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Nevermore Usher: It has, indeed, been a hot minute since Nevy's spoken to Asbolus. And thus, that most ancient of rituals has been convened: A meetup for coffee, pie, and catching up with friends! Nevermore, dressed in their usual gothic finery (this time, a T-shirt with a cartoon ghost on it flipping off the reader and with a caption that says "Casper Does Not Approve") sits in a booth, tapping the tip of their pen against their notebook while they await their friend's arrival
Asbolus: And indeed Asbolus emerged from the portal that led into the diner right on time, dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt as was his wont. He smiled warmly upon seeing Nevy, giving them a nod as he made his way to the table. A keen eye might notice that his stride had a bit of a predatory stalk to it, faint hints of the increased touch of the Wyrd upon him since their last interaction. "Evening."
Nevermore Usher: Nevy gives him a return smile and wave, though not quite as exuberantly as one might expect from the goth. "Hey, Asbo. How goes it?"
Asbolus: "Few ups and downs but doing alright, all told." He claimed a seat at the table, looking Nevy over as he got settled. "Yourself?"
Nevermore Usher: They shrug a bit. "Doing okay. Pretty much ups and downs, too." They give a little smile. "Had a friend show me some fun things about, you know, mage stuff, which was nice."
Asbolus: "Really...that must've been interesting." He nodded with a small smile. "Haven't had many dealings with them outside of here, I'll admit."
Nevermore Usher: Nevy nods. "The ones I've met around here so far have been pretty decent, for the most part." They glance around and smirk. "A little egotistical, at times, but decent."
Asbolus: "Will keep that in mind. What sort of things did they show you, out of curiosity?"
Nevermore Usher: "Um... it's... kind of hard to describe? The best way I can say it is... a trick they can do that shows off how... um... magey something or someone is."
Asbolus: Cue a quirked up eyebrow and an intrigued look. "That does sounds interesting...that sort of analysis would be useful, I imagine."
Nevermore Usher: Nevy shrugs a shoulder. "If you're dealing with enough mage stuff to make a difference. Otherwise, it doesn't really do much."
Asbolus: "True enough. We can do something similar, as far as getting an idea of what around us may be out of the ordinary."
Nevermore Usher: Nevy nods. "Just the stuff that's... you know... from your side of the tracks, or...?"
Asbolus: "In general, but it takes a certain amount of clarity to determine of exactly what sort."
Nevermore Usher: Nevy nods. They purse their lips. "I know there are good reasons for me to... limit my exposure to you guys's... thing. But I'm still just... really curious about it all."
Asbolus: "I can imagine." He nodded, giving a quiet look. "Some of it fascinating in a way, but the price paid for gaining access to it isn't something I would wish on anyone."
Nevermore Usher: Nevy nods, then gives a little, grim smile. "There's a reason I've got horseshoes over all my doors and windows now. And that I've been chatting with an herbalist friend about getting supplies of yarrow, yew, and St. John's Wort."
Asbolus: He allowed himself a small smirk in kind, wry little thing that it was. "Better armed and armored than some. Usually I am of a mind that being forewarned is forearmed, but there's a fine line of knowledge that once crossed can make it far too easy to be noticed. It's not for a lack of want to tell you about it, mind you; understanding and acceptance of our...eccentricities are rare things with those outside of the community, and it's something we often relish."
Nevermore Usher: Nevy spreads their arms, displaying again their sugar-skull coat. "I can't exactly throw stones when it comes to eccentricity."
Asbolus: "True indeed." That smirk turned into a proper smile as he nodded. "And it's one of the things I admire about you. How much you embrace what you are, despite what others may think of it."
Nevermore Usher: Nevy leans back and smiles, taking a sip of their coffee. "I'm... not sure I could be anything else, with how I grew up. Little girls that know ghosts are real don't grow up to be conventional, boring normal grown-ups, right?"
Asbolus: "Not unless they hide it particularly well, but I imagine that causes its own issues." He paused a moment, the smile renewing itself as a thought came to mind. "There's a line from one of Shakespeare's works that always appealed to me, and proved to be a lodestone in a way as far as finding myself again while I was elsewhere. Would you have me false to my nature? Rather say I play the man I am. You embody that, as I see it, and it's something I still aspire to."
Nevermore Usher: Nevy chuckles. "I let my freak flag fly. Plus, I like how the look is both camouflage and warning coloration. Anyone who sees me like this knows what they're gonna get when they talk to me - but if the person with skulls on their coat and black lipstick starts talking about ghosts and spirits, that's not mysteriously supernatural, that's just Goth."
