video.

[enactors]

( marc still isn't entirely sure where he falls on the 'is this actually real?' question he's asked himself more than a handful of times since finding himself here, since finding the parchment with his crime(s).

still: it feels real enough, and for now that's enough.

he's dressed in a suit — it's white in its entirety, with small crescent moons serving as buttons and cufflinks. it's — fine. it's an outfit that says he — before here, at least — probably spent a small fortune on dry cleaning, and begs the question of how long it's going to stay looking Like That (answer: not long).

with one leg crossed over the other, there's a breath of a pause before he speaks. this isn't how he normally does this, but then, this isn't normal by any — even his — definition of the word. )

My name is Mr. Knight. ( is it? of course not, but there's nothing to marc's demeanour that says otherwise; and for those familiar, his accent says 'chicago!' ) I'm a priest. ( certainly, by A Definition, and by that, we mean 'by marc spector's definition and no-one else's, except (maybe) an ancient egyptian moon god's'. )

At home, I ran a mission — the Midnight Mission — through which I protected my community and my people. Travellers of the night. ( a breath of a pause and he holds up a hand (gloved, white, because of course) and gestures vaguely at his surroundings. ) A change in circumstances doesn't change my duty. If there's anyone that requires help or assistance with, ( at night, because marc is Dedicated, ), no matter how strange or unusual, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Comments

[koutsuanzen]

[Oh. Religious. Got it.]

A congregation is more than one person.

[So was a gang.

Either way, how was one person on his own gonna do the work of a "Mission"?]

And I ain't your pal. You can call me Baji.

[enactors]

I didn't say it wasn't. I wasn't aware we were quibbling about numbers.

( and the answer to that, baji, is with intensity and poor sleeping habits.

but also he's always mostly just been 'one guy'. )

Baji. As I mentioned, I'm Mr. Knight. So, what's the problem?

[koutsuanzen]

I dunno how to quibble numbers. I didn't take calculus.

[Said with the stone-cold confidence of someone who is 100% sure quibbling numbers is advanced math.]

Eh? Do I gotta repeat myself?

How you plan on helpin' everyone without backup?

[enactors]

( given the everything of baji's response, it occurs to marc that he may have misread the situation. )

Not everyone. Those who ask.

( but it's a good question. )

—I'm resourceful.

[koutsuanzen]

Okay, okay. Then everyone who asks.

What if a lotta people ask?

I'm just sayin', you're not the first bleedin' heart I've seen around here, but if ya really wanna help people, you should gear up. You need help yourself before you can help others, yanno?

[This wasn't anyone's home. Anyone's community.

Seemed to him everyone here was gonna need help, but you had to actually build that community first; then you could extend it to helpin' others.

Otherwise, you were just gonna end up getting yourself in trouble. He'd seen it a thousand times. Who the hell were those helpers supposed to go to when they needed somethin'?]

Also, is your name seriously Mr. Knight? Like the shiny dudes in armor on horses?

[enactors]

( colour marc surprised: for whatever else he'd been expecting, this wasn't it. by far, it's the most practical response, veering away from the religious and the philosophical in favour of what he's actually talking about.

he leans forward a touch, folding his fingers together whilst a frown momentarily pulls at his brows — more thoughtful than displeased, though it may not be immediately evident. )

Then a lot of people ask. It's nothing I'm not used to. ( but as for the other point— ) But if you mean weapons, I didn't arrive empty-handed.

( true enough, he'll need to source more crescent darts, but he has his truncheons and a baseball bat (or similar) has never done him wrong. )

For anything else— we are in a town. ( punctuated by a pause. he's not trying to be dismissive. ) But you raise a good point. Luckily, I'm very familiar with what I'm doing.

—And yes. Like the shiny guys in armor.

[koutsuanzen]

...I don't mean weapons. I mean manpower.

[A head-tilt, seeming to put his own heckles down a touch as the other guy seems to be listening, takin' it seriously. He knows he's rough around the edges and can come off about as blunt as a heart attack... but he's serious about this.

If Mr. Knight wants to help folks, then good. He seems to really mean it, and he comes across as a dude who knows what he's doing, based on the way he's holding himself. But no one who sets out to be a hero all on their own has a happy ending.

He should know, huh?]

You should be recruitin' before you take on a beat, huh? This place is light on people you trust, prolly, but shouldn't you be askin' who else wants to help people, and what they got to help?

Weapons only offer a certain kinda help. Ain't gonna do much if someone needs a sweater darned, a bike fixed, or a head looked at.

[A slim brow raise and a full pause before he'd purse his lips, before admitting,]

Damn. That's corny, but kinda cool.

My name means fuckin' 'ground'. What happens when you fall off the horse, heh.

[enactors]

( "weapons only offer a certain kind of help." it's a remarkably, surprisingly pragmatic and nuanced way of looking at things. of course, he knows weapons and fighting aren't the only way to offer help, it's just never been the sort of help marc's been good at. it's there in his expression, just for a moment, a visual admittance of 'that hadn't even entered my thoughts'.

he makes a noise — a hum of acknowledgement — and he admits: ) That's not the type of help I've typically done. ( sweater darning and bike fixing and the like, he means. the topic of manpower, he skips past: baji's not the first person to bring it up as such — kisara had mentioned forming a team — but marc and WORKING WITH PEOPLE tends to be something that ends in tears.

not always but, like, enough.

he pauses when baji adds in the comment about his name and the little aside about what the ground is. his eyebrows knit together for a beat and marc's expressions shifts — fleetingly — to bemusement before he adds— ) But I've done that a few times. ( fallen off the metaphorical fucking horse. )

[koutsuanzen]

So what is-?

[There's a bluntness to the question that implies he might already have some wise idea. Maybe the only wise idea he's got, but one's better than none.

But then there's the brow going up, the curiosity he can't quite help that belays he is, indeed, a teenager:]

Wait. You ride horses? And fall offa them???