A Little Chaos Could Be Fun

Who: Dorian and Mathias
Where: Nevermore
When: Morning

While Dorian didn't exactly put in enough hours at Nevermore to consider what he was doing as 'work', he did make a daily appearance and check to make sure everything was in working order. The whole book-renting thing was working out really well, since more people could afford to rent the books than buy them. People were desperate for information and he didn't blame them. He would be too, if he hadn't been brought up to believe in all the crazy shit that was out there. Even then, his beliefs didn't cover ghosts suddenly wandering the world. It was the one question commonly asked that he still didn't have a good solid answer for, but life went on, and he'd never had all the answers to begin with.

Mathias was aware that he saw hardly anything of his brothers these days. Enough to make it surprising that they still lived in the same house. Now that the dining room was converted and he had his own room, it wasn't even like he was being woken up every time one of them walked into the living room. Most of his time was spent at Babylon being bored out of his fucking skull, but fulfilling his bargain with Eris. He only really went back to the house to sleep - a few hours at some really weird times of day. Some days he felt like he was hardly there at all - which was why he'd ended up going to Nevermore to check up with his brother, not realising that Dorian wasn't always there these days.

As luck would have it, though, he caught sight of his brother as he walked through the door and, brushing snow off his shoulders, he headed over.

Dorian looked up and smiled, trying to remember the last time he'd actually had a conversation with Mathias. Despite being in the same house, they rarely saw each other. He figured it was conflicting schedules and hadn't put much thought beyond that, busy trying to get his life back in order-- or in a new order, since it had changed from before. "Hey Math," Dorian said, his hands sliding into his pockets as he headed up towards the front. "How's it going?"

"Not bad, not bad - kinda had enough of the snow though, y'know," he suggested, giving up on the brushing and just taking the jacket off instead. He was fucking freezing, in actual fact - he really was going to have to give up and buy gloves and a scarf, but they really went against the image. Not even Mathias thought there was any way to make being wrapped up for winter look cool - at this rate, he was going to have to buy a hat, rather than making use of his hoodie, like today. He pushed that back off his head as well.

"Yeah, had my car all winterized and shit a few weeks ago, just in case something like this happened," Dorian said, glancing towards the window. "Not something I wanna be wandering around in. Too fucking cold." With the snow coming down as it was, he was thinking it might be good to close the shop early today and just let everyone have the rest of the day off. He didn't see his customers being that desperate for books, and he'd rather be some place warmer. Possibly with hot chocolate, which reminded him to drop by Joey's before heading home.

"You're much more organised than I am - I have to do that. Where'd you take it?" Mathias asked. He wasn't used to dealing with winter - generally he tried to make sure that he was somewhere warm and sunny, possibly with a beach and an attractive girl needing regular reapplication of suntan lotion when the winter months came.

"This place-- oh, what's the name of it?-- this guy, Ash, works there. Knew a lot about cars and what I would need. Even went ahead and put chains on my tires," Dorian said. It was a good thing, too, since he wasn't sure he'd be getting home without them. "I've got his information at home somewhere. I'll make sure to get it to you. Hopefully we can avoid being stranded."

"Cool, that'd be great if you could - really appreciate it," Mathias said, dumping his damp jacket on the counter before leaning against it. "So, ships that pass - how are you anyhow? Feels like far too long," he said, easily, ignoring the urge to reach for the packet of cigarettes in his pocket - he doubted his brother would appreciate him stinking out his shock.

"Pretty good," Dorian said with a smile. "Enjoying the chaos that the ghosts brought with them, even if it's virtually harmless, at least so far. What about you? Can't believe you've still got your feet planted in Marquette." As far as Dorian knew, this was the longest Mathias had ever stayed anywhere, at least since high school. He kept excepting to wake up one morning and find him gone.

"Yeah, well - gotta lie low for a while, don't have anywhere else to be, and figured that I may as well stay around," Mathias said, avoiding mentioning anything about the promise he'd made to Eris - and the reasons he'd made that deal. So far, he'd managed not to have to tell either of his brothers what he'd done - which was another reason he was making himself scarce. If he didn't spend time with them, he didn't have to run the risk they'd find out he'd sold himself. He'd prefer it that way if he could mange it.

"It's nice to have you around," Dorian said with a smile. Even if he only saw Mathias in passing, it was more than he usually saw his brother. He enjoyed it, when he could, and he thought it was probably good for Caleb. Mathias was so much better at working with him than Dorian thought he was. "At least this place seems to keep interesting. I keep wondering what'll come next after the ghosts." People were talking like it was the end of the world, but Dorian wasn't sure that was the direction this was going. Of course, if it did, he'd do his best to enjoy the ride.

