| An Unexpected Conversation. | ||
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| Summary: As the Cerberus pup continues to fail at magic, they meet an unexpected companion.    |
With a crackle of lightning off to the side it balls up and flashes showing the three brothers. Obviously Jackson has been messing around with his magic again. Buster looks at Jackson unimpressed. "Nope. Still don't got it hunh..." he says knowing the answer. "I will get it right eventually..." he balks as the start to walk out the room before stopping near Jaune and looking at him, "Hey, I don't remember him." Rex mentions tilting his head to the left. "I don't either." Jackson replies as he speaks up for the group. "Excuse me, sir, who are you?" he asks Jaune curiously. Jaune blinks and looks down at the voices, expecting to see three children. "Hm? I'm Jaune AaaaAAAAAAAA!" Those are not three children. In fact, Jaune is soon more at their head height as he falls off the bar stool from attempting to scoot away from the three brothers reflexively. His sandwich soars through the air, falling apart as it reaches the apogee of the arc of its flight. As it descends, the contents scatter themselves, mostly on Jaune's head. "....I'm Jaune Arc," he says a bit more calmly and a lot more glumly, now on the floor. It's not that he's actually has real problems with the strange creatures one may find across Twisted, it's more that when he's not expecting one, it tends to catch him off guard. Head height? They are looking down on him as Jaune lands on the floor. All three with a wince as it happens. Buster though snaps out of it quickly as there is a small snicker from him when the sandwich lands. Putting their front paws on the counter, and subsequently the napkin dispenser. Jackson pulls a few with his teeth and comes down to 'hand' them to Jaune. "Goof da meef you." He says with his mouth full. Rex, head down slightly softly apologizes "Sorry for scarring you." "Eheheh... It's okay," Jaune says. He still looks a little wary... We are talking a large, three headed dog here, after all. He's reacting more the way a civilian would react rather than a warrior as his sword and armor would suggest he is. "Thanks..." He cautiously takes the napkins to wipe down his face. There's still that piece of lettuce in his hair that he hasn't noticed, though. "So, uh, what is- are? -your name. s." He blinks a few times at the sight before him. "Your welcome" Jackson replies as he lets go of the napkins. " umm you missed something... umm" looking up at the lettuce but not wanting to officially call it. Whether or not it is found or not he continues. "My name is Jackson, to my left is Buster," Buster takes the time to nod and respond "Hey there." Jackson picks back up "and to my right is Rex." There is a slightly timid nod from Rex as Jaune does not seem to be fully on board yet with their existence. Jaune glances upward and ruffles his hair to get rid of the lettuce... somehow completely missing it. "Well, uh, it's nice to meet you... guys..." He pulls himself back upright again. "So uh... what.. what exactly are you, if you don't mind me asking?" He seems to be settling down fairly quickly, at least, even if he's trying to figure out how to address them, still. The three of them decide to not tell him about the lettuce anymore. He will find it eventually. As Jaune asks his question the three of them look at each other confused as how he cannot figure it out. "Take a wild guess." Buster attempts to see how smart this new person is. Jackson however takes the game and judgement out of it. "Ever heard of a Cerberus? Well. That's what we are." Jackson then wonders. "Are you human like you look or...? I ask this because of the world we share at this point." Jaune says, "Uhhhhh," at first, then shakes his head at the question of hearing of Cerberuses before. He then points a thumb at his own chest. "I am fairly confident in saying that I am, indeed human. A prime example of the human male!" Well, he can keep deluding himself, right? "Buuut, I get why you'd ask the question. You really never know what you're going to get in this place. What's normal to one person is freaky and weird to another, right?" "well apparently we are part of the mythology of certain cultures... not sure how that happened but... there we go." Jackson concludes on the Cerberus idea. Buster again smiles and shakes his head when Jaune deludes himself. "Exactly" Jackson replies. "the cultural norms are scattered in this realm. You have to be careful or else you end up insulting someone." Rex seems to however be perking up to this guy. "So, how did you get here?" Rex, always the one to innocently ask the sometimes painful questions. Jaune says, "Well, I was runni... retre.... being hunted by an Ursa and just kinda... showed up in the park. As soon as I saw other people were in danger, though, I killed it." He kind of puffs out his chest at that... not that it's very visible with his chest plate. He deflates just as quickly, however, slumping forward ever so slightly. "But you're right... It can be a thin line between complimenting someone and insulting them here." He rubs a hand on the red mark on his cheek." As Jaune stutters with his choice of words Buster replies "Dude... just say it, you were running for your life." he says unconvinced "no need to make yourself look good around here. Everyone here is aware that there are things that are deadly and are not to