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Tweak says, "the name's sherlock holmes"

eddie likes to (riddlethem) wrote in rooms,
@ 2014-10-07 21:23:00

Entry tags:

*journal, barbara gordon, death, donna troy, eddie nigma, helena wayne, selina kyle, stephanie brown

eddie/muerte/batfam++
[Muerte]

I need a favor.

[batfam+/allies]

Now is the time to tell me if you want souvenirs from the Fairy Tale door.

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Re: muerte/eddie quicklog

soundofwings
2014-10-09 03:55 pm UTC (link)

[Death knew that so many people had a difficulty with her looking at them. Really looking. But she didn't hold any of the same shyness when someone looked back at her. When Eddie pulled back enough, she only raised her eyebrows (one quirking up, followed by the other), and pressed her lips into another almost-smile. There was a touch of sadness to her, too, whether because of the shared history between them, or simply because she'd seen (almost) too much. She lifted a hand (a little cool, but not cold, palm dry and soft) and laid it carefully against his cheek. Her thumb pressed gently below his right eye, a long-ago, nearly-forgotten echo of a girl that had sat on his lap one night and watched green light flicker over his eyes.] Yeah. [It was a moment that was too quiet, too close, and as soon as she realized it, she was stepping back, away, bringing back distance between them.

But then he was grabbing her arms, shaking her, and that at least drew a laugh out of her, shaking her head at the 'rough' treatment. She met his certainty with a nod of her own.] We can do our best. [And then he was going for the remains, and she was waiting (suddenly, without visibly moving) a good number of steps away from him, watching.]

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Re: muerte/eddie quicklog

riddlethem
2014-10-09 04:17 pm UTC (link)

[He leaned into her touch when she held his cheek, closed his eyes and a flicker of memory from a time not quite theirs shone in the back of his head. Eddie smiled as his mind quickly sorted through through a strip club, thumping music and a tattooed girl who touched his skin like it was magic. Maybe he was too caught up in the fact that Muerte wasn't dead and she did make him feel good to realize how close they could get in such a short amount of time.]

Alright, Muerte. [Eddie cleaned his throat and drummed his fingers on the box.] We're going to head up that small knoll to that church, there. [He pointed to an abandoned church that was missing a roof.] During the war, it got hit by a few cannonballs. No one was inside. I don't think anyone had a tragic death there except some church mice. Rest their souls. [He walked over to Bart and pet the beast's neck.] You going to be okay here, Bart? [The horse snorted, Eddie smiled and started walking up to the church.] I had a dream about Crane. Did I tell you? It might actually him, but I can never really know with my brain. He seemed older and when I showed him the Scarecrow I knew, he seemed genuinely afraid.

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Re: muerte/eddie quicklog

soundofwings
2014-10-09 05:02 pm UTC (link)

[The contact was comfort and reassurance, and for a moment that was good. It was a grounding - she was there, he was breathing easier. But the sweep of lashes downward, the lean into her palm and the smile, each one made her pull back. Not in panic, not with a speed that would betray the frown that was trying to inch its way across her face, but away. Carefully. She could remember the easy way they used to touch, physical contact that didn't mean anything else. Back before everything began to crumble away, eroding little by little until it was an avalanche. She remembered. How one thing was suddenly a million things. And so she drew back.

It was a thought that got pushed away, plenty of time to think on it later, as she was pretty certain whatever it was Eddie wanted to do with Crane's remains should get more of her attention. She listened to the easy ramble of his words, the near lecture-quality of his tone at first, letting it wash over her. She knew the where (could feel it within the landscape around her), and had guessed the why. And while she could have entered the ruined church with only a flicker of thought, she let her heavy boots (still hidden beneath full skirts) carry her up the hill along next to Eddie. She glanced over at the talk of dreams, knowing perfectly well how the hotel could pull and twist all of its chosen people together. She shook her head at his question, but didn't say anything until a few moments later.] Dreams can be surprisingly real here.

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Re: muerte/eddie quicklog

riddlethem
2014-10-09 05:24 pm UTC (link)

I know, but my mind plays tricks on me. [Eddie said and carefully opened the door to the church with a loud crrreeeaaaaaaaaaaak. The inside of the church was dusty, broken and a relic. Shattered wooden beams laid across caved in pews and broken glass. Vines and grass edged its ways inside with tiny fluffs and spirals of green. Clouded light shone down from above in fragments that made him think about his dreamed hardboiled office. The only thing that was left untouched by some miracle was the stone altar. Eddie trotted up to it and placed the ashes right in the middle. He took off his coat in a twirl and laid it neatly on a vine covered chair behind him.]

