Accursed Boy

“Meat?” Cabe repeats in surprise, expression momentarily confused before he starts laughing. “Well, if that’s the case then I might as well take you out!” It’s not like he’s really experienced in cooking meat—Kraatz isn’t picky with his food at all.

The idea actually sounds good now that he said it aloud. “Yeah. When I visit we should go out for dinner too. My treat.” Usually he wouldn’t be able to afford such situations, but lately he’s been going to work more often. Besides, he feels like he should repay Noroi for his.. gift. It was the least Cabe could do.

“How does that sound?”

Noroi is so startled by the suggestion he accidentally sets his sleeve on fire. How long has it been? he wonders, eyes wide. Has there ever even been a time? “Go out? To eat? Together?” he echoes, absentmindedly patting out the flames. “You would pay? Really?” It’s such a foreign concept he can’t help but question it. He’s touched, honestly, but the idea, it’s... so strange.

He grins widely, earnestly. “I would be honored to go out for a meal with you~” he says. “It’s like... a date!” He makes a face, like a kindergartener confronted with cooties. “No, not a date. Eww.” Shaking it off, he repeats, attempting calmness, “Yes, that would be great. I appreciate it~”

Overstaying a visit? What a strange idea! Noroi fights down a surprised and amused smile. No one has ever overstayed a visit before. In fact, people either stay forever as a corpse or leave as quickly as possible. But… he likes Cabe. He doesn’t run screaming every time he does something “weird”. He doesn’t die as easily as other people seem to do. And he can drink! He can drink a lot. Cabe is just… interesting. Fun.

"Feel free to come by any time you like!" he says excitedly, face splitting in a wide smile. "My door is always open~ Unless it’s not. Then I suppose it would be closed, but… that’s so rare nowadays!" This city is so safe he can’t help but leave everything unlocked. It’s not like people drop by often anyway. He’s bouncing in place, fighting back happy laughter, sticky hands clasped together. ”Yes, drop by again! Bring a friend! Or not. Either is fine~”

Cabe watches Noroi and his reaction.. And he can’t help but to smile, smile a small smile that’s surprisingly genuine. For all about Noroi that makes him wary as hell, he can’t feel like the other’s actions to him are…sincere. Besides the whole firing thing, he didn’t really seem to want to hurt Cabe… But still.. he thinks, making eye contact with the two bloody spheres sitting on his palm.

"I’ll be sure to," he replies as he stands up straight, though his smile is a tad more sly this time. Don’t get him wrong, he has every intention to visit again! Alone, of course. Of course. "Is there anything you like food-wise? Perhaps I can bring a gift."

“A gift? For me, a gift?” Noroi echoes, surprised. “No one brings me gifts anymore, how sweet of you~” The last person to give him a gift… how long has it been since that happened? He couldn’t even put a face to the action, much less the gift in his possession. His liking for Cabe rises, and he’s surprised. And Cabe is smiling, which is… strange, but Noroi thinks it’s pleasant.

After thinking for a bit, he answers, slowly, “…meat is a good food. Probably really healthy and whatever.” He’s sure cooked meat is healthy. He learned that raw meat is definitely unhealthy the hard way. Multiple times. He doesn’t eat much.

ringodingding

Noroi: Stop squirming or I’ll bite your neck!

“‘I’ll stop squirming when the door opens,” the girl spat, flushing bright pink. Despite her bitter remark, the little girl stopped quivering and scooted away from the boy beside her.

Ringo pressed her back against the wall and folded her arms behind her, trying to make as much personal space she could. However, the area was so cramped, the two still stood no less than an inch from each other. Narrowing her eyes at Noroi, RIngo looked to the right and muttered.

"Don’t get any ideas."

[ the-last-docl-one ]

ringodingding

"Ow."

Ringo couldn’t help and wince as Noroi gripped a portion of her check with his fingers. The girl slid back, feeling the pinch of the other slip away as she moved away from the boy. A small puff of smoke polluted the air and evaporated, leaving a tortoise-shelled cat curled up in the far corner, fur stuck up in several directions. "D-don’t touch me!" The cat hissed, fur bristling, hot with embarrassment. Despite the shrinkage of size, the cat was still able to scratch the other simply leaning forward and not moving much at all.

#ic #ngc #ngc ringo #closet space #[[ sorry for such a late reply!! ]]

"Oh how exciting!" Noroi cooed, teeth glinting in a wide smile. Grabbing the small cat and holding it above his head, he laughed, "Oh little kitty, what good did that do you? I'll tell you! It didn't do very much at all." He ended with in a mock mournful tone, adorning a fake pout. "That's just too bad now isn't it." While interested in her ability to shift into a feline form, he was much more preoccupied by the fact he was now stuck in close quarters with a cat. A small cat.

He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he had always been interested by cats. They were his favourite animal. Their fur was nice, they weren't high maintenance pets, and their insides tasted rather nice if cooked properly. "My goodness kitty, I could gobble you right up! No one would know~" he said half jokingly, subconsciously taking a quick jaunt down memory lane to dredge up some ideas of how best to skin a cat with no tools.

Cabe stares at the small glass orbs dropped into his hands and the red that coats them. His eyebrows raise in interest, his expression cool, and he rolls them across his palms, spreading the blood everywhere.

"For me… What a thoughtful gift," he says without a hint of mirth. He glances at Noroi, who looks exhausted, to say the least. Is this perhaps.. An apology? he thinks, looking back down at the eyes. He’s no mind reader, but he has a feeling… “I’ll be sure to treasure them.”

It’s true, he likes the gift. He doesn’t pocket the eyes but rather keeps them in one hand, rotating the two spheres mindlessly in his palm. “Perhaps I’ve overstayed my visit, though,” he begins slowly, looking over at Noroi. “How about I visit some other time?”

Overstaying a visit? What a strange idea! Noroi fights down a surprised and amused smile. No one has ever overstayed a visit before. In fact, people either stay forever as a corpse or leave as quickly as possible. But... he likes Cabe. He doesn't run screaming every time he does something "weird". He doesn't die as easily as other people seem to do. And he can drink! He can drink a lot. Cabe is just... interesting. Fun.

"Feel free to come by any time you like!" he says excitedly, face splitting in a wide smile. "My door is always open~ Unless it's not. Then I suppose it would be closed, but... that's so rare nowadays!" This city is so safe he can't help but leave everything unlocked. It's not like people drop by often anyway. He's bouncing in place, fighting back happy laughter, sticky hands clasped together. "Yes, drop by again! Bring a friend! Or not. Either is fine~"

Cabe listens, his elbow still propped on the counter, his eyebrows curved lightly and lips thinned in interest. Is he unraveling? he asks himself, though the answer isn’t too hard to assume at all. The look on Noroi’s face told him enough, let alone the pitch of his voice.

"Hm…" He takes time to contemplate the other’s question rather than immediately answering, bringing a tip of his thumb to his lips to think. To leave one world, never to return, and go somewhere entirely new for the sake of escaping.. he thinks… Is such a situation ever possible for him?

"…"

He smiles. “I guess so,” he finally answers. “If there truly is nothing to lose.”

Noroi slumps slightly, relaxing a bit. "I suppose you're right," he says, laughing even though he can feel a headache coming. Repressed memories always left him with a massive migraine. Lightly slapping his cheek to drag him back to the present, he says, "If there's nothing there, it's probably okay right? Right."

Quickly dropping from near hysteria to flat out exhaustion, he rubs his face with his hands. His fluctuating temper is exhausting and a complete pain to deal with, he knows; he feels sorry for Cabe, dealing with his moodiness all night. Perhaps apologies are in order? But Noroi isn't very good with those anymore…

Sorry for being such a brat, he thinks would be a good apology, but instead plucks the eyes out of the doll he’s sitting on. They’re covered in blood. He thinks it might be screaming so he jumps off of its lap and it topples over, twitching. How strange. Smiling serenely, he presses the glass eyes into Cabe’s hands, smearing everything red. “…that’s for you,” he says, trying very hard to convey how sorry he is in his overly-cheerful tone.

Cabe props his elbow onto the counter, resting his chin on a lightly curled fist as he listens to Noroi’s explanation. Dimension hopping… he thinks, his eyes narrowing slightly.

The concept of multiple dimensions and universes isn’t foreign to him at all, but he has to admit that it’s one that he had dismissed earlier. He already knows that he doesn’t have the ability to hop dimensions.. at least not without a serious price. He’s already bound to this one.

I wonder, though, if there are parallel versions of me in other universes… And of others… he thinks, his thoughts wandering to a certain scarf-wearing individual he knows… Could it be…?

He blinks, though, reminding himself that he’s still talking to someone. He smiles at Noroi.

"Oh, you wouldn’t, hm?" he asks. He wouldn’t expect Noroi to be someone from another dimension, but… "That’s interesting to hear… Shame that the person can’t go back, though, huh?"

Noroi’s grin doesn’t falter, but it becomes a little fixed on his face. He suddenly realizes his choice in conversation topics probably wasn’t the smartest one, but he never thinks through his choices beforehand anyway so really, how much damage could this simple conversation possibly cause?

"Well that would depend right? Like, was their original dimension any good? Would they even want to go back?" he says, trying to sound as collected as he assumed he appeared. "I mean, wherever they’re from probably wasn’t so good if they were trying to go somewhere else right? Right? Right?" His eye twitches and he grinds his teeth slightly, his voice getting steadily higher-pitched. Nope, this was a terrible decision.

"Really, first?" he asks, raising his eyebrows. "You’ll be surprised with how many… spiritual beings are in this city, let alone demons,” he says, his mind wandering to a few certain individuals he.. knows quite well.

"Pretty eyes.." he repeats quietly, touching his eyes. He felt that they had returned to their true form while he was fending off Noroi’s fires, which were more powerful than he expected. But they’re far from pretty.. he thinks, thoughts wandering to Kraatz.

""Dimension.. jumping?" Cabe repeats. He’s just repeating Noroi, but admittedly what the other is saying is more than interesting. "And, er, thanks… I like them too."

His looks of uncertainty fades, though, and he smiles. “Yep~ Seems like you’ve had your fair share of adventure, huh?”

Noroi chuckles a bit. “I’m sure there’s a lot of interesting people here! I just don’t venture around much, you know? No adventures for me! Just stick to what I know and everything is fine~” he says cheerfully. Then he adds, “But if I didn’t go out tonight I wouldn’t have met you, so… I guess it can be okay!”

Waving his hand vaguely, he echoes, “Dimension jumping! You know, when you… jump… Dimensions?” He frowns and tries to explain it better. “Like… hmm.” He picks up a doll and says, “Err… let’s pretend this is a person.” Motioning at the room, he adds, “This room is a dimension; this doll’s dimension anyway.”

Pointing out the door, he continues, “Let’s say that outdoors is a separate dimension, okaaaaaaay~? Dimension jumping would be throwing this doll outside.” He grins, but it’s a little strained. “Can it come back? Who knows! Probably not if the door closes~! Which it will, of course.” The last is muttered to himself, half spitefully and half fondly.

He pauses for a while before adding belatedly, “But, I wouldn’t know anything about that!”

"Me, handsome?" he responds, placing his fingers over his chest in mock surprise. He’s smiling back, his eyebrows raised and his gaze almost challenging. Almost as if he’s asking Noroi to try…

But he blinks slowly, his gaze softening. “Well, it’s hard to know where to start..” he admits, patting the bunny softly. He walks over closer to Noroi, leaning against the counter so that he can have something to rest against.

"Well, I’m Cabe. I’m a demon who happens to live in this city," he says, looking over at Noroi and smiling. "Dunno if you noticed, but I shapeshift to look this way.. It’s just more convenient that way.

"I’ve lived here for a few decades. I rather like this city, don’t you?" He glances briefly at the walls, imagining the darkness outside of them.

Noroi’s grin widens delightedly. “Demon? You’re the first one I’ve ever met! That’s so interesting~ Is that why your eyes are so pretty, so unique, so pretty?” he rattles off. He’s pleased to see the challenge in Cabe’s eyes dim while he talks. It’s much easier to carry a conversation like that. His hands twitch involuntarily and he digs his nails into his arms until he gets his impulses under control. Do not attack your friend, he reminds himself sternly. Just because his eyes are pretty doesn’t mean you can keep them for yourself.

“I’ve never really figured out shapeshifting,” he says, “but dimension jumping can sometimes change your shape whether you want it to change or not.” He pauses slightly before adding in a rush, “Or so I’ve heard, anyway. I wouldn’t know myself~” Laughing slightly, he says cheerfully, “Well, I personally like both of your forms!"

He glances in the direction Cabe is looking but there isn’t anything there; just a wall covered by dolls and stuffed animals. How strange. “I suppose the city is… interesting,” he says slowly, thinking about his trips to the hidden district and all he’s found there. “I certainly don’t hate it. It can be rather fun if you look in the right places~!"

"Oh, that’s definitely true…" Cabe replies, still staring at the bunny. It almost looks as if they’re having a conversation instead of him and Noroi..

A part of him wondered if he should put up his guard even more, but he had a feeling that he shouldn’t tap into his usually unused powers. Not here, in this shop, which Noroi called his own child. Cabe just hopes that there are no traps in here.. Is he wrong to believe that Noroi might have ill intentions?

From everything, it seems like that he genuinely likes me, he thinks. Usually he’d take advanage of something like this, but..

Something’s making him uneasy.

He finally looks back at Noroi, his demeanor cool as he smiles. “Well, what do you even want to know? Height, weight, job, district?”

“Anything at all! Everything preferably,” Noroi says eagerly, eyes shining. “Mysterious and handsome and very unique; I can’t help it, I’m intrigued by you~” He knows Cabe is powerful, as surviving his flames without any protection is nigh impossible, and he just… wants… to know… everything about this strange person.

He wonders if he could just force Cabe to talk, but admonishes himself immediately. Torture is not how you make new friends! he reminds himself forcefully. Besides, you don’t know if he would survive. You tend to get carried away when you’re excited, remember? He remembers. The doll he’s using as a chair is a testament to his lack of self control.

He smiles with a mouth filled with too-sharp teeth, trying to appear as unthreatening as possible. He’s not sure it’s working.