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 Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2015 1:55 pm
It was a comforting thing, certainty. Making the decision to corrupt, finally, but to do it on his own terms - there was something freeing about that, for Rhys. He had already sent a letter to Laurelite with a time and place to meet, which meant that there would be no backing out. It was just a matter, now, of settling his personal affairs.
So he intended to speak, face to face, with Shale - there were other people he probably should have done so to (Ezra came to mind, particularly with his continual and persistent texts of late, but Ezra was also Cor Caroli and he was fairly certain that a goodbye followed in the same night by a "forced corruption" would look suspicious; similar for Colin) but Shale was the only one, as far as he knew, who was not also a soldier in this tangled, stupid magical war. Or at least, even if he was, he had no clue of Rhys's identity.
So Shale would, at least, get a goodbye delivered in person - even if it didn't come with the whole and entire truth. "I'm going back home to London for family business" sounded a sight bit less insane than "I'm a turncoat in a magical war and bye, we won't be seeing each other again."
He checked his note of Shale's address, and walked up to the apartment door, knocking on it. He wasn't sure what he'd do if Shale wasn't home, or if Slate answered the door, but at least he would have tried.
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2015 7:15 pm
In the interest of slow adjustment to Destiny City culture, Shale took to hanging a tanktop on the doorknob for any unannounced visits. It proved useful in lessening the shock to the person at the door if he wore a shirt at minimum, though he hadn't yet approached the point where he could don pants quickly enough without giving off the impression that he was in the midst of some unsanctioned activity (the odd looks were telling, but his hair remained too dry for showers and his skin absent flush for more rigorous pastimes).
So when Shale answered the door, arrow still in hand, he donned that dark red tank top with remarkable ease. The door came open readily and Shale, still absent pants, looked out to greet the visitor.
"Rhys." Odd. I gave him my address but he never saw fit to drop by before. I wonder what changed. "Come in, have a seat. Can I get you something to drink?" Shale widened the door for him and gestured inside. The place looked tidy, but cluttered - the small card table Shale used for cutting arrows proved an eyesore alongside the general decorative sense and on it sat his makeshift arrow saw and a few complete shafts. His bow sat on the kitchen counter next to a bow press and a cracked riser. A pair of bar stools looked like they almost blended in, but their departure from the theme of plush furnishings outed them for their later purchase. Otherwise, the rest of the apartment looked of an effeminate decorative sense.
I wonder if he's out of a place to live now. He mentioned trouble with the parents. With Slate gone, I could offer him a place to rest for a few nights, but... Porsha needs to know, and I'm not certain how he'd take it. He is well off, and probably unused to small, modest spaces such as this.
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2015 11:10 pm
Rhys was absolutely not expecting Shale to open the door in nothing but a tank top and skivvies. It was an active effort not to let his surprise show.
And also to not stare, because he really sort of wanted to stare. Not just at Shale's figure, but at his tattoos - they were unique, not like anything he'd seen before. They almost looked like body paint, but without the telltale texture.
"Water would be fine," he said, and he sat down on the couch. He looked around the room - based on the present furniture, it didn't seem like too much of a guess that Shale had moved in with someone with very different decorating tastes from the sort of man who apparently regularly went pantsless and homemade arrows.
"I'm sorry for dropping by out of the blue, I hope it wasn't too inconvenient." No reason to not be polite as he worked himself into the lie. "Things have gone a bit sideways in the last few days, it's been mad."
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Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 5:21 pm
"Water, then." Water says you won't be staying long. Shale turned from his guest to head toward the kitchen and clutched arrow shaft between teeth to free up his hands. A nondescript modern-style glass was taken from the cupboards and then filled with water from the fridge door; he added a few ice cubes by opening the freezer itself and dropping them in. Holding the glass by the rim, he returned to Rhys and relinquished the drink.
The arrow remained in mouth for the time being; he had nothing to contribute to the conversation yet. He only removed the shaft when he reached the table and grabbed the glue, adding a thin layer to a metal insert piece before sliding it through one of the ends. It fit snugly.
"I've had worse." In truth, he had - Orah dropped by before at a most inopportune time. Luckily the girl never let that sight of him color her opinion, or if it did, she kept it to herself. He never asked. "You're welcome to drop by when you need to - but if you want me dressed appropriately, give prior notice." I wonder what it takes for you to drop by unannounced. For Orah, I expect it was just a matter of convenience and being in the area. You specifically came here. So what's driving you, Rhys.
The arrow in hand was relinquished for one of its brethren, and he tested the inlay for solidity. The threaded metal didn't move. As a last measurement, Shale screwed in one of the broadhead tips and held it outward to visually gauge its straightness. The head seated well; he detected no obvious angular variation. "What's on your mind, Rhys?" His attention went from inspecting the broadhead to looking through the small gaps in the steel that were designed for aesthetic, aerodynamic, and cost-effective purposes. The arrow was then relinquished to the table near a pair of others that both needed fletching.
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2015 12:46 am
Rhys took the glass with a polite "thank you," and he considered the arrow shaft in Shale's mouth. It raised a hundred more questions - Rhys had never been much of an avid hunter, or one at all, despite his father's pressure, and listening to his father and his father's friends rail about the bygone glory days of the foxhunt was almost guaranteed to make his eyes glaze over. But these tools were for a very different kind of hunt - not the kind for sport, he suspected.
Shale's hunting stories would be far more interesting than the ones he was used to, Rhys suspected. If only because they came from a source he was vestedly interested in hearing stories from.
What that he had hours more to try to pry out the answers he longed for.
"Oh, I'm certainly not offended. Surprised, but that's not necessarily a bad thing." He grinend and waggled his eyebrows a bit. Alright, so he couldn't resist being a little flirtatious - conveniently, it would probably go over Shale's head anyway. Usually, that was sort of frustrating, but now it was at least a little convenient.
