Carlos Ramirez (iamthatgood) wrote in reality_crisis, @ 2012-04-27 21:40:00 |
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Entry tags: | !status: complete, carlos ramirez, kitty pryde |
Oh oh oh it's Magic (Carlos and Kitty, TBC in comments)
Being a wizard and not an apprentice didn’t mean that a person stopped practicing their magic. In fact, Carlos found that daily practice pushed him to be better. He didn’t have the patience for meditation and he could only take so much studying. He was more of a hands-on type of guy.
This morning, he’d found an out of the way courtyard in between some of the buildings of die Festung. Green magic flowed around his hands, resembling liquid as he manipulated it. It moved slowly but decisively, flowing around his hands in a figure eight. The green light fell on his features, which were perfectly relaxed as he manipulated the energy.
----
New Troy bothered her; the whole place bothered her. It felt like Genosha which didn’t do much for personal morale. Kitty didn’t know what the hell to make of it. Yet, she could tell things were changing, somewhat. She spent a good amount of her time listening and watching. She’d heard about the other settlement, and she’d heard about a nomadic group.
It took some doing, and she finally managed to make her way to the other city. It was such a generic name - the Fortress? People weren’t thinking that deeply when they came up with that one. Why German?
Lockheed was curled up on her shoulders as she walked rather determinedly through the front gate. She and Lockheed might have pilfered a few things from New Troy, such as a hooded cape, allowing Lockheed a place to hide. The cape also covered her suit. She really was going to need to get new clothes soon. Thankfully the guards didn’t stop her as she walked through the gate.
She realized she was getting some looks, so she turned down a small alleyway, only to be greeted by a small garden and a glowing fellow? Lockheed chirruped rather loudly in the hood.
“Shh.”
----
Carlos looked up at the sound. The magic flickered and then disappeared as he realized he was no longer alone in the alley. He couldn’t really see the person under the cloak, so he shook out his shield gauntlet from his sleeve, just in case.
“Hello?” he greeted the person, waiting to see what sort of response he might get.
----
There was another chirrup from under the hood, and a hand lifted to rub at the moving lump in the hood. Another soft shhh was given. Kitty didn’t want to deal with someone who’d never seen a dragon, even one as smallish as Lockheed. She didn’t know how this fellow would react, not when he was carrying...a gauntlet? Whatever it was seemed definitely on the weapon side of things.
“Hi.” Her voice wasn’t frightened. She’d met scarier looking types, maybe not as attractive, but definitely scarier. Her hand continued to rub at the hood before sliding beneath it. There was some moving of the hood, then the cape, and she was finally able to nudge the hood down. She had gotten something like a small clean up, but she would have preferred to be much cleaner.
Lockheed held onto her side under the cape. Her hand, back under the cape, scratched absently at the dragon. They both needed to be calm, somewhat.
----
The hood was moved to reveal a girl. A pretty one at that. Carlos gave her a lopsided smile. She wasn’t overly pretty in the way that a succubus or even a Red Court vampire might be, but instead in a girl-next-door down to Earth sort of way. It made him relax just a bit, but he’d been a wizard long enough to know that things weren’t always what they seemed.
“Are you from around here? I’m Carlos, by the way.”
He was almost certain that she wasn’t from around there. She wasn’t quite dressed like the people of die Festung, and there was a certain dark mood that hung around most of them and this girl didn’t seem to have that either.
----
“No. I’m not. I don’t think you are either.” Kitty smiled slightly, her fingers working lifting from the cape to give him a slight wave. “I’m Kitty.” There was another chirrup as if something wanted attention. Kitty rolled her eyes, finally tossing the cape over her shoulder. As she did so, a purple creature took to the air. She barely had enough time to grab the dragon’s tail to keep it from shooting out to inspect this Carlos person.
“No.” It was almost the type of ‘no’ one gave a dog, or better a child. Lockheed flapped his wings a little, and Kitty let go. The dragon did a few circles in the air, small ones around his human, before he settled down on her shoulder, wrapping his tail possessively and protectively around her throat. She didn’t seem to think he would choke her like this. She wasn’t worried that he might do so even if he were upset.
“Sorry, this is Lockheed.” The dragon made a sound and might have posed a little. He knew she was introducing him.
----
Carlos looked on in surprise at the dragon-but unlike any dragon he’d ever seen. He had to remind himself that there were things here that weren’t from his world. Things that would only have existed in fiction as far as he knew before arriving here.
“Um. Nice to meet you both,” he said with a small smile.
“And no, I’m not from around here. What gave me away?” he joked.
As far as he knew, there might be magic in this world, but not in the same way that his magic worked. Though really, even in his world magic didn’t look or work the same for anyone. Each person’s magic was as individual as the person themselves.
----
“A feeling?” Kitty shrugged, and the dragon on her shoulder didn’t seem to mind it. They’d been together long enough for him to be comfortable with it, or at least to be able to ride it out.
“Plus, you asked,” she smiled. “Lockheed got noisy; he senses something. He doesn’t act that way around most of the people who are here. He usually stays quiet. Then again, whatever you were doing might have gotten his attention. He’s a strange beastie sometimes.” She reached up to scratch around the dragon’s jaw to apologize for the teasing.
“Who knows. He doesn’t always tell me.” She smiled.
----
Carlos still couldn’t quite keep himself from sneaking peeks at the dragon. He was certainly a point of interest. Which was saying something, considering that the dragon was taking his attention away from the cute girl.
“Well, you’re right. I’m not from around here. How long have you been in this world?” he asked her.
Perhaps he should have asked it differently, since he wondered if she was new. He hadn’t seen her around die Festung at the very least. Some people who had fallen through didn’t seem to realize right away that they were in a completely different world. He supposed he couldn’t blame them. He hadn’t realized at first himself. Of course, he had been unconscious at the time, but that was a different story.
----
“Not long. I’d count...a week?” Kitty wasn’t asking Carlos. She actually gave a side glance to the creature on her shoulder. She was still a little upset with the dragon for not telling her everything, but they were bonded. She couldn’t explain it, and had given up trying a long time ago. The purple head tilted slightly as if he too were trying to decide how long; if dragons could shrug, Lockheed seemed to do so. They were still both trying to get their heads wrapped around things.
“Probably that long. Yourself?” The mutant looked back at Carlos, the mutant? It didn’t feel like a mutant ability. While Kitty had never exactly picked up magic, she’d been around it enough to get a little tingle. Then again, she was looking at a cute fellow, who seemed the first nice possibly living person she could talk to. Plus, Lockheed was behaving, so maybe that meant something. She could feel the protective impulse though.
“And, it’s okay to look. Just don’t stare. You wouldn’t like it if we stared at you, would you?” She smiled understandingly. The dragon wasn’t bothered with manners apparently; while he sat there expertly on his human friend’s shoulder, he did indeed stare.
----
Carlos chuckled. He hadn’t been staring, though it would be easy to do so. One didn’t see a pint-sized purple dragon every day. His smile faded a bit as he thought about the brief amount of time that the young woman had been there.
“I think I’ve been here a few months, though the days all seem to blur together after awhile. Have you been staying in die Festung this whole time? Did someone give you the rundown of what to expect out there and in here?”
There were certainly protective instincts towards anyone who had dropped into this world without much of a choice. He knew precisely how much it sucked. While he didn’t buy into the whole ‘chosen ones’ crap, those who weren’t native to this world all had at least that one thing in common and it would be good for them to watch out for each other.
----
“Very little. Though it seems to be the usual dropped into a different reality type situation.” Kitty shrugged; Lockheed chuffed a little. It wasn’t exactly false bravado on either of their parts. They’d spent a long trip on a damn train that took them through different realities after all. Kitty might as well be the poster child for trans-reality traveling. Lockheed too.
“There’s a problem, needs to be fixed, maybe we fix it, maybe we don’t. Maybe we make it worse.” She winced thinking about that one. Lockheed nipped her ear, not to hurt, just to remind her that it wasn’t everyone’s normal, and truthfully it wasn’t exactly ‘normal’ for her. Not exactly.
“Sorry. I’m being rude. I haven’t be here, die Festung - German in different realities shouldn’t be that shocking, but it is - haven’t been here long. Just arrived. Been in New Troy? Think that’s what they called it. Wonder what Old Troy was.” She laughed softly.
----
So she had experience with alternate dimensions? That was... both handy and a little strange. Though just about everything here was strange, really. Especially the people who weren’t supposed to be here. Especially them.
Carlos knew that he, Harry, Molly and even Murphy probably seemed strange to most they met here too. Magic didn’t exist in some of the worlds, and it was very different in others.
His eyes narrowed at the mention of New Troy. He’d heard about what had been there at first.
“How do you like New Troy?” he asked, keeping his voice neutral.
Checking out the new management in the place was on the list of things to do, but a lot of things had kept him busy lately and he hadn’t quite gotten around to it yet.
----
“It’s...interesting.” Kitty really wasn’t sure what else to say. “Not sure I care for it, but it might suit some people’s fancies.” She had reasons not to like that place, as well as this Fortress. She’d spent a good part of her life living in a mansion or a castle, and this place was no fortress. It also bothered her how much she was reminded of Genosha. Lockheed nuzzled at her ear and in her hair trying to comfort her; the dragon got a soft scratch under the chin for it.
“It’s very masculine, if that makes any sense. I don’t know. Felt...” Kitty wasn’t overly empathic; she did give some telepaths a bit of problems on occasion, but that could simply be how very stubborn she could be. “Just felt in transition. Couple people were claiming the new guy over there wasn’t the boss of them or some such. Others were more than happy with the changes taking place.” She shrugged, smiling slightly.
