The Elegy of Valentines (Michael/Amor/Charlatan/Invite)

One special day a year there is a celebration of love. A celebration of respect and a display of grandeur that proclaims one's love for another. Of course not all displays are grand, and some people don't have that special someone to shower with their praise and affections. The uniquity of the display is due in part to the fact that every relationship between people is as unique as the people themselves. While it is a day to celebrate love, not all people had the ability to enjoy such a thing on equal measure.

One young man sits in his home, looking out the rainy window as he tries his hardest to understand why he feels so empty inside. Why he could sit and be surrounded by loving parents and a loving best friend, yet he was still so empty.

Another young man wandered the streets alone, weaving in and out of the alleyways to reach the lone, dilapidated house that he had been squatting in. He had lost so many people in his life that all semblance of love had been severed within his mind. They said he was crazy, but he knew this family was not his. This life was not his.

A third boy walked the halls of his school, averting his gaze from a being that often mocked and tormented him. Trying to spend his time hiding from a person that seemed to target the small boy’s very existence. He knew his family loved him, he knew that his friend had loved him...but they vanished. No one seemed to remember, but no one paid any mind to the small spastic outcast.

Then finally a man stood there in his high-ceiling office with a book in his hands, thumbing through the pages as he looked over the words scribbled on the page. This man was hollow and empty as well. His closest friends sat with him daily, and today was no exception. Close enough to be brothers, one of his friends sat in a chair as the man appraised the contents of the book he had just penned. Despite the love that was once there as brothers and friends, the man was empty. He knew he was empty, and every fiber of his being wept. Though no one could hear it, no one could see it. His dress, his talk and his smile all seemed so genuine.

These four had one thing in common, and while together they once could have understood and overcome this, alone they were isolated, and were cursed to suffer. Each one was a chapter in and of itself, though now it was culminating together into strange chronicles, all recorded within the same twenty four hour period. It’s strange to see how many people suffer the same injustice, the same loss and the same cruel fate at the hands of a cold and ruthless world…

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It was just another day for some people. For others it was a more special time. In this house it was perfectly represented as such. A family of six people in a household of eight. The Atterrius family held diverse and ever differing views on the “Holiday”. The one of the heads of the house despised the day with a frightening passion, though he disguised it quite well. He would play along and was happy to have an excuse to make sure his husband knew that he was loved and appreciated. Especially since his husband seemed to have an inferiority complex of sorts. It was a way to remind him that he mattered and was one of the most important things to him, regardless of his wealth and all the other mundane things in this world.

The oldest child despised the day, but unlike his one father he despised it openly. He refused to partake in anything that was even remotely colored in the thematic colors unless it was something he could possibly become intoxicated by it. He typically spent the day simply going to work at the old Plant and begrudgingly going about his mundane life as if nothing was new.
The second oldest son was entirely oblivious to the day’s meaning through the human perspective. To him it was merely a day that was celebrated through his draconic heritage as a day of great spiritual growth and observation of one’s heritage. Most specifically it was a day to grant oneself the acknowledgement of their origins within Chaos itself and their inherent connection to passion and emotions.

The daughter and the next was the one you’d expect to have the least positive view of the holiday, and though she was not there she was glad to have such a day. She was promised, married and still enraptured with her husband, and the father of her children and all the cryptid monstrosities they had brought into being together. Their chaos and their love were both equal everpresent, and today was the perfect chance to display that.

The youngest didn’t really seem to understand the concept of the day. It was alien and foreign to him. The concept of the day just made him feel empty, and honestly it seemed almost asinine. He didn’t speak out against it, but the strange rain that fell from the Californian sky actually made him feel a little better about the whole thing. He just didn’t see the point of anything like a Valentine’s day, and in truth he didn’t even want to go to school because of it.

Throughout this whole day there had been a slow, sinking irritation that settled in. Between the indifference of the youngest child and the rushed desire to prove appreciation of the father, it was adding unnecessary pressure with the cultural differences of the Draconic being. Then there was another issue of mounting pressures from internal family drama that plagued them all. Tension even between the best of friends was growing beyond control, and even the others were seeing changes in the dynamics of Yancey and Silus.

