Xaver Xian
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_Fallen ]dreams[
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Post by Xaver Xian on Jun 24, 2011 19:21:31 GMT -8
Xaver gave a sidelong look to Nathaniel at his apology, but made no expression or other motion to concede it. His dark blue eyes churned like heavy seas beneath raven lashes, watching the younger man rise and catch up with him.
"The rumors hardly do him justice."
His expression darkened, mouth flattening at the thought. Xences was as cruel as he was infamous, and his evil was seeming to have no bounds... It churned Xaver's stomach.
"Better..." he murmured thoughtfully, stowing his hands into his coat pockets and toying with the loose change and pocket fuzz his fingers jammed into. His gaze shifted to the street, watching cars and people move by with a distant interest.
Xaver sighed, almost tiredly.
"I would agree. Though, it isn't people like us that are waging wars. It is deluded opinions of those with enough hate in their hearts to project it to differences of others. Differences that do not affect, but are simply differences.."
( sorry it's so short! my muse is eluding me. :( )
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Post by Nathaniel Kingston on Jun 29, 2011 19:32:16 GMT -8
Nathaniel physically gulped when Xaver confirmed about Xences. He shook his head and shivered a little bit. "If you don't mind my asking, what made him so evil? Surely he wasn't this bad when he was born. At least, I believe that no one is born evil. They choose to be so. With most killers, the parents are to blame for poor upbringing, but that isn't the case either. You are proof that it wasn't because of harmful neglect. So what set him off?"
"I just don't understand. Differences are what make us who we are. No one is the same. Does that mean that those people are warring on the whole world? Surely no one has enough hate to destroy that many lives." Nathaniel looked at the people who were walking on the sidewalk around them. To him, there weren't a mix of races there. Rather, he saw the people and how they acted. That couple over there was obviously in love. They were cuddling against the cold and whispering sweet secrets to one another. All around him, there were people like them, happy and slightly cold. They all were people with warm hearts. "Differences are hard to see if you look into a person's heart and soul."
Nathaniel shrugged. "Ahh, I just don't get it. Maybe I'm too young or something. I guess I'm still a little naive to the bad things in the world. Being a sleuth hasn't spoiled my outlook on people. Maybe one day it will, but until that day, I'll continue to look for the good in every person. If they are evil, like Xences or this flaying-guy, I'm still going to try to understand what happened to make them what they are. There is a reason for everything."
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Xaver Xian
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Posts: 379
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Post by Xaver Xian on Jun 29, 2011 19:45:31 GMT -8
"No one is born evil."
It was said softly, and there was a sudden harsh, unsolved pain that lurked in the dark depths of Xaver's eyes. In a blink it was gone, however, steely calm in its place.
"Everything has its time. You are young, Nathaniel. Perhaps in time I will confide in you hells of my past. Until then.."
Until then, live without the burden.
Xaver liked Nathaniel. He'd heard a bit about the sleuth, actually, through words said in passing by a few higher ups in the NHRA. Upon meeting the actual man, Xaver found him to be a lot more like his own younger self than he'd expected. Kylie would like him, he mused with a mental chuckle, the darkness stirring in his belly dissipating at the thought.
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Post by Nathaniel Kingston on Jun 29, 2011 21:41:05 GMT -8
"No one." Nathaniel nodded slowly and looked into Xaver's eyes briefly. He caught a glimpse of emotion in them, but in a moment it was gone. He wondered at it, for he hadn't caught what emotion it was. Something unpleasant, that was for certain. Nathaniel could guess at it, because of what Xaver had repeated. Perhaps there was a bitterness or a sadness within Xaver that the words had touched. Oh well, it was another mystery of the prince. Maybe Nathaniel would crack it someday. That was his job, after all, to pry and pry until hints turned into solid facts.
"So, guessing from what you just said, whatever is in your past is what made Xences so crazy?" Nathaniel nodded slowly. "If something bad, something completely out-of-control, happened, there are a few ways to react to it. From the way you look, act, and think, you took it, but you didn't let it consume you to insanity. Xences must have let it eat at him until one day, he was no longer with the sane. It takes a lot to do that to a man, though some are more on edge than others. I won't ask what happened, because I don't really need to know to understand that Xences is a bad man. He just follows the devastating pattern that many succumb to."
"Still, that is neither here nor there. Thank god that I'm not on Xences' case. That's one that I don't envy at all." Nathaniel raised his head and looked up at the faint, hard-to-see stars which faded with the city lights. The moon was the only thing that could be seen clearly, and it was beautiful. "So, where are we headed?"
