This morning the rumblings of his own shop woke Nathan up instantly. He felt something was wrong, majorly wrong. He got up quickly, still in his pyjamas, his living quarters but a room above his shop. Barefoot he hurried down the wooden stairs only to find part of the shop collapsed, or rather merged. It being in two places at once had never been an issue, but today the part of the shop that only expanded in the magical world was somehow crushed by the human worlds building next door. Not badly, but bad enough, this went out of hand. He had this shop going for forty years now and never had something like this happened, now it happened daily. Nothing as bad as this, but doors leading out the wrong way and one or two humans he needed to find an explanation for. He wasn't any smarter of what was going on since this started, but he heard that it happened to other places as well through the grapevine. Laylines weren't supposed to be unstable like this, albeit this being a somewhat artificial one. Only in this moment did he have the idea of checking his personal vault again. It wasn't here, not really, but also connected to the shop by a door that changed were it led. Neat little thing Nathan found on one of his journeys ones. As most wizards and magicians he was also prone to collect and study artifacts, but he felt it a bit rude to attribute that to his genetics or his profession. Either way, the door was locked multiple times, physically and magically. Even after entering there were multiple magical locks keeping intruders out. All of them were in tact, nothing wrong, but when he opened the box in which he hid that artifact, it was empty. What? How was this possible? No one tempered with his seals, nobody even had a real way to get in here, or know of this places existence and on top of that he found no trace of anyone's magic in here either. This was bad, mysterious but bad.

Nathan didn't have much time to play detective, he had to mitigate the damage to his job and call someone so they'd take care of anything that spilled over in someones living room. He wasn't equipped with forgetting spells or anything of the sort. There were processes, regulations, all that, but Nathan rather called someone discrete. All this damage that was being done all over the worlds, was that because he lost this artifact? It could create laylines, he knew as much, he used it - only once! - and then deemed it to powerfull of a tool. It has many hidden functions too he didn't figure out in all his studies, not fully anyway, some not at all. It made sense that his layline collapsed somehow, but what about the others? Was this deliberate? He had too many questions.

The following days he closed his shop altogether. There was no way he could still do business with an unstable place like this. Someone also wanted to send over an official investigator that wanted to look at the site, but for now he held them off. His own research didn't get him far either, he lacked the means to question the right people and he wasn't willing to even reveal this artifacts existence, or the ones connected to it. No, it was better as few people as possible knew about it, that had always been the goal and still he was at a loss. Thinking about what to do next he could only think of one person who had the means and skills to help him figure out what happened, at least he was the only person he trusted with this information as well. Someone like him would not just use artifacts for his own personal gains, he'd probably turn it in and then it was unsave, but Nathan could probably... get it back before that or something. He'd figure it out, first he had to find it and he had to get someone with some authority on his side. He didn't necessarily want to talk to this person ever again, but... this was more important than his personal well being. Fine. How would he even talk to him? Knock at his door? Call? Did he use a phone by now? Probably not...

Nathan wasn't a powerful magician in the usual sense of the word, but he had his means to invite himself into someones home. Not that he couldn't have knocked, but he didn't necessarily want to be seen by any prying eye and apart from that... why use a door when you could just... not? Roscoe Imgalreas apartment was tidy and clean, he didn't change as it seemed, but before Nathan appeared right before him, he sent a paper crane made of lavender toned and blueberry pie scented paper over. It was sure to garner his attention and unfolded in front of him to reveal the words "Sorry", before it disappeared in purple smoke. Yes, it had been Nathan who left. He didn't even break up, he just... disappeared for a few decades. Everything got too much back then but in essence he always believed to have made the right choice. They were not right for each other, polar opposites, but maybe he could have been less of a coward about it. He kept his eye on this man who used to change his names like his underwear, but right now he seemed to have a stable life. It was fairly easy to keep track of him lately. Enough stalling, while his eyes were still fixed on the smoke, Nathan let himself into this mans home, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. In his hand he held a figurine that minutes ago stood in one of the shelves in this room. "Glad you kept this.", he mumbled, putting it down on the next best spot. Then he finally faced his former boyfriend, taking off the hood. "Don't freeze me please, I come in peace." He raised his hands.

Playing a pas-de-deux with paperwork hadn't been on his schedule this week, but he took it home with him regardless, at the behest of his employer that was telling everyone to put in overtime, but not him, because he'd have to pay for that, and Roscoe was already overpaid for his efforts - and the geezer was right. Holidays weren't something he saw to, indulged in, or used up - not when he didn't have to, which also meant that he should have been at the magistrate this morning, but he'd been firmly told that today, he'd have to use to get rid of some overtime, lest he'd saddle his employer with more guilt and fees to pay, as the entire office was already theoretically aflame. Reports after reports had come in, over phone, over e-mails, hell, even via the local postal service, announcing that something was terribly off in the first place, but Roscoe hadn't gone to investigate himself, not with a schedule like his and preciously little days off - he'd planned on it, sometime around brunch, hastily scribbled information on sticky notes in hand, to survey the damage everyone kept talking about. Right. He'd have to get out of bed first; he took a shower shortly thereafter, then put on a morning gown and made his way to the kitchen, sitting in silence - not even birdsong disturbed him up here, even if he sometimes wished it would at least carry anything else but wind. Why, praytell, did he even move here again? Right. He owned this thing, had bought it for different reasons than just his own gain and was desperate to get out of his last place, that reminded him too much of ... Coffee would be nice right about now.

