IC Inbox [Ryslig, Under Construction]

[verweiledoch]

Hallo, you have reached Dr. Faust. If this is an emergency, go to the nearest clinic, but if it is not and I can still help you, please leave a message.

Comments

<C_137>

[peaceamongworlds]

Does it have to be an emergency? Maybe I just want to hang out, Johann

<ElizaOperieren>

[verweiledoch]

Of course it doesn't have to be an emergency! I enjoy your company greatly, it's just that

well

it's not something I'm used to. No one wanted to spend time with me until I met Eliza.

<C_137>

[peaceamongworlds]

TBH, that explains a few things

Just forget about your abandonment issues or w/e. Trust me, I want to hang out. I enjoy your company.

Just give me 15--20 minutes, Johann

<ElizaOperieren>

[verweiledoch]

I don't understand. What does it explain?

Take as much time as you need... please be careful and do not operate any machinery or vehicles if you have been drinking, Rick.

<C_137>

[peaceamongworlds]

ROFL, I've been working with machinery all night, Johann

srsly, I'm fine, I'll be right there

[It's really more like 30 minutes because he underestimated how long it would take him to walk from the abandoned fairgrounds to the clinic, but hey! He's here. He's a little unsteady and more than a little wan and disheveled as he staggers into the empty clinic and calls out to Faust.]

Hey, Johann? Are you---are you still around? This place is a ghost town.

<ElizaOperieren>

[verweiledoch]

What machinery...?

[Because seriously, Faust didn't know Rick did that on the regular. Or irregular. He's not quite certain if it's a joke or not, even now.]

Here!

[Faust is quick to appear when Rick announces himself, although there was the slight sound of something dry and clattery being shuffled around before that point.]

Nheh... a ghost town, perhaps, but I am not uneasy around death. Fortunately.

<C_137>

[peaceamongworlds]

[Oh, it's not a joke, but they can discuss machinery later.]

[Anyway.. Was that a skeleton, Johann? Were you messing around with a skeleton just now? Is that---You know what? He's not going to think about that! You... do you, Johann.

In any case, he throws out a hand to brace himself against a nearby wall as he flashes Faust a sloppy grin.]

I don't---I don't know if that's a joke, Johann. All bets are off with you.

<ElizaOperieren>

[verweiledoch]

[That grin gets an immediate quirked brow from the nephilim, because yeah, it's a little concerning. Then again, it isn't exactly the first time he's seen Rick seeming kind of off-kilter.

In fact, he can't think of a time he has seen Rick on-kilter.

His smile is strained but sincere.]

Why would I be joking?

[peaceamongworlds]

[Fuck... He's going to miss Johann once he bails on this place.]

You know---'ghost town,' you don't fear death---- i--it's a pun, Johann. Don't worry about it.

[He barks out a laugh, slumping against the wall and peering around the room.]

So what's the deal here, you don't sleep, so you getstuck with the night shift?

[verweiledoch]

Why would I be worried about it?

[A blank, slightly glassy stare. Then slight, neurotic laughter in response to Rick's. He watches as Rick wilts into the wall, hovering in case his services are necessary. As always. One could practically accuse of him of existing in the hopes that someone, sometime is going to need a doctor.]

I don't consider it getting stuck. It's a privilege to serve my community.

[peaceamongworlds]

So---You're really all in there, Johann. Just---just reveling in the privilege of working the night shift. And the day shift, and...

[He trails off, slumping over a little and frowning contmpatively. Now that he's thinking about it, how often has he seen Faust ousude of the clinic over the past eight months? Suddenly, his head snaps back up and he blurts out a question that he probably should have asked long before now.]

Where do you live?

[verweiledoch]

[Faust nods, without any kind of irony. He's so earnest it practically hurts. At Rick's question, however, he glances aside, seeming troubled and awkward about answering. Because...]

I don't... really have any possessions, or any need to sleep. I spend most of my time here...

[It's the mildest possible way to say that he's effectively homeless, in other words.]

[peaceamongworlds]

[Holy shit, Johann's been homeless the whole time. Is he shocked? Can anything about Johann shock him at this point? He is honestly not sure. He sighs, dragging a hand down his face.]

So what, you live in your office? That's---And you're just cool with that. Alright.

[He lives in a renovated crate on the abandoned carnival grounds.]

[verweiledoch]

What about you?

[A not-so-stealthy subject change. Faust is from a world where being homeless does carry a certain stigma; it seems that's the case in most worlds, including this one.]

I don't think I know where you live, come to think of it.

[peaceamongworlds]

[He shrugs, glancing around for a place to sit and hey! There's a waiting area over there. He's just going to shuffle over in that direction.]

Oh shit, I never---I've been living in a---[He makes a vague gesture, slumping into a chair.]--I built it out of the crates, Johann. There was---there were a--[belch]--whole lot of crates when we got shipped here. I built a house; it's over by the old fairgrounds.

[verweiledoch]

[Faust drifts after Rick, glad that he's behind the other man, because his reaction to the revelation is... difficult to conceal, to say the least. Faust has a very expressive face as a rule, and these moments are no exception, because a very troubled look is flitting across the pale features.]

And you are happy, living that way?

[He's pretty sure that he has a much better living arrangement here in the clinic. At least there is a refrigerator.]

No one gives you trouble?

[Other vagrants? He's trying so hard to phrase this delicately. They might both be homeless, but it sounds like Rick is actually on the street.]

[peaceamongworlds]

Not since---not for a while. [He throws his head back, barking out a laugh.] Who's---who's' going to mess with a soul eating goatbat?

[Sure, a couple of people had tried to give him trouble before he transformed, but it didn't go well for them.

He shrugs, looking back up at Faust and shrugging. Maybe he doesn't have an ideal arrangement, but holy shit, Johann just stays on call all the time and everyone's just cool with it. Has anyone noticed Johann lives here? They don't think that's weird?]

I mean, it's not perfect, but it's---it's been a pretty good crash pad, and I'm getting out anyway, so it's---it's all working out.

[verweiledoch]

It's a fair point...

[But it's no less sad or lonely, and Faust's hollow tone goes a long way toward conveying as much. He practically bleeds sympathy.]

You're "getting out?" You mean that you have a sense of freedom from the arrangement?

[If it can be called that.]

[peaceamongworlds]

[Wow. Come on, Johann. Don't look at him like that. Don't make this weird. He leans forward, flashing Faust an excited, overwrought grin.]

I mean I'm getting out, Johann. Me and---me and Waldo. We're busting out of this anachronistic hellscape and---You want in on this Johann? Or---[He slumps over a little, grin faltering slightly.]--or are you all in here with your community and your skeleton wife?

[verweiledoch]

[It's already weird. Faust is well aware. He shifts awkwardly from foot to foot, hoping that perhaps he can temper it a bit with some carefully chosen words and reactions.]

I know that you would never ask me to leave Eliza...

[He hopes, anyway. The assumption is basically that the invitation extends to her, as well.]

How exactly do you plan to do this, Rick?

[peaceamongworlds]

I'd ask you to---Fuck. Yes, you can bring your wife.

[He',s not feeling up to getting into all his mixed feelings about the whole 'married to a skeleton' issue. And whatever, it's not as though carrying a skeleton through the portal will be hard.]

And it's all good. We built a---[He shoots Faust a bleary smile, making a vague gesture.] It's complicated, but---but trust me: it'll work... If I can find your world.

[verweiledoch]

[The answer clearly and obviously pleases Faust a great deal, and has a calming and placating effect on him. Truly, anything he hears from this point forward will be much easier to swallow, because wherever he's going, whatever they're doing, his skeleton bride will be a guaranteed part of it.

He would have insisted until it was the case, had Rick been any less willing to agree.]

Is there a way I can help you, in that regard? How difficult is it to find a world, with what you have... built?

[He asks, tentatively.]

[peaceamongworlds]

With what I've built here...

[He frowns, leaning back. He'll just barely manage to find his own world with what he's got right now, but once he's there, he'll have all his stuff back. Finding the other worlds will be no problem then.]

I can get you to my world and then we'll---we'll regroup, Johann. Just hang tight while I track down your world and--- what world are you from; what am I---what am I looking for here?

[verweiledoch]

[It actually sounds like a viable plan, assuming that Rick can do what he claims. Faust nods, trying to think of a way to describe the only world outside of Ryslig he's ever known to someone without much context for it.]

All right, I can do my best. In my world... it was the beginning of the twenty-first century. A very important tournament had just begun, in which shamans from all over the world competed to receive the Great Spirit and use its power to help shape and heal the world, as king. Jesus Christ and Buddha were likely Shaman Kings in the past. I had just won my second match, advancing to the next round...

[And he is a little troubled about this, because Eliza's legs had been destroyed and he'd been preparing to amputate his own in an act of extreme self-sacrifice for his beloved. Fortunately, that's not necessary here.]

I must become Shaman King, Rick. It is the only way I will successfully defeat death, once and for all.