OPEN | BUT WITH STIPULATIONS | CATCH-ALL

[skeletonenigma]

Characters: Many and various and YOU, but with specific starters involving: Skulduggery Pleasant skeletonenigma, Anton Shudder gistful, and Evandau.
Date: All throughout September. The thread with Anton occurs within the first few days of September, and the thread with Evandau happens sometime after that, but within the first week.
Location: All throughout Keeliai, theoretically, BUT Skulduggery will be actively avoiding public places.
Situation: Skulduggery's been infected by the cultists' poison, and since he's already prone to flashes of anger and violent urges, he's... staying in as often as possible. He's also taking steps to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid by talking to Anton, and then promptly going and doing something stupid by talking to Evandau.
Warnings/Rating: Anger. Lots and lots of anger. The thread with Evandau has a possibility of resulting in serious injury, but that has yet to be determined. Thread with Anton will have major book 6 spoilers.

[OOC Note: Because of the poison, Skulduggery's not going to be out and about, but he will respond to messages and visits and whatnot. If your character wouldn't be the type to contact him on their own and you want shenanigans to occur, PM me or ping me at Amaraq and we can work something out!]



A: Anton

Within the first twenty-four hours of being poisoned outside the Hotel, Skulduggery already knew something was wrong. He hadn't noticed it at first, possibly because he was already so accustomed to the feeling. But when even his usual dry brand of humour didn't help assuage any of the constant irritation he was feeling, he knew something was up. And when he had a nightmare - a nightmare - during his meditation, a nightmare which somehow managed to inflame his wounds despite the complete lack of skin, Skulduggery knew he had to do something.

So he went to Anton's Hotel.

Any misgivings he used to have were gone, replaced by anger. Any fear he might have had that he would lose one of the few friends he would care about losing had vanished, replaced by absolute certainty of the loss happening regardless and brutal practicality in the consequences. It was only because of Anton's reaction, in fact, that Skulduggery was considering doing this at all. Part of him didn't care if he lost control anymore.

He walked in without a disguise and looked around, movements precise and deceptively calm. There were no longer throngs of waiting, overheated Kedan he had to worry about. That was good.

B: Evandau

Interrogating Evandau over what happened at the Hotel would normally have been at the very top of Skulduggery's list of things to do, but after all of the events of the last week, he'd managed to convince himself to wait. The problem was that every last scrap of patience he had was wearing thin, and when he could no longer justify the wait to himself, Skulduggery went to the police station. He walked quickly and purposefully through the streets until he was at the door, and didn't bother to knock before going in. The false face he was wearing looked grim, but the eyes - usually vaguely unfocused - were clear and intent.

C: Wild card!

[Visits, messages, or attempts to contact Skulduggery will all be answered. Replies to anything involving the console might not happen right away, but Skulduggery won't leave anything waiting longer than a day.]

Comments

text;

[skeletonenigma]

[It takes a few hours, but...]

I have a chance now. What do you need?

text;

[akito]

You were injured with a tainted blade right?
There's something I need to check

text;

[skeletonenigma]

Ah. You mean whether I've been infected with the same taint all the cultists were infected with.

[By which he means Malicant.]

text;

[akito]

Yes

text;

[skeletonenigma]

[Normally he'd say no, because he already knows. But Skulduggery isn't so far-gone that he can't still recognise the usefulness of confirmation.]

Alright. Bring Quintus.

text;

[akito]

Okay
I will be 20 minutes

text; moving to action?

[skeletonenigma]

[He doesn't respond. Instead, he spends those twenty minutes pacing, mentally running through every conceivable implication of being infected. It's not that he hasn't realised them before; it's just that he hasn't had a reason to confront them before now.]

action!

[akito]

[ Quintus lets Skul know when they're nearby, Akito's sure, but knows how tetchy the tainted people have been getting. that, combined with how Skulduggery still makes Akito somewhat nervous, means that he's extra careful to knock on the door politely to announce his presence. as opposed to just barging in like he would with Hawke. ]

lights, camera...

[skeletonenigma]

[Quintus is, as usual, extraordinarily helpful. He does let Skulduggery know when they're nearby, but he also prods with the mental equivalent of a concerned noise, and hums with satisfaction when the feeling of calm all the young turtles produce actually manages to help.