With his fingers already in motion, it didn't take long for the roast to be poured into the coffeemaker itself, or for the hot water to gurgle and drip down into a cup he had sat there. Just as the bitter aroma was about to fill this side of the apartment, maybe even seep into his morning gown or any of the other clothes he wore beneath, there was a different kind of scent wafting through the air. The offending smell was composed of lavender - not exactly something he'd indulge in daily - and blueberry pie, which he'd probably tear someone head off for, if need be, were he still that willing to brutalize the strangest creatures over the least important of things. The paper was soft, almost thinner than air as he unfolded it - the letters on it, in the belly of the crane he just destroyed out of curiousity - spelled sorry, in handwriting he could have identified just about anywhere. Roscoe knew it spelled trouble in its own right and this prank, of sorts, better stayed as such, even as it evaporated into nothing more but thick smoke. Mesmerized by the strange happening, he was about to reach out as he heard his floorboards creak, his eyes immediately fixated on the strange spot it had come from, and in its place, someone manhandling his decorations. The voice that adressed him, one he'd always described as warm honey, was nothing but an insult to his very existence right now and his annoyance peeked, the moment he found that those almost too familiar hands were wrapped around something he should have thrown out a long time ago - he was over this man, and yet, he definitely had never really gotten rid of him at all. "In peace? I'm sure.", he grumbled as he pinched the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb. "This is worth two months of your earnings, seizable by the magistrate for infering with the life of one of it's employees, keeping tabs - no, stalking - said employee and then gaining unlawful entry into their home, as per paragraphs 14, 17 and 56.", Roscoe recited and grunted at the man that was going to drag mud through his apartment like he'd dragged his heart through it. Glinting scarlet eyes watched this mans every move. "Give me a good reason not to fine you - blueberry pie-scented paper cranes, this early in the morning, don't work."

Ros didn't look happy at all, well did he ever? Either way, Nathan wasn't here to fight or to argue, not at all actually. Besides, he was the one vanishing without a trace as if he'd been a dream. He wasn't even sure what Ros thought happened, if he thought Nathan died on one of his expeditions. No letter, no call, nothing. He didn't seem surprised Nathan was still alive and well though, so maybe he kept tabs on him as well. "My earning are rather fluctuating especially at this moment... but er... I know what you mean. I am not here to fight, even though you can hardly call me your stalker. I didn't watch you or anything and until I teleported here I didn't even know if I'd end up somewhere completely else." If he had given that trinket away or sold it for example. Maybe it was a bad habit to gift his ex lovers enchanted items that allowed him to gain entry to their home at will... actually that sounded pretty crazy, but... whatever. For as much as Ros liked his rules and regulations, Nathan could be as controlling in a different way, but he only ever had nice intentions.

"You can fine me if that makes you feel better.", he replied, eventually coming to a halt and leaning against the wall. "I hate to only come here because I want something... but it might be beneficial to both of us. I'll get straight to the point, but I beg you for discretion. I know I'm not in a position for demands, but please... Either way... I might know something about those leylines collapsing, I am sure you have a lot to do with it anyway, seeing that you are working for the magistrate right now." Nathan stepped closer, pulling a small bottle out of his coats pocket and putting it on the table in front of Ros. "I cannot follow this magic trace, I don't have the means and... probably also not the skill, but I know you can. We need to follow this lead, find where it brings us, it'll help this investigation and situation and we need to hurry too, before this gets out of hand. I can probably fix this if we find... this..." He slid the bottle a bit closer to his former friend. There was pure magic inside, not much, just a hint and all traces that were left in Nathans home. Curiously enough the vault held no trace anymore at all of the artifact. Something was off, but as long as he didn't know what, Ros probably didn't need to know.

There was a pregnant pause after Nathan ran his mouth - it was always the same with him, wasn't it? Roscoe knew that this man spelled trouble, but say it wasn't so when they first met and had decided they desperately wanted, no, needed one another for years to come. Codependency was never going to work out, however, and this guy had decided he'd make a swift cut through their relationship one day, without as much as a word; Ros didn't even want to see him, let alone know he was still alive, the latter of which he'd always known. "Hello? Good morning? Hi?", he grumbled as an answer, given that he'd been rude himself, but Nathan hadn't said anything of the like either, almost as if they had left off on that conversation the last time and just got back to it after five minutes. Still, those were enough words to confirm his suspicions too, and Ros, as charming as always, grabbed the figurine that had dragged Nathan in, stepped on the trashbins pedal, and tossed it in. That'd do it. "Next time it'll be the furnace for sure.", Roscoe informed his little 'friend' before he closed the distance between the two of them in a swift motion again, with a detour to the coffeemaker to grab his mug, and sat down at the table that Nathan had chosen as his base of operations.

With his expression soured, Ros put one leg over the other as he looked up at Nathan, scrutinizing him below his gaze for many a minute to come. "It won't, and I can't delight in you getting annoyed about losing income." Which meant no fines, besides, this was purely substantial and if dear Nathan tried to fight it with an appeal, he'd probably win anyway. Why take a city official serious in the first place? He was just a random guy, anyway. "Do you now? I bet you'll also hate to leave like you did last time when we saw each other.", Ros expressed, sounding as bitter as ever - and he was. If there was one thing he hated, then it had to be Nathan's weird ideas of how to wrap people around his finger, and if there was another thing he disliked, it had to be that this man never took off his shoes when he waltzed into places. "Do you now?" Well, that would save him some time exploring the issue by himself, but it would only help so much if they couldn't figure anything out. "And how do you know that, hm? Not stalking me my ass." A huff of hot air escaped him - his day was ruined, immesurably so, but why be like this? He was over this man, he'd been for a long time, yet, seeing him in the flesh, he wanted to tear him into thin shreds. Curiously, he eyed the bottle he was presented with, listening to the explanation he received. "I'm not some sort of magical sniffer dog, and I don't think my abilities are for you to peruse at your own discretion." Always stern, always a stickler for rules. Roscoe put the mug to his lips, took a sip, then looked at Nathan. With one hand off the mug, he took the small bottle into his own hand, looking through the glass into the swirling contents. Mages and their junk ... "Lost something important, hm?" If he wasn't the least bit intrigued, he'd confiscate the bottle and throw his former boyfriend out without handing that thing back to him. "Look. You can't come in here, and expect me to not be over you as a person in your entirety, to even be happy to help you out because it will help me at my job. That's ridiculous. There's not a single reason or incentive for me to not throw you out of my apartment right this instant, however ... If you give me one, good personal reason why I should help you, I will, but just to solve some issues with instable leylines being stupid? I have so much overtime I could take the next century off and not deal with this, and the paperwork isn't even the annoying part."

Right, saying Hello was courtesy and Nathan always made an entry as if it was not. He didn't try to be rude, he just didn't think of it, if anything he didn't understand the need of such norms, it was frankly a waste of time, but he also didn't mean to make this point today. "Hello.", he answered therefor in his somewhat monotone voice that often times sounded like he was annoyed even though he was not. 110 years and still he didn't quite understand society. He never fit in, even stranger that Ros and he had been together. Then again, his nature made it hard for him to fit in too at times, even though he so desperately wanted to. Nathan himself found himself judging of his nature, unbothered by his own bloodline, that did not make him eat large amounts of flesh if any at all. And then there was the fact that Ros wanted to fit in, wanted to be 'normal' whatever that meant in the magical society, but either way, Nathan was very much the anthesisis of norm and he felt himself pushed and molded into something that would have only shackled him down and left him unhappy.

