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[anchor_branded]

For this visit, Joris hardly looks (or acts) as if he is playing hooky as he enters in through the front door. He and Konstam just finished up a job, and while Konstam gets to deal with all the official paperwork and reports, Joris is free to walk the Bounds and pay a visit to the End of the Universe. (Sometimes it is nice to be the trainee and

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[alotofgood]

You know when you're scouting out a room, looking for those familiar faces, and someone happens to glance up at the same time you're looking in their direction?

Yes.

Well, that is what happens here.

It can be terribly awkward, or it can be nothing at all.

In this case, James merely offers the other boy a smile.

"All right?"

[anchor_branded]

There is a quick frown, even as Joris reaches up to gingerly touch the bandages- before he even more quickly drops his hand and smiles sheepishly.

"I'm alright. Really." It sounds as if he's had to offer this reassurance before, and has gotten a good deal of practice at it. But its true- Joris is one of those types that couldn't lie to save his life.

"It's really not anything- well, except I should have been faster to duck, but..." He shakes his head.

[alotofgood]

James' smile turns into something more of a grin.

"It happens to the best of us, I'm afraid," he says sympathetically. "Was it a duel, then?"

[anchor_branded]

"A duel?" He blinks at James in surprise.

"No, it wasn't a duel. Why would-" Another blink, and he shakes his head.

"It was a puzelmon demon, and we hadn't secured the arm that broke away quick enough. I didn't think it had matured that much, but it had- but the information they gave Konstam wasn't clear on the dates it was first sighted." Joris shrugs.

[alotofgood]

This is probably what it sounds like to Rachel, when he goes on about the Wizarding World, and Hogwarts.

James blinks.

"- come again?"

[anchor_branded]

And you've hardly even gotten Joris started.

Joris blinks right back at him, thinking quickly.

"Um. A demon. If you have such things in your world? Of course, you maybe do, since there are a few worlds here at least where there are demons and the like, just that most people in the world don't really know about them? Which really seems stu- um." His cheeks turn red, but he continues.

"It just seems sort of not exactly... right, that people should ignore stuff that does actually happen, and tell themselves that demons don't exist. But either which way-" Joris spreads his hands out, and shrugs.

"A puzelmon is a demon? And Konstam was called into deal with it, and since I'm learning to be a demon hunter as well, I was there helping him."

[alotofgood]

"A demon hunter?" James repeats, looking and sounding impressed.

Because he is.

The title alone is really rather brilliant.

"We've got all sorts of creatures back home," he starts. "Though I'm not sure any of them would really be classified as a 'demon' for any other reason than they're a bit insane and like to cause havoc.

"Still. Demon hunting sounds brilliant. This Konstam bloke is your teacher?"

[anchor_branded]

"He is." Joris flashes a bright smile. "He's one of the best there is. I was lucky he chose me out of everyone else to train- He says I'll be just as good as him when I'm done, but we'll see."

He isn't too concerned, just as long as he's good enough.

"And- well. You can tell if something's a demon or not by its spirit. People here have mentioned all sorts of odd creatures, but just because somethings odd doesn't mean it would be." A quick shrug. "What are they like?"

[alotofgood]

James rubs his nose.

"The creatures in my world? Well, it depends. I mean, we've got loads of books that try to classify and index everything. Things like ghouls, and glumbumbles, pygmy puffs, grindylows, pixies, dragons ... not terribly demon-like, I reckon."

[anchor_branded]

Joris' eyebrows rise. Sure, his world has demons, but pixies? Dragons? He'd start to aruge that such things don't exist, but-

Milliways.

"Um. We do have ghouls in our world. Or something that most people do call ghouls. I'm not sure if they're exactly the same."

[alotofgood]

"Creepy, annoying things; a bit slimy, noisy ... stupid?" James offers. "That'd more or less describe the ghouls from home, anyway."

[anchor_branded]

Listening, Joris slowly shakes his head. "Well, stupid fits. But ghouls are a type of animating demon- that is, instead of possessing a person, they inhabit dead bodies." He shrugs.

"They're not smart at all, thankfully. But they'll usually infest a graveyard in packs, and then roam the nearby area at night looking for prey. But they're pretty easy to prevent- there's loads of wards to protect a graveyard from infestation. And if the wards go down, one of the best ways to clean out a pack of them is to burn out the graveyard during the day."

Easy enough to remember all that- at least, if you've had to write a paper on animating demons lately. (That was last week's assignment.)

[alotofgood]

"Wow, you really know your stuff," says James, impressed. "Ghouls in my world generally live in the attics of houses or barns. And I'm not sure they ever come in packs either.

"What exactly do your ghouls prey on?"

[anchor_branded]

"Only because Konstam's been quizzing me on animating demons since my last visit here." A bit ruefully-

Then Joris blinks at James.

"Um. People. Demons can and will hunt down animals, but... they prefer people. Humans."

Well. This would be the key difference between the ghouls in his world and James'.

[alotofgood]

"... yeah," James confirms. "Ghouls in my world only seem to annoy people. Not ... eat them."

Fantastic.

"So you hunt these things? With Konstam?"

[anchor_branded]

If demons just annoyed people-

Well, life would be easier! But then Konstam and Joris would be out of a job.

"At least for the last couple of years now, yes." Joris nods, the slight smile returning. "And apparently its not as much hunting as it used to be? At least now compared to years ago. People call us in when they know there's a demon in the area. If we're lucky, they know what type it is, or at least vaguely." He shrugs, and rolls his eyes.

"Though Konstam says its not a good idea to always trust someone else's I.D., and its better to get some of your own info before you go running off. Which is sort of what happened with this last one- I bet if we talked to more of the people, we would have had a much better idea how old the puzelmon was, before we went after it."