“Michael. I’d ask how you are, but I doubt you’d answer me.” A familiar voice seemed to call out. Zell was certain that his son wouldn’t want to talk with him, especially after the revelation that Zell was lying to everyone about his status as Archon. But now that Zell had a small scar on his throat, he was hoping things would settle down. He had no power anymore, he had no strength beyond his exosuits, and honestly the fact he had no power was only worsened by the fact he knew he had no respect. The only respect he seemed to hold was from Shael and Sean...and he knew that some of the others even despised him. It was because of this he knew that any time he approached someone it had to be with their interest in mind, as was the case here.

“This belongs to your little friend. I’d assume you’d like to get it back to him. The sooner the better.” Zell said as he produced a small rectangular metallic object. Appearing akin to an old metallic ingot. The box was made of a strange textured black metal that seemed to offer no reflection regardless of the light surrounding it. The box measured within the palm about 6 inches long, and 2 inches wide. The thickness and depth of the rectangular metal seemed to be between 3 and 4 inches. The metal seemed to have no creases or signs of opening, and the texture of it appeared to be intricately designed and patterned with small scale like segments with spatial differences between in a weakly homogenized and only semi-repetitive way. It looked like a strange mixture of shattered glass and dragon scales.

“I figured you’d rather do it.” Zell said a small growl as he tried to clear his throat, the unnaturally coarseness in his voice a lingering effect of the damage he had sustained as the result of the erosion arrow.

Love was a shackle.

Ever since he’d come to know it, that was all the sensation and act had been to him. Valentines day was at times just a reminder what he was in the end, and the constant toil that was brought with it. Endlessly now seeking out threats that could aim for the very few things he held some manner of tenderness towards. Some aspect of himself roiled and raged against the thought of any aspect of him being tender. Bitterness followed him, like the taste of bitter black coffee in the back of his throat.

”The mark of my master is on you,”

Words that replayed through his mind at some on repeat, the black spindly veins forming upon his palm. Spreading out until it reached the very tips of his fingers, bringing with it that faint rush of power. Power was so often his vice wasn’t it? The power to do anything he wanted. Protect those he wanted and never lose again. How stupid the thought sounded now, alone with the realization that his greatest efforts didn’t amount to much.

The darkness receded once again, leaving him feeling drained and empty. Then a voice cut into his own thoughts, causing him to look up to the person that had spoken to him. His father; Zell Atterrius The Archon. He ground his teeth together, not sure if he wanted to deal with the man. Still, he dealt with him anyway so that question didn’t stop him from doing so.

So Michael turned to consider the man, as well as the new scar in his throat. Where it came from he couldn’t tell, though perhaps that didn’t matter. Many things happened in the clash against The Black Beast and many of those things didn’t pertain to him. So in the end he didn’t care about them. ”Wonderful, thanks for asking. Now what do you want?” His tone was quick, in the sarcastic way.  That was when the man produced what looked to be a small metal box, strange in appearance and one he had never seen before.

He arced a single brow while looking it over long enough to decide he had no idea what he was looking it. It didn’t have the texture or make of something he had seen before. ”My little friend? Well I don’t have many of those so I assume you’re talking about the one I brought ripped into so many pieces by your pet dog,” Michael smirked, rising to his feet from his sitting position, extended a hand out with the palm upwards. ”well hand it over. I’m sure he’s missing it, whatever the hell that is,”

It was something to do, anything to do to break that sense of doldrum that was breaking through his mind. Even if it felt like in essence a fetch quest from his old man, well not that he likely wanted to be called an old man. Once he was given the ingot he slipped it into his jacket pocket, or a pocket large enough to house the strange ingot. ”Well I’m out. I’m sure I’ll be back sometime…eventually,” He waved the man off and walked away. Working through where the young human likely was, considering he was slippery enough in his own way. He met him at a dangerous vampire party afterall, so either he was known for nosing into things he shouldn’t or he was just stupid.

Besides, Jordan was too busy with dragon things so he didn’t have anything better to distract himself with. It didn’t take Mike too long, till he found where the young Pup was staying and he just had to call him too. Cellphones were one of humanities more useful inventions. He was vague, just saying he had nothing better to do and had a list of friends so small it was almost sad so unless the kid had a date he was going to bother him.

The box was  a bonus honestly.

