I'm Walking Some Fine Lines Here

Romi · Aug 25, 2016

"Demon's shouldn't cuss around someone your age," Angelo said, letting out a little sigh. There was pretty much no change that just saying that would be enough to get Klaus to stop, though. Some people simply didn't care about language, and nothing he could say was going to change that.

What she said next was a bit... uncomfortable. He was used to Shay being plucky, willing to argue with Rosales over anything, but seeing her so introspective was unusual, and he paused for a long moment before moving towards the chair to take a seat.

Obviously she'd been thinking about this a lot.

"You aren't dragging anyone into dangerous places, alright? I don't know why you're thinking something as silly as that, but it's wrong. If I make you feel comfortable, then I'll stick around. I'm not going to ditch you because of something stupid like the idea of you... I don't know, corrupting me."

As if he could even be corrupted at all. He was way beyond that.

"As for what I am... well, you've got some kind of... uh, power with the dead, right?" He'd never been entirely clear on what she could do, so it was really only the utter basics he had to go on. "So it's probably something like that. I'm a half... uh, something. Reaper? I wasn't entirely clear. I never met my biological father."

@Foxy

Sarrain · Sep 28, 2016

"Demons shouldn't do a lot of things they do," Shay said with a short, awkward laugh. She was quiet once she'd said her piece; watched him take a seat and was surprised that it didn't help relax her more.

Being in The Underground, among criminal allies and enemies had Shay more aware of body language and dominance levels than she'd ever been before. It didn't relax her when Angelo sat down because she was already comfortable around him, when by all rights she shouldn't have been. An authority figure -- a cop, no less -- was not meant to be her friend. Not in this lifetime.

Eroshay didn't fight her previous point. She just figured, you outta warn someone officially when you made their life a living Hell. For all she knew, maybe Angelo's life was always this hectic, but she doubted it.

"Yeah. I have quite a few death based abilities." It was better that people didn't know what those were in their entirety. Even those close to Shay had the tendency to forget what she could do.

Shay's face lit up as the realization of what he was dawned on her. That was a subject she could talk about with ease. "Half Reaper?" Like a child finding an extra present behind the Christmas tree, awkwardness gave way to disbelief and utter excitement. "Maybe that explains it then," she said, trying to hide her glee as pre-teens were apt to do. "I recently learned I'm half Reaper too. I don't hear a lot about them, especially not full ones. Have you ever met another Reaper? Half or otherwise?"

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Romi · Sep 30, 2016

It was a relief to watch Shay's face light up the way it did. If nothing else, it was a good thing they could talk about that would get her mind off the issue at hand.

He clung to the topic, grinning at her.

"Are you? I mean, it makes sense. There's going to be some variety between powers, but it makes sense that two people with similar powers would have similar origins. I actually did meet a reaper once--just once--which was how I found out. Big scary looking guy with a scythe and all. He was definitely full, though." There was nothing half reaper about Spartak.

"He helped me out a bit, but I haven't seen him since. Gave me a lead to go on, anyway." A lead that his dad wasn't his dad, anyway. There was no way his father was a reaper and he didn't know it, after all.

@Foxy

Sarrain · Nov 12, 2016

Shay drummed her fingers along the tabletop, wishing to get closer, to inspect and touch. She listened to Angelo; hyper-focused on everything he was saying, sucking up as much information as she could. It wasn't a lot, and it was never enough.

"Ye-up," she nodded, trying to hide her budding enthusiasm. "I have Valentine Crowther helping me learn about all the Reaper stuff." She didn't point out that it seemed Val himself was new to the whole Reaper thing.

"Is he the one that brought you to Manta Carlos? Does he live here? Do you still keep in contact with him?" Shay draped herself on the table, cheek against its cool surface as she watched Angelo's face.

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Romi · Nov 13, 2016

Valentine Crowther? Who knew. Well, he knew. Sort of.

