Bellelurette: Hickey

[perfectpower]

Hickey will never not be a funny name.

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Week 1, Saturday

[perfectpower]

[Well he's just walking around once the trial is over, complaining to himself.]

Shitty witch, doin' all this magic while blockin' my magic-

[But then he sees Hickey and drops the insulting for now.]

Oh hey. Doing anything now?

[It's late, but not 'go to bed' late. If there were booze this would be the time for drinking.]

[spotsalone]

[ Hickey is just minding his business, having a cigarette after all of that... whatever that was. He perks up as Bradley addresses him. ]

Decompressing, mainly, though I wouldn't mind company.

[ His brow furrows for a moment. ]

You're mates with Cain, aren't you?

[perfectpower]

That's right! We work together.

[Well. As much as wizards can. But it's difficult to explain that so he keeps it simply.]

He's new to it, but he's a good kid. In a few more years he'll be more confident in himself and his power.

[spotsalone]

[ He nods. Not that he knows much about the whole wizard thing, but he has taken a liking to Cain. ]

He mentioned you. And you don't suffer from the same... [ He gestures at his eyes with two fingers. ] Affliction?

[perfectpower]

[This is where Brad's one braincell has to go to work, because there's honestly a few things him and Cain have in common.]

Affliction? Like...bein' a Sage's wizard? Or somethin' else?

[He does like men but he doesn't know that's what Hickey is referring to.]

[spotsalone]

[ Now Hickey is also confused. They're doing great! ]

Whatever's going on with his eyes, I mean. He's cagey on the topic. I thought it might have something to do with wizardry and the like.

[perfectpower]

[MFW I thought 'afflicted' was an old-timey way of saying gay.]

Oh that! Yeah, I'm afflicted, but not in the same way. I teleport randomly when I sneeze.

[spotsalone]

[ LMAO shit maybe it is?? ]

Oh. That sounds inconvenient. How far do you teleport?

[perfectpower]

Depends. Sometimes just across the room, others times I end up miles away. It's annoying more than anything else.

[spotsalone]

[ Woof. Annoying indeed. ]

I'd take that over blindness. Has that been happening here?

[perfectpower]

Not yet, I haven't sneezed yet here. I'd rather not test it out anyway, since without my magic it'd be really annoying to try and get to a city after sneezing.

[spotsalone]

It'd be something, though, if your ability allowed you to break out of this place.

[ Although, would anyone left behind benefit from it? How the hell would Bradley get back? ]

[perfectpower]

You'd think so, but without magic I can't find Cain and I can't find my way back here. So I'd get out but everyone else would be left here.

[At least he won't leave people behind?]

week 2, saturday

[spotsalone]

[ Hickey is surprised to find Bradley alone in the library after the trial. He figured the place would be popular in the aftermath, everyone scrambling to make sense of what just happened, to search for clues they might have missed even if the place has been cleaned up...

Perhaps the grim cloud of their failure is enough to dissuade that sort of logic, though. At least for most. Not for Hickey. ]

Searching for answers, are you?

[perfectpower]

[Brad really isn't someone who would be found in a library under normal circumstances, but he sure is here tonight. He seems to be retracing the steps that were taken Thursday night, trying to figure out something everyone missed. But with the evidence long gone, there's little hope of finding out who actually did this.

When Hickey speaks to him, he sighs and runs a hand through his hair.]

Yeah. An innocent person is gonna die because we fucked up. The least we can do is find out what actually happened.

[spotsalone]

[ Hickey nods, his gaze dropping as he considers his own thoughts on the matter. ]

I'm of the mind that the blame lies with the true culprit. Or perhaps with Andrew, for leading us astray.

[ He doesn't sound as if he holds any particular ill will against her, but there's no sense in avoiding the facts of the situation. ]

[perfectpower]

[Yeah, about that.]

I warned her about puttin' her full heart into any accusations she made, but fuck me I guess. She had to learn that lesson the hard way.

[spotsalone]

You warned her? You knew what she was planning to do?

[perfectpower]

I warned her at trial, when she made the accusations.

Week 3, post-trial

[perfectpower]

[Way to arrange a booty call just before you got voted out, Hickey.

Anyway, Brad is bringing a bottle of whiskey and two glasses with him to the promenade. He'll just stroll right on in and brandish the bottle.]

Hope you're ready to get plastered.

[spotsalone]

[ Hickey is lying on his back in the middle of the promenade, staring up at the ceiling with a cigarette between his lips when Brad shows up. He's surprised to see him here, but he laughs when he sees the bottle. ]

I could certainly use a drink.

[ He sits up. ]

Wasn't expecting you to come calling.

[perfectpower]

Hey, I said I would, didn't I? Though I guess bein' stuck here might stop us from our original plans.

[Brad is a ho but he is not immediately eager to bang in this large open room with no bed in it.

He does go over to where Hickey is laying down and passes the bottle and a glass to him. First drink is for him.]

[spotsalone]

[ Hickey looks around, chuckling a bit. He's fucked in some unsavory places before, but this would be awkward even for him. ]

We might have our chance yet. There's no telling how tomorrow might shake out.

[ He gladly takes the bottle, pouring himself a healthy glass before passing it back to Brad. ]

It says a lot about you that you're so chummy with a murderer.

[perfectpower]

True, anything could happen tomorrow.

[Imagine if Brad were the one facing Hickey. Imagine.]

Well my past ain't so clean either. Bein' a bandit meant more than just stealing stuff. Sometimes you gotta kill witnesses or get information outta people.

[And all the other unsavory things that go along with stealing. Turf wars, scuffles with guards protecting caravans, and so much more.]

And besides that, I've killed countless witches and wizards for their mana stones.

[spotsalone]

That's a past I can relate to.

[ ... ]

Not the part about witches and wizard, mind. Not yet, anyway.

[ Is he aiming for that particular notch on his bedpost? Who can say! But he's not one to turn his nose up to new experiences, should the opportunity arise. ]

I hope you've kept all that to yourself. You're likely to end up in my place should you seem so nonchalant about taking a life. The do-goods around here make up the majority, so far as I can tell.

[ Or maybe they're just the loudest. ]

[perfectpower]

[They are absolutely the loudest.]

Cain and that dragon already know, but I don't think everyone else realizes just exactly how bad of crimes I had to do to end up in prison for 100 years.

[He pours himself a glass of whiskey and sets the bottle aside. Then he sips from his glass, savoring the flavor.]

Got a Bandit past, do ya?

[spotsalone]

In a manner of speaking. Poor folk like me only have two options, don't we? Content ourselves on the bottom-most rung, or we look for a workaround. Scale the ladder through other means.

[ He sips at his drink. He may have done his fair share of horrible things, but in his mind, they were necessary. What else was he meant to do? ]

What sort of crimes have you done, then? You may as well confide in a man marked for death.