Stay there in the pews. [Eddie instructed in case things were about to get dangerous. He unbuttoned his sleeves, rolled them up and rubbed his hands together before popping off the lid of Crane's urn.] Ready? [He asked and when she nodded, He stretched his fingers over the urn and mumbled a series of riddles. One everyone knew about a man outstanding in his field, others a little more vague and nonsensical like:] Riddle me this. They call you the ancient king of chariots. What are you?

[A thin, pale green energy started to warp around the altar like velvet curtains. Eddie closed his eyes and concentrated, body tense as the green started to shimmer. A moment longer and Eddie gasped holding onto the edge of the alter as the energy shattered around him like ice. Muerte could feel the balance of life and death stay practically the same. Crane's ashes didn't feel completely empty but there was something missing.]

Come on- [Eddie regained a little strength and then tried again with his eyes closes and hands outstretched. He looked like someone who was trying to use powers when he had none. Deep concentration and such a serious stance that it was almost funny. Then, the feeling of a puzzle piece missing began to grow and grow until it started to warp the alter into something like looked like a spiraling black hole. If Muerte looked at it too long, it was almost as if a deep, endless pond had opened up at the riddle man's feet and eaten the altar and Crane's ashes. Eddie didn't realize, he was too focused, even as his hands started to get pulled into the dark pit.]

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Re: muerte/eddie quicklog

soundofwings
2014-10-09 06:40 pm UTC (link)

[There was something peaceful about the church, someplace she might come if she were in her body more often than not. It may have been depressing or morbid to some, the ruined relic, but it felt right to her for her to be there. Cliche, maybe. Her boots crunched along the floor, broken underfoot, and she was sitting in the third row before Eddie was even done resting his coat down on the chair. His command earned a shrug and a smirking raise of eyebrows.

She watched as she began to work. He was hardly the first she'd met that could do things like this, reach through to the energy that lingered from those passed. She listened to his riddles, unsurprised that he'd take that approach, and lifted her feet to rest her toes on the kneeler in front of her. She wasn't completely comfortable with what he was trying to do, but it was his choice, his goal - she was only there to watch and to prevent anything awful from happening, if she could.

Her next thought was that she should have knocked on wood, the altar warping and shifting. And that, that was her cue. The "something wrong" that she was waiting for. The flutter of feathers against Eddie's face, another firm press to the center of his chest, skirts against his legs, all material things grounding him in the present. And a whisper close in his ear, carried on the scent of hot wax and old dusty flowers.] Step back... Keep your eyes closed, but step back.

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Re: muerte/eddie quicklog

riddlethem
2014-10-09 06:56 pm UTC (link)

[Eddie was tangled up in his own mind. In straw and riddles and things that went bump in the night. Magic wasn't an exact science. It wasn't connecting this cable to that and voila! No, it was more like making friends with a wild animal. Sometimes it would purr, sometimes it would bite and there really wasn't always a clear reason why. Eddie? Liked it that way. It gave him a thrill of danger he needed since earning his rogue badge and the darkness that came with it was the icing on the cake.

That said, this black pool of nothing was trying to pull the flesh off his fingers. He didn't feel anything until there was a brush of feathers and that prayer on a Tuesday night smell that always reminded him of Muerte. He didn't say anything, only lowered his hands and gingerly took a step back and then another.

The black pool howled and then bubbly burned itself into the floor of the church. Eddie reached to try and clutch onto something, almost opening his eyes to see what happened. The pool was gone and in its place was a ringed scorch mark that smelt of fresh ashes. The alter was gone and so was the urn.] Is it over? Did I do it? [He asked, adorably hopeful.] Crane you bastard! Answer me! [Of course, there was no answer. Only a faint squeaking noise coming from his pocket.]

