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[relentless-fate.insanejournal.com]

Who: Tezcatlipoca & Quetzalcoatl
What: Well hello there
When: Sunday morning-ish
Where: Airport, then streets of NY


Apropos of absolutely nothing, Tezcatlipoca raised his head, slowly turning it to the east, every instinct he had telling him to get up, to go. Go now. It is time. Time to go back.

And so The Lord of the Near and Nigh bought a plane ticket, packed his bags, and vacated his Texas apartment without so much as a word to anyone. He spent the trip in nearly complete silence, and the crew were almost hesitant to come around and offer him a drink.

As he was waiting to disembark, inching toward the line of flight attendants thanking passengers for flying, one of them caught his eye and opened her mouth to speak. But the words died before she could even get them out. He held her gaze for a moment before exiting the plane.

"What's with you?" he heard one of her coworkers ask.

He managed to catch her answer before he was out of hearing range.

"Something wicked this way comes."

One corner of his mouth curled up in a smirk. Not that she would ever know, but she was somewhat right. The city that never slept had hosted him before, and it would now do so again. And the first stop, of course, would be looking up a few old friends. Every time he and Quetzalcoatl met up, things tended to get...explosive, to say the least, but as a chaos god, he tended to enjoy that.

Even before that, though, he required a really big cup of black coffee. There was a cart very close by, and he bought a cup from the vendor and walked along, sipping it as he observed the city, taking in what had changed since he'd last stayed there. Not much, from what he could tell.

Then he froze. Lifting his head, he turned sharply, a small smirk on his lips. He'd know that presence anywhere.


featheredscales
2012-05-06 07:09 am (local) (link)
Quetzalcoatl had just gotten done sending the last grades of the semester in, and was looking forward to a well-deserved summer off. He had a few more meetings to wrap up later in the day, so he didn't see the point in driving home. Instead, he decided on a walk.

The sunlight was bright and the air was warm. If his wings had been out, he'd have fluffed them up out of pleasure. He leaned against the light pole at one intersection, face turned up to the sun.

Then his eyes snapped open, going serpentine before he could stop them. He was here. There was no mistaking it for anything else. It wasn't the diluted, weak presence that pulsed out of his children, either. Tezcatlipoca was in the city, and he was nearby.

Quetzalcoatl's feet led him, and he just barely stopped himself from flicking his tongue out to catch a better scent. It wasn't neccesary. They'd find each other. That was just the way it worked.

Finally, he spotted him.

Quetzalcoatl greeted him as politely as he was able. "Motherfucker."
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obsidianmirror
2012-05-06 07:15 am (local) (link)
Tezcatlipoca's laugh was soft and mocking. "Eloquent as always, Quetzalcoatl," he said, sipping his coffee and looking utterly unperturbed. "You might want to put those eyes of yours away before someone sees them."

He finished his coffee and tossed the cup into a nearby trashcan, the better to have his hands free if he needed them. "So what brings you out on this lovely morning?" he asked, still soft, with that mocking edge.
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featheredscales
2012-05-06 07:24 am (local) (link)
"I got the feeling fate had dragged some mangy cat into my city," Quetzalcoatl said, lips curling up into a sneer. Had his eyes changed? He hadn't even noticed. "Looks like I was right."
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obsidianmirror
2012-05-06 07:29 am (local) (link)
"Or I could pluck those eyes out for saying such things," Tezcatlipoca replied, his own lips peeling back and baring his teeth. "Last time I checked, this was a free country. And we are all at the whim of fate."
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featheredscales
2012-05-06 07:36 am (local) (link)
"I'd like to see you even try." He clenched his fists, trying to keep his scales down and his feathers from growing. They were in the middle of a street, he could not turn into a giant flying snake.

He let out a hiss, air whistling through his increasingly pointy teeth, and forced himself to calm down at least a little.
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obsidianmirror
2012-05-06 07:42 am (local) (link)
"You know very well that I could if I put my mind to it," he growled, the air shimmering around him like a heat haze. This was not the time or place for an enormous jaguar to be running around, even if Quetzalcoatl could anger him like nobody else.

He finally managed to get a hold on himself. "Same song, different verse," he said finally. "Some things never do change."
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featheredscales
2012-05-06 07:51 am (local) (link)
"It's how the universe keeps itself in balance," Quetzalcoatl said, finally unclenching his fists. His fingernails had dug bloody crescents into the palms of his hands. He took a deep breath out, let his eyes fade back to human, and squared his shoulders.

"Are you here about your children?"
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obsidianmirror
2012-05-06 07:57 am (local) (link)
"The universe," Tezcatlipoca said succinctly. "Can go hang."

"I wasn't even aware of the fact that I had a child, let alone more than one," he replied, and that was the absolute truth. "And they're here?"
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featheredscales
2012-05-06 08:01 am (local) (link)
Quetzalcoatl raised an eyebrow. "You are the worst parent that ever was. And yes, they're here. A boy and a girl, twins. Wait, did you seriously just decide to visit New York with no idea who was here? Idiot."
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obsidianmirror
2012-05-06 08:09 am (local) (link)
"I wasn't consulted on the matter," Tezcatlipoca sniped. "And the last-the very last-being on this planet I'll explain myself to is you. I go where I wish to go, or, in this case, come back to."

He raised an eyebrow. "And now you've succeeded in making yourself sound like a petulant child. Well done."
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featheredscales
2012-05-06 08:20 am (local) (link)
"I'm just trying to bring myself down to your usual level," Quetzalcoatl snapped. But his curiousity had stirred, now, and he looked at Tezcatlipoca. "You really didn't know about them at all? No memorable passionate affairs with a mortal woman about 20 years ago?"
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obsidianmirror
2012-05-06 08:27 am (local) (link)
"Then I believe the right response is: jackass," Tezcatlipoca shot back.

He shrugged. "Obviously not, or I wouldn't have asked. Twins. Hmm. Very interesting. I think I should meet them."
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featheredscales
2012-05-06 08:37 am (local) (link)
"They'd be glad if you did," Quetzalcoatl said, eyeing Tezcatlipoca. Normally, he tried to avoid sharing any personal information about anyone with Tezcatlipoca, because that was a surefire route to disaster. But...these were his children. "They seem to have inherited your appetite for blood and destruction."
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obsidianmirror
2012-05-06 08:43 am (local) (link)
A small grin appeared on Tezcatlipoca's face. "Really," he replied, his interest suddenly increasing. "I think I like them already. You wouldn't happen to know where I can find them?"
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featheredscales
2012-05-06 08:50 am (local) (link)
Quetzalcoatl casually studied his nails. "There's a temple in the city, actually, run by someone who you'll probably recognize. Unless your problem is that you're old and your memory is going. But I have very tragically forgotten where it is."
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obsidianmirror
2012-05-06 08:55 am (local) (link)
Tezcatlipoca fixed him with a distinctly unimpressed look. "Seeing as how you were there at the beginning with me, I would not be calling anyone old," he answered.

He ruminated on Quetzalcoatl's words for a moment. A temple. Someone he knew. He thought for a few more moments.

"Two and two makes four," he said softly. "Elena. I always thought she'd do well."

"Of course you have," he said dryly. "Well if you're going to be a pissy little bitch, then I'll find it myself."
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featheredscales
2012-05-06 09:04 am (local) (link)
"Oh, she'll be pleased you remember," Quetzalcoatl said, smirking. "I can't imagine what a nice woman like her sees in you. No accounting for taste, I guess."
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obsidianmirror
2012-05-06 09:09 am (local) (link)
"Precisely, given that she associates with you," Tezcatlipoca muttered. "And she likes me because I can be utterly charming when I wish. Apparently everyone but you got the memo."
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featheredscales
2012-05-06 09:16 am (local) (link)
"The fact that you can fool everyone into thinking you're charming just makes you a good liar. It doesn't actually make you charming." Quetzalcoatl crossed his arms and leaned back against the traffic pole.
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obsidianmirror
2012-05-06 10:56 pm (local) (link)
"I can be genuinely charming to those who deserve it," Tezcatlipoca replied, with a grin that would put a shark to shame. He stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned against a nearby wall. "It's not my fault you're biased against me."
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featheredscales
2012-05-08 06:42 pm (local) (link)
"It's so strange that I'd be biased against you," Quetzalcoatl said, tone mild. "It's not as though you're an enormous, eternal pain in the ass."
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obsidianmirror
2012-05-09 08:26 am (local) (link)
"Says the man who knocked me out of the sky because of sheer jealousy," Tezcatlipoca replied evenly. "You want to talk about pains in the ass, look in a mirror."