{ Afternoon Meeting }- Closed RP

"No big deal, man," He rose his eyebrow and nodded. "Ah, I see." He answered after he worded. Vallo could tell his not the brightest- but he couldn’t say anything. Vallo’s probably less than the shitter himself. "As long as y’got some brain in ya, I guess y’er good." 

Vallo glanced at him and frowned a bit. “Aye, Arctica, y’alright?” He made a bit of space in between them, thinking that his own presence was worrying the other. This kid worried too much about someone he considered a ‘friend’ though was more like an acquaintance.

"Huh?" damn, you're looking weird in front of him. "Oh, nothing, I was just thinkin' for a sec! Think nothing of it, really." he nodded, then looked around, trying to find something to change the subject to. "You live around here, you said? Or, rather, your family's home is around here?"

Sonata thought for a moment about the fact that in four days he'd be on a plane on the way back to Japan. Vallo had been looking for a pay phone yesterday, so he obviously didn't have a convenient form of contacting people. Agh, how unlucky was that? Finally finding somebody like him, and then probably losing them. He wouldn't bring it up. Hell, Vallo probably thought of him as a drag anyway. Eh, if they were still in contact, he'd tell him the day before he left.

{ Afternoon Meeting }- Closed RP

"Almost 19. I’ve got a little over a month until my birthday." He answered, and rose his eyebrow. "Ah, I thought I told you I got kicked out ‘cause I dropped outta school when I was 16." Vallo scoffed. "I wasn’t bad, wasn’t great, either." He shook his head and shrugged, "How ‘bout you?"

Vallo wasn’t too bad in the area of school and education. He dropped out because of all of the fights he used to get in and the constant teasing. Plus, he also did it for the attention. That didn’t work considering he lost his friends and his family shunned him and kicked him out.

"Oh," maybe he did. Damn, Sonata couldn't remember. "If you did, I forgot. Sorry about that, ahaha..." what an idiot you are, Arctica. He turned back at the return of the inquiry. "Oh, I do alright... I mean, I'm no genius, but I'm not dumb. I'm nothin' special, is all."

Nothin' too special. Yeah, Sonata guessed that was a pretty good summary of him. Just sort of an average teenager with a motorcycle he took too much care of. It was a cool motorcycle, though. Damn, was he a boring person? He furrowed his brow, lost in thought.

Chance Encounters

"Exactly. Stands manifest themselves according to their user, so their form and abilities may vary greatly." He nods, looking down at the boy and expecting further questions. So far he really seemed to be ignorant about the nature of his own power. This could be used to the butler’s advantage, of course. He only needed to play this right.

"You were holding a gun at me while asking what I could want to spare you. No one who holds a weapon in close range would be begging for mercy. I don’t need a stand ability to know this." Terence gestures towards the hand that held the gun a few moments ago, frowning and acting like a concerned parent. "You need to be careful when you bluff, Sonata. Anybody else would have attacked you right away. There are many stand users here who have been killing for years, it’s too dangerous to play with your life like this…"

After a moment of silence, he lays a hand over the teenager’s shoulder and leaning close, as if whatever he would share needed to be kept a secret. This sort of intimacy and false security came with a charming smile, all carefully thought of to manipulate his victim. “There is someone however… Who’s stronger than any other stand user I’ve ever met. I stay under his protection so I have nothing to fear. You’re still young and learning how to use your power. Maybe it’s good to have a friend who can aid you when needed. But that is your decision to make.”

"Ah..." he'd have to be more careful about that... Damn, he'd been so quick to assuming, he'd thought that he already knew Slow Ride's ability. But, judging based on what Terence had said, there was a concentration of stand users in Cairo. Many of them violent, as evident. Was Terence one of these, but hiding it..? There was something... wrong about him.

At the other's hand on him, he shuddered. He hadn't been expecting to get any closer to this man than he was. When Terence leaned in, smile and all, Sonata knew something was up, and felt himself start to sweat. If asked, he'd blame it on the heat, of course, but something was off about this situation.

A powerful stand user..? Stronger than Terence?

But Sonata hadn't actually seen Terence use his stand, and so he had nothing to base Atum's strength off of. But, if somebody as disarming and sneaky as Terence appeared to be was serving somebody else, that somebody had to be foreboding, more sneaky. He didn't like that idea.

"I--I'm pretty good at commanding Slow Ride, Terence... I don't think I need any help, ahaha," he laughed nervously, which was unplanned. Trying to play it off casually, he smirked afterward.

I should get out of here.

Making Slow Ride into a wristwatch, he pulled the sleeve of his jacket up. "Oh, man, is it past 8 already? Damn, mom and dad told me to be back at the hotel by 8:30! Haha, I don't really wanna worry them, y'know?" he didn't directly ask to leave, didn't say he was running away. But he hoped Terence got the message.

