tushanshu_logs | Do You Walk in the Shadow of Men...

Entry tags:

Do You Walk in the Shadow of Men...

Characters: Valdis and open
Date: The Month of May
Location: Throughout Keeliai
Situation: Various
Warnings/Rating: In Headers

Moving out of the hotel didn’t take long. Valdis hired a few kedan to help her move her things to the small house near the former palace gardens. It was a comfortable enough space, moreso because Wan had built it. She wasn’t entirely certain why she had waited so long to move here, but perhaps she had just needed time to let go of Anton. The house needed a bit of work after having sat empty for so long, but not much and nothing she wasn’t willing to do. Valdis was capable of creating things, not just destroying them.

The KPD hasn’t let up on patrols and she’s renewed the watches on the water sources. She now had thirty-seven officers and the support of the Justice Guild, a far cry from where she had started almost a year ago. The addition of four Kirin to the KPD resources had been a bright spot, but now Valdis had to find a caretaker for them. She hoped that the four mounts could help reduce response times to crisis as well as aid in crowd control should something arise. Allying with the Guild of Justice and Arbitration had been a wise move as it seemed to calm things down a bit and give both parties a more stabilizing structure. Now she could hunt...

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The rose that appeared at her Hotel room as she was packing were a pleasant surprise. The trio of roses that appeared on her desk at the KPD were nice, but unwelcome, especially when followed by the hushed whispers of her officers and the somewhat irritable nature of her latest conversation with Kaliel. Apparently she ‘had better things to do than flirt with men’. She kept the roses on her desk simply to spite him after that, but the bouquet that appeared at the Jade Dojo signed As you wish., was almost the last straw.

Valdis realized she had probably been asking for it by telling Devin to not send her flowers at certain locations, but she hadn’t realized that he might actually send her flowers. They were beautiful, but meaningless. She was pouring over the last of her paperwork, getting it ready to send off to Eliyen’s people when there was a knock on her office door. The door opened without her prompting to reveal Kaliel, who didn’t look very happy. She wondered what had made her head detective upset this time.

“What is it?”

“The blood sucker is here,” the man replied, not even trying to hide his disgust.

Devin Parker was nothing if not a troll; he was fairly certain that his actions wouldn't be enough to piss Valdis off to the point of refusing to give him blood every so often, but he didn't want her to think of him as any kind of friend. He could be an annoyance she needed to keep from hurting others, and that was fine.

So when he arrived at the KPD, it was with a borrowed silver platter, upon which a note was written in fine script: Fenrir's heart, along with a small, vaguely anatomical drawing. Devin waited for Kaliel to enter Valdis' office and then followed shortly after without prompting, just to continue to be a pain.

"Ooh, creative name. You should go into taxonomy," Devin crooned as he swept by Kaliel, and bowed slightly to Valdis. It was obviously affected and not genuine, but that's his style. "Getting the real thing was impossible, but I did my best to muster a suitably entertaining alternative," he told her, setting the tray lightly on her desk.

"The Chief has better things to do than entertain your trivial ...," Kaliel said sharply, his eyes narrowed in extreme disdain.

"You may go, Kaliel," Valdis said, her tone implying that there was to be no argument. The head detective looked like he might still be considering it, but a moment later he turned around and left, shutting the door hard behind him.

Valdis looked at the platter with the sketch, then at Devin, clearly not amused. "You have caused me no small amount of annoyance. Though somehow I feel that was your intent."

There was no 'feel', she knew that was his intent, but it annoyed her nonetheless.

"I don't have time for your jokes right now," she continued, "The poisonings have placed quite a bit of stress on the KPD."

Edited 2017-05-01 23:57 (UTC)

"Guilty as charged," Devin allowed, watching Kaliel go with a satisfied smirk. "Inspector Lestrade over there is quite a stickler for rules." It might have been a compliment, the way he said it.

The vampire folded his arms and arched an eyebrow at her, the position more of relaxation than defensiveness. He was not at all perturbed by her irritation. "Yes, I've noticed. And as the newest addition to your cultists task force, I think a little levity could go a long way towards clarity. When was the last time you took a break from this? Sleeping doesn't count."

