We only learn as much as we are able to believe.

"I'm more concerned with my immediate co-workers than the girls in the archives," Neil said, rolling his eyes. He snorted and put his belt on, making sure his gun was secure. Neil made one last run through, checking he had everything he needed. The news that his neighbourhood was nicer than Dominic's made him snort - his neighbourhood wasn't exactly excellent. But then, a necromancer would probably have a tough time finding somewhere to live. Next to a dealer sounded about right.

"Yeah," he said. "I would offer my spare room, but I'm pretty sure that would kill whatever thing we have going right now." Neil didn't live easy with other people. "But if you ever need help with your dealer neighbours, you know." He shrugged awkwardly - it wasn't really in his nature to offer, but fooling around with Dominic added a strange sense of protectiveness to their relationship.

Dominic, of course, did not bother with guns. Not only was he a crap shot, but what exact use was a gun to him? His powers could move just as fast, if necessary.

"I'm getting pretty fond of them, actually. They don't mess with me. I don't mess with them, and they drop me a note if they think someone weird has been nosing around my place. 'Honour amongst thieves' or something. I'm sure we can send uniform to raid them, but I'm pretty sure everyone in the neighbourhood would blame me for that." Dominic smiled wryly. He was living in a very grey area, and his morals were just as sootstained. "Don't you worry. I can look after myself." Plenty of people had tried to kill him, after all.

" So! What do you think - are we going to find any more limbs today?"

"Yeah, I don't think setting up a raid would be a good idea. That's a brilliant way to get your house shot up," Neil said, making one last check before walking out of the door. He waited for Dominic and the birds to follow him before locking up. They headed out into the apartment building's garage together, Neil getting into the car.

"I'm sure you can look after yourself." It would probably do Dominic good to go a week without powers, see what it felt like to be someone who couldn't kill anyone that tried to hurt them. "And I hope we don't, but something tells me that we don't get any more breaks in this case without another body turning up. Even then." He made a face, pulling out onto the road and heading further into the city, where they worked.

The other bird avoided being forcibly dried by climbing Dominic's head and attempting to perch on his ear. Wet bird on top of wet hair couldn't possibly annoy him, right? The bird other one perched on his shoulder, shaking herself to try to straighten all the feathers. Preening was going to give them both hours of work, especially when they started on Dominic's hair.

“I fucking hope I left some hair-bands in my desk,” he said when he was sitting in the car and he could feel his scalp being scratched gently with claws and beaks. They picked out bits of flaked off skin, finding his hair not quite clean enough. He scrunched his nose when they started putting strands in front of his face, making happy chirping noises at each other. And Neil had wondered why he preferred to keep his hair tied up. The birds liked cuddling both Dominic and each other. Perhaps they were being deliberately more possessive and... Obvious, as if to tell Neil his place. Neil certainly did not have the right to mess up Dominic's hair.

“Is that your phone ringing?” Dominic asked.

When Neil sent a glance at Dominic, he couldn't help but let out a bark of laughter - the other man looked thoroughly annoyed, birds in his hair, making a right mess of it. Now he knew why Dominic kept his hair up. That was pretty fucking funny. "We can stop by a drug store and get a cheap one if you like," he said, grinning at the birds as they chattered at each other and preened Dominic. Cute. Maybe he could get used to the birds, as long as they didn't try to do that shit to him. Then again, it wouldn't be as thoroughly annoying - he kept his hair short. He didn't know why Dominic didn't do the same.

"Uh." Neil hesitated, then pulled over to answer the phone. He pulled it out of his pocket, flipped it open and put it to his ear. "Detective Sarrantonio speaking," he said, listening. He grimaced. "Yes, sir. Right away. Already on route. Uh... about ten minutes, if I turn around and get going now. Right. Yes, sir. Soon." He closed the phone, then looked at Dominic. "Ask and thou shall receive," he said, turning the car around and heading back into the traffic. "They found another body."

“They're being territorial,” Dominic said with a scowl. For such small birds, they could be remarkably fierce. “This always happens after I fuck someone new. That is, until they decide that you are part of their flock... Or at least, an acceptable pet.” Clever, territorial, and very demanding. Neil was going to get groomed one day soon, if their relationship continued – and one day, he'd no doubt get woken up by them chewing his nose.

