Character(s): Alucard + ???? Status: Open Location(s): Around, about, and up in the Krimnos mountains Date(s) Julyish About: General July catch all, but also feat. Alucard, Sypha, and a tiny flying horse Warnings: Added as required
Aboslutely a shit location for a jeweler's. Perfect for having a legitimate business front all while possessing much shadier dealings.
[Alucard is almost approving in his tone, be it in relation to Noctis' intelligence or the jeweler's place of business.]
Which is perfectly common among this crowd. I knew quite a few dealers that would have their every day workings in the front, but you had to have built a relationship with them over a few weeks to be permitted in the back rooms. Sometimes it would take years before I was ever even aware of their rarest things.
[But, to the shop. Alucard starts walking with a little too much confidence. It's awful, admitting how much he missed this thrill. The chase, the hunt, whatever one wants to call it. And yet, here it is all the same, hardly tempered by the experiences of Einjar.]
You'll need to come up with a reason you're looking for the item with a seller like that. Close to the truth, but not exactly. If there's sentiment, the price will be impossibly high.
[ Noctis, in spite of himself, looks up sharply, balking in the middle of the street. ] It's not sentiment.
[ And maybe that's giving away too much, too strong of a reaction to be all of the truth. He realizes it the moment the words leave his mouth, and drops his gaze once more, grimacing. ]
It could hurt somebody, that's all. Probably already has. Just trying to get it off the streets before it happens again.
[ And it's the truth, isn't it? His father's or no, he always hated the damn thing, and now a hundred years have gone and he has no obligations of title or duty left to it. The only reason to seek it out now is... so his family's legacy can be laid to rest properly, and no one else has to come to harm.
He'll pretend that's all it is.
They come to a stop at the mouth of the indicated alleyway, which stinks of smoke and ale and even at this time of day hides the muffled sound of conversation from a door in the back. He folds his arms and tilts his head, a quiet hmm sounding from the back of his throat. ]
I'll tell him it's cursed, and we're private investigators hired by the city guard to track it down. It's killed people before and it's not safe for a common jeweler to handle, which is... well, the truth. Alright?
[Alucard almost responds with I said if, but he catches himself. He understands that only makes one angrier, and this? This is an emotionally loaded situation, even if Noctis refuses to acknowledge that. In his own youth, Alucard knows he may well have acted with the same kind of snapped back response.]
I understand.
[And that's all he says, walking quietly and keeping his eyes and ears alert in case of anything. It's not nervrewracking though - it's familiar. Blessedly so. Even stopping in front of the store is familiar. There's almost a thrill to the chase of it all, a feeling Alucard hasn't felt in some time.]
That'll work, although I wouldn't call them a common jeweler. Could infuriate egos. Just that the city guard hired us will be enough. I'll remain a man of few words until I'm needed. Shall we use faux names, or simply refuse to share them?
[ It's a noncommital noise as Noctis takes another moment to consider it, eyeing the empty brackets above the shop where a sign should be. ]
It'll be more suspicious if he asks and we refuse. Fake names are simpler. I'll be Lucian, and you can be... Alfred.
[ With no more fanfare than this, Noctis takes a deep breath and pushes through the front door of the jeweler's.
The interior of the shop is poorly lit, with a fine layer of dust on most of the cabinetry that tells him the frontside of this place sees little legitimate use. What jewelry is hung on the racks and in the display cases looks cheap to his eye, fake gemstones and lesser metals—nothing so valuable that it'd be a great loss if the drunks stumbling in from next door started swinging fists into the glass.
And maybe they have—though the floor has obviously been swept, there's still a telltale crunch of leftover something under his boots as he passes a little too close to a shelf by the entry. ]
Mr. Gretoris?
[ He feels like the dust itself shudders at the disturbance of his voice, but it's only the dust. Not so much as a telling creak or an answering greeting from anywhere else in the shop. There's a narrow door in the far corner cracked just enough to reveal a set of stairs behind it.
[Alucard repeats the name once, mostly im approval, and he laughs just a little at it. Not just because it's clever (and it is), but because the ease that Noctis has in coming up with them is pretty impressive.
He follows after Noctis in the tall, quiet, commanding way he always moves. The dust is no surprise, and the wares are...actually, it's sort of low effort, if Alucard was going to give an honest opinion. Back in his day, there was at least an attempt to look like the real deal.
The silence though. That's concerning, and so Alucard can only nod.]
[ Maybe it's just the way Alucard says it that raises the hairs on the back of his neck. He eyes the cracked door for a moment, considering, worrying at his lower lip with his teeth—and then, without much preamble, ghosts in front of Alucard, turning to an incorporeal phantom of shifting blue light but for the span of a single heartbeat.
Noctis returns to reality with his hand palm flat on the door, not enough to push it all the way open just yet. He glances over his shoulder and flashes Alucard a wan grin. ]
What, you scared of ghosts in the attic?
[ He peers through the crack into what little of the upstairs he can see for a moment longer ( just the rafters, mostly ), ignoring the way his heart tries to crawl into his throat as his imagination supplies what he can't. Then he relents, stepping aside and gesturing vaguely at the door. Casual. Like they're not breaking into somebody's stash of illicit wares. ]
[Alucard considers himself sturdier than most, and so his offer to go ahead came from a place that wanted to absorb any damage that may be laid at the entry way. Watching Noctis suddenly have no corporeal body? That took away some concern.
He nods once to Noctis, a thin smile on his face.]
Thank you, Lucian.
[In he goes then, swinging the door open. This time, Alucard is loud on purpose, announcing himself.]
Mr. Gretoris?
[Alucard isn't surprised by the fact that the area is plain. Just a counter and a few expensive looking vases behind it, and a single door that seems to lead to some back area. The real money pot.]
We were directed your way by a colleague of yours.
[ The only answer back is silence. Noctis strains for a shuffle of footsteps or some other indication someone in the back room is ignoring them, but hears nothing.
He takes half a step forward, only for a gap in the vases on the counter to catch his eye. ]
Wait.
[ He places both hands on the counter and leans over the edge, and sure enough, there's the missing vase—scattered in shards of white porcelain across the floorboards, toward the back room, a dirty cleaning rag tossed to one side.
This time, he doesn't say anything—just glances up at Alucard and points into the gap behind the counter, then silently jerks his head toward the back room.
He phases across the space in an instant once more, cracking the door as carefully as he dares to peer into the room behind it. What he finds there roots him to the spot and raises the hairs on the back of his neck. ]
Shit.
[ There's the shopkeeper, alright—and with blood on the floor, blood on a stained bottle that rolled up against the door, blood on the balding head of the man laying face down on the floor behind it. ]
[ Noctis doesn't really think about what he's doing—the edge to Alucard's voice raises the hairs on the back of his neck and sends him ghosting backwards on instinct, planting himself firmly back at Alucard's side and away from the door to the back room. For a second he drops back into a ready position, fists balled in front of him, searching for some other threat—but no, it's just the two of them and a dead body alone in the shop.
Somehow that knowledge doesn't really help him relax. ]
Somebody else got here first and I'm pretty sure, [ Noctis sucks in a shaky breath— ] he's dead. What do we do now?
[They don't leave finger prints. They don't leave anything behind. They should tell the police, but that will bring them too much attention. They can't be seen leaving this place either. Shit. Fuck.
Alucard pauses, then snaps his fingers.] Downstairs. We go downstairs, and I'll remain, a customer confused about the whereabouts of the shop keeper. Go back to the market. Tell the seller who recommended this shop that something's wrong, but don't give details. They'll either alert the authorities or invite something shadier to address the problem all the same.
[ Noctis hesitates, glancing at the door to the back room and then back to Alucard, caught between common sense and the whole reason they came here in the first place. He grits his teeth. ]
I have to know if it was here.
[ Was. It isn't now, or he knows he'd hear the siren whispers of the thing calling to him to claim its power like he did so often in his youth. No, if it was in the shop at all, it's gone now. And the only person who could have told them if he'd seen it has been silenced.
He huffs and relents, shoulders sagging. ]
I'll go downstairs. If you see an inventory log or something else that can tell us what's been through here, just...tell me, okay?
[In practice what that means is that if there's a ledger that is already open, the dhampir will look. If not though, well, he isn't going to disturb a crime scene no matter how badly he feels for Noctis at the moment. And oh, gods, he feels for the young man so very hard.