The young man’s living arrangement wasn’t anything to write home about. He was a common squatter whose entire list of possessions was the clothes on his back and a few things he’d managed to snatch and steal with rather deft hands and keen eyes. A small pile of clothes was piled in the corner comically akin to a trash heap that one might find at a junkyard. Another pile in the most shaded corner of the room was outfitted with an empty gallon jug that once held some milk, alongside several other random things of plastic and food items. Near the small fireplace was another pile of magazines and papers, a few towels and pieces of cloth and a backpack that seemed to be filled with random books and one rather old fashioned leather bound journal.

Mike would likely manage to find the place long before the young man arrived. About twenty minutes and finally the small boy seemed to crawl in through the window, shuddering as the rain seemed to beat down on the old abandoned building. Pulling his hood down he didn’t even seem to notice Mike’s movements in the building’s shadows. The boy was rushing over to the empty gallon jug and rushing to hang it on the slight protrusion of a flagpole, allowing it to collect some of the rain water for later use. Finally shutting the window he threw his arms around himself and let out a rather loud chattering as he shivered in place, suddenly shaking himself out of the dramatic display and walking towards the fireplace. A quick toss of newspapers and some random legs from chairs mixed well with a quick strike of flint and tinder.

As fire and warmth began to fill the area, the light immediately flared up. The young man turned around and jumped out of his skin, taking note of the taste of Michael’s footsteps. He titled his head to the side and looked about, trying to identify the person who probably wasn’t even hiding. He cleared his throat and seemed to whisper.

“H-howdy! Givit a sec. It’ll warm up.” The boy said with a wide smile, removing his drenched jacket and laying it just far enough away from the fire to avoid ignition, but close enough to hopefully dry it. He looked over to the pile where he kept some of the food he “salvaged” on newspapers in the corner, wrapped up in an unidentified plastic. “What’s up Chuck?”

The young mans living arrangement was to put it lightly pathetic. A place he would only want for his worst enemy, aside from the coldest of domains with no walls to house them. The boy squatting here at least deserved some kind of hoe with heating and running water. Humans apparently needed that stuff to live. As a flame flickered to life it cast shadows across his form and made him more apparent to the young boy who had snuck in through the window. Well, that was one way of doing things wasn’t it? Against his usual clothing choice, Mike was dressed in a pair of khaki pants and a tan winter jacket with a hint of inner lining, a knit wool hat covering most of his hair save for a few strands of bangs pointing out the front. Stubble now lining his jaw from a seeming lack of shaving.

”I’ll be fine. Doubt I’ll die of hypothermia or anything like that here,” Despite discomfort, cells brimming with nether tended not to die . There was a certain inuring against damage from the elements when entropic energy was the standard for cellular existence. ”well I had nothing better to do, so I thought I’d see if you were busy today. ” he paused, shadows dancing across his face. ”okay, that sounded wrong now that I think about it. Nothing romantic,” He seemed to correct himself, digging through one of the many inner pockets of his jacket. Ever since his dad, Sean specifically gained magic he took to artificery and that meant minor stupid things he pawned off on his children.

A coat with many pockets that were actually storage portals was one of those concepts. ”like chocolate? Been told people occasionally buy friends and people they don’t hate things on this day too,” He produced a comically large chocolate bar from a pocket, resting it on the nearest solid surface. ”don’t have a date today do you? Cute boy or girl finally gather up the courage?” Normally Mike might have not cared but here he was asking, silver eyes alight with faint curiosity as he waited to see if he would even take the chocolate bar.

The two began conversing a bit. Granted he wasn’t sure the extent of Michael’s superhuman capabilities. He could only gleam so much from his synesthetic ability, but from what he gathered Mike was being pretty damn honest about not worrying over his body temperature. The longer they talked the more the younger realized that his abilities were cool, but they really were quite a burden at times. When one sense is too busy the others are overwhelmed, giving him more of an all-or-nothing advantage. Even here was a perfect example. It’s not like Mike was actively sneaking about, the boy’s senses were simply too occupied for him to actually take note or actively track the placement and arrival of foreign bodies.

