Fascination (Outsider, Corvo)
Prompt: You always deserve my undivided attention.
_____________
Corvo double checked the lock on the bathroom door, peeled off his clothes, poured the last bucket of hot water into the bathtub, stepped in and sank down up to his shoulders. He lay his head back against the wall.
Gradually, the chill of the night left him, the ache in his shoulder from fumbling his grip on the balcony across from the Boyle estate began to ease, and the night suddenly stole into the room, turning everything to cool black.
Corvo winced as the violet light bloomed in the corner and with it, the Outsider, unfolding from the shadows like a strange flower. His feet floated just off the ground. His head tilted to the side and his strange dark eyes slowly blinked. The dark, salt scent of the sea filled the room, the faint crash of waves and whale song.
“I suppose time to myself is going to be in short supply,” Corvo murmured.
“You always deserve my undivided attention, Corvo. Especially with how the tide is turning. The Lord Regent turned out, Sokolov brought around to your cause, and now Esme Boyle on a ship heading for Karnaca. You’re taking your enemies down one-by-one without ever striking a single blow.”
During his speech, the Outsider had drifted closer and now he knelt on the air, just next to the bathtub, peering down into the shadow-black water. “This has cooled.” The Outsider dipped his hand into the water, pale fingers disappearing beneath the surface. The water grew warm. The Outsider drew patterns in the water and Corvo watched as it followed his fingers, even chasing after them as he withdrew them, raised them to his mouth, pressed the tips to his lips.
“I do look forward to seeing how the rest of the them fall.”
The overhead light flared and Corvo was, if not alone, given the illusion of such….
At least his bath water was hot.