“Oh, great. Same thing then?” Dominic asked. “I'll look ridiculous for a bit, not that bothered.” Everyone already thought that he was ridiculous anyway. There was a warm, almost pleased feeling at the idea of seeing another scene – what were they going to find this time? Was it going to be the same? How would it feel this time? And what would it look like? He really couldn't tell Nick that the part of him that was a necromancer was excited. These murders were something new, something different. These things were not something he had seen or read about. It would just feel silly to stop off at a drug store now.

"Territorial," Neil said, snorting. "Think they own you, do they? Well, don't worry, I don't have any intentions of owning him." Quite the other way around, if things got serious, but Neil had no intentions of that either. He glanced at the birds again and let out a quiet chuckle.

Dominic wasn't the only one that felt a sick sort of excitement over the news of a new murder - a new murder meant new evidence, and this wasn't exactly anything he'd come across, either. "I didn't get much over the phone - dead body, similar circumstances, you need to be there." He shrugged his broad shoulders and honked loudly at a car that pulled over in front of him. "What a fucking idiot, if I had the time I'd fucking pull the guy over, teach him a lesson," he grumbled. There was a tension in the car, now - they were both waiting to discover something, hoping. "Said I'd be there in ten minutes, but with this traffic, it's a tall order."

“Not own me, really. More... Protective, I suppose.” Trying to scare off other people who might damage what was already there? They wanted to keep Dominic like he was, most of all – not made too bitter by the bad things. They preferred him good-humoured and optimistic. They had seen him in his darker moments, and they hadn't liked that at all. Perhaps necromancer sitting on a pile of skulls was a terrible literary trope for villains, but there was a piece of truth somewhere deep down in that.

“I need to be there. Hah.” He loved the little irony of the police officers that hated him having to rely on his powers. “Yeah, good luck with that one. I used to have a bike, but they kept complaining about being squished in my jacket. They don't like going fast unless it's their wings doing it.” Dominic wanted to lighten this a little. "And they hate being windswept. Such girls." He got a reply of chirps.

"Ironic, right? Well, what's more ironic is that twenty-four hours ago I thought you were a useless asshole with some useless birds and I hated your guts, and now I'm quite glad you're here." Neil snorted and put his hand on Dominic's knee, giving it a little squeeze, almost affectionate. Despite Neil's gruffness, he wasn't shy when it came to appreciating a lover in his life. That didn't mean he'd declare love for Dominic any time soon (or ever, possibly). He was guarded about his emotions, and he was leery of commitment, but he liked to tell his dominant that they were appreciated.

"Hah, could never stand stereotypical girls. With the face make-up and the leg shaving, what's the point? Suppose it's not their fault, though. That's just what they're fed that they're supposed to do." He looked over at Dominic, tempted to slide his hand up a little higher, but that seemed inappropriate when they were on their way to a murder scene. He let go of Dominic's knee. "Are you doing anything tonight?"

"If only it was so easy to make the rest of them come 'round," Dominic joked. When they were stopped at a light, he leant sideways and gave Neil's cheek a little nuzzle. Very nice when he shaved, really. He kissed it very lightly. The birds squawked at the sudden change of angle, and one of them fell off. Her wings hit the side of Dominic's face as she had to take flight, and she finished it in Neil's lap. Her wings were still too wet for flight to be dignified. Dominic snorted with laughter and picked her up, brushing his fingers 'accidentally' over Neil's crotch.

"Oh, they're not so bad," Dominic mused. "No stubbly chins. Different." No need to really explain his sexuality.

"Tonight? Well, aren't you keen. I was planning to do some research..." Looking up some spells and information that might help with the murders. Dominic's memory wasn't perfect, after all. He wanted to check the spells that could do the things that he had seen.

Neil jumped a little - it was lucky they weren't going at any speed, or they might have been in trouble. Between the double whammy of Dominic nuzzling his cheek and a wet bird falling into his lap, it was a very lucky thing indeed. As it was, he braked a little too hard, but they were fine. He jumped again when Dominic fished the bird out of his lap, brushing his fingers over Neil's crotch and inciting an interested little jerk from down below. Christ, he really did like the other male.

"I like stubbly chins," Neil said, shifting slightly. "And hair."

Asking to see Dominic tonight was a little soon, but Neil's face still fell a little. Too keen, too eager. He was coming across like a guy who hadn't gotten laid in months when he had a guy he could call, if he wanted. Neil's hands tightened on the steering wheel. "Oh. Well, that's cool. Probably stuff I should do, too."