He was a coward for just leaving one day, feeling that if he tried to talk to Ros, he'd convince him to stay withhis caluclating way of argumentation. Nathan wasn't botheres about money either, something Ros never seemed to get his head around. Sure it helped him acquire certain magical artifacts, but at the same time, he had ways to acquire them without liquidity as well. "I'm sorry for leaving like that... and yet I think that it had to end one way or another." Maybe trying to get back together or anything of the likes was a good thing, a clear cut was maybe best. "It's hardly a secret and my shop needs permits too, I know the magistrate.", Nathan responded, watching Ros as he took an interest in the bottle he brought. "Very important... not just to me.", he answered, kind of waiting his turn in this game they played. His eyes widened in confusion soon enough. "Personal reason?", he asked unsure if he understoof him correctly. This was probably the one question he didn't prepare for. For a moment he grew silent, trying to find the right course of action. "Look...", he started after a deep breath, "this is something that won't stop anytime soon, it will only get worse. I came to you because even after all this time, I trust you. You are a man of integrity, someone who abides by his own personal rules and someone who will not stray from them. This... situation is worse than you or your colleagues think and its solution as well as cause is powerful and very dangerous. You won't try and harness its power for yourself and you are the only person whom I know this of. That's why I came here and nowhere else."

For the first time in maybe forever he heard Nathan open his mouth and say something sensical, something that he actually wanted to hear - a simple hello had never sounded so crisp, so lovely to his weary ears and Ros was almost overjoyed that, after such a long time, he might finally hammer it into this man that his general demeanor was rude at best and downright nasty at worst. "Good morning to you, too." But did it matter? Regardless of any fact, there was something he could not put his finger onto, and if he thought about it, Nathan greeting anyone that wasn't necessarily a high-strung customer of his had never been the norm; sure, sometimes he'd announce he was back, but Ros would more often than not find this man pilfering his fridge if he ever was over and the door of it opening, creaking ever so slightly, was enough of a 'I'm home now!' sign to him back then, when they'd moved in with one another for a brief period of time and thought that every word the other said was reality, and not some starstruck stupidity, influenced by both their own moods and their desire for each others company. Often, Ros felt as if Nate would be the only person in this world to understand him, but he was sorely proven wrong when even that man abandoned him like he'd been done playing their little game - it was fine, he wasn't hung up about it anymore, he wanted to proclaim, but in the end, it just went to show that no matter how much love he poured into something, even with as rowdy and disagreeable as he was back then, it wouldn't prosper.

Ros still swirled whatever contents were in the tiny bottle around, trying desperately to make heads or tails of what it could be - if he didn't figure it out now, he feared, he'd eventually find that he himself was out of shape when it came to these kinds of things. There was, for no reason at all, a divide between being his own person and fitting in, and in his terms, that meant that he metaphorically had to cut off his own legs if he wanted to make a stride into what the rest of society believed to be, well, fine. "Keep your excuses.", Roscoe told him off - this wasn't about mending old wounds, or understanding the bitterness that he felt whenever he thought about the other man a tad bit too much; Nathan hadn't come here to rekindle a flame so old, the ash might have already been scattered to the winds. And yet, Roscoe didn't take these explanations as an offence, for once in his prude life. Rather, he just dind't need to hear them. As he finished up his mug, he waited for the proper words to fall into place like a mangled puzzle, only to be sorely disappointed when it was something as ... stupid as that. That wasn't even a proper reason, damnit. "That's it? You came here because you think I won't put my hands on one of your artifacts because you know I'm a stickler for rules?" Ros sighed, deeply at that. This wasn't going so great, was it now? There was nowhere for him to go, nothing for him to squander. "Nate, listen. If you came here looking for someone that's more than willing to entertain whatever bullshit for an adventure in its own right, you went to the wrong guy. I have no interest in dealing with things hands on like this, much less do I care about spending time with you alone ever again.", he grumbled, but he certainly wasn't done. "However, as per paragraph 41, if something poses imediate danger to the city or its people, and I ignore being informed of it, I am subject to a fine, and a trial, and I'd rather not go to jail." With that, at least, he got up from his chair, rubbed the sleep out of his eyes one final time and looked at Nathan in bewilderment. "Stop collecting weird, dangerous shit and then not keeping it safe, will you? You're like a magpie hoarding pipebombs ... I'll go get dressed ... and hands off my fridge." With that, he turned on his heel and walked off to his bedroom to go get a change of clothes.

Ros seemed happy for just a moment but it was soon gone anyway. It seemed like Nathan didn't say what he wanted to hear, whatever that was, but in the end he was just honest about the reasons he came to him and no one else. Wasn't the truth enough? Sure, Nathan didn't tell him everything yet, but he also just wanted to make sure Ros hadn't changed too much and would be on his side. If he layed open absolutely everything, what stopped him from cutting Nathan out of this investigation? No, he had to find this artifact himself. Ros wouldn't even know where to begin containing that thing himself. Given, Nathan obviously didn't keep it save enough, but he wouln't make this mistake twice. "It's not 'one of my artifacts' it is much bigger than me or you.", he told his former friend with emphasiz in his words. Ros never took those things serious and called all the things Nathan brought home junk, or playthings when they were not at all, as if Nathan was a child just playing mage. He hadn't been then, albeit young and he was certainly not now. Only because he was young compared to any famous wizard didn't mean he wasn't old enough to understand his profession. He didn't need a pointy hat and a gray beard.

Ros seemed very much opposed and very disinterested in the things that went on. "You'll change your mind when-" bigger leylines started to collapse, but Nathan was cut off by Ros. Who was he to question Ros' reasons, he just wished he would just agree without finding an excuse in one of his books and lists. Nathan wasn't sure if he felt relief, he just looked at the man that just got up. He did keep these things save, he did not collect anything that looked shiny either but Nathan bit his tongue while Ros waltzed off. Nathan put his hood back on and let himself fall down on one of the chairs while he waited. Talking to Ros had never been easy and even now he didn't take the mage serious. He just got reminded of the reason he left, constantly being put down, not taken seriously and the fact that everything he did seemed beneath Ros. If it wasn't gaerning respect, status or wealth it was worthless in his eyes, wasn't that it? Nathan somewhat nervously tapped his fingers on Ros' table, wondering how long it would take until Ros blamed Nathan for everything going wrong at the moment. Was there ever anything he liked about Nathan in the first place?