”Well with that stubble coming in you’ll be as snug as a bear.” He replied to Mike, pointing out the new stubble. It was followed with what could only be described as a hybrid of a chuckle and a shivering chatter. The boy began to force his body to shake rapidly, hoping that it would warm him up faster. Mike had confessed he had nothing better to do today, and wanted to see if he had been busy. That confused him a little. “Uh well no I mean...just playing house.” He said. Mike quickly shifted and had stated that there was nothing romantic about it at all. The boy cocked his head to the side like a confused puppy, keeping to his namesake. Michael set a chocolate bar out and left Pup to look at it.

”Oh hey, thanks!” He said, rather excited by the concept of the treat. He began to check over the type of chocolate with a small smile as he looked it over. He took the small chocolate bar and walked over to his one corner where he placed his scavenged food. Mike then asked if there was a cute girl or boy that had gathered the courage to ask him out, to which confused the small boy even more.

”Uhm...no?” He said as he looked at Michael and shrugged. He walked over to the fireplace and sat down, keeping his knees towards his chest.

”Nah. I can’t really go to school anymore so no...real opportunity?” He said with a smile and tossing new pages into the fire. He began to clear his throat and looked around for a moment. His head twitched and he smirked after a moment, his head finally clicked two dots together as he looked to Mike. ”Wish I had more to do, but uh...this is life. I'm boring...Well I got this...”

He quickly pulled his hand from his pocket revealing a small necklace with a clear, smooth sphere that seemed to be diamond in nature. He quickly tapped on it and then exhaled on it , causing it to steam over. The sudden reaction caused a flickering of light from the sphere, which then projected a slight image on the wall. The projected image was a foreign script.

"I got this though. It's uhm...translates as 20 questions." He offered almost half-hearted in his attempt to figure out a way to make things interesting.

”Well, Jordan hasn’t complained about it yet so I’m doing good I guess,” He stroked the rough feeling stubble, wondering if facial hair were really his thing. Not that it mattered, because he found it an interesting look on himself. Did Jordan even complain? He didn’t hear about it if that were the case and the dragon was never the kind of person to talk about someone behind their back from his own perspective. The young human mentioned something about playing house, though he had to wonder what he meant by that. Perhaps he was being literal, though that suggested an understanding of the young man.  His mention of lack of romantic intent actually sounded strange now, considering that he was practically an adult and the other was a child. Well by human standards likely.

Regardless he offered the chocolate and watched him add it to the pile he had forming. It was one of those bars with caramel filling if he recalled, though he imagined it was good enough for him. Kids liked candy, right? ”Pretty sure young humans like yourself are supposed to being going to school. Something about it being the law right?”  It was something that Fera had been insistent about, though Shael sounded like he enjoyed meeting other people around his own age. ”a little surprised you even went to school. That suggests parents that might be looking for you. “ Now he was curious, arcing a brow and just considering the male even more curious now.  ”Well, I’d offer to find a date but that would suggest hooking you up with my children and I don’t do matchmaker,” Shael likely wouldn’t mind. At worst he would have a new friend… at best now that he thought about it.

Fire flicked across the room, shadows and light dancing together across the walls. The heat felt nice compared to the cold that dominated the world outside of this room, though that meant Pup was sleeping in this kind of cold. ”I wouldn’t say boring. I don’t waste my time on boring people,” He still leaned away from the wall, considering the strange trinket that was produced for him. Casting its own projection across the wall, formed in script that he didn’t immediately recognize. ”20 questions for who? Like in general?” he questioned, crouching down to his level or as close as he could trying to understand the script that was presented to him. It wasn’t abyssal script, that much he knew but that narrowed nothing down. Maybe not even Ethereal, though that was rather low in people reading it anyway.

After a minute of looking it over he spoke. ”Okay this means nothing to me. What exactly does it say? I mean if you can read this?” His silver eyes scanned the boys features for some kind of answer.

”Well that’s the thing. I don’t go to school.” Pup said as he sat there, fiddling with the device a moment before twisting it slightly, projecting the image onto the wall. He sat and seemed to shift in place a little before settling in and watching the strange, otherworldly script project against the wall. ”I don’t have parents, not here. I’m not even from here. But then a month ago I woke up and here we are. I have a family, that isn’t mine. Then they make me go to this therapist...he’s the only one who seems to believe me.” Pup seemed to be out of sorts a bit, though he knew Michael was powerful and talented, he knew that whatever had changed things, whatever had altered things would likely have affected him as well. He was just grateful that Mike even remembered him at all. He gave a little sigh as he then looked to Mike.

