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The Golden Hour: the time in the evening when the setting sun paints the world in richness. Nevermore is taking advantage of the beautiful light (and the slowly-waning temperatures that have turned the park from an oven to... well, an oven still, but one set to low) to do some sketching. They've gone through two pages already in character studies of passers-by, and are now sketching a thicket of trees repeatedly, trying to capture the essence of the copse with various levels of detail.
There's plenty of people out on this slightly-less-than-sweltering evening, walking dogs, jogging, spending time with friends. And one (1) slightly scruffy looking youth, strolling with their hands shoved in their pockets, earbuds in their ears, generally enjoying the outdoors. Even if there's a slight sheen of sweat on their forehead, given the jeans and hoodie they've got on. At least the sweatshirt is unzipped, showing a clean but worn ribbed tank, but the hood is up. They've got a dark green bandanna tied loosely around their neck, and they must not be looking where they're going, because right as they cross into Nevy's field of vision they stumble up against a white woman in crisply tailored suit pants and a silk blouse, probably taking a shortcut to the park on the way from whatever high rise she has an office in to one of the trendy and expensive bars that line the street on the other side of the park.
"Oh - sorry," the youth mutters apologetically, as the woman gives them a slightly annoyed look, but doesn't stop her stride.
Nevy pauses in their drawing, noticing a familiar face. "Hey, uh... Cal? Calamity?" They give a wave in the direction of the younger psychic. "Hi!"
The youth flinches in surprise, when they hear Nevy calling - whatever's playing in their earbuds is clearly not loud enough to cover it. They turn, and tug one away from their ear before brushing their curls back from their face. The moment they pull their hand away they flop back down onto their sweaty forehead, but you know. Every little bit of air helps, with summers like this.
"...Hey." They offer Nevy a hesitant smile and a wave, and take a few steps toward them. "Sup?"
"Not too much," Nevy says, hoisting their notebook and be-quilled bic in demonstration. "Just getting some practice in. You?"
"Oh, y'know. Same old. Fuckin' sucks you can't smoke in parks here, I mean I get it, but..." Because of all the unsavory things Calamity does, apparently breaking that particular rule is one step too far for them.
"Shit's been kinda quiet really, since...you know." A shrug. "Not complaining though, getting pinched was more'n enough excitement for me for a while. Like...for forever, even."
Nevermore nods. "Yeah. That was... plenty of that kind of excitement for me." Nevy shrugs. "I have to admit, I've never been much of a smoker. I tried cloves back when I was in high school, but the aesthetic could never outweigh the wheezing for me." They shrug. "Been keeping busy?"
"Uh huh. Got some shit going on. Work, and stuff. Hanging out with friends. I uh...d'you hear about what's his face, went missing couple weeks back? Kinda looked into that a little, just for something to do." Definitely not because they have any feelings about people being kidnapped, nope.
Nevy nods. "I was actually there when the bus showed back up." They shake their head. "It was... pretty terrifying. Did you hear about that?"
"Wait what?" Calamity looks at them, a little horrified. "Like...you saw him get on and shit?"
Nevy shakes their head. "No - it stopped in front of a tavern I was having dinner in, and a guy got out." THey glance around to make sure they're not being overheard. "He was in college. But something had aged him. He looked like a grandfather." They shiver slightly. "He still seemed pretty out of it when we left him with his dad. Who looks like his son, now." They shake their head. "If this was a story, I'd be busting at the seams wanting to know what was going to happen next, but... this was a real person who's really suffering. It's... pretty tragic."
As Nevy talks, Calamity's frown deepens, and their eyes widen. "Oh fuck, that's...fucking terrifying. Was gonna look into the bus, 'cause it's not a SEPTA bus that actually exists, but...I mean fuck. That's..." they don't seem to have the words for the horror they're clearly feeling.
"...A horrible violation of that poor man's body and mind, if not a sign of something unnatural that's preying on innocent people and doesn't seem too concerned about being caught at it?" Nevy is rarely at a loss for words, it seems. Their own expression is just as disturbed as Calamity's, if the impact has been eased by time.
"...Yeah. All that." Calamity gestures and nods. "Been trying to track down like...where the thing goes, if it goes anywhere...traffic cameras and shit. But I'm still waiting on any answers. An' if it ages people, 's prob'ly the kind of thing that can just disappear, or some shit. I dunno."
Nevy nods. "There were a couple other people there who were looking into it too. I don't know if anyone else has found anything, but.... yeah. It's... almost certainly something Peculiar."
"Mmm..." Calamity grimaces and reaches into their pocket, and something in there clinks gently. "Well whatever it is's prob'ly not immune to fire. Most shit isn't."
Famous last words? Maybe. But they don't look too concerned about it.
Nevy hesitates. "Yyyyyes...." They say slowly. "But... I... kind of want to know what's going on first. What if it's some kind of weird bus hydra, and two more grub their way out of the first one's ashes?"
Calamity snorts. "That's an image. Fuck, that feels like some weird comic villain from the eighties, or something...bus hydra." They huff out a laugh. "I'm not gonna go in all lit up 'fore I know what I'm getting myself into, don't worry. 'M not that stupid."
