Harry Dresden | As the musical said, Anything Goes

[outtabubblegum]

The fog hangs thick and heavy in the air, filling the city streets like an entity in and of itself. It's curving tendrils slithered through the streets, as if searching for prey to seize up and carry off. All the inhabitants of Chicago had taken the fog's warning to heart, shutting themselves somewhere safe and warm to ride out the storm, knowing

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[soulswordpixie]

A purple-black cloud of energy and smoke heralded... a very odd looking creature appearing on the street below. Gleaming dark eyes glanced around as pointed faerie ears listened for anything, "Well... it isn't Limbo." She fluttered just shy of the ground curiously darting from one thing to another looking for... something.

Of course she did eventually spot a shirtless man hanging from a rope. "Oh!" That was new. She fluttered up so she was at eye level with him a moment, a cheery demeanor taking over, "Hi!"

[outtabubblegum]

He wasn't going to lie, the fluttering set him on edge a little. Of course, when you'd spent the last half hour in a running battle with a bunch of trickster fairies who managed to catch you in the oldest trap in the book, a little paranoia was to be expected.

At least Harry had sent the little bastards back to the Nevernever in small enough sizes he barely had to pay for shipping. That was what they got for getting distracted arguing who got to eat what portion. Greed never paid.

Tensing up as the presence grew closer, he tried to look as imposing as one could while suspended upside down in the air, which amounted to crossing his arms and glowering. It was all for not, however, as the form that emerged from the mist looked much less like a predatory trickster rabbit, and more like a giant female Toot. Harry just hung there for a minute blinking as she fluttered so that she could look him in the eye. The sensation was rather disorienting.

"Hey."

[soulswordpixie]

"Oh, right," Megan started flying upside-down at eye level with the man hanging by his leg in a snare trap, "Better?"

She closed her eyes and smiled broadly, "So... um, why exactly are you up here? Is this some kinda test? Did you get beaten up by Spider-Man but he was outta web today? Why were you all glary when I showed up?" No, of course the fluttering pixie featured girl didn't give any room between questions for answers, that was hardly a thought in her head. "I'm Megan, do you need help getting down?"

[outtabubblegum]

Well, at least they were on the same page. It was nice not have to stare up the girl's nostrils while trying to talk to her.

The barrage of questions that followed would have been a bit much for Harry's poor mind on a good day, and given it was currently dealing with far more blood running through it than its warranty allowed for, he found himself feeling a little like she'd started swinging him back and forth. Though at least he knew she had good taste in comic book heroes.

"In order, trickster fae, no, no though that would be awesome, I thought you might be some more fae coming to finish the job, hi Megan, and yes please."

[jr_trenchcoat]

"I don't know what a Brer Rabbit is," said a voice from the fog, "But it looked like they really gave you trouble."

The boy is maybe fourteen, smirking just a touch -- before he just lifts a hand and lets magic do the job for him. Harry is hanging --

--and then he is not. He doesn't bother to deal with the man's shirt. He's a wizard, not a clothier, right?

"I'm pretty sure this isn't one of mine, but this is the first time I've crossed worlds without knowing it in a bit. You've got magic," he says, matter of factly. "Is this one yours? Didn't mean to trespass, but it looks like I did at the right time."

[outtabubblegum]

"Type of fae," Harry answered the mysterious voice, keeping any alarm from his words as he tried to swing to face them, ready to blast anything hostile that emerged from the mists. What came out was not exactly what he would describe as hostile, however. More amused, with a touch of irritating. That seemed to be a special power of teenagers, comedians, and wizards named Harry. "They're the basis of trickster stories from Africa and the South. Except some find humans tasty."

The kid waves his hand, and Harry finds himself on the ground. Well now, wasn't that an interesting little trick? Certainly it was enough to keep Harry's guard up. "So do you apparently. And no one means to trespass here, we all just sort of wind up here. Like people at a Timeshare sales pitch."

[jr_trenchcoat]

"I've never been to a timeshare," says Tim, one brow arching up at the explanation. "I'm guessing it's boring, though."

