who shot that arrow in your throat? who missed the crimson apple?

[heirship]

T O   W H O M   I T   M A Y   C O N C E R N:

my father is dead.
❧

Comments

[heritorship]

[ There are, of course, details to arrange. The business of things never stops, not even for the inconvenience of death, but somewhere somehow in the midst of everything, Raleigh Windham IV finds the time to speak to his younger brother. The second son. His voice is matter-of-fact when he does finally come across him. ]

Aubrey. A word.

[heirship]

[ The heir speaks. Something in Aubrey's gut festers nastily. ]

If it's about Father, it can wait. I want to retire.

[heritorship]

[ Raleigh's expression does not shift in the slightest. ]

Father is dead, Aubrey. There is nothing to discuss.

Now. A word.

[heirship]

[ A resigned breath. ]

Fine. A brief one then, Raleigh.

[everyblackdog]

[ There's a young man about -- perhaps the son of a distant cousin, the ward of a visitor providing condolences. No one makes much notice of him unless he wants them to and, for the most part, he doesn't. Unlike in the past, he has not come to collect this time.

Simply to watch what comes after. Some things never change. ]

[his8th]

[ Oh, but someone has taken notice.

Indeed. Some things never change. ]

[everyblackdog]

[ The angel. The one that Mary had gone all fawn-eyed over; Mary with her chapped hands still blistered and burnt from where she'd touched it. Even if Blackie is a portent of Death and has served many masters a dozen times over, Hades and Hell and all of the burning circles within still cling to his bones. Those parts of him seethe to see the angel now, though there is no denying the strength of his purpose. The depths of his madness. The Black Dog can practically smell it on him, wafting off the pristine white of his mask in sharp waves.

A sneer of acknowledgment. That's all he offers. ]

[his8th]

[ He knows you, Hound. Beast of the pit. He knows, and for your sneering mouth, the Unknown gives you his buck-toothed smile. Big teeth. White-- white as the rest of him. White as his smooth white eyes. Staring. Watching. Watching.

Mary had a little dog, little dog. It's fur was black as night, and the angel of the Lord wondered how sharp his teeth were. Ha ha.Ha ha. ]

[of_coins]

[Inappropriate as ever, and annoyed over being run off,]

Ding dong.

[heirship]

Rachel. [ Is he pleased to see her? Is he ever really? It's hard to tell. He is a dry boy. ] I don't suppose you're here to pay your respects.

[of_coins]

Of course I am. Goodness, I am ever so sorry your father keeled over.

[She raises her eyebrows expectantly. There. Happy?]

[heirship]

[ A bit mockingly: ]

Good. Then you can be sorry enough for the two of us.

[sonsofstrife]

[ Whether or not Murder deserves to be here is, of course, debatable. Sickness perhaps was the means, but it was still wielded like a weapon against the old Raleigh. Either way, there is discord in this house, the walls practically drip with it.

Which means the sons of strife are welcome. Perhaps, luckily, only one comes. A smooth-faced young man with a detached demeanor; perhaps a bit like the murderer in question. ]

[heirship]

[ Unfamiliar. But strange somehow, in a way Aubrey can't place. In a dangerous way, he thinks. Perhaps. Yes. ]

Have you come to pay respects to my late father?

[sonsofstrife]

[ Unlike his brothers -- one child-like, one self-important -- Murder is calm and beautifully aloof. His expression does very little to change at the young man's inquiry. Just the very slight tightening at the corners of his mouth, the beginnings of what could be a smile. ]

Is that what you'd like me to do?

[heirship]

[ The youngest Windham lets out a light breath. What a question. What a question indeed. ]

I can't see why it matters what I prefer. [ His patience has been worn thin by the day. ] If you haven't come to pay respects to my father, what is it you need?

[willbereborn]

Oh, I'm... I'm sorry to hear that, truly, really am. It hurts to die, doesn't it? But maybe he'll come back, as someone else, as a newborn, as someone entirely different. Does it work like that, for you, for him? Here?

WHY HELLO THERE :V

[everyblackdog]

Death comes in many ways. Not all of them painful. As for whether or not they return after, that is a matter of debate.

HELLO HELLO TRYING OUT NEW PERSON SHE MIGHT BE A SKITTISH LITTLE BIRD

[willbereborn]

[ She twirls around, a little startled, shrugs her shoulders, dips her head. Doesn't like to be startled, makes her want to fly away. But she stays, he doesn't smell like them. ]

Oh, oh. [ She looks around, a nervous little thing. ] No, no, maybe they'll return.

/descends upon her GENTLY.

[everyblackdog]

[ Her skittishness riles a bit of his instincts. Fight or flight he wonders as he widens his eyes a little at her and watches her glance about. She smells odd to him, and vaguely familiar. ]

Know about those sorts of things, do you?