I wanna die someday

˗ˏˋ *ㅤ☾ ☆ㅤ‿︵ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤ𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 with the child's suspicions against him. To be able to speak to the dead was not a feat to be taken so lightly. DEATH was the only constant in his life, no matter where he went. Simply joking or lying about death would have made the man a terrible personㅤ—ㅤwhich would have made him the exact same as most of the OTHER adults he had met in his life.

꒰ ☾ ꒱ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤHe find the man's warnings silly; almost IRONIC even. Even in the most safest and secure of homes, death always lingered and no one could ever beat it or even breath through the barriers between the living and their deceased loved ones. That was the tragic lesson he had learned at such a young, tender age and that was why he made it his mission to NOT let death win so easily.

꒰ ☾ ꒱ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤ❛ㅤOf course, I'm concerned with vampires, Monsieur ! They're the most awful, ruthless creatures I've EVER met ! But now that you speak of dead, I'm interested.ㅤ❜

꒰ ☾ ꒱ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤHe speaks; pressing the man further. For a man who supposedly didn't care; he seemd awfully HESITANT about showing off his gift after so casually revealing that wild claim.

꒰ ☾ ꒱ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤ❛ㅤI don't care about getting close to death. I've been close to death PLENTY of times. I just want to see if you can actually DO it, Monsieur.ㅤ❜

꒰ ☾ ꒱ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤ❛ㅤWhat do suppose about speaking toㅤ—ㅤa FAMILY MEMBER ? I'm sure you get requests like that a lot ! ㅤ❜

He raises an eyebrow at the child. The more he speaks the more they're concerned. What exactly had this child been through? "Well, I wouldn't know, never met a vampire, personally. Or at least...not knowingly." They admit with a small shrug. They've heard the rumors, seen the newspaper scare tactics, but they weren't ones to believe such things. Even if they did consider the lies better than the truth more often than not.

"I do." They admit. "But it's not so simple. I used the term spirit medium as a way to easily explain my affinity, but it's not as if I can summon a spirit." They twirl some of their longer locks between their fingers as they explained. Their throat was going to be so sore after all this talking. "And to be quite honest, I do not care about your curiosity nor do I care about proving anything to you."

“The Gritz…noted.” He vaguely remembers seeing a sign for that place while wandering about. He could look it up on his phone later, for now they take their water and sip at it, giving a small sigh afterwards. It wasn’t the best tasting water in the world but it hit the spot when he was needing it after a long day of investigating. “I’m glad I could be of such assistance.” Vivia chuckled softly before putting the glass on the counter for a moment.

“I am.” They confirmed, reaching into their jacket to grab their detective badge and ID to show to her. “I’m with the World’s Detective Organization,” He puts his credentials back into his jacket, hidden from view. He didn’t like pulling out his ID, but he also wasn’t about to be a liar. “I was specifically requested by someone here in town to look into something for him.” He couldn’t say too much about the case itself, but he gave a soft hum as his fingers tapped on the rim of his glass aswell.

Huh, how about that. A real life detective. Angel had dealt with many cops before, often because they were chasing her off somewhere with the guys, or trying to arrest her or the guys, or actually arresting her or the guys. But she’d never met a detective before – were they all this chill, or was Vivia just special?

“Well, I wish you luck on your case. Lot of lowlifes live here, so doesn’t surprise me whoever you’re workin’ for has some shit he’s done himself.” Even Angel had a criminal history, though it wasn’t like she was a murderer or anything.

He takes a sip of the water he still had and hums. What was it with people's fascination with playing detective or sidekick? It wasn't the first time he had someone offer to help him out, nor did he think it was going to be the last. It must have seemed like a glorious job to people who weren't truly involved in the day to day - or in the strange cases that Vivia found himself in. Would Angel still be interested in joining him if she knew the supernatural elements both of the case and of himself.

Reala is surprised that Vivia didn't say more, honestly. But ... he was glad. He did not wish to talk about his Master, at least not in any way that may seem as if he was speaking ill of him. Wizeman had eyes & ears everywhere: if Reala said something against him, he would surely find out about it someway.

"Is that so?" He asked quietly, gaze slowly shifting itself to the other beside him. A strange response, in the Nightmaren's mind, but his curiosity was piqued. "What novel was it?"

