Playing Games

[miss_sanguine]

"Come on, Maneki. You can't stay up there all day."

He stared up at his familiar, who was sitting on a high branch of a sycamore tree. She did not look at him, instead acting engrossed in licking her left paw. Her attempt at looking unconcerned over what had just happened was not fooling him, even if she was cutting him off from her feelings.

Amused, he put his hands on his hips, head tilting to the side. "Really? We're playing this game?"

Maneki continued to ignore him, though her tail twitched once behind her, something he recognized as her equivalent of flipping him off.

"Fine." She was so stubborn sometimes. Sure, he'd gone and scared the living daylights out of her for laughs, but it was no reason to act like he'd ruined her life forever. "But we both know you can't win. You never do. Oh," he added, smirking a bit, "and you might want to move on to the other paw. That one'll go bald if you keep licking it like that."

The licking immediately ceased, at which he laughed. I knew you could hear me, he thought to himself.

As if realizing her error in having responded to his words, Maneki turned away from him, her back now facing him, tail high in the air.

He grinned widely. "Stubborn little devil."

Right. So his familiar was going to continue at it. He could play along. He could be just as stubborn as she when he wanted to be.

Making sure to close off his own mental links to her, Monnayage shrugged and began to walk away.

Man, he sure was hungry. Maybe he'd get something to eat and then come back later to see how Maneki was faring with the "silence game." In fact, that was a great idea. This village had some good food at its tavern.

[Tally]

Zephan wouldn't have stopped, except the fellow he passed just off the road started talking.  Out loud.  To his cat.

He wandered closer, following what he could only call a genuine conversation, except that one half of it was speech and the other half was a cat licking itself.  The man's back was to him.  Zephan folded his arms and eavesdropped without reservation.  Anyone debating aloud to their cat in public forfeited their right to privacy.

The fellow turned about and Zephan got a look at his face.  He despised him instantly on account of him being better looking.

"You want I should burn the tree down for you?"  He said it with a grin and waggled his fingers in the air.  Orange fire licked up his hand in bright plumes.  He was teasing, but he could do it if he wanted to, and he made it a personal goal to flaunt his craft in every possible situation.

[miss_sanguine]

Maybe he'd order some cod—Maneki's favorite food—and bring it outside to eat in front of her. He hated fish with a passion, but the thought of her face, watching him as he pretended to savor the fishy meat, made it almost seem worth it.

But she knew he hated fish. She would know he was doing it to annoy her. That would render the whole immature action pointless.

Guess I'll just wait this out, like I'd first intended, he thought. He bet that maybe an hour would pass before she gave in.

"You want I should burn the tree down for you?" said an unfamiliar voice. Monnayage came to a slow halt when he heard it, only then noticing the blue-haired man watching him. How long had he been there?

And then fire materialized on the man's hand, bright and resolute. Monnayage couldn't help but stare at it a moment, mesmerized by its quick and jumpy movement. Then he gazed into the stranger's eyes and smiled. "Naw," he said, waving his hand dismissively through the air. "No need to ruin a perfectly good tree just because my cat is being mulish."

His eyes flicked back to the fire for the briefest of seconds, curiosity getting the better of him. He'd seen a lot of mages in his lifetime, but never one that was so forthright that he felt no hesitation in flaunting his magic. Not only that, but fire had always been strangely fascinating to Monnayage. The way it moved, especially.

"Nice power you've got there, though," he added, nodding at the hand engulfed in flame.

[Tally]

Zephan deflated just a bit, denied the chance to make a show of his mastery over fire.  He perked up again right after.  Now here was a fellow with some proper awe of magecraft!  A fellow who possibly had some coin on him and could possibly be persuaded to spend that coin buying a meal for his new best mage friend.

"Oh, you think so?"  He extinguished the fire and in it's place a darkness boiled in the air about his fingers, difficult to look into as it ate all light and tricked the eyes.  Void stuff, most easily seen in the peripheral vision.  It probably had a proper name, but damned if he knew it.

"It was only fire, child's tricks.  True power...that is what you see before you."  He let the void orbs roil about his arm.  "The command of time and space, the subjugation of reality itself.  Never mistake it for magic.  It is the hearts blood at the dark center of creation."

