1st card.

[dormition]

[There's a young man, Japanese even if his black hair has a blue sheen, sitting on a park bench. He's cradling what looks like a gun in his hands, staring down at it and running a finger along the barrel. There's an odd affection to the motion, but also a definite respect

Comments

[knowmypurpose]

[So, that's a pretty concerning sight. At one point, Cordelia might have overlooked it, but after the whole thing with the Vocah demon opening her up to so many people's suffering, she has a different aspect on things.

As it is, she carefully approaches the boy, sitting down next to him.]

I'm sure you're not that alone.

[dormition]

I guess not, not anymore. [He's glad for the company, but something about how careful she's being...] Oh. You think I'm going to kill myself, [he realizes. Minato suddenly remembers Jack Harkness' extreme reaction to seeing him summon his Persona; it's not like someone hasn't thought that before.]

It's not really a gun. [He offers it out to her in case she wants to inspect it, handle first as a courtesy, though he is being truthful: it's not a gun, and if the trigger is pulled, all that will happen is a muted noise.]

[knowmypurpose]

[Cordelia blinks a little. And people call her blunt. She smiles though, relaxing.] Well, that's good news at least.

[She takes the thing from him, looking at it curiously. It sure looked and felt like a gun but she's seen enough weird things in her day to know that didn't mean anything.]

What is it, then?

[dormition]

[Minato's a study in blunt, that's for sure.] It's an Evoker, [he explains.] Certain people, very few of them, are able to manifest their soul outwardly, like a summoned entity. The summoning happens by shooting yourself with an Evoker.

But there aren't real bullets, so you don't get hurt. It's more... metaphysical. [That's as good an explanation as you're getting, because he never bothered to learn anything further on it.]

[knowmypurpose]

Huh. Sounds weird. Kind of cool though, I imagine there must be a lot of situations where it'd come in handy. [She hands him back his Evoker now.]

[dormition]

[He takes it and holsters it as his belt.] I used to fight these things that no one else could see, with my friends, [he explains. The memory is a little melancholy, but also a little fond; there's a very slight smile.] They were called Shadows. We... got close.

[knowmypurpose]

What, you and your friends or you and the Shadows? [Maybe this might sound weird to someone else, but Cordelia worked for a vampire. Her whole life was weird.]

[dormition]

[A beat.] Kind of both. [He can't help thinking of Pharos, and Ryoji.]

[knowmypurpose]

So you were friends with the Shadows then? That's cool. My best friend is a vampire.

[dormition]

I was friends with... a particular Shadow. [Head tilt, watching her curiously.] I've never met a vampire. What are they like?

[knowmypurpose]

Were they special or something?

Most vampires are gross and evil and stuff, but Angel's different. He has a soul. [Because that totally makes sense to non-Buffyverse people.]

[dormition]

His name was Pharos. [He could admit that he was sealed inside him for ten years, but Minato still doesn't like talking about that, so instead he says,] He used to visit me every month. [Because that answers her question. Not.

This is Minato, so he simply nods, accepting it.] So he's like a regular person that drinks blood?

[knowmypurpose]

[She paused for a moment.] Just pig's blood, these days. Which he must get bored of sometimes, but he complains whenever I try to spice it up for him.

[dormition]

[Minato's starting to form his impression of how to speak to her, and tries out,] I think that'd get bland, too. Especially if he's immortal.

[knowmypurpose]

I imagine it must, but he insists it's fine. Still, he might like one of my experiments someday. I should probably stop with the cinnamon though.

[dormition]

I think in China they make pudding out of duck blood, [he suggests, still unphased by the topic.] You could find a recipe.