sword_breaker | Myth!AU

[There's a slight wind to give signs that colder weather was going to hit the city at some point but otherwise the chill didn't faze many much with the sun pouring down rays without any resistance from white wisps streaking across blue. Another busy work day for most people as they packed the sidewalks in order to accomplish whatever the day asked of them to do, some of them heading off towards lunch break even as the afternoon brought along ease in traffic after the rushing around or rather dead still in the morning commutes that always came like clockwork. The towering skyscrapers piercing above while scattered about were busy shops and apartment complexes ranging to the higher end of the spectrum, fortunate for several residents of them being close to where they worked usually.

However it didn't matter much to the man lying face first towards the blue in an alley, red bursts staining his shirt in an act of fatal defiance against the fabric. He wasn't caring about anything anymore. Pools of crimson have congealing into a sticky mess at his side to keep company with the broken body though it was a waste honestly. A barrier of yellow and black tape announcing the crime scene as if the body and the blood weren't enough already to do so. Officers scurrying about to comb through every little thing in order to scrounge up evidence ranging from fingerprints to shell casings while a medical examiner started jotting down notes as though it were a race.

To be fair, it was a race that was ticking away for all of them but yet he didn't exactly have to put so much effort into finding out the who, why and whatnot of this particular case. Never really showed interest in the exact details of a person's death as it wasn't under his job description nor would he if paid enough, more so content enough with the tasks that were scheduled for him to do. He sends a confirmation of his arrival with a quick text before stowing away the smart phone into his back pocket and assessing the fussing police. No doubt Matthieu was going to blow his phone up with messages after getting the answer but that could be ignored.

Passing underneath the tape, the man eased through the scene with no problems coming from the uniformed others. Though that was the point of having such a decent illusion in order to essentially make him invisible, allowing a much easier time accomplishing his tasks without the stupid questions that would be raised at his presence much less what he would do here. He had the slight frown that could've been considered appropriate for the situation but the claw marks and irrevocably damaged right eye would certainly cause a more sinister thought process to occur. Maybe even be considered as a hit man that had down the crime but to be fair he didn't hunt unless told otherwise and certainly not boring humans such as this idiot. Besides a man decked in a suit stood out in this mess with much help to his disregard of everything save for the dead man who certainly was still brimming with the confused energy of a trapped soul. Definitely need to rectify that.

James crouched down right next to the examiner and fished out a knife before making an incision right at the heart before reaching down to draw out the reluctant soul. The reaper was only doing his job and besides no one was going to see him do his work, not the police nor the surrounding crowd of onlookers.

He was looking forward to the break after this one, sneak away towards his usual haunt; a coffee shop that boasted fantastic blends that were more so a necessity at this rate rather than a mere commodity and plus the perfect spot he claimed by the window in order to watch the world keep moving. The energy from the illusion would be easily restored during that. Then it would be another one in midtown before being able to return back home for the day and unwind. That or check with the bar to make sure a friend or two didn't snoop around more than they should. The former was going to be the most probable though so he shows the other idea to the back of his mind before focusing.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well damn, you make it sound like someone's out to get you. A guy sometomes just has places to be in the same direction as another guy.

[A little more perceptive than he'd thought, especially if tbe glamour wasn't doing its job. Inconvenient, but it only adds to the sense of intrugue.

So he offers half a grin, all cocky and sure of himself ]

Or is it all just something left over from the little light show, yeah?

You were at my last job and watching me. I have more than ample belief that you're up to something. Especially with the illusion over you even if albeit a low level one.

[That grin did not make him relax at all and he had no desire to deal with some kind of tough guy that should know better than to bother a reaper.

He was not enthused at all by the situation he found himself in.]

That light show should be no concern of yours. Besides if you need to check in, I'm not someone to do that. Even for a dullahan.

[More like he was the one that would get the call to put one down really.]

Stick out of reaper business. Ok? Thank you. Now go.

[Definitely more perceptive than he'd bargained for, and that's certainly a bit alarming, even if he's reticent to let that show in his expression. Being named for what he is is an uncomfortable thing, but he pushes past it, pretends like it doesn't bother him, and just offers a shrug in response.]

Like I said, pretty little light show. Just brings up a lot of questions. Plus, you're talking a little crazy right now. Little bit paranoid.

Whatever. I don't have time for this.

[This was a waste of his break time and especially if he was going to do the walking route to the shop so he turns his back to the man before heading off. No need to get riled up over some idiot's nonsense that seemed almost definite to incite a reaction from him.

So he does the next best thing and ignores the problem. He almost wishes that Matthieu would call him or better yet have tagged along because that would've saved him from all of this. But no he was stuck on his own for the time being which wasn't horrendous when blacklisters weren't bugging him.]

