[IC] [Sporko+RBYDark] 'The Order'; A Cautious Tale

[SporkoBug]

It was autumn, the wind was slightly cold as it blew through the trees of Axemouth. The sun slowly broke through the clouds, the lights in the building where the detective agency, ‘The Order’ worked from were on, even this early in the morning.

Damien stepped through the doors to Diane's office. He sat down across from the mocha skinned woman with narrowed eyes; he hated to call someone else 'his boss', but this was part of working for a business instead of yourself.
"I expected you not to come." Diane said calmly, watching the male in front of her as his messy jacket and dress pants already bringing dust and 'soot' on her chairs.
"You ordered me to." Damien said gruffly, moving to pull a cigarette from his pocket and placed it in his mouth. "Why are we here?"

Diane gave a small smile, "You're meeting your new partner." She said as Damien's nose twitched slightly.
"I don't need a new partner." He replied sharply, getting a tilt of her head from Diane. "I've been doing this long enough I can do it alone."
Diane shook her head slightly and placed her hands on a pile of papers that sat on her desk. Damien knew exactly what those papers were, his contract. Of course she'd bring it out to push the fact that he signed it to make him work with his 'new partner'.

"You know it's company policy." Diane said gently, "We work with the 'buddy system', we can't just have you going out on these dangerous missions on your own."
Damien grumbled to himself and chewed on the end of his smoke, "Bullshit." He hissed before Diane narrowed her eyes towards him as she leaned forward on the desk.
"Don't argue with me, Mr. Elk. You're part of this company now so you're under my rules." She said before a knock on the door echoed through the office and she straightened up.

A mousey man poked his head into the office to look at Diane and Damien, "The new recruit is here, Ma'am." The secretary, Stuart, spoke quickly. "Shall I send him in?"
Damien looked away from Stuart as he wanted to set his cigarette alight, while Diane nodded softly to him. "Absolutely Mr. Stuart, that would be fantastic, thank you." Diane said as Stuart nodded and left the room quickly.

[RBYDark]

When the door next opened, it was to let in a rather lanky man. He was quiet as he briefly surveyed Diane and Damien before he closed the door behind him.

"Apologies for interrupting," he said, adjusting his black tie and forest green vest. His tone was rather flat, making it unclear if he meant the apology or was just trying to be polite. He also had a faint English accent - he must have moved recently. "I'm Jeremiah Devereux. It's nice to meet you both." He rested his gaze on Damien. "Are you my partner? The paperwork mentioned I would be assigned one."

[SporkoBug]

"You're not interrupting." Diane said with a small smile as she motioned for him to sit down. "This is Damien Elk, he will be your partner." She looked to Damien as she watched him stare towards the newcomer quietly.
The hidden-fae watched the man carefully, he slightly tilted his head before he nodded towards Jeremiah, "As Diane said, I'm Damien."

He uncrossed his arms finally and offered one to Jeremiah as a handshake. "Have you done this sort of work before?" He asked after a moment, "I will warn you it's not for the faint of heart."
"Damien, don't scare him." Diane said lightly, getting a glance from the male with a raised eyebrow. She returned her attention to Jeremiah. "I'm sure your skills are more than adequate, I enjoyed your CV you sent us."

[RBYDark]

Jeremiah sat down and gave Damien a quick, firm handshake. He only seemed mildly perturbed by the other man's question, and even then, only briefly.

"It's alright," he said to Diane. "I imagine that he didn't see my CV. I don't mind sharing." With that, he refocused on Damien. "Until a year ago, I was part of a detective agency in London. We mostly searched for missing people and stolen objects. Sometimes we discovered gruesome things in the process. I can assure you, my stomach is not turned easily."

With that answered, he redirected his attention to Diane. "I will say, the job ad was quite the read as well." While he had striven for easy cheer, skepticism had crept into his voice.

