10/01/1934
WHO: Theo, Jimmy, and an unsuspecting Chatterskull
WHERE: October 1st, near the edges of the School Grounds
WHEN: Lunch break, early afternoon.
WHY: Jimmy and Theo spot an errant demon on familiar territory. Unsurprisingly, they have different ideas about how to deal with it. And by 'different,' I mean different.
Jimmy wasn't normally the type to keep his eyes peeled about the area for suspicious activity. His upbringing had ensured an almost naive sense of invincibility in the relative safety of his home and family. Even as the 'man' of the family after his father, the Campbells had enough to ensure the security of its members, and amongst other things, that was certainly something Jimmy's father hadn't been stingy on. He also simply did not have a gossipmonger's interest to keep an eye out for everyone else's everyday affairs. He was the sort of person who always focused on the task at hand to an almost dismally single-minded degree. Simply enough, if it didn't concern him, his family, or his sister, then Jimmy was just not concerned with it.
But times and circumstances had changed. After all, they all had to be a little more alert these days. With their newfound powers came responsibility. Soon enough, Jimmy found his eyes often wandering to shadowy corners and shades in the underbrush whenever there was a lull in conversation. He cast a cursory look around whenever he settled, and lately he had been having trouble sleeping without waiting in the darkness for a few minutes first, just to make sure nothing was just biding their time to attack. It wasn't exactly paranoia, because once he dropped off, Jimmy was still effectively about as useful to the world as a deadweight log, but it was a sort of alertness that kept him on his toes during the day. That suited him just fine - by nature, he was an active boy, and demon-escapades were a good, if not perfect, outlet for all that extra energy.
Most of the time, his pseudo-vigils proved to be pointless. It was a rare occasion that demons wandered close enough to the open areas of the campus to warrant the extra concern - they were smarter than that, and clung to the damp alleys of the towns and the musty basements of old buildings where they were out-of-sight and safe. That was why, when Jimmy first saw the hint of motion of of the corner of his eye, he almost thought it was just a trick of light. He didn't even move until it happened two more times in succession, each time in his periphery, where any normal student would just pass it off as their over-reactive imagination.
Abruptly, Jimmy ceased the conversation with his classmates and stood up, his books still on the floor and the apple he had been eating resting on the cover of the volume on top. A few of his friends looked up in question, calling his name, but he flashed a toothy grin back at them and shook his head. "I just remembered I had something I needed to tell Ellie," he explained, because having a sibling really was the most convenient of excuses for almost all situations. Even before he finished the sentence, a few of them were already nodding to themselves and turning back to each other. "I'll be right back."
Then he strode forward with narrow-eyed intent.
WHERE: October 1st, near the edges of the School Grounds
WHEN: Lunch break, early afternoon.
WHY: Jimmy and Theo spot an errant demon on familiar territory. Unsurprisingly, they have different ideas about how to deal with it. And by 'different,' I mean different.
Jimmy wasn't normally the type to keep his eyes peeled about the area for suspicious activity. His upbringing had ensured an almost naive sense of invincibility in the relative safety of his home and family. Even as the 'man' of the family after his father, the Campbells had enough to ensure the security of its members, and amongst other things, that was certainly something Jimmy's father hadn't been stingy on. He also simply did not have a gossipmonger's interest to keep an eye out for everyone else's everyday affairs. He was the sort of person who always focused on the task at hand to an almost dismally single-minded degree. Simply enough, if it didn't concern him, his family, or his sister, then Jimmy was just not concerned with it.
But times and circumstances had changed. After all, they all had to be a little more alert these days. With their newfound powers came responsibility. Soon enough, Jimmy found his eyes often wandering to shadowy corners and shades in the underbrush whenever there was a lull in conversation. He cast a cursory look around whenever he settled, and lately he had been having trouble sleeping without waiting in the darkness for a few minutes first, just to make sure nothing was just biding their time to attack. It wasn't exactly paranoia, because once he dropped off, Jimmy was still effectively about as useful to the world as a deadweight log, but it was a sort of alertness that kept him on his toes during the day. That suited him just fine - by nature, he was an active boy, and demon-escapades were a good, if not perfect, outlet for all that extra energy.
Most of the time, his pseudo-vigils proved to be pointless. It was a rare occasion that demons wandered close enough to the open areas of the campus to warrant the extra concern - they were smarter than that, and clung to the damp alleys of the towns and the musty basements of old buildings where they were out-of-sight and safe. That was why, when Jimmy first saw the hint of motion of of the corner of his eye, he almost thought it was just a trick of light. He didn't even move until it happened two more times in succession, each time in his periphery, where any normal student would just pass it off as their over-reactive imagination.
Abruptly, Jimmy ceased the conversation with his classmates and stood up, his books still on the floor and the apple he had been eating resting on the cover of the volume on top. A few of his friends looked up in question, calling his name, but he flashed a toothy grin back at them and shook his head. "I just remembered I had something I needed to tell Ellie," he explained, because having a sibling really was the most convenient of excuses for almost all situations. Even before he finished the sentence, a few of them were already nodding to themselves and turning back to each other. "I'll be right back."
Then he strode forward with narrow-eyed intent.