Sometimes, on rare days, when Shay was sure no one was watching, she would play in the city. She would climb what she could and do dangerous, childish things. Today was one of those days. She had slipped into a construction site in the late hours of the night when no one was working, and no one would see a young girl wearing all black.
She climbed the metal foundation upward, trying hard not to look down. The dark helped with that, but she was always aware of how heavy her body felt, or how cold and sweaty her hands were in those moments. She didn't know what she'd have done if she fell. Died, probably. And then she would be on of those ghosts, drifting aimlessly until someone found her and sent her off.
When she reached the top, breathing hard and feeling light with the fear of falling, she scooted until her back was against something -- a pillar? -- and looked out to the lights of the city. She had forgotten to take water out with her.
Shay pulled her knees in close to her chest and rested her chin on them, debating what she should do next. Up here, it felt like time had stopped and she was the only one left in the world. It was a lonely thought, yes, but a peaceful one, too.
"Wasn't expecting anyone to come up here through there, much less have them lean on my face," a muffled Teddy said, his voice a tad impressed. He did similar things every now and then, but for him, it wasn't quite as thrilling. Sure, the wind was always nice, and the fall was there, but he knew that something of that sort couldn't maim him, much less kill him.
It was at times a life devoid of dramatic tension.
Two blue hands shot out of the pillar and gripped at the ground near Shay's feet - he'd considered grabbing onto the feet themselves but unnecessary murder charges were probably not a good idea. From there he pulled, and at the same time kicked inside the pillar, propelling himself face-up with his back to whatever qualified as floor at the moment through the pillar, Shay's torso, and her folded legs.
He sailed clean across, and stopped himself by clipping into the floor, hanging on with his legs half-submerged and the rest of him hanging off the edge upside down. "You know, I was trying to pop up around your chest or maybe your stomach like an alien kinda deal but I think I overshot it... what do you think?"
With a grunt, Teddy straightened out, his full length extending off the platform. And then he twisted with a powerful swing of both arms to either side, allowing him to properly push off the side of the structure and fling himself back to sit in the same position as Shay.
"In a world ravaged by consumerism and the power of corporate greed... it is up to one woman... one legend... to save the world, and it's up to me -"
Teddy coughed and went back to his regular speech. "- to stop doing that voice because it feels like a damned thermokarst in my throat. Whatchu doin' up 'ere, ese?"
It was at times a life devoid of dramatic tension.
Two blue hands shot out of the pillar and gripped at the ground near Shay's feet - he'd considered grabbing onto the feet themselves but unnecessary murder charges were probably not a good idea. From there he pulled, and at the same time kicked inside the pillar, propelling himself face-up with his back to whatever qualified as floor at the moment through the pillar, Shay's torso, and her folded legs.
He sailed clean across, and stopped himself by clipping into the floor, hanging on with his legs half-submerged and the rest of him hanging off the edge upside down. "You know, I was trying to pop up around your chest or maybe your stomach like an alien kinda deal but I think I overshot it... what do you think?"
With a grunt, Teddy straightened out, his full length extending off the platform. And then he twisted with a powerful swing of both arms to either side, allowing him to properly push off the side of the structure and fling himself back to sit in the same position as Shay.
"In a world ravaged by consumerism and the power of corporate greed... it is up to one woman... one legend... to save the world, and it's up to me -"
Teddy coughed and went back to his regular speech. "- to stop doing that voice because it feels like a damned thermokarst in my throat. Whatchu doin' up 'ere, ese?"
Shay wasn't used to being taken off-guard or in such a state of confusion that nothing made sense. But it was how she felt right then. Everything moved so fast she had no chance to process it all.
First and foremost, Shay had assumed she was about to be tugged off the construct and thrown to her death. But, she wasn't? There was a voice in her ear? She was leaning against someone, not something? Then a body (it looked like a body. It had to be.) sailed cleanly through her and upside down through the metal that made up the construction.
She hadn't realized when she'd done it, but Shay was pushed hard against the pillar at her back, breathing hard through surprise. It took her a moment more after that to adjust to what she was seeing, and even then she wasn't entirely certain what he was.
"Uh," was her dumb response, any other time with any other person, she thought she have come up with a smart retort. But what was he?
