Participants:
| Scene Title | You're Such a Pessimist |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Discussion of the band…no P-Diddy involved |
The night's passed, and David sits, still, butt of his spear planted, eyes on the Spire, unmoving, unblinking. Every once in awhile, he draws in a breath, lets it out. Otherwise, he simply…watches.
Outside the Terra Incognita, it's obvious that people are just walking around as if nothing has happened. The yellow police tape keeps people away from Times Square and there are no more tourists around. However, one person does pass through the yellow tape and stretches her arms into the air. It's Maia dressed casually in a pair of snug fitting jeans, her Julliard hoodie and some comfortable looking sneakers. She brings with her a duffelbag and yawns as she spies David. "Oooookay..it's my shift."
Eyes blink, slowly, wetting dry surfaces before he cranes his head to peer at the girl. "You stretch a lot," he observes. "Is it a conscious way to make men notice your breasts, or just something a woman does without thinking about it?" With the presence of another here, he seems to…relax, a bit, let tension flow out of muscles, lean on his spear a little more.
"Got out of a boring but required history class. And I'm trying to be limber in case anything comes out of the giant phallic turd from the ground.." she says matter of factly, setting her things down as she flops down on a bit of rubble from before as she looks up and examines the spires once more.
"You do it all the time. At least two or three times, every time I've been around you." His head tilts, lips pursed, and seems to be pondering something, but eventually he simply pushes himself to his feet, moves over, and drops down onto the piece of rubble next to her. "I don't know what we're going to do."
"Go inside, kick some ass, take names, make our parents proud and probably die a martyr's death?" Maia raises her brows as she looks towards the structure once more, wrinkling her nose before she looks down towards her ring, now with two tomoe instead of just one. The icy blue contrasts with the bright red and it looks like a yin-yang ish symbol. "So have you figured out what your father gave you yet? I have no idea what this does.."
"I haven't even looked at it. More than likely, he's granted me the -priviledge- of learning some trick he does. But I'm not interested in tricks." Reaching into his pocket, he fishes out the amulet - without so much as a galnce, he holds it out to Maia for inspection. "I don't want us to go inside. Haldor and I? We'll live. We're tough enough that we could at least survive long enough to run. You? Jolie? Rupert? You'd die. And there'd be nothing we could do."
"You guys still need back up. Jolie has her zombies. Rupert..he probably shouldnt go inside.." she admits ruefully, wrinkling her nose as she looks out towards the amulet, looking at it a bit before raising her brows. "Want me to ask what it does?" Oh there's an idea. "I tried asking mine what it does..it just said I'll know when it's time..laaaaame.."
"If you want." He lets out a huff of breath, a frustrated exhalation that slumps his shoulders. "I…I just thought we were doing so well. And we had been failing. Failing -utterly-. They won. They've got thisf oothold and there's nothing we can do except go inside and get killed."
"Don't beat yourself up about it.." Maia says softly as she continues to examine the object. "They have someone else on their side. And think about it..if all of them can put their power together to capture the three Fates? Imagine what we could all do if ya know..you stopped being an ass to people, Rupert stopped not caring, Haldor learned a bit more about his abilities and Jolie got in some combat training. Remember, the people who caused this whole mess were just like us too..we faced Mordred and them. We almost defeated them.."
"And a demigod. A demigod who has enough physical oomph to go up against me in physical combat and walk away after I pour enough raw force onto him to kill Haldor or Mordred a dozen times over - to walk away -laughing-. A demigod who probably isn't even primarily a physical combatant, who's probably their head sorcerer. There's a big difference between us and that kind of firepower. If he were just a physical threat, I could fight him. But this?" His hand gestures toward the Spire. "Sure, if it came down to it, us against Mordred, Colm, the Witch in White? We could take them. But against a demigod who can do -this-? I'm a fighter, a soldier. The one best suited to lead us is Rupert, and he doesn't care enough to give up boozing and fucking. Your Haldor may be pretty, and strong, but he's -slow-. Slow of wit as well as body. And you're inexperienced, -young-. Jolie couldn't command unless we were all dead. One of us needs to step up and be a leader before we can oppose them. We need to be drawn together, and Rupert, our best chance, is a drug-addled wine-soaked coward. I can't follow someone who refuses to do what he would expect others to."