Some of that may even have been true.  Zephan didn't know, he didn't use void work for anything except looking impressive.

[miss_sanguine]

Once the fire was gone, Monnayage found his attention already wavering. The whole "darkness" thing was apparently supposed to be really interesting, the way the guy was advertising it, but it didn't catch his eye at all, nor did it really seem to be of any use. Was there really any point in being able to control time and space when life was so much more interesting now, just the way it was?

"Call it what you want; still sounds like magic to me," he said. He felt a wave of amusement at how grandiose this man seemed to think he was. Did he even know what the heck he was talking about, or was he throwing words around to seem larger? "And I see no control of time or space. All I see is a strange discoloration fondling your arm. Agitating to look at, really." And not pretty in the least.

Taunts aside, he gave the blue-haired stranger a witty smile and said, "Name's Monnayage. In case you were wondering. Should I call you 'Master of Dark Balls and Children's Tricks,' or do you have a name?"

[Tally]

Smarmy ass.  And here he'd thought this one would be fun.  Zephan let his hand drop and gave a dramatic sigh.  He put all the darkness of the human heart into that sigh.  "I had a name...once."

He disappeared then, and not in any pathetic puff of smoke, oh no.  Shadow hands reached up from a gathering pool of darkness at his feet and clutched at him, higher, further, covering him in blackness until there was nothing left but a silhouette—which dissipated like smoke, and he nowhere in sight.

His voice sounded again behind Monnayage.  "My name is lost to me.  It echoes in the dark places between the stars."

The light unfolded to reveal him beside the tree.  His eyes glowed a luminescent cyan then faded to normal.  Thank the gods that shadow walking trick worked.  The last time he'd attempted it he'd gone accidentally vertical and ended up stuck in a tree.  "It is the price of walking the razor's edge between Light and Dark, between the heavens and the abyss.  Shards of yourself, scattered asunder.  You soul, your name, your memory.  I go by Zephaniah now.  A humble name, suitable."

[miss_sanguine]

"O-okay," he said, rolling his eyes. More of the whole "being dramatic" thing. "Master of Dark Ba—hey!" Dark appendages were coming up out of the ground, clutching at the man in desperation until he was completely engulfed in their black aura. Monnayage cried out in shock and stepped forward to help him, hand outstretched, but it was too late. In another second he was gone.

What the hell had just happened?

And then the stranger's voice sounded out from behind and he whipped around to face him, ready for a fight.

But this appeared to be yet another one of the man's tricks.

Monnayage slowly fell back into a casual stance, his nerves still on end though he refused to show this. He quirked a brow and folded his arms. "I asked for your name, not your life's story—which, by the way, is nothing but damned nonsense as far as I heard. And that shadow stuff is . . . creepy." He decided he did not like seeing hands come up out of the ground and attempt to strangle people.

Forcing the hair on the back of his neck to go down, he looked Zephaniah up and down. The guy was kind of scrawny for one so full of himself (while Zephaniah's name might have been humble, the man himself most certainly was not). Monnayage could take him on in almost any physical activity, he wagered. Something he wouldn't have minded doing, to show the guy that he wasn't as amazing as he seemed to think he was, if he weren't so hungry.

"I was just off to get some food," he said. "Care to join me?"

[Tally]

Gods!  He could at least play along, not ruin Zephan's fun.  Monnayage would find him appropriately impressive.  He could keep this up all day.  Longer even!

"Ah, to be ignorant of the torments that lie in the chasm between creation's warring forces."  He put a hand over his heart.  "I envy you—pardon, food?"

Zephan bounded down the hill and clapped a hand on Monnayage's shoulder.  "That is so generous of you, friend!  Offering to pay like that, and you've only just met me.  You know, I really can get your cat down for you." Not in any satisfyingly flashy way, but a little cushion of air would bring it to the ground, most likely still alive!  And for a reasonable and not at all exorbitant price!

[miss_sanguine]

His initial reaction to a man hurdling toward him was to jump away, especially since he was still a bit on edge after the whole shadow fiasco, but he resisted the instinct and stood still. Then the man slapped him on the shoulder and he looked at the hand for a moment, brow raised. Talk about a turnaround in behavior.

