A Tavern, Oia, Monday evening

[withoutverona]

After saying goodbye to Mel and finishing his shift at work, Romeo hurried across the causeway onto Santorini. He had late dinner plans he didn't want to miss.

He ordered an ouzo with raspberry syrup and lemonade.

It was good.

He ordered a second, and was about to start on his third as he surveyed the crowd.

[OOC: NFB due to distance.]

Comments

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"Nope!" Dōjima beamed, taking a moment to order another drink. "Spikes aren't always bad. Hedgehogs are very cute, yo."

Yes. Evil. And?

[raspberryturk]

Reno raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"That's funny," he mused. "Boundfats got weaker cousins called Hedgehog Pies. They're the same thing, but red."

Somehow, the parallel was more amusing while drunk on ouzo.

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

Dōjima giggled helplessly. What? It was funny!

"Our hedgehogs are wee," she explained, cupping her hands to show the size. "With wee little spikies, and noses, and button eyes. Seriously cute. I think some species can be kinda red-ish?"

The parallel was getting more and more amusing by the moment, really.

[raspberryturk]

"Hedgehog Pies are less cute, more... bounce around and light shit on fire, yoto."

So much for that parallel?

"What other stuff you got in this world, anyhow? I'm s'posed to be lookin' into this sorta thing. I think. Or somethin', yo."

Probably not looking into bacon and boundfats, but drunken research was always easier to delve into than the serious stuff.

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

Dōjima stared at him for a moment. "I have never, ever, heard of animals manifesting Craft. Your world is strange, Red."

"I'm not from here," she said, shrugging. "My reality is very very similar, but just a half step to the side. Lots of things are the same, though, like history and animals and stuff."

"There's, um," she paused, searching her brain for something that would entertain Reno, and by extension annoy his boss. "Penguins! Aquatic birds that dress like Turks!"

Hey, they looked like they were wearing suits!

[raspberryturk]

"Birds? That dress like Turks?" Reno stared at Dojima for a moment, somewhat befuddled.

And then he grinned.

"I gotta get my hands on one of 'em. Maybe name it Rude or somethin' and teach it to wear shades. It'd be kickass. And drive Rude up a freakin' wall."

Wouldn't Rude love that?

"What's 'Craft' supposed to mean, anyhow? Like the boundfats with the fire? Lots of monsters use magic, yo. Ain't much of a stretch."

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"Most penguins like snowy spots, so you'll have go out on a glacier to find one," she teased, gesturing wildly. "Better take your winter suit!"

Explaining Craft. Okay. She had managed to explain it to Rikku, this shouldn't be too hard.

"Sometimes, in my world, people have power," Dōjima said slowly. "It's a rare talent passed down genetically, and we call it the Craft. Pyrokineisis, telekinesis, psychometry, all sorts of talents. People who use it for good are Craft users, and those who use it for evil are called Witches. There's never been an animal that could do any of that, though."

[raspberryturk]

"Oh." Reno raised an eyebrow at at that. "So, people can just... use this stuff? On their own, without any help from anything else?"

Crazy.

"Where I'm from, there've only ever been a couple of people who didn't need some kinda outside item powerin' their magic, yo. For all I swear by my lightning-spells, I can't just wave my arms around and zap things, or whatever."

He lifted his shoulder and took another swig. Mmm. Licorice. "So, who decides the line between good and evil, there?"

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"If your powers manifest? Then yeah. You can just use it, although you run the risk of having your powers go out of control, or having it drive you insane or something cheerful like that." Dōjima shuddered slightly.

"The majority of the population is human, without powers of any kind. Even those with the right genetic combo can't just summon up magic, you have to Awaken, and there's no way to control that sort of thing," she said, tapping her finger against her glass. She needed more booze, damnit.

"As to the good and evil part, well, that's SOLOMON's job. They decide the line, and dispatch their Hunters to clean up the mess."

[raspberryturk]

You could almost hear the all-caps seeping into that organization name. Reno was well familiar with groups that insisted on all-caps. Some of 'em, he even got along with.

"That what I reminded you of? Those Hunters you're talkin' about?"

It was worth asking. "Get out there, make the hit, get the job done no matter what, that kinda thing?"

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"I don't know any Hunters," she said, shaking her head. 100% true, she didn't. All her contacts were in headquarters proper, for now.

"You just remind me of my father's security team. They tend to be, ah, proactive sometimes." Which was the nice way to put it. "I wouldn't be surprised, though. You hear...stories. When they send out a Hunter team, the target usually doesn't survive. 'Thou shalt not suffer a Witch to live,' and all that jazz."

[raspberryturk]

Reno chewed on that one, albeit lightly, for a moment, and then snorted, grinned, leaned his chair back, and put his feet up on the table.

Nobody said he had to be polite around these parts anyhow, did they?

"Closest I ever heard to that one was a mantra that a terrorist group we Turks faced off against used to have. An' I swear, if I ever hear someone say 'Death to the ShinRa' again, I'm gonna freakin' puke."

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"SOLOMON isn't a terrorist group, but they're ruthless," Yurika admitted. "It's like a looming bogeyman. They're hard on the Craft users, but they even watch the Seeds like hawks, and most Seeds never show any sign of magic, it's all latent."

"Or as I like to call it, 'those of us too damn lazy to manifest'," Dōjima said, wiggling her fingers at him. "Boo."

Grinning wickedly, she mimicked his position and kicked her feet up. "New mantra," she declared, tossing back her hair and crooking her finger at the bartender. "More Booze!"

There. Enough serious, and hopefully she'd managed to explain away his suspicions for now.

[raspberryturk]

"More Booze," Reno crowed, "is the best damn mantra I ever heard! More booze! Make it extra licorice-y for when my man Romeo comes back outta the can!"

It was clear that Reno knew his priorities in life, here.

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"More Booze!" Dōjima cheered, batting her eyes at the waitress headed in their direction. "I swear, if he's fallen in and drowned, I'm leaving him here. I'll find other company for the evening."

[raspberryturk]

"Looks like there's plenty of company to be had," the redhead mused, glancing around the tavern. "Still, we better hope he didn't fall in. I ain't fishin' him out, either."

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"At least we'll get to mock him for it," she joked, placing a new order, and this time requesting food.

If they were going to keep drinking, she needed protein.

"Besides, the only company I'd be enjoying is my cat hogging the bed," Dōjima admitted, shrugging. "Wow. I feel so old and boring."

[raspberryturk]

"When did you become a cat lady, anyhow?" Reno raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Never figured you to be the type, yo."

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"Just in the last week. She used to be my big sibling's," she said, taking a long drink of water. "There was a rescue mission, and death, and then not-death, and now she can't have the cat at her new home. So, I inherited Alea."

"I have a fluffy, affectionate, very zen cat." Dōjima looked at Reno and grinned. "I'm just full of surprises."

[withoutverona]

Romeo's attempts to find the men's room had taken him to the kitchen, the rooftop garden, the small courtyard with a dumpster in it (beside which a scraggly man spent five minutes trying to sell him cheap cocaine), and the ladies' room before he reached his destination.

It was possible the staff was having fun giving bad directions to the drunk American.

Finally he made it back to the table. "You are," he told Yurika, coming up behind her to nuzzle her neck. "Have I missed any plans for world domination?"

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

Yurika squeaked in surprise as he startled her, then giggled and tilted her head to allow him easier access. "Yes. World domination via flaming hedgehogs that are not-edible. The revolution will be televised."

"That took ages, did you fall asleep? I'm not carrying you back to the dorms."

[withoutverona]

Oooh, more neck. It needed to be kissed before he slid back onto his seat.

"I think I found every room in this place except the one I wanted," Romeo confessed. "And if either of you wants any sort of pharmaceutical from someone who looks like he hasn't bathed this year, there's a chap who set up shop beside the dumpster out back."

"Flaming hedgehogs sound like remarkable TV, actually." He leaned forward in his seat, clearly curious about this turn of things.

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

She pouted slightly as he took his seat, but was quickly distracted by the arriving drinks and food. Foooood. "I'm not buying anything from the man at the dumpster," she announced, grabbing a kotopita. "I'd like to remember Greece, thank you."

"We were comparing differences between animals," Dōjima explained. "His hedgehogs are large and light things on fire. Please tell me your world does not have giant flaming spikies? The idea of animals with powers is absolutely terrifying."

[withoutverona]

Food was an excellent thing. Romeo took a piece of mint-scented lamb before answering.

"Animals don't have powers at home any more than people do, and hedgehogs are the size of my hand and cute," he declared. "How would they light something on fire, and why? Reno's world is terrifying."

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"See? That's what I said!" Dōjima said, sticking her tongue out at Reno. "Straaaaaaange world. Don't ask me, my hedgehogs are wee and cute and not pyrokinetic."

"Oh, and we have to find Red here a penguin."