"Well, it sucks. I've spent all my life trying to avoid and ignore it only to find out that you can't. It's not possible." Scipio sighed, running his fingers through his hair again. "Fear makes people weak and I don't want to be weak. I'm not weak."
“Oh, I totally disagree,” Xellis replied bluntly. “I think having fear and acknowledging it is the strong part. Facing it is even stronger. Not having it in the first place is just borderline insane.”
Xellis rolled back over, glancing to Scipio. “But clearly you disagree. To each their own, I suppose.”
Scipio huffed a bit. "Fear has done nothing but debilitate me in the past. I simply ignore it and live life as normal anyway. I guess you could consider that to be 'facing my fears', but really I just don't let my emotions or fears control me. It's a waste of my time."
“In my eyes, that’s an admirable quality,” he said. “Although I don’t know much of it, emotions are strong, and to keep them from taking you over must be difficult. That’s strong, then. But, I digress.”
Xellis flicked his eyes open to the sky. “Maybe sometimes it would be nice to follow them and be impulsive, no? I mean, surely you might regret it afterward, but following what you want seems like it would be fun, no matter the consequence.”
"I'm not a big fan of consequences. I do what I want for the most part, but what I want isn't usually something that'll get me into serious trouble. If I do something like that, I just don't get caught. Easy enough." Scipio shrugged.
“I like you,” Xellis said with a chuckle. “I’d love if we could go to earth. What’d you say? Take a trip down for a day? I turn myself vaguely human? We drink too much? If you’re truly honest in your claim to never get caught..”
He glanced to Scipio, smiling at the possibility. “Sound like a plan?”
(literally wrote this out two times?? And it never went through?? Sorry for the delay lol)
(Ooft)
"Yeah, sure. As long as we can get fake IDs to drink, we might as well. Also, how does that work? You're a god and I'm… well, dead. Do I even have a body anymore?" Scipio asked as he started to pull on his clothes.
“As a matter of fact, you do have a body,” he explained. “Since I made you my associate, and you ridded yourself of your mortal wound, you are now your own being. It’s confusing, I know, but you’re fine.”
With that, Xellis pushed himself to his feet, teetering over and putting back on his clothes. He ruffled his hair, already decently dry, and slipping Arci over his back.
"Mm… alright, then. Are we allowed to go to earth? It seems like you would have gone up there by now if you were allowed." Scipio stretched and yawned a bit. "Regardless of that, how do we get up?" He asked. "One of your little portal things?"
“Uhh yes, and no we aren’t allowed, unless asked a prayer,” Xellis explained. “But you just said yourself that you’re good at never getting caught. Tell me, have you ever done anything illegal? Besides underage drinking? Because if you’re confident in your ability to be all sneaky-sneaky, this should be no sweat.”
"I made a fake ID when I was sixteen so that I could join the army. I also killed a lot of animals, lots of people in the army, and maybe a couple outside of the army. I never got caught for any of that. Oh! I also stowed away on a plane when I was eight to get to America from Italy." Scipio hummed thoughtfully to himself.
“Perfect!” Xellis said, perhaps too joyfully. “So going to earth should be nothing of concern. If you trust your ability in lying, then perfect. Count me in. You might just have to do all the talking, though. Considering I don’t know many human customs.”
"Sure. I'm a good liar. Ready to go?" Scipio asked, dusting himself off a bit and looking up at Xellis questioningly. "And you won't just push me through the portal? I don't travel well."
“Of course not. And you’ll be fine this time— because you’re not hungover anymore. Plus that new energy Audomar supplied you with should do the trick,” Xellis replied. He suddenly turned to the side, opening up a portal. “Sooo… we going?”
He was clearly extremely nervous, his hands relatively shaky and his breath hitched.
"Mhmm. Let's go." Scipio grabbed Xellis by the hand and dragged him through the portal, driving a bit when he landed. "Alright… where did you take us to?" He asked, looking up at Xellis curiously one he'd gathered himself.
Xellis didn’t seem to mind being yanked in, but the second he was in the human world, his stomach churned. He gave an extremely shaky sigh, blinking in the harsh sunlight.
“I-I brought us to a place called Santa Barbara, California.”
"Alright… I've never been here before." Scipio looked around curiously. "Where do you want to go?" He asked Xellis. "I'm sure I can find my way around this place somehow. Maps or something…"
Xellis was surprised he hadn’t started foaming at the mouth. He was shaking, his hands extremely cold and his face so pale he nearly looked sick. Taking a human form wasn’t something a god could do easily.
His hair looked much browner in color in order to fit in with the standard mortal. His eyes had taken a deeper shade of yellow, looking almost green or chartreuse. Arci looked much more like a bag now, loosing the teeth and his tongue actually turning into a real belt. Xellis also no longer held the godly aura he had had before.
“I-I don’t know,” he stuttered. “May-maybe a place to lie d-down.”
Scipio looked up at Xellis and examined him boredly. "Are you having a stroke or something? Seizure, maybe?" He dragged him off to a nearby park so that he could push him down onto a bench.
Xellis hesitantly fell onto the bench, curled over with his elbows on his knees and his feet planted flat on the ground.
“I… I haven’t taken a human form in so long, it’s difficult to handle,” he muttered almost inaudibly. “I’m essentially experiencing every single feeling at once. Lust, pain, sadness, joy, irritation, love, etcetera. It’s a lot to take in at once…”
"Interesting." Scipio said dryly as he sat down beside Xellis on the bench. "And how's that going for you?" He asked, running his fingers through his hair with a soft hum. "And when can we get going again?"
“Not good,” Xellis said, giving a small laugh. “And just… hold on a minute…”
He hugged his stomach, closing his eyes for a brief moment before taking a sigh and opening them once more. He then stood up, resting a hand on Scipio’s shoulder before he regained his balance, then stepped aside once he could.
“Alright. Alright, I’m ok. Possibly still moderately emotional, but I’m ok.”
"Alright. Let's get going, then. What kind of things are you wanting to see?" Scipio asked as he got to his feet. "I'm not entirely sure what all is in California, though… like I said, I've never been here."
“I want to do everything,” he said quietly. “I want to see everything. I want to… get drunk. Eat mortal food. Go… go dancing, or whatever you guys normally do. What do you suggest?”
"Well, I'm sure I can locate a bar, but we'll still need fake IDs and… that could take a while. Are you able to change your appearance at all because god powers or something? They don't usually card people who look considerably older than 21."