| The Brood | ||
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| Summary: Constantine takes some personal time to mope, and Liyara reveals a secret to a pony.    |
The peaceful nature of the beach is worth a moment's reflection. The water is perfectly clear, and it falls on the pure white grains of sand in a soft whisper rather than the dull roar one might expect. The ebb and flow of the crystalline waters is calm and predictable, in a way that's almost too perfect. We can't have that. A tree, yes a tree, bursts out of the sands of the beach, growing from sprout to ancient in less time than it takes most people to tie their shoes. Have you ever heard of a tree in a hurry? You have now. And what a tree it is, winding and curling upwards into the air, with many branches that hold aloft lush greenery and knots of aged wood that can't possibly be older than six seconds, but looks older than the beach. Out of an egregiously large knothole in the center of the tree, a horned head of red hair peeks out and looks around. When brilliant viridian eyes settle on Constantine, ruby lips quirk into a smug smile. "Well hello there. Is this a private brooding session, or did you want company?"
SilverSight has very very rarely been on a beach. There wasn't one anywhere remotely around near his travels at his homeworld, and he didn't go to one much in Neo Tokyo. This is a new one however, and he must expl... that's a tree that wasn't there six seconds ago. He can even see the sand still falling from the leaves. What the hay?
John Constantine arches an eyebrow as the Tree-dis appears. "Hello, love," he says to Liyara. "And it depends on what you are brooding about."
As Liyara steps out of the tree, she dusts herself off before striding confidently down its sloped trunk onto the sands below. Her wings flutter, shaking off golden dust that falls to the sand below before evaporating on contact. "I can be convinced to brood about almost anything, John... May I call you John?" The redhead slows to a stop as she notices another of those talking ponies. At least, she assumes it's a talking pony, since she hasn't exactly run into a lot of free-roaming non-sentient ponies around here. Also it has spectacles! Well, that's fine. Liyara may not know the pony, but she's seen no evidence they're malicious; she waves the spectacled creature over. "Though I confess my heart wouldn't be in it." The dragoness turns to her involuntary companion and places a hand on her hip, looking pleased with herself. "I've finished." She gestures at the tree she just walked out of, clearly pleased with it. All that's missing is a 'Ta-da'...
SilverSight also wears what's very obviously a labcoat and saddlebags. He approaches the pair, though seems to be mostly focused on the tree, even reaching a hoof out to taptaptap at it, "It's quite impressive."
John Constantine snorts. "You can if you want to." Almost nobody does. NOt even his friends. It's almost like he doesn't really care about the name. He also waves to SilverSight, having seen the pony around before.
Amusingly, Liyara has never really seen a labcoat before. However, she's gotten the distinct impression that white apparel is medical in nature from her searches on the internet. So... half credit, there. "Why thank you. It took me a long time to get right." The dragon-lady is, of course, talking about the spell that created the tree rather than the tree itself. But Silver Sight isn't wrong, the tree is large, appeared quickly, and seems to be holding steady to his touch, as if it had always been there. Well. It's definitely there now, regardless. "...And I believe I do." Liyara moves next to Constantine, glancing at the sand below her for a few moments like she's trying to decide the most dignified way to sit on the beach in a high-slit skirt. Well, how often can that come up? She sighs after a moment and makes a small gesture, causing her ensemble to seal up along the side slits, transforming from something with free range of motion to something longer and less likely to get sand everywhere. Though the end result is she looks even LESS like she belongs on a beach now. "What're you contemplating, John?" How often does she actually ask how he's doing? ... How often does anyone?
SilverSight comes to the conclusion that the tree totally exists and is there now. He'll happily move to sit in the shade of the tree and watch the other two chatter, though something about the female who made the tree seems familiar somehow.
Rarely. He's already got a reputation; he's tough and cynical but also, yes, there's that vague sense of fragility under it all. He looks back out at the ocean. "Life. The past. Loves." Plural. Yeah, he's morose.
"Aha." Liyara's lips form a knowing smile at that, and she lets her eyes lid for a moment, deciding to tease the wizard a bit. "A lot of redheads in your past, John? Or am I off-brand for your trip down memory lane?" The dragonborn flicker-glances over towards Silver Sight briefly, noting the pony taking comfort in the shade of her Solace Bole. Her tail flicks to one side, disturbing some sand behind her, and in a completely unrelated happenstance the tree spontaneously starts growing daffodil flowers the color of Silver's tail all around him.
