An unsavory matter

[shadowed_scales]

Who: Gul Dukat, Kate Austen, Xander Harris (closed)
What: After having seen that the dead don't decay, Dukat can't let the matter rest.
Where: The lounge, The attic
When: Early evening after this and this PM.

Comments

[callmesgtfury]

Xander scribbled out a brief note to leave on his bed for a certain vampire slayer. Out digging up graves in front of the hotel. If I don't return, blame the alien named Gul Dukat. Okay, so that note was about 50% letting Faith know if she came over to hang out why he wasn't around, and the other 50% was insurance in case Gul Dukat's final plan was to leave him in the bottom of one of those graves.

It wasn't that he didn't trust the alien. ..well, okay he didn't trust Dukat, but that was because he'd only spoken to him between 2 private messages. No, he trusted Jack enough to not put him in too much danger (which, came from what? One night of drunkenly talking to him

[shadowed_scales]

Dukat watched the door open in reflection and caught his first glimpse of the man in the same way. The eye patch instantly caught his attention, something that would relegate a Cardassian to the most menial of occupations on the home world, no matter family connection or education. He made completely certain that his expression would reflect none of his thoughts before pivoting neatly, tilting his head slightly, and saying, "Mister Harris, thank you for coming. We're waiting for one other." He strode from his stance at the window to take a seat in one of the comfortable lounge chairs, gesturing for the man to do the same.

[callmesgtfury]

"Xander is fine, actually. Mister Harris.." He paused, not wanting to make the usual crack about Mr. Harris being his father. "Makes me feel old, and I'm not that far along. Yet." Although, considering his world, he'd probably had his midlife crisis when he met Buffy in the first place. "And who else are we waiting for?" He asked, trying to figure out if he knew their other grave digging buddy.

[shadowed_scales]

"As you wish," the gul said. "Informality does not come easily to me, but I have no desire to make you uncomfortable. The human view on age is...an interesting one." He leaned back in the chair and spread an arm, making himself more comfortable. "We're waiting for Kate Austen. While we're doing so, we should get better acquainted. I'd prefer to save the reason I asked for your help until she arrives. It's more efficient. Perhaps you could tell me what interested you in this endeavor." He kept his focus on Xander's eye, his own eyes unblinking.

[methrow_rock]

Kate had gotten a strange vibe from Dukat, after their brief interaction on the hotel's network. First he'd not been willing to be forthcoming about his motivations for digging up the graves out front, and then there'd been the strange comment about trying to locate her.

So, while Kate trusted Jack to not knowingly put her in a dangerous situation, she was still a bit wary about this alien she was going to meet. As she left her room to head to the lounge, she made sure her gun was tucked in her back waistband. She'd never had cause to use the weapon at the hotel, and didn't plan on doing so, but it was nice to have the extra security on her person.

She found the lounge easily enough, and pushed the door open. She saw just two people in the room, and Kate cleared her throat as she approached them. "Is this the grave robbing meeting?"

[shadowed_scales]

Dukat stood when she entered. He found that humans seemed to believe that was mannerly, and he was fine with the cultural misinterpretation. It suited his ends. He inclined his head to her, something that actually was polite by his standards, and smiled slightly. "Indeed. I recognize you from the party. It's nice to put a name to a face. Please, have a seat. We haven't been here long. Have you two met?"

[callmesgtfury]

Xander was about ready to answer the alien's question about why he'd joined in on the grave robbing expedition when he heard someone else. Clearly this had to be Kate Austen, or as Xander was going to call her, Kate. Since unlike the alien, he didn't call everyone by their full name.

"I can say we haven't. So, I'm Xander. Nice to meet you Kate." He said, offering his hand to her. It really didn't surprise him that he'd not met Kate, considering how few people he really did know in the hotel. Which was fine, since the people he knew were more than good enough to make up for everyone else.

[methrow_rock]

"Nice to officially meet you," Kate said to the alien. She did recognize him from the party in Ford's suite, but had left early enough to babysit the two drunken human men that she hadn't met him then.

