001. everything is beautiful and nothing hurts.

[rudolphofvamps]

Phone.
[Spike sounds oddly manic, not that you would know it was odd for him.]

I guess this is like a conference call, huh? So who's on the other end. [a few crickets...] Not sure what to make of all this, but. Haven't seen a phone like this since--[sudden throat clearing]

What do you lot do around here? Go to the drive-in with your steadies and buy big league chew at the game with your pop? It's all just a little [frightening?] too good to be true.

[muttering] Still not sure I'm not dreaming this up. [Or you know, still in a basement losing his mind.]


Action for 1448 Mitchell Road.
[Oh, Krillin, where are you? He'll only be terrified to see you.

He doesn't even know there's anyone else in the house, going to pour himself a bowl of cereal and ruffling up his hair. It feels bizarre and not at all right that his growling stomach actually wants human food.

But it feels good, too.]

Open Action.
[Spike is walking down Mitchell Road, but feel free to meet him anywhere he'll be walking a while. In slacks and a plain blue sweater, he's just, meandering, hands in his pockets as he tries not to feel the remnants of sunlight beat down on his back. It's so strange and wonderful to feel it and yet, what did he do to deserve it. Is this a new kind of Hell dimension where they torture you with kindness.

And then he bumps into you because--without vampire senses he's really the clumsiest person you've ever met. Actually, he's not that smooth with them either.] --Sorry. [Just make nice with the locals until you get the skinny, he keeps telling himself. Easier said than bloody done. This place was Stepford creepy and twice as annoying.]

Comments

[rudolphofvamps.livejournal.com]

Right. Mind if I tag along?

[midgardserpent]

[He stares at Spike during a moment's indecision. He doesn't particularly like people tagging along. But he's got no destination in mind and no plans and who knows maybe this one won't be as annoying as the other one who's been overly familiar lately.

He shrugs again.]

No.

[rudolphofvamps.livejournal.com]

Right then. [And following Like a following thing. It's one of Spike's better skills.] How long've you been around here, mate?

[midgardserpent]

[He meanders down the road. He really has no clue where he's going. He's just going.

And the question catches him off guard. He had never really had a need for timekeeping before, but now that he was here, and in human form... he had noticed the timekeeping and had sort of gotten the hang of it by now. It still took him a moment to figure out how long he had actually been here.]

...Two monthss.

[And he was probably never going to get the hang of that t sound. He hated it.]

[rudolphofvamps.livejournal.com]

Seems like two months'd take forever, place like this.

[midgardserpent]

[You have no idea, Spike. It's not just that he's been here two months, it's that he's been here two months stuck in a tiny puny pathetic mortal body, forced to learn how to speak and communicate, put in a pointless job that means nothing, put in a house full of incessantly irritating drones, it's that his seemingly endless reserve of patience is about to be worn through, it's that he's traded one prison for another through no choice of his own, surrounded by humans who think their lives are somehow important and meaningful and don't understand the meaning of eternity, that they mean nothing at the end of times.

Jormungandr understands eternity. He understands forever. He knows what forever feels like.

And two months, yes, two short, insignificant little months, they have felt like forever.

He's silent, as all this runs through his head. And, because he is incapable and unwilling to articulate it, he simply responds with one word laden with the endless frustration that has become his life.]

Yess.

[rudolphofvamps.livejournal.com]

[Spike can only look sympathetic. He still doesn't know what it means to be human, and somehow, he thinks Jormungandr might just get it. he runs a hand over his hair, sighing.]

Hell, I've only been here a few hours and it feels that way.

[midgardserpent]

[Jormungandr glances over at Spike for a moment then nods. His first few hours here are still vivid in his memory, since, you know, he had to figure out how to walk.]

[rudolphofvamps.livejournal.com]

So, what? There's gotta be something more to this place than playing Stepford husband.

[midgardserpent]

[Oh, so he's supposed to explain this town to this guy? He can't. Not with the way he talks. Might as well start with the simple answer for now.]

...yess.

[rudolphofvamps.livejournal.com]

[It's not like Spike pays enough attention to listen to some long winded speech. That means you're stuck with him, son.]

You're quite the social butterfly, you know. You could be on TV. [And he was entertaining Spike to boot. He let a pause lapse a second before,] Oy, mate, you know where I could get some smokes?

[With his new human biology, he felt...actually compelled to smoke out of more than just nerves or habit. It was definitely odd.]

[midgardserpent]

[Jormungandr rolls his eyes.

Smokes... those are the things the drone men are always burning and inhaling, right? The cigarettes. He thinks he knows where you can get those. He's seen them in town. He shrugs and nods and starts heading off in the direction of downtown.]

[rudolphofvamps.livejournal.com]

[Most people have this reaction to Spike, but he's quickly following, unphased.]

You're not so bad, you know, Joe.

[midgardserpent]

[He stops for a moment and turns and just looks at Spike.

Joe?

Really?]

[rudolphofvamps.livejournal.com]

[Kanye shrug] You don't like it? What about Jose?

[midgardserpent]

[Jormungandr staaaaares.

This guy really isn't going to bother with his name, is he.

Wonderful.

You know what? Fine. Most of the people in this town don't even know who he is, so why get upset if one or two of them don't even bother with his name?

He shakes his head in annoyance and keeps walking.]

[rudolphofvamps.livejournal.com]

[He only grins, staying silent for the moment as they walk. Annoying people is what he do best.]

[midgardserpent]

[Well at least he's being quiet now. In any case, they reach downtown and Jormungandr leads Spike to the General Store. Jormungandr's noticed it's basically where people go to get... almost everything. They'll have cigarettes here.]

[rudolphofvamps.livejournal.com]

[Spike wonders if he even has any money in his pockets. Normally he'd just nick them but first impressions and all. Pulling out a few dollars, he remembers that this is the 1950s and fags are hella cheap ]

I take it you don't smoke. [he says, by way of striking back up the conversation as they leave the store. Spike can't help a light sigh of content as the smoke hits his lungs.] Everyone did this time, you know. Before the hypochondriacs crawled out of their caves.

[midgardserpent]

[Jormungandr's noticed that nearly every single one of the drones smokes. He doesn't like it, the smell is strange and just... feels toxic to him. He shakes his head. The only reason he'd consider doing it is for the comfort of having something in his mouth. After all, he's spent a very, very long time completely encircling the globe and holding his own tail in his mouth. It's... rather strange to not have to do that.

But in any case, no, he's not planning on smoking any time soon. He's not going to think any less of Spike for smoking, though. Although finding a way to think less of Spike would be something of an achievement at this point. Jormungandr doesn't think very much of humans to begin with.]

[rudolphofvamps.livejournal.com]

Go ahead and take that as a no. [It obviously doesn't bother him that he's basically talking to himself over here, but he can't help poking a little fun all the same.] Bloke could get an ego, talking to you.

[midgardserpent]

[Yeah, whatever. He's not the only one in this town who doesn't talk. There was that other girl... though he hasn't run into her in a while. It doesn't matter. He doesn't see why everyone has to talk so much, it's just noise and doesn't mean anything half the time.]

[rudolphofvamps.livejournal.com]

Talking's overrated anyway, hey. The world's about more than cheap talk.

Or maybe this place isn't. Haven't figured it out yet, myself. [He shoots JOE a sideways glance.] Sure I will though, come time.

[midgardserpent]

[He shrugs again. To be honest he hasn't really figured it out much himself either. There's a lot going on here that he doesn't know about.]

Long time to learn.

[rudolphofvamps.livejournal.com]

Could be here a long time. And if I'm not it doesn't much matter if I go home half-educated. [If he even gets to go "home" after this.]