A Glass Half Empty (Open)

[Kirito]

It had been a while since Vargas had had any contact with the outside world, he had holed up in the shelter that housed everything that was his, books, drawings, papers, his wolf. It was sunny out, not a cloud in the sky as Vargas made his way down to the cafe, and he found it quite refreshing to feel the warm sun upon his face, a slight breeze stirring the boy's jacket lightly. The street was not quite busy, but alive at least, several people walking this way and that, going about their business, something Vargas wasn't all that used to seeing, living in the woods and all. "I'm not..." The wolf boy suddenly became self-concious, aware that it was warm, if not hot out today! He pushed his hands into the pockets of the jacket that suddenly seemed out of place on a day for shorts and T-shirts, enjoying afternoon suns on summer days like these.

A small bell, perched upon the door of the cafè chimed as Vargas entered, suddenly not sure what he was doing at a place like this. The cafe was somewhat busy, people seated here and there, enjoying a variety of pastries, the aroma of various coffees and teas wafting about the building. Vargas had worn something just a bit different today, versus the usual 'White n' Black', he had chosen a button-up, as to not look... sloppy, not that he had anyone to impress. The wolf-boy swished his tail nervously, although calm on the surface, and sat himself at a window seat, hoping he didn't look too strange in front of these people.

A rather tall man walked to Vargas' table, and his tempurature dropped, an icy nervousness creeping up the boy's spine. Had he done something wrong? Was he in some sort of trouble? Vargas looked up at the man, dressed in some sort of a servant's attire, a moment passed before the man spoke, asking Vargas if he'd wanted to buy anything. "Yes sir... I would like a slice of red velvet, thank you." Vargas pulled out his sketchbook and pencil as the man walked away, and let the leaded tip streak the paper, beginning to bring the lines together in a random pattern, not caring about what was on the page, but what was on his mind... the cake had arrived, and Vargas began to pick at it with his fork, for he had never really cared for cake anyway. Vargas gazed blankly at his dish, slicing small pieces off of his cake, the red crumbs dotting the plate as Vargas looked outside, yet in his own little world...

[mysteryxio]

AJ walked down the street passing stores and people, hoping for some kind of relaxing event. On days like today, when it was too hot to do anything, it was all he could hope for. He saw a small café and decided to enter, there was nothing he could think of but perhaps getting out of this heat and some kind of snack would help. "Better than walking around in this heat" he said to himself.

With the chime of a bell, AJ entered and walk towards an available table. From where he sat he was able to all the people around him. The waiter approached him and he ordered something called Chocolate Decadence. As he continued to people watch a boy caught his gaze. He was sketching, though he couldn't tell what it was from the angle he was sitting at. As he tried to get a better view, the waiter returned but tripped, the slice of chocolate cake heading straight for the boy he was looking at.

[Kirito]

Vargas was deep in his thoughts... so he couldn't have possibly known that this boy would walk in. So engaged with his own problems that he never saw the object coming, until, at the very last second he looked up to see it, and the world seemed to halt, to an utter standstill. Seconds seemed like hours as Vargas was still trying to process what was going on and instinctively threw his hands in front of him, to catch whatever sailed through the air at him. He stared blankly, at the dessert, now clutched in his hand.

He'd caught the cake. Not entirely sure who had flung it at him, Vargas crushed the cake in his hand angrily, crumbs spilling onto the floor. His eyes swept the small cafe, no one had seemed to notice that little incident except for one boy who was staring directly at him. "You..." Vargas heaved himself out of his seat and agitatedly walked to his aggressor's table. "I hope you have a reeaaally good excuse for doing that, considering you're gonna be in a Hell-of-a-lot-of trouble if you don't" And with that, Vargas glared at the stranger with resentment, the modified bolo around his neck ready for use.

[mysteryxio]

"Hey just calm down okay, it wasn't my fault" said AJ trying calm the guy in front of him. "Look I just placed an order for some cake and the waiter tripped, that's all". AJ looked down and saw the waiter was scrambling to pick up the plates and other orders he had dropped and had quickly ducked away, leaving the two to settle the argument. AJ grabbed the napkin that was on his table and offered it to him.

