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Post by newleaf on Nov 17, 2011 20:42:27 GMT -5
Oilcan looked around taking n the atmosphere, looking over the other customers. He was tempted to call Tinker and give her the thumbs up, but he better wait until after the meeting. Just in case. He took another slow sip of the beer. Good stuff. He might come in here himself from time to time... except he wasn't sure he could handle the wierdness factor. Having the sight was bad enough... having the sight in a room full of... of.... chosen? and white demons, or part white demons or whatever was .. interesting. He looked around again. Not everyone was ... strange? chosen? whatever... but a lot were. None quite like Tinker - he had never met anyone quite like his sister, which wasn't so unexpected. Neither had anyone at the church, or the commune, or there weren't even mentions of anything like her in the "Catalogue of Demons and Chosen". Of course, there were werewolf stories, but she didn't exactly qualify on that front either. Whatever she was, this place would be good for her. Once he was sure it was really and truly safe.
He took another sip of beer and felt some of the tension go out of him. Smiling, he picked up his phone nd erased the text. Sometimes, a bluff is just as good as a chain. Or better. Looked like he was going to get out of this without even bruising his knuckles.
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Post by Lea on Nov 17, 2011 20:47:26 GMT -5
Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye in this place; Lea hung up his dishtowel, delivered the last customer's order, and was walking towards Oilcan's location when he saw a distinctive orange hairstyle making its way through the crowd.
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Post by Neku Sakuraba on Nov 17, 2011 20:48:58 GMT -5
I walked in, summoned by Lea's text.
Okay, so I'm not just 'a Watcher', but since there didn't seem to be any other Watchers in this town - something to fix, I mentally noted myself - I was just gonna have to do.
That's when I saw the guy Lea was standing next to, and an eyebrow went up.
"....oh. It's you."
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Post by newleaf on Nov 17, 2011 20:51:43 GMT -5
Oilcan looks back at Neku the stood up slowly, the intimidation factor jumping a bit. "You got a problem with me?"
He recognized the kid from the meeting with the part demoness at the junker, but he hadn't said anything to the kid that should have ticked him off.
In fact, he didn't remember saying anything to the kid at all.
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Post by Neku Sakuraba on Nov 17, 2011 20:54:54 GMT -5
I sighed. Wrong foot to start off on.
"Sorry," I said. "If Lea sent me the kinda text he did, I suppose it's not really your fault that you kinda ticked me off." I sighed. "Backroom, right?"
Lea nodded.
"....right," I said. "Mind following us? It's safe in there."
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Post by newleaf on Nov 17, 2011 20:57:54 GMT -5
"Sure. No problem. Still have my phone after all." Oilcan follows these two into the back room. This kid seemed to be friends with all kinds of demonkin. First the girl, then this guy. Oilcan paused and closed his eyes for a second then winced. And the kid was putting off all kinds of powerful vibes. But not the bad kind. He smelled Ok. Better than Ok. Like fresh baked bread or something. So Ok, maybe it really was safe.
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Post by Neku Sakuraba on Nov 17, 2011 21:01:52 GMT -5
I shrugged.
"Suit yourself." I led the way into the backroom.
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Post by Lea on Nov 17, 2011 21:06:17 GMT -5
Lea watched Neku go, unconsciously taking charge, just like he always did, and chuckled.
"Don't worry, he knows what he's doing," he assured jokingly.
The back room used by the Network was of a decent size; it looked like the kind of room most places reserved for birthday parties, except for the Network's bulletin board in the back and the lectern stowed in the corner - both of which were either covered or removed when the rare purely normal party did reserve the room.
For some reason, it always smelled faintly like baking cookies.
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Post by newleaf on Nov 17, 2011 21:09:33 GMT -5
Oilcan takes a sniff this time with his normal nose and laughs. "Smells like home when Tinker has a mad on." He looks around, takes off his leather jacket, throws it over the back of a chair and takes a seat, lounging back and looking to the uninitiated relaxed and casual, but anyone thinking he is off his guard and easy prey would likely find themselves with a broken nose before they realized he had moved.
