cityofhex | [Closed] [Nov. 2] world was moving on with you a step behind;

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[Closed] [Nov. 2] world was moving on with you a step behind;

Tobias sat on the picnic table, waiting for the guy he'd met to show up. His Beast is somewhat hungry, prowling in his soul, and he hopes that this will pay off. He seems like a hard guy to spook... he'd been excited by the idea of something creepy.

... Well, this would either pay off with a decent amount of fear, give him a new ally, or he'd be dead. The last of the options wasn't the best one, but he'd accepted long ago that he was going to end up dead sooner or later.

He'd just expected that he'd be one of the first. Whatever. He'd moved stashes from that building, and now that it was starting to get dark, it would be a good setting for a creepy atmosphere. Now it was just a matter of waiting and seeing what the outcome would be.

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"I... um. Mostly draw them, actually. The phone I have isn't all that good for pictures." He's still got an awful flip phone, because... well. Why spend money on a burner phone? He's had this one for a bit, but he won't forever. "And I learned by falling. A lot." And then using his Horror's abilities to just scale things once he got absolutely sick of hurting himself.

The buildings around them start to get worse and worse, as they head further into the Sixth. A cat hisses at them, and Tobias sighs. He kind of wishes he could take in a cat, but it just wouldn't work out well with how he moves.

"That's really cool. Do you have anything you've drawn? I'd love to see them, if you're ok with showing them off." Some people are, some people aren't. Ryoji has his guess as to which Tobias might be, but he won't know until he asks.

He keeps an eye on the area around them as it becomes more and more rundown. It's not a surprise, certainly, but it does mean they're going to have to keep their wits more about them. Thanatos is attentive and alert, watching for any death-like activity.

"I have some stuff... I don't usually show it off. It's not like amazingly good or anything, just kind of average..." Still, he's working on it.

As they get close to the warehouse, there... well. There isn't any more death-like activity than one would generally pick up on in an abandoned part of town. It's definitely a place where there used to be activity, but bosses will be bosses, and budget cuts and restructuring and shifting industries will take their toll. The only noticeable death around here is the death of jobs.

They reach the front, and Tobias points up towards the third floor, where there's a window with a large crack in it - close to splitting the glass into pieces. "There. Come on, we can get a better angle if we head in."

"That's still good, though. And if you practice a lot, I'm sure you'll keep getting better." Ryoji is a very optimistic person.

Though, his enthusiasm is dampened somewhat by how... normal the building is. Awww. This is always the risk of following ghost stories, but this seemed so promising! He can almost feel Thanatos sagging a little in disappointment behind him, too. Oh well. They're already here, might as well keep going. And maybe Tobias will make a good friend/ally anyway.

"Alright." Ryoji will follow him into the house. He is clearly not scared in the slightest. If anything, he might be considered a bit put out.

Tobias leads Ryoji in, and then dashes behind him to try to shut the door and turn, facing him. He doesn't like doing things this way, but when he's on his own he doesn't have much of a choice. He's separated from his Brood, and while he did that on purpose...

... It's still lonely. He's still not used to that. "Sorry. I didn't mean to trick you, but I need to ask you questions where no one else can see or hear."

Ah. Well, maybe this won't be so bad then. ...He still kind of wishes there were more death things around, though. "Alright," Ryoji says, and the fact that he is still not visibly worried is probably more confirmation that there's something not normal about him, "Like what questions?"

He's not promising to answer, mind. But he will at least listen.

"... Like what you are. If you even have a word for it." No offense, but he'd like to have a term to associate with this weird ashy taste in his mouth.

Ryoji smiles at him, ignoring Thanatos's rather indignant roar. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours!" he says with a little laugh.

Is. Is this guy flirting with him? His eyes widen slightly - nope nope nope, that is not something he signed up for. It takes a lot to shake him, but flirting is a sure way to throw him off.

... He takes a moment to take a breath. "... Yeah, I guess that's fair. But you first, since I asked first."

Ryoji hums a little, thinking it over. "Alright. I'm a Sin-Eater." You did just ask for the name, but he'll probably elaborate after he gets his answer.

"... Fine. I'm a Beast. What's a Sin-Eater? Something about the dead?" If his... whatever that sense is... is anywhere right. He really should have grabbed something to snack on to wash the taste out of his mouth.

"Good guess!" Ryoji suspects there is more to it than a guess. "I died, and then a geist offered me the chance to come back to life with the condition that he could stick around. What's a Beast?"

"I was dreaming, and then something in my dreams came and devoured my soul and replaced it. I don't know what a geist is, but you probably don't know what a Horror is." He's watching Ryoji carefully. He doesn't know that someone will exactly react well to hearing that they're talking to someone without a human soul.

