The Universe's Mixer

Proginoskes was not a creature naturally prone to panicking, so when he couldn't find Jesse right away, he wasn't overly concerned. He was used to the City's strangeness, and had nearly none of the usual concerns that humanoid residents faced. He didn't need to eat, he didn't need a roof over his head, or to earn (or find) money, so there was no immediate need to search out a familiar face. Besides, he had a feeling Jesse wasn't out looking for him, either - his disappearance may have been a surprise when it happened, but there wasn't much of a point in Jesse waiting around for him to return.

So after his initial search, he'd settled into a rather more sedate routine, methodically exploring a different section of the City each day. He didn't go into any buildings and wasn't even visible most of the time (the City's odd nature he could deal with, but he had no desire to run damage control if his appearance caused a fuss, as it tended to), instead watching people intently and occassionally hovering outside of hotels and apartment buildings, calling Jesse's name a few times before moving on when he got no response.

By now, the time he'd spent floating around the City, observing its newest charges and checking for signs of Jesse's presence, probably seemed like a long time to be searching for a non-essential friend, but it was still nothing compared to the time he'd spent among the stars. And no matter how many days passed, there were always different places to explore, though Proginoskes was starting to suspect some of those places were simply old places rearranged. Still, as he paused in yet another neighborhood of similar-looking buildings, it didn't hurt to try.

He spun gently in the middle of the street, invisible but definitely audible as he kythed, Jesse? Are you here?

When he'd first blacked out - not in the sense of losing consciousness, but in the sense of everything going black, really black, in front of all his eyes - Proginsokes had felt a brief flare of hope. Maybe he was going home at last, to the wide-open universe, away from the shadowed Earth and all of its dirtiness. Maybe he'd be free to Name the stars again, whittling away the eons.

But then he remembered that he had died. Or he had thought he had died. He had X-ed himself, after all, so he should've been dead. He had done what some human soldiers did, killing themselves before the enemy could kill them. By rights, he shouldn't have ended up here in the City. Perhaps this was just the universe's way of correcting itself.

The blackness didn't spin him around, or weigh him down, or drag him away. It just was, and Proginsokes was surrounded by it. He felt like he was moving, though there was no wind to speak of, and certainly no landmarks to judge his speed by.

And then, there were buildings.

Familiar buildings.

After millenia of staring at stars, Proginsokes could recognize buildings he'd seen before instantly. And ah, yes, there was the park, and the wall, and even that alley he'd first appeared in.

The eyes that flashed open were green and yellow, sharp and attentive, but not the sad, downturned eyes he'd had the first time he'd been here. Proginoskes knew, somehow somewhere, that the City wouldn't let one of its creatures go quite that easily, that the black void had simply been a temporary distraction. It looked as if some time had passed. He'd have to figure out what had happened while he was gone.

Jesse? he kythed loudly, the effect on nearby bystanders rather like hearing someone shout someone else's name without the ears as middlemen. Hello?