Skeleton City // PSL

[birdsbirdsbirds]

They call it the "Market", and it's always buzzing like a hive. The vast caverns are warmed by the hundreds of bodies all hauling, shouting, pitching, laughing, exchanging things from one hand to another. Even more people stroll up above, their voices lost in the tangle of bridges made of stone and wood and metal. The place is lit by dozens of electric signs, spilling brightwarm colors where the hanging lanterns cannot reach.

There is a lot to look at. One person seems to trade a bolt of rich red cloth for some nails and hinges. One man is trying very hard to convince another that the chicken he is holding is worth at least three bags of grainmeal. And then there is whatever Phalanx is holding, which they most certainly did not trade for, and it most certainly leads to someone reaching out over their stall table and grabbing them harshly by the arm.

"Hey, you little theif!" Says an irate, heavy-set woman, "What do you think you're doing?"

Comments

[pileofspirits]

"Stay?" Phalanx asks sort of in Vincent's direction, before getting a little shy and looking toward the man that he knows a little better. "We can stay?"

[birdsbirdsbirds]

"Yes."

And for a moment, Robin's already snug hold of Phalanx turns into something of a hug again. A good, warm feeling--as well as a little bit of a sad feeling--well up in his chest. Vincent, for whatever it's worth, makes a quiet sound in agreement.

The moment is very fast, over in just a second or so, as Robin eases up on his hold of Phalanx and says to the both of his friends, "In fact, I think we should run you a bath."

"...Seriously?" Vincent asks, but Robin acts like the question was a rhetorical one.

[pileofspirits]

And for just that second or so, Phalanx's head reflexively dips toward Robin's shoulder. Just a small, human gesture of relief and gratitude that the creature probably doesn't even notice.

It's over a moment later, of course, as Robin straightens up and surprises the both of them with a sudden, new idea.

The echo is immediate, in a much more delicate version of the giant man's tone.

"--Seriously?"

[birdsbirdsbirds]

You know what's more fun than befuddling one person? Befuddling two.

So the echo makes Robin laugh. "Of course. You're filthy."

"...He is?" Asks Vincent, to whom this is apparently new information.

"Absolutely." Robin replies, reaching over to pick up Phalanx's hand as if he could use it as an example. "I think we aught to make him look presentable, don't you?"

[pileofspirits]

By the look on Phalanx's face, this is news to them as well. Blinking at the appendage and spreading their fingers curiously, they seem surprised to see the grubby, long-standing stains.

...Either that, or they're just noticing for the first time that they have hands.

[hatesblindjokes]

No one really answers Robin, but he isn't the sort to mind. He'll observe Phalanx's own fascination with their hand for just long enough to get another idea, and then he's moving again, suddenly tipping away and rolling whimsically back towards Vincent.

"Heat's out within the hour, probably? Better get in there before it's cold!"

And then Robin is gone. Well, not gone, exactly, because his energy is something of a constant presence even when it is milling around the apartment and making water sounds start to happen in the bathroom. But he leaves Vincent standing near the doorway, half-turned after Robin, looking no less confused than he had this whole conversation.

"But..."

It's still a couple of hours until they shut the grid off. Vincent turns back to the stranger in his bed, with next to no idea what Robin is playing at.

[pileofspirits]

"--Mm," is the little, inarticulate sound of protest as Robin bounces abruptly out of the room to leave the two strangers together. Staring after him, Phalanx can only search sluggishly for words to convey their apprehension, until another sound enters their brain and helps out.

"But..."

Vincent gets another echo in miniature, repeating him with barely a beat between the two.

[hatesblindjokes]

The echo is a little weird, but Vincent doesn't think much of it. Probably just a coincidence. He's confused, this guy's confused. The whole thing is a little... sudden.

"Uh..." And now that he's alone with what the cat dragged in, the relative silence gives Vincent plenty of room to reach a whole new level of awkward. "Hi, I guess."

But even Vincent is smart enough to know he should probably at least try to make these circumstances a little less awful. He doesn't really know anything about this guy, or his situation, or if Robin said about him was even true (though he does not think Robin was lying, either). He can just tell that they're nervous, something he finds totally and completely fair.

"Sorry," He finally admits, trying to sound genuine even if it is embarrassing, "I, uh, didn't mean to scare you. M'just not used... to people. In here."

[pileofspirits]

Phalanx is never exactly confident in the conversation department, but they usually aren't all that cognizant of this fact either. There are usually more than enough things going on to mull over and be distracted by that their attention is on anything except the words coming out of their own mouth.

But, they're also rarely trapped one-on-one in a situation where conversation is so expected, and almost never with someone who is so sound-oriented. All at once, the poor creature is severely aware that they really should say something here, and it needs to make sense. On whatever unconventional level that Phalanx processes their surroundings, the fact that Vincent is ears-only hasn't been overlooked.

"...We're not used to it either."

And that's the best that they come up with.

[hatesblindjokes]

"...'Kay."

Truly, off to a riveting start. Something clunks around in the wall as a water heater turns on, but Vincent barely notices. He shifts to start shrugging off a massive case he'd been carrying on his back.

"...So, you... Okay?"

Again, an honest question in an awkward setting--but if this poor guy is just someone that Robin drugged and kidnapped against his will, Vincent wants to at least give him the chance to say that while the aforementioned troublemaker is busy dicking around in the other room.

[pileofspirits]

"Okay. Alright. We're alright... we're... all right. All of us are right."

