maskormenacelogs | [OPEN] A creature not too bright or good / For human nature's daily food,

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[OPEN] A creature not too bright or good / For human nature's daily food,

WHO: Tobias Matthews and YOU.
WHERE: Various Porter cities.
WHEN: Various times of the month. But always at night.
WHAT: Toby visits places and meets/talks to people.
WARNINGS: Toby's a vampire. To be updated if necessary.

de chima for Power Girl
[Since Lucy Pevensie's brother Edmund has arrived, Toby's decided to put more effort into visiting De Chima in hopes of possibly running into him. After all, he seems quite a pleasant fellow who seems to be getting along well enough with Dorian, if their conversation on Edmund's network post is anything to go by. Sure, Toby had said they could meet at the swear-in, but no harm could come of swinging by and seeing if they might run into each other even earlier than that.

But no, he doesn't have that sort of good fortune with him tonight. However, he does see someone familiar who he hasn't really met before, neither on the network nor in person. Still, Toby recognises her as someone who's been in the news with Dorian sometime recently, sometime within the past couple months if Toby recalls correctly.

Hopefully he doesn't seem stupid, calling out like this,] Uhh, excuse me!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you the same Power Girl as the one mentioned by the Shade on the network sometime ago?

[You know, the same one who is said to have had an illegitimate daughter with a certain Dorian Gray?]

heropa for Daryl Dixon
[Toby's also been gunning for opportunities to run into Daryl at the mall. It's pretty hit or miss, but Toby thinks it's more the fault of his own schedule rather than anything else. Even if most of their meetings are more the hi-bye sort. But then again, there's something valuable about companionable silence, and Toby hopes he's able to give Daryl something of that sort.

But lately, with the Stark incident and these natives who have recently found themselves with powers they can't control or understand, Toby's been doing a lot of thinking. This isn't the first that an imPort has affected the native population in an altogether controversial way. No, it reminds Toby of what he's done, about the native vampires he sired and the ones killed by Nicolas Demidov. But more than that, Toby also wonders—his siring natives can't have been the first an imPort has affected natives and given them powers, changing them and their lives completely.

So when he's sitting at the fountain with Daryl this one evening,]

You know that thing that happened last month, when the natives were affected by this... application created by Tony Stark. I was wondering if you had any thoughts on that—and the natives affected by it.

wildcard!
[feel free to jump in with your own prompts XD]

Willing to match prose or brackets preferences!

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[Daryl was only in Heropa for a few days a week anymore. Most of the week the last three or so had been spent heading out to the mountains and looking for mines he might be able to turn into a small strong hold. But with the imPort School (no longer wanting to be called Xavier's) needing security and Carl still there, he'd chosen to make time for helping out. Which also gave him time to keep up with his now-usual haunts. At least in part.

Running into Tobias every now and then and having him join Daryl at the fountain for a stint had started to become expected. Daryl didn't know why the other man kept doing it, they weren't exactly friends. Barely knew each other. But he did it and Daryl had no reason to tell him to fuck off.

Daryl was on the floor this time around. The chill of the tile slowly encroached on his ass through the thinness of his jeans. But it meant he could have his back to the raised lip and that was worth the cold. His eyes shifted slowly to look at the vampire after he started speaking. Usually, outside of the hi-bye shit, when they did have more than a moment of passing, Tobias was quiet. Tonight, though, it seemed the man wanted to talk.

He shrugged when the other man fell silent.]

Stark's an asshole. Gave him the finger when he was pulling that holier-than-thou bullshit on the network.

[ Peej slows down drastically when someone calls out to her, half-expecting a fan or maybe someone who's still angry about the time she lost her mind and damaged a couple of buildings in Maurtia Falls. She's got a half-eaten pretzel in her hand, her nightly snack before she headed along home for some proper food. (By which it means ice cream, coffee and maybe leftover chow mein.)

Her expressions falls quickly when Shade is mentioned. This could only mean one thing. ]

Ugh... yes.

Maurtia Falls is hardly restive in the evenings, people moving from bar to bar, hitting up the nightclubs, transactions on the streets and alleys and between cars and people standing on street corners. Flicking lights and flashes of neon don't carry the warmth or familiarity of the streets from the Imperial City — if those streets have been truly warm in the first place.

