[PRP] the people's court (Shiloh & Alexis) [FIN]

[Melancholies]

Court wasn't where he wanted to be, especially not after meeting up with a younger version of Melany again, but it was where he found himself regardless. He had too many questions and not enough answers and—well, story of his life, right? Unfortunately, Court seemed pretty much the same as he had left it, at least at face value. He wasn't sure he wanted to dig deeper right now, hungry for information or not.

So instead he sat in the marble white parlor where he was named. The pillars were large and looming, but this time he was alone—there was no Pax, no other tithes rising to nobility with him—and he crossed his legs in his lone seat, body dripping with vantablack ruffles. It didn't suit him, but he didn't seem bothered either. Vague hints of light outlined the coat and the dress shirt and the pants but it otherwise looked as if he had been swallowed by a void—and then there was a lace veil hung over his face, obscuring his eyes, wherever it was they were looking.

In his hands sat a lone dandelion, his fingers cradling the object.

"Is that all you're going to do?" came a gravely voice behind him. He knew it was Beel—who else would it be?

Shiloh shrugged, "What's it to you?"

And Beel shrugged right back, his corpse like body dotted in fungi—a gentle contrast to Shiloh's own flowers—"It's no matter, but you're not usually so pensive."

Shiloh didn't respond. Beel lingered by his side regardless, maybe a little concerned in an angry kind of way, maybe just bored.

daekie

here u go

 

[Daekie]

Alexis had never been here -- at least, not properly. When they were being tithed by Alois they'd seen only what he'd wanted them to see and done only what he wanted them to do -- and exploration had rarely been part of that program. (The key burned into their chest ached, a phantom pang from lightened scar tissue.) But they had little interest in listening to him again - especially given he seemed to have disappeared in their transition to the new world (perhaps he'd stayed in Germany?), and it meant they never had to hear it again and never almost-involuntarily straighten up into proper posture and try to calm their heart from the not-entirely-unwarranted fear of a visit.

They weren't good, but what Alois had done to them hadn't made them any better. It'd honed what they were, but -- it hadn't been what they'd wanted, when they'd begged him to take them, to fix them.

It didn't matter, really. Alexis was what they were, now, and they were part of the Court of the Sorrowful One and -- they needed to check on Wick. They'd almost forgotten about him.

One step over the threshold and their clothes shimmered, changed, artfully torn fabric and bones and pearls in their hair, chains and jewelry and imitation shackles of dark stone. Their necklace was bones and teeth on silver chain, a red collar around their throat; and a knife with a pearl handle at their side, the blade iridescent. It was more comfortable than it'd been at the ball, more practical and less showy, but that meant little when they could pass for a creature of faerie in poor lighting and fog. (They hadn't noticed the dark makeup and bright red eyeliner, of course. There were no mirrors immediately here.)

There were steps, one-two-one-two, with an even light-footed gait and Alexis stepped into the room, their eyes widening at the site of Shiloh. They hadn't seen him since the ball, not if the void didn't count (and they remembered it so poorly it might not have amounted to anything, anyways). "Uh. D'you know how to find a Fetch? Don't just want to call mine, 's a s**t thing to do."

Mxlancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Both Fetch and Noble reacted in tandem, their heads whipping quickly. They both stared, but it was almost hard to tell (Beel lacked any actual eyes and Shiloh's was obscured by the hairpiece). Still, it was obvious in the way their expressions shifted. Shiloh's mouth tightened while Beel's broke into a questionable lipless grin.

"Well, it seems the others weren't all that averse to taking tithes after all." Beel cracked the comment at Shiloh hard, given how against the idea he was, how sure he was that none of the others would ever put anyone through that sort of experience. "How quaint."

"Shut up..." Shiloh grumbled, agitated, tired. The dandelion in his hands seemed to wilt and dissolve into a flurry of dust, each particle blowing away despite the apparent lack of wind. "******** idiots—sorry, not you."

After all, he hadn't known if they were taken against their will or if they had asked, but either way he held their patron far more accountable. They should have known better.

"Anyway, I guess it depends," Shiloh sighed and shrugged again, his posture somewhat lethargic, "They have minds of their own too y'know. Sometimes they're annoying assholes and they seek you out purposefully."

