hadriel | [video]

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[Seel did not look amused. His almond eyes were narrowed, and while his androgynous looks might be beautiful, right now he looked positively bitchy. It had taken him a few days to recover himself after his murder and subsequent resurrection. He wasn't all there yet, it would take time. But he was well enough that he could put on a good front. Seel had a lot of practice after all.]

I didn't think I'd ever have to say this. But at least one of you have proven yourself to be so unpredictable and downright moronic that it deserves to be said.

Don't drink my blood. Don't touch my blood. That goes for Calanthe and Pellaz as well. It's a caustic poison and if you ingest it or inject it, you'll either die horribly or transform. We're not human.

Find yourself another snack or another way to satisfy your sick urges.

And I promise, any of you having similar thoughts, it won't be so easy.

[Seel repositions himself, folding his hands together to keep himself from fidgeting. He really wanted a fucking cigarette.]

Now, who around here would be the leading the Guard? As far as I can tell you are incompetent at best and willingly corrupt at worst. It was my understanding that you were supposed to keep law and order and protect the individuals here and those who cannot defend themselves.Clearly, your methods are not working. I suggest you find me before I have to go find you. At least make yourself look willing to change and accept help.

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Don't worry. I'm not in the habit of telling others that I conspired to commit murder with a stranger.

Your secret is safe.

I'm Seel har Parasiel.

[Seel sighs and stares at the text message. Dammit.]

Fine. Why don't you meet me for a drink, if you think you can find the place. Do you know where the damn speakeasy is?

Edited 2017-09-01 18:48 (UTC)

[Mmmm he doesn't want to drink but, eh, what the hell.]

I do actually.

[Thanks Carlisle.]

I think I can manage that one.
What time?

[Seel technically just wants to smoke, but after quitting when he got ressurected, well, he's indulging in another vice. He was entitled to drink a little after getting murdered.]

How's eight?

[Maybe that will give him some time to get lost and find his way back again. Although he actually seemed sure about this location. Good.]

Eight works.

[He wouldn't admit it, but Michael's also glad this gives him time to get lost- just in case. Somehow, he manages not to, even though he almost rather would. He can't entirely believe he's doing this, but it's probably too late for that.

When he finds the speakeasy, he hesitates outside for a moment. What if it's busy? But then, how busy could it be? He enters, but kind of lingers by the door a bit, trying to spot Seel and feeling really out of place.]

[Seel had a drink in his hand, because dammit he wanted a cigarette and quitting all over again was a bitch. But at the moment, he was holding his own, although it might not be too long before he asks the gods for a patch, spray, lozenge, anything really. He was a table, not trying to hide. He took a sip, not knowing what Michael looked like, although he assumed human male from the name.]

[Michael, on the other hand, knows what Seel looks like from the video. When he recognizes him, he slinks in that direction and seats himself on the opposite side of the table. They already agreed to meet, so it's definitely not weird.]

Uh, hey. Seel, right? [He's pretty sure he'd butcher the rest of the name, so that gets left out.]

[Up close, Seel looked pretty damn androgynous, a sort of shifting male/female ambiance to him. Lazily, he took a sip of his drink, and looked at the man who slid into the seat opposite him.]

Correct. Michael I assume?

[Because human male. It didn't take a great detective to put the facts together.]

So. You want to help. Why?

[Michael nods. The androgyny doesn't bother him, but it's definitely not what he's used to. Still, he'll try not to make a deal out of it. And wow, that sure is a complicated conversation starter.]

Well, I'm not interested in helping unless you're actually going with the revenge option. Or, you know. The murder-revenge. I'm not interested in torture.

[He has no idea Seel's actually considered that, though he can see the appeal of it, maybe, if someone murdered him. But that's not what Michael's here for.

Now comes the hard part. He's decided that if this is going to work, he's got to let go of at least some of his secrets. Some.]

This isn't going to make sense to you, and I don't expect it to, but it's kind of like... when people make sacrifices, to appease gods, or something. It's a little like that.

[There are actual gods running around here, maybe Seel will understand.]

[He wouldn't be Seel if he didn't consider locking the problem away, possibly drugging him, although the mind could work wonderful ways when they were lucid. Trapped. That had been his problem with Cal. He was sure his Cal, future Cal with thirty years under his belt, had been too drugged and mentally tortured to remember it. Seel just hadn't worked out if that was a good thing or not. In terms of the new har that killed him, well, keeping him locked up was the best solution he could think of for everyone. ]

Murder is problematic. He'll just come back.

[And then Seel would have to find him again. But at the very least, he might not be har anymore.]

Explain to me what you mean.

[Seel had a strange inkling, but all Michael conjured in him was the puppet strings that were wrapped around his friend Pell, how those same strings had pulled the trigger on a gun, even if it hadn't been held by those who pulled them. But he doubted that was the same thing. It was still a sacrifice though. To a god? Well, his god.]

[Yeah, Michael's heard of the whole impermanent death thing. But still-]

The gods aren't choosy about who they bring back? I'm not sure it matters. For my purposes, anyway. I'm guessing you mean you won't be satisfied by that?

[That's fine by Michael though. Having an infinitely respawning killer just means an endless supply of food for the Visitor. Or maybe it'll move on to a new target after the first time? He can't exactly ask it.]

I'll... try to explain. But it's going to sound kind of crazy, okay? [More like a lot of crazy. Michael glances around to make sure no one else is within earshot. Moment of truth. He's having second thoughts, but he figures the worst that can happen is that Seel thinks he's off his rocker. Which will still suck, a lot, but what's Seel going to do about it? Seel doesn't trust the Guard, he said as much. He won't report this.]