“It says “State a Category”...in Chimerian Common. It’s 20 Questions. You think of something in your head and it asks you 20 questions and it has to guess what you’re thinking of.” He said before contemplating everything Michael had said. He arched an eyebrow before looking back to the older man, looking slightly confused. ”Wait a second...you have kids? Are you a teacher or something now?” The overall level of confusion in the room seemed to only be escalating, as was to be expected. You have two friendly individuals functioning on two separate series of foundations and laws. That and Pup wasn’t even sure that Mike had children prior to whatever caused the new aberrant reality to take hold.

  He still wasn't sure why he would need to find a date. Granted back home he would already have someone promised to him, and he'd have a bunch of responsibilities to learn and do before the end of his 16th year. He'd be having this person moved into his home at the end of this year. His mind began to ache as he realized how much he didn't miss his home. It was true that his father was the most open-minded person, but the fast-paced lifestyle of Chimera always called for the necessity of tradition and the elevation of one's people above themselves.

   Now here he was, attempting to make out what was devolving here already. He offered 20 questions, but all they ended up with was 20 more questions then where they started? Was that a new law in their reality? This was bullshit. This needed to be changed back, immediately. Only he was allowed to confuse people to the point that they craved the eternal slumber. He waited for Michael to take the lead on the conversation, because it was quite clear that no matter what he said or did now, it was just going to incite chaos and discord.

  While that was fun, he was with the one person he knew that he didn't want to lose in said chaos and discord.

Didn’t go to school? He silently questioned the statement and searched the young mans expression when he mentioned something about not being from here. What did that mean exactly? Could he be from another country or was he like Weaver? She mentioned coming from another world entirely, possibly even a new multiverse if his guess were true. Not that she was prone to telling him interesting details like that. ”With how you seem to act that makes sense, though I can’t say for certain if I understand it fully,” He said, stroking his chin and thinking it over with an expression that was for a second intense before returning to the normal Michael expression. His mind was working through what could be happening with the young boy, though his mind didn’t come up with anything in particular. A part of his mind was grasping for something wrong but just a few inches short of it.

”Chimerian common? That means nothing to me. Is that some kind of new language humans are speaking?” Mike questioned, expression even more confused really, but then again hearing about new languages was interesting. Maybe he could learn some of it in the future, unless it wasn’t that important. ”yeah I’ve got kids. Had them for…a while actually. They were…an interesting accident,” He removed a cellphone from his pocket and produced a picture on it. A smiling young man with short cut black hair and brown eyes, skin a tan with yellow undertones and canines particularly pronounced. Looking around between 13-15, one arm looped around the waist of a fairer skinned red haired girl a couple years older than her. ”This is Shael and this is Fera,” He explained, sounding almost proud which was a rare sound from Mike. Well, he loved his children even if he had a bad way of showing it.

”Do you have Valentines Day where you come from? I didn’t really understand it myself first but it’s apparently some kind of human holiday where couples do more extravagant than usual displays of affection. Lavish dinners, dates and lots of chocolate for some reason,” He explained, burying hands into his pockets and working through the strange diagram across the wall. ”I don’t see much use of it but there’s always someone right?”

”The language of mah people. It speaks pretty close to a strange amalgamation of Russian and Spanish peppered in with German. But the closest writing I’ve found to it is a mixture of different sources here.” Pup explained only slightly understanding what he was saying. He was just regurgitating out what had once been described to him by his late-mentor. The script that appeared on the wall was all strange and almost unpredictable. Almost every character consisted of a circular area and in some capacity a straight line. Though of course there were outliers and estranged characters with no such circular inclusion.  The conversation of the language seemed to end for the moment and transitioned on.

The affirmation of children belonging to Michael was a shock to some degree. Pup hadn’t ever known Mike to have children, granted they spent a grand total of 48 hours together. A third of the time Pup was incapacitated and had no general recollection of the events that transpired in the 16 hour gap. Mike withdrew a phone from his pocket and saw the two figures in the phone. The one had a rather strange bronzed skin, like he came from the House Lourishna, or it’s pedigree. The other was a girl with fiery red hair, the boy seemed to be similar in a way he couldn’t place. Maybe it was the same derpy expression that Pup himself remembered seeing in family portraits and other expressions. Maybe it was the skin reminding him of someone he knew...even if it was a shallow excuse to try and recall them. He looked to the red head and smirked a little, noting the change in texture of Mike’s voice as he said their names.