"Look, I apologize for what happened to you. My name is AJ." AJ waited for a response, hoping that the apology and peace offering would be enough. AJ briefly saw that the people inside were purposely ignoring the two. He just hoped that the staff didn't ask them to leave in the heat. He tried to think of a good way to calm the mood, then he remembered the sketchbook. "What were you drawing?" asked AJ.

[Kirito]

"Grr..." Vargas continued to glare at the boy named AJ, not sure whether to become peaceful or remain hostile. "... I s'pose... if it was an accident." And with that, he took the offered napkin and cleaned the icing and chocolate off of his hands, sitting down across from AJ. "My name's Vargas. Vargas Zuko." Stilling the weapon around his neck, Vargas reached over to the table where he'd previously sat and grabbed his sketchbook. Opening the cover, the very first page listing its author's name, but nothing else.

Flipping through the pages, Vargas passed over Alchemic circles, various pictures of imagined blades, swordmen, spellcasters, fairies, random objects and a few different species of animals, various sequences of spells, and a few pictures drawn of AJ and other classmates as well. "Heheh, I'm not a stalker but, I tend to draw people, without them knowing most of the time. I like the way people act normal, natural, when they think they're by themselves. It makes my drawings a mirror to the real world..." Vargas' voice had trailed off, and he began staring at nothing, in a daze, his mind brought back to what troubled him so. After a few seconds, he snapped back to reality, hoping his new acquaintance hadn't noticed. "Anyway... thats about all I have in this one."

[mysteryxio]

AJ looked in awe at some of these. He had never been able to draw like this, "These are incredible, almost like they're real or like I'm looking at a photo." AJ continued to flip through the pages, gazing at the intricate details of the drawings. "Vargas you're amazing. And I completely understand the candidness. I mean people act differently among others than they do when they're alone, they show their true self and you done an incredible job of recording that." AJ saw the expression on Vargas and understood what had happened, that sometimes you just zone out and was known to do that every now and again, so he thought it would best not to bring it up. "I'd be careful with some of the alchemic symbols though, if you encounter someone who is adept in magic they could be used to do some major harm to someone."

AJ flipped to the last page with a drawing and saw what it was. From what he could tell it was just a simple glass half filled with a clear liquid, probably water he guessed. But the glass stood out for some reason. Maybe it was due to the fact it seemed so out of place with all the other sketches in the book. Perhaps this was an unfinished sketch, one that he was working when the cake hit him. The imprints on the paper showed that there had been another sketch before, but it had been ripped out, he could still see where some of the edges of the paper remained. It almost looked like there was a picture of a girl. "Who was the girl?" said AJ unaware if Vargas had heard him or not.

[Kirito]

Vargas stared at the page blankly, almost missing the question that was asked. "...I... that's history. The reason that that page isnt there is because I've been meaning to forget..." Vargas remembered the girl. And remembered the incident. It was several months ago, but the searing memory remained, burned into his mind the events of that day... "Bad things happened that day. And for what? Because this jacket," Vargas said , with a tug to his sleeve," was taken off of me. I'll tell you now. If you ever, EVER, see my arms, run. Things get kinda... ugly, when I see my scars and remember."

"Change of subject... I'll tell you right now, anybody who wants these circles, has to get through the guy who used them for most of his life. I'm not a wizard, but I can control lots of things with the right circles." Flipping back through the book, fingering various pages, Vargas stopped at each, describing his abilities with them. "Fire, water, earth, air, conversion, I can shift ice, wood, stone, metals, plants, certain energies, and even... humans." And with that last statement, Vargas shut his sketchbook. "I show, but never teach my practices... wanna see?" With a devious look on his face, he traced the circle sewn into his jacket sleeve, the tiny salamander against his fingertip.

[mysteryxio]

AJ had a look of wonder on his face. "Amazing, but you may not want to do that out in public so much, some people aren't as...shall we say...accepting of the idea of magic." AJ glanced around to make sure no one saw what Vargas had done. "I know a few magic tricks myself." He focused on the knife in front of him. Staring at it, he whispered a few words and watched as it began to float in the air. Gently moving his fingers, he bent the metal smoothly, changing it's shape and form.

"I can't summon anything living like that, but I can hold my own when it comes to magic." From the corner of his eyes he saw someone walking their way. In an effortless motion he waved his hand over the object and watched as it instantly returned to it's former appearance and grabbed it in his hand. He quickly whispered to Vargas "Hide the lizard someone's coming." He hoped whoever was walking toward them would stop before they got to them.