The darkness here is all the more palpable. Strange that in turn the demons he would have expected don't lurk in shadows, waiting for the slip that allows them to become what humanity has made of them. There's so little sense of any spiritual creatures, of that supernatural, Shino finds both he and Murasame are unnerved by it all.

Hard to tell in this particular moment when a large crow winged around a corner, chased by a kid somewhere around thirteen shouting up at him. "Murasame! Give that back! That's mine!"

The crow, weighed down by his burden of a stolen pastrami on rye, veers wildly as Shino raced after him, leaping up (ineffectively) to snag back his sandwich. Murasame jerked away, letting go and sending the whole affair crashing down over the head of some poor unfortunate stranger.

Well, yeah. [His tone isn't exactly deflated, but it doesn't quite sound like 'duh', either.] You're right, and your response was perfectly valid.

But I mean, what do you think about the natives affected by that? What do you think of people who suddenly have powers here?

[It's not as if Toby actually knows Daryl didn't have powers before arriving here, and he doesn't exactly know what Daryl's powers even are. But people know about Toby, that he was a vampire even before arriving, and they know he's affected natives with vampirism before the Stark pulled his crazy stunt.]

[It would be so easy to just be an asshole about this... that it's just too easy, in Toby's opinion. But seeing her expression and remembering how frustrated she was with Dorian,]

I'd like to apologise about my husband's behaviour, how he teased you in response to the rumours between the you two. [He's genuinely sympathetic.] Tobias, by the way. Tobias Matthews. Also, sorry—I know this must all be awkward. Hardly ideal meeting conditions...

[He pressed his lips together before pulling his thumb back to chew on while the gave the question some thought. He'd figured the original question was more small talk, something to break the silence maybe.

Guess he'd been wrong.

Without too much effort he could see where Toby was going with it. Knowing his history and how he was stressing the point, it was pretty obvious.]

I think it's about the same as us getting dragged here and saddled with shit we didn't ask for without warning or choice. The only difference is they're from here and when it was over, they got to decide to keep it or not. The trial was forced on them, but they still got figure out if it was for them, and then say yes or no to going on with it.

The rest of us, we don't got that choice. We just gotta live with what's been done to us and make the best of it.

[It was probably the most Daryl had ever said in one go. At least to Toby. But it didn't hold any sense of damnation or judgement in it. Sure, he didn't like what he was dealing with, and made no bones about it, but he wasn't fool enough to get self-rightous over it when most of the people with the damn tattoo were dealing with the same.]

Ain't always an easy thing to.

The sounds of beating wings and yelling give Toby a start, and then he turns around in time to find a sandwich in his face.

"Wha—MMPHHHH!" As the sandwich continues rolling downward, Toby's hands scramble upward to eventually pin and catch it. He glances around, first to regain his bearings, and then regards the boy.

"Whoa, what's... What's going on here?"

[As Daryl speaks, Toby finds himself slowly and quietly nodding in agreement at most of it. He could appreciate the way Daryl says it, how his words are blunt and real, how they're easy to relate to.]

Yeah. That's true.

[There's another few moments of silence as Toby puts together his thoughts. What Toby didn't know before, about Daryl not having powers before arriving, now seems more clear in his response, even when he doesn't just say it straight out. And whatever power Daryl's been saddled with, he's not outwardly whinging about it but rather doing exactly as he's said, just living with it.]

I mean, at least they actually have the freedom and capacity to choose, in this case. They were thrust into that position, but there was still a way out. [He clears his throat.] It's been so long since I'd changed that sometimes I forget what it was like, having to deal with being something other than human.

Sometimes, I forget what it's like for others to deal with the very same thing, only with slightly different circumstances.

You're still human, though.

[He kept his eyes on his shoes, picked at the bottom of his pants. The tone still wasn't accusatory in any way. But if the man was looking for someone to bounce ideas off of, well, Daryl wasn't sure he could give much in the way of advice, but he could try offer some measure of understanding.]

You ain't too far gone from that. Seen folks that were. You ain't there yet.

I—

[No one really says those sorts of things to Toby. No, he's quite convinced he's horrible, that he's a monster. That he's had friendships fall to pieces over what he is, and that Kanaya still warns against him from time to time, only seems to affirm it as truth. So Daryl's insight comes as an eyebrow-raising surprise to Toby, who had been more than ready to protest his humanity.

