[prp] sunshine and...something [kazuki-ouji/edgelord]

[Noir Songbird]

It was raining.

To most, that might have been an annoyance, a reason to go inside, to avoid the oncoming worsening weather.

Kazuki was not "most." He stood in the rain, marveling at it as it landed on his palm, soaked his two-tone hair to stick to his neck and shoulders, and admittedly, he was glad that he'd hidden his wings away, because wet feathers did sound like a bit of a pain.

His mothers would not have approved of what he was doing, he was fairly certain. They'd warned him that his desire to explore the seedier clubs of Faetasia might mean that he might stumble into dangerous people, and the fact that their warnings only made him more curious had certainly not sat well with them. But the realm of the gods was boring. He knew their temple, there, and its surrounding environs in the mortal world like the back of his hand, these days. And he was bored.

So he'd tucked his wings away, hidden his radiance, traded his pretty white dress for a pretty black one, and decided to come visit a seedy-looking club in a seedy-looking part of town and find out exactly what kind of things might be out there.

Unfortunately, he'd gotten more than a little distracted by the rain. He was used to perfect weather, used to light breezes at best. This...this was something new.

Uta

 

[Uta]

It was a dark and stormy night... very usual conditions for Hemlock, honestly, and not something that bothered Edgelord. The rain was steady for now, but there was something in the air that spoke of worsening conditions, which was just fine for the dark angelic. He liked the rain, the thunder, and the darkness, and would live entirely in the night if he could.

Generally speaking, Edgelord did. He wasn't exactly nocturnal, but he certainly preferred to keep late hours. The witching hours were his time to shine, and Hemlock had quite the active nightlife... not that Edgelord was into it. Generally speaking, the black winged dark angelic spent his time alone, brooding, watching, listening. If the dark gods ever had need for his services, he was fine playing messenger, or errand boy, but he had few close connections these days. Usually, if anyone in his family was needed, it was his older brother, Umbra, but the gods only knew where and what had happened to him. His older brother was the favored one -- the one Edgelord couldn't hold a candle to in terms of power, edginess, or darkness.

During his younger years, he had tried to aspire to be just like Umbra. He had fought, he had trained, he had tried follow in his brothers hoofsteps. Unfortunately, he was never able to make the cut. Instead, he was simply the forgotten son, the screw up, the failure and at this point in his life, Edgelord embraced it. He didn't have to be like his brother, but he could and would be himself. He didn't need to be social. He didn't need to lead a group of knights. He didn't need to impress some blood god. Someday he'd find a dark god to well and truly impress... but until then, he'd simply watch from the background.

Life was pain, after all, and Edgelord was fine with adding to it--or at least, observing it. Wings folded against his back, Edgelord was walking down the street, hands buried in the pockets of his black pants. Glowering out at the world, he rounded the corner out of an alley to catch a main street ... and had to stop.

A brown and pink-haired Faekat was standing in the rain. While this wasn't unusual, the fact that the stranger was unmoving right in the middle of the walkway was. Standing still in Hemlock was an easy way to get jumped, mugged, or shanked. At first, he thought the Fae was a female--the dress, the legs, the long, wet hair. But upon his approach, he realized that he might have been mistaken. The beauty was indeed a male...but that didn't matter to Edgelord. Male, female, nonbinary, or anything else wasn't important -- what mattered was how just out of place this Faekat looked.

He didn't know what exactly made the other so different, but it just seemed like the stranger didn't fit in.

... maybe they were crazy.

That could do it.

Gods above knew there were plenty of strange types out there. He had half a mind to just keep walking, and he well should have, but something had him hesitate. "What the ******** are you doing?" His voice was rough and low, and his stance defensive. There was nothing but judgment behind his gaze, but an equal amount of apathy, like he didn't care. And he didn'[t/i] -- why should he? And yet... here he stood, watching, waiting, wanting an answer.

Noir Songbird

 

[Noir Songbird]

Kazuki supposed that he should have expected to attract some attention, but he still startled a little when someone was clearly speaking to him.

He turned to face the stranger, blinked, tilted his head to the side. "Standing in the rain," he replied, as if it was obvious. Because, well--that was what he was doing, wasn't it? And yes, Kazuki suspected this was one of those situations where the initial question implied several others, but, well, sometimes he was very bad at guessing what the implicit questions were.

Deeply straightforward, always.

"It's so nice. Why, do you not often stop and appreciate things like that?" ...Well, alright. Looking a little closer, the man in front of him didn't exactly seem like the type to stop and smell the roses, as it were. Well, that was his loss. And, exactly as his mothers had taught him, Kazuki curtsied politely.

"I'm Kazuki. Might I ask your name, stranger?"

Uta

 

[Uta]

Edgelord wasn't entirely sure what sort of response he expected, but Kizuki's reply wasn't it. His wings gave a small, defensive twitch, and he shifted his stance defensively. Now, instead of one individual standing in the rain, there were two.

The sigh that escaped his lips sounded pained.