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Post by Neku Sakuraba on Nov 17, 2011 21:13:24 GMT -5
I knew better than to fall for that casual, relaxed pose. I've seen too many people fall for Lea's version of it to be that stupid.
I looked at the Halfer, then back to the man sitting in front of me.
"So," I said, "I guess we should begin with the whole story. You were obviously able to tell what Aya was, and I'm guessing Lea as well, so you obviously have the ability to sense Halfers."
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Post by Lea on Nov 17, 2011 21:16:14 GMT -5
Lea shook his head.
"Not just us, Bo... Neku," he finished, catching himself before the Network's newest Coordinator's favorite term for their Head Watcher slipped out of his mouth. Wasn't quite in time to keep Neku from glaring at him, though. "Otherborn, too. He could tell that most of Veil wasn't quite normal." He looked at Oilcan. "And he doesn't know anything about what's going on. Not the Network, not the Otherborn... he thought I was a full-blood demon."
He noticed Neku's wince and shook his head. "Don't worry, Neku, I didn't clean his clock." He gave the other redhead a glance over. "...don't know that I could've. You look like you'd be a fair fight."
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Post by newleaf on Nov 17, 2011 21:22:35 GMT -5
"Well, Emmett and me went a round or two, he ended up on top, and Tinker chewed both our asses afterward. So maybe, maybe not on the fight. Thing is, I have the sight. Runs in the family on both sides. I can tell you are are Demonkin, if not always exactly what kind. Other than that you are not one of the stupid ass ones that come through and start trying to eat or break everything. I can tell you aren't out to eat everyone, which is a good thing, as I take exception to them kind. But whether you are running free, like Emmett, or you are in service, I got no way of telling. As for the... what did you call them? Otherborn? I like that term. Yeah, I can feel that they are Other all right. Not demonkin, but different than most folks. My sister, would be what you call an Otherborn. We've been on the move for a while. We follow the bike circuits, so I wouldn't know about any local network."
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Post by Neku Sakuraba on Nov 17, 2011 21:29:07 GMT -5
I nodded, taking in the information (briefly wondering who 'Emmet' was before deciding he was the first Halfer this guy'd met)... then stopped.
"Wait," I said. "You said... your sister is an Otherborn. You can obviously identify us, say it's the 'sight'. You can do that... but you're not Otherborn?"
I'd never heard of anything like it. Ever. At all. It just does not work that way.
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Post by newleaf on Nov 17, 2011 21:36:16 GMT -5
Oilcan smiles and speaks in the Irish brogue. "Eh, laddie, didya no know that the wee people and my folk have been kin these many long years, aye, and they gived us the giftie of the second sight, nae to everyone, nae but every so many years one of us kiddies cons to the gift and gains the sight." He switches back to his regular voice. "I guess modern people call it being psychic or whatever, but the sight has been in my family for generations. Some of us can see and talk to ghosts, some get a little precog, but mostly we get the ability to see stuff as it is, or isn't, or should be, or whatever."
"As for Tinker, well she is my half-sister, and what she does is WAY beyond the sight. She actually doesn't have much of the sight, although it is damn difficult to lie to her. About anything, but whether that is tied to what she got from HER father, or as a blessing from God or whatever, or if its a bit of the sight coming up in her. Your guess is as good as mine."
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Post by Neku Sakuraba on Nov 17, 2011 21:45:02 GMT -5
I nodded, but there was a bit of a chill through me.
As far as anyone from the Network had been able to tell, fae, the 'little people', Greek heroes, and all of those ambiguously-true myths came down to three things - demons, Otherborn, and what you got when you mixed the two in varying proportion.
As far as anyone had been able to tell.
Of course, then again, that could be the explanation here...
I shook it off.
"Every Otherborn has one or more special 'powers' that set us apart from normal humans," I explained. "What you're talking about sounds to me like those abilities."
I sighed. I was going to have to show him eventually, so I asked.
"Mind if I demonstrate? Mine's a lot easier to control than Lea's - Halfers like him get more power, on average, but its generally more difficult to control."
Plus, mine wouldn't set off Tifa's alarm system, send gushes of water on the patrons, and get Tifa Strife ticked off at me.
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