extremely qualified ambassador of earth

[bitterchill]

Vancouver, being Vancouver, lacks a vibrant night life, or for that matter a dingy one. Take this alleyway, for instance. Completely empty. Where are the muggers? Where are the filthy strays? New York clicks its counterfactual tongue in grimy disapproval.

That said: the alleyway is empty. It would be a shame if something... happened to it.

Comments

[between_worlds]

"Working for the faerie queen or becoming a faerie queen?"

[bitterchill]

"Well, I was talking about the latter. As a joke, like. The former would be one of the unpleasant options. Really, really unpleasant. I recommend not going anywhere near the Faerie Queens."

[between_worlds]

"That's too bad, I would have been a fantastic queen." Alex says in a mock serious tone, "What can they do?"

[bitterchill]

"Depends which one. The Queens to Come, or the Ladies, aren't earth-shatteringly powerful. I suspect - not certain, mind, but I suspect - that Sally and I, working with a few friends on our level, could kill one. But that says a lot more about us than them; they're still bad news. The Queens that Are - called just the Queens, confusingly enough - are terrifying. I've been told that if they don't control their emotions all the way, they could literally kill a mortal with the wrong tone of voice. And the Queens that Were, the Mothers, have... I think it's safe to say arbitrary levels of power. They can do anything."

He leans in conspiratorially. "What makes it fair, of course, is that the more power they have, the less they can use. The Ladies are practically mortal; they can't just do whatever they like, but they don't have to act through intermediaries to get anything done. The Queens have to work through others, most of the time, because most of their power can only be used under very special circumstances. And the Mothers live quite literally in the middle of nowhere and, as far as anyone can tell, have done nothing in the past century and a half."

[between_worlds]

"I probably shouldn't piss them off then. I'm literally immortal so that could come in handy, but a desk job would be hellish. Do you think I could learn any magic?"

[bitterchill]

"Don't bank on your immortality too much. It's definitely a plus, but I'm imagining someone ripping out your soul and putting it into a box or something, and it doesn't seem like that'd be fun. And people without magic can't learn it, except when they can. But those cases are rare, and the ones that we could actually accomplish are awful and involve stuff like eating people's hearts or putting a demon in your head. So, no."

[between_worlds]

Alex shivers, "Thank you for the warning. That would-" Alex swallows, "be really bad."

[bitterchill]

"Generally is, yeah."

A waiter comes by with their food. He smiles at Ari, who grins back at him.

"Food!"

[between_worlds]

"Good, I'm starving!"
Alex begins wolfing down his food.
"You know, I don't actually think a demon could control me. One benefit of my immortality is that my actions are always my own."

[bitterchill]

"Mmf. It's not so direct. You wouldn't be a meat puppet, you'd just have a devil on your shoulder. A devil with thousands or millions of years' experience manipulating people into committing its favorite sin. Bad idea, don't do it."

[between_worlds]

"I doubt a demon would be able to get inside my head to give me magic in the first place. Do you think there's any way I could get back through the gate?"

[bitterchill]

"I'd say I could probably find one, but trying to find a way past the Outer Gates is extremely against the Laws of Magic. Because it could explode the world. So I might be able to find one that won't explode the world, but I'd have to be really really careful, because the world not being exploded is pretty important to me personally."

[between_worlds]

"Yea, no, I don't want to blow up your world. I'm not in a hurry to find a way out. Glen will miss me, but no one will be seriously inconvenienced by my absence."

[bitterchill]

"Aw. Well, I'll do my best to make sure you enjoy your stay? I mean, speaking of which, on the job thing, you don't actually have to get one if you don't mind joining the Mooch Squad. Sally has multiple millions of dollars, she'd be fine with making sure you can get food and all."

[between_worlds]

Alex gives him a warm smile, "Ari, you're a really awesome person. I'm sure I can find some way to be useful though."

[bitterchill]

"Don't let me stop you. I'm happy to sit around being pretty and occasionally murder ghosts or whatever, but I recognize that's not universal."

[between_worlds]

Alex uses this as an excuse to unsubtly check Ari out, "I can see how you'd get away with that."

[bitterchill]

Ari grins. "It's nice work if you can get it."

[between_worlds]

"How do you kill a ghost?"

[bitterchill]

"Couple of ways. Easiest is a mix of depleted uranium, iron filings, and lead shot. Absolutely brutal stuff, pretty much just turns them into ectoplasm. There's also magical ways of accomplishing the same thing - exorcisms, that sort of junk. And then there's my personal favorite, of course, which is to step into the Nevernever and beat the shit out of them personally."

[between_worlds]

"Could I go into the Nevernever without being magic?"

[bitterchill]

"Yeah, sure! Couldn't get there yourself, but I could bring you along sometime. Show you the sights, and all. I was living there for quite a while, I know where all the cool stuff is."

[between_worlds]

"Yea! That would be awesome." Alex looks down at his mostly empty plate, "I think I'm done, what about you?"

[bitterchill]

Ari's plate has been empty for quite some time. (The man is a one-man plague of locusts.)

"Well, maybe."

[between_worlds]

"Still hungry?"