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Who: Balthazar (or Mirror!Balthazar), and OPEN
Where: the gardens
When: Wednesday-ish
Rating: PG-13-ish?
Summary: Balthazar is just having a nice little booze picnic. The Mirror version is looking for information.

Armed with a blanket from his room, a cooler of beer and bourbon, and a set of sidewalk chalk he retrieved from his closet, Balthazar has found a place to settle, amidst the garden he first stumbled through when he arrived. Now he's in a better state to appreciate the beauty. They may all be in a prison, but at least it's a pretty prison, and well-stocked with comforts.

Anyone who comes upon him will be offered a drink, of course. The later in the day he's found, the more elaborate will be the chalk design he's sketching onto the brick path. It's not recognizable as any specific person or item, just a tangle of color and repeating patterns. Maybe it means something to him.

Leviazar is not interested in alcohol, except as a tool to lubricate social interactions and get others' guards down. He's even less interested in chalk art. Today, he's stayed inside, despite having seen his real depart for the open air. There are other people to watch, on both sides of the mirrors. But a close observer on the realside may catch him tracing Enochian sigils in steamed-up glass, with the tip of one finger.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Balthazar probably should have asked whether Souji is old enough to drink. He can't really tell by looking, and legal ages vary in different places, anyway. As long as no one's going to come after and scold him here, he supposes it's no big deal. He gives Souji a friendly nod and holds out the backs of his fingers for Tefra to get a look at him.

"She's cute. Reminds me a bit of a monitor lizard. Does she breathe fire or fly?"

"I was told she won't be able to breathe fire, but I'm not sure about flying. She can't yet, anyway."

Tefra waddles over to Balthazar to snuffle all over his hand and lick at it lightly. Souji watches her and tilts his head.

"...I might be overfeeding her."

"Probably it's good that she won't be breathing fire," he smiles. "At least you ought to be able to get her a flight teacher here, if it comes to that. Have you seen the big black dragon?"

He doesn't seem to mind the licking, scratching the dragon's neck gently with his free hand. "Don't ask me. The only pet I've ever had was an orchid mantis."

Souji smiled. "I've met him. He and Tefra get along pretty well."

He knocks back about half the beer and wonders why his uncle drinks as much of it as he does. It must be an acquired taste. He's not sure he wants to drink enough of it to acquire it though.

"Why would you have an orchid mantis as a pet?"

"I like him. Dragons aren't at all friendly where I come from." He leans a little closer to Tefra. "And you. You seem like a delightful little reptile."

He answers Souji, still busily petting the dragon. "I was living alone and thought live company might be pleasant, but I didn't think I could handle something as long-lived and complex as a dog or cat. They were pretty little bugs, almost like flowers that walked around the tank and ate flies."

Tefra hops to one side, presses her forehead against the ground, and, starting at that point, rolls onto her side.

"That makes sense. I didn't have pets at home, but there were a lot of cats that lived around my house."

Balthazar laughs, pulling back a little from the petting. He's not sure what to make of that particular body language. She's a foreign creature to him. Turning instead to Souji, he nods. "Where did you live, before? Cats are all right. I like other peoples' cats."

"At my uncle's, in a small town in the hills. They were all stray cats, but more of them kept coming." Probably because Souji had fed them.

Tefra wriggles and then rolls back to her feet, revealing that one of her sides is now smeared with chalk.

"I like pretty much all animals, though." Souji crouches down to get a closer look at the drawings at his feet. "Have you thought of getting a pet here?"

"Animals do that. Once they find a place they like, they invite all their family members." Yeah, the food probably helped quite a bit.

"Oh, dear..." He's slightly dismayed his drawing has been smudged, but lets it go quickly in favor of laughing at the rainbow dragon. "She's going to track that everywhere, you know. Er...I don't know, I'm not sure I want too much responsibility."

Souji notices Tefra's shenanigans and he scoops her up in his arms--which is a little more work than it sounds like, since she's as big as his torso--depositing her in the grass nearby.

"Sorry. She kind of smeared it, didn't she?" He turns back to survey the area she rolled around in. "What is all of this anyway?"

The angel laughs and waves a hand dismissively. "It's all right. I wasn't expecting it to last more than an hour or two anyway. It's on a walkway, after all."

