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Strange Magic [Dragonsong]

Started by Zero, August 15, 2016, 04:06:13 PM

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Zero

As soon as his mug was placed in front of him, Joss raised it to his lips and took a long drink, once again ignoring the barmaid. Honestly he didn't know how else to deal with flirty women. It wasn't as if he could engage them. Nothing would come of it, he didn't have anything to give them.

He drained his drink in one go, clanking down the empty mug with a clank and sigh. Then laughed a little at what he'd said. "Calen the hero, sticking up for the unfortunates. Lucky them."

DragonSong

Calen laughed and shook his head. "Aw, you're gonna make me blush." He took another gulp of his drink and settled back more comfortably in his chair. "Nah, I'm no hero."

He was quiet a moment, then tilted his head at Joss and asked curiously, "That trick you used to light your cigar- you a mage or is that just a parlor trick?"

Zero

"Heh." Joss smirked softly as he went back to puffing lazily on his cigar and looking idly around the room. It was no better than the last tavern, but it wasn't worse. That was good enough for him. At least no one seemed interested in them here. Well, except the barmaid, well - she was interested in Calen. Apparently he'd earned a place on her shit list, which was fine by him.

"That trick with freezing that asshole's feet a parlor trick or are you a mage?" If he was going to ask stupid questions might as well have fun fucking with him.

DragonSong

"'Course I'm a mage!" Calen toasted him almost sassily- which really shouldn't be possible, but it was a knack he's perfected over the years. "A pretty decent one too, all things considered. Just figured I'd ask- for all I know, you could have some sort of charm stuffed up your sleeve."

He looked Joss over and decided, "But I doubt it. You've got that...feel that magic has, real magic." Powerful magic, though he kept that thought to himself.

Zero

Joss snorted at the sassy declaration, not raising his mug to return the toast, instead pushing the empty cup towards him with a smirk. "You still owe me another drink frosty."

He didn't want to comment on the idea that he had a feel about him. All the magic he used was dark, demonic in nature. It was a matter of controlling those dark forces and bending them to his own will - turning demonic magic against demons. He liked to think of it as fighting fire with fire.

DragonSong

"Frosty?" Her pulled a dramatically offended face and laid a hand over his heart. "If you must use such a moniker, I prefer Ice Man. Or possibly Snowflake." He grinned. "Makes me feel special."

Flagging down the barmaid again, he gestured for another round and she nodded. "So what brings you to Zantaric," he asked rather abruptly. "You're certainly not a local."

Zero

Snowflake?

"Nah, I like Frosty. Rolls off the tongue smoother." Not that it mattered what he called him. The man owed him another drink, but after that Joss was ditching Calen as soon as humanly, or inhumanly, possible. A bubbly ice mage was the last thing he needed hanging around annoying the living hell out of him.

Joss eyed Calen suspiciously for a moment when he asked what had brought him to town. "Business." It was a curt response, but he wasn't about to share a whole lot about what he was doing with anyone. Even if the guy seemed harmless, he could talk to someone who wasn't and not even realize he'd caused a damn problem. That always was the trouble with overly friendly fools, wasn't it?

DragonSong

Calen backed off, peaceably raising his hands. "Alright, I get it. Lots of folks are here on business."

Their second round arrived and he thanked the girl with a bright smile. "Here." He lifted his glass toward Joss in a semi-toast. "To...you being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Definitely saved my skin."

Zero

Of course they were. Zantaric was a hotbed of business. Murders, thieves, smugglers, dark mages who used forbidden arts, inhuman monstrosities...the list of the depraved for this city-state was nearly endless. For him it just meant business was booming in Zantaric.

"To you shutting up about it." Joss muttered, humoring Calen by actually raising his glass before taking a swig.

DragonSong

Instead of being offended, Calen just chuckled and dramatically zipped his lips, taking a moment to make a ridiculous joke out of not being able to get at his own drink before dropping the act and taking a sip.

"So. How's a kid like you wind up in places like this? I mean, I know business, but surely you could do that away from these seedy taverns?" He was making an assumption with "kid". Joss just looked young to him, though he certainly didn't act it.

Zero

To be honest it made Joss uncomfortable to be toasted like he'd done some great thing - he hadn't been a hero, had some noble intent, or anything done anything worthy of praise. His drink had been knocked over and he'd lost his damn temper like a lunatic.

Kid?

"Business brings me to Zantaric. Booze brings me into seedy taverns. Alcoholic and all that. Conduct business all day then spend my nights being surly until I pass out piss drunk. I live such a charming life." Joss gave a short, humorless laugh before draining his mug again and plopping the empty container down. He'd nearly finished his cigar and dropped it into one of his mugs and stood. "Thanks for the drinks. Good luck with your Corryn problem in the future."

DragonSong

"Hey, wait a minute." Calen scrambled to his feet, flashing that same charming grin. An idea was niggling in the back of his mind- he figured Joss would take some convincing, but it was worth a shot.

"Look, I've got a proposition for ya." He folded his hands in front of his body. "I happen to be in town on...business as well. And as has been made abundantly clear to me tonight, this place is even more dangerous than usual if you're on your own." His grin widened. "And you're probably the only person who hasn't looked at me like you're judging the quickest way to slit my throat."

He leaned back against the table and tilted his head to the side. "So...what do you say we stick together? Just until one of us leaves Zantaric, mind. Safety in numbers and all that?"

Zero

Joss bristled when Calen got in his way. He didn't like feeling cornered or trapped. Especially by some idiotic rainbows and ponies mage that thought they were buddies for some inexplicable reason. It would be the second time that night Calen found himself pushed against a wall with his shirt gripped by a pissed off asshole.

"Safety in numbers? Look here you irritating little cockroach, I may not have looked at you like I was figuring to slit your throat, but if you piss me off I am far more dangerous than anyone you've had the misfortune of getting on the bad side of in your worthless life." People were looking at them now; staring, really. Joss hardly cared.

DragonSong

Calen's eyes widened a bit and his hands flew up to grip Joss's wrists. "Alright," he hissed, trying to keep his voice low. Anger flashed in his eyes. "Alright, I get it. Now let go."

His fingers cooled, temperature dropping dangerously low. "And keep in mind, kid, I am more than capable of defending myself." The cold raced out from his skin, wrapping around them in their own personal biting gale.

Zero

Joss gritted his teeth as the fingers around his wrist became agonizingly cold, but he didn't release Calen right away, his red and grey eyes glaring at the mage. He hated being called a kid by this giddy git. Who between them was the childish one?

"So am I." He growled before releasing him with a shove, which was really almost an attempt to throw the coldness away from himself. Joss took a few steps back, still glaring hard at Calen but shuddering softly. Demons were far more comfortable with fire than ice. He might not have been a demon himself, but his demonic influences were certainly enough to make it uncomfortable to be facing someone so opposite of his own typical powers.

"Just remember I wasn't the one that needed you." He huffed, turning away and sending people scrambling to get out of his way as he stormed towards the door.

DragonSong

Calen snorted as he got his balance back, tossing a few coins onto the table they'd been using before moving toward the door as well. He gave Joss plenty of space- with his luck the ornery mage would think he was following him- and made his way back out onto the street.

It was probably so late it was early. He really should find a place to hole up for the night.

Zero

As soon as Joss was outside he reached back into his coat and pulled out another cigar. With the sweet roll of tobacco clamped between his lips, he stalked away from the tavern, not really sure where he was going. Normally he'd have passed out drunk in an alley wherever he could, but he'd not had nearly enough alcohol for all that. There was just a warm pit in his belly and a pleasant buzzing in his head.

Calen was already all but forgotten.

He paused next to a building so that he could concentrate to attempt to light up his cigar. Working with fire while buzzed was always a tricky business. Perhaps it was for the best when he couldn't so much as summon up a spark. Whatever demonic energy he'd siphoned earlier had been used up entirely.

Joss gave an impatient sigh as he rummaged around in his pockets for a match. He was too distracted and self-absorbed to notice a familiar and very unfriendly group of men approaching him.

It was Corryn, flanked by his two goons, that shoved him up against the building, most likely, but who knew who's fist slammed into his face, then his stomach. The air was knocked out of Joss's lungs as he crumpled almost immediately, dropping to his knees and wheezing as he doubled up and bit back the vomit that threatened to escape.

Well fuck.

DragonSong

Calen fully intended to walk in the complete opposite direction from Joss- the nutter would probably think he'd be following him- but as he started off he saw the outline of three unfortunately familiar shapes and ducked into a doorway, crouching down and turning his face away in the hopes that they would pass him by thinking he was a random drunk.

But they'd caught sight of Joss, he could tell by the way they picked up speed as they hurried down the street. He hesitated a moment, then swore to himself and climbed to his feet again, creeping after them as inconspicuously as possible.

By the time he reached them the idiots had a slumped figure surrounded. Joss, it had to be Joss. Corryn's foot lashed out in a vicious kick and Calen saw red.

With a snarl, he darted forward and grabbed the larger man's arm, jerking him back and throwing him off balance. "What the hell?!" Corryn's fist came swinging at his face and he threw up his forearm to block it, his other hand slamming into the man's chest, making a claw over his heart.

His eyes flashed, eldritch blue, and suddenly the big man froze as cold seeped into his skin. A hand clamped down on Calen's shoulder, starting to pull him back, and he spat, "Call your men off or I stop your heart."

"B-back off!" Corryn's voice was rather high for such a large man. He stared down at Calen with wide eyes.

The ice mage tsked and shook his head. "I didn't want to do this. But feel that?" He sent another surge of magic through his palm and Corryn gasped. "I'm cooling your blood. I could freeze it if I wanted to. Stops your heart in a beat and a half. You really wanna risk that?"

Slowly, the man shook his head. His friends were glancing between their leader and the man they'd left slumped on the ground.

Zero

A pained grunt was forced out of Joss as he was kicked. If Calen had let him take care of these assholes earlier instead of running away he'd have still had some energy left to actually fight back. As it was, all he could do was curl up on himself, throwing his arms over his head in an attempt to shield from further blows.

Everything came to a screeching halt, just about. Here Joss had wound himself up in anticipation of a rather thorough beating and here came Frosty to bail him out. Of course he wouldn't have needed help with these thugs if it weren't for the ice mage in the first place.

It was a loop of fuckery.

Taking the opportunity, what with Calen having Corryn by the balls, so to speak, Joss stumbled back to his feet, slumping against the wall and bringing a hand up to his face. The alcohol helped numb the pain a bit, but tears still welled up in his eyes. Blood was streaming from his nose and he glared at all of them as it dripped off his chin.

"Stupid sons of bitches." He growled angrily. "You'll die for this."

Although maybe not right this instant...Joss groaned and moved his hand to spit some blood on the ground. He wasn't really in any shape to carry out the threat, but just let him rest up and get his strength back - then he'd show them.

DragonSong

Calen shot a glance back at Joss, then shook his head. "No one needs to die tonight," he said firmly, looking back to Corryn. "But you'd better back the fuck off. Come after either of us again, and I'll let the scrapper kill you. Or I'll just do it myself, got it?"

There was a long, tense moment of silence, then Corryn nodded slowly. Calen stepped back, letting his hand drop, and the bigger man visibly slumped with relief as the cold retreated.

"Come on," he growled to his lackeys, and they booked a hasty retreat.

Calen sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Damnit," he muttered, clenching his eyes shut. "I hate doing that." He turned to look at Joss. "You alright, kid?"

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