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 Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 1:06 pm
“If you think this sort of society,” he gestured with a wave of his hand to the groups of people congregated in the bar, “is pathetic, then you haven’t had the chance to deal - deal, I say, not just simply meet - with the more unpleasant crowds out there. Which proves me right in saying that you, indeed, are a boy, Whitney-kun,” he smirked, foxy grin the same as usual. It marveled him that the same expression could both calm a person one moment and freak out another the next. He supposed it had to do something with how much about himself the other person knew.
“And as to my being an old man...” he trailed off, not bothering to finish as he allowed himself yet another drag of his cigarette. He supposed he was an old man in some ways. He certainly had seen enough, and moreover done enough, to last a lifetime. Plus he was kinda sorta retired at this point. Ha, ha.
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Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 6:25 am
"Born with the Earth? What ever are you going on abou- AAAGH!" As the deadly metal cage closed around him, Jonathan couldn't help but shriek, fearing that the cage might continue to shrink until he was crushed to death inside. But it returned to the size it was before, leaving him huddled and whimpering in the center. The Flower Fae went on to snarl something contemptuous, which Jonathan proceeded to brush off, mind having made no connection between the anger of the Fae and the shrinking of the cage. "I am answering your questions, darling. Now don't be so rude to your betters."
He looked over to the other man, who was asking him about how he had arrived. "Oh, well that's simple, I came through a door! You do know about doors, don't you? They're paths between this world and Elphame; it's how we Fair Folk arrive in your world. Mostly, one can find them at hills, which is why there are so many stories you have about midnight dances inside of 'fairy hills'. Lovely stories, truly. They also appear inside rings of certain types of mushrooms and flowers, but those are only temporary..." Jonathan continued to prattle on amiably, seeming all too pleased to answer the questions presented to him.
freeglitters.com
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Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 2:18 pm
Cillian suppressed the desperate urge to blurt out that he damn well knew what society could get up to when pushed and that he was not a damn boy! The -kun suffix smarted too. But he was trying to keep a low profile here, not get into a loud argument with an annoying, smiling, ex-BPSA member. Ten minutes ago he found the smile somewhat frightening but right now after all the condescending words, all that smile did was irritate him. "You're right Myobu-san, I am just a lost little boy who doesn't know what he's gotten himself into. So I appeal to your maturity and experience. Please, teach me your way of life." The entire diatribe was sarcasm incarnate.
He sullenly ordered another drink, this one non-alcoholic, from the bartender.
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Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 6:36 pm
“Ah. Well I’m sorry to disappoint you, Whitney-kun, but my kind is the unfortunate sort that doesn’t have a way of life,” he inclined his head as though ashamed, though his still-foxy expression betrayed him quite thoroughly. Despite the satire, however, his words were in their own way honest. As far as he could see, men and women like him - thrown into the bureau’s line of work long before they even knew what was wrong and what was right - had no life to call their own. What poor imitation of life they had was already interlaced so much with the bureau and their ‘work’ that it was a far, far cry from the way normal people lived so that it was nary impossible for them to even try and rebuild the bridges burnt with the manifestations of their powers. They were outsiders, looking in from the other side of glass at what life could, would, and should have been... but possessors of none at all.
“We simply... exist. For the sake of having been born, in any case.”
We live, and then we die. We eat, drink, sleep, procreate, and lead this shell of an existence til life sees it fit to wipe out the blots and blemishes, the mistakes that are us...
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Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 9:59 pm
"And that's a cheerful way to end my night," Whitney muttered into his drink. "We all exist for no other purpose than to simple exist."
He sipped at his drink, contemplating the man's words. He could understand what the man was saying. People who were born to servitude, no matter how gilded the cage was, would never have a life that would belong to them and only them. In that way Whitney was lucky. His exile made it possible to get him out from under the Aihara shadow. He had little money, no friends, no family but he was free. "Is that why you left the BSPA? Because you didn't have a way of life that you could claim as your own?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 10:35 pm
Smart boy. And a fairly interesting one at that too. Bold, most definitely.
He smiled, though it held absolutely no expression behind it whatsoever; it was empty behind that foxy countenance.
“Perhaps,” he replied, insinuating everything and yet revealing nothing. It was perhaps one of the bigger reasons why he had left, but there was more to it than that. His life, after all, had no real way of life that one could possibly call human. But then again, it didn’t seem he classified as human in this world either. At least not in the ways that mattered.
“You for one shouldn’t be talking about such touchy matters out in the open though. Especially with a complete stranger you’ve met.” His smile remained intact, but there was an edge of frost lining the rim of the drink in his hand now.
“What makes you think you are so safe in this city, that no one will come after you?”
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Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 10:46 pm
Whitney tried not to be scared, he really did, but all his survival instincts were telling him to back away from the man very slowly. One day his mouth was going to get him killed but he prayed it would not be today. He never meant to bring up the BSPA. It was only when the question was out of his lips that he realised what a monumentally stupid idea it was. There were certain things one did not say to another unless one wanted blood to flow. If Seren were here, he would have smacked him up the head.
Whitney took another sip, this one to give him time to think.
"No one is safe in this city and eventually the city will get us," Whitney finally replied, managing to keep his game face on. "But for now I'm depending on the fact that I'm not important enough to anyone powerful. It's worked for me so far."
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Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 11:05 pm
“Acting like you’re an insignificant boy is only going to have you end up somewhere very miserable, bozu. If you want to stay safe, and what is more, left alone, then make sure you’re tough enough to say so, because in the end anyone who doesn’t have the power to press on will end up falling off that comfortable white picket fence one by one. Some, dead. And that,” he smirked, “comes from my ‘maturity and experience’ that you so desperately appealed to.”