There's something living in my head, kind of, and I have to feed it. Only, it has a very particular diet, if you get my meaning. [This is like the worst explanation ever. Oops.] I figure if it's gotta be somebody, it might as well be the worst somebody. It kind of has a taste for killers anyway.

I guess this amounts to me being here for selfish reasons, sorry, but... it really can be useful.

[Please don't react badly, please don't react badly-]

Edited (too many anyways) 2017-09-13 03:01 (UTC)

Honestly, I don't know. I heard people who die come back, although there are people who don't die who disapear and don't come back. I've never heard of someone dying and not coming back, but I haven't exactly been asking around either.

[Seel took a drink, because it gave him something to do and after all he'd been through, could you really blame him?]

I'm used to crazy. I've been through more crazy than you could imagine.

[And sometimes he wondered if his mind could really take it. Were there any Wraeththu out there who were first generation and sane? being transformed that way from a human was cataclysmic, especially for those unprepared. As for the Guard, no Seel won't report Michael. He doesn't trust the Guard and even if he did, there's no law against talking about magical murder.]

There's something in your head that eats sentient beings?

[Seel just wants to clarify. He seems alright with the idea.]

And how does that work exactly?

[Michael doesn't begrudge Seel his drink. Honestly, if he didn't think it was a seriously bad idea to give up any amount of self-control right now, he'd probably be drinking himself. He's sure he'll get up to plenty of it afterward, assuming they go through with this whole thing.

More importantly, Seel doesn't think he's nuts. Either that or he's just very good at playing along, but perhaps naively, Michael is going to give him the benefit of the doubt.]

It's like possession, or something, but it doesn't control me. It's just really vocal about what it wants, which so far has been, well, murderers. Like I said, taste for killers.

Anyway, we pick a target first. [Enjoy that totally-not-creepy shift to a plural pronoun. And that no-longer-implied murder.] And then it's like, I don't know, some kind of sixth sense. It always knows where the target is, so long as we're close enough, but the range seems to be pretty far.

If you're asking me how it eats, well. That part's kind of literal.

Edited 2017-09-15 07:57 (UTC)

[Truth be told he's a little bit of both. Seel is a good diplomat when he wants to be, but he also has seen a lot. Been through a lot, and having something that lives in your head that eats people is, while not what he expected, not the weirdest thing ever.]

And you want your.....visitor, to eat my murderer? I'll think about it. It wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but I'll consider your offer.

[It was the weirdest thing ever for Michael, until he came to Hadriel. Now it almost seems mundane by comparison.]

Yeah, that's the gist of it. What did you have in mind?

[Sorry Michael, Seel wasn't giving up his cards that easily. He knew it was only fair to share after had revealed such a large part of himself, but after being murdered, he was a little paranoid. And admitting to someone who just said they don't do torture, that he was considering it? Might not be the best of ideas. So Seel went with the basics, the bare structure, without any of the intricacies.]

Finding a place to lock him up where he wouldn't be a problem anymore.

[Michael frowns, shifting a little.]

You think that'll work? If he manages to, you know. Off himself. Then he might revive and you'd lose track of him again. Or what if someone else found him?

You don't think I'd lose track of him if you killed him? Or ate him, whichever you prefer.

Honestly, I wasn't going to give him the chance to escape. It's hard to escape when you have nothing on you, nothing around you and you can't move.

[Seel was also planning on drugging him insensible, because nothing brought more curiosity than hearing someone scream for help, even if they were gagged. Torture didn't have to be physical. Sit in a room with no contact, drugged out of your mind, for days or weeks on end, that was the kind of torture Seel preferred. Or mental cruelty but he didn't know his murderer well enough to know what would hurt him.]

[... Okay, fair point.]

So your plan is to find a place where no one else will go, and then take all his clothes and tie him up?

[Well that's... a nightmare scenario for Michael, but luckily this isn't being directed toward him. Still, he looks maybe a little uncomfortable.]

People have escaped from similar situations, but even if it does work- does this guy have friends? Is anyone going to miss him and come looking?

[Seel noticed how uncomfortable his new friend looked and inwardly he smiled. If Michael ever became a threat, he had a new inkling on how to handle it. Why thank you Michael, that was very helpful. Then again, Seel only new few people who wouldn't consider being tied up with no way to get out and no one to talk to a nightmare scenario. Physical torture ended. This was different.]

That's true he could always escape. This situation isn't ideal, there isn't exactly a dungeon with guards or a jail cell I can put him in. Or a tower. [Was it Michael's imagination or did Seel smile a little at that mention?]

I have no idea if he has friends or not. If he's already killed at least one other person, I can't imagine he's made too many friendly faces. The key is to make sure they can't find him. Make him disappear.

[Michael's somewhat aware of the fact that he's showing a weakness, but he's also aware that if Seel ever becomes a problem for him, he's got a bit of an advantage. He's not sure the Visitor would listen to him, but- he didn't miss that little smile there, either. He could probably make a compelling argument that Seel is worth targeting, assuming he was also holding them captive and potentially torturing them.]

Well... good luck with that, if that's what you're going with.

[He folds his arms.]

I came here to help with the hunting part, not the hiding part.

[Seel may or may not be able to hold his own against Michael's vistor. He's high caste, highly trained, but it's been a while. He's a politician and a hostling, or rather, mother. At the moment, he'd better at looking over reports and organizing referendums than holding his own. He had just been at war for months, but it's a little different when you're leading a squadron of trained warriors than holding your own. It had been a long time since he had to do that. ]

I'm not sure what I'm going with at the moment. I'm still feeling out my options. But if I need your particular....services. I'll reach out.

Right, I'll be around.

[He's not feeling optimistic about this, though.

A little awkwardly, since he's not great at ending conversations, he just sort of gets up and turns to go. If Seel doesn't stop him, he'll be on his way.]

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[video]

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cw: suicide mention

cw: torture

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