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 Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 9:49 pm
Several days past the death of the gorgons, Ciro had taken to roaming the streets. On the few occasions he did make his way back to he and Crow’s home, he found the place empty, the clopping of hooves missing from the maze of allyways.
By midnight, the construction sites were always empty anyway. It was in this area that Ciro had been training of sorts. Metals, strong, solid metals, had a much higher melting point than things like plastics, and because metals would not self-ignite, it seemed the perfect element to practice his techniques against. Again and again he unleashed his power onto the metal beams, leaving dent after dent in the reinforced steel.
Tonight he was particularly peeved. Shirt off and body dripping with sweat, Ciro continued to pummel the steel, finally causing the metal to twist, writhe, and melt with the heat of the impact.
His territory was marked; any player would easily tell that this was the action of a superior player….
It seemed worthy enough of a celebration, albeit a small one. A cigarette was perched precariously in his lips, smoke trailing up faintly as he sat against the metal which now showed his reign.
And, if only for a moment, he regretted not having anyone to show his accomplishment off to.
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Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 10:22 pm
He was annoyed. Supremely annoyed. Terribly annoyed. Scowl-splitting-face annoyed.
The foreman hadn't stopped ranting all that day - not even when his face had turned bright red from a combination of no air and fury, not even when the corded muscles of his thick neck were tightened and bulging, not even when it seemed he might go hoarse from his yelling or his feet might fall off from his pacing. One luckless worker had saw fit to remind him of his blood pressure, and had been promptly shoved to the receiving end of the man's frustration. They all decided to steer clear after that.
What had gotten the boss into such a fit? Some punks had taken to trashing the metal beams that formed the basis for their current architectural creation. Expensive metal beams that were hell to replace and simply delayed their job.
Which meant a delayed payday.
Which meant Vale was playing Batman in order to catch the sons of whores who were ruining the metal.
He was on his own this late at night, though - his co-workers didn't care enough to put in unpaid hours, and the foreman's only defense measure had been to strengthen the fences around the site with barbed wire at the top. As if that would work.
Creeping silently above the ground on the metal catwalks of the in-progress construct, he didn't expect to spy something that was far, far more than a common vandal.
He didn't expect somebody like him.
Climbing down silently from the catwalk, he glared at the man warily as he finished pummeling the ruined metal. Instincts clawed at him to keep his distance, but curiosity won out and he instead stepped forward, eyes drinking in the dangerous looking horns and sheer size of the trespasser. He wasn't scared of course, not at all - men didn't get scared.
Not even when faced with reprimanding the devil.
"V'hat d'eed the metal ever do to you?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 10:39 pm
The cigarette nearly dropped from Ciro’s lips; he was surprised, to say the least. There was someone else there… Someone quiet. So quiet that Ciro’s hearing could not pick them up. But judging from the voice… It was a kid? Why the hell was a kid out there, unless he too wandered the nights in reckless rebellion?
Taking a long drag, he contemplated his reply. It seemed stupid to even answer that question.
“… Are you retarded? You saw what I did…” He exhaled once more, the smoke drifting up to the heavens as if it too was fleeing from this demon, “And yet you still come over here with those big words?”
The end of the cigarette burned ominously close to the man’s fingers, and with a quick flick, went out. Ciro wasn’t even sure what to do; it had been a long time since anyone else had come to talk to him. And in the past… those conversations were little more than rough words exploding into fights. Was he going to have to take on a child?
Hell if he knew. For now, he’d play it by ear. That was all he had, for the most part. If some rebellious brat wanted to play cool and pick a fight, sure… But if this p***k wanted to try to hang out… he was at a complete loss for ideas.
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Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 11:11 pm
The mental hackles that had raised when waiting for the man to speak had relaxed somewhat, and he gave him a more dubious look.
