asgardeventide | 005 - Video (Accidentally not private to Gamzee)

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005 - Video (Accidentally not private to Gamzee)

[It's about two hours after Samantha met Gamzee for the first time. She's got a splitting headache and a nasty snarl on her face as she's holding an ice pack to her head. Her original intent in setting this post up is to make this a private post to the troll, but either because of that splitting headache, the fact that she's not 100% sure which is his account or just being in an angry rush, she's not getting the privacy thing quite right. So everyone gets to hear her cuss that looks at the video.]

Hey! Gamzee!

Round one, you dumbass, troglodyte clown. You win round one. The next time you try to wang me over the head, you bloody well swing better than a gimp chimpanzee or you're going to regret it. You hear me, motherfucker? I'm going to find you one of these days and re-arrange that ugly little face of yours until you can't recognize it in a mirror.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

My miraculous ability to make friends and win people over to my way of thinking continues to amaze even me. I'm just impressive that way, you know? Sounds like you've found a way to keep yourself busy. Me, I've got apothecary stuff over at the clinic and I'm still mapping the town. It's getting me pretty much what I need.

[She finally took a sip and breathed out. Another drag and the air took on a perfumed sort of smell around them. Any hint of sulfur faded, which was of course the point.]

[OK, he couldn't help chuckling just a little at that first part.]

I see. You ought to write a book about that. The sequel to 'How to win friends and influencve people'. Though, it's good to know the apothecary stuff and the mapping are keeping you busy. How's working for Doctor Watson? I like him a lot - he's really helped me out in my time here.

"How to piss people off and enrage clowns?" Yeah, I think I could write a book like that no problem.

[Yeah, that got a snort of a laugh and a shrug.]

He's a pleasant fellow, and he gives me the leeway to do what I have to. You stop by his office now and again, don't you? He's ... definitely good at what he did.

[Not gonna say anything...]

That title just has 'New York Times Best Seller' written all over it. If you need an editor, just let me know?

[He chuckled again and drank more of his coffee.]

Yeah, I can imagine so long as you were getting done what needed to be done, he'd be a fairly easy guy to work for. I stop in fairly often. You probably have at least SOME idea why.

[His smile became slightly wry. There was little point dancing around it by this point and she'd worked there long enough that his prescription had been refilled at least once under her watch.]

... No, I know exactly what some of that's about. Not enough I could fill in the blanks completely, but enough that I have a good idea you don't like anything dealing with matters of the heart. [For different reasons, of course. She shouldn't be laughing, but that pun had a dark chuckle in her throat.]

You're young to be screwing with that shit. Doesn't the healing magic around here help at least a little?

Heh... matters of the heart? Yeah, you could put it that way.

[His own chuckle was less dark, more dry.]

Unfortunately no - My condition is like... a mechanical defect more than anything that can be healed. It won't exactly get better over time or anything, but the medication and exercise and good diet help manage it. Only had one minor incident since arriving so that's actually a pretty long stretch of good luck so far.

Yeah. I guess that makes sense. It's not something I've really encountered too much in my life, but I was pretty limited in my experiences until about a year and a half or so ago. At least you haven't had too many problems one way or another.

So, if you don't mind me asking a stupid question. Why the hell you hanging around me? It's not exactly as if my life's prone to being boring and quiet, you know.

And I'm supposed to enjoy boring and quiet just because I have a heart condition?

[He asked it with a wry smile and a quirked brow - there was no confrontation in his tone.]

If you want to know, it's just because you seem cool and I enjoy talking to you. That's pretty much it. I'd like us to be friends. And so far I haven't been hit with any boulders or bitten by any clowns, so, we're in good shape thus far.

Yeah, because I heard clownism was infectious once upon a time. [The only episode of ATHF she ever watched. Most days, she was grateful she didn't grow up with a TV.]

I'm not really good at this whole friend thing, just so you know Hisao. I lived with my mom all my life, and I haven't held onto a friend long before I've ended up hurting them. It's... awkward to have people ask. I've given up trying to stop people, since everyone around here either has the sense to stay away or they're just dense about it, but you should know I'm not really sure how to be a friend, other than having someone's back.

...

And I'm not asking the Neighbor's Club. They're nucking futs.

Maybe the neighbors club was bitten by clowns? Actually, they seem OK. Just... really, really exuberantly awkward.

