[se] dark sides

JACK

see me falling
yeah, down and lonely

A moonless night is a bad omen all by itself in Kaiholo. Those with blood on their minds aren't likely to wait until the sky is dark to spring their traps, but it definitely helps. And in Jack's case, there's no better time to get his nastier business dealings out of the way - that, of course, refers to the consequences of others' bad decisions.

Something heavy cracks against the wall of the alleyway where he stands just outside of it. Within, a man grunts and a second man screams and begs for his life. The beating continues, though, and whoever has decided to dip their fingers into Jack's profits will be missing a few before the sun rises again. Not that the good captain will be doing that himself, of course. He's perfectly capable, but he's not going to tear his knuckles on this trash.

are the angels on their way?
i’m in the dirt

flora

Quite unlike how Jack's night has gone, Flora is having a lovely evening (and who knows, maybe Jack is too). Striding through the portal without a care in the world (she is one of the few non-ascended who is perfectly fine using them), Flora takes a few long if not wobbly steps on heels which are ridiculously high before pausing to spin around. Dressed as if she'd just attended a party (she had), she shivers briskly before squinting towards the torches which should guide her home.

Torches which should be lit.

"Someone fell asleep on torch duty." She huffs to herself as she glances around, where, would you believe it, she sees Jack.

Rather than putting two and two together and leaving the very sketchy and murderous captain to his nightly activities, Flora instead raises a hand and waves in his direction. "Jack!" She calls, her voice made all the more bubbly by the wine she'd had earlier that evening. "Hey!"

never be so kind
you forget to be clever

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection

JACK

see me falling
yeah, down and lonely

Her voice rings out before she even totters into the range of his telepathy, and Jack's eyes flash in the dark as he pins her with his stare. There's a blade between his fingers before recognition has him biting the inside of his cheek; in the alleyway, the screams of the man being brutalised are being muffled by a rag.

"Someone's out late," he croons, slipping the knife away again and straightening up from the alley wall, though as her thoughts shroud his magic he almost tips back against it once more. "And someone's had a lot of fun too," he adds. At his heels, Seven mrows her own greeting, the sear cat wondering whether Flora's legs are good to wind around.

"Might wanna find a different route home, though. Ruffians at work, here."

are the angels on their way?
i’m in the dirt

flora

Flora, wildly unconcerned about dark men and alleyways, strides in Jack's direction looking a bit like a fawn with her long legs and trembling steps. "Am I?" She wonders, her thoughts bathed in alcohol. 'Sure did.' Flora agrees. The first time you get drunk is a cause for celebration of course, and even moreso when you've been acting like you're old hat at it for weeks.

Ignoring Jack's warning (of course), Flora sinks drastically down, fingers extended towards Seven. Her hands flash with bracelets and rings, her mouth a perfect O as she peers up at Jack. "You have a kitttttyyyyy." She mewls before looking back down at Seven and trying to scoop her up into her arms if she'd allow.

"You're a ruffian." She chortles snarkily and cheerfully at Jack.

never be so kind
you forget to be clever

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection

It starts as one. Then another. And then another. And soon a whole herd, keeled over as if asleep, but of course you know that can't be the case. These ramphire do not move; their chests do not rise and fall, and all appear to have been killed recently, all at once. How? You don't know. But there's no blood. Not a single drop to be found.

JACK

see me falling
yeah, down and lonely

There's a lot of luck going around here which is everything to do with old hat, unbeknownst to Flora. First, this is not the first time Jack's dirty dealings have been interrupted (almost like his writer plans it like this huh) and so his heavies know what to do. Jack might not get the funsies of the last word, but fingers will still be removed and lessons will still be learned.

Second, Seven happens to be everything that Jack isn't - namely, as soft as they come, and she purrs and bats at Flora with soft kitty paws as she's scooped up like a baby. "Lovely," Jack remarks mostly to himself like Lucifer, glancing back into the alleyway for a second before hitching in a deep breath and trying to corral the tottering Lullaby's daughter away from the bloody scene.

And into an entirely different one as it happens, sans the blood.

They are just dark shapes along the boardwalk at first, and Jack doesn't pay them any mind. But then there are more, spilling onto the beach, and the captain falls to a halt. "The fuck is this," he mumbles.

are the angels on their way?
i’m in the dirt

flora

Purring down at Seven, Flora cuddles the Sear Cat close, holding her as if she were a mixture of a baby and a lavish scarf. "Aren't you just the cutest thing? Yes you are. Yes you are!" This and other predictably mushy things leave the girl's lips as Jack guides them along. "You never told me you had a cat, Jack." Flora admonishes, nudging him playfully with her shoulder like they were old pals and this was a scandalous secret he'd been keeping from her.

Her heels make hollow sounds on the boardwalk as she clumsily elegantly strolls along at Jack's side. "Mmmmm?" She wonders drunkenly, still mostly concerned with Seven and how soft and fluffy she was.

never be so kind
you forget to be clever

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection

JACK

see me falling
yeah, down and lonely

Purring right back at Flora, of course Seven reacts in a predictably catlike fashion, namely by pushing her little head right up and under the girl's chin and relaxing in her arms like a fuzzy liquid. "Companion," Jack says distractedly, still trying to look at the closest ramphire. "She's a sear cat," he adds, and as if only just remembering herself, Seven also pipes up with a trill of "Seven!" to clarify the point.