Asbolus: "Indeed. I suppose I'm still working on who exactly I am these days, along with how much of that to show to the world at large. Old habits dying hard and whatnot."
Nevermore Usher: Nevy tilts their head. "Who would you like to be?"
Asbolus: "That's the trick, really. I know the parts - a good friend, a protector of those I care about, seeker of lost things and teller of tales - but putting that into one cohesive whole, into a person, is proving difficult."
Nevermore Usher: Nevy tilts their head the other way. "You know... people aren't paintings. We don't all need to have single unified compositional theme. Didn't old Willy Wigglesticks himself say something about being large and containing multitudes?"
Asbolus: "Whitman, I believe, but fair point." He nodded quietly, taking a sip of his coffee. "It's hard to describe properly, but picture yourself being honed down to one single facet of those multitudes: the artist, the medium, the embodiment of how a good hug feels." He allowed him a small smile at that before continuing. "That's effectively what happens to us. We lose the rest and become a task to fulfill, and finding those lost pieces again can be difficult."
Nevermore Usher: Nevy's expression turns disturbed. "That's... truly horrific. I'm sorry it happened to you." They nod. "So... you're not just discovering facets of yourself, you're... trying to cobble together a self from the stuff you're finding at the bottom of your junk drawer?"
Asbolus: "Thank you. As I said, it's not a fate I'd wish on anyone else." Asbolus gave another small nod. "For the most part, yes. Who we were seen through the lens of what we experienced and made to fit as best as we can manage."
Mearcstapa: The door to Maddy's opens, and a familiar freckly face flits forward, fearing few fellows. The Darkling desires delicious delicacies, delights to drown dread. Mearc's hair is pulled back out of his face, pinned at the back of his head with a large hairclip with a butterfly design on it, and he's wearing a t-shirt that reads "I VOID WARRANTIES" with a pair of purple camo cargo shorts, his usual messenger bag where it usually is. As he sees Asbolus and Nevermore, there's a gesture of 'are you two in the middle of a thing or...???'
Nevermore Usher: Nevy nods, frowning thoughtfully. "And you can't just ignore who you..." They see Mearc, smile, and wave. "Hey, Two-face!"
Asbolus: Asbolus gave Nevy a curious look as the words trailed off, but the greeting to the new arrival brought a smile to the Darklingn's face as he nodded. "Evening."
Mearcstapa: "Nevermore. Good to see you." He takes a seat beside them, lifting an arm in what is clearly an offer for a hug, before his attention shifts to Asbolus. "Mister Sharpe, I hear you and Sir Fabri seem to have gotten along." There's some edge of tease to those words.
Nevermore Usher: Nevy lifts an eyebrow, glancing between the two. "Sir Fabri? He's a knight, then?"
Asbolus: "It went rather well, yes. And it was good being in a theater again besides." Asbolus smirked at that, then looked to Nevy. "Mearcstapa was kind enough to handle the paperwork I needed to be back in the system as it were, and Whittaker Sharpe was the nom de guerre chosen for it. Still getting a feel for it but I rather like it."
Mearcstapa: "Luigi? Yes, a knight. I even got to see his sword last time I stopped by his theater."
There's a pause, and a thoughtful look. Asbolus sees Mearcstapa's freckles flicker green, a slow pixelshift.
"...actual sword, not euphemism."
Nevermore Usher: Nevy considers Asbolus, then nods. "It's a good name. Should I start calling you Whit in public?"
Then they glance at Mearc, smirk, and punch him lightly on the shoulder. "Thanks for clarifying that. I was worried for a second."
Asbolus: "That or Sharpe would be fine, I say." Asbolus nodded, then smirked at Mearc's clarification and the coloration shift that came with it. "Good to know about him, at least."
Mearcstapa: "Worried, Nevermore? Why that?" He sounds almost amused, as he gestures over a member of waitstaff and orders the pigs in mud waffles, because tonight is not a night to be kosher on, shhh, ignore the fact that it's Shabbat.
Nevermore Usher: They chuckle. "Because I don't need play-by-play of your, uh... swordfighting exploits."
Asbolus: Asbolus kept quiet for the moment at the back and forth between the pair, the smile on his face expertly hidden by his coffee cup as he took a sip from it.
Mearcstapa: "I'm half-tempted to continue the metaphor as a joke, but I'm not sure I have that in me tonight. So, what's up with you both?" He rests his chin on his hands, glancing between the pair of them; his freckles had normalized in color again, to those who see miens, perhaps a bit more red than usual but not by much.
Nevermore Usher: Nevy puts a hand on Mearc's forearm and squeezes gently, just for a moment. "We were catching up - we've both been pretty busy lately, so we haven't been talking as much." They shrug. "Did I mention to you that one of my Gandalfy friends showed off one of their tricks for seeing other gandalfy stuff?"
