Khan on the horizon

[myra_reldon]

She had to tell The Shadow. In her mind, Myra could see the leering face of Shiwan Khan clear as day, and he was trying to tell her, Ming Dwan, to come to him. She could feel her feet slip from beneath the covers and hit the cool floor. Like an automaton, she lurched forward, moving toward her bedroom door. It took every ounce of strength as

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[evillurks]

Although he is loathe to admit it, contact with a younger world reminds The Shadow that age has robbed him of some measure of physical prowess. His mental powers, on the other hand, have only grown. When Myra stumbles into the plush, quiet hall of the uptown Rettigue apartment, the intense chaos of her mind and the person her thoughts swirl around are quick to draw his attention. Even as she reaches his door, he strides across the hardwood floor and hurries to fling it open. His expression on finding her there in a nightgown is one of such genuine surprise that it's truly a shame she's in no fit mental state to appreciate it.

"...Myra?!?"

[myra_reldon]

She almost seems to cringe as her name registers, but it does stop her from continuing down the hall. She's trying to hang on to the details spinning around in her head as they try to escape.

"Lǎo hǔ..." She sounds and appears very distracted, but she's working on snapping out of it, the best that someone schooled in little more than simple mental focuses can from an experience like this.

[evillurks]

It is a lucky thing the residents in this particular building have a habit of keeping to themselves. Her presence goes unobserved by anyone else, but The Shadow is quick to reach her, supporting her in her wavering course and more or less whisking her out of the hall and into his apartment. For the moment, he barely even registers her current attire.
As the strong hands guide her, another presence seems to envelop her mind, washing over her like a flood to force Shiwan Khan out. There is a sense of biting cold, of a world of snow and rock, and a very distant sound of chiming bells and gongs.

[myra_reldon]

It feels like coming home to her. The tenseness in her form relaxes as she provides no resistance. The glazed look in her eyes is quickly dissipating and her normal awareness is starting to catch up, somehow retaining a few small pieces of information from the call to service.

Myra blinks, looked back at the door to the apartment, and then up at The Shadow as he looms over her. She's trying to piece together what she has to make a report. The fact that he's not the one who really needs the information, is not important.

[evillurks]

He nudges the door shut behind them, and spares one hand from her arm to throw the bolt shut. She is swept onward to the sofa, and pushed down on it. From that position he only looms all the more, intense blue eyes gazing deep into hers. Only when he is utterly certain all psychic connection to anyone else is broken does he retreat, the fires of his eyes dampened. For a moment he regards her with a frown, watching her collect herself. His tone is coolly collected, and almost casual.

"I'll make you tea."

She should have another moment to sort out her thoughts, aided by the clink and rattle of tea preparations from the kitchen.

[myra_reldon]

"Thanks." She manages as she sets the PINpoint next to her on the couch and then as he leaves, she modestly pins her knees together, and tries to keep her shoulders from hunching. She's had her dress nearly torn off and any other number of occasions where she's been more exposed than she is in her current nighttime attire. The redness that threatens to return to her cheeks stems more from having found herself here, and apparently, needing the Old Tiger's care than from her modesty.

She takes the provided opportunity however, to arrange her mental notes, and has prepared the best report she can muster with what little information remains by the time he returns with tea.

[evillurks]

There are two cups, when he returns, and he sets hers easily at hand on the coffee table. For the moment the sofa is hers, as he takes one of the chairs across the way and breathes the steam of his own cup, allowing her to speak first. He is still wearing his reading glasses, and papers are scattered across the table. Clearly he was hard at work when she arrived, and for now he'll trust her discretion, or perhaps her scattered state of mind, to keep her from taking advantage of the information spread out haphazardly between them.

He is, just now, realizing she is in only a nightgown. The thought that he half-carried her inside in it nearly makes him blush.

[myra_reldon]

She picks up the tea and takes a sip to help steady herself before keeping her eyes on her cup. She notices there is work scattered around and it helps her focus on what needs to be said, by keeping her eyes on her reflection in the dark waters.

