video, un: j.k. [post-butterfly effect]

[aeturnus]

[ On the screen is one Cain, also known as Romulus, commonly known in the city as Jacob Kane. He looks normal. Normal as he's ever looked, really, but the confidence that he lacked during the recent event is back in full force and he's very nonchalant about it all. He's at a flimsy-ish table with a laptop off to the side where the camera is obviously his propped up phone instead. ]

Hey! Long-time no talk, Riverview Quarantine. Just a few things. If you met me over the last week and a half or so, that was... technically me but not. You know that thing that was going on? Yeah, that. Don't worry about it. Forget about all that.

Quick catch-up for those who have (or haven't!) met me, I go by Jacob Kane nowadays. [ Not Romulus. Nope. This total 180 is completely normal considering he hardly looks any older or different at all. ] My job while I'm here is designing phone apps. I've been here for about two months now and I think this is my first actual post on the network. Anything interesting happen while I wasn't looking?

to Doom; Still good for lessons?

to Shai; Thank you. For everything you did.

to Natsume; Seen anything like our colorful friend lately?

Comments

[greyjane]

[She works her jaw off to one side in speculation.]

Know anything that doesn't get used much anymore?

[There are plenty of reasons she's drawn to the idea of dead languages. Only one of them is the fact that Janirak has thousands.

She laughs at that last statement, though.]

Kveth's tits, oh, I believe it.

[She's having to utilize that same skill here. Otherwise she'd be the one gone mad.]

[aeturnus]

Latin comes to mind. My native tongue, but it's dead by now.

[ And really, he's only recently had reason to revive his knowledge of it, bring himself back to fluency. Even Cain was about ready to let Latin go before he met back up with Abel. ]

Losing track of time... That makes it easier, but you miss out on a lot that way, too.

[greyjane]

That one, then.

[Just like that, her mind's decided. Hope you like teaching someone all about seven different types of noun.]

Mm. Happy to be mortal, me.

[She used to be afraid to die, but when you face something regularly enough it becomes mundane, and thus is all the fear stripped down to its basest element of nothingness.]

[aeturnus]

Sure.

[ Oh, he's so ready. Like how he just replied in Latin there. Maybe it won't end in them murdering each other, too! ]

Yeah. Probably the better end of the deal overall.

[ Cain just shrugs, because he didn't choose this and he doesn't have a choice in the end. Just waiting time out instead of his own time gets tiring. ]

[greyjane]

[Wow Shai only murders people she doesn't like!! Usually. Mostly. Except in cases of war, when it's a free-for-all.]

Do you tell people? Back home, I mean.

[Okay, so maybe that's verging into personal questions and she'd wanted to avoid them mostly, but she is curious. Does his world have other people with powers or abilities? Is it commonplace or completely esoteric? She's never had cause to hide who she is - what she does - and the thought that there are worlds out there where it's the default bewilders her immensely.]

[aeturnus]

Mostly just family. Close friends. Might have to reconsider it soon, but... [ Cain just shrugs. ] I'm the only one, so it's a new thing for people every time.

[ Maybe he's treading closer and closer to that anonymous conversation he had with Shai before. It doesn't matter in the end, because it wasn't a bad talk and she seemed to understand why he'd approach it without a name. Still, if it just doesn't connect, he's not going to bring it up outright himself. ]

[greyjane]

[She expects that he'd bring it up if he wanted her to know. But speaking of,]

There's another fellow running about with the same condition. Might not be a bad thing to hook up with him and swap war stories. If nothing else, I imagine you'd keep each other occupied a good long while.

[aeturnus]

I saw that. Seems like it's not as rare here as it is there, but... most others come with qualifiers.

[ He doesn't see the point, not really, since there's already a lot between them thanks to Romulus. Some other time, if ever. ]

Like, you know, vampires or different species so it's all relative. Not quite the same thing.

[greyjane]

Mm. Suppose not.

[She gives it a moment, and then nods brusquely.]

In any case. On to something else. Up for a game?

[aeturnus]

Kassurat? Or a different one?

[ Maybe it's the only one she has from home, or maybe it's her favorite. Whatever the case may be, he pulls a small cardboard box out of his jacket pocket. ]

I brought cards, too, for something new if you wanted.

[greyjane]

Always open to a new experience. Cards aren't something I use much.

[She gestures him to a chair, and drags hers over to it so there's less space to navigate between them, and since she doesn't know the dimensions of whatever table they'll need (and because her only living room table is home to her Kassurat board) she'll just magic one up as needed.]

Not much paper where I'm from.

[aeturnus]

Makes sense.

[ He opens the box and upends the deck into his other hand, setting the box aside for now. Starts shuffling. ]

There's a couple we could go with, but Poker's the classic. Considering all the Earth-like people here, bet you most of them know it.

[greyjane]

Then poker it shall be.

[She takes a seat in her chair, looking perennially at ease: legs crossed at the ankles, elbows jutted on the arm rests.]

Funny thing, so many folks from Earth. What is it about your planet that makes people want to leave?

[aeturnus]

Pick a problem, any problem.

[ He's joking but there's tons of truth in it. Earth is hardly some kind of paradise. ]

Maybe the portal's just a fan.

[greyjane]

[That warrants a slightly skeptical look.]

Can't imagine it's any more problematic than any other place in the universe.

[She's been to so many different worlds, it's just... the way of things. Everyone's in the shit, whether it's social, economic, or otherwise. There is no such thing as paradise.]

[aeturnus]

Probably not. You'll probably hear more about ours just because of sheer numbers, though.

[ Yeah, Cain isn't so self-centered as to think other worlds would somehow be better for it. People tend to make problems and the more people, the more problems. It's just that he has a pretty intimate knowledge of Earth-related ones. ]