Then, he realised something like that was absolutely stupid. Not to mention there's something about Daryl's mannerisms that says he knows way more about that than he'd like to let on. Which, of course, only serves to make Toby even more curious. But he's not all that sure he really should, or whether Daryl would tell.]

I don't think anyone's ever told me that. But all the same, thank you. I mean, I really appreciate it.

[He still really wants to ask, though. So for the time being, the questions hang uncomfortably in the air. At least, they do in Toby's opinion.]

[Daryl lifted his head and looked up at the ceiling. He wasn't really trying to avoid looking at Toby, it was just easier to talk about some things if he wasn't focused on a face. Though, truth be told, the bonding-shit the other guy was expressing was making Daryl a little uncomfortable. Just on general principle. Daryl didn't do well with it, particularly in public and especially from other men.

He cleared his throat and wiped at his nose like it was stuffed up to try and break the atmosphere a little. Shrugged, too, as if his words didn't really mean that much.

Hell, he couldn't be the only one who told Toby that. His husband had to have- Only, no. Dorian didn't. Dorian had been more than ready to treat Tobias like a monster and reinforce that perception when given a chance to try and deny it. Didn't exactly speak well of the newly weds' home life.

Daryl frowned, brows scrunching before he took a deep breath and forced himself to look over at Toby, look him the eyes.]

You ain't a monster. You might gotta do some shit to eat, to survive... but a when a person becomes a monster, they make a choice to do it.

[He dropped his eyes, worried at his thumb, before he went on, this time keeping his eyes down.]

I seen that choice made... and you ain't made it.

[ She isn't anticipating an apology from him, so Peej doesn't actually give Toby the cold shoulder and continue flying off. Instead she lowers herself to the ground, hair and cape settling properly. ]

Oh, you're...

[ Didn't he butt heads with Kanaya once over a vampire related issue? ]

It's nice of you to do that, but he's the one who should be apologizing, you know?

[There's something about the look in Daryl's eyes that tells Toby that Daryl's seen some unspeakably terrible things. The monsters from his world aren't beautiful supernatural horrors but rather something born from a different darkness. So it's actually relieving when Daryl drops his gaze, prompting Toby to do the same, only studying the water's movement in the fountain instead.]

I see.

[He understands, but only to a certain extent. Although, that's probably the way Daryl wants to keep it.]

Sorry. About dredging something like that up. [It'd taken a way darker turn than Toby had expected, and he'd hate for them to part on this note.] Anyway, what have you been up to lately? Hopefully not dealing with anymore toy line lawsuits...

[Daryl kept his eyes down on his ankles and the fraying edges of his jeans. It wasn't that Toby had dredged anything up, it was just that Daryl knew more about monsters than anyone should ever have to. A person couldn't dredge up things that were almost always hovering at the edge of his thoughts.

All the same, the topic change was nice to have.]

Nah. Just the one against that asshole selling the cereal.

[Still, it wasn't what the other man wanted to talk about and Daryl felt the unstated pressure to return to the previous thoughts. It's what was obviously on his mind. And hell, it wasn't like it was that personal to him. Monsters aside.]

You wondering what might have been if you'd'a given those people you changed a choice?

[He offers her a small, almost shy smile.] Ah, well.

I know that much, though I also know he won't. Actually do that. But his making a bad impression shouldn't ruin my chances of hopefully making a better one, does it?

Well, I can't promise anything, but you're already doing better.

[ Stupid Dorian... she still plans to punch him in the face if she sees him. ]

Murasame has helpfully soared overhead and alighted on the eaves of the building to their immediate right. Shino glares up at him a beat, gesturing his way, "Meat theft, that's what!" Before it registers that there's no real answer in that, and his sandwich has been sacrificed to a stranger.

He darts forwards, hands outstretched. "Here, I'll take that! Sorry for the idiot —" Murasame interrupts with a protesting croak that sounds quite similar to both a laugh and to what?!, "— bird!"

Said idiot bird watches and flexes his wings, crouching down in preparation for liftoff once more.

Something like that, yeah.

[He frowns down at the fountain water.]

The one guy, Terry—I actually told him. Before feeding, I told him what would happen, and I took his agreement as consent even before Sabriel used her binding magic. Miz Maryam said it couldn't have counted because he didn't know what he was getting into, becoming... like me.

[Sometimes, he's proud of what he is and can even tolerate the word. This isn't one of those times. Even still, he lets out a small sigh.]