It was swift and painless, like changing his skin would be if it were that easy. His flesh need not contort to fit into clothes, but even just the realization that he wasn't alone in his home, eagerly awaiting something he couldn't put his finger on, too, made him nervous for all the wrong reasons. Ros liked being alone, he preferred to run on his own schedule, go by a modus operanti like he should, but all things considered, he never really figured out why that was - he just had liked it that way, but when Nate first crashlanded in his life, it had been like all the warning signs and fires around him weren't bright and orange or red enough to stop him, until he became entangled in a web he couldn't make heads or tails of. It all ended in tragedy, or, well, rather overnight when one day, Nathan just disappeared into thin air - it wasn't uncommon for him to be out and about for a while, so he didn't think too much of it, yet, it culminated in something else entirely eventually and he was to question whether or not he'd been too strict on the man in the first place. Sometimes, people didn't change, their demeanors simply did because love was a curse and sickening sweet nectar alike, one that anyone would drink from, were they offered the chance. They both had peculiar hobbies, and obsessions, with things they could hardly perceive as sustainable, but it was what it ought to be in the end - Roscoe had to admit he was worried sick at first, something seemingly quite unlike him, but that had changed eventually, when he'd come to the realization that Nate was just fine by himself, elsewhere. It didn't take long to figure that out.

With his clothes in place - overdressed, as one might call a maniac that wore a white suit at every chance he got - he returned to where he'd left Nathan, only to find him sitting at the table, seemingly bored out of his mind. "I'll change my mind when, then?", he harked about the unfinished sentence he'd interrupted earlier, putting on a pair of shoes and then a jacket, in case he'd get cold, which he was unlikely to. Scrutinizing as ever, he eyed Nathan from head to toe, then grabbed that mug off the table and put it in the sink, filling it with water to not have to deal with the stains later. "Take your shoes off when you enter homes.", he informed Nathan, once again judging his every action as if it would be insensible to just let him do whatever he pleased. Then, as he eyed him some more, he grumbled. What a nuisance. It was good they had broken up anyway; Nathan was too much. His head was in the clouds, he didn't care for anything but himself and the greatest gift one could present him with was the total societal collapse of bureaucracy so he could do whatever he pleased, however he pleased. An anarchy loving bastard was never meant to be good company for someone like him, and yet, and now, and here, he couldn't help but antagonize something like that even more. "You should on a proper coat or you'll get a cold, anyway." What a statement to be made by one of the frostiest creatures on this here side of the earth; they both knew well enough that Nathan probably had endured worse colds, and yet, even the fleeting look at his former partner pissed Roscoe off. "We should go to your place before I unfurl this thing, anyway. Unless you already let my coworkers in and it's crawling with the likes of them?"

It took Ros a while to come back and when he did he looked like he was about to go to a dance or something. He changed, but somewhow for the worse. He always valued what he wore but this? This seemed to be compensation for something he was lacking, but Ros would never admit that to himself. While they both never fit in, Nathan was happy to learn how to be content with who he was while Ros still seemed to get his validation from other people, strangers no less. Nathan got up saying nothing, simply putting his hands into his pockets. "I was going to say that this situation will become much worse. Not just a tree popping into a house or something. The areas might expand too.", he explained, not that Ros would take his concerns serious enough. Following Ros to the entrance of his home he waited for him to put on shoes and a coat, as if this man was able to freeze. The cold was somewhat of his domain, there was no way he needed to dress like this, but this might have been a ruse too, to not have people guess or figure out what he was.

"My shoes aren't dirty.", Nathan replied calmly. The nagging and the gaze that told the mage there was likely more to come. Nathan didn't change much in appearence since they last saw eachother, he merely grew a little bolder wearing what he felt like wearing instead of finding something that suited someone else. "My health is hardly your concern." Not anymore, he didn't have to take comments like this from Ros. "None of your colleagues are in my shop. There is nothing much to see either, but I'll let you take a look if you insist." He was probably interested in the crime scene, the vault that should be secure. Without Nathan neither him, nor his coworkers would be able to even open it and he also didn't intend to let anyone else but Ros inside. His place then, fine, the fastest way was the best, they had no time to spare. Nathan couldn't teleport anywhere at will, maybe a few meters away, but that was all his magical capabilities allowed, but of course he had set up in places he frequented, especially his own shop. He simply reached for Ros arm and as soon as he had a firm grip on him, they were transported to his domicil. Ros used to hate this form of transportation, but surely by now he didn't do all his travels on foot. The shop itself was quiet, after all it was closed for the moment. Having it partly grounded in the human world meant he had access to their electrical system. He walked over to the light switch to turn the lights on.

It was always the same with him - this man would never stop lioving in his own head, being an oddball that thought he had no place in a world like this and yet, Ros could almost assure him that if he just tried a smidge harder, he could have a stable life in a society that didn't necessarily hate, but actually revere his kind. Nate wasn't the kind to fold to anyones will, though, as seen by his willingness to embrace humans as somewhat equals, unlike many of their friends and families, who'd see them as lesser, or as prey, or what have you. There were only so many things they could hark on about like this, and only so many options that they had. "Leylines expanding, worlds collapsing in on itself ... sounds about right for the hijinks that you tend to hoard." And that, in turn, went missing for whatever reason that could be. Roscoe was never fond of many a realization like this, neither was he happy to hear that something went on beneath his prying eyes without him noticing - he was an entirely different beast that Nathan was, and not identifying the mage as a prey had initially taken some time, given that he'd have eaten him regardless, while their relationship was still ongoing if he ever would have decided to play with his feelings. By now, Ros could boast that he had better control of his urges, something that came with age and time, but that was fairly about it.

