Bloodhound

With nothing left for him on Penacony, Gallagher had set off. No one actually knew where he went, or even if he was still alive. But really, if he didn't want them to remember him, they wouldn't.

Maybe that had been a mistake. But with how big the cosmos were, what were the chances of running into most of them again?

Bigger than he expected, apparently. Because there on the Xianzhou Luofu, minding his own business, he met with someone he expected to see again even less.

He glanced over his shoulder at his name, and then he gave her a grin.

"Well, who'd have thought you'd make it all the way out here?"

Just leave them alone? That was it? That's really all they wanted? But that would mean just...cutting off ties with Crelladenza once and for all. Admitting he lost and just backing out. And the insinuation that she and Argenti were getting along more than well enough didn't much help his mood.

His fists opened and closed as he tried to work through his thoughts. Could he even convince the council to leave her alone? She was more their plaything than his. Then there was a single spark in his brain, probably the only smart thing he'd thought of this whole time.

"Can you make the Council forget their hatred of the previous Queen? Crelly's mother? If they did, they'd be more willing to just forget she exists here."

He arched his eyebrows at that. He actually wanted Gallagher's help, after all that? How interesting.

"Only thing that would possibly stop me is if they're Emanators themselves." He paused to think about that. "Though I doubt it. From Crella's stories, The Beauty doesn't exactly like you guys anymore." Not that he felt like the council cared about that. "Idrila gave all their recent attention to her knight." Yes, he was definitely taunting Caltro on purpose.

"It's easier if they're here, though, and who knows if they'd go for that."

Caltro had long outgrown the wiggling of his ears, such things were seen as undignified and to do so in front of an opponent was showing cowardice and the inability to regulate your emotions. Caltro had learned over his many years alive how to best control his emotional responses, but standing before this man, he'd never felt more unbelievably humiliated and outplayed. And so his ears wiggled madly.

"Y-you just-- I--" Caltro had always thought he was the best person to take care of Crelladenza. They grew up together, they got married, he saved her life. Yet he couldn't help but remember that her life wouldn't have been in danger if not for him in the first place. He had no right to get upset when he's the entire reason she was here.

"B-bastard!" But how could he just acknowledge such a thing and move on? He was trapped, Crelly was unreachable, there were two very powerful and capable people keeping her safe, and he had no way to talk his way past them. He had to be able to do something! He couldn't stand feeling so helpless!

"What do you want?"

The smile never left Gallagher's lips through the quick succession of emotion as well as the insults. He'd experienced much worse over his life, which to be fair, was probably longer than Caltro's.

"Me? Nothin' other than you guys leaving Penacony alone. It's got enough of its own problems without some stuffy do-nothings from some random planet off in the cosmos coming and dumping your problems on us." A pause. "Well, I guess it was better for everyone, because she's having the time of her life with that Knight of Beauty guy."

It took a moment for the implication and subsequent dread to set in. Despite how poor Caltro was at picking out lies, he knew for a fact that this man had no reason to. So what were these memories in his head? Emanators were truly powerful and terrifying beings.

He really could do it, of that he had no doubt. He could make every single person on Frism forget or think whatever they wanted. Barely breaking a sweat he could destroy everything Caltro himself had lied and cheated to get. And the worst part is that he could also make it so Caltro had no one to blame for it but himself.

"Wh..." He'd felt out of his depth, but the pressure placed on him upon realizing the vast difference in the capabilities left him practically speechless. Caltro, unfortunately, was not very adept under the slightest pressure. "Why would you do any of that? Th...this has nothing to do with you!"

"Wrong. You and your counsel decided to send your exiled queen to live the life of a fool on my planet. You might have gotten permission from The Family to do it, but this place isn't theirs. Never has been. If the Watchmaker were still alive, he'd hate you." Of that Gallagher was completely sure.

And then he leaned away from Caltro, folding his arms again. And he was smiling amicably.

"Have fun out there, though."

[txt] Since rumors have it that you might pick up on any scheme of mine before I can do anything? No thanks.

[txt] Besides since I told you about this prank I wouldn't turn it around on you. There's no fun in going after someone who is expecting it.

[txt] Come by my place when you get the time and you can have your pick of any but the orange ones.

And possibly give her roommate and BFF something to tease her about.

(text) That I could. Glad you know better than to question my obvious power.

It was mostly a joke. He hadn't gone into Roxy's mind so he could only guess she knew who he actually was.

(text) I've got a couple errands to run and then I can drop by.

The sudden question cut off anything he was about to say, confusion quickly filling his face as he looked him over. Why would he ask that? Well sure they had, he was a bartender, Caltro often frequented the bars during his visits so the fact that they'd at least met before was not out of the question. He even recalled almost letting it slip what he was there about, visiting Crelly. He remembered the panic at trying to diffuse the situation, to take the curiosity off himself.

But why ask such a thing? He highly doubted that this man could remember every single patron...unless he did. And he'd known all this time what it was he had wanted to say.

"...Yes. We've met before, quite...a while ago so I could not begrudge you if you did not remember me." why did he feel like something was wrong?

The look in his eyes was one Gallagher was familiar with, though it was usually coming from the Bloodhound members when he needed to slip into the ranks.

A large smile spread across his lips.

"I'm not a member of the Bloodhound family, and I'm not actually a bartender." He knew how to mix drinks, but he hadn't done it outside of Siobhan's place or in Dreamflux Reef, where Caltro wouldn't have encountered.

And then he leaned forward. "You've never seen me in your life. Everything you were thinking about just now was planted in that empty head of yours. And I could do that to every single person on Frism who decided to fuck with me. It ain't even that hard."

