starhuevalley | FURST | Action at the bus stop!

Entry tags:

FURST | Action at the bus stop!

Who: Szelhamos and you!
What: A very cranky, flamboyant ~~bird~~ demon rolls up into town, definitely NOT LOOKING FOR ANYONE.
When: The weekend, as late in the afternoon as he can manage.
Where: Bus stop, and then grumping around town.
Warnings: None unless over the top Mean Girls level histrionics are troubling.

[He'd never had to take public transportation before in his life. Why would he? He could teleport. He could buy a car. He could waft into town on a breeze.

He could pay someone an embarrassingly large amount of money to ride in a plane with a hot tub and a five star all you can eat sushi buffet. He wasn't a bus person. But apparently, there wasn't any teleporting in here, or breeze riding or car driving or sushi buffet plane flying in here. That alone was offensive, and he hadn't even gotten to the part where he was offended that he had to ride on a bus.

Stepping out of said bus into podunk middle of nowhere was offense number three, Szel still sulking over numbers one and two, and at this point he was furiously scrolling through his phone looking for a certain number in a desperate effort to vent some steam.

He definitely doesn't look like he fits here, a tall, well dressed young man in an Italian suit and calf skin shoes, gold tipped cane and blacked out glasses. Not... not really farmer material. Maybe he's here on vacation.

A bit jarringly, there upon his shoulder, peering into the phone with far more intelligent intensity than most would expect, was a slinky, golden eyed black cat, unblinking as Szel grumbled and scrolled.]

If he changed his number, I'm snapping his neck.

[Now this would sound like he was talking to himself, where it not for the cat.... y'know, answering him, tone demure and lisping.]

If you snap his neck, do we get to go back?

No.

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They both know he can see that hand too, Midge the Cat clearly looking down at it. Szel doesn't make a move towards it for the time being, still stuck on being offended.

"I had to sit around in that stupid city with no one to talk to. No one. I may as well have just launched myself into deep space with the amount of intelligent life I regularly encounter over there, this should qualify as cruel and unusual punishment.

THEN, I had to ride a disgusting, smelly public bus all the way over here. I probably lost years off my life, if I die over here, you'll know why. I contracted something by sitting on that bus seat.

And then I come all the way over here, and it's the middle of nowhere. No seriously, what's even over here?"

NOW he grabs at Tannusen's hand, if only to make a point, he's not about to drag the man anywhere.

"How dare you leave me behind?!"

Ah, there it is. Tannusen's grinning expression gentles a little, just around the eyes. He knows Midge can see it; it's fine.

"I didn't want to leave you behind, you know. You could have ridden the bus with us."

The invitation had been there before he and Cass had even departed.

Goddamnit, he hates having feelings. He hates the fact that Tannusen's softening expression makes him feel anything, and he especially hates that the feeling is warm. Relief that the answer wasn't more teasing, as mild as that relief actually was.

Because no, the letter asking him to hop the bus with them wasn't enough to reassure the clingy, obsessive creature that he wasn't being abandoned. Not by a long shot.

"I... had... things to do in the city." No he didn't, that's a fucking lie and they both knew it. He dug his heels in and stayed out of sheer angry stubbornness and denial that Tannusen and Cassian had even left.

"You could have waited." It was hard for him to deny how his own tone had started to lose its edge though.

Tannusen's other hand came up and held onto the hand still gripping his other one.

"And how long would have been enough? You don't like change, and we couldn't risk that place sending one of us away. I knew you'd only come along if it was to chase me, and now we're all safe from being torn away from each other. You included."

It never would have been long enough, as much as he hated being back there, Tannusen was absolutely right; He hated change. His nose wrinkled at the absolutely correct assessment, gripping the other mans hand tightly for a moment.

He really didn't have much to argue with here. That was a sound reason to leave, frankly undeniable logic. But he couldn't very well just say 'you're right' to Tannusen of all people.

Or anyone, really.

"You couldn't have found somewhere better?" Oh that tone sounded defeated though, that was one hundred percent something just stated for the sake of arguing.

Tannusen moved to try to tuck Szel's hand into his elbow, linking arms so that they could casually work on leaving the bus stop without breaking all contact. To an unknowing observer, it might look like he was guiding the blind man along. "This place found me. But, the residents can't be any more banal than they were in Genessia, surely? Nowhere to go but up on that front."

Edited 2018-09-10 03:57 (UTC)

He knew what it looked like, but the demon made no move to alter that perception at all. Midge just made himself comfortable on his shoulder, Szel following along without complaint.

About that, at least.

"It's full of farms, they're nothing but banal. You threw yourself face first into the Grand Universal Nexus of Permanent Idle Boredom.

What are you going to do all day to amuse yourself?

Cow tipping? Chicken kicking?

Egging the neighbors?

Get someone pregnant at the Dairy Queen?"

"Fiance tipping, harassing the local doctor because he's awfully cute when flustered," and Harvey flustered easily, "causing mayhem in the mines, and tearing up the forest in my other form. I have hobbies!"

"What am I going to do here?" SEE THAT'S THE IMPORTANT THING.

SINCE HE TOTALLY, TOTALLY HAS TO BE HERE NOW.

Totally no choice at all, had to come, obviously. Can't leave now. Someone has to watch the cat and Cassian can't do it by himself because shut up.

