kaisou | He's the guy in red when everybody else is wearing tan

WHO: Anthony J. Crowley and OPEN
WHERE: Network / A park bench in town / wildcard
WHEN: Aug. 23, Afternoon
WHAT: Intro
WARNINGS: PG-13 - language

1 - Small Community Park

A shady spot on a park bench under a large tree was serving its purpose as a temporary residence as Anthony sat next to a cardboard box full of treasures, many of them gifts of badly drawn versions of himself in the child artist's medium of choice - crayon, with his feet propped up on his suitcase full of clothes. He stared at the new app on his phone before finally completing the log in process, taking a selfie of himself looking cool in a new pair of shades, and settling on an appropriate username...

2 - Video - Network post - un: 007Nanny

I can't find anyone 'Professional' to give me some advice on this so I guess putting my trust in a strange mystery app and a bunch of strangers is where I'm at right now. I woke up couple of days ago to find my eyes changed. They're all...

[ A vague uncanny gesture. ]

Yellow, and not a single one of the Optometrists I've been to has been able to even see that there was a problem! 20/20, perfect vision, maybe you need to see a shrink!

[ At this he whipped the shades off in dramatic fashion revealing his new golden yellow eyes and his decided inhuman looking snake-like pupils. ]

Does this look like a psychiatric condition to you? I'd appreciate some advice if you've got any.

3 - Wildcard

Anthony will be avoiding Cathedral Hill as for some reason he finds the place sort of spooky, but feel free to run into him anywhere else. He is currently between live-in Nanny positions and might be carrying his worldly possessions with him. He is also wearing a new pair of shades, even at night, which if you knew him before the app downloaded would seem unusual.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ All that traveling and disappearing without word, it seemed to him Alec preferred to be alone. That hadn't changed. ]

Little red demon. He is the one that told me what the eyes meant.

[ He is doomed to shrink, turn red and be mistaken for a possum... ]

Said it can happen over night so while I don't feel any different now, I don't know how much time I have.

[exactly he's fine. Perfectly fine]

That doesn't follow that's what you'll turn into. And if you do, I'll get a little sling so someone carry you over long distances. Maybe your charges will want to play dress up?

[he's teasing him]

Don't act like you're dying for Christ's sake. Whatever happens you'll be fine, and if you're not, we'll find a way to fix it.

[ Exactly. They were fine like this. ]

No one is going to want to play dress up with a possum.

[ Note wearing a dress or makeup is not the hang up here but the not being human anymore bit was. He could rock a skirt. ]

You're going to reverse the irreversible process?

[ He grinned from the audacity of that. ]

I'm not dying yet. I've got to get some half frozen idiot back to his flat.

[ With a point he gestured to the roadway and the car that had just pulled up. ]

Called you an Uber.

Watch me.

[Anthony is the only thing he has left. He's not letting anything take him away]

Come get some coffee with me. I need to give you what I bought you.

[he is freezing though. And tired. And could use coffee. But he doesn't want to just be packed away. Again. Like always]

[ The shades slid back into place. ]

I could do a coffee. Pick up a box?

[ That was his life out there in those boxes, he wouldn't just leave them behind. ]

Christ you are homeless. [he picks up a box and glowers at it]

At least store stuff in the flat or let me get you a storage unit until you're on your feet. YOu can't live like this.

It's not so bad when you get used to it.

[ At least when the weather is mild. Now catch him when its cold, rainy and he is miserable some where.
He picked up the other box and grabbed the handle of the wheeled suitcase so it could roll along behind them. ]

You can keep the boxes. I'll need the clothes or I'll risk shocking my new roomie.

It's bloody miserable.

[he had slept on a bench on accident and it was miserable. Already he feels a crick starting to form in his neck]

That's fine. Who is your new roomie? What's the address?

It is when you sleep out in the open without a blanket or a pillow. You act like you've never gone camping before.

[ Camping on a bench was a little different but those two rules still applied! ]

I'm staying with the red guy, Moxxie. He texted me his address. I figure, maybe he can tell me more about all this demon business since he has been one longer.

I hate camping. I hate the air and the ground and the bugs and the food. I hate the public toilets.
[he glances at Anty]

I hate when someone has an accident because he's scared of the Kettleman.

[which might be his fault, but he'll never let his brother live it down]

I think I know him. Is he on the shorter side? Lives with a cat?

[ OH THAT STORY AGAIN! They were really going with THAT story?? ]

I told you about a million times I kicked over my Ribena! I don't pee purple!

[ Yet. Was that something demons needed to worry about? ]

He did say he has a cat and it was about as big as him... so yeah, I'd say short. He had striped horns too.

Aye, I know. I've heard that excuse.

But it's alright. The Kettleman isn't real. [and he waits the customary beat as he opens the door to the patiently waiting Uber]] Probably.

[he waits for Anthony to join him before adding]

He's a colleague. I know where he lives. I'll drop by. [whether you like it or not] D'you think you're going to grow horns?

Probably...

[ Repeated with a generous amount of snark. ]

If I do end up growing any horns I'll stab you with them.

[ It would serve you right, brat.

But as that horror had not yet come to be Anthony leaned forward long enough to give Alec's address to the driver. The sooner to be on their way, whipping in and out of lanes, recklessly, as cabbies liked to drive. ]

Kind of difficult to be a Professor if everyone thinks you look like a possum, isn't it?

We'll see if you don't get bitten first.

[he frowns at the dog who has planted itself on the floor by their feet and is currently drooling near Anthony's shoe]

I just wonder why now. Why us? Why all of a sudden has everything changed? Unless...we're finally coming close to the truth.

What truth?

[ No seriously. Alec had always been out there searching for 'the truth'... but was there really such a thing. ]

You think this is all part of some kind of puzzle and if we find the last piece everything will make sense? What if it never does? What if all this chaos keeps happening and there isn't any greater meaning to any of it?

[it's not as if he hasn't thought about this before. It's not as if he hasn't stared into the void long enough for it to carve a path into his soul. He has to believe in it. In connections. In something. He stares at the shadow dog who rests its chin on the seat between them.]

Then what's the point? [of any of it]

Maybe the point is there is no point. Maybe all this is just what we make of it.

[ Anthony's deep philosophizing came to an end as the Uber pulled up to the curb and he was expected to actually pay for the lift they had been given. Fortunately he had enough in his wallet to handle it with enough left for a small tip.
He gave a little smirk as he grabbed one of his boxes and looked back to Alec and pup. ]

Carpe vinum.

[ Seize the wine! Living life and enjoying every minute of it was Anthony's calling. ]

[he almost doesn't want to leave the Uber after that, but he does, taking the box with him. It's supposed to be a cheerful outlook, he knows, a freeing one, but it just makes him feel more trapped than ever]

There isn't enough vinum in the world. [he gets out and leads the way up to his flat] And what if there is more? What if your universe is more complicated than you think it is? What then?

[ He shrugged, while diligently sauntering along just behind Alec. ]

I'll figure something out.

[ The universe already was more complicated today then it had been yesterday, but then yesterday he had been human and today... Best not to think too much about it right now. ]

[he offers Anty a small wan smile and waits for his twin to catch up before bumping up against his shoulder]

You always do.

He's the guy in red when everybody else is wearing tan

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