NOTE: Characters are MINORS! Please be mindful of this when sending asks! There will be no sexual NSFW on this blog. Also, while Underdevour is inspired by Dreamtale, we do not support Joku's actions or behavior. | WARNING: violence, gore, body & eldtrich horror, crude language, child neglect, (physical, emotional, mental) abuse, and so on may be present. Heed individual post warnings.
"Hi there! I'm Decim- or if you like really long names, it's Nightmare Decimation. We- as in I and my brother- found this doodad that lets us access this thing called the internet! Anyways, Era introduce yourself!!"
"...I'm Dream Eradication. Eradic for short. I have seen what you do on here and I do not like it. Keep it respectable or I will have your heads."
[ rules ✧ muse info ✧ art & lore ✧ open starters ✧ rp memes* ✧ tracker ]
main acc: @captivecompany // will interact regardless of fandom // all posts are open for interaction, open starters tag are just to track semi-lit RP starters!
* please do not send suggestive memes to this blog, you will be ignored.
NOTES:
Romance ONLY between minor characters and ONLY if we're mutuals.
Yes, adult characters can interact. Characters with adult topics (such as sex workers) can interact. Mun is an adult and does not care so long as you keep the interactions itself PG for these kids... well, mostly.
They're man-eating snakes and really don't care about nudity or gore. They'd look at boobs and think: ah. mostly fat, kinda greasy snack :v Then look at a decomposing body and go 'hm that seems not very fresh anymore' ya think, kids?
NOTE: Eradic will say he is mature and/or an adult a lot. He is not. He is a stupid child who is trying to make himself look scarier.
TAGS:
Replace [devourer] with "suneater" for Eradic, and "moonbiter" for Decim!
#out hunting & #[devourer] is hunting - open rp
#[devourer] is speaking - IC posts
#suneater is working / #moonbiter is playing - RP posts
#recieved letters & #addressed to [devourer] - askbox answers
You're free to interact with any post even if the open rp tag is not on it, it's just to track starters. Open starters stay open until the open tag is removed, no matter how long ago they were posted.
Morbid though the conversation was, what the kid weighed in with got a bark of laughter from the rat. "I'm pretty fuckin' sure my karma's so far in the negatives that none of that shit would save ya." There was a pause between that and an uncertain, "If, uh, that'd even do anything." It wasn't quite a question. Did he really wanna know?
… Mostly not really, but he had been assistant to two Royal Scientists so the curiosity was unfortunately there. It was just a very fractional, woefully nagging, degree of curiosity.
He went back to staring up at the still-red light. "… Huh. Damn. Well… Thank fuck you aren't the ass-probin' type of aliens." They were just the people eatin' kind. Luckily the only cops he knew were ones he didn't care for, but damn was he glad he wasn't in the King's shoes 'cause that carnage was one hundred percent going to be pinned on monsters.
Which also wasn't great for him, being a monster and all, but whatever. It probably wouldn't be catastrophic.
"I doubt she'd try vivisectin' you but that's fuckin' fair, I guess. S'long as you don't go dyin' back there. I don't think I'd wanna try explaining that to your bro." When the light finally changed, they were once more on the move. The momentary stop had given him enough time to orientate himself with regards to location, so he knew where to go, now, to ditch the car.
Speaking of which… For a moment, he was awkwardly silent before saying, "That's because I'm borrowin' it, and not in a way the cops," or the vehicle's owner, "Agree with." But that also begged the (somewhat ranty) counter-question heralded by a, "My turn, kid. Why the fuck did you run into the road? However things are in your world aside, I'm sure it's glaringly obvious by now that that's a fucking stupid thing to do here. Or did you just not notice these darker strips of cement were made for these big hunks of metal that, I'm sure you know well now, fucking suck to get hit by?"
"Karma?" What did karma have to do with any of this? Was it a term referring to something other than the consequences of someone's actions here? Hm, perhaps he could look into this when he has the time and energy. The child looked genuinely curious for a split second, before cringing at the next several words.
"Ass- no! By the fangs, that's disgusting!" Eradic shudders at the thought, the image as vivid as a memory (and yes, unfortunately, it was). "And I will not die. Even if I had died, I... doubt Decim would do anything to you out of revenge." He murmured, looking slightly hurt before steeling his expression to his usual attempt at appearing serious and mature: glaring like the world was offensive for existing.
The question was turned on him, and the devourer scowled.
"....I am NOT stupid." He hissed, immediately finding personal offense in the words but clearly flustered by his mistake. "I was distracted. Sirens started blaring, and I... made a quick decision without consulting myself." Eradic grumbled, a quiet, rumbling growl overlaying his words.
"It is NOT my fault your world has chosen to create high-speed death machines for the sake of transportation! Why is this city so haphazardly built? Why can't everything be within walking distance! You would not need death machines if you were smart!" The devourer complains, folding his hands and whining (though he would not call it that) in the back seat. "This place is stupid!"
Ahh, the beauty of redirecting attention to something other than your embarassing self.
"In plain sight, huh," he mumbled, squinting at the mirror and, by proxy, at the kid. Right, so, maybe he did misinterpret the offer, his mind having pictured something wildly less subtle. But could he really be blamed for not thinking at one hundred percent clarity?… That moment had passed, anyway. The rat snorted at Sir Chatty's dismissal. "Yeah? Then don't bother. I think your bro's got the fuckers distracted enough that we don't need to be that stealthy."
And as much as he'd like to entertain the potential staring contest in the mirror, Fuse had to return his attention to the road sooner rather than later. He didn't want to run into another poor idiot or, worse yet, dint the car.
Or… Dint the car more. It probably had a kid-sized dent in its bumper now that he was thinking about it…
Red light. He rolled the car to a stop to wait. All the better to pay attention to the conversation at hand. By the end of listening to the kid he couldn't help but pull a face at the notion of being eaten. "Yeah, no, you assume right. And I'd taste fucking terrible, too! No skin. All bones. Lotsa grease. I haven't showered today, and it's been a hell of a day. You'd end up six feet under instead, or you'd at the very fuckin' least come down with some incurable disease." Ah, gallows humor, his former expertise. So much so that he wasn't sure that counted.
"You'n your bro still count as monsters, right? Don't curatives still work for - whatever the fuck you are?" He shifted his eyelights down from impatiently staring at the light to glancing at the time displayed on the dash. "… Y'know, on second thought, it might be a bad idea. The chick I have in mind would tear me a new one for wakin' her up this damn late. And she'd prolly wanna fuckin' study you under a microscope. You sure you're fine on your own, kid?"
Distracted was a weak way to say it, but sure. Distracted. Eradic avoids thinking about the mess he'd certainly have to go back and clean up, brushing the thought aside before it entered the forefront of his pounding skull.
He noticed the car stopping and was about to ask why they had when the other spoke up in response. Not wanting to look clueless, Eradic dismisses his question.
"Thanks for the heads up. I'll be sure only to eat your soul and leave your body for disposal." He dryly responds, looking out the window with feigned disinterest. He could tell the other smelled rather strongly, but compared to everything else it was honestly negligible. "Or should I wash and boil you like shellfish? Your marrow would make good soup, should my patience last long enough."
He's got no appetite. Everything hurts. He's pretty sure he's got several of his own teeth lodged into his body. Urgh.
"No." He shakes his head, "It's... complicated. We're not monsters nor human, more so... animals? Aliens? Both? Magical cures are purely snacks, physical treatments are sometimes effective." He didn't know enough about himself to put what he knew into an easy to understand explanation, but there are only two living specimens of his own kind. He'd sooner eat his own foot than experiment on his brother.
"I'd rather not put myself at the mercy of a mad scientist. I've met too many far too eager to vivisect me in the name of curiosity." He grumbles, frowning. "I'll be fine. There's no other option than to be fine, anyway." He needed to take care of Decim. He's not allowed to die, so the only option is to live.
"...I notice that the interior of this car does not smell of you. Care to explain why you were driving so wildly or shall we sit in awkward silence?" He hopes Decim is okay. He hasn't heard any urgent squeaks from his brother, just an excited howl outside of most creatures' range of hearing.
"Easy fuckin' mistake to make," he grumbled. Only after he turned a left did he take a moment to look up to readjust the rear view mirror in time to watch the kid fuck up the upholstery. Luckily, this wasn't his car. Still, "And don't go clawing the shit out of every--" --is what he began to say, but the brief and subtle pulse of magic got him ending that in an, "Oh." Not that he knew what it was, but the car didn't explode or come to a sudden stop. So really, he didn't care too much. As long as the actual hardware didn't get damaged…
Then it was eyelights back to the road and a turn to the right; half-way down that stretch of the next block over he let up on the gas just enough to obey the speed limit. While he suspected any available cops in the area would be zoning in on the disastrous traffic stop gone wrong gone pork buffet, there was always that one guy on the force with an extraneously long stick up their ass. Maybe they got eaten already, maybe they didn't. Better not take chances.
Since all the mayhem was no longer within view, and he hadn't vehicularly manslaughtered a kid, Fuse had begun to regain his wits. Somewhat. Enough so to consider the kid's suggestion without misinterpreting it this time.
… Maybe.
"Kid, it sounds like whatever you're thinking of doin' would make it very clear that someone's hidin' there. 'Sides, the sooner we ditch this car the better. They know the fuckin' plate number, and this baby's got places to be even if we fuckin' don't. Though, uh…" The rat flicked his eyes up to the rear view mirror again. "About that. Do you need a doctor? That wasn't exactly a fuckin' love tap you got."
Eradic rolls his eyes at the responses, looking out the window with his hands folded over his chest. Now that the driving wasn't all over the place, he no longer needed to cling to something.
"If I can hide an entire caravan in plain sight, I can hide a single car." He scoffs, mildly offended (and embarassed at rejection). "But do as you wish. The hassle is just so that you may live, I need no such help. I don't want to waste more magic on you anyway." He slightly waves a hand, turning his head away and taking a deep breath to push down the... emotions in his throat.
His eyes drag back and upwards to the ones in the mirror, staring back.
"Do you think a doctor could help? You've seen my brother. I am the same." He murmured, shuffling slightly. His insides feel bruised, and he has no doubt that trying to pull himself out of his shell would hurt horribly. He'd heal faster but... at what cost? Being a vulnerable pile of uncooked pasta?
"Forget it. I'm fine on my own, this isn't the first time I've gotten rammed with something, nor is this the worst." Eradic dismisses, though a small part of him did wish he had a doctor. That part's stupid though, and needs to shut up forever. "I'll get better eventually. It'd be faster if I ate something, but." He chuckles dryly, "I assume that being eaten is not within your best interests."
Once the kid with the vehicle-induced structural integrity ouchies was in the back seat, and once he was back in the driver's, the rat didn't waste much time in getting the car out of park.
That question, where they were going, was a good damn question. The drop-off point was obvious - in order to ditch the car, like he'd planned - but after that?… Logic dictated the hospital, but logic had left the building when that other kid went all The Thing and started slaughtering the pigs.
Chances were that the kid he had in the car could do the same shit. What a wonderful thought he wasn't gonna dwell on for the sake of his sanity.
"No can do, pal!" And as he spoke he gripped the wheel and stepped on the gas, the car jerking forward and regaining its quick momentum down the road. He glanced to the side-view mirror before almost immediately returning his eyelights straight ahead. "Your, uh, bro, told me to get you the fuck outta here and I, to be fucking frank, also want to get the fuck outta here. Seein' as the vote's two against one we are therefore getting the fuck out of here."
At the very least he wanted to get out of viewing of that horror show before it drew too much extraneous attention. He'd slow up a block or two away to see if the freak of nature could, as he'd said he would, catch up.
"As for where we're going, kid, that's real simple. Anywhere but stayin' here." Or there, as it were.
"That's not- ugh!" Eradic grunted, clinging onto the seat to avoid being thrown around the car. "I'm not telling you to stop, I- whatever!"
Forming metal nails to replace his fingers, the golden-eyed devourer swiftly scratched a circle filled with intricate symbols into the seat. A warm, barely visible golden glow surrounded the car for a moment, vanishing. Eradic then clings onto the car door, getting mildly sick from the driving.
He put a protection spell on the car. Decim plays rough, and frankly, he's not confident that his brother wouldn't toss around any cars in his playing.
Back to the current situation at hand...
"...If you get somewhere enclosed- or at least narrow, I can seal the place off. Have them never find you." He tells the other, voice calm despite the rising nausea. The other's distress, panic, alarm, combined with the distant smell of pain and suffering made it very difficult to focus- but Eradic has been through worse. He's just hoping Decim knows when to stop... losing half the population for a midnight snack would greatly interfere with their plans.
The knock on his windshield subsequently knocked him out of his doom spiral - enough-so to make him look over at the weirdly cheerful kid, at any rate. It took him a moment to comprehend the first couple sentences, and by the time they registered--holy shit that was a lot of teeth.
"Uh -"
- and there he went to… 'Keep them busy.' Fuse made the mistake of twisting in his seat to look out the rear window to make sure the little freak of nature wasn't off to get himself shot and no, no, nope, nuh uh, nah, he was totally tripping balls on BP's couch right now, right? At any moment he'd come-to to his sleazy-ass friend laughing his ass off 'cause off in the real world he probably looked scared shitless over nothing right about now.
Except when he turned back around to sit properly in his seat so that he could much more easily slap his cheekbones with his hands none-too-gently it did fuck all. He was still in a stolen car and now there were screams (one or more of the cops most likely) coming from behind. The rat looked up and out towards the other kid, the one he'd accidentally bodied with the vehicle, and quickly weighed his options.
He could floor it. Swerve around the kid (who was moving, so at least he fatally injured, probably) and get the fuck out of dodge.
… The glaring issue with that option, given the chaos going on behind him, was that it was likely the worst idea. What if he ran into them again (literally or otherwise)? Not helping would prolly get him put on a shit list. Taking into consideration that those cops didn't sound like they were having a great time, that was a list he didn't really want to be on. He would have to lie low for who knew how long, but he had rent to pay so he wouldn't be able to do that. So.
In the end the only real option was getting his ass out of the car.
With a sigh of resigned reluctance he did just that, and then--after beginning towards 'Sir Chatty' and stopping to take a moment to double-back in order to pre-open one of the back doors to save himself the trouble in a minute--he scurried over to 'Sir Chatty.' Rather pointedly he refrained from looking back to continue to watch the real life, real time horror show going on in the background.
"Hey, kid, guess you're comin' with me," and though he tried to sound cool calm and grumpily collected there was an obvious strain in his tone of voice, like an over-tuned violin string just on the edge of snapping. He stooped to try and scoop up the poor li'l bastard, an arm around his shoulders and the other under his knees, inasmuch as that was possible given current physical statuses and all, clearly just wanting to grab and dash. If Sir Vehicular Accident didn't protest or struggle he was just going to do what he'd been told to - stuff him into the back seat, jump back into the driver's, and then fuckin' floor it(, all the while continuing to try not to look at the one going ham on the pigs. He was going to need a really strong drink after all this).
Everything hurts. He was healing, yes, but that didn't mean he wasn't in pain. In fact, it meant he was in even more pain trying to pull himself together. He managed to get up on his feet some time ago, but his balance had not yet righted itself.
His attempts proved meaningless as he was scooped up by the stranger. The devourer wanted to protest, but decided against it. It was his mistake for running out into the road so suddenly. He's just glad it isn't Decim. The smell of stress was, however, very apparent and very nauseating.
"Hn." He made a noise of acknowledgement as he was dumped into the back seat, grunting slightly. He didn't want to think about Decim's mess, but...
...Ugh, he smells so much blood it's making him hungry. That was bad.
"Where are we going?" He asks, shuffling closer to the window to watch the carnage behind them. Not knowing how to open the window, he presses his face up against the glass in order to try and glimpse back.
"Shit-" Eradic curses, "open this!" He tells the other, tapping frantically on the glass. He's seen people do it- it's possible, right?!
On a typical night it tended to go smoothly. Teleport into a car. Try not to vomit on the dash. Hot-wire it. Drive it to a pre-planned location. Ditch it. Home free!
Unfortunately this time around the owner of the vehicle he was illegally requisitioning had the worst (best?) timing in the world and exited his place of habitation just as Fuse had gotten the car started. Fucker, of course, called the pigs. The pigs, of course, had the AUDACITY to have been waiting for the light to change at the first intersection he encountered.
Ah, he could almost imagine word-for-word the report over the radio in the few seconds it took for them to switch on their lights and siren. "Black 2025 Audi S6, license plate RCF 5555, reported stolen just a few minutes ago on Finnigan Lane..." … The lane he was turning off of!
Needless to say he floored it. As did the pigs, in pursuit. Luckily it was the dead of night, no one (except troublesome car owners and shitty workaholic cops) would be just out and about and there weren't any pubs in this part of the city so a little speeding wouldn't hurt.
Except when he turned his attention to the mirror for juuust a second -
THUNK!
(that was followed by a SCREEEeeeeCH of the breaks being applied.)
For what felt like an eternity (which in reality was just a couple seconds) he just, kind'a, stared ahead at the person he just hit. They looked somewhat familiar. The ensuing hi potato man! drew his attention over to the other - ah. "… Shit." Those kids from the park. "Fuck." He'd just fucking ran a kid over, cool, great. His brother wasn't gonna be able to bail him outta this one. Not that he would, in this case. GTA and this? Yep, he was fucked.
In his little moment of despair-tier 'fuck me' mixed with the shell-shock 'aw fuck' of having just hit someone he didn't notice or think to question how the kid still standing didn't seem at all concerned about his bro having just been bodied by a speeding car.
When they'd finally caught up, the cops, of course, screeched to a halt as well so they could pile outta their clown car. There were, as was standard, two of 'em, and both of them had their weapons drawn and were already barking orders like, "Get out of the vehicle, now!" and (more-so to his partner) saying things like, "Shit, I think I see someone in the road. You can handle that guy, right? I'll radio for an ambulance."
TW body horror, gore, om nom nom nom | LONG post, oops
The pigs were oinking. Oink, oink oink! Oink oink oink!
The opossum sitting in the metal box with wheels smelled deliciously of panic and... hm, horror? Terror? He'd forgotten the difference. Staring with those big ole eyes... Like a rat, but bigger!
His brother groaning in the back. Smelling of annoyance, frustration... Barely conscious but very much alright. He's totally fine, just a little ouchie.
Decim couldn't help but giggle at the scene, his humor rather out of place. He turns to the little creature in the closed cart- 'potato man' he had dubbed. He reaches over and knocks on the windshield.
"Potato man! I can smell that you don't really like your friends over there. And your box goes really fast, doesn't it?" He tilts his head, keeping his nose trained on the approaching little piggies wearing cute little wrappers and holding dangerous little metal things Era loved to study. "We're also kinda in trouble, so ummm, help us out?" He grins, teeth previously straight and well now jagged and numbering in what looked like the thousands. Too much for one little mouth.
"I'll keep them busy like in those movies, and you grab my brother and start driving, okay? I'll catch up!"
Without waiting for a confirmation, Decim happily steps back and skips over towards the armed group, waving his hands around. "Hello mister polices! Can you play a distracting game with me very quickly?"
Decim's body breaks apart, piece by piece. His head blows off from the inside, splitting his skull open and revealing thousands upon thousands of hooked teeth jammed in. The black flesh inside expands out, forming tendrils. Some covered in teeth, some had eyes, some split into mouths.
In place of Decim was a mass of something four times the child's size. Distorted laughter echoes, magic seeping into the air and forcing-feeding fear down the police's throats until they choked on the heavy, dense air.
"It's called run or get eaten!" Lame name.
A teeth-covered tendril shoots outwards, piercing through a cop and pulling them towards the center of the mass. A circular mouth opened up, teeth spinning like a shredder, and in goes the little piggy- shredded into a thousand pieces while it squealed and screamed so beautifully. At the very least, Decim had manners to eat everything up! No blood or flesh went unconsumed, no sir!
Altho he did burp out the shredded pieces of fabric. Wrappers weren't THAT tasty.
Despite being huge and seemingly legless, the mass moved very quickly, laughing childishly as they shot forward towards the cops. Give them a little bit of fear in exchange for MASSIVE payoff ten times the amount, yes, yes! Decim was a genius sometimes!
Let's see how many little piggies he can put in his mouth before he has to go!! Hehe, aw, one just tripped! What an idiot!
(Era had sat up at some point, looked up at his brother, and groaned in despair. Fuck- how much damage control would it take to cover this up? This is fucking impossible. He attempted to step forward, but found that his legs were unfortunately not working very well, still trying to right themselves back into proper legs. Shit.)
starter for @transorbital-niche | TW GORE, CAR ACCIDENT
He was so close to finishing up the spellcircle. So close. He had to take several precautions accounting for his brother's recklessness and tendency to forget instructions, so progress had been slow. But progress WAS happening.
Unfortunately...
"You're in so much trouble when we get home, Decim!" Eradic scolded with a whisper, engraving symbols into a headless (and soulless) human corpse after tearing off a section of its uniform. "I MEAN it!"
"I was hungry..." Decim whines in response, not a single whiff of guilt around him, despite the very well feigned remorse on his face. "Sorry Era..."
"You aren't."
"...Yeah, no..." Blue eyes glance off to avoid a golden glare.
The body and everything from it bursts into dark flames, slowly being consumed. No trace left behind. Eradic stands back to watch his work, sighing as he morphs his blade-shaped hand back into a... normal hand shape.
"Alright, we're going back t-"
Both devourers jump at sounds of a siren. Siren means... bad things, right? But surely it wasn't- no, no, the scents are approaching. Fast.
"Shit- Come on!" Eradic hisses, grabbing Decim by the hand and pulling him along to RUN.
"Ummm, Era-"
"Not now!-"
THUNK! THUD!
Decim watches as his brother flies off some feet away, blinking at the car which had struck him. After a single whiff, he lights up, no alarm in his eyes as he waves at the windshield.
"Oh, hi potato man!"
Eradic groans a short distance away. Fuck, it's like getting hit with a cannon...
He would've had to have been extremely drunk to have missed the shift from grandiloquent conversation to not-so and at current he was as woefully sober as formerly-Sir Chatty. Fuse observed the exchange between the two, momentarily holding his own tongue.
At the shop, his co-workers latched onto recent murders and missing persons as topics of interest to chit-chat about... When they weren't gossiping about hot bitches or The Big Game or whatever. He couldn't recall them bringing that specific shit up more-so than was usual for a city.
Though that little display of - nervousness? anxiety? general shiftiness? something of the sort - was as blatant as the conversational shift. It got a look of scrutiny from the rat of a skeleton before he shifted attention over to Sir Sniffles and returned the look he was getting with a shrug of a shoulder followed by a pushing his newest abomination's plate forward and within reach.
"Funny joke." His cadence was as dry as Hot Land. "Must be one'a those really fuckin' insular inside ones," he went on, procuring another plate upon which to begin creating more literal food porn, "'Cause I know for shit sure you're too young to be meanin' what I thought no matter how old you claim you are."
Murder, sex, neither of 'em were the domain of…
Well. All right, fine, little shits could be murderous, he knew that full well, but they still had no business being so.
One huff later, "That aside, moving requires cash, kid. And moving wouldn't do shit anyway, 'cause some other Human city's still gonna require the same standardized certificates 'n degrees that also require money. That shit's not so simple as just up and fucking off elsewhere." It was a sentence that was not quite punctuated by a moist-but-quiet splat of overly-buttery potato.
"...Yeah." Eradic looks off, slightly stiff. Decim tilts his head in questioning, murmuring in another language under his breath to which his brother responds back with what sounds like a short hiss.
"I'm not a kid," he grumbles, "and I never said I would take you to a human city," the older devourer replies, tugging Decim back from reaching out towards the potato lump. He's had enough potato for now, "It seems inconsiderate to pull you from one annoying city into another and expect you to pay for it... but I do not know you, and you do not know me. Neither of us trust the other enough to both make a large decision and to help with said decision."
Eradic gives the other a short glance, then pulls his eyes away. He's smelling emotions, yes. But he's not sure what exactly they are. It didn't help that there were so many smells in the air that trying to focus made him dizzier.
"Well, I am sure that my brother has had enough potatoes and... long dogs? For one day," lifting the smaller skeleton up, he throws him over his shoulder like a sack of rice, "So we will be leaving."
Decim squeaks, "Wait what?? No! I can still eat a little more- I barely ate any!!"
Eradic tips his head towards the stall owner. "Thanks for... all of those. I do hope the guards do not catch you." He gestures at the vulgar food sculpture with a free hand while the other lightly held onto a very much thrashing around Decim, seeming quite relaxed and stable despite the intensity of his flailing.
"NOOO ONE MOREEE!!" Decim squeaks, smacking Eradic's back with his fists, to no avail.
"No more. We have to find somewhere decent to stay before the sun sets or the human guards will attempt to cage us for not having guardians." Eradic scolds, moving to carry a whiny Decim away. Expectedly, the other is not quite happy about the decision...
...A guttural growl rumbles from Decim, a sound so low it revertabrated inside the chests of those nearby. Cracks form on his face, pupils turning into slits, and just as it seems he was readying up to do something-
SLAP.
"Yip!" Decim yelps as Eradic smacks him right on the nose, and he whimpers, uncannily similar to a dog. With Decim now cradling his technically nonexistent nose, Eradic was free to speedwalk off.
Fuse nodded once, twice, before he gave a little huff of a laugh. "I can't tell if you've got good taste or a penchant for makin' shitty choices regarding the company you keep," he muttered. More conversationally he added, "Yeah, y'see, I 'know' other worlds exist, but that's as-according-to someone else's eye witness accounts."
Speaking of which, these two didn't match any of the descriptions the little dead kid had given him. Still… He was erring on the side of their not being there to cause problems.
Not that he'd be able to really do much if they were there to cause problems. His bro would properly disown him if he caught wind that he'd been engaging in fisticuffs with a couple of kids regardless of the why.
As the politics talk began, and continued, and didn't seem to be stopping, Fuse took the liberty of fetching a new styrofoam plate upon which he began constructing a new obscenity. This time it was a twofer; a couple of bunbears, one of which he took the time to start carving out a hole in its ass while half-listening. He was in the midst of sizing it up to fit the girth of a sausage when he heard Sir Chatty mention eating people, which got him to pause and look up and squint and open his mouth to ask only to snap it shut again as the kid went on.
His unasked question was more-or-less answered when Sir Sniffles rejoined the convo with his timely inquiry. What would've been his next question was also answered just as timely-y. Hypothetical. That was only somewhat reassuring.
"Hypothetically," he repeated, going back to carving out a fitting bunbear asshole into which to insert the other bunbear's to-be sausage dick, "The kind'a life where I'm not workin' at a fucking chop shop and tasked with stealing cars whenever the boss needs some fresh meat." And he seemed rather content, as he fit the bears together on the plate in a display of truly lewd proportions, to leave the kid to figure that sentence out for himself. He leaned back a little to inspect his new creation before he flicked his eyelights up from it and back to Sir Chatty.
Facinating. So an encounter with an outlander, Eradic thinks. Or a traveller of some sort.
Decim does not. He watches as the stranger crafts yet another sculpture, bored of listening to his brother beloved's politics.
"Well that's quite doable." Eradic huffs at the description.. "If you did not mind moving your entire life you could have that this very moment." Though he assumed the other was not actually interested in the idea. He himself wouldn't move so casually, but he has been told he's rather... stubborn compared to most others. He doesn't believe it.
At the question of eating people, the chatty devourer turns quiet. "The cool new trend in town." He jokes dryly, taking Decim by the hand.
Alas, Decim does not remember the smell of his sarcasm no matter how many times he's told him to memorize it.
"It is?" The younger devourer asks, lighting up. "Can we really-" he's abruptly cut off by a hand to his mouth, and squints at Eradic with what seemed like confusion and mild annoyance.
"It's just a joke between us two." He tells the stranger, tounge flicking warily while trying to maintain composure, sniffing for any... dangerous emotions. He didn't think the other would care- not really, he seemed to have too much of his own problems if he had to make a living with a run-down cart- but just in case.
He was, after all, his brother's protector first and foremost. Being careful was better than being dead. Without realizing, Eradic's eyes flit about for escape routes. They're outside, which means lots of directions to flee towards should it be better to run than it is to fight...
Decim, meanwhile, blinks up at Fuse as if to quietly say, 'My brother is weird right?? The heck did I do??'
you do everything. everything for these people, just to make them happy. you spend countless nights working on stupid things you don't care for, argue with countless stupid worms, and get no form of gratitude...
and they won't even share a bit of happiness. not a bit.
im hungry and tired and if i reap any of what i have sowed they'll call me a monster and treat me like a pest.
i could kill everyone. but i didn't. i let them throw rocks at me all so that they won't die of fear. they may do nothing, but they hurt. you try getting hit with a rock when you least expect it. see how you fucking like it.
For a moment Fuse watched the formerly sniffy one get his snack on while he listened to the other bemoan his inability to relieve himself of sobriety due to - "Poison...?" He gave the more conversational of the brothers a look of momentary confusion. Luckily this confusion was enough to keep him from any further awkward 'wasn't me'-tier aversions of gazes or fake as hell coughing. "D'you mean gas?… The exhaust? From cars?"
Technically the kid wasn't wrong. Technically that was pollution and also not great to breathe in in great quantities. It was just weird to hear someone complain about it, but if they were from some nightmarish, carless hell world (because what other kind of world wouldn't have motorized vehicles?!)… Sure, it'd probably take some getting used to, he supposed.
Flabbergastment aside, he quirked a brow-bone. Couldn't help it. "Well, pal, if you've been goin' around insinuating shit like your bein' from another world entirely, I'm sorry to say you're doin' the opposite of not attracting unwanted attention. People'll either think you're crazy or - uh…" He loosed up a hand to tap his chin. "… Or they'll just think you're playin'. Yeah, y'know what, never mind, I take that back."
Briefly, as he continued to listen to the chatty kid, Fuse shifted his eyelights away to look down either side of the park path. The coast was, so far, still clear. The dirty looks from passers-by(, the stink-eye even more intense given his current patrons being kids and all), were still frequent. "If only that kind'a setup could work here," he grumbled, almost to himself, before tuning properly back into the conversation at hand in time to bear witness to the boastful little braggart.
Could anyone blame him for again raising a (this time skeptical) brow-bone? Sure, sure, the chatty one claimed he and his brother were well into their multi-hundreds, but they sure as hell didn't look it, and jury was out on this really just being a rather imaginative couple of tweens or teens or whatever they called them those days.
"If you say so," he said slowly, unconvinced, as he re-crossed his arms. "... For shits and giggles, how would you handle it? Half the former populace of the Underground's used to bein' able to fuck themselves up on whatever drugs they can get their grimy paws on, some of 'em made a living off of prostitutin' themselves, or others, 'n… Don't get me started on the fucking bullshit that used to happen on the fringes of New Home." A rather sardonic grin preceded, "Pretty fucking sure a lot of it would constitute a war crime up here."
"Cars," Eradic grimaced for a moment, "that's what they are." What a stupid name. Sounds like a cart.
"You're the only one we have talked to this extensively." He tells the stall owner whose identity he still has no interest in learning. Why need a name when he can probably sniff him out if needed? "And I know you don't believe anything I say either. Not completely anyway. So no one would believe either of us." Which is a little irritating, but it helped, so he wasn't going to try too hard here.
He expected the other not to believe him, but it was refreshing not to be laughed at immediately. For as vulgar as this skeleton was, he seemed more respectful compared to certain kinds of people back home. Eradic decides not to push it.
"I am not familiar with the politics or culture of your world, so any solution I give now would be flawed. However..." The devourer thought for a moment, "...I would first study your society's records and meet the people you mentioned in person. It would help me both learn about the status quo, as well as start to build an image of someone who is interested in listening." The golden-eyed child shifted back and forth as he spoke. "Then based on that information, I'd plan my next move."
Decim, at this moment, had cleared out the entire stall and was grooming himself like a cat nearby on the pavement. Probably attracting some awkward glances, but he didn't seem to mind at all.
"There are several options to trigger change in a society where the ones in power refuse to listen. Two of the methods off the top of my head being: slowly pushing a certain kind of mentality over time, or using excessive force to tear everything down and build up from scratch." He glanced off towards one of the large buildings, huffing.