Focus on the hand was short-lived when mention of disbursement was brought out, and he looked the man in the eye, a disbelieving grin emerging on his face. He hadn't met someone this forthright before and the experience was proving quite amusing.

He didn't know if he really liked Zephaniah yet, but he shrugged off his initial thoughts. What the heck. He'd pay for the guy. If anything, he could simply show off his assets, which were not few in number. Another thing this guy seemed to lack, what with how scrawny he was.

When he glanced up into the tree, he saw Maneki watching the two of them, but the second his eyes moved in her direction she quickly looked away and tried to act as if she had not been hanging on their every word by beginning to wash her paws again. He grinned. "Like I said, she's being stubborn. Give her time and she'll come down on her own. Forcing her will just make her angry. So," he added, putting his arm around Zephaniah as if he'd known the man for years, "where was it you wanted to eat at? Any specific place you had in mind?"

[Tally]

He couldn't believe that brazen bit of shameless begging worked.  Maybe he was on the wrong path, working for his coin.  Maybe he should have just been asking for it all this time!

Zephan shrugged.  "Whatever pleases you."  Good way to lose the animal if you asked him, but it was just a cat, and not even his cat.  Unless they were going to roast the thing and eat it, he didn't give two bags of rat tails what happened to it.

"Oh I'm sure I could show you a place or two you've never seen!"  He was all smiles and jubilance with that arm around him, but he'd been on the road too long to trust in a friendly gesture.  Heat rose in his palm, just short of flame.  He kept it out of sight and away from Monnayage—but ready to fling fire in the man's face if a sudden knife found itself at his throat.

Good, reliable fire.  Where would he be without it?

[miss_sanguine]

He had to hold back a chuckle at the man's child-like enthusiasm. This was a character, to be sure; one minute speaking in nonsense with a brutal hint of cabalism, the next as eager to please and eat as a stray puppy. "I'm sure you could," he said.

Then there was the subtle tensing, a quirk of nerves, underneath Monnayage's embracing arm, almost like a cat waiting for a reason to spring. Were he not so familiar with delicate movements like it, he wouldn't have been able to notice. Despite his having done so, however, he did not move from his position. The discomfort of others was a mild hobby of his; and besides, this guy had touched him first!

"Why don't you lead the way, then, oh-so-humble Zephaniah?"

[Tally]

Zephan mocked enough people to know when he was on the receiving end of it.  That was just fine.  Once they parted, he'd send a little water sprite to tail the man and soak him when he slept.

"Every village has her secrets, for those who happen to know how to listen."  Or, in his case, who knew how to eavesdrop.  "Even as we speak, the priest is tapping a barrel of left over festival wine.  We'll find them on the south side, just past the temple."

When they got closer he pointed.  The village folk had set up a cook fire and he could smell the stew from here.  He was hardly starving, but he hadn't been able to eat yet today and his stomach gave a rumble that he would have given just about anything to mute.  There were times and places when he deemed it acceptable, even profitable, to appear pitiful.  This was not one of those times.  He didn't have a lot of pride over anything but his craft, but he did have some.

[miss_sanguine]

((That water sprite thing cracked me up.))

He was all too aware of Maneki's eyes following him as he was lead away and it made him smile. Maybe it would take an even shorter amount of time for her to give in now that someone else was with him. Zephaniah wasn't a woman, which would have made it better, but he was still someone taking Monnayage's attention off of her and the spat she was having with him.

At the mention of alcohol, his focus was back on his new acquaintance. Thought of the drink made him queasy, but he tried to cover that up with a genial expression, as if wholly interested in the idea.

Ahead of them, where Zephaniah was leading, Monnayage could see the village's fire for cooking. Apparently the smell he'd mistaken for the village's natural scent was the stew currently being cooked.

"That smells . . . delicious," he lied. Being one of high tastes and standards, this monstrosity of what appeared to be a meal did not satisfy his needs. "However," he added, holding back a laugh at the man's growling stomach, "since this lunch is on me, I insist on something more . . . refined. Nothing but the best for my new friend." And for his own stomach. Sure, this wasn't one of the classiest villages, but he knew for a fact that they had to have a more desirable cuisine.

[Tally]

"Refined.  Yes."

