Motherfucking Wall-bro [first level]

[makaracles]

[There's this guy wandering around the west side of town around dusk, looking sort of confused, which is probably the norm for newcomers here. What might not be the norm is the gray skin, big-ass orange and yellow horns, and white clown face paint accented with darker gray over his eyes and mouth. It actually looks pretty creepy, but the troll's

Comments

[truthvalue]

[Souji is minding his own business, really. The ghosts are long gone, and this may be Meridian, but it isn't the Meridian he knows, so exploring is obviously in order.

He's jut crossed over one of the bridges to find this guy - another cosplayer? That girl he'd met the first day here was in a similar get-up, wasn't she? - talking to the dead space in front of him. Souji knows he should probably just keep going, but against his better judgment, he finds himself approaching the weirdo.]

Is everything all right?

[makaracles]

[If he's a cosplayer, he's a pretty good one! Because that gray skin looks awfully convincing, and he has an eye for detail, right down to the amber sclera of his eyes, yellow and orange claws, and a mouthful of pointy, vicious looking teeth. Still, he smiles sleepily at the other boy, twisting his head all the way to one side and then his body, so he's looking at Souji sideways.]

What is up, my invertebrother? Shit, hey, it's another one of you pink dudes, motherfuckin' miracles! Where all'd you come from?

[truthvalue]

[SOME PEOPLE ARE REALLY INTO COSPLAY Souji doesn't even know. But he doesn't question the appearance too much, or the spacey demeanor. He'd dealt with some fairly odd folks during the past year, after all.]

I ... came from Inaba.

[makaracles]

Is that your pink monkey planet? Karkat never told me what it was called ... or maybe he did, and I forgot. [shrugs and scratches the back of his neck, grinning] Well, welcome to paradox space, motherfucker!

[truthvalue]

[OK, this guy is clearly out-spacing even the spacey girl in the shopping district, by a long shot. But he seems friendly enough, expletives aside, and non-threatening ... ]

Ah, no, Inaba was the town's name. The planet would be Earth.

[And he offers a polite smile.]

Welcome to Meridian - I take it you've just recently arrived?

[makaracles]

Meridian. [puzzling over the word] You mean ... this isn't the Land of Empty Buildings and, uh, Walls? [looking around, shading his eyes, though it's already nearly full dark out ... and stopping when he sees a distant light in a window, and just staring for a long time, before turning to blink at Souji.]

Woah, bro, what was that you were pouring all up into my hear ducts?

[truthvalue]

[Souji just kind of ... watches, doing his best to keep from lapsing into a deer-in-the-headlights expression.]

I suppose it might be the Land of Empty Buildings and Walls, but the city is called Meridian. That's all I was saying. You just got here?

[makaracles]

[grins again ... Gamzee is a grinny sort of troll. It probably looks a little sinister to a race of people that don't have mouthfuls of fangs, though other trolls generally see the indigoblood as fairly harmless.]

Yeeeeeaaaah ... no. No, I woke up in this brightempty place a few hours ago. And my sylladex was all up and busted, so I had to make a pile of those sweet motherfuckin' belongingstuffs.

[Gamzee leans back against the wall at this point, the pressure causing the horn he's tucked into his back pocket to honk loudly. The troll's eyes go wide and he leaps away from it.] Aaaaaaaaaaahhhh! Motherfuck!

[truthvalue]

[Yeah, OK, Souji admits it's a little unnerving, all the grinning and the pointy teeth, but since he still thinks this is cosplay, that's probably intentional, right? So he can deal. He can deal with the weird, nonsensical things the kid's saying, too, even if it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense.

The horn's a bit much, though. Souji jumps a little at the noise.]

What was that?

[makaracles]

Oh, shit, oh, man, motherfuck! [groping behind himself and producing ... what looks like a bicycle horn. He honks it again, this time on purpose, his face relaxing in relief, and then sheepishness.]

I all up and scared myself! Motherfuckin' miracles, how these things get everywhere.

[truthvalue]

Miracles ... ? [Souji guesses that's a word for it.]

[makaracles]

[eyes go wide ... miracles are one of Gamzee's favorite subjects!] Yeah, motherfucker, miracles! [enthusiastically, throwing his long arms wide, as if to encompass the whole world]

Miracles are being all in everywhere! Like, how does this little honkfriend know how to be making noise? Miracles! Or how do all your pink monkey hairs know what color they should be?

Miracles!

[truthvalue]

My hair ... ? [Souji's hand goes to his head, almost on reflex.] I guess I never thought of it that way before. [He tended to think of things in concrete terms, cause and effect, scientific explanations. But, he muses, he'd seen some things in the past year that even logic couldn't explain ...

No, best not to dwell on that. Souji was trying to put Inaba behind him.]

[makaracles]

[Gamzee thinks Souji's hair is fascinating, since trolls all have black hair, with the exception of occasional streaks of their blood color. But Gamzee's never seen gray blood, so that hair is pretty wild.]

It's the best way of getting your think-pan all in. [advises] Makes the world more magical.

[truthvalue]

[Souji's actually not sure he can handle much more magic than what he's already facing, having been transported to a deserted city in a manner not of his own volition. But he can somewhat appreciate this way of thinking. In some ways, it seems like it might be easier. If everything's a miracle, that would lift the onus of stripping everything to its core in search of the inner truth off Souji's shoulders.

... It sounds like a nice change of pace, actually. Too bad Souji hasn't yet been able to figure out how to shut his brain off.]

I'll remember that. [He offers a small but friendly smile, and his hand to shake.] I'm Souji Seta.

[makaracles]

[looks down at the hand with a puzzled smile, then leans over to examine it, pokes it a few times, then straightens up. Trolls don't shake hands, apparently. Or maybe Gamzee's just weird about that kind of thing.]

Are you? Cool story, bro! [cheerfully]