When he stopped moving, and she could see him better, Shay squinted, voice returning. "Well you look enough like an alien, I think you'd need one of those mouths that opens up four ways, though, like predator. That would have been scarier." With that out of the way, Shay hesitantly leaned forward. "Are you a ghost?"
"I know, I'm speechless too. Throat thermokarst does that." Teddy coughed exaggeratedly, each heave of his lungs clipping him a little bit into the wall. "Uh."
Teddy pulled out his tiny knife and started scribbling into his palm. There wasn't any bleeding, just a vague bleeding-like leak of blue liquid in the shape of what seemed to be text. "Alien. Hmm. I could use a spring mechanism? Plastic teeth probably? Oh, go on, I'm just taking notes."
When Shay leaned forward, Teddy's grin widened to the point that would probably be impossible for anyone else, and he clipped his face into hers and spoke from literally inside her head with his most undead voice, hoarse and raspy. "Do I feel dead to you? Have I lived a life full of regrets? Perhaps. My fondest memory of my brother was of him choking me blue with the chain I tie my knife to myself with, and I've never known what many would call truly living. But what am I? I am not human, to be sure, but what does that matter to anyone? One's being... is it not better to define it by one's actions rather than one's nature?"
He pulled his face out of Shay's and briefly contemplated how that would have gone if he let himself be corporeal, then shrugged the thought aside with some more incessant coughing. "But to answer your question, I could be a ghost. I don't mind answering, but I believe you owe me an answer first, ese?"
Teddy pulled out his tiny knife and started scribbling into his palm. There wasn't any bleeding, just a vague bleeding-like leak of blue liquid in the shape of what seemed to be text. "Alien. Hmm. I could use a spring mechanism? Plastic teeth probably? Oh, go on, I'm just taking notes."
When Shay leaned forward, Teddy's grin widened to the point that would probably be impossible for anyone else, and he clipped his face into hers and spoke from literally inside her head with his most undead voice, hoarse and raspy. "Do I feel dead to you? Have I lived a life full of regrets? Perhaps. My fondest memory of my brother was of him choking me blue with the chain I tie my knife to myself with, and I've never known what many would call truly living. But what am I? I am not human, to be sure, but what does that matter to anyone? One's being... is it not better to define it by one's actions rather than one's nature?"
He pulled his face out of Shay's and briefly contemplated how that would have gone if he let himself be corporeal, then shrugged the thought aside with some more incessant coughing. "But to answer your question, I could be a ghost. I don't mind answering, but I believe you owe me an answer first, ese?"
Shay couldn't help it. She gave a bubble of childish laughter as he gave a few more hacking coughs, each one pushing him further into the wall. She had never seen anything like him before. She listened for a second, but if any dead lingered around him, she couldn't hear their whispers.
Eroshay was interested. That had become a fact in those few moments she and Teddy spent together. She was interested in this creature, and she didn't even know his -- its? -- name. She watched, fascinated, as Teddy cut into his hand and the blue liquid formed words.
She was so intent on this sight, in fact, that she missed his inhumanly stretched grin. That was until it was in her face. Literally in her face. Shay should have shirked away, should have gotten as far as she could, but she didn't. She went rigid and cold. He could have already killed her, thrown her off the construct, but this was still creepy. Even for someone who heard voices in their head every day, it was eerie when someone did it -- like this.
Shay mused whether that was an act, a lie, or not when Teddy pulled back from her face. She decided she'd answer his monologue as though it were the complete truth because she had nothing else to go on.
"You don't feel dead to me, no, and I have a real sense of that kind of thing." Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully, judging him, looking for any small sign she could. "You don't seem real regretful either, but sometimes people are good at hiding things." The next part gave her a silly question, okay, it was a real rhetorical inquiry, but it would come out goofy. "How could someone choke you blue if you're already blue?"
Then, Shay shook her head. "You're not a ghost. I've met plenty of those, and most of them don't talk to a person, and even when they do it's not like this. I'll tell you why I'm up here if you tell me what you are. Deal?" She held out a hand for him to shake.
Ero wouldn't answer Teddy's question until her hand was shaken and the deal was made. At that point, she figured her story better be damn good. He seemed to like theatrics, so she might have stretched the truth a little when she began.
