001 [Good morning Baltimore]

[gavesomuch.livejournal.com]

[Claudius doesn’t quite know what he was expecting, but he certainly wasn’t expecting this.]

Well… Well.

[He stands, hands shoved in his threadbare coat, and surveys the Plane – eyes narrowed in deep thought… He doesn’t seem very scared, simply quiet and very, very tired.]

[He’s been running for a long time]

How strange, how new… I must confess; I simply expected the Dragon when I wandered into that shop – or, failing that, an actual shop. But no, that’d be far too conventional for my sort of life.

[He laughs, even if it sounds like a mockery of a laugh, and falls to regarding the Plane again.]

It’s quite terribly bright here; but not from sunlight, curious…

[He tilts his head up to regard the stars and smiles; again, it’s a very dark sort of smile]

“But in this black Receptacle
Can be no Bode of Dawn”

[A brief pause, as he keeps studying, and then his face falls]

No… No, that only makes me think of him and I must break myself of that habit; I want to die happy not-

[A deep breath and then he calms himself, lowers his head to regard the Plane again with a return of that twisted smile]

Good day to anybody else that’s been dragged here, my name is Claudia- [He pauses for a second, his face twitching, and then quickly corrects himself,] –Claudius and I must admit to finding myself mildly confused by my surroundings. Can anybody tell me where I am?

[Another pause, as he considers that, and then his face brightens to a almost shining level.]

Is this death?

[He’s so very hopeful]

Comments

[gavesomuch.livejournal.com]

Now, dear, since when did being a brat get anything done?

[HE CAN TALK. And that sounds adorable, so must happen!]

[bytwo.livejournal.com]

I don't need anything done.

[SO THERE.]

[gavesomuch.livejournal.com]

Yet another delusional person, I wonder if I have a magnet for them.

[HAH!]

[bytwo.livejournal.com]

[Her eyes narrows, because oh no. Oh no you did not.

And then she raises her foot to deliberately stomp it down on his. SHE DOES NOT APPRECIATE BEING CALLED DELUSIONAL >|]

[gavesomuch.livejournal.com]

[Luckily Claudius is a vampire and so he does not scream or anything so undignified. He does, however, yelp quite loudly. THAT WAS A UNEXPECTED AMOUNT OF FORCE.]

Oh, you've obviously won prizes for your maturity.

[bytwo.livejournal.com]

[THAT IS BECAUSE RIVER IS TEN POUNDS OF CRAZY IN A FIVE POUND BAG.

And she does not look at all sorry about that. Flatly:] They called me Little Mouse.

[gavesomuch.livejournal.com]

[Claudius simply returns her flat stare; he has no room for the issues of other people:] That's very nice, do you eat much cheese?

[bytwo.livejournal.com]

No.

[HE IS OFFICIALLY IN HER JERK BOOK.]

[gavesomuch.livejournal.com]

Then you're probably not a mouse. In fact, judging by the random violence, I'd label you a rat instead.

[HE TAKES HIS PLACE WITH PRIDE!]

[bytwo.livejournal.com]

[She crosses her arms a little and glares.] Zhùzuĭ.

[gavesomuch.livejournal.com]

[Unfortunately Claudius knows no Chinese, and so he'll just be glowering right back at her and trying to look knowledgeable.] Yes, very smart indeed - your next trick?

[bytwo.livejournal.com]

[It's rather fortunate, really. It means she can say things Simon would wash her mouth out with soap for.] I'm not a trained monkey.

[gavesomuch.livejournal.com]

No, you don't look very trained at all.

[...He's such a git]