They had been walking on the same side walk for a while. Nathaniel knew it by glance, but he knew most of the city. Ten years of investigating, and a person tends to remember every nook and cranny that could hold evidence. He had the streets memorized down to escape routes that suspects would likely take, as well as great hiding places to stash weapons and bodies. He saw the city through both a normal citizen's eyes and through a criminal's eyes. It was odd, knowing that the alley they just passed had the perfect dumpster for throwing a dead body in and a loose brink in the wall that could hide a small handgun. Weird, but at the same time, useful. It was the sort of thing he needed to know at a moment's notice.
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Xaver Xian
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_Fallen ]dreams[
Posts: 379
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Post by Xaver Xian on Jun 29, 2011 22:27:12 GMT -8
"...whatever is in your past is what made Xences so crazy?"
Xaver eyed the younger Fallen with a blue gaze that was withdrawn and calculating, carrying the chill of a solemn wrath that was pent up behind a moral man. He eyed the man with harsh oceans that silently reflected the truth - Nathaniel had hit the nail on the head, or so they say.
As Nathaniel rattled on Xaver's eyes flickered to the street before them, decidedly averted. What Xences had become, the things he did.. they were unforgivable. Even so, even through the hate that stirred in Xaver's old soul at the very thought of his brother's name.. Xences was his twin. From birth they had been very close, but how things had changed... No, Xaver could never forgive him. Nor, however, could he forget the boy that Xences had been before he'd grown into a fucked up sociopath.
"So, where are we headed?"
The words brought Xaver back to the wintry streets that they roamed and he looked back to Nathaniel, the oceans of his eyes parallel to the rough seas stirring in his chest.
"I asked you for coffee, Nathaniel, because when I came to know who you were on that rooftop I knew I would need a favor." He eyed Nathaniel thoughtfully.
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Post by Nathaniel Kingston on Jun 29, 2011 22:42:12 GMT -8
Yup, perhaps he should keep his mouth shut more often. It seemed like his guess was right, judging by Xaver's cold gaze as he asked. It was a definite give-away. The man's eyes changed so suddenly. At one second, they were calm, the next they held a wrath in them that obviously spanned the years. It was a wondrous thing to behold. It was also scary as hell. Nathaniel bit his lip as Xaver looked away. That definitely was a topic to steer clear from in the future. Well, the whole 'Xences' topic was probably a 'no-question' zone.
It just didn't help that Nathaniel was a naturally curious person. He was interested in the workings of mankind. He wanted to know why people did what they did. He wanted to see it first hand, which is one reason he took the job. He didn't want to be a psychiatrist or anything like that, because he wanted to see what people were like normally. It intrigued him to learn about the ways that people thought and interacted. And then, when Xaver looked at him again, Nathaniel felt butterflies in his tummy. Suddenly, he knew that the cup of coffee hadn't been an innocent cup of coffee.
He hesitated before replying quietly, "A favor?"
To be honest, he was utterly confused by the concept. What could the Fallen prince possibly need from Nathaniel that he couldn't get anywhere else? He didn't immediately dismiss the idea, he couldn't. He was leery, though, at what the prince would ask. He just hoped it wasn't anything out of his control.
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Xaver Xian
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Posts: 379
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Post by Xaver Xian on Jun 29, 2011 23:09:16 GMT -8
"Yes. If there is anything I have picked up over the years it is the ability to read people. I need an honest man. I had the impression you could be such up on that rooftop, and have confirmed it since."
Xaver grimaced.
"Someone has been trying to kill me. Normally I would take things into my own hands, for such things are.. normal, for lack of a word. It is not the attacks on my life that have me concerned, however."
Xaver shifted slightly, and withdrew a small, round white dot from his pocket.
"It is almost as if the attacks were guises, when I had time to think about it." He extended the dot toward Nathaniel. "This is a surveillance chip, not yet available to the public. So that means it is either military or black market. I found many of them on the hitman, and in my office. I would like to find out who is trying to hard to kill me, simply. I would fund your efforts, and very much appreciate them."
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Post by Nathaniel Kingston on Jan 21, 2012 16:21:01 GMT -8
"An honest man, huh?" Nathaniel repeated quietly. He didn't think of himself as an honest man. He was truthful, yes, but he wasn't sure he deserved the title of honest. He had darkness in his heart which held him back from achieving his goals. The reason he joined the NHRA wasn't exactly pure. He joined out of revenge, staying out of love for other people. His revenge, though, still lurked deep within him, ready to spring out.
