(no subject)

[anewlanguage]

[PRIVATE to DEAN and IRIS]

Bring me up to date on these murders. I was assuming they're like all the other slash and run numbers we get when it's too quiet, but sounds like people are all on edge about this one.

[PUBLIC]

Hey, kitchen staff, I say we get a little festive.

As a globe trotter, I don't really put much meaning to seasons; one hemisphere's fall is another one's scorcher, and all. But hell, maybe it'd help calm down the psychopaths if they had something regimented to focus on. They had some bullshit program like that in the prison I landed myself in back home.

Comments

private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[routemistress]

Aye. I know. 'E followed me home while you were asleep; please can I keep 'im?

[She's mostly joking.]

...Not like that. I'm not quite sure what it is like. Still. All right. Ryan, Arkin, Stark, Hobbs, Nathan... am I missing anyone? Pick one and we'll check 'im out.

private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[anewlanguage]

Lordy, what'll you bring home next?

[He doesn't really recognize any of the names, so he picks one at random--or not so random, since he goes alphabetically.]

I'll take Arkin. Anything I should know about him first?

Re: private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[routemistress]

[She grins, a little shamefacedly.]

I'll walk 'im regular and keep 'im off your trousers. Arkin's Elena's warden and... my gut says no but I can't rule 'im out. 'E's definitely a hardarse and 'e's one of them iceberg types. You know. Not much showing.

Oh, and Morgana says Nathan's turned up missing. Not a good sign.

private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[anewlanguage]

Let's see what new kid's missing, then. Time to start searching.

private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[routemistress]

...Dean, when you get round to this, d'you know of any spooky reasons to be collecting human offal? Sweetbreads and kidneys don't seem very symbolic of owt. I'm guessing the eyes is just to stop 'em seeing what's what.

You, watch your back. Go armed. Slevin and Alpha might've been off their guard but they weren't soft touches, either of 'em.

[She knows he has guns. She never asked for them back after Port Clusterfuck.]

private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[anewlanguage]

Some untrained git playing Surgery's not the worst I've been against. He touches me he's losing more than his eyes.

You two, I need a news feed.

private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[routemistress]

Good.

[Also fucking sexy. Iris there is something wrong with you.]

...cut summat off 'im for me, Slevin's a mate of mine. I'm on me way to check Nathan's room and if 'e's not there we're searching top to bottom.

private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[anewlanguage]

Keep me up to date, soon as you can.

text: private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[routemistress]

emperor missing, zane going berserk

text: private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[anewlanguage]

Find out if Emperor went home

text: private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[routemistress]

trouble is there's no way to be sure. we were working on a dead drop messaging system but we never got it off the ground yet. i know his room's still there. so is nathan's but no sign of either.

...and now zane and harvey are fighting. ilu for beng able to keep your head in a bloody crisis.

possibly other reasons.

text: private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[anewlanguage]

[Ohoho, you are going to have questions later, Iris. But right now he's in work mode, and just smiles to himself and lets her little phrase slide.]

Want me to tell 'em to knock it off?

text: private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[routemistress]

be like putting a fire out with whisky. let me <3 <3

[Iris types faster than she thinks sometimes, and she's multitasking like whoa right now. She forgot to remind herself not to say it, to keep it light, to not be clingy.

Maybe he didn't notice.]

private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[surfaceshine]

[Dean hasn't taken back anything he's ever handed Cain or been aware of him having, either, except his personal Glock. He says nothing about that, instead jumping in right where he's been namechecked.]

Spooky reasons, huh? Not unless they're feeding zombies, which I might add Arthas has been raising in the CES, or an extremely high level voodoo priest or priestess I don't know about.

But most the spells I know that call for animal organs are meant to be helpful, so I doubt it.

private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[routemistress]

Aye, I saw the bear. 'E's like a kid with a new toy. A really gross new toy.

There's a sort of ...ritual feeling to the way the bodies were left. It might be a thing, or it might've just been someone's idea of a laugh.

Alpha's ears in the drinks makes me think it were more like a joke, though.

private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[surfaceshine]

I could take a look at it if you've got any leftover video or if it's not cleaned up yet, but I'm late to the party, and civilians always tromp all the evidence.

...Hell, I think I showed up just in time to play cleanup crew anyway. Like no one else around here knows how to get blood out of grout.

private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[anewlanguage]

You know, the ears might just be the punchline. I mean so far he's taken all organs...organs make a meal, ears garnishing a drink to top it off. Course I think we'd notice someone barbecuing a set of kidneys in the kitchen, Riddick's on top of that shit.

Dean, I'm not all that sharp with investigations, you got any tips you want to give me, should I stumble on another vic?

private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[surfaceshine]

Get video on it, call me or Iris, whoever responds first, and for the love of god don't touch anything or get near anything, even if you don't think it's important. If it is something in my wheelhouse, it's always the details that set it apart and civvies just don't recognize that shit. Use your ears and nose, too, not just your eyes; I doubt we'll find any sulfur around here, but there's other things that leave behind a distinctive smell.

private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[anewlanguage]

Got it. [The lovely thing about elite assassins is they can follow such directions to the letter.] I'll keep people off it, too, till you or a cop gets around to it. Who do we trust to process a crime scene?

private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[surfaceshine]

No. No cops. Not if we're looking at ritual sacrifice or my kinda business - they're as bad as anyone else about that crap.

Mal will know what to check for, if she shows up. Once we've had a go at it, whoever Iris has working on it is fine by me.

private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[anewlanguage]

Right. You and Mal, then Iris and hers.

You find anything, let me know.

private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[routemistress]

Just the Alpha video, sorry love. Megamind and the new lad found Slevin, they both did their nuts and rushed 'im right to the infirmary.

[Iris is rolling her eyes slightly.]

I find the next one, no bugger's getting close till you've 'ad a look, I promise. No promises about Zane if it's the Emperor, mind.

I really 'ope it's not.

private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[surfaceshine]

That guy needs to invest in some self defense classes or something. Maybe a nice double-barreled sawed off and some shooting range time.

Alright. I'm gonna try to get caught up on this crap - holler if you find something before I'm out in the field.

private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[routemistress]

You'll 'ear me. And watch your back too. Fit young blokes seem to be 'is target range.

private; to Cain, Iris, and Dean

[surfaceshine]

Poptart, please.

This jackass messes with me he'll be grinning out the back of his head before he knows I'm what hit him.