Home is where the Hearts are

[spysinspades]

[The Green.

After so long, so much work returning to the Deck, he hated the very land for a moment.

It had landed him in the Green. Alone, in public view, in midday, amid a swath of empty grass. It was one last petty cruelty, he thought, for the Deck to display his shame in full public view. Even the very earth of his home betrayed him like this.

David had meant to sneak in, silent as a shadow, coming through the woods.To wander halls of all four castles, to be the ghost from people's nightmares brought to life. An avenging shade to feast on their guilt. These people, who didn't even have the decency to let him die with honor and instead left him to slowly rot as a vegetable in a hospital bed.

But no. He washed his hands of that. He would... not forgive. It was too big to forgive. He would accept the reality of his situation.

He returned because there was no where else he could imagine going, and because he would make them look him in the face - his pale, gaunt face - and understand that there were consequences to the choices the made.

They should have killed him.

He wished he thought that in anger.]

Fuck.

[Walking was really his only option here, leaving him wide open to anyone catching him out.]

Comments

[cutslikeaspade]

Lunchtime. Or, an hour where he didn't have to deal with recalcitrant lower Cards, rather. Kee'lah needed no urging; the pup took off once they stepped outside, more than ready to stretch her legs and annoy whatever hapless insect she could find.

Following suit, at least with the leg-stretching part, Ethan strolled about the Green, content to just walk, whistling to Kee'lah every so often, making sure she didn't wander too far. A figure not far caught his eye and he meandered that way, preparing to offer a good afternoon--then his breath simply stopped.

Ethan stared, in complete shock, eyes wide and for a second he actually thought he might pass out. Reflex then kicked in and he snapped his mouth closed, fists actually clenching to keep from instinctively pulling a blade, but he couldn't help his breath finally escaping, the word soft, barely audible:

"...papà..."

[spysinspades]

David had been sweeping through the Green, skirting the edge of the apparently-new tower (where had that come from? Bet it was the bloody Arcana, making more ridiculous building appear).

He did his best to sweep, despite travel-worn clothing and a dirt-smeared visage. Left to his own devices, he would have introduced to the Deck as a carefully-tailored, polite, icy, menace.

Fuck shit damn.

At least he kept his back straight, chin high, smooth mask in place. Had to be Ethan. Of course it fucking had to be Ethan.

Turning on his heel in a sweeping motion to face the boy was the best he could do for it. "You rang?"

[cutslikeaspade]

Masks. And come to think, he'd actually grown accustomed to not having to wear one these days. But it snapped firmly back in place, obscuring everything which was otherwise written plainly on his face. Cool, aloof, mirrored.

One eyebrow ticked, his own shoulders straight, and he replied with almost bored nonchalance, as one might casually greet a long-forgotten acquaintance, "Good to see you. Alive, that is." Although he'd made no inquires after returning home, Ethan had nevertheless feared the worst. A worry misplaced, it now seemed.

[jack_of_trades]

Jack was in a hurry, mostly because he knew Elisha had probably put a tail on him. Granted, he'd yet to find them, but he hoped that they wouldn't chase him out of desire to not give themselves up yet. And he just needed a few seconds to make the drop- a note to Peter.

'Time to get out', because things were starting to get more and more tense. Particularly with the Spades in turmoil. What he hadn't expected when he came around the corner though was to run smack into someone.

"Oh shit, sorry...sorry." Fuck his life, he thought, glancing back and seeing someone skid around the corner of the last alley before ducking back behind it. So he had a tail, but he didn't get a look at who it was which was not helpful.

[spysinspades]

A lifetime of reflexes hadn't saved him from being plowed into, but it did save David from taking a swift tumble into the grass. The turn wasn't the most graceful he'd ever preformed, but it got the job done.

"You'd best run faster. He's put one of the best on you." The 'he' was a 50/50 guess, but the 'one of the best' wasn't. If David had spotted that right, it seems someone decided to shanghai his erstwhile network.

Guess that plan was gone to pot.

Though, if that was the best the tail could do these days, maybe David was well rid of them.

[jack_of_trades]

"What?" He had to look at David weirdly as he pressed his back against the wall and stared at the man. "How- how do you know about him? Though I'll give him credit. It is the first time I've seen him all week."

Which might not be the thing to tell some stranger, but fuck his life.

"Ever feel like someone is slowly waiting for an excuse to put a knife through your back?"

[old_dog]

He was crossing the Green with some rolls of large plans tucked under his arm. Spring was in a week's time and Michael had more or less taken over that children's garden project that never quite took off. He'd take any excuse to get out of the Castle at this stage - he had no interest in facilitating another confrontation with Clive over his relationship with Julien.

It was the middle of the day so he wasn't expecting to bump into anyone. Imagine his surprise when he saw David.

"David," he greeted. He gave the other man a curt nod in greeting, or maybe it was out of an old habit of deference that he had not yet managed to shake off.

"You uhm... you look like shit."

Some things don't ever really change.

[spysinspades]

"Thanks for that," David replied dryly. "Hadn't noticed."

A tiny bow that David manages to punctuate with a sarcastic flourish. If he kept that up, he might finally understand where all of Victor's wry politeness came from.

"I think it's all the fresh mountain air."

[old_dog]

"Wha-... hmm." What're you doing here was the question, but it didn't seem as important as the question he asked first.

"Did you manage to find the missus?"

Hadyn, I'm already in his journal

[maskofhearts]

Hadyn wasn't really doing much, it seemed. Walking from Club castle to Heart Castle to help Blythe with some last minute projects and contemplating his future cooking lessons when something caught his eye and he had to stop.

Perhaps it was a bit ridiculous that the sight of David still froze him in his steps, and twisted is gut tightly. The man might not have killed his father, but the stories his mother had told him endlessly had never quite been erased. Not yet.

"David," he said in a half-whisper, half-shocked voice.

Hadyn it is!

[spysinspades]

He was shamed. He was dirty. He was skinny as a stick.

And he could not escape the children.

"Mr. Novak," David acknowledged as he swept past, praying that they would leave it at that. Hoping without any real belief that the boy would let him sweep past, stuck in a stupor his appearance seemed to have pressed onto every living soul. "Good afternoon."

Polite polite polite.

Declán and Eileen have OPINIONS but neither of them would be here so. :|

[hamelinic]

Fuck indeed. Holy fucking fuck, even.

Lots of other words as well, probably, but he'll save those for now. Because for now, there's got to be laughter.

He knows this face. Everyone knows this face. And he knows the way a Joker comes into a Deck, and he knows that the world is turning upside down in just the most fabulous way possible.

"You're kidding."

David will be excited to hear the Opinions once he's... you know. Clean.

[spysinspades]

Fuck.

No. You know what? Fuck it. Not fuck. Fuck it. All of it.

If he was going to be a Joker? Fuck it. Let 'em burn.

He turns a smirk towards Cynric, amused sarcasm belying his words. "I never kid."

[cipherspeak]

Do look down, no-longer-a-king. Eternal kings dislike being stepped on. What they do like, however, is to give David a penetrating sort of look that they either learned from their person or their person learned from them.

This one had belonged to Adele.

[spysinspades]

Obedient to the whims of the emperor, David looked down.

Elisha's devil cat.

A smile lifted his mouth. This cat did cause the Club King so much trouble. David rather liked that.

Crouching, he lifted a hand of his highness's inspection.

[jokeswithknives]

Something had Happened. She'd felt it shortly after waking up this morning. Juliette hurried to pick all the hay out of her hair and Dutchie's mane and tail, the stallion restless from picking up on her nerves. She didn't even stop at Old Man Peterson's for apples, simply thundered through Town and skidded the horse to a halt on the Green, eyes wide.

"Ooh-ooh-oooh!" she breathed in unabashed delight. Clapping her hands, still astride Dutch's broad back, Juliette laughed aloud and sang at nearly the top of her lungs, "The King has returned! The King has returned!"

Dutch reared back and neighed, tossing his head, before rider and mount dipped low in a show of great formality.

[spysinspades]

David dipped his own bow to the Joker, body bending low and arms spreading wide.

"My lady." The Jokers, at least, he'd had every intention of meeting not long after his arrival.

[gotyourheart]

Things were just getting better. She could almost swear that things were finally looking up after such a long winter. She was letting herself feel quite pleased about things again.

And while she doesn't necessarily have a personal grudge against the former King, she knows that this is going to put things in quite a state again. Damn.

"David. I see you've returned." Joy.

[spysinspades]

"So it would seem," he agreed blandly, as if he hadn't worked really very hard to get back in the first place.

Really, if the Royals got into a huff over every little thing, it was no wonder the new batch burned out so quickly.

It also made him very pleased he was no long one of said Royals.

[threecardmonty]

Well, don't that beat all? Monty glances at the last person he ever expected to pop out of nowhere before returning to the tiny wooden octopus he was whittling.

He would've bet money the man was dead.

Not good that the Green had started vomiting up people, especiallyy when those people were former kings who'd disappeared mysteriously. Hell. Eileen would be that thrilled--and that upset.

So he folds his pocketknife and nods at the not-so-newcomer. "Afternoon."

[spysinspades]

Didn't these damn people have lives? Or jobs?

Fuck. Fuckity fuck fuck fuckersons. Fuck.

A nod in return. "Mr. Montgomery."

Ignore the disheveled, dirty state, will you? And go pass your spy messages along to Elisha. David planned to give him a visit at some point, and the Club King would probably like to be warned.

Let's see how this goes. /o/

[headfollowheart]

She recognizes him from the back; she'd spent enough time avoiding David when he was king to know exactly what that looks like, thanks very much. And she stares for a moment before a stray thought occurs to her.

This does rather explain why Victor had disappeared off-Deck so suddenly. Katya had told her it was a meeting with a security liaison - but that was an explanation that could cover a multitude of different things.

Like the sudden appearance of the ex-King.

"Hello, David," she says seriously as she walks around him. He's not in the best of shape. Somehow that removes some of the threat. "Taking a walk around the Green?"

kjhsf\sd Zoe whyyyyy

[spysinspades]

Zoe should be worried. Wounded animals were more likely to attack than not. And David wasn't really much more than a wounded animal, really.

Weren't most of the old Spades, once pushed out of their polish and manners?

"Ah, little accountant." He must assume that she handled the money for his little stay of Deck, which would put her squarely in the camp with everyone he already hated almost as much as himself.

But dirty, gaunt, and exhausted David still manages to make his address smoothly. "It seemed like such a lovely day, who could waste it?"

/finally mashes down tags to tagging new posts point

[messire_messer]

That's, uh.

That's rather a familiar face that he'd never expected to see again. Not that he'd ever been particularly close to the King before Clive, but he'd rather thought David had left to pursue his lovely wife.

Or died. Rumours just couldn't be specific. He'd painted quite a nice portrait that might have been for either prospect, though no one but himself had seen it yet.

"Are you, ah, quite well?" he inquires cautiously. Doppelgangers did exist. It's quite possible that this man, gaunter and thinner than the David her remembers, isn't him. Maybe.

/finally mashes down to answering tags!

[spysinspades]

Every-blood-person.

God damn fuck.

A smile, just for Rap.

"As well as can be expected," David replied, dipping the smallest of bows.