genessia | 1st fire = it don't come easy, the road of the gypsy

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1st fire = it don't come easy, the road of the gypsy

[ACTION;Genessia City]

[He's an idiosyncratic sight, the man stalking through the city streets looking like something out of a strangely futuristic fairy tale: the high leather boots, gleaming mail armor bearing a coat of arms depicting a full moon branded by the figure of a dragon, short sword at his hip, and gauntlets he wears give him the look of some kind of medieval soldier or knight.

The look of him is too sleek, however: the mail he wears is a snug fit, shimmering in the light but seemingly little more than fabric, covering him from neck to waist with his arms left bare. The boots and gauntlets are heavy leather, but make no sound as he moves--and carry a strange pattern, something like scales but not.

And despite the fact that he was visibly on his guard, scanning his surroundings at regular intervals, every sense on high alert...he's visibly comfortable with his surroundings. He navigates the streets with ease, minding street lights, hugging buildings to make faster turns around corners--he's clearly seen a modern type of city before. He's lived on streets like these, he's walked a world very similar to this one.

It's been a while--decades--but Neil Blair still remembers his way around a city. It's not Nocturne, it's not the five realms, and it's not New York. But it's still a mostly known quantity.

He's going to feel a lot better once he has a lay of the land--and finds a place to gather some spell ingredients.]

[VIDEO;public]

[The moment the feed comes to life, the moment of transition is brief--a handsome face with dark coloring frowning in confusion at the smart phone in his hand before he confirms he's life and refocuses on the camera. His expression is...well, angry is the nicest way to describe it.]

Uh--hey. I'm--

[The words are on his lips. Black Fire of Nocturne, the title he uses at court, but this isn't the five realms. This is...another world, and nobody knows him here.

The anger in his face dies for just a second, replaced by something like hope before his features turn guarded.]

--I'm...Neil. New here--uh, I was just curious about what people do for work around here? Y'know, what and where. These temporary bunks are okay but I wanna get a job and get out of here...so recommendations on housing would also be good. I know there's a few places to go, what's your input?

Thanks in advance.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Neil blinks at the face on the network--already a problem 'cause she's gorgeous, at least the Night Dragon would call her a problem--because she recognizes him. Seems to, at any rate.

She's definitely got the look of a dragon, that fire and intelligence in her eyes. Question is, which of the realms? He knew all the nobles of Nocturne, the dragons of Lora were fair, as were most of the dragons of Torrel...

Most likely bet was that she was a noble of the Opal Sea. He couldn't get near the Triton dragons unless they came up for air, which wasn't often...but the rumors still spread, and the bad blood between the Triton and Nocturne could fill an ocean of its own.]

Whatever you think you know of me, Lady Triton, you can forget. I'm not gonna cause any trouble, all right?

Lady who?

[ Regina blinks and has to back up her thoughts to figure out what just happened. Which she does while she's looking him over and appreciating how he looks in that sleek, form-fitting armor, and those arms.

All right, so he doesn't recognize her and he's wearing actual mail and weapons. Maybe he's not the Dark Dodge dragon mage who needed her help to find carnations, but a different version.

She sighs, slips her hair back over her shoulder and a lizard scampers up her arm. ]

It's Your Majesty Queen of the Enchanted Forest Regina, if you're looking for a proper title.

Your Majesty Queen of--

[Neil blinks, then shakes his head with a huff.]

I forgot how long titles get outside the realms. [Regarding the woman again, he looks vaguely sheepish.] Sorry, just--mistook you for a Triton royal.

[And she's cleary not from his world, so he probably should clarify. Clearing his throat, he tries again.]

Denizens of the Opal Sea--water dragons. Anyway, uh...sorry 'bout that.

[A beat.]

Your Majesty.

[More to remember. Majesty, not 'Great Dragon,' that's going to take some getting used to...crap.]

[ Regina has a moment that could be scripted clear out of the Office. She turns her head to look at the lizard-cum-dragon-cum-witch sitting on her shoulder as though she's looking at an audience. Her eyebrows lift, her mouth quirks, and then she's back in real people time, stifling a smirk. ]

"I mistook you for dragon nobility" is easily the most interesting excuse I've heard lately.

[ Although she's tempted to see how long she can get him to call her 'Majesty', she dismisses it with a flick of elegant fingers. ]

I'm no more a queen here than you are a knight, dragon mage. Regina will do. I don't believe you ever got around to telling me your name, last time we met. Just the entire history of the realms and the elements you needed for some spell or other.

[Neil frowned at that, still confused as to how she knows him if she's not a shifter. She doesn't seem to be afraid of him...or angry, for that matter...so he's just going to run with it.]

Neil. My, uh--my name is Neil. So--I don't understand how you know me, when I don't know you. I mean...short of some seriously dark magic, I think I'd remember someone as beautiful as you.

[...and there goes the stupid, spilling right out.]

