nexus_crossings | Why people don't like spirits

The weather has been irritatingly unpredictable this year. Sunny one day, a blizzard the next. It's almost impossible to plan for. Today Reynard has made sure the Nexus is smothered in a thick blanket of snow, and it's nearly perfectly smooth. The Nexus might as well be a different landscape. It's hard to tell what a person is stepping on until they take the chance to wade in. Bins, boulders, benches, street curbs are all probably the most normal things a traveller might find themselves cracking shins and toes against.

At a very strategically chosen point however, some poor people find themselves in a bit of a bother. After getting this far all it takes is one step and they find themselves chest deep in the snow. Struggling will only testify to how packed tight the freezing blanket is. Digging themselves out might be possible, but slow.

It doesn't take long before a sing-song voice comes through the air.

"A house for a five headed creature,
A tool that carves rock and earth,
A measure against misadventure,
A gift often owned from birth."

Reynard walks on top of the snow with his usual confident stroll. He crouches in front of his unfortunate victim, tilts his head and asks, "What am I?"

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Freedom from the snow only provides small relief; it's still cold and the better part of Majima's tux is damp with melted snow. He takes a moment to knock away some ice still caked to his slacks.

"Now you're the one lyin'. Unless ya magicked yourself up some new peepers."

"I made myself some." Reynard scoops up a bit of snow, shapes it into a ball and then holds it out to the man. For all intents and purposes it looks as if an eyeball is looking back at Majima… That is until Reynard squeezes his fingers and it explodes in a small puff of snow. The Winter spirit laughs and shakes his head.

"Ok. So maybe I didn't make them, exactly, but I was fixed up rather nicely."

Reynard's little trick elicits a curl of his lip. That memory's still fresh.

"Who fixed you up?" Majima asks casually, as he turns to peer down the hole he emerged from for any sign of his PINpoint.

The twitch of Majima's face is a small, easily overlooked motion, but Reynard spots it and that makes the conversation all the more enjoyable.

He could just come out with it, explain that Winter itself fixed his eyes so that he could continue to serve it… but where would be the fun in that? "My beloved. Devotion begets devotion. I dedicate all I do to her an she cares for me in turn."

"Some fine lady ya got there. I'd prolly do the same if some gal came along and gave me a new eyeball," he says with a laugh, rubbing his arms to try to restore a little warmth.

"Oi, those fresh eyes of yers still good enough to help me spot that PINpoint?"

Reynard's gaze slides to side-eye the other man. He can barely contain his grin. "What's in it for me?"

Majima gives Reynard another appraising look, assessing what kind of danger he might be inviting. "Free drinks at my club. And company, if your missus ain't the jealous type."

It's Reynard's turn to consider the man in front of him. He leans back and lets his eyes flick up and down, a smile still faintly on his lips. Here is a man who likes to use his good fortune to tip the scales in his favour, who so adores the material world. Reynard's smile settles into place.

"Your eyesight. I want your eyesight."

Majima barks out a frosty laugh. "Ya want my other eye? No fuckin' deal. Freezin' to death would be better than livin' as a blind guy."

He wags a finger at Reynard. "Look, keep it to goods and services, buddy. No weird shit."

His insistence only cements Reynard's resolve. He folds his arms and leans on one leg. "No, I think your sight is a fair trade for your life."

What little remains of Majima's good humor starts to fade. He steps closer to Reynard and stabs a finger at his chest. "Look, asshole, I indulged yer bullshit riddles. I answered yer pryin' questions. All while I'm freezin' half to death. Now ya got the gall to threaten me? Fuck off."

In contrast to Majima's bad mood, Reynard's smile remains. "That is what we're bartering with, isn't it? Since your PINpoint is the only way you're going to stop from freezing to death. Like I said, it's a fair trade. Generous, in fact." He shrugs. "I could always ask for a leg instead."

Majima grasps Reynard's shirt front with a snarl. Opens his mouth to threaten him further, then pauses and shakes his head. He uses his grip to give him a shove. "Why the fuck am I gettin' so worked up about this? Far as I know yer just some ren faire reject. All cute party tricks and goofy stories."

He snorts. "Like you could actually take my sight. Let's get this over with. Gimme my PINpoint."

By all accounts Majima is tall and broad enough to be intimidating as he grabs Reynard's shirt, but the Winter spirit remains unfazed. His smile does fade slightly as his focus switches to judging the man's next move. A shove isn't enough to be concerned by. He's forced a few steps back, boots barely making the snow crunch.

When Majima agrees, Reynard's smile returns. He doesn't ask again or make any more comments. In fact, he doesn't give any warning before he marches swiftly up to Majima and raises a hand. A flash of brilliant white with all the burning force of the reflected sun burns into Majima's remaining eye. At the same time the cool weight of his PINpoint is placed into his hand, his thumb moved to a particular button. "That's the one you want. Don't get lost now."

Majima interprets the aggressive approach as the wind-up to a punch and braces himself accordingly. For a moment, the flash of light makes him think he has been punched. He hisses in shock and reels backwards.

"Sonnuva bitch," he howls, clasping a hand over his eye. He expects the burning afterimage of the flash lingers far longer than is comfortable. As it fades, the world around him doesn't come back into focus --replaced instead by smears of shadows and the barest suggestions of light.

This is when panic starts to set in. He continues rubbing at his eye. "No, no, no. No.. You motherfucker."

Reynard steps back to watch the fallout as Majima starts to panic. Perhaps it's a kindness that he can't see the small smile on the spirit's face. He can probably hear it, though.

"Careful. You wouldn't want to lose your PINpoint again. It would be a shame if you had to trade your leg as well just to get it back."

Reynard's words barely manage to cut through Majima's current medley of pain, anger, and confusion. His temper flares at the note of mirth in the other man's voice, but a string of snarled expletives is all he can manage in the way of a response.

As much as a hasty retreat doesn't sit well with Majima's ego, neither does stumbling blindly around the freezing cold Nexus. He mashes the button on his PINpoint that he (hopes) will take him home and disappears in a blink.

Why people don't like spirits

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