Vis-à-vis [private]

[Darky]

[OOC: Private for now, pm before jumping in ^^~ thanks]

The suburbs were never particularly hospitable and they were rather dangerous to tread for long periods alone. Grey did not have a choice, he desired more books and no matter how many times he had gone over the creates and crevices of the wharf, he had found nothing.

Not that he was having any better luck out here now.

Great.

Lifting one hand to scratch his forehead smearing slightly one of the paint marks he tossed another disappointed look at the ruins of the house he had just exited. Nothing, absolutely nothing. He would go home with nothing but dust in his hands and an empty stomach.

God, he was hungry too.

Rummaging his pocket he realized that no- he had no food on him having passed on his valuable bar of granola a while ago to some omega or other. Well, that made the day really.

Cyril turned down, keeping close to the large debris left about, taking care not to walk too in the open as he tried recalling the faster way back home.

[Judas]

[Quality of post is probably less than what it should be due to horrible time limits.]

Oooh! Look! A cloud-bunny!

Alright, granted it was a bunny with one ear bitten off and retractable vampire fangs, along with a cape and a lollipop [or was it a flower?] sticking [growing?] out of it’s head buuuut—It still resembled a cute little bunny rabbit, right…? Sort of… To a very, incredibly small extent… It was… White? Bunnies were white – some of them… Oh, and it did have one and half long, floppy ears and an adorable little puffball, cottontail. Those assets were enough to qualify it, so it seemed.

Alright, so maybe it was a stretch but the cloud was either a bunny or a car accident and a professional optimist like Kael would simply refuse to even consider the latter. Therefore it was a bunny; the bunny’s name was Pasta – probably because everybody in New Pork was hungry 24/7 and that included the Iscariot. In any case, Pasta was a cute name anyway, yeah?

Hmn… But Kael was possibly the only Cigarette who cared at all about cuteness… Pity… The fake brunette continued to stare at the sky, at the moment trying to derive a heart out of a cumulus that vaguely resembled manslaughter. Hmn… Well if the chainsaw could be taken for a—Ah! Damn! The sun!

A hand went up to shield brown eyes from the blinding light that had decided to conveniently come out of hiding for the time being. Perfect. Kael made a very audible, and childish sounding whine but it’s not like he could curse at Mr. Golden Sun up there. After all, Mr. Sun-Sun was the boy’s buddy. Alone he had inspired the most sickeningly optimistic tunes that had in turn inspired Kael: I’m Gonna Soak Up Sun, Tomorrow, You are my Sunshine, etc. Funny that they’re all kind of girly, eh? Might explain a lot…

Anyway – the Cigarrette grinned weakly at his bright pal in the sky [however betraying his pal might be at the moment] and rolled over to his side so that he was now staring down along the slope of the roof he had been lying comfortably upon. Well… Not that comfortably… It was a roof after all, and Judas had just been balancing on the only part he might not roll off of – where the two slopes met. Needless to say, where the two slopes met was not very comfy at all. But the fool had seemed to make the best of it. However, lying on your side on the point where the two slopes met evidently hurt much worse than when one was on their back – the teenager heaved himself into a sitting position. This action was preceded by a large stretch and a loud yawn as his eyes scanned the empty ground below. Devoid of people and – Hold the phone.

Blink.

Pause.

Questioning stare.

There was somebody down there. Why was it that Kael never seemed to notice these things? That they were constantly overlooked?

Well, the optimist hadn’t expected company to say the least, but he did welcome it with an overly friendly demeanor. His usual, genuine grin returned to his usual, feminine-looking features that he was teased about so very often. He waved his hands about wildly in the air as if that would actually get the stranger’s attention. Fortunately the fool caught the fact that this method was futile… After a while, and cupped his hands to his mouth so he could make better use of them.

“Heeeeee-eeeeeey!” He called, or rather sing-songed cheerfully. Then he waved happily at the blonde below him, on the ground.

And to think, some people might try and defend Kael’s intelligence… Or sanity for that matter.

[Darky]

[OOC: it is shiny XD]

Granted... Cyril had never been known for his skills out there. He had no courage when it came to hurting others- physically anyway- and he was equally useless with his weapons. Though yes, he carried weapons with him. Mostly as a deterrent to others, along with the markings he had.

Of course, anyone back in the Wharf knew Grey had no bite to back up his bark, so to speak.

Well. Crap.

It seemed he was not as discreet as he assumed.

From this angle he wasn't sure who it was who was up there, other than the fact he knew it was most certainly not a Wharf Rat. No Wharf inhabitant had that cheerful tone of voice when greeting. Grey would remember. Grey would had heard it echo down the tunnels before.

Surely.

One hand moved to the hilt of the knife attached to his pants and then he lifted one hand to cover the sun.

"Um. Hi... up there."

Now here came the question of whether to run off or stay. He strained to catch a glimpse of the markings that would reveal the tribe of the fake brunette.