be messed with." He says then a bit louder "Isn't that right?" as that happens a few TASK officers that are off duty raise their drinking glass before getting back to their meal as if they recognized his voice and listened in. Jackson looks at his brother and compliments, " A bit blunt, but a good message." When Jaune rubs his cheek Jackson can't help himself. "alright... what happened." Jaune glances over to the TASK soldiers as Buster calls out to them. Unfortunately he apparently completely misses what Jackson's actually talking about, and instead answers, "Weeeell, I ran out of the forest and saw that there were other people out there that didn't... really look like hunts- warriors." He realized just a slight too late that he was using a term that was more or less limited to his world. "So I stopped and stood my ground, and fought off the ursa and killed it." He changes his stance slightly, assuming a bit of swagger. "I mean, it's no big deal, it's the third one I've killed." "Ur-SA" Jackson says emphasizing the end of it. "Ok, well that was almost confusing. Thought you almost said something else." He thinks aloud, making sure he heard that correctly. They all nod and listen to Jaune's story. They sit near him their head still coming up to Jaune's waist when he sits on the stool. Jackson at the end of it tries to use more specifics to what he was talking about. "The mark, on your cheek, what's the story with that?" Rex however continues his train of thought as well. "How long have you been here? We have not seen you around." Jaune says, "The mark on my..." He reaches up a hand to his cheek, then sighs and deflates. "Let's... not talk about that... It's really not important." His hand moves from his cheek to in front of his mouth as he clears his throat. "I've been here a few months, but I've been going to school at the Academy, so I've been busy there." Buster eggs him on "Come on, you can tell us." Jackson decides though to allow a dropped subject to stay that way. "Ah the school, hope security there has not been too tight around there. I know that master has been a little tighter there since the Halloween incident." Rex is happy to hear that it has only been a few months however, "So have we. About... five months? Do I have that right?" Buster nods his head in agreement. "yeah 5 months." Jaune sighs and manages to slump even further. "My, uh, attention wasn't wanted by a girl I was interested in. Let's... just leave it at that." With another sigh, he partially straightens back up again. "Security? I dunno. I mean, I've only been her about half the time you... guys have, I think. I've not noticed a change in that, though there was that one time one of the students drove a car onto the track field... That was... a bit psychotic." "I hear ya man, I really do." Buster says in a half hearted attempt to make Jaune feel better about the girl. Jackson takes note of what Jaune says about the security almost seeming to make mental notes for later. "mhmm. Track? A car... really?" Jackson looks to the others inquisitively, "do we have that in records?" he whispers. The other two give him the wide eyed 'we have no clue' sort of look. "Well I am glad it does not seem to be smothering the students. You have a plan on what you are doing after you get out? you look almost old enough." Jackson asks. Jaune sighs again and leans back against the bar. "I don't know anymore. Before I came here, I had my own team, we were going to be huntsman and huntresses... but now... Now I don't really have a goal anymore. Maybe join those TASK guys?" He shrugs. "They seem a bit too... military, though. It's... not really my style. I want to be a hero, not a soldier." "TASK is a great organization, we are part of it. There are some good benefits." Jackson says. Buster though hears what Jaune is saying about being a hero. "boss is not going to appreciate this..." Rex is the only one who does not seem concerned in the slightest. "Well it seems you have an idea. There are plenty of fighters that do not belong to TASK." Buster attempts to persuade Jaune. Yes, it is a bit more military than most police forces but you work with a god on a daily basis!" Jackson plays middle line. "either line is open, it is your choice when it comes down to it. If you get to TASK, tell them we recommended you. If you want to go the other route and try to be a hero, well there is a guy that our girl trusts that does that too." Jaune tilts his head. "Fighters that don't belong to TASK?" He seems to consider this. "Well... it's hard to... make a living at that, without a base, well, organization to be working for, isn't it? That where I'm a little... aimless right now. I mean... if I'm rescuing people and then asking to be paid... that's really not the same thing anymore, you know?" He then shakes his head again. "Oh, it's not something I really have to worry about right now, I've got plenty of time to figure it out, right?" The three of them nod their head in unison as Rex reassures. "Yeah, you have plenty of time. Don't worry too hard." Jackson absolutely agrees with Jaune's assessment. "It can be, but the organization is essentially a second hand version of what you said was not the same. Rescuing and asking to be paid?" he brings up. "It works for some people, for others not so much. One guy works as a body guard and gets paid well, but we have seen him many times do things out of his own volition. Another guy was sent undercover