{ Afternoon Meeting }- Closed RP

"Consider it a token of appreciation, then.. y’know, when I get around to it." He snorted and shook his head a bit before shoving his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, ‘course." He began walking and thought before attempting small talk.

"Well, since you came to ask questions and I am here to answer them, anything else you got up your sleeve on a more personal matter, Arctica?" He asked, seeing as he did want to get to know each other a little bit. Maybe Vallo did make a friend. He wasn’t quite open to trust him fully yet, but, he’d answer. Vaguely, but he would answer.

Sonata chuckled and nodded. "Right," he sighed. He supposed he'd be getting something sometime, then. He'd made the suggestion to walk with the intent to suggest riding his motorcycle afterward, because that would be faster, but he supposed that walking was healthy. His motorcycle was a one-seater anyway, so he followed.

"Huh? Something more personal? Hmm," he thought for a few moments. Hadn't really been expecting to be invited to ask personal questions. "Uh... How'd you do in school? You're nineteen, so I figure you must've graduated, huh?" Sonata wasn't number one in school, but hey, he wasn't at the bottom. He figured it a good place to start.

{ Afternoon Meeting }- Closed RP

"Buy my cup?" He scoffed and stood up, offering his hand to help him up. Vallo rose his eyebrow with a sigh. "Well, if you insist. But I’ll make it up to you some day, Arctica." Vallo smiled a bit, "I owe it t’ya after bustin’ part of your arm open."

Vallo wasn’t that bad of a guy when it narrowed down to it, but he still had his anger to worry about and his violent tendencies. He was just glad Sonata didn’t grab the police and bring them to put him in bars, but, paranoia is a bitch.

"Huh? Oh, don't worry about that, seriously," he accepted the arm and stood, cracking his knuckles out of habit. "My fault for... Eh, you just don't owe me anything, okay?"

Sonata tried his best not to be a bad guy, he was just quick to conclusions, a habit that often landed him in trouble. But hey, he always thought that he'd rather be fast than slow, so in the end it worked out. He glanced around once more, and then back to the other. "We walkin', then?"

{ Afternoon Meeting }- Closed RP

"Well," He watched him, raising his eyebrow. "It was more.. violent purposes, my stand. What happened last night is not the first nor the last time I will gamble or use Apprentice to win." That was all he had left it at before the other asked another question.

"Hm?" He laughed lightly before smiling a bit. "Sure, sure," Vallo glanced around and then snapped. "Instead of here, I was able to rake in some more cash. We can get coffee or whatever, if you’re cool with that." Vallo grinned and tilted his head a bit.

"Right, right," Sonata looked down, scratching his chin. He touched the bandage he had placed last night and thought how lucky he was to not have been called on his bluff. There were definitely better ways to die than that.

"Oh? I don't really drink coffee, but sure. I'll buy your cup." he gave a small smirk back. It faded after a moment and he continued, "Y'know, I couldn't actually shoot you yesterday. There was no chance of you coming into harm's way. Like I said, whenever I stop touching Slow Ride, it disappears. Bullets can't leave the gun." he shrugged, then looked out at the streets that led to the park. It was a nice day.

Chance Encounters

He walked side by side with the teenager, with no hurry on each step and nothing but absolute control on his gestures as he spoke once more. Knowledge was valuable and no one could tell Terence otherwise, but it’s source and how it was transmitted mattered just as much.

"I don’t think you’re aware of the nature of your ‘gun’. Sonata, you are the wielder of what people call ‘stands’. Only beings with strong spiritual power and determination can see it for what it truly is and understand it’s full potential."

After a quiet pause so the boy would absorb the information, the gamer looks down at him, explaining like a patient teacher would. “And these same people have ‘stands’ of their own. Manifestations of their will power that protects them, intimately linked to their very own lives. As each person is different, each stand manifests itself in different ways, with peculiar abilities as well. The spirit you saw was my stand, Atum. Regular people cannot see him so your reaction gave away pretty easily that you are like me. A stand user.”

Smiling, he stops for a moment to look up at sky, the dusk lined with the few clouds made quite a view. As warming as his gestures and words might seem, there was always something clearly wrong in those eyes. Always a small reminder of the harm D’Arby could inflict, even if the nature of it was uncertain. “Stand users are drawn to each other, Sonata. You’ll meet more of us and some won’t hesitate on harming you, so don’t forget what I tell you.”

So... So Slow Ride was a manifestation of his spiritual power. He supposed that made sense, in its own way. Looking to the ground, he thought for a moment. If only other 'stand' users could see his stand, then the motorcycle incident with Slow Ride made a lot more sense than it had at the time. All those people must've just seen a kid flying down the streets seated on absolutely nothing. Man, that'd be something to see.

"So, your--your Atum, and my Slow Ride... They're the same. Not in manifestation, but in essence, right?" he had to clarify, as it was obvious that this man's 'stand' was in no way an amorphous metal.

It was obvious that this guy had met other stand users. And his comment on them being willing to inflict harm was a bit troubling. "Right..." this was a lot to take in, but he was trying his best not to look stupid.

"Your Atum... It can read minds, right? You knew I couldn't fire at you," unless that was a bluff, or unless Terence himself was a mind reader, that had to be it. If so, this guy might prove troublesome if things got sticky. It'd be dangerous to fight him.

{ Afternoon Meeting }- Closed RP

"Geez, can y’spell morbid?" He shook his head and rose his eyebrow. "Yet more tame than what I used Apprentice for when I was a kid." Vallo chuckled and started playing with the stand once more. "However, I guess a lot more people’s are, eh?" He laughed lightly then frowned a bit. "Don’t think I should be tellin’ you all of this, y’know." 

Vallo sighed flicking Apprentice off so he vanished. “Any other questions y’got for me, Arctica? I got all day. Dad didn’t let me in, so, I got no where to go.” He lied once more, a little guilt rising as he did so. But it was true, he had no where to be at the moment, so, he was more than okay with taking this time to answer questions.

"Hah, yeah, I guess that is pretty morbid..." he made Slow Ride a coin and flipped it, but it disappeared when it left the nail of his thumb. He hated that. "Oh, you can tell me anything, Vallo. Not like I have anybody I can tell all this shit to. 'Cept you. But then, wouldn't be a problem if I told you about yourself, hm?"

He thought hard for a moment. "Nah, I guess there isn't anything else I really need to know. Not now, at least." he would have a pretty damn boring rest of his day, though. "Maybe, since you're free... You wanna just, like... Hang out? Get to know each other?" Man, he hoped that didn't sound as stupid as he thought it did.

{ Afternoon Meeting }- Closed RP

"We can figure it out later." He spoke. When asked about his stand he shrugged. "I was told I was born with it." Vallo answered. "No, Vincent was. Vincent wasn’t allowed to use it, either. I guess it was ‘cause my temper tantrums would kill someone if I used it while thinking irrationally." 

He looked at Sonata an rose his eyebrow. “But don’t let people who were born with it fool you. People who are not naturally born stand users can develop one. Fuck, some of the best stand users that I’ve heard of weren’t born with ‘em.” Vallo wasn’t quite sure himself how it happens, but from what he was told was a power inside of an individual awakened to be a stand and that’s what he believed. “I ‘unno. From all these questions you’re askin’, I can tell you weren’t a natural born stand user, eh?”

"Huh?" he looked up at the question, which had pulled him out of his thoughts on what his stand's strengths and weaknesses were and weren't. "Oh, no, I don't think I was born with it. Some weird accident happened while I was six, on vacation in France. My parents won't really talk about it, and I can't remember much, but I know that a guy pulled me into a side street and shot me. I got real sick afterwards, I was in the hospital for a couple weeks. But when I recovered, I was able to make toys for myself. Any figurine I wanted. They weren't posable, though. Lead, y'see."

Man, telling that story brought back some memories of the first few times he'd used Slow Ride. Pretty awkward. Especially when he'd shown his parents. Crap, he was getting lost in thought again. "But, yeah, that's how I got mine. Pretty out there, hm?"

Chance Encounters

Cold blue eyes looked down at the gun as if it was a broken toy held by a harmless boy, a toddler shaking a twig at a hungry wolf. “What kind of man begs for his well being while holding a gun at a victim?" It seems rhetorical, the butler’s eyes moving up slowly to the boy before him as that confident grin is back on his lips. "A man who gives out vital information at the sight of a threat, a man who’s as lost as a child left behind-"

He stops, with realization clear in his eyes. “…Nothing but a lost child." There was no real threat. In his mind, the gamer was already making the necessary questions while through the eyes of Atum he saw the young man’s aura change with each answer. Moving his hands to his back, he nodded as an apology. "I’m sorry if I made it seem like I would attack you with no reason. I simply want to know more about the people who are like me and such meetings are always overwhelming."

After a pause, the butler gestured towards the path in front of them. Though Cairo was quieter at that time, the moving cars and pedestrians made the street seem safe. No promises of further threats. “Now if you would like to hear what is that ‘spirit’ I showed you, I suggest you put the gun down. It might bring unnecessary attention and I already know that you cannot shoot me. So let’s talk like adults should. I have answers that you need.’”

Fuck, can he... Can he read my mind?

It didn't look like this guy, this Terence, wanted to kill him. Or, if he did, he didn't want to just yet. And that was good. But damn, was this guy scary. Handsome, yeah, but he was scary-looking at the same time. A dangerous combination.