Yeah, Ryoji really doesn't know what to do with that. He blinks widely at Tobias, trying to figure out how that even works. "...huh," is what he settles on. Yeah, that's the most intelligent thing he's got at the moment. "Well. That's a new one for me." Seriously how does your living... existence, thing even work then? Why is he not seeing weird shenanigans in your life thing, is it only your body that counts?

He has no idea. Honestly, the spiritual mechanics are not something he knows super well. "I mean I'm still... I've still got a human mind. I just have extra stuff I can do now. But is it the same way for you?"

Soul stuff is confusing. And interesting! But mostly confusing. "Kind of. I mean, my soul is still mine too, but Thanatos sticks around and I can do some other things." Thanatos who is grumpy that they're apparently talking to people about this. He might be sulking a little. Or, at least, what Ryoji describes as sulking.

"Thanatos is a... geist?" That's the word he used before, anyway. "Anyway... Beasts usually teach lessons to people... usually in their dreams. Things people have forgotten. Like that they need to look up once in a while."

"Yeah, he is. ...Kind of like a ghost, but more powerful." That's the easier description anyway.

That is also a weirdly specific piece of advice that worries Ryoji a little! "Up?" he asks.

"Huh. I haven't ever met a ghost, honestly. Or if I have, I didn't recognize it." It's not like he'd really be able to know.

"And... yeah. I mean... people don't look up enough. They don't see the dangers that are out there. Sometimes someone needs to remind the that they need to be careful."

"You probably wouldn't be able to see most of them." He clearly can't see Thanatos.

That's... actually a good point, and it's got Ryoji curious. "I see... what other kind of things do you 'teach lessons' about?"

"Well, that's the main one I teach. Others teach other things. Like the fact that you need to value things other than possessions. Or that no one is in power forever. Or that you can't run away from consequences." He shrugs and smiles slightly. "Whatever lesson the Dark Mother gives us and our Horrors, that's what we teach."

...Something about the phrase 'the Dark Mother' stirs something that feels like it should be familiar, or at least related to something familiar, or something in his memory. But he can't place it. "Who's the Dark Mother? And... what are Horrors, exactly? Do you know?" It's entirely possible he doesn't. There's so much about the magic swirling around Hex that no one understands.

"... The mother of monsters. All monsters, whether they're vampires, werewolves, Beasts, or something else." He's quiet for a few moments, before glancing to Ryoji's side, hoping to see the geist - but he can't.

"You said you died and came back with something attached to you. A Horror is something that attaches to us. All of us have nightmares of being chased, or hunted, or having something lurking. Some of us just get eaten up. Others have another Beast show up in our dreams. But we end up being devoured all the same... and we realize that we were the one chasing ourselves. So the Horror swallows up our soul and takes its place."

He pauses and paces slightly, uneasy with being still. "A Horror is... something from the Primordial Dream, which is where all nightmares come from. Usually it's something that represents... a fear. It's not always an animal - sometimes it's a shapeless something from the dark. Mine is a hawk - that's why I remind people to look up. It's not a bad thing. Even nightmares serve a purpose. If they didn't warn people, a lot more of humanity would be dead."

That description does not help the niggling feeling in his brain. It feels like something is there, but like there's no way for him to reach it. It's really annoying, and frankly a little bit distressing.

"I see..." Ryoji does not see. At all. He gets the basic concept, but like so many things he doesn't quite know where that leaves Tobias. Is his soul a nightmare? That doesn't seem like a lot of fun, to be honest. It makes him worry a little bit about the guy... maybe he'll be able to keep an eye on him now, at least. He was brought out here for a reason. Or, so he assumes.

"Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?" If Tobias could sense his power in a way, then getting a name for it would be one thing, but... he's curious if there's something else the boy wants or needs from him.

"It's hard to understand unless you live it, and it's not exactly something I can show you easily. But... kind of, yeah. Since the Dark Mother is the Mother of Monsters - all of them - we can pick up on who's connected to that kind of thing. I haven't... really ever known what kind of thing went with that sensation, so I wanted to ask. And you seemed like the kind of person who would rather talk than fight. There's not a ton of those kinds of people."

He smiles a bit, and it's... a little sheepish. "Sorry for tricking you. It's just all I could think of." Tobias almost turns away, but then... something occurs to him. "If... you can see ghosts... I might have... something."

He's not sure he wants to bare his soul to someone he just met, but if there's a possibility... "There's someone I want to talk to... if... I don't know if you can make a ghost show up or anything... I don't know if she left a ghost..." He takes a step back, his voice cracking slightly.

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