Eli's face becomes a shade of red as his eyes meet Crystal's and his eyes water. "I... u-... er..." he gulps and says, "Thank you. I don't mind your other way of talking... and neither would any of my friends, I'm sure."

When Tim introduced Emerald to Soul, she smiles and offers a hand in friendship. Timothius ohs at the legend Soul spoke of and says, "Wow... if you had a wish, what would you wish for?"

Liberty says, "I'd wish for people to stop being mean and stupid."

Eli is now staring at Crystal's nose, but his mind races through what he'd wish for... so many possibilities. Besides, he's kinda distracted with Crystal too, so he doesn't answer Tim's question.

Angel answers the reporter, "Yes. It is often hard, however, to get equal treatment." You either press so hard for special treatment and wind up with equal treatment and people saying you think you are owed the world, or you press for equal treatment and wind up with being treated as subhuman until you do press harder. But it is probably best to not say that out loud. "Luckily, though, my friends have been met with a lot of positive feedback from the public at large."

Emerald, being right there when Soul mentions wishes and Tim asks his question, answers with, "I think everyone wishes for something similar to Liberty's wish... love. Prosperity. Understanding. Equality." But realistically, such wishes can't be granted even if wishes being granted was a real thing or those wishes would already have come to be. Probably best not to say so in front of children, though. "But assuming you couldn't have those kind of world-altering wishes granted... and you could only wish for things like power, money, or things only for yourself? Hmm... tough call. This world is filled with amazing things you can get if you just try hard enough. The most important of all, love, is attainable to anyone if they just search long enough and allow it. So maybe I'd wish to find my true love before I get too old?"
This message was last updated by the player at 04:19, Thu 24 Sept 2015.

"I'd wish for a friend like Eli." Crystal said softly as she pulled her hand away from Eli and touched the flower in her hair. *Thank you Eli, I'm glad. You may call me Suna if you wish.* she told him telepathically

  The origami crane now symbolizes grade school required reading. "Most people I've seen do Origami don't profit through the decoration, that I can think of."  Though if Soul tells him he attained immortality through paper folding, it wouldn't be the craziest thing he's seen.

  He refrains from commenting on his choice of wishful thinking.

  "Well, when it comes to most people the worst we've had to deal with in this town are some token protesters.  I wouldn't be surprised it's worse elsewhere." Mad scientists would likely be doing asshole stuff even if there weren't any mutants around.

"It may seem strange to one so young, but if I had a wish I would simply wish to die like everyone else." Soul pauses as a flashback of him grasping his masters hand as he tries to pull her from the burning ruble, she stares him in the eye puts her hand to his chest and pushes hard throwing him out from under a falling pillar that crashes around her. "MASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!" "Immortality is more a curse that a gift. Those you love will always be left behind and I will never meet my love in eternal rest." Soul pauses... "Rest would be nice..." The light seems to start to leave his eyes.

"Thank you very much," the reporter says.

He gives a polite farewell then heads over to join the others that are swamping Mits by now.

Nathan watches and listens to the others converse, wondering if he said or did something wrong that the other kids didn't show any interest in going with him to tour a fire truck.  But now he's more worried for Soul and his sad wish and his thousand yard stare.

He thinks hard about what to sing for Soul to try and connect with him and finally settles on a phrase from a classical piece he'd practiced last Easter.

♪ "Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit
Ich will euch trösten" ♪

OOC: From Brahm's Requiem.  Translation: You now have sadness.  I will comfort you.

Emerald frowns upon hearing the literal death wish. She wants to guide the children away, but decides it best the kids hear a positive counter before she does so. Emmy says, "We all lose people precious to us, Soul. Believe me, I understand and am sorry for your loss. But life is a gift; an opportunity to share your gifts with others and spread love and kindness wherever you go."

Emerald then looks at the kids and says, "Now get in line for the fire truck tour. You don't wanna miss it!"

Eli's face is beat-red from Crystal's wish. But when Emerald speaks up, Eli ohs! Clearly, he was so distracted with Crystal, he missed that he was supposed to be touring a fire truck. "Wanna tour the truck with me, Suna?" he asks her timidly.

Liberty looks over at Nathan and says, "C'mon. Let's go to the truck. I'm sure the grownups will keep him around for us to talk with."

Timothius nods and heads off with the other kids to the fire truck.

Before Nathan leaves, Emerald puts a hand on his shoulder and says, "Nice choice, Nathan. That was beautiful and thoughtful." Then pats his back to send him to the other kids.

Angel turns her attention to the conversation Emerald is having with Soul. She decides not to add anything for now.

Soul snaps back to reality and remembers he is near children, "I'm sorry, and yes you are correct in your statement Emerald, I sometimes get lost in memories and become distracted forgive me."

Soul nods to Nathan in thanks "Brahm's Requiem a good piece. I like the line....."

"Denn alles Fleisch ist wie Gras
und alle Herrlichkeit des Menschen
wie des Grases Blumen.
Das Gras ist verdorret
und die Blume abgefallen."

(Translation is something like this if I'm correct.)------(For all flesh is as grass, and the glory of man like flowers.The grass withers and the flower falls.)

Soul smiles and looks to Emerald "A flower that never falls and grass that never withers is only a beautiful thought, in truth the grass may not wilt but the land its roots have dug into will someday wash away and the flowers will be picked and thrown to be replaced, while the grass and flowers still live the world around them simply becomes a place of pain and loss they can never escape." Soul makes shore to wait until the small children are out of earshot before saying this.

Crystal nodded to Eli about the fire truck and followed after him. A smile upon the face that had been sad.

  Joe knows he should feel more sympathy for Soul.  But going all 'I wish I were dead and life is pain' in front of a bunch of children makes that somewhat more difficult.

  At least Soul seems to realize having less tact than Joe (a difficult task) isn't a good thing, if after the fact.  "Well, hopefully if you spend more time around reasonable people it will help.  Even if we might not last as long, that's still plenty of time to enjoy life instead of comparing yourself to lawn care."

Nathan is pleased to see that his singing struck a chord with Soul and he cracks a hopeful smile.  He nod-nods to Liberty and blushes with a sheepish smile at Emerald's compliment.  Nathan whispers the lyrics Soul quoted to hear the music in his head.  It's easier for him to remember the meaning of the lyrics from the notes than from the foreign words.  But it only clicks as he's being hurried to the fire truck so he just smiles and gives Soul a parting wave.

The firefighter waiting for the kids at the fire truck is none other than Kevin!

"Woah, hey there, little dudes!  Hahah.  Ready to like, check out a radical fire truck?  Hahahahahahah!"

Emerald nods to Soul. "True. But should we accept only good and not the trials that go with it? Without the fire of a forge, metal has no strength and is worthless. The fires expose the pure and show who we really are. Pain is part of life and there is no escape from that whether you live forever or not. What you make of your pain and what you do with it is what is important. There is a time and a place for mourning, and if that is what you need to do now, then I will take you someplace private to do so. But if you wish to get to know some friends who could benefit from your experience; then you're in luck. My friends happen to be some of the more receptive people I know." Kinda helps they all have powers, so they have learned to be receptive in order to be received. Emerald decides not to add just yet that due to the nature of Liberty's power, it could be that the girl may live forever also. Hard to say.

Angel raises an eyebrow. She gazes off as if pondering something. She heads for Mittens. "Hey Mittens... got a minute?"

Meanwhile, Timothius smiles brightly at Kevin. "Yeah!" he yells along with most of the other kids. Liberty, of course, is one of the loudest kids, having a slightly competitive spirit in her concerning that.

Eli, of course, did no such yelling. He stood quietly smiling and blushing in the back of the line with Crystal. And now, he just doesn't know what to say or do. Was this the right move? Well... whether or not it was, he can't deny that getting a tour of a firetruck is cool.

"Forgive me if I offended, I tend to get mopey when i talk for to long. Side effect of a long life alone I suppose. I would enjoy a chance to speak with those who I may help learn what I have lived, for who better to teach than one with experience." Soul takes a deep breath and looks back to Emerald."Why not tell the children about the first firemen and how they traveled by horse and buggy a few men at a time with buckets of water to put fires out as short a time ago as a hundred years or so."

  http://ci.henderson.nc.us/wp-c...Drawn-Fire-Truck.jpg

  "That could work, if you skipped over how much it probably didn't get the job done in time.  Saftey tips are a tricky thing when you want to get across that something is dangerous, without the grisly details about body count or the or what 3rd degree burns look like."  and that's how thirty eight people died in the great flapjack disaster of 180X

Kevin gets started with the tour showing off all the interesting dials and valves, explaining what they are and what they do.  He's sure to give definition in non-jargon terms.  He then hooks up a hose and offers the other end to the kids.  "Like, get a feel for how heavy it is empty.  Hahahah."

Sure Mittens is smiling at the reporters as she answers the barrage of questions, but her occasional glances at the fire trucks gives away that she'd rather be taking a tour with the kids.  When she spots Angel she gives a big wave.

"Hi there, Angel!  For you, I've got tonns of minutes!"

Bill Blazes offers to take over talking to the reporters so Mits and Angel can talk.

Angel says, "First of all, if you ever tire of reporters, by all means leave them to me. Especially if they are testing your patience and throwing accusations. I have experience with that, being rich and all. And don't forget Emerald... talking is literally her super power. Secondly..." she glances over to the others and then back to Mittens. "This new guy - Soul, he calls himself - apparently has the power to just keep living. Claims he wishes he could die. As a result, I suspect this guy is kinda old. He is letting his age show with a number of things he has said."

Angel then leans in to Mittens, putting an arm around her. "Third... why don't you come join the fun? It sure looked like you wanted a tour of the firetruck."

Meanwhile Emerald says, "I didn't mean to sound abrasive, Soul. My apologies. I just... well I can empathize more than you might know. Some bad memories might have made me a little less patient than normal. Your idea sounds good. Think you're ready to go tell them about those old firefighters?"

Back at the truck, Timothius can barely hold onto the hose. When Liberty gets a turn, she picks up the hose with little effort. "Say. That really does have some heft to it..."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:37, Fri 06 Nov 2015.

Soul seems to lose himself in though again after a moment of not conversing. Memories of his master flooding his mind as well as those of his past rush over him, some he though long lost as he watches the children play on the firetruck cause a mix of sadness and happiness all at once. Having had little interaction with people in the last decade or two and then interacting so freely seems to have awakened many memories he once thought lost.

At the sound of his name Soul reacts to Emerald "Yea ok I'm Happy to." Soul Follows Eli to the crowd and tells of how long ago horse driven wagons were used to carry buckets and that many men would ride along and even towns people would gather to form bucket lines to cast wader onto the fire to extinguish it.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:59, Fri 06 Nov 2015.

Crystal slid her small hand into Elijahs, she was feeling very nervous but wanted her new friend to know that she wasn't going to run. *How long have you known these people, like Emerald?* she asked telepathically.

Eli's face turns beat-red when Crystal holds his hand. He hears the question in his head and says quietly, "N-not... long. I j-just... joined them... t-two days ago." He then glances from Tim to Liberty to Emmy... "But they are really nice. I'm sure you noticed..."

Crystal looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry if I am embarrassing you." She said quietly as the line moved forward.

Mits smiles and nods to Angel's offer to deal with reporters.  "Thanks!  And I saw you and Emmy talking to that reporter guy earlier.  Was he being mean?  My reporters were real positive, so I could sic them on him if you like."  ^.~

She looks over at the others with Soul.  "Prooobably not 3,000 B.C. old like I was thinking at first, but still...  Really old suicidal immortal.  I'm gunna have to try really hard not to reference all the similar fictional characters that I'm sure he's gotten tired of being compared to.

"But yeah!  You bet I wunna join the fun!"

She hurries to join her bro and the others.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:12, Sat 07 Nov 2015.

Kevin nods to Soul's teaching with a smile.  "Dude!  Like, totally!  Hah.  That way of firefighting goes way back to like, ancient times.  Hahah.  There's dudes still doing that even today in places where dudes don't like, don't have radical pump trucks like this one.  Hah.  This babe can move water faster than like, hundreds of bucket dudes!  Hahahahahah!"

He turns a valve and the hose begins to fill with water, getting much heavier, but the nozzle doesn't spray any water.

"Pwsh!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:13, Sat 07 Nov 2015.

Eli says, "It just... takes me a bit to get used to new faces. But I'm getting better at it. I'm normally pretty shy. But it's... nice to meet another shy person, you know? I don't feel so bad about who I am."

Soul seems to be enjoying himself watching the kids reactions to his stories.

Liberty waves Joe over to join the fun. Of course, once Soul gets talking about old firefighters, Liberty, Timothius and Eli all listen curiously.

Angel headshakes to Mittens. "I assure you, the reporter Emmy and I talked to was not mean at all. He's clearly on our side. Unbiased at worst."

Emerald, seeing Soul interacting with the children, smiles and sits with the kids to listen. A kid or two, of course, want to play with her tail or pet her hair. But she clearly doesn't mind.

If Joe goes to Liberty as per the girl's request, she will sit him with her and say, "I'm know you have plenty to teach too, Joe. Though aside from that fire at the recruitment drive, what other experiences do you have with fire?"

In reply to Eli (msg # 99):

Crystal blushed, "It makes things a little easier for me now that I have a friend. My mom has to go away for a bit and is leaving me with Emerald. I've...I've never had any friends, they all thought I was weird cause I don't talk out loud to many people. I got bullied a lot till my parents decided to homeschool me."