Nevy considers them. "I don't think you're stupid at all," They say. "Someone stupid probably wouldn't have lasted as long as you have, being able to do what you can do, without... getting the wrong attention."
"Couldn't really do much 'til I was like...thirteen? Always like fire'n shit, but...none'a the..." they trail off and wiggle their fingers at Nevy. "Prob'ly would'a been a little different 'f I'd had to deal with it as a kid." Because, you know. Being thirteen definitely means you're not a kid.
"An' then it got a little stronger right when I moved here. Maybe 's stress that makes me powerful..." They give Nevy a grin.
Nevy shrugs. "I... honestly don't know. Really, you're the second other person who's... kind of like me that I've ever met. I haven't really been able to study any of it."
"I mean I just figure I'd've like...set the house on fire 're somethin'. Nearly did it enough as it was, I've always kinda been into it. Kids at school thought it was weird, they weren't wrong..."
Nevy gives a dry chuckle. "Kids at school think everything's weird. But... you know, I might be biased, myself." THey glance at their coat, carefully folded up and tucked close beside them on the bench. "Little goth girl who talks to people nobody else can see?" They shrug.
"Yeah, I was the uh..." they trail off with a wince, and shake their head. "My classmates had a couple words for me. Learnt 'em from their parents, an' their older siblings, like I did."
Nevy frowns and sighs. "Those kids probably don't even know how badly their parents screwed them up, let alone what they did to you."
"Nah, most of 'em are just gonna pass the same shit along to their kids." Calamity shrugs, like they've accepted it. "'S just how it is."
Nevy shakes their head. "It shouldn't be." They sigh. "Whatever they used to call either of us, we're not what they thought we were. Right?" They give a little smile.
Calamity scoffs and shakes their head. "Oh no, I'm exactly what they thought I was. Just didn't know it at the beginning. 'S not an insult - I mean the words are, still, kinda. But like...yeah. I'm all that flaming, queer shit that they're so fucking afraid of."
"Oh, that we both are," Nevy says. They grin. "Genderfluid demisexual demigirl here, at your service." They shrug. "No, what we're not is lesser because of any of it."
"Oh. Yeah. 'Course not." Calamity smiles. It sounds like the thought that they might be lesser hasn't even occurred to them. "I mean like, sure realizing some shit was terrifying, but like...I dunno. In a lotta ways it was...kinda a relief? An' I had a - well -" They break off with a small grimace. "I wasn't completely alone. At the beginning, at least."
Nevy nods. "Neither was I." They consider Cal. "How about now? Do you have... support... these days?"
Calamtiy wrinkles their nose as they smile. "Oh yeah. More'n I know what to do with sometimes. Even like...kinda...not dating, but...? I dunno. Friends, plus some stuff." They duck as their face flushes.
Nevy smiles. "Not the worst problem to have. Life is... pretty rough, when you don't have anyone to talk to."
"Yeah. Can't talk to all of 'em about everything, but...for most shit I've got someone to, if I wanna. Still kinda getting used to it."
Nevy nods. "Same here, in some ways. I got lucky with the queer side of things, but... the Peculiar angle..." They shake their head. "I'm happy things seem to be changing up."
"I got a couple...Kindred?" Calamity rolls the word around in their mouth, like they're not used to calling their friends by that term. "'S kinda weird, an' it's not like we can do any of the same shit. But it works. For me, at least."
Nevy nods. "I have a couple good friends on that side of things. And it turns out one of my best friends has been Wyrd the whole time, and I just didn't know it." They shake their head. "Still can't talk over everything, but... it helps."
A flash of confusion flickers over Calamity's face when Nevy talks about their Wyrd friend, but then they're nodding. "Yeah. Better'n bein' alone. Mostly." There's and electronic chime from their pocket, and they huff out a sigh and pull out a battered flip phone. "I...gotta go." They fire off a text back, their fingers flying over the keypad. "See you 'round?"
Nevy frowns - not so much in anger as in regret that the game was called on account of rain. "So soon? Yeah, I'll see you." They pause. "Did I already invite you to the thing at my work?"
"Yeah, sorry, I gotta run an errand." Kinda weird, at this time of the evening, but they don't appear to be lying. "No, what...thing?"
Nevy grins and puts on a spooky voice. "Do you like... scary movies?" They drop the voice. "Because I host a horror movie night every other week."
Calamity visibly brightens. "Oh fuck yeah. Fuckin love horror shit."
That draws an even bigger grin. "How have I not hung out with you before now?" They pull out a business card and scribble on it. "Here. Date and address of the next one. I'm trying to decide between a serious trendsetter for the genre or a piece of ridiculous schlock everyone will love mocking."
"God I love to mock bad movies...I might bring my um..." A gesture, like they don't have the word, "'f you're looking for more people to show up? We watch a lotta movies together. Bad sci fi and shit."
Nevy's responding smile is welcoming. "Your 'um' are all welcome, too. The more the merrier, as long as everyone involved respects the fun of everyone else."
Their face flushes again, and they nod. "Yeah, zhe's not gonna start shit or anything. An' I'll try not to." They give Nevy a wide grin, and pocket the business card as they take a few bouncing steps backward. "Can't wait!" And then they're gone, turning to jog away.
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