[ The words 'seriously dark magic' give her pause, just enough for her lips to press into a brief frown. She's about to speak and then he's telling her she's beautiful and her tongue catches at her top lip and she has to rethink her response. Or at least the tone of it. ]

Two worlds collided for a few days last month. You were from one, I was in the other. We fought together. You went wherever you went and I ended up here.

It's complicated. Wish and curse realms complicated. Not Facebook complicated.

[The look she gets is an incredibly blank one.]

...what's a--a face book?

[ The look he gets in return is, for her, remarkably patient. ]

Facebook is the collective delusion that anyone cares if your feelings are hurt.

[Neil mulls that over for a second, then nods with understanding.]

Okay--yeah, back when I still lived in the world I came from, that was just called school.

[ That startles a laugh from Regina, the warm, rich chuckle not as rusty as it might have been years ago, it's still unexpected. He's less annoying in this version. ]

More or less. Just add computers and spread it over millions of people.

[The laugh gets a smile out of him--it's a good laugh, pretty as she is. He wants to hear it again right away, and he knows he shouldn't--knows this is a flaw, a weakness--but he can't wipe that bright, delighted smile off his face.]

That sounds...terrifying.

[Given that he's still grinning, there's not a lot of conviction behind that.]

So--this Enchanted Forest, I'm assuming it's not part of the world I came from, but you seem like you know it. The world I came from, I mean.

It's terrifying but the schadenfreude is delicious.

[ Abruptly, Regina decides she doesn't want to have this conversation over the network. There's too much here that could get personal.

She tilts her head and studies him for a long beat and then lifts Maleficent out of her hair. She can leave her with Evie and Jack. ]

Where are you right now?

Right now? [He surveys his room, gesturing around vaguely.] My bunk--the room I got assigned when I climbed outta that pod thing I woke up in. Just sorta wrapped a preliminary circuit of the city...the main one, I mean. Not one of the offshoot things.

[He pauses for a second, assessing the question a moment longer--ohhhhhh...]

I'll--leave my door open.

[So she can find him. That's understood...is that understood? It's probably understood...]

[ Ah, there's the babble she remembers. What else will she have to put up with in pursuit of remotely familiar adult male company?

She rolls her eyes. Mildly, it's true, but unmistakably. ]

I'm a sorceress not a telepath. Room number?

[He rolls his eyes a little in return, but does so with a smile--clearly at himself, he's well aware of his inability to not be an idiot where women are concerned.

Then, just because he feels a need to cover stupidity with bravado, he measures out a small space between his fingers--and between them, a bright little tongue of dense flame appears, shooting off bright sparks at its edges. Releasing it from between his fingers, he watches it fly forward, then streak through the air. It leaves a trail of pale orange light that spells out his room number in midair for several moments before the trail fades and the flame winks out.]

Yes. You're very clever.

[ Though dry, her tone lacks the sarcasm of her previous remark, and the roll of her eyes has been replaced by approval that while slight isn't grudging. Magic is both gift and craft and he has honed his. Dedication deserves appreciation. It shows how much she has grown that she can give it without envy. ]

Ten minutes. We're going for drinks. Be ready.

[ She doesn't wait for a response before she disconnects. She needs to take Maleficent to Evie and still have a few minutes to clean up. ]

We are?

[Then the feed is dead, and Neil's...well, shit.

Suddenly very glad he ducked into a couple shops during his surveillance, Neil uses the ten minutes to his best advantage. Efficiency is something that's par for the course, so ten minutes later he's just leaning in the open doorway of his room. The woven armor has been traded for a pair of black jeans and a matching t-shirt, but the boots and gauntlets remain--he's leaving his sword in the room, so he's leaning heavily on his magic should trouble crop up.

And experience has taught him that trouble always crops up.]

After depositing Maleficent in her currently-makeshift terrarium with Evie and Jack, telling them only she was going out for awhile and didn't want a lizard chaperone, Regina returned to her room to touch up her appearance. Nothing special, just a black leather jacket over a black and cream patterned top, black jeans and black ankle boots. She gave her hair a once over with a brush, darkened her eye makeup and refreshed her lipstick, then left her locked room in a cyclone of purple smoke.

She arrived the same way, deposited at the dragon mage's door, so close to him that her chest brushed his folded arms as she stepped back to right herself. "What are you a door guard?" she snapped, cheeks flushing quickly at her error of judgment.

Her appearance catches him off guard--not something he's used to, and therefore interesting. His arms unfold, one hand drifting out to help her balance if she needs it. She steps back and recovers, however, so the hand immediately drops.

"Sometimes." he replied honestly, grinning as he shrugged and planted his hands on his hips--faltering only a moment when one hand tried to habitually rest on the pommel of a sword that wasn't there. "New place, new people--every passer by is new information. Just tryin' to be productive while I was waiting."

