strangetrip | [GP] Food for the soul

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[GP] Food for the soul

Carlos hated being back at the hotel. He had begun by trying to access the Nevernever but that had totally failed, then caught up with Buffy to go and visit both London and Edinburgh, for varying reasons, and the rest of the time he had headed to Spain - he may have been well travelled, but rarely got time to be a tourist - but his time relaxing and finding out about Spain had been unceremoniously cut short when he woke up and found himself back at the hotel. For a few moments he lay there, utterly fed up, and just feeling incredibly homesick.

That only lasted a few minutes; after that he was a man on a mission.

He hunted out Caroline, and had a long chat with her. Plans were set. Time to cook up a storm. They'd missed 4th July, this could serve as a belated celebration, as well as a 'things ain't all bad here' event. Posters went up throughout the hotel, giving notice of a cook out. Everyone was encouraged to attend. What could be bad about this?

Grills were set up outside to cook up as much meat as they could hold; non-meat options were there as well for variety; salads prepared... a vast array of food to try and cheer up anyone who needed it. Carlos took his place at the grills, brandishing tools, turning the meat over just at the right point.

All that was needed now was people to attend.

[ooc: Use as a general gathering post - if you want Carlos specifically, tag him in the subject line]

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"I've met a bunch of them." Mack nodded, "and some of them are nice, but some aren't. They're just like people, some good and some bad." He hesitated not sure how Brad would react but then mentally shrugged, and confessed, "I did the comic based a little bit on me. I'm a three tailed Kitsune."

Bradley's eyebrows lifted. If he hadn't met someone who was magical, and a few others like Peter, he would be more surprised. Mack is the first person he met who physically changed into something else.

"Wow." He said. "That's... well, a little weird, I admit, but also kind of cool. Why three tails? Is that a Kitsune thing?"

"I know, right?" Mack nodded. "I thought the same thing. It was weird to find out they were real and super weird to find out I was one, but also very cool. Like I was really living in a comic book world." It still amazed him.

"Kitsune's can have up to nine tails. When you first get your powers, that's at twelve in my world, you have one tail. Then when you master a new power or do something really brave you get a tail. I have three, because I learned how to do illusion magic, but not like Molly or Lilith, they are WAY more masters at it then me, but if someone pokes in my head, I can make them see something that isn't there."

Brad listened and tried to wrap his head around what Mack just explained.

"Three tails sound like a big deal, then." He replied thoughtfully. "So, can you do stuff that's outside your head, or just inside? Are you talking like... psychic people?"

I don't really know what kind of people go poking into other people's heads...

"It was another kitsune, a bad guy, that I was trying to distract. They could see your thoughts, that was their skill, but I put fake images in my head. I can only do it in my head." Mack admitted, "but that's a skill I just learned."

"Wow," He said, taking it all in. "I can't even imagine... That sounds really intense."

And dangerous

"Do you run into bad guys a lot back home?" He asked.

"Uh, just a couple of times."

Mack said honestly and the war was over so that was a yay.

"All the Changers got together and defeated them. I mean we won't be one big happy family, we'll still have problems, that's normal, but the kind of bad guys that we defeated, that only happens once in a while."

The last time it had happened was hundreds of years ago.

Brad tried to imagine a bunch of changers. He didn't even know there were more than one kind, but he noted 'changers' was used instead of 'kitsune'

"There are different kinds of... changers?" He asked.

"Yeah, well kind of. We're all changers just different animals. Like there are horses, dolphins, seals, birds, spiders, jaguars, wolves." Mack scrunched his nose, "uh the spiders are like ginormous not little spiders so you'd know they weren't just your regular spider when you saw them."

His eyes widened. He thought briefly of Peter who said he was Spider-Man, but Bradley didn't think that was the same thing.

"Wow, that's a lot of different kinds," He said, impressed. "Dolphins sound really cool... not that Kitsunes don't sound good. I think the whole tail thing is really neat."

"Dolphins are cool." Mack agreed. "My friend Fiona is a Selkie - uh magical seal." He explained because he'd never heard of one before Fiona. "So she knows them more than I do."

"The more I'm here at the inn, the more I start wondering if maybe there's stuff I don't know about my own world," he said "like maybe there are people like you and I just have no idea."

"I thought the same thing when I arrived." Mack admitted. "I mean I didn't know Changers were in my world until I found out I was one, and then I see wizards and mutants and all kinds of people with powers here. You have to wonder, what else are you missing in your world that could be right there."

"All those sorts of things just existed in movies back home," he said. "At least, I thought so... and I keep thinking my younger brother would love this place. He was always more adventurous than me. Sometimes I wonder if the inn picked up the wrong kid."

He laughed darkly.

Mack thought about what Brad had said and was quiet for a couple of minutes. "I think that the Inn doesn't bring super powered people together, I think it's more of a break."

He glanced over at him, "I mean it's nice to be away. I miss my family and friends, but it's kind of nice to not have school or think about real life. A vacation from life." A beat. "Uh, not that we're not living here but you know, just fun stuff. You can hang if you want or be on your own if you want."

And not have to worry about any bad wizard or even normal teenage clique-y stuff.

Mack's words seemed to strike a cord with Brad. He shifted his weight and thought about home. Caleb could use the break too, though. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Maybe, yeah." He said. "I wasn't exactly having the time of my life back home. It was... it was a really messed up situation. So I'm glad I'm not there, definitely. But, I still wish Caleb could be here too, you know?"

"Yeah, I do. I wish my friends were here." Mack said and then admitted softly, "and my grandfather. We fought some, but it's just been him and me since I was little."

Mack's parents had died when he was five years old.

"Yeah." He said. Like my mom and I. "How do you think your grandfather would find this place? My mom would freak."

"I can't imagine my grandfather freaking out over anything." Mack said honestly with a wry look at Brad. "Dragon flying overhead - Makoto myths always have a grain of truth."

He made a face, "that's my full name and he's the only one that calls me that. He does't get excited about anything."

Of course some of that has to do with he's over a hundred years old and a nine tail kitsune but that isn't anything Mack would tell.

He smiled when Mack spoke about his grandfather. Brad got the sense even when he complained about his grandfather, it was with love.

"My full name is Bradley," He said. "My mom mostly calls me that when she's angry or worried."

"My grandfather just gives me the disappointed look when he's angry or worried." Mack made a face, that was the worst. "He uses my full name all the time though he has called me Mack in front of my friends now."

He actually missed his grandfather calling him Makoto.

"He sounds like a nice guy, even if he's just like every other adult sometimes," Brad said truthfully. "My grandparents live far away so we only see them once in a while. We're not really close."

"He's all I have." Mack admitted and then said, "my parents died when I was little." Usually that was a downer of a conversation, but it was said matter of fact. His memories of his parents were hazy at best.

Bradley was quiet before he responded.

"I'm sorry." He said. "That's probably hard. I didn't mean to like, bring up bad memories. I'm glad you have your grandfather."

"It's okay. I don't really remember them." Mack shrugged his shoulders a little. "He doesn't understand my love of comics." He shot Brad a grin, "I don't think my parents would have either."

His best friend's parents didn't understand his love of comics either. So, Mack assumed all parents were like that.

[GP] Food for the soul

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