"You know…you're right. All of us as we are now cant face someone like that. But even the fates said so themselves. All of them worked together to do this. That one demigod didnt do this. All of them working together did. That means there's Mordred, Colm, the White Witch, the demigod, the firebug that the others encountered, the Mitsurigi, and the demigod. And also..they apparently had a giant helping them..all of them together did this. It wasnt just one person.." she says firmly and resolutely as she wrinkles her nose while running her fingers through her hair once more. "But people change…hopefully for the better, and that means Rupert might actually step up. That means Jolie would become a badass mambo. Haldor would learn more about what's going on. And I'll become more experienced.."
"And until we all do? We're fucked, and so is the world. And as much as I say 'I'll take first watch', I know that what I mean is, 'I'll watch the Spire until we're ready to go inside and destroy it, because none of you are equipped to handle what might come out of it'." Closing his eyes, David leans forward until his forehead rests against the haft of his spear. "I was supposed to have my first dress rehearsal for my first Broadway show last night."
"Don't underestimate us. We all have our own little tricks up our sleeves.." Maia says with a bright smile as she pours and frowns a little. "I'm sorry..you really should take care of your regular duties as well..there are more of us. You're not just doing this on your own."
"No. That's my point. Rupert is -wrong-. This was more important. I left the rehearsal to save lives, and ended up saving the world. His way, and he wouldn't have an audience to play to." His head turns, eyes open, fix on Maia's. "The six shadow warriors who attacked us. What would happen if another six came on you when I left? Another doen? For me, they'd be a half-minute's distraction. Probably less. For you, they'd mean death. Maybe even for Haldor, and he's the strongest of us, after me. This is -war-, and none of you are prepared for war, not like this. So, no. I can't attend to my mortal life. And no, I can't let any of you stand guard for me. Whatever the rest of you are planning that doesn't involve fighting directly? You'd just better do it before I have to sleep."
"We stopped the Dark Hour from affecting the entire world. That's a pretty good accomplishment. See, just like the others working together can try to destroy it, us working together saved it. So in the end, I don't think we're not capable..I think we are. We just need to work together. So..you are not going to do this yourself.." she says, unzipping her bag as she pulls out some goodies like potato chips, soda, energy drinks and all other sorts of things. "So eat up, and don't tired yourself out, cause if you die, I'm going to hate you forever."
"You will already hate me forever," he says, dourly, "Because I won't shave and I'm ugly and I don't like to have my father disrespected. You'll hate me for poitning out your childishness and your prejudices and reflecting them. Just as Rupert will hate me for pointing out that he needs to find courage and dedication, and Haldor will hate me for pointing out that his wits are slow. they say I do not understand the role of the Trickster, but they're wrong. The role of the Trickster is to make others see their flaws, so that they may remedy them. We are never beloved by those we help." Taking a can of Red Bull, he drains it quickly in a few large gulps, then thoughtfully bites off a ragged chunk fo the aluminum, chews, swallows.
"Meh..I know how I am. I know I have to fix it. You calling it out just reminds me I have to fix it.." she says with another dismissive wave, picking out a bag of chips as she opens it and starts munching. "But I noticed you left Jolie out there..you sweet on her now?" she asks teasingly.
"Jolie is not afraid of combat. Her minions are capable of swarming and defeating a more able foe than any single one of them, and she has skill that we need to counter the necromancers the Titanspawn has." A pause, as he thinks,f ro a moment. "And I haven't seene nough of her to find her flaws, yet. I will. And I will attack them. And she won't want to give me a good luck kiss afterward. And that will be that. I suspect kissing you was as close as I'll get to romance before we all die horribly saving the world, and you seemed unimpressed, so apparently the world does not lose much in that department when I go."
"You werent a bad kisser.." Maia admits ruefully, her cheeks flushed a bright tinge of red. "I just find you repugnant in every other fashion.." Hey, at least she's honest.
