milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Enter a very tired-looking gunslinger.

He's left the Whitman upstairs tonight. He's got a notebook with him instead, and a leaky fountain pen.

Roland sits at the bar, drinks coffee, and idly scratches some things down from time to time.

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His eyes narrow a bit. "You did not. What kind of taint?"

Shadow is all I got from her. *Meg makes a face.* Specific, right?

Very dry: "Very." Roland drinks some coffee. "How can you use that against him?"

*Meg eyes him.* Well, I have a vague sort of feeling that the taint is the reason he challenged in the first place. It's the thing that makes the most sense -

"Then explain it to me, for I am old and slow." His eyes glitter at her in a not entirely unfriendly fashion above his coffee cup.

*Meg snorts.* Oh yes. Slow like a fox.

*She pauses, considering.* Er - well, he doesn't even seem to know himself why he wants her, you know? It's like someone's making him feel like he does without really bothering to explain. And he's so crazed already he'd be really easy to mess with. And he doesn't want to hurt me, he's had enough opportunities and it's like he won't even try, you know? It's just - nothing about him doing it makes sense.

Roland thinks a moment.

"Could you get somebody to 'mess with' him, then, as you call it? And do you think someone else is making him do it?"

I think someone else is - encouraging him to do it. Let's say.

*She hesitates.*

I think maybe I have a guess who, too. But I could be wrong.

Roland nods slowly, and turns away from her. He closes his notebook, and puts his new ~~and very pink~~ pen on top of it. He has a very long sip of coffee.

And he gives her a sideways look. "If you'd tell, I'd listen. If you'd like."

*Meg sighs, and rubs her head absently.*

All right.

This is going to sound crazy, 'cause I don't have any proof, you know? Just - suspicious circumstances.

Suspicious circumstances like, this person sees someone who should be dead- which is, okay, not unusual in Milliways - but who thinks they're alive.

But no one else has seen them, except maybe someone else who's crazy too. And Alex is - he's in love with them, I think -

And the person - the person gave him a rose . . .

And I dunno what it adds up to but it sounds awfully awfully wrong to me.

Roland listens, sorting out Meg's words.

"Is this person a friend or enemy of Anthy?"

I don't know.

*There's something nagging in Meg's head, but she can't quite make it out, and so pushes it away, for now.*

But the roses - there has to be some sort of connection.

The person's name is Francis, Alanna says. But Alex just calls him Shadow.

"A connection is likely, but not certain." Roland's thinking of his own rose, of course.

"How can you find out more?"

It seems an awfully big coincidence if they're not. And I don't like to trust coincidence

*Meg shrugs.* I've asked people to watch him and tell me what they see - the people who are looking after him. 'cause, you know, it's in his best interests too, to get - whatever-it-is out of his head.

Roland nods. "But there's got to be a way you can use it against him. Maybe if you knew precisely why he wants her."

He drinks more coffee.

He said the friend - the Shadow person - is sick, and he wants to use her to help.

*Meg looks worriedly down at her own coffee.*

Which may be true, for all I know, but still doesn't make sense.

"Can she help with things like that?"

I never heard anything about her being able to.

I mean, she can't die herself, but I've never seen her heal anyone else -

"She keeps her dead brother in her chest," muses Roland. "She keeps her dead brother in her chest, and the one who has possession of her is in love with one who is dead, and yet somehow is here, if only in his mind. And roses."

Roland looks down at the bartop for a moment. His eyes are narrowed. "There are several possibilities that I can see."

*Meg looks at him.*

Well, your old and slow head's working better than mine - care to share?

"The most immediately obvious one is that he intends to use her as a vessel for this Shadow of his -- she already keeps one within her; perhaps he figures that he can bind this Shadow in her and thus he will be restored to him, in a way."

*Meg takes a breath.*

I - dunno if that'd do him much good. I've never seen her brother do anything that would indicate he isn't really dead, it's not like it lets him come out and talk to people -

*She stops, suddenly remembering something.*

Roland watches her.

*Meg is silent a moment longer.

And then says, almost reluctantly:*

Well.

He's not entirely inactive, Anthy's dead brother person.

"Does your enemy know this?"