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[stantheman]

who: Stan Uris, OTA
what: catch-all
when: March
where: various places around the city
warnings: n/a

( A. Library )

[ Stan sometimes feels like he hasn't really adjusted to live at all here. He gets homesick, more than he ever could have anticipated. He misses the other Losers and sometimes he even finds himself missing some of the less nice people around Derry. That's infrequent, though, and he misses the Losers all the time. It's been hard to find a new set of friends to really fit in with. Bill, Richie and Eddie had known him for a long time and they knew that there was more to him than his rigid exterior but then again they'd always created a sort of balance with each other. Here, he hadn't really found anything like that. So, he spends a lot of hours in the library.

He searches out books on birds, sometimes books on his religion or the language his father was always trying to push him to study and he had always resisted. Sometimes, very few times he'll pull down a fantasy novel to read. He's become rather good at knowing where different sorts of things are located, so you can always ask him for help or get nosy about what book he has his nose buried in. ]

( B. Zoo )

[ It's been a while since Laura had showed him the zoo for the first time and he's found his way back there more often than not. There's a lot of strange animals and then there are some that remind him of home. There's not an Evening Grosbeak to be seen and that's a bit disappointing to him but he'll always continue to explore through different bird species and the like. Sometimes he ventures to other exhibits but other times he'll stare at a flamingo like species for hours, just watching how they interact with each other and their environment or he'll try having a conversation with a parrot.

Do you want to know more about birds? He's the kid to ask or if you wanted to show him something else cool... ]

( Wildcard )

[ I'll match tenses and styles! Feel free to hit me with your best shot or hit me up via PM or on plurk at poetanarchy if you want to plot something or want a specific starter. ]

Comments

[like_quicksilver]

[Gyda knew of the zoo of course, and had visited a few times, but she still liked going. Every once and while there was something new, and the chance to visit and just 'look' at animals for the sake of enjoyment. Even pets were kept for a purpose.

By chance, she was at the bird house. The birds were nothing like those back home, not even from the sagas, but it made them all the more fascinated.]

[She actually felt herself smile when she came across Stan, and leaned just a little against the railing of the exhibit.] What's your fascination with birds?

[She liked the animals as well, but it seemed they were all he really focused on.]

[stantheman]

[ Stan smiles when he sees Gyda. He sees her in passing often enough but they don't always have time to actually talk. He always likes it when they do. He looks back at the birds, lifting a shoulder. ]

I think they're pretty and I like the way they sound. They're all a lot different. It's relaxing to watch them.

[like_quicksilver]

I love the colorful ones. [So many of the birds back home were in shades of brown, black and white. They were pretty of course, but the colorful birds of warm weather were just more interesting.]

Back home, there are stories of the valkries, they're given capes of swan feathers. And we say that ravens are the eyes of Odin. [She knew he read all about birds, but those were books about them, not the myths around them.]

[stantheman]

What are valkyries? [ Stan had not learned very much about mythologies as of yet and Norse mythology might not have been what he would have learned about later in school anyway. ]

Who is Odin? [ He thinks he must be a very powerful idea if ravens were his eyes since those were often everywhere. ]

[like_quicksilver]

[Her smile widened. She rarely had the chance to talk about the stories from home, let alone to someone unfamiliar to them.] Valkyries are shieldmaidens under the command of Odin and Freya. They are gifted with capes of swan feathers that allow them to fly over battle fields, watching and deciding which warrior lives or is to be killed, either a stray arrow or misplaced axe swing. If a woman is killed in battle, she becomes a valkrie.

[There was more she could tell, but he only asked for the valkries. The rest she would tell with her other answer.] Odin is king of the gods, the All-father. He is said to wander the Earth, Midgard, we call it, in a grey cloak. He is god of poetry, knowledge and warfare, and wanders battlefields when it is all over, choosing the bravest warriors that will be taken to his hall, Valhala.

[stantheman]

[ Stan's brows furrow as he listens to her story. He's definitely never heard anything like that before and he wonders if there's any truth to it, before, not long ago he wouldn't have wondered at all but now he's looking out at unearthly birds and so who knows what all is possible anymore. ]

What happens to everyone else? [ Stan questions after a moment, curious strangely enough. It's an odd combination of things that this Odin seems to be god of. ] What is Valhalla... [ The question comes belatedly. ]

[like_quicksilver]

[If he had said so about Odin, she would've smiled-he didn't know the half of it, but who was she to question about the gods.]

The rest are taken by the godess Freya to her hall and field. Valhalla is a drinking hall covered in gold, the roof is held by spears, the walls shields and mail shirts cover the benchs. The warriors fight eachother during the day, but at night, they rise up against and go into Valhalla, where they spend the night feasting, drinking and sharing songs and stories.

[She wasn't the story teller that Floki was, but she hoped she could get across just why Valhalla was such a goal for her people.]

[stantheman]

[ Stan frowns at her description. He tilts his head thoughtfully but he can't really understand why anyone would want that. ]

Wouldn't fighting get tiring?

[like_quicksilver]

They fight to get stronger, with every battle on Midgard bringing in new warriors. [That was just how it was. Boys and even some girls trained for the shield wall as young as ten or eleven, and kept at it to grow stronger.] Every day, they fight to the death, with sword, ax and shield, in hopes that when Ragnarok comes, they will be able to stand with the gods in their fight against the giants, to prevent the end of the world.

[Her expression was serious as she told him. Even if he came from a future version of her world, there was nothing to say it wouldn't happen.]

[stantheman]

That doesn't sound like a great afterlife to me. [ After all, fighting isn't what he thinks is fun or relaxing or rewarding. No one really in his time thinks that, probably. It sounds exhausting and frustrating and has no aim or purpose. What's the point of getting stronger if you're dead? ]

What is Ragnarok? [ It's a different version of events than what's in the Judeo-Christian belief systems really. The end of the world isn't really something to fear. ]

[like_quicksilver]

It is more cheerful then Hel's domain. I mean the goddess Hel, not the Christian Hell. [Thanks to Athelstan, she knew the names sounded similar, and she was willing to bet Stan was more familiar with the latter.] Hel was forced by Odin to give shelter and board to those who die of sickness and old age. Her world is dark, grey and always winter; the only good thing about it is that she waits for the god Baldr to return to her domain, and so she always has a table set with food and blankets for shelter.

By all accounts, not the worst place to end when a person dies, but it was no where near as grand as Valhalla.]

[His other question caused her to look down. Of all the stories she was told growing up, this one scared her the most.] It is called Twilight of the gods. There will be three years of terrible winters, and summers were the sun doesn't shine at all, and families and clans will fight and destroy eachother from within. The fire giants will storm Midgard and the giant wolf Fenrir will free himself from his chains. Odin, his warriors and the gods will storm out of Valhalla to fight in a last stand against the Giants, the Wolf and World serpent Jörmungandr. If the gods loose, the giant Surt will blot out the sun, the wolf Skoll will swallow the moon, and the entire world will be covered in water and darkness.

[The end of all things, that was what they feared. For all her people believed in Fate, there was still hope that..somehow, the world would not end in such a manner.]

[stantheman]

[ Stan frowns a bit at the mention of Hell -- but then it's clarified and he's not sure if it's better or worse, to be honest. He lets her keep talking before he asked any questions. After all, she might answer them on her own. Her domain doesn't really sound all that bad. It doesn't sound any better or worse than Valhalla -- though, Stan thinks the fact that there's not so much fighting sounds better to him and all. Winter isn't so bad, he thinks -- then again, Derry hadn't really had winters that were all that harsh.

He nods in understanding of the explanation of Hel.

When she goes on to describe Ragnarok, he thinks it sounds a little like Revelation. He's heard some fire and brimstone preachers before, there were plenty of those in Derry ( a lot of good they do, just about as much as his father the Rabbi ). ]

It's like all people, in all time fear the same exact thing.

[ Stan says to the description. ]

But it never happens.

library

[hoponpop]

Hopper is at the library, trying to find more information about Riverview and its history, when a little boy runs into him—literally. He puts a hand out, setting it on the kid's head momentarily, then rescues the small pile on his arm from falling off.

"Whoa," he says. "Not that I'd discourage you from reading, but you might not want to keep your nose buried in a book when you're walking around."

[stantheman]

Stan looks up surprised when he finds himself having run into someone. He looks a bit sheepish for a moment.

"I'm sorry about that, sir," he apologizes quickly and lowers his book all the way then, before peering at the assortment Hopper has.

[hoponpop]

Hopper can't help smiling a bit, but he keeps his amusement under wraps. "You want to see what I've picked out to read?" he asks. "It's mostly history books." He shows off the spines.

[stantheman]

Stan appraises the books that Hopper has when the other makes the spines more easy to see. He points at one of them. "That one's a bit of a waste of your time," he advises very seriously.

B!

[shoplifter]

[Laura is at the zoo very often herself; it's easy to relate to animals, when you've been put into a glorified kennel for a lot of your life. Regardless, it means she sees Stan around a lot - and so when he's watching those flamingo-esque bird creatures, she makes her way over.

Wordlessly, she holds out a ice cream cone for him.]

Re: B!

[stantheman]

[ Laura is different from the other girls he knows. Then again she's different from most kids in general that Stan's known but he likes that. He thinks she's interesting and he has more in common with her than most.

He offers her a small smile as he accepts the ice cream cone from her. ]

Thanks. [ He looks from her back to the birds, tilting his head. ] Have you ever heard them making sounds? [ He hasn't yet and he's been there a while. ]

[shoplifter]

[A shake of her head.]

Maybe they don't make any noise. Maybe they just like to listen.

[Isn't that possible? That there's a creature in the world that would rather not say anything at all?]

[stantheman]

Maybe...birds aren't usually like that though. They communicate with their calls...

[ Stan says, his brow furrowing as he looks over at them before tilting his head to look back at Laura. There are some quiet animals in the world, at least Earth, maybe here too but he didn't think birds tended to be them. ]

[shoplifter]

Usually, yes... I think it's nice sometimes, to be unusual.

[She stares at the birds, thoughtful. She has a hard time with the idea of being different, so different it causes her life great difficulties at home. But...]

Do you think so?

[stantheman]

[ Stan doesn't answer right away. He likes things normal and orderly. He likes things natural and things that make sense. It's taken him a while to start branching out, slowly out of his comfort zone and all. He shrugs after a few seconds. ]

I didn't used to. I'm not sure now, I guess.

[shoplifter]

[She watches the bird, quieted.]

... Unusual is normal, for me.

[A hesitant pause.]

Does unusual scare you?

[stantheman]

[ It doesn't surprise him. He's sort of known she's different, maybe even though he doesn't know how different. It wouldn't make him like her less if he knew, though. He's worked on not letting his fear of the unusual and unnatural control him or his interactions with people that he meets here. After all, It isn't here, so he thinks it's okay to face his fears a little at a time. ]

Back home, It...this... [ He pauses... ] People say when I describe it that it sounds like a fear demon. When it would appear to me I always saw this painting of an unnaturally distorted woman from this painting that was always off center in my Dad's office. [ That painting was a nightmare to him on so many levels. ]

So I guess, it is, the unusual, the unnatural... But we beat It. [ Meaning, in a way they all kind of beat their fears and they'd promised to fight It again if It ever came back. ]

[shoplifter]

[Wait a moment. She cocks her head to the side, intrigued by the wording.]

¿Cómo? Beat what?

[Sounds like there's a lot to this.]

[stantheman]

[ Stan pauses, confused by the question for a moment. ]

It. [ He shrugs. ]

We just called it, "It" because it was different for everyone...

[shoplifter]

[She shakes her head, unsure.]

I don't think I understand. Why was this 'It' there? After you?

[stantheman]

[ Stan frowns. ]

I don't know for sure. It was something about our town. Every few decades it comes back and bad things happen there. It's like there is an evil that nothing can erase.

[shoplifter]

[Ah, this sounds pretty serious. And also - strange, even for her in all of her inexperience with the world and what lives in it.]

You cannot kill it?

Or find someone strong enough to.

[stantheman]

[ Stan shrugs. He doesn't know for sure. He knows that they promised they'd fight It again if it ever came back... He has that feeling that it would come back and they had far from actually killed it. He didn't know if it was possible to kill something that evil. ]

Adults didn't give a shit about what was going on.

[shoplifter]

[She quiets, looking at the zoo creature before them in thought.]

I can understand that.

Will you be able to handle this It?

[stantheman]

We did before...

[ Stan really doesn't want to face It again. There's a terrible dread at the idea of it, like he'd rather die than do it but he tries not to think about that too very much.

They should have anyway... ]