|| double-zero || action ||

[resistmyself]

[Focus.

Hal has the book in hand - has read a great deal of it, reasoned out its functions - but he's yet to make an entry of his own. No, that's making his presence known in way more public a manner than he prefers. As a vampire, he tended to avoid communities this small (unless he ran them, and that wasn't something he was interested in doing now) as it made hiding his presence a little more difficult. Everyone knew each other in a small town.

He'd found himself on the floor of the item shop when he woke up, which was fortunate since that meant he didn't have to walk through the streets topless. It also meant he came across his domino set, which was an odd thing to find among everything else but he isn't complaining. He buried it in a pile of some other junk. He'd come back for it later once he had a better idea of what was going on.

There's no sign of Alex or Tom, which is problematic - made more so with every entry in the journal he reads.

Focus.

He has to take stock of things outside the shop eventually. There has to be some other non-human entity in this place aside from himself, and if there is he needs to find any such individual as quickly as possible. He's still too volatile to be thrown into this situation with only humans to look to for help.

The sunlight doesn't bother him. That's one vampire trope his kind is lucky enough to avoid in reality. Hands in the pockets of his newly re-acquired coat, with the fingers of one latched firmly to a single piece from his domino set, Hal keeps close to the buildings as he makes a slow circle around the center of town.

This place is basically everything he doesn't want, and not losing it on this alone takes a great deal of determination.]

Comments

[charitylovehopefaith]

[Faith Long makes near-daily rounds around the village. She is coming from Celsius Tear, after her cup of tea in the shop, when she spots a man walking.

Of course, there are always people milling about, but he seems... Well. He seems to be paying very close attention and staying near the buildings themselves. So.

It's perfectly public. Completely respectable to approach him.

She approaches him, looking every bit her early eighteen-hundreds by fashion, and offers a curtsey.]

Pardon me, sir. I don't mean to disturb you. But-- are you looking for a particular shop? I might be able to be of some assistance.

[resistmyself]

[Hal freezes. He'd smelled her before she'd spoken, though he'd hoped she'd continue on her way.

He turns slowly. It's worse because she so polite, courteous, and clearly old-fashioned. He's momentarily reminded of Lady Mary, and who he'd last left her with before he'd been placed here. While not the most pleasant of thoughts, they're better than the alternative, so he focuses on them.

The vampire composes himself, forcing his eyes to stay at level with hers, rather than straying to the exposed skin of her neck.]

No. No, I'm just... wandering. Taking in the sights, as it were.

[charitylovehopefaith]

[Faith smiles a little more and nods at his words. It is that season, after all.]

Are you newly arrived here, sir? [At least he's properly dressed. So many poor souls don't seem to be allowed that before they are thrust into the full society of the village.

She wasn't, for one. And she's met a few others in her time here.]

[resistmyself]

[This should be easy. This is the sort of conversation he can deal with. If he imagines she's just as much of a ghost as Lady Mary is, ignoring the light sound of her heart beating that's now become an incessant background noise, then this entire matter may become easier to handle.

He offers her a smile.]

I am. Freshly dropped near some of my more earthly possessions, fortunately for me.

[charitylovehopefaith]

[Oblivious to the difficulties this man is facing, Faith only smiles more.]

I'm glad to hear that, sir, certainly. The Malnosso are usually not so kind.

[resistmyself]

Yes. So I've been reading.

[He lifts his own book into view briefly, letting her know that he's been doing his best to catch up with things.

There's a part of him inwardly goading him, pointing out how easy a target she would make. So simple to lead her somewhere dark where no one would notice the act.

He ignores it, swallowing once.]

I'm... looking for a couple friends of mine, but I don't think they're here. Have you found someone? Someone you know, I mean. Someone close.

[charitylovehopefaith]

A short time after I came here, my brother arrived. [She bows her head a little, in acknowledgement of the plight.] They might not have come yet, but perhaps they will later.

[resistmyself]

[His thoughts on this are, as usual, divided. On the one side there's the slightest bit of hope that his friends might still show - as selfish as it is to wish that. On the other side, his darker half is focused on the fact that all she has here is a brother to mark her absence.

If that side of him had its way, he might even be able to pull his location out of her with pretty words, gotten her to bring him to the man before making quick work of them both.

This wasn't a good situation, for such thoughts to be surfacing so easily.]

Perhaps...

[He takes a step backward without thinking about it.]

It's something to hope for, anyway.

[charitylovehopefaith]

It usually takes some time for all of the newcomers to arrive.

[A hard hope, she knows. She spent the first month she was here hoping for someone she knew. Anyone, even, from her own time, like Richard.]

If you'd like to give me their names, I can certainly keep an eye and ear out for them, sir, and direct them to you if I happen to come across them before you find them, should they come.

[touchofrogue]

[The Item Shop, you say? That particular shop is the haunting place of a certain mutant between the hours of 10-3, every day except Sunday. So she had no intention of stepping inside it for any reason. She did, however, have to make a run into town, mostly because she wanted to take a stop into the Clothing Shops.

Passing her shop and seeing someone come out of the door, however, she can't quite tamper down the instinct to say--] Find everythin' you need?

[...damnit, why did she have to say that?]

[resistmyself]

As far as trinkets go -

[Hal turns to Rogue, stops, words momentarily catching in his throat for reasons he can't quite explain.]

...Yes. I think I've, ah, found all I need here.

[He's not certain what it is, but it's the strangest feeling. He both desperately craves and abhors the idea of drinking her blood all at once, and the latter part has nothing to do with his usual desire to avoid draining a human.

It's likely that the issue of multiple worlds that he's come across while looking over the journals has something to do with it. He'll have to chalk it up to that for now. She's not a werewolf, at least, because he would be able to smell one of those a mile away.]

