[1v1 HH] Fallen Kingdoms (Jerry & Andrew)

[Bilious]

"It's this place. It's sort of... middle ground, I guess." He managed. "I can't go far out of here for long without ah... help." He managed. He looked disappointed when the guy seemed to be an expert.

He's lyin'. Roar put in with a chuckle, hanging innocently around the Hunter's neck in whistle form. He aint even glanced at your coat. He's got no idea.

"I can't go back empty handed... a minipet would suffice." He offered before his hands plunged into his various pockets to see what he had on him, "I'm not sure what I have to trade."  

[phantompanther13]

Middle ground? Now that was interesting. Approach with cation but... maybe useful. He seemed to buy his little lie about knowing a lot.

"Well I'd have to go get it. I carry a lot in my pockets but not heaps of minis. And anything will do. Or you could let me scare you. Humans are scarelings when it comes to fire, and well pretty much a lot of things, though you seem less scarable than..." he trailed off. Bad idea. He was showing exactly how little he knew about humans.

"Nevermind, I don't want to scare you into shooting me again." he tried to play it off. "Besides you cringe enough when I'm not even doing anything. Of course half the school does too." for once he was not exaggerating. Being reminded of how easy it was to scare Olivia put him a bad mood. "Sometimes it takes more effort to not scare them than it's worth." he grumbled. This was not the time for that and he forced back on that innocence coning smile of his.

"Anyway! I can get back pretty fast. These wings aren't just for show you know." he stretched them out and flapped them once to proved their dexterity. Even if they were pitifully small, so was the rest of him. He lived with what he had, and if he was going to have wings they would fly, even if he wound up dead tired after. He shoved his hand in his pockets and turned and then realized he did have something on him. How did that get in there?

"Well if you are in a hurry, I have a Haunted Pen. It's not much, but hey it's something to brag about when you get home. And snakes are scary too right?" if he was a human, he would probably take the pen. If he wasn't, well, nothing he had would be worth trading for anyway.  

[Bilious]

Andrew talked. And talked. And talked. And the presented a wriggling, pen-like snake. At first the human jumped but relaxed once he realized it was mostly harmless. "Wouldn't want to write with that one ahahahah.... um... it's a start! We could rendezvous again sometime with ah... a better trade but..." He fished in his pockets before producing a pack of peanut butter crackers and a plastic Kazoo. "Um. I can give you er... these?" He should have come more prepared.

This was good. Opening a proper relationship. They were connected by common bonds. Gain friendship first.... and the rest would follow however.  

[prolixity]

There was no actual guarantee that he'd be able to find Jerry; the Haunted House might have altered itself again, or Jerry might have gone off the known routes into the unstable regions, or there might be a time blip that'd cause them to totally miss each other on the way out, but Jordan was checking anyway. When the tech currently running the portal had informed him that Jerry had gone in alone, Jordan had felt vaguely obligated to at least try to find him - Jerry was a full-ranked hunter, but he was also a disaster magnet.

It seemed that the House felt like being nice today, though. The murmur of voices had reached him from the corridor within ten minutes of stepping into the house, and when he cautiously swung the door open, Jordan saw that he had indeed found his friend - and someone else besides. His right hand flexed outwards briefly, preparing to summon, but Jerry's posture quickly told him that this wasn't a fight. A conversation, maybe.

He stepped into the room, keeping his hands visible and his expression neutral. "Hey, Jerry," he said in greeting. Then he got a better look at the other figure - the demon kid he'd met at the festival, the one who'd been in the not-dream of the Blue Kingdom. Maybe that explained why Roar wasn't summoned. Jordan nodded to the demon as well. "Andrew," he said.  

[phantompanther13]

Andrew eyes Jerry’s offerings. Was that food? “sure! Next time I’ll bring more minis for you to pick from.” He would to, mini’s were easy to get a hold of, and he sure didn’t like them.

He jumped and wheeled around when another voice entered their conversation. He flinched back into a wall and stares at the newcomer, remembering how much the last blast hurt. Holding his snakey pen in his hand in front of him as it it might provide some protection.

He turned and saw…. Wait Jordan? That jacket seemed oddly like Jerry’s, was he a human too? He looked… human. Andrew’s tail still flared with panic and heat ready to haul a** incase the newcomer decided to summon another giant weapon. Jordan seemed to recognize him, he said his name… wait… that voice, he heard it before not too long ago. Where?