SilverSight looks at the flowers growing! He proceeds to pick several of them with his magic. A few test sniffs.. and he nomphs them down quite happily, "Oh, is that all? I've done some brooding like that before. Eventually decided that it sucked and went on with life."
John Constantine laughs a bit. "He wasn't a redhead, no," John says. The laugh is a bit harsh. He stubs out the end of his cigarette in the sand.
"Oh..." Liyara gives a sound of understanding at that, and works her jaw a little. Well, she tried, but some people are a little harder to rile up than others. Plus, it sounds like a bit of a raw memory. She lets herself be distracted from her failure, giving a little laugh at Silver Sight's comment, and it's one of those musical perfect laughs that sounds entirely too warm and perfect. Which it is - a hundred years' practice makes almost anything flawless. "Well, I've personally taken a few moments to contemplate the more depressing bits of life more than once. It can be cathartic, in its own way." The dragoness takes a seat next to Constantine, but facing towards Silver Sight. Proximity to one and attentiveness to the other. Basic stuff.
SilverSight continues to happily eat flowers while he chatters, "I find it easier and often more productive to distract myself with something more enjoyable. Reading a good book, for example."
John Constantine ahs. "Good books *are* handy for a distraction. It doesn't always work, though." Sometimes you just have to brood. Or maybe mope is honestly the better word.
"Why not both?" Liyara asks, and from her tiny bag somehow produces a full length copy of 'An Introduction to TCP/IP', one of the human technology books she's checked out from the library in an effort to better understand the fundamentals of how people cope with not having magic. The internet appears to be a pretty big part of it, and is one of the few elements she actually finds impressive. She tosses the book towards SilverSight, letting it land on a nearby branch of the tree which seems to cushion the landing so the book doesn't bounce off. "A good brood can simmer and outlast your distraction." Her tail flicks again, and she looks back to John with something approaching sympathy. "My heart's been cauterized one too many times to feel much anymore, but I'd like to think I get it." She lays slowly back on the beach, grains of sand shifting to either side of her as her wings come to rest on the ground. She looks up at the simulated sky with a wry smile. This is what cooperative brooding looks like, right? ... Is it cooperative or competitive?
John Constantine shakes his head a little at Liyara. "I don't know that that's true. A lot of us think we can't feel much any more, but..."
SilverSight acquires the book and takes a note that it's been taken from the library he lives in and is in the process of cleaning up. He doesn't recall checking it out to her though.. But he opens it up and starts reading, "I know I can feel. I just typically choose not to should the time come."
"Well." A smaller smile crosses Liyara's face. "...There may be a grain or two of feeling left in there, but it's not polite to call a lady a liar." She stretches her arms out above and behind her, which should cause her top to reveal the waistband of her skirt, but does not. The ensemble stays together, even stretches with her, keeping exactly the same amount of skin showing regardless of her movement. Someone really has that thing enchanted up. "...And I don't think John here is a stranger to pushing emotions aside." No, he seems like the type to feel awful later, and be pragmatic in the present. Yes, this is what Liyara has decided about him. The book, for what it's worth, was checked out almost six months ago. It's most definitely late.
John Constantine shakes his head a little bit. "I'm a diabolist, what do you think?" he inquires of Liyara. Emotional control, important when dealing with demons.
SilverSight seems to be done eating at least and is happy reading the book. Learning is always a good thing too.
"I think the temperature is crisp, the waves are quiet, the company is pleasant, and those that consort with demons have a lifetime of suffering and pain to draw on." Liyara calmly recites, making a sand angel with her arms before she finishes stretching and sets her hands on her stomach. "Which is good. Makes the magic stronger. Just costs the practitioner more than it's worth. By my estimation, anyway." The woman holds a hand up and creates a tiny bead of fire above her, which slowly lifts off high into the air. "...Easy to say for someone who has other options, no?" Well, at least she's self aware.
When it becomes clear that Silver Sight is done eating, the flowers begin to finish their life cycle, letting the petals drift off in the wind. It's quite pretty, and also a little bit overdramatic. The thing is, Liyara definitely can't see from where she is that Silver was finished. So that's a thing that happened.
