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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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[makesthings]

Not far away, Sameth's at a table covered with mechanical parts from a car, many of them rusty and sketching on parchment, sometimes a stray Charter Mark will glow and move off the page. He doesn't want to have to make things twice.

[anchor_branded]

The car parts are familiar to Joris- or at least, mostly so. (He certainly isn't a mechanic, but there have been quite a few lessons on Repairs in the Field.)

The Charter Marks?

Far from.

He is just going to wander closer and watch, curiously.

[makesthings]

Sam's focused on his work and every once in a while, his forehead glows. His sketches are clearly of the car parts though with Charter Marks around them.

[anchor_branded]

Well. Those marks aren't Shen, or any of the other symbols the demon hunters use. But they're certainly not demonic-

And that's about as much as Joris can tell. So-

"Um. What exactly are you doing?"

[wordofa_sayre]

The young man standing in the door looks like he's having some trouble staying on his feet. He's pale as a ghost and sweating as though with fever.

He holds on to the wall with one hand and rubs at his eyes with the other, as if trying to wake himself up.

Which only makes sense, since he appears to be wearing a nightshirt over his trousers.

Neither that nor his apparent illness seems to bother him any, as when he finally blinks the bar into focus, his whole expression brightens.

"Brilliant!"

[anchor_branded]

Joris has also just entered, and had been looking around the bar for any familiar faces. But someone entering in just being him-

Well, it was the slight staggering that caught his attention, and he quickly reaches over to catch Nick's arm. "Are you all-"

This would be when Joris focuses on Nick. His eyes go wide, and he drops his hand from Nick's arm as if burned.

His other hand is going to the knife on his belt.

Because this is Milliways is the only reason that is keeping him from pulling it out.

[wordofa_sayre]

"Oh hello there," he says, blinking in surprise. "Sorry, did I--"

As the younger man jerks back, Nick blinks again, and beams a cheerful smile at him as he raises both hands in the air.

"No need for that, old chap. I truly didn't mean to bump into you. No insult, all right?"

[anchor_branded]

Joris wouldn't care if someone bumped into him, normally.

He just slowly shakes his head, jaw clenched, as he takes a step backwards. (Not from fear. Positioning.)

"You're not- You're not like the others here. You're-"

Forget going by sheer power. There is a difference between 'power' and 'demon'. And even if there isn't much power here-

Joris knows demons. And he knows possession.

[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.

[uquars_gadget]

There's a teenager sitting a the bar with a large book, and smaller notebook and writing in the latter. To her right is a large mug of coffee, and she's quite enthralled.

But she's also probably pretty familiar looking, even with her straight black hair pulled into a tight ponytail.

[anchor_branded]

Make that very familiar- and that applies to places other than Milliways. Joris' face brightens up in a smile, and he quickly heads over.

(Sorry, Helen, if you were going to abuse the time difference between Milliways and home to do some studying.)

[uquars_gadget]

Well, her only studying is the sort she can't particularly do as the queen of the world. She closes her books, and gives him a sideways look of greeting, just barely smiling.

"Joris," she acknowledges, flicking a glance to his wounds. "It seems obvious that your day has not gone calmly. How are you?"

[anchor_branded]

"Oh, I'm fine. Konstam was called out to go deal with a puzelmon demon, but the dates and information they gave us were a bit fuzzy, so it was more matured than we thought." Joris shrugs, and sits down next to Helen. He and Konstam emerged relatively unscathed from the encounter, and thus- at least to him- it all went well.

"He's filling out the reports and whatnot, and said I was free til this evening, so I'd thought I'd come here. I didn't think I'd run into you, though."