capeandcowllogs | silent night, holy night

Entry tags:

silent night, holy night

WHO: Isaac and any impromptu visitors he might get who know who he lives and are up at ungodly hours of the morning ~~/MEANINGFUL COUGH~~
WHERE: some MAC apartment belonging to some fail villain
WHEN: midnight on christmas eve and going into the morning
WARNINGS: DORKS I GUESS nothin much
SUMMARY: Unhealthy sleeping habits result in Isaac being well and truly up to greet any visitors.
FORMAT: I'LL MATCH YOU

He's been sleeping well, these last few days; he's been busy picking and wrapping gifts (with no uncertain amount of effort put into less legal endeavors to find suitable gifts for some of his acquaintances), not to mention shopping. He'd made a half-hearted effort to clean his apartment, at least, but he wasn't expecting any visitors and he was perfectly content not to host or attend any parties (having at least seventeen years of experience had tired him out somewhat).

Tonight, though, he's getting back onto his work, and so the passing of Christmas Eve into the early hours of Christmas Day finds him busily penciling in notes for yet another blueprint of something or other with utter disregard for the time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Well, one of Fiddler's old compatriots had spent much of his evening in the tradition of St. Nicholas, dropping by in the dead of night, stopping only in some areas to chit-chat, such as some of his evening spent chatting with some homeowners, but he'd been hoping to slip in and out with a gift to one of his old partners in crime, but it simply didn't seem that he would be able to do so.

Especially when the fellow apparently slept no more than he did. He stepped in through the shadows, pulling his hat off at the lights still on. My, now wasn't this unpleasant, and quite the shock? He felt his eyes squint for just a moment. Ugh. He much preferred the soft glow of candles, but thankfully his gaze was obscured from view from his sunglasses. ]

Why Fiddler, I heard that if you stay up, certain fat gentlemen refuse to visit.

[ He's totally engrossed in his work - so much so that he doesn't actually notice Shade until the man starts talking, and startles slightly at his voice. ]

Well, considering prior experience, I don't mind his lack of presence so much. [ He gets up to switch off the lights, leaving the apartment shrouded in darkness except for the small electric light at his drawing board. ] Though I suppose my memories of Christmas as a child aren't exactly the most joyous, for various reasons.

Never mind that, though. What brings you here at... [ He checks the clock, and sounds surprised. ] ..such an early hour?

[ Thankfully, shrouded in the dark like he was, he could shift, one of the gifts he was dropping off resting quite comfortably, and quite unnoticed in the dark. ]

I thought I might go for a stroll, Fiddler. I should think that was obvious. How else do you think I know so much about so many of the heroes from our world?

[ It wasn't to drop off gifts, no sir. ]

[ He'd already delivered Shade's gift, earlier in the evening; it had involved first checking if he was home or not (he hadn't been) and then a small amount of careful breaking and entering, because he really didn't want to leave the package outside.

He laughs a little. ]

Well, I'm certainly not going to question your nocturnal activities. [ He indicates his own messy desk with a rueful smile. ] Though - I admit, I'm curious as to how often you take strolls through other people's housing.

Not too often.

[ He says it lightly, hoisting his cane into the crook of his arm. Perhaps he will have to come back. He steps out of the shadows only enough to illuminate himself partially, tipping his hat off in a facsimile of politeness. ]

But how else do I discover all the secrets I do? It's not through being particularly trustworthy.

Well, acquiring sensitive information always requires a certain...ignorance of trespassing laws. Among other things - I'm sure you'd know that particularly well. [ He also knows very well that no normal law enforcement would be able to pin Shade for anything, let alone catch him in the act. ]

[ He could only laugh, low and amused at the proposition. ]

Ah, coupling ignorance with knowing something? Please, Fiddler. I wouldn't say that trespassing laws have evolved since my time. [ His time being the days long, long before even Fiddler was born. ]

But I would say that we immortals have a penchant for disregarding them, as well.

[ He just shrugs. ] Well, I did get brought up with the idea that stealing is bad. I had to ignore years of childhood reinforcement for that one. [ he totally stole things for fun when he was a teenager he is such a piece of shit ] I'm sure my parents were somewhat dismayed at my career choice of thievery. [ He'd reconciled with them eventually, but still. ]

Not that I have any experience with your particular life span, but it probably gets rather boring. There's only so much you can do, I suppose.

Only so much indeed, and yet time passes by surprisingly quick when you have many things to do. It's all a matter of distraction, you see.

[ And also getting attached, but not too attached. It was a delicate balance, being close enough not to lose the little humanity he had left, but at the same time, he could hardly get so attached that he could lose it in one fell swoop.

It was perhaps, for this reason, that he fell for something as perfect and timeless as his Opal. ]

With the arrival of the gargoyles back home and his schedule as a businessman, it was rare that Xanatos got a full nights sleep. He had mostly trained his body to take four hour powernaps every so often. So, he was up and running errands, and one of those errands involved giving Isaac his Christmas present. He meant to leave the present outside of the door-however, he paused as he heard noises from inside the room.

Well. It seemed Isaac was as much of a night owl as he was.

He knocked on the door, adjusting it so that the small, wrapped Christmas gift and the tin that was obviously Christmas cookies were wedged between his arm and his side.

