closed log: a ghost and a vampire walk into a bench

[dumbfound]

WHO: Noah and Junseo
WHERE: In De Chima
WHEN: This evening
WHAT: Vampire meets vampire cosplayer
WARNINGS: Probably not

[ It had been awhile since Jinseok had disappeared out of Junseo's life again, and it was much longer than his last disappearance. Junseo's messages to his hyung also didn't go through to him, and even though Junseo wasn't so dumb that he didn't realize what that probably meant? He stayed hopeful for most of the month, but as time dragged on, and Junseo was kicked out of Jinseok's hotel and forced to turn to the assigned house he'd never bothered to live in, hope began to dwindle.

Junseo didn't like being at the house much. There was nothing particularly wrong with the women living there. Honestly? Junseo didn't even know them, and mostly kept to his room when he was at home. It just didn't feel right to be living somewhere without Jinseok. It didn't even matter that in his own world he'd had his own apartment that he'd lived in alone. It was different here, and he didn't like it.

So he spent most of his time outside wandering around, especially at night. While he'd been granted invulnerability to sunlight he still preferred the lighting at night. It felt easier on his eyes, more comfortable on his skin, and these days the lack of crowds also put him at ease too. It meant less people to give him strange looks as he aimlessly wandered about, occasionally walking into things he should have spotted easily.

That's what he's doing now, bumping knee first into a bus bench, and even though it doesn't hurt at all he still lets out a quiet-- ]

Ow...

[ As he snaps back into reality. First looking down at the bench, then down the street a little ways to see a small guy with a skateboard tucked under his arms, and an elaborate getup on. There's a good five seconds of staring on Junseo's part where his mind slowly comes out of lala land and starts to connect the aspects of the costume to the "vampire" outfits Kanaya made when running a fair stand months and months ago.

Vampire costume... except... ? This wasn't a fair? And as far as he could see there wasn't any sort of special event going on? So this guy was just dressed like that...

Like a vampire...?

....

.........

!!

Junseo immediate straightens up, and starts to run forward to talk to the boy, only to smash into the bench again with a loud sound, leaving a massive dent in the metal bench and topple forward onto the sidewalk.

It's one way to get someone's attention. ]

Comments

[admemoriam]

[It's nights like this that Noah especially hates not having his own car. Sure, he's an irresponsible driver, and he helped Matthew get the Mini Cooper stuck in a lake, and he'd probably lose his own keys in about three minutes flat. But his job is half an hour away from the Meadows by car, and he's still got three times that long until someone can give him a ride back. All he can do is wander around downtown De Chima, hoping his ridiculous get-up keeps him from being hassled too much.

He turns his head at the sudden noise from down the street, and is surprised to see what looks like a fairly young guy, clutching his leg in pain. Drunk, probably - it's Saturday night, and even the restaurant was full of rowdy patrons in the couple of hours before closing. Noah picks up his skateboard and takes a few steps in that direction.]

Hey, man - you okay?

[dumbfound]

[ The really sad thing is that even leaving that massive dent in a metal bench doesn't really hurt Junseo. It takes a lot to get some honest to god pain and suffering out of him. It does not, however, take much to get a pretty strong reaction from him. You spend years of your life getting hurt when you run into solid objects, and a few months as the undead isn't going to undo the reflex you have to try to cradle and tend to your wounds when you injure yourself.

Thing is, he didn't actually injure himself. But at least his instinctive action got the attention of the guy he was trying to talk to. Not the way he meant to do it, of course, but it still worked, and Junseo isn't one to let small things like embarrassing falls slow him down for long.

He lets go of his leg and sits up straight, the grimace gone from his face in an instant, like the whole weird thing was an act, and that might be more believable if not for the knee shaped dent in the side of the metal bench.

... Oddly enough though, not something that would raise too many eyebrows in this world. ]

Yeah. I just fell.

[ Thanks, buddy. Anyone around could probably figure that one out on their own. ]

[admemoriam]

[Noah definitely notices the dent in the bench as he gets closer, and his eyebrows go up a little bit. An ordinary person would just assume that perhaps it's a sign of a particularly hard whack, but Noah looks almost fascinated instead of concerned.]

Do you have super strength, or something?

[His voice is a bit lispy from the plastic fangs.]

[dumbfound]

[ A particularly hard whack is probably true. Super speed plus super strength on top of being built like a solid brick wall meant that poor bench never stood a chance. Remember it well...

