The Necropolis [Conway]

[Vyn]

Mehdi nodded and smile. He loved people watching, so many strange individuals and you could learn so much about them without ever evening approaching them. It was a wonderful game... "That's a clever way to get around that." He could understand the overall frustration with the 'curse' but at least he'd managed a way around it. The change of subject was fine by Mehdi and he broke into a bright, feline grin.

"Ah! It's no problem! I figured Javaid could use something fresh and I hoped you'd have a taste for it too." A contented purr rumbled in his chest.


It wasn't much longer before Javaid returned downstairs. He had a large tray filled with food: chicken, vegetables, a variety of Hisstor side dishes, and an array of sauce dishes. His tail wagged cheerfully. "Hope you're both hungry. Mehdi - the spices on the actual food are a little more mild than I usually make, for Conway's sake, but the sauces should more than quench your need for heat." He cleared the larger table in the room of books and set out plates for the three of them. "And Conway," he smiled warmly, "be careful with the green bowl, that's for Mehdi mostly but you're welcome to try it if you're feeling brave today."

Mehdi slid from his chair, following Javaid as he set up the table. It looked wonderful and smelled even better. "You really need to get yourself a proper family one day, my friend, you could use some kids to spoil."

[Kari Muffin]

Conway was grateful when the food arrived. It meant there was something to distract the conversation and something that he could focus on other than trying to be social. And Javaid's meals were fantastic. They were always something to look forward to, and his tail would have been wagging if he had been in any other form.

He perked a bit at the mention of the food being less spicy for his sake. Even though he did want to subject himself to the Hisstor foods, he needed to pace himself. He was glad that Javaid had warned him about the sauce, because he honestly would have tried it. And that probably wouldn't have gone very well.

"Thank you," Conway said cheerfully to Javaid as he accepted his meal. He decided to check the spiciness of the chicken before he dipped it in any sort of sauce. To his surprise it was actually something he could manage to tolerate. He tested one of the sauces that he hoped would be mild, and was pleasantly surprised by the flavor. "You should cook with fresh chicken more often," Conway added after Mehdi.

[Vyn]

"Thank you both." Javaid didn't know how to reply to all of their kinds words, but he quickly gave up trying once they all started to dig in. Everything was wonderfully perfect just then. With the three of them sitting together enjoying their meal... it almost looked like a real family again. Javaid had missed this feeling. His tail wagged steadily throughout the meal.

After dinner was done, Mehdi helped with the clean up before excusing himself. "It's getting pretty late, I ought to head home. It was a pleasure to meet you, Conway! Hopefully we'll talk again soon!"

There was more honesty to that statement than Mehdi could truly express with words. Seeing Javaid getting along so well with someone new put Mehdi in a bright mood. In all the time Mehdi had known Javaid he'd never really connected with anyone, so perhaps this was proof of a turning point. Maybe Javaid had found his 'special someone'? Or, if nothing else, maybe he was finally ready to start looking?

[Kari Muffin]

The meal was fantastic. Conway hadn’t had a good meal like this in a long while. And he hadn’t felt comfortable and at home in even longer. A vagabond didn’t have a home after all.

Conway waved goodbye to Mehdi. “It was nice meeting you too,” he said politely. It was nice meeting someone new, but he gave a sigh of relief when the man disappeared from sight.

It was better to be alone with someone he would always trust. Someone who wouldn’t feed him to the metaphorical dogs... and he couldn’t quite trust the cat yet.

Not like he would ever trust the cat like he did Javaid.

***

The next morning Conway slipped out of his bed. He wasn’t sure if he had woken up before Javaid, so he quietly went to check. It was helpful that he couldn’t make sounds beyond his bracelet.

Maybe he should make his move to leave today? He bit the inside of his cheek at the thought. If Javaid was awake he would have to stick around for a bit longer. If the man was asleep he could probably slip away.

[Vyn]

Being the night owl that he was, Javaid often stayed up a while after Conway had gone to bed to verify that everything was in order around the Necropolis and, as such, slept much later into the morning. The same was true for this morning. Slipping into the room, Conway would find the jackal still nestled in bed though he appeared to be stirring -- not quite asleep but not quite awake either.