“Each to their own,” Dominic said. Maybe he should skip shaving a few times... Though then he tended to look even more ridiculous than he did with birds in his hair.

“Well. You can come round and see if you are capable of distracting me. Check out all my illegal books.” He was flattered by Neil's eagerness – and wanted to kiss him again, but since traffic was moving... Eh, better not risk it if unless he fancied more harsh braking. “I could cook you something.” He had been horrified to see all those ready meals and cans... Food snobbery had rubbed off on him.

“I could find out what you are like on a quiet night in...” As opposed to what had been pretty much a booty call.

Neil hesitated. The last thing he wanted was Dominic inviting him around just because he'd asked. He didn't want to impose himself on the other male, but at the same time, he did really want to see him. He nodded. "Okay," he agreed. "You can cook for me. I don't get guys cooking for me often, so it'll be a treat." And considering what they'd talked about last night, Neil believed the food would be good.

"I can bring some wine or something? Or a movie?" He wasn't against dating, he just didn't like to be in a relationship. Spending time with Dominic was fine, Neil just didn't like making that leap from casual to serious. "I think I'll pass on checking out all your illegal books, though." He snorted.

“I like having people round. As bizarre as it is.” He missed having a house full of people. Living alone was lonely, but finding someone to live with was even harder. At least Neil was highly unlikely to try to steal the books. Or even touch them, for that matter. He'd probably find them creepy, or at least very weird.

“I haven't got a DVD player. And my computer is broke. Something about delicate technology not working well with strong magical auras.” He'd given up on new ones. “I can't keep one in my place.” Shrugging in a despairing sort of way, he added, “Even my shit has an aura.”

The birds nipped his ear affectionately, and he picked one up to stroke her with a couple of fingers. “I wonder where they pooped last night,” he mused, now that they were on the subject.

"I'm sure I'll find out where they decided to shit later," Neil said, making a face. The news that they couldn't watch a movie was a little worrying, but he could always leave if he outstayed his welcome or if things got too strained. Or he could try and tempt Dominic into bed, which was a far, far better idea than sitting down and watching a movie.

"I'm sure we'll find something to do, even if we have to play strip poker." Neil grinned at Dominic and stopped the car. There wasn't much of a crowd - it was too early for that. No one had tipped the reporters off yet, either. He showed his badge and he was through to the crime scene - an alley, much like before.

Dominic already suspected that Neil would go with the trying to tempt him into bed thing. He was looking forward to resisting for as long as possible. There was at least plenty of easy options for dinner... “I am shit at poker,” Dominic admitted. “Snap is more around my level...”

And they were there.

Dominic followed Neil onto the scene. Nice little alley, lovely feng shui for a murder. He paused, breathed in the air. “This one is more recent,” he told Neil. “It still smells of what was done.” He wasn't referring to the smell of blood either – even if that was considerable. A pool of blood on one side of the alley, and a couple of limbs on the other, as if they had nothing to do with each other. Interesting. He could easily spend hours here, trying to recreate the spells that had done this.

“Anyone got some paper? And a pen?” he asked, ignoring the very odd looks that the state of his hair was getting.

"That's good, right? That the scene is fresher?" Neil asked, looking into the alley. He walked around, careful not to contaminate anything, noting the fact that the blood and the body parts had been separated with no visible blood trail, and that was fucking weird.

When Dominic asked for a pen and paper, he went to the other's side immediately, handing his notebook and a pen to the other male. Neil stared anyone down that stared at them for too long, acting very much like a loyal guard dog. He wished that they'd stopped for some damn coffee, it was too early in the morning for this shit.

"Looks pretty similar to last time. Just as weird."

“Maybe. What are the chances of them being able to get another necromancer here within an hour?” he asked. “I want a second opinion. If impossible, never mind. Isn't there some lackey you can send for coffee and hairbands?”

At least the birds weren't messing with his hair anymore. They flitted over the scene, stopping to perch close to both the blood and the pieces of flesh, curious. They never got too close, however, and never actually flew over the items, preferring to circle them.

Dominic pushed his hair back and began to sketch – first the outline of the scene, annotation with horrific handwriting. Photographs would have done for that, but Dominic wanted to add strange patterns in the air above, apparently abstract, looking almost like tribal designs. Someone who knew nothing about Dominic might have thought that he was doodling. He flicked a page over and began to write in spell-symbols.

