[Normally Spade would stay away from residential areas but, Jack had something to talk about. The moment he'd mentioned obsession he had no doubts about it. Was it the dreams or did he find some clue of him? He phased through the wall and leaned against it.]
[Jack had been glad most of his alcohol had survived the fire. Keeping his stash out of Praise's hands and black market dealing had actually proved the tougher deal. In either case he was seated at the kitchen table with a glass of brandy in hand and another poured and waiting on the other side of the table. For once he was glad the household had buggered off to the Wilderness.]
[He watched Spade walk through the wall without any surprise, and raised the glass to his lips. If it wasn't safe to talk about this, Spade would, hopefully, stop him before he said too much.]
I've been having the oddest dreams. [Spade already knew, he suspected.] The last three in particular stand out though. One involved fire and a strange verse. Another had a white butterfly of death and peril with cards on its wings, and a little girl I knew I had to protect.
[He watched Spade for a reaction to that one, sipping the brandy again.]The other one involved a lot of people. Some squirrel woman, a little girl and a man I recognize but can't name, another man
( ... )
[Spade didn't say a word as he spoke. He took a seat at the table with a heavy sigh. Yes, the brat had his dream...the recent one. He tapped out a cigarette and lit it while he thought of how to explain it.]
They were...pieces of this world's authority before. The former captain of the guard and a wizard of unspeakable power. Our brother is our brother. As for the cheating man, well.
[He leaned on the table as he exhaled, wisps of smoke trailing from his lips.]
Never met an opponent that strong before. Bit like trying to catch the moon with your bare hands. Its doomed to fail.
You get poetic when you talk about him. [Jack pointed out, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes, pressing the cool glass against his face.]
[Maybe he shouldn't be this relaxed in front of a man who'd ripped his still-beating heart out of his chest but he was too tired to care much. Or maybe his instincts were all off. They seemed more and more skewed lately. He had a desire to tear apart everything that couldn't even be remotely healthy. As well as a certain apathy to his own degenerating mental state. He took another drink.]
I'm inclined to agree with the man, you're definitely obsessive. [There was a brief pause, as he rolled the name around in his mind. He wasn't sure he wanted to say it, give it weight. He decided to anyway.]
Tyki. You've placed the figures, then. But if the star-forehead is an opponent--[He stopped his own line of questioning there, taking another drink. He didn't want to know, come to think of it. He probably didn't want to know any of it. He liked life as it was.]
If you met someone so strong it was like exchanging blows with the sun, wouldn't you feel a little impressed?
[He looked up at his...no their name and laughed. All of that information and that was what was taken from it?] Its in our nature, you and I to be obsessed with a challenge. ...If you don't want to think that way yet...probably should resist a little.
[He picked up the glass and held it up to his lips.]
She's family; like the boy, like our brother, and the other ten you don't remember.
Maybe. [Jack set his glass down and stared at Spade, then looked away. He shouldn't have called the man over, even with time to think. It hadn't been enough time, because he still wasn't sure what he wanted to know. Maybe nothing at all.]
[Hell maybe he just felt unsettled from being alone with weird dreams, on top of knowing he was going insane. Slowly. It was another thing he should ask about, but didn't want to. Drowning. He'd been drowning, Spade had.]
[And then there'd been the parade of faces Jack hadn't known saying things he hadn't begun to understand--or maybe he was denying any comprehension. But the man reaching for him at the end had said something.]
What's not inevitable, Spade? [Their name felt strange to use, if it was even their name and not some other name of Spade's--or someone else entirely. Who could say in this place, what belong to whom? Either way he went back to the familiar.]
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Ah. So you're alone are you? I'll be right there.
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So, what did you see, boy?
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[He watched Spade walk through the wall without any surprise, and raised the glass to his lips. If it wasn't safe to talk about this, Spade would, hopefully, stop him before he said too much.]
I've been having the oddest dreams. [Spade already knew, he suspected.] The last three in particular stand out though. One involved fire and a strange verse. Another had a white butterfly of death and peril with cards on its wings, and a little girl I knew I had to protect.
[He watched Spade for a reaction to that one, sipping the brandy again.]The other one involved a lot of people. Some squirrel woman, a little girl and a man I recognize but can't name, another man ( ... )
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They were...pieces of this world's authority before. The former captain of the guard and a wizard of unspeakable power. Our brother is our brother. As for the cheating man, well.
[He leaned on the table as he exhaled, wisps of smoke trailing from his lips.]
Never met an opponent that strong before. Bit like trying to catch the moon with your bare hands. Its doomed to fail.
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[Maybe he shouldn't be this relaxed in front of a man who'd ripped his still-beating heart out of his chest but he was too tired to care much. Or maybe his instincts were all off. They seemed more and more skewed lately. He had a desire to tear apart everything that couldn't even be remotely healthy. As well as a certain apathy to his own degenerating mental state. He took another drink.]
I'm inclined to agree with the man, you're definitely obsessive. [There was a brief pause, as he rolled the name around in his mind. He wasn't sure he wanted to say it, give it weight. He decided to anyway.]
Tyki. You've placed the figures, then. But if the star-forehead is an opponent--[He stopped his own line of questioning there, taking another drink. He didn't want to know, come to think of it. He probably didn't want to know any of it. He liked life as it was.]
Who's the little girl?
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[He looked up at his...no their name and laughed. All of that information and that was what was taken from it?] Its in our nature, you and I to be obsessed with a challenge. ...If you don't want to think that way yet...probably should resist a little.
[He picked up the glass and held it up to his lips.]
She's family; like the boy, like our brother, and the other ten you don't remember.
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[Hell maybe he just felt unsettled from being alone with weird dreams, on top of knowing he was going insane. Slowly. It was another thing he should ask about, but didn't want to. Drowning. He'd been drowning, Spade had.]
[And then there'd been the parade of faces Jack hadn't known saying things he hadn't begun to understand--or maybe he was denying any comprehension. But the man reaching for him at the end had said something.]
What's not inevitable, Spade? [Their name felt strange to use, if it was even their name and not some other name of Spade's--or someone else entirely. Who could say in this place, what belong to whom? Either way he went back to the familiar.]
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