Anyone seen some clown clothes? [pm to join]

[Anonymous]

Panzravi had lost his clothes.  

He'd arrived at the docks before dawn for a swim.  Never mind the inevitable debris in the water around any active port--he'd wanted to feel the ocean.  He'd left his performer's tattered motley in a colorful heap half-hidden in the shadowy leeward side of a pier and let himself float out, out... along with bobbing barrels and empty bottles.  A coil of something he thought optimistically might be seaweed had caught on his ankle.  He'd gone under, eyes open and reddening against the salt sting of the water, and grabbed a startled fish, though he'd let it go afterwards.

Now, hungry from exertion, a little chilled by the water despite the new yellow warmth of the sun, he pondered trying to catch another one.  

No, better to get ashore.  The docks had crowded themselves while he'd been swimming, and he really ought to solve this clothing issue.  

Panzravi trod water, the warm topsides of tiny waves breaking salty in his teeth.  Then, spitting an unwanted mouthful of water, he shook his head and slid forward into a strong, easy sidestroke.  He stretched himself to speed and enjoyed the exertion it eked from his muscles.  He vaguely hoped that by the time he got to the docks he'd find his clothing had materialized.

Once he arrived at the pier he'd left behind, ducking beneath the water's surface and coming up to grab one of its thick wooden supports, he saw that this wasn't the case.  

Panzravi shrugged to himself and tossed his head back; his thick, wet forelock threw droplets out in an arc and his ears swiveled, shaking themselves free of clogging water.  Hair out of the way, he grabbed the sides of the wooden support.   Very quickly, hand over hand and foot over foot, he propelled himself up the side of the wooden beam and vaulted onto the wobbling wood-plank surface of the pier.  He stood there, dripping and entirely naked apart from his tattoos and the thin copper knife strapped to one leg.  Panzravi knew he had the potential to look frightening if not taken in the proper context--tattoo-covered, red-eyed, fanged... nude... so he made sure to put on his most benign, friendly expression.  

He cleared his throat, looked around nonchalantly, and set off on a jaunty, loose-limbed stroll down the pier, squeezing water out of his hair with one hand.

"Anyone seen some clown clothes?" he asked at length, once he had established the unimportance of his nudity, aiming the question at the world at large.  He paused in his stroll to look around, blinking harmlessly.

[Anonymous]

He wasn't exactly sure why he was drawn to this particular place.

It was a seaside town, it was rather nice actually. The place was a bit sleepy, a little boring, but he rather enjoyed it actually. It was  a quaint little place, it didn't have any sort of gangs or organized crime groups. He was sure that pirates might have stopped here once and a while sure, under some sort of facade, but nothing major really. The place was just...homely, except for the smell. It might be a clean sort of place, where dumping trash was a rather great offence and a offence that could get fined, it still had a smell. He wasn't sure about the smell, but it could have been all the sea salt, the pitch from the boats, the wood, the fish, everything really.

He was out of place in this world however. His clothes were completely foreign, something that these people didn't see as fashionable. It was the suit, a very professional looking one at that. He had chosen white with golden pinstripes today. The long sleeved blazer-style coat was double breasted with two lines of golden buttons running up the front. His pants were the same style, white with golden stripes, and a simple white belt done through the loops. He was smart enough not to bring a zipper, people would be too confused to say the least.

As he walked down the street, he was searching for something to amuse himself with. A man so finely dressed looked odd with a pair of spotless thatch reed sandals. It wasn't the oddest part of his ensemble of course, but it was at least a bit strange to see. He walked without any sort of direction at this point, he was surveying the town again for his own benefit. He already knew it like the back of his hand, but he still liked to go for a stroll. The town didn't change, but the people did, and that's something that he was always interested in. He liked to watch people and talk with them, they were quite...fascinating to him.

He was near the docks when something caught his attention. A new person was there. The man turned his gaze toward the docks, his golden mask, one with no eye holes, no nose holes, not even a mouth slit. His mask was more of a golden shield covering his face in all actuality, bent slightly down the middle to carefully protect his face from anyone seeing. How the man managed to see, to be able to get around without running into anything, without bumping into people or objects. It appeared that this man was able to get around just fine, without seeing, or without a cane or walking stick.

His white gloves adjusted the fedora he wore to cover his blond hair, well, to keep the sun from his skin and burning the back of his neck and such. Even his hair was a soft golden blond colour.

There was a naked man however that had caught his attention. He was strolling down the pier without a care in the world. He had tattoos, a copper knife strapped to his leg, red eyes, and what appeared to be fangs. Tracing the man's lineage would be rather impossible, and he wasn't going to try. The creature looked...friendly enough, but he wasn't dismissing anything. After all...friendly creatures didn't have red eyes or pointed teeth for that matter.