Beel clicked his tongue against his teeth, "Well I wasn't the one who begged someone for an 'ease-of-access' across the veil. Knowing your location is imperative to your orders, you know."

"You'd just seek me out to bug the s**t out of me anyway." Shiloh shot back, clearly not in the mood. Alexis' presence was... sobering. Bothersome. He stood up from the chair, turning his attention back to the unfamiliar noble (well, unfamiliar in terms of this role, he had recognized them from before), "I could help you look, I guess... they should be around here? Unless you let them wander around or keep 'em somewhere else." Like a possession or a pet, because Shiloh wasn't exactly putting Fetches on the same level as humans here.

daekie

 

[Daekie]

"Alois didn't tell you he took a tithe, did he," Alexis observed, their face tight in irritation. "Doesn't matter. That was months ago." Their boots (leather, maybe, some dark material with little heel) clicked against the floor, the sound half-muted, as they moved closer to Shiloh; sizing him up, in all his finery, unaffected by Beel's appearance, if they even gave a half-flicker of sight to him.

"He knows I ain't gonna tithe unless they have a good reason," they scowled, and then let out a heavy sigh of realization - "********, goddamnit, I can literally track things. Why am I such a ******** moron." They focused on the knife at their side for a second, eyes sharp, and flicked a finger out - a thin river of water burbled up through the floor, clean and clear, winding around a corner and out of sight - "Whatever. Beaumont, right? What's his name?" They jerked their thumb over at Beel. "I'm gonna go check Wick - y'can come with, unless you're gonna be gloomy as s**t the entire time. I do enough of that on my own time."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"S'not like I like being a depressed piece of s**t." he shot right back, but his voice lacked any real venom. "And no, he didn't, but I don't really talk to him." a pause, "I don't talk to any of the Nobles from my group anymore, I guess." He didn't know what had happened to Thorne in this new world, and he had never been particularly close to any of the other tithes.

"And yeah, it's Beaumont." He relented after a moment, watching the water but saying nothing, "Shiloh. But last names are fine, I don't really care." Rubbing at his eye under the veil, he piped up again, "Dunno your name though, but I recognize your face."

Apparently slightly ruffled at being ignored, Beel also butted in, "It's Beel, a pleasure." he drawled with fake gratitude. "And honestly, at least you're not against the idea of tithing. You all treat it like it's such a terrible thing."

"For <********> sake," Shiloh turned on Beel like he was going to kick him, but he didn't raise any fists or make any movements aside from the tensing of his muscles, "Because it is a terrible thing, you ******** moron." And to Alexis, he added again, "I won't be gloomy or whatever the hell if that's all you're worried about. I've just had a lot of s**t on my mind..." At least he did seem a little perkier now, having successfully been provoked by his stupid fetch.

daekie

 

[Daekie]

"'s not that bad," Alexis muttered, sounding vaguely offended. "I asked Scholz t'tithe me cause I wanted to be better - I knew what I was gettin' into. He's a ******** horrible person, but I don't think he'd kidnap someone, alright?" They sighed, an ugly huff of breath. "I'm Alexis. Tucker."

(The ankle monitor was still there, if transfigured; a metallic band of dark grey and red, circled around one ankle, conspicuous even when it fit in slightly more with the rest of their attire. It looked heavy. Shackle-like, almost.)

"Hey, Beel." They gave him a half-wave, curious. "Curious, actually. Did you know my first fetch? Her name was Rill. Kind of a huge b***h. Iunno if you all know each other or whatever, but she's been dead since October if y'do, so there's clarification."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

For as offended as Alexis sounded, Shiloh still took it in stride. "I mean, 'snot like I knew. Maybe his experiences weren't as bad. Ezra wasn't as cruel as—"

He stopped himself. Beel spoke up instead, as if catching wind of Shiloh's awkwardness. He filled the silence politely. "Rill?" He thought for a second, "The name is vaguely familiar, but I can't say I knew much about her. Madam Melany always kept us quite busy." Lacing his long gnarled fingers together, he added, "Such a shame you had to kill her though."