Sounds like a plan.

[Or something of the sort; he's not going to let a bit of rudeness sway him. This has proved to be the most interesting thing the city has had to offer during his temporary break, and hell if he's going to let an errant reaper's ire get under his skin.

Hell, it's actually pretty funny.

Funny enough that he's chasing down death knells all day, hoping to catch a glimpse of the guy, because really there's nothing better he could be doing with his time off. Good entertainment, easy on the eyes, it's definitely a decent choice in his opinion.]

[It should've been an easy day but it ends up that another shift was being thrown his way which wasn't too bad, especially since the job was easy to do thanks to the crime scenes and so on being closed off by the police. It gave him more space.

However that wasn't the main issue regardless.

It was that damn dullahan that should have bugged off long ago but always winded up at the sites without an issue. The annoyance was plain on the reaper's face each time they locked eyes, even going as far as to try teleportation charms to try and lose the man. Yet still always having small quips back and forth about the city and what exactly he was doing.

Not simple light shows. That irked him to no end but right now was the last of his jobs. Easy but he needed a pick me up in the form of coffee which would be just now opening. However lo and behold, there was the feeling of being watched.]

Don't you have something better to do? I would really appreciate not being tracked.

Now who said I'm tracking you. Just looking for something to do on a day off, that's all.

[At least that's somewhat true, he's not necessarily lying. And certainly he's being as honest as he'd like to be.]

Ping on the death, yeah? Interesting thing. Even more interesting that there's someone there every time.

[He knows about reapers, of course, it would be foolish of him not to in his line of work, but there's rarely time for him to sit and converse with them. And the conversations that they'd had, as small and as terse as they'd been, had been fun. There wasn't a lot of time for harmless fun, usually. It's been a good break.]

Look there's plenty other things to do in the city. Last I checked shadowing a reaper wasn't one of them.

[There should've been an alert sent out that he was being bugged by this guy but he didn't feel like putting out the request for back up just yet. The conversations weren't bad and he wasn't exactly doing anything threatening so it wasn't awful.

However still being treated as some form of entertainment was not exactly high on the least of things that he will remotely tolerate.]

Reapers know someone will die before they ever do. We're just around to do clean up if things follow through. But you should know that.

...what exactly are you looking to get out of this? Shouldn't you be on the road or something?

Well yeah, but those aren't nearly as fun, and I'm pretty sure the people involved don't provide nearly as interesting conversation.

[Alright, that's being completely honest at the very least. He folds his arms, raising a brow, but only offers a nonchalant shrug at the question regardless.]

I do. Usually it's different ones though. Not the same one all the time.

[At least in his experience.]

But I mean....like...'s been good to talk to you. Like...nice. All that.

[That feels a bit more awkward to say than he'd have thought, and he looks away for a moment, trying to find better phrasing.]

And like uh, I mean, wouldn't mind more of it?

How would you know if you don't give them a chance? No use in believing such a thing if you don't put the effort into finding something out for yourself. Regardless...your decision to make.

[His hands are shoved into his pockets like usual and the dropping temp isn't too bad but he sort of wished that he had his coat for not only protection but also keeping the warmth in. This wasn't a day to let the wind eat away at it.]

Well that's what happens when you move around so much. Reapers aren't roam era usually. Each of us has a base of operations that we center ourselves around.

This city is mine. Been mine for a long while now.

[That wasn't something he expected to hear. All he had been was gruff and standoffish but somehow someone actually enjoyed talking to him...]

I ugh...that's good to know. But um more? I'm not exactly special or anything so why?

See, if the city is yours, than just means maybe I'm checking up on the area. No need to get so defensive, yeah?

[But he loses a bit of his bluster at the question, and one hand goes to the back of his neck as he looks pointedly over to the side, trying to find decent words.]

I mean, well, like...yeah. Been interesting talking to you. Definitely wouldn't mind uh...getting to know you a little better er-

Well it's not exactly mine. Just that I work and you know live here. There are other reapers since it's pretty big, take turns on which sectors we do and on what days. And not defensive. I'm just trying to explain.

[He raises a brow at the reaction and pauses in his steps, trying to figure out what was going on with this particular myth. He was fumbling around and generally being rather off from what a dullahan was supposed to be. What is he supposed to do with this?]

I suppose I wouldn't be against that. Been a long while since someone has. Just want a conversation partner then?

Kinda interesting that you're okay with explaining all of that offhand huh...

[He at least tries to regain some of his lost cool, but it's only partially successful as he shifts from foot to foot.]

Look...like...just...coffee, and see where it goes?