"It's common decency.", he mused in turn, but seeing as Nate wouldn't budge over something like this, he would make sure to just not allow him back into his home ever again. That, too, worked. "You're not taking care of yourself, either." And that was true, at least if Nathan hadn't changed one bit since they last saw one another; Ros wanted to not be like that, to see that he'd changed for the better, finally made up his mind, become a man of his own, but he knew that that could hardly be the case with someone as carefree as this man, that would rather toss all care to the wind if it meant he could spend some more time indulging in what he truly cared about: Which were his stupid, bewitched trinkets. "Did you even inform anyone yet?" Was the last thing he could ask, before his integrity was questioned wholly and he found that he himself was being taken ahold of - he knew what came next, and yet, the moment they stuck a landing in Nate's shop, he wretched, then cleared his throat. The first thing he could get ahold of - the counter - was what he held on and soon enough he took a deep breath. "I'll never get used to this shit.", he cursed under his breath, making it abundantly clear that no, even multiple decades of separation had caused him to change his ways. Not all of them were like this, it wasn't an ijiraqi thing, it was Roscoe being an old-fashioned fuck that never saw any use in purely magical means of transportation or breaking the system as a whole. With the contents of his stomach retained, he was glad for the light that shone deep into his face soon after, only to start walking about and looking at where one part of this store met the other. Still, something was quite ... off about that, wasn't it? "How long has it been like this?"

"I'm not hoarding it, I am keeping these things save. What do you think would have happened if someone else had held it the past forty odd years?" He had more to say but he bit his tongue. Ros would never stop patronizing him and making him feel ridiculous and worthless. With all the non acceptance Nathan received one would think at least his lover would be on his side, but no, he hadn't been then and he wasn't now. Maybe he felt better about himself if he could call someone else odd or a freak. "Maybe I don't want to be decent.", he answered combatively. Ignoring the next two questions it was nice to have Ros shut up for the moment when he tried to keep his stomachs content inside of his body. Nathan looked at him, standing here in this store, not at all as strong as he made his current persona to be. This store looked good even. It wasn't too small, an rather open space for all the things on display and a segregated second space for his special customers, or otherwise all those non human. It was lit out well and ordered too.

"How would you know how I am taking care of myself? I am alive and my business goes well.", he informed Ros, walking towards the stairs that led up into his own home which were situated behind the counter. "I had this mess cleaned up is all, but no I didn't want this to be a crime scene, so it was discretely handled. Are you coming?", he asked. "The way to my vault is up there." Ros seemingly had other ideas as he walked about the store looking around a bit. "Like what? In disarray because of the leyline collapsing? It started acting out a few weeks ago, around the time the other incidents started happening. This right here happened four days ago, which is when I started to put a few things together and discovered someone broke in and out of my vault without leaving any traces, which frankly should be impossible. Even if someone broke the seal, there is no way they could put it back together exactly like I left it. Those things are like fingerprints, there are no copies, but that's not the only strange thing I can't wrap my head around. If you open that bottle, you should find similar traces around here, traces of that artifact from thirty years ago, before I locked it up for good. It still lingers, yet in my vault there is no trace of it, as if it had never been there to begin with. Maybe you can make something out I missed." Nathan could detect magic fine, even if it was weak, but when it came to ice magic, Ros had more of a chance of finding traces quite naturally. Since the artifact incorporated all types of magic, if there was still any trace left, Ros could pick it up, so Nathans theory at least.

"How many of them do you even have by now? You can hoard and keep them save, but judging by what happened, who knows how safe they really are.", Ros nagged on. One break-in didn't mean that it would happen again, or that it was something to be concerned about for consistencies sake, but he knew that, in the end, there was only so much he could do about some of these things, be that because he couldn't control the life that Nathan lived, or because he didn't know enough about his field of expertise. At some point, when they were still touching bases, he'd always expected that he'd live up to be something great, to intensify his studies and become someone that was more than just a figment in someones life, a passerby that couldn't see the bigger picture for that life of his. "Maybe you're just being cranky now." It wasn't that Ros had ever stopped believing in him, or that he didn't think that Nathan wasn't doing good work - he just loathed an existence like that, where he'd embrace his non-conformity to society and become an oddball, an outcast, like that. Why fit into his role when he could squeeze himself into a different one? It was all the same - nobody would ever want him for who he was, much like nobody would ever want Nathan just for being himself; neither of them did the same, either. Well, not all the time, at the very least.

"That's not exactly an indicator of taking care of yourself, that's the bare minimum.", he whispered in turn, truthfully aware that he had no way of knowing if Nate was actually taking care of himself or not, but knowing him as a person, he probably wasn't - he was living his life as he wanted to live it, with no care in the world, absolutely befuddled by the realization that hunger would even haunt him, and that the next meal would cost more than he maybe wanted to afford. "I know where your vault is." He'd not seen it often, just sometimes, but he'd seen it - marveled at it once upon a time when everything was new to him, when this kind of life was foreign to him and yet, he'd never missed one bit of it, not when Nathan left one day, to waltz off into directions unknown to him. Ros had, perhaps, seen it in a dream, many times, and while he wasn't exactly great at dealing with it when it happened, it was just the way of life. In the end, there was no way out, it was much like a snare he'd been caught by and was haphazardly trying to escape for real. "Yeah, like that ... sounds like you had a sticky thief in here that knew what they were doing. Has this never happened before? Not once, to someone else that isn't you? Wait, knowing you, you probably haven't even asked anyone else, aside from me." And Roscoe was hardly of the same breed as his ex - they were different in nature, which also meant that any kind of similarity was hard to come by, often enough. "Locked it up for good, hah?" And told nobody about it. Typical banishment mage. All of them tended to be the same about their little magic trinkets. Whatever. Having seen his fill, he turned around and walked up the stairs behind Nate, who was beckoning him to get a move on already. "We'll do that after I see the vault, yes?"

"Yeah? If they get stolen here, they get stolen anywhere else too. Can you stop acting like I am just shit at my job? I am telling you, I am not and this break-in is something I have never seen before. Someone had to know where to look - and I am very discrete about my artefacts - someone had to get up here, find the right invocation to find the door, the right one to open it and then he had to break through all my seals, reassembling them just like they were. If you think I am just bad at what I do for almost a hundred years, then ask one of your smart friends and they will tell you, that it is impossible to recreate someone elses seal perfectly." Would Ros ever take him seriously? Maybe it was a mistake to ask for his help, maybe he should just keep trying on his own. If he didn't have the authority to question people, well maybe he'd just pay someone who was stronger than him to convince them. "And you wonder why I left...", he mumbled to himself with a deep sigh. This was worse than he remembered.

