what you thought was real in life somehow steered you wrong

[clement]

WHO: Good cop (clement) and bad cop (foreshadower)
WHERE: Maryland.
WHEN: The last four or five days or so.
WARNINGS: Nope.
SUMMARY: Walker and Shade go out of town on a bro-trip to sort out a couple things and indulge in a quest to recover an irreplaceable stolen item.
FORMAT: Quick



I saved all of his letters and photographs in a box, but the medal--it was a Combat Infantryman Badge, my husband was in the war, you see--that was in the safety deposit box that was broken into. I can stand to lose the money. But the medal is all I have left of him. You understand.

[He did.

It was the precipitating event, but Walker really didn't need a passionate appeal--the simple asking would have been enough. Restoring hope, and, through recruiting the Shade to his purpose, giving the strange, enigmatic and somewhat moody man a sense of purpose and distraction in a sometimes directionless and often frustrating dimension.

Which explained why the two of them were stealing through the dusk-dimmed main street in Maryland. And Walker was, as Walker did, trying to make conversation and move a little closer to the other man, emotionally.]

Actually... I wouldn't mind coming back here in the daytime. This looks like a very tranquil town. --What do you think of the architecture?

Comments

[clement]

Oh! Would you? [Walker is like somebody's grandma gdi this is awful] It would be very kind of you.

[foreshadower]

Very well. [ And he doesn't vanish, but he does walk away from the door, only to turn down an alley. He doesn't watch to see if Walker follows, but when he's in the relative darkness of the alley, he slinks to the shadows, and then into his shadows, a quick step or two, and then back into the relative dimness of the pawn shop.

It was then that he began investigating, rooting through the relative "treasures" that littered the walls, shelves, and floor. Most of it was junk, pure junk that even Jack Knight wouldn't have touched, scattered with the rare, few gems hidden in the rough. Nothing new to him, of course. Very few things surprised him, although there were a few first editions that...

Well, in a small town like this, would they be missed? Not likely. Who read these gems anymore when they had those digital devices and their computers? No, he would give them a good home, not that anyone would notice the slide of the volumes into his shadow and into his home. He would take care of them later.

But alas, no medal to be found here. Or rather, that specific medal can't be found. A shame. He stepped into his shadows, and back to the alley, before strolling along back toward Walker. ]

I'm afraid I have some bad news.

[clement]

Ah, it's not there. [he takes it rather well, and completely without suspicion that Shade is doing anything untoward--why should he assume he is?]

Well... I'm sure we'll find it.

Do your powers require you to rest?

[foreshadower]

I require very little rest, but perhaps it would be appropriate to find some place to stop for some time. I'm beginning to feel a bit peckish, and a drink would not go amiss. Do you eat, Walker?

[ They just kept feeling each other out, with their own unique qualities, although Shade perhaps didn't need to eat, it didn't matter. A gourmand wasn't going to simply stop because he had black goo instead of blood, and nor should he. ]

Or would you prefer to stop for the night?