversations she's had today (and...other days...), but she's at least been trying. Mostly.]

He's a...pet? Let's go with that.

[Rhys just nods.

Hey, familiars take a lot of forms in his world, and even the mildest of magical abilities can, technically, bond a magical assistant of sorts.]

Sure.

And, sorry. I guess I'm sort of a geek about these things. The closest I ever got was feeding the bogies in my friend's crawlspace in exchange for laundry.

I mean, I get that.

[Geeking out is a familiar phenomenon in her life. Tess chews her lip for a second, then decides to just go for it. They've been having a pleasant enough conversation, but that doesn't mean she's going to ignore what she knows about him.]

No talking crows in your life?

[Rhys raises his eyebrows, trying to decide exactly how she means that.

Well, roundabout is roundabout.]

Hey, crows make great familiars. They're smart, they can fly, and they have better motor skills than the good old traditional witchy cat. Cats can't pick locks.

[HE IS COMPLETELY INNOCENT HERE.]

Really smart, yeah. I knew someone with a talking crow, actually.

[He was a dead god crammed into the form of a crow, but whatever. Details.]

[Okay, this is getting painful. Rhys inhales, deciding to just come out with it.]

You, uh. You keep looking at me like you expect me to bite.

Is this a "I don't trust mages" thing, or "I don't like your religion" thing, or...is there something else I'm missing completely?

[She blows out a sign through her nose, brow furrowing. Politics.]

You were praying to the Morrigan that first time I saw you on the network.

Yeah. Figured it was the best way to piss off whatever was hanging around in the school. Showiest ritual I know.

...it's kind of a holidays-only sort of thing otherwise. You know, not much cause to bring out the chainmail and belt of crow skulls in the normal course of things.

[He's joking, but it's the worst possible kind of joke. He knows it, but he's sort of lost the ability to care, lately.]

Well, yeah, you go into someone's temple and start praying to other gods, that's going to piss them off. I'm not saying the theory wasn't sound. Just -- why her? Of all the gods --

[That harsh note is back in her voice, that one that says she's somehow personally offended by that specific choice of deity.]

[Rhys shrugs, a bit wearily. He knows exactly what Her domain is, and isn't particularly surprised at someone taking offense.]

I don't expect you to believe me, but actually, it wasn't my first choice. It's...complicated.

We don't always get a say in what Powers we get tangled up in.

[It's not the domain that's the problem. ~~One of Tess's best friends is a death goddess.~~

She stares for a long moment, wishing that she could see the whole and the truth of him.]

You're fatebound?

I don't know if it means the same thing in your world as mine. Clarify?

[log] The Pit [open]

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