you know you could have it so much better

[corviform]

WHO: SHADE and GILBERT
WHERE: Residence #004
WHEN: 3/7 evening
WHAT: One actual Victorian fellow and one not really Victorian fellow smoking a smoke and being classy and weird. Probably more weird than classy.
WARNINGS: tba

---

[ Sharon hadn't been herself before Gil had come to realize she had been infected with some mysterious virus whose origins were still unknown to him by the end of it. She needed rest after such a grueling and strange week and he tended to her without crowding her. It was never polite to impose too much on a young lady, especially the Duchess Rainsworth's granddaughter.

But then she disappeared and he was filled with temporary panic before it receded and was replaced by a touch of happiness and comfort Sharon was back where she belonged.

Then came bitter thoughts. He was supposed to be happy she was ported back home, to continue what they had all started out to finish regarding the Baskervilles, Leo, the Sealing Stones, and the mysteries of the Abyss. But while pleased for Sharon, he began to wonder when his turn would come. Three years away from Oz was rapidly approaching and his throat felt tight and head dizzy and heavy.

He needed to get back and yet here he was. All he could do was focus on cleaning the home, offering Aileen the now spare bedroom, preparing meals, and when the evening settled in and quiet fell upon the neighborhood he stepped out into the backyard and took long drags of his cigarette, watching the sun disappear from view. ]

Comments

[foreshadower]

Ah yes, I remember hearing about that, something about a bombing. [ He shrugged. ]

Whether or not it was nuclear, the damage is still...terrifying, isn't it? Imagine a constant stream of dealing with such threats, if either side were to escalate it. That's why it hasn't happened.

[corviform]

There's no way to stop something like that? There has to be a power stronger than that weapon.

[ imPorts stronger than a nuclear bomb. Resistant to it. He's seen what plenty of them are capable of. ]

[foreshadower]

Mm, there is.

[ Shade could stop it, after all.

He'd stopped that bomber from harming his Opal. ]

But, would that perhaps create a new Vulcanus -- may be a Vulcanus-esque nation? If we were to intervene?

[corviform]

[ He lifts his head, realizing this whole time they've been here, Vulcanus hasn't crossed his thoughts. They're partly responsible for the entire mess and chaos they had to leave behind, aren't they? His gaze grows darker. ]

I would hope not. They've made enough trouble for everyone.

These people truly like us... for whatever reason.

[foreshadower]

A mystery, yes? They barely know us, but perhaps that is the entirety of it.

[ He puffed away on his pipe, looking into the sky. ]

People with superpowers, they don't start out all chaos and destruction. That comes later. At first, it's elation, and wonder, at the fact that a man can run like the wind, or fly, or lift a car.

The distrust comes when the power is shown to be so great, and fear then settles in.

[corviform]

It's because of past imPorts.

[ Or so they've been told... but it's there in the books. He hasn't found anything to contradict the positive relationship shared between locals and imPorts.

However, Shade isn't wrong. They've seen it for themselves in the City. ]

Do you really believe this will go the way of the City and that world?

[foreshadower]

I don't know, honestly.

[ He really didn't. He thought it could go any way, depending on the way the winds shifted. ]

It depends on us, doesn't it? The more we sully our reputations, the more likely it is to happen. The better we do, the less likely it is to happen.

[corviform]

[ That surprises him. He figured Shade would simply bluff if he didn't know, preferring to mess with Gil rather than admit something like that.

He pauses before he nods. ]

How much is better? We don't know what the military and government want us to do exactly.

[foreshadower]

Indeed we don't. I suppose that the heroic sorts will do what they've often done, and the rest of us will have to keep out of trouble.

For the most part.

[ He says it, but this is Shade. He's likely to just be himself, which is bad enough. ]

[corviform]

Don't do anything dangerous, Shade.

[ He'll make Gil mother hen him. ]

[foreshadower]

Dangerous is a subjective term, don't you think?

[corviform]

[ His nostrils flare and he huffs loudly. ]

Hardly.

[foreshadower]

Oh?

If you cut off your finger, is it dangerous?

[corviform]

What kind of question is that? Of course it is!

[foreshadower]

Mine -- [ He started, conversationally. ] -- would simply grow back.

I'd hardly call it dangerous.

[corviform]

[ This conversation got disturbing in no time. ]

You can't always be so certain!

[ Wow, Shade, check your limb regrowth privilege with people who are going to lose an arm in the future. ]

[foreshadower]

[ Wow that sucks for you Gil ]

But I can! It's hardly something I haven't experimented with. It makes more sense that I would be more reckless though, doesn't it?

[corviform]

What kind of person does that to himself in the first place?!

[ WHAT KIND OF PERSON IS HE LIVING WITH? Is he doing it in the house, too? What if the others saw? That's got to be traumatic for some to witness! ]

[foreshadower]

I wouldn't do it to myself! Goodness, I'm not a psychopath.

[ Seriously! He stepped back, Surprised at even the thought.,/small> ]

[corviform]

[ He cannot shake the image of Shade sawing off his own hand or foot now. Thanks for the nightmares. ]

... This conversation has gotten too disturbing.

[foreshadower]

[ Pitch would be proud. ]

Has it?

Well.

[ He tapped his pipe against his foot, to clear it. ]

Perhaps it is time we head inside, yes?

[corviform]

Huh... oh.

[ He can barely see the sun anymore in the distance, dark pink and purples stretching across the skyline. He can feel the temperature dropping down to a more pleasant and manageable condition. He wonders why the weather can't be like this all the time. Not too cold, not too hot, and tranquil. ]

Right; the bugs will start to come out soon.