Godzillaaaaa [open to multiple]

[has_a_horn]

There's something new about the city this afternoon. It's not particularly hard to miss. At about noon, a giant scaled figure emerges from the Hudson River, emits a loud screeching roar, and heads for central park.

It's Godzilla, straight out of the 1954 Toho film.

Or, rather, that's what it looks like. Gabriel has a scheme, and this scheme involves in-fluxing a little bit of fun into this city with a grand-scale illusion. His idea of fun might need some work, by human standards, but this is exactly the thing for him at the moment. There are news reports on the radio and television, both in English and in Japanese, but they aren't given by any newscasters anyone in New York might be familiar with, because Gabriel is projecting them.

As Godzilla shakes the water off it's back and walks onto the island, Gabriel pulls out his phone and texts Peter. He really needs him involved with this.

[ooc: Godzilla will make his way across the city, having a good smash. Feel free to run into it anywhere. As this is Gabe's illusion, any interactions with Godzilla will be controlled by Gabriel, even if he's not nearby. People Gabriel doesn't like might want to avoid getting underfoot, or else they'll feel the bone crunching effects of being stepped on, even if nothing has actually happened.]

Comments

[has_a_horn]

Just wandering around doesn't seem like the best thing to be doing for a span of two weeks, but Johnny doesn't look homeless, so he's obviously found someplace to stay. "Rub the back of your neck instead of your temple. It'll work better." He makes a show of looking through his pockets, and pulls out his wallet. From that he pulls out a paper packet containing two pills.

"Ibuprofen." He tosses it towards Johnny and it lands at his feet. The bad news is that, like Gabriel, they're complete illusions. The good news it they'll go down super easy. And hey, placebo effect? Gabriel's hoping for that. "You alright? You were pretty badass back there, y'know. I'd hate for you to suddenly topple over on me."

[johnny_truant]

Johnny's been about as close to homeless as one can get without actually being homeless - hiding out in a hotel with Jodie's stolen money, mostly just feeling sorry for himself. After Zagreus, he spent several days just sitting around, too afraid to sleep or go out at all. Now that he's finally done it, this is the reward he gets.

"Was I?" Johnny isn't sure if he's flattered or just confused. He seems to remember flailing a lot, panicking the entire time, and driving like an idiot. Does that qualify as badass?

He leans over and gropes for the pills. He hates dry swallowing but it's not like Gabriel has a whole glass of water in his pocket, is it? He forces them down, though it's not as hard as it feels like it should be. He exhales heavily. "Thanks."

He starts rubbing at his neck absently. Now that the adrenaline has slowed down he's realizing he really does feel terrible. Shit, what if he does pass out? Completely, thoroughly missing the latent innuendo of Gabriel's actual wording, Johnny leans back in the chair and says dryly, "I might. We'll see where the evening takes us."

[has_a_horn]

Gabriel raises his eyebrows in Johnny's direction as he shoves his wallet back into his coat pocket. He's completely taking that as the innuendo it seems to be. "I could do that for you, if you want." He nods towards where Johnny's hand is still rubbing at his neck, then leans his own head back against the door and closes his eyes for a moment. "Open offer."

[johnny_truant]

"Uh..." Johnny blinks at him. This guy is really, really forward. Johnny's never encountered a guy this upfront about wanting him. It's not that threatening, mostly just... confusing. In the "really? me?" kind of way. Gabriel is not like any of the gay people he's ever met - and he's really only met them in clubs, the walking stereotypes who are barely even real people. In a way, this is kind of a novel experience.

Ordinarily he'd dismiss the offer out of hand, but something - a desire to appear open-minded, an unusual bent toward politeness, or even staunch curiosity - makes him hesitate. Instead he says, "Sure, I guess."

Hell, he knew where the pressure point was. Maybe he's a physical therapist or some shit.

[has_a_horn]

"Really." Something in him hadn't really been expecting Johnny to accept his offer. When he does, Gabriel shifts his perception of who Johnny is by just a fraction. "Okay."

He makes a show of getting up, and shucks off his coat as he walks over towards Johnny. "So what exactly does 'just wandering around' mean? You look like you found a place to stay." His coat he tosses over the back of another folding chair before he stops at the back of Johnny's.