Valdis' eyes narrowed slightly, but the next moment her features cleared of any emotion. "Kaliel is good at what he does, he's simply frustrated by the situation. He feels that we should have been able to prevent it."

Sleep? It had been several days since she'd done even that, and she couldn't remember what she'd even eaten last. That was dangerous. The more she relied on the Void to sustain her, the more power it had.

"It's been awhile."

"He takes too much responsibility on himself. People like these cultists will accomplish what they want if they're determined enough; you did what you could, and that's not to be dismissed," Devin said with an idle shrug.

The vampire was new here, and he was good at reading people, but he didn't have to be to see that Valdis was pushing herself. He knew that tactic well.

"Well, since I doubt I can convince you to stop entirely, how about a change of venue? I've been told that moving locations can be beneficial to cognition," he offered. "You can quiz me on my knowledge of the situation and pose speculations for analysis."

"Protecting Keeliai from those who would destroy it is a rather large responsibility," Valdis replied, her tone even, but edging toward cold. "And, as kind as your offer is, I don't have time to quiz you on things you know by heart. It's a worthless exercise."

A simple attempt to get her to take a break, but she was feeling stubborn, and perhaps a bit more irritable than she would like to admit.

"It is a significant burden," he agreed, briefly ignoring the dismissal. "But not one that you, or the good detective, or any single person has the capacity - or even the right - to take upon themselves. Forcing Atlas to hold up the world was a punishment, after all."

An allegory, but not an inappropriate one in his opinion. She was doing too much. "What would you consider a worthwhile exercise, then? Literally or figuratively. You'll do no one good by driving yourself into the ground."

"I can't actually drive myself into the ground," Valdis shot back, trying very hard to ignore the logic in his argument, "I'm immortal."

Perfect and self sustaining. A deathless hunter. But that was all past now. That was from another life. So why did it come back now?

"And your facade is slipping," She continued, "Aren't you supposed to be a heartless jerk?"

Perhaps that was taking it a bit too far, but she truly did not want sympathy at the moment. Though she didn't particularly want to be angry either.

"Being a bastard does not preclude the ability to make logical observations," Devin pointed out wryly. "And being immortal does not preclude the need to take of yourself, before your army of underlings begins to wonder if you're fit to lead or if you'll be breaking someone's head against a desk should they say the wrong thing."

Which could include his, seeing as he was standing nearby and she was sure to be fast. "You didn't answer my question."

His logic might be sound, but it was incredibly annoying. Immortality did not exclude her from certain features that went along with being alive, though the Void did grant her a bit more leeway, dangerous as that could be.

"I have more control than that," She replied after a few moments, still not answering his question.

There were probably few people in this city that were willing to challenge the police chief, and fewer still in this building. Even fewer that would happily risk their safety to prove a point.

For better or worse, Devin was on that final short list. He put his hands on the desk and leaned across it, getting in her face.

"Of course you do. You're immortal, and therefore untouchable and incapable of doing any wrong. You wouldn't even consider hurting someone under your employ, much less act on the idea," the vampire said, snide and smirking nastily. He blew air in her face, teasing. "Perish the thought."

Valdis leaned away from him, slightly shocked that he would dare invade her space. She sat there, stunned and confused for several moments after her finished. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as if centering herself, except the shadows in the room shifted and when her eyes opened, they were a bright, blood red. In the next instant, she had moved, her palm swinging toward his face.

While Devin hadn't expected her to be riles that easily, he hadn't discounted the possibility, either. He darted just out of reach, moving faster than any human could to avoid the strike, and appeared calm in every way she was not - up to and including those eyes.

"If this is what control looks like, you and I have very different definitions of the word," he remarked, shifting his weight slightly. "Best you don't be doing anything you'll have to arrest yourself later for, mm?"

His tone said taunt, even though his words were reasonable.

He was fast, but so was she and she caught herself from the missed strike with ease.

"If I was out of control," she replied, "Then you would already be dead and this city would be on the verge of destruction."

