15 . JOHNUARY

[necrolord]

Who: John Gaius and company.
What: All around him, John's friends and loved ones begin to shed their skins. Also: Riteoir.
When: January
Where: Gaze and the new city.

Content Warnings: Tagged in headers as needed. Note all the usual warnings of this character.

Comments

Re: one million years later

[manyone]

Never, ever! It's such a hectic place, things never seem to really calm down.

[ She gestures for the butler and he pours out a steaming cup of tea for John. There's milk, cream, sugar, lemon--everything you could want for a good cup of Bergamot. ]

Though I admit, seeing you contribute to all that in the past has been quite diverting.

[necrolord]

[ John's smile slants wry. He goes for the tea and sugar, still calm and casual. ]

That's one word for it. Didn't get me far, eh? I'm on best behavior lately, believe me.

[manyone]

But being on one's best behavior can be so dull.

[ Beatrice insists with a smile as she sips her own tea. ]

So are you really as terrible as they all think you are? Or are tales of your monstrous deeds exaggerated?

[necrolord]

It's always a bit of both.

[ He says this very reasonably, over the rim of his teacup. ]

I wouldn't say I'm on the best terms with the locals... but that seems fair. I did stab the ocean. Might've got ahead of myself on that one.

[manyone]

Stabbing the ocean? Oh, you'll have to tell me all about that.

[ Her eyes sparkle with delight. ]

Was that to do with all the upset a few months ago? Or something else?

[necrolord]

We seem to have a new upset for every season. [ This he says mildly, noncommittally. ] I wanted a better look at what was way down deep, you know? Interesting stuff. It didn't pan out. I've had to adjust my research methods a bit, since then.

[manyone]

A shame that it didn't quite work out. I'd love to know more about this place and how it's magic works. I won't say that it's unlike what I'm used to, but it's certainly different, at the very least.

[ Beatrice takes a lingering sip of her tea. ]

Have you found out anything particularly interesting?

[necrolord]

Oh, I have whole books of theories, but it's hard to make much headway when they're swinging new curses at us every other week. The underlying magic tracks with what I'm used to— I'm convinced it can be explained, worked out into consistent systems. Blood Magic, Blood Pollution, the different Sleeper types. It's the Pthumerian game of the week that always throws me for a loop.

[ He tips a hand to the space around them, her reality-warping enchantments. ]

Stuff like this is a little outside my wheelhouse, so I'm curious what overlap you've been seeing.

[manyone]

Quite. It's rather frustrating, the way they simply hit us over the head again and again. There's no style, no subtlety. How frustrating! Tch!

[ Beatrice shakes her head disdainfully. ]

Well, I mean, I did run my own little game for a while. A repeated series of locked-room murders. Nothing quite as absurd as the Pthumerians.

[necrolord]

[ He tips his teacup to her in agreement, commiseration. Then she says something vaguely unhinged even by his standards, which is about what he expected from all this. ]

Now, I personally have never seen the appeal in making anyone play the most dangerous game of Clue. But I'd probably take it over 'share your feelings to break the curse' every other Tuesday.