in... well we can't say that. for others it's a pastime. They work like normal people until there is something to kill, and then they kill it." Apparently it has not taken Jackson long to get the hang of the denizens of twisted, having access to records and having gone on several patrols helps too. Buster nods, "there is time and I would make sure things are right. you get a second chance to live out here and a way to do what you have really wanted. I think, if I am not wrong that despite each of us.." he says looking to his brothers. "having different goals, we all have accomplished them. Being what we wanted to. If you want to be a hero. All you have to do is try." Jackson looks to Buster with a raised eyebrow and a quizzical look. "well, someone has been hitting hard with the emotional speeches today..." Buster growls, "anything wrong with that?" Jackson looks away. "Nope nothing wrong...." Jaune ponders all that Jackson and Buster say. "Huh... a side gig, eh? That... could work." He looks up into the rafters as he ponders it a bit more, and frowns. "Of course I'd have to get another job, then. It's not something I've been particularly studying for, though, so I have /no/ idea what I'd do. But it's certainly something to think about." He then finally looks back down to the trio with a smile. "Thanks, guys. Good... boys?" He blinks, unsure of himself. "Just how doglike are you guys, anyway? Or is it just appearance?" Buster compliments "This guy has never heard of our kind but knows how to politely address us... would you look at that!" then the tone turns to that of annoyance "You would not guess how many people treat us like a singular entity. Yes we share a body.... THAT'S IT!" sounding as if he had been holding on to that remark for a while. Jackson smiles as Jaune finds a path in the conversation. " Don't worry. You will get it. You're a smart person. I can tell." He winks. "how doglike? Well, to be honest there is not much that separates us and your average dog... well other than being smarter than most, being able to talk and well, you can see the rest. It's about the same. Rex over here," Jackson nods to the right," Is a glutton for attention. He would let you pet him all day if you wanted. Besides that we are pretty normal I would say... well as normal as possible. We have owners, we get fed, we walk ourselves which is apparently a bonus..." Jaune says a bit dryly, "Well, you did introduce yourselves with different names, so, it kinda was obvious at that point." He nods and smiles as Jackson explains how much they really are just like normal dogs... only intelligent, able to talk, and sharing a body. With that knowledge, he feels confident that he won't be insulting them by patting Rex on the head, and indeed does so! "You guys have owners? Huh... that seems... odd when you're just as intelligent as humans. Wait, owners as in plural? You each have a different owner? That sounds... difficult." Buster adds as Jaune makes the fact as clear as day. "Which is why it's even more infuriating when they do it... obvious or not." Rex allows Jaune to pat him on the head, even looking like he is enjoying it. Jackson is more than willing however to cover any confusion that sprung up. "Yeah, owners, well it's a combination of nature and nurture on that one. Remember how I said we are still dogs... yeah that sometimes even goes to thoughts as well and it feels natural, especially when they are good people. Yeah, multiple owners. You don't think that people in twisted can't settle down and get a life? It's like a small family. Sure is it unorthodox yes. Is it possible anywhere but here, no. Twisted... what are you going to do?" Jaune says, "Oh, oh, so you meant that multiple people own all three of you, I thought that... nevermind." He laughs a bit at his own misunderstanding. "And really, unorthodox sounds like it fits in with this city just fine, if you ask me!" He looks up and nods his thanks to Steve as the bartender arrives with a new sandwich for him, unasked. "Thanks, man. Really appreciate it," he says before he grabs his new sandwich to put /in/ his face rather than /on/ it." Jackson agrees "Unorthodox and this city are twins, you could easily mistake one for the other..." they are having a great time getting out and meeting new people, which, sure happens every day. But not every day without supervision. "yeah Steve is a good guy, there used to have another person behind the bar, but that's old news. " the Usual has been the stage for many a conversation, and today has been no different. Rex continues "I get it," he notes figuring out Jaune's faux pas. "no, although we are different we sort of come as a package." Jaune laughs and nods. "Like I said, it'd be a bit difficult!" He glances over to Steve and then looks back to the boys with a shrug. "Someone else? Well, I've seen a couple of different people at the bar when I've been here... Was there a particular bartender you liked that stopped working here?" He glances around the place, then returns to his sandwich with a shrug. Jackson continues "not that we particularly liked but we knew of them and one day something happened and we never saw them again." there is a tone like he has a clue what might have happened but is not sure or willing to talk about it. "But anyway, yeah." He pauses for a few seconds lingering on the thought before changing the subject. "So you said that in your world you were going to be a... huntsman