He glanced at Jerry, looking for his reaction, wondering if they did indeed know eachother. Considering that Jerry said it wasn’t just a dream, maybe they did and were in on it together.  

[Bilious]

At the voice, Jerry also jumped, kazoo and cracker packet flying in the air. A quick juggle later, he turned, brandishing the plastic instrument like a gun before relaxing slightly. "Jordan! What are you doing here!" The fact he had said Andrew's name took a moment to register before he blinked, pushing his glasses back up his nose, "Wait, you know him??"  

[prolixity]

"I had a patrol scheduled," Jordan explained neutrally, his eyes flicking back and forth between Jerry and Andrew. The demon kid looked edgy, tense, defensive; Jordan didn't blame him, though, seeing as how the odds in this encounter were now tipped overwhelmingly in the hunters' favor. He kept his posture relaxed and his tone friendly. "The tech said you went in alone, so when I heard your voice, I thought I'd check on you."

He looked to Andrew again. "From the same place you know him," he said, and smiled faintly. "Wings and all. Does he remember?"  

[phantompanther13]

The aforementioned wings snapped against his back sticking like glue. Patrol did not sound good. Patrol sounded dangerous. Well considering Jerry shot him, did that mean there were bigger and scarier things in the house? Would they eat him? He had had that feeling since walking in.

“I remember.” Jordan seemed relaxed, but… something was off. He didn’t know what, but his guard was up now. Jerry was easier, but Jordan was smart, very smart. And smart could be dangerous.  

[Bilious]

"I was just... telling him about us... being human," Jerry murmured pointedly. He didn't say anything about Hunters, and hoped Jordan got the memo. "He's going to get me more of those little monsters."  

[prolixity]

"Ah, yes?" Jordan's eyebrows lifted a little. The light stress that Jerry was putting on the word human suggested that he'd chosen that wording specifically. Did Andrew not know about Hunters? Had Jerry not summoned Roar during the encounter? It seemed unlikely, but it was possible. Ordinary humans couldn't summon weapons, but Jordan wasn't sure how well-known that fact was among ordinary Halloweeners, either.

His eyes flicked to the penstrictor that Andrew held. "Hey, that's neat," he said. He knew what it was, but if Jerry was playing dumb, Jordan wasn't going to blow his cover.

He's just a scareling, Ferros said, sounding surprised and a little sad.  

[phantompanther13]

They were keeping secrets. Something about the way Jerry said the word humans. They were trying to keep something from him, something important.

Play dumb, get his tail out of there.

"Yeah... anyway. I'll just trade you and go..." he dropped any indication that he wanted to trade again. He snapped the mini back to it's pen form and slowly removed himself from the wall, ignoring the new scorch marks he had just created on it.  

[Bilious]

"Ah... wait, what about the minipets?" Jerry's attention moved back to the kid. Jerry place. Wear a smile. "Maybe there's a way we could rendezvous again and... catch up?" He offered out his two items for him to choose from in either case.  

[prolixity]

Jordan's eyes narrowed slightly. The kid was getting skittish. If the dream had been an accurate indicator of Andrew's essential personality, and he had no reason to assume it wasn't, the demon wasn't dumb. "I wouldn't mind having a chance to talk to you again," he said to Andrew. "Ferros says hi, by the way."

I didn't but I would have, the weapon grumbled.

Yes, that's why I'm saying so.  

[phantompanther13]

"ahh... Yeah." he glanced between Jerry and Jordan. "Maybe next Spiderday? Not this weekend but next." he snagged the peanut butter crackers, carefully not making any physical contact and replaced it with the pen.

"Ferros? He's here?" he looked around for the other taller man. He liked him, well as much as he could remember from the brief encounter. In one of those moments of panic, he had been calming: that whole dream had just been stressful. But he didn't see him and gave Jordan a confused look.  

[Bilious]

Jerry gained a slightly distant, contemplated look for a moment as the pen was placed in his hand, his mouth moving as though whispering to himself before glancing back at the boy with a warmer smile. "Oh! And Roar ah... wants to know if that girl is alright? Er... Olive?" He scrambled for the name.

Olivia, the howler growled, idiot.