The Post-Apocalyptic Doughnut Thief

[ablacksun]

Nothing in Antillioch is clean. Or tidy. Or not covered in a thick layer of desert. Which is why the appearance of a pristine white door that may well lead to some spiffed-up futuristic hospital ward is something of a shock to Zack. There follows a brief consultation with his brother, who doesn't seem to want anything to do with it, as it's so ..spotless, and white, and... ewww. For the two hellgods it's completely out of place and worse. They're so attuned to their hell dimension that anything this hygienic sits in the craw like a stuck fishbone.

Abe, casually examining his fingernails, suggests Zack tries the handle, just, you know, to see if it's locked. We don't want anything pleasant coming in. Stupidly, Zack's curiosity wins over and he does actually open the door a crack... Abe swiftly shoves him straight though it, and the Apocalyptic prince is sent sprawling. He literally faceplants into this new, uncomfortably pure environment.

He's ended up on the main plaza, and lifts his head, not liking anything he sees. But that's Zack all over. He doesn't like anything much. He even snarls at the few unfortunate people closest to him.

Nothing about the Nexus feels comfortable to Zack. Not until he smells something drifting across the plaza. He follows the scent until he comes to a doughnut stand.

Zack is the embodiment of the post-apocalyptic hellscape. He's on nodding terms with all four horsemen, and his own essence combines War, Famine, Pestilence and Death.. or more accurately the after-effects of such things. Away from his own dimension, he feels the hunger of famine, and Zack hasn't actually ingested anything for centuries.

Now he's in the realm of the living, these soft little dough things smell amazing.

He grabs one and tears into it, ignoring the stallholders protests about something like paying, or money, or something. When the stallholder tries to physically take his arm, Zack pulls away, swipes another of the sweet dough shapes, and wrenches himself away from the stand. Zack moves through the crowds away from the still-shouting stalholder, almost bumping into everyone - he's not used to crowds.

And he doesn't understand the concept of theft.

He almost sends some poor person tumbling as he tries to make his exit. But he can't find the infernal door and that stupid sweet-dough-thing person is still on his tail. Zack grabs the nearest passerby by the lapel, demanding... “What's his fucking problem? What the fuck's money? What does that even mean?”


[ooc: Cue argument between your muse, Zack, and the doughnut seller. Mun apologises for his language and behaviour. He's not housebroken yet...]

Comments

[itmeanstruth]

It was a durable model, so it was not going to break easily. Minoru figured that part out by trial and error, thanks to some of his many parkour stunts. It also meant that he knew exactly where to go to get a new one at literally any hour.

With absolutely no idea that his plan is doomed to fail right from the start, Minoru held out his hand. “Grab the donuts and come on! It’s easy! There’s a vending machine that sells them!”

A pause, and a reassurance - “this one’s on me too.”

[ablacksun]

All the same, Zack doesn't try to grab it out of Minoru's hand. The human may be odd, but Zack realises he doesn't particularly want to upset him. Strange. He's never felt that way about a mortal before. Ever.

“Maybe I can pay you back one day?” If he gets a job and all.

Obediently, Zack picks up the bag and follows Minoru.

[itmeanstruth]

“Thanks! That’d be cool.” Minoru accepted the promise and IOU, but wasn’t overly concerned about it. He’d broken enough PINpoints to know that the devices were surprisingly cheap - especially considering everything they could do.

He led Zack toward one of the vending machines near the center of the plaza. And in true Minoru style, that likely involved hopping up onto a wall or railing just to walk across it. Or grabbing a tree branch overhead just to swing from it. He had quite the spring in his step. He just couldn’t help it most of the time!

“You can get them to look like a lot of things. Mine doubles as my phone.” It was a popular choice among his coworkers. “But they’ve got watches, pendants, things that look like they match a lot of different worlds.”

[ablacksun]

For a few minutes, Zack forgets everything as he watches the way Minoru likes to 'walk' from A to B. The human is certainly healthy and very fluid in the way he moves. Zack even wonders if he could learn tricks like that... Although he is agile and often does have to pull himself over things, or leap around when exploring the wrecked buildings and ruins of Antillioch.

“Why do you do that?” He asks, without judgement. Nobody else seems to be hopping over things or walking along things. “It's never been entertainment for me, at home... but you make it look...” He doesn’t know how to say it. Like he wants to do it too.

Zack considers what Minoru tells him about these PINpoint things. What would fit best in Antillioch? Something his brother wouldn't notice? “Do they have scruffy ones? Ones that wouldn't stand out if someone saw me with it?” He makes a gesture to incicate his clothing,

[itmeanstruth]

The calm way he shrugged and asked, “do what?” made it pretty obvious how natural it really was. He jumped off the railing and back onto the ground facing Zack.