With Noctis gone, Alucard does the only thing he can do: float. Gently. Around the shop, eyes looking for anything like a register or ledger or some other way of keeping track of comings and goings and--
bingo.
The ledge is open. The page is almost full and there is, in scrawny handwriting, a line that reads Ring, cursed and goes on to describe the thing that Noctis has been looking for. Sold, 300 gold.
No client information, nothing but a date. Yesterday. It was taken yesterday.
Alucard goes downstairs where he said he would be, and waits.]
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no subject
[Alucard is almost approving in his tone, be it in relation to Noctis' intelligence or the jeweler's place of business.]
Which is perfectly common among this crowd. I knew quite a few dealers that would have their every day workings in the front, but you had to have built a relationship with them over a few weeks to be permitted in the back rooms. Sometimes it would take years before I was ever even aware of their rarest things.
[But, to the shop. Alucard starts walking with a little too much confidence. It's awful, admitting how much he missed this thrill. The chase, the hunt, whatever one wants to call it. And yet, here it is all the same, hardly tempered by the experiences of Einjar.]
You'll need to come up with a reason you're looking for the item with a seller like that. Close to the truth, but not exactly. If there's sentiment, the price will be impossibly high.
no subject
[ And maybe that's giving away too much, too strong of a reaction to be all of the truth. He realizes it the moment the words leave his mouth, and drops his gaze once more, grimacing. ]
It could hurt somebody, that's all. Probably already has. Just trying to get it off the streets before it happens again.
[ And it's the truth, isn't it? His father's or no, he always hated the damn thing, and now a hundred years have gone and he has no obligations of title or duty left to it. The only reason to seek it out now is... so his family's legacy can be laid to rest properly, and no one else has to come to harm.
He'll pretend that's all it is.
They come to a stop at the mouth of the indicated alleyway, which stinks of smoke and ale and even at this time of day hides the muffled sound of conversation from a door in the back. He folds his arms and tilts his head, a quiet hmm sounding from the back of his throat. ]
I'll tell him it's cursed, and we're private investigators hired by the city guard to track it down. It's killed people before and it's not safe for a common jeweler to handle, which is... well, the truth. Alright?
no subject
I understand.
[And that's all he says, walking quietly and keeping his eyes and ears alert in case of anything. It's not nervrewracking though - it's familiar. Blessedly so. Even stopping in front of the store is familiar. There's almost a thrill to the chase of it all, a feeling Alucard hasn't felt in some time.]
That'll work, although I wouldn't call them a common jeweler. Could infuriate egos. Just that the city guard hired us will be enough. I'll remain a man of few words until I'm needed. Shall we use faux names, or simply refuse to share them?
no subject
[ It's a noncommital noise as Noctis takes another moment to consider it, eyeing the empty brackets above the shop where a sign should be. ]
It'll be more suspicious if he asks and we refuse. Fake names are simpler. I'll be Lucian, and you can be... Alfred.
[ With no more fanfare than this, Noctis takes a deep breath and pushes through the front door of the jeweler's.
The interior of the shop is poorly lit, with a fine layer of dust on most of the cabinetry that tells him the frontside of this place sees little legitimate use. What jewelry is hung on the racks and in the display cases looks cheap to his eye, fake gemstones and lesser metals—nothing so valuable that it'd be a great loss if the drunks stumbling in from next door started swinging fists into the glass.
And maybe they have—though the floor has obviously been swept, there's still a telltale crunch of leftover something under his boots as he passes a little too close to a shelf by the entry. ]
Mr. Gretoris?
[ He feels like the dust itself shudders at the disturbance of his voice, but it's only the dust. Not so much as a telling creak or an answering greeting from anywhere else in the shop. There's a narrow door in the far corner cracked just enough to reveal a set of stairs behind it.
He glances at Alucard. ]
Maybe we should just... go upstairs?
no subject
[Alucard repeats the name once, mostly im approval, and he laughs just a little at it. Not just because it's clever (and it is), but because the ease that Noctis has in coming up with them is pretty impressive.
