[C] A Little Birdie Tells Me

Khaliq, after his chat with Silt, had decided to take Dario's case into his own hands.

Said case being the human's mortality and the impending death that would happen far too soon because of it.

He had arranged, through means of the owner of The Last Stand, to set up a false exchange in Doc's usual room in the back of the pub. All Doc would know was that there was a human that had a real needed to get his hands on some good crystal.

When Khaliq arrived at The Last Stand, he spared a nod to the owner of the pub, currently behind the bar serving drinks, as he made his way towards the back room.

He stepped into the back room and closed it behind him. There was Doc, sat at the table in the middle of the room waiting as Liq had expected.

"So, a little birdie tells me that you're not just a mega rich human whore."

Liq strolled forwards, leaning over to plant his hands on the back of the chair opposite Doc's occupied chair.

"Let talk some serious magic."

Deacon sat back in his chair, waiting for his next 'patient' to enter, seemed like this one was into some heavy stuff.

He couldn't help but smirk as Khaliq walked in, he remembered the man well enough, he hadn't thought he was a user, still, you never know.

His smirk widened as he looked up at the man, relaxing back in his chair as he rested his feet up on the table between them, his hand idly scratching at his clothed forearm as it so often did.

A new rune, more itching.

"Your little birdie better start singing a different song."

He replied, looking up at the man, his pleased expression unwavering.

"I'm just your friendly neighborhood dealer, I have no idea what you're on about, unless you think what I cook up is so good that it is magic."

He added with a soft laugh as he looked at the man, cocking his head slightly.

Khaliq wasn't a user. Not a snowballs chance in Hell of getting him to even consider trying street drugs.

"Cut the bull, Warlock. We don't need it at the moment."

Liq leaned over a little further.

"We need you to start performing some pretty dark and heavy stuff." Khaliq paused and inhaled slowly.

He needed to calm down. Getting angry never helped anyone.

Khaliq needed to get Doc to want to help him.

He pulled out the chair and settled into it. "It concerns Dario Corvi."

Deacon looked utterly disinterested as the man spoke, that was until he heard Dario's name mentioned.

His head cocked to the side as he looked over at the man curiously.

There was no doubt that the Necromancer knew what he was, there was no point hiding it any longer.

Doc didn't say a word and instead pulled off his coat and hung it over the back of his chair.

Beneath he was wearing a simple t-shirt and the runes that ran up his arm from his wrist, through the bend of his elbow then up to his arm pits, continuing down the side of his chest came into view.

He reached over and itched at one of the new runes which was still angry and red, burned into his flesh.

"You wanna talk magic, then lets talk magic lad."

He muttered, his accent becoming thicker as he leaned forward on the desk.

"If it is for Dario, as you claim, then why isn't he here, asking me himself instead of you."

Liq's eyes flickered quickly over the newly revealed runes.

He was interested; like all Necromancers should be. The magic that Deacon had was magic that he couldn't use. He was jealous and curious about what each rune did.

"Dario isn't present because he's currently spending his time with a group of close-knit supernaturals that has be ability to kill him without even realising and may very well do so if the magic I am asking to be performed isn't done."

Liq leaned forwards a little, planting his elbows on the table.

"That and he doesn't know about this yet. It's a joint effort between me, my sister and a close friend of Dario's."

There was also a third reason.

Dario would never do this himself. He would never selfishly come to someone and ask something this big from them.

"Dario is a big boy, he can look after himself."

Deacon muttered as he looked up at the man, how would the human react if he found out that others were dictating his life without his knowledge.

"I am aware of those he has around him and I don't consider them an immediate threat."

He still spent time with Dario, admittedly not as much, but he had heard a lot about the man's partner, his sweet little Hayden.

"I can already guess what you're hinting at. You do understand that if I take any action I would be messing with the fate already written out for Dario.

I understand that this is something Necromancers do not pay much mind to, but I do."

Necromancers constantly messed with the fate of a person, bringing them back from the grave where they were meant to stay, it wasn't something he believed in doing.

"However, I will not stop you from asking. Convince me that my belief is wrong."

He challenge, looking at Khaliq squarely.

"Usually, yes. But living in close quarters with unpredictable supernaturals?" Khaliq shook his head.

"You don't?"

That shocked him. Granted sweet little Hayden wasn't much of a threat. But the other two were.

"In one excited moment, the Elf could knock him over and kill him. The Vampire could drain him dry and leave his body for the birds. The Vampire is especially a threat. He's new. He was abused. His control is flimsy at best."

How was that not a threat? All it took was one wrong move on any of their parts and Dario would be dead.

The Necromancer inhaled slowly, eyes sliding shut. It wouldn't do any good to get angry with him.

"It seems his fate was always deemed to be twined with the Supernatural." Khaliq's voice was quieter now, more smooth as his eyes flickered open. "Making him a Supernatural wouldn't mess with his fate being tied to Supernaturals, would it?"

