Video;

[manofiron]

[ The video begins with a dark-haired man centered in the middle of the frame. He’s got dark eyes, a precisely cut goatee, and hair that’s a little too styled to be naturally that neat. There isn’t a lot to see beyond his chin, he’s sitting too close to the camera, but what can be seen looks vaguely like a shirt of shiny red metal.

His brow knits almost immediately after the feed starts recording, his expression edging toward disbelief as his lips twist into a mild frown. ]

Look. I get it. In a time of crisis, rationing’s necessary to keep resources moving in the right direction. Perfectly understandable. You guys needed to save your turtle. What responsible citizen wouldn’t do their part for that noble cause?

[ There’s a slight hint f sarcasm creeping into his voice, as though he’s heard the whole turtle spiel already and not only hasn’t been impressed, but also doesn’t really buy it either. Not even after having spent half a day scouring the network for information about what’s really going on here before making this video. ]

But really? Twenty bucks?

[ The low, indistinct murmur of another voice can be heard, though what it’s saying and who it belongs to is anyone’s guess. Whatever it says, it’s enough to make the man roll his eyes. ]

Juulan. Whatever. Doesn’t matter. The point — [ Whether he’s talking to the camera or the unidentified voice is unclear. ] — is that it isn’t enough for a day, let alone the entire bogus adventure.

[ It isn’t so much the way he looks at the camera – his eyes have never left it – but the change of his tone, less querulous and more curious, that indicates that he’s talking to whoever’s on the other end of the console. ]

So really. Turtle propaganda aside. What’s a guy gotta do to get some decent money around here? Sell his organs? Hit the street corners? Scrub barnacles off the bottom of the turtle? What?

Comments

[manofiron]

Only the top-notch ones for us. We can leave all the mediocre joints for someone else to explore.

[ Not that he hasn't been in some really shady places over the years. But he's not a perpetually drunk, party-hard twenty-something. He's an adult. He has standards. Maybe not the highest, but they're there. Somewhere. ]

Okay, so tell me. What else do you like to do for fun? Because from the looks of things, we really gotta liven this place up.

[knewtoomuch]

Mediocre joints can have their charms from time to time. Why waste time on that when we can have everything at once though, hmm?

[Balthazar will stick with the man with the desire for standards. He spent hundreds upon hundreds of years watching humans have the time of their lives.]

What else do I do for fun? Well, I do play a fair bit of music...but really I do a little bit of everything. You have to live for the moment, so why not try every single thing that you can?

[manofiron]

I can play the piano. Sing a little. Not really rock star material, unfortunately.

[ Living in the moment and trying everything possible just for the thrill of it? That's practically been Tony's motto since day one. ]

But that's what I've tried telling people. Gotta live life to the fullest every day. It'll be a waste if you don't. But no one ever wants to believe me.

[ His voice drops to a conspiratorial whisper. ]

Between you and me, I think they're allergic to fun.

[knewtoomuch]

I think you hit the nail on the head as they say for calling it an allergy to fun. People seem to get great big sticks up their asses about having a good time.

[The bigger the thrill, the better off trying something turns out to be.]

And oh, the things they say! Let me guess though on what you've heard: It's too dangerous! You'll hurt yourself! Did you ever think about what it would do to me if you weren't around any longer?

[He snorts. Some of the things that he's heard before...hilarious! He has heard it all by this point and much of it he heard through eavesdropping on conversations between humans.]

Perhaps we just have a leg up on everybody else. Two destined to never be fully understood. Almost amusingly tragic.

[manofiron]

[ He can't resist laughing. It's like Balthazar's reading his mind. ]

The guilt trip's my favorite. And it always comes from someone who doesn't give two shits about you until you're out there, having a great time, and suddenly they're jealous because they weren't invited.

[ Tony's heard it all too. The difference is, it's all been said to him by well-meaning and not so well-meaning people trying to intervene. Problem is, telling him not to do something is a goad to do it bigger and better than ever, not to stop. ]

I'd agree with you on the tragedy, but what's the real tragedy? Us or them? We're alive. They're stagnating, afraid to go out into the world for fear they'll get a hangnail.