Hopping down off the boardwalk (good luck Flora), Jack prowls towards the darker-than-black silhouette of the fallen animal, crouching down to see what has happened to it. "Doesn't look like it got sick," he remarks. That's a good thing he supposes. Eirachi shrines are one thing, but a plague? Yeesh.

are the angels on their way?
i’m in the dirt

flora

G A S P! Gasping as the cat speaks, Flora's eyes might as well have turned into cartoon hearts for the sudden and overwhelming burst of affection she feels for the little creature. "Ohmygods what a smart girl you are!" Hugging the cat to her chest gently but adoringly, Flora sprinkles kisses between Seven's ears as she narrows her eyes in Jack's direction.

"Wher'you going?" She wonders a touch whinily as she looks at the drop from the boardwalk to the sound with appropriate skepticism. "Jaaaack. Let's go for a drink." Flora suggests, her words coming out lez go fur a drink. "Who got sick?" She chimes, smooching Seven's head. "Was it you? Nooo, not you! You're too perfect for that." Indulging the cat in more kisses, Flora glances down again wondering if her heels and her dress would allow her to sit on the boardwalk without having to remove her hands from around Seven.

never be so kind
you forget to be clever

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection

JACK

see me falling
yeah, down and lonely

Fuck around and find out would naturally be Jack's opinion if he wasn't a bit busy, the captain frowning and straightening up only to turn and see Seven being assaulted by affection. (She doesn't mind in the slightest, and the impression he's getting from her is undeniably smug, in fact). "Perrrrrfect," she agrees with Flora, purring out the start of the word and trying to clamber, soft pawed, up and onto the girl's shoulders.

Whilst all of this is happening, Jack has started to relight some of the torches along the beachfront (that maybe he put out, shut up), and soon the ramphire herd - or what used to be it - is very much in view. "Somethin' killed all these things," he muttered. "Just dunno how. Can't have been a sea panther - none of 'em got eaten..."

are the angels on their way?
i’m in the dirt

flora

The tickle of Seven's whiskers and the pad of her paws up Flora's shoulder has the girl utterly melting. Allowing the feline to climb halfway up so that her upper half was supported by Flora's shoulder such that her lower half could continue to be obnoxiously cuddled, the girl peers through the waves of breeze-tousled fur to spy on what Jack was doing. (#Stelth)

"So?" Who cared about dead animals when there were kitties and drinks and rufffffffians.

Too pleasantly buzzed to have a good idea of what was actually happening or on what scale, Flora bends one leg to try and sit herself on the boardwalk before hopping awkwardly off. Luckily the heel of her shoe anchors her into the sand such that she only wobbles instead of breaking an ankle. "Jack, C'mon, lets--" The bubbly and rose-gold of Flora's thoughts abruptly begin to curdle as the newly-lit torches cast light on the ghostly bodies. In Seven's fur Flora's fingers grow stiff and cease their fussing.

"...Jack." Flora all but squeaks, torn between rushing to his side and rushing the absolute fuck away. Her poor sense of direction had her remaining where she was, though now her previous buzz had her feeling flighty rather than boozily confident.

never be so kind
you forget to be clever

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection

JACK

see me falling
yeah, down and lonely

Jack's shoulders tense as the warm bloom of her thoughts is doused with the ice water of shock and fear, and Seven similarly seems to puff out like a soft, dark marshmallow in her arms. "Yeah, I know," the captain rumbles, wondering whether his associates are still within earshot before deciding against muddying two sorts of very different business.

Turning back to Flora as if she's some pretty beach ornament, he tilts his head at her and gestures to the herd of bloodless corpses behind him. "Forgive me for makin' assumptions, but I feel like this ain't really your thing," he says. "But you're gonna either have to make yourself useful or fuck off outta the way, yeah?" So saying, Jack heads back to the boardwalk (sorry, Flora) to heft himself up, dusting the sand from his pants.

"Gotta head back to the Ark 'fore anythin' else." This isn't a one man job (well, one and a half, counting Flora).

are the angels on their way?
i’m in the dirt

flora

"Dead...those?" Flora replies incredulously. "No, those are most certainly not my thing." She adds as if the continued sound of her own voice might somehow reassure her that things were going to be okay. 'I'm..wait, wai-Jack." Her groan is tinged with panic as she kisses Seven's head and reluctantly sets the cat down. She would need her hands free for balance if she was going to keep up with the captain who seemed hell-bent on testing out her dexterity in heels on the sand.

"Okay but you can't leave me here." The girl protests, shuffling her way back to the boardwalk and inelegantly heaving herself up onto it. By now the thought of being alone in the dark with bloodless bodies was enough motivation for Flora to stop caring about how she looked, and with her illusions elegance dispelled, she could actually keep up with Jack quite well.

'So I take it this...isn't the sort of thing that happens around here normally?' Flora asks doubtfully.

never be so kind
you forget to be clever

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection

JACK

see me falling
yeah, down and lonely

Were it anyone else, Jack certainly would not have waited - but for Remi Taliesin's daughter, he does slow his steps. A bit. Maybe. Regardless, once Flora gets up onto the boardwalk and stops trying to pretend she can sashay her cares away, they do end up walking side by side towards the Ark. "No, not normally," Jack mutters, not looking over his shoulder at the ramphire in case they've done something equally as cursed, like... move. Or disappear.

"I gotta get some people together to look into this more," he continues. "And you can..." He bites the inside of his cheek, willing an idea to force its way out. "You can... write a notice for the Notice Board?" He glances across at her, as if asking if that's something she's capable of doing. "And... I dunno. Make a tribute for the dead shit?"

are the angels on their way?
i’m in the dirt