OPEN | here come the night

[halfwinchester]

Who: Adam Milligan (halfwinchester) and whoever else might be admiring Ewaymas!
Where: Around the mansion.
When: Dec. 13, anytime from late night to mid-afternoon.
Rating: G for now!
Summary: What the hell's with all this Christmas stuff? At least one newcomer is out and about looking at the changes.
The Story:



<sub>[Very rarely does Adam sleep through the night--or at all, if he's being honest. When the light fades and the mansion gets quiet, it's the perfect time for thoughts of his time in the pit to creep back in, and almost every night begins and ends with him sitting wide-awake until he's too tired to mount a defense. Sometimes he likes to ward away his nightmares in the bathroom. It's smaller in there, and reminds him of the times he'd hidden there when he'd been sick with the flu as a young child.

That night, he's counting spots on the ceiling of his room when the snow starts to fall, and it's the first thing that grabs Adam's attention before the noise starts. Snow? Had that been in Wonderland's weather report? By the time his curiosity wins out over his apprehension, the noises outside his door have long since stopped.

He creeps into the hallway in bare feet to see what going's on. Christmas decorations? Is it Christmas?

The mansion looks beautifully done up in the late hours of the night, and for a while Adam looks around until the pull to return to his room grows too strong. He can be found downstairs inspecting the giant Christmas tree once daylight breaks, dressed for the weather in a heavy sweater. His breakfast is an apple, which he eats while poking at ornaments on the branches.

For once, he has something to do in the mansion that isn't simply "avoid angels." It's strange enough thinking it's already December. A lot of the time it feels like he just arrived, soul broken and all.]</sub>

Comments

[halfwinchester]

_{[Oh, right. The parallel dimensions stuff. It's a little too Twilight Zone for his tastes when Earth and all of its bullshit is so complicated all on its own.]}

I have no idea who that is.

_{[It's a calm confession on behalf of a supernatural novice. He's not sure he'd like himself if he was a supernatural expert.]}

[eatsyourscience]

[Souji's not surprised.]

She's a Japanese goddess. She helped create the earth and gave birth to a lot of the gods and to the islands. Then she died and went to the underworld, where she rotted away.

[halfwinchester]

<sub>[A... Japanese goddess? Isn't the whole "created Earth" thing supposed to be a part of God's resume, or is that just another holier-than-thou lie the angels tell to make themselves feel better?

He doesn't really get it, to be honest, but he doesn't pretend to. Making sense of conflicting cosmologies is outside his pay grade.]</sub>

And you rub elbows with her? That have something to do with your powers?

_{[What else is he supposed to call them? He barely even knows what a vessel is, and he's apparently one of them, a spare shirt in Michael's closet.]}

[eatsyourscience]

She awakened them.

[Sort of. There's a fine line between "gave them" and "awakened them" apparently.]

In the end, we killed her. Me and my friends.

[halfwinchester]

<sub>[He hopes Souji isn't expecting an articulate response to a story like that, because Adam doesn't have one. At least not one he cares to share right away. He reverts back to a faintly quizzical staring.

A goddess giving people powers and then getting killed by a bunch of... what? Super-powered humans? Sounds pretty crazy, but then so does angels coming down to Earth to possess people so they can kill Satan.]</sub>

Oh.

_{[An underwhelming response, to say the least.]}

She wouldn't give you a discount on the special powers thing or what?

[eatsyourscience]

[Souji's telling of the story isn't exactly full of the details. There was a lot more to it than he let on, but he's not the type to tell something like that all at once anyway, even if he knew Adam better than he does.]

She wanted to cover the world in fog and turn everyone into Shadows.

[halfwinchester]

_{[He blinks a few times, purposely toning down his reaction so he doesn't give himself a headache trying to think too hard about this stuff.]}

And you don't have a problem with monsters? _{[He reverses one of Souji's earlier questions with a dry kind of curiosity.]} I still haven't heard of a single one who didn't love to hate normal people.

_{[And if half of what this guy is saying is true, then he'd been normal, too, before the supernatural had dragged him into the middle of its shit like it'd done to Adam before.]}

[eatsyourscience]

[Souji isn't sure for a moment if Adam means the Shadows or supernatural beings--like Izanami and the angels--who meddle with people. After a couple of seconds, he decides it's probably the latter.]

I've met a few who didn't. There were three who helped me a lot.

[halfwinchester]

Really?

<sub>[There's no hiding the doubt in his voice.

Adam shakes his head. He doesn't even know what a "shadow" is supposed to mean in this context, so this is way outside his area of expertise. Goddesses, strange powers, messing around with people... to him, it sounds like a a lot of the same shit just wrapped up with a different bow, but what does he know? Nothing, that's the answer. He's spent hundreds of years in the pit and is still just a novice at this stuff.]</sub>

Going with the idea that I believe all of this, sounds like you've got your own crap. _{[A pile of shit smells the same in every dimension, doesn't it?]} Maybe this underworld is a different place with a nicer view, but all I was going to say is that you've been in the pit you'd be having culture shock, too. Underworlds are probably underworlds for a reason.