She took Xander's hand when he offered, shaking it. "Nice to meet you, too, Xander."

She sat down then, and looked between the two. "So. First things first, why grave robbing? What exactly do you expect to get out of it?" At this, she directed her gaze at the alien, since she knew from the Network that Xander had been summoned to this meeting just as she had. It had been Dukat arranging the whole thing.

[shadowed_scales]

Dukat retook his seat as well after they had made their introductions. "A fair enough question," he said. "First, let me make it plain that it is not an undertaking I take lightly. I mean no insult to any cultural taboos, although the very fact that both of you are here tells me that you at least don't have a complete aversion to the idea

[callmesgtfury]

Xander followed suit and took a seat after everyone else had taken the lead. He didn't much like standing around while everyone else sat, it was always rather uncomfortable.

Of course, he couldn't help but raise his good eyebrow at the fact that there was a corpse floating around in the hotel. "..wait? What? That's.. something new to me.." He said, giving Kate an inquisitive look. Maybe she'd seen something before, but this was all new to him.

[methrow_rock]

Kate listened with interest, if not with a whole lot of belief, to the alien's explanation. She shrugged a shoulder to Xander's questioning look. She certainly hadn't come across any corpses in the hotel, let alone ones that didn't decompose. She was turning it all around in her head, when suddenly it all made sense.

"Look," she said to the alien. "Maybe you're not aware of this little gem of the hotel's, but quite a few people here have been known to have hallucinations." Herself included, though she didn't make mention of that fact yet. "They're sure they see something, or experience something, something very real...except it's not. It's just the hotel, doing what it does best - messing with minds."

[shadowed_scales]

"Are these hallucinations typically shared?" he asked. He hadn't wanted to bring Mister Winchester into it just yet, but if it came to it, he would. "Two or more people seeing the same exact thing?"

[callmesgtfury]

Xander shrugged sheepishly as Gul asked his question and raised his hand. "Well.. not that I'm saying that you're wrong in any way, shape, or form.. but I've been part of a shared hallucination." He said, referring of course to the night in the basement where he and Spike shared that lovely hallucination about Sunnydale.

[methrow_rock]

Kate's eyebrows rose in surprise when both Dukat and Xander referenced shared hallucinations. She had been prepared to tell the alien she was sure it wasn't unheard of...but she was still surprised to get confirmation from the other man. "I wasn't aware of shared hallucinations before now, but...there you go."

She looked at the alien then, curious. "What were you expecting to find in the graves, more un-decomposed bodies?"

[shadowed_scales]

"According to Captain Harkness, you've both been here for quite some time. As a newcomer, I'm certainly not going to discount your experience. I'm aware of the hallucinations, and you're right. The whole thing could have been one. I'm inclined to think not for just one reason. The part of it that I'm aware of having been a hallucination was drawn directly from my experiences. The rest of it was extremely unfamiliar.

"Before that day I had never seen or heard of a drivers license, something called Barnes and Noble. Any idea what that might be? I had never heard of Sunnydale, California or seen the effects of a vampire bite. There aren't vampires in my world, not in the way there seem to be here. Perhaps the entire thing truly was a hallucination. If so it wasn't taken from my mind." He then answered Ms. Austen's question. "I don't know what to expect. Possibly. Or at least some hint or clue that people can die here, and if so how it can happen. I'd much rather learn that from the long dead than the currently living, wouldn't you?"

[callmesgtfury]

And suddenly Gul (which Xander would refer to him as until he was corrected), had Xander's full and undivided attention. "Wait. Sorry, but this suddenly is very important to me. Sunnydale is my hometown. Well.. was. Long story, but.. you're saying there was a vampire attack?" There was only one vampire from Sunnydale he knew of, and Spike had had his fangs removed by Buffy a long time ago.

Suddenly he wondered if the hotel was just throwing him more curveballs. It all seemed to be rather Sunnydale focused, what with there being 5 people from his team currently in the neighborhood, and that wasn't including the times he'd heard about Angel being there, and the times he'd seen Cordy.