My paragraph:
The Cheshire Cat was a man like no other, he could spin a riddle into a sermon, a sermon into a lie and a lie into a rainbow and move civilians to war and peace talks alike and as far a contraband went, no one could move magic relics like him. He could get into places that the regular citizens shivered to think of simply being near. he was interesting because he had no time for boring people.
Today he was a Dapper Dan, his blonde hair combed back away from his face, his face nicely shaven to accentuate his square jaw that was neither too old nor too young. several items hid well within the pockets of his double breasted trench coat, while others donned their hair and bodies with glowing lights and paints, he preferred to keep to the shadows without drawing that much attention to himself until he felt like it.
Behind his ear rested a long cigarette stick from decades past, well more than a century ago. He eyed his reflection for a while in the dirty window of a gear shop on level floor of the metropolis. Most people didn't walk the ground and the ones that did were addicts and criminals. So many souls astray, he felt right at home.
Leaving the only clean spot on the shotty storefront, he added a bit of a pep in his step as he walked, all he was missing was a cane but that was one of the items safely tucked inside his coat. he jingled like a thousand keys, it was the only tell sign that the Cheshire Cat was coming. Children in rags peered up at him from the safety of a garbage bin but he only whistled a lively tune from a century past.
He didn't like this new music that sounded like breaking glass and mechanical parts roaring into life but that's what the music scene had been like for over 150 years, only one place was different but he wasn't heading there yet.
There were a lot of people in the city and he was aimed to know each and everyone of them from the Rogue Mage to The Alchemist, characters well known for their vigilante lifestyle, while he couldn't budge to save others from harm, that didn't mean he couldn't help....or hinder....depending on the pay out.
He had been watching them for a little over a month now, their interactions hilarious slapstick comedy in the face of danger and neither of them were privy to his presence. Only because he wanted it that way. tonight, however, he wouldn't be watching their antics but another, Cait Sith, and maybe a little more if he felt the time was right.
My brother's:
Cait Sith was crouched on a building, his finger toying with the small device in his ear. He had been staking out this building for a month. His eyes were fixed on the back door as he continued to adjust his frequency until the voice behind the door crackled to life. His long white scarf trailed behind him and fluttered in the night air, he strained his ears to listen, but all he could hear was someone whistling, a strange tune he'd never heard before.
He scanned the alley to find a man dancing down the way, whistling and joyful. His blonde hair shone through the dim lighting. He wanted to ignore this man, but it seemed that the more he tried to cancel the noise, the louder the whistling became. He looked again to find the man staring at him, smiling with his mouth shut and yet the song went on.
Perhaps tonight was not the night, this man may be a guard. He turned to run back along the roof only to met by the tall, smiling man from the ally.
Mine:
The Cheshire Cat studied the man's confused reaction, always finding a relative enjoyment in the befuddlement of others, especially lesser men. He waved slightly with a black gloved hand, "how do you do? Or...how do you do it the way that you do? This stalking and pounce game that you play. Quite different from the others," he paused his purring voice, his slight accent that died over the years slurring just a bit as if he could be drunk.
"Yes, how do you do it, Fairy Cat?" He waited for a response in silence, straining his ears a bit he could hear the faint pounding of Cait's heart. Why was it beating so heavily he wondered? Was the Fairy Cat wary of him? He shuffled up to the other man until they were face to face, tempted to lick the mask of the other but the scent on his suit was far more curious. "No need to be alarmed. You'll come to no harm while The Cheshire Cat is around....or at least not by my own hands anyway," he half whispered under his breath, that last part.
He backed away as the man's face turned in utter dismay and confusion, clearly this wasn't going as well as he had planned. or wanted it to go, he didn't actually plan anything. He tsked under his breath as he sat down upon air, his leg crossing over his knee, his arms folded as his brow furrowed, appearing to be thinking hard about something. "This won't do! I thought he'd be different, he seemed so interesting in the beginning, perhaps I made a mistake," he rambled to himself, "no that can't be right. I'm perfect. But how does he do it?"
He shot a glare at Cait who seemed rooted to his spot by fear or maybe it was awe.
My brother's:
Cait Sith sat, confused. He swallowed hard, "Why are you talking to me? What are you talking about? And why the hell do you keep calling me 'Fairy Cat'?" he asked, his heart pounding and the smell of his own breath being fed back into his nose by the mask he wore. "I'm kinda in the middle of something and I don't have time for this crap." He growled at the man who was floating before him, smiling.
Mine:
He tilted his head to the side, why was the man growling at him? What uncivilized cat did such a thing? Feeling a bit offended, he huffed out a breath before putting his best growl forward himself, bringing out the full extent of his lost accent.
"Oh, I'm sorry, didn't realize that I encroached on your territory, the whole city smells like piss but I never smelled your piss so I didn't know. I am speaking to you on the very topic of your skills, sir. I might be in need of them in the near future...or tomorrow, or five minutes from now, that counts as the near future, yes indeed-" a sharp sound whistled through the air, catching his ear, he slowly turned his head only to study the idle building that sat beside them in its hollow faded glory.
Broken windows and a dusty darkness greeted his gaze just as silent as ever.
Raising an eyebrow, the Cheshire Cat never took his eyes off the building beside them, searching for anything that could resemble a life tucked away in the safety of its decrepit form. Listening harder he could make out words from the high pitched whistle that became a scream, its wavelength a straight shot from its point of origin directly to his aged ears.
Someone else was in need of him? Interesting, considering that the right people knew he would unavailable at the moment. He ignored the screaming that Cait probably could not hear.
He smiled brilliantly showing off a slightly chipped tooth, the only flaw in an otherwise perfect visage. "Caith Sith....it is Gaelic, means Fairy Cat. I find it unsavory that a man not know his own name may also not know his own self." His head whipped as the high pitched scream was replaced by sirens, a well known signal of the law at work. Perhaps he should have listened to the screams.
"I bide you farewell Fairy Cat." And in the blink of an eye, he was gone.
He reappeared at an underground bar that served real alcohol made from wheat, barely, potatoes and absinthe. Other places had moved on with the times and now only served small cocktails of synthetic booze laced with liquid magic elixirs. Messalina, the apt bartender looked his way, his blonde hair stood on end, a black tattoo that gave way to shimmering color gave depth to his cheekbone under his left eye as his clothes assimilated to more popular cyberpunk styles.
"Who're you pretending to be, C.C?" She asked, her brown arm strong in the ability to wipe down a wooden counter instead of the chrome ones used above ground.
"Pretending to be the person who called upon me wants me to be. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" He asked slyly, his voice less thick and more in tune with the local accent, if she didn't know better she would think him nothing more than one of the local punks around this part of town.
She poured him a glass of something sweet, nearly tossing it down the bar to him. "Not at all unless you want to pick a name out of a hat."
His eyes lit up, "oh yes, get me my top hat and let me match hand to mouth."
Leaving the bar, she returned with his top hat, a momento in her safe keeping for the time being, he reached in to the bottom then pulled out a sliver of paper with the name of a woman inside. "Oh ho, a former magic addict screaming for fabulous me?" He stood then chugged down the alcoholic beverage which had him trembling from head to feet. "Well I'm off. Keep a warm bed for me, Messalina."
She looked up at him, confused for a moment, "wait...you're coming back tonight?"
"Tonight, tomorrow, dawn, twilight, what is time but a way to keep us all rooted to the ground with sick and worry?" He waved his arm as he headed out the door.
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