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 Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 12:51 pm
A shipment of parsley
Between Jin-Ho, Blaithe, Nicholas, and Claune, on a very rainy September afternoon beneath the Council headquarters.
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Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 12:53 pm
A caterpillar, yellowish-white in color, with black spots in lines down its back, hairless, and about the length and width of a woman's pinkie finger (genus Ampiphyra, species pallens) crawled past the sprig of basil Nicholas had moved temptingly into its path.
"That's the fifth time," Claune said, facedown on the desk an arm's length away. Nicholas had no idea how he was managing to keep track. "Perhaps you should try chewing it first, and then stuffing it down their mouths by force."
Nicholas sighed and resignedly crossed out "basil" on his increasingly long list of rejected herbs, all of them written in a crabbed and unsteady hand. "Believe it or not, Claune, there is a limit to what even I will do for science," he replied.
He'd already tried it.
The underground laboratory was modest in size, furnished with the cluttered desk at which Nicholas now sat, an equally cluttered workbench on the opposite corner of the room, several mismatched chairs and bookcases, and a scarred and stained dissection table which he had recently obtained from the Council for use in tutoring sessions. A terrarium full of nervous-looking frogs sat on a shelf beside the door, which he kept partly open so that people might enter without having to knock. Unusually for a room in the catacombs Nicholas's laboratory possessed one narrow window set high into the wall, level with the ground above; he had managed to negotiate this luxury based on the needs of his specimens, as the moths would fail to advance past their pupal stage in the complete absence of natural light.
Unfortunately that was proving to be only one of many obstacles to breeding insects underground, hundreds of miles away from their native range in western Mishkan: upon hatchling, the caterpillars refused to eat anything. The wicker cages hanging about the window were now more than half empty.
Thus Nicholas had written to Jin-Ho with some desperation upon hearing about the fellow Grimm from a colleague, funds enclosed for a shipment of Mishkan parsley. The herb was notoriously difficult to grow outside its natural habitat, but he had been assured that if anyone could accomplish the feat, it was Jin-Ho.
He just hoped the man didn't have the misfortune to be on the road today. It hadn't stopped raining since breakfast, and the world outside was a gray smear behind the water sluicing in an uninterrupted sheet down the window-panes. Naturally, this had put Claune in a sour enough mood to curdle milk. He had not moved for what Nicholas guessed to be a span of two or three hours, preferring instead to lie prone on the surface of the desk, exuding a histrionic air of tragedy along with the occasional moan or sigh, which increased in volume and frequency whenever Nicholas stopped paying attention to him.
"Would you like me to tune you?" Nicholas asked finally, after the Plague had been inspired to deliver an especially dreadful groan, and set his specimen aside. It crawled up the side of a paper.
Claune said nothing, but pulled himself feebly over to Nicholas on his stomach and collapsed again from the effort when he was done. Nicholas fished his reading glasses out of his breast pocket and began the delicate process of adjusting the tuning peg in Claune's back.
A moment later a high, sweet, and very beautiful voice rang out from the laboratory and down the corridor:
"A girl strode the shore on a fair summer's day,
Her hair dark and wet, and her silver skin bare—
The old sailors, they say, watched her walk from the quay;
And one old sailor fell in love with her there."
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Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 1:28 pm
The letter had long been well received and the trip planned far in advance. Rain was not accounted for as it, for one, was a sudden shower as well as the two or so hour trip between provinces led to at least one change in weather on most occasions. Between Pont and Ald it had been mostly clear skies, spotted every so often with white, billowy clouds – the further south they traveled, the more the cotton-like masses cluttered and joined together before eventually crying out their showers. Any other day this would have been welcomed; the rain muddying up the already hazardous trails between cities and making traversing difficult.
Luckily for the small group they had finagled a carriage for borrow, about a day’s worth of money given over so they had plenty of time to use and return it and the horse tugging it along. Hero was tucked away in his special pocket, Blaithe staring blankly out the windows as her side’s curtain was drawn back and Jin Ho made sure that his haul was kept dry.
He couldn’t help but pity the man driving the carriage.