Look I don't need to be that one to let someone make wrong assumptions about what I do, ok? Usually makes things worse in the end. Saving myself from some of that hassle.

[He rubs the back of his neck with a soft sigh, glancing around before settling back onto the dullahan.]

I can do that. I would suggest following me but you already rather good at that.

[A light joke with the brief appearance of a smirk before he answers a quick text from another. He wasn't sure what to do. Should he offer his hand? His right one flexes at the thought but that was too forward so he forgets about the notion and merely sticks to the other man's side.]

Hey hey, you do what you gotta. I'm not up on reaper politics and everything.

[But that's certainly interesting in it's own right, and oh does that smirk is certainly something. It's enough to give him a little confidence back, and he grins toothily back, making a small motion with one hand.]

I mean, you ki.d of have a pretty unique signature. Pretty hard to miss.

Well why should you be? The only thing that you should really care about is where you are on the list and so on rather than so called reaper politics. Though I ugh think you're safe on the whole list thing. Never see dullahans gain too much warning let alone removal.

[Shit that was probably a tad bit more dark than he should be talking with this guy. Though to be fair what else was he supposed to talk about really? All the guy ever asked about had been the city and his job so of course defaulted to his job.

However the guy is grinning though to be fair when is he not? The only time he had seen it go away was that small nervous blunder back there and to be fair...he kind of liked it. The whole tough act wasn't exactly something he wanted to be around but the blunder made the dullahan a tad more interesting.]

What do you mean? The whole 'light show'?

Hey, we're good at what we do. The whole not staying in one place too long thing helps a bunch too. Dunno what work it makes for all of you though. But hey, you n' I both have jobs to do, yeah?

[He offers a small, genuine grin as he shrugs.]

Light show. With the knife stuff and y'know the dead people. That light shot.

I don't exactly have a basis to go off of your ability to do your job. Who knows, you could be a no name on the list because you suck at it. A very distinct possibility. Others do the tracking since I'm not one of them, mostly do the heavy lifting so to speak.

Yet I suppose yea we do have jobs.

[Any chance of another smile let alone a simple smirk does off at the calling of the process as a light show, The reaper disregards the grin in favor of focusing ahead with the usual frown.]

Figured as much.

Hey, I happen to be pretty good at my job, thank you very much.

[Alright, there's a little bit of insult at that, and he furrows his brows and has at least the decency to look a bit put in his place. Oh, and that's a frown, no, that's not the direction that he'd wanted to go. Abort, abort.]

No, like I'm being serious. What's all with that?

Well I can't exactly see that for myself so I can't be my own judge of that. All I would be going on is your word.

[Whatever, it's no surprise that he somehow managed to tork off the dullahan just like anyone else. He always seemed to be only capable of doing that lately.]

Releasing someone's soul. Someone has to do it. Otherwise you have a lot of restless dead and no one wants that beside from the less savory characters.

Hey, then know that I'm awesome.

[Of course he is. But there's also the matter of the explanation that he's being given, and oh that's interesting indeed. Very interesting. Interesting enough that it makes him furrow his brows, then grin sheepishly.]

I mean...guess I never thought of that. Like...just focus on the whole making work for you guys, not really of...like what actually goes on. Er, sorry about all that. Like, the making work thing. Even if I haven't done anything here yet.

I think I'm allowed to judge that for myself. ...however at least I know you speak highly of yourself.

[So far all he's figured out about this dullahan is that he has quite an amount of pride in himself which wasn't bad but it didn't exactly get any praise from the reaper either. There was still some distance between them and the coffee shop so he pulls out his phone to start taking care of messages and so on in the meantime.

Multitasking though most of his attention was now on the phone honestly.]

Most people don't so it's fine. You have nothing to apologize for though since yes you haven't done anything yet within the city. Everyone dies sooner or later. You and the others like you are another way of making it happen for some.

So you're fine up until you start doing too much too frequently and clustered.

[Oh, the phone is out again. That's not the direction that he'd wanted this to head.]

Well I feel like it's important to be confident, yeah?

[He does raise a brow though, and motions a bit with his head.]

Bored already?

Confidence is good but so are other things.

[Oh he's being called out. That actually forces him to look away from the smartphone and glance at the other man, slightly confused as to why he would care what he did. His eyes flicker down before finishing off the last text and sending it off.

There. The other had his full attention.]

Work. Sorry.

[Easy enough excuse.]

Well yeah. I mean like...it's good to be confident in what you do, yeah?

[The brow is still raised though, and he can't help but grimace ever so slightly. This isn't starting off well. Not as well as he would have hoped for, at least.]

Really that busy in the city?