was it? I have a feeling it does not have the same connotations than it does in mine. So what does that exactly entail?" Jaune takes a bite of his sandwich and nods enthusiastically as he chews and swallows. "A Huntsman is like... a protector of society... specifically from the monsters of Grimm, but occasionally from other threats as well. They usually work in teams, but other than that are pretty independent. There's no... military structure, only Atlas really has that. But Huntsmen and Huntresses go out there to protect the people, to be heroes... It's what I'd always wanted to do with my life." The gigantic dog lays down beside Jaune and Buster and Rex put their heads down to rest as if they did something really energy intensive, which they haven't leaving Jackson to chat. "hmm yeah now I can definitely see your aversion to joining TASK. Definitely sounds like a good life to be had. There are some grim looking monsters out there but probably nothing you have ever dealt with. Quite a few people know about all the monsters that live out there." He pauses before giving a loud whisper to the next part. "To which a majority of TASK does not have first-hand experience." And then clears his throat before continuing in a normal tone. "I would seek out some of those people first before hitting the battlefield. I know that learning on the job is important, but probably like your "Monsters of Grimm" these things are playing for keeps and the bet is both your lives. No reason not to get advice from those who have already taken the pains to learn, am I right?" Jaune nods, perhaps a bit absent mindedly. "I guess so. So you think I should talk to those people not involved with TASK? Do you know where I can run into them? I'm going to hope you're not talking about the Anarchy sisters... They kinda scare me, to be honest." "The who... no, I have not heard great things about them either." Jackson says "ummm," having given advice but having no one in mind. "Oh! Steve, do you have a spare paper from a few weeks ago, the one about the Xenomorph hive?" Steve gives an index finger before looking off to the side, finding said paper, and placing it on the table beside the plate Jaune is using for the sandwich. The title bold and black reading 'XENOMORPHS VANQUISHED'. Again in a hushed whisper, he says "TASK may not have people who fight well, in fact quite a few are simply paper pushers. But they have files on all four of the people mentioned here and they have had run-ins with just about every creature that has come in since their arrival. I am not sure about the other three but you see that hyena looking guy? Yeah My girl seems to trust him but I am not sure about what a good role model he makes so, be careful." Jaune nods slightly as he looks it over. "They certainly look to be a, uh, rough looking group..." He looks up to Steve. "Do you mind if I have this?" he asks, which elicits a shrug from the bartender. Jaune then looks it over, frowning slightly as he reads over what is said over it. "Huh. So there's definitely a lot of trouble that was going on back then. And these guys took care of it instead of TASK? Maybe this is a better way to go..." His eyes glance over the part about Urus. "He... does look to be a bit... rough." "Yeah, which surprised just about everyone, someone did the fighting and it wasn't TASK." Surprised word hadn't got to you, you should have been here for that If you have been around for as long as you've said." At this point Buster and Rex are visibly sleeping at this point, Buster drooling on the floor and the left paw as he does so. Jackson carries on. "Absolute brute of a man mannerisms wise. But he is just like you and me, mortal. Apparently he got torn up pretty bad after that fight though. But if its information about the creatures out here, it's one of those four you should talk to. Don't want to add to the cemetery if you catch my drift. " Jaune continues looking at the article. "Well, I heard /about/ it, that some people not in TASK took care of it, but I didn't know the details." Pondering as he reads over it, he says, "Well, looks like they all are around the beach a lot, so I'll have to check that out..." He then looks up. "Thanks for the info, and the warning about the hyena guy. I'd better get going, though, unless I want to get locked out again." "oh yeah, curfew and such, forgot about that, well we should get going too, this place was not our intended target to teleport to, but I am still glad I met you..." he says standing them up Rex comes to almost immediately, "I'm good... I'm up." Buster however still sleeping like a log, gets a wet tongue to the ear. "GAH!... I hate it when you do that." he snaps. Jackson then retorts "would you like us to go when you're snoozing?" Buster then hangs his head in shame "no." Jackson takes the time to say "Thanks for the conversation; it's been a while since I have heard a new perspective on things." tail up and happy as they probably can be considering Buster just got up, leave with Jaune, at least until they get to the door. Jaune waves to the pups as they get to the door, and heads off to the north, towards the school. "See you guys later, then! It was a good conversation!" He somewhat cheerfully makes his way back to the Academy, and around the back to the Dormitories, where he pulls on the door and - "Oh, come on!" - of course he's just a minute or two too late. | |
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