Who: Dorian Gray and Alecto Carrow When: Backdated: Friday, April 28th. Night Where: A parking lot in town What: Someone tries to mug Dorian Rating/Warnings: Mentions of stabbing and blood Status: Complete
It wasn’t often that Dorian got word of an underground gambling ring in town; usually they were held somewhere outside of Orange County, but he had been tipped off to this one a day earlier and since it had been some time since Dorian had done any proper illegal gambling, he’d decided to attend. He’d told Vanessa he would likely be home late, but didn’t make up any sort of excuse as to where exactly he was going, because Vanessa wasn’t the sort of woman that he had to make up excuses to.
He’d opted to drive himself to the location of the games, which happened to be right in town. He supposed that hiding in plain sight was the best way to not get busted by the cops. He spent a couple of hours there, playing until he was satisfied with the amount of money he had won; not that he needed it.
It was as he was leaving that his good mood quickly turned sour as a man, who had clearly been following him, called to him as he reached the lot where he had parked his car a few blocks away. Turning to him, he quirked a brow at him, “Can I help you?”
“Yeah, give me your wallet, fancy boy.” Dorian didn’t think that he looked particularly fancy that evening, but he supposed someone like this thug would think that dress slacks and a nice button down shirt were fancy.
Dorian couldn’t help but scoff at the other man; it had been a long time since someone had tried to mug him. “I think not.”
“I don’t think you heard me,” There was a flash of metal as the man produced a knife, clearly thinking that would make Dorian change his mind, “I said, give me your wallet.”
Alecto had been out practicing her spells. The trip to and from the place where the magic guild hid itself never really bothered her. One day she’d be entirely competent with her magic and she wouldn’t feel like she was as shoddy with certain things as she was now. But she was keeping her magic books with the guild. It made it easier than having to go through bringing them back and forth. She definitely didn’t feel up to that. There were a lot and they were really heavy. The only thing she almost always had on her was her camera bag.
Today had been a lot of offensive spells. She knew that she’d have to work on defense as well as offence, but she wasn’t that worried about it right now. No one was really attacking her. Maybe she’d see if anyone else wanted to help her practice that. It was probably a good idea in the long run. She could talk to Lina about it, maybe.
The sound of voices drew her out of her thoughts and she paused. Well, it certainly sounded like someone was about to have their wallet stolen. Someone who was a little cocky about not having it taken. She followed the sound of the voices, keeping herself a little ways back. Why not watch and see what happened? It wasn’t her that was going to get hurt. Though, that thought in mind, she made a note to see if any of her books said anything about healing. She also made a point the carefully pull her wand out of her pocket, keeping it out of sight for the moment. Just in case.
Dorian knew that getting rid of this guy wouldn’t be easy, but he hoped he’d move on to someone else soon. They were in a somewhat public place after all. Someone else was bound to come by soon and cause this guy to decide Dorian wasn’t worth it.
“Actually, there’s no problem with my hearing,” Dorian said, not breaking eye contact with the man. “I simply don’t want to give you my wallet. I see no reason why I should.”
“I can think of one reason.” The man moved before Dorian could respond and stabbed him in the side. Dorian felt the knife slide into his side, but he didn’t feel the pain that should have accompanied it. Knowing that it wouldn’t kill him and that he would simply be able to heal himself once he got home caused him to simply reach for the guys arm and resumed eye contact.
“I still don’t think that’s a good enough reason.”
Well, that wasn’t something one saw everyday.
Alecto studied the man quietly for a moment. He’d just been stabbed and he didn’t even flinch. Definitely unusual. The man in question seemed a little perplexed by the fact that he hadn’t fallen to the ground in agony, too. It was written all over his face. Really, people were terrible at hiding things. The man with the knife in his side seemed to have a great many things that he was probably hiding. Most importantly why he wasn’t on the ground by now.
She waited a few moments before casually stepping out of the shadows. Her expression gave away no signs of the curiosity or confusion she was experiencing. “You know, I’ve heard it’s bad manners to stab someone, but then how useful are knives these days? So troublesome. Really, you should have gone for a crossbow or something? I don’t know. Maybe a little originality?”
She turned her attention to the man who’d just been stabbed, arching an eyebrow. “Is this man bothering you? Because I could get rid of him for you.” A pause. “Also I think we might need to repay the favour. Take whatever valuables he has on him. It’s only fitting.”
If the mugger was shocked at Dorian’s behavior after being stabbed, he was even more surprised to see Alecto although he quickly put up a front, “Girlie, I would suggest you turn around and walk away.”
While the mugger was distracted by the newcomer, Dorian got a grip on the knife and pulled it from his side, his blood soaking his shirt, “My girlfriend won’t be too happy when she finds out you ruined the shirt she got me.” He glanced at Alecto, “I was thinking of just stabbing him in return actually. Unless you have a better idea.”
