The Theater

Opening the door to another private dressing room, the sound of metal scraping against wood was no surprise, but the noise of it clattering so close to him was. Looking up to a rusted bucket filled with golden syrup, Mal didn’t move as the black tattoos on his body came to life. The faint lights blocked out more as they took control, grabbing the bucket before it tipped too much and somehow were quick enough to slap the honey away and onto the surroundings walls. Looking as the sticky liquid dripped down the walls, the demonic male could only sigh, shaking his head of short dark blue hair as he closed the door.

The feathers to follow were rather pleasant though, being not covered in honey. He reached out to grab one, looking over the pristine specimen as he went to the next room, closing the door behind himself as he marked that room as something to be cleaned later. He didn’t have time for it right now as he looked over the damage done.

That was- by far the coolest thing Zeph had ever seen. All those markings coming off the person to counter the attack wasn't a good thing, BUT that didn't make it any less awesome. "Let's go ask how he did that!" the shade whispered excitedly to himself and the rat. It was met with gentle rees on the inside that that was a horrible idea. Heck... well, they did know best. Sighing, he really wanted to go up to them instead of sticking to the shadows far up in the ceiling, but there were more pranks and spooks to be had.

Falling things didn't work, so maybe some good old fashion scaring would. It'd require a little more personal touch, so he left the little rat in the dusty room the stranger had just visited. Surely it'd be the last one they ever tried to look in again.

Gliding across the normally squeaky floor, the ghost was silent as it crept through the shadows. Getting closer and closer to the man with the cool tattoos until he could reach out with a cold undead hand and brush it across their leg. Making a quick escape back into the floorboards before he could get caught.

Peeking his head into each room, Mal just wanted one that was kept together just well enough he could set up a bed in it and sleep for the night. The hard work of rebuilding could be done after a nice little nap to get himself refreshed. Maybe make a few calls to some friends who were more than happy to help, find contractors for the bigger things that couldn’t be done by hand. It was a simple desire he was starting to think wouldn’t become a reality. Which was fair, he did have a hammock he could hang up if that was the case, any sleep was good sleep.

Feeling a shiver come over his leg, he glanced down but didn’t stop. His tattoos were less pleased with the change in temperature however, creeping down to his leg but leaving just enough on his arms that it looked like he still had them up there. Poor whatever just brushed against him if they tried it again. A grab was to be expected to happen.

Hearing a displeased hum inside his head, Zeph watched from the shadows as the stranger barely acknowledged the touch. 'Again' came the grunt, but he was less inclined for some reason to try again.. "I donno," came the hasty whisper back, "Something doesn't feel right." Though a bit on the derpy side, Zeph tended to have good instincts over his evil self. While they took this into consideration, there was no reason to be afraid as long as they simply touched and fled again. Perhaps the invader had simply passed it off as a brief chill.

'Just do it already,' they insisted, 'either you do it or I will,' Though still hesitant, Zeph gave in to the voice, creeping ever closer once more until he could reach out and pass another hand through the person. Little did he know, he was the one getting jump scared this time as the tattoos shot out of nowhere to latch onto his arm. "GYAH! Let go! Let go!" He screeched, trying his best to pull back under the floorboards. Nothing had been able to touch him back until now, not even when people had thrown things at him, what were these!?

Pushing open a new door, Mal paused as he heard what sounded like scratching on the walls. Was a wild animal caught inside? He doubted they would be too much harm, so off towards the noise he was going as his idea for finding a place to sleep in was for now abandoned. There was plenty of time in the night for that, but if a poor creature was trapped then who knows how much trouble it could get in after just resting a little. Not that Malphas was upset, animals were silly things and didn’t often mean to make messes and trouble, only trying to live their lives.

Continuing towards the sound of the scratching, the previous chill far out of his mind but not the mind of his tattoos, his shoes made a rhythmic and almost calming repetitive noise as he went. Lulling himself into a sense of security in his new home as he went. It needed work, but he’d return it to it’s glory days, he was sure of it. Not that he was left with long to enjoy the calm atmosphere as he felt the tattoos slide off his skin and latch onto something. Figuring it to be a rat at first, as the screams of displeasure followed it was obvious someone was there with him, or maybe more so a something.

Turning to stare at the ghost life creature writhing on the floor as his tattoos slowly coiled around him, Mal bent down to examine the thing that was following him. Dark in collar and far from happy as he reached out a hand to ruffle the ‘hair’ of their head that felt soft to him, more on the phantom side but he did have a soft spot for the spirits of the afterlife.

“Hello there, what are you doing there, you screechy shade? Are you lost?”

Having a mild panic attack as the tattoos that were so cool started creeping up his own arm and around his body. They didn't burn, but it was constricting more when he wanted to be freeee. Thoughts rapidly turned about what he should, it was a storm of annoyance mainly for the evil one. Normally he was the most complicated thing in Zeph's head, but they were being so goddamn loud that he gave in to switching places. 'I'll handle it, calm the hell down,' came the thought before Zeph suddenly felt himself calmed back into the darkness, like being in a movie theatre ironically enough.

Squinting up at the other that was stroking the top of his head, Zeph suddenly smiled, revealing a serrated set of teeth that the other normally kept hidden. "I think you're the lost one. Stepping in someone else's home like you own the place. I've been here much longer, even my body still buried under the boards. Why don't you leave already before I get really mad?"

It was a lie, his body likely picked clean already in the mountains by wild animals, or perhaps thrown into a river, either way it wasn't important to the evil one. What was important was finding the one that did it. For that, he needed this place to help Zeph learn how to travel efficiently at the least and not get screwed over by people in town.