"What is it to you anyway...?", he sighed and finally led Ros up the stairs. Once on the top floor he closed the door behind the both of them, then put his hand on it and closed his eyes for a moment. "I don't know of anyone else...", he mumbled half concentrating on calling the right place. "And I can't ask to look at police records or anything like that, but you can." Nathan opened his eyes again and the door shimmered for a moment. When he opened it the staircase behind it was gone, instead there was an almost empty space. Not that nothing was inside, just the floor and walls didn't seem to exist. He opened the multiple seals that he put on the entrance, then nodded towards Ros, telling him it was save to go inside now. "I didn't find any trace of the artifact in here, which is strange. It had strong energy, it should linger, even if removed, like down in my shop, but it is just gone. Even if it was teleported out, there should be traces left.", he explained and followed Ros inside, leaving him to do what he thought was right for now. "I know someone who sells stuff like that to people who pay very well, but I felt like it would be stupid of me to just go there on my own and simply ask if he knew anything..." They weren't on the best of terms either. "Besides... I would have expected him to steal more than one artifact but it was the only one that got stolen." Nathan leaned against the doorway crossing his arms.

And there he went - on and on about the same shit that he'd always loathed to hear. Why don't you take me and my prowess seriously, why don't you take me and my job at face value, why is everything I do beneath your standards? Roscoe knew why, but he'd never spell it out, or give Nate the option to even guess why. So, he let him talk and vent his frustrations anyway - it wouldn't get better if he bottled all of that up in the first place, but spending time with him was a loathsome ordeal, he knew that well enough and he wouldn't want it any other way. To keep people away from him, at an arms length, this needed to be done and kept that way. It was simple, really. "I'm simply asking questions, besides, so many artifacts means that you can't have your magical eyes and ears on them all the time. My god, Nathan, not the entire world is against you - you've had me tell you worse." And it was true. Ros was neither being an asshole - by his standards - nor a harsh critic currently, he was just throwing things at the wall until they stuck and if they did, then this was even more reason than to repeat them, like the same old mistakes. Why listen to Nate when he didn't know what he wanted in the first place? At least Ros never thought this man wanted anything but freedom, and yet, like this, he was still shackled to something, even if it was a place that inhabitated a few trinkets, nothing else. "What was that?" Ros hated a lot, especially people that mumbled some stupid insults. Nathan wasn't being fun to be around today at all.

"If you can't take care of yourself someone else should at least give you reminders that you're supposed to." Not that he cared. Not that he needed to. It probably was a nagging leftover piece of emotion at the back of his head, brought about by the realization that he, of all people, could only get so far if he didn't put his mind to it, and that in the end, Nate was still ever so ... No. That wasn't right. With the door behind them closed and the mage's foul tricks at work, Ros observed him, let him be in peace for once so he could take care of that which had to yet be revealed - there was no way out of this, even if he hated those magic tricks with every fiver of his being. "I can, huh. Handy to have me around, then.", he snorted, disgusted by the fact that he was good enough now, but not good enough to say goodbye to in the first place - was he a toy, like any artifact? Was this about the fact that Nathan could pick or choose if and who he wanted around him, and that it didn't matter if he didn't feel like it? What an absurd idea that caused to form in his head. One step, and he was already in that little dimension that Nathan called his own - it wasn't on either plane, really, and the room looked just like that. Unhooked from reality. "Let's think outside of that box, then. From what you've told me, it's able to manipulate leylines, no? What if the person that got ahold of it used that to get out of here, that would immediately cut them off from any sort of that, though, it should stop somewhere, then - and we don't know where this line leads, especially not if it wasn't real in the first place." Roscoe got theoretical with it now, especially as he watched the place and took everything into account. Had it ever left? Yes, otherwise there wouldn't be some weird lingering around here in the first place.

"And if it isn't him? Any enemies, any weird customers, anyone asking too many questions?" Ros kneeled down, observed the space and ran his fingers over places unseen, trying to discern something. Then, almost as if a flash of dwindling inspiration hit him, he leaned his head back to look at Nathan. "Want me to scare him into fessing up, hm?" Well, there was nothing to be done about it - he grabbed the bottle from earlier and then pulled on its cork, producing wafting smoke that seeped into its surroundings and exploded into splinters of ice, much like expected. They glimmered for a while, but not to anywhere in particular - and they weren't visible to the naked eye either. Actually, they simply ended in a straight line against a wall. "There ... that doesn't normally go anywhere, does it?"

Was Nathan overreacting now? No! Ros always did that. He said something and when Nathan retorted he was told that it hadn't been meant that way. Of course it was. Nathan grit his teeth, annoyed by the fact that Ros already made him doubt himself and pulled on the hood a little. "Nothing.", Nathan mumbled. He was glad Ros wasn't able to read minds. "I'm fine, you're acting like you are my parent. Who's saying I can't take care of myself?" There was nothing wrong with him, besides the fact that he was worried about this artefact missing an the damage it could do. "I asked you for help for a reason." A reason he questioned. This wasn't about Ros or Nathan, or about how they got along, this was bigger than them. They should focus on the task at hand. "I haven't told you that, but yes. It can create leylines, but it also has other functions. I assume it can destroy them too, which isn't exactly what is happening. If they were simply destroyed, only the path would disappear or appear, big merges of realities like those that are happening are unusual. I didn't figure it out all the way through, so it is possible it can influence them in other ways. Honestly though, I doubt this plane allows for something like that. If it could not only open doorways to other worlds, but other planes too, this situation might be worse than anticipated..." There were certainly creatures that should never cross over to anywhere else. "Also that doesn't explain how they got in and why there are no stronger traces of the artifacts magic. Creating a leyline should have a greater effect. Then again, this place isn't necessarily bound by usual laws of reality.", he quickly added.

