Falling and Forgetting to Land (IC)

[Fox]

Gaian Knight shifted a little, pondering. "I think it's not so much ignorance as, I dunno, practicality. People aren't going to learn to use a sword - or buy and carry a concealed one - just because it's not useful to them. You might get good use out of yours, and some people like...oh, Jack of all Blades, can be pretty impressive. But the average person's better off with a taser, and the criminals and police do a lot better with guns."

[Aoiroo]

"Well, I will not deny the practicality, it seems rather impractical that someone may carry a metal costume sword at all, a plastic or wooden one is perfectly fine as it is a replica, a toy, but metal swords should be weapons, just carrying it as an accessory is an insult to the tool itself."

"I don't think people care."

Changeling let out a sigh,

"Probably not, they care as much for swordsmanship as they do for magic in that regard. I do not know how someone can so blatantly ignore what is around them, it would be like me ignoring computers or cell phones just because they were strange to me at first."

[Fox]

"But you can feel the magic," Gaian Knight pointed out, putting his hands in his coat pockets. "To the average person, it's either a fairytale or a rumor. Or, even if they believe in it, magic can be regarded as just another way heroes and villains and the like do what they do. You'd be hard-pressed to ignore computers or cell phones because they're everywhere and immediately accessible to everybody - or, at least, the grand majority of people. But magic is a lot less obvious and, often, deliberately hidden."

[Aoiroo]

"Magic is everywhere, and it is accessible, if other people asked I'm sure Custos might allow them for a ride."

"And then they would be round up and put into an asylum."

Changeling let out another sigh.

"Yes, that is the impression I have gotten as well. But, it is a problem, because, magic is starting to interfer more with this realm. Just recently a unicorns have started enchanting mortals, loa have been piercing the border and raising the dead, the reintroduction of artifacts has caused chaos among the spirits and that is just the things that have become bad enough to garner our attention. I cannot help but thing these things could be more prevented or at least have less casualties if people would at least pay a little bit more attention."

[Fox]

"Well, maybe, but that's true for pretty much everything," Gaian Knight noted, raising an eyebrow. "For every magical disaster there are five mutants, ten science-gone-wrong mishaps, and probably a hundred well-armed gang members, mobsters, or desperate folks. Humanity's not very good at controlling any of those things, and science, mutants, and guns are immediately obvious problems. They're clear, undeniable, and large-scale threats. Magic may be everywhere, but it's subtle, and resources really are rarer. Sure, you can find information if you really dig around, but it's not taught in schools, or anything; I'm not even sure if there are enough experts around to teach it in schools."

He paused, rubbing his chin. "At least, I don't think it's taught in schools. Are there schools to teach budding mages? That'd make an awful lot of sense."

[Aoiroo]

"Well I do not know of any in this city, and I have not traveled to know otherwise. There is a school with magic users, but it is something often sought in self-study. There really is no general magic that people learn like there is science, though I do not think it is right to seperate the two. Magic from what I have seen in my studies of science, magic is science, albeit a very volatile one. You can classify it, you can observe it, you can try and replicate results, though it is never exactly the same. I think that is the part that puts people off, because magic is as much the person doing it right when they are doing it as it is the spell and incantation, and one moment to the next you are hard pressed for a person to be in exactly the same state for when they did the spell the first time than the second."

She shrugged a bit,

"I guess I have spent too much time thinking on it, or I may just be biased as where I am from it is science and technology that is the trivial curiousity."

[Fox]

Gaian Knight chuckled. "Perspective, or so the wise men say, is everything. I'd agree, though, generally: magic might follow some rules, but it also seems to do a lot of really, really random things, which is probably pretty off-putting. A lot of it really is lack of exposure, though: magic's really, really rare here. Magic, as a force, is everywhere, but people or things that can use that force are pretty thin on the ground. Most people - ah," he paused, grimacing, "- maybe not here, with crazy wizards and loa and whatever else running around the city, but a much more general 'here' - could probably go their whole lives not believing in magic, and wouldn't know the difference. And that's not even counting the people who see magic and just believe it's something else, or some new scientific device or genetic mutation."

[Aoiroo]

"Well I have never been anywhere else, so I cannot say I know much about the outside perspectives. At least there are some who are ready here, most the things I listed were just stories I heard from others who are much more active in that respect. I have been busy I guess, school and such has made me very busy as I had to catch up a lot."

She drifted a bit, it was not really something forbidden for discussion, but it wasn't something that she should really speak about if she was to be about in costume.

"Do you travel much? Outside the city I mean."

[Fox]

He shrugged. "Sometimes. Not as often as I'd like, really, but life keeps me pretty busy. I have a day job, and some other assorted responsibilities...but I try to take trips out of the city when I can, and have a couple ways of getting around that're pretty convenient. Just a little bit ago I took a short trip over to Europe to poke around some of their old ruins and castles."