"It all began a little over a week ago," she started thickly, eyes darkened over with a flare for the dramatic, "as it turns out my eleven-year-old ex-best friend is actually a five-thousand-year-old immortal Kitsune with another personality who has a penchant for murder. After getting into a fight with said Kitsune, I went to a tea-shop and met another 12-year-old immortal tea-drinking vampire, but not before I was introduced to Klaus Rosales, local kingpin after one of his shootouts. Which, by the way, I found using my ability. I can hear the whispering of the dead around people. So, I stalked Klaus Rosales, then I had ice cream with him, took a selfie, and sent it to a local police officer."
She breathed. "Long story short, I'm up here because I had a really weird week and wanted to clear my head."
Whether his joke about being blue actually sailed over Shay's head or was just her way of responding, Teddy didn't respond to. If there was no reaction, then it was okay to let the matter slide. Instead he stood up almost as if he were waiting for lightning to strike him, holding his knife up high. "Hmm. That doesn't seem - oh you were going to go through with the story without seeing if I'd agree to the deal huh okay that's fine too I guess."
Still standing, Teddy nodded to every bit of the sentence, not out of any real reaction to the statements themselves but rather to scan the skies a little better. Suddenly, with a flick of his wrist, the knife went flying and then came back, chain clattering following a brief screech. "You know, I know you know I know we're in this island where the weird is normal and the normal is weird but I'm dialing one - eight - hundred - BS on that or at least some part of it. Magpie blood?"
Teddy licked the tip of his knife and began to slowly turn red. The bird earlier was probably fine, and for a short while he considered whether or not it would crash from the nick. "Kitsune's the part I'm buying, since I don't recall Klaus being taken under custody recently. Then again, I haven't updated my binders in almost two weeks. Hmm... local kingpin, not quite as high up on the pecking order as he and many people would believe, etc etc, that's all I remember."
Nodding even more sagely and slowly, Teddy then drew a deep breath. He stepped back, coming into the pillar and then exiting it at its tip, standing dramatically above everything. "What am I? That is a question I myself would like to answer. I could be a construct made of magic made to serve some silly whim. I could be a thief in the night, sneaking through walls to fill my coffers and pay my debts. I could be a lost soul, wandering these empty places and hunting plaices in an effort to stave away my existential hunger. I could be someone who has consorted with demons and warred with angels, or I could be someone who at the side of the angelic host fought against hellspawn. I could be many things. Why should I limit it to one?"
"Were I to have to choose an existence, I would choose it to be multiple choice," he said with a flourish, bowing and then jumping back down to Shay's side. Once again he faced her with that grin, more sinister in his now-red glow. "Of course, one of those choices... I could be a dream of yours, a constant character in your fantasy, a recurring nightmare, or a sign of your lapsing sanity."
Still standing, Teddy nodded to every bit of the sentence, not out of any real reaction to the statements themselves but rather to scan the skies a little better. Suddenly, with a flick of his wrist, the knife went flying and then came back, chain clattering following a brief screech. "You know, I know you know I know we're in this island where the weird is normal and the normal is weird but I'm dialing one - eight - hundred - BS on that or at least some part of it. Magpie blood?"
Teddy licked the tip of his knife and began to slowly turn red. The bird earlier was probably fine, and for a short while he considered whether or not it would crash from the nick. "Kitsune's the part I'm buying, since I don't recall Klaus being taken under custody recently. Then again, I haven't updated my binders in almost two weeks. Hmm... local kingpin, not quite as high up on the pecking order as he and many people would believe, etc etc, that's all I remember."
Nodding even more sagely and slowly, Teddy then drew a deep breath. He stepped back, coming into the pillar and then exiting it at its tip, standing dramatically above everything. "What am I? That is a question I myself would like to answer. I could be a construct made of magic made to serve some silly whim. I could be a thief in the night, sneaking through walls to fill my coffers and pay my debts. I could be a lost soul, wandering these empty places and hunting plaices in an effort to stave away my existential hunger. I could be someone who has consorted with demons and warred with angels, or I could be someone who at the side of the angelic host fought against hellspawn. I could be many things. Why should I limit it to one?"
"Were I to have to choose an existence, I would choose it to be multiple choice," he said with a flourish, bowing and then jumping back down to Shay's side. Once again he faced her with that grin, more sinister in his now-red glow. "Of course, one of those choices... I could be a dream of yours, a constant character in your fantasy, a recurring nightmare, or a sign of your lapsing sanity."
