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 Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 10:35 pm
Even hunched and stooped, Ash still was a head taller than most of the crowd at Amityville. Clad in a wine button up and light grey slacks, it wasn't as if he stood out or anything, black apron notwithstanding--
but he couldn't shake the fact that he felt...
Well.
Naked.
Not that it was different from any other school day. Monday through Friday, he suffered through the lack of his helm, the familiar comfort of the shield. It served that purpose in more than one way.
He skulked through the line, saying nothing as the lunch gnomes scooped unknown foods onto his tray, wincing terribly as most of it smelled a bit...strange. He turned on his heel, eyeing the vast cafeteria, trying to find an empty table.
Pah. There wasn't one -- well, maybe he could go to one with the least amount of people. He made his way through the throng of students towards one, careful not to let his sword slice up any random students along the way.
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Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 10:41 pm
The boil making his way through the crowd in the general direction of the table Nahm had claimed was one of the taller specimens of creature that the grue had seen at school so far. With a sword to match, even. The guy looked vaguely uncomfortable, tense in that way that made Nahm want to needle him, see if he could get a good growl or at least an eyeroll. Poke it with a stick, he thought, and chuckled under his breath.
"How's the weather up there?" he called out, when the tall reaper had made his way into a reasonable approximation of hearing range.
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 8:43 pm
Ash was too tall, if you asked him. When inside the school's walls, his height was compressed by about a foot, and yet he still towered over a vast number of students. Pursing his lips as he awkwardly apologized to anyone he jostled, Ash blinked owlishly down at the voice trying to get his attention.
"It is, approximately, the same as it is down there. Loud, unfortunate, and a bit damp." He blinked, gripping his lunch tray as he looked down at the strange little clothed fellow. "The last fact is mildly distressing, and yet, entirely unsurprising considering our locale."
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 8:47 pm
"At least the food's consistently horrible," Nahm said. "Gotta have some things you can expect in life." He kicked the chair next to him out a couple of inches, offering it to the tall boil. "You got any idea what the green stuff is?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:14 pm
"Yes. On this fact, there is consensus among the student body," Ashford agreed. He peered down at the seat that was vacant, eyes scanning the room. There was no sign of Thackery in the vast sea that was the cafeteria, and this one, at least, offered conversation.
"I do not have the slightest of ideas. I am not sure if I would even like to have one, as all my possible hypotheses are ...vile." The reaper slid into the seat, sliding his tray onto the table. At least he had chocolate milk, which he opened with some relish. He'd even taken two.
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 7:00 pm
"I think it's some kind of reality-warp effect, or something." Nahm jabbed a fork into something that might graciously be called lasagna, on a good day. He eyed the pasta, then shrugged and ate it. Still food, and even if it wasn't, hey, it didn't totally suck. "Food that'd be fine anywhere else, you bring it in a cafeteria and it magically becomes a horror from the great black depths."
"Vile's a good description," he said thoughtfully. He gestured with the fork at his tray. "Notice I didn't take any. Just 'cause I've eaten worse doesn't necessarily mean my taste in food is less discerning." He cocked his head to one side and peered up at the reaper, faintly glowing eyes calculating. "You look like someone ate your minipet. Something up?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 2:11 am
"That assertion is a believable one. I will leave it to you to truly discover the effects, including any unintended ailments that may result from ingesting such questionable materials." The reaper took a hearty sip of the chocolate milk, crushing it between his gloved fist.
He was a little picky-- if possible, Ashford was a carnivore. Nothing like tearing your teeth into the flesh of a buck, although he was a fan of wild hog as well.
"I suppose you have a point. Sitting under the warm lights for a day or more cannot possibly help its state of being. I think I may...let it be. I do not mind some of the more unappetizing concoctions-- newt eyes on pizza, for example, is remarkably delectable."
When questioned regarding his unease, Ash slowly shrugged his broad shoulders. "I am...still unaccustomed to not wearing a helm. It is a, hm. A security blanket, if you will take it. A large, triangular one made of iron, but a security blanket none the less."
He pursed his lips and shoveled a forkful of some meat...thing into his mouth.
"I feel as though I am exposed. It is unnerving."
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Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 11:34 am
"It's not impossible to ruin pizza, but it's hard," Nahm said. "I mean, there's pizza and then there's good pizza, but I've never met a pizza I wouldn't give a try." He shrugged, unconcerned. In spite of his earlier statement, he wasn't a picky eater; he might choose his favorites when given a selection, but food was food, and to a grue, almost everything was food.
At the mention of a large iron helm, he looked up from his food, eyes sparking with recognition. "You're a P-Head?" he asked. "Awesome. Never seen one of your type. I get the feeling, though," he added, plucking lightly at his robes. "I can cover up just fine without this thing, but it feels weird to be out of it. Kinda like taking my skin off."
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Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 1:17 am
"That is a fair enough assessment. It is a "safe" food choice. Upon recollection, I do not think I have ever encountered pizza that I would not eat a second time."
Ash was baffled-- and a little pleased!-- that this Nahm knew what he was. "Absolutely. Both my parents as well; from the Silent Hill suburbia of Halloweentown."
He peered closer at Nahm, unable to truly detect what his new companion was.
"Pardon my rudeness. I do not think I introduced myself properly: I am Henry Ashford Charles the Third, but I prefer Ash. As you know, I am Pyramidkind. What, exactly, might you be...? I am dreadfully unaware of other species and variants of reapers, even. Silent Hill is..."
