[Open]

[brotimaeus]

Who: Richard Stroud (Bro Strider) & YOU~
When: June 17
Where: Winding Way Bookstore & Expresso Yourself, potential to move anywhere else/into a Blackout area if that's the way it goes c:
What: A couple of general prompts looking to boost CR and lay down some more roots in the game. c: Any format is fine, I'll follow you.

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[The Winding Way Bookstore]]
He ducked in here to get out of the heat then found himself hanging around for longer than he expected, lingering around the fantasy section and eyeing up a sinfully expensive set of Lovecraft works. Try as he might to ignore the fact that they're there he keeps going back to them...

Maybe if he drags himself away and has a drink he might walk out of here without buying anything.

Later on, when he's leaving the place (and he's bought something if that bag he's carrying is anything to go by), he makes it part way down the street before the bottom of the bag splits and several books go thudding to the sidewalk. He stops dead, rubs a hand over his face and lifts his attention briefly skywards.

"... Fuckin' really..?"


[Expresso Yourself]
Later on and with the weather still uncomfortably warm he's sitting outside the coffee shop - a common haunt for him since L took over - with a glass of iced water and a book that, from the illustrations, appears to be about angels. There's a notebook open beside it, with a few half-formed doodles of a winged boy wearing aviator shades. Though the facial features are unclear, the wings certainly aren't.

Now and then he'll look over at it as if he hasn't really been paying attention to what he's doing, only to add a little more detail to the edge of a feather. He still has no idea who that boy was and as much as he doesn't want to force another damned Echo... the curiosity isn't going away.

Comments

[brotimaeus]

There's the briefest flash of a grin at the acknowledgement. For all the popularity the book has in certain circles, it's actually fairly rare that he runs into anyone who's aware of it. "No worries, bro. If I hadn't written it I wouldn't read it either."

Attention back to the drawing, he turns it around to give Jin a better look. "Somethin' tells me it isn't an angel. Comes to me in flashes, y'no? Feels like he's important to me but I can't put my finger on why."

[amajin]

"Hey, at least you wrote it. Better than I could do." He smirks.

He inspects the picture. "Not an angel, then... I guess you don't have to be an angel to have wings, in an infinite universe. Maybe he's a bird boy. I guess if he's not an angel he can't be your guardian angel." He purses his lips.

He looks at Richard. "Hmmm." It's tough to tell from a drawing, but he kind of feels like they look alike. "Maybe you're related."

[brotimaeus]

Guardian angel? His eyebrows arch slightly at that. Richard's never really been the religious sort, it never sat right with him, though the idea of 'angel' had definitely occurred to him given the circumstances under which he'd been hit with this particular Echo.

It's that second statement that has him pausing, looking back down at the drawing and gently drawing the lead of the pencil around the line of the boy's jaw.

"You think so? Hard to tell with those shades... Can't count it out, I guess." He frowns. "Looks kinda like my nephew. Younger, though."

[amajin]

He smirks. "Well, I mean, anything's possible when it comes to your past life. I'm not super religious myself, it being in my interest to assume there's no god to get mad I'm playacting as him, but who knows what your world was like."

He puts his thumb up towards Richard's face. "I dunno, depends on how you look with shades. I think the resemblance exists, at least. Your cousin, the bird-kid, maybe. Or your bird-son." He shrugs. "I'm not sure how much help I'm being, though."

[brotimaeus]

There's no way to tell, not really, but grasping at straws is the best either of them have now, right? While he listens to Jin, he silently observes the drawing, then suddenly goes very, very still.

".. My brother," he whispers, the answer coming to him with such sudden, stunning clarity that it makes him nauseous. Richard turns slightly pale, rubbing one hand over his face, voice muffled against his palm. "He's my little brother."

[amajin]

He blinks, a little upset by the averse reaction he seems to have suddenly evoked. But then he realizes it's an echo. "Oh. Hey, that's something, right?" He reaches over to pat his arm awkwardly. "D'you think that means you had wings, too?"

[brotimaeus]

He shakes it off quickly, a shudder running up his spine. That's the second time that's happened and he's still not quite used to the feeling. Torn between being glad of a little more information and irritated that another of those echoes have been prompted, he toys with the edge of his sketchbook for a moment.

"Fuck, I hope not. I saw a kid not long ago with wings and it looked like he was havin' all hells of problems with 'em." As you might expect, really.

"If I did have them, I would've thought that would trigger them, if nothin' else would, but all I got was this."

[amajin]

"Ah, right, yeah. It'd make getting clothes that fit pretty damn hard, that's for sure." He quips. He hums. "Yeah, you'd think..." I mean, he feels for Richard, having to deal with echoes, but he's gotten more or less to the point of echos being both few and far between and more or less not something to worry about.

After all, he's already lost thirteen years or so, so what more could really be done to him? Well, he knows what more, but he'd really rather not think about it. "Well, something weird must be going at least. Let's hope it doesn't really get too much crazier. Maybe you'd have to write another book."

[brotimaeus]

Richard stares for a moment then lets out a short, barking laugh that's definitely amused. "Shit, I don't know if I'd do that again."

Yeah, sure, writing that thing had really set him up good, but it had been a pain in the ass and he's not that eager to go through it all over again. Especially over something like this.

But...

"Then again, I can see the marketability in it."