"You could call him an enemy I suppose... he tried to buy some things off of me, I never even knew how he found out I got them. I didn't sell. He never talked about this specific artifact, but he knew of others." That was only half the truth. After figuring out what this man did for a living, Nathan acquired a few things of his, without paying. He wasn't sure if he knew it was him though and again, stealing only one item seemed out of the ordinary for him. He was a greedy bastard. "I never let customers come upstairs, much less am I showing off this space or the door. They are all... kinda weird, but no one I would suspect." Nathan looked at Ros and shrugged his shoulders. "I doubt one person would be enough to get to him, if running in guns blazing. He's a pretty powerful man. As strong as you are... he has hired muscle too. But if he is involved, I am sure there is a paper trail to be found, if we got ahold of his archives." Now he watched Ros open the flask and latching onto the ice magic contained in the rest of the mix. "No. That is a wall after all. Sort of." Nothing in here was a wall in a natural sense, but the place had borders and that was one. Nathan stepped closer, feeling up the wall. "My seals are in tact here too. Untampered with. I mean theoretically, if I removed it, we could walk out there, but I wouldn't recommend that..."

Roscoe would smile, usually, but he knew that someone like Nathan knew his stupid ideas, his every move, his general demeanor and frankly, Ros didn't feel like giving him the confirmation that, why yes, they were quite literally thinking of the same thing. Sure, there was one way to squander a relationship, but this was an entirely different one- he had always been like this, he was always going to behave like this, even if it meant that he had to jump through hoops and hurdles to be especially annoying. "That's what I thought." No badmouthing him in his vicinity; there was really no need to do that, let alone was there any need for Nathan to dislike him in the first place - Ros was perfect, in few peoples eyes, and never in this ones. Both of them came with flaws, with cracks and tears in their very being. They'd been glued to one another for a while, some decades ago, and to spend time with Nathan again, why, it would make his younger self rejoice. Thankfully, he'd grown up. "Because you need me, my connections, my powers and generally someone you can trust, I assume. Not having anyone else you can trust, after all this time, that's ... sad.", he commented, and he meant that. But he wasn't any different. The last person he'd allowed to get close to him was Nate, many a decade ago, when they both weren't as old as they were now. "You haven't? Then I must've assumed, based off of what you've told me. Old habits die hard." Frankly, he didn't care. It was kind of obvious from the way Nathan had been talking about all of this in the first place. "Not my field of expertise, but how unlikely is it that you can create something like this, as a one-off spell or artifact? If they know it was here, it would be easy to conceive a plan and maybe they didn't even undo your seals - maybe they just circumvented them?"

These inquiries became more theoretical, like an unsure shot in the dark that nobody was too sure of actually landing, but perhaps that was for the best. There was no way out of this if they didn't solve that riddle of whodunnit and how they got in here in the first place. "There we go. So he knew about things that he had no business knowing about, since they'd been in your vault for a while, huh? Do you think he shouldn't have known about them overall, or is there a slight possibility he just assumed you had them in your possession, because he knew of their existence?", he badgered Nate further, as he ran his hand over the formless crevice that the splinters of ice had glinted at them before. Nothing here, and nothing beyond that, either. What a shame, truly. Not only was there seemingly no viable way out, then, but there also was another hurdle that the two of them would face if that was the truth - and Ros trusted Nathan to speak nothing but the truth, when it came down to this. "Mhm, I don't expect that, really. But did you have anyone but him that was up in your business, a bit too forcefully or maybe even subtle? Trying to sweettalk you into giving them more infortmation than they are worth?" Ros wanted to cover all bases, in hopes that his hand would - meanwhile - slide into the physical barrier that existed between him and the room this room was contained by, or at the very least that's how he understood it. To hop right through, into the perpetrators maw, might help. "As strong as I am? Don't tell me he's just like me ... I hope not. Whatever, yes, a paper trail would make things easier. If you'd like, and are sure this isn't a blunder, I can also make up the means to seize that papertrail, without having to fight him or his little hired henchmen. Not that those are loyal, anyway." Not having trusted goons, but only hired muscle, would always pose a problem. "Sort of." So not entirely. He knew where this would probably go. "Second story, free-fall into the open? What about the human side? I assume it to be also sealed, knowing you and your paranoia about keeping it save, but would that still send us falling? Is that even where you'd get out?" What a peculiar mystery.

"Having to point out how sad and useless I am every other minute is pretty sad too...", Nathan replied without much energy behind his words. Nathan was a loner and usually he was fine with that, but whenever Ros was close to him, he made him question his decisions and his life. He was happy how he lived, he didn't need anyone else, but Ros kept questioning him and planted doubt in Nathans mind. He felt less and less bad for leaving like he did. Ros would have probably just talked him out of it, whyever. There was nothing Nathan could give Ros that he wanted. He tried to give him comfort and make him see that he didn't have to live by whatever standards other set, but he never listened, never wanted to listen, instead it was an insult for him. Ros got what he wanted, sort of but he was seemingly unhappy enough so he had to keep nagging. Nathans heart felt heavy, there was no reason to be this way, it didn't help their investigation at all. "Practically impossible, even more so if they didn't have the original to work with. The seals cover this whole space, there is no going around... unless..." Nathan stopped for a moment, furrowing his brows and trying to make sense of the idea he just had. He grumbled to himself and eventually got out of his own head and looked at Ros again. "Theoretically when we came in, I disabled the seals for just a moment to pass through, but I wasn't in here until a few days ago. I checked the seals weeks ago and since all was fine, I didn't take the risk of going in. Theoretically if someone followed me in here when I checked... but there would still need to be some trace of time magic, or maybe invisibility or something. Even shapeshifters leave a trace and all of those incidents happened way before that, including my own shop starting to act out. I also have detection seals in here, if there was magic cast I should know."

This still didn't make any sense. Theoretically the way out could maybe, the artifact had capabilities Nathan hadn't figured out yet. "I guess maybe he could have made a shot in the dark, maybe he didn't just send people to break into my vault, but he is a greedy bastard and I'd assume he would have taken more than just this one artifact. I checked, everything else is untouched." Nathan sighed, he was in over his head probably. Ros didn't seem to be. "There is... somewhat of a business partner, but I doubt he'd want that artifact for himself. Maybe if someone paid him, but I didn't tell him I have it either." Nathan shook his head. "He alone? No probably not. But he likes surrounding himself with werewolves for protection. A lot of them and the occasional troll or orc. As for his files... I'm not exactly sure they are supposed to be found, they are definitely not legal." Nathan looked at the wall again. "This place is not connected to the leyline and is only loosely connected to my living room and only for as long as the door is open. Outside? A bunch of eldritch beings as my guard dogs... not mine actually. I just happened to build a place right here, so uh... I wouldn't recommend saying hello to them." Nathan wondered about something and pondered for a bit. "Someone might have stolen it, but what if instead the artifact moved on its own? I mean... artifacts only sometimes grow legs and there wasn't any indication this would, but those old powerful things often have a mind of their own I suppose..." That would maybe be the saver option, or maybe not. It would be harder to find again with absolutely no leads.

