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[b][h3]AND[/h3][/b]

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[i][h3]Sometime in the past...[/h3][/i][/center]

Zahariel flew back down the roof of his store, the darkness of night cloaking him from all prying eyes. There shouldn't be any at this time, anyway, as everyone around should either be asleep, drunk, or busy with something else. Plus, his establishment was further embellished by the expansive leaf cover of the vines and hedges that sprouted from the roof and sides. Several trees were set on the pavement in front of the store, which gave even more cover.

The great raven stretched his wings, feeling a bit sore after piggybacking at least two people back and forth from and into the city. Some Variants needed to be extricated from society, and so he brought them to the Underground elsewhere. And now, he didn't expect any company.

What he didn't expect, though, was that his sole employee had left something of his in the store, and would be on the way to get it back. And he didn't have great hearing.

Grassbones lept from rooftop to rooftop across New Haven. The night was growing longer, and most of the lights on the street were out by now. He dropped down into an alley and used a key to open the side door, and let himself in to retrieve something he forgot about. Thankfully, all the lights were off, and Zah was gone. Grassbones walked over to the counter and grabbed his phone. Of all the things to forget, it was [i]that.[/i] What he didn’t know was that he wasn’t entirely alone. It was a bad idea to smoke in a flower shop, so the calcified caper didn’t have a cigarette between his teeth at the moment.

Sure enough, just as Grassbones took his phone from the counter, Murder Express dropped in from the large open hatch of the store's roof, gracefully gliding down to the expansive center aisle. It took him more than a while to spot the skeletal figure in front of the counter, but when he did, he nearly choked in awe. Why are they here? Who is this? How did they get in here? Only two people had keys in here: Zah, and…

"What the hell," Zah simply muttered as the two saw each other. "How'd you get in here?"

[color=89CF45]”Ah- Hey Z. Just forgot something and- What’n the hell?!”[/color] Grassbones didn’t realize at first that he was in the same room as Murder Express… In the shop where he worked. [color=89CF45]”How’d you get in here?!”[/color]

Zah shook his head. "Through the hatch in the roof."

The Murder Express blinked once and then twice. "You don't know that there's a hatch up there, do you. I never told anyone that. Oh, well."

The great raven paused for another moment remembering that the skeleton's voice is so familiar. It's the same voice that he'd hear every day, all day. "Ah, I get it now. Shawn is the Grassbones. You are Shawn, and you are the Grassbones. At first I thought that you killed him and stole his keys. But then, the voice got me…"

The “voice” Zahariel was referring to didn’t sound anything remotely like what a human being should be able to manage, but the way he spoke was a dead giveaway. Grassbones stared at Murder Express for a moment, trying to wrap his head around this, before he eventually just evaporated into a cloud of smoke. From that cloud emerged Shawn Raymond, Zahariel’s coworker. [color=89CF45]”Well. This is weird, huh?”[/color]

"What are the bloody chances, ey?" Murder Express laughed heartily before morphing back into his human form, with the black, inky mist acting as a smoke screen for whatever internal transaction he might have. Zahariel then emerged from his own cloud of darkness, holding a cane that supported his weight on his left hand. 

"Fate must have intertwined and set our paths together," Zahariel began, slowly walking up towards Shawn with the same unsteady gait that he'd be associated with. Gone was the quiet majesty of the great raven; there's just Zahariel, the Martian that always needs pills.

Zah spared a glance to the flowers on the side before looking back at Shawn. "So, can I trust you to keep this whole thing as a little secret? Just between us? You know that I sometimes… pop in the news. And so do you."

[color=89CF45]”Heh. Yeah. Yeah- Hell, never took you for the kinda guy, man. What’re the odds? You and me, same work, same [i]work[/i] too. It’s a small world.”[/color]

Shawn stuffed his phone into one of the pockets on his “costume.” It looked a lot better when he didn’t have skin. [color=89CF45]”I won’t tell anybody, as long as you don’t rat me out either. Doubt you would, but I gotta keep it close, y’know?”[/color]

"Sure, sure, my man," Zah nodded, though he winced as his nodding caused him to have a crick. "Secrets are my specialty, after all. It comes with being a member of the Pariah Underground and an extra-planetary immigrant, after all."

He'd already told Shawn that he's Martian by this point. Thinking up excuses as to why a guy his age was on medication didn't really work out, so he just said the real deal.

"So," Zah cupped his hands together, pouting. "Are you… going somewhere or…? I'd just say 'see you tomorrow', but, you know, maybe we can, ehem, cooperate when it comes to our 'secret lives'."

[color=89CF45]”You think so? I’m down. We’re both helpin’ people, so why not?”[/color] He asked, [color=89CF45]”I was just gonna head on home, but I can hang around if you need something done. Birdman-you, not flower guy- you.”[/color]

"Very nice!" Zahariel excitedly answered, shaking Shawn's hand until it nearly came off. "So, I've actually finished my errands for the night, so… we can begin working together on both fronts tomorrow. This is going to be fun, yeah?"