He blinked, and chuckled at himself. "That sounds more glamorous than it really was. It was research, mostly - I went out there, I spent a day or two looking around some dusty buildings, and I came right back. It was fun, but it was hardly a vacation...and not really something I think I'll be doing too often."

[Aoiroo]

"All buildings are dusty, it is accumulation that makes it noticable. I would think castles are especially so, since they are made up of rock mostly, and rock is very dusty."

She thought about it for a few seconds,

"Heh, with all that is involved in castle work, you could probably make one yourself."

Custos laughed a bit,

"It's a nice thought, but he's probably local. Where would he put it a castle in this city, the real estate pretty pricey."

Changeling looked at Custos for a few seconds,

"What, I hang around old buildings all the time, I pick up on this sort of thing."

[Fox]

Gaian Knight grinned a little, awfully amused by something. "Yes. There really wouldn't be anywhere around here to put a castle. It's really a shame - I bet I could make a nice big floating one, too." He shrugged, and added, "Castles are complicated, though. I can make most of one, sure, but there are lots of little things - wooden or metal doors, fixtures, windows, furniture - that I can't do, or at least can't do really well. For that I'd need to either learn some new tricks, or shop around quite a bit. Rock's pretty versatile, but it's still just rock."

[Aoiroo]

"I suppose, if you really need things like that. Stone can make furniture just fine, and windows too, it is the glass that is troublesome. In a castle made of stone, really a door would be where you choose for a door to be. I do not know why people think so much on such details."

Custos chuckled,

"They like to keep the small things even if they can live without them, while big things can just be treated as decoration. Though it doesn't help that guardians can't really protect against burgulars, at least not anymore, the whole clause built against attacking humans."

Changeling let out a sigh,

"Certainly did not stop those fellows in Egypt you told me about."

Custos waved a large stone paw,

"The guardians of the pyramids hardly count, since we can't get word into the tombs to tell them otherwise. The sphinx's all got the memo though, luckily before all those explorers started digging up the graves, could you imagine the bloodbath."

"I can, I still do not understand why people were so adament to defile a gravesite like that. It is not like people go around the graveyards in the city and dig up bodies."

She thought on that last part for a few seconds,

"At least no one who would not be thrown into jail for it, or stopped by Mr. Cimitere."

[Fox]

"Well, doors and windows serve a purpose," Gaian Knight pointed out, shrugging. "And so does furniture, really. Sure, I could make a stone chair, but it would be a pretty uncomfortable chair to sit around in for very long. A stone 'window' is just a hole, with maybe some bars over it - that's pretty breezy in the winter. Same with doors, though you can at least make a big stone door. Kinda hard for people to open or close, but it'd make a pretty neat and secure main front gate."

He cocked his head a little, and chuckled. "Y'know. Hypothetically."

[Aoiroo]

"Of course hypothetically."

Changeling smiled lightly at the prospect,

"If hypothetically took the steps for an actuality, do you think I could take a look sometime? I really do need to get out more."

"She really does, she talks to statues all day."

Custos added which Changeling gave him a light chuckle,

"I suppose I do, for the given value of statues, but I do need remind you that you talk back, so what does that make you?"

He stood up full scale showing his rather frightening wingspan before giving her a light bow,

"I madam, am your useful and humble figment of your imagination."

"Well at least your practical about it, I do not know how I would get around like this otherwise."

[Fox]

"The trick to getting around," Gaian Knight sagely noted, "is to find a big rock and tell it that it can fly. The hard part is getting it to believe you. And as for hypothetical visitors...not for now, I think. Hypothetically. No offense intended, of course - for now, there are no hypothetical visits whatsoever, at least not until I've done some hypothetical finishing touches and some hypothetical security of some kind or another."

He chuckled, and shook his head. "And if you, sir, are a figment of her imagination...I'm not sure I want to think about what that says about me, that I can see you."

[Aoiroo]

"Considering the girl, I'd say that you seeing anything she imagined just makes you self-aware."

Changeling giggled lightly,

"I highly doubt I could create a phantom as amusing as you. Though for hypothetical security, you could probably make a few gargoyles, while they are limited to what they can protect against I am sure they would like being formally charged with the task."

Custos shrugged his stoney shoulders.

"It's the hypothetical intent that's key, reason why I can jump to the empty vassals of gargoyles that have been just made for decoration instead of as guardians."

Changeling looked at him again,

"You certainly missed that clause."

There was another shrug of the stone beast,

"Musluems always serve the purpose to protect the dead, no matter what additional things are added for decoration or otherwise."

Changeling let out a sigh,

"Dead in this world need far more protection than they are given."

[Fox]

"I'll have to keep some gargoyles in mind," Gaian Knight agreed, thinking on his new home and where he could put some. "There's not a lot to protect from out there, but you never know. As for mausoleums...I dunno. On the one hand, they're kind of creepy. On the other, they can have some beautiful old stonework, and some of the design that goes into them can get pretty interesting. I usually avoid cemeteries, though, to be honest," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "I can sorta feel the earth around me, and cemeteries...well, they're full of earth that's full of people-shaped voids, and that's really freaking creepy."