“Well they seem pretty cool.” Pup said affirming his weird and unnecessary approval of the children Mike had spawned. He tried to recall for a moment what his own family looked like, but his brain began to ache at the barriers in place by the recognitive “training” he had to go through as an even smaller child. After catching himself spacing a little he quickly heard Mike asking about Valentine’s Day. What was that? Was that some kind of custom they had here, or was it a new day in the week? Was this a monthly thing like a Full moon, or was it more of an annual event? Did he have to dress up for this? Why was he just NOW hearing about it!? Actually ya know that checks out. Me not knowing makes sense. Literally woke up with strangers smiling at me and trying to give me food the other day, my friends do not remember me and i can’t find my equipment. A new day popping into existence is not that strange...

”Uh no? I don’t...I figured that you brought this because it was my...ahhh. What is Valentine’s Day?” The question was answered as Mike seemed to take an interest in the foreign language on the wall. Pup sat there and contemplated it. Lavish dinners and chocolate was just the life that a really well off person would live usually right? So it was a day to live with someone as if you were above your means? That sounded right. Yeah, he totally understood Valentine’s day now. Sadly rather than living it larger than life, he was squatting in a lower middle class home that had been for sale for ten years with no furniture. But hey, it could be worse, right?

”That’s an S. You can tell because it snakes at the bottom. But the one that looks like an English S the circle in the middle is called, well translates as a negative D. Meaning it’s a D that comes at the beginning of words that start with D. Like Deception or Death” He offered the slight piece of information, in case Michael was actually interested in attempting to figure the language out. It was a nuanced language, but hardly difficult to learn to write. Unfortunately speaking and direct translation was a whole different nightmare. “So why don’t you celebrate this Valen-signs Day?”

”I didn’t know Chimera’s had their own language but I suppose that makes some sense doesn’t it?” Michael noted, wondering if that explained also why the boy wasn’t dead despite sustaining injuries that would kill a human child. His Spanish, Russian and German were rusty though he knew a little of those languages. Put into that context he was able to figure out what certain symbols might have meant, though they were mixed in a way that he might have no figured them out anyway. Perhaps the child could help him figure it out, even though in the end it didn’t matter if he knew what they meant or not. Mike licked his lips, feeling the fact they were chapped from the cold likely. As if to fit the circumstance he removed a small chapstick container and ran it over his lips before slipping it back into the seemingly endless jacket pockets.

Hearing someone thought his children were pretty cool was nice. ”They’re pretty good. My daughters rough around the edges, I’ve been told she takes after me in that aspect. Shael is….a good kid. He’s simple, not the type of person to care much about social conventions and how they should restrain him,’ It reminded him at times of Jordan, and also explained why the two seemed to get along in a simple fashion. Perhaps he should visit his children at some point today, even if Fera tended to snark him to death for his distant attitude. Breaking from his thoughts was a fine idea however as he explained what Valentines day was as best as he could. Not that he was interested in celebrating it until Jordan. It made the fact the dragon was busy with other things all the more annoying. Brimming within him as a sort of bile he didn’t want to spew.

Following the small grammar lesson he nodded along, trying to decipher what any of the letters might have meant from that. ”You might have to give me some lessons of the subject later. I’m a quick study but…I doubt you have the patience to lead me through a language lesson.” He scratched his beard, feeling a sore spot prodded when questioned about celebrating this day himself. Corners of his lips turning down, and eyes averting a moment before returning to the male. ”Well normally it requires someone to celebrate with. I have a someone but he’s more interested in doing whatever it is dragons do on this day. I’m obviously not a dragon so I don’t celebrate the holiday the same way. So we’re doing our own things and here I am. Bored and explaining the concept of Valentines day.” His eyes were now scanning over the letters on the wall while still going over the whole concept.