The Necromancer chewed his lip slowly. "What I request of you is not dissimilar to turning him into a Vampire, or a Lycan. Does the Lycan pause to consider fate when he bites? Would the Vampire think of fate when he drains Dario to his last drop of blood then turn him out of guilt?"

A brow quirked upwards. "Would you be considering fate when you hear of his death because the newborn Vampire's blood wasn't strong enough to save him and he was left dying on the floor, not even able to bleed out?"

Perhaps his 'don't get angry at him' tactic wasn't working.

"He's dancing through life on a pathway of mangled fate, being pushed on every side by Supernaturals that have the ability to push him over the edge. That pathway is going to become so mangled that he falls someday soon. I want him to at least have the strength to be able to push back; to change his own fate for the better."

Liq leaned back against the backboard of his chair, eyes sliding shut.

"Do you want that for him, too?"

Deacon's gaze took on a more serious edge as Khaliq spoke, listening over each of his point and considering them.

"Why not get a Lycan to bite him or find another Vampire to turn him if his one is so unstable?

Why out of all the options would you come to me?"

He asked, genuinely curious as to the answer, it wasn't every day that someone came to him and made this request.

"What I can offer Dario is worlds apart from those options, it would be much easier for them."

He added, his head tilting to the side in curiosity.

Dario already had a life and a body, it wasn't like Necromancy where one of those two was usually missing, if not both.

"I am fond of Dario, don't get me wrong and I am willing to help him, but what exactly do you want me to do to him?

I can give him longevity, granted it wont last forever, and who is to say that when he starts aging again that I will still be around. Or..."


He muttered, biting onto a pierced lip as he looked up at the man.

"I can put a stopper on his death, permanently."

Liq shook his head.

"Dario isn't suited to either of those. He wouldn't last a week without going out into the sun. Dario could not cope with being Vampiric."

Liq leaned back in his chair, brushing his hair out of his face. "And Lycanthropy? He'd confine himself. Someone like Dario would have immense strength. His Supernaturals are strong but they wouldn't cope with him as a Lycan. He'd end up killing them. It would make him miserable."

The man chewed his lip. "I thought about Necromancy, but it doesn't solve our problem of possible death. We're too human. Too weak."

He had put a lot of thought into what would make a good identity for Dario. Each and every easy idea had fallen flat.

"I came to you because you hold powers that a lot of Supernaturals can't even dream about."

This was their last chance at finding something for Dario. Something that could give him the longevity and strength needed to deal with so many Supernaturals.

"Longevity isn't enough. We don't want to just lengthen his life, we want to give him abilities that'll stop him from dying if the Elf or Vampire gets a little too rough."

He had come to Doc with a pitch but no solid idea. He didn't know what Doc could manage. He didn't know what could be done for Dario.

The man perked up at Doc's suggestion. He could take away his ability to die? "What's the catch for that?" Something that incredible and perfect for Dario had to come with some sort of nasty catch.

Deacon couldn't help but grimace slightly at the thought of Dario being a Lycan, that man would be terrifying, no doubt even he would think twice before submitting to him again.

"Fair point."

He had to award that one to Khaliq, at the very least he had thought all of this through before making this request.

"Abilities to stop him from dying? That is a little easier, making someone stronger, faster, giving them the attributes of a supe is surprisingly not that difficult."

Deacon couldn't help but shaking his head and laugh at Liq's next question.

"The catch? It IS the catch, you take away his ability to die. Even supernaturals can die, despite the legends, they are in no way immortal, far from it.

A Vampire steps into the sun, a Lycan loses a battle, a necromancer drowns, a shapeshifter could starve to death, a demon, well, maybe they get beheaded. Everyone dies, sooner or later.

If I did it, no matter what you do to him, he couldn't die, it might take months, centuries even for him to regenerate, but he would live."

Living forever was something that Liq couldn't comprehend.

Living forever held no appeal to him. Who would want to live when everyone you knew would die at some point in time?

The Necromancer chewed his lip.

"It's possible," he murmured softly to himself.

It was possible to give Dario the ability to live safely with his group.

"What's the process?" Necromancers knew better than most that things weren't so easy. Some things needed ingredients, rituals. Things that weren't as simple and straightforward as a bite.

Khaliq was certain this would be one of those things.

Living forever was a large price to pay, he didn't know how Dario would react to it.

Hopefully he could find something that would give the man a way out if he wanted it.

"If we did this, I would try to make something that could kill him, if he wished it."

Many supernaturals got to an age where they were ready to go, not everyone was suited to a life of eternity.

"The process isn't an easy one, in the slightest, but I should be able to do it, though I need a few things first, and since this is your request, it is up to you to get it all for me."