"All of that is true, love. But some of us were meant to consort with demons." Is that a little sad? Perhaps. "The magic is...what it is."
"Indeed, some of us were." Liyara's tail flicks along the sand, and she furrows her brows for a moment. This is not the time to let that particular bit of her past slip free. A shame to be sure - the wizard seems like he could use some help - but he'll have to fend for himself. It seems like he's grown accustomed to it, anyway. This is how she rationalizes it. She looks over to him with an arched eyebrow. "...But that's something I've come to talk to you about, in a way." Good transition!
SilverSight scratches up at his ear with a hindleg. Itchy. He looks up from his book to examine the waves of the water. And the expanse of water in general really. He's still not used to such.
John Constantine ahs. "What ya need? An exorcism? For me to hit the books?" He twists to look at the dragon woman, not getting up.
"Rather the opposite." Liyara slips into a grin. "...I need you to do magic that doesn't cost you anything." John's experience probably allows for no such thing. Still, the woman reaches into her bag, pulling out a scroll that is just slightly longer than the bag it was contained in. It's made of vellum parchment, and cinched in the center by a ring roughly large enough for a human finger. Both are giving off a fair amount of magic for those attuned to such things. "I'm sure you'll figure it out." She slides the scroll along the sand towards Constantine, and the grains of sand properly move out of the way as if it were a solid cylinder. No scuffing this penmanship, apparently. If Constantine can tell such things (or if he picks it up), he'll note that the scroll is a spell-completion item; all the work is done except the actual magic spark. Normally, someone who doesn't know a spell can't complete that final spark from such a scroll unless they're VERY clever... like John! But in this case, there's a ring, too. And it should help. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you to spend entirely too much time checking for curses and hexes and the like. But I'd also be a poor friend if I didn't remind you." Is that what she is? A friend? The waters of the beach continue their ceaseless lapping, and the simulated sun is just starting to set, causing brilliant hues of honey and fire to reflect and refract off the calming waves. It's rather beautiful, if you're into such things.
John Constantine nods. "Always." He takes scroll and ring, peruses them briefly, and then they vanish inside his trenechoat. Notably, he doesn't ask her what it is. Or why she doesn't do it herself...it's probably something her innate magic would mess up.
SilverSight perks up and stands up with a slight shakey to remove sand and he moves to see about curiously inspecting this magic scroll and possibly ring? But then John takes it all and hides it away. Aww. He was curious.
"Good, good." Liyara stretches her arms above her as she sits up, sand falling off her back rather than sticking to it, leaving her completely clean from the waist up. That's just unfair. There are Jedi who would kill for such a power. "It won't help with..." She gestures at all of John, as if his current mood encapsulated the whole of him. "...But it has other benefits. Consider it a free trial." Oh, now that sounds mercantilistic. Figures. If John spends some time feeling it out, he'll realize that the scroll allows for a single casting of Solace Bole, complete with free time-dilating tree! Finally, for the first time since she laid down, Liyara looks to Silver Sight. "... Hmm." Come to think of it, maybe she has seen the pony around somewhere. She searches her memory for a moment, causing her eyes to glass over, but she doesn't come back with anything once they refocus. "...I don't believe we've properly met. I'm Liyara." Nope, no explanation of the scroll or ring for the poor pony. "...I believe I detect a fellow knowledge hoarder."
SilverSight looks to Liyara and nods with a soft chuckle, "Something like that, yes. Hello. My name is Silver Sight, from the Equestrian Wastelands. Good to meet you, Liyara. You made a very nice tree."
"Why thank you. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Liyara smiles to Silver Sight, cricking her neck for a moment before glancing back to John. "Well, I think I've interrupted your brooding enough for one night. Do take care of yourself, John." She stands then, more sand falling away from her without consequence. There's not even any in her hair. How unfair. And with that, she'll walk back towards the tree. She glances to the pony for a moment. "...Hmm. Walk with me, yon quadraped?"
SilverSight nickers and gives a hoof wavie to John, "See you later. Try to not get possessed or anything by that scroll." He'll proceed to follow the Liyara curiously.
"So, you seem to be one of those magic ponies..." Liyara begins, calmly walking up the sloped trunk of her tree. "...Do you cast spells, or simply...?" She gestures at the air, pantomiming grabbing things.