He tilts his head to get a look at Tefra's side, grinning at the blur of color. "It's an attempt to pass the time, for the most part. I've always liked drawing and painting, but I have no real talent for it. The sidewalk chalk came out of my closet by chance, and I thought I might as well have some fun with it."

"Can I join you?" Souji gestures at the bucket of chalk. He probably can't produce anything like what Balthazar has already, but stick figures can be charming, right? Right.

"Please do!" He brightens visibly. The only thing better than making a mess of color and design is doing it with another person. And a small dragon. "There's plenty of space."

Souji smiles and takes a seat, setting his half-drunk beer to the side. Tefra immediately knocks it over while snuffling at it and begins to lick up what pours out of the can. The taste seems more pleasant to her than it was to Souji.

He watches her for a second, then decides that he'll deal with his dragon getting drunk when and it happens. In the meantime, he selects a blue piece of chalk and starts to carefully outline a rather odd looking bear. It's more like a guy in a mascot costume than an actual bear.

Balthazar opens his mouth to point out that Souji's drink has been stolen, but thinks better of it. Hell, maybe beer is good for tiny dragons? Makes their scales lustrous?

He watches the bear emerge curiously for a few moments, then reaches for the green and doodles a curling vine across a space of three or four bricks, ending in the stem and bracts of a flower. "What's the story with the blue fuzzy, then?"

"He's a friend from home. I haven't seen him in awhile, since I've been here." And being of an odd shape, he's easier to draw than his more human friends.

"You have a blue friend?" Balthazar smiles. He's not sure whether its supposed to be a costume or a literal depiction. It hardly matters to him, but he's enjoying watching the portrait come to life.

"How long have you been here, anyway? Did I ask you that last time we talked? I can't remember."

Souji shrugs--he doesn't remember either. "Almost two years. Some of my friends have come and gone, but this guy never has."

He draws red and white stripes down parts of the bear's body, and big googly eyes. "He's kind of like a guy in a bear mascot costume...? He used to be empty inside, but then there was a guy inside and the bear part was just a suit. Which was weird and kind of unsettling at the time, but I just got used to it after awhile."

"Two years," he repeats thoughtfully. It's a long time, by human estimation. Not so long by his own reckoning, but it does say something about the nature of Wonderland. Souji seems far from traumatized. Perhaps it's not such a bad place, long-term, after all?

"I'm afraid you're talking beyond my realm of experience. Honestly, that sounds a bit creepy to me."

"It's not as bad as it sounds. You'd have to know the guy, I guess, and where he came from for it to seem like it's not a big deal."

Souji reaches for his can of beer, then remembers his dragon drank it. She's currently trying to eat a piece of purple chalk.

"...You probably shouldn't do that."

"I suppose personality makes a difference," he agrees, turning to see what the dragon's up to now.

"Oh. Oh, no, probably not a good idea." He reaches over to take the chalk away, which results in a brief tug-of-war. "Is she actually hungry, do you think?"

"She gets excited when we go outside." Souji tugs her into his lap and she lets go of the chalk. "But it's kind of a slow excited. Like a tired dachshund, but wider, I guess."

The chalk on Tefra's side comes off down the front of Souji's shirt, but after looking at it for a moment, he just shrugs.

"I have lots of friends who are kind of weird, but they're all weird in pretty normal ways." Except for the guy he just drew on the ground.

That makes him laugh. "Good thing you have her on a leash, then. She might climb a tree or try to fly. Does she play with toys, like a dog would? I'm picturing squeaky toys or jingle balls now."

Oops. Someone's been chalked. Without thinking about the implications, Balthazar reaches over and touches his sleeve lightly. In a split second, the staining is gone from both Souji and Tefra.

Souji's about to answer, but blinks at his suddenly clean shirt. He looks at Balthazar in bemusement.

"Thanks." He lets Tefra squirm out of his lap without a struggle. "I didn't think that was a thing people could do."

"People", of course, being a loose term in this context.

"Depends on the person?" Balthazar smile sheepishly. "I'm an angel. It's a thing we do. Heaven is full of type A personalities, you know. Cleanliness is important."

Says the guy sitting on the ground with chalk dust on his knees.