”If you want we can do something else, make this day a little more interesting than squatting in a shack,”

Pup never really knew many dragons. He found the idea very interesting as he saw that Michael was a small human. Dragons were big. Every part of them was big. HE looked almost confused and borderlining concerned at Michael when he said he had a special someone who was doing dragon things. He desperately wanted to ask how something like that even worked, but he wasn’t going to question it. It would have made more sense if Mike had said “she” but the fact that he had said “he” only made the child even more scared, confused and overly conflicted about the concept. His normal veneer returned as he had heard Mike suggest doing something more interesting.

”I’m game. Didn’t really wanna spend today alone anyway, to be honest.” He said with a slight sigh, and then standing up. He started to pull one arm across his chest, then did the same for the opposite arm. He started leaning side to side a little as the blood rushed to his head, giving him a disoriented feeling. With a slight giggle he staggered back and shook his head, all the strange colors in his eyes fading back to their original and natural dull scale.

”So what’s the plan?” He asked as he walked over to his pile, taking a dry and “new” jacket as he put it on. The jacket had a strange familiarity, but it wasn’t anything that anyone could recall at this point. But there was a striking resemblance to the black peacoat.

Mike didn’t notice the internal conflict within the young human and perhaps it was for the best that he didn’t. Explanations of how things worked would have been awkward, even for someone like him. ”That’ll make two of us, though I suppose I could have seen what Silus is upto if I really wanted to,” Would his brother be as willing to tolerate him? Perhaps but then again Michael knew well enough that perhaps he needed friends who weren’t his older brother. Well, there was Yancey but then again something told him not to trust that. ”do you know Silus? My kid brother who apparently gets around and just knows everyone I happen to meet?” he questioned as they left the crappy place the young man was squatting, and he was already thinking about a safehouse he could let him use. It had to be better than this, right?

Sighing he felt the cold breeze wash across his face. ”Dinners off the table because it’ll just look suspect of me. If you heard the story of how my parents got married, you’d understand perfectly.” Eventually he asked dad about how Zell and him got engaged properly, and it involved suspected pedophilia and he thought it was funny actually. Except he didn’t look the same age as his friend, granted he didn’t plan to propose to him. Well, not that the kid wasn’t alright, but he was more interested in proposals elsewhere. With people who were likely sinking ships in the Atlantic. ”okay maybe dinner. I don’t really need to eat but humans need to eat right? So I’m sure you might be hungry by now,” His eyes questioned the boy while he also worked through a plan he was pulling out of his ass right now.

”After that we could…I’m bad at plans. Usually Jordan just offers something and I pretend it sounds fun and we do it or my only other friend decides we should fight star spawn from beyond the veil of time and space so we do that. ” He paused, realizing he was rambling. Did he do that often? ”I’ll think of something,” He resolved finally, with a nod and leading the male to who knows where.

”Silus?...N-no...” Pup began, though suddenly his head began to hurt a little. He started to rub his eyes a little bit as he recalled a moment at a place. A temple, a church? He wrapped his arms around someone. Brown hair, indigo eyes that seemed to pierce his very soul in an almost comforting way. If that was possible. But he couldn’t seem to associate the name. He was slightly distracted trying to figure out this fantasy, or memory that he was having. Mike had thrown dinner off the table, to which the boy nodded and agreed. He didn’t quite understand why food made someone look suspicious, but he trusted Mike with his life, so that was fine. But then the throwing out of dinner was then replaced with the option of food. Which confused the small boy as he cocked his head to the side, looking at Mike with a confused and questioning stare. ”I-I could eat. Yeah? I thought it...nevermind.”


After eventually releasing the fact he didn’t have a clue what Mike was saying about not being able to get dinner, he resolved that Mike hadn’t led him wrong yet, so if he said dinner was good then it was good for him. Though Pup smiled and seemed even more curious as Mike stated that they fought star-spawn, not quite sure what that meant in the grand scheme of things. It was without fail that Mike always seemed to be able to either impress or confuse the boy. Granted being from another dimension will do that to you, but even the concept of star spawn were an attention grabber.

”Sounds good. Let me just get my stuff ready.” He said as he walked over to the fireplace and began to kick the remnants of the fire on the inside and back towards the far wall. From that point he had to just hope and pray that the place didn’t catch fire. He then walked over to his pile where he kept his necessities and rummaged towards the bottom of it, taking some stray things and folding them up, stuffing them into his jacket pockets. He seemed to hop over to the window quickly and checked the progress of the jug filling with water. He quickly reached out and pulled the jug, then setting a new one out. It may have only given him a fraction of the large jug, but he wasn’t about to waste the opportunity. He placed it over on the floor, put the window down and buttoned the peacoat.