Deacon leaned down and began writing out a list of items that he required.

"Here."

He muttered and handed Liq the paper, on it was the oddest shopping list on the planet.

"Have fun with those."

Immortality wasn't cheap.

Nettle thorns
Raven feathers
Vampire Tears
Mother of Pearl
Lycan Fang
Demon Bone
Grave Dirt
Diamond Dust
Obsidian
Cold forged iron goblet
Elf blood

Liq read over the list slowly.

He wasn't going to be friends with Dario's Vampire after this.

Nor was he going to be friends with Aodh. The man was going to be going gappy for a few days.

Silt was going to be pissy while he regenerated a bone.

"Where the fuck am I supposed to get a cold forged goblet?" he murmured to himself.

He was going to have to hunt around for blacksmiths in the town.

"I might be able to get everything together in a week or two..."

"Lucky we live here huh? Getting this shit otherwise would be damn near impossible, just so happens Catania is a sink hole of supes."

Finding all these different species in one place was nearly impossible, except for the fact they lived here.

"Make sure you get enough bone for me to make a dagger out of and the obsidian has to be a sharp shard."

He needed the sharp obsidian to cut the demon bone down with once be laced the outside with the diamond powder which had to be heated on into a sharp layer over the gem.

It was the only way he knew to effectively cut through the bone precisely.

"Mhmm."

They were lucky to live here, where Supernaturals were so common.

"I'm going to make a lot of enemies getting all of this. Dario might even hate me for what I plan to do to his Vampire."

He wasn't looking forwards to it.

He'd get everything together, though. He had to.

"When you have everything come back to me with Dario and I'll make all the preparations for the ritual. Going to warn you now though, it isn't going to be pleasant."

He wouldn't even discuss payment at this point, this sort of magic couldn't be purchased with money.

Plus, he had more of it than he needed at the moment.

He wasn't sure what he wanted in return but he was sure he could think of some use for the Necromancer.

"That's not a warning you should be giving to me."

He knew it would be unpleasant.

It was Dario that would need that warning. Khaliq gave a soft sigh as he pushed the note into his pocket.

"What about payment?"

Doc may have decided that he wasn't going to talk payment but Liq wasn't in Doc's head.

Liq hoped that he could give Doc what he wanted.

"Payment is something I am going to have to consider."

He muttered, running his hand over the shaved portion of his hair.

"This isn't something I typically charge for on a day to day basis and you kind of sprung it on me."

He replied, snorting a soft laugh, shaking his head as he muttered the word, 'crystal' under his breath and laughed.

It would have been easier if that was really what Liq had been looking to purchase.

"I'll figure something out."

He added with a grin as he looked over at the man and winked suggestively.

Liq grinned when the man laughed.

"Had to get you interested enough to actually be here, didn't I?"

Liq leaned back in his chair, relaxing a little. "Spose I'm writing a big IOU, huh?"

The man grinned, his tongue running over his straight, white teeth. "If you want sexual favours, you're going to have to take it up with my girl. She decides which guys I'm allowed to play with."

After Aodh and Aeker, Rai had decided she wanted to see Liq with guys more often.

She had taken it upon herself to look for guys that Liq could play with.

So far none had really taken Liq's interest.

Rai was always looking, though.

Deacon couldn't help but laugh at Liq's response.

"You've come a long way since the day we first met then haven't you?"

He replied, thoroughly amused that it was even on the table that this point of time.

"Well then, bring your little she-wolf with you when you come visit me next and I'll see if I spark her interest."

"I have."

A lot had changed since he'd sat himself down in the Warlock's lap.

"If she does like you, I'm willing to take that old offer for having sex with you," Liq crooned, leaning forwards over the table with a flirty grin.

"I'm sure she'll like you."

Doc and Rai just looked like the type of people that would get along.

"Lets hope so."

He purred back as he sat in his chair a little more comfortably but leaned forward a little more.

"And even more than that, I hope you can meet expectations, after all, I'm accustomed to submitting to Dario."

Dario was a very good dom, he had high standards now.

"I haven't been the dominant partner during sex in a long while," Liq admitted.

Rai had taken an almost permanent position as Dom when they played. If Doc did end up in their bed, it would probably be Rai calling the shots and telling the two of them what to do.

Knowing her, Liq would probably end up the submissive in that situation.

"That's a real shame, seem your girl had broken you in."

He teased with a chuckle, the might had fallen, going from not wanting to touch men to being forced onto his hands and knees by a woman and made to let men use his body as they pleased.

It was very amusing for him since he had been reject by this man once before.

Liq gave a half shrug.

"Yes, she has."

It wasn't something that he minded too much now.

He would shamelessly admit that he liked most of the things Rai had him do. He didn't mind being broken in when they were in the bedroom.

He could still do anything he wanted outside of sex and he enjoyed that.