They're trying. The effort is there in their tone, as they make several attempts to string words together in a way that makes human sense. And as they do so, there's the shuffling sound of the creature moving around on the bed. Scooting across the mattress, maybe getting closer.

[hatesblindjokes]

Vincent listens as the stranger answers. It does not actually assure him that things are fine, but it does cement the fact that whatever's going on with this person is probably way out of his league of expertise.

"S'that right," he eventually says. He can hear them shuffling closer, but he doesn't actually move his head to look at them. "S'there a lot of you in there?"

That's what Robin told him, anyway. He can't help but sound a little skeptical--but that comes from years and years of living with less-than-healthy people who think all kinds of things about themselves.

[pileofspirits]

"Mhmm," Phalanx answers a little distantly, very matter-of-fact, and they sound much closer this time. They sound very direct. Probably looking the giant man right in the face.

"We're all here."

[hatesblindjokes]

"Well... That's good."

Weird, and not really what he was asking... But unlike his chatterbox of a partner, Vincent isn't in it for the mind games, or even to gather information. He merely talks as a means to an end, with that end preferably being drinks, or something that will pay him. For now, he would accept this person being a little less skittish.

It seems to be working, a little. He tilts his head, belatedly and intentionally, to point his face towards where he thinks that Phalanx's face must be.

"Wouldn't want 'em wandering around somewhere else, I guess..."

Though, clearly, any confidence he may be gaining in the conversation does nothing to improve his basic communicative skills...

[pileofspirits]

"No, no..." At least Vincent's awkward stab at conversation is met with wholehearted agreement. He might accidentally be speaking right at Phalanx's level. "They don't. We don't."

And, goodness Phalanx sounds pretty close now. By the best guess, they must be propped up on their knees and peering right at Vincent's face, and it's followed by a pause that sounds an awful lot like staring. And a second or two after that comes a little gasp of surprise.

"...Glass!"

Vincent can't see it, but there's a finger pointed alarmingly close to his face.

[hatesblindjokes]

Vincent talks with kids a lot. Now that he thinks of it, this guy kind of talks like a little kid anyway. And they aren't slurring or anything, so it's probably...

Immediately forgetting what he was thinking, at the sudden gasp. He looks surprised, belatedly leaning back a bit-- "What?"

He's already reflexively reaching up with one of his giant hands, feeling clumsily for what he thinks is a finger being pointed right in his face. The rest of his thoughts follow a beat later, "Oh, you mean... my eyes?"

[pileofspirits]

Phalanx is usually pretty slow in the physical reflex department, but with how focused they have been for the past few minutes, and the fact that they're already pretty leery of those giant hands, that limb is zipped back to the protective folds of their cloak in an instant. Vincent can probably hear the little shoop of fabric.

"No. They're not eyes."

[hatesblindjokes]

"Uh..."

Like someone missing the last step of the stairs, Vincent startles a little when his hand hits useless air. That sound was... them moving away again? Taking their hand back?

"Yeah, they're... They're fake eyes. Mine are gone."

Which, he had kind of assumed this person had figured out by now, but... then again, people can be surprisingly slow with this sort of thing. He's had to explain this dozens of times already, so he just kind of waves his own fingers in front of his glass eyes to illustrate his lack of vision.

"I'm blind. Kind of a thing."

[pileofspirits]

If Vincent could see, he'd notice Phalanx's clear blue eyes and brown hair--definitely a change, but only accidentally matching the giant man's own description. They're so focused now, both hands clutched urgently to their chest, while they stare at Vincent's face in wonder.

"I'm blind... Mm. Was. But my eyes are real."

[hatesblindjokes]

Luckily, Vincent can't see a thing. All he has to focus on is the confusing string of words coming out of the mouth of the person in front of him.

"You... are? You-- Wait, what?"

He was doing okay up until now, but that wasn't what he'd expected to hear--so now he's lost the plot, a bit, and is still trying to figure out what any of that was supposed to mean.

Around the corner, the medicine cabinet slams distinctly shut. Maybe Robin is finally finishing up...

[pileofspirits]

Whoop, Phalanx's voice sounds a little farther away now, as they sit back down properly in the wake of Vincent's slightly-raised voice.

"...What?"

And it's not the 'what' of 'what's wrong with that?' It's the exact sort of 'what' that Vincent has just demanded at them--another bewildered echo.

[hatesblindjokes]

"...What?"

Because Vincent has nothing to say other than to express more confusion over the apparent lack of clarity here. What does he mean, 'what'? Is that such a weird thing to ask?

"Damn," interjects Robin, now standing in the doorway with his hands stuffed into his pocket, a smirk on his face, "Is there an echo in here, or what?"

[pileofspirits]

At least one of them had to be expecting what comes next. With one word in particular bouncing between all of them like that, Phalanx literally cannot help it.

"...What?"

[birdsbirdsbirds]

"Yeah!" Robin grins, not missing a beat, "Like that!"

He plunks an arm down on Vincent's shoulder, leaning on the taller man as if he was a bookcase or a dresser--and to be fair, Vincent himself doesn't do much other than huff in complaint.

"So, are you guys getting introduced, and all that?"

[pileofspirits]

"All that."

Phalanx sounds confident in this fact. Robin even gets a tentatively proud smile from where they're awkwardly bundled up on the edge of the bed.

They tried! Talking and interacting and everything. The effort of all that focus still shows--for whatever reason--in the new color of their features.