“Possible for someone to mop up that blood? There's a written spell under it. The blood will dissolve it soon.” Dominic wasn't sure that neat police procedure would go along with that suggestion. He knew better than to stick his hands in it: in the same way that he knew it was not a good idea to step into a bear trap.

Neil watched Dominic sketch with interest. The requests made him frown. "Maybe on the necromancer, I doubt it on the blood. I'll leave you to it and see what I can do," he said. He disappeared to go and argue Dominic's case, but it was no good - there was very little respect here for users. Probably because the police had dominion over them. Most of them considered users no better than addicts or dealers, and he couldn't convince anyone that they needed a second opinion, never mind that they needed to completely ignore police procedure and mop the blood up before the spell dissolved.

"No, they won't," Neil said, frustrated. "On both accounts." He had half a mind to mop up the blood himself, but that would cost him his job, and then he'd be useless. It just went against everything he believed in to let evidence go because of procedure and ignorance. Even though he had disliked Dominic, he would have ignored him, even yesterday. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

"I did send someone to get coffee, though." His lips twisted into a grimace that was supposed to be a smile. "And a hair band." he stepped away from Dominic, heading down the alley. He crouched next to the pool of blood and looked into it, like he could see through it. Of course, he couldn't. He stood up, his knees cracking. A chill went down his spine as he approached the severed limbs. He stopped. He took a step forward. It got worse. That wasn't ordinary.

"Dominic? Come here. You feel that?" He barely even noticed that his co-workers were noting that the necromancer and he were on a first name basis.

“I expected that,” Dominic said, when both of his requests were denied. He was far less frustrated by it than Neil seemed to be. He was used to the petty discrimination and ignorance.

“Yep.” He could feel it even from where he was standing, but he came closer. It was strange that someone like Neil could feel anything at all here. Dominic could feel a miasma of power, of dissipating energy. He didn't like stepping into it at all, to breathe in a shadow of someone else's spell. It was definitely an attempt at immortality. He could taste it in the back of his throat. It washed over and through him, so that he had to steady himself. The birds went back to his shoulder.

“This isn't done by one. This is two. Or one who is two?” It was hard to tell, but he was certain that there was no way that a single entity could create such dissonance. It wasn't all smooth edges, but strange folds in the world... Dominic breathed in, feeling a little dizzy, as if the spell was poison to him.

He had to call on his own powers, to protect himself, like armour. His eyes changed their colour, and at the same time the birds seemed to become a little more brilliant, as if they were calling on their powers too. Like little phoenixes. They shook out their wings, displeased with what was going on.

“Have the forensics found anything?” he asked, more to distract himself. He was right. The spell under the pool of blood was hostile as soon as his powers were released. It wanted to know him, to strip his powers from his bones. “And that is a mage-trap,” he said, pointing at the pool. “For someone weaker than me.” They had expected the usual incompetent police user, not fully trained necromancer.

Neil could definitely feel something, and it wasn't nice. It didn't feel good. There was an edge of threat to the feeling, his bones shuddering. Neil gritted his teeth, trying to bear it for as long as possible before he took a step back and reached for Dominic without thinking about how it looked. He closed a hand over the necromancer's arm and gave it a little squeeze, trying to draw some comfort from the other man.

"I think I preferred police work when it was just men murdering other men." He supposed this wasn't much different, except for the one who was two business. Neil just hoped that it was two guys, because he didn't know how much of this weird shit he could take. Seeming to draw some energy from touching Dominic, he took a couple of steps back, away from the scene. The feeling down his spine decreased. He felt like he could breathe again so he took a few shaky breaths.

"So a trap for you, basically. They knew someone like you would be on the team, a user. They just didn't know how powerful you are." Something in him bristled at that, something protective. He looked at Dominic, the other catching his eye. He noticed something different immediately, but for a second, he couldn't put his finger on it. Then, it snapped into place. "Your eyes have changed again," he said, reaching for the other, almost as if he wanted to touch. He pulled his hand away and focused back on his team.

Raising up all the authority in him, he addressed the men at the scene. "We have a user case," he said. "Jones knows far more about this than I do... than any of us do, so I suggest we defer to him for now." That got a general grumble of dissent. "Well, if you feel you know more about death magic than a fucking necromancer, be my guest," he snapped. The men went quiet. Good. "Dominic?"

