scene xxv

[encored]

ACTION;
A) [In the morning, Charles can be found living up to his actual age, being an old man and setting up a chessboard in the park! Someone save him before he starts feeding pigeons and wearing sweater vests. He doesn't seem to have a partner to play with. Not until you walk by, that is, at which point he smiles and gestures to the other side of the table.]

Why don't you take a seat? Let's have a match. [SUSPICIOUS... No, he's just that bored and in a rare social mood.]

B) [Or maybe you catch him a little later on, after he's packed away his chess set and is out walking his, uh... Horace. The giant beast actually seems pretty tame, all things considered, only stopping to sniff moving things (like you, whoops!) and occasionally making gross growling noises and drooling on the ground. So majestic.

For the unfortunate citizens, these two losers can also be found in much less docile situations - Charles trying to shoo his droolbeast away from a drone it's attempting to gnaw on, or perhaps Horace lolloping down the road with a few geese in its mouth.]

PHONE;
[And carrying on with the trend of being utterly unruffled by everything that happened over the weekend, Charles will pick up his phone in the early evening with a question for the masses.]

I'd like to know your opinion on concerts. Proper orchestral performances, I mean. Who here enjoys them? If something with that sort of music happened to be available in the city, would you attend? [His little fancy cultured self is starting to feel more deprived than usual okay... Having at least one other star performer now, all that's left is to gauge the interest of a potential audience.]

Comments

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[it's hard not to relate everything back to droolbeast when it's so... there.... all of the time.]

That seems to sum up the human race quite nicely.

[kinship]

[It just shows a lack of imagination, Charles, and Cain is very disappointed in you.]

I would have said the second part applied to others species more than humans.

[Such as chipoterans.]

[encored]

[gosh he will just have to work on expanding his list of comparisons then]

Hardly. Smaller or weaker creatures are usually quite quick to detect dangerous situations and react in a self-preserving manner, and larger or stronger creatures still know when it's time to withdraw. [which is why chiropterans are totally exempt okay, the 'flight' part of 'fight or flight' is unnecessary when you can swing around huge anchors for funsies and regenerate from just about anything...]

Humans do often scramble desperately to keep hold of their own lives but when things come down to it, their survival mechanisms on a whole leave much to be desired.

[kinship]

They don't have the worst survival instincts, I think you're doing them a disservice.

[Although it sounds like he's defending humankind, really he's just aware that they can be remarkably good at using one another (as well as other creatures) as effective meat shields.]

But I think a discussion on evolution is a little off-topic, giving the nature of the game at hand.

[encored]

[his nose wrinkles a little and it's pretty clear he disagrees with that statement, even knowing how desperate humans are for a way to keep their deaths at bay, but he's distracted by that second statement. glances down at the chessboard...]

It seems we veered from the topic a little. Well, it's the same either way, I suppose. It isn't as though we're actually going to accomplish a game if you don't know the rules and I don't know the future rules. [he might look for a second like he's trying not to crack a smile...]

[kinship]

[Oh no, that's just creepy... Charles never try and smile again, Cain will have nightmares for months about that.]

I could try and teach you the rules as they are in my time, but they're quite hard to pick up.

[Why yes, he is calling into question Charles' ability to learn a fabricated game.]

[encored]

[at least it wasn't the dreaded yandere smile!! but he's resting an elbow against the board again, using his hand to prop his chin up.]

I'm certain they are. [because, you know, they can be as convoluted and nonsensical as possible without rhyme or reason...] Care to explain some of the basics to me?

[kinship]

Do you really think there's much of a point? If you aren't going to be able to master the game, it seems a fruitless endeavour to just go through the basics.

[So superior.]

[encored]

[he would probably feel much, much more irritated by Cain's smugness if he wasn't so busy shaking his head over this entire situation.]

No, no, you're quite right. It's a good thing we barely started to play or else I would have utterly made a fool of myself, not even having the most tentative grasp on so much as the names of the pieces.

[kinship]

Precisely.

[He knows he's being mocked, but it's in a way he can deal with, by pretending that he's the one doing the mocking.]

[encored]

[THIS CIRCULAR CONVERSATION IS THE MOST RIDICULOUS THING he is literally just shaking his head now.]

Will you be kind enough to vacate the seat so that I might invite someone who knows how to play by the rules I'm aware of?

[kinship]

[Normally he would stay and push it, but he sometimes knows how to quit when he's ahead, and he doesn't want to be called out on his ignorance more directly.]

Of course, if you can find someone else who knows such archaic rules.

[encored]

[if smiles are nightmarish, how about a laugh? because he doesn't even bother holding this one back.]

It's to my good fortune that most people in this town seem to be from roughly the same year as myself.

[kinship]

[Oh dear Lord, the world is about to end and he is the one standing on the precipice of the abyss. He'll just... back away now.]

Then enjoy your games, Just Charles!

[encored]

[come on cain gosh the end of the world isn't so bad!!

but he'll raise his free hand, nodding lazily. he isn't even going to gripe about that dumb nickname this time!] I'll be certain to do so.