(a bunch of people are pissed off.)

[ioudas]

WHO: cross marian (ioudas) and a bunch of people who are pissed off at him (& maybe a new friend!)
WHERE: around the city
WHEN: saturday morning - sunday night
WARNINGS: once again, cross
SUMMARY: Cross is finally back in the City, not without consequence.
FORMAT: quick.



(He doesn't want to be back in the City, but he doesn't feel like he should be anywhere else. Since his travels to the many water worlds weren't all that adventurous (who knew that some things didn't change), he was restless. He couldn't stay at home because timcampy had taken to watching his every move and even when he was out, he was sure that the tiny gold golem was watching him.

So, he set out to do what he always does as a consequence of his bad decisions- make more of them.)

Comments

[foreshadower]

[ He laughed, and he waved a hand. ]

Oh no, now you must elaborate. It's always so interesting to hear of other people's personal lives.

[ There was, oddly enough, a touch of amusement. ]

[ioudas]

Mine's not that interesting. Although, I can't believe I missed Saint Patrick's Day. And National Redhead Day.

(he's really bummed about all of that, you see.)

Besides, what have you been up to?

[foreshadower]

Very little. Aiding a young shadow user in the craft, and being drug into other dimensions, it seems. Nothing of import, I'm afraid.

[ Conversely, Shade didn't want to speak on being drug to another universe. On the experience of not having his powers. He'd loathed fewer things than that in all of his days. ]

[ioudas]

Oh, you got the fun one. I was on the cannibal cruise. (with no magic that thankfully know one knows that he has.)

Seriously? There's no new Shadette that I need to meet?

[foreshadower]

Alas, my friend. I'm afraid I tend to avoid romance as a whole. I'm immortal, you understand. It's hardly worth it to become attached, only to watch her slowly die.

[ That wasn't to say that Shade didn't have his own one night stands, but none recently. He was hardly going to put himself out there for no cause, and he could live without it. ]

[ioudas]

(It hits a little close to home, especially with relationships. His bedroom burned this morning and he needs a new mirror and sets of drapes. Emotions, what are you going to with them.)

I need something stronger than an absinthe.

[foreshadower]

Later, later.

[ He leaned forward. ]

Temper yourself first, I promise, it makes the payoff much better, for a night of drinking.

[ioudas]

(His smile was tight, but when Shade leaned forward, Cross leaned back.)

Now you're the expert on binge drinking.

[foreshadower]

I'm the expert on knowing how to handle my liquor, yes.

[ He didn't move. If anything, he seemed to be closer, without even moving. ]

I am Victorian, remember? You had to drink to live through some parts of it.

[ioudas]

Right, I forgot we were from the same age.

(Cross just doesn't know anymore, trying to create some distance between the two of them. Shade doesn't need to see how terrible Cross looks like right now.)

[foreshadower]

[ He may not need to, but Shade is observant. He waves a hand, indicating the rest of the room. ]

And yet you're here, among the masses. Most from our age would have had well enough.

[ioudas]

I'm sure you know that I didn't want to be here.

(he had to be dragged from Nepal; there was a chase and everything. but, he's trying to make the most of it, as he does with everything.)

[foreshadower]

Ah yes, I'm sure you do not.

[ He makes no mention of being carted back. He hadn't been paying much attention, unfortunately. Thankfully for Cross, their drinks arrived. The Shade thanked the waitress, and leaned back enough to start affixing his drink, the spoon and sugar coupled with cold water into the glass, turning vibrant green to milky mint. ]

And yet you're still here. You could simply leave again, could you not?

[ioudas]

Does it even matter?

(He sighs, doing the same thing and wondering why he would bother fixing his own drink. It isn't classy the way that he downs it, not bothering to even taste it before swallowing.)

[foreshadower]

Of course it does. What's the point of living without freedom?

[ He sipped at his much more gently, savoring it, rather than gulping it. This wasn't a shot, after all. ]

[ioudas]

What's the point of freedom if you're forced to be free alone?

(He sounds morose in it.)

[foreshadower]

Alone? [ The shade held a hand to his chest. ]

Why, what's the point in freedom if you are tethered to someone? Eventually, all must pass, but you yourself will be the constant the entire time. Loss is natural, and if anything, a part of being truly free.

[ioudas]

God made Noah gather animals two by two, one thing cannot exist without its other half; there is liberation in loneliness, but there is also a void.

(Argh, he caught himself being sentimental, time for another drink.)

Bless the Romans and the Greeks for their wine, for it's good enough.

[foreshadower]

Ah, but voids can be filled by any number of things. Why bother with focusing on the one? You understand, yes, that just puts you through heartache, eventually?

Yes, it's delightful when it happens, and for a time, walking the path together may ease your burdens, but it is just for a time. Whether it's as companions and lovers, or as friends, nothing lasts.

[ He sipped, once more, at his absinthe. ]

You must understand, I have lost many I've cared about in my day.

[ioudas]

It isn't the one, though. Lets just - drop it.

(it's really hard to talk about, to actually let someone into his inner circle but Cross just sighs and grabs some other person's drink.)

It shouldn't be something we're used to.

[foreshadower]

[ Shade shrugged. ]

Perhaps not you. I've grown used to it long ago, and hardly care any longer.

[ It was untrue, for the most part, but what could he do? He wasn't going to lose his power, so he simply worked to accept the truth of the matter. He was an immortal, and possibly one of the very few true immortals in his world. What was he going to do, walk the ages with the Phantom Stranger? ]

Eventually, it becomes an old shoe. Comfortable.

[ioudas]

I don't want to talk about this, Shade.

(Maybe he'd live for another hundred years or maybe he'd die here, the extent of what he'd done to himself to ensure that everything was in place for the Fourteenth's return was starting to take its toll.)

I just want to drink till I feel like I'm dead and then do it again.

[foreshadower]

Very well, very well.

[ He waved a hand, unwilling to press. The Shade understood that some people simply didn't talk. He, himself, didn't always do so. He would much rather let one come to terms with something themselves, rather than bother doing the work for them. ]

I will hardly press.

[ioudas]

And that Shade, is why we're friends.

(Plus, he doesn't talk about Cross' obvious problem with alcohol. For that, he won't even leave the bill with Shade.

Or maybe he will, it's stick to get the man that can disappear into the shadows with the bill.)

[foreshadower]

Oh, is that it?

I thought it was our mutual appreciation for the finer things in life.

[ He hardly cared if he were stuck with the bill, after all, he wasn't exactly working hard for his funds. ]