[SporkoBug]

Damien listened to Jeremiah with a tilt of his head. He nodded at the statement before closing his eyes for a moment, This was good; he needed a partner who wasn't scared of getting dirty.
He glanced over towards Diane as Jeremiah started to speak to her.

Diane gave a small smile, "I'm glad you found it interesting." She nodded, "I'm glad you could start so quickly, we don't like our Detectives working without partners." She said with a glance towards Damien, who narrowed his eyes towards her. "Damien does a lot of the... Harder cases, so I'm glad you're not squeamish." She gave a small chuckle, "Of course, we'll start you both off with easier tasks so you can learn how to work together properly."

Damien held back the grumble that stuck in his throat, twisting the cigarette in his fingers slightly. His slightly pointed ears flattened slightly out of his hair. He breathed in slowly and closed his eyes before he breathed out.
"Have you got a place to stay permanently?" He asked with a glance towards Diane, "I have a large house and a few spare rooms; I tend to offer housing to partners, makes it easier to do planning on longer cases and all of that."

[RBYDark]

If Jeremiah noticed the way Diane glanced to Damien, and the way he looked back, he didn't comment on it. Instead, he responded to her, "That sounds ideal. We should be functional before we tackle more complex cases. I'll do my best to catch up quickly though - I would hate to think of those complex cases languishing or being reassigned because of me."

When Damien offered housing, though, something peculiar occurred. Jeremiah visibly tensed as he turned to look at the other man. His defensive posture almost suggested he was waiting for Damien to admit he was kidding. When no such words came, he nodded hesitantly. "That... makes sense. I have been having trouble renting an apartment- apparently the last tenant left behind a 'disgruntled brownie', which I will admit, I don't understand." He cleared his throat. "We can discuss rent and bill division later, if that's acceptable."

[SporkoBug]

"There is no rush in terms of adjusting to the stuff here." Diane said with a small smile, "Damien will be alongside you, and he's done this sort of stuff for a while." She said with a weak chuckle, "But of course, we'll get to work on cases tomorrow. I'll let you two get acquainted today and Damien can show you around Axemouth if you'd like him to?"

Damien gave a small shrug, "No need to pay rent, bar from buying your own food." He said, "I can cover the bills easily." He ignored the fact that Diane just offered him as a tour guide, "As long as you don't mind animals." He said as he moved to take the smoke from his mouth, still unlit, "You will have your own space of course, if you need another room for an office that can be arranged."

[RBYDark]

Jeremiah looked between Diane and Damien, clearly uncertain. "I'd rather not impose on him. I'm sure between cases, I can get acquainted with the city?"

He had just begun to relax from Damien's comments when the man mentioned animals. All the tension swept back over him. "Animals? Why? What do you keep?" He was clearly going for 'casual curiosity', but his tone and posture screamed 'strained and barely restrained fear'. He seemed to be aware of that and cleared his throat. "Nevermind. It's probably fine - and if it isn't, I can hardly tell you what to keep in your own home. I'll have to see the size of the bedroom before I decide if I need a separate space for an office." The shift in topic was rather abrupt and seemed to do nothing for his new nervous energy.

[SporkoBug]

Damien gave a small shrug at Jeremiah's questions, "You're free to wander in your free time, the offer still stands for a bit of a tour." He said before he laughed slightly, "I only have a cat, she's harmless for the most part." Damien chuckled.
Of course he was lying... Well, half lying; she was a cat, and for the most part she was Harmless. But she was a Fae-Wild cat; a small Winged Feline with a small pair of antlers- much like you'd expect from a jackalope. She was his guard animal, and could be dangerous when she needed to be, but she wouldn't attack someone without proper reason to.

Unless of course, it was Damien; Who had many different scratches and bite marks due to her.
Damien raised his eyebrow at the topic change and nodded once. "That's understandable." He said with a rather nonchalant tone, he looked to Diane to see if she had anything to add.
"I'll get you back here tomorrow morning for the first proper mission." Diane said with a small smile, "That way you can get used to the city a bit. Plus we'll need to get your badge and authority stuff for here." She said with a tilt of her head, "Of course we won't drag you too long, I don't know if you have something else to do or not today. So unless there are more questions, you're free to wander off?"