Dominic wasn't really interested in offering comfort right now. He was looking, instead, attracted by whatever had repulsed Neil. It was somehow a familiar coldness. He wanted to know it better, to see who had done this, to challenge them.

“A trap for someone who might see before the aftermath was gone,” Dominic clarified. He was terribly tempted to trip it, just because. He stared at the limbs instead. Where was the rest of the body? Had it been eaten? Left somewhere else? Did it still physically exist, or was it dissipated into dust?

Well, wasn't Neil lovely when he was all businesslike and commanding! He only half-listened to the conversation: Neil was very effective when he wanted to be, so confident. There really was much to admire in a man like that.

Still, there was something more compelling about the pool of blood right now. He was going to trip the snare. He couldn't possibly refuse himself this. With an annoyed flutter, the birds left his shoulder, briefly circling Neil instead. Neil was not about to stroll into something that would do it's best to murder him, after all. Dominic ignored Neil's last question, and stepped into the pool. It was shallow, and only took a step and a half to the centre. It was still all the blood in a human body – so little, when it was all spilled like this. It rippled towards Dominic's feet, not outwards as liquid should.

“No, obey me,” Dominic hissed as it became tendrils that tried to reach for him. “Your master is far away, and I am here.” He was talking to some entity. It turned into strands, blades, that surrounded Dominic briefly – a cage of dark red – but did not come close enough to touch his skin. There was a twitch across his face that might have possibly been irritation. “Oh, really. Down. Leave. I have had enough of you.” It had not been able to touch him at all. Instead, the spell fell apart in front of his force of will.

“Is it wrong of me to feel pissed off that someone has made a better blood golem than me?” he asked Neil. He had lost a little perspective, doing this.

When Dominic didn't respond and a couple of worried birds fluttered around Neil's head, he turned to look at what the other was doing. "Oh, for-" That was just typical. He finally made some headway into getting the other members of the team accept that Dominic was needed on the case and then the other went and stepped into a pool of blood. A pool of blood in a fucking <i>crime scene</i> no less.

Neil stepped forward on reflex, wanting to pull Dominic back. He stopped dead when he realised that the blood was reacting to the other man. He watched, listening, keeping the others back - the last thing he wanted to do was get men hurt because of whatever Dominic was doing. They all watched with wide eyes. Neil visibly relaxed when whatever happened seemed to stop.

"Fucking hell," Neil said, stepping forward warily. "Right, now that you're done freaking us all out, care to inform my team what you think all of this is?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "And yes, it's wrong of you to feel jealous of a fucking blood golem, especially when it's made from the blood of a murder you're supposed to be investigating."

“I was just saying hello,” Dominic said to the slightly horrified looks that he was receiving. The perpetrator will now know who he was – there was no way that had not been linked back to whoever had made it. If he had just made himself a target... Well, there was no need to tell Neil that, right? He had his own protection.

“Well, I think I know how it was done. The blood was enchanted before the victim was killed. Hence it being here, and body parts over there.” He was still standing in the middle of it. “There is no murder weapon, because this is it.” Dominic spoke deliberately coldly, setting aside his own emotions. It probably ranked as one of the most horrific deaths he had ever seen... “None of you need to worry. This can't be done to non-users. It wouldn't have tried to attack a non-user either.” How much would police really care about a necromancer killing off other necromancers? Dominic suspected very little, if ordinary people had nothing to fear.

He stepped out of the pool, stepping carefully so as not to splash any of it. As soon as he was away from it, the birds flew back to him in relief, chattering both reprimands and concern. Dominic tugged on Neil's arm, pulling him aside, a little further away from the nearest listener. “I theorised these spells. A bunch of us used to talk about this in a bar when I was a kid... Fuck. What have I done?” He ran his hands through his hair nervously.

"Well then," Neil said, staring down at the blood. He didn't quite understand. How could blood be used as a weapon? At least it couldn't hurt non-users, there was something to that, but ugh. All of this was giving him a headache. He let Dominic pull him to the side, staring at the other male. Dominic had theorised these? That was just great.

"Okay," Neil said. "And there's no way someone else could have come up with this? I mean, if you came up with it when you were a kid, surely someone else could have... stumbled across it or something? And what do you mean when you say that's the murder weapon? You have to remember you're talking to a non-user here, Dom. I don't know about any of this shit, I don't even know... fuck. You're going to have to explain it all to me. Step by step. And any involvement you may or may not have."