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 Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 6:27 pm
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Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 6:46 pm
__Part 51
"Look, the dead flowers are nice and all, but why are we wandering around in the cold for no reason at all?"
Loosening the scarf that covered her face, Crow shrugged and looked around boredly.
" 'Cause there's nothing else to do, no one else around, and neither of us have anywhere to be."
"Ah. Okay, then."
Wandering through the detritus-littered flowerboxes, Lenore shivered in her shawl and pulled it closer around her body glumly. Oh, what she would give to be able to wear a ski jacket like Crow's without shredding it!
Suddenly energetic with boredom, she sprinted through the rows of flower boxes, flailing her arms.
"Is there anyone here who can possibly entertain me for five freakin' minutes?" she screeched as she ran, her shawl flaring out behind her.
Obviously, she had inherited Crow's bizarre quirks of personality more fully than she had realized.
Snow? Check. Shoes? Check. Feet properly bandaged? Check. Erishi sighed as she walked around the garden, not wearing a coat and, as usual, not bothered by the cold. Shammi rested in her arms, sucking her pacifier and wrapped in a warm winter suit.
The screeches caught Shammi's attetion, but not the woman who held her. Shammi spat out the pacifier and screeched back, hoping to catch someone's attetion.
Halting and listening to the answering screeches, Len wandered towards the source of the high-pitched sound.
"Hello? Anything capable of talking around?" she asked mildly, looking around and spotting a woman holding something bundled up in her arms. Fixing her ragged shawl again, she tread a little closer.
"Um, hi. Hope I didn't scare you with my screaming for attention," she said, trying to get a good look at the bundle the woman held. A baby, most likely. But, hey, she wasn't picky - she was bored out of her mind and company was company.
Crow jogged after Lenore, wincing as the intake of every cold breath burned her lungs and throat.
"Len, for the love of Pete, don't run off like that - you never know what you'll run into - oh. Hi," she said, cutting her scolding off mid-word as she noticed the two new people.
Erishi looked at the two and smiled big. She handed Shamilade to Lenore with a gigantic smile. "Hello, Puppy! Have a kitten! Her name is Shammi!" She grabbed a corner of the skirt she wore and curtsied before turning to Crow and nodding sagely. "Yes, good mommy! You must warn your puppy about the dangers of the wandering Erishis!"
Shammi poked her nose out of the blanket and stared up at Lenore, eyes crossing slightly. "Bud?" She said, blinking one eye before the other.
"Uh, thanks, I...guess."
Looking down at the baby she'd just been randomly handed, Lenore tried valiantly not to laugh. She already liked this lady.
"Hullo, kitten-baby." she said kindly, watching the baby's eyes with interest. "You're a chameleon, aren't you, Shammi?"
Turning to look at Crow, she gave an amused shrug and sat on an edge of one of the flower boxes, careful holding her unexpected charge.
Waving uncertainly, and curtsying in return after a second's thought, Crow wondered what on earth she'd just walked into.
"Pleased to meet you - my name's Crow. Are you guys...new around here?"
Shammi blinked one eye at Lenore, swirling the other to look at Erishi.
"Lizard Kitty." Erishi confirmed, nodding.
"Yuh." Shammi agreed, swirling the eye to look at Lenore again. She seemed fixated on her dark hair.
"Yes, hello Crow-Lady!" Erishi chirped, beaming. "We've only been together for a little bit, Shammi and I. I am an Erishi, and we are very dangerous." Her face pulled into a mock-serious expression.
Crow nodded and took a slight step backward, though she couldn't help smiling.
"Well, that's...good to know. Me an' Len have been here a couple months - thank Erishi for letting you hold Shammi, Len."
Lenore gave Erishi a grave nod of thanks before returning her attention to the baby.
"I like lizards. And, I have to say, you're a pretty cool lizard, Shammi."
Noticing the child's fixated stare on her hair, Len toyed with the dulled razor feathers she had tied in to make them sound. They rang with quiet resonance, echoing faintly through the dead garden.
"You like my hair, Shammi? It's not half as pretty as yours, no- yours is all pretty and bright, like your mum's." she cooed, feeling a bit maternal despite herself.
Her hair was dark, and it was all one color! It was odd and neat. However, she could only get a happily burbled "Bwuh!" to form on her mouth. How displeasing. She reached for the hair, wanting to get a feel. "Nawpaw" She assured Lenore.
"Rawr." Erishi said, beaming. "Len is good." She said, once again in a sagely tone. "And so is Crow. It is good to meet you both." She reached down and scooped up a handfull of snow, packing into a ball with her bare fingers and smiled mischeviously at Crow, tossing it once or twice in the air.
Lenore nodded as Shammi spoke, lowering her head obligingly. Knowing she was most likely about to lose a portion of her hair and maybe a bit of scalp, she smiled at the baby indulgently.
"You're a cutie, Shammi. Go ahead - you'd probably figure out a way to get at it, anyway."
With a sincere feeling that she shouldn't make any sudden moves, Crow eyed the snowball, bending down to make one of her own.
"So," she said conversationally as she packed the snow into a misshapen and crumbly snowball, " have you met anyone else around here?"
Watching their guardians talk in mild interest, Lenore nudged Shammi conspiratorially.
"Betcha a dollar my mum gets the crud knocked out of her with snowballs," she whispered to the baby, grinning.
Shammi pulled the hair down, fingering it and pulling it close to her eyes before letting go. Hair was so interesting! She turned an eye to watch the ladies, agreeing with Len's comment. "Fwack!" She sounded clearly.
"I shoved snow down Liam's pants, and he did a funny dance." She added conversationally, beaming. "I won't try that, 'cause then you'd probably take off your pants like he did. It was funny!" And she gave a scarily innocent giggle at that.
Immensely grateful nothing had been ripped out, Lenore shifted Shammi so that she could see the show a bit better.
"Fwack," she said, nodding seriously.
Crow gave a snort of laughter, dropping her snowball. Picking it up and trying to reshape it, she tried to imagine the scene - Liam seemed pretty cool and collected most of the time. Snow down the pants seemed a deeply amusing (and only slightly cruel) way to get him to loosen up.
"I'm sorry I didn't meet you sooner - I'd have loved to see that," she said, abandoning her cubic snowball and collecting fresh snow for a new one. She was getting to like this girl - though she carefully buttoned up her long coat over her pants, just in case.
"He is a funny little fluffy." Erishi said, beaming. "He is very shiny under his shirt, and I approve."
"Fwack?" Shammi asked, watching Erishi before turning both eyes to Lenore's pretty hair. Eeeee! Hair.
"Fwack!" Erishi agreed, throwing the snowball at Crow gleefully.
"Fwa-ACK!"
Crow spluttered as the snowball hit her full on in the face, exploding in a shower of white. Tossing hers about three feet to the left of where Erishi stood, she wiped the powder out of her eyes in good natured surprise.
"Jeez, you've got a good arm. Didn't even see it coming," she said, brushing snow out of her hair and laughing.
At the mention of Liam, Lenore perked up instantly.
"Yeah, he's got metal parts like me!" she said with an unsual burst of enthusiasm, almost bouncing as she remembered. Her bouncing made the razor feathers ring a little louder, sounding like hollow-toned bells as their wearer fidgeted.
Erishi beamed. "I'm good at hurting things. You can get me back, though. It's only fair. A snow for a snow!"
"Plllrt?" Shammi blinked, twisting her eyes around to find the source of the noise. Her tail brushed one of Lenore's feathers ands he gave a little squeak. Was that the nose maker?
"Metal people are very fun." Erishi added, wiggling her metalic hand.
Folding back her wings just in case Shammi decided to play with them and endanger her eyeballs, Lenore made a clucking sound.
"No no, no touching. Too sharp."
After a moments impulsive consideration (and making sure Crow wasn't looking), Lenore plucked off one of her smaller razor feathers from an upper row and watched its edges dull and fade in fascination. Handing the now-harmless shiny to Shammi, she smiled seriously.
"There. Now you can play with it - it won't put an eye out now."
Taking care to make a round snowball, Crow nodded and went into a pitcher's stance. Tossing the ball and giving a laugh as it broke apart in midair, she gave a shrug.
"We'll just say it got you and call it even," she said mildly.
Shammi beamed and accepted the feather, moving it this way and that to see it better. She babbled, waving it at Lenore happily. After studying it for another moment, she move it into her mouth to gum it.
"Tee hee!" Carefully packing a snowball, she threw it straight up into the air and moved under it, the ball smacking her right on the crown of the head. "There. Now we're even."
Crow laughed and brushed the snow off her hands, nodding eagerly.
"Awesome," she said. She definately liked this girl.
Lenore watched carefully as Shammi gummed her present, taking time to appreciate the girl's reptilian features.
"What could it be that you were meant for, Shammi," she said softly, petting the child's hair lightly. "I was supposed to guard a graveyard - what did your maker want you to do, I wonder?"
Shammi stared up at Lenore with one eye, the other moving towards the shiny. Shiiiny~! What reason was there not to love the girl? Pretty hair AND shinies! When lenore started to speak, she stared up at her woth both eyes and smiled a toothless smile. She understood some of the words, but didn't understand others. She settled for a smiled. "Buhjwas."
"I like snow." Erishi commented, making another snowball. "It is white and fluffy and pretty and pure. And it is easy to make people strip in it. Snow down the pants, no more pants!"
Cocking her head to one side and giving Shammi an analytical look, Lenore nibbled her lip in thought.
"Well. I guess that clears it up," she said easily, shifting the girl into a more comfortable spot on her lap. Watching Crow and Erishi banter with mild disappointment, she petted Shammi's head absently as she hoped for a snowball fight.
"Sheesh. I guess we're gonna have to find entertainment elsewhere," she said to the baby dryly, getting up off the flower box and wandering away a few feet. Bending down to pluck a withered daisy from the frozen ground, she stuck it in her hair and gave a sigh.
"How boring. No dismemberment to watch, no bleeding, no nothin'. How's a kid supposed to find any fun around here?"
Blinking one eye before the other, Shammi stopped drooling over the shiny and looked up at Lenore, a crafty look in her eyes. "Poke!" She said plainly, prodding Lenore in the chin with the feather. "Poke! Poke! Poke!"
Eeee. Poking was fun. <3
Lenore watched as Shammi poked her repeatedly, unsure how to react.
"Huh. Okay, then."
Normally, any other child probably would have found that funny. Lenore, usually having about as much of a sense of humor as sentient bread mold, merely dismissed it as weird baby behavior.
"So. Other than poking, what do you do for fun, kitten?" she asked seriously. She wasn't to clear on the reason Shammi was delighting in poking her, but, hey, she was a baby. Let her have her fun.
Hmmm. No big reaction on the poking thing. How odd. Carefully, this time at least, she reached up and ran the feather over Lenore's chin. "Coo coo?" She said, trying to tickle the big girl.
All Lenore could think to do was quirk an eyebrow.
"You're an odd little critter, Shammi."
Wandering through the rows of dead plants and flowers, she kicked at the snow boredly.
"I wonder if Mum got killed by snowballs yet?"
TBC ninja
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Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 10:00 pm
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 7:23 pm
Erebus
Singing quietly to herself, toying boredly with the razor feathers in her hair, Lenore sat out in the hall outside her room. Crow and Julian were off doing something, and she had locked herself out. Jimmying the lock open with a notched razor feather hadn't done any good, and none of the creatures inside seemed to hear her pounding, kicking, and screeching to be let inside.
Then again, none of the creatures inside had opposable thumbs, so she supposed it wasn't precisely their fault for ignoring her.
Looking around, she wished for a little company. Sadako, after all, was inside, most likely trying to kill something.
"This is no beginning, yeah, yeah,
This is the final cut, open up.
This is no beginning, yeah, yeah,
This is the final cut, I'm in love..."
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 7:30 pm
Deimos emerged from his room, yawning. He'd slept all through the day and he felt very replentished. Looking around, he searched for something to do, so he walked. Turning the corner, he spotted Lenore and smiled. "Hey Len!" He exclaimed, walking over to her.
'Oh it's Ms. Lenore. My turn.'
'What do you mean it's your turn..' Diemos asked, unknowing of the deal Lenore had made with the demon while he had control, but a deal was a deal. Deimos felt his control slip off liek a glove.
There had beena moment's pause before Erebus opened his eyes. "Hello again, Ms. Lenore."
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 7:34 pm
Lenore choked on her singing midword, head jerking up towards Deimos-that-wasn't.
"Hello, Erebus." she said, forcibly trying to keep her tone polite. It took a lot of effort. Curiously enough, there had been no pain to warn her of his approach - Lenore scarcely bothered to wonder about it. Perhaps meeting Erebus a second time had already dulled her senses to his discomforting presence.
"...So. Collecting in on the deal already?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 7:37 pm
"But of course.. Deimos is still weak from the lessons. I could not have chosen a better time." He said, moving to her smoothly, taking her hand and kissing it lightly. "It is a pleasure to see you, as always."
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 7:43 pm
"Ah."
Eyeing Deimos (or Erebus now, she supposed) with dislike and fascination mixed together, she budged over in her spot and motioned for him to sit.
"Well, then, c'mon. I ain't going anywhere for awhile, iffen Mum and Julian plan to stay out all day."
Smoothing her skirt down and toying with her pendant idly, she unfolded her wings slightly to expose the dagger-like points. She'd make small talk, sure, but she'd be damned if she wasn't going to present some kind of threat in her own defense.
Not that she could ever raise a feather to her captain, however.
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 7:51 pm
Erebus smiled widely, a sly cold smile. "That would be lovely, Ms. Lenore." He said, taking a seat by her, right next to her, way to close to her, but not on top of her. He was borderline invading her space, but not. "Tell me, Ms. Lenore. I wish to go straight to the point. Why are you so hesitant around me? I am simply a lonely demon, Ms. Lenore.."
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 7:58 pm
Lenore's lip curled, and her eyes narrowed. Restraining her razor feathers from rattling in threat, she looked away a little bitterly.
"Because...because I was meant to protect stuff. From things like you, I guess." she replied shortly, folding her wings back in sudden annoyance and crossing her arms.
"You an' me, we're practically kin anyway." she muttered, quipping Dobql unknowingly. Not wanting to bother getting into the mucked-up mess of her origins, she looked at Erebus with suspicious eyes.
"Why is it you're so keen on me? Do I....fascinate you, Mister Erebus?" she asked dryly, a barely-there smile quirking her lips.
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 8:02 pm
"Yes." He answered simply, his glowing eyes turning onto Lenore. "I have lived for centuries, and have not encountered anything, or anyone like you. This place is unique, you are unique." His tail swished, wraping itself behind Lenore's back and placing it's tip onto her lap. "There are many demons, but there is only one Lenore.."
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 8:12 pm
Certainly not the subtle type.
Her fingers curled away from the tail instinctively, a fuzzy recollection of pain like fire echoing at the edge of her memory.
"I'll take that as a compliment," she said, her voice losing a touch of its icy edge. She'd been stared at and insulted many times before and shrugged it off uncaring. But this unexpected appreciation of her differentness was something she definately had no defense for.
"I'm not going to start hanging out with you and trade gossip over tea, though, if that's what you're aiming for." she said quickly, scooting an inch or so away from him.
"Why don't you tell me a little more about yourself?"
Why the hell am I asking about him? I don't - shouldn't- give a rat's behind 'bout him- it's Dei I like, not this joker.
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 8:22 pm
Erebus chuckled and it was an odd sound. It wasn't cold and icy, but it wasn't warm and welcoming. It was like a chilled breeze, not cold enoguh to be of winter, but nowhere near the spring. "Such a sense of humor, Ms. Lenore. But yes, me.. Well, I am 1423 years old, I think. After one hits 1000 you start to lose count. " He said jockingly. "I.. used to be a Master demon, legions of minions and what not." His tone dropped a bit. "Hard to belive isn't it.. while I'm stuck in a body liek this." His lips quirked in attempt to smile as he sighed.
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 8:30 pm
Len's face shuttered into a defensive expression, regardless of Erebus's laugh.
"What's the matter with Deimos?" she asked tightly, putting force behind his name. "He's a good friend, a good captain, and he's... well, a bit more easy to talk to," she added, looking a bit cross.
"That's pretty neat about the whole minion-thing, though. All I have are Sadako, Cole an' Maero, and they're not exactly a legion."
Quit being so chatty! He's just looking to...well, I dunno what. I wish Dei would come back so I didn't have to talk to this jerk.
A sudden thought sprang into her mind, in spite of her griping.
"So. Mister Macho Demon. If you're so old, you must really know your way around the world, huh?" she said, altering her tone slightly and leaning in a little closer, to try to catch him off guard.
Dei, if you're seeing this, I'm reeeeeeally sorry.
"You wouldn't happen to know what the Unseelie Court is, would you? Just out of curiosity," she said, eyes searching Erebus's for some sign of her friend, disappointed that she couldn't see him there.
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 8:36 pm
He was caught of-guard and Deimos was seeing.
Deimos was retorting wildly. 'What is she? EREBUS! No, don't you dare!!
Erebus eyes flashed with Deimos' fury for a split second, but his lips parted in a sly grin. "I know the Unseelie Court very well actually." He said. "But I need something in exchange before I can tell you.."
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