His words were incredibly hurtful, but instead of seeing reason in them, Valdis focused herself. She stepped lightly around her desk, slowly, deliberately. Watching him prepare to move should she strike again.

Possibly no one else would have pushed her to this, but better him than anyone less able to defend themselves.

"I am dead. Try the other one, it has bells on," Devin returned, making no move to assault her. Briefly, his eyes did flick to her sword; he was lacking any comparable weapon, should she choose to use it, but he had faced worse odds.

Probably.

"You aren't dead, Devin," she said, "You just think you are."

The dead didn't have souls attached to them, no matter how distant that soul was.

He didn't move, but his eyes drifted to her sword, she moved. The space was small, but she was agile. She dropped, swinging out her leg to try to swipe his from underneath him.

"Dead, undead, deathless. All different classifications of the same thing," he told her calmly.

If she was going to persist in attacking him, then the vampire was going to give her a solid reason not to, such as bringing sharp objects into the mix. When Valdis dropped, Devin zipped out of the way almost effortlessly - reaching for the hilt of her sword as he passed.

He didn't spare a thought before leveling the blade with her throat. "You should have brought your own weapon to the fist fight. Can we get back to acting like reasonable adults?"

He could match her speed, that alone was impressive, but to catch her off guard enough to actually steal her sword, that gave her brief pause. Revelations didn't object to him, how was that even possible? Unless...fear, so brief that it was almost impossible to see, passed through her eyes as the red faded back to green.

"Were that any other blade..." She said calmly, careful to not move.

In truth, he had expected that to enrage her further, not stop her entirely, but he would have the sword and therefore an advantage if she kept at it. The sight of her practically frozen was somewhat confusing. He did not lower the blade.

"You'd what, break it in half? Break me in half with it?" Don't give her ideas, Devin. "What's so special about this one to stop you in your tracks?"

"That blade is called Revelations," Valdis replied, her tone soft. She still didn't move, simply looked him straight in the eyes, barely even breathing.

"It was forged by archangels after the holy sword, Genesis, shattered upon the death of Raphael. It was designed with a single purpose in mind," She continued, "To destroy my kind."

Revelations. Devin resisted the strong urge to roll his eyes. What was it with this city and irony?

The rest of her explanation was somewhat more sobering. Archangels were not high on his list of favorite topics, and he was apparently holding one of the only things in Valdis' universe capable of killing her. It gave him a great deal of power.

She was very lucky that it was not her kind that Devin hunted.

"Such a beautiful thing, with such an ugly purpose," he murmured. "Genesis and Revelations - bookending the Bible with swords. And what ever happened to beating them into plowshares?" In one smooth motion, Devin drew Revelations away from her and examined it more closely, since it seemed she wouldn't be attacking him while it was in his possession. "Rather odd, that you should be able to handle the thing designed to destroy you," he remarked idly.

It took far too long for him to move the blade away, but Valdis didn't dare move until he did so. The blade might not be absolutely fatal to her, but it would be extraordinarily unpleasant to die on it again. The moment he drew the sword away, she moved back, out of reach. She didn't think he would change his mind, but she was still confused over why the blade hadn't burned him.

"You shouldn't be able to touch it," she replied, "It should have rejected you like it does everyone else. As for why I can wield it, its magic is tied to my soul."

And she was technically an angel, so perhaps that had something to do with it.

After Valdis stepped away, and Devin found nothing of special interest visible on the sword, he turned it around and offered her the hilt. There was no need to keep it, as he had no real use for the thing and he didn't see the point in holding an implied threat in his hands.

"Well, perhaps it just likes me," he remarked, certain that that had nothing to do with it. Where angels were involved... well, Devin had a very good idea why the blade might recognize him.

"I doubt it."

Valdis disn't hesitate to take the hilt of her sword when he offered it to her. The blade glowed brighter and the gem steadied with red light for a moment, ceasing its usual pulsing. Then she sheathed it and the glow dulled slightly.

"Did you have a point to that display or do you simply have a death wish?"

She figured his point was that she needed a break, but it never hurt to ask.

Edited 2017-05-03 12:58 (UTC)

Devin | KPD/Outside Keeliai | CW: ???

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