“Oh!” He laughed. “I guess sometimes, I just can’t help it. The body’s just meant to move, you know?”

He meant that, wholeheartedly. He was an athlete and a traceur. This was his idea of fun, and it just made him feel good to be up and about. Mostly up. (Plus, with the American Ninja Warrior finals coming up back on his home world, a little extra practice wasn’t going to hurt!)

“I’ve seen at least one that looked like a dingy old pocket watch. Hopefully the machine will have something you like.”

[ablacksun]

"It is what bodies are made for," Zack has to agree, and looks at his hand, flexing his fingers. He wonders if it has anything to do with Minoru's cheerful disposition. All that movement.

"Does it make you happy?" he asks, meaning will it make people (like him) in general happy, if they bounce about a bit.

With the information on the PINpoint, Zack nods, satisfied. He'll pick something that looks like an old bit of tech. He often carries those about, just because he likes them or wants to see how they're made. Abe won't look twice, he hopes.

[itmeanstruth]

“Yeah!” Minoru smiled. “They are. And it does!”

Freerunning made Minoru extremely happy. Though, he was a bit of a thrill-seeker for sure. Not very good at judging risk (or caring about it, really), given that today’s after-work activities apparently consisted of keeping the peace and buying a Hell-Being a whole bag of donuts.

He hopped on a bench, ran along it and then hopped back down.

“If you want to do it too, go ahead. This is the most parkour-friendly place I have ever lived!”

[ablacksun]

The concept of 'happy' is an odd one for Zack. At times, he's okay with the cosmos, but he can't say he's ever really experienced happiness. It's very mortal emotion.

So... maybe mortals can help him with some of that. Then he can speak to them better, mix with them. Maybe. And maybe they're not all the destructive vermin he's always considered them to be.

"Go on then. I'll follow you, if I can." And he does, hopping onto the bench and walking along it. He's supernaturally agile, but the Nexus is messing with his powers so he may find he falls over more than he should. "Is that what this is called? Par-kour?"

[itmeanstruth]

Minoru smiled back. “I mean, if you’re being technical, what I do is more freerunning than parkour. But, eh, it’s all fun!”

Parkour was more efficient, focusing more on clearing obstacles than on the body’s ability to move. (The latter was definitely Minoru’s primary motivation.) Both arts had a lot of the same techniques, but any fancy acrobatic tricks belonged to the freerunner. As in, why take time to hop on the next bench just to run along the back of it and jump to the next table, when you could just quickly and easily vault completely over it?

The plaza, filled with chairs, tables, trees, walls, half-walls, railings, a fountain, etc., made for a delightful obstacle course. And Minoru was more than happy to lead his newest friend through it. Flips, tricks and the like were definitely encouraged!

[ablacksun]

Such subtleties will be lost on Zack for the present. But it's interesting to watch the mortal move, and just when he thinks Minoru is going to have a nasty accident ... the human doesn't.

Well. Anything a mortal can do, he's sure he can copy. Or do better. "All right. Go. I'll do what you do."

He's completely unfamiliar with the concept of pride coming before a fall.

[itmeanstruth]

“Okay! Let’s go!” Minoru grinned.

After a brief look at his surroundings, he started running toward the wall that marked the end of that side of the plaza. It was one of the taller walls, perfect for climbing - or in this case, scampering. He had more than enough momentum to run up the wall, easily grabbing the top with his hands and hoisting himself up.

He ran along that for a little bit, before dropping back down. So as not to make too complicated of a jump for his newfound friend, he landed low, on both hands and feet, before tucking and rolling out of it. Safety first.

[ablacksun]

Zack sets off after Minoru, the wall-scamper is something he's done before, only more slowly, so it's easy enough. His balance isn't too bad either. None of his supernatural gifts are specifically super-strength or acrobatics, but he's wiry, sure, and strong.

When it comes to dropping back down, Zack attempts to roll as well. His loose shabby clothing, however, can get in the way some. He misjudges and ends up flat on his back, frowning up at the sky.

“I meant to do that,” he growls, sitting up and tucking in one of the flaps on his pants.

[itmeanstruth]

As Minoru watched him follow, the grin never left his face.

“You’re pretty good!” He shouted back as he bounced from rock to rock as though he were taking a trip across a reimagined Snake Run. (It was a favorite obstacle in American Ninja Warrior, and Minoru wouldn’t be surprised if he tackled it in the first round of the Finals again this year.) “You do this back where you come from?”

He tried to both remember it and pronounce it, but having only heard it once, he likely butchered it a little.

He bounded up and over a picnic table, and then took the wall at an angle, running along it in an arc.