The conductor was instructed to do as he pleased for the next few hours; get some food in his belly, dry himself off and relax while the Grimm pair delivered their goods. Jin Ho wasn’t particularly fond of the idea, preferring to stay within Gadu until weather promised to clear rather than immediately making leave once the delivery was made. No, compassion had once again reclaimed him as a friend and he didn’t want to cause the poor man an untimely cold.
The former scribe remembered some of these halls, having been required to come here for some therapy once upon a time. He had long improved in behavior since then; Blaithe’s growth having a fair bit of weight on the matter. With her tucked carefully against him, his arm wrapped around hers as her walking stick drug near-silently behind them, Jin Ho followed directions to the dot for the man’s laboratory – and what he had forgotten, the brush remembered. Just as she remembered, the smell of death, mostly from stunteds, permeated the halls and it was a bit disorienting now that her senses were far more delicate, more sensitive. However, the closer they were to the room in question, the more localized the scent of decay and death became – the unmistakable mixture of death and taint.
Despite the door being open by a jar, the man had Blaithe offer a few quick raps to the door before opening – a sign of courtesy, even if the invitation was already given.
With his only arm being latched onto, Jin Ho’s satchel full of parsley hung at his free side, the strap crossing over his front and around his neck so that it was in no danger of falling off. ”Sir Glass, I’ve come with your delivery. I am Jin Ho Kyon.”
And there it was, the highly concentrated scent of death that Blaithe had come to love in her few years of sentience. Her glowing eyes scanned the room until she saw the source of that lovely tune just moments ago, her expression softening into near neutrality if it hadn’t been for the light slope of a smile her lips held.
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Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 9:25 am
Nicholas stood so quickly his chair nearly fell over and rushed to Jin Ho. "Please, call me Nicholas," he said. "Do you mind if I…?" Without waiting for the man's response he reached into the satchel and plucked a sprig of parsley. Then, as if he were running a lap in a relay race, he turned around again to rush back to his desk.
Halfway there he paused. He looked at Jin Ho again, and at Blaithe. He'd been informed that Jin Ho was a Grimm, but he had expected an excito, perhaps a putesco—not an anhelo, which from what he understood still accounted for less than ten percent of the Plague population. During his time in Gadu he had become better acquainted with the sight of them, but he had only directly interacted with one, a chance encounter with Lady Hayat during his travels, and they remained a subject of great fascination to him.
And, of course, there was also the fact that both he and Jin Ho were missing a right arm.
Nicholas gave a quiet laugh of delight and disbelief, and rounded on his desk again. He shuffled through his papers until he found the renegade caterpillar, plucked it off an essay on hygiene and disease prevention, and set it down together with the parsley. He leaned in close. The caterpillar reared its front half into the air and wavered it about. Then it fell down upon the parsley and decisively began munching.
"Jin Ho, you have just saved eighty-seven lives," Nicholas declared. He ran back to him to seize an entire handful of parsley, which he instantly spirited away to the wicker cages at the back of the room.
"Ah, it appears we've lost him," Claune said from the desk, in a high, strange voice that was readily identifiable as neither male nor female. "If we're lucky he may return to us before the year has finished. In the meantime, I am Claune, his Plague." He bowed once to Jin Ho and once to Blaithe, in the abrupt, flourishing manner of a stage performer. The bells on his outfit jingled as he moved. When he straightened his eyes lingered for a moment on the way Jin Ho held Blaithe to his side.
"And your name is?" he asked her.
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Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 9:50 am
Before Jin Ho even had the time to appropriately react, the man was upon him and away in the blink of an eye, leaving the former scribe to stare in momentary shock, Blaithe still carefully held to his side. He, too, had noticed that they shared a missing limb, but past that they were near opposites. While on any other occasion he would have taken such a statement as overreaction, but he was already briefed on the purpose of this trip though he didn’t know quite how many insects were relying on him for survival.
By the time Nicholas made his second trip, the bag was already removed, ready to be grabbed and soon that was away as well.
Blaithe’s attention never left Claune once contact was made, her seemingly blank stare centered specifically on him – if not for his gold trim and delightful blue undertones he would have been so white – in a sense, it made her think of a particularly nasty rose as well as Hayat when she was an Excito. Sadly, neither of those memories were particularly good or fondly remembered, but this one, musky and damaged – he was new. He was available for a new memory. His voice danced across her vision, a strange ivory color she decided. The brush’s lids flickered for a moment as she became acquainted with it.
