#semex drogon

[aces-and-kings]

What did I do all day? Made a background for Thor's carrd.

[aces-and-kings]

“I enjoy the spring more than the autumn now. One does, I think, as one gets older.” —Virginia Woolf

[aces-and-kings]

Trust Me, I'm a Doctor...

The museum's halls had an unusual scent to them. There was a stagnance in the air on account of how many days her doors had remained closed to the public. It'd been the perfect place to meet the hand that would get dirty in his stead. Or so he'd thought. Semex decided at first sight that the duskwight who'd shown to tie up his lose ends was far too inferior to be successful in doing so. He'd quickly suggested a relocation under the guise of showing Smoke first hand where he might find Thor, the intended target. As they walked and talked it occurred to the not-so good doctor that he couldn't very well let the stranger leave now. Allowing him to attempt the job would result in failure, and cancelling the job might have equally undesirable consequences. The only viable solution was to utilize the man as a subject.

He then took Smoke to The Hourglass, feigning social etiquette and interest in seeing the job being done right. When all attempts at drugging the man had failed through hospitable means the Doc had had little choice but to force the sedative with an injection as the assassin tried to depart.

Smoke had hit the floor like a sack of potatoes, and after his assistant, Vyctoria, had locked up the shop, she stripped the man of all of his possessions and saw him to a cell in the laboratory. Semex would have to find another means of dealing with Thor, but brainstorming that dilemma was set aside as he first went to the city-guards to inform them of a suspicious garlean in the Museum's company. He'd almost let Grey slip past his attention, but Ishgard's finest were nothing if not willing to thoroughly inspect each and every outsider. Returning back to his laboratory, the doc curiously observed his newest test subject. From the operating table across the room, Red scowled, golden hues narrowing with murderous intent. "Lone ain't gonna let ya live after this. You know that right?", the outlaw asked the back of the doc's head. "You turn us loose and get gone. Maybe you a chance." There was no reply. Semex turned and left the room without another word. Behind him Red raged like a chocobo bound in the corral, anxious for the impending brand. "Twelve damn you, Doc! You hear me!? Twelve damn you!!" His exertion resulted in a coughing fit that spat blood across himself and the floor alike. Not that it bothered the doc in the slightest. That's what the tile was for after all.

[aces-and-kings]

It Was an Acident...

The air in the bookshop was heavy with the scent of fresh paint and paper alike. It'd taken a bit of finagling to separate the outlaw from his tin soldier, but once he had, Semex knew there was no going back. He was committed to the experiment. To what had to be done to see it through. Morals had no place among science. Red had been suspicious from the moment the Doc had flagged him down, glancing over his shoulder only to find Saiko making for an alleyway. There was no option but go ahead without him, or risk losing the elusive chirurgeon yet again. "Where ya been Doc?", Red had questioned, eyes like two gil coin narrowing in their inquisition. As Semex had begun to spin a tale of discovering a solution to Thor's contained corruption, Red's guard slowly lowered. He considered if Thor had been right. Maybe he'd just been too damn tired lately and the Doc, however questionable in social etiquette, was really only doing what any concerned friend would in such a situation.

The needle stung, and it'd happened to quickly that Red had actually smacked the side of his neck, ensuring whatever insect had done the deed didn't live to do it twice. "Doc?", he asked, brows furrowing to a near point beneath the brim of his hat as his gaze fell upon the syringe in the hand of his long-time associate, and friend. Ever true to his quirks, Semex adjusted his spectacles, setting the vial aside and reaching out to partially support the already wavering outlaw. "Nothing personal you see. You're just the ideal candidate for this study, and while I do not doubt I could have found another. Well, you always were one for sticking your nose where it didn't belong." Red's boots began to scuff the wooden planks as the Doc lifted the counter and drug him through to the hidden laboratory in the back. There were attempts at words but more drool came out than syllables. By the time Semex got him laid up on a table, Red was out cold. All that remained was to secure his subject then-

"Semex Drogon! You are malfunctioning. Cease and desist." What a nuisance. The Doc had anticipated the backup however and quickly pulled a pin, tossing an acidic grenade at the feet of the A.I. he'd always loathed to call a comrade. Saiko could do nothing in his defense nor retaliation. Whatever materials the lab was made of went untarnished, while every ilm from sword to the soles of Sai's boots began to disintegrate. As Semex looked on he was fascinated with the effectiveness of his own latest chemical experiment. Already the A.I. was little more than a puddle. He turned and took a hose from the wall, releasing a valve that sent water spraying forth. Protected against such corrosion or not, it was best not to leave it to erode over time. Five minutes later and it was as if Saiko had never been there at all. A metallic taste lingered in his mouth, and as Semex fastened the straps across Red's body, he pondered how much of Sai he'd just inhaled as a byproduct of the fumes. With a sigh he stepped back, reaching up to dial in the frequency of his latest contact. "Hello. Yes, the targets name is Thorstyr Helbwilfsyn. There is no room for failure on this job you understand. Very well, have them meet me on the second floor of the explorer's league museum. Tonight." All that was left was the garlean, and as Semex left the laboratory he exited the bookshop and flagged down a guard. It was his civic duty to report suspicious characters for investigation after all.