"Let's see.... Demons, weird fucking dream things, vampires, shadows from fuck knows were, werewolves, ghosts - I think it's the turn of you psychics next. So, bro - just make sure you give me a heads up before you try and take over the world, kay?" he joked, as though this kind of thing were an everyday occurrence and it wasn't that there were people in town prophesying the end of the world everywhere he went. He'd been stopped in the street yesterday by some mad preacher who'd been shocked that Math had actually stopped and talked back to him - and then five minutes later really wished he hadn't, when he found himself on the losing end of a discussion about how the world was actually damn hard to end and all the people who had tried before. That had been the highlight of Math's day.

"Now why would I go and do that when you're one of the few who could stop me," Dorian teased with a grin. Sometimes he forgot that he could get grouped in with the psychics, but he most definitely was, his powers considered one of the mind and not of demonic origin. In his opinion, the psychics could really be the most dangerous group, depending on who banded together. "Then again, I might need you with me in order to be successful. I'll let you know when I've got the next step of the apocalypse scheduled."

"I could stop you?" Mathias asked, considering that idea. "Now, little brother, why would I want to do that - if you set your heart on something. You know I'd be more likely to help," he continued with his teasing, though the undercurrent was serious. Not that he thought for a moment that Dorian had anything like that planned, but Mathias would always be on his side if he needed it. And if it involved raising a little hell in the process, well, he was even more there.

"Nice to know I can count on you," Dorian grinned. He'd always believed he could, even if he didn't always show it. One thing he appreciated about his brothers was that they would always be there for him, no matter what, and he'd always return the favor. It didn't matter that they barely connected on anything else. Blood was thicker. "I will be interested to see where this all goes. Now that it's started, it doesn't seem likely to stop." He could be wrong, of course, but with ghosts running around? It just seemed like a natural progression.

"Seems unlikely," Mathias agreed. "I've been making calls where I can, trying to ask around, see if anyone knows anything about what caused this, but there doesn't seem to be anything. No suggestions about anyone who's set this in motion, nothing. Apparently it's spontaneous." That almost worried him more than there being some massively powerful mojo guy out there who decided to fuck with spirits for shits and giggles.

"I'm not sure that this is the kind of thing a 'who' could do anyways," Dorian said. "It's world-wide, and I don't know if even the most powerful witch could work a spell of that magnitude." And if they could, they would be someone worth fearing. "What's to come from this, though, could be interesting. People start believing in ghosts, so they're more open to believe in everything else that goes bump in the night. Instead of turning a blind eye, they see what's really there. It could go a number of different ways."

"...or it could cause mass panic and as people begin to believe what's out there, they decide that it all needs to be destroyed. Y'know, if monsters are real," Mathias suggested. "It being there's a reason we don't go shouting about our heritage..." That was rather worst case scenario, of course, but humans weren't always known for an intelligent mob mentality.

"I'm not suggesting we out ourselves by any means," Dorian said. "Even if people became aware and even somewhat accepting, it'd still be a bad idea. There's just too bad a connotation that goes with what we are. People imagine the worst and work themselves into a frenzy before it matters what's real and what's not." They'd just be scared of what a half-demon was capable of, and then things would go down hill from there.

"Agreed - I'm just thinking that one thing that might come from this is there being more hunters out there," Mathias commented. "And hell, hunters have their place, but - look at the amount of religious nuts coming out the woodwork. Imagine if some of those got themselves armed. Went after everything that wasn't human. Worst case scenario and it's not us or people like us people have to be worried about."

"Best we can do might be to keep people properly educated," Dorian said, since that was what he'd been attempting. Though he had to admit, it wasn't for the good of the community, but because it involved topics he enjoyed talking about. He suddenly had a reason to answer questions without people looking at him weird. "I'm really just waiting to see what happens, just in case it gets to a point where we need to duck and cover."

Mathias chuckled a little at that. "Well, maybe it's best if you do the educating - you're so much better at it than I am. You know I don't have the patience for other people," he said, though both he and Dorian knew that he could have - if it suited his own ends. He just wasn't at all altruistic about things. "But I'm there with the waiting. Not too sure about the duck and cover part though. You never know - could be fun," he added with a grin. The end of the world - or whatever happened - appealed the the chaos inside the eldest Lockwood.

"It could be," Dorian agreed with a grin. "If I was really planning on going into hiding the moment shit hit the fan, do you think I'd stay in Marquette?" Dorian was fairly certain that Marquette would be worse off than almost anywhere else, just based on what seemed to be attracted to the town. If that was the case, he was looking to have some fun. He'd just learned that he needed a strategy first, and needed to know exactly what he was up against.

Mathias shrugged. "I dunno - if the shit really hits the fan, this place could be the best place to be. There's more people capable of actually being prepared here than in most places, so if things get really bad, could be less of a bloodbath. Who knows."

"Either way, it'll be fun to find out," Dorian said. He knew he was prepared, and could count on his brothers. Aiden was good to have on his side, and at least Joey knew what was out there. Working at Nevermore, he'd said a good half the population had some kind of power on their side, but that was just based on who came in and asked questions. Based on those statistics, he'd enjoy watching it all go down, just to see who came out to play.