[RBYDark]

"Oh. A cat. Right." Jeremiah sounded a little distant as he echoed Damien's words. A dusting of pink colored his cheeks and ears. "I look forward to meeting her, if she doesn't mind meeting a stranger."

He focused on Diane as she spoke, and managed to return her small smile with one of his own. "Thank you kindly. I shan't be late. I do have one question, but it's more for Damien here." He turned towards his partner. "Could I ask your address? I'd be happy to go with you, but I do need to check out of the hotel I'm staying at, and I imagine you might need some time to prepare a room. I'll be by in two hours, if that's reasonable to you?"

[SporkoBug]

Damien nodded at Jeremiah's question to head off and work out his own stuff. He moved to scribble down the address on a bit of paper before he handed it to Jeremiah. "There's room in the driveway for two cars, so feel free to park up by the Jimny." He said before he looked towards Diane before standing and leaving.

---

Damien had been home for about two hours by now, he had made sure the house was more presentable than it normally was; not that it was messy, but he wasn't exactly fond of the idea of his scribbled notes on his patron and the magic he was gifted strewn around the place. He popped it all in his office, which was marked with a large X on the door. A few doors in the house had this, but Damien would explain it to Jeremiah when he got there.

Damien headed into the front of the house and into the garden; the different coloured flowers swaying gently in the wind in front of the soft blue painted single story house. The garden, despite it being autumn, was in full bloom; and if anyone was in tune with magic, would know it was a Fae's work- Keeping all of the flowers and trees in their bloomed season.

Damien lit a cigarette as he wandered through the garden, it was a little slice of home for him, almost; a bit of a happy place for the detective. As he breathed the smoke from the cigarette out; the smoke lingered around him, it's pinkish hue glimmering in the light almost like it had glitter within it.
He had tried Human cigarettes before, but the stuff they cut the tobacco with hurt his throat; so he made it a mission to get a good, steady supply of Faewild Cigarettes for himself.

[RBYDark]

Shortly after Damien came outside, a grey car pulled up - clearly a rental, judging by the license plate frame. It backed into the driveway and, as soon as it was parked, Jeremiah emerged. He waved to Damien, clearly admiring the garden as he did so, and then went to the trunk. Out came two large wheeled maroon suitcases. He was careful to avoid treading through the garden as he brought his luggage onto the walkway leading to the front door. He paused as he stood across from Damien.

"Hello." His gaze kept flickering to the flowers in full bloom - nothing in his expression suggested he knew why they were still in bloom, just that he admired them all the same. "Would you prefer to finish that cigarette first? It's nice enough weather to stay outside." He seemed genuine in the sentiment, if perhaps curt in delivery.

[SporkoBug]

Damien glanced over towards the car drove up and parked in the driveway, he took a long drag before breathing more of the smoke out- which caused more to linger around him before he moved to wave the smoke away slightly as Jeremiah exited the car. He looked over to his garden as he noticed that Jeremiah seemed to be looking it over too, but he didn't say anything as he spoke to him.

He moved to crush the top of the cigarette with his fingertips before he shook a head with a bit of a smile. "Nah, We'll get you all settled in." He said as he moved to push open the front door. The door opened to a hallway, four doors on the left side- Two of which had large red X's on the door, indicating not to enter; while there were 4 doors on the other side, and at the end of the hallway, a single door with another large X on it.
The door at the end of the hallway, if looked at for too long, had a strange feeling coming from it. An ebbing, living almost breathing aura to it.

"Your rooms the first on the left, the office, if you need it, is the next one along." Damien said calmly as he entered, "There's a bed and a set of draws," He continued, "The office has a desk, a lamp, and everything else you need. Don't worry about needing to get anything, just let me know and I should be able to get any furniture we need." He gave a bit more of a smile before he motioned with his head to the right side, "This side you have lounge, kitchen, bathroom and laundry." He explained.