[aces-and-kings]

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Mal, ever the spiller of secrets when liquor was involved. Even back in their days among Gridania, when the two had studied triage together, so much as a sip of alcohol and she was ready to confess to anything. Back then the information hadn't been more useful than medicinal shortcuts, but last night was another matter entirely.

She'd told him of the serum and it hadn't taken much stealth to follow her straight to a meeting with Armel thereafter. Between confronting the two in as subtle a manner as possible, Semex had managed to obtain a bit of the alchemical weapon for himself. .

He wasn't a fool, already dosed with the antidote by the time he conducted his first field test, a lone shop keeper in the brume. It'd taken less than a day before she'd succumb to the serum. A few forged documents later and Semex had remodeled the shop into a bookstore with a laboratory hidden in back. Ever so kind of the woman who'd passed to leave her property to her nephew from the shroud.

Now Semex sighed, a rubber-gloved finger tapping along side his jaw as he studied his current subject. Another death, though this time it'd taken nearly three moons. What was the differing denominator? Curiosity had burrowed beneath his skin and now threatened to tunnel to his very core were it not fervently sated.

His piercing gaze narrowed in on the woman's features. Their age? No. Metabo- no, they were of similar builds. Hm. Perhaps…

He reached down and brushed her hair aside, regarding the angle of her jaw structure with a gentle trace of his finger. She was, in at least some fashion, of Ishgardian heritage. That had to be why it'd taken so much longer.

The theory needed to be tested immediately. After incinerating the corpse Semex began to search the firmament for a fresh subject. Meanwhile back in the museum's hangar…

"Lone. C'mon when have I ever thrown accusations round bout anyone? You know me, an' I am tellin' you... Doc's up to somethin'. Somethin' that might not just get us canned but killed." Red's tone was tense, increasing in volume by the minute. "Ye'r fauchelt. Ye'v been thro' a lot lately. Ah'll give ye he's a strange laddie but th' doc's never done us wrong." Thorstyr countered, his words laced with the annoyance at arguing over Semex for the second time this week. He reasoned Red was just working through something and the Doc was the unfortunate target of his troubles. "Ah've th' rest o' th' hangar to build, this shite going on wi' ishgard's biggest racist. Ah don't have time tae worry aboot mah crew. Ah trust ye. All o' ye." Thor gave Red a firm pat on the shoulder as he left the bay, a physical affirmation that he was in fact putting the topic to rest. When the door to the hangar clanked shut, Red strode across the bay and shoved Saiko. "Hell of a help you were", he groaned, turning and pacing the width of the room. "I know he's up to somethin' Sai. Can feel it in my gut. I ain't ever been wrong about my suspicions."

There was a faint crimson glow in the tin man's visor. "Confrontation is often necessary to avoid situations that confrontation can't fix", Saiko replied, encouraging they act before doubt became direct. Swiping the brim of his hat, Red nodded in agreement and motioned to the door. "Fuck it let's go. Last I saw he was down in the brume. Can only be so many places that skeezy fuck could hide."

[aces-and-kings]

The Awakening

There was a jingle to every boot step as Red made his way down the hall. It was only amplified by the echo that the long corridor generated, exceptionally announcing when he came to an abrupt stop. The door to the temporary clinic was pulled open and he froze.

Thor's cot was empty.

"No", Red whispered, looking immediately to Semex who was rising from the piss poor excuse for a workstation to greet him. "Doc, tell me he isn't..."

From behind the spectacles Semex rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. "Your inability to trust in his will to survive is your own problem, but I won't have you insulting my talents in the process."

He started cleaning up as if the explanation didn't require any urgency. "And don't get your muddy boots in my laboratory. It's bad enough I have to contend with..." Semex gestured at all the plumbing leaking in various parts of the room then let it go.

"He awoke this morning. Defied my orders for testing. Refused any notion of taking things slow." By now Red had removed his hat and was toying with the brim between his fingertips as he leaned against the threshold listening intently, but when the Doc had stopped explaining he merely nodded. "Went to get his kid I reckon." Semex concurred with a side cant of his head, "That was my deductive reasoning as well. At least he agreed to stop in with a colleague of mine along the way." The dusty old hat settled back atop a mess of hair as Red shoved off the door frame. "Best see to the ship myself then. Can't see Lone settlin' down in a homestead. That girl's gonna need some place to be." "You might remember a proper clinic while you're at it. Much more of this and I may as well be treating patients in the alley." Piercing gold eyes peered out from beneath the shadows of the hat, a toothy smirk as he tipped it towards Semex. "Whatever you say, Doc."

[aces-and-kings]

[aces-and-kings]

Forgiveness is too great and difficult for one person. It requires two. The betrayer. And the betrayed. Which one are you?