“And who said you’re useless? This is exactly why we kept quarreling all the time before you left. I say one thing and you take it the wrong way,” Ros lamented, his arms raised in a somewhat defensive gesture. Had he been too harsh on this sad lump of dirt? Perhaps, but he didn’t need to see to it that he felt comforted and coddled, he never needed that anyway. Right now, he failed to see how they ever worked out anyway, given that there differing opinions on things were in stark contrast to one another all the time - and it never got easier. Whereas Nathan wanted to kiss the wind, embrace the sun and dance among flowers, to be free of societies totalitarian rule over the world, Ros would want nothing more than to be shackled by it all forevermore, no matter how hard it was to actually stay within the confines of society sometimes, knowing that stability was something that he preferred, more than anything else, but that Nathan would never see eye to eye with him on that, no matter how hard it would be to stay as he way. "Do they need an original? I'd assume these artifacts came about without something to base them off of,so if someone were witty enough, maybe they could simply make up their own, alone." But even that was hard to say. There was nothing that he hadn't heard of before - when he started working for the city, some of these things came as a surprise, yet others were still something that he could hardly entertain himself with, full of the knowledge that all of it had happened somewhere, sometime before. "Conventional shapeshifters, maybe. Let's assume someone like me lays claim onto the territory your shop is in, therefore all it compasses. You can't quite see people like me in our own territories, you know? But you'd certainly be able to see them out of the corner of your eye, still. You're smart enough to not claim them a mirage in your minds eye." They had dated long enough for Nathan to know about ijiraqi, and what made them so different from all those other shapeshifters - they were beasts in nature, fickle ones with a mind of their own that needed to be satisfied. "Detection seals, huh. And they picked up nothing? Weird."

The more they talked about this, the weirded the topic seemed to get. No matter how many times he ran it through in his head. He wondered if it was even sustainable to consider this case solvable in the first place - maybe it was easier to simply give up now, before they caved their skulls in over something like this, yet, if the person or being that stole that thing were to actually cause harm to their surroundings, that didn't bode well for any of them in any way. Somehow, this was gearing up to be bad. "Then it doesn't sound like him, unless he has clients that had their eyes on something very specific. Maybe he figured you'd not even notice it missing, even decades after he's stolen it - did you even check on it before a line collapsed, or just after?" The answer would be no, and Roscoe would get mad at Nathans lenience. There was, without a doubt, something wrong with that mans head and giving just about everyone a permit to keep those priceless artifacts save often proved to be more trouble than it genuinely was worth. What a fucking pain in the ass this would be. "Could he have found out, that business partner of yours?" Clearly, they were getting into the thick of it. Ros sighed, deeply at that, his face a mix of disappointment and acknowledgement. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could have prepared him for that regardless. "I could take them out, probably, but ... I'm rusty.", he admitted. Conforming to society also meant that surpressing his inner self was a big part of his daily life - he wasn't as naive or childish as he was, all those years ago. In fact, he clearly wasn't in the shape he'd been back then - Ros used to be less, like this, superficial one might say. More adept at using what he had been gifted by his birthright, one could claim - was that why Nathan had loved him? Because he was unabashedly insane and could, and would, turn anyone he wanted into mincemeat? Maybe. "... Ah. So you're saying in place of me, you found yourself a pack of scary monsters." Not that it mattered - Ros was only ever scary when someone pissed him off, which happened a lot more than people would probably like to think. "Even if that's the case, wouldn't the artifact have left traces of magic, an accidental indicator or something? Anything?" Pointing in the right direction like this was hard.

"Because you only ever point out all the negative things you notice, insinuating I can't take care of myself, for example, or calling what I do me being like a magpie." As if this was just a stupid game to him too. He needn't question his profession, or interests, but Ros always found a way to try and change Nathan into a copy of himself. If it wasn't interesting to Ros, how could it possibly be interesting to anyone else? "If they were capable of creating an artifact like that, surely they wouldn't need to steal mine in the first place.", he mumbled. It was doubtful too, centuries went by without anyone creating artifacts like these and if they could they would surely boast about it. Those things weren't kept secrets for long. "I never understood that territory thing, but I guess so. Still, when you shapeshift you still have to move objects, so if you were to steal something, I would at the very least see that thing move around, wouldn't I? An illusion spell would help, but you'd have to get past my measures here yet again." He built this over almost two years, a lot of work went into this and he tweaked it after every now and then too. "They would pick up on certain beings that emit magical energy, like mages, hags, ferries and so on. They'd also pick up any magic cast in here. The box the artifact was in was also secured, it should have reacted to being opened, but it didn't."

"Maybe. When strange things started happening I checked the seals and since nothing was changed and they didn't pick up on anything, I assumed it was still there. That said, I can't tell you for how long it is gone already, since it also didn't leave any magical trace when it should have, so I can't even tell based on that. It never seemed to act out before, so I have to assume it has been weeks, unless it was just a ruse to make me dsiable the seals and reveal this space for a moment, then it's only gone days." Both didn't make much sense, it still seemed to have just disappeared. "They are very crafty, so I'd say it's possible, but I didn't talk about it ever." Nathan paused for a moment. "Well... if you knew it existed in the first place, which I doubt many people do, then it was probably not very hard to have the idea to come look here...", he admitted. The leyline his shop sat on was created by the artifact after he figured out what it could do. If someone knew a leyline manipulating artifact existed and this was the most recent leyline - even though some were still newly discovered - then one could guess it at least had been here at some point. "But you'd still have to figure out where I hid it, I'm not letting just anyone see this space here either." Ros was about to explode in 3...2...1... "You're overestimating yourself.", he pointed out. Taking on an army? No way. "No need to be jelous.", he mumbled. Ros never wanted to be seen as a monster, or a guard dog, anyway. "It would have... actually it should have. I'd reckon if we figure out how a magic trace can be completely erased, it would help us. I've never seen anything like this and I also haven't come across anything like it in any books I read either." Crimes in their space involving magic were almost always solved. Magic traces too were very unique for the beings who emit them as well as the casters fingerprint on them, even if using scrolls or stones.