[Aoiroo]

"I am not so fond of graveyards myself, lots of negative emotions, doubt, sorrow, hatred, longing it leaves a rather ugly stain. Also, the recent happenings have not made me fond of the dead, or at least much less so."

She shook her head at the memories of the horrible energies the zombies exuded. Custos shook his head,

"It wasn't that bad, it was always nice and quiet."

"That makes it even more unsettling, the quiet before a storm, the feeling that something horrible is going to happen because it lacks the noise of people."

The gargoyle shrugged,

"Never been much of a people person."

[Fox]

"Ah, life's not all that grim," Gaian Knight replied, and shrugged. "At least, I don't think so. Recent times have been pretty bad if you're a corpse, sure, but that might be the exception to the rule, rather than the start of something awful. The calm could just be the way things usually are, instead of a build-up to some big disaster."

He shrugged again, a little helplessly. "At least, that's how I see things. Maybe I just haven't seen enough undead uprisings. But not worrying about it probably saves me an ulcer; I figure spending all your waking hours worrying about awful things that might or might not happen takes too harsh a toll on you."

[Aoiroo]

"Well I worry some, but at least I know that there are lots of interesting people out there who are willing to stop it. Just like they stopped the undead, just like they stopped the loa, and just like they will stop whatever threat magical or no try to harm this realm. It comforts me enough so I can sleep, and take my time trying to get adjusted before I can try to help out the interesting people more. The summer break will help with this as well, hopefully enough so that my help will be accepted without having to be questioned first."

Though she wasn't so tired of introductions, she loved meeting people.

"By the way, would you mind if I contact you in the future? I do not know many people in the city, so I might want someone to call if I am in trouble. Well other than Custos of course since there are only so many things he can help me with."

Custos shrugged again,

"Meaning you can rest easy because I can't hurt humans, no matter how loose that definition is getting nowadays."

Changeling glanced at him,

"You mean with the abilities, well I can say I am completely human with no qualms do you feel otherwise."

Custos eyed Changeling,

"No comment."

[Fox]

Gaian Knight patted at his coat for a moment before coming up with a small pad of paper and a pencil; he jotted down a phone number, tore the page out, and held it out for Changeling. "Sure! If you're ever in a tight spot and it seems like I could lend a hand, don't hesitate to call. Or leave a message, I guess - I'm not always able to answer right away, heh." Note to self: find out how Fleur handles phone lines to other dimensions. "As for 'human'...yeah, who knows, these days. I'm pretty sure I'm human, but heck, even I've come away from getting shot with only a really bad bruise or two. The mutants and magicians and whatnot who can carry trucks and shrug off shotguns probably exist just to confuse the crap out of taxonomists."

[Aoiroo]

She took the paper and pulled out a pen of her own to write out her number on the bottom half which she tore off and handed to him before looking up at the new unusual word,

"A what now?"

"It means creature sorter, they give titles and such."

Changeling scratched her chin,

"I wonder than, what in the world would they classify you as?"

[Fox]

"Who knows?" Gaian Knight chuckled, shrugging. "It's been a long, long time since I took my last biology class, but I'm pretty sure they'd have a tough time classifying something - or someone - without any real biology. Custos is animated rock - they'd have to make a whole new classification system just for him, and beings like him, for it to make any sense. Heh - Lithicus gargoyle or Lithicus grotesque, or something, depending on whether or not you channel water away from buildings when you're not out flying around. ....though I'm pretty sure that's not real Latin."

[Aoiroo]

"No, there is no word for gargoyle in Latin. The closest to it is creatura lapis de voluns o praesidio, which even as lenghy probably will not explain it to a native speaker well enough. Not that there are any left in this realm, so your provided title should be adequite if approached by anyone wanting to start classifying magical creatures."

Custos let out a snort,

"Grotesque, really? What would you call spinx's, they certianly aren't winning any beauty contests."

Changeling looked at him,

"They were not made to be so terrifying that they may scare away even the foulest of demons."

The gargoyle looked back at her,

"That certainly didn't stop them two years ago."

Changeling looked at him again for a second,

"Two years ago?"

"I'll tell you later."

[Fox]

Gaian Knight laughed and held up his hands. "No, no, sorry. I didn't mean to imply anything by it - that's just the term. For architecture, anyway, which I admit I'm not exactly an expert on; my understanding is that a gargoyle is only properly called a gargoyle if it's a water spout, channeling water out of gutters and away from the building. Statues that're just decorative are called grotesques, or...oh, whatsits." He frowned, bowing his head a little to think, before snapping his fingers. "Chimera! That's it. But that wouldn't really fit, since I'm sure somewhere out there is an actual, mythological chimera that'd take offense to not getting its own classification."

He shrugged, and sounded kind of amused. "Of course, you can move and talk, so presumably you have the authority to call yourself whatever you please, water spouts or not."