”Ok, good to go.” Pup said with a slight sigh, making sure to look over the room one more time before clearing his throat and looking to mike with a smirk. ”Let’s get a move on!” He said as he walked back over to the window, opening it and slipping through. He wasn’t sure how Mike had gotten there, but he knew that he had much more fun sliding out a window and closing it. After he escaped from the window, turning around to hand-palm it closed, he wrapped his coat around him tightly and went to the front. From there he and Mike could continue their walk and talk to wherever they were headed.

“Ok so...what kind of food are we looking for?” Pup asked as he seemed to try and shield the majority of his body from the rain. He quickly began to reach up and push his matting hair off to the side with a faint irritation at his bangs. Though without a second thought, Pup had begun to turn and watch everyone. He kept his eyes peeled and he looked through every direction he could manage to try and get some kind of stimulation from beyond the cold.

Mentioning his brothers name seemed to bother the younger male somehow, though he didn’t know what that could have been. Was he lying to him? It was possible but his expression suggested that might have not been the case. Perhaps his sudden denial and offering of dinner was something that could have confused the young male. Waiting outside in the cold, the young male did whatever he needed to before leaving. Likely kicking the fire out so it didn’t consume his home in its entirety and leave him even more destitute than he might have been before. ”That all depends on what you like. Italian, Mexican, tex mex specifically, Korean, Chinese, Japanese…I even know this great Greek place not too far from here,” All of these sounded fine, though he didn’t particularly question what he should be wanting. He could have eaten anything the young human picked out.

”I don’t really eat often so I don’t feel strongly one way or the other with any of the choices. So let’s just say you pick and I’ll pay, since it’s obvious you have no money whatsoever,” Also he was pretty sure that was the nice thing to do. Helping a homeless and broke friend was something someone nice would do right? He wondered but didn’t voice these questions. ”ice cream does sound good though. Ice cream afterwards,” Michael nodded, seeming to have decided that without the input of Pup whatsoever. ”if you want you can meet my son…or Silus. They’re around your age so you might get along. I think…” Silus got along with everyone and he was pretty sure Shael liked meeting new people, so it worked either way.

At the moment he was leading him to the very well recommended Greek restaurant but he could easily switch if the kid wanted something else.

”Greek sounds interesting.” Pup said, casting his vote only after Mike said that he didn’t care one way or another. Though Pup was all too happy to go out for food, he quickly looked at Mike who stated he would be paying. It was met with a slightly judgemental and disapproving look that was a mixture of a scold and a pout. Squinted eyes and the shifted jaw all followed by a return to normal and the rolling of the previously not visible eyes. ”No way dude. That’s not how this works. I got money...sorta.” He said as he pulled out the thin pieces of rubbish that he had stuffed in his pocket just moments earlier. He seemed to retrieve a twenty and a few ones before pushing it back into his pocket. He looked to Mike and smirked, like he was somehow proving Mike wrong, about an invisible bias that he didn’t even have.

...I...I might need to borrow money for ice cream….hehe. He said nervously as he began to scratch at the top of his head with a slightly embarrassed look. All of the rebellion and stubborn nature, only to come to grasp with the reality that this place was expensive as Hell to live in. Mike had said about possibly meeting this Silus person, or even his son. Shale was it? He then came to the conclusion that because they were the same age they should get along. If that was the solution then how was it possible that they got along as they did now with the ever so slight disparity in age. "Uhm sure...yeah. That sounds fun actually."

He navigated his way around with Mike, eventually reaching the place they were destined for. Upon arriving there, Pup walked up to the person who seated people and seemed to wave. Just before Mike could speak Pup seemed to chime in and speak for the both of them, declaring quite loudly:

”Tha íthela fagitó se parakaló!” The moment that the words left his mouth, eyes were shifting to him. The particular verbiage and vernacular in translation sounding moderately offensive to the modern times. In fact he didn’t notice that there was a rather furious individual that was staring at him appalled.