It was very early however, and there wasn't a lot of people around. The fact of the matter was that there were only two people on the pier. Him, and the naked man who was looking for his clothes it seemed. The strangely dressed man extended his hand and pointed with one finger to behind a crate that he was near. There was a motley assembled bunch of garments, the ones that he assumed the man was looking for. "I believe these are yours?" His voice was not distorted or muffled by the mask on his face. His voice was light, but there was an unmistakable tone to it, one that wasn't filled with a lot of emotion. It was calm, almost peaceful really, the voice wasn't filled with judgment or hate, it didn't seem to care that the man was strolling nude. He seemed almost...disinterested in a way.

[Anonymous]

Pan stopped suddenly and chose to let his body recoil in exaggerated surprise.  He balanced on one foot as though about to fall, then neatly skipped a step ahead and halted, the callouses at the bottoms of his feet sticking fast to the planks of the pier.  The surprise hadn't been completely false.  It wasn't every day you saw a man with no face, and such a shiny man, too.  

Ah--no, not no face.  It looked like some sort of mask.  He glanced at the thing, ears swiveling toward the stranger in interest, and then toward the crate he'd pointed out.  He wasn't sure how his clothes had gotten there--he'd left them bundled at the base of one of the pier's posts--but that question was much less interesting than the man with the queerly blank mask.  Perhaps he'd put it on wrong.

"Thank you, shiny stranger," he said, smiling.  The words had just a bit of an odd lilt to them, the trace of a performer's patter.  

He made an abbreviated bow, really more of an expressive gesture with his arm and shoulders; he ducked his head politely but kept his eye on the gold man.  The mask's curved surface glinted at him.  The stranger smelled very clean, tinged with lilac.  His bearing wasn't exactly dangerous, but Panzravi could feel himself responding to him as though to another predator; he just wasn't sure why.  

Never mind that, Pan was curious.  How did the fellow see?  

"I'm Panzravi," he added.  "Nice mask."   He tilted his head curiously, examining it.  Then, abruptly, he vanished.  Air rushed into the space he'd left with a sound like a very small thunderclap.  He appeared next to the stranger, hand on his mask, trying to pry it off his face long enough to peer underneath.  He failed.  "--interesting," he added, holding his hands up innocently and leaning away from the stranger, as though nothing had happened.  "Does it not come off?"  He blinked at him.

[Anonymous]

The strange man did not seem to respond to his antics. He stood there with this hands still outstretched, pointing down at the clothes. It was hard to know the man's emotions, without a face to see an expression, or a tone other than calm and disinterested in his voice. It was apparent that he was a man of secrecy, if he went so far as to basically hide his entire face from the outside world.

The creature appeared to be gauging him up, and the golden masked stranger was doing just as such. He was trying to decide if the creature was a threat to him, and he honestly did not see it as much. Sure, that knife could do a bit of damage, and there was a certain aura of magic about him, but...the creature did seem to pose any particular sort of danger at this time. He was glad of that, a fight was a particularly bad waste of energy really.

"Glad to be of help." He retorted simply, his hand falling to his side and staying there as he simply...stared a blind gaze at the man. He may have not been a predator so to speak, but he was...something else entirely. He looked peaceful, calm, he even smelled of lilac and ivy, and he wore plain fabrics without any visible weapons or armour. There was just a power around him however...it was no doubt something the Fae could feel. It would be unknown however, as his particular power was foreign for this world.

The bow was simply responded by a curt nod of the head. "I am called Vec." There wasn't surprise from the man as the person, Panzravi disappeared suddenly. No, Vec stood his ground and simple let him try to pry the mask off, but he failed to do. It was held with leather belts at the back of his head, and magic sealed it from moving and being taken off without the proper resonate magic. "It comes off when I ask it to. I have no need to do such thing, and you would be wise not to try." To demonstrate, Vec put a hand to the bottom of the mask, to the shielded point at the bottom and pulled it slightly forward. A soft golden light shone gently from behind it, bathing the front of Vec with the light. The type of magic however was almost haunting, it was there, but the magic seemed...otherworldly, almost like a vacuum. That it there was magic, but at the same time...there was nothing. He let the mask go and the light disappeared as it settled back into place.

"The mask is for your protection, as well as my own." Vec explained carefully, a certain hint of finality in his voice. "What were you doing in the water?" Vec asked him as he turned his blind gaze to bay and the harbour's water.

[Anonymous]

"I was swimming," Pan said, staring at his interlocutor as though shocked he'd ask such a stupid question. And he was, just a bit, though it occurred to him that most people didn't choose to swim in the bay for no reason. Well, he always had reasons.  He just tended not to know what they were.  