[RBYDark]

Jeremiah responded wih a confirming hum as he followed Damien inside. His eyebrows raised at the marked doors, and his pace slowed to a halt as he noticed the door at the end of the hallway. After a second, he shivered and turned back to Damien, listening to his explanation. Once Damien finished, Jeremiah seemed to have the courage to speak up.

"Thank you for the offer about the furniture. I do have a storage locker with some of my possessions, though, if anything ends up being needed. But again, thank you." He looked at the doors again, consciously overlooking the door at the end of the hallway. "If I may ask what might be a silly question, I see some of your doors are marked. Should I not go into those rooms? Even if I cannot find you otherwise?" The last phrase felt somewhat tacked on, as if it occurred to him that might be some kind of loophole.

[SporkoBug]

Damien glanced over to him with a calm, neutral expression before he nodded. "The marked rooms are my rooms. My office and my room." He said calmly, "If you need to find me, you're free to knock on the doors, or you can ask Vez to fetch me if I don't answer." He said with a small smile. He, himself, seemed to also ignore the door at the end of the hall.

The sound of a small bell dangling echoed around as Damien seemed to look towards the lounge. "Ah, speaking of." Damien said as he moved to kneel down and pick up a small, soft blue creature. The creature in his arms was the size and shape of a domestic cat, but with short blue fur; bright yellow eyes and a pair of small, folded up bird-wings. "This is Vez." He said softly, "She's... Basically my security system in a way, but she's also a friend."

Vez watched Jeremiah gently, her tail swaying softly- giving off the faint sound of a bell again. She moved to groom her front paws quietly. "She will stay out of your way of course, she knows how to act." He finished that sentence before his brain almost tacked on, "around humans."

[RBYDark]

Jeremiah nodded at his succinct explanation. He opened his mouth - either to ask who Vez was, or to ask permission to go into his bedroom to start unpacking - but the soft bell noise caught his attention and he closed his mouth as he sought its source. Seeing it, his mouth re-opened in clear shock, and he leaned back against the larger of his two suitcases. It took a moment before it closed, his polite demeanor clearly broken by the impossible sight before him. Finally, he managed to speak up, his flat tone now cautious.

"That's... what is that?" he finally asked. It wasn't clear what kind of answer he was expecting, or what answer would satisfy him. He looked at Vez's birdlike wings and shuddered a little. "Maybe I should go unpack?" he tacked on meekly, as if aware his question was possibly a rude one and seeking to smooth over the whole affair.

[SporkoBug]

Damien didn't seem to notice Jeremiahs' shock for a moment before he spoke again, he gave a small smile as he stroked Vez's head gently. "She's a Faecat." He said gently, "She was a gift when I first came here. She keeps the house guarded while no one is here." He continued before he smiled as Jeremiah added that he should go unpack. "Of course, you should get your things out." He said with a small nod.

His smile was more neutral than friendly, Vez moved out of his arms and over his arms and up onto his shoulders with a stretch- her wings fanning out slightly as she looked towards Jeremiah gently, as if studying him with knowing eyes. There was a look in her eyes that was much wiser than a simple domesticated companion, but she swayed her tail and climbed down the back of Damien with a dingle of her tail before she moved to tug slightly at Damiens' leg.
"I'll feed you soon, keep your tail on." Damien said with a frown as he looked to Vez, who seemed to want to retort before she headed off towards the kitchen. Damien looked back up to Jeremiah as he gave another faux smile, "I'll be in the kitchen if you need me, let me know if you have any allergies to any sort of food." He said calmly and turned to follow his Faewild companion.