[knewtoomuch]

[Well, he certainly does not need to when he finds somebody with such a like-mindedness to his own outlook on life that he is genuinely surprised and delighted in the same instant.]

Agreed on that. I can't tell you how many times that I have somebody lecturing me on what I need to be doing as opposed to what I want to be doing. Let them be jealous I say!

[And apparently Balthazar stealing most of Heaven's weapons. So sue him! He just wanted to have a little fun!]

Tragedies always end up getting to everybody. The world would be a much easier place to live in if everybody would stop trying to be so bloody serious all the time.

[manofiron]

Truer words, my friend, have never been spoken.

[ The crap they take so seriously back home is proof of that. He builds something on a whim, uses it to protect some people, and suddenly every military in the world needs it yesterday to rain more destruction on the world. ]

Is the place you come from a mess too? Because mine is. One war after another and it usually boils down to hurt feelings and offended pride.

[knewtoomuch]

[Oh, how to answer this? It is not as if Balthazar has not informed some of what he is. He honestly finds more and more people here at first glance. Are these people really from a place similar to his own AND somehow manage to be interesting? He can skirt around it a bit.]

You are not alone when it comes to war. Sometimes I feel as if it has been going on since the dawn of mankind. Maybe it is simply ingrained in the nature of all. Always having to do with hurt feelings and wounded pride. When one problem goes away, another is there to step up and claim they have what it takes to clean up the mess.

In the end, whether they do or do not doesn't matter. Everybody has to have a piece of the pie and there is never peace amongst the whole of humanity...and non-humanity.

[manofiron]

[ He huffs a laugh under his breath. ]

I've met some of that non-humanity and you're right. They're just as bad. Kind of disappointing, really. I'd always hoped other races would be better off than humanity. Proof that there's something to strive toward. But everyone's a mess. And seems to revert to a kindergarten mentality the first sign of another person in the vicinity.

Here's hoping someone, somewhere, wisens up.

[knewtoomuch]

[Oh, if that isn't ever the truth.]

Nobody escapes conflict. Anybody that ends up believing that needs to have a little wake up call. It is either about dominating another, claiming land as their own as fast as they absolutely can, or just about controlling those beneath them...in no particular order and often all of those in one handsome little package.

[He raises an imaginary glass to the screen.]

I think I am definitely going to need a drink to properly give a cheers towards that hope.

[manofiron]

What's the best bar in the city? We could meet up there. Have a few. Or a lot.

[ Moderation? Tony doesn't believe in moderation. ]

Much as we want, really.

[knewtoomuch]

I haven't really been here long enough to find a good hangout. To be honest, I'm waiting for a bar to open pretty soon by one of the residents here.

[Moderation is just what people say when they want to keep others from having fun. He chuckles.]

Name a time and place and I'll be there. We have some decent ones around here in the Fire Sector. Nothing to rave about, but the location never really matters when you want to drink the night away.

[manofiron]

Really? You've got the inside scoop on a place? When's that happening?

[ Probably not soon enough for Tony's tastes, considering the mindfuck that this place is turning out to be. ]

How about this time next week? It'll give me time to scope out which is the best of the lot. Unless you just want to start at the one on the corner and work our way through the sector.

[knewtoomuch]

Well, as inside of a scoop as I can. I tend to listen a lot more than I actually do at first. Tell you what though. When it opens, I'll give you a ring.

[He may not even have to. If they are alike in how he is seeing them now, the call of alcohol and entertainment will be like an internal calling. Balthazar smiles.]

This time next week. I'll pencil that into my calendar. I'd be up for anything. A little adventuring in trying them all out might be the ticket though we may be too smashed to realize what's good and what is not.

Not too bad if you ask me.

[manofiron]

Sounds like the perfect night to me.

[ The place can't be all bad if there are guys like Balthazar around. ]

I will see you then. We'll have a great time. I guarantee it.

[knewtoomuch]

If only there were more around that enjoyed a good time. Getting a little sloshed every now and then is hardly something to avoid at all costs. This is almost a celebration really.

I have no doubt that we will. I hope that the bars are prepared for us.

[manofiron]

I don't think that's possible.

[ He grins, big and wide. ]

Nowhere's ever prepared for me.