As he spoke, his gaze took her in, head to foot--not to ogle (even if he was definitely looking, she was hot as hell), but more to appreciate the look of her: hard as nails, unabashedly feminine, regal as any dragon and all with a blush staining her cheeks.

"Ember's Breath, you're beautiful in person." he finally added. "I mean, you're beautiful on video, too, but face to face...damn."

The flush receded before it took hold, courtesy of a mother who'd insisted on deportment above all. A Queen didn't show weakness, or any emotion that didn't provide an immediate, direct advantage. Regina had never been as gifted at it as mother would've liked. She never been as gifted at anything as her mother would have liked.

Of course Mother had come to mind when she stood before a man she'd chosen for company for herself (and it was only that, company). How unbearably 'common' it all was. Which was why, to spite her dead mother and no other reason, her scrutiny (nothing to fault in his appearance, nothing at all, except the hair that needed a warrior's braid, maybe) softened into a smile of true pleasure.

"Thank you." It had been a long time since anyone had greeted her with a compliment to her beauty. Long enough that she'd almost forgotten this particular dance. Almost. "I choose to assume that's what you meant by the staring and stumble-tongue when I met you previously." A beat, and then, "He was rougher around the edges."

"Well, if that's on account of the foot in mouth syndrome? That's just me and exceptionally beautiful women." he replied with a self-deprecating smile and shrug. "They make me stupid."

That smile turned more genuine as he moved away from the door and towards her again, lifting an arm to offer it to her with the lackadaisical ease of a man still wholly accustomed to the practice of traditional chivalry.

"In all seriousness, maybe you met a younger version of me." he added at the same time. "I was an even bigger idiot before the last time the Great Dragon--dragon's version of 'his royal highness'--sent me to Isa, the ice kingdom. Closest I ever came to getting killed. Smartened me up some."

"If you're not stumbling over your tongue now--" Her eyes flashed over a particularly fierce head-tilt, lips pursing with what might be either annoyance of amusement. "Does that mean I'm only beautiful and not exceptionally beautiful?"

Oh, she knew perfectly well she'd asked an unfair question. But if he was going to toss compliments around like confetti, who was she not to catch a handful? He couldn't be what and who she really needed, so she might as well appreciate what and who he was. Besides, it was drinks, and maybe sex if she could stand him that long. Not a lifetime commitment.

While he was still working on an answer to her question that wasn't going to get him in trouble, she took his arm. Mostly because it made the entire thing more awkward for a few moments. And he had it coming for being where she'd teleported to. He owed her.

"No! No, I mean--I was before." Neil replied as he started walking after she took his arm. "That's...that's what I meant. From before--when I--that's not to say that you're not now...I-I mean, I just--"

Neil cut himself off, heaving a sigh through his nose, sucking silently on his upper teeth for a moment as he sought to shut himself the hell up.

After a beat--and plenty of awkwardness thanks to that question--he offered a thin lipped, but good natured smile as he gestured vaguely with his free hand. "That? That counts. Absolutely counts."

As soon as he started babbling, laughter bubbled to the surface of her otherwise viscous emotions and emerged unbidden as a husky alto chuckle. It glimmered warm and effervescent in her eyes when she finally patted his forearm to let him off the hook, still smiling freely.

And because he'd been so sweet about it, Regina didn't shut down when she realized that she'd smiled more in the last hour than she could remember doing since Robin went to New York.

They walked along together in quicksilver quiet for a moment, while Regina basked in the glow of his admiration. Not long, because the silence stretched too soon like twilight. Cutting it before it grew too profound, she tipped a sidelong glance at him. "For what it's worth, dragon mage, you're pretty exceptional yourself."

Neil's smile turned a little shy at that, his head dipping just a little in hopes of hiding just how much the compliment warmed him. Touched with a splash of flippancy, he'd served the Night Dragon long enough to know sincere praise from even the sharpest of tongues--because he saw so little of it, and wanted it more than he'd ever admit to his king or his men.

"Not especially." he replied with a one-shouldered shrug, turning that smile on her again. "But regardless of where we are, the praise of a queen is a gift, especially a queen with the eyes of a dragon. Thank you."

There was a beat...then he realized how that might have sounded with a sheepish chuckle.

"It's a compliment." he explained. "The dragon shifters of the world I came from, they're kind of like...pargons. They embody power and virtue to be aspired to. It's like saying you have a spine of steel or a heart of gold--something rare and...precious. Not often seen."

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switching to prose style, pretty please?

How can I say no when you look at me in that tone of voice?<3

Re: What are you doing to me here? Unfair!

Re: I have no idea what you're talking about. >.> <.<

Re: Call and raise. >.> <.<

Re: I see your raise, and raise you again. :P

Re: I see your raise, and raise you again. Stakes are getting hiiiiigh. :P

Re: time to DOUBLE DOWN, MUTHALOVAS!!!