He's the only one out of the fledgelings who's attacked anyone else. And then last May, that werewolf Demidov killed him.

He attack someone on purpose?

[Because it sure sounded to Daryl like the guy understood what he was getting into. And that he decided to abuse and use the changes made if he was the only one attacking others.

Daryl had no real opinion on if killing him was the right thing or not, but that wasn't really the matter at hand.]

[She may not be able to promise anything, but ]

—That's still better than nothing! [He lets out a soft chuckle.] Would you mind if we walked and talked? I mean, unless I'm keeping you from anything...

[He makes a vague gesture at her unfinished pretzel.]

"Sure—here." Feeling uncertain as he hands the spoils over, Toby casts a glance at the bird's protest.

"A friend of yours, is he? Well, he might be coming back for a round two. Or, however many times you've been at it." He then lets out a small chuckle.

"More like a partner," Shino says, accepting the sandwich and giving it a somewhat unhappy look. Now that he has it, he's not sure he even wants it anymore. Except he does, so he tips his head to the side and starts shoving meat and lettuce and whatever else was on the poor, beleaguered sandwich back between the bread.

The crow takes flight, soaring down low and backwinging to alight on Shino's shoulder. He throws a hand up to block the bird's wings from flapping in his face, the other hand holding the sandwich out of reach. Altogether, it takes a few seconds of adjustment, and then Shino's reaching up to push down on Murasame's head. "What was that for?"

The bird squawks, pulling its head up and giving Shino a sideways look. "Hungry!"

I don't know.

[Toby's hand goes to his head, rubbing its side as he thinks. And then he shakes his head.]

What I do know is that he threw me out after I fed, and only sometime later did we find out he'd attacked several people. Really, he could've done it for any reason. But now, there isn't any way to find out.

I heard all of the ones you... you 'made' got killed. Was it the same guy?

[The one that attacked people, he might have deserved it. The others, Daryl couldn't say. Wasn't going to try and guess, either. But it might help Tobias if he talked about it more. That's the way it worked for most people, anyway.]

... alright.

[ Her voice is softer, expression as well. She gestures forward, allowing him to lead the way for the time being. ]

I can eat and walk. [ She's still burning calories this way, at least. ] What do you want to talk about?

Would you look at that, the bird can actually talk! Toby manages to suppress his surprise to some degree but can't help letting out a small laugh.

"Well, you two seem energetic. You didn't happen to steal that from anywhere, did you? Not that it matters, really."

Seemingly rather nonchalant about that, he continues, "As if I'm going to rat on you. Quite the contrary, actually. If you still want more, I'd be more than willing to help you."

Someone had once commented that Toby was the least-vampire-like vampire they'd ever met. Were they right, or wrong?

Yeah, it was. He attacked and killed two of the four—the others are out somewhere, hiding.

[Kanaya got them out of the Porter cities and has put them someplace further out, where they could stay under the radar and out of the public eye.]

I mean, even I don't know where they are. Though... maybe that's for the better.

[But not for any particular reason, honestly. Toby sighs slowly, as if letting out a breath he'd been holding.]

Maybe.

[Not knowing where they were meant he couldn't protect them. Whether he wanted to was more a question of him feeling responsible for them or not. He obviously hadn't when it first happened. Now, though... Well, that was up to him.]

You want to find them?

[And so, lead the way he does.]

Powers, I guess. I mean, there's been a lot about things like that recently.

[And besides, he imagines Power Girl isn't interested in discussing the rumours that Dorian Gray had enjoyed teasing her about.]

Did you always have your powers, even back where you're from?

Yes... and no.

[He rubs his head, thinking.]

I mean, I want them to know that I'm sorry. I want to make up for changing them, I want to just. I don't know, I want to do something even though I know nothing I do can give back what I've taken from them. Besides, Miz Maryam's made it more than perfectly clear that I shouldn't see them.

[Daryl fell quiet again. For several minutes he just sat there chewing at his thumb. Mental wheels turning.]

I could find them. Make sure they're okay. Let them know.

Considering Shino's expectations of vampires were "sucks blood from the neck" he had no real qualifications on what else they should or should not be like. Regardless, he probably wouldn't have expected Toby.

As it is, he lifts his eyebrows, breathing out in a half-snort, half-disbelieving laugh. "Really, theft just like that? You make it sound like I'm some kind of delinquent..."

