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"No." The word was a simple one and it was said calmly, easily. "I won't force you to stay or to go, Ruka, but in all honesty I would prefer it if you did not leave yet. I wouldn't feel right about sending you away. If a time comes where you must leave, please tell me. I would like to accompany you, if only part way, or at least help you get started." He smiled at her. "I've grown rather fond of you in the short time you've been here, and it would be a shame to send you away when we're only just getting to know each other." His large hand rested momentarily on her arm, the weight heavy and reassuring. "I need to get back to the shop. You're more than welcome to stay in my room if you would like." He took the key from his pocket and handed it to her. "It's locked, but here's the key."

"Don't worry about it." Horatio seemed a little lost for words for a second as well. "...I have to head back down. Obviously you're not working today. It's a rest day." He finally took his hand from her arm. "You're free to come join me if you'd like a little company." Giving Ruka one last smile, Horatio turned and left, heading back to the shop.

"Damnit," Drakul didn't do much more than sit up, sheet around his waist, as he glared at the phone.

"Well, it's still sleepy time and I, at least, don't function perfectly without some quality nap-time. So, fine, it's not a normal earthquake, but whatever the earthquake unearthed can damn well wait a few hours. We'll go check it in the afternoon or later. I need to sleep, and you do too." Drakul dragged a hand through his hair and then collapsed back against the bed.

"Besides, there was nothing in that message of " do it now", just that it had to be done, thoroughly. Go crash, prettyface," Drakul ended the sentence in a muffled groan as he turned around and buried his face in the pillow, breath evening out in under a minute. One could wonder if Drakul would actually have ended the sentence as he did if he had been completely awake and not tired...


Ash, or rather, Legion, wasn't disturbed by Trevor's half-nakedness, but rather ignored it, and compared to poor Ash, Trevor was practically fully dressed. And that it was Legion in control was not a question at all, since the room was pretty much swallowed by writhing shadows.

"I see you have something for me?" Legion said, quite surprised that Trevor had managed to get anything at all.

"We'll take that in a minute, though. In a few days, if your puppy in Cascade haven't got anything, you're going there. I'm not counting on Drakul to do what's needed, if it becomes clear that it needs to be done. I'll give you some of my toys, even." Legion's smirk was sharp, implying something more than just special agents.

"Good," Legion smirked, but to what, exactly, it was appreciating there was no hint of. Legion paused, there, Ash's head tilted in an oddly bird-like pose of waiting.

"You can tell me on the way down... I'll even show you my toys now." Despite the "generosity" of Legion's offer to reveal some of its hand, Ash's eyes were now completely black and there was an... oil-slick sort of shine to them, while the voice only spoke of danger.

Legion disappeared into the bedroom for a few moments, coming back fully dressed before he indicated for Trevor to following him.

"Ms Johnson..." Ash's eyes were ones again normal and there wasn't a wisp of shadow where it shouldn't be, or even moving when it shouldn't. Only if you knew that Legion was there and thus what to listen for, could you have known it was there, as he addressed Ash's secretary outside the office.

"There was an... accident in the bathroom. See to it that someone takes care of it," Legion whispered before leading both of them into the elevator, and the doors closed and it began to move, without any of the buttons indicating which floor was their destination.

Legion and Trevor went down far enough it became clear it had to be the basement, and the elevator voice did announce that level briefly, but the elevator didn't stop. Two levels below the basement, the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened with a soft ding.

"Progress has been hampered by Ash's mortal limits, but I'm rather satisfied with progress as things are..." Legion turned Ash's head to smile at Trevor, Ash's eyes once again empty darkness, pits into an abyss without bottom. There was no light in whatever space there was outside the elevator, but Legion didn't seem concerned, and rather the shadows that now lured at Ash's feet, darker yet than the surroundings, drew back... and then swelled. Ash seemed to stand in an ever-increasing pool of complete blackness, blackness that crept up the wall behind him and swallowed the elevator, until it, too, seemed to be gone, but the room did lighten.

"These are my toys, Trevor. I'll borrow you two dozen or so when the time comes. Should be more than enough," Legion whispered, Ash's pale eyebrow raised sharply high on the forehead.

The two stood at the head of a stair with a handful of steps down onto the floor, a floor that was filled with people... But not people. Where even a vampire's flesh had a pale tone of freshness even in death, these possessed a gray cast to their skin, eyes dull and empty, black pools like Ash's were with Legion in full control, but lacking any sort of... presence.

The air smelled faintly of old, musty cloth and bad breath, with a sort of cloying, lingering taste at the back of your mouth of old, clotted blood.

"Toys..."
Where before there had been not even so much as a twitch of a finger or eyelid, every head now turned in unison to focus at Legion and Trevor.

"A few of you will go with this man... Do not eat him, however sweetly he smells of enrichened, corrupted humanity and power. He's useful still." The bottomless eyes of each and every being, certainly not something so simple as a zombie, but not a vampire either, swirled in brief recognition and pulsed once, in time with the shadows pooled around Ash.

"These are the beginning to our army..." Legion smirked in satisfaction out at the statue-still crowd in this sub-basement.

Nodding, Legion then led them out of the basement and up to the upper floors again, having them getting off at the entrance.

"Since this body needs sleep, we'll take your information the first thing in the evening. Have a pleasant sleep," Legion smirked and then turned around, walking for the elevator that would take Ash up to his own rooms, but in mid-step Ash swayed, stumbled and then caught himself. Looking around with a narrow stare and pinched face, it was clearly Ash again behind those pale eyes, and he didn't look particularly pleased. But he was way too tired to pressure Trevor about what Legion had done now. A mistake, quite probably, but he felt fit for dropping off then and there.

Ruka rolled over on her futon. She hadn't gotten any sleep all day...No matter how she tried, she just couldn't do it. The vampire sighed, sat up, and ran a hand over the soft furry thing that was Jessie next to her. Despite the weight that seemed to have settled itself firmly on her chest, ever since nightfall she had been antsy. She wasn't tired at all, even with the lack of sleep...Just exhausted. It was a strange feeling to be so completely weary, and wide awake.

"Come on Jessie..."she said quietly as she stood up, "...I bet you're eager to go outside, huh?" Ruka headed toward the door, trying to will herself to smile a little though she didn't know why...Were she to get a look at herself, she would have realized it only made her look more depressed. She opened the door for the dog to run out, following her into the cool night air. The vampire closed the door behind her, pausing a minute to look up at the sky...It was a clear night. Turning her eyes back to earth, she headed toward the stairs leading down to the ground...It was going to be a long night...