Downtime

Sep 25th, 2015 09:11 AM

"On occasion, yea. Who doesn't miss home?" he said with a shrug.

"Think nothing of it." Very much at ease someone was curious about him for a change, Ermac was happy to share. "I had thought of packing up and leaving when the Consilium was up in arms over the Charter. I was expecting death threats given how loud people were."

The Obrimos smiled briefly, recalling his conversation with Nous at the Duel. "Except, each night, before I went to bed, I looked in the mirror and said, "Tomorrow is another day to make things right. Just like any storm, don't panic, find shelter, protect yourself, and ride it out. The sun will come back from behind the clouds."

**Avis** · Sep 27th, 2015 03:08 AM

"But you don't run from all Storms, do you Ermac?" Avis returned, a sable brow twitching upward.

"You said that you Awakened form a lightning strike. That means you don't always try and ride it out, doesn't it? Or is it more complicated than that?"

Maybe his shelter hadn't held up. Maybe he'd seen someone in danger, and run out to try and help. Maybe it was something else entirely. Regardless, Avis could sense a connection between the moment the Obrimos had flung his soul across the Universe and the metaphor he used. Maybe that was obvious to any of the Awakened, but that would then change the meaning of the little prayer he'd said to his reflection every night.

Sep 27th, 2015 12:01 PM

"I don't run from Storms," he said with a half smile, "I recognize that I can't always hide in the shelter and simply hope for the best. Two hands at work accomplish more than a thousand clasped together in prayer."

"So, I step outside and face the elements at the height of their fury. I know that I risk being struck." He shrugged, "Life is not worth living if all you're doing is just existing inside a bubble."

**Avis** · Sep 28th, 2015 01:20 AM

"Well said. But that means you're gonna have to help me pierce the bubble we're sittin' in right now. Sanctum is home and all, but once you lock the doors you're not just keeping other things out. You're also keeping yourself in. Keeping yourself confined. Voluntarily, sure, but that doesn't mean it's a good thing. So let's go do something," Avis prompted, rising from her seat.

"You ever tag something?" she asked, nudging his arm. "Ya know, proclaim an idea in pigment for the whole world to see? Let's go scout out a place. Maybe dream up the idea for some stencils on the way. Or we could just wing it." Her shoulders rose and fell in a lazy shrug beneath the grey cotton hoody.

Sep 28th, 2015 06:24 PM

It appeared to Ermac that Avis and he were of similar schools of thought. The Warlock suggesting to go outside and asking about him tagging raised a grin, "It's a been years since I did that," he chuckled. "The scene in Lawrence was rather boring. I'm happy to tag along." Yep, he dropped a pun.

"Got any places you know of that we're okay for?"

**Avis** · Oct 1st, 2015 12:29 AM

A small snerk greeted the pun.

"Yeah, there's a place downtown. Old warehouse that burned down. No roof, a few people squatting there. The inside is basically covered in graffiti, so I figure it's safe to add to. It's just, ya know, communal art at that point," she explained.

"Any taggers that are there will probably clear out when we show up, so I don't think it'll matter even when we do cover up someone else's work. Not that we have, necessarily, but it could be fun. Ya know, start a conversation, maybe. Make it a regular thing. Oh, do you mind driving, though? We'll have to stop and get paint first."

Oct 1st, 2015 03:29 PM

The plan sounded fair enough him. He nodded. "Sure thing," Ermac reached into his pocket for his keys, "Let's roll."

Heading out of the Sanctum with Avis, Ermac walks over to his car. An ordinary dark blue four door sedan. It was a functional vehicle. A ring from the suction cup of the GPS mount was visible on the windshield.

Unlocking the passenger door for the Mastigos, then heading around front to the driver side, he hopped in. Buckling in and turning over the engine, he asked "Any preferences? Home Depot? Lowes? Local shops?"

**Avis** · Oct 2nd, 2015 06:47 PM

"You choose. Just, ya know, on the way tell me something more about yourself. Or ask me a question. Obviously we can't get to know each other in a day, but nothing happens if we don't make the effort. 'Cause, don't take this wrong way, but I get the distinct impression that you're too used to hiding yourself," Avis commented as she climbed into the car, and, with a flickering frown, buckled her seat belt.

She hated having to strap herself down every time she climbed into a car. Like, the goal of getting into a vehicle was to go places, to move, but in order to actually do that you had to get inside a steel cage and tie yourself down. Immobilize yourself just in case all that momentum you wanted suddenly tried to throw you through the windshield.

Oct 3rd, 2015 11:39 AM

He had to give Avis credit, she was better at reading him than any of the Awakened in Sacramento. "Too used to hiding myself," he repeated to the Mastigos. The Obrimos then commented, "That's a very astute observation." Ermac retrieved the GPS and mount for the device, assembled the two and stuck it in place on the windshield.

Waiting for the GPS to load up, turning to face Avis, confessing the truth, "You're correct. I don't talk about myself very much."

With the display active, he searched for the nearest hardware store, Hollywood Hardware being the closest. Driving off onto 5th Street, "It really shouldn't be much of a surprise, given how sharp your intuition is." Hands turned on the wheel, rounding a corner, "Growing up in a small city wasn't a great experience. Mostly everyone got to know everyone in the neighborhood. And those same people clustered in cliques. I was the perpetual outsider."

**Avis** · Oct 4th, 2015 06:38 PM

"Well, I don't know about astute," Avis muttered as they began to hurtle forward, propelled by controlled explosions, cage fire. Her left hand gripped the synthetic fibers of her seat belt tight, hovering close to the button release.

"I think it's moreso that I get it. Like, I understand it because I'm similar, in some ways. I mean, I'm used to using giving false information to hide myself rather than omitting things, but it's still hiding. Plus, I know what it's like to feel like an outsider. To feel like you're some, I don't know, alien thing. Always being watched, and judged, and kept separate. Always kept separate..."

Her words trailed off, the sound of tires rolling over concrete filling the air around them as her mind wandered back down corridors of thought that had been tread too many times, in fitful sleep and blackened daydreams...

"What was your family like?" she asked, suddenly, breaking the train of thought and the silence that accompanied it. "And your school? You don't have to name names, but just...what was an average day like?"

Downtime

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