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

[spysinspades]

Clive. The sneer only just managed to get twisted up into a sarcastic smile.

"You seem to have things well in hand." 'You' being the Spades as a whole.

And honestly, even if they didn't, did it really matter to him?

It should. It just didn't.

"Why mess with a good thing?" Especially since the High Cards were so sure they knew what they were doing.

[old_dog]

"We had a good thing going with Sean and Medea too before you showed up, what with our regular mass cullings," Michael said with a lopsided grin as he dug into his pockets and pulled out a packet of cigarettes.

"Didn't seem to stop you. Smoke?"

[spysinspades]

"Look how I managed to muck that lovely deal with Sean. Just imagine the havoc I could wreak now." The bright, white flash of his grin and the pure sarcasm of his tone were a cover for what he believed the absolute truth.

He'd ruined things last time. Imagine how big a mess he could make now, more broken than ever before.

"Thanks." A cigarette is plucked out of the pack. "Julien still a monster?" At least he could hold that close to his heart. He might be a monster, but so was Julien.

[old_dog]

"You sound bitter," Michael observed, but otherwise didn't say much more on the topic as he lit the old King's cigarette for him. His gaze did flicker up to David's eyes for a brief moment.

New king in town. Hate to step on anyone's toes. That smile at the mention of Clive. Have things well in hand.

Something's not quite right.

"Twenty years with the Spades and you haven't figured out that we're all monsters? Shame on you."

[spysinspades]

"Me? Bitter? I wouldn't dream of it." But really, knowing him, how else would he feel?

A laugh escapes him before David manages to smother it and take a drag of the cigarette without choking. "Hope springs eternal. Perhaps it's the insanity talking."

He must be mad. No one wants to be a monarch without being a little crazy. And no one stays as a monarch no one wants without being completely cracked.

He was clearly cracked. But they'd been clear enough about their opinions this time. He wouldn't step up where he was unwanted.

[old_dog]

Before long they've reached the right street, and Michael made a call as they headed into the apartment lobby. It wasn't the fanciest place in Town but it did have one lone security ranger lingering around the entrance, and there was a young man behind the reception desk who handed over a key.

"It's not my place to ask what's really going on," Michael said as they entered the elevator and was afforded some privacy. Talking helped distract him from the anxieties that came with throwing a claustrophobic into an enclosed steel box.

"But I won't mention this place to the Spades, if you decide you're staying for a while. And if you need additional security, I can arrange for that." David might no longer be king, and apparently his state of compos mentis was questionable, but a madman could still have friends in a treacherous environment. Just as a madwoman a long time ago still had a friend.

"Though if they send a Spade hitman, you're probably fucked anyway," he jested.

[spysinspades]

David stared up at the building for a moment before following Michael inside.

He'd never lived in an apartment building before.

Getting into the elevator was a surprise. From what he remembered, Michael didn't like small spaces - he'd assumed they would take the stairs. But whatever the man wanted. "I don't believe that will be necessary."

They might try to kill him - and they might succeed - but either way he didn't anticipate needing the extra help. "If they put real effort in, there's not terribly much you can do." Killing a Joker was awful form, however.

"It would also be unfortunate should they decide that you're involved." Michael already did too much for him, with this. It wouldn't be fair to return that kindness badly.

[old_dog]

Involved in what, was the question. It wasn't a crime to leave the Deck, nor was it a crime to return empty-handed. It was rash and impulsive but he was well within his means to do as he pleased.

"There's not much I wouldn't do for you, after everything you've done for us. Even if a fair few things went wrong towards the end."

He handed the key and the pack of cigarettes he had on him over to David once they got to the right door.

"Are you alright for tonight? Can I check in on you tomorrow?"

[spysinspades]

David had no idea how they expected him to do anything, given his current resources, but considering his conversations thus far they clearly expected him to be involved in something.

Then what he'd said hit home, and David stared at him blankly for a moment. He must be kidding. 'After everything everything you've done.' He was a failure, there really wasn't much he'd done right, if they'd felt the need to take care of things that way.

With no way to respond - no understanding of how to properly take a compliment, actually - David simply took the keys with a blink, sliding cigarettes into his pocket and key into the lock.

"I will be fine." David didn't know how to handle this... pity? Sympathy? He just really didn't know, so instead he escaped into the apartment.

It was strange how quickly kindness undid him, when antagonism simply made him work that much harder.