"Because you are shallow and utterly fixated on appearances and societal norms," he observes. "You like Haldor because he is the image of propriety. He fits perfectly into expectations. He's big, well-muscled, and thus he is a strong fighter. He's brave and just, and so he's handsome. Being a big, strong, handsome warrior, of course he also has the wit of a stone. All these are to be expected, do not surprise you or challenge your assumptions based on the stories you've read from inside the walls of your temple. And so you are attracted to him, Maia, because he is a pillar of the normal and the expected in a World that is never anything much like the legends they'll sing about us in a thousand years. If there's a World in a thousand years to sing legends in. I, on the other hand, am not at all what one would expect of a hero. I am compact and wirey, but much stronger than Haldor. I'm a valorous, brave, just fighter - but I am not handsome and do not dress as a brave warrior should. I am big, strong, brave - but my mind is also sharp, and so is my wit. And that mind and wit do not agree with yours, nor does the way I act agree with -either- of our society's visions of the valiant fighter. I am arrogant where one should be humble, I am brash where one should be cautious, disrespectful when one should bow. But I'm also -right-. And so you find me repugnant because I challenge what you think you know. You recoil from it."
"In other words, you're an ass." Maia says completely dead pan as she shrugs her shoulders as she munches on her chips once more.
"An ass who is -right-," he adds. "An ass who is an ass because it is his duty to be one. You think I -couldn't- be charming if I wanted to? You think it wouldn't be -easier- to be charming? That it wouldn't be more -personally- satisfying to have swept you off your feet with untruths, to look as the world expects a man like me to look, to act as I'm expected toa ct, to use my wit to make others smile for me rather than scowl? It's my -duty-. And I do my duty. So that others do not have to." The last of the aluminum can is devoured, thoughtfully, carefully chewing on the jagged, sharp metal.
"No, an ass who is caught up in his own hubris to realize that he might be wrong. An ass who doesnt realize that you can point out other people's flaws in a much nicer fashion and actually have them improve themselves instead of alienating them. An ass who is so full of himself that he thinks everything he does is what's right because he cant get his own head out of his butt to realize that people just might be different than he thinks they are. You're as shallow and selfish as I am. YOu never once tried to get to know any of us more than a superficial level where you immediately judge us based on what you perceive. No, you're not that different from the rest of us. Your biggest flaw is your own self-righteousness.." she says with a big of a huff.
"Tell me, then, Maia. How are you different from what I've said? Refute my points about you. Prove me wrong." He turns, hand taking hold of his spear once again to push him up straighter. "I am arrogant, self-righteous, caustic. But I'm not wrong."
"I don't have anything to prove to you. I know who I am and I know I'm not as shallow as you make me out to be.." she says with another huff as she rolls her eyes and shakes her head alittle, just munching on her chips in the end.
"You -think- that I am wrong and that you are not as shallow as I make you out to be, but you -fear- that I am right and that you are. And you cannot discount a word I've said because it is all true." His brows tug downward, pressing together, screwing his forehead up into a mass of wrinkles. "If you cannot admit your flaws, how willy ou alleviate them?"
"I didnt say you werent wrong about me. I know my fault. But you don't get to know any of us. nstead you just keep yourself distant and scathing. It's annoying.." she grumbles under her breath sighing once more.
"What? You want to be -closer-? That flies in the face of everything you've said and done. I tried to come to you, to apologize, after the lindwurm. I tried again, in your apartment. I tried to offer you the truth, and you sent me away. I lowered my guard, and you took the opportunity to slip a blade into me. Blame me if you wish, Maia. But one does learn trust when one is reviled in his armor and attacked when he strips it offlet the other see past the acid and the ugliness."
"I was still pissed off. What you did was out of malice. So of course I didnt want to talk to you. But now I've put that behind me, and what I'm seeing you're doing is only going to tear a rift between all of us. Look at what happened yesterday. You admitted yourself Rupee has the best chance of leading us, yet you made him so pissed off that he left." she says firmly and resolutely.
"No, he was leaving already. I made him so pissed off that maybe, if he's -wrothy- to lead us, he'll think about w-hy- he's pissed off. If he's not worthy ot lead us, he'll just leave, and either someone else will take his place, or we'll all die." Eyes turn back to the Spire, he fills his lungs, sighs outward hard. "I fear the second is more likely."
"You're much too pessimistic.." she says with a shake of her head, sighing once more as she looks towards the spire. The groans and screeches of the titanspawn inside can still be heard and she lays back against the rubble and just looks up.
"When the world is ending, Maia, pessimism is called 'rational thinking'. If Rupert pulls through, I'll be pleasantly surprised, that's all."
"The world isnt ending. We stopped it!" she chirps merrily, seeing the other side of things. Cause well, they did after all. "People are just TRYING to end the world."
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