He vaguely wishes that he could have his vessel here and up on the roof with Peter. This neck massage will feel as good as the real thing, but beyond the ever helpful placebo effect, it's not going to do Johnny any lasting good. He starts anyway, tugging johnny's shoulder back to get him to sit up, then starting in on his neck.

[johnny_truant]

"Hh-" Johnny is startled by how good this feels, illusion or no, but he manages to restrain himself from making any more weird noises, and focuses instead on answering the question.

"I... uh. Well." He shifts in his seat. It can't hurt to tell the truth, can it? Not EVERYTHING - definitely no need to mention Jodie - just the minimum. Enough to have an actual conversation. "I'm living out of a hotel. For as long as I can afford it. Which is not much longer." He sighs, leaning somewhat subconsciously into Gabriel's touch. The ache is actually starting to abate - another triumph for the placebo effect. "And I... I met a guy in a dream who fucked me up pretty bad, and after that I was afraid to go out for a while." He hesitates, not sure how much he wants to go into that. "That's happened a couple times now. The dreams, I mean. Is that typical?"

His hands fidget. He's not used to feeling this... comfortable.

[has_a_horn]

He frowns when Johnny mentions a man invading his dreams. "Group dreams, yeah. All the time. The other guy..." He presses his thumbs up along Johnny's neck, digging just enough into the muscle. "If he called himself Zagreus, I know him. What an asshole."

The roof above them shakes particularly hard, as if Godzilla is much closer- or perhaps passing them by. Just what has Zagreus been up to? He can understand why he might prod at him and the TARDIS, but who is Johnny to him?

[johnny_truant]

Johnny jerks slightly at the mention of the name, stilled from greater action by the hands on his neck, the pressure that (psychosomatically) feels awkwardly good. He's moderately relieved that Gabriel recognizes Zagreus for what he is - though "asshole" is a significant understatement in Johnny's estimation - but it's not enough for him just let it go by the wayside.

After a beat he shifts out from under Gabriel's touch and turns to look up at him. "You know him?" he murmurs. There's a lot he wants to ask, but he has to be careful, his guard is raised now. Start broad. "Who..." No. "What is he?" he finishes bluntly.

[has_a_horn]

He lets his hands still when Johnny turns towards him. He's going to take that as a sign to stop unless Johnny tells him otherwise. His hands settle onto his shoulders, then off completely while he considers the question. "Dangerous, for one. And pretty pompous about it."

He sighs and moves to sit down in the chair next to Johnny. "He told me he was a...concept made flesh or something, but I wouldn't take anything he says for the truth. Where I'm from, he might've been called a demi-God, but he's from a different universe." Gabriel shrugs. "What did he do to you?"

[johnny_truant]

This is a bit much to swallow, not because Johnny finds it unbelievable, but because it feels too on point, and too terrifying for him to really think about very hard. He accepts the information without looking at it too closely. Knowing he's made himself both enemy and target to a creature this powerful, this ethereal, this renowned for it - well, it's something he'd rather not know.

The other question is hard to answer as well. He's done his best not to think about it at all since he woke up in Jodie's arms, god, so broken and pathetic... he wraps his arms around his middle, hugging himself subconsciously, leaning over.

"He took me out of the ... the shared dream, I guess, and into his own. Broke my hand, tortured me, fucked around in my head." He flexes his hand distractedly, gazing at it, the pain still memorable, even though it hadn't been "real."

"I thought he was going to kill me," he says softly.

It's almost funny, and he huffs out a humorless laugh. Dreams have always been bad to him, but this was a step further than he even knew was possible. He wishes he could never dream again.

[has_a_horn]

"Why you?" He wouldn't put it past Zagreus to just pull someone out and torture them for fun, or to test out some theory on, but even if he does have powers, Johnny doesn't seem like the type. Maybe he's just been at the wrong place at the wrong time.

It's interesting, definitely, but he hasn't missed that it also seems to be a fairly painful topic. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. I'm sorry that happened." And the next time he meets Zagreus, he has one more reason to torture him within an inch of his life. "I want to know what he's been up to so I can stop it."

[johnny_truant]

"Hell if I know," mutters Johnny, rubbing his neck absently. He gives Gabriel an uncertain glance. "Can you stop him? What... what else can you do? Other than... sense rifties?"

He wonders about this "powers" thing. If everyone gets them, if there's any rhyme or reason... Mostly he's eager to steer the conversation away from Zagreus. He was just starting to feel complacent for a change.

[has_a_horn]

"I can't kill him, but stop him- maybe. Yeah." He smiles a bit at the second question. He's more than willing to share how awesome he is. "Illusions. Transmutations. Dream manipulation....that's where I'd be decent against him. Mind reading." He smile widens and he adds, "Don't worry, I don't use that one without asking." He winks at Johnny, perhaps implying that he thinks he'd like what he saw if he did read his mind. He'd add in teleportation, but that would probably put into question his reasons for jumping into the back of that cab with Johnny and he doesn't want to deal with that at the moment.

"Here, look." He holds up his hand and creates an illusion on a whim. It's a miniature version of Scout, his little pet terrier, running around in circles chasing his tail. The miniature dog finishes its pursuit, barks in Johnny's direction, then sits in Gabriel's palm with it's tongue lolling out. Next, Gabriel tips his hand to the side, and the tiny dog turns into a full-size version that sits at Johnny's feet, looking up at him with interest.

[johnny_truant]

Johnny's not sure what to do with that wink. Hesitates for a minute, trying to absorb everything else that's just been said. That's a lot - a lot of things. Dangerous sounding shit. Gabriel is starting to sound like some kind of superhero.

And when he creates a dog in his hand, well. Johnny jerks back slightly, the chair skidding on the floor, somewhere between alarm and amazement. When the full-size dog appears, Johnny stands up abruptly. He doesn't feel as freaked as he did last time he saw something unbelievable, though. It's definitely startling, but the warning helped.

"Whoa." He crouches down to get a better look. Hesitates, feeling a little silly, then holds his hand out for the dog to sniff, which, delightedly, it does. Johnny actually feels himself crack a smile. "Cool."

[has_a_horn]

The illusion of Scout licks Johnny's hand, then shoves his head forward, hoping for scritches. Gabriel smiles at Johnny's reaction, glad that it hadn't freaked him out too much. Johnny seems, in general, pretty good with accepting the strange and unusual as long as it's not trying to kill him.

"I could get you in contact with the rebels. They would set you up with a place, some money." He sighs, considering Johnny's options. The rebels had kept Seth locked up to use his powers, so he's loath to send anyone there. "Definitely don't go ROMAC. I don't really trust the Rebels either, but they're your best option."

An idea hits him and he chuckles. "I should buy out the rest of my building, give people another choice. How about...OH GOD...Optional Housing for Gabriel's Outcast Disciples." He cringes almost immediately. "I'll come up with another acronym. I don't want disciples. Bad things happen to people with disciples."

[johnny_truant]

Johnny gives Scout absent-minded scritches as his attention turns gradually back to Gabriel throughout his diatribe. Neither of these organizations sounds like a great time, but it's really the acronym that has him squinting in mildly unimpressed confusion.

"Uhhhh," he says, and retracts his fingers from the illusory dog as an afterthought. "I dunno." He goes back to rubbing his neck, thinking. He has to consider Jodie, too - he doesn't want to just leave her with the hotel room. But something tells him she's going to side-eye these organizations even more than he does. Not to mention Gabriel. She'll probably hate Gabriel.

"I don't even have any money," he says sheepishly. "Or, you know, marketable skills. I used to be a tattoo artist." Lie. Tattoo parlor bitch. Cleaning shit and getting supplies. But. He could have done it, if he'd had the barest trace of ambition or was even a little put together. He might have been really good at it.

He deposits himself back in the chair, allowing the dog to snuffle around at his feet, and doesn't quite catch himself studying Gabriel's face intently, going into something of a daze.

[has_a_horn]

Gabriel, meanwhile, is stuck on acronyms. "Companions united, living together. CULT for short." He snickers. "Or or- The FLAT ...friends' living arrangement together? Bit boring, that one. Fruity landlord and tenants? Not entirely true, but more fun." It takes Gabriel himself a few moments to notice that Johnny is studying him, but when he does, he pauses in his train of thought to catch Johnny's gaze and actually respond to what he'd been saying.

"You wouldn't need money to stay. With me or the rebels." He rubs at the side of his face, thinking. "Don't rush over to my place tonight, though. I could only offer you the floor. The couch maybe." If Seth isn't there, but Seth is often there. "My bed, but I don't think we're there yet." He chuckles and thinks more about this brand new idea of his to house people. He's warming to it.

He smiles back at Johnny. "It'd be nice having an artist around." He doubts that Johnny is actually a tattoo artist. They tend to have tattoos in varied and very visible places. He probably is an artist. Or wants to be one. That's interesting enough. He's curious about what sort of thing Johnny might create, given the chance.

[johnny_truant]

[[ooc: I definitely forgot not only that Johnny was supposed to have tattoos BUT that they were in new places after the Rift, so I'm going to just do some minor retconning here, not to mention a nice handwave that he somehow hasn't noticed this until now, whatever!! sorry I'm such a spaz]]

Johnny averts his eyes quickly. He still feels awkward around Gabriel, but in spite of that he's warming to the idea of living near him. He's the first person apart from Jodie who's offered him a real hand and Sunshine doesn't count because she's way, way too nice for him, after all, and unlike Jodie, Gabriel seems to have real resources at his disposal. Not a bad friend to have.

"Yeah, okay," he says. "That'd be, um. Nice."

His fingers play twitchingly at the fraying cuffs of his sweatshirt. "Hey," he says suddenly, tugging the sleeve up a bit. "This is one of mine."

It's not really something to be shown off; standard stick-and-poke, definitely not anything like what he could do if he really put his mind to it, but it's nice enough. It's a small swirl of ugly black branches reaching out from a central point, like a tiny black hole made of trees.

Except it's not there anymore.

What?

Johnny stares at his arm. "Uhh. Hang on."

Is he really, really this out of it? He checks his other wrist, and sure enough, there it is, but it looks a lot better than he remembers. Could have sworn it was on the other wrist.

"That's weird," he mutters, shucking his sleeves back down to hide it, suddenly embarrassed. "Sorry, I'm..." What? What? Crazy? Unreliable narrator of his own stupid life? Prone to blackouts and inexplicable life-altering snap decisions? Does he really want to let Gabriel in on the full gamut of his insanity, so soon after the extended offer of housing assistance?

Honesty is best, if only to ward off later disillusionment. "A fucking mess," he concludes.

[has_a_horn]

Well, isn't that interesting. He's not sure whether to put it down to mental instability or moving tattoos, but to be fair, either is possible. Or both. From the look of Johnny, it probably is both.

"That's not as unusual as you might think, around here." He doesn't clarify whether he means moving tattoos or being a fucking mess. Again, probably both.

The illusion of Scout circles around then curls up as if to got to sleep. Gabriel is worrying now about the real Scout. If Daine stays upset with him, Scout won't be getting to hang out with Sarge and Molly any longer. He glances to where the illusion lies and makes it disappear. That's something he'll have to deal with later.

He smiles at Johnny and digs a card out of his jacket pocket. It, like Gabriel, is an illusion, but he can make it hold for as long as Johnny still needs it. It simply has Gabriel's name and phone number printed across the front. Hopefully Johnny will use it, because he keeps getting more and more interesting. "Call me in a couple days. I'll set you up."

[johnny_truant]

"Oh... okay." Johnny takes the card lightly between his fingers, looking at it. His name is just Gabriel, no last name.

"Thanks," he says, trying to sound actually grateful, even as he feels overwhelmed and confused.

He feels like he should say something else but he's not sure what.

"How long do you think we'll have to stay here?" he asks finally.

[has_a_horn]

"How long has it been since you heard something?" He looks up at the ceiling, as if willing it to shake. He'd held off on any Godzilla sounds for a little while now.

[johnny_truant]

"A while, I guess." That doesn't mean they're safe. But he's beginning to feel claustrophobic in this space, antsy and twitchy, like he always gets indoors after enough time has passed.

"Would it be overly stupid for us to go take a look?" he ventures.

[has_a_horn]

"Stupid, yes. Overly? Probably." Gabriel pushes himself up from his chair and walks over to open the door. "Lets go see."