He considered the place a moment and then says, "It's a created world. Means an Opener is involved. Big magics and all that. I'm the Opener for my generation -- age, whatever you trenchcoat types want to call it. But this isn't one of mine."

At least, Tim seems fairly certain it's not his. It's not like Openers don't make worlds by accident a lot of the time.

[mistress_yuuko]

Yuuko wasn't having as much fun as she thought she would in Chicago. She'd gotten something wrong and ended up in a magical construct of it instead of the real one. It wasn't TOO big of a deal but still troubling that she should mess up like that.

She was walking with no particular location in mind, just trying to find the holes of this place so she could slip out again. However, instead she encountered a man hanging upside down over several puddles of ectoplasm. "You know, most people save this sort of thing for the bedroom dear." She smiled slightly, she couldn't help but tease the man.

[outtabubblegum]

Despite Harry's assertions to the contrary, sometimes it was possible to find a brighter side to any situation. For instance, right now he might be hanging upside down in the middle of the street with his blood rushing to his head and his dignity vacating as fast as it could, all while being sassed by a strange woman, but there was a bit of a silver lining.

The line of sight his position left him with was rather nice.

"What can I say? I live to flaunt convention."

[mistress_yuuko]

Did she know he was staring at her chest? Probably. Did she care? Not really. She just kept that grin on her face and tilted her head slightly as if she wanted to see from his perspective, "You know, much longer like that isn't going to be good for you."

[outtabubblegum]

In his defense, blood pooling in his head had a disorienting effect, and it was sort of hard not to stare at her chest.

"I had considered that fact. I don't suppose you'd consider being a good Samaritan?"

[madvaporskillz]

"Who would?" The voice came out of quite literally nowhere, albeit a sort of nowhere that seemed to indicate an invisible being somewhere in front of Harry. "After all, one does hear that they're the black sheep of the family, if you can call a rabbit a sheep and not change the meaning of it."

A moment or so later, the speaker fades into view: a cat, sitting quite happily in midair and with a grin that makes it more than obvious as to what sort of cat this might be.

[outtabubblegum]

Harry was, as a rule, a cat person. Mouse didn't count as a dog, Mouse was a very fuzzy roommate who paid his rent in companionship, conversation, and guard duty. For the most part Harry identified more with the solitary independence of the feline breed, especially since the number of canine monsters that had tried to kill him vastly outnumbered the cat based ones.

However, he had also read more than enough literature to know exactly what it meant when a grin forms around a cat. Trouble.

"I'm pretty sure that's the nature of a metaphor. Though I didn't do so hot in English class."

[madvaporskillz]

Trouble? Perhaps. Should the cat feel in a mood to be anything other than cryptic and unhelpful, at any rate. But then again, that would certainly not help Harry out of his current predicament. Such was the way of cats the world over.

"Surely the nature depends on what the meta is for. I hear that no two are quite the same, after all."

[raith_bastard]

"What's a Brer Rabbit?"

Yeah. Somehow, there's a kid here. Messy dark hair and big blue eyes, looking up at Harry. "How'd you get up there, Mister?"

[outtabubblegum]

There were all sorts of monsters lurking out in the mists, and plenty wore the flesh of children. Still, given Harry's position, he wasn't really in any state to be picking fights with little kids, and he sure as well was not going to endanger a child through his own paranoia.

"They're a kind of monster. Don't worry though, they're all ex monsters now." Swaying back and forth gently in the breeze, Harry scratched the back of his head with a sigh. "Would you believe hours of careful planning?"

[raith_bastard]

The skeptical look Harry got might remind him of someone. "You planned for hours to get up there? Like that?" He blinked, then, "How're you gonna get down?"

[outtabubblegum]

Something about the way the kid asked the question managed to get a amused snort out of Harry without him ever intending to. There was just an attitude to the boy that Harry couldn't help but like.

"Yup." He craned his neck as best he could to see the rope. "Didn't think that far ahead."