WHO: Kenny and Harry WHAT: Random run in (which they haven't done since their encounter) WHEN: Wednesday WHERE: In town WARNINGS: Awkwardness, talk of death, language STATUS: Closed/Completed gdoc
The last few nights were one of those nights where Kenny could hardly sleep. He had only gotten a few hours sleep last night before he had to go into work all day. So by the time the day was over, he was completely exhausted. He usually stopped to grab something to eat on the way home but he was too tired for even that. So straight home it was.
While walking in town, he wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings. That was when he bumped into someone. "Oops, sorry," he said to the guy. He wasn't sure why but there was something oddly familiar about this person. That didn't really make sense since he was sure he'd never spoken to him before. Maybe he just saw him on the network? Or maybe his tired brain was messing with him? He didn't know.
***
Harry was trodding along, trying to get home and not really thinking. He had some groceries he had gotten in order to try to make some stew for home, and just taking his time. He glanced up at the last second, almost avoiding the guy and winced as he bumped into the guy. “Sorry!” He chuckled.
But then he recognized the man and his cheeks flushed. He had not seen this guy since… that night. Even now, that night was clouded in fog, but he remembered that face, from several moments in the night. “It’s, ah… my fault. Sorry. Wasn’t, er, watching where I was going.” He tried to make his voice lower as he spoke, cheeks red or pale, depending on how his brain was going.
*** "It's fine. I wasn't watching where I was going either," Kenny shrugged. He too only remembered bits and pieces of that night, but the face he remembered was Henna's, not Harry's.
Still, he still felt like he knew the guy from somewhere. But he just couldn't remember where. "Have we met before?" he asked. "I feel like we've met before."
***
Harry squinted. “Maybe? I don’t recall, honestly.” He said, lying. He shook his head. “I’m fairly new, and not entirely sure who all I’ve met. I’ve got a terrible memory for faces.”
Yep. Not going to admit that he did remember, not at all. “Maybe around town?”
*** Kenny didn't say anything, he just kind of stared for a moment. "Are you sure?" he asked, not quite believing him.
"Maybe. It is a small town." But that wasn't it. Well, it was. They did meet in town, but it was at a specific place, not in the general area. "What's your name?" he asked. Maybe that'll jog his memory.
***
“Maybe we met at one of the parties? I was drunk at one of them, and not exactly good with names and faces became even worse.” Which was true, in that he had been drunk at a party and remembered no one he had met there.
“I’m Harry Dresden, apprentice wizard.”
*** "Maybe," Kenny shrugged. "I mean, I don't drink but I do drugs sometimes. And sometimes I take too much and get fucked up and forget what happened later." It had happened so many times that he was used to it.
"You're a wizard? That's cool," he said. "I'm Kenny."
***
“I’ve done some drugs, and they fucked me up, and I am not ever doing that again.” His voice was low and grugg, filled with emotion. Ugh.
“I am, well,I am learning to be one. Nice to meet you, Kenny, or remeet you, if we met before.”
*** "I'm sort of used to drugs. Guess it's not for everyone," he shrugged. "I hope nothing too bad happened to you."
He nodded. "Oh, right. Anything cool magic tricks you can do?" he asked.
***
“Yeah. Ended up with memory loss and bruises and just prefer to never do it again.” He shrugged.
“Sure. “Do you like fire or water better?”
***
"Yeah, doesn't sound too good. Unless they were sex bruises, then I guess it wouldn't be too bad," he said.
Without even thinking about it, he automatically answered. "Fire."
***
“Not that I can tell, no. Felt like I got beaten up.”
He shook his head, then grilled. “Fuego minimus.” And he flung one hand at a patch of grass nearby, and a small red dot shot out, and burst into a tiny patch of flame, that burned up the grass in a flash.
***
Kenny made a face. "If you did, that's not good." At least with sex, he would've had a good time, even if he didn't remember much. But if he got beat up, then that was worse. At least Kenny thought so.
He watched, grinning when he saw the fire. "That's pretty cool. I can only come back after dying. Definitely not as cool as creating fire."
***
“I dunno. Resurrection sounds like a useful thing.”
He shook his head. “Probably not fun, though.”
***
"Yeah, sometimes. I mean, I did the whole sacrifice myself to save everyone else thing a few times. So it's useful in that way," he shrugged. He'd do it again too if he had to. Luckily he didn't and he hoped he wouldn't anytime soon.
"Just the pain is the part I hate the most. The dying itself isn't so bad."
***
“Wow. Not bad.” Harry grinned at the other man. “Sounds like you’re a good person.”
He nodded. “Pain sucks, a lot. “ Harry was not a fan, for sure.
***
"Yeah, I guess," he shrugged. He was pretty sure anyone would do that if they were immortal like he was. Well, maybe not Cartman but still.
"I'm pretty much used to the pain, but sometimes it can be a bit too much." Which was why he sometimes did drugs or have sex with random strangers. Those were the few things that could take his mind off the pain.
***
“Have you ever considered trying to get a wizard or someone, someone far more experienced than me, do some sort of deathpain block? Not for all pain, but just killing pain?”
Harry was thinking,his brain spooling out ideas as he spoke.
***
"No," Kenny shook his head. "You think someone can do that? Cause that'd be fucking awesome." Because it really was just the pain that he hated. The dying itself and coming back was fine, but the feeling of getting shot or burned or whatever? He hated it.
***
“I don’t know. I could totally be just bullshitting here. I am still new to magic. But… a painblock is possible, during surgeries, from magic as well as drugs. Why not specific for a specific signal?”
Harry paced, rubbing his chin. “You might have to ask smarter and more experienced wizards than me.”
*** "I mean, it could be possible," he shrugged. One thing that he learned growing up in South Park and living in Madison for over a year, it was that anything was possible.
"Yeah. There's a couple people I think could help," he said. He'd have to ask them some other time. "But look, I gotta get home. It was nice meeting you, or remeeting, I guess." He still didn't quite know why this guy seemed so familiar. Maybe it was, as they had discussed, at some party or just around town, but he felt that wasn't it. Oh well, maybe he'd figure it out another time.