i_hatethesea Jace in The City: Curious [OPEN]
This is when vampires rub the sleep out of their eyes; the laborer sits with a wife whining into his ear as he escapes into beer; the whore, affronted by mirrors, applies pomegranate-lipstick: with heavy eyelids, the sun slips away. Leaving the air in its industrial wake, the smell of oil, cars, and greed poignant.
He passed a sign stating The City Police Department. Interest was small, thin. The place did not look familiar. It reminded him of Palasch, somewhat. Though, there were no familiar scents or faces. There was, in reality, nobody around. Was he shaking? Of course not.
'Well, Jace. It's been nice.' Lusiphur had that same look when he had considered retiring. I couldn't help but smile, even though I felt somewhat nervous. 'Are you sure? I mean... There's so much more we could do.' Lusiphur had grinned at that, which was disturbing. I frowned, 'Not like I need you or anything, I just...' Luse held up a gloved hand, shaking his head slightly. 'Jace, I think I need some time alone.' 'Or to find a good lay,' I snickered. There was a moment of silence. He looked towards a place with buildings and promise; I looked at the desert, thinking of The Steps; Jola.
And now, Jace found himself in this predicament. Even though he was still the same tall blonde elf that ran from Widowmaker and dealt with Vido's scarred smile (as well as habits), Jace was strangely quiet. He found himself thinking of Lusiphur, again. That day. Jace snorted, stalking towards the area by the water: The Docks.
From: i_crackbone Date: 05/17/2006 20:51:46
Something like metal. Something like string. The darkness that swallowed the docks grew with each amplification of these things. Steel licked concrete. Smoke tasted air. Among this, Lusiphur stopped some feet away from Jace, the cold of blue finding him easily. Tape ensnared fingers removed the cigarette from his mouth, letting grey quiver before dissipating.
"Just wondering if you'd found the whore house yet." His tone was casual.
From: i_hatethesea Date: 05/17/2006 22:28:49
"Ho ... shit."
He saw in front of him a player of shadows; had the doppleganger come back to haunt him? But this time it was not the red-haired beauty with hollow eyes. It was Lusiphur. Jace was ready for a gory scene right out of Urban Gothic.
But there was not one ... yet.
The blonde elf remained quiet, taking few steps towards the other. Hand held outwards, Jace barely touched the shorter elf. His legs were jumpy-taut.
"What the ... Crow! Luse? Is it really you?"
From: i_crackbone Date: 05/17/2006 22:46:44
Lusiphur shrugged Jace's hand off with a snort. "Who the fuck else would I be?" He paused to put the cigarette back to his mouth, eyes narrowed. And now, from around the cigarette, "Wait a minute. What were you thinking just a minute ago when you were looking at me?" A practiced glare.
"By the way, Blondie. Don't even start ..." He took a breath, (and this is where you could tell Luse was about to go into one of his usual rants) and lifted his arms towards Jace, palms out. Anything to deprecate an idiot savant, such as Jace. "No, I don't know anything about this place or why you're here. I don't even know why the fuck I'm here. No, it's not Amrahly'nn."
The cigarette was back beween index and middle, smoke now coiling loosely about lengthy ears. "Also, there's some real freaks running around so ...." Luse trailed off, examining the death of his cigarette.
From: i_hatethesea Date: 05/17/2006 23:02:09
"Luse!"
It was a sigh of relief--not to mention the fact that Jace made the move to hug, but thought better of it. Clearing his throat, he ignored Luse's latter comment. Glancing towards the docks, Lusiphur's words started screaming in Jace's head.
"Not... Amrahly'nn? Hah..."
Again, there was that on-the-edge-of-sanity laughter which soon enough turned to panting, and then some. A drop to his knees. A growling-yell that would last for a moment, throat burning with consequence.
Silence.
"Where the hell do you get a beer and women around here, then?" Jace's eyes looked somewhat heavy.
From: i_crackbone Date: 05/17/2006 23:14:56
Luse winced. He waited patiently for Jace to finish, dropping his cigarette to the dirtied ground. A moment. Another moment. "Stop acting like such a pansy." The simple fact that Lusiphur hadn't taken out a gun and demanded Jace to shut up showed that he was maybe a little glad that Jace had shown up.
"Beer, women?" Lusiphur thought on it, blue eyes flicking towards the dank buildings behind them. "Well. There's always Wayne Manor." Of course that was a joke, but Luse would have paid to see Jace stumble up on their doorstep, asking for a bottle and a cheap screw. Well. Maybe not pay but . . .
"And no for the last time, it's not Amrahly'nn. They seem to like to be cryptic around here, so all I've heard is 'The City.'" Luse didn't bother to hide the smirk. "Oh and honestly, I don't think there are any good looking women here. Sorry Blondie, but welcome to my hell."
From: i_hatethesea Date: 05/17/2006 23:24:15
Jace made a mental note: Wayne Manor. He smiled to himself, his eyes sky-ward. The ambiguity and secrecy of The City made him think witchcraft, cults, x-files!
"Not Amrahly'nn..." Jace mouthed. He breathed in deeply, turning to Lusiphur. "I guess then, I don't have to ask for Jola's hand quite yet." He slinkered into his next random thought: "I was bored anyways. How long have you been here? Do you like it here, at all?"
He hadn't caught that last comment. Echoic.
"No good looking women? What? You've got to be fucking kidding me."
Jace felt like screaming again or crying for that matter.
From: i_crackbone Date: 05/17/2006 23:37:46
Luse was on the verge of ignoring all comments/questions/etc. In fact, at the moment he was thinking of vastly different matters, his mouth a slack line. And so, there was silence for at least a full thirty seconds. Silence is something that doesn't occur often when one is in the company of Jace. Then. ".... Oh. Uh. Yes. Wait." Lusiphur cleared his throat, digging for another cigarette.
"What did you say?" The cigarette remained unlit, precarious on the low of his lip. "Oh, wait. Okay. Uhm. Do I like it here? No. But there's no way to get out of the goddamned place. One day though. And women? No." He sniffed, looking once more to the lights, albeit dim, of the buildings behind them. "Look. I'm fucking cold. I have a place to stay. And we can actually stop by a place called, uh, get this, a CONVENIENCE STORE ... Isn't that genius?" Sarcasm was still stitched into each word. "And get some beer." Lusiphur turned to go, not checking if Jace was following.
From: i_hatethesea Date: 05/17/2006 23:44:26
The quietus brought images to Jace's mind. Another myriad of troubles, perhaps they'd actually get killed this time. Hah. His hands seemed to delve around his pockets, looking for something that wasn't there.
Then Luse spoke. Jace listened, grinning all the while. He would have interjected, but he waited knee-deep in question.
"A place to stay? Is it cozy? Nice? Or rat-infested? You better have something comfy for me to sleep on. My back has been killing me lately. Oh. I didn't tell you. You know that idiot ..."
His voice alone trailed off, as they made their way to the infamous, unheard of, notorious convenience store.