[Judas]

There was this little rule that Antoine use to preach often to those who ever once encountered, or may encounter Kael. It was a very well known rule among all the optimist’s friends, family, acquaintances, and even some people that Judas didn’t know, it would seem. In fact, Kael had found that quite a few people in his high school seemed to be well versed in this rule and obediently followed this protocol. Quire a few people more than there should be. Not that it would be all that surprising to find out that Antoine and Bella had worked together to spread the idea around the entire school population or anything like that, but it was a little… Weird. Everybody knew it. Most people followed it. It was a smart move; a clever, life-saving rule that Kael never even knew existed until Sara had pointed it out to him, and Jubee confirmed it when he had asked [not that the rule fazed him any. In fact, he was delighted that anybody made a rule about him. It was ‘flattering’ and ‘reeee-aaaally, reeeee-aaaaally nice’ he had said.] And said rule was – simply put:

If Kael Iscariot says hi to you, you do not say hi back. Reply at your own risk.

Even if somebody didn’t reply, Kael’s demeanor wouldn’t be changed in the least bit. He’d be just as happy – just as chipper. He’d get up and proceed to talk their ear off and such, just as he always did. After all, in order to find out about the rule in the first place Kael needed it pointed out to him. He didn’t noticed it in the least bit… Just went on smiling. However, if anybody ever said hi back, or any sort of reply… Well…

Lets just say that evidently this stranger had never gotten wind of the sacred rule that had quietly been passed around Kael’s high school.

Kael beamed.

Unfortunately enough, there was a distinct elevation difference between the blonde and the fake brunette at the moment. Otherwise the fool would all but tackle his new buddy to the ground in a ‘squeeze-the-air-out-of-your-lungs’ tight hug. But being that the teenager was on a roof and that the other boy was below him – Judas refrained from doing that. Instead he brightened up considerably more – which was a great accomplishment since he was just about bursting with cheer before. Now Mr. Golden Sun and the Cigarette were completely in tune with one another. The fool was grinning ear-to-ear as he stood to walk to the edge of the roof that was closest to the stranger, careful not to slip as he went down the slope. At the edge, he kneeled down, grinning cheerfully.

It was only then that he noticed the markings on the blonde’s face. The Hangman blinked awkwardly.

“Oh… You’re a Wharfie.” He pointed out.

As if it was really that simple of a subject.

[Darky]

This boy was happy. In fact he was so happy that he made Grey feel inadequately unfriendly and depressed. Neither of which the blond had ever considered to be. He was friendly and cheerful. However! Compared to this stranger, it looked as Grey was severely depressed.

Dear lord.

Was it possible for someone this cheerful to be inside of New Pork?

Yes, apparently it was. Wow, one learned something new every day. His hand still lingered over the hilt of the blade because despite everything, Cyril was not sure. Maybe someone else was hiding behind or-

-but it all seemed quite except for the beaming brunette. So, the hunter supposed that was all... good then. Mostly.

"Well... yes." He was a Wharf Rat. "Um..." He caught himself before he asked if that was a problem. Of course it would be. How big of a problem depended on which tribe this teen came from.

"And you..." squint "You're a Cigarette." Joy if all joys. Granted of all the tribes he could have run into... a Cigarette was the best prospect by far. Well. Mostly.

[Judas]

Maybe if Kael had come to New Pork with the intention to stay… Then maybe… Just maybe… He would’ve enjoyed fighting. He would’ve been thrilled by the prospect of it, and love nothing better than to watch two guys duke it out or to be in the sprawl himself. However, the case remained that Kael really had no intention of staying in the ruined city to begin with. He did not enjoy fighting. He was not thrilled by it in the least bit. And he loved nothing more than to find pretty and cute figures in the clouds or indulge in love and friendship and hearts and rainbows and all that jazz, etc. etc. Really, the teen’s plan for New Pork had originally been along the lines of: pop in, say hi, get Sara, say bye, get himself and Sara out. When Sara was nowhere to be found though, he stayed a little longer than he had first intended, and eventually… Well… It’s still not quite clear when Kael’s objectives had changed, but apparently they had. The fool didn’t think about it much anymore. We won’t go into that though, we’re straying too off topic as it is – Kael had no intention of staying. He had no intention of having to fight people. Kael didn’t like fighting people in the least bit and more importantly he would really rather not.

The kid loved people, why would he want to hurt them?

The only times the optimist would really engage in combat was under very specific circumstances. Either the opponent would attack him first and Kael would choose to play defense [an unlikely case now because the Wharfie was on the ground and Kael was on the roof and well… Judas imagined that would be a little difficult.] Or if a fellow Cigarette that Kael was with attacked first – then maybe he would help his tribesman. [Kael really didn’t often travel alone, you know. He usually was accompanied by at least one other angsty, brooding, anti-social Cigarette. However, his buddies back at Castle Smoke hadn’t seemed too thrilled with the idea of trying to derived cute little creatures and things out of clouds. So he was alone today – lucky for the blonde rat.]