For a moment he pretended to ponder the question's deeper implications.  What were you doing in the water...  At length he shook his head, as though coming out of the stupor occasioned by deep thought.  

"Well met, Vec, anyway!" he said cheerfully.  He patted the man carefully on the top of the head, then took a step back, balancing on the balls of his feet.  "You really are shiny."

Pan had ducked his head to peer beneath the mask when his new acquaintance lowered it, but he didn't see anything.  Just a golden glow.  It felt magic, a prickling kind, but not one he recognized; it almost felt as though it were pulling him in.  Maybe he shouldn't keep trying to explore this. Then again, maybe he should.  After all, Vec could've tried to do something terrible to him, and he hadn't.  He was also scrupulously polite.  That didn't mean much--Pan had met very dangerous polite people--but it meant he probably wouldn't do anything terrible in public.  Polite people, not to say people in masks and fancy clothes, tended to care how they looked.

Pan took another step back and turning toward the sad little heap of fabric beside the crate.  He bounced down to balance on his heels beside the costume.  "A question for a question.  May I ask why you're so shiny?"  As though disinterested in the answer, he busied himself picking up his clothing and giving it a piece-by-piece examination. It smelled of someone dirty, and he wrinkled his nose, holding out the brightly-colored but very threadbare shirt, made of a rainbow of patchwork in all different shapes.   He squinted past it, up toward Vec the Shiny.

[Anonymous]

It hadn't been a stupid question for Vec. He just assumed that Pan had been looking for something, as no one in their right mind would willingly swim in such water. It was not a place you really wanted to go in, considering how much filth got emptied into it. Still, some people were a little more comfortable with such thing. Vec knew that he wouldn't get dirty from such things, he could clean himself easily, but...it was one more of one of those cultural things. Hard for a being like himself to envision such things really.

Vec rearranged his hat as the man patted him on it, carefully adjusting the fedora and fluffing it back up to it's proper state. "Aren't I just?" He murmured in return as his hands returned to his side.

The man seemed almost intrigued by the light and the magical sensation from his mask. He could understand that, it was an effect that not many here had really touched before. It was not an avenue that many really wanted to go down, all things considered touching the unusual and unique brand of magic that Vec wielded was no doubt a dangerous one. However, Vec would not force people to experience it, nor would he stop if they did not have the survivability instincts to stop themselves. It may not be fatal, but it wouldn't pleasant really.

The man was humorous at least, in truth the man reminded him of his son actually, the bastard off-spring back in his home realm. He was actually rather fond of the boy, though he did test his patience all the time. They both were humorous and appeared as jesters of sorts. "Gold is my...personification if you will. Therefore, it is only natural that I am attracted to it. The colour is soft and pure and it makes to accentuate myself, nicely in my opinion." Vec explained to the man, his tone actually taking on a warmer sort as he spoke.

"Have you eaten yet? I myself was on my morning walk before looking to get a little food. Do you care to join me for a meal? I am sure we can find...a place that is willing to serve whatever you may care to eat." If Pan could see his face, he might see a smile on Vec's face. It might have been a little...far fetched, but the man had sharpened canines, and that didn't speak of bacon, eggs, and a bit of gruel. Those were the teeth of a meat eater.

[Anonymous]

At least he'd answered.  Pan appreciated that, though he found himself mystified anyway.  He even appreciated the misdirection.  He'd asked why the man was shiny--obviously he'd meant to ask after the origin of his magic.  But any response gave him something.  It also whetted his appetite for more information.  He'd just keep calling him Shiny Vec until he cracked.

Besides, if he called him that in public, he might draw others' attention to whatever he was really concealing, and wrangle an answer via irritation.  

"I don't know," he said at last, pulling his shirt over his head.  He paused to rake impatient fingers through his hair, then bounced to his feet and had one leg in his pants before he continued.  "If a bowl's an improvement over your face I wouldn't call it an accentuation."  Pan stuck his tongue out at Vec.  His tongue was very long and very red.  He took a moment to unwrap the knife from his leg.  It'd been held in place with a very thin sort of cord, which left wire-fine indents behind in the flesh of his thigh once he unwrapped it.  Pan held the knife and cord in one palm while he continued to dress himself.

"Hm."  He got the other leg into his pants and paused, sash slung loosely around his waist.  "I'd love to breakfast with you, but--"  He tied the sash tight and pushed the knotted side toward his right hip.  Its loose ends, when released, waved raggedly in the salty breeze.  "--no money."  He tucked his knife and the little cord into his waist sash, then held up empty palms.  "I usually find my own food."  His quick smile was pointy.  Two people could play the I-have-secrets-and-they-might-be-creepy game.  "But.  If you'd like to pay for my company"  (wink)  "at breakfast, who am I to stop you."

