Meeting the Future [End]

[Greenie]

Zether wiggled from his odd position, well aware that the passing strangers around him were staring; he was lying upside-down on a bench with his head and shoulders dangling off the edge, and his ectoplasm turning the bench into an odd frosty-blue color. Once in a while he would rock his head back and forth or wiggle a paw or two, but otherwise he was enjoying watching the people watching him.

Normally while he was in the City he wandered around, asking obnoxious questions of shop owners and buying trinkets, but Mother had specifically ordered him to stay in this plaza, and he knew if he wandered off he'd not be allowed back for months. Damn overprotective parents. If Father were with him he'd be allowed to do whatever he wanted, but his overprotective ferret of a mom was under the impression that he was going to get whisked away by strangers with candy and lusts for odd children. Ha.

[Blue]

Having never been outside of Avington before, being in the Capital was certainly an experience. Kaleb weaved his way through the crowds, trying not to bump into anyone. That would just be awkward, and the poor boy was shy enough already. Upon seeing a less crowded path, he quickly made his way over to it, immediately glad for more room to breathe. Padding along, he still came across quite a few people, but at least he could think.

What was he really doing here? He knew he'd wanted to get away from home for a change, but was this really the place to go? It was crowded and stuffy and noisy. This one little path was his saving grace. Kaleb looked up then, breaking out of his thoughts. Most everyone else that had been around him seemed to have gone off somewhere, making it easy to notice one person in particular.

"Is that...water?" The badger couldn't help but look at the strange mix sitting (or rather lying down) on one of the several benches that lined the path. Before he knew it, he was almost standing right in front of this new person. Rather than walk the other way, he found himself talking instead.

"Umm, hi there. Sorry if I'm bothering you or anything, but I...uh. Well, hi." He felt himself blush a deep crimson after his failed attempt at speaking. Maybe running away wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.

[Greenie]

Zether was watching a small rat-feline mix pick pockets with some amusement when all of the sudden a fairly large and wonderfully bright form inserted itself into his view. He blinked bemusedly at the beautiful greens and blues in front of him for a moment before he realized it was speaking to him - whoa, the head was all the way up there! Someone was giant compared to Zether's long, but small form.

"Well hello there, pretty," Zether replied, before he could stop himself. He nearly blushed, too, but decided that the badger had been awkward first, so he wasn't going to bother being embarrassed as well.

The mix executed a neat roll onto his stomach, fixed his dangling monocle, and neatly crossed his paws in front of him. Now facing the correct way up, Zether examined the boy (man? It was hard to tell..) in front of him with observant and interested eyes. An Avington, how delightful! His education told him that the blue tree meant the badger had a secret he hadn't shared, but beyond that he had never paid particularly close attention to his studies on the realm. And such large antlers..

Oh dear, he was staring. Whoops. "Can I help you with anything?" Or could you just stand there so he could stare some more?

[Blue]

Pretty? He'd never been called that before. Well, maybe by his mother once or twice, but certainly not by a complete stranger. The sentiment only made him blush deeper. His face was beginning to feel like it was on fire, he was blushing so much.

Then the stranger was suddenly right side up and staring at him. It was weird watching the bright blue eyes looking at his every feature, especially his antlers. Well, they were rather large, and he'd gotten rather used to getting stared at because of them. But this. This was a new kind of staring, and he wasn't sure what to think about it.

And now he was being asked a question. Oh great.

"Oh, no. Well...actually, yes. I'm not from around here, and I don't know where I should go. Do you know your way around the Capital? I could use something to eat right about now..." he added at the end, just as his stomach began to rumble.

[Greenie]

Zether's eyes were drawn to the bright red underneath all that gloriously thick fur, and he had to hide a grin. He was embarrassing the poor lad rather thoroughly, wasn't he? Oh well, it couldn't be helped, he was just that sort of kid; he said anything that came to his mind, just about.

No and yes? A confused lad as well! He smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring fashion, but it might've came out more amused than he intended. "I'm good with the area we're in, yeah. I don't know some of the other districts too well though, if that's what you're looking for." The mix tilted his head, his tail wagging ever so slightly. "Food, you say?" He couldn't help it and grinned widely when the badger's stomach rumbled. "Food! Let's go!" Without so much as a pause he leaped from the bench and began floating about an inch or so off the ground - almost imperceptibly so, though he hadn't bothered moving his paws in a walking pattern. There was a cafe down the corner he happened to love.