The jackal shifted and stretched before nuzzling his nose back into his bed of pillows and falling still once more. The motion, however, had revealed the soft sandy tones of the little wolf plushie Conway had made for him clutched lightly in the jackal's hand as he slept.

It had also roused Ma'at who was laying over the jackal's head and had now turned to state intently at the Joker in the doorway. She didn't move or chirp, though she was poised as if she might, but waited quietly to see if he would do something more.

[Kari Muffin]

Conway froze when the Jackal moved. He held his breath (even though he really didn’t have to) and waited for the moment to pass. He watched the man’s summons carefully, not really sure if she was going to give him away or not.

Slowly he closed the door and slowly backed away.

When he was sure it was safe he took to his regular pace. He wrote a small note and left it on the table for the man. It was very simple and stated that he needed to leave for the Queen’s safety. He would return after visiting his sister and taking care of a few things.

Yet again the wolf needed money to take care of himself. His sister was still set for quite some time. He, however, ate quite a bit of cash traveling from realm to realm. He had just enough to get to the Capital and find a job.

He hoped that everything would go smoothly.

[Vyn]

Javaid didn't sleep for much longer, but it was more than enough time for Conway to write his note and vanish. The jackal would wake to an empty house and, after a bit of confused searching, discover the note that explained the boy's absence.

Javaid was in disbelief for a moment, simple staring at the note as he tried to process the reality of its contents. Conway was gone... but he said he'd return. The jackal had expected Conway to go eventually -- it was only natural and he wasn't a prisoner -- but the sudden absence left him with an aching loneliness that Javaid wasn't fully prepared to deal with.

Being alone had never really bothered him before, but after having Conway around for so long it suddenly seemed like a daunting thing. He lowered the note, glancing around at the empty temple, and heaved a heavy sigh. Everything would be fine, of course. Conway would return when he was done visiting his sister and Javaid, in the meantime, would readjust to being alone.

[Kari Muffin]

It was a long while before Conway found his way back to the man. The Joker had to work for money so he could travel at least a bit easier than the last time. He had to work up the nerve to visit his sweet sister even if it was only briefly.

And he had had a small “accident.”

He wasn’t particularly sure what to call it besides that. He had been looking around in one of the shops and had noticed an artifact. It wasn’t labeled, it wasn’t covered by anything, so he figured touching it to look at it closer wouldn’t cause any sort of problem.

It did, however. The object had taken off his hand, to the store owner’s great surprise. After a good deal of anguish Conway had to deal with the repercussions of not actually having a normal hand.

It was a few months before he returned to the Jackal. And when he did he was standing on the doorstep with a rather kicked puppy expression. He had recounted his tail to someone along the way who was willing to listen. They didn’t seem to have such a drastic opinion on the matter.

Conway was quite worried that Javaid was going to angry with him. He stood staring at the door, completely unsure of what to do. The sun had already fallen and he had no other place to go. Would the man even be awake at this hour?

He whimpered.

[Nathalia]

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~Nathalia

[Vyn]

Javaid never seemed to properly 'recover' from Conway's absence. Now that the isolation had been broken it was a lot harder to accept the emptiness of his home. He found a lot of normal things unusually hard to do -- sleeping had become one of the worst. Laying in bed and trying to pretend he could sleep gave his brain the opportunity to wander, to realize things like how deeply he appeared to be attached to Conway.

It was easier to stay awake until exhaustion dragged you into a black out the moment you let yourself sit down.

Tonight was no different, Conway would receive no answer at the temple door but Ma'at would appear suddenly before him. The little tove trilled in recognition and, just as suddenly as she had appeared, vanished once more. Once more there was silence and the seconds would draw out until a voice, soft and slightly breathless, would reach the Joker: "Conway?"

Javaid had apparently been further out in The Necropolis and he had to straighten himself after his Sprint across the sands. Suits, he could barely believe his eyes.