He snapped out of his reverie as Xaver extended the white dot to him. He took it gently and analyzed it from all sides. "I've heard about this technology, but only in rumors and whispers. This stuff is supposed to be expensive as hell. Who could have such enormous funds to get how many ever you found? It'd have to be someone with a lot of money to burn, to send them on hitmen they knew wouldn't survive."
Nathaniel looked at Xaver sharply. "You know that I am more of a homicide sleuth, right? I mean, I deal with death, and with normal people being skinned alive. If you went to the NHRA, you know they wouldn't put me on this case. Are you really sure I'm the right person for the job? I'm not exactly the perfect detective. More than that, I don't even know how you came to hear of me. I'm a nobody, last time I checked."
He held the white dot up to a street light as they past it before letting it slide to the middle of his palm. There was a mystery within the little camera, something that sparked his curiosity. Though he denied being the right person, he couldn't say he wasn't interested in the case. He was on another case, though, one dealing with a sicko on a sick mission. He couldn't forget about that. He owed it to the two victims of the sicko.
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Xaver Xian
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_Fallen ]dreams[
Posts: 379
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Post by Xaver Xian on Jan 21, 2012 16:52:37 GMT -8
Xaver let his hand fall when Nathaniel took the bug, stowing it in his pocket and idly toying unseen with a loose string he found there. He simply nodded as the other man examined it. He had enough money and resources to have already figured out what it was. A few people he full-time employed were still pouring over the other little chips found. Not so much to figure their source out, though, but to figure how to recreate them. They were nifty little things, after all. Xaver wanted some for himself.
"I know this," he said quietly, meeting Nathaniel's look. "I also know your rate of catching killers, and the efforts in which you hash out for your job." And why. It was left unsaid, but hinted in the murky depths of the blue eyes that never fell away.
"The NHRA owes me a favor, anyway. I wouldn't forsee an issue if you did want to go official with this," he said in significantly lighter, almost lofty tones.
Xaver was quiet for a moment, glancing up at the skies and envisioning the stars that hid behind the misty atmosphere and illumination of the city lights.
"You deal with the workings of homicide; these actions were simply precursors to what was supposed to be one. Stalking, following, watching, until a hit was attempted. I daresay they underestimated me, but the facts remain gospel."
In truth, Xaver wasn't completely certain why he was asking the younger man for such a favor - the thought had simply struck him last-minute and wasn't dispelling in its ferocity. The fates weren't to be denied, he supposed.
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Post by Nathaniel Kingston on Jan 21, 2012 17:15:58 GMT -8
"My rate of catching killers? But that stuff is supposed to be classified." Nathaniel rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He felt like a schoolboy under the scrutiny of principal. What else did Xaver know about him? His eyes widened again and he looked accusingly at the Fallen prince. If he knew about all the statistics, it wasn't too hard to imagine he knew everything about his career. That meant Xaver knew the reason he joined the force to begin with. The prince covered it well, but Nathaniel saw something stir in those dark eyes.
"Go official? I'm on a case. I finish a case before I start a new one. If you know everything else, you know that." It made Nathaniel nervous how Xaver talked about the NHRA. The man seemed to be pretty connected to the higher ups, which wasn't surprising. It was the fact that he seemed to use that connection to corner Nathaniel into taking on the job. He didn't have to say it, but one call from him, and Nathaniel's sleuthing days were over. Nathaniel believed that Xaver wasn't that kind of man, but people could hide their true selves easily.
"I deal with normal people cases. You know, working class. The people who work their hardest and it doesn't pay out in the end. It's a technicality, but it is there. It would take some time for me to figure out the motive behind someone so set to kill a royal. You... you are so much different from my normal victims. It's a whole new set of rules." Nathaniel shook his head slowly as he contemplated everything he had heard. He walked along with the silence for a while, watching the pavement go by.
Eventually, he sighed. "I guess you do know me. You know that I can't turn down a case when it deals with a living person being attacked. I can't stand bloodshed if I can prevent it."
"So, who hates you enough to kill you?"
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Xaver Xian
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Post by Xaver Xian on Jan 21, 2012 18:14:14 GMT -8
Supposed to be classified. If things that were 'supposed to' be so many things actually were, the world would possibly have had a very different face. As it was, everything about anybody was accessible if you had the right sort of clearance. Or friends.
He nodded at Nathaniel, not too concerned at the man's obvious discomfort that Xaver knew such things about him. He had no intention, though, of using any sort of knowledge or status to push Nathaniel into working out his case. He wasn't the sort to corner someone into helping - if he'd needed to coerce, there were far greater, uglier things he could have resorted to.