[Kirito]

"Oh c'mon~ this isn't magic!" The circular crest glowed, as Vargas snapped his fingers and a small flame was produced. "Ow!" He snuffed out the fire, proceeding to explain his claim. "This, is not magic. Alchemy is a...psuedo-science. It looks like magic, but its not. And if anyone has anything to say about it, they'd better make it straight to my face, because I dont care what people have to say if they dont say it." Pulling off his accessory and flashing it sideways just a little, Vargas continued to talk, seeing the person that was walking towards them out of the corner of his eye, veer in another direction at the sight of the blade.

"I'll put it like this. I use this, THIS[i/]," pointing to his crest,"to survive. Maybe put on a little show, but I'm not a circus freak. I use it when I need it, and thats pretty much it." A few glances came to their table at the sight of the flame, and few more at the unsheathe of the blade. Vargas didnt care for 'public opinion' and self image and all of that nonsense. He did what he had to, and at that moment, he felt that he had to do this. Standing up, exclaiming," I am an alchemist!! Stop staring at me like I'm a freak, because that's rude!!" Casting a wicked glare over the customers of the cafe, all eyes turned away, and a hushed silence settled over the establishment. "See? Do what you have to, if you feel you have to do it." Tapping his fingers on the table, Vargas looked for a waiter or some other staff, politely asking for a glass of water when service came.

[mysteryxio]

"Easy dude, calm down" said AJ "it's okay, you'll get no judgment from me. I know what it's like to feel like the world is against you, I mean I use-" AJ lowered his voice to a whisper "magic. I can't tell you the amount of people who have wanted to see me dead. And I'm sorry about assuming that it was magic, I've looked into alchemy a little and I should have known the difference, I'm sorry." AJ tried to think of a way to comfort Vargas. Seconds passed down slowly and felt like hours. Thankfully AJ came up with an idea, but telling the story was gonna be difficult.

"I know this might seem like a redirect but just listen for a sec. When I discovered that I had powers it was wonderful, but it came at a cost. People glared at me like a freak of nature. Eventually I received several death threats and it got so bad that I ended up in the hospital more times than I care to admit. My closest friends left me and I had no one, even after I figured out how to control them. Many religious fanatics wanted my head on a spike, literally and scientists wanted to vivisect me. My family didn't believe what was happening to me, they were either in denial about my powers or ignored the situation completely. I tried to help others but they thought I was just some..." AJ felt his rage starting to build and clenched his fists, but released a sigh. "I became reserved and practically silent. I wanted nothing more that to see them in as much pain as they were giving me. But that changed when I discovered this place, I know that there are still some people who fear the power I have here, but I know that there are others who might...no who truly do accept me for me, faults, powers, past, and anything else they think is wrong with me. Look Vargas, I know we just met and not on the best of terms, but having someone who won't judge or make you feel bad makes life easier.  I'm not gonna pretend that I understand your pain or what you went through and you don't have to tell me I just feel that whether it's a friend, a lover, human, animal, or some cross between them, life is easier with someone by your side." As AJ finished speaking the waiter returned with Vargas' glass.

[Kirito]

"Hm... heheh... I don't think you understand. I'm not a wizard, or some magical genius that figured out how to work his trick."Looking away, Vargas pulled back his jacket sleeve to reveal numbers of scars and various tattoos and markings. A few gasps could be heard as he did so. "THIS, is my trouble, right here. I have no one." Pulling his sleeve back down, Vargas flitted his ear and grabbed his tail, presenting it to the boy sitting acroos the table. "THIS, is me, not natural, but man made, in a lab by scientists. I dont have a, a family, or many friends, or lovers, or any of that! I have a wolf. And I have myself, and my science. Thats all. I escaped my prison, made my way here."