[Anonymous]

Perhaps Vec knew what he meant, or perhaps he didn't, as his magic was rather commonplace. Perhaps at the same time he wasn't used to people asking about his magic. He was...feared so to speak in his world after all, that people knew better than to disturb him. This world was a whole lot better though, he didn't have a name here after all, they didn't have any sort of reason to fear him. He was just a strange man however, in strange clothes, with strange magic. It made for a ripping good time to say the least.

He didn't know that Vec was a man of almost infinite patience, that he was probably the hardest man to annoy. It was hard for someone to get under Vec's skin, but Pan might have a lot of fun trying at least.

There was a gentle chuckle from behind the mask, it was a rich sound, soft and golden, just like everything that was about him. "If you say so friend." Vec was passive as he stood there, waiting for the man to finish. He wondered why he was holding the knife and cord in one hand while he got dressed, though he assumed that he was going to strap it on the outside. He could understand why he kept it while swimming, all things considered. There was no way of knowing what creature lurked in the water after all, and you wouldn't want to find yourself without something to defend yourself.

Vec gave a gentle laugh again as he shook his head. "No money? That is a distressing thought however, and I believe you need to check yourself carefully Panzravi." Vec said as he stepped forward, his hand reaching out to pat the pocket of the man's leg. There was a very...very distinct musical sound of money clinking and clanking together. Vec stepped back, placing his hands into the jacket pockets of his elegant coat. "However consider this meal my treat instead, and you can perhaps get yourself another set of clothes." How Vec managed such a feat was obviously magic, and he didn't appear to make any sort of deal about it. The man did have a load of gold embroidered into his clothes, as well as the golden mask that he wore. This was surely a man who could afford to throw money around as he pleased.

"If you have a place that you would like to partake in a meal, by all means, lead the way. If not...I know a place with a very delicious juice that I enjoy quite nicely, with a rather competent chef." Vec gestured with one hand, pointing toward a a district of town a little ways away.

[Anonymous]

Pan frozed and cocked his head, surprised at the sudden weight in his pocket.  He'd often created the same effect himself, in performance, but this was obviously real magic.  How interesting.  It'd be so useful.  He could create the illusion of pulling off a really great trick, just slightly north of plausibility--because it wasn't plausible.  Some showmen did that, and he thought it very clever.  

Slowly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a coin: a gold Sun.  A nip at the round disc verified its texture and taste, traits of gold Pan knew not out of any personal interest in amassing wealth, but because he'd come to find it useful to know in matters of employment, and because he liked to bite things anyway.  This was true gold.  He whistled, the sound a mimicry of a warbler.  

"I can do magic, too," he said, biting the coin again.  "Except I can only make money disappear."  He pretended to swallow it, tossing back his head and letting his throat work convulsively.  In reality, he'd palmed it and slipped it back into his pocket.  "If that place you were talking about gets fresh meat or fish I can make that disappear as well, Sir Shinygold."  He turned sideways and stretched out one arm in the direction Vec had mentioned, the grandiosely polite motion an indication that the other man should go first.

[Anonymous]

"What, don't you trust me?" Vec asked as the man took a bite at the coin. He knew the reason of course, after all one couldn't be sure that it was just a bunch lead that had been painted with gold. However, he seemed very satisfied by the result that the coin was real. It was probably lucky that Vec had encountered the money of this particular nation, and had been able to replicate it so easily. He kept a small store of wealth in another pocket of space that he could access when he needed to. After all, the laws of creation were still very much intact here, you needed to change one thing into another, and he wouldn't sacrifice his clothes.

Once more there was that soft chuckle from Vec as he shook his head. "A lot of people have that particular talent, I'm afraid I won't be too impressed by it." Vec noted, rather amused by this fellow. It was always nice to have a good natured person around, they were a good stress reliever usually, and helped situations stay calm.

"I believe it does indeed get fresh meat and fish. Please however just call me Vec." He started to walk, his hand lowered as he led the way for his new companion. The Inn wasn't too far away really, it was a nice brisk walk, and Vec was very capable it seemed. He never missed a step, he knew everything that was in his way, he even seemed to be able to see what was behind him. Once they reached the Inn, Vec found them a table to sit at. A young man stood by to take their orders, and he seemed to be rather used to the appearance of the golden faced man. "Glass of that juice of course, and a bit of those fried potatoes, bacon, and eggs if you will." He turned his gaze toward his friend, the young man did as well. "And...what can I get for you?" He was obviously confused by the man's appearance, by his clothes and strange appearance.

It must have been the eye. vec would think red eyes would put anyone off. It usually intoned demons and the like.