”It is a pleasure to meet you, Claune,” she said, dipping her head into a slight bow while still clinging to her Grimm. Her voice was also quite androgynous, as well as her face, but her curtaining hair and way of dress made her gender a bit more apparent. Claune might have looked and sound like neither, but his scent alerted the Anhelo of almost everything about him. ”I am Blaithe.”
Meanwhile, Hero decided for now that, of course, this male was not worth his time. While his scent was not hidden or covered, he felt no need to remove himself from Blaithe’s pocket.
”I am glad that this harvest serves you well. While I may not be able to travel so readily, I can request some help from the Fellowship or Council to make regular deliveries.” Jin Ho said, his brow still raised in confusion – and a little amusement – in Nicholas’ excitement and vigor.
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Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 11:55 am
"It may be a pleasure to meet me," Claune replied, "but, alas, it is rarely a pleasure to know me. I'm very sorry," he went on, with an anguished wrinkling of his eyes which was surely an act, but also seemed somehow queerly genuine at the same time, "that your name rhymes with so few things. Wraith, faith, eighth; enough for a limerick, but not much else."
He looked at her while he spoke, his body angled slightly to one side, almost defensively—perhaps he was unnerved by her staring but reluctant to show it.
"That would be most agreeable," Nicholas said to Jin Ho in the meantime. He was going from cage to cage, fumbling open the latches one-handed with his two free fingers, then stuffing a few leaves of parsley into each while at the same time trying to prevent the caterpillars from escaping. As if this weren't enough, the cages were suspended from the ceiling on strings and as a result began swinging to and fro as soon as he touched them. It was rather like watching a bee trying to pollinate flowers during a thunderstorm; but Nicholas went at the task with both enthusiasm and surprising adroitness.
"I apologize for my abruptness—I'm afraid we're meeting one another at an unusual time. These specimens represent years of labor, perhaps seminal work in the field of natural biology, and you've just saved it all." He went to another cage. "I owe you a debt of extreme gratitude."
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Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 5:05 pm
Had the girl been smiling prior to his spiel, perhaps it would have faltered as he rolled his tongue off so easily. Blaithe had never put any thought into the name chosen by her Grimm, nor what it could have possibly rhymed with, but he was right as his listing trailed off with a bemused halt. His voice danced strangely in her eyes, something she’d possibly could have once seen with Cyril – but she had still been an Excito then.
”I see…” she said, her brows raised as her lids became just the tiniest bit heavier over the glowing pits that pretended to stand as eyes. The brush had little idea that her gaze was an issue, still taking in his interesting appearance for her own memory. ”My name may not rhyme that well, but I would think it makes it just that much more unique. There are no better comparisons.” No smile crept on her cheeks, but her tone was a little lighter hearted, genial. Since you have shared your wisdom with me, I would like you to know that your voice is delightfully blue.”
With no other explanation.
Much like the Plagues holding one another’s attention, Jin Ho’s eyes followed Nicholas with a strange amount of interest, almost amusement. After another moment, he lead Blaithe to the table, closer to the Excito, and went to work at holding the cages in place as the Council member worked with each one’s contents. ”It is understandable; if they have been without food for so long, I can only imagine.”
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Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 3:37 pm
"That is true," Claune said, and crept a little closer to Blaithe across the desk. "There is yet another advantage: you are not very likely to find yourself the unwilling subject of one of my songs—a fate which has befallen many." He paused. His mouth grew smaller until it was only a single blue diamond, as if he were pursing his lips; he gazed up at her in befuddlement, this expression also exaggerated, like that of a stage actor attempting to project his emotion across a crowded theater. "Ah, I beg you, do not mistake my wittering for wisdom," he said finally. "Why do you say my voice is blue?"
Nicholas looked up at Jin Ho with brief surprise, having failed to notice the other Grimm's approach. "Thank you," he said. "Yes, before your arrival I had begun to accept the possibility that I might have to begin again from scratch." He finally stood back with a sigh. Now that his specimens were fed he seemed to have shed a great deal of the near-manic energy that had animated him before, and for the first time regarded Jin Ho with a thought for the man instead of just the parsley. "I suppose we may now be properly introduced," he said, and extended his hand to shake. "Is Blaithe a Quietus? I've never had the honor of meeting one before."
