Placeholder Meh, Close Enough... (Noven)

[Nathaniel Ankah]

Nate wanted to take more enjoyment in Nove's little tête–à–tête, but it was so damn... exhausting. Once the rat squealed and thrashed and started to spill his guts, the big man let himself slide down the wall until his arse touched down on the filthy cobbles. The gash at his side was free-flowing now; his ribs were a pummeled mass and his nose? Felt like a chunk of tenderized steak.

But his ears were working fine, and even as he watched, he listened. Mister Silver? Oh, very specific, right down to the description that could have covered half of Sunberth. But they knew Rohs, and they knew what kind of man they looked for, so even without a location...

Still a chance, and we can't linger here too long.

Exhausted or not, Nate managed to twist his lips into a satisfied sneer as Noven sent the festering cunt out in a blaze of white-hot agony. Being stabbed was painful; being stabbed in the heart was beyond it; Nate didn't even have the vocabulary to describe what Rohs was feeling when Noven put his hand on him and then-

Yeah... definitely have to ask about that...

"Had enough today yet, Nate? What say we dump this body somewhere and get the petch home?"

There was a gargling wheeze that could have been construed as a laugh, winding out of Nate's throat as he bullied his body upright. "Sounds like a plan, kid," he said with a slight smirk, staggering back into the safe house with corpses in half the rooms, "But first... gotta do it right. Bring them in here..."

Nate recovered his mace while he waited for Noven, helping the smaller man out with the Larger and now nearly-headless Last, bringing them all inside and out of the alley. He straddled Rohs, face forever frozen in a rictus of torture, and steadied his breathing... chose the place on the back of his neck after he kicked him over... raised the mace and-

CRUNCH!

-smashed vertebrae like they were rotten branches. That important shattering accomplished, he put the mace back to his belt, bent down and gripped under Rohs' chin, the back of his head, and twisted-

-Rohs "turned" to face him. At completely the wrong angle. Tendons and ligaments and arteries and airways all shifted and severed and contorted and with a roar at the sky from the sheer effort, Nate heaved-

There was almost a sound like a "pop", if you heard it from under a bubbling pot of stew. Rohs head came off in Nate's hand and the reversal of energy sent him falling back, cushioned by another body.

Back in this world again, aren't we? Terror tactics, slash-and-burn, no survivors...

But the "why" is different.

Is it?

"Gonna need something to show Silver," Nate said as he bagged the head, looking around for something else as he spoke, "Tomorrow, anyway. For now..."

Nate handed Noven the lamp that he relit from the matches under it. He went around and sprinkled the oil from under it over the bodies, giving them one last benediction of accelerant before they made a nice, neat pyre of them all.

"Always knew you liked the flames, kid. I'll be outside, then we'll go..." Nate frowned. Where could they go, anyway? The Orphanage? No, not when Jilene had been so explicit in keeping them out of this. Kay's? Shyke, Nate would rather have Noven stick that hand of his down his cock hole than subject her to this. So where did that leave? "... somewhere. Long as it had needle, thread, booze and a bed."

Nate smirked. Horrified as he was by sinking back into this, he couldn't deny it was... familiar. And doing it with Nov, whom he could trust and rely on, who know how he fought and could plan around it, react without words needing to be exchanged...

He'd missed that.

"Which I'll take, cuz I'm bigger. You'll get a nice comfy floorboard..."

[Noven]

Nov grinned. He hadn't been called kid by Nate in ages.

Together they managed to drag all of the broken bodies back inside the dilapidated safe house, assembling them into a ghastly pile of broken corpses. It was more grueling than Nov cared to admit, given his exhausted and abused state, but the work needed to be done. Plague, evidence, survivors--all eliminated in one go. Fire was handy like that.

A dulled quiver of horror rose and fell inside of the cook's chest as Nate severed Rohs's head. They'd both seen and done this enough times to almost forget how gruesome the act was.

Once everything was settled, Nate handed him the lamp and doused everything in oil. There was something cathartic about doing this. As if they were cleansing the place of all the vile things these men had done, and allowing Nov to face those same flames he knew took Calyn from this world, along with almost everything that had once belonged to his life with Nona.

He listened as Nate laid out their simple plan, only to hesitate on mentioning where they'd go. Sunset was out of the question; they needed to lie low until things more or less blew over. Well, Nov wasn't sure about things ever blowing over after retaliation this bloody, but better safe than sorry.