[Anonymous]

Pan would have to put the server at his ease.  

He sat cross-legged in his seat, back very straight, one foot folded into his lap.  He didn't like sitting in chairs very much; it felt unnatural and unbalanced to have your bottom on a seat and your legs bent around something square.  Of course he'd maintained more uncomfortable positions when necessary--but not by choice.

From this position he turned his head to look at the server, making his face into his best mask of nice, cheeks kinked into friendly roundness.  His nice face was something he was a little unsure of when first around people, but he became more used to it the more time he spent in company.  It felt funny around his chin.

"Could I have wine?"  Pan liked wine.  It tasted sour and wonderful to him and he didn't get it enough.  "And.  Do you have any fresh-fresh-fresh fish?" he said, holding his hands apart in a 'the fish was this big' gesture.  "I eat my food raw, but..."  He gave the the young man serving them a wink, which looked strange and a little too purposeful on his face, but was unmistakably flirtatious.   "... don't worry, I only bite if people ask."

The server did not look as flattered by Pan's attention as he had hoped.  Rather, his lips tightened and an unmistakably prey look flashed across his face.  "Very good, master," he said, nodding first to Pan and then to Vec.  Then he scuttled off, with overtones of fleeing.  Pan turned to Vec, tapping out an idle beat on the tabletop.  

"He didn't like me."  He sounded doleful.

[Anonymous]

If he wanted to make a nice first impression, sitting cross-legged like that was probably not the best way to do it really. Vec however said nothing, as it was amusing him at least. The young serving man was having a little...trouble no doubt, he was probably just a little perturbed but that was half the fun. Vec was more reserved, he'd probably never do anything like his friend was attempting. It may have looked like Pan was trying to be friendly but for Vec it looked more like...psychotic almost.

There was an ever present chuckle from Vec as he flirted with the poor boy, which was shot down almost right away. He looked scared, and a little confused, which probably was a little hurtful. However, he couldn't really expect much from these people. Some were just a little too...normal, and these two gentlemen, a clown with red eyes and fangs, accompanied by a man in a golden mask and strange attire...was well out of their bounds of normality.

"A pity. You should have pinched his bottom." Vec noted, a slight trace of humour in his voice as he spoke. There was a slight lull in the conversation, Vec's hands were folded on the table as he sat there, his posture straight and corrected, his mask tilted down slightly as if he were observing the table. "Our drinks." Vec said as he looked toward the kitchen doors. There was a second of nothing, until the doors gave way to the flustered youth returning, carrying both their drinks. He approached wordlessly, setting the drinks down in front of them. "Your food will be along shortly." And with that he was quick to once more vacate the area.

"He will get another person to bring the food no doubt." Vec noted with a chuckle as he picked up his glass of juice and held it in one hand. "I think you may have frightened the poor boy."

[Anonymous]

In truth, Pan wasn't that hurt.  People's opinions, for good or ill, tended to hit his skin and evaporate like water off a hot griddle.  He liked being liked, though, and half the reason he ever wandered into towns to begin with was sex.  People out in the woods?  Scarce, and when found, often not in the mood for it.  People in towns thought he was exotic.  Another reason was haircuts, which weren't all that easy on your own, and he liked his hair short.  He'd have to get one soon.

The servingman wasn't that pretty anyway, though his standards for 'pretty' could be a little strange.  He liked fur, and shiny.  And teeth.  And big noses you could bite.  Besides, a person easily scared didn't usually interest Pan.

So he shrugged and picked his cup of wine up in both hands, cradling the glass bell of it.  This was a fancy place, usually he drank things out of wood cups on the occasions he ventured into eateries at all.  He slanted the wineglass back and forth, watching the liquid ripple, and leaned forward to sniff it.  Then he tipped it his way and dipped his tongue in, savoring the taste.  He only answered Vec after he'd taken a slurping sip.

"I sometimes do," he admitted, looking over the rim of his glass at the expressionless golden mask.  There was an expression behind it, he felt sure.  He had taken note of the chuckle and the joke earlier and they sounded like they had come from a face.  "Frighten people.  For some reason."  It was impossible to tell, from Pan's tone, whether he'd intended that as a joke.  He took another loud sip of wine, watching his companion carefully to see how he would handle the juice.  He didn't seem about to take off his mask, which piqued his interest, but then, he supposed, he might just use his magic to move the liquid into his mouth.

That was a lot of trouble to go to, though, all to hide some shininess.

"Maybe you do too, Shinygold... Vec.  You--"  He paused to think of the right word, since it wasn't exactly 'smell.'  "--taste like power."  He stuck out his tongue, extra-red with wine.  "I wish I could do your magic tricks."

