“I meant wandering in my house. Like I said, you can leave whenever you want. And the bathroom is two doors down on the other side of the hall.” Venus pointed to a door in the same fashion as all the others.
“Don’t worry about me trying to kill you in your sleep- or anyone else for that matter. Have a nice night.”
Venus waved and spun on his heel, he’d need to go clean up those dishes now.
He blinked at the information, then nodded. "Right. Thanks." he said. He closed the door once Venus was gone, trying to process everything. After a bit, he pulled an old, worn book out of his bag, paging through it. Dad, where are you? His fingers traced illustrations, over the words of already-memorized procedures for proper necromancy.
Venus got back to the parlor room and picked up all the dishes.
He smiled to himself, proud of his random decisions and all the ones he’d make tomorrow and so on. Though the newbies were annoying to deal, it felt nice to set them in place.
Venus took the dishes to the kitchen to wash them, only to remember how much more he’d need to clean up. At least the outdoors were easier to clean.
Rowan kept looking at the old book, frowning just a little bit. He had learned everything he could from it, and it still wasn't Enough. He still didn't understand what his father had done to keep him alive, didn't understand how he could do it himself instead of relying on his father. His father, who he needed to find before he expired.
Venus brushed off his hands and left all the wet dishes on a towel. He’d just let them air dry, mainly because he wanted to get back to his room and also because he wanted to look at what he needed to get done tomorrow.
When he returned to his office, it still smelled a bit like dead bodies, but that was standard.
“Now, let’s see what we need to get done …”
"This isn't enough." Rowan muttered to himself. "This isn't enough, dad. Why did you leave?" he closed his eyes for a moment, shaking his head. "You promised…" he let out a breath, and didn't finish the sentence.
Charlene had already told him most of what needed to be done. Other things were pretty self-explanatory as well.
Apparently there were also some problems near the South Side, and some rookies who had requested extra help for their next task. Beside most of the relatively easy tasks were also more annoying things, like other gangs who were on the verge of starting a war.
“I guess that’s all nice to know …” Venus said to himself, pushing through a side door in the office. Maybe today Venus would sleep long enough, or he could just sit outside.
Rowan grumbled to himself, trying to piece together what to do. He pulled out a notebook, jotting down some ideas inside of it. The pages of the notebook were already filled with his loose cursive handwriting, but it wasn't enough. None of this was enough. It didn't answer his questions, didn't fill the need for answers that he had.
Venus sat down in a chair.
He had a side room connected to his office. There was a strict ‘no killing in here’ policy, meaning that this room, was the only room that didn’t smell like the dead.
He picked up a book off of the shelf behind him, and flipped it open to a random page.
Pointlessly reading a book would give time for Venus to think, which is what he needed to do more of- and what he just needed to do in general.
He had so many questions, and not enough answers. He didn't have enough answers and he desperately needed answers. He desperately needed them, and he didn't know how or where to get them.
(Should we do a time skip??)
(sure! To when?)
(Probably to the next day, maybe a bit after the morning- afternoon maybe???)
(alright! To when Rowan and Venus are going to see the newbies, or what?)
(That’s probably a good place to continue.)
(Kk. Want me to do it, or do you want to?)
(I would prefer if you did.)
(alright!)
Rowan was pacing in his room. Venus would be here sooner or later to get him for that…thing later. He wasn't sure exactly what, but he had agreed to use his talent to help out the gang leader…which on reflection seemed like a very bad idea and he had no idea why the fuck he'd done it.
But in any case. That didn't matter, right? This would be fine. Everything would be fine. Maybe.
Hopefully. He squeezed his hands into fists, then relaxed them again, letting out a breath.
Venus had managed to wake up at a good time, and get together all the broken wood and glass. He’d need to fix up most of the front and replace things later too.
Now, he’d need to go see those newbies and bring Rowan with him. It was always refreshing to talk to them, and it certainly reminded Venus of when he was there.
Venus twirled a strand of his hair, walking down his hallway. Charlene told him where he’d need to meet the newbies, and had a couple other members make sure they stayed there. So Venus didn’t really having anything to worry about, if he ever worried about anything.
Venus knocked on the guest room door at the end of the hall, “Good day my guest~ It’s time to go places.”
Rowan opened the door. "Alright." He replied simply. "It's just talking to the newbies, right? Nothing else? I didn't agree to anything else." He looked at Venus carefully, taking a deep breath as he followed the gang leader out of the house and down the street.
“Of course, of course … You’re just a temporary guest and there’s no need to involve you with the gang.” Venus waved his hand nonchalantly.
To him, it was cute that Rowan was acting worried. His guests were more of just a way to spend more of his time. He really didn’t need to have Rowan go anywhere with him, but it would be nice to have him around. Such an interesting individual.
Rowan nodded slightly. He had his bag with him again, though it only contained the things that he didn't trust to be left alone. Meaning that he didn't trust that Venus or Charlene wouldn't go through his room while he wasn't in it. So everything that could have given him away was right on his person.
Which, perhaps, wasn't a good idea either, but he had no idea what else to do.
While they walked, Venus would need to think about what he’d do with the newbies.
There were always a few options, and things could also differentiate from how they acted. Today’s group was a bit of everything, and each came from opposite edges of the North.
There was the option to bring in a dead body for them, force them to kill a random bystander, torture … or simpler things. Like cleaning, fixing, and replacing the broken bits of Venus’s house. He could force them to fight him too … but that could take a bit longer.
Rowan was silent for a while, then eventually started humming quietly. He was looking around as they walked, taking note of different landmarks and markings that he could use later to find his way around.
Venus quickened his pace a bit and led past a few brothels , which soon became a few more until there were almost no other buildings around. This part, of this section in the North was pretty gross to Venus, not that he had anything against a brothel, but there were just too many bodies around all at once.
Despite this being a horrible route, this Dove location was close for Venus and a good way to hide away newbies- or anyone who was looking for trouble. Venus could probably take someone from here and get the newbies to kill them … someone more important might affect the newbies better though.