Asbolus: "Which is something I hope to avoid going forward. I know I need to get out more in general." Asbolus nodded quietly, eyeing Mearc's reaction to that bit of news.
Mearcstapa: "Huh." Mearcstapa's reaction registers as surprise first and most strongly, and then concern. "Are there risks involved, with learning from them, what it is they do, seeing how they can see?"
And then his gaze flickers to Asbolus. "Yes, you need to get out more. We need to get you out more. I'm just saying...."
Nevermore Usher: Nevy quirks a little smile. "That was the first question I asked. It was a temporary effect, we did the whole thing inside a magically protected house, and even if neither of those had been true, the man who offered it verified that there should be no side effects - and I haven't noticed any, myself - and I've been looking for them."
Asbolus: "I know, I know...at least I recognize that these days." Asbolus gave Mearc a knowing look, albeit with a small smile to soften whatever edge there may have been to it.
Mearcstapa: Mearc lets out a bit of a chuckle. "Good, I've taught you both something. I am part of the way to paying off how much you both have taught me."
Nevermore Usher: Nevy smiles, squeezing Mearc's forearm again, then chuckles. "Now, let's not get melodramatic about this."
Asbolus: "Share and share alike, I say. We all come out better for it in the long run."
Mearcstapa: "So we do." Mearc's waffles arrive, covered in the unholy combination of bacon and chocolate chips, and it's clear he's delighted by them. "In other other news, the house is coming along. Lux retiled the master bathroom a few days back, the kitchen's just about complete. We need to talk to Alex about the basement at some point, and triple check all the security measures. As a word of warning, if you stop by with the intent to surprise us, don't pick the locks and let yourselves in, that would be dangerous."
Nevermore Usher: “Nnnoted,” Nevy says. “That limits April fools pranks, but I can make do.”
Asbolus: Asbolus eyed the rather unkosher concoction that Mearc had placed before him, shaking his head quietly with a small smirk. "Glad to hear it. I do need to meet up with Alex again as well at some point...haven't had a proper conversation with her in a while."
Mearcstapa: "Nevermore, you can seriously hurt some of us in our head, if you surprise us the wrong way. Not that I think you'd ever do it intentionally, and not like I'm particularly susceptible to that, but it's a thing. We..." He puts his fork down and gestures using both hands, like he's trying to keep a ball balanced on them both, while his hands are moving up and down slightly. "...we're not always in balance, and the right jolt can throw us completely."
Nevermore Usher: Nevy frowns, considering that, then nods slowly. “Can... you get into any more detail? I want to make sure I wouldn’t, like... cause severe trauma with a Rickroll or anything like that.”
Asbolus: "It can vary between us, truthfully." Asbolus nodded, glancing Mearc's way to see how much detail the other man wanted to go into.
Mearcstapa: Mearc thinks for a moment. "In broad strokes, you understand that the ways we were changed vary, right? And that can affect the easiest ways to knock us off-kilter. As an example, I'm particularly bad when I learn that a piece of information I was leaning on turns out to be untrue. So giving me fake directions to a place I'm trying to find can...there is no direct way to explain it, but it throws me off. There's others who respond really poorly to browbeating and insults. And honestly, for most of us, to be shunned obviously by someone human is painful; it's a reminder that while we're in your world, we're not entirely of it anymore. Some just cannot tolerate a surprise that's not a good one. Some are harmed when others cower away from them. Imagine someone like, say, Guy, but if you show that reaction, their mind cracks just a little."
He pauses to cut up his waffle. "I don't remember if you've seen me, when I've been hurt like that. I tend to have a tell: I get very blunt and a little impatient. That tends to be the biggest sign that I may not be centered and may need help."
Nevermore Usher: Nevy's eyes soften in concern. "Is there a good way for me to help, if I notice that? For you or... I mean, if there's something I could do for anyone?"
Asbolus: "We have our ways to balance back out, but that can also vary from person to person. For me it is a person that talking to helps, but for others it's a place or an ideal. Interacting with that helps to smooth those rough edges and get us back on an even keel."
Mearcstapa: "If it's me, the first thing you do is text Jack and go 'Mearc's off-kilter'. Of the polycule, he's the most highly-trained and best-equipped for dealing with those situations. But if you're trying to help me on your own...uh. My YouTube channel's actually what grounds me best, personally. Which is a weird mess of parasocial relational bullshit I'm choosing not to look too closely at, but beside that, having the regular schedule and the validation make it a really key thing for me."
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