[txt] Most people would consider the chili pepper or salsa flavored ones weird. Also pickle flavored. The barbequed banana was also interesting.

[txt] I meant more the nasty ones that are disguised as good ones that are fun to prank others with in this particular case though.

(text) Gotta save those ones for people who are more fun to prank than I am

(text) But hey, if you're looking to share with me, I'm all for it.

@drunkcommuting

[txt] I enough have jelly beans to share if you want any.

[txt] They're normal flavored ones rather than anything weird.

(text) You say that like I wouldn't want to try the weird ones.

(text) Then again, that depends on what you call 'weird'.

His blunt response caught Caltro more than a little off guard. His calm expression falling away quickly, he struggled to regain his composure with little success. Crelly's damn guard dogs certainly were effective.

"Ah. I...see. I completely understand that decision. I had been hoping for a chance to talk with her directly but if it's not possible then I won't pressure you." His mind was practically frozen, how could he lighten the situation?

"I just feel it's important to make some things known to her about her situation. I'm sure she probably has some grand ideas in her head about what she's going to do once she escapes but for her safety we need to make sure she's being realistic. I'm sure the last thing you'd want is for her to leave this place and barely make it to the next planet before getting herself hurt."

This man was just full of words, wasn't he? Gallagher had to wonder how many of those were his, and how many were ones fed to him by the ones pulling the strings on Frism. He had seen others visiting Crelladenza but left it alone for the time being. There were a lot of things happening on Penacony that had nothing to do with the bigger picture.

Gallagher just folded his arms and stood there, letting Caltro run out of steam before he said anything else.

"Let me ask you a question." He unfolded his arms, standing up straight as he looked the man right in the eye. "Have we met before?"

(text) Sounds like a plan.

(text) See? I told you we'd have a second date. Clearly you've already fallen for me.

[txt] I should have taken that warning you gave me about never knowing when the perfect man would drop into my life more seriously.

[txt] Although you're always conveniently showing up where I am on a regular basis. Maybe you've fallen for me.

#mischievousfires #mobile

(text) See? Always trust the bartender’s advice.

(text) Never said I haven’t. Although me showing up all the time is just coincidence most of the time.

[txt] Saturday then?

[txt] We can have dinner and set off colorful explosives.

(text) Sounds like a plan.

(text) See? I told you we'd have a second date. Clearly you've already fallen for me.

@drunkcommuting

[txt] When you've got an evening free, I have fireworks

If he could ask her out she could return the favor.

[txt] I can't promise you won't be up late though.

(text) I think I could stay out late if it's with you.

(text) I'm free this weekend. Only ever work at the bars on the weekends by request.

"Y'should be careful tellin' me that of all people." She continued playfully. "I might encourage more recklessness." Not that she would purposely make someone feel miserable but that never stopped her from making those teasing threats to those she knew wouldn't be hurt.

"Who me? I've always got plenty of energy. You've already seen what happens when I have too much." She shook her head with a laugh. "Really, Gallagher, I'm fine. If I wasn't I wouldn't have come out tonight."

#mischievousfires #yes roxy he is talking about mentally/emotionally

"Hey, I've been around the block more than enough to know when to shut my trap, and I ain't gonna do it in this case. At least not yet."

At the last comment, though, he shook his head. "We might not have known each other long, but I at least know your personality enough that I don't think you'd be here if you didn't wanna be. Doesn't mean you're at 100%."

@drunkcommuting

"Thanks for tonight." Roxy smiled at Gallagher. "I had fun." It had only been a simple affair of dinner and a walk around town but still fun in her mind.

"I hope it didn't tire y'out too much." Of course the tease in her wasn't that far away.

That made him laugh.

"Eh, I'll get over it," he said. "Life's more fun if you spend it having a good time. And I don't have work tomorrow so I can be as reckless with my limited energy as I wanna be."

The silly smile turned a little softer, though. "How ya feeling?"

[txt] I think the argument is that I happen to like them too much. But in the long run they're more fun.

[txt] Sure. Sounds good to me. I've been here for a while and there's still new things that I find all the time.

[txt] Guess that's a side benefit of having so many different kinds of people that gravitate here for one reason or another.

(text) Definitely not as high-energy as other places I've lived, but that's not a bad thing.

(text) How about we grab something to go and we can walk and talk. Not that I have much to talk about.

Ever since he'd run into Argenti, Caltro felt like he couldn't relax. Their conversation hadn't gone well at all and now he was just waiting for the boot to drop, both from Argenti and the Council hounding him over the status of Crelladenza.

Yet it wasn't either of them, but the elusive third party (or was it fourth?) in this little kerfuffle, the Enigmata Emanator, that appeared next. He already felt the blood drain from his face before he even fully registered who this was.

"I--" His throat was already dry, how was he already this nervous? "Yes. Or I-- uh. I was told that you're looking after Crelly." How much had he been told about his previous conversation? Did it matter whether he'd been told or not? What kind of powers did an Enigmata Emanator have?!

Clearing his throat, he tried his best to maintain some decorum, nodding his head. "Apologies, greetings. I am Caltro, and I understand that you have been taking care of my wife. I thank you for your kindness."

Gallagher, of course, wasn't anywhere near a fool. While Argenti may have been trying to see the positive in the situation and not immediately jump to biting this man's head off, Gallagher had no real reason not to do so other than that it might look weird in public.

He folded his arms, arching his eyebrows.

"I know exactly who you are," he said. "You can call me Gallagher. After the Watchmaker left us, I was pretty much left in charge of his 'affairs,' including the area of the Dreamscape your wife's currently spending her time in. An area your sorry ass isn't seeing any time soon, by the way."