The Devil May Cry

[Kaile Vera]

I can't lose this.

That was all that that encapsulated Kaile's mind as she rushed into that darkened corridor. They say that one shouldn't jump into things without looking, considering the options. However, Kaile wasn't in a state of mind to consider just where she was going and the unlikely luck of her coin having survived the fall.

No, with her mind frantic to have that one singular piece of hope back in her hands, Kaile surged forward. The coin would roll forward, wobbling and carving a silver path. That is, until a boot struck it down with a firm step.

Kaile gave a small startled gasp.

The shadows gave way to an angular face farmed by disheveled, raven hair. First thing that Kaile noticed were his eyes.

"Lost something?" A smirk curved his lips.

Kaile tipped her head back and stared up at his piercing blue eyes. Had it been a different time, she might have thought him handsome and those eyes incredibly beautiful, but the past two weeks had done strange things to her perception of beauty.

A chill ran down her spine. Was it the weather? Or was that just that feminine intuition warning her of what might come from the honky things that go bump in the night.

Her fingers went curling around the handkerchief, twisting the fabric. Red rimmed eyes cautiously met the man. The degree of sorrow and loss coming from her was enough to knock an empath over with a feather. It was all there, right in her eyes.

A gesture would point towards his boot.


"Sorreh," the light drawl would relay her apology, "Just the coin, I thought it fell over the balcony and -- " a pause.

"I just want to get it back."

 

[Lord Ghoul]

Mischief glinted in the depths of those icy-blue eyes, a fleeting shimmer of starlight off a glacier. Dangerous to walk upon. Especially at night. Beautiful, but oh so treacherous.

Mikhail cocked his head to one side and openly drank in her red-gold locks and bronzed skin. He shifted, pushing off the balcony, moving close, but foot still planted firmly on the coin. His eyelids lowered lazily, half-hooded as he fixed on her simpering gaze, all melting pools of warm chocolate.

"Do you know what I miss most about being alive?"

Pale fingers idly reached out and plucked at a stray strand of her hair.

"Feeling the sun on my skin. The taste of food. And the smells."

Shorn closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, held tilting back slightly.

"Now I feel nothing. Smell nothing. It sucks."

Light eyes flared back to life, roving across her face and down, until he was staring at his own foot.

"Hm? Oh, right. The coin. Silly me." A serpent's smirk slid up his face. Half as cold, but twice as deadly.

He lifted his foot off the coin.

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

Here was the thing. Typically, most folk aren't the sort to believe in the Force, much the less in the supernatural. Kaile, being who she was, had experience with the Force and just what it could do. It was infinite; she was not.

So when the blunt stroke of the stranger's fingers slid back the wayward strands of bronze hair, Kaile could only assume that who stood in front of her was very real. Real enough to touch as that stray lock of hair was gently set into place.

So when the man started discussing about 'when he used to be alive' and 'what he missed', it was enough to provoke a few warning bells in her head. Not because she believed it to be a bona-fide ghost in front of her. Oh no, this was a far more simpler, understandable reason.

The man was five sheets to the wind smoking the loco-weed.

Kaile gave him a rather apologetic expression. As if met by one who clearly had lost his wits. Coming from someone who had also suffered a measure of loss and felt the same, the Lorrdian wouldn't judge.

"Seems to last forever, don't it?" She decided to humor him since he had to graciously saved her coin. After all, it did feel as if she was half alive after everything. She had no appetite, she couldn't sleep. Her normal bout of joviality just.. gone. Is this what heartbreak feels like? Homesickness? Surely, the man understood since he spoke thusly so.

"Thank you kindly, sir." Kaile told him, giving him a half smile, bending forward to collect the damp coin from the ground. Two fingers and her thumb would pluck it. A ghost of a smile would frost her lips. Slowly she straightened. With a reverence of a child caring for its most precious toy, she gently began to wipe it clean.

Thank goodness!

 

[Lord Ghoul]

The fall from the balcony certainly is a long way. Eternal. Hm.

A mischievous gaze followed her movements.

"Oh... I don't know."

The floral patterned dress billowed in an interesting way when she leaned over. Mikhail's smirk continued to grow. A single raven brow arched upward.

"I can think of a few things that last longer."

So concerned over that silver coin. And he hadn't the faintest clue why. One minute she'd been sobbing, now she was ecstatic, but then he supposed there was a certain irony in him criticizing mood swings. After all, she'd only cried instead of killing a small village of baby animals. What could he say, some people dealt with grief differently.

"What's so important about that coin anyway?"

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

What was so important about this coin?

A hint of a smile would frost her lips, edged in somberness and coated in melancholy.

"A memory." Kaile would admit softly, the light of the lamp flashing against the polished platinum of the coin.

"A wish." she elaborated, giving a slight sniff. Her free hand would swipe under her nose.

"Hope." glistening brown eyes would pan over at his direction. "You ever felt lost? As if you are drifting out in the black with no tether to hold you. Floating aimlessly, yellin' at the top of your lungs yet no one can hear you?"

A rather dark picture for the woman.

"I feel like that. Silly I know. It's just a coin." she gave a slight sheepish laugh, a bit hollow in her obvious misery. "But it reminds me of home." her grip would tighten around the platinum piece.

"And that maybe... maybe one day," she stumbled over the rest. "Maybe I'll get it back again."

 

[Lord Ghoul]

Cold blue eyes moved apathetically between the coin in her palm and that sniffling face, before they rolled with exasperation. Mikhail crossed his arms and leaned forward.

"Turn that frown upside down, Ronda Raincloud. It's a wedding. Live a little. Go get drunk from the punch bowl. Dance with a stranger. Don't-" he gestured with one hand, up and down, indicating all of her, "be so mopey. You'll turn into a fat, blue Ortolan and roll away."

He held up a finger to her lips, shushing any protests. "E-e-eh. No more morose philosophizing and heavy sighs. Less thinking, more acting. "

Right then, Mikhail most missed alcohol. The ability to stop feeling much of anything at all, so he could just do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Nobody judging him. Only, where he came from now, judging was just about all he got. Aside from an eternity of torment and suffering that he probably deserved, but when the galaxy gave him a free pass on the Nine Hells he wasn't about to say no.

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

He was a strange one.

Taken aback, Kaile would frown, the dark slash of her eyebrows drawing forward. She worried the flesh with the scrape of pearly white teeth. Her fingers would curl around the coin, and she would mull on his words.

Live a little. It's a wedding.

This was true. Kaile had never been the 'half glass empty' kind of girl. True she was being mopey, but right now... not that she had the coin back, that was a little bit of hope there right? Something to look forward to? Perhaps... a sign?

Kaile was okay with signs. She may not be the sort of religious type of girl, but she believed that there was a greater power out there. May not be the Force. May not be any sort of higher being. But just something out there pushing things into motion.

"... Less thinking." she considered this, saying it aloud. Her lids fell and she mulled this over some more. "More acting."

Less thinking. More acting.

He was right. Rubbing her nose with the back of her hand, Kaile took a deep breath. Her chest rose and her shoulders straightened. She could look into the future. She could think about what could be.

Maybe Kurt wasn't here right now. Maybe he hated her. Maybe she really didn't have anyone in the 'Verse....

But that didn't mean it would last.

Maybe... maybe one day that would change. Maybe one day... Her eyes fell down to the coin in her hand. I'll be able to tell him about today, and how pretty it all was.

And how he would have loved to be there.

For the first time that night, Kaile's lips would curve into a ghost of a smile. The apples of her cheeks rose, and a bit of color illuminated her face. A pair of dimples shadowed in the lamplight. Glancing back up at the stranger, Kaile gave him her most grateful smile.

Without further ado, Kaile rose up on tippy toe. He might be all angles and shadows. He might be a bit high off the locoweed and perhaps he just might be the devil's own. Right now though? He was Kaile's guardian angel and he managed to snap some sense into her then.

The kiss would have grazed his cheek. Simple and innocent. Filled with all the best intentions and well wishes of the 'Verse. The Thronebreaker may not be able to feel it, but Kaile was simply too thankful to discern the difference.

With a voice filled with genuine gratefulness, Kaile whispered into the Devil's ear.

"Thank you."

 

[Lord Ghoul]

Mikhail froze. Red lips touched his cheek. He should have felt their softness graze cold skin. Should have savored the touch of a woman. Should have basked in the cool moonbeams of her care, for lovers spurn the harsh light of day. He longed to wrap arms around her and pull her tight, brushing away those glimmer of tears. Dry her eyes and make her laugh. Warm and whole and laughing again.

But the dead feel nothing. Not the brush of caring hands. Not hot whispers tingling in the ear. Not even the barest kiss planted on a smooth cheek.

An icy grip curled around Mikhail's heart, squeezing. Forcing him to remember. A kiss stolen from Spencer. Two shattered hearts. Rosa's grieving tears and a drunken press of the lips. Anara's misplaced love. Impassioned plea made all the more foolish by her kisses. And Andra's redeeming touch, so close to bringing him back.

She couldn't change who I am. No one can.

A hundred memories of love that was, or that might have been. Nothing but heartaches now. Love was overrated.

And this... this woman. This girl. She was none of them.

"I don't want your thanks," hissed his thoughts, volatility dripping from every word like poison from a knife, "I don't know you. I don't care. I can't feel."

Damn her eyes. Why could he feel? Why did it hurt? He clenched a jaw that didn't truly exist and willed himself to nothingness.

Standing on her tiptoes and leaning forward, [member="Kaileann Vera"] slipped right through his incorporeal body and through the other side. The balcony was not very tall. Not very sturdy. A thin, elegant piece of work. And below? An infinity pool, mocking the eternal fall with walls of glass.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Mikhail Shorn"]
What happened next was enough to startle Kaile -- and seriously consider if maybe she had been the one smoking the loco-weed. The moment felt as if death itself had walked right through her. She felt a chill down to her bones, goosebumps running along her arms in their wake. A small catch of breath came, one that only increased in panick as she found herself lobbing forward.

Hands instantly gripped at the rail. Her heart jumped to her throat. Down below, the roaring falls sank into a wide river, one that floated along until it met the edge of Cloud Nine’s boundaries.

The she just past right through him?!

No, that didn’t makes sense. The dark slash of her brows drew together in a frown. For a moment she just allowed herself to calm down. Then her mind went to make this reasonable. He must be a Force User! She’d heard of people with abilities who were able to pass through matter itself.

Her eyes went wide -- but.. she had Bobo with her. That meant that --

Kaile bit her lower lip. Was she imagining things? Did he maybe just move so fast? As it was, she had the sting of his words echoing in her ear. Turning around to look at him over her shoulder, she licked her lower lip.

After a moment she then said.

“But I can.” she told him, “Whether or not you want my thanks, it is there.” she told him frankly. A hint of a smile lay there. She still had her coin.

"You have it regardless. Thank you."

 

[Lord Ghoul]

"Well aren't you just a little ray of sunshine now. I'll take a raincheck."

Mikhail turned around. He liked the crying version better. This one stirred up too many thoughts best left in the dust.

The bliss of nothingness enshrouded him. Sealed fairer emotions in a tomb of frost and stone. No surer remedy for heartache than a healthy dose of apathy. Three spoonfuls, please.

"And you should watch where you stand." Mikhail pointed at the balcony's thin, elegant stonework. Abruptly, the balcony split open with a crack.

Long way down.

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

That crack was like thunder lancing through the sky. Kaile gave an abrupt cry of surprise and caked with fear. She didn’t know what was happening, but she held on tightly to the railing.

The sound snapped through the night again, and all of a sudden, the balcony railing gave a heavy shift. It began a slow drift back, and Kaile, unfortunately lost her balance.

Her shriek would echo across the balcony, muted by the distant melody of the Wedding Orchestra’s song. White knuckle grip was the only thing holding her as she hung upon the railing. Small little grunts came from her mouth as she struggled, legs kicking under her skirt.

Ohstarsohstarsohstars!

 

[Lord Ghoul]

The man in black sauntered up to the edge of the balcony, staring down at the girl clutching oh so desperately to the ledge with the tips of her fingers. He smiled down at her.

"Uh oh." The sardonic voice seemed entirely unsurprised. Women dangling from balconies. Pleading eyes. Desperate grips. Just another evening in the life of Mikhail.

