voice, 10/17

[vagabone]

Hey, those necklaces the dragon was hoarding, the ones with the creepy heart and bloody veins? I think they give you good dreams. Or cure nightmares, same difference. Not sure what the catch is yet, if there is one, but I'm betting I'm not the only one who could use it.

[Short, sweet and to the point!]

Comments

[demonpuppy]

Why would it have to have a catch?

[vagabone]

Seems a little too good to be true, considering the way things go for us usually. But I've been wearing it for a few nights and I feel fine.

[demonpuppy]

Well, yeah. You'd know if it was a cursed charm pretty quick.

[Don't people know anything about magic around here?]

[Don't answer that.]

Besides, who would make a charm that does one good thing and one bad thing? That's just stupid.

[vagabone]

[N o p e.]

Who knows? You've been here a while, kid, I'm sure you've noticed all the things that don't work the way they should. Better to be careful.

[demonpuppy]

[GRUMBLE GRUMBLE GRUMBLE]

It's dumb. Gravity and stuff still works the same, why's magic so different?

[vagabone]

Beats me. Probably because we need gravity to be the same more than we need magic.

...Wait, can you actually do magic, kid?

[demonpuppy]

Well--yeah? Anyone can do basic stuff. I can light a candle 'n things like that, you start learning the symbols in like third grade.

[And definitely not mentioning anything past ritual magic, ha ha, yup!]

[vagabone]

No, not anyone, not where I'm from. Not even modern kids, I know Miguel would have blabbed about it, he almost talked more than I do.

That's pretty cool.

[demonpuppy]

I...I dunno. Magic--like, real magic, with proper circles, it's all nerdy junk.

...how's a place without magic even work?

[vagabone]

...Electricity? You can do a lot with electricity. No candles needed.

[What? It was still new and fancy when he died.]

[demonpuppy]

Well, yeah, but what about keeping fae out and wards and stuff? Or getting ghosts to go where they need to? And magic keeps reality all...glued together or something. Without even one of the planes everything would explode or something.

[vagabone]

I can't speak for the rest of it, I'm not even sure what 'fae' means, but, ah...

[A beat.] You know I'm a ghost, kid, right? And I promise my world hasn't exploded, everything's fine.

[demonpuppy]

I know, I know, it's just...

[There's a few noises of frustration before Chip sighs.]

I don't get it.

[vagabone]

Don't get what, kid?

I mean, I'm not saying magic doesn't exist where I'm from. It does, it's just... smaller things, sort of. Maybe we've forgotten most of it. I don't know.

[demonpuppy]

Forgot...wait. You didn't know about vampires before, right?

[vagabone]

I know what they are, I just didn't believe in them. Can't say I want to either.

[Even being dead and all. Who can blame him? Everything he's heard in his own world suggests they mostly go after children.]

[demonpuppy]

They're not that bad. I wonder why yours're still keeping things secret, though.

[vagabone]

Probably so we don't panic and go on a vampire killing spree. It's safer.

[demonpuppy]

But that's why they...ugh.

[vagabone]

And it worked?

[It's not what he'd do, were he a kid-eating vampire!!]

[demonpuppy]

It's not like they kill people. Blood banks exist, you know!

[Not that the donations to blood banks could ever feasibly sustain the vampire populace and service the medical community, but that's the beauty of good PR.]

[vagabone]

What the heck is a bl--dios mío, that's disgusting. Nevermind, I don't want to know.

[He thinks he can guess and he wishes he couldn't.]

[demonpuppy]

[Really?]

When're you even from?

[vagabone]

[Siiigh. Someone help him stop thinking about blood. Ew.]

Eh, I died in 1921. And you know, skeletons don't need any of... that.

[demonpuppy]

...

Wow. No wonder you're only bones.

[Chip.]