Dragon's child

•Fourteen•

A/N: random doodles pt. 2

The old man sat hunched over his desk, open books scattered around him as he scribbled furiously on a piece of paper. Light from the fireplace flickered over the stack of papers to his left and an even larger stack on his right. He paused suddenly, though there had been no noise or anything out of the ordinary to break his concentration. "Tom, is that you?" He asked into the silence, resuming his furious writing. "A little late for you to be here, did you forget something?" The popping of the fire was the only sound. "Come now, there's no need to be embarrassed. Just tell me what you need, you're not bothering me." When there still was no response, he started to get a little annoyed. "You can't hide from me, I know you're there. Say something."

"You have remarkably good instincts, Mr. Viska." A voice purred. The man stiffened, his hand freezing midair.

The silence descended for a few moments before the man began writing again, much slower this time. "I was wondering if and when you would pay me a visit." He finished writing with a flourish, before turning in his seat as the cloaked figure stepped out of the shadows, their lower face appearing to swim in the darkness. The pair stared each other down for a moment. "You're the Dark One." It was not a question, but a statement.

The figure grinned. "Yes."

"I take it you're also the one responsible for the destruction of that dark guild."

"Yes."

"And the one who slaughtered the treasure hunting guild."

"Yes."

"And you're here for these." The man began gathering the papers up.

"Yes."

"And since I know all this, you're not going to let me live, are you?"

"No."

There was another moment of silence before the man took off his glasses, chuckling. "You're more forthright than I thought." He finished gathering the papers in a neat stack. "I'm touched that you would be so kind to a dead man." He stood up and walked across the room. The figure watched, but made no move to stop him. The older man knelt and tossed all the papers into the fire and jumped to the side, but the figure didn't move.

The man stared at them and they laughed. "Did you expect me to run forward, yelling 'NOOOOOO!' at the top of my lungs while desperately attempting to put the fire out?"

"Yes." The man grunted, using the mantel to pull himself back up.

The figure grinned. "That would have made this game far to boring. Thanks to you, this might actually be fun." They walked over to his desk and inspected it while the man watched them from the fireplace. "And you don't have any notes or paperwork or anything." The figure seemed almost delighted about being foiled.

The man snorted. "And this situation is exactly why. I may be old, but I'm not stupid."

"Of course not." The figure paused, picking up a framed picture of the man and a younger Lahar. They smirked and put the picture back down before turning to face their prey. "Now then..." The man felt the predatory gaze lock onto him, but he didn't flinch, even as the figure began slowly advancing on them.

"I suppose you're going to torture me now."

The figure grinned and kept approaching until they were nearly nose-to-nose. The figure cocked its head a little, but the man stared him straight in the eyes without flinching. "You know, you're the first person in a long time who's been able to look me in the eyes without fear." The figure mused. The man looked confused and opened his mouth to say something when the figure quickly smacked him in the back of the neck with the side of their hand. The man immediately went limp and the figure caught him, gently laying him on the floor. "They should have taken you off the frontline years ago." They said softly. To an outside observer, it would look like the figure leaned down and kissed the man, but it couldn't be farther from the truth. When they pulled back, it was done. The figure picked up the body and carried it into the man's bedroom, tucking it into bed like a child. They went back to the main room, stirring the ashes to make sure all the documents were completely burnt. The figure went to leave but hesitated for a moment, looking at an old picture on the mantel that clearly depicted the man and his family years and years ago. They picked it up and took it back to the bedroom, placing it on the man's pillow next to his head, before extinguishing the fire and disappearing into the night.