"I saw," he admitted grudgingly, not wanting to let his hesitation to slip into his voice. Oh, he had seen alright. Seen enough to consider walking away without breathing a word of it. But duty always seemed to drag at his consciousness heavier than even fear. "And no matter v'hat you can do, I am far more v'ary of my foreman's fury. He does not like ee't when our metal gets trashed."
He stepped just a bit closer to survey the extent of the damage to the beam, reaffirming that it was beyond salvaging - but in reality, just wanting to get a better look at this odd stranger. Tanned, muscular, tall, scarred, self-assured - and a smoker too. As if the acrid smell of the cigarette hadn't already arrested his sensitive nose.
"So v'hy are you out here so late delaying our job?" he asked, grumpy scowl mimicking his crossed arms.
Who the hell was he?
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Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 4:08 pm
Ciro scoffed, nearly laughing at the kid’s audacity. He wasn’t sure if the kid was joking or not, but at least he wasn’t off calling him a freak or throwing bibles at him. That was always a plus. In fact, the kid seemed pretty damned relaxed, considering the circumstances.
“Y’see that…” He thumb jabbed at the beam as he smirked, damn proud of his accomplishments. “Now go look at the others and then come back to this; that’s the payoff.”
There was a mental debate in the man; should he explain just why he had to get so powerful? Should he really terrify the kid and make it all the more obvious that he was a freak of nature…?
Probably not. So… Ciro opted to just leave it at that.
The night continued on, though for Ciro, day or night had no significance. The darkness of the night, probably so comforting to Vale, made no difference to the man. Ears, eyes, fangs, tail; they all made no difference. Ciro was completely unaware that this kid was anything special at all.
How fooled he was.
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Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 7:28 pm
Now that was something Vale could understand. The drive to grow stronger, to become better, to protect...something. Something important. A natural instinct. It was why he worked so hard throughout the days and nights, why he refused to let somebody else take over the task of raising him and Sydni. It was a matter of men.
And from the way the man had been punching through so many beams, he definitely had something important to protect.
...The guy was pretty damn cool.
"No, I understand v'ell enough," he answered, crossing his arms. He appraised the man silently for a moment through the dark. "So v'hat ee's your name?"
He half-wondered what kind of odd stand-still they were at. It was surreal, beyond surreal - a late night meeting between strangers, talking as casually as could be, boy to man and man to boy. Not that Vale ever thought of himself as a boy much anymore with all the responsibility he'd had to shoulder, but looking at this mysterious stranger and talking to him as if fate had ordained it - he was struck with the thought of I want to be like him when I grow up. All strength, confidence, and charisma.
Sans the smoking and vandalism, of course.
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Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 8:43 pm
He scratched at his chest, his fingers gliding across the marks that Crow had left. Was it smart to get so cozy with a kid? He wasn’t sure. It didn’t really matter anyway, though, because it wasn’t like a name could kill him. Hell, if anything, it’d gain him notoriety.
“Ciro. What about you?”
With a lick of the palm, Ciro brushed back his hair. Most of it stayed slicked back, but a few rebellious chunks still hung in the man’s face. Not that it mattered though; he couldn’t see them anyway. In fact… He was slightly curious about this kid; what did he look like? He didn’t sound particularly small or weak, and the accent certainly threw him off… Ciro wasn’t entirely sure about any of the details. One thing was for certain though, Ciro had no idea that this boy would be his ally in the weeks to come.
As he pulled himself up, Ciro wondered also just how tall this kid was. There were so many questions, and he felt almost the same as when he learned that Crow had aged. Crow… it seemed almost ages ago that she had disappeared, and yet the woman showed no signs of coming back. Ciro knew he was in danger of losing his life at the rate he was going. He had no shelter, no food, barely any cigarettes (Heaven forbid!). Maybe… Just maybe finding someone else to take care of him was a good idea. But that would mean asking for help, and that was just not something he was willing to do.
“You should probably head out.” Ciro’s feet shuffled uncertainly as he felt for any obstructions in his path, “Don’t want you getting tied in as an accomplice.”
His foot banged against a misplaced ladder, and his loud voice cursed audibly.
“… Yea… It’s ******** dark out.”
Yea, he was cool. Totally doing a great job of hiding the fact that he was blind as if the blindfold did not give it away.
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Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 9:24 pm
Even while in the midst of futilely attempting to cover up his snort of laughter at the man's cursing, he'd already stepped forward to aid him, this Ciro. Even a blind man could tell that he was, well...blind.
Nobody ever accused Vale of being eloquent.
"I'm called Valeriu," he revealed in turn with a wry crook to his voice, though with frown still in place - it never seemed to slip off these days. "Come. I v'ee'll head out once I know you are not damaging any more equipment. V'e have several thee'ngs left on the ground that I v'ould not v'ant you stepping on, for your sake and for my sanity tomorrow. I'd rather ree'sk a tree'p to the police station instead of dealing with Boss's yelling."
If the foreman's vocal decibels rose anymore from finding out one of the new rider saws had been broken, he thought his ears might start bleeding.
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 5:09 pm
Ciro sheepishly smirked, feeling somewhat retarded. He wasn’t exactly sure if he felt bad for the kid or not. Talking to this kid sure put his actions into perspective, but not enough for him to regret them. He was getting stronger, fiercer, more powerful. This was his key to victory… Though deafening small children on the way was not his intention.
Ah well, when he won the game, he’d be able to fix people like the foremen in charge. He stepped cautiously from that point on, trying to make life a little easier for another person. Something about having company so late at night, after so long without Crow, set Ciro at ease. Something about just being treated like a human… Not a monster, not a heathen… By a normal person, no less. A normal person was able to see him as just a human. It was a feeling that Ciro had not gotten for his entire life; and he was particularly fond of it.
“So…” Ciro started into the night, trying to avoid the silence, “I take it I’m not supposed to come back again, eh?”
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 5:47 pm
"You could put ee't that v'ay," he answered dryly, leading the way out for the blind man. He wasn't about to lead him by the hand, and he doubted either of them would appreciate it. That sort of stuff was reserved for women. He made enough noise, though, to guide him around some of the major obstructions. Like the tractors.
"However, ee'f you feel like g'eeving our rival construction company some late night greetings...I v'ouldn't complain," he added as an afterthought. It was somewhat odd to hear a child speak of being part of the work force so casually - our company, our metal, our boss.
"So how d'eed you get ee'n, anyv'ay? Melted the lock?" Vale hadn't checked the gate entrance, of course - he himself didn't have the keys to it, and instead had stolen in via the space between the ground and the bottom of the fence at the back of the site. It was an old, easy habit.
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Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 12:56 pm
Ciro smirked once more: this kid’s wit was impressive. Cracking jokes and acting so casually… It was strange being treated like a normal human, but at the same time, it was a good strange. As usual the nagging paranoia of why the kid was being so kind despite Ciro’s unhuman appearance and abilities was itching at the back of his mind… But after missing Crow for so many days, it was a welcome relief for Ciro to just have someone to be around.
He walked on in silence, letting Vale’s imagination work out the subtle details of Ciro’s break in. It would make it all the better if the kid’s imagination could create an ideal setting.
The fence, the border of this newfound friendship, loomed near, and Ciro slowed for a moment.
“Well… Looks like you accomplished your job…” He clenched his fist, feeling his power easily flow, “And I accomplished mine.”
Ciro wasn’t entirely sure what to do. He knew he had to leave, but a small, screaming part of him told him to stay with the child. He would be his key to survival. Quelling that feeling, he turned his head towards the night outside.
“So I’ll be heading out. I’ll try not to wreck this place anymore… But it’s kind of hard for me to know just where I’m headed…”
This phrase was meant both literally and metaphorically, but Ciro wasn’t entirely sure if Vale would know how to take it. Regardless, he stepped out from the confines of the fence, the busted and melted lock creaking as he passed.
And from there, he was off once more into his empty, lonely, darkness.
[End]
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