“How do you like...here?”
----
Carlos didn’t smile at the question.
“As far as I can tell, it’s the lesser evil of the choices available to us.”
Maybe ‘evil’ was a strong word, maybe not.
“The leader here is taking care of us, but it’s pretty clear that she believes we’re the best way to help her people and that she doesn’t personally care about our wellbeing.”
He couldn’t say that wanting to put her people first in itself was a bad thing, but Belia seemed like a woman who had her own endgame and hadn’t bothered to let any of them in on that.
“I can’t speak to New Troy, but at least being in the city is safer than being out in the wilds. Have you spent much time outside of the city walls?”
Obviously she had traveled between the cities, so she must have spent at least some time in the wilds.
----
“I’ve heard there are things that even people who grew up here are afraid of. Then again, I’ve heard it’s our fault.” Kitty watched Carlos carefully; Lockheed nuzzled at Kitty’s hair before releasing her neck and flying off to settle on a grating somewhere to watch. He was keeping an eye out.
“I can see why they do. We’re different. We’re also getting dumped here the same time the big bad ugly things that are out there. Some of us are big bad ugly things simply because they don’t understand. I’m not saying it’s right, but I would expect that they see as others. Seeing people as others ends to make using them a little easier and getting rid of them just as easy too.” She shrugged.
“I haven’t seen much. Killer cats yeah. Uhm, I don’t know what you can do, not going to ask, but whatever you can do, did you have a problem with it when you ended up here?” Kitty had had problems in the past with her ability, so for all she knew it was something that was Kitty Pryde specific.
---
Carlos raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t sure why she wouldn’t ask what he could do, but he also took a few minutes to think about her question.
“No, but from what I’ve heard there are certain areas here that cancel out magic and any other sort of superhuman abilities. You might have stumbled into one of those dead zones. Haven’t heard much about killer cats though, but I’ve heard there’s quite a lot to watch out for outside.”
He’d run into some of the things to be worried about as well. He tilted his head and looked her over curiously.
“Have you come here to stay? Or are you just visiting?” he asked.
----
Kitty relaxed a little. Maybe it wasn’t her, but the idea that there were dead zones didn’t exactly make her overly happy either. Those could make phasing suicide. She shook her head slightly, pushing that thought from her mind for now. She had handled herself with the cats; she could handle anything else that came along. Or so she told herself.
“Well, they might have been upset that I just popped into their place. Feral cats can be nasty.” She gave him a slight smile.
“Oh, I don’t know. I’m just ...I want to get the feel for things before I decide. I made a promise to go back and help, so I probably won’t stay too long. I’d ask if you heard of people with any odd abilities, but you mentioned magic and superhuman abilities like it was nothing.” She laughed. “Either you’re really comfortable with this place, or you’ve dealt with one or both?”
-----
Carlos nodded. He could respect wanting to get a feel for everything before deciding where to stay. It’s what he would have done if Harry, Murphy, and Molly hadn’t already been here.
“Pretty much all of us who don’t belong here have something unique about us. Superman and Batman are here, as well as a few other wizards like myself and some hunters who might be human but are pretty good at what they do.”
That was just a small overview, but he wasn’t about to run down the list of absolutely everyone and every ability, nor did he have that full list.
----
Kitty blinked then laughed. Oh, she could handle the wizards; she’d lived sometime with a fairy and a man whose power was more mystical than scientific. She could handle that, but people called Batman and Superman? The dragon keeping lookout made a sound that seemed very much like chiding, as if he’d picked up on her thoughts, and Kitty’s nose wrinkled at it. Then again, who was she to question code names? She was Shadowcat, or Sprite.
“Batman shaped like a bat? And Superman, a Nietzsche fan?” She ignored the look she was getting from Lockheed. He was certainly giving her a look, even if it wasn’t obvious to people who’d never read dragon facial features.
“So,” she finally said to change subjects; she didn’t want to seem extremely rude. “We’re the lucky ones. Great. Just once I’d like to be caught in a situation like this with a packed bag. There’s only so long you can wear the same thing, even in dire straights.” She pushed back the cape to look down at the clothes underneath. She hadn’t given up her X-men uniform, the small X buckle glinting light for a moment.
----
Carlos tried not to stare in surprise. She didn't know who Batman and Superman were? It was only when she revealed the clothes underneath that the reason for that started to sink in.
"You're an X-man? Or X-woman, though I don't think that's what they're called. You're all X-Men, even the women, aren't you?"
There was a bit of a fanboyish grin on his face. He might not have had much experience reading comics, but he'd grown up with the cartoon. Of course, that was before his magic really set in and he started shorting out TVs and every other electronic thing in the vicinity.