So he was dealing with a city boy.  Certainly no one else would go expecting to find refinement in a village of thatch-roofed houses and dirt roads.  These people ate what they grew themselves, and usually the only alcohol to be found would be when one of the goodwives had finished fermenting a cask and broke it open for everyone.  The inn had no rooms—wasn't really an inn as you'd see in cities or towns, just a gathering hall for village meetings and drinking and when night fell you picked a spot on the floor and slept it off.

"Refinement sounds lovely!  I truly cannot wait to see what you find for us."

Unless this one could conjure a feast out of the ether, festival wine and feast day stew was as good as they'd get.  He supposed they could trek a couple hours to the nearest walled town but Zephan would just as soon offer his services here in exchange for a meal.

[miss_sanguine]

This was a village he had only been to once, or at least he thought he had been here. He recalled a place that looked just like it and it had a tavern whose food was better than street strew. Maybe he was wrong? By the somewhat mocking tone of Zephaniah, he was beginning to think that he was.

"No, no. You're the one leading," he said with the grin still on his face. "Don't they have a tavern here with good meat or fruit?" He didn't even bother mentioning alcohol, since that the very last thing he would ever want. Hopefully his new friend wouldn't push on that matter too much, else he'd have to turn him down. "I could have sworn that they did."

[Tally]

A tavern!  In a village!  Oh wasn't that precious.  You could practically spit from one edge of the village to the other.

"We'd need a town with a few hundred more people in it to hope for a tavern I wager.  Villages?  You'll find a common hall they use for gathering and not much else.  But if it's fruit and meat you want, they'll have plenty of it.  It doesn't get better than festival fare in places like this!"

Zephan couldn't have been more thrilled.  This was as good as it for for him more often than not.  They brought out the best they had for feast days and observances.  He gave Monnayage a hearty slap on the back and propelled him along to the gathering outside the temple.  "Dancing, food, and naive village maidens!  How can you want anything else?"

[miss_sanguine]

This was not proving to be as great an idea as he'd first thought. No tavern? What kind of village was this? Not one he'd ever been to, despite his earlier assumptions. He wasn't a stuck-up noble like his parents, but he had standards.

At the slap on the back, he winced, though more toward his inner thoughts than the actual slap. He tried to cover it up quickly with an excited smile, though he doubted he was pulling it off very well. "Yes. How could anyone possibly want anything else?" he said. How could Zephaniah call what he'd smelled earlier food?

At least they had fruit and meat, right?

[Tally]

"Exactly!  I can tell you're just giddy with excitement.  Let's not waste any time then!  All the dog meat will be gone if we don't hurry!"

No village he knew of in Serendipity would eat dog unless they were starving to death and there was nothing else, but silly facts had never stopped his fun before.  He took in a deep, appreciative breath.

"Ahhh, smell that?  If I'm not mistaken, that's goat brains!  Are we in for a treat!"  He pulled Monnayage along and joined the village folk at their fires.  He shouldn't take the joke too far.  Poor lad could sick up and Zephan would miss his free meal.

[miss_sanguine]

He visibly blanched. "Dog meat?" he asked. Had he heard him correctly? Dog meat?

All of a sudden his stomach was doing uncomfortable flips and twists.

What kind of village was this? It sounded like a place of nightmares! There was no way he was going to eat dog meat. He'd rather shove rocks down his own throat.

At the next words said, his mind halted, feet stopping in their tracks. Goat brains?!

Dog meat sounded worse than goat brains, but the idea that either of the mentioned things were even considered food here made him want to give up the game with Maneki and look for somewhere else to find something edible. He hadn't even been that hungry to begin with, but now he definitely wasn't.

Suddenly the village people looked more like savages to him than friends. Barbarians.

He was at a loss for words.

[Tally]

"Indeed!  Can you imagine?  Dog meat and goat brains on the same day.  How lucky can two fellows get eh?

A plank table had been set up in the center of the lawn, where the priests collected coin and dished out bowls of what was probably a lamb stew.  Zephan tugged Monnayage toward it.

"I can see you're immobilized with anticipation.  Let me help you with that coin purse."  Since Monnayage was being so kind and such a good sport, he wouldn't even palm any for himself.