Alecto rolled her eyes. “Girlie? That’s Miss Bitch to you.” Because if he thought that calling her ‘Girlie’ was acceptable. Well, he was clearly mistaken. But he’d see that eventually. “Honestly, you have to work on your manners and your threats. It’s like a broken record of every awful movie with terrible acting and shitty writing.” And really, who called people ‘Girlie’.
“I have plenty of ideas,” she said after a moment before casting a leg-locking spell shortly followed by Flipendo, which sent the mugger backwards. She grinned widely before walking over to the mugger. “You’re free to stab him. If you want to.” Part of her wanted to comment that there were so many things to do to make it more painful, but she remembered that she was supposed to be good, not the person from her dreams. She wondered if anyone would blame her if she was a complete dick to someone who’d already stabbed someone.
“But I’m still taking his shit.”
It took a few moments before Dorian recognized Alecto as the woman he’d spoken to on Valarnet about Thestrals and somehow he wasn’t exactly surprised by what she did to the mugger. As he watched him fly backwards against a nearby car, a smile spread across Dorian’s lips, “That is rather impressive.”
Knife in hand, Dorian watched the mugger try to struggle then glanced at Alecto, “Feel free. The last thing I need are his things.” He doubted the guy had too much on him, but she was free to take whatever she wanted, “You might want to take what you want first though.”
“I do what I can. It might not be the flashiest magic by any means, but I’ve been practising today.” She leaned down, taking his wallet and whatever else he saw fit to keep in his pockets. “Take this as a lesson not to fuck with people. Who knows when I might be around. I might be worse next time.” Which, she might be. Depending on who she was with and what was going on. With Remus gone, it was difficult sometimes to remember why she wasn’t doing certain things. But she still hadn’t done anything serious.
Once she was done looting, she stepped back and motioned for Dorian to do whatever it was he needed to do. “So do you have healing powers or something? Because that getting stabbed and not immediately falling to the ground thing was kind of epic.”
Dorian watched as she looted the mugger as he continued to struggle, but to no avail. “I’m lucky then that you were practicing today.” He was debating whether or not to kill the mugger. He’d killed before, but that had been because he’d become paranoid that the contractors who had worked on the attic would talk about the job and others would become suspicious. At the same time, now that this man had seen him after being stabbed, he might tell others as well.
“In a manner of speaking,” Dorian would have to wait until he got home, but at least he knew that he wouldn’t die before he got there. Turning back to the mugger, he crouched over him, “Now what should I do with you? If I let you live who's to say you won’t try and mug someone else tomorrow night? Or the next night? If I kill you, the streets will likely be a little safer.” He glanced back up at Alecto, “Which do you think?”
Alecto studied him curiously for a moment, determined to figure out what his secret was one way or another. She like unusual things and unusual people and he seemed to fit the bill. She wondered idly what his dreams were about, but she could figure that all out in time.
“Bodies tend to have a way of raising a lot of questions.” Of course, there was Transfiguration in the event that he died and they needed to hide the body. She wasn’t sure if she was skilled enough to do that yet, however, so she’d have to figure that out before offering. “If he runs off now crying about someone that can do magic and a man that doesn’t seem to mind getting stabbed, they’ll probably just think he’s crazy.” She tapped her lips thoughtfully with her fingers. “I also happen to know the police.” A beat. “But I hope you have people to help you hide a body if he gets killed.”
As paranoid as Dorian might get over his secret getting out, she had a point. If he started talking about stabbing a man who didn’t die or a woman who did magic, he likely would get committed. Turning back to the mugger, he pointed the knife at his face, “If we let you go, will you promise not to try and mug anyone else?” It was probably a stupid question, but the guy seemed so scared that he nodded right away.
Satisfied, Dorian got to his feet, “I’m keeping this.” He said, gesturing towards the knife then glanced back at Alecto, “You can let him go now. I don’t think he’s going to cause any more trouble tonight.”
Alecto wasn’t sure how to feel about the fact that she’d just saved some random man’s life. Her in the dreams wouldn’t have paused for more than a second before killing. If that. Now she was...this. She knew this was the person she’d worked towards being, but it felt strange all the same.
Without another moment’s pause, Alecto said, “Finite Incantatem.” The mugger was able to get up now and he practically rushed to scramble away from them. Not that she could blame him. They had threatened to kill him. She turned to him after a moment. “You’re going to have to explain that to me sometime.” A beat. “Do you need a ride home?” Not that she had a car, but she’d already used her phone to request an uber just in case.
Dorian watched as the man ran off then turned to Alecto, a somewhat mysterious smirk upon his lips, “Perhaps one day.” He glanced down at his side to check if he was still bleeding and decided that he would simply have to toss all the clothes he was currently wearing once he got home. There was no saving the shirt and sending his pants and jacket out to be cleaned would simply raise too many questions.
“Thank you, but I can manage.” He gestured towards his car, which he had been attempting to get into when the mugger had appeared. “Thank you for your assistance tonight. It was appreciated.” With that, he turned in the direction of his car and began to make his way home.