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 Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 5:05 pm
 Paradise had followed Ronan back toward Realm for a while, but when they'd started getting close she'd veered off again, not quite ready to return. Now, however, she found herself staring up at the HQ building with mixed emotions. It was nice to have a place to go back to... but it wasn't home. Home wasn't something she'd ever had really. The most at home she'd ever felt was during her generally brief encounters with Ronan.
Ah well. She'd thought idly of seeking out the one other kitsu she thus far called "friend"... But she didn't have any idea where Nahanni would be. "So... if I were Nahanni... where would I be?" She asked herself aloud, not for any real reason. Then she snorted. "Well I'm not Nahanni and neither of us are particularly fond of the crowds here, so this is definitely the wrong place." She grinned a bit and shook her head, berating herself for being silly enough to start talking to herself. Then she stood up and started around the edge of building to go look elsewhere.
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 10:30 pm
"Hiljaiset askeleet kaikuvat syvissä vesissä. Kuolevan auringon alla kaikki on kaunista." A soft song filtered through the air. Its gentle lull was a lie, considering the darkness of its meaning. And if anyone were to see which particual Kitsu had opened its maw to let the beautiful melody free, they probably wouldn't believe their eyes. It was rare that any soul but his own would be touched by his songs. On the occasion that he was caught mid-note, he would often play it off as if nothing had happened.
And so, even lost in the strange tranquility he felt, his ears still slid back as they caught wind of words. '-nni... would... I-' The song stopped without warning, Iku's placid expression quickly shifting to one of distaste as he heard footsteps coming around the corner just feet away.
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 10:38 pm
Paradise had though she'd heard some singing, just barely, but it was so vague she hadn't been able to make it out. She'd simply passed it off, not realizing until it stopped shortly before she rounded the corner that it might be anywhere nearby. Iku's look of distaste greeted her and she raised an eyebrow. "Did I do something I don't know about to earn that look or do you just judge everyone you see before they have a chance to say anything?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 10:52 pm
Oh? The look faded from his features, a curious brow raising instead. However, the faint surprise faded just as quickly and his expression was replaced with one of placid false manners. "Well, aren't we quick-tongued?" Iku responded, ever unfazed. But despite the now empty tone of his voice, he allowed his mask to slip just enough to reveal a smirk and narrowed eyes. "Perhaps one who speaks of judgement should not jump so quickly to the conclusion that the look was meant for her." After all, how did she know he was not looking at something in the distance that left a sour taste in his mouth? Canting his head, he awaited her answer. If it was as blunt as her greeting, this day just might get interesting.
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 11:19 pm
Paradise cocked her head to the side. "I could be wrong, sure, but if I'm right it was you singing a moment ago... The singing stopped right after I said something and right before I came around the corner. And you were watching the corner with that lovely look on your face. Too many coincindences in a row usually points to something other than coincindence." She didn't quite start grinning. "So are we playing answer-the-question-with-another-question now?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2007 6:36 pm
Banded tails twitched at the tips, each taking their turn in showing off the sudden spark of slight annoyance that ran through him. Under different circumstances, he would've already excused himself and left, unwilling to speak to another adult for no reason. However, this one's attitude was reason enough to keep Iku stationary and staring up at her from his spot stretched out along the ground. "Mere coincidence," the male affirmed, speaking nothing on the subject of song. "After all, what reason would I have to look disdainfully on one I've just met? Perhaps you are thinking to hard."
Ears slid back at her next question. "And if you think yourself so wise, did you even need to ask?" Ah, yes. Question with a question was a specialty.
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Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2007 6:46 pm
Paradise shrugged at his insistence that it was mere coincidence. She didn't mind playing along. At least it seemed this encounter might be interesting. "It's been said that only a fool claims to be wise, so wouldn't it be better to accept that one doesn't have all the answers and gain wisdom?" Yes, she thought she'd enjoy playing along.
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Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2007 6:57 pm
It took mere seconds to contemplate her words. Lips curled into a twisted sort of smile, half-forced, half-genuine. "Agreed," he responded simply. After all, many of the Kitsu he'd met in his life turned out to be fools. He'd tried to enlighten them with his understanding, but they refused to be swayed, claiming, in their false wisdom, to know the true world perfectly. Iku never claimed wisdom, only clung tight-fisted to his beliefs.
"I am Ikuinen." He continued, ending their short, yet interesting first encounter. "And what may I call you?" Better to know the name of one's opponent. Seek answers and gain wisdom, right?
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Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2007 7:43 pm
Paradise waited for his response, raising one brow at the simple answer. When the next thing he did was to give her his name, the other rose to join it and then both settled back into a normal position. Was the first round of whatever they were doing over then? Hmm.
"Paradise." She shrugged. She was named after a flower, but all the same she found the ideal behind the word that made her name rather ironic, to say the least. "Or "Annoying Brat", if you prefer. I got called that a few times when I was younger."
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Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2007 6:14 pm
'Annoying brat' sounded about right. But despite his bitter thoughts on it, he smiled that masking smile and nodded. "Well, Paradise..." As if the meaning of paradise could be used to describe anything in this world. Least of all an adult. "It's a pleasure to meet you." 'Pleasure' was stressed with obvious sarcasm, offered on a silver platter just for her. Cinder-colored hair swished in his face as he momentarily looked away.
"I wonder..." He couldn't resist. "What do you think of such a name, hm?" Looking back now, he watched her with curiousity. Whomever had given her a name must've had a cruel sense of humor. Or, that's merely what blinded Ikuinen thought.
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Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 5:29 pm
Paradise chuckled at Ikuinen's sarcasm, if only just audibly. "Oh, such sweet words. Please, don't waste them if you don't mean them. Honesty makes a much keener point." If he chose to plaster that garbage as wallpaper across their conversation she'd probably get bored and leave. She wasn't really one for nonsense or false flattery.
"What do I think of the name Paradise? In honesty I'm named after a flower, apparently I resemble it. Bird of Paradise. Seems rather silly, but at least I can appreciate flowers more than the paradox of nonexistance that is the ideal of "paradise". Of course I suppose the fact that it can't possibly exist is why it's never been more than an ideal." She shrugged, stretched her forelegs, and lay on her belly on the ground with her forepaws crossed. "What do you think of paradise?"
Turn about is fair play, yes?
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Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 6:00 pm
Sweet words for a sugar-coated world. They'd been trained to rest in the back of his throat, waiting to be forced up at just the right moment. To lure and persuade. Were spewing gentle nothings a competition, the silver would most certainly be his. The tendency to let his true feelings show just a tad too soon while attempting to convert kept him just shy of that gold. How unfortunate. Still, a smile came to his maw. No real intelligence in attempting to turn an adult. Such tries never came close. "Very well." If that's how she wanted to play, he would humor her. "I'll do my best to provide you with top notch honesty." That promise could be trusted about as far as one could throw a ten ton weight.
Canting his head, he listened rather intently to her opinion on paradise. What an elloquent explaination. Iku wasn't sure he could follow that preformance. Then again, he hadn't meant to from the get-go. "What do I think?" A pause. "That doesn't quite matter, does it? If paradise is nothing more than a diluted fantasy, then why should I even bother to think about it?" One could easily find his feelings intermingled with the questions if they were looking. "Our world can never match the ideal of paradise, so shouldn't I keep my opinions limited to the imperfect?"
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Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2007 4:50 pm
Paradise certainly couldn't throw a ten ton weight very far. She wasn't sure how far she could throw Iku, either, but... well that wasn't the issue here, was it?
His statement about it being a "diluted fantasy" gave more away about his opinion on paradise than he might have though. But Paradise wasn't really in the mood to nitpick at him about it; she was more interested in the questions-answering-questions bit he seemed to have started again. He did it enough it seemed like it was habit with him. Interesting.
"Is not the ideal of paradise an imperfect thing in and of itself? How can it possibly be perfect when no two beings hold the same ideal of what perfection is?" Ah, but she was having fun. "But if you prefer so not to think on it, what is it, pray tell, that you do think on?" They seemed to be on that subject now, so why not see what she could find out?
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Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2007 6:01 pm
So much talk of thinking in this conversation. And yet, neither had revealed much of what they actually thought. Paradise was winning in that respect, but he had no will to catch up. However, he supposed her persistance merited some form of honesty. "There is no flaw in one's own opinion. Though everyone's ideal of paradise is different, to them it is perfect. Do you really think it is possible to inject an outside opinion into another's view of perfection?" That is why adults were so hard to turn. They'd already covered the true world with their paradise. His opinions wouldn't reach them.
Canting his head, he shrugged, quickly shedding whatever stiff seriousness may've been on his face. The mask slipped back into place with its joker's grin and narrowed eyes on her. "I think on many things," he responded, sure she expected that answer. "As many as you, I'm sure." No details were dangled in front of her.
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Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2007 6:20 pm
Paradise grinned a little at his response. "Sometimes you can alter someone's perceptions. Sometimes you can't. Those are battles one has to pick carefully and even so they are hard fought and rarely won. At least until such point in time as someone is forced to face something that doesn't fit into their world view." She tilted her head at him contemplatively. "Truth is in the eye of the beholder, as they say. What the world is like for someone is based entirely on how they percieve what's happening around them. Or if they percieve it at all."
Paradise had indeed expected that answer. In fact, it made her smile. As many things as she thought on? That was almost an invitation to pick a topic. "What do you think of Good and Evil?" One of her favorites.
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