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Re: muerte/eddie quicklog

soundofwings
2014-10-09 07:17 pm UTC (link)

[She knew magic-workers, had encountered enough of them to fill lifetimes of planets. She hadn't quite expected it from Eddie, no matter what he'd told her over the journals. She wasn't quite expecting the pool or the dark, the way she could see, seconds into the future, a breath or two that would linger in the church before the darkness he'd called would unravel him like old string and pull him down with it. She could feel it trying to eat at her skirts as she stood close to the man at the alter, and then hissing away when it didn't like the taste it got. The hem of her skirt went ragged with the gnawing as she hissed back at it, words in a language long-gone, long-unknown even in this door, a sound that would crawl around in Eddie's ears in a way that itched.

It was a relief when he stepped back, away, out of the range of the angry ring of ash. She was quiet as he asked his questions, his reaching hand clutching only a single feather, heavy, the pressure against his chest a sense-memory as she spread herself out with a shiver, checking on all the lives she could feel in this universe, a stretch that she hadn't given since snapping back to calm Eddie outside. Planets and stars down to the tiniest vibrating electron in each corner she could find. And then she was back, sighing just as close as she'd whispered.] You can open your eyes now... He's not here.

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Re: muerte/eddie quicklog

riddlethem
2014-10-09 07:55 pm UTC (link)

[Eddie silently wished he could have seen her mouth form those hissed words so he could remember them later. He didn't know what they meant, where they came from or how to even say them. But, they would haunt him later like a very good riddle.

He held the feather lightly, realizing what it was and rubbed his thumb along the back of it. Eddie felt grounded, which made him incredibly calm and inquisitive. His neutral, content state of being. When she gave the okay to open his eyes, he tucked the feather away inside of his vest pocket and looked at the circle on the floor.] Interesting. [He whispered as if they were sharing secrets in a crowded room.] What do you suppose caused that? [And then another faint squeak from his breast pocket, as if it were whispering along with them.]

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Re: muerte/eddie quicklog

soundofwings
2014-10-09 08:07 pm UTC (link)

[Had she been human, she likely would have sighed as things in the church returned to their previous calm. As it was, she was relieved that she was enough a part of this door to feel like she did in her own, able to do the same sorts of things. Had she been human, the way she was in Marvel, she would have only been able to watch as he was pulled apart by that pool of darkness.

And then, startlingly, she laughed at his question. Secret whispers or no, the question (in light of what had just happened) seemed so obscure to her. Still standing close, she reached up to tap one finger against his forehead.] What do you think caused it, Riddle Man? [She was smiling though, shaking her head.] Don't try it again if I'm not around, okay? [And then she glanced down at his squeaking pocket, nodding toward it with a raised eyebrow.]

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Re: muerte/eddie quicklog

riddlethem
2014-10-09 08:23 pm UTC (link)

[Eddie's mouth went comically flat at her question and he raised his eyebrows.] Well, obviously something I did but the specifics of it oh nevermind. [He exhaled a pbbbhhtttllh and grinned at her despite her teasing him.] I won't, I promise. Besides, I think I've lost Crane's ashes to the netherworld. I ought to have just tried to message him on the journals. He's a lonely man. [This was an experiment to see if Crane was here, but it was also a test to see where his limits were. Now he had a pretty good idea.]

I won't. [He repeated.] With this, I couldn't feel anything. Usually I can sense a spirit right off- [Eddie squirmed suddenly and then pulled a ghost mouse that was a drift glass, translucent green out of his pocket.] Oh, I woke him. Hey, little woodland friend. [The ghost mouse chattered and didn't seem to mind.] See? And most of the ones I can summon are usually pretty pleasant towards me. Like this little guy.

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Re: muerte/eddie quicklog

soundofwings
2014-10-09 08:43 pm UTC (link)

[Her eyes creased into a smile at his reaction to the teasing. It was comfortable (too comfortable? too quickly?), and she shook her head. She knew, in the way she knew so much, what had happened, but to try to explain it (in English, no less) was a challenge that even she didn't know if she could meet. Instead, she tried something vague.] You pulled too much without the right funnel. Things don't like that. [Would the result have been different with different ashes? With a different person? ...maybe.]

There wasn't enough there to pull. [Maybe it was something she could have said from the start, the second she was through the door and realized she was still herself. But Eddie was still learning, needing to find where he stood and how far he could reach. And though the fall would have been impossible to come back from (at least as the same man he currently was), the stumble might be useful. So she'd let him. Maybe someday she'd show him how close the fall had come.

The mouse made her smile, lean down to put her eyes at the level of Eddie's hand, and chitter softly at the tiny creature in response. And then, even as she knew she should step away again, she stood again and lifted her own hand to be at the same level as Eddie's, waiting as the mouse scurried across to her palm. As it did, the green began to solidify, wash out to the mossy greybrown the mouse had been in life. She knew it wasn't alive, could barely feel the pressure of its feet on her hand, and aimed a smirk over at Eddie.] Should I stop showing off?

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Re: muerte/eddie quicklog

riddlethem
2014-10-10 04:22 am UTC (link)

[Eddie tapped his fingers on his chin thoughtfully as she tried to explain and then nodded. He understood the basics of it.] It tried to make up for what simply wasn't there. [He looked down at the black mark on the floor and realized he was very, very close to dying.] I should be more careful next time. My teachers don't exactly preach safety first. [And, everyone knew Eddie wasn't going to let something silly like dangerous supernatural forces stop him from trying to explore what he could do.]

[He watched her smile at the mouse and it occurred to him that she was accepting of his powers when perhaps they went against what she did. Eddie pondered this, of whether or not raising the dead was the same as bringing someone back to life. Did she know people who could do what he did? The thoughts lifted away as she brought color to the once see-through mouse and he reached to lightly touch the top of the mouse's head. He could feel the soft fur, though only barely.] No, I like it. Besides, I'm sure I'll be showing off my powers for a long, long time.

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Re: muerte/eddie quicklog

soundofwings
2014-10-10 04:30 pm UTC (link)

[She only raised her eyebrows at the mild understatement of what had nearly happened. Her expression was otherwise flat.] It did. And the closest thing that's always going to be targeted is you. If there's not enough energy, soul, life... yours will always be the first to be gone after. Don't make the mistake of being an idiot about it. [She wasn't calling him stupid, not just then. She was only warning him not to be.

She looked up at him as he watched her with the mouse, eyes dark and thoughtful like she knew the questions he was thinking. She watched him as the mouse scurried around her palm, over her wrist, up her arm. She used her other hand to give it a little platform, and when it crawled into it, she transfered the ghostly creature over to Eddie's shoulder. It sniffed at his collar, at the ends of his hair, the color of its fur slowly shifting back to the transparent glassgreen it had once been.] I'm sure you will. [The answer came finally, as she reached out to stroke once along the mouse's back, color following her touch but quickly slipping away.]

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Re: muerte/eddie quicklog

riddlethem
2014-10-11 04:32 am UTC (link)

[Eddie closed his eyes. Communicating with the dead was less about concentration and more about relaxing. His power, his gift was a natural thing even if most would see it wholly the opposite. A moment passed and he looked back up at Muerte.] He wants me to bring him back food. I think he knows he can't actually eat it, he just wants it around. [Eddie gave a smile like a kid who just figured out the basics of a math problem and the mouse shimmered until it vanished from his shoulder.]

I promise next time we hang out, there will be significantly less undead. [Eddie promised, realizing all too late that he had the tendency to ask people to go on wild adventures with him instead of nice things like lunch or coffee or a game of scrabble.]

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	Re: muerte/eddie quicklog soundofwings 2014-10-11 05:16 am UTC (link)
	[The moment was silent, but she didn't feel the need to fill it, only standing there and watching. Waiting. And then smiling.] You'd better take care of that for him, then. I promise I'm not one to mind that much. [But then she caught something in his expression and smirked.] I cheat at Scrabble. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: muerte/eddie quicklog riddlethem 2014-10-11 05:43 am UTC (link)
	[A laugh and he picked up his jacket from the chair behind them.] How do you cheat at scrabble? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: muerte/eddie quicklog soundofwings 2014-10-11 05:47 am UTC (link)
	[A grin as she's suddenly perched impossibly on the back of a pew.] That's a secret. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: muerte/eddie quicklog riddlethem 2014-10-11 11:28 am UTC (link)
	[He only blinked and smiled at her sudden teleportation. Woefully comfortable with it now.] That's the sort of thing I usually say. [Eddie followed her to the back of the church and carefully opened the creaky, creeaakky door.] I better get back to town. I'll see you, okay? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: muerte/eddie quicklog soundofwings 2014-10-11 01:19 pm UTC (link)
	You know how to find me. [She smiled again, and then she was gone. Since she was there, she was going to find out more about this door.] (Reply to this) (Parent)

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