It means Skulduggery opens the door almost immediately, anyway, before he turns toward the kitchen.] Come in. [He's pretty sure the others aren't home.]

[akito]

[ all Akito needs is a second or two to confirm - a quick glance and he can tell where the wound was, and how badly he's been tainted. He follows at a distance, letting Quintus fill the space between them. ]

You aren't... really badly compromised. It's dark, but not black except near your chest - the ribs?

[skeletonenigma]

[Well, that would make sense. Skulduggery's ribs were what got nicked. Akito's answer is about what he expected - he'd already known he was feeling the effects far worse than he was meant to. It would probably be a good idea, however, not to admit that the effects are worse.

Quintus ruins it by asking one of his silently bright questions with tinged concern.]

But it's worse, isn't it?

No.

You shouldn't be alone.

Probably not. But for now, it's the safest option.

[akito]

Have you been seeing a healer?

[skeletonenigma]

[Akito is lucky - both for being a child, and for having Quintus's calming influence there. Otherwise, Skulduggery might have answered much more caustically.]

I saw one in the aftermath. There's very little even magical healers can do, what with my already being dead.

[akito]

[ Akito is used to caustic. After living with his father for so many years, he would have to be. But it's appreciated all the same, since Akito is more than aware that Skul could be much more irritable with him, given his current health issue. ]

Very little isn't the same as nothing. There isn't anything I can do to help, even if I had better healing skills, but Quintus should be able to help your moods stay more regulated. And with any nightmares you have if you need to sleep.

[ the nightmare thing he can confirm personally, since Quintus is really one of the only ways he gets a nightmare-free sleep on the turtle. ]

I'm going to keep trying to figure out how to help... If you need me for anything you can send me a message, okay?

[skeletonenigma]

That's why I asked you to bring Quintus.

[If you concentrate hard, you can still hear a small amount of amusement in the words.

Skulduggery doesn't require sleep, and he doesn't strictly need to meditate. But given the state of his anger, not meditating would be a horrifically bad idea, so he takes the suggestion under consideration. The nightmares have actually been helping him stay solid, surprisingly enough, but it wouldn't hurt to have an uninterrupted span of pain-free meditation sometime.]

I'll keep that in mind. How's Hawke doing?

[akito]

[ Akito gives a careful shrug; abdomen still annoyingly tender from being stabbed. ]

Good enough to pretend that he's fine.

[skeletonenigma]

[Injured, then. But in Hawke's case, if he's able to pretend he's fine, he probably is. Skulduggery isn't too worried. Something else takes up his immediate attention instead, and that's the very ginger way in which Akito shrugged.]

Were you hurt?

[akito]

I was stabbed, but it's been almost completely healed.

[ if he seems unconcerned it's because he is. just one stab wound? not a big deal. even back when he had been stabbed seven times it wasn't too big of a deal - painful, but ignorable enough until they could get treatment. ]

It's just kind of tender now.

[skeletonenigma]

Stabbed with a black weapon?

[akito]

I iced the blade over before it struck me.

[ meaning he knew exactly what the blade was as soon as he saw it. handy dandy. ] Enough to keep most of the taint away. Anything else I healed right after incapacitating the attacker.

[skeletonenigma]

[So Akito was alright then. That was good. Quintus might have gone insane trying to deal with three compromised foster parents.]

No I wouldn't!

[The note of offended harrumph in Quintus's mental voice is almost enough to lessen the burden of Skulduggery's anger, and his skull tilts toward the large turtle.] Do you know anything else about the taint?

No. Only that it's making people angry.

[akito]

It makes people angry and more prone to violent outbursts. It also causes prolonged pain in the area of the original wound. Nightmares are also an expected side-effect. Currently no data on if the mind is further compromised beyond mood and dreams.

[skeletonenigma]

If it isn't, it soon will be.

[Of that, Skulduggery is certain. The poison is Malicant's doing. It's not going to stop here.]

[akito]

Probably, but I like trying to think positive.

[ trying being the key word there. ]

[skeletonenigma]

Thinking positive rarely works during war.

[Although normally, he would make more of an effort. Regardless, the comment is clearly the last word Skulduggery intends to have on the subject, because he's turning and walking back towards the stairs, expecting Akito and Quintus to make their own way out.]