Shiloh looked like he wanted to say something right then, but he didn't. "A-Anyway. Tucker yeah? You said you could track s**t, so lead the way I guess." His eyes drifted down to the ankle monitor for a second, but with the whole Court outfit ensemble thing going on it was hard to tell the legitimacy of it. Either way, it wasn't his place to poke at it. "You haven't been a noble for that long then, huh?"

daekie

 

[Daekie]

"I mean," Alexis muttered, "he still branded me, which was kind of a d**k move." The semblance of a key, their own, on their sternum -- a bird's wing on the small of their back. Freedom, symbolized. "But he didn't talk about what Ezra did t'him too much. Too busy bein' preachy." So much of it was vaguely blurry, still, in the way things were when they had focused at the time and regretted it later -- but it didn't matter, in the grand scheme of things, and they didn't need to think about it if they didn't want to.

"Wasn't a shame," they grimaced, and left it at that. "But yeah. Come on - he's this way." Their footfalls were light, if solid, and they rounded the corner with a look back towards Shiloh. "Became one proper in October, and then everything went tits-up and we made a new universe a few weeks later, so I haven't been real good about my duties if I even have any."

Mxlancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Well that sounds like a d**k move still, Shiloh thought to himself, but he didn't make any remarks. "I mean, I'm sure Ezra wasn't easy on 'em or anything, but he wasn't nothin' like Madam was." His stomach felt a little sick.

"Madam Melany was a being of absolute perfection." Beel agreed without actually agreeing with the point Shiloh was trying to make. "She was harsh out of necessity."

Shiloh rubbed his wrist awkwardly.

"I guess it really doesn't matter if you're after me or not, 'cause I still don't know much about being a Noble." He seemed... bothered by this, actually, "No one really told us anything. Pax was there when we were made I guess, but it didn't give us a whole lot of direction aside from 'This is what you are now, have fun'." Shiloh folded his arms across his chest as he followed Alexis, "s**t always bothers me, how everyone rushes in without really thinking or understanding. I mean, I get it, 'cause I do it too—but it's like, no one else really had anything better. Still frustrating how in the dark everything has to be." He was basically musing aloud at this point. Idly, he wondered what sort of a fetch Alexis' would prove to be. A d**k like Beel? Obsessive like Mare? Weird and provocative like Lace? He worried his lip between his teeth.

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"There's no reason," Alexis smiled at Beel, their smile forced and every tooth on display and sharp, "for anyone t'hurt their kids, or anyone they're takin' care of. I don't care what. It's <********>." Their shoulders tensed and then relaxed, consciously, as they followed the flow of water, eyes low to the ground and intent.

"I rush in. 's what I do. I'm not real good at being smart or planning things out -- but I am real good at doing damage." The decorations in their hair clinked together, a chiming noise. "N' he should be around here --"

They opened the door, and there was a young (?) man in similar finery curled up on a wallseat; he was dark-skinned with an unhealthily sallow texture (unmistakable as a fetch, really, from that alone), with a pale scarf wrapped around his head, and a tightness to the skin of his face on one side of his jaw that implied there was little under it but bone; even tighter than a fetch's normal skin. He held a hunk of dark wax in one hand, whittling intricate designs into it, and at current glance it resembled a seashell. (He was missing fingers, too, on the hand cradling the wax -- there was a horrible melted quality to his skin in places, jagged pale scars arcing all up his neck, eyes bright like fires. ) "Lord Alexis -"

"I told you," Alexis scolded with a frown, as if they were disciplining a sibling, "don't call me that, Wick. Makes me feel like I'm some sorta tyrant or something."

"I apologize. Lord Beaumont, correct, yes?" Wick shifted from his position, standing up to take a bow, putting a little more weight on one leg than the other - and he was tall, too, easily six foot even barefoot. (So terribly thin, though.) "It's very nice to meet you. And don't worry about it, Alexis," he smiled at them, soft. "I'm not incapable, Lord. I'm in no danger of passing away without your watch."

Melancholles

 

[Melancholies]

Beel was silent at Alexis' conviction. "Humans are strange," he remarked after a time, "Very, very strange..."

"Weren't you human once too, Beel?" Shiloh tipped his head at the fetch, but he didn't respond. Taking the silence for what it was, he turned to Alexis again, "Don't worry. Uh, I agree..." Images of his dad came to mind. Images of Melany, both old and young. His breathing didn't falter. He was growing numb to it.

