07-11-2018, 02:52 PM
During the conversation with the deliciously mysterious "Pariah" (Code names are fun! Talos will have to come up with one for themself.) Talos lies down on the roof. This is partially to conceal themselves from people looking up, partially because they are tired, and mostly so that they can look up at the stars.
They hesitate when the probably-a-crime-lord requests that they retrieve and transport a dead body to a meeting with him. Jaclyn would probably not approve, but Talos is feeling put out with her and disinclined to be lawful.
Besides, Talos indirectly caused this poor drug runner's entire gang to be decimated. A little corpse retrieval is the least they can do to make up for that.
"That is a reasonable sort of request for the closest equivalent to next-of-kin to make," they decide audibly. "You should be aware, the fragrant bag he carried was incinerated. In case that changes your desires."
Talos does not think it will. If Pariah had wanted the duffel he would have mentioned that and not hoped it would come packaged with the body, but they figure it is kind to quash misplaced hope before it festers into expectation.
There is a pause. Talos can hear the distant interference of wind whipping over the other man's speaker, and the silent sound of a migraine blossoming.
"Great," the migraine is now audible in his voice. "No, that doesn't change things."
"Very well," Talos says. "May I take the liberty of selecting the location?"
"If I can set the time."
Talos sits up and scans the skyline.
"The roof of the blue house in the shadow of the golden-domed mosque," they choose. It is nice and open and rife with escape routes and they could trace a clear roof-path from here to there.
There is a pause as Pariah is probably translating Talos' flowery description into coordinates.
"Okay. Sure. In two hours."
Two hours was not yet dawn, so that suits Talos fine. They conclude the call with cautious goodbyes.
Talos begins to tuck the phone into their breast pocket. The lizard already occupying it snorts irritably at them.
----
When Talos returns to the crime scene, it is swarming with Stormtroopers.
Three are standing guard. One is off to the side talking on a communicator. Talos exhales irritably.
They eavesdrop on the Stormtropper on the comm, and discover that a cleanup crew in en-route.
Talos spends the fifteen minutes it takes the crew to arrive weaving a replacement corpse out of omnilium. They know what the body looks like. They know exactly what the body looks like.
The cleanup crew arrives and starts bagging and loading bodies into a truck. When they finish that, they start spraying down the alley, erasing the blood. They are focused on their job, and the Stormtroopers are watching the street.
Masked into a hazy figure of mottled gray, Talos jumps quickly and lightly from the roof to the trucktop, and slinks Alien-like into the truck. Switching out the body takes a few careful, tense minutes, and then they leave they way they came.
Cradling Scootz for the second time that night, Talos starts to make their way over rooftops to the rendezvous site.
As they run and leap, they let their Mask sweep into a long, concealing coat and a slanted hat that obscures their features. They make their face recognizably human, but keep their voice, since they used it on the phone. They also keep their height, since they're weary of stooping and when you're going to meet a probably-a-crime-lord, it is apt to be a little intimidating.
They hesitate when the probably-a-crime-lord requests that they retrieve and transport a dead body to a meeting with him. Jaclyn would probably not approve, but Talos is feeling put out with her and disinclined to be lawful.
Besides, Talos indirectly caused this poor drug runner's entire gang to be decimated. A little corpse retrieval is the least they can do to make up for that.
"That is a reasonable sort of request for the closest equivalent to next-of-kin to make," they decide audibly. "You should be aware, the fragrant bag he carried was incinerated. In case that changes your desires."
Talos does not think it will. If Pariah had wanted the duffel he would have mentioned that and not hoped it would come packaged with the body, but they figure it is kind to quash misplaced hope before it festers into expectation.
There is a pause. Talos can hear the distant interference of wind whipping over the other man's speaker, and the silent sound of a migraine blossoming.
"Great," the migraine is now audible in his voice. "No, that doesn't change things."
"Very well," Talos says. "May I take the liberty of selecting the location?"
"If I can set the time."
Talos sits up and scans the skyline.
"The roof of the blue house in the shadow of the golden-domed mosque," they choose. It is nice and open and rife with escape routes and they could trace a clear roof-path from here to there.
There is a pause as Pariah is probably translating Talos' flowery description into coordinates.
"Okay. Sure. In two hours."
Two hours was not yet dawn, so that suits Talos fine. They conclude the call with cautious goodbyes.
Talos begins to tuck the phone into their breast pocket. The lizard already occupying it snorts irritably at them.
----
When Talos returns to the crime scene, it is swarming with Stormtroopers.
Three are standing guard. One is off to the side talking on a communicator. Talos exhales irritably.
They eavesdrop on the Stormtropper on the comm, and discover that a cleanup crew in en-route.
Talos spends the fifteen minutes it takes the crew to arrive weaving a replacement corpse out of omnilium. They know what the body looks like. They know exactly what the body looks like.
The cleanup crew arrives and starts bagging and loading bodies into a truck. When they finish that, they start spraying down the alley, erasing the blood. They are focused on their job, and the Stormtroopers are watching the street.
Masked into a hazy figure of mottled gray, Talos jumps quickly and lightly from the roof to the trucktop, and slinks Alien-like into the truck. Switching out the body takes a few careful, tense minutes, and then they leave they way they came.
Cradling Scootz for the second time that night, Talos starts to make their way over rooftops to the rendezvous site.
As they run and leap, they let their Mask sweep into a long, concealing coat and a slanted hat that obscures their features. They make their face recognizably human, but keep their voice, since they used it on the phone. They also keep their height, since they're weary of stooping and when you're going to meet a probably-a-crime-lord, it is apt to be a little intimidating.
"To live in this world you must be able to do three things:
To love what is mortal;
To hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it;
And, when the time comes to let it go,
To let it go." – Mary Oliver
To love what is mortal;
To hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it;
And, when the time comes to let it go,
To let it go." – Mary Oliver