3rd Kill ~ Console/Video

[irishthor]

[Action; Early morning - Locked to Katara.]

[His dreams are wracked by memories. Of cold ice, of forests... Of bonds broken and forged. To those looking in, he would be moving, sleeping restless, sweat beaded on his brow, and the occasional noise slipping past his lips...

That is until he jolts up, hand grasping for a weapon that isn't there, eyes wild, before he realises where he is, and relaxes a tad.]

Christ... [This is mumbled, a hand raised to scrub over his face, feeling the roughness of the unshaven stubble under his fingers. He hasn't really shaved or tended to himself these past days; wasn't much of a point.] ...I have to stop nearly dying...

[Private audio to Skulduggery Pleasant.]

You said to inform you if I learnt something regarding these muggings...

[Open]

[Shay Cormac has seen better days. He still looks pale, and sweat is still visible on his brow, but he's looking a lot healthier than people have seen him before today. His hair is still down, and he's wearing local garb, but... at least he looks better.]

So, what do you do when your soul gem changes colour?

[He pulls out a red gem on a pendant, dangling it before the camera.]

Because this was green before- [And he stops, blinking, staring off, and then around his surroundings. From the feed, people can see that he's in the hotel lobby, but Shay is acting like he's seeing something else... and then his attention returns to the console. He clears his throat, looking a tad abashed.]

Er... My apologies. I thought I... [A glance over his shoulder.] Never mind. Any information on what this means, I would appreciate it.

[And the feed gets cut.]

[Private to Deon Wilson]

I owe you a debt, my friend.

[Private to Arno Dorian]

As much as I never thought I'd say these words to an Assassin again, I owe you my life. Thank you.

Comments

[irishthor]

Unconscious. When I woke, they'd stripped me bare. I'd say it was a random mugging, but my belongings are showing up piece by piece.

[skeletonenigma]

[Starting with the soul gem, of course. And the gem's now changing colour. Something about that is unsettling, and it has nothing to do with the colours being traditionally associated with Christmas.

Something's going to be wrong with it, just as something had gone wrong with Yuri's.]

Are you experiencing anything strange since you got the gem back? Dizziness, vertigo? Unexpected feelings? Hallucinations?

[irishthor]

I...

[He shifts a tad, the movement sounding over the feed.]

I wouldn't be comfortable discussing it in a public place such as this.

[There are people he'd like to keep his Eagle Vision ability hidden from.]

[skeletonenigma]

I completely understand. You can use the keyboard, if that helps. Otherwise, we can always meet in -

[ - he has a violinist following him around. Quite apart from the awkward amusement of two men meeting to the sound of violin music, Skulduggery doesn't believe Shay would trust Solomon. He can't really be blamed for that, either.]

We can always meet in person. [Solomon has to sleep occasionally.] Do you have a radio?

[irishthor]

Aye, but I barely know how to use the blasted thing.

[skeletonenigma]

I do. I have a persistent shadow at the moment, but I can contact you when it leaves. All you have to do is push down the button to respond. How does that sound?

[irishthor]

Alright... Alright, aye, that sounds good.

console --> radio?

[skeletonenigma]

[Solomon doesn't fall asleep until the wee hours of the next morning. The moment Skulduggery's sure he has at least a few hours of peace, he uses his own radio to contact the frequency Shay gave him.]

The persistent shadow has left. Where are you?

radio

[irishthor]

Metal Sector, near the stalls and shops.

radio --> action

[skeletonenigma]

I'll be right there.

[It doesn't take him very long, either. This late into the night, there's no one around to bat an eyelash at a flying skeleton, so less than fifteen minutes later and Skulduggery's touched down in the middle of the Metal Sector shops. From there, it's just a matter of locating a face Skulduggery has seen only a small handful of times before. Easy as pie for someone of his magnificent talent.

Of course, it never hurts to make sure.]

Shay?

[irishthor]

[And a figure walks out from an alleyway, a pair of boots tucked under his arm.]

Over here.

[skeletonenigma]

[Oh, good. That didn't take long.

Skulduggery cocks his head.] Do you need two pairs at once?

[irishthor]

These are what were stolen from me. My attackers seem to find a glee in returning my posessions in odd positions.

[skeletonenigma]

[He nods.] You're not the only one. Some of the returned soul gems have been found in the strangest places. The side effects you're suffering - are you sure they're a result of the gem, and not the bell used to knock you out?

[irishthor]

[Stuffing his hand down the front of his shirt, he brings out the red gem on an improvised leather holding.]

This was green when it was taken from me, and the three days I was left without it, nothing like this has happened. [He pauses.] It's happened twice since we talked.

[skeletonenigma]

[The obvious question is whether or not the soul gem Shay found is the same soul gem he lost. But if it acts the same way and it keeps him alive, the question is moot, particularly since Zatanna was sure her soul gem was the same one she'd always had.]

Nothing like what? What's happened twice?

[irishthor]

[He pauses, looking around, before back to Skul.]

The... ill affects you were asking about.

[skeletonenigma]

The dizziness and the lethargy? That's impressive, considering we've been speaking for all of two minutes and you haven't so much as stumbled.

[irishthor]

[A shake of the head.]

I... Look. What I'm going to tell you, I'd prefer remain between ourselves. It's not something I tend to advertise. Can you guarantee that?

[skeletonenigma]

I can guarantee no one will hear about it from me.

[Anything beyond that is out of Skulduggery's hands. A minor phrasing quibble, but he does like to be able to stand behind his guarantees.]

[irishthor]

[There's a pause, Shay glancing around once more, checking the surrounding area with his sense, before returning his attention to Skulduggery.]

Some people in my world... we have this... Ability. [He frowns, trying to think of the best way to describe it, his voice lowering a tad]

It's... kind of like a second sight. It's called the sense. It's... mostly used to track people. [He sighs, rubbing the back of his head.] Basically, if I concentrate, I can see the people around me differently. If they mean me harm, if they're something I should investigate, and so-on. I'm not too sure how it works, but...

[And here's the rub.]

Ever since I got my soul gem back, it's been triggering randomly, without me causing it.

[skeletonenigma]

[Ah. A Sensitive-based ability. In Skulduggery's world, hiding something like that isn't necessary - at least not from other sorcerers. But he's well aware other worlds handle psychic abilities differently, and he can well understand why Shay might be reluctant to share it.

It sounds astonishingly useful. Being able to see the moment someone means you harm? Skulduggery would almost consider trading in his own magic if he wasn't already so good at spotting hidden threats.]

That's odd. How frequently?

[Very, if it can happen twice in the space of a minute.]

[irishthor]

Once every ten or twenty minutes. It's different each time.

[A pause, a worried frown.]

This... is usually a conscious thing. It doesn't just happen.

[skeletonenigma]

[Ah. Not the moment someone means you harm, then. Still astonishingly useful, if a tad more inconvenient.]

Does it go away if you're not in physical contact with your gem?

[irishthor]

I... [His hand goes to the gem, almost protectively.] I haven't checked. I've only had it back for a few hours.