"I woke up in the San Francisco apartment, I could hear him, telling me," she pauses to correct herself, "telling Ming to start getting things ready. There were specific instructions, but I don't remember them." She pinches the bridge of her nose as she makes another short-lived attempt, but knows, his instructions have a sort of mental self-destruct, should his pawns ever break the spell. "It had to be urgent, I got out of bed, but I stopped myself from going toward the door. Then I went for the PINpoint...I..." She gives a frustrated sigh and presses a finger against the side of the mug to keep from tapping it nervously. "I didn't intend to show up here."

[evillurks]

He is scowling deeply, the grooves of his face deeply etched and those around his eyes slightly magnified by the spectacles. There are a number of answers he urgently needs, such as how deeply Khan entered her mind and whether he might have been aware of her use of the PINpoint, or where she landed. He is also aware these are answers she is likely unable to give.

His voice remains patient and calm, but there is a calculating coldness underlying the steady tone. "Was this the Khan of your world, or another from through the Nexus?"

[myra_reldon]

"Ours." Myra taps her collarbone once gently, signifying he belongs to her world. Her answer is certain.

The fact that he may have just discovered PINpoints through her is not lost on her now that she can consider the rammifications of her actions, and she bows her head.

"I could hardly stop myself from walking out the door." She grimaces. "I panicked."

[evillurks]

"...You did." There is no judgment in his tone, and no anger. Such an unexpected assault would be enough to panic even him, although it's less likely anyone would recognize his outward reactions as such. He sets the teacup down gently, pulls off the reading glasses, and pinches the bridge of his nose between his eyes. "My alternate will need to know, but I don't want him to jeopardize the work you're both doing to prevent the war. I want to be a part of this fight." He knows his mental powers are stronger than those of his younger self, even if he would lose an arm-wrestling contest against him.

[myra_reldon]

Myra looks up from her tea at The Shadow. She knows it's foolish to project her own opinions upon anything he does, but she thinks that one Khan, and another Khan-that-wasn't should be enough for one lifetime.

"I think I'll need to stay uninvolved once we get the information to The Chief." This was her own self-assessment, and while she'd be more than happy to put another dagger in another Khan, the fact that the last two times she's been in his presence she'd taken aim at The Shadow makes her wary of coming anywhere near his den now.

[evillurks]

The first Khan was more than enough, but The Shadow's greatest strength above all others is his sheer tenacity. Whatever any enemy has thrown in his way, he has always simply kept at his work however he can. The Nexus and the alternate realities it brings haven't stopped that.

"You might be safer here. It's possible he won't be able to find you across dimensions. His hold on you was significantly loosened by the time you reached me, although I can't say whether that was due to your efforts to throw him off, or your fleeing by PINpoint." He tosses the glasses lightly onto the table, and reaches for his own PINpoint. "It might be safest to bring him here for the information, in case."

[myra_reldon]

The possibility that he could find her across dimensions causes Myra to freeze momentarily, staring at The Shadow for only a fraction of a second, but more than long enough to tell him that she holds a very real fear of him due to her own collective experiences.

Realizing the blatent telegraphing she's just done, she tucks into her tea and shifts on the couch, mindful of her current attire.

"You would know." She's essentially handing everything over to him. While it honestly hurts her ego some, she's smart enought to know when to sacrifice such a trifle for her life, and the success of the mission.

[evillurks]

He glances up, just long enough to catch both her fear and the subtle rearrangement. There is a flicker of embarrassment for her current position before his gaze shifts away. Outwardly it's a subtle expression, but it takes him a moment to process what she's said. He thinks about this as he pulls up his alternate's number for a message, and shakes his head. "I don't know, in this case. I've never really tried to-" there he trails off, uneasy discussing his more mystical and esoteric abilities.

He clears his throat and gives a single rattling cough instead. "I'll send the whippersnapper a message... would you, ah, like to borrow a dressing gown?" This may be a deliberate distraction, a nod to his own unease with her sitting on his sofa in her nightgown, a protective measure should his alternate arrive immediately, or some combination of all of the above.

[myra_reldon]

"Please." As if on cue, the skin on her her arms raise up with goosebumps and she curls her shoulders, trying to shrug them off.

Calling her Chief a whippersnapper, however, brings a wry smile to her face as she sips at the tea.