He grimaced, choosing to open his second chocolate milk and take a dainty sip before reply.
"Closed off, as it were."
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Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 9:45 am
"Everybody eats pizza," Nahm agreed. "Even the weirdoes who only have the cheese kind. I'll never understand that. Just limiting themselves." "Nice to meet ya," Nahm said cheerfully. "I'm Nahm deVarr. I'm a monster type. Specifically, a grue." He grinned a wide and toothy grin to illustrate, light glinting faintly off sharp teeth in a mouth that stretched literally from ear to ear. "I've always sorta wanted to go to Silent Hill," he said, and took a bite of his pizza. "I hear it's a great vacation spot. Hard to find, though. One of the cousins from Byten clan says she visited once, but I'm not sure I believe her. She got all vague when I asked her to tell me about it."
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Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 11:48 am
"On this I believe we can come to a consensus," Ash agreed-- toppings are what made a pizza. Even if his favorite was just meat lovers, and not one of the more ...interesting combinations available in Halloweentown, it was more than just plain cheese.
"I see!" Ash stared unabashedly at Nahm's fangs, tilting his head to the side a little-- and grinned. His own pointed fangs protruded slightly from his upper jaw normally, and now they were fully exposed in the toothy smile.
"It is not a very welcoming place," he said with some modicum of severity, lips pursed. "Getting to Silent Hill..." Ash leaned back in his seat, his large form tense. "Is more about intent rather than any sort of physical direction. I'm unsure how it works-- FEAR is a strange thing, as I am sure you are aware."
The reaper didn't know much about grues-- just that they ate everything. It made sense, in retrospect. "I am glad to be away."
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Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 12:23 pm
"To pizza," Nahm grinned, and lifted the slice of pizza in the air, then ate the rest of it in a single snap. "Nice fangs," he nodded. He always appreciated good teeth, be they on a grue or anyone else. "Oh, one of those kinds of places. That explains it," he said. "You gotta be going there to go there. Grues, we just live anywhere, as long as it's dark enough. Usually underground though. My clan's got a nice old catacomb." He tilted his head to the side. "Haven't met too many people who're real happy with the place they grew up," he said philosophically. "Me and my brother, even, though we don't mind the clan holding too much. Probably wouldn't ever have gone anywhere if we hadn't been sent here." He shrugged one shoulder, absentmindedly bit the tines off his fork. "Not too bad here. Decent place so far."
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 12:47 am
"To pizza," Ash replied with a somber tone and a slight incline of his head. He took a chomp of the one slice left on his place, mournful that they didn't have any more up at the counter.
He blinked at the compliment, poking one with his thumb. "They can be a little tedious when I am attempting to be amorous," he said gravely, smiling a little at the thought of Thackery. "But I am most fond of them. It was very difficult to not lisp when I was younger."
The reaper let himself think of home-- all red and browns and rust covered floors. Peeling paint and sirens however many times a day, and perpetual explorations done by adults out into the real world.
"There are many nooks and crannies in the town that I am sure you would appreciate," the blond says definitively. "
Ash looked down at his food, remembering his parents. His mother was in ragged, torn clothes that look as though they once belonged to a Stepford Wife (from a movie he had learned about from reading Media in the Human World: 101 in his own time), all smiles and ice and ...
Well. He was here to study FEAR, because Henry Ashford Charles the Third was anything but scary--
and sweet Jack his mother was terrifying.
"I suppose you are correct; a number of other students I would assume are in similar predicaments. I often wish I had a sibling for the companionship. It would nice to never truly be alone."
As of late, Ash's nightmares had taken a turn for the worse, the shadows creeping in around the edges of dreams that shook him to his core
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 11:19 pm
"Gotta have a talented tongue to talk around a good mouthful of teeth," Nahm agreed. "Good thing that's useful for all sorts of things." He directed a friendly leer at Ash. "I'm sure I would." He grinned, thinking about all the various hideaways and holes, passages and tunnels he'd found already at Amityville. The school was a mishmash of architectural styles and riddled with little spaces a flexible being could get into. He wondered if there was a proper map anywhere; he could use a more definite knowledge of his environment. He shrugged one shoulder and absentmindedly ate the rest of his fork. "Not all siblings are like me an' Ahm," he said. "I don't really get along with our oldest brother, and I know a couple families that're always fighting. Ahm's just special like that. We came outta the same pumpkin, so we think a whole lot alike. Never been apart, really. Not for more than a couple of days."
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Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 3:11 am
Ash was perpetually oblivious to any and all innuendo. Nahm's compliment resulted in a thoughtful nod. "Bleeding from the mouth when too excitable as a child is a rather common ailment with the Pyramidkind," he explained, tapping a tooth.
"It is why many of us speak with remarkable amounts of precision."
He took another bite of pizza, chewing deliberately. "Or not at all, in many cases. They find it to be troublesome."
Interesting! Ash really hadn't thought of multiple siblings coming from the same pumpkin, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. He supposed he'd simply never really put any thought to the idea.
"I envy that all the same," he said, voice sorrowful. It was strange, really. Loneliness itched at him like a wound covered in poison oak, these days. "I...did not really have many companions until I came to Amityville." He blinked his green-grey eyes, eyebrows furrowed.
It was a fact that did not usually bother him to such great amounts. And yet...there was distress in him. He would need to reflect on this at a later date.
"Do you not tire of each other?" The reaper had a feeling he already knew the answer to the question before it even left his mouth in its entirety.
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