He follows after Noctis in the tall, quiet, commanding way he always moves. The dust is no surprise, and the wares are...actually, it's sort of low effort, if Alucard was going to give an honest opinion. Back in his day, there was at least an attempt to look like the real deal.
The silence though. That's concerning, and so Alucard can only nod.]
Yes. Do you object if I go first though?
no subject
Noctis returns to reality with his hand palm flat on the door, not enough to push it all the way open just yet. He glances over his shoulder and flashes Alucard a wan grin. ]
What, you scared of ghosts in the attic?
[ He peers through the crack into what little of the upstairs he can see for a moment longer ( just the rafters, mostly ), ignoring the way his heart tries to crawl into his throat as his imagination supplies what he can't. Then he relents, stepping aside and gesturing vaguely at the door. Casual. Like they're not breaking into somebody's stash of illicit wares. ]
After you, Alfred.
no subject
[Alucard considers himself sturdier than most, and so his offer to go ahead came from a place that wanted to absorb any damage that may be laid at the entry way. Watching Noctis suddenly have no corporeal body? That took away some concern.
He nods once to Noctis, a thin smile on his face.]
Thank you, Lucian.
[In he goes then, swinging the door open. This time, Alucard is loud on purpose, announcing himself.]
Mr. Gretoris?
[Alucard isn't surprised by the fact that the area is plain. Just a counter and a few expensive looking vases behind it, and a single door that seems to lead to some back area. The real money pot.]
We were directed your way by a colleague of yours.
no subject
He takes half a step forward, only for a gap in the vases on the counter to catch his eye. ]
Wait.
[ He places both hands on the counter and leans over the edge, and sure enough, there's the missing vase—scattered in shards of white porcelain across the floorboards, toward the back room, a dirty cleaning rag tossed to one side.
This time, he doesn't say anything—just glances up at Alucard and points into the gap behind the counter, then silently jerks his head toward the back room.
He phases across the space in an instant once more, cracking the door as carefully as he dares to peer into the room behind it. What he finds there roots him to the spot and raises the hairs on the back of his neck. ]
Shit.
[ There's the shopkeeper, alright—and with blood on the floor, blood on a stained bottle that rolled up against the door, blood on the balding head of the man laying face down on the floor behind it. ]
This just got way more complicated.
no subject
--Alucard doesn't follow after Noctis. He knows better than to go further than this point when a word like wait is said.]
Get back over here. Now.
[Away from the body. Away from leaving evidence near it. Shit. Fuck!]
no subject
Somehow that knowledge doesn't really help him relax. ]
Somebody else got here first and I'm pretty sure, [ Noctis sucks in a shaky breath— ] he's dead. What do we do now?
no subject
[They don't leave finger prints. They don't leave anything behind. They should tell the police, but that will bring them too much attention. They can't be seen leaving this place either. Shit. Fuck.
Alucard pauses, then snaps his fingers.] Downstairs. We go downstairs, and I'll remain, a customer confused about the whereabouts of the shop keeper. Go back to the market. Tell the seller who recommended this shop that something's wrong, but don't give details. They'll either alert the authorities or invite something shadier to address the problem all the same.
Okay?
no subject
I have to know if it was here.
[ Was. It isn't now, or he knows he'd hear the siren whispers of the thing calling to him to claim its power like he did so often in his youth. No, if it was in the shop at all, it's gone now. And the only person who could have told them if he'd seen it has been silenced.
He huffs and relents, shoulders sagging. ]
I'll go downstairs. If you see an inventory log or something else that can tell us what's been through here, just...tell me, okay?
no subject
[In practice what that means is that if there's a ledger that is already open, the dhampir will look. If not though, well, he isn't going to disturb a crime scene no matter how badly he feels for Noctis at the moment. And oh, gods, he feels for the young man so very hard.
With Noctis gone, Alucard does the only thing he can do: float. Gently. Around the shop, eyes looking for anything like a register or ledger or some other way of keeping track of comings and goings and--
bingo.
The ledge is open. The page is almost full and there is, in scrawny handwriting, a line that reads Ring, cursed and goes on to describe the thing that Noctis has been looking for. Sold, 300 gold.
No client information, nothing but a date. Yesterday. It was taken yesterday.
Alucard goes downstairs where he said he would be, and waits.]