(Untitled)

[he_is_wild]

Who: The Joker Zulfiqar + Open
When: October 15th, post-siren
Where: Around!
Summary: The mysterious Zulfiqar makes his rounds to protect the city. He is also bird watching...
Warnings: Violence and language

Comments

deadbrain-iny whenever, rooftop of the Lux?

[athermercy]

[She's watching him. She's been watching him for a while. Truly, Elaine doesn't need to follow him with her eyes. Those are just habits -- bad habits she should stop latching to.

The monsters don't reach the building. The Darkness ruin does not rust the perimeter.

She still watches him as he fights. Saying nothing, just waiting.]

[he_is_wild]

[He saw the Lux from a distance and has been traveling towards it. The lack of decay on the building makes it seem almost like a beacon in the night, and a likely sanctuary.]

[It takes a while for him to reach the roof and when he does, he drops to one knee and blows a sharp breath out from the mask. Then he lifts his head and peers around, feeling someone watching him.]

[athermercy]

[In a way, the Lux has something in common with Heaven. It's the House of God now. It's the zone faraway from the Core where Elaine has decided to install herself, following Lucifer's departure.

She approaches him when he reaches for the rooftop, stepping closer to him and kneeling beside him.]

Hey -- Are you thirsty?

[She gestures at the open door behind her and the staircase inside.]

You seem tired.

[he_is_wild]

[He draws a breath to gently turn down her offer but his throat is dry and his tongue is thick. It's been a long and draining night.]

[When he turns his head towards her he feels uneasy. She can see through the mask. Or at least it feels like she can. For reasons he cannot explain, he wants to linger at her side, if only briefly]

A moment's respite sounds nice.

[athermercy]

[Elaine probably knows what he's thinking. His suspicion. But she does not voice it aloud.

Her eyes go soft and she stands to offer him her hand.]

Let's go inside? Everyone deserves a break.

[Except her -- Gods can't take breaks or existence falls apart.]

[he_is_wild]

[He rises, not taking her hand and falls into pace behind her.]

[athermercy]

[Elaine doesn't press him as she leads him inside and to the staircase. The last floor of the Lux is a series of closed rooms in a hallway. She doesn't stop to guide him, she continues down the stairs. Towards the jazzy, piano tune from the bar area.]

[he_is_wild]

[He looks at the piano and memories come flooding back. Memories of performing here, at the opening ceremony. It feels like another lifetime. He supposes it is.]

It is beautiful.

[athermercy]

I didn't change anything downstairs.

[Yet. If she will in the future, she'll just paste a pocket realm into Lucifer's. With the same ease when people paste a new wallpaper.]

Take a seat. I'll make you a coffee or something stronger if you like.

[he_is_wild]

Tea. Please.

[He sits down. For a moment he wants to demand why she's being nice to him. For a moment he wants to rip off the mask and howl. But he can't. He's not ready yet.]

[athermercy]

[She doesn't make any demands. She wishes she can do more for them. more than just sit and let them exist, make their lives and deaths their own. Elaine Belloc knows she shouldn't.]

Okay. It'll take me a moment.

[She goes to make the tea or to pretend she does. She still tries to boil the water in the kitchen and remember she used to do that mundane stuff in a life that she no longer lived. A life that belongs now to Cal. She returns soon, with a steamy teacup on a silver tray.

The tea is whatever flavor he likes.]

[he_is_wild]

[The gunslinger wraps his fingers around the cup of chai and lifts it to his mask, gingerly letting it pour past the lips of his mask.]

Thank you. It is nice of you to offer me sanctuary.

[athermercy]

Don't mention it. So... Do you want a straw? [Elaine offers, after noticing well, the obvious trouble.]

[he_is_wild]

[Part of him is ready to demand a silly straw. He fights back the urge to ask for one and simply nods dumbly]

The nights here are so long.

I wonder if anyone truly adjusts to it?

[athermercy]

[Elaine gives him a dull, white straw, so he can use if he has trouble with the drink.]

People always adjust. It's how they survive.