"You want to know more about the people... Like you? What's that supposed to mean?" he lowered the gun, and then let it go. The second it left his hand, it disappeared. Vanished. But he assumed this guy had seen stranger. Probably was a lot stranger than a disappearing gun.

His eyes followed the hand that moved out to the path. He supposed that he wouldn't be hurt on a busy street, so he stepped out first. "Answers that I need?" it was... A confusing statement, to say the least. Sonata didn't really need any answers. Or, he thought he didn't. This Terence guy was proving to be an interesting character.

{ Afternoon Meeting }- Closed RP

He laughed and smiled and shook his head. “Hmph.” Vallo stared at the bird and moved it away from him. “I didn’t, either. Again, my temper is the shortest you will ever meet, but, I’ve learned to live with it.” His voice was now a murmur.

He nodded. “Yep, yep, yep.” The high school dropout slouched in his place, moving the bird from his finger to his shoulder. “Your’s shifts to different things that are metal, right? Mine creates air pockets. It’s all on the different skills they posses. All stands have different stats, too.” Yet another pause.

"My stands strengths are destructive power, speed and precision. There are six stats that are ranked," He began to list, his fingers counting off with each name. "Destructive power, speed, range, durability, precision and development potential. My stand isn’t great with rand, durability or development which is why it’s actually incredibly weak."

"Right..." Sonata murmured, nodding slowly. "Well, if I'm not touching Slow Ride, it'll disappear, so I guess range is my weakness. And... Development potential, as well. I don't think it'll be learning anything anytime soon. Speed's definitely a strength of mine, seeing as Slow Ride can slow down time, and I guess precision, too. Durability... I don't really know about that one." he thought about his stand, what it could do and why he might have it.

"How'd you get your stand, Vallo?" he was curious to find out how others come about this sort of thing. "Was it, like, an accident of some sort?" Could you just... Get one? He had no clue.

{ Afternoon Meeting }- Closed RP

"Not a lot." He answered. "Stands are, like.. guards and workers for us, y’know? They protect us but only under our own command unless the stretch of danger is drastic. I heard one guy went to shoot himself but the stand stopped the bullet before it hit his head." Vallo shrugged, having to take small breaks in speaking. He wasn’t used to talking this much.

"They’re like.. energy pictures. Essentially, they’re like our spiritual energy or whatever that our bound to our physical and spiritual beings." He paused, putting his finger in the center of his forehead. "However.. some may be bound to objects. Like.. my stand is bound to me; thus, if Apprentice gets injured, then I get injured." Vallo held apprentice over to Sonata. "Go ahead, hit it."

"Uh..." this was a lot to take in. "Like, hit it hard? Or flick it? I don't want to hurt you, y'know," a strange flashback to when those words were used against him yesterday. He doubted the sincerity of it yesterday, but he meant it. "I-uh, I get the concept."

So... If somebody damaged whatever Slow Ride was, would he be injured? Eh, he supposed he'd save that for another day. Maybe find it out himself. "Are all stands different? Do they all do different things?" pretty obvious, but he had to make sure.

{ Afternoon Meeting }- Closed RP

He grinned up at him, “Curiosity killed the cat.” Vallo shrugged and put the coins back in his pocket. “Don’t need it now, but thanks.” He sighed and slid his coat back on. 

"So, you need more about stands, eh?" He questioned, summoning Apprentice once more, allowing it to sit on his finger. "Well, I ‘unno much about ‘em, either. All I know is that I got one and only other people with ‘em can see ‘em. But I’ll answer whatever questions you got, so, shoot."

He thought for a moment about what exactly he should ask. He supposed there was a lot to know. Well, he supposed, for starters, he had a good one to ask. "Do a lot of people have them? What... What exactly are they?"

The concept was strange to him. Other people couldn't see them? How strange. He guessed that explained some things, though. At least, finally, he'd found somebody else like him. And, he guessed, Vallo had encountered others. So maybe he could tell him about those.

{ Afternoon Meeting }- Closed RP

"Touchy, touchy." A small smirk came into view on Vallo’s lips as he moved his jacket into his lap as he approached. "Didn’t doubt that. But you didn’t give me your word, Arctica." He cocked his eyebrow upwards as his eyes shut. "Plus, I threatened to kill you over twenty-five cents. No sane man would consider glancing at me again." There was that casual tone again.

Vallo silently held up the fifty cents left over from the booth, his cheeks being chewed on. “Take a seat, it won’t kill ya’ to sit on the ground.” He had a slight tease about his voice with that statement. 

"Hmph," he hadn't really thought about that. Yeah, he supposed Vallo really had been trying to kill him. "Eh, a curious man might. I've never met anybody else with an ability like mine."

He looked at the coins being held up to him. "Hey, hey, I don't need that! That's for you, stupid!" he looked at the ground next to Vallo and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess not." he sat down next to his, well, friend, and looked around. It was a nice park.