_{[Not places for visiting. Definitely not places to stay for an extended vacation.]}

[eatsyourscience]

[Souji nods. If he assumes the TV world was the underworld--and it was where Izanami lived--then it was definitely nicer than what he knows about the underworld Adam's experienced. If nothing else, he can see what Adam's getting at, and although more inviting, the TV world wasn't a place humans could survive for long.

Besides, the three non-humans he had met (with the exception of Izanami) weren't angels. He doesn't know what they were, but their purpose seemed very much focused around helping humans rather than using them.]

Do you think you'll ever get used to this place?

[halfwinchester]

<sub>[Adam doesn't answer the question right away, and he's not sure he should. Who's asking and why? Should he want to get used to a place that isn't real life and isn't Heaven? Is it even possible?

His gaze drifts downward.]</sub>

Don't ask me, I'm just along for the ride. I think it's more the snapping and turning into a homicidal maniac that people need to worry about.

_{[Given the way his brothers had looked at him, and even the angels... not the most encouraging reaction his being up and about.]}

If this is just half-time before we go back to our regularly scheduled program like people say, then we're all going back where we came from.

[eatsyourscience]

[That would definitely put a damper on things, wouldn't it...]

Are you worried about turning into a homicidal maniac?

[halfwinchester]

<sub>[Are you, Souji? You could've been talking to a total nutjob over the phone and never known it from the state of his normal blond hair.

He's still for a second before he shrugs.]</sub>

You were the one who said you didn't think crazy people knew they were crazy, right? I could already be skinning animals in my free time and not know it. _{[But he's only joking... or he hopes he is. He shrugs again, looser and more nonchalant than the last.]} Merry Christmas.

_{[... Though he really shouldn't be joking about this at all given what Tom Hanniger is destined to get up to sooner rather than later...]}

[eatsyourscience]

My Mirror does that. Skin animals. You're a better guy than him.

[Souji's just got a feeling on the matter.]

[halfwinchester]

_{[That brings him up a little short.]}

Your... Mirror does that?

_{[... Is this stuff people drop in casual conversation here? Then again, this isn't really casual conversation, is it? He might have pointed out that Souji had a habit of saying odd things, but he's pretty sure he's already said something to that effect before, and he's not exactly guilty of being Mr. Congenial himself.]}

You got all that just from meeting in person?

_{[He's not so sure.]}

[eatsyourscience]

You've never left a live, dissected parakeet in my room.

[Which really is enough for Souji. He'd never spoken to his Mirror before when the parakeet thing happened; he's spoken to Adam before and no tortured animals have appeared.]

[halfwinchester]

_{[The way Adam's face scrunches up pretty much says it all. Coming from someone who's seen the torments Lucifer's Cage has to offer, actual skinned animals is still its own level of crazy.]}

You're right, that's just a bit weird.

[eatsyourscience]

A bit.

[halfwinchester]

_{[After some deliberation, he says the only thing that comes to mind and the only thing that seems fair in this situation:]}

That sucks.

_{[Guess they have more in common than he thought.]}

[eatsyourscience]

[Souji appreciates the sentiment. He considers speculating about what Adam's Mirror will be like, but then decides that'd just be a downer. He chews on his thumbnail, but it doesn't take like candy canes anymore.]

I'm glad you came out.

[halfwinchester]

<sub>[Probably for the best that nobody meets the guy on intimate terms. His Mirror hadn't killed anyone or assaulted any birds, but not for lack of motivation. Hell had done that to him.

And just because Adam hadn't killed before, it didn't mean he couldn't or he wouldn't... or that he hadn't felt the urge when he let his feelings rise to the surface. He'd experienced the very same things in Hell, and he has to live with the potential reality that those seeds could germinate into the same disposition that had given birth to his opposite self. He's not sure it's such a bad thought, either, but then there's plenty he's not sure about.

He holds back a moment or two before he responds. It's the lack of aggression or ill will from someone not altogether human that makes the sentiment odd.]</sub>

Yeah... well, hard to ignore the circus when it comes to town. _{[He nods at the nearest crack in the floor, a distraction from the innocent glamor of the Christmas decorations.]} It's not like it's safe anywhere, inside or out.

[eatsyourscience]

True. But it's more festive out here.

[With the exception of the cracks, of course.]

[halfwinchester]

Is that supposed to be a good thing?

<sub>[By all accounts, this guy seems almost laid back, despite everything. He's honestly not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, either.

If he could fake being that calm under the pressure caused by his own mind, maybe things would be easier.]</sub>

[eatsyourscience]

I guess that depends on whether or not you like Christmas.

[halfwinchester]

_{[Considering this Christmas might be the weirdest one yet and involve people dying for all he knows...]}

Not much to celebrate, is there?

_{[It's a rhetorical question.]}