He took a sip of water and glanced for a long moment at the arrows on the table, steeling himself. This was the easy lie, and if he couldn't push himself through this, how the hell did he expect to push through his performance tonight?
But lying to a park full of strangers - mostly by omission - was very different than lying to a friend, directly, to his face.
Not that he had a choice, at this point. "Ah, that's the thing - unfortunately, I won't be dropping by again for quite a while. There's been some...issues, back home. Family matters that apparently require us to uproot back to London for an indeterminate amount of time." He wrinkled his nose, and hoped Shale didn't press, because the more elaborate he had to make this, the more likely he was to get tangled up.
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 10:04 pm
Shale reminded himself that most strangers dropping by found offense to how he dressed in his off hours, so Rhys' reaction was quite welcome in that regard - even if he didn't fully understand the eyebrow gesture. He suspected, though, that he missed something in its connotations. He said nothing to draw attention to the comment.
His next comments gave pause. "That's disappointing to hear." The sudden move meant an end to much of the adventures they shared - if Shale intended to pursue learning about film culture, then the bulk of his interactions with Rhys would need to proceed over the internet. And lacking any understanding of that tool, how was he to do so? Shale allowed fingers to rest on the folding table temporarily while he considered the ramifications behind the news. "I'm guessing it will be longer than months." Why else would it warrant a personal visit? Only the potential of years seemed to drive others to personal connections. Otherwise, Rhys knew of Shale's complete ineptitude with technology.
An idea sprang to mind, and Shale spared a glance back at Rhys before proceeding. "Wait here." He headed toward the shared bedroom, where the bulk of his personal paraphernalia was contained, and came back moments later with a necklace in hand. The length itself was of leather, with a clasp fitted to each end for easier wear. The pendant itself looked, at a glance, no different than lattice carved of ivory. Closer inspection yielded that the cylindrical construction was of bone, with a patient pattern carved to resemble ornate fish scales. In looking through the sizable lattice holes, a vial remained within it, stoppered and traced in black patterns, and within that sat a clear fluid at the very bottom. He handed the latticed chamber set to Rhys by the leather cord.
"Take this with you. It's..." He paused, teeth clicked together lightly while he determined if he should proceed. "It won't have much meaning to you now, but when you return - if - then I will explain what it's for."
If Rhys elected never to return, then at worst he lost time and patience spent on crafting the necklace. Otherwise he might have both friend and construct return.Noir Songbird i'm dying, my brain is gone
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2015 1:43 am
Disappointing. Well, Rhys had picked up that Shale was generally not one for emotional expression, so he supposed that any admission of frustration was something. "Most likely, yes," he said, "the time frame is a bit up in the air at the moment, but one doesn't generally pack up and move back across an ocean for a brief holiday." He injected a touch of purposeful bitterness and frustration - but it wasn't as if it were entirely fake.
Given his druthers, honestly, he would have preferred Umber found him before he Awakened and he had started in the Negaverse. That would have left him without the necessity to give up his life in order to get onto the obviously winning side.
"Alright," he said, as acknowledgement of Shale's request to wait. He had to admit, his curiosity was piqued - did the man intend to give him a parting gift of some sort? That seemed almost too sentimental.
Or perhaps not, because the necklace he was offered definitely qualified. It was hand-carved, simple, and elegant. It also sort of felt like a punch to the gut, because it was a gesture of friendship that was deeply undeserved. Here he was, lying his a** off, and Shale was offering a sincere and genuine gesture.
Damn it all.
"Thank you," he said, and he meant it. "I'll have to come back, now, so I can find out what it means." He flashed a smile, and a bit of a laugh, as he clasped it under his hair.
Were this a proper romantic drama, this would probably have been the point where he stole a goodbye kiss, or something equally silly. And were he a more honest man, he would admit that he sort of wanted to.Strickenized it's like four thirty i'm not sure i've formed coherent sentences i am so sorry
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2015 10:36 pm
Shale nodded once, and a smlight smile usurped his normally neutral countenance while he watched Rhys don it. It left soon afterward and the hunter addressed him more seriously. "Travel well, Rhys." The nature for the leave was his business - if he wanted to share more than family reasons, Shale would welcome it, but he learned it was not his place to question one's personal affairs. Instead he determined that he would see his friend off in a manner fitting to common custom and leave it at that.
They had cell phone contact, at least - assuming that cell phone contact reached overseas. He wasn't sure that it was possible, but if Rhys called at some point, he would know with certainty. Though, he started to wonder if absence of communication would leave room for more respectable change and less static story. People here kept in contact so often that they never let their story of a person mature beyond what they initially developed. It felt foreign to him, still, even when much of the culture grew familiar.
But there was a universality to the loss of a friend, whether to distance of death or simply growing apart.
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Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 12:09 am
Rhys felt a lump of guilt settling uncomfortably in his stomach. Why had he thought this was a good idea again? Ah, right, because he owed Shale more than just disappearing without a word, when he could plan for the disappearance. If he was lucky, this would mean an assuagance of worry, at least for a while, when he fell out of contact, because there were perfectly good reasons for him not to call on a cross-ocean move.
That didn't mean he didn't feel awful. He wished he could share the entire story, but there were too many unknowns for him to risk it. If he was unlucky - and her had yet to be lucky in this powered adventure - Shale would turn out to be a Knight and the whole scheme would fall apart before it began.
So instead he gave the sincerest smile he could manage, as he headed towards the door.
"You've been a good friend to me, Shale," he said, 'better than I deserve.' "I consider myself lucky to have run into you in that elevator."
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