"It's simpler to eat up the kings and build a new form of government myself, but I'd rather not risk the chaos that follows suit. Anyone eyeing the seat of power would be scrambling for it, and anyone ignorant enough to pray in kings would be preaching the end of the world, and ugh- dealing with a stampede is something I would rather not relive a millionth time..."
In that moment, Decim rejoins the conversation- bounding over and leaning on his brother. "Oooh, who we eating?" He blinks cutely, interested.
"No one, worm. It's hypothetical." Eradic reaches over and wipes Decim's mouth with his sleeve.
"Awww rats," Decim pouts- a small growl doubling under his voice in a strange manner as he deflates, "I could use dessert though..."
"Anyways," Eradic turns back towards the other while fussing over Decim, "Hypothetically, what kind of life do you wish for, stranger? What would you consider a perfect life, disregarding what is realistic for you right now?" He's curious.
Upon hearing the less-enthused state their alleged ages, Fuse …stared, blankly, as he processed that information.
Was he dealing with a couple of cosplayers? They were wearing peculiar clothing - though his ex also wore weird shit so that didn't mean anything, and also he hadn't heard of any conventions going on. If they really were both in the triple digits… Well, it wasn't totally unbelievable, the little ghost kid told him about 'odd individuals from other worlds.' Even so -
"Holy shit, you're old as fuck."
… He might as well play along. Be it flight of childish fancy or truth, it didn't really matter s'long as they weren't causing problems. 'Sides, they were paying customers now; the GP didn't sit long before he pocketed it and said, "Yeah, that pretty much gets him the whole cart," and more towards li'l sir sniffles, "Go nuts, kid."
Returning his attention to the less food-oriented of the two, he gave a snort that evolved into a little snicker as general agreement turned into a complaint. "Ha! I can't imagine how terrible it's gotta be to be deprived of a good drink." Upon the mention of reckless driving, however - he took a better looked at the two and wracked his brain just in case. Hey, sometimes carjacking necessitated urgency… Sometimes urgency necessitated almost running over a pedestrian or two.
Not to mention how much of a menace he was on his bike.
With a little faux cough to clear his throat, he was very happy to jump immediately from there to, "Well, yeah, this is the Surface. Humans have been up here for a fuckin' age. You two really aren't from around here, huh…? Or you're really good at actin', but I sure as shit haven't seen either of you before." Shifting back as far as he dared on his milk crate pedestal, Fuse crossed his arms.
"The King is working on all that shit, but it's only been about a year and a half and all that legal bull moves slower than my ass after a week-long bender. It doesn't help that some of us that came from the fuckin' and suckin' half of the Underground have probably flooded the poor fucker with petitions and angry letters demanding why he hasn't gotten the Humans to let 'em do the shit they're used to doin'."
He knows the smell of suspicion. While he could find hints of it radiating off the man, it doesn't seem to be the only emotion there. Eradic isn't sure how the stranger felt exactly, but... ugh, whatever, it didn't matter. It's not like he cares.
(He cares. A lot.)
Sir Sniffles on the other hand, cheered and grabbed at one of the R-rated sculptures and- well, it disappeared in an instant but one can make assumptions from the bits of mash potato on his face that he ate it. A forked tounge flicked out, longer than it should be, and lapped up the bits on his face and hands while his eyes scanned for his next prey.
"Oh it is AWFUL. This place is giving me a headache with all its smells- there's some kind of poison in the air that your transportation produces and its- ugh. Why?" It smells like the desecration of ancient corpses. "If I could..." He trails off and squints at the skeleton, tounge flicking as a strange change in scent alerted him to an additional emotion. Before he could question why the other reacted that way, the other continues speaking.
"No, we are not. But it is simpler to assume your manner of dress and adhere to your... questionable laws while I find a way back to our realm. Attracting unwanted attention would be a pain to deal with." He sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose with a thumb.
The devourer lifted his head back up, watching his brother as he spoke, "In my territory, Humans and Monsters all live... everywhere. I am aware some have chosen to live underground, but there is no such thing as the 'Surface' and the 'Underground'," Eradic air quotes, "there are multiple named areas on the surface and underground but they aren't referred to the same way here."
"Heh," he laughs dryly at the mention of laws, turning to the strange-smelling stranger, "those comfortable on their thrones prefer to bury their legs in stone than budge so soon. If it were me in power, I would resolve things in a week. I have, in fact! Multiple times!" He brags, a rare smug smirk on his face as he puffs out his chest a little- looking a little childish but not realizing, pleased of past accomplishments. He's a very competent Guardian of Desis. Even if very few favor him, everyone has to acknowledge that.
In the background, Decim had eaten half the things on display. He seems very happy, though currently with an added confusion of how he should tackle one of the structures. Should he eat its head first? The limbs? Hmmmm.