He liked Nathaniel, and his attitude, and wouldn't bring it to that. Not that he expected the younger man to believe it, if the look in his eyes was anything to go by.
"I deal with normal people cases.
Normal people? If Nathaniel had been anything but a Fallen Angel himself, the situation would have gone very downhill. Having all his life fought for racial equality and especially very recently for Fallen advocacy, he was very sensitive to the subject. He stiffened slightly as Nathaniel formed the words, but kept his gaze foreword as the man continued and the blues of his eyes shuttered his response.
"Yes, you can," he said softly. He turned his head and eyed Nathaniel closely for a moment, before the corners of his mouth tilted skyward into a small smile. "You have the right as one of the people to decline, and every right as an acquaintance of mine to say no." He laughed then, a low sound that reverberated through his chest like thunder.
"My father was by no doubt a leader with a title that borderlined tyrant; he ruled the people without compassion and was slaughtered by the very sword he'd slain countless with. I, who have spent many years here and not in Lenity, will ascend very soon to an unstable crown and continue a dynasty and tradition that has never been more uncertain.. That, and the racial tensions that I helped bring to light with my own wings none too many years ago - why, indeed, would some want to kill me?"
Xaver shook his head.
"No, Nathanial Kingston, you are not required of this task. If you would take it, be it on only the circumstances of my appreciation, and nothing more."
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Post by Nathaniel Kingston on Jan 21, 2012 19:13:22 GMT -8
Nathaniel noticed when Xaver stiffened, but didn't make to correct his statement. He simply meant normal as a way of classifying the cases and how they worked. Xaver knew that, and would get over it pretty quickly. Nathaniel, did remember belatedly, that there was a rumor about Xaver beating someone up for mentioning the phrase 'normal people' around him. Those were completely different circumstances, though, and Nathaniel wasn't too concerned. "And if you ended up dead in a week? I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I hadn't tried to do something to prevent it. I can't turn my back on that." Nathaniel paused.
"Mm, good point, but I did mean a liiittle more specifically. I know that I can count all of the conspirators and non-hunter types. I more mean people you personally have offended. There are some that I can guess at, like your brother. I'm sure that there is no love lost between you two. Is there anyone else like that?" Nathaniel got out his notebook again. He flipped it over to the back and started to jot notes down on the paper. "It does seem to be a little more targeted than just a normal royal assassination. Most of those happen during public events with some sort of projectile. To place bugs, that means someone is watching you. Or several someones. It could be an organization, from the amount of money that had to be spent on those little cameras."
"It would be the circumstances of my good heart too. I just can't leave someone who asks for help on the street. Those who ask shall receive and all that."
"Is there any way I can keep this camera? I want to look into it farther. I want to see exactly what it parameters is, how it broadcasts, and all of that stuff. I'm sure you are also having people tear them apart. Let me know what you turn up?" Nathaniel looked at the white dot again with scrutiny.
"Oh, and I suppose you'll need some way of contacting me." Nathaniel said that carefully, trying not to actually ask Xaver for his phone number. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. Emblazoned on the front was 'Nathaniel M. Kingston, N.H.R.A. Sleuth' and then on the back was his phone number. He held it out to Xaver. "This is my card. You can call me whenever you need to."
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Xaver Xian
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_Fallen ]dreams[
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Post by Xaver Xian on Jan 21, 2012 19:54:06 GMT -8
Dead in a week? Xaver knew the possibility was always there but mentally shook it off. It wouldn't be so if he had anything to do with it.
"I do hard to not personally anything to people as of late," he returned quietly. "...Xences, yes, being an obvious exception. I do not believe this had anything to do with him, however. He employs different means, and my death is not yet what he wants, anyway."
Xaver shrugged, then nodded solemnly.
"Of course," he said in response to both questions. The camera was of little use to him when he had others, and if he found something that could help the investigation he had no reason to keep it to himself, anyway.
He accepted the card with a glance then stowed it into the warmth of his pocket, fiddling for a minute in the catch-all then withdrawing a fine pen and a different card. It was white and plain, with nothing but his name and work number on the front. He turned it over and, using the palm of his hand for support, scrawled in his neat writing another number. He handed it to Nathaniel, stowing away the pen.
"My personal cell number. Call if you find anything out or have an emergency."
Xaver offered another rare smile and bowed his head to the other man in a sort of formal farewell.
"And thank you, Nathaniel."
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