I Like Pi [Bee]

[Vyn]

Tybalt was feeling rather pleased with himself just then. It was very rare that someone paid him compliments like this, and even more rare that they included the word 'glory' anywhere within the vicinity of himself. "Exactly my point."

Had he known what Nephy was thinking, Tybalt would've bowed down and called the kid his Queen. He had his proud name to thank for it too, which was probably the entire purpose of having such a glorified name. His mother was probably trying to make up for his rank by naming him something powerful, worthy of recognition, and doomed. Whatever, today is worked and Tybalt was glad for that.

He popped another piece of turnover in his mouth and savored the taste of victory. Ahhh, so sweet. "Heh, that's awesome. We'll definitely have to stay in touch, Nephy. Do you live out here in The Capital?" Tybalt spent most every weekend here, but his weekdays were cooped up within The Court of Clubs unless he was running an errand for some extra coins.

[Bee]

"No," Nephy said, a little sadly, though the idea of having met a new friend pleased him greatly. That made...two! Which meant that he was at least doing better than Sophy. And Medea, probably, though he suspected that she was going to collect minions, not friends. "I live in the Court of Diamonds with my mama. It's not so awful, really--the library is amazing, that's where I usually am, but lately they've been letting me come to the city more. I've stayed over with Granny Minh a couple of times."

But those visits always made Dad nervous, because the Apartment was in a terrible neighborhood (something that, admittedly, Nephy actually found rather exciting). And for some reason Dad still seemed suspicious of Granny Minh, though he didn't seem to despise her, like he did with Madame Mnem. His dad was a smart man. But he could probably wrangle more trips to the city if he wanted to see a friend.

[Vyn]

Tybalt's expression fell momentarily in response to Nephy's sad response. He'd been excited to make a friend, one that wasn't as offput but his.. well, him-ness. Despite his prevalent 'tough guy' act he really did enjoying having people around that didn't make him feel lower than dirt.

The possibilities of visits, though, were a bright spot in this little down side and it was actually rather ironic that he also lived in A Court.

"I actually live in The Court of Clubs with my dad, myself. I'd try to get Dad's sway to give me reason to come.. but, well, face-cards usually don't take too well to... y'know, me." He rolled his eyes a little before pushing his ears forward in curiosity. "Where does your Granny live? I'm usually here on the weekends with my dad, or I hang around the market district with my sister." Or the slums if Vesper was involved, but he wasn't about to announce that just yet. It was far too easy to associate himself with a mangy back-alley ace and he didn't really want to help enhance that image of himself at all.

[Bee]

"My granny lives in the slums!" said Nephy brightly. The tale was told to him in bits and pieces by his mom, who was very proud of the story: how one zone of the shabby apartment complex had fallen into his grandmothers' hands, and then another, and then another, until soon enough the entire building had been theirs. Granny Minh and Madame Mnem had lived together a long time. He imagined that it was only Granny Minh's pre-existing insanity that had kept her from going insane. He would have, sharing a place with Madame Mnem for so long. "Or the warehouse district, to be more neutral."

He frowned pensively at his new friend. "The building is right as you enter the district from Yew Street. I can get the exact address, if you want. You can't miss the building. It's enormous and terrifying." The fur on his bushy skunk tail stood on end. "No one will be mean to you. My granny is friends with an Ace, and all my aunties and uncles grew up with him too. And if anyone else doesn't take too well to you, I have several mean and hurtful words at my disposal."

[Vyn]

Tybalt's ears flew forward in interest as Nephy announced his granny's living arrangements. In the slums? Tybalt had been hesitant to mention it as most people -- especially well read ones like his new friend -- tended to look down their noses at people who hung out frequently in the slums. This, however, was great luck.

"That's cool! My half-sister lives in the slums too! I'm out there all the time!" The wolf's ragged tail gave a quick two-beat wag as he broke into a wide, toothy grin. He knew exactly where that was, Vesper had taken him through there as a 'short cut' once. "Your granny lives in that big ole building? I thought it was an apartment complex?"

The reassurance of kindness and the offer for protect both came as a surprise to the Torque. Usually the only people who were nice to him were people in equally crappy positions. He'd met very few well-read booky people who bothered to give a damn. "Thanks, Nephy. You're pretty awesome. You're the coolest smart kid I've ever met."

[Bee]

Nephy had met several people who would disagree with that statement--his sister chief among them--but Tybalt was here and he liked Tybalt and therefore Tybalt's opinion was the only one that, at present, mattered. His preemptive outrage at the thought of anyone being nasty to his new friend dissolved into a beaming smile.

"It's scientifically proven that one's level of awe-inspiring magnificence has a positive correlation with the amount one reads." One day he planned to become invincible on sheer power of brain alone, but there were a lot more books he had to get to before that happened. It was a humbling thought. He wondered if Tybalt would be interested in coming to the library with him.

"And it used to be a complex. But, uh...my grandmas are both very forceful personalities, you know. Granny Minh is kind of nicely crazy and Mad Madam Mnem is kind of evil crazy, and together they just...drove everyone else out. So I'm told."

[Vyn]

Nephy's beaming was contagious. Before he knew it Tybalt's tail was gently wagging and he was beaming back at his friend. Some of the words flew over his head but he got the gist beneath it all. He really was very smart and for all of his nerdy love of reading (Tybalt frequently grew board with the task) he still wasn't one of those stuck-up brianiacs. "Really? Probably explains a lot.. I don't read much." He dipped his nose bashfully but his grin didn't fade. "Perhaps I'll pay more attention -- you know a lot of cool words."

"That is an epic tale." Tybalt said with an awed nod. What sort of oddballs were his grandparents that they could force out an entire complex for themselves? Frightening, for sure, but also intriguing. One day he'd have to get Nephy to introduce them.. or, y'know, show them to him from a nice, safe distance. Evil Crazy didn't bide well for friendly meetings. Nicely crazy, though, showed some promise.

[Bee]

"Oh, you can learn to do anything from books," he said, brightly. Tybalt was young, he could develop a love for books yet! Maybe he had just never found the right ones. And if he didn't, well--Nephy could be a book for him. That was almost as good, right?

Ah, the apartment. It got considerably more epic, but Nephy wasn't sure he wanted to tell Tybalt right off the bat about the carnivorous plants and the hordes of bandersnatches led by Monty. Or what he knew and suspected went on in his Granny Minh's lab. Or the family members that tended to filter in and out.

That might be the storytelling equivalent of sensory overload, and while he wanted his friend to be prepared for the eventual visit, he didn't want to frighten him out of visiting at all--though he doubted Tybalt was the sort to be terrified away from anything.

"I'll write of course," he said, "and when I come to visit next, you can come too! You can bring your sister, too, if you want." There was probably safety in numbers as far the apartment was concerned. Or maybe it just meant they would be a bigger and more appetizing snack. In any event, Nephy was sure he could protect them.

[Vyn]

Tybalt grinned. Nephy really did make a lot of sense on the whole subject of reading and what not. Before the day was over they'd ended up wandering over to one of the local libraries and Tybalt got Nephy to select a book for him. Maybe, this was the brain food he needed to get better at increasing his rank or learning new magic. Or something.

At very least it kept him busy while he waited for Nephy's next visit.

* * *
Later on...

At last the summons to come visit arrived. Tybalt and Lethe with Vesper playing a half-sober 'Guardian' for the day, made their way through the slums toward the old Warehouse complex. The kids were cheerful enough, almost prancing along, but Vesper was a little more cautious. This was the slums and a warehouse complex run by crazies (however nice) didn't sit quite well with her.

"Alright, you two. Stay close in here. I don't trust any taken over complex in the Slums. For all ya know it's a mad group of Corvies lookin' for easy prey usin' fellow kids as a bait." She narrowed her eyes down at Tyb. "Just cause your friend is charmin' doesn't mean he ain't trying to kill you."

Tybalt rolled his eyes and Lethe merely snickered. She was on Vesper's side about this, for once, but the spirit of adventure was thick in her veins. She'd passed this complex a dozen times and had heard all manners of strange rumors about it. There was no way she could have said no to visiting it.

The scruffy wolf shrugged away from his siblings and scampered up to the door to ring the bell with his nose. What a big place. Tybalt couldn't wait to see what was inside.

[Dark]

Knocking. Distant knocking. Knocking at the door. The front door, it would seem to be. Minh wandered her away through the apartment, at some point picking up Monty, who bounded menacingly along side her. She nodded goodmorning to the vicious little creature, and cast a searching eye about for hir followers; it would seem, however, the s/he was solo this morning; or they were getting better at hiding. Minh put nothing past the feral horde.

She answered the door. The world had a distinctive green tint; ah! she had forgotten to take her googles off. She slide them up onto her head. Much better. Ah, vistors! Now the question was why. Not many voluntarily visited the premises, with the exception of family.

"Hello there!" she greeted cheerfully, oblivious to Monty growling in the vicinity of her right ankle.