Taking a sip of his water, Vargas continued with his tale. "One person... ONE person, I trusted. And what happened? A slip of the hand, my jacket came off, and by the end of the day, I speared their living room wall, sliced up a girls shoulder, and left her brother needing a change of shorts. All because of me. My history, my life, my mere existence just screws everything up with everyone, and people think that I dont feel bad, that I'm a barbaric monster that just happens to be part human!!" Vargas ended up on his feet, veins showing prominently beneath his skin, his breathing harsh. "I eat, breathe, live in wilderness. Its the safest place for someone like me to practise his studies, undisturbed, comfortable, peaceful... away from human beings. Away from society, and its cruel suburban dwellers, attacking any out-of-the-ordinary inhabitants like savages. So, I think that you should be careful before you relate to people, especially people like me. You have it good, in comparison to my problem." Finished with his speech, Vargas downed the glass of water in a gulp, tapping his fingers on the cafe table irritably.

[mysteryxio]

AJ sat back speechless and after a few moments only one word came out, "Wow". AJ closed his eyes and snapped his fingers together, he felt his iris' change color again though he wasn't sure which color they would change into. The spell he was casting was meant to stop others from staring. What he was about to do might end up getting him hurt, but he didn't care. AJ got up out of his seat and walked toward Vargas.

He reached out and grabbed Vargas around his back holding him tightly in his arms. He put his head onto Vargas' shoulders and said "I'm sorry. I truly am. I had no idea and I doubt that I ever could...all the pain...you have to realize that I never intended for this to happen. However sooner or later you would have come in contact with someone like me. Someone who sees through the pain and anguish and sees who you really are. Someone who won't care or give up just because you push them away. One of my faults is that I'm too trusting, I know that, but I prefer to think of it more as seeing the good in others. If you really do need someone you can count on, then I'll be that person. You don't have to worry about me being scared or getting hurt, I've been hurt worse than any physical pain out there. I won't run just because you say you're some big bad wolf. If you run and say that you should be left alone, I'll prove to you that it's better if someone is with you." As AJ finished he waited for a response from Vargas, he felt tears roll off his face.

[Kirito]

"Mhm... thats what happened." Vargas glanced nonchalantly either way, observing the people sitting around the two. Somewhat distracted, he didnt hear the "wow" that was uttered. He looked back across the table to find that the boy was not there, anymore, but behind him. "Uhh..."

Feeling arms wrap around him, and tears beginning to spill onto his jacket, Vargas closed his eyes, a smirk on his face, as he placed his hands on the table, shoulders tensing. "Grr....AHHHH!!!" He pushed his weight upward, and whilst the boy was in midair, Vargas grabbed his waist and continued to propel him forward onto the table. Feeling the wind get knocked out of AJ, Vargas relaxed. "Don't you... EVER, do that again. Okay?" Vargas said, a serious tone in his voice.

[mysteryxio]

AJ felt silver ware dig into his back and glass crush into his back. From the shock, he didn't feel the pain, but he lost his focus and the spell fell away. He noticed when people started to stare at the two. AJ stood up and glared at the few people in the café. He felt his iris' change again, this time calling for reinforcements. He felt rage starting to build and spoke clearly "Leave". He watched as customers and staff exit. When the bell jingled for the second time, he focused back on Vargas.

"All I've done since I met you is try to help you. To make you feel like there is at least one person out there you can count on." AJ stood at the edge of the table and loomed over Vargas then jumped down from the table and looked into Vargas' eyes. "Why are you so afraid to let me in? I told you, that I can handle anything you throw at me. Are you truly that...No you know what, I don't care anymore. I might not know you that well, hell I don't even at all, but even if I have to beat it into you skull, I swear to God I will get through to you!" With that shout he used magic and Vargas in the air and across the room.

[Kirito]

Vargas flew through the air, closing his eyes. He had somewhat expected some excitement, and so he quickly slid the concealed butterknife out of his sleeve. He shifted it into a sharp rod, and jabbed it into the ground to keep himself from hitting the wall. Swinging back around the embedded rod, Vargas flew in the opposite direction, towards his target, leg extended. Making contact, he pushed with as much force as he could muster into the boy, sending AJ flying backwards into the wall, he landing nimbly back on his feet.

"I didn't ask for this, this is your deal. Just don't, touch me. Ever." Letting out a breath to calm himself, Vargas maintained a defensive stance. Prepared for anything else, he brought his hands up and carefully observed his surroundings, looking for something to... He suddenly remembered, and pulled off the blades that hung around his neck, the modified bolo's blades sharp to the touch, to slice through anything, or anyONE else that may fly Vargas' way.