001 ✶ audio/action

[scarletcast]

For those of you who have [ pause, a low hum, ] superpowers. Has this place ever taken them from you?

​​[ A beat. ]

If you wish to speak in person, I will be in the park. In the red jacket.

​​[ She has ways of being completely private, but that's a little invasive and not something to advertise. Anyone heading to the park to speak to her or in the vicinity will see a young woman on a bench, with a thermos full of tea next to her, steam rising off the cup clasped in her hands. ]

Comments

video

[scarletcast]

[ Impatiently, ]

Did they take yours from you?

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[skelebro]

Nah.

[Sorry Wanda, he's not likely to be much help for this one.]

Hey, just curious - you're a human, right?

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[scarletcast]

Yes.

[ Said in a tone that implies a missing obviously. ]

Why do you ask?

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[skelebro]

Just don't know a lotta humans that can do stuff like that. That's all.

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[scarletcast]

Magic, you mean?

[ He's a talking skeleton. It's her best guess. ]

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[skelebro]

[Wow. And here he thought he would have to be the first one to say it.]

Yeah, exactly. Where I'm from, that's not exactly a common trait.

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[scarletcast]

It is not usual for my world, either. We don't call it magic.

[ She only does ironically. ]

What are you used to doing?

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[skelebro]

[Ah. So he is the first person to say it, in a matter of speaking.]

Well, monsters're made of the stuff. Magic.

[He wiggles his knucklebones indicatively.]

That's really about it.

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[scarletcast]

[ Monsters? He hardly looks like one — maybe someone in the world finds a talking skeleton terrifying, who knows. ]

Where do you come from?

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[skelebro]

Place kinda like this one, actually. Monsters got sealed Underground with a spell, and we live there now.

[Or they did. But, eh. Semantics.]

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[scarletcast]

So you feel no different here than you did there?

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[skelebro]

Not generally, no. Lot more humans around than I'm used to, but that's about it.

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[scarletcast]

[ She hums, quietly. It doesn't sound idyllic, living underground and only having his magic and other — monsters, he wants to call them. ]

Thank you for your time. My name is Wanda.

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[skelebro]

Sans the skeleton. Nice to meet ya.

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[scarletcast]

[ Wanda makes an undignified noise, that sounds very suspiciously like amusement. ]

Did you choose that name?

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[skelebro]

[He makes a show of glancing down his front, plucking at the hem of his shirt to peer at his very visible (and literal) collarbone.]

Well, I figured my species was pretty obvious, but it's best to make sure there's no misconceptions.

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[scarletcast]

None here.

[ Her mouth twitches. ]

There is no meat to speak of, but it is nice to meet you.

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[skelebro]

Hey, same.

[He winks at her cheerfully.]

Not everyday you meet someone with a gift for, uh...gravitational manipulation, I'm guessing?

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[scarletcast]

Neuroelectric interfacing. If you want to be pedantic.

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[skelebro]

[He processes that for only a moment before nodding, faintly intrigued.]

Neat. Born with it?

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[scarletcast]

No. It came later.

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[skelebro]

[Like a metaspatiotemporal talent acquired at a certain anchor? Maybe. Possibly. Prying further would probably raise some questions.]

Sounds like a real red flag.

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[scarletcast]

[ There's that undignified noise again. ]

You are not as funny as you think you are.

[ She fights a smile. ]

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[skelebro]

[Aw, c'mon, but that was definitely a laugh. Or near enough to it.]

I believe the word you're looking for is punny.

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[scarletcast]

[ You have levelled up. This was definitely not a giggle. ]

No, it wasn't.