That coin was still in her grip, but it probably made hanging onto the ledge oh so difficult. Silly girl, making life hard on herself.

"Here, let me help you."

Cold blue eyes seemed to stare right through her.

He extended a hand for her to grab. A little high. A little behind her. She'd have to stretch to grab it. And then, well... ghosts don't make the best hand holds, do they?

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

The offered hand extended to help her. It would be so easy to take it. She just had to strain a bit, reach up to grab it. There was a bit of desperation etched across Kaile’s face. Big brown eyes went flickering up. They met the cold cobalt of his eyes, saw the emptiness within.

For the moment, she felt as if perhaps he was worse off than she. Lorrdians are meant to read body languages. How does one do so for something incorporeal? As it was, there was precious time to think. When one was at the brink of falling off a ledge one grabbed at a measure of safety. Even if it was an illusion.

At least, if you were anyone but Kaile.

Kaile had no reason to doubt the man. Maybe because she thought the best of the ‘Verse. Still believed everyone was good. LIkely a mistake, but then again, folk don’t normally believe in ghosts. Odds were, for Kaile, this was just something her mind cooked up due to her grief.

Maybe there was a lesson in that.

“No don’t!!” she cried out, eyes wide. “You’ll fall too!! Get back!” she told him. A few more grunts, and then another shriek as the balcony gave another shudder. ohstarsohstars.

“I… I” okay… maybe.. maybe it wasn’t that bad of a fall right? RIGHT?

 

[Lord Ghoul]

Mikhail rolled his eyes and shrugged, retracting the extended hand. Can't say I didn't try.

"Didn't I tell you?"

A flick of the finger sent a web of cracks through the ledge. The Dark Side roiled through him. Even without a body he could still revel in that atramentous power.

Shorn sneered.

"I'm already dead."

The ledge crumbled away. Below, a pool of glistening water waited for the detritus of Mikhail's cruel machinations. Not so far. She wouldn't break anything. Probably. All that work, for what? His own amusement. An escape from an eternity of hell and boredom. Yep, all there was to it.

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Mikhail Shorn"]


There was a sharp intake of breath.

Everything slowed. It felt as if time simply stopped. It was that breath before the fall, that tiny microsecond where everything just flashes before the eyes. The balcony shuddered, then gave a loud crack reminiscent of a thunder clap.

There was a glint of silver. A slow flipping, twirl of platinum. The coin she had coveted so much seemed to hover in the air.

There was a weightless sensation. She felt like this before. Couldn't quite pin it down. That free fall made her stomach lurch, and then everything seemed to suddenly speed back up.

The wind went rapping through her free flowing hair, sending it trailing over her face like a death shroud. Her body fell, wind slicking her dress to her body. Would she live? Would she die?

Is this the end?

It didn't matter. By then, the wind howled in her ears, and the last thing Kaile saw were sapphire fire eyes.

Cold. Hard. Apathetic.

Just like the water that enveloped Kaile as everything went dark.

 

[Lord Ghoul]

Mikhail watched her fall. He peered over the edge and caught a glimpse of red-gold hair fading beneath the surface of the pool. A soft snort. A twist of the lips.

"Oops."

The ghost started to turn away, then stopped as he sensed her life force fading. Drowning. He sighed. Ugh. To save or not to save? But then, her death really wouldn't serve any purpose except to wipe out such an annoyingly large amount of naivety from the galaxy. At last, he rolled his eyes and shimmered, form growing faint before fading from existence.

He reappeared down below at the edge of the pool, staring into the depths. A wave of the hand pushed the water down and out, sending it sopping across the ground and sloshing out over the side of Cloud Nine. At the bottom of the pool lay Kaile. Mikhail drifted forward, heedless of the walls of water which he casually held at bay.

"Get up before I decide you need another dunking."
[member="Kaileann Vera"]

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

Kaile, however, lay there a bit too still.

The shock of the fall had struck her system. Wet strands of strawberry blonde hair tangled and clung to her face, marring the tanned skin. A second passed.

Two.

Three..

The sound of gasping and choking, and.. yes even a dry heave came next. Kaile's body shuddered and shook and she curled up as water poured out of her mouth along with some very unattractive spittle.

Well, at least she wasn't dead!