The pink-and-brown haired stranger then had the audacity to continue talking, and even introduced himself--all while getting soggy in the rain. Edgelord himself didn't mind walking in the gloom, it worked well with his aesthetic, and perpetually dampened mood; however, he was not accustomed to idle chit-chat while standing in an ever growing puddle.

Then, something amazing happened.

The stranger curtsied. Edgelord couldn't help but arch a brow as far up as he could imagine. Now that wasn't something he saw around Hemlock, and he wondered what depraved being he might have run smack into, and what sort of dark nature was lurking behind that innocent looking façade. The clubs he expected to find Kazuki at were on the other side of town. Was he some sort of escort? Was he playing some sort of game? The dark angelic glanced around, wondering if anyone was going to try to pickpocket or cause trouble.

The streets were relatively empty, so he turned his gaze back on the other before him. "... What's to appreciate? It's wet, it's cold, it's miserable." Never mind that it was exactly what Edgelord actually loved, but like hell he was going to admit it.

Kazuki.

He noted the name of the other, tucking it away to memory, though he wasn't really sure why. It would be difficult to forget the stranger and the way the rain soaked his dress. Reaching in his pocket, he pulled out a cigarette, lit it, took a long puff, and finally decided to answer. "Edgelord." If the stranger expected him to say anything else, he'd be sorely disappointed.

Noir Songbird

 

[Noir Songbird]

It wasn't that Kazuki couldn't tell that the stranger--Edgelord, what an interesting name!--seemed to be judging him. It was that he was assiduously choosing to ignore it, in the way of someone who was very used to being judged. Plenty of people had looked at him askance in his visits to Hemlock. Plenty more undoubtedly would do the same, in the future.

"Ah, but it's not just wet and cold and miserable. It can be that, too, if that's how you want to see it, but it's also so...invigorating. Rain like this, not quite so much, but a real thunderstorm is something magical." He tilted his head to the side, smiling as blithely as anything. "And even this--it doesn't rain very much, back home, so I can't help but appreciate it."

Then, Kazuki frowned. "Oh, but I imagine--your poor wings must be soaked, and that can't be very comfortable. It's very nice to meet you, Edgelord, and maybe we should talk somewhere dryer, if we're going to."

Uta

 

[Uta]

Invigorating? Magical?

Edgelord took another drag off his cigarette, the cherry tip glowing bright against the relative darkness of the gloomy street. The thick clouds only seemed to be growing darker, and the rain was becoming heavier, the longer they stood outside. The dark angelic didn't really care... but he was trying to figure out what this fellow's angle was.

"If you say so, pal," he finally scoffed, exhaling the smoke with little concern whether or not if enveloped the stranger. He wouldn't call anything in Hemlock particularly invigorating or magical, and the few spots that did come to mind, were either x-rated or involved some sort of bloodshed or physical pain. Honestly, whoever this pink-haired, Kazuki was ... he was on thee wrong side of Faetasia.

But that couldn't be, could it? He wouldn't be in Hemlock if he wasn't something evil, so he could only assume there was something depraved about him. Part of Edgelord wondered what it might. Another puff of his cigarette, and before he had a chance to reply to the fact that Kazuki came from a dry spot on Hemlock, he asked about his wings.

What about his wings? Immediately defensive, the feathers stuck up a bit, and pulled tighter against his back. ".... They're fine," he lied, a small, grumpy growl in his voice. They were, actually, water-logged and uncomfortable but he wasn't going to admit that to the stranger, either. And going somewhere to talk...? ....well, that wouldn't be the worst idea. Depravity be damned, Edgelord had noticed how water-logged and slightly-see through the others dress was. How it clung to his form, made out the others shape a bit more clearly.

Why he'd noticed, well...... it was damn difficult not to. "You look like you need to dry off, at any rate. Well, come on, princess. I know a place." He didn't trust going back with Kazuki but he could take him back to his place. It wasn't far, and he could at least get him a towel or something to dry off. There was also a bar directly next door, if he felt the need for a hard drink after this peachy encounter.

Noir Songbird

[

 

[Noir Songbird]

"Ah, sorry for assuming," Kazuki said, easily. This man...clearly a very grumpy sort, and probably prideful. And Kazuki supposed it made sense. The type of environment in Hemlock...it really didn't seem like the sort of place where you got to be open or vulnerable.

Still, the invitation to somewhere drier made his ears p***k up, in obvious delight. "Ah, thank you. I'm not very familiar with things around here," he confessed, and he moved right up to stand by Edgelord's side, all smiles.

Yes, this could be dangerous. Yes, this was probably the sort of things his mothers had warned him about, but then, he'd heard their warnings and sort of wondered if there was a specific place he sohuld be going to, to find all those terrible men who would do terrible things to a sweet boy like him.

He looked helpless. Probably acted a little helpless, too. But he could protect himself, if necessary, and in his heart, he didn't believe it would be necessary.

"And keep calling me 'princess,'" he said, a little amused. "I like that."

Uta