However, these facts brought about a small dilemma. The Wharfie would probably not attack first. Kael was alone – therefore his comrades would certainly not attack. The Hangman wasn’t fond of combat – he was really all for peace and love.

Hmn… What to do… What to do…

After apparently coming to a decision, the fake brunette turned his attention back down to the stranger and gave him a friendly, reassuring grin after adjusting his glasses. He surveyed the area again, double-checking to see if anyone else was there before carefully drawing a blade and tossing it aside.

He gave a goofy wink. “I won’t tell if you don’t!” He chirped cheerfully.

A thumbs up.

A grin.

A wink.

The perfect ingredients for a loon goof.

[Darky]

Was this guy for real? Grey doubted for a moment everything- including his sanity. Maybe he had stepped into some sort of alternate dimension in which everything had gone... no, wait that was too far fetched. Still, Grey looked in disbelief as the blade was placed a far distance from its owner.

...This boy was insane.

However, the rat picked out the knife from its place and put it on the ground as well, giving it a little kick to push it away. Of course, he still had another blade hidden in his person -he was not a rat for nothing- but if it came down to fighting Cyril was set to lose either way.

...So, that was that. Especially if the Cigarette had backing of some sort. So really, Grey reasoned that blade or not he was screwed if the brunette decided to take action against him. Although hopefully his being up there wouldn't allow him quick enough action to get Grey killed today.

Great.

So.

"Alright I won't tell. Since you won't." If we both live long enough.

But nothing felt wrong about this and maybe that was why Cyril felt a little more suspicious than usual. However if it meant he'd live another day, he could adjust to this new strange dimension he had stepped into now.

By definition he should either introduce himself or take his leave. Grey choose the less polite one, "Well, then. I should be going-" he gestured nervously behind him and taking a small step back, eyes on Kael.

Leave quickly.

[Judas]

You remember those stories that everyone knows but are never actually told…? The ones where there is the devil in disguise as a mortal man, and an actual mortal man or woman that the devil tricks into signing a contract… Or signing off their soul… Or something of the sorts? And then when the man or woman finds out about the true nature of the deal and they try to get away they can’t because of the contract… thing? Well… That’s sort of what this situation was like. Except Kael was really the farthest thing from the devil [next to maybe God], and he wasn’t in disguise or trying to trick anybody. Also, nobody was signing away their souls, or signing contracts for that matter. In fact the only attributes of those stories that even vaguely resembled this predicament was the fact that the blonde Wharfie did something that involved Kael Iscariot in some way and now there was absolutely no chance that the Wharfie was going to be escaping that easily.

Again, we go back to the ‘don’t say hi back to Kael rule’ that Antoine had so cleverly enforced in the past.

Unfortunately, Antoine was not here. The other blonde had not known that protocol, therefore did not follow it and ergo would soon find himself in the snuggly, blissful, optimistic, and suffocating-ly happy grasp of Kael Elijah Iscariot.

Needless to say, Cyril’s announcement of departure took the optimist by surprise and it would be a great discouragement to the teenager if he understood what exactly was going on. To clarify, the fool was so filled with cheer and confidence a moment ago that his nature simply would not let him accept Grey’s farewell… Or at least not quite grasp it right away. Thus, rather than the Wharfie’s declaration being entirely processed as it rightfully should have been, it was rendered one of those comments that would earn a reply similar to: ‘Oh… Come again…? I don’t think I heard you quite right…’ Then it would probably be accompanied with a smile in this case.

However, the other boy took a step back, which served as confusion to the Hangman. He blinked curiously and quirked an eyebrow, trying to figure all this out in about… Roughly… Two seconds… Now if you’ve ever tried to figure something out in two seconds you might realize that sometimes your conclusion isn’t always all the way thought out. Now, if you’re Kael and you try to figure something out in two seconds then usually your conclusion isn’t all the way thought out.

So he just followed instinct. Which was to stop the Wharfie and ask him what was going on… For by now he had a vague, half-thought-out idea.

“Wait… What…?” He inquired, blinking oddly at the boy below. There was a hint of a 'whining-Kael-tone' in his voice that most Cigarettes would recognize. “Where are you going?” He continued. "Mr. Wharfie?"

Now everything would’ve gone just fine had the fake brunette not decided to stand up at that point. Cyril would’ve probably told him he was leaving, Kael would’ve probably sulked, then Cyril would’ve probably left, then Kael would’ve probably left and that would’ve been the end of it… However, as the optimist rose he did it rather quickly, and when he was finally standing on the edge of the roof he found that his balance was not at his best. Now had he any manner of luck he would’ve fallen backwards but the Iscariot teen was known to have unnaturally bad luck, and he fell forward… Towards the ground and everything else on it some feet below.

Fate really did hate him. All the same, he probably loved it back.