Shay looked skyward. Had he just hit a bird? "Nope, every part of it is true." She'd have said more about it right then, but he was interesting her all over again. He was turning red. He licked blood and turned red. She reached forward to wet the tip of her finger with the blood and inspect it. It was hard to see in the darkened construction site, naturally.
He felt dangerous. That wasn't saying a whole lot where Shay was concerned. She was a small, young girl in a dark corner of the city with no one knowing where she was. Even with all that weighing against her, Shay felt eerily calm about all of it. She was more upset about the idea of not being able to keep up.
"'Local kingpin, not quite as high up on the pecking order as he and many people would believe.'? I guess you know a lot about the underworld around here?"
She leaned back, wiping the now drying blood on her pant leg as Teddy shot up the pillar and stood with a dramatic flourish at its tip. She stood, steadied herself, and moved closer to where he was, looking up at him. It brought something childish out in her, seeing someone act so theatrical and thoroughly enjoying it.
Shay had to stop herself from spinning around when he jumped to her side; that would have caused her to fall. She did have to rebalance herself in her surprise. She grinned back at him, wishing that awful crawl would leave her skin.
She knew he couldn't be her imagination or a dream. She hadn't died yet, so he wasn't a dream. For some reason, though, Shay wanted that to be true, and she'd play along with it as if it were.
"Not the worst character in my head, I'd say. Do I get to name you, too? Or do you come with one?" She held her hand, palm out, to him. "Can you make me fly? Isn't that how they always prove it's a dream? At least, if you were a dream, I might have a chance of keeping up with you." Her grin stretched, childish as ever and really showcasing her young age. "A manifest of my growing insanity. Also believable, I'd say. Maybe my fantasy, my dream, and my growing insanity all in one? You must fight angels too. Seems to be the sort I spend my time with -- And you don't seem too nightmarish, more like one of those creepy, silly trips people have while on mushrooms. Hey, maybe you're my drug hallucination?"
Well, for someone who A.) didn't need and / or want to sleep, B.) considered gathering dirt and / or information on everyone and everything like a kleptomaniac researcher, and C.) could phase through almost everything, Teddy knowing what he did was more or less to be expected. On paper, at least. Nobody ever expected the blue goofball to be sensible, much less well-read. "I know enough, as would be expected for someone who has dabbled on both sides of it in his life. Though what many of these petty thugs fail to realize that in the grand scheme of things, it is not they who will be relevant to history beyond a mention in a footnote."
The bit about fighting angels made him chuckle. As it was, he did fight an angel for a short while, before she laid off and other things transpired. All it did was lose him a bunch of flowers and souvenirs in exchange for a sword now glittering in his basement, so that was a fair trade.
Sadly enough, Teddy couldn't fly yet. He had the greatest confidence that he could learn it at some point, but he was still just a ripe two years old. "It could be excused, I suppose," he said both to his thoughts and in response to being named. "I have many names. Another will not make much difference."
Nodding, Teddy said, "Are you not a little to young to be doing drugs, hmm? Though it is not within my right to judge, neither is it within my right to step into the solid walls. Steer clear from that path - while it is early."
Teddy spoke sagely, with a bit of artificial bitterness in his voice. It was true that he didn't quite like drugs, preferring other things instead, but he wouldn't judge someone for using that, except when it was convenient for him or whenever he felt like it. So in conclusion, he did judge those people.
He pushed himself back into the wall. There wasn't much space to do things up here, which was a little bit damping for his mood. He wished he could fly, imagining the view from up there until his thoughts derailed into something that shall never be narrated by him or anyone else. "I can make you fly, he finally said," he finally said.
The bit about fighting angels made him chuckle. As it was, he did fight an angel for a short while, before she laid off and other things transpired. All it did was lose him a bunch of flowers and souvenirs in exchange for a sword now glittering in his basement, so that was a fair trade.
Sadly enough, Teddy couldn't fly yet. He had the greatest confidence that he could learn it at some point, but he was still just a ripe two years old. "It could be excused, I suppose," he said both to his thoughts and in response to being named. "I have many names. Another will not make much difference."
Nodding, Teddy said, "Are you not a little to young to be doing drugs, hmm? Though it is not within my right to judge, neither is it within my right to step into the solid walls. Steer clear from that path - while it is early."
Teddy spoke sagely, with a bit of artificial bitterness in his voice. It was true that he didn't quite like drugs, preferring other things instead, but he wouldn't judge someone for using that, except when it was convenient for him or whenever he felt like it. So in conclusion, he did judge those people.