The ice gathered at the rim of the glass melted as he finished the last of the drink, and set the glass down on the countertop. He smiled once more at the boy next to him, all traces of menace gone - or hidden.
“You’re a good kid. Not the most seasoned I’ve seen, but a good kid nonetheless. Hope you get to keep that merit a long time.”
Because I know what the fall is, how deep and dark you’ll go, once you’ve slipped from that precarious edge...
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Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 11:16 pm
"I can look after myself." Whitney said with a small frown. "You seem to think I don't know anything about life. Thing is, you don't know anything about me. I may be young, but I am perfectly capable of making an example out of people who're stupid enough to try and use me." And for a mere second an expression that he liked to lable the 'Aihara smile' crossed his lips. He knew how it would look; eyes carefully blank, the lips tilting but not quite into a smirk, and his face going from that of a sullen youth to a cold killer.
He kept his hands carefully still, though all he wanted to do was clap them over his mouth and tear that expression away. That was one legacy from his human family that he could have done without. "But thank you for that piece of advice." And he was proud to note that this time the smile was more cordial.
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Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 7:15 pm
“Maa, really now,” he drawled. “And what, pray tell, can you do that makes you so sure of yourself?” He merely smiled benignly back at the simper that the boy gave him, fully aware of how infuriating he could be. He was rather amused by the indignant response he had gotten, as well as the murderous look he received. He may have left the bureau, but that did not change the fact that he had been practically groomed to be a member of the offensive. He was familiar with the thrill of going tete-a-tete against another, the beauty of the power emitted by attacks connecting with each other, the rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins in a fight. Though not nearly as insane about it as some people he had met, he knew full well how to taste and enjoy danger looming right before his face.
And in any case, this bozu’s reaction certainly differed greatly from the age-old onslaught of grim seriousness or the sadistic humor he had dealt with countless times in the past. How... refreshing.
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Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 9:02 pm
With some difficulties, Whitney kept his mind from wandering to his much older cousin. That was the first time anyone ever tried to seriously kill him and Whitney had responded with a combination of kitsune vengeance and Aihara cold brutality. He did not permit himself to regret what happened, but everytime he received a call from his grandfather he was always reminded of why he was exiled; an Aihara did not massacre a member of their own clan without being punished. He was only lucky that exile was the harshest of the punishment he received. Some of the more angry members - especially his aunt - were pushing for execution.
He hid all clues of his discomfort - due to both Byobu-san's words and his own reaction - behind a grin that was a shadow of the fox grin the other man sported. "Now really," he told Myobu-san in a mock-lecture voice, "I'm not stupid enough to tell a stranger things like that. You might try to test me, or something equally pointless. And then where would we be?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2007 7:03 pm
“Probably out in the streets, duking it out, fight to the death, winner takes all... the usual drill.”
Apathetic though he was to life in general, he decided to think positively about the boy. At least he wasn’t the sort of idiot to go flouncing around showing off his powers just to satisfy his oversized head. No, this one was cautious. Cautious ones generally liked living quietly, and that meant he wouldn’t have to worry too much about a fight being initiated by the opposite party. He wasn’t looking forward to drawing attention to himself; too many people wanted to find him, keep tabs on him, some even kill him.
And then, of course, the blatant meekness he was displaying proved he wasn’t someone he needed to have a showdown with... at least not yet.
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Posted: Tue Feb 27, 2007 4:25 am
And suddenly Whitney was inordinately glad that he had not revealed the extent of his ability. Fighting Myobu Keima? No thank you, not on his best day. Whitney happened to like being alive and healthy. Not to mention he came to the club to immerse himself in society, not to end up in the hospital or, worse, the morgue. He did not say this of course, preferring to stick to trivial and easily forgotten words.
"Yes...thank kami-sama we don't have to do that. Apparently it's supposed to rain today and I'd hate to get my boots wet." Whitney smiled briefly. He expected tonight to be boring and full of people trying to proposition him, but instead he met someone who alternately intrigued and amused him, not to mention scare the crap out of him. If only all humans were like this man, they might actually prove to be tolerable for more than ten minutes. Then Whitney shook his head. Actually, that probably would not be such a good idea.
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Posted: Tue Feb 27, 2007 1:42 pm
“Rain can be useful in its own way,” Keima remarked nonchalantly. It provided him with a relatively large source of element to draw on, after all, in turn saving him a lot of energy. In that way this city was infinitely useful to him, for there were all sorts of sources, all around him, wherever he went.
“So. You appear to have no intention to fight me, and I for one am not keen to start an unnecessary battle. It’s late, it’s raining outside, I probably won’t be picking up any decent ladies now thanks to the time and weather, and you don’t look old enough to be here. What do you propose to do then, Whitney-kun?” He didn’t bother to tell that the third reason he probably wouldn’t be acquiring a companion was because he was giving off the idea to all those around him that he already had one. He wasn’t particularly miffed about the break in the cycle, but the boy’s appearance really had thoroughly killed his chances for the night.
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Posted: Tue Feb 27, 2007 2:59 pm
Whitney knew very well why there was no one else approaching the two of them. Even though the conversation was interesting, he had noticed people giving either of them several glances but they all looked away when they saw the other. He assumed people thought they were a couple. Which was enough to make him want to laugh. People really were idiots.
"I would make suggestions but as you might be able to tell, I'm not exactly the most social of people. I haven't been out in a while. What do people do for fun these days?" It was approximately five months since he last went out for 'fun' and that involved pranks played on several innocent bystanders - Seren was a bad influence - but he doubted someone like the sardonic man before him would be interested in that.
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