"Wasn't he death or something?" Angelo mumbled. He didn't really know all that much, honestly--just what he'd picked up from Jack. It was pretty much impossible to live in the same house as Jack and not pick up on bits and pieces, but none of those had mentioned being a reaper. "I guess it's the same thing."

"Nope, nope, and nope. I caught them in reaper form--assuming they even have a normal human form--and I haven't seen them since. I guess I'd... uh, reaped a soul? That they were going for. They seemed a bit put off that I'd put them out of work, actually," Angelo confessed, feeling a bit bad about that. He'd gotten in the way of the guys job, and he'd been doing it without even realizing the consequences of what he was doing.

"For me it's pretty casual, I guess? I just kind of, uh, send them off to wherever they go. There's no ritual or rite or anything to it."

@Foxy

Sarrain · Nov 28, 2016

Shay nodded, having forgotten why she was here in the first place (quite a feat on Angelo's part). "Yeah. He's Death incarnate, I think. But.. Um, I guess I'm kind of like his helper or his secretary. I don't know how to explain it without sounding weird."

It felt right. That would have been one way, but Shay thought that might have sounded quite strange. She knew Valentine's infamy and her own reputation for spending her free time with unsavory types. No one could be surprised by this connection.

"Did he look like a skeleton?" The idea was enough to make Shay titter, though she was quick to cover her mouth and muffle the sound. "Sorry. It's just funny if he did. How stereotypical would that be, huh? I'm not even sure I could be scared of a skeleton after seeing those Youtube videos with those dancing ones. You ever seen those?"

When she was silent again, Shay stared at Angelo before moving her chair around the table to sit with him. She looked up at him, mouth twisted in thought and eyes far too old for her body.

"Do you believe in fate, Officer Angelo? I think I might. I never thought about it before... but I wonder if it was fate that you saved me and that we're both kinda the same. Maybe it's even more fate that you don't want to get rid of me, after all this.

"There's something here. I can feel it. We're going to change each other's lives, for better or worse. We're gonna impact each other for a good long while now. I don't know when that will end, but I just want you to know that when it does, no matter the outcome, I'll be happy to have known you."

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@Thoth — I assume this thread will be coming to an end in the next post or two?

Romi · Dec 2, 2016

"Yep, looked like a skeleton," Angelo confirmed with a little laugh. "Freaked me out a bit too, even though I've been here for years. Actual skeletons walking around are a new thing for me, normally they've got a bit more flesh and blood."

He wasn't expecting her to get serious--not out of blue like that. His eyes widened ever so slightly as she talked about fate.

Angelo didn't really believe in fate. He believed in making your own choices, and in the importance of those choices. Even so, he wasn't going to shit on a young girls view of the world, so he nodded once, waiting for her to finish before he said anything at all.

"I think it's possible that people who have similar powers are drawn together, yes. There's a certain level of familiarity, and I do hope you find someone who will be able to do a good job helping you control your powers. Just... not me, because you're probably ahead of me at this point," he confessed with a wry smile. "I've really just got the two, and both are... pretty simple."

@Foxy

Sarrain · Jan 3, 2017

"So cliche," Shay giggled about his skeletal Reaper. It made her wonder how there could be half Reapers. Unless they weren't all skeletons? Or it was a choice? Ugh.

"I guess that seems plausible. I don't think I ever felt like, any otherworldly magical connection to you like I did to Val, but I do feel safer? That might just be because you have a good presence. Not one of those adults you have to be afraid of." Shay eyed him in appreciation.

"We can, uh, play cards now. Sorry, we got off track. That was all on the recording, too, wasn't it?" She bit her lip, laughed. "If they have to show that in some court... how embarrassing."

Shay reached out to take the cards and shuffle them. She didn't know how to actually shuffle, so instead she'd laid them on the table and messed the pile up.

From there on, Shay had decided it might have been better to stick to easier topics. Was it a cop thing, to make it so easy for someone to spill their guts to you? Or was Shay just in some desperate need? Questions for another time.

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-End-

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