So much for sitting in silence. Reala couldn't help his curious nature -- it was one of the many things he & his sibling, Nights, had in common. Though he had long since learned to try & curb such curiosities ... being curious was dangerous. Being curious could lead to wandering, straying, much like Nights had.

"I forget the title..." He started with a hum, looking up towards the canopy of branches and leaves above them. Was there even a sun in this dark land? Or was it just in a perpetual state of....this. He supposes he shouldn't be surprised, this was the land of nightmares. Light making it in was likely the last thing to happen.

"It was about a king wishing to conquer a smaller kingdom, and how heroes rose up to defend their home." He idly messes with the bindings on his hand as he looked down from the sky. "King's forces were being led by a former childhood friend of the main protagonist, they thought they were doing good - until the showed him the truth. The struggle of that character's mind was interesting." He says this without knowing Reala's past, without knowing the scope of the dreamscape as a whole. His head rolls to the side as he shifts to lay down further against the tree - his posture horrendous but he seems comfortable if nothing else.

"The King nearly succeeds in their task, despite the heroes best efforts. What he didn't expect was many civilians coming to the heroes' aid. They managed to overpower the forces while the heroes took down the king. They don't kill him, though, despite the people's urging for them to do so. He's sent to a dungeon and later exile." He finishes the story and yawns softly. "There's a sequel coming out about the king's exile, I look forward to reading it."

˗ˏˋ *ㅤ☾ ☆ㅤ‿︵ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤ𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 to suspect the man of being a vampire in spite of his oddities. A good thing really; he did NOT need any vampires coming after him because of his blood or his book. But the words the man spoke still caught his interest.

꒰ ☾ ꒱ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤOnce when he was far younger, he so foolishly believed in the ideas of ANGELS and DEMONS; divine beings of good and evil beyond human reach. Now, he was older and wiser. There were only terrible people and horrible vampires in this world. Life after death was not something he gave much thought to. What did it matter anyway ? He never heard from his mother after her passing. And he certainly hadn't heard from FATHER either. They were DEAD.

꒰ ☾ ꒱ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤYet, he's intrigued enoughㅤ—ㅤor perhaps desperate enough to learn MORE about this mysterious man. His claims were truly ASTOUNDINGㅤ—ㅤbut maybe there was some truth to them.

꒰ ☾ ꒱ㅤ˗ˏˋㅤㅤ❛ㅤSo you can TALK to the dead, Monsieur ? Can you PROVE it ?ㅤ❜

This was normally the part where he'd be called a fake, or given any number of insults for not being able to 'prove' his 'gift'. But how could others see it as a gift when it was truly a curse? Did they not realize he walked the line of life and death each day? Never truly apart of either life nor what comes after? Vivia shakes his head, looking back at the child with a tired expression.

"Unless you're willing to put yourself near death so you are also walking the line and could perhaps catch a glimpse of what I see - then there's no point of me trying to prove anything to you. And even if you were to put yourself in such a position, there's no promise that any ghost would reveal themselves to you in the moment." He normally didn't bother even explaining this much to someone, but they were just a kid after all, Vivia could make an exception.

IT'S THE END OF AN ERA AND I STILL SURVIVED.

Reala would have preferred sitting there with no talking, while his body slowly healed itself. But Vivia was clearly too curious for his own good. The Nightmaren wasn't used to having company like this -- someone who kept coming around, too. Seeking him out ... what was Vivia playing at, he wondered?

Were they playing at anything? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Vivia's face remained neutral as Reala explained. So there was a dream realm....he wondered why that hadn't been the place he had been brought to in the first place. Even if he came here by 'different means' - what was it that dragged him towards nightmares instead of dreams? There's a thought in the back of their mind that it's their affinity with death that led to this conclusion. It was hardly a logical conclusion, but since when were dreams and nightmares held to such a standard?

"....I see." Is Vivia's only response at first, giving the landscape another glance over. It sounded comical to Vivia, for this master of nightmares to desire the dream world aswell. He often read fictional stories of mad kings and conquest only to be stopped by heroes and their companions.

But Vivia was no hero. He was not here to disrupt what little balance this realm seemed to have - for even too much 'good' could result in something sinister. Just like some people didn't seek the truth and told lies instead. Just like he could see the border of life and death. There's a balance to everything, Vivia is aware of this all too well.