He pushed himself back into the wall. There wasn't much space to do things up here, which was a little bit damping for his mood. He wished he could fly, imagining the view from up there until his thoughts derailed into something that shall never be narrated by him or anyone else. "I can make you fly, he finally said," he finally said.
"Not a fan of the underworld?" Shay asked, trying to keep Teddy in constant sight. Much easier said than done. She didn't think she saw him stay still for longer than a few seconds. "And besides, people like Al Capone are more than footnotes in history, and they started out as petty thugs." She went quiet, thoughtful. Shay decided right then that defending the idea that criminals were important probably didn't look good coming from anyone, let alone a little girl.
Shay was way more interested in the concept of flying than talking about crime (something she had been doing a little much for comfort sake, lately). She didn't think he sounded overly confident in his ability to fly. Actually, it sounded like he had never done it before. "I'll call you Peter Pan and you can call me Wendy. Sounds fun, right? You could fly me to Neverland; just leave the jerky fairy behind. I'd rather not have someone attempt to assassinate me."
Shay held her arms out, revealing her clear skin there. "I'm drug-free. No tracks. You just seem like something that could be a drug hallucination, so I had to add it to the list. See, there is Manta Carlos weirdness, and then there's you. I don't know you well, Peter, but that further illustrates how wacky you are, that I can already tell you're stranger than normal."
She looked up at the top of the pillar to see if he'd appear there once he disappeared. He was so quiet that she was assuming he had left. "It's not an insult. I think you seem fun, even if you're hard to keep up with."
When he spoke, it gave the girl pause. There was something ominous about the way he had said that. He could make her fly, but not fly himself. It sounded like something someone would say if they planned to throw you from a great height.
"Hrm... You have a fairy in your pocket?" she asked, trying to mask her concern with humor. Shay felt wild, a distinct lack of concern for her safety at this time. Maybe it was the hard week, or all the new information about herself and the people around her, maybe it was just part of being a pre-teen.
"Okay." No, her confidence was gone, but she wanted to know what he had in mind.
What did he have in mind? Originally, the plan was to just throw her off to the off-tune music of Yakety Sax. But even Teddy had things they didn't do always, and murder didn't seem a good idea at the moment. Nor did he have any of his weird items with him, and there was no way to call in a portal or any sort of similar divine / demonic favor at the moment.
A cursory scan told him that he could survive a jump to the nearest rooftop even without phasing. However, Shay might not exactly have the same sort of durability. So that wasn't quite an option either. Much less if he were to throw her off. "Hmm. I was going to send you flying but landing in one piece might be a bit difficult... unless you're fine with landing in several. I'd say it makes for more convenient space usage if you have a cramped room like I do though."
Teddy turned out his pockets, revealing nothing but several coins with the same face on both sides, that knife, and several old notes. There wasn't anything much there to help in the flight quest. "I forgot to pack my bottled flight or those tentacles. I'd say the flight thing is a bust now unless you want to paint wherever you land in a disturbing color. Although I suppose..."
He flipped a coin and it came up heads as it always would, and then abruptly he broke into a great leap to a nearby rooftop a short distance down. He landed with a soft thud and a quick roll, then gestured back up. "Jump! You can fly!"
And in the case she couldn't, he could always flip a coin to decide whether or not to catch her.
A cursory scan told him that he could survive a jump to the nearest rooftop even without phasing. However, Shay might not exactly have the same sort of durability. So that wasn't quite an option either. Much less if he were to throw her off. "Hmm. I was going to send you flying but landing in one piece might be a bit difficult... unless you're fine with landing in several. I'd say it makes for more convenient space usage if you have a cramped room like I do though."
Teddy turned out his pockets, revealing nothing but several coins with the same face on both sides, that knife, and several old notes. There wasn't anything much there to help in the flight quest. "I forgot to pack my bottled flight or those tentacles. I'd say the flight thing is a bust now unless you want to paint wherever you land in a disturbing color. Although I suppose..."
He flipped a coin and it came up heads as it always would, and then abruptly he broke into a great leap to a nearby rooftop a short distance down. He landed with a soft thud and a quick roll, then gestured back up. "Jump! You can fly!"
And in the case she couldn't, he could always flip a coin to decide whether or not to catch her.