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[notsolomon]

This is William Twining. I shall reply to your message at my earliest convenience. Thank you. ***BEEP***

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[notsolomon]

Oh? You must have had it pretty easy up until you came up against me.

[Yeah the egotism is going a bit strong right now, though it's not meant maliciously.

That was a good opportunity and William's nails Leon's lady hard. He'd almost feel bad about it too, but he's going to go at this with a bit more relentless enthusiasm.]

[babermetrics]

I wasn't talkin' about video games—ah, shit! Shit shit shit shit shit one sec—

[Dammit, he needs to concentrate! Stupid prodigy William! It's time to get serious. It's time to bust out . . . a special move.

Well, first he's got to get close enough to William's character, though. That's the downside of the Special Move.]

[notsolomon]

[Fortunately for Leon, William isn't thinking about any special moves, so he's pulling in closer than he should.

He's aiming to finish this now.]

Don't sound so desperate.

[babermetrics]

[Aha! As soon as William's within reach, he makes the grab and connects, flinging the dude off across the screen in a shower of blood. It's not enough to entirely take him down, but that health bar just plummeted to close to nothing. HELL YEAAAAAAAH!]

Ha haaaa! Now who's desperate, huh?!

[He pumps a fist, rocking back against the couch with glee.]

[notsolomon]

[He's kind of shocked and not just because that happened. But because whatever just happened was really gross. But also looked really flashy.

And then he gets past that and is now annoyed.]

I am going to turn the tables around! Right now!

[He has one chance so he's going to work out a combo that he's sure has a low chance of being dodged. But it's a long shot. So William's just going to rush in and risk it all on potential death run.]

[babermetrics]

[SORRY DUDE. Leon almost panics at that sheer display of balls, but Ninja Fan Girl has a medium-range attack with her Ninja Fans, and he throws one once William is within range but before he can connect, taking him out.

Thank god, that might have been really embarrassing.

He doesn't get the badass gory special ending, though.]

Ha haaa! Gotcha! Man, that was cool! You totally catch on quick!

[notsolomon]

Dammit!

[But he's staring at the game over screen now, annoyed and mentally going over all of his mistakes.]

I am going to redeem myself.

[babermetrics]

Hell yeah, that was just number one! Don't think I'm gonna let you get away yet! I dunno about redeem yourself, though . . .

[He laughs, all bright smiles, and then the doorbell rings. Whoops. Pizza has good timing. (Maybe CERES is watching them and deliberately waited until they didn't have to pause the game? Don't think about that . . . )

He hauls himself off the couch to go grab it.]

[notsolomon]

Just you wait. Things will soon be on the right course.

[But fortunately the pizza is here. Revenge can always wait for food.

He's just going to watch from the couch though, trying not to look too sulky. Which is hard right now.]

[babermetrics]

[He grabs the goods from the 'bot and then turns to get back inside and set it on the coffee table, laughing when he gets a look at William's face. Dude.]

Did you really think you were gonna beat my ass your first time? You're just gonna make all your future defeats even sweeter for me like that!

[notsolomon]

I will concede this first loss as a necessary part of the learning curve. But like I said, the future will be different.

[But he's just going to grab a slice of pizza and and start eating in order to soothe his bitter disappointment. He'll probably be less childish about his as the evening wears on. Probably.]

[babermetrics]

You're like the worst loser I've ever met, and I know myself.

[He snorts, grabbing a piece himself. And then glancing over to watch William eat. How do fancy rich past-people eat pizza? Like normal people? Interesting . . . ]

[notsolomon]

I just hold myself to a high standard is all.

[And because he's petty.

Well a fork takes too much time when it comes to pizza. And it's not like they don't have hand held foods back home. Thought some of it is irredeemable to say the least.]

It's not bad, though it's much thinner than I'm used to.

[babermetrics]

Eh, really? I wasn't even sure you'd had it before . . . what kind d'you usually eat?

[He settles in to eat, and shifts close to lean lightly up against William's side. There's plenty of room on the couch, but . . . it's nice. Just a little bit. He doesn't get enough of this these days. And up his feet go on the table too, because he's a rude ass, but at least he's being a rude ass in his own place.]