[Blue]

Oh thank goodness. Someone who knew their way around this place. That would certainly be helpful. And he knew where food was too! Things were certainly looking up since his arrival here.

All of sudden the stranger was off with a leap! That was definitely not expected. And he was floating. Just slightly, but he was definitely off the ground. Well, that was...new. He immediately followed the levitating creature, not wanting to lose sight of him.

Just then he realized how incredibly stupid he'd been. He hadn't even introduced himself! Neither had the stranger, but someone had to go first.

"Sorry, I forgot to tell you my name. It's Kaleb. I...appreciate your help. Do you mind telling me your name? And...what is that blue stuff all over you?" He couldn't help but want to reach out and touch the stuff, but since he didn't know what it was, he resisted the urge and kept on walking. Mom always told him to keep his hands to himself...

[Greenie]

Zether happily floated along at a pace he assumed the badger could keep up with; his floating "pace" was almost identical to his walking one anyways. He tilted his head back to catch the boy's words, and grinned in reaction. "I'm Zether," He replied, then reached a paw up across his chest to run it through one of his ecto-wings. "The 'blue stuff' is ectoplasm. I'd tell you to touch it, but it tends to freak people out, so only touch it if you're not going to freak out, kay?"

The mix saw Kaleb's hands twitching and grinned again to himself; somebody did want to touch. Well, he was okay with that. It wasn't every day he got pretty boys to touch him, now was it? Zether slowed down so he was next to Kaleb and grinned up at him. "It's cold, careful!"

[Blue]

"Zether. That's a nice name. I don't think I've heard that one before either. It...it suits you." He added the last bit as an afterthought, but he meant it. The name certainly seemed to fit the weird mix floating next to him.

Ectoplasm? The badger didn't really know what that was, but it only made him more curious. For the second time, he reached out one of his giant paws to touch it, and this time around he did.

What he felt next he could only describe as a shock of cold lightning. The cold traveled throughout his whole body, making his fur raise up along his spine. He took his paw away quickly, but the frigid feeling still lingered. "Whoa! That's cold. I mean, that's really cold! I can still feel it..." He looked at his paw, as if expected it to have turned icy with the shock. But it hadn't changed at all.

Weird.

So, now that that was over with, what to talk about next? Maybe he should ask more about the ectoplasm? Since he couldn't think of anything else, it seemed like the most logical choice.

"I hope I'm not prying too much, but were you born with this ectoplasm? And why is it so cold?" He shivered at the thought of how cold it really was. He hoped the feeling went away soon. Kaleb certainly didn't want it to stick around for long.

[Greenie]

"Why thank you!" He replied, absurdly pleased at the compliment. "I believe my mother made it up, but I'm not positive." He shrugged with a happy grin.

He watched Kaleb's reaction to the 'plasm with interest, and coughed a snicker away at his reaction. It always entertained him, how people seemed so startled that it was like running your hand through ice water, despite the fact that he warned most people. "Yep. I warned you!" He replied cheerfully. He then picked up the pace back to how they had been walking, though he stayed alongside Kaleb.

"Yep again! Mom said giving birth to me was like popping a giant ice pack out of his-- Well, you get the idea." Zether sniggered suggestively, not at all phased by a topic like birthing. "We have no idea why it's so cold. The running theory is that it's coming in from another plane and is linked to me somehow, but since it's not exactly a walk in the park to travel to other planes it's just an idea." He explained, dropping down to the ground every once in a while to create a funky little bop-gait. "You'll get used to it after a while, just be careful about contact." Zether wanted to say 'You can touch me allll you want,' but had a feeling it would just freak the poor badger out.

[Blue]

Kaleb couldn't help but chuckle a little under his breath. Zether had indeed warned him, but his curiosity had obviously gotten the best of him. The cold tingling had pretty much worn off at this point, so walking wasn't painful anymore.

Ectoplasm from another plane? He was certainly learning a lot today, even if that was only a theory. "I'll be careful from now on. No worries there." He chuckled again, this time a little more audibly.

As they continued on, Kaleb couldn't help but continue to look Zether over. The way he "walked" was very cute, almost like he had a literal spring in his step. And his markings were certainly unlike any he'd ever seen before. The monocle was a nice touch as well. He didn't want to admit this quite yet, but he was becoming quite smitten with the Card by his side.

They were coming to the end of the path, and Kaleb wondered where they were going to get food. "I hate to interrupt our conversation, but where are we headed? I can feel another rumble coming on." he admitted, quite sheepishly in fact. It wasn't every day that the badger was so frank like this. He almost wondered what had gotten into himself.