[Anonymous]

Vec enjoyed people, he was by no means an anti-social person. However he was more interested in people approaching him than he having to approach them. Sure he might go out of his way to approach a rather unique individual, but he could spend all day in a tavern watching people and listening to their conversations. If no one approached him all day, he could care less, because it was still fascinating to listen to them. His life, or what semblance he had of it, was a lot more...broad and what some might call 'marvellous' so to hear of someone complain or talk about fishing, was all very much a novelty to him.

Vec's glass never moved as he observed his friend. His elbows rested on the table, both hands clasped around it, but he never moved it any toward to him to drink. However he would do it, no doubt one would have to be fast to catch it.

"I could think of a few reasons, if you're interested in a little...criticism." Vec said carefully, his tone wasn't completely flat, it held a sort of...cheery tone to it. He didn't want to come off rude, he really was joking around. There was no reason to be unpleasant or rude after all, though it would be hard to tell if Vec every could. Perhaps he could be distant and unfocused, but it was hard to tell just what lurked in the man's mind. He was trying his best to be a mystery, to be unsolvable even. After all, in cards you never showed your hand, so why should this be any different? The mask however probably gave him the best poker face around.

There was that chuckle again after Pan's comment. "That much I could believe. I have a hard time...controlling it...at the same time, I have no need to control it." Vec said as he set his glass down. The glass of juice, which had arrived full, was now half empty as it touched the table top. "They are not difficult, for a mind willing to learn, and a body able to focus and use the power." Vec commented idly as he looked away from Pan to the kitchen. "He is letting the bacon sit. If he doesn't catch it he will burn it." His tone wasn't angry, or upset, if anything, he sounded amused, which was no doubt a little confusing. It was one of those...Vec things again no doubt.

"I could teach you a few simple tricks, ones that involve true magic instead of misdirection and slight of hand. You just need the patience to learn them." He told Pan as he turned his head, his mask facing the man once more. His hands already cupped his glass of juice once more, holding onto it carefully but never taking it near his face. Watching him eat would probably be something as well.

[Anonymous]

"I can be very patient," Pan said blandly, staring at Vec through his wine as he tipped his glass up for another gulp.  He lowered in two-thirds empty.  He had caught the earlier movement of the liquid in Vec's glass only because he spotted movement easily.  His eyes were used to tracking it.  

His claim of patience was both laughably false and quite true.  When it came to things unimportant or abstract, Pan had no use for an attention span and thus didn't cultivate one.  But when he chose he could remain immobile, lying in wait for prey, for hours or days.  Hm... learning interesting magic, where did that fit?  Maybe somewhere between boring and worthwhile.  He'd pursue it for now.

"...if I get something good for it in the end," he added, in the name of honesty.  "Teach me to see through things, Vec Goldface.  That one seems useful."  He finished his wine in a gulp and licked his lips clean, making a little sound of enjoyment.  He set the glass down and spun it on the table, then touched two fingers neatly to its rim and stopped it dead.  It vibrated like a bell.  He watched Vec all the while, waiting for him to make more juice disappear.

"Is that not a simple little trick, I guess?  Maybe you can teach me something good anyway, I would like that."  He smiled around his fangs, which he thought must be stained a little red from wine; they tasted like it.  He liked when tastes lingered in his teeth.  "... hm.  Maybe some of your criticism was it's scary when I smile like this."  He did it again anyway.

[Anonymous]

Was that true though? Vec couldn't hear any subterfuge in Pan's voice, but there was just something about him that he didn't trust. The man was flighty, he was very much like his son, and if that were true, he didn't have a lot of patience for anything.Teaching him might be a folly, but at the same time, it may very well be a worthwhile experience. "I will have to take your word on that Panzravi." Vec said at last, not knowing what else to say. He wasn't just going to call him a liar, and it was best to believe in someone and see for yourself than to just assume the worse.

"The truth comes at last. That would depend if you think it worthwhile Panzravi. Learning magic is a very useful skill, and someone who has it can go further than someone who does not...usually." Vec gave a small laugh as he set his glass down, which was now empty. Whatever he had done, Pan had unfortunately missed it. "You misunderstand Pan. I am not looking through anything." Another little bit of mystery for the man to try and figure out. Vec did like theories about how he was able to see, and some of them were out of this world so to speak.

"No, I am afraid it is much more than a trick." In truth he didn't know if it were possible to make a spell that would allow your eyes to look through objects and people. There might have been, but Vec had very little use for knowing such an idea. "I can teach you basic little spells that you would find handy to have." He told Pan, his posture relaxing as he sat back in the chair. There was a chuckle as Pan commented about his own smile, Vec's arms crossing over his chest. "Now you have made your canines red with wine, that poor boy will never return." Granted if the serving boy thought about it, he would probably realize it was just wine.

"Back to an earlier...thought of yours. I do not see through anything in the way that you might believe. I instead plant my vision there. I have no physical eyes, instead I have..." Vec left that hanging as he tried to think of a proper word. "The concept is difficult, but I am able to situate my vision where I chose. I often leave it  nestled above and behind me, watching myself from another view. I can move my vision to any place of my choosing, so long as it isn't too far away." He explain to Panzravi, his hands gesturing to a space behind him. "It takes practice to operate when it feels like you're viewing yourself through another eyes, but I never had eyes to begin with so the transition was much easier."

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Pan licked his teeth in response to the comment on the wine.  "But it tastes so nice," he said, with hints of hissing in the words, sucking his lips between his teeth.  

He tried to listen to what Vec said next, but found himself shifting in his seat just a little, restlessly.  He was hungry, and remained on edge, aware of every shift in light and shadow, sound and smell.  He scritched out a little pattern on the table while he tried to encourage his own interest, but frankly, the way Vec spoke reminded him of nothing so much as a cobra's lulling undulation.  The rhythm of his words seemed so measured as to be purposefully soporific.  Pan had tried to create this effect himself on occasion.  The way Vec spoke interested him much more than whatever complicated idea he was on about, but he tried to grasp the concept anyway.  

From what Pan gathered, it was like he could send his eyes off the way Pan could send his whole body.  Would he still see himself?  If he was looking somewhere else, would his face remain shiny beneath the mask or would he appear to have a normal face and empty sockets, or no face, just the shiny, or no shiny, just the face?  

Sometimes Pan thought he saw with more than his eyes, since seeing meant feeling, too; sometimes even feeling the air on your eyelids or across the fine hairs inside your ears (provided you had them) could be like seeing... did Vec's face wander about on its own, doing all of that?  It was a funny thought.  Pan kept looking around, but his own face had relaxed into a thoughtful, open-mouthed half-smile.

Glancing around the room, he tracked the movement of a woman who'd come out carrying their food.  He smelled fresh haddock, mild, juicy, and salty, and the more complex, even overwhelming odors of bacon, eggs, and potatoes. The smelt of starch and grease, sickly-sweet pig's flesh and the flat curdled scent of cooked eggs.  Why would you cook pork, he often wondered.  It tasted so much nicer before it was charred into a weird sort of meat candy.  His distaste for the food was quickly set aside, though, as the servingwoman set plates down in front of himself and Vec and he found himself wondering how the golden-masked man was going to manage that.

"Your breakfast, sirs."  

He glanced up at the servingwoman and decided it would be funny to follow Vec's earlier suggestion.  She was probably older than he, and when he pinched one side of her broad bottom, she clouted him hard in return.  He could've avoided the blow, but he took it in the name of fairness, though it made his ear sting.  

"None o' that, cheeky."  She shook a finger at him and left, and Pan turned to Vec with an 'I told you so' expression written on his face: eyebrows raised, mouth in a weird sort of pout.  

They had gutted his fish.  It would taste like nothing much now, but that was all right.  

"You give bad advice," he told Vec, pinching the tip of his ear to make sure the little copper hoops were still in place.  "And I'm still not sure what you were talking about with the sending your eyes around.  Whooshfffsh."  He made an expressive hand gesture to go with the sound effect, fingers making little eye-hole-like circles, and mimed them flying around.

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Vec's speech was a little daunting at times. It was primped and proper, he barely, if at all, used contractions, and his manner of speech was calm but at the same time...there was a lot more to it. Vec much rather preferred to have people relax around him, but once more his manner of speaking was just such a different way that most were used to. He could tell Pan had many more questions, the simple look on Pan's face told him volumes. If he chose to voice them, he might very well answer them. This was a more private place, he could speak rather liberally without worry of being rebuked or having too many ears over hear him, or care about what he said.

There was an approach however that caught Vec's almost undivided attention. The food was arriving. A woman brought it this time, the young man obviously had no intention of returning to the table, which made Vec all the more amused. Obviously the boy wasn't used to ministrations from another male, or perhaps it was the rather scary look that both Vec and Pan exhibited. The case now however was that a whole new serving girl was approaching. As the food was set in front of him, Vec had his glass in hand, the woman already knowing what Vec wanted. The golden masked man almost wished he still had his ability to read minds and communicate telepathically. Sadly that was not an option here, but one day soon it might arise once more.

With the food in front of Vec, he didn't grab any of the utensils, he simply folded his hands over top the plate while the steam rose upward into them. The smell wasn't bad, and the bacon wasn't even burnt, which pleased Vec to no end really.

"I told you to pinch the bottom of the young man. I never said you should pinch her bottom." Vec corrected, his voice full of mirth and an odd tone of happiness. He was obviously amused by this whole ordeal. "No...you misunderstood I believe. My vision is placed where I want it to be. Not my eyes. I have no physical eyes, the sockets were they would rest are actually...empty." Vec explained as he  pointed to a spot in front of him. "My vision is currently right here, it is at this time pointed in four directions." If Pan noticed, some of the food on Vec's plate had mysteriously vanished. The bacon didn't have bite marks in it however, it was simply growing shorter.

"This food is rather well prepared, I am glad we decided to eat here." Vec noted as he folded his hands once more above his plate, his elbows resting near each side of it. "How is your fish?"

[Anonymous]

Pan picked up his fish in both hands and turned it neatly inside-out, to get at the soft, slightly translucent meat on the inside.  The fish's ribs pried themselves loose and stood up like the delicate, feathery framework of a ghost ship.  The fishflesh was so tender his fingers bruised it to opacity.

With the knife pulled from his sash, he sliced a sliver of flaking meat from one fillet.  He held it up in one hand and fed it to himself as though he were a gull, dangled from one hand while he kept his mouth open and upturned.  When he'd chewed the sweet-and-salty fish and swallowed, tasting it behind his nose like a burst of fresh water, he licked his lips and looked back at Vec.

What the gold-masked man had said about his vision gave Pan a headache, so he focused on the question about the fish and decided to talk without knowing exactly what he was talking about, in the hopes that his words would land on the truth.  He found that often other people would fill in what you didn't understand for you, just as they'd fill in the false pass of a card or coin from one hand to another.

"The fish is good!  But, now, that's no reason to wear a mask," he said, twirling his  knife in one hand.  He pointed its tip at Vec in a genial way and waggled the blade; it flashed.  "I've seen people without eyes before.  One of them put marbles in."  And then Pan had popped them out for proof.  "I still want to know why your whole face is shiny.  Why not your whole body?  Why isn't the shiny where your vision is?  Do I have to understand your riddling magics to learn them?"  He ducked his head slyly.  "Because, Sir Shiny, I'm not that smart."

[Anonymous]

The woman returned with Vec's drink, making sure to stay away from Pan's side of the table as she placed the glass of fruit juice down in front of Vec. The man nodded his thanks, keeping his folded over his food, which just seemed to disappear in small portions here and there. It was still one of those strange things that Vec seemed to be able to do, and he didn't much seem to want to reveal his secret. Vec was a lot more relaxed around Pan now, having been able to talk to him now he didn't see the man as threatening. He was a bit of a joker, and with such a semblance to his son even it helped no doubt.

Vec picked up his glass and let his gloved finger run slowly around the rim of the glass as he looked down at it. It was only three quarters empty, he had...sipped it so to speak, but he appeared to be interested in something. It was a bit of puple, which he picked out and put onto the side of his plate before setting his glass down.

"It is not shiny actually..." Vec spoke up, but he let the man continue and finish his thought before finishing that particular thought. It would be difficult to explain, well...not, it would be rather easy to explain. It would be difficult to for Pan to understand, which he wouldn't blame him. "The magics are not riddles, nor is magic a difficult concept to understand...let me try to explain myself to you." Vec took a deep breath, and for a moment, the power around him flickered rapidily. "I am, for lack of a proper term in this particular world, what could be called an Incarnation of Magical Essence," Vec pulled up the sleeve of his coat and the light white shirt underneath to show his skin. It looked rather normal, his skin was a rather nice tanned white actually. "What you see is a husk. This is but a container, it stops the essence that is my consciousness from escaping." Vec carefully explained as he looked down to his food for a moment.

"Just as an egg shell keeps the yolk within, my husk keeps my magical essence within it. Incarnates usually take on colours associated to their particular elements. My element however, is...Nothing. There is a whole metaphysical debate about the power of nothing, but as it stands, the colour that I use to display nothing, is gold. Therefore, the essence is golden coloured. It appears as a light, in this case a golden light. My physical form, my husk, has no eyes, and as such, the golden light simply escapes through the sockets." Vec once more moved a hand to his mask and slowly pulled the chin forward, to let the golden light flood the front of his suit.

"The light has been known to call some very...interesting emotional problems. It has been known to create strong feelings of guilt within people, and even with people who have little or no conscience. The exact properties are...rather complex, but it is I assume magical in origin." Vec let go of the mask, where it settled back into place and stopped the light from illuminating his front. "Therefore, I wear the mask, to stop the light from escaping and interfering with people's lives." Truth was, he could walk around all day with the mask off and just have the light shooting everywhere; it wouldn't drain his power, it would just continue to radiate from his eyes.