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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Sept 15, 2008 0:43:40 GMT -5
There were four empty mugs on the bar in front of the man, and he downed the last liquid out of the fifth. Bog-beer was much stronger than the swill they drank in the Capital, and Seth was thankful for the fire it sent through his veins, warming him inside and out. It was the first time in - it must have been months, now that he actually considered it - a long while that he wore his biped form. It had been many years since he'd last made the treck up the long mountain trails and faced the cold of his youth, and he could only hope this trip would go better than the last. He needed to find his mother, needed to know if his children would ever know a grandmother. Heilyn's mother was dead, after all, and there was no way to make ammends with that sort of parting-of-ways. It was a naive hope, but he'd never forgive himself if he didn't at least try. He had gone so fucking soft. Why was he even trying? The thought was enough for him to order yet another beer, adding to the collection that was rather quickly growing before him. So far the trip had been a rather stunning failure. He'd dug up no more about his mother's current whereabouts than he'd managed to find on any other occasion. He should have expected this. After all, it wasn't as though he'd actually done any research towards finding her, he'd just blustered ahead blindly into the snow and ice that he had known like the back of his hand at one point. Of course he didn't find anything. The Glacier was where people went when they didn't want to be found. |
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Post by Bee on Sept 15, 2008 1:13:13 GMT -5
 Jin made a point of knowing most of the patrons in most of the pubs in the area--he spent his free time toying with drunks, after all, and it helped to know their sad stories and how to tweak them. But he had never seen this one before. A bipedal bat with his back turned to Jin, posture just about as brooding as everyone else in the room, knocking back beer after beer. Jin watched him curiously over his own beer. Something about a bat rang a faint bell somewhere in the back of his mind, but the tinny little twang faded as soon as it sounded. He shivered in his thick black coat. He hated having to wear it, but it was particularly shitty day, even inside, and his worthless coat wasn't keeping him insulated worth a damn. He was sure a couple of inebriated idiots were snickering at him. He would find some way to ruin their lives later. But the bat was the most interesting thing to happen all day, so for the moment, he grabbed his beer and headed over to the boozing brooder, hopping rather awkwardly into the chair next to his. "Hey, stranger," he said, conversationally. "Haven't seen you around here before." |
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Sept 15, 2008 19:35:52 GMT -5
For a moment, Seth didn't even recognize the fact that the man was speaking to him, and so he made no move to aknowledge Jin for a long minute. When he did turn, it was with a curious expression - A single inquisitive eyebrow raised at the slender dog and his glance moved to the thick coat the man wore. He recognized the covering, as there had been several years when he'd wanted one to cover his poor wings from the cold. He'd just been a boy, however, and with age came thick muscles and even thicker fur - the man that had begun to speak to him looked to be fully grown, so he most likely would never know that relief.
Poor sonnofabitch.
"Spending years away'll do that,[/b]" he replied, easily sliding back into the language of his childhood. Its strong sounds seemed to fit his deep voice perfectly, and even after years of speaking nothing but common, his accent was flawless. He was almost proud of himself, even if hearing he was a stranger in a place that he'd hardly ever left in his childhood. "But I'm here now. Name's Seth. Can't say I've seen you around either.[/b]"
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Post by Bee on Sept 15, 2008 21:36:12 GMT -5
Jin shrugged, and took another drink of beer. "I'm Jinan. Jin, if you please. Jinny, if you want to die horribly. I haven't been trolling pubs all that long. Most of the time I get volunteered to look after my fuckwit brother. But I manage to amuse myself in my off hours."
He was very curious as to where this Seth person had been in his years away from the homeland, and moderately curious as to why he had left. Jin would leave the Glacier just to escape the constant, biting cold, but his reasoning would likely be uncommon.
His beer nearly choked him to death when he stole another glance at the big bat: he was a Queen. Someone had gotten around. Now he was extremely curious.
Regaining control over himself, he said, "Why the hell would you want to come back here?" He paused, and added, cheerfully, "If you don't mind me asking."
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Sept 15, 2008 22:06:03 GMT -5
Seth grinned to himself. In a special kind of way, he'd missed his home and he found Jinan's sense of humor to be quite refreshing. "I suppose I'll stick with Jin, then. 's the easiest and carries the lowest risk of my body being discovered in a snowdrift somewhere years from now.[/b]" he finished his beer, turning his full attention to the man and grinning widely. "So it'll work just fine by me.[/b]"
In his head, Seth had begun the silent countdown of the time it would take for the canine to notice the black mark on his chest. Anything above an 8 was a rarity in the Glacier, and Face Cards were practically unheard of. It was always entertaining to see how people reacted to a Queen suddenly being thrust into their normal lives. It was even more entertaining when he ran into someone who'd known him before.
When Jin finally did notice, Seth grinned widely to himself. It hadn't taken him very long at all to notice - the last person he'd spoken to had been an old friend who had literally fallen on his ass when the change finally registered with him. "I don't mind your asking at all,[/b]" he replied with equal cheer, glancing around the bar. "I missed the local culture, you know? Sometimes you just get a longing to go home... And man, did I ever miss the people.[/b]" he rolled his eyes towards a group of extremely scruffy Cards that were huddled in the back corner, likely shooting alcohol and god-knew-what-else directly into their veins. One of the individuals may have, in fact, been a woman, but under the copious facial fur it was impossible to tell.
"Nah, seriously, I'm looking for my mother.[/b]" the bat's ears flicked back slightly, an irritated expression crossing his face. "It's been years since I last saw her. There are.. things I need to tell her. So far I've had shit luck with finding her.[/b]" It was all too easy for someone to disappear here.
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Post by Bee on Sept 16, 2008 1:57:29 GMT -5
Curious. Seth didn't look particularly thrilled at the prospect of finding his mother at all, if his sour expression were anything to go by. This was fine. Instead of a schmoopy reunion, he might get the chance to help some amazing shit hit the fan.
"We could always ask my mother," Jin suggested. "She knows most of the people in the area."
Of course, that was probably because his mother had shagged most of the people in the area, but that really wasn't important to the story. Jin loved his mother, and the only problem he had with her free-wheeling affection for both the attached and the outsider was her tendency to give him a shitload of unwanted siblings. He was occasionally tempted to inform her that birth control did in fact exist, but sex discussions with his mother tended to rapidly devolve into her babbling at length about her latest conquest in excrutiating detail.
And there was nothing less exciting than porn as read by your mother.
"You know her name, right? Mom might need something like that to go on. If you remember what she looks like, that would be great too."
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Sept 19, 2008 14:23:01 GMT -5
The idea of getting help from anyone in the Glacier came as a surprise to the bat, who flicked his large ears back slightly. It was entirely possible, he realized, that this would be the only way to track down his own mother. A single eyebrow quirked, and the man leaned slightly against the bar, looking rather curious. While it might come as a blessing, it was still not common for someone living here to know more than one or two of their neighbors... Let alone most of the people in the general surroundings. When he'd lived here, it either meant that you owned a pub or slept around quite a bit.
"That's a rarity,[/b]" he said with a small grin. "Is she social? Or just...[/b]" he trailed off with a small shrug, deciding that this was likely not the best line of conversation. Some Solandrians were very much family-oriented and he didn't want to tread on any toes. Especially not potentially-friendly ones. Regardless, he was rather thankful for the change in conversation.
"I remember both all too well.[/b]" he replied, shaking his head slightly. He'd lived with her for far too many years, after all, and even if the best view he'd gotten of her had been a clawed foot coming for his face or a mouth full of hideously yellowed teeth... Well. He remembered her. That was all that mattered. "What'd you say to another round before we give that a shot? On me, of course.[/b]"
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Post by Bee on Sept 29, 2008 22:41:49 GMT -5
If his new friend needed to get a little inebriated to meet his mother dearest, then Jin wasn't going to judge. Some of the Solandarians were a very particular kind of hardcore that even the garden variety hardcore didn't care to deal with. And Jin was game for kicking back another drink, especially if someone else was buying. He liked this bat. He grinned against the glass. "She's very...social."
But what his mother did was her own business--except when she saddled him with older siblings who were liable to get murdered by other Solandarians as soon as they stepped out of the house. He was grateful for the distance between homesteads in the region, and for the fact that Abner was mostly kept indoors, where he was safe. Though really, a dead Abner would probably be the best Abner.
"Thanks for the drink, bro."
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Oct 2, 2008 14:51:26 GMT -5
The bat waved drinks over for the pair, downing his own in one easy motion and sighing softly as the liquid burned its way down his throat. There was one thing that you could say about the Glacier, and that was the honest fact that they knew alcohol. Since he'd left so many years ago, he'd never had a drink that had quite the burn of Solandrian Vodka. The man eyed his empty glass for a moment, seeming to consider it before he pushed his stool away slightly.
A glass or two of that and he'd be ready to take on the world. Any more than that and there would be a reasonable chance that he'd be taking on the floor. Today just wasn't a good day for Seth to try to test his limits.
"It's not a problem.[/b]" he said easily, shrugging at the canine. "Once this is all over, I'd be happy to get you another.[/b]" And he would, too. As long as he was alive after meeting with his mother dearest, that was. The man's oversized ears flicked back, an outward signal of irritation - there was no avoiding it any longer, if he wanted to return to his family in any reasonable amount of time he'd need to just bite the bullet and get this whole... meeting-thing over with.
He drummed his fingers on the countertop, looking at Jinan with a slightly anxious expression. "Well, no time like the present, hm? I'm ready to head out and meet with this social mother of yours if you are.[/b]"
Suits, he hoped the woman didn't flirt with him.
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Post by Bee on Oct 9, 2008 13:47:49 GMT -5
"She'll be delighted to see you, I'm sure."
He lead the way out of the booze joint. The sky had darkened to a bruised, angry color. The light dusting of snow that had been flaking lazily down from the sky when Jin had first entered the pub had thickened into a dense, heavy fall that danced with the bitter wind. The weather appeared to be gearing itself up for a blizzard. Fuck that shit. Jin couldn't wait until the day he left this frigid hellscape for good and never had to see a snowflake for the rest of his days. He was going to need to get some better gear when he got back to the house.
His abode was a relatively long trek from the pub--as isolated as any Glacier home, it was built small, sturdy, and well-insulated in a small clearing on the mountainside, in an area that was not prone to avalanche. Jin hated making the journey, but it was just as well that they lived so far out; Mom's xenophilia, known quite well in the area, had lead in the last couple of decades to more than one person trying to make their way over to dispose of the foreign-realm abominations she had given birth to and housed.
His mother, a small, thickly-furred and stocky canine of not-insignificant attractiveness, greeted them at the door.
"Jinny," she said, looking mildly surprised. "I would've thought your skinny ass would be dead in a snowbank about now."
"Mother," he said, "I would've thought you'd be busy fucking Lowlanders about now."
"Low availability at the moment," said Mom. "I haven't been to the Capital in years. Well, get in the house before you freeze to death." She seemed, then, to notice Seth, though how anyone could not be aware of a large bipedal bat up till that moment was anyone's guess. She smiled, slow and sly. "Jin, I didn't know you had friends."
"I'm too embarrassed of you to introduce them, generally. This is Seth. He's looking for a particular someone, and we thought, since you are intimately acquainted with the people around here, you might know where she is."
"Depends," said Mom, and stepped aside to let them into the house. "Who are you looking for, handsome?"
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