Junseo follows Noah's gaze to the bench, taking in the damage he's done to it and vaguely wondering if he is going to have to pay for it, because he doesn't actually have much in the way of money. ]

Uhm... I think so?

[ Not too many people can manage to sound uncertain about the fact that they have super powers or not, and yet here Junseo is managing it like a pro. ]

[admemoriam]

You think you have super strength.

[Noah definitely seems a bit more confused than concerned, now. He doesn't sense any danger or distress coming from the stranger, and he's bored enough that some peculiar company doesn't sound like an awful idea.]

Did you, like, forget?

[dumbfound]

[ No, there's definitely no danger or distress coming from this one. Just a vague sense of confusion himself at how he managed to topple over quite so violently, and why he doesn't feel pain from that. Never mind the fact that he already knows he's (probably?) a vampire, and that he hasn't felt much in the way of pain for some time now.

He nods at first, then realizes what he's doing, and immediately shakes his head in disagreement. ]

No! I just... I don't know if I ever had it at all. But probably I do?

[ There, that should clean up all confusion, right? ]

[admemoriam]

[Noah gives a little hum of consideration, and then leans over to puts his skateboard down.]

Try to pick up the bench!

[dumbfound]

[ Junseo stares at Noah dumbfounded for a few seconds, before clambering back onto his feet. ]

... This one?

[ Not like there are a plethora of bus benches here for them to be talking about. With a moment of hesitation, Junseo leans over and wraps his arms around the seat of the bench, pausing for another moment before standing up straight and taking the bench with him.

It should be noted that he also manages to pull the metal screws bolted deep into concrete out with a horrible sound in the process.

He's also now looking at Noah expectantly, like he's waiting to be told what to even do with this bench now that he's ripped it up, and probably warped the metal in the legs beyond repair. ]

[admemoriam]

Holy crap!

[Noah breaks out into delighted laughter, and sort of hops forward on the pavement to get a better look, his sneakers making scuffling noises. The combination of classic superpowers and wanton destruction of property is clearly a winner with this kid.]

I can't believe you didn't know, dude. That's hilarious. What if you'd, like, gone to pick someone up, and accidentally thrown them through the roof? Like in cartoons, and stuff. [Don't ask him which cartoon. He doesn't remember.] What else can you do?

[dumbfound]

[ Who would have thought that all Junseo had to do to make new friends is cause a little destruction to public property? Not him! But it seems to be working well. It also seems to be distracting him from his original question about the outfit that Noah's decked out in right now, but as easily sidetracked as Junseo can be he's probably not going to get back on that one as long as questions are being thrown his way. ]

I don't pick people up a lot.

[ So that probably solves that cartoon physics issue, right? Maybe? As for what he can do... he pauses to consider though, because he hasn't really tested a lot of his powers. You know, most people get new superpowers and they want to know what they can do. Junseo mostly stumbles into things on accident, and even then half the time he doesn't realize what's happening is by his doing. ]

I can't eat food anymore.

[ That's probably not the kind of amazing power Noah was hoping to hear about. ]

[admemoriam]

[Woah. Woah. Dude, those are two horrible statements, right in a row, and the second one makes Noah both very sad, and very interested. Because he knows someone else who can't eat, and that person is played by the same mun so they'll never actually thread some kind of cool futuristic sci-fi lady. She doesn't seem half as sad about it as Junseo, but maybe it's because she's older. It would really suck to be a teenager and not get to stuff your face with burgers and pizza. Noah had seven years of that, and he's totally sympathetic.]

Oh man, that sucks. [Beat.] What happens if you do?

[dumbfound]

[ It's only been a couple of months for Junseo, but it's already a couple of months too many. He misses eating burgers, and fried chicken, and soda, instant ramen, bags of potato chips... food that you wouldn't really think about missing, but he mostly ate complete junk or incredibly expensive food that his boyfriend bought him. Nothing in between. ]

I throw up mostly.

[ Instantly. ]

[admemoriam]

[Noah's brow furrows.]

I'm sorry. I missed it too, back when I couldn't.

[He... may have been slightly reading Junseo's mind, right there. An honest, oblivious accident.]

But think about how much time you spent doing it, every day. Now you have all those minutes to do other cool stuff, right?

[dumbfound]

[ For a moment it doesn't even occur to Junseo that what Noah's responding to are his thoughts and not what he said out loud. He nods in agreement, but then stops as the realization creeps up on him.

For a moment he looks puzzled, before brushing it off. Probably isn't nothing to be concerned about. ]

Uhm, no. I still eat, just... [ Here he makes a vague hand gesture that looks like it means absolutely nothing. ]

... other things?