Thank you.

[touchofrogue]

All right, good.

[It's unfortunate for both of them that Rogue's latent hero impulses kick in here. Instead of saying 'Shut the door on your way out' and being on her way, to her mild annoyance what comes out instead is far more helpful.]

So you found the journal, read the guide, got directions to the Welcome Center, the whole shebang?

[resistmyself]

...More or less.

[He's followed the journal, had some of his questions answered, and looked over the guide, but he has no intentions of finding the Welcome Center. Especially if there are several other new arrivals there like himself.]

I have done my best to acquaint myself with the local arrangement.

[touchofrogue]

[Welp, Rogue knows an 'I've got this covered, thanks all the same for your help, you can leave me alone now' when she hears one.]

All right, well... [she makes a casual salute with the gloved fingers of one hand.] Good luck.

[And with a little nod, she'll start to continue on her way.]

[resistmyself]

[Let her go.

He knows he should. It's a simple matter. She goes along on her way and he on his. Whatever she is can be figured out at a later time once he's dealt with his own situation first.

Of course, any individual he can keep himself from biting may be helpful in some form or other.]

Wait.

[This is a bad idea, and he's already floundering for how to appropriately phrase his question.]

You're not, ah... that is to say... Are you...

[touchofrogue]

[Rogue does wait. She even turns around to face him again, her eyebrows crawling higher on her forehead as he speaks.

Well. It's not entirely out of the question that she'd be recognized as a mutant. There had been an international TV bulletin going on with her face plastered on top of it (it had been a terrible picture, to add insult to injury) for a good week or so. Not to mention all those other people who managed to recognize her due to some comic book or movie or alternate reality, but the way he was stumbling over how to ask her made Rogue think there must be some meat behind his question.]

A what? Hallucination? No. Mutant? [There was a certain amount of pride in being able to name herself as such, in not having to hide anymore.] Yes.

[resistmyself]

[This isn't exactly what he'd been going for, as now he's clearly put her on the defensive (at least from his perspective). Though he wasn't honestly sure what he'd been thinking about at all when he posed the question. That she'd so easily offered up an answer came as a surprise, but given what he'd seen of this place it really shouldn't have.

Hal gives her a curious look, hand out in a placating gesture.]

I'm not... entirely sure what you mean, and I apologize for causing you to believe I thought you strange.

[He did, but he didn't mean to be so blunt about it.]

[knightofratatosk]

[Unfortunately for Hal, Emil is not exactly looking out for people sprawled on the shop floor as he makes his way through the aisles, shopping list in hand. Let's see, Caius said they needed some more plastic plates (just what that is he's not sure), and they're running low on laundry detergent too...

... and just as he's making a note to grab the detergent in the next aisle over, he trips over SOMETHING on the floor and goes sprawling, possibly right on top of whatever it is that he just tripped on.]

Whoa!

[resistmyself]

[He's too distracted, perhaps, which is why he doesn't notice Emil's approach.

Hal had been just about to stand, but the blond soon puts an end to that. He falls back down into a sprawl with the boy practically on his lap. Automatically, he moves to shove the kid away.

He's too confused an vulnerable to have a young human fall into his lap like that.]

Please watch where you're going.

[It's bad enough that his clothes are missing.]

[knightofratatosk]

[Shoving won't really be needed, as Emil is already trying to scramble off him the moment he realizes what he's sitting on. WELL, THAT'S AWKWARD. At least nothing has ended up in REALLY awkward places, so thank goodness for small blessings.]

I-I'm sorry, I didn't see you there!

[His main priority is getting himself off of this hapless fellow; once he's accomplished that, he'll look back to see just who it is that he happened to trip onto. That's when he finally notices those white pants.]

... wait, did you just arrive here?

[resistmyself]

I suppose it's written all over me, is it?

[In his clothing? This boy is fully dressed, after all, while he's in a particularly telling pair of white trousers only. There has to be some significance to that.

He gets to his feet lightly, glancing around the shop. It's only now that he notices the utter lack of a draw to drink the blood of the blond in front of him. It's odd, as the kid is clearly not a werewolf or another vampire, and the need to feed is still quite obviously a part of him.

Which simply means that he's something else. Just outright asking will give him away, so he leaves the matter to be dealt with later.]

[knightofratatosk]

Um... kind of. You are wearing New Feather pants.

[Then, realizing that this man probably has no idea what he means by that, he quickly adds,]

That's what we call people who have just arrived. You know, because they just got their wings and everything.

[resistmyself]

[This isn't heaven. He's about a hundred percent certain that vampires don't get to go there. He doesn't even know if angels actually get wings.

A mirror would be useless anyway, so he reaches back behind himself and grasps at the bend of one, feeling carefully along the top.

Yes, that certainly was a wing.]

Ah... that's that bit of soreness explained.

[The chances of this being a dream or hallucination grow higher by the moment.]

Whoever's attached them seems to have failed to up-size them appropriately. They're useless.

[knightofratatosk]

Yeah, they sort of are. You can't do more than hover a little bit with them.

[He looks decidedly disappointed by this fact, especially considering that he'd just had a similar conversation with Fluttershy not all that long ago. It really is a bummer.]

You'd think they could at least make them big enough for us to fly with.

[resistmyself]

[Hal raises a brow when Emil mentions hovering. It would be absolutely ridiculous for him to try this on his own later, of course. Which is why he'll make sure no one is looking.

He catches something out of the corner of his eye and twists to get a better look at the opposite wing. The other is black. His wings are bi-colored.

Hilarious.]

So, are you to be my guide, or will you be generous enough to direct me toward one?