"Other than me?"

Look you can't leave him that kind of opening twice in a row without him walking through it.

"What did you do in Genessia?"

We both know the answer: nothing, with a dash of trolling the network.

"There's a decent bar here -- it's no Velvet, but it's alright. There's mines to explore if caves are your thing at all; lots of shit to kill down there. Apparently there's a tougher cave system out in the desert, too."

If Szel wasn't blind -- the muted, almost monochrome vision he gets through Midge doesn't count -- Tannusen would suggest he take up art again. But, you know.

And it's true, he's a high-maintenance kitty.

"I am having a crisis right now, and you are not a helper." STOP MAKING FUN OF HIS ANGUISH.

But... yeah. Yeah, he didn't do shit in Genessia either. Only-

"Nothing, but at least I could do nothing inside an opulent marble fortress surrounded by minions. It was great, thanks, I had a full bar and I could sleep all day in a bed the size of a studio apartment." So more bitching for the sake of bitching!

"Is there a library? Since I had to leave that back in Genessia too." Closed up his subgate before he left because fuck letting anyone get in there. He wasn't even sure if it would close on its own when he left the city, that didn't matter. He's not taking any chances here.

".... Does the bar have wine?" Oh yes. That's right.

He could have wine again.

.... He'd forgotten about that.

"There is! It might be the biggest building here -- it's part of a museum," don't mind Tannusen casually accepting the usual newbie items from Random NPC. He'll turn them over to Szel when they get where they're going. "I know which farm is yours, I cleaned up the house and got you a very nice bed with extremely expensive bedding. Aren't I a good cat? Don't worry, I already know I am. And they do have wine! It's a popular thing to make on these farms, so there's imported and local."

He takes those offered items, and they just... up and vanish in his hand. Hey, he doesn't need a map, he's pretty sure Tannusen will just lead the way here.

At the very least, the demons seems to be mildly placated by all this new information. A library, local and imported wines, a nice bed with decent sheets.

He probably will not like the house regardless, but at least the bed will be comfortable. Good thing too, he's probably going to spend a lot of time sulking in it for a while before he feels the need to inflict himself on the town.

"... Well at least it isn't a complete dump." That's shining praise, considering who this is coming from here.

"So if you were in my new house, I'm guessing I'll have to inspect the entire thing for whatever stupid prank you loaded into it."

Tannusen just chuckles at that. Yeah, you'd better inspect the shit out of that house, Szel.

(There's nothing to find! That's the prank. For now. Have fun searching.)

"I'm honestly surprised you didn't stuff a few lesser demons into suitcases."

"I'll work on pulling them up later. It's not like they can't travel."

Trust him, he knows how to get his stupid fucking staff in here. He's not at a loss.

"I swear to God, Tannusen, if my house is full of cheetos or trashy novels in braille, there will be hell to pay."

"I think we've established that I'm not terribly frightened of you, Szelhamos," Tannusen sounds awfully chipper about it, which would usually mean the house is bursting with pranks. "It doesn't carry much weight after you moved here just to be around little 'ol me."

".... My house is full of goddamn bullshit, isn't it?"

HE CAME ALL THIS WAY. FOR YOU.

BE GRATEFUL.

"I pick up my entire life and follow you right into the gates of rural farm hell and this is how you repay me?"

Cue a giggle at that.

"...You're just going to have to wait and find out, now aren't you?"

Look, Szel, would you like him so much if he was boring?

No he wouldn't, not nearly as much, but that reality isn't going to stop him from looking righteously offended.

"Anything in there that I don't like is getting teleported directly into your house."

"Sure, sure, we can play teleportation catch, at least until I run out of Glamour."

Yeah he knows who here has the limitation and it's not Szel. At least he can pop himself in and out of reality again! That's fucking huge, now that he has someone -- someones? -- to live for.

"I really am glad that you came here. I was pretty sure you would, but, you know. Odds don't always play out as one wants."

"... How are you even going to keep generating that, without that bar here?" There was something he was curious about. After all, it wasn't like he had any books on Tannusen's exact kind of fairy.

Well, Tannusen's exact kind of fairy from Tannusen's own world, at least. No fae from Szel's home worked on the same kind of logic.

"I wasn't going to. But I can only tolerate a certain level of complete and total social ineptitude."

"Slowly, I imagine," so... maybe he shouldn't burn through it all the time for funsies like he had when he had Velvet Lust to snack on? Nah, we all know better; he's totally going to burn it just as fast.

"I'll generate some on my own, especially when I do wacky shit like fill someone's house with penis-shaped confetti. And I can probably set up at least a couple Dreamers..."

Edited 2018-09-10 18:15 (UTC)

"I'd tell you not to be a jackass with that, but it's like telling the sun not to rise, so I'll leave it to your wheezy, witchy fiance."

Because if anyone could scowl the sun itself back behind the hills, it was that asshole.

".... Is my house full of penis confetti, Tannusen?"

"What, no questions about Dreamers? Don't you want to be my Dreamer, Szel?"

His tone is teasing, of course, and the grin comes back at that last question, "Now, now, that would be telling!"

Edited 2018-09-11 04:24 (UTC)

"No." Maybe. He doesn't know, shut up. "Not if I don't even know what that is." Not that he could actually even dream to begin with.

"What the HELL did you put in my house, goddamnit?!"

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