The knock on the door startles him enough that he almost knocks over something else in his hurry to open it. Xanatos can plainly see that he certainly wasn't expecting visitors.

"Oh, good--" He pauses, briefly, glancing back at the clock. "Good morning, Xanatos. Though I've never been quite sure about how to address this period of time we're currently in." He smiles, sheepishly. "Nevertheless - don't mind my rambling. What brings you here today?"

"I tend to settle that matter with a simple 'hello there,'" Xanatos said, shrugging slightly. It didn't really matter to him, anyway. Formalities were formalities.

"And it's Christmas, of course." He offers Isaac the wrapped present (very old and possibly illegally obtained sheet music) and the tin (store-bought Christmas cookies.) "Though, the cookies are more of a return gift for that cake you made me." Xanatos smiled softly, not wanting to dwell too much on those days right after he returned from the dead.

"I'm not sure if I ever properly thanked you."

"It's as good a greeting as any," he replies. He looks pleasantly surprised at the gifts, though.

"Oh- thank you very much. I appreciate it - and as for the cake, it was really no problem. Dying is very unpleasant. I should know.

Which reminds me- I do have a gift for you. Would you like to come inside?"

He steps aside to let Xanatos walk through, with a little hand gesture - ever theatrical.

"I'd love to." For starters, he wanted to see what Isaac's apartment was like. And also, it was three in the morning. He didn't want to stand in the hallway and wake up the neighbors.

Xanatos walked in, looking around and taking in every detail of the apartment. It was definitely more cluttered than he would imagine. Then again, Xanatos kept his room like a camera could pass through it at any moment: tidy and ridiculously clean.

His apartment is - well, a mess. Blueprints, often with prototype devices holding them down as makeshift paperweights, are scattered throughout; at least his workbench is the focus of most of the clutter.

"I'm sorry about the mess - I wasn't expecting visitors," he says, ruefully glancing around as he heads for the kitchen. "You can clear a space anywhere -- do you want anything to drink?"

"Just water will do," Xanatos says with a smile, as he clears some of the blueprints off a space of the couch. He can't resist stealing a peek at one of the blueprints. How interesting...

By the time Isaac returns from the kitchen, Xanatos is reading the blueprint, engrossed in it and trying to figure how to make it work in his head.

"Water it is, then," he calls back, from the small kitchen. He grabs one of the bulkier packages off the table after he fills up a glass for Xanatos, taking it back into the living room with him.

The blueprint is something he keeps around purely for nostalgia purposes - it's for the resonator successfully used to move Keystone out of time. He smiles, placing the glass down on the table.

"Well, that's one I haven't looked at in a while. It does work, just so you're aware - very well, too."

Xanatos is astonishingly interested in the blueprints. Nodding at Isaac, he looks the blueprints over, making mental notes. "I'd love to know more details. This looks astonishing."

"It's-"

He puts the wrapped present on the table - it's obviously heavy, though he's not exactly having any difficulty carrying it - and clears off a couple of blueprints to expose another seat on the couch.

"I don't exactly think it's the same here - it could be - but there's a certain frequency, if magnified correctly, that can put objects and people in a sort of suspended animation state. This one was able to move an entire city out of time for years - and, well, out of sight, out of mind. Keystone existed only as an urban legend - a 'ghost city', for years on end."

Xanatos's attention was still focused on the blueprints. "So, hypothetically of course, if you put a city in suspended animation-or even a building-then nobody on the inside would notice, but the people on the outside would think it vanished."

Why no he wasn't planning a heist with this information, not at all.

"Actually, when we tried it, people forgot it existed entirely. But, yes - anyone within the city at the time wouldn't notice. They would be, effectively, asleep. I'm sure it has less grandiose applications, but I haven't seen the need to apply myself to the problem."

He's certainly not going to judge. Xanatos is his boss, after all, and it's not as if Isaac's own morals are going to object.

"Interesting...would you mind if I borrowed these blueprints for a while? I'd like to see if I can refine them to smaller-scale use." He paused for a moment, thinking.

"Though, before I refine anything, is there any way for you to enter the displaced city without suffering the effects of the machine?"

"Of course - be my guest. There are certain pieces of equipment you'll need to have in order to not be affected-" aka, comic book science didn't explain it "-but rest assured, those work perfectly well. It would be silly to steal an entire city without making sure you could be conscious to enjoy it."

"Well, I know what my New Years Resolution will be," Xanatos idly said as he folded up the blueprints and put them in his pocket. He was sure that with his technology (aka vague children's cartoon science) he'd manage to work something out.

"But enough talk about shop. Open your Christmas present."

"I look forward to the results," he replies mildly, with a smile. He's interested in what Xanatos can come up with, really.

He duly opens the gifted package, and is immediately delighted with the contents - he lights up as soon as he realises what it is.

"Well! I'm not going to ask where you got this -- but, my goodness. You really are too kind." He carefully puts his gift aside and hands Xanatos the package resting on the table in front of them. "And now, open yours. I believe you'll like the contents."

Xanatos opened the package, grinning as he sees the books. "Oh this is wonderful." He starts flipping through one, smiling still.

"Thank you, Isaac."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

silent night, holy night

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject