fandomhighdorms | Fifth Floor Common Room, Tuesday Morning

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Fifth Floor Common Room, Tuesday Morning

Last night, something peculiar had happened for the very first time: Jeremy Darling had gone grocery shopping.

And as was the case with most things involving money and a member of the Darling family, he had maybe gone a little overboard. He'd ended up having to lug three bags of foodstuffs back to the dorms, on his own, and dearly wishing Clark could have moved to Fandom with the twins to help with this stuff.

Still, the good thing was that he had three different kinds of cereal to choose from this morning when he wandered on down to the common room, wearing his glasses and his pajama bottoms with the planet print, his red silk dressing gown hanging open. After making his daunting breakfast food choice, he flopped down onto a couch with his bowl of cereal (two kinds at the same time) and turned the television on to start channel surfing.

It wasn't long before he was considering buying the common room a nice new TV set.

[ooc: It's an open common room!]

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"I'm Wesley Wyndam-Pryce," he said, extending a hand for Bod to shake. "I've seen you around as well. It's nice to meet you."

"And you as well," he said, shaking the offered hand firmly. "I go by Bod, though, if that's easier. Nobody sometimes confuses people or makes them wonder if my parents hated me for some reason."

Wesley chuckled a little at that. "I'm accustomed to odd names," he said, smiling. "But yes, yours is rather unusual. Bod, then."

He tried to reign in his curiosity for all of ten seconds, and then: "Would it be rude to ask why your parents chose, er, Nobody?"

"It wouldn't, no," Bod assured him, shaking his head. "When my parents adopted me, I was just a baby and they had no knowledge of my name because of some unusual circumstances. After several suggestions, my mum said I didn't look like nobody but myself. And that's where it came from."

"Hmm," Wesley said, thoughtfully tapping his chin. "That's actually quite interesting."

Mostly the "unusual circumstances" part, but the name part too, he guessed. Really, Wes was just nosy and curious and thought everything was interesting. Whatever.

"Well, to provide more details, my parents were both ghosts," he said easily, shrugging. "They adopted me after my family passed away, leaving me alone."

Oh. Wesley blinked. Ghosts?

"Oh," Wes said, definitely surprised. "That's, ah. That's. Unusual."

"It is," Bod said, smiling at that reaction. "They were very kind ghosts, though. Very warm and very instrumental in helping me grow up safe. I have them, amongst others, to thank for my life."

Oh! Friendly ghosts. Even more interesting. Not that he was prejudiced against ghosts or anything, but the Watchers' Academy's stance on ghosts and other things of that nature had been firmly negative. But Wes was learning.

"Interesting," he said again. "And they, ah, raised you as ordinary parents would?"

"Well, not quite," Bod admitted, shaking his head. "I lived in a graveyard and wasn't able to really leave for safety reasons so I didn't go to school and didn't really experience humans besides those that came to the graveyard to mourn. My upbringing was caring but different."

"Oh," Wesley said, and it was starting to seem like that was the only word he knew. Then his knee-jerk nerdiness kicked in, and he was suddenly bombarded with questions that he just had to ask. "So was Fandom the first time you really encountered people?" he inquired interestedly. "That must have been quite jarring."

"It wasn't the first, no," Bod said, shaking his head. "When I left the graveyard, I traveled for awhile and met people through my travels but this is the first place that I've ever stayed for an extended period of time that wasn't inhabited by ghosts."

He paused to take a drink. "Still though, it might be the first time I've experienced the diversity that this world can offer. This place is good for that."

Wesley nodded, still thinking it over. "I think a lot of people can say that," he said thoughtfully. "Most people have come here from rather sheltered home environments, and Fandom is -- er, not sheltered."

Yeah, Wes, you could say that again.

"Do ghosts -- er, act differently from people?" he asked, curious.

"It really depends on the ghost and the time they're from," Bod answered after a moment. "I met some who were over two thousand years old and held beliefs from that age but I also met children who just wanted to play and got into fights with me just as anyone here would do. They live their lives but their just...dead while doing so."

"Fascinating," Wesley murmured, mostly to himself. Because, yes, he was a total dork for all things paranormal, and ghosts were one thing he didn't know a whole lot about. He made a mental note to spend his library shift on Thursday looking into it.

"I haven't really met someone with such an interest in ghosts before," Bod admitted, pleased. "Usually they just look at me askance and wonder what other strange things I could be hiding."

Wesley smiled abashedly. "Yes, I'm -- well, I have a particular interest in the paranormal," he admitted. "Vampires, ghosts, all sorts of things. I suppose ghosts are particularly interesting because they don't seem to be explicitly malevolent."

"My guardian is a vampire," he supplied, half smiling. "I suppose I've run the gamut, then. I've known a werewolf as well. The graveyard I lived in seemed to be quite the gathering place for all sorts of supernatural things."

"Oh," said Wes, pleased to finally have something to contribute to the conversation. "Yes, graveyards are often convergence points for paranormal creatures. For instance, before I came to Fandom, I spent several months in a town in California where nearly ever night there were vampire risings in the town's, er, many graveyards."

Sunnydale had just been wacky like that.

"Oh?" Bod asked, now interested himself. He leaned forward some. "What were the vampires like, if I can ask?"

"Mostly the hostile sort," Wesley replied, smiling. "With one notable exception. But for the most part, they were single-minded creatures intent on feeding and killing."

He could make this a day-long lecture, actually, as he'd studied eleven years of vampire lore at the Watchers' Academy. Fortunately for Bod, he'd try to control himself.

"That's unfortunate to hear but not unsurprising," Bod said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "I've heard about but never run into hostile vampires. They've all been controlled and passive towards me for the most part. I always find myself wondering what makes a vampire become aggressive or non hostile."

Oh! He knew this one. Or rather, he knew it in his own universe.

"Well," he said, puffing up at the ability to disclose new information. "Where I come from, a vampire's aggressive nature is created by his lack of a soul. They function as a moral compass, so to speak, and vampires are notably devoid of them. I'm only familiar with one vampire who managed to re-ensoul himself. Prior to that, he was among the most vicious and destructive vampires in existence, but once ensouled, he became much more passive. Moral, even."

Watchers were big on ghost stories. It was kind of a thing.

"That's...an interesting way to think of things," he said honestly, looking even more intrigued now. "It's not something Silas -- he's my guardian -- ever mentioned. He didn't really speak about that part of his life to me either but I'd figured it out over time."

It was something to ponder and maybe something to broach to Silas at another time. "How would you acquire a soul? I don't think they're just for sale that easily."

"No, no, they're not," Wesley agreed, laughing. "It requires a complex ritual. I've never seen it performed, but it's largely Latin-based, and it hinges upon the correct use of a number of mystical items. Rosemary, an Orb of Thessala, that sort of thing."

Yes, Wes, everyone in the whole world knew what an Orb of Thessala was.

Fifth Floor Common Room, Tuesday Morning

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