"Another partner?" A small voice came into Damiens' head as he entered the kitchen, moving to grab Vez' bowl and started to clean it out from an earlier meal. He simply gave a nod as he continued, moving to go to the fridge and grabbed a large bit of steak. "So soon after they disappeared?" The voice sounded worried, but not unaccepting, "Hopefully this one lasts, He seems to have a good head on his shoulders."
"I'm worried mainly." Damien said quietly, Vez waited patiently behind him by the fridge for her food. "I just hope he's not too curious."
"Wouldn't it be nice to let someone in?" The voice chimed in again as he turned to place the bowl down with the sliced up steak. "Having someone on your side when things go sour?"

[RBYDark]

Jeremiah nodded, said "Thank you", and went into the room Damien had indicated as belonging to him. As soon as both suitcases were inside and the door was closed, Jeremiah leaned against the door. Faecat? What did that even mean? He had been wondering about a few things since he had arrived in Axemouth, but there was a difference between the training mentioning things like ghosts and hauntings offhandedly and seeing something that so obviously did not fit in with any known understanding of the natural world. He doubted Damien would be able to clarify; the man didn't seem to think Vez was remotely odd in any way.

Soon, though, shock gave way to curiosity. Jeremiah pushed himself off of the door and opened the smaller suitcase, musing all the while. True, a 'faecat' did not fit into any known understanding of the natural world. But perhaps he could change that. Study the 'natural world' of Axemouth, see how it differed from elsewhere. If nothing else, Jeremiah did enjoy a good, harmless mystery and a chance to learn new things. If people he talked to even gave permission (such as Damien and whoever had given him Vez), he could publish it as research. And of course if anyone said no - Jeremiah had mentioned he enjoyed the chance to learn new things, yes? He didn't have to share it to learn from it.

As he unpacked, refolded, and put away his clothing into drawers, he began making a mental checklist of things he needed. At the top of the list was a new journal: something beside his work notebook where he could record his observations about life in Axemouth. Preferably one with a lock; it was nothing against Damien, but he had enough negative experiences with people that it was important he had a space he knew was his own. The next thing was his old corkboard - the 'nutter board', as a few less-than-collegiate colleagues had called it. It was in storage, but having it hanging up again would be very helpful if they had any particularly stubborn cases. Third thing... he glanced around the room. A floor lamp, perhaps?

Axemouth was going to be an experience, he just knew it.

[SporkoBug]

Damien left Jeremiah to his own things as he headed to his bedroom to change out of his work clothes, since they weren't doing any work today. He headed to his office as Vez hopped off his back and headed off to her perch in the office as Damien closed the door.
He pulled open his laptop and started it up as he moved around to grab some things, he grabbed his home notebook and placed it by the laptop, he needed to figure out something for dinner for the two of them, did he ask Jeremiah if he had any allergies? He'd ask him later on, letting him settle in before pestering him with questions.

Once his laptop turned on and he logged in, he moved to quickly grab his notebook before he started to order what they needed from the supermarket. While Axemouth seemed to be vaguely behind the times, at least it had delivery in terms of supplies and food.

---

He was glad to have gotten dinner and groceries done the night before, he allowed Jeremiah to eat wherever he wanted; he wanted the man to be as comfortable as he could, and as long as he followed the simple rules of not going into the places that were marked with the X, they would be on good terms.

It was morning, and Damien was up before sunrise. He had walked down the basement stairs early on; if Jeremiah was awake he'd be able to feel a pulse of old old magic. Damien didn't stay downstairs for long, coming up quickly to have a shower after locking the doors.
He showered and dressed quickly, back into his work clothes with his large jacket over his body.

Once he was finished with his shower he moved to the kitchen to boil the jug, enough water for two cups of coffee or tea, if Jeremiah wanted anything when he woke up.
While the jug boiled, he moved to the fridge as Vez coiled around his legs. "Yes, hold on." He said down to her as she swayed her tail with a small bell chime, Damien moved to grab a small cut of steak- before he was able to put it onto her plate, Vez hopped up with a flap of her wings and grabbed it from Damiens' grip and quickly ran out of the room with it; a small bell-like laugh eechoing in the air. "Asshole." Damien said with a chuckle as he moved to wash his hands and start making himself some bacon and eggs for breakfast.