The Necropolis [Conway]

[Vyn]

Mehdi could barely believe what he was hearing only... well, he could, but he hated to admit it. Abandoning a child! It was the worst. "Hmph, well at least he had the decency to take care of your sister... I hope she's doing well." His fur was still a little bristled, but it slowly laid flat once more when confronted with Conway's smile. At least he took it well enough. "Ha! Well that's a good outlook! I know Hisstors believe blood is always thicker than water, but sometimes Family is what you make it." The cat grinned.

Ahh... Even better, a subject change. Mehdi appreciated it. He didn't really want to rant about the failings of what should have be been family all night.

"I can't speak for all of Hisstor, but these smaller clans focus mostly on private education and clan mentoring. My father had a Hisstor from our clan that would essentially be a 'professor' come in and educate my sister and I, and I know Javaid was taught entirely by his parents and grandparents." Which only further helped his reclusive nature... and then there was the strange stuff he picked up from the possession... Had he told Conway about that? Mehdi, for now, kept it to himself.


How... could Conway make him blush even from all the way in the library? The jackal bit his lip lightly, and smiled into the empty air. 'Thank you, Conway. You always say the kindest things.'

[Kari Muffin]

“There’s always an exception to the rule,” Conway said. “I suppose my Uncle was that exception.”

He refrained from commenting about his sister. He didn’t want to think about how she would probably be in the insane asylum for the rest of her life.

Conway listened intently to the feline. That seemed like a good method. Keeping things in the family limited knowledge didn’t it? That was probably why his father had been sent to the outside. Of course if he hadn’t been sent outside he probably would have never become the monster he had.

He stuffed that thought aside.


“I didn’t know that was standard. When my parents were alive my mother taught us quite a bit.” He shifted in his seat. “But considering all the Hisstors that I’ve met happen to have been taught by family it must be something of a tradition. That’s nice to know if I ever have a family of my own.”

Which was highly unlikely....

Conway was oblivious to the blush. And even if he had seen it he wouldn’t have thought anything of it. “I’m only speaking the truth.”

[Vyn]

Mehdi shook his head in disgust at the man, but left it at that. He did his responsibility at least to some degree... but Conway seemed to have turned out alright despite it all. He was a good friend to Javaid -- Javaid had even called him family and that was a lot for someone like Javaid to admit to.

"Traditionalism is the way of the Hisstor. Family is everything and the community knowledge is equally important. That isn't to say they don't bring in outside sources, of course. Look at this library - there are texts from all over the world in here - a testament to the vastness of this family's knowledge. My father wasn't as wealthy, though, so we learned from experiencing the world. He took my sister and I to the regions to learn from the world around us."

The feline smiled softly, touching an array of bone rings that decorated his left paw. They were unusually simplistic for Hisstor jewelry but they suited him just fine. He was a simple individual and his father had been a simple man, Mehdi was just thankful the man had allowed him to be part of his family.


Javaid returned to the kitchen with a wonderful sense of pleasure. 'How are you getting along with Mehdi? He's not being too nosy or obnoxious is he?' The jackal laid out his ingredients, beginning to clean and dice them. 'He's usually fairly well behaved, but he's been curious to meet you and, well, you know the saying - curiosity killed the cat.'

[Kari Muffin]

Conway hadn't noticed that the texts were from around the world at first. It had only been recently when he was poking around that he half recognized a book from his younger years. How many strange studies had he been in? How many people had he briefly taken advantage of and never seen again?

It was nice to finally find a place that he could call home.

"Oh? What were some of your favorite regions?" He asked with a curious expression. How many regions had Mehdi been to? His eyes wandered to the decoration that was around the cat's wrist. It was simple, but then again not all Hisstors had elaborate decorations or mutations like him. Frankly his mutation caused quite a few problems considering it was attached to his spine directly.

"He's seems nice," Conway responded to Javaid. Even if it was whispered there was a clear note of cheerfulness. "He's not asking any weird questions and we're just talking about fairly random stuff. He's actually letting me lead a conversation.... and you know the second part of that saying right? Satisfaction brought it back."

[Vyn]

"That's really a very hard question... I like a lot of little things about the regions, but ultimately there's no where quite like Hisstor." He purred softly in thought, tail flicking curiously. "My overall favorite would be Sorgaire. I like the residents, they're laid-back, kind, and have strong family ties that I can respect -- and the weather, although cold, is still tolerable. There's also Avington. I really love how green and lush it is there, with so many trees... and the inhabitants are an interesting bunch."

He liked a great deal of other regions for various regions - this region had pretty coats, this other region had nice weather, the culture in the Banyan rivers were nice and so forth - but those were his 'favorites'.

He grinned a little. "What about you, do you have any favorites?"


Javaid beamed a little at Conway's response. He sounded cheerful and confident and Javaid loved to hear that. 'Heh, that's very true!' The jackal's tail wagged lightly behind him. 'I'm glad everything is going well. Mehdi's a good guy; everyone could use someone like him in their lives. He's always looking out for his fellows.'

[Kari Muffin]

Conway couldn’t disagree with the statement. He felt far more home here than any other region. Both of those regions were rather lovely. Then again he had gotten thoroughly lost in Avington once. That was on the list of most terrifying experiences.

“There’s a reason why they say there’s no place like home,” Conway commented quietly as he eyed the glass. Maybe he should pour himself some more? He was getting pretty thirsty.

Conway fiddled with his bracelet as he answered the cat’s question. “The Highlands are fairly beautiful if you can get past the inhabitants attitude. And the Mid-Range is rather pretty as well, and the inhabitants are actually far nicer there. Even if they have a few strange traditions they’re tolerable.”

The wolf closed his eyes for a moment and focused on Javaid. To his surprise, when he opened his eyes, instead of seeing the feline he was seeing what Javaid was doing.

Well that was fairly creepy.

Maybe he should keep that to himself for now. “Yeah... he seems really nice. I’m glad that you have such nice friends.”

[Vyn]

Mehdi gave an enthusiastic nod to that. "Aye! You couldn't be more right! No place like home. I can see the appeal behind never leaving Hisstor, I really can... but you miss out on a lot of experiences that way too." He smiled cheerfully.

"Those are good places. The Highlands... They have a lot of problems, but they are a pretty lot, aren't they? And yeah, Mid-Rangers have an unusual custom -- though it isn't as if we don't either." He wiggled his fingers and the little bone rings there. "I think that's my favorite part about traveling, too, seeing all the different cultures around the world. Not that they're all great - some of those regions really creep me out - but it's a learning experience."


Javaid was really well suited to the kitchen. He moved gracefully between his various pots of cooking sauces and the vegetables he had on the skillet and held up his conversation with Conway fairly well throughout the whole bit. He smiled to himself, humming a little as he worked.

'I'm glad to have him around. He tries to keep me connected to what's going on and looks out for me here.' His tail wagged. With time, he hoped that Conway could also call him a friend. Conway was just as isolated as he was, and everyone deserved the sort of kindness Mehdi offered... 'Also, dinner should be done shortly. I'm mostly waiting on the chicken to finish.'

[Kari Muffin]

Mehdi seemed to be a bright and cheerful sort of person. The enthusiastic comment made Conway jump slightly. Considering he couldn't actually see the feline for the moment was a mildly confusing situation. The Joker brushed off the anxiety as he listened to the cat and watched Javaid cook.

"Yes, I suppose our customs are just as weird as some other regions." Though he found Hisstor traditions far less messy than Mid-Rangers. Cutting someone was different than wearing your family to keep their memory alive. And being born with ornamentation was something else entirely.

"It is a learning experience... have you ever been to the Capital?" It was always interesting to see how the different regions interacted there. And a little terrifying when he had to find his way to a job. At least he learned a bit about the different kinds of people there.

"Oh, and Javaid says that dinner is almost ready," he added. Might as well update the cat on the status of food. Conway was certainly getting hungry.

Though the sight of it all helped. "All right. Since dinner is almost ready I'm going to uh... turn this power off if you don't mind? It's getting a little difficult to concentrate."

That was a lie but, he hoped that dropping the communication would at least give him the chance to see again. Figuring these powers out was a fun little exercise.

[Vyn]

Mehdi paused for a moment upon noticing Conway jump. Oh? Had he startled him? The feline sheepishly leaned back, attempting to 'mellow out' for Conway. Javaid had said he was a little shy and he was still recovering. Urk. He casually covered his uncertainty with a sip of tea and was pleased to find that Conway went on without problem.

Thank the Desert Sun. He didn't want to upset him now.

"Ahh, yeah. The Capitol is..." Mehdi grinned fondly. "It's a melting pot to be sure -- so many cultures coming together at once. I could pass the entire day by just watching the various cards pass through and interact."

Oh, dinner? For a moment the cat looked perplexed before he remembered that Conway and Javaid had been having a silent conversation again. It was a lot harder to keep that in mind when Javaid wasn't in the room to make it so obvious. "It must be awful not to be able to heard by multiple people in the same room, but that telepathy is an awfully handy skill."


Javaid nodded absently before realizing Conway couldn't see him. 'I don't mind at all. I'll be down in a short while.' Javaid looked forward to spoiling them with a nice dinner. As embarrassed as he was by the praise, he really did enjoy making his friends happy.

[Kari Muffin]

People watching was something Conway had to do all his life. If he hadn't he would have been able to hide as well as he did. Of course being silent most of the time did help as well.

"That would be a fairly fulfilling day," he commented as his sight slowly returned. He heard Javaid's last comment and he had to force himself not to smile. If he had been in any other form his tail would have been wagging awkwardly.

"The telepathy is a brand new development. I've been living with this.... condition for my entire life. It was difficult to act normal when in crowds. I normally pretended to be mute." Which had saved his ass plenty of times. He was fairly certian that half the people he pretended to me mute for would have thrown him out at the drop of the hat if they had found out the truth. Or at least part of the complicated truth that Conway was.

"And thank you for bringing the chicken," He said to change the subject a little bit. Talking about dinner seemed safer than talking about himself in half truths.