SilverSight's horn glows brightly and he proceeds to pop out of existance. He re-appears up in the branches of the tree, laying out on one of the bigger ones, "Oh I have a number of useful spells at my disposal, but I can telekinetically grab and move items around too." Liyara actually blinks when Silver Sight pops out of existence, and she turns to look behind her right away, then does a quick circle before glancing up, right as he speaks again. She actually was pretty quick to spot him, considering. "...Interesting." She decides to continue up her tree, stepping towards the large, nearly five-foot wide knothole in it. "...Anything like this?" She raps on the tree once, and then... walks into the knothole. Which is wide, but the tree is not deep enough to support someone of Liyara's length. She just pulled a Scooby Doo.
SilverSight is about to see about making his way down, but then she vanishes into the tree like that! He instead reaches to pokepoke at the knothole, "Umm. nope. Nothing quite like that. Nor anything as fancy as creating the tree in the first place."
At Silver Sight's prodding, the knothole has plenty of room - more than it appears to, even. It looks like just an ordinary hole in a tree, but it seems like he could continue further if he so chose. Liyara doesn't come back out, either...
SilverSight... huh. Some sort of illusion spell perhaps? He pokes further in, then will see about climbing in as well to see what can be found in this curious tree.
And as Silver Sight steps further into the knothole, the back of the tree seems to blossom outward into a brilliant green clearing of about twenty feet circular - no beach to be seen in any direction except behind him. Liyara stands with a hand on her hip, tapping a foot and her tail impatiently, but with a small smile on her face. "Well then, I guess this is new to you." ... It's smaller on the outside.
SilverSight looks around curiously with a hmm, sniffing here and there, "I would have to say so, yes. I've gone through a portal or two, but never involving a tree."
"Well. It's only sort of a portal." Liyara confesses, pointing back the way Silver Sight came. "You can hear and see out, but noone can hear or see in. And if I don't want you in, you can't come." So... "It's more of a door. To my place." Her home is a forest clearing? Admittedly, there are trunks that look suspiciously good for sitting or sleeping on. But it's not exactly... homey.
SilverSight nodnods and finds a comfy place to sit. He's a pony, what's he need chairs for? "It's quite a nice place. Could perhaps use more furniture. Some nice bookshelves maybe."
"It's... in progress." Liyara admits, shrugging. "I only kept important things here - didn't know it would be the only piece of home I could bring with me until it was too late." So it's not her home, home. "...I'll keep the bookshelf recommendation in mind."
SilverSight nods at that, "Yeah. I've lost two homes now thanks to inter-dimensional shenanigans. First one I was happy to leave, but I was getting to like Neo Tokyo."
"Neo-Tokyo..." Liyara begins, tilting her head. "...Quite a few people from there have ended up here." She looks thoughtful for a moment, then shrugs. "...I've been meaning to head over there. Did you want to head back?" ... Wait, what?
SilverSight blinkblinks and his head goes tilt, "Head.. back? Well.. yeah! I had me a nice home there and friends. I'm sure I could eventually get all that here, but it'd be nice to make sure my house wasn't looted!" He perks up to his hoofs and noses in close, "Can you get me back there?"
With a bit of a grin, Liyara nods. "I'm pretty sure. I've never been, but I've spied on it a few times. It looks pretty empty, now. I think most of the populace got shunted elsewhere when..." She shrugs. "Whatever it was that happened, happened." She gestures to the way Silver Sight came in. "Feast your eyes." The beach ground out of the entrance seems to get higher quite quickly, until the view is just that of sand. And then the sand turns to soil, and the soil to concrete, and then the building of the Usual Restaurant comes lumbering into view as the tree re-grows elsewhere. "...I'm getting pretty good at this. After you."
SilverSight watches the entry way as it shifts and changes and he can see the Usual. Which is.. the same as it is in both locations really. He shall see about hopping out towards the building.
Upon leaving the tree, Silver Sight will find himself outside in Twisted, and Liyara will emerge behind him shortly. She'll step past him, and head on into the Usual, holding the door for him politely. "Through here." Right, he's been to the Usual before, Liyara.
SilverSight raises an eyebrow at this one and he shall move on through into the Usual like normal, "So far I'm not terribly impressed, to be honest.."