But, I mean, there isn't any special skillset required for being friends. It's just... well, this. Being able to sit around and have coffee and chat about stuff every so often. And maybe you're right and maybe I'm dense and I wind up getting hurt at some point. That doesn't mean it's a bad idea. It just has some risks attached, but most firendships do in one way or another.

Some? You, sir, have a knack for understatement. But, I'll give. It's not like I haven't traveled with some people who weren't dangerous in their own ways.

I've been told before that euphimisms are one of my trademarks. There are worse things to be defined by, I guess. I'm sorry to dissapoint but being my friend isn't really dangerous or exciting so, don't compare me too harshly with your old travelling partners.

My old travelling partners are usually more trouble than they're worth. A few of them damned near got me into some serious trouble at times. I could use a friend or two that avoid that sort of over-the-top nonsense if I'm being really honest.

Don't need to go traipsing down to hell's gates to bargain with Charon for someone's soul again, now do I?

I can with all earnestness swear I would never ask you to do anything like that!

[He chuckles into his coffee, taking another sip.]

It sounds like an interesting story, though.

Less than you'd think. It involved two gold drachma. Nothing more complicated than that. He'd never been paid a toll properly before for me, so I think he appreciated someone actually taking the time to pay him for once. The bastard rarely gets that much respect from much of anyone in the underworld.

Wow! I mean, where I'm from, Charon and the river Styx are known as Greek myths. The fact that you can talk about them being real so casually is kind of amazing. I guess if the toll wasn't paid, the soul is left to wander the banks and catacombs there for a hundred years, right? That's how the story goes in my world, at least.

They're myths in my world too. Charon's kind of an asshole, actually. Understandably so, but still an asshole. The toll... was a little complicated actually.

You see, it was my toll. Not hers.

[She took a long sip of her coffee, not looking at him.]

Yeah, I mean, I can't imagine there being a lot of job satisfaction in what he does, you know?

...wait, your toll? Yikes. I'm sorry to hear that.

Sorry, it's not ... quite like that. My father had been cheating him out of my toll several times. Every time I died and he took my soul directly and then returned me, the ferryman wasn't given his due. Actually paying him... was enough, with the right apology.

It's not that I paid the toll that's the problem. It's that there was any reason to cheat Charon in the first place. People ... shouldn't have to die more than once.

...oh wow. That's...

[He really had nothing to compare that to. At all.]

No, they shouldn't. That sounds like a lot to go through. Um. If you want to change topics, I'm good with that - I don't want to pry or anything.

[Frankly, he was curious as all hell but considering how much he hated talking about his one little didn't-quite-kill-him heart attack? Actually dying and being brought back multiple times had to be way, way worse.]

The cat's out of the bag. I've died before, a few times. You can ask, Hisao but I'm not really sure I want to tell you how I've died. That's not really pleasant. But there's a reason I don't like some of the aspects of this place.

It's making other people face what I consider torture.

Oh, geeze, no - I wasn't going to ask for any specifics about That. I mean, that would be more than a little morbid. I guess my main set of queries is to do with your world's Pantheon. I know a little bit about the Greek Pantheon from reading the Iliad and the Odyssey.

But I know what you mean about the torture thing - I already told you what happened to Hanako. The friend who has a fear of being touched who wound up having to hug a lot of people.

Well, you should... be aware that Charon's a name that isn't only known in pagan circles. There's a reason he got put into Dante's Inferno. The drachma were just old rules, reflections of the truth. Then again, he might have been running the ferry business for Tartarus along with the hell I knew. That was a little on the tough side to understand, honestly.

I... can understand the fear of being touched. I saw a picture of her. Those... burn marks didn't come the easy way I am betting.

Sure. I can understand it would be hard to figure out - It's not something mortals are generally privvy to, to begin with.

...and yeah. I mean, without going into any specifics, because it's not my place to do so, her life has been pretty hard. Just accepting me as a friend took a while and a lot of effort on her part. But to be honest, how she is here and how she was back home is... it's like night and day. Back home she could barely speak a sentence to anyone. Now, she has a lot of friends and she's involved in so many things.

[He smiled into his coffee cup.]

Maybe this place has been good for her, at least a little. I'm not entirely sure it's going to be so simple for me, though it doesn't sound like any of that was really simple. But yeah, this isn't the sort of thing mortals were supposed to know about much. Family business just gave me insider knowledge.

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