Even with their foreboding futures looming in the distance, he had to admit...it was good. Good to have Nate back. He'd been so tired of doing this alone and with so little to show for. For the first time in a long time, it felt like he was right where he needed to be.

Nov snorted. "Course, just like it always is."

The reluctance was feigned, as both very well knew. He was just glad they were still walking and talking and able to bicker over a ratty old bed in the first place. It was all that really mattered, in the end.

Noven threw the lamp as they stepped out and heard it shatter. Within ticks, flames had begun to lick hungrily at the wooden walls.

By then, they were already headed towards some tavern or other, ready to celebrate a job well done by charging into the first room available and sleeping till they'd dreamt a hundred good dreams.

---The Next Day---

Jilene eyed them both with mild suspicion and a glint of approval. Which was as good as a congratulatory celebration, in Nov's experience.

"And you're sure you two can't be traced?"

"Abso-petching-lutely," Nov replied cheekily, for once not feeling obligated to cower beneath her creepy, blank gaze. "Nothing but ashes left."

Of course, he didn't mention the head. Not yet, anyway, since there were still a few runts piled up against at least one of those doors. But they'd taken care of it first thing in the...afternoon. As soon as they'd woken up, before the stink became too unbearable.

It had been easier than they'd anticipated. Seemed this Mister Silver made a big enough name for himself that tailing and beating a few unlucky Daggerhand thugs to unrecognizable pulps pretty much solved the issue of where to find him. Of course, they hadn't managed to locate the Boss himself--that was going to take far more sneaking about than either merc cared to subject their bruised bodies to--but they did discover a place he was guaranteed to frequent.

A bustling, clearly gang controlled tavern. Go figure. It even had a nice, fat chimney connected to the fireplace of the finest room the tavern had to offer. Nate kept watch while Nov made use of his earlier rooftop escapades and hoisted himself up with the aid of a few empty crates. The cook clambered onto an adjacent building first before hopping onto that of Silver's, taking extra care not to risk being noticed.

Not wanting to tote around the rotting head for much longer, he made quick work of getting to the chimney and double checking that there was no fire ablaze. Then, with a few more tests to see if the head would fit, Nov dropped the sooty, bloody bundle down for someone to find.

Unfortunately, they couldn't stay to see how things panned out, booking it before anyone could even hope to spot them and connect the dots. But there was comfort in knowing the deed was done.

It just put him in a right cheery mood, thinking about how furious Silver would be once his henchmen found the head. The emotion seemed unnatural and scared more than a few of the children. But the cook could mind less. This was the best day he'd had in years.

"Hmph..." their Isurian landlady sniffed, folding her arms across her chest. "Those conditions are acceptable, I supposed."

She reached behind her and tossed two pouches, one for each of the mercs.

"Try not to spend it all in one tavern, eh?"

Nov grinned as he hefted the weight of mizas joyously in his palm. He didn't feel the need to count. Just the knowledge of having at least eighty gold mizas in his hand was satisfying enough.

"We won't," he assured, though his mischievous tone suggested otherwise.

[Caela Dorin]

Grade Awarded Nathaniel Grade withheld until ledger is updated. Noven Experience Skill XP Earned Acrobatics 2 Acting 1 Climbing 2 Diplomacy 1 Interrogation 2 Intimidation 1 Investigation 1 Observation 2 Rhetoric 1 Stealth 1 Socialisation 1 Weapon: Dagger 3 Unarmed Combat 1 Lores • Lore Earned • Nate: Cleaned up His Act but Still the Same • Investigation: Orphans Give Information if They’re with Friends • Thomas and Mira: Orphan Informants • Acting: Faking Nonchalance • Location: Van Marx’s Brothel • Rohs: Target Who Likes Abusing Children • Rohs: Magician • Burning Evidence Items Aquired/Consequences : -Stiletto Wounds to Chest-Will heal in 20 days -Various Bruises-Heal in 14-20 days -Loot: +100GM Additional Comments Wow... That was certainly handled... quietly. It was really something to read I’ll tell you that. I didn’t think it was possible for a thread to be that gripping, particularly all of those fighting scenes. Just wow. I’d simply love to see more threads with these two together. Please edit or delete your grade request and PM me if you have any questions or concerns about your grade. x