can you believe in something if the something doesn't exist?

[gracioustrain]

The sensation is coming from Trian.

He is seated on a couch in the Basement Lobby, with his eyes shut and hands folded neatly on his lap. He is speaking, words of another language flowing from his lips almost without pause; he hardly seems to be drawing breath. The words are melodic, seeming to bypass your ears and ripple through your mind. But

Comments

[holdtothem]

Cole has been sitting, watching, confusion obvious on his face as he watches. What the hell? And he thought this place couldn't get any weirder...

He watches as the words stop, but he doesn't say anything. He's learned not to really comment on whatever is going on at the moment, just to trust that it is probably something to do with the Rift, and therefore something he doesn't understand.

Still, though... what the hell?

[gracioustrain]

Trian jerks when he realises there had been someone watching him, but the surprise on his face is quickly smoothed over. A grin flickers across his face, but there is a wearisness to his expression. "Interested in what you see?"

[holdtothem]

Cole nods, a little nervous- was he supposed to be watching? "A bit," he admits. He pauses, unsure how to word the question. "What was that?" he asks finally. "The... the gold things?" Letters. Words. He knows that, but... he also knows they weren't.

[gracioustrain]

((ooc: It's getting late here, I'll pick up tomorrow?))

Trian's grin widens at this. "They are the words I use to shape energy into a form of my own choosing, although usually they do not appear in the physical plane," he says. Pausing for a moment, he amends, "In other words, they are a part of a magic spell."

He sighs, shoulders slumping a little. "I would give a demonstration, but magic here is...different from home."

[holdtothem]

((ooc: Sure, no problem! I keep forgetting about time zones, heh.))

Cole nods slowly. Lots of things are different from home, that much is sure.

"So... what were you trying to do?" he asks, purely out of curiosity.

[gracioustrain]

Trian looks aside, mouth twisting a little as he responds wryly, "I was trying to get the free energy here to sit down and shut up so they can listen to me. I'm only having mild success."

[holdtothem]

Cole raises his eyebrow, more confused than ever. "They?" he asks. "And... free energy?" He wonders for a moment if this is all the truth, or if this man is just making shit up.

[gracioustrain]

Trian pinches the bridge of his nose tiredly before explaining. "For me to use magic, I need energy from two sources. Myself and," he waves a hand, indicating the whole room, "in the case of this world, the background energy that is around us."

"The problem is that the energy appears to be..." Trian frowned, casting his eyes upwards as he thought. "Well, they to be running away from me. Makes it difficult to shape the energy into a spell." A pause. "Think of it as trying to force a cat a bath it really, really doesn't want."

[holdtothem]

Cole nods slowly as things click in his head.

"So... this doesn't happen a lot... where you come from?" he asks. "I mean, you are a... what do they call us now... wanderer?"

[gracioustrain]

Trian levels his gaze at the stranger. "No, it does not." He snorts as gracefully one can. "Normally I would not even need to make verbalisations," he gestures around him, where the golden words had been earlier, "to shape a spell. The energy here is extremely troublesome to work with."

Leaning back in his seat, he says, "Assuming you mean someone who has come through the Rift, yes, I am. I haven't heard the term wanderer before."

[holdtothem]

Cole raises his eyes brows. "Hm," he says, still trying to process it all.

Forgive him, he's a little on the slow side.

Realizing there's no way he'll be able to actually figure it all out, he sticks with the upset cat metaphor given to him earlier and just shakes his head. "This place is pretty... fucked up," he states. He was about to use the word weird, but it didn't seem to cover it.

[gracioustrain]

"It's...different," he agrees, a ghost of a smile flitting across his lips, "but not entirely unpleasant. I assume you, too, don't belong in this world."

Trian leans against an armrest, the corner of his mouth turning up in a grin. "Tell me about your home world."

[armageddoni]

Cole nods, silent, sitting back in his chair.

"It's..." He doesn't know where to begin. How does one explain normality?

"It's... similar to this one, in certain ways. We do have a Chicago. We have no Rift. We do have bad people- murderers, thieves, etc. We don't on the other hand, have demons. We don't have angels, we don't have magic, we don't have..." he tries to think of all the other things they didn't have back home that he has encountered here. "Time machines," he finishes. "We do have doctors and medicine and cars and..." he trails off.

[gracioustrain]

Most of the terms the stranger used were unfamiliar, but that was to be expected. Trian points in the stranger's general direction with his free hand.

"First of all, explain to me what these medicine and cars are. Then we can talk about time machines." He pronounces these words like he hasn't said them before, which is only the truth.

[holdtothem]

Cole's forehead wrinkles in thought. He had assumed, of course, that those terms were universal.

Never assume, 'cause it makes an ass out of me and you.

"Well... when you get sick... You do get sick in your world, right? When you get sick, medicine makes you better. And cars are... well, they're made out of metal, they have wheels, and they run on gas that, once put inside the car, burns up into energy. The energy goes to the wheels and makes them spin, and that makes the car move." He's completely making this up, but oh well.

[gracioustrain]

Trian leans against the armrest. "Mmm, if the sickness is something major, we usually go to a priest. Otherwise, we simply wait it out." He flashes the stranger a lopsided grin. "These...cars, unless they are some kind of child's toy, they seem somewhat pointless."