[ Blood... that's it. That's the only other thing. He looks at Noah hopefully, like Noah will be able to understand and relate to this very specific problem. After all, he's dressed up like a cartoon vampire right now. ]

[admemoriam]

[Noah is puzzled for approximately 1.3 seconds, before-

Blood. A single word, not even whispered, and hopeful eyes.]

... You're a vampire.

[It's gentle, devoid of any judgement.]

Oh - sorry about the costume. It's for work.

[dumbfound]

[ The disappointment is immediate and palpable, especially for someone who can read minds.

For work, meaning it's not real. Meaning that the only vampire he (is aware that he) knows is still also a space alien, and plays by some very different rules than he does when it comes to the whole vampire business in the first place. ]

Oh...

[ He tries to keep the disappointment off of his face, and out of his tone, but he's never been good at hiding feelings. ]

What's... where do you work?

[admemoriam]

This themed dessert place, over on Second.

[He jabs a thumb in that direction half-heartedly. Noah doesn't even have to be telepathic to know that that wasn't the answer this guy wanted to hear, but there isn't much in the way of comfort he can offer.

Well, except - ]

I used to be dead. I mean, I still am, but they gave me a body here. So I sort of understand the whole not-eating thing.

[dumbfound]

[ It's definitely upsetting to hear, but this is probably his own fault for assuming someone would be so blatant about this costume. Then again, in his defense the only person he knows that has dressed up in a cartoonish vampire getup has been Kanaya, an actual vampire, so...

He does perk up a little, even if he's not entirely sure what Noah means with his comment. ]

Like... in heaven?

[admemoriam]

[That's... not what Noah was prepared to hear.]

Um. No. Like, being a ghost.

[dumbfound]

[ Oh... OH! Oooooooohhhhhhh. ]

That must have sucked.

[ Hahaha... HAHA that joke from a vampire.

He didn't mean it as a joke. He said it in Korean, it just got translated that way into English. Maybe it's the nanites translating language that has a sense of humor here. ]

[admemoriam]

[Noah feels his intent, but cracks a smile at the translation.]

There are worse things.

[dumbfound]

[ A confused frown as he tries to think of what's much worse than that. ]

Like what?

[admemoriam]

[A vaguely deflective shrug.]

I don't know. Not being there at all?

[dumbfound]

[ Pausing. That's a pretty big concept to contemplate. ]

Like... existing?

[admemoriam]

Yeah. Like existing.

[Which is a hella depressing thought, and not at all what Noah wants to be talking about with a good-looking vampire late at night, so he changes the subject.]

Do real fangs get annoying?

[dumbfound]

[ Junseo let's it go. Not because he's good at reading the room and picking up on moods, but because he's incredibly easily sidetracked.

He pushes up his upper lip on one side a little to reveal... surprisingly normal teeth, before dropping his hand. ]

They just kind of come out when I'm hungry, I think?

[admemoriam]

I have to keep mine in all day.

[He reaches up with both fingers to tug at them. They're locked in with a special costume cement.]

They get in the way of, like, drinking stuff. And kissing.

[dumbfound]

[ Incredible! This guy must really take his job very seriously. Junseo is impressed, because he barely does his own job, and mostly shows up to get paid and grumbled at. ]

Yeah... I mean, I only drink blood so I kind of need mine for that? And they never really got in the way of kissing before.

[ A pause. ]

Uhm, but if they're out because I was eating they can maybe cut someone's lip up a little.

[ Another pause. ]

It only happened once though!

[admemoriam]

I got mine snagged on m- [He was about to say "my", but he's not sure what was going to come after that. My friend with light benefits?] -on someone's lip. But they're only plastic, so they didn't hurt.

... I hope they didn't.

[Squinting a little, he sort of jabs his finger against the point of one.]

[dumbfound]

If they're plastic...

[ He trails off considering this. ]

Uhm... they might have still? I don't actually know...

[ He leans towards Noah, squinting some himself to focus in on these here fake fangs. ]

when you don't realize that your inbox has gone over to a second page...........

[admemoriam]

Lego's are plastic, and they still hurt to step on.

[He says this like it's a deeply academic point.]

I feel this, this is why my tags all get sectioned off into different parts of my inbox

[dumbfound]

Oh... yeah!

[ Holy shit, that's something he never considered. Absolutely a deeply academic point. ]

Ok, so they might actually hurt still.