Thankfully, they came upon Wick before he could dwell too much longer. He considered all fetches to hold a similar amount of ugliness, but Wick was something else entirely. the gauntness and uncanny valley look to his features made his stomach twist. Except he was polite. He was kind.

He was many things that his own fetch was not.

And he didn't care to be Beel's friend, but it seemed like a nice thought, trusting in one's fetch. "I'm not too fond of the Lord addition either." He admitted to the fetch, but he offered him a little smile regardless, "But uh, yeah. S'cool."

Beel seemed relatively uncomfortable in the presence of another fetch. He ignored it when Shiloh looked at him and said, "It's nice to know some fetches can show respect."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"I'll call you as you are," Wick said, with the slightest tinge of insubordination to his tone (slight enough to be missed, clear enough to be dry); "Lords and Ladies of the court, of course. It'd be rude for me to call you anything else! And I trust my Lord," he smiled at Beel, and his teeth were almost visible through his cheek, "because, after all, if they wanted me dead they wouldn't have to try very hard. I wouldn't press it, Beel."

"Wick," Alexis muttered, pressing a hand to their temple, "d'you need anythin', or do you want to just -" they waved the other hand sort of aimlessly - "leave you t'your whittling? Carving? ******** if I know, I don't craft. Do you just want to b***h, or can I get out of here? I ******** hate this outfit." They picked at a sleeve, frowning. "Least it's got long sleeves, but that's the only good part -"
"I wouldn't mind some new reading," Wick replied, interrupting Alexis from their tangent, slowly returning to his former perch on the windowseat. "Something fantastical?" His eyes tracked them and Shiloh, burning embers, half-a-smile on his face.
"Yeah, sure, I'll have Zac recommend something. Maybe you could make yerself shoes," Alexis sniped, and ducked out of the room with their movement hasted by water; it bubbled up beneath their feet through the floor, pushing them along; it picked at Shiloh's ankles too, trying to pull him with them.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

If there was any insubordination, it was lost on Shiloh. Beel was much more vocal, much more testy—even if Shiloh had caught the intention, he would've let it slide. Still, Shiloh didn't say anything to highlight Wick's words of wisdom to Beel.

Beel in turn said nothing, but his posture showed no fear. He wouldn't kill me is what it seemed to spell out.

But then they were departing, not that Shiloh minded much. The water lapping at his feet created a flourish of flowers and ferns that followed him as he left. Every footstep made them bubble up, and when his foot left the spot they wilted and wilted until they were gone. "He seems nice." He commented duly to Alexis, "As nice as fetches can be, I guess." Lily pads were popping up now, getting lost in the current of the water, fading when they lost proximity.

"Where'd you learn how to do this?" He was legitimately curious, "The water thing, I mean."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

Wick raised the semblance of an eyebrow over one candleflame eye and watched Beel go, his grin mirthless.

"Figured it out when I made my way back after I dealt with Rill," they drawled, "'cause I didn't want the rain t'hit me - and then it didn't. Can't do anything real fine with it, but I can do basic movement - it just doesn't wanna listen most of the time. Got a mind of its' own, really." Alexis glanced down at the lilypads and flowers, curious. "This yours? Your big Noble power, I mean? 's neat."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh blinked thoughtfully, and then laughed. Beel raised an eyebrow at this—or well, would, had he the eyebrow to raise—so instead it was just the fluid motion that gave the inquiry away. He didn't speak. "That's kinda funny," He noted mostly to himself, "I mean, s'not funny—kinda frustrating—but mine was the same way."

The lilypads and flowers were nothing compared to the full extent of his abilities. Holding his arm out as they walked, it flourished into a tiny garden—wisteria dripped off of his limb like long tears and lavender crawled up to his shoulder and baby's breath popped out in tiny poofs. "It feels like an itch, a lot of time, right under my skin. When I suppress it, I mean." He shook his arm and some of the flowers fell off, melding away into the water. "I have it under ropes mostly, but when they first popped out... they sort of just sprouted whenever they wanted to."

The air inexplicably smelled of rain.

"It's connected to my blood, I think. Like, when I bleed I can't control it, they go really crazy, but it makes my cuts 'n stuff heal faster." He dropped his arm, but the flowers still clung to his desperately, "I hated it at first, but I'm sorta okay with it now. I think maybe you'll get better control over the water with time. Just a guess."

Daekie