[notsolomon]

When Camio and John made them, they were pretty heavy crusts, slabs of mozzarella and basil on them.

[He leans back against Leon, thinking about it. Better memories of better days. Back when everyone was still talking to each other.]

It takes much longer to make though.

[babermetrics]

Basil, huh? Sounds like the kinda fancy thing you'd eat . . .

[He clearly does not really. Know a lot about pizza. Or herbs. He's surprised to even hear pizza had been invented back then!]

Man, that's so weird! I always figured pizza was pretty modern. I guess that's just in Japan, though. Camio and John? Those friends of yours?

[notsolomon]

We have a lot of immigrants from Italy right now, so that's part of the reason.

[Not that one found it often in the small town he went to school at.]

Oh Camio is one of the demons I mentioned. And John is his butler. He used to be John Dee...

Oh you would know of him probably, but he's a very famous mathematician and occultist who died two hundred years before my time.

[Wow his life sounds so bizarre and batshit sometimes. Almost makes William wish he'd continued being in denial about the supernatural. It spared him from saying these weird things.]

[babermetrics]

[No kidding. Leon's brain does a record scratch at that. He'd been in the middle of a bite of pizza, but instead of taking it, he gets distracted with his teeth half sunk in and turns to William with wide eyes.]

Hhhnnn?!

[And full mouth.]

[notsolomon]

...what?

[He munches on some pizza before he responds, because yeah that probably was a bit too much for Leon.]

It is very weird, but it was actually part of my daily life back home.

[babermetrics]

At least you know it's weird . . . so you just know dudes who're hundreds of years old? That's so crazy!

[He puts his pizza down and sits back again, crossing his legs.]

I wonder if my world's like that too or somethin' and i just never figured it out.

[After all, there's a lot he'd never figured out about his world, he's come to realize since leaving it.]

[notsolomon]

[Technically all his demon companions were hundreds of years old. And Kevin. There was always Kevin too.

It was a bit weird to think on sometimes.]

You never know. Dantalion was the first demon I met and I refused to believe he was real. And I manged to be in denial for a good, long while.

[in some ways he's really not proud of that.]

You should be glad you haven't seen anything like that though. It seems like once you meet one of them, suddenly it's everywhere.

[babermetrics]

Is basically everyone you know a demon or what? Your life really is crazy! It's so weird . . . you're such a normal guy, y'know? Like, except for the whole being a foreigner from way in the past thing.

[He glances around the room, significantly. They're sitting here eating pizza and playing games. He feels good and normal right now; it's nice.]

I mean, when we first met I didn't really think I'd ever relate to you or anything, but I was totally wrong! Even dudes from history can be ordinary awesome guys! I guess that's why it's so weird when I think about you summoning demons and all that too.

[notsolomon]

I know some humans. They are just as weird though. And well I also know a few angels. But that has been a bit hit and miss.

[Like fifty fifty. Or maybe more like 70-30. He had never been sure what Kevin had been after by coming into his life. And William wasn't ready to find out the answer to that. But Michael had definitely tried to kill him and one didn't forget that type of vicious personality easily.

But yes, this is nice and normal. Well okay, it's not. Because he's completely out of his proper time and place. But then again, everyone is.]

Hah, I am not some person from history. If anything, you are some strange duck from the future. [Yeah totally Leon. How dare you insult his normalcy.] It's a bit strange, but since coming here, I realized that I became a little used to having them around. Just a little though.

[babermetrics]

Heh . . . you mean you miss 'em?

[What would it be like to have a bunch of demons and angels as your friends? Leon has no idea, but the friends part is what matters, right? It sucks being away from a demon friend just as much as any friend.]

Sometimes it's like that, right? Like you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone! I know how it is.

[notsolomon]

Geh!

[He chokes, because...

It's very true, isn't it?]

I suppose so. They were very annoying, but they were always around.

[He's on another slice of pizza by now and pauses.]

So do you have people you miss then?