Ignoring the fact he very well could look that part. "The lady who works at the sandwich store gave it to us when some other guy said he hated beef." Turns out he hadn't bought it in the first place. Freebies are a wonderful thing... but it was like he earned it!

(Or not.)

"So do you regularly offer to help steal food with people you just meet?"

He doesn't even sound like he's judging. He's more curious, with Murasame likewise canting his head to the side to look Toby over.

"Meat?"

[ That line of questioning strikes her as peculiar and out of the blue, but it draws her immediate interest. Peej takes another bite out of her food, chewing quickly before swallowing so she isn't speaking with a mouthful of food in it: ]

It's a bit different for me. I'm not actually from Earth.

[ She arches a curious brow, glancing back at him. ]

What about you?

With a laugh, "Well—! I'm just saying, it's the most likely story for the racket you'd been making. And besides, I said I'd help you, but who said anything about helping you steal things?"

Still, Toby turns like he's ready to continue his casual stroll down the street, smiling as if he hadn't a care in the world.

"No matter. Come on, then. If it's meat you want, I can pay for it."

[Certainly out of the blue for a first-meeting, but it goes to show how much it's been on Toby's mind as of recent. Can't even hold it in whilst trying to make new friends.

He can't hide his surprise at Power Girl's mention that she isn't from Earth. Though really, it's not as if that's impossible, and soon a curious expression replaces his initial shock. But then he answers,]

Oh, I—well, I more or less had the same abilities back home. [Minus the whole siring when feeding, but he's still on the fence about fessing up to that.] And sometimes, it's like I've been this way long enough to forget what it's like to be "human".

[ There's something funny about his comment; not in the haha way, but something interesting comes to Peej's mind when Tobias talks about how he's forgotten what it's like to be human. She assumes he was born one, unlike her, who hails from an alien planet and was eighteen when she landed on Earth, thus living with humans for the most part. She's always felt human enough, even knowing what she is. ]

Well, what do you think being human is?

[There's no hiding Toby's initial reaction, the kind of surprise that's accompanied by a 'You would do that for me?' He's about to say something but pauses before actually doing so, his mouth hanging open almost dumbly for a moment or two before snapping back shut as he thinks. And now it's his turn to ruminate as he feels even more conflicted than he had earlier.

Having an actual way to find his remaining fledgelings didn't seem realistic until now. In spite of disagreements with Kanaya about personally approaching and apologising to them, he managed to respect her decision and their personal boundaries. At some point, he even wanted to completely wash his hands clean of them, as if that were even possible. But if Daryl can actually find them to let them know (and it's highly doubtful he'd suggest it if he didn't mean it), then... Toby really doesn't know how he actually wants to go about it.

And yet. This really seems like an opportunity he shouldn't pass up. So it's after some time of mulling about it that Toby slowly and quietly answers,]

I... I think I'd like that. If you would. I mean, of course I probably should think of what I want to say, how I want to say it, and—

Also, how long would it take? for you to do something like that, I mean.

Depends on how far away they are.

[Daryl gave a small shrug and let his eyes drop once more to his feet.]

And if you can get me a picture of them. Drawin'll do. And their names. I need to know what they look like, who they are. 's'how the power they gave me works. If you can't, then I'll talk ta Kanaya. See if she'll take me to 'em.

[He wasn't any stranger to wanting closure. Tobias seemed to really want some. No garauntee they'd want to accept anything from the man, but Daryl could at least give them the choice. He was assuming Kanaya hadn't. Maybe not the right assumption. He'd find out if Toby had no way of getting him pictures of those he'd turned.]

[Not a monster is the first thing that comes to Toby's mind, as it always does when he thinks about what he is. But that's pretty dark, too dark for a first meeting. He hums a little while he thinks before answering.]

Well. I guess, it's being with them? Feeling like them—literally, I mean. [Wondering how else to express it, about what makes someone 'human', he glances over at her and her munchies before an acknowledging look washes over his features. It's not like he gets to eat the things she gets to.] In a lot of ways, I guess. I don't think it's something that can be simplified...

Maybe, but...

[ Like Tobias says, there's no straightforward answer to it. Too philosophical in nature, she realizes. ]

You live among them for the most part. You still go about your day like one, right?

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[OPEN] A creature not too bright or good / For human nature's daily food,

Mid-October

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throws down!!! let me know if this works ten.!

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works like a well-oiled machine! thanks XD

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no, thank /you/~!

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