As the two head into the Usual, the tree slowly shrinks back into the ground before disappearing entirely. "Well, I should hope not." She shrugs and once they're both inside, points to a point on the wall near the bar. "See that?" What? The wall? "The door marked 'Employees Only'?" Wait... there IS a door there. How come it wasn't visible before she pointed it out? "I won't tell if you won't." What the hay, indeed.
SilverSight inspects the door for a moment and rubs under his chin. The looks up at the lizardly one, "So.. what about it then? What's that have to do with Neo Tokyo?"
"Well..." Liyara shrugs when Silver Sight doesn't take the bait, and she calmly walks over and opens the door, taking a deep breath. When no singularity rips out of nowhere and forces her to close the door for their safety, she lets that breath back out. "...This leads to the Usual in Neo Tokyo. I haven't been yet. But I've confirmed it. Would you care to join me?"
SilverSight blinkblinks at that one, "That seems.. quite unusual. I was fairly certain that the Usual itself was just.. the same everywhere. There being multiple different ones connected through a doorway seems less than correct." That being said he proceeds to walk on up towards the open door to peek though.
Walking through the door, Liyara gestures from the other side. Rather than entering an employees-only hallway or service area, there's actually a mirrored version of the restaurant on the other side of the door - only there are some slight differences. It feels... older. Less recently updated. There's a sense of something timeless about it. Oh, and there's noone else inside. It's just... the restaurant. Nothing moves inside, other than Liyara, as if abandoned, but there's no dust or any other sign of disrepair or neglect. Maybe everyone just went home for the day?
SilverSight looks around curiously with a huh, "Well then.. that's certainly not what I expected. Looks like you were right. This is definitely another Usual.. somehow." He moves over to one of the windows to look outside.
Looking outside through the windows reveals a fog that is hard to see through, but in spite of that, if the right window is chosen, there is an unmistakable towering structure in the distance. Well. There are a handful of things that can be. "It's not exactly different. It's just... older?" Liyara shrugs, not fully understanding, herself. "I don't know how these things work, I've never been to Neo Tokyo before." She heads over to the exit door, however, and opens it for Silver Sight. "...After you?"
Outside the Usual, there's no mistaking it. Neo Tokyo in all its chaotic, rather unusual glory, complete with Tokyo Tower. Except... like in the Usual, there's something off. It's not that there's no people. There are citizens milling about, doing their everyday activities. But there just seems to be less... color. Everything seems... as expected. And somehow that feels wrong.
SilverSight seems quite shocked at first to see his second home in person once again! All the familiar sights are there! Granted that it's less.. colorful.. less vibrant. He frowns a little, "What happened to this place, I wonder.."
"That's an excellent question." Liyara says, following Silver Sight out of the Usual. "...I don't really know. But I've been monitoring several dimensions, including this one. And I have to say, for a place that supposedly was so colorful, crazy, and chaotic, it's been downright uneventful. Like life is just... going through the motions." She shrugs, not sure how else to describe it. And she hasn't even been here before. For Silver it is probably much stranger. "...At any rate - hopefully your home is still your home. I don't know what housing rules are like around here." She wouldn't.
SilverSight nickers softly, "Well considering that my home was in a version of Equestria that WAS connected to this place.. I'd have to see if that portal is still open."
That draws a wince from Liyara. "I don't know if other portals are still here. I've not explored beyond..." She gestures to the area they're in now. "Well. Here." Great.
SilverSight gives a small nod, "Honestly it wouldn't surprise me. Something about this place now feels.. wrong."
With a nod of her own, Liyara frowns. "I don't know what happened before I found the place." Before Harleen revealed it to her, but same difference. "...But it probably wasn't good. I'd not stay too long, personally. I don't like how it feels." The woman glances back towards the Usual. "...I think I'll head back. But..." She pauses, looking around. "...I hope you find what you're looking for."
SilverSight turns himself around, "Hmm I think I'll go ahead and head back to the light myself. Now that I know this place is here, sort of, I can explore at my own leisure. But I'll want to prepare first.. just in case."
"That seems wise." Liyara agrees, and opens the door to the Usual for Silver Sight. "I hope we're just being paranoid." Yeah, that would be nice.
SilverSight is plenty paranoid enough as it is! | |
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