The Jackal had an inquisitive look on his face that only looked somewhat contorted after layering on his man skin again. His face looked too long, as if he were starting to grow a muzzle, but his mouth was too wide, eyes too sharp. All in glimpses and angles, which could have just as easily been explained by the swinging light from up above. A light that, as they drew closer and then past the chair that Chen was in started moving faster and faster. The man himself was chittering, head lolling. He wasn’t tied up or anything, but also wasn’t making any move to leave his seated position, though that might have been because his limbs were flopping around like he had no real control over his motor skills.<br/><br/><br/>For the time being, Pace ignored him and his little parlor tricks, because he knew already that it was Chen making the light fixture swing and not himself.<br/><br/><br/>Instead, he watched. Rather -- he watched the way Nora’s face moved when she concentrated on the spell she was casting, though his attention soon drifted down to his hand where she placed it on the map and the fact that hers was still in hers. Not wanting to break her concentration, his hand turned ever so slightly in her own, so that his fingers curled around her hand, holding it hostage in his much larger one. The strange, pale eyes of his glowed right along with the seeking spell she was casting, reacting to the magic she channeled using what residue she gathered off him.<br/><br/><br/>By the time her crystal stopped, he had shifted closer to her, so that he loomed over her shoulder, his chest warm against her back and brushing against her just so. His head bent down, as if he were getting a closer look at her map, but he turned his head so that his words could be felt against the side of her neck.<br/><br/><br/>“What is it with bitches and wanting to found secret societies, hmm? We call ours the Syndicate, so I guess there’s a trend with the “S” as well.” He chuckled, his breath hot. His other hand that had been behaving during this lifted up, tracing through her hair so that he could whisk it back behind her ear before his fingers touched her chin, guiding her face to the side so that he could look at her. Smiling a vague sort of smile, he stole his kiss at the corner of her mouth.<br/><br/><br/>Only to draw back suddenly, his smile quirking, as the light crackled and blinked a time or two. Only to go black. The man in the chair started cackling like a maniac in the sudden pitch blackness.<br/><br/><br/>“Oh, I would send someone else who works for me out there to check it out, but seeing as we’re already having a hell of a date, why the fuck not? … We need to leave now, though. Gilles is discovering that he can still do things in Mr. Chen’s body, and I’d rather not damage it if I don’t have to,” he said, calmly. Which seemed to be his way unless, strangely enough, it put Nora in direct danger.<br/><br/><br/>As the words left his mouth, the light sparked again, illuminating the Chinaman’s face. Right before the bottles of wine on the racks exploded in a symphony of shattering glass.<br/><br/><br/>“For fucks sake--” Pace jerked Nora by the hand he still held, heading toward the door. “He can’t leave this room, but we still need to get out before I change my mind about damaging things.”