do you have enough love in your heart

[somebadnews]

WHO: Five and OPEN
WHEN: After this mess and bounties are issued for Messalina's little helpers
WHERE: Various points around Ephes
WHAT: A boy plays fetch with a dog, gets targeted for murder, and has too much to drink, not in that order
WARNINGS: language, violence, dead hellhounds, and other typical Five-things

Prompts below, all taking place in the same day. (I'm sorry this idea started out so wholesome...) Open to action or prose, whatever your preference!

Comments

[somebadnews]

[ Her summary of politics seems fair to him, and he hums his response. If all his efforts came to this, he isn't sure why he tried as much as he did. He was just so desperate for something to work. Change.

The question has him tense. They harvested enough hearts together that his first thought is that's what she wants, and his brow furrows. ]

There's no point in feeding Alir now. He can have his pick.

[matermali]

[ That draws somewhat of a disappointed squint, but then she can't argue against him thinking her cold when she wishes for him to complete the contract.

Regardless, Alir would only accept human hearts.

Since he seems unable to cope with his grief for the moment, she just walks past him to follow the trail. Even with him blinking around, it shouldn't be difficult for her when she can already guess on his prior locations, and the blood on him has quite the scent.

Her hound seems to be tracking the scent of the one that still lies dead somewhere, already slinking off through the shadows. ]

It deserves a burial.

[ She's a bit more high profile than Five was, but she isn't too concerned about heading to where an assassination attempt took place. ]

[somebadnews]

[ So did they. He was too young, and he didn't have the means to dig their graves deep enough, but he didn't want them to rot next to him at the end of the world. ]

There's no time. [ Five calls out before she's too far past him. Strange that she seems focused on the hound, but better, that she didn't come to comfort him. Rather than ask him to lead her there, she seems content to have her companion sniff it out. He may as well not be here. Doesn't have to be.

It doesn't feel right to let her take care of it, as he has no doubt she would, so he blinks in a flash just ahead of her before she reaches where it rests in pieces. ]

We burn it. I was going to, before you came.

[matermali]

Then do so. Take it somewhere you won't be quickly discovered.

[ Burial is simply the term she uses since it sounds a bit more final than ‘burning’, and she does attempt to end it with a burial of whatever's left. Few have the luxury of that or grand funeral pyres these days, but neither of them are limited by human boundaries.

Her own hound is lying down near its slaughtered companion while Vanessa surveys the scene. All of this and yet he can't bring himself to kill one woman? ]

I can dispose of the rest, if you like.

[ They can just burn with a little less mourning involved. ]

[somebadnews]

[ Kind of her to offer. Five lost track of how many bodies he'd left scattered around after they'd made the poor decision to ambush him and kill his dog. Hellhound. Loyal companion.

He glances around them, estimating, and sighs. ]

I'm not running for office. I don't need you cleaning up after me too. [ He's done with it. If they attacked him, it's over. ] It was a gamble, and we lost.

[matermali]

[ While there has been some curious effort in favor of Messalina, Vanessa's ultimate care is the livelihood of those in their group. Whatever pretenses she had adopted for the sake of blending in are just as easily abandoned where needed. ]

Is it so impossible for you to believe that I am here to ease your pain? My heart still beats.

[ She looks to what's left of his hound. ]

Go and see your friend off, and after, you can find some beer or whisky to toast it and pay respects.

[somebadnews]

[ A stretch of silence follows, as if he's struggling to absorb her words. Partly because he's at odds with the pity in her tone and the gentle nudging to do what he needs, presumably to help. Although he can't tell if her last comment is pointed, considering how he managed to get ambushed in the first place.

Lingering here is only going to draw more attention, and he's still too bloody to leave any ambiguity to what happened. He gives her a long look and frowns. ]

There could be more.

[matermali]

[ She isn't very concerned over being snuck up on, and she could take on a useful identity to be cautious, but his continued hesitation draws her attention away from the mess. ]

Better to leave them for their own to retrieve, then?

[somebadnews]

[ Five doesn't know what she intends to do with the bodies, but he could take a few guesses that not all of them would end up being dumped like the ones they harvested. ]

It might send a message.

[matermali]

[ Vanessa has been nothing but helpful, does she not deserve a little treat? ]

And likely make them far more aggressive.

[ She doesn't sound as though she opposes that at all, but she is pointing it out. ]

[somebadnews]

[ It's disturbing, but maybe he shouldn't object. It's not really cannibalism when Vanessa isn't human. What does he care? ]

They cut the head off my dog. [ Whatever, he's calling it that now, like it wasn't a monster to them. How much more aggressive can they be? ...And what is his objection, exactly? ] You know what, you can do what you like with them. If you want to put their heads on spikes, I won't say a word.