Ironically Nicholas was being acquainted with the different types of anhelo in the rarest order; first a Locos, ostensibly the least common type of Plague; then a Quietus; and he had not even seen an Infitialis for years, much less met one face-to-face.
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Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 4:44 pm
Blaithe let out a short, somewhat amused hum at his sentiments, actually a bit sad that she couldn’t ‘fall prey’ to his song – at least when he was tuned, he looked and sounded nice against her senses and she wouldn’t have minded hearing him sing more. That little bit she had heard from out in the hallway danced in her vision so nicely.
”Oh,” she said, a hint of surprise on her rather androgynous voice, ”I’m… afraid it is hard to explain. I see your voice as one would see… well…” She flourished her free hand, signaling to the room around them. ”For me, It’s… almost like a flash or ribbon. Yours is blue and silky; I quite like it.”
She gave another smile.
With the help of her staff she hobbled over to the seat and extended herself an invitation to do so as both Grimms were currently busy. Once seated she seemed to relax a bit more and she beckoned Hero to come out from his pocket; he obliged but not completely willingly – he adored the attention Blaithe gave him, but it meant escaping the heat he had created in his own space. Still, he curled up in her lap and accepted her hands as her fingers began work on rubbing his head.
”It was you I heard out in the hallway if I am not mistaken. I found it attractive.” she said, closing her eyes. Hero bristled beneath her but for now, he held his tongue. He wouldn’t even spare Claune introductions; at least not extend them first.
Jin Ho briefly nodded at Nicholas’ thanks, holding the cages still while the man worked – but once his left hand was extended, the former scribe gratefully took it in his own. It was still so strange using his left for introductions but after all this time, it was only recently that he began warming up to others again. ”Yes; a White Quietus to be exact.
“She was so small as an Excito; much smaller than Claune. No taller than half the length of a thumb.”
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Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 7:01 am
"How curious," Claune said airily, suppressing a shudder. What else was blue? The sea, always waiting for him just out of sight. But Blaithe had said she liked his voice; he supposed he could forgive her.
"It must be a distracting ailment, to see sound in color. Whatever do you do in a room full of people talking?" He wandered a few steps across the desk, miming snatching at invisible ribbons in the air. He stared up at the sky as if entranced. And then in his distraction he collided ostentatiously with an inkwell, and tumbled over backwards into a sad heap of tattered silk. "Is that what happened to your leg?" he asked from this position, peeking up at Blaithe with one eye, the other hidden behind the fall of his fool's hat.
From this vantage point he could not yet see Hero. His ability to distinguish one Plague's scent from another's was improving, but hardly perfected, and for the time being he assumed the blend of odors was merely Blaithe's natural aroma. She was, after all, the first Quietus he had ever met.
Nicholas looked at Jin Ho in surprise. "I don't believe I've ever seen an excito of that size before," he said. "Was it difficult? I can't imagine how I would keep track of Claune if he were much smaller; and he's quite frustrated as it is with his stature in relation to the world around him."
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Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 8:22 am
Blaithe watched with curiously piqued brows, his little overdramatic one-man-play quite a sight. His performance was silly, near laughable, but the brush couldn’t find a chuckle in her as Claune so actively held her attention.
”These halls… they were definitely a sight,” Blaithe confirmed, her expression settling. ”It is near dizzying, so I… I would agree.” As an Excito she didn’t have this sight; her senses were so different than they had been. Everything now was overwhelming, exhausting. Part of her was glad that she had this new leg as she needed her own time, some clarity, and moving around without a peg was practically impossible after the damned rose had snapped hers off. Well… not that she had used it much prior, anyway – she had usually crawled around if someone wasn’t carrying her. She wasn’t used to this new one but perhaps she would become accustomed with time.
Speaking of, she took a quick glance downward as the violin pointed out her lack of limb. Her lips parted through a breath for just a moment before she shook her head softly. ”No… I was born this way. Jin Ho has told me through study he learned that the neutral alignments, such as myself, are usually born lacking or with extraneous limbs. I was unfortunate and am lacking,” she admitted, her voice soft and leaning towards just the slightest hint of sadness at the thought, but there was nothing she could do about it. With the help of her staff it was a lot easier, much better than when she had to make do without a peg entirely. ”Curiously enough, it resembles me as a brush…”
”Indeed,” Jin Ho affirmed, offering his human companion an upturned corner of his mouth; not quite a smile, but it was getting there. ”She was constantly held, I could not trust her grip on an article of clothing… For both of our comfort she was always nestled in a hand.”
Jin Ho didn’t know much of Blaithe’s earlier frustrations – she had become so frustrated with her size, her lack of being able to help in any situation. She feared many things: abandonment, uselessness to name a few, and both were so easy to accomplish at her size. She had once feared that she would never grow, never be useful. Sloane had known these things, but Jin Ho had at one time failed at being a Grimm and Blaithe had not confided in him during his poorer years. Now… now, she was at least contented. She could help with small things and not feel like a burden, an extra.
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Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 9:19 am
"Hmm," Claune said, drumming his long, slender fingers on the wood of the desk. Then he maneuvered himself into a handstand, balancing all his weight on his squashed hat, and regarded Blaithe solemnly from upside down. "So both our Grimms are missing an arm; you are missing a leg; what, then, am I missing? Ah!" he exclaimed, catching sight of his own dangling shoes. "I have feet for a head. That explains a great deal."
He lightly sprang upright and stole toward the edge of the desk for a look at Blaithe's peg. "A brush, you say? Not a brush for hair, I gather—though you do have a great deal of it."
When he reached the edge he froze theatrically, staring down at Hero. His eyes grew enormous with alarm; he slowly crouched down among the scholarly debris surrounding him. "What is that?" he stage-whispered. He pointed one trembling finger at the stunted as if he had never seen such a thing before in his life. "Has it been here all along?"
Nicholas glanced over at Claune, distracted by the Plague's earlier exclamation, but determined nothing was amiss and returned his attention to Jin Ho. "I suppose that wasn't easy for you," he replied, attempting to imagine—and failing—how difficult life would be if he had to carry Claune about in his only hand. "Did her size have anything to do with the nature or dimensions of her item, or was it merely random? I'm not an expert in the field of Plagueology by any means, but I have seen both theories advanced without conclusive evidence."
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Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 5:10 pm
Blaithe watched in amusement and amazement as Claune so effortlessly shifted his weight, almost envious of his dexterity and skill – something she would never have, at least skill-wise. A small chuckle escaped her throat when he exclaimed his own deformity, one hand still cupped around Hero. ”I was once a paint brush,” she explained, offering her other hand to him if he felt inclined to crawl onto it. However, he then noticed their hidden companion and made a great deal of theatrics over him… which the feline did not appreciate at all.
”This is Hero,” Blaithe said, splaying her hand so that Claune could get a better look – another thing the cat didn’t appreciate. ”He has been my constant companion for most of my life.”
”And a sight better than you,” he hissed, bristling slightly as he turned his attention toward this ‘clown.’ ”And yes, I have been present this entire time; your sense of smell must be lacking.”
”Hero…” Blaithe lightly reprimanded, lifting her hand as she stared down at him. He didn’t like that she moved away, now coming to a stand against her lap. ”I’m sure he did not mean harm…”
”He should learn proper manners. His name suits him,” Hero spat, pointing out the violin’s phonetic title.
Jin Ho’s attention was grabbed by this time, brows furrowed at Hero’s hasty anger and nearly felt the need to chime in, but Blaithe hushed and pacified the feline as best as she could. Turning his attention back to Nicholas, he sighed, ”In Blaithe’s younger years, I had the gift of both arms.” He tried to shrug it off; he had become accustomed to his work and ways now that he had dealt with this handicap for around two years now. ”There is nothing we know of linking a Plague to their size – I believe it is just the luck of the draw. I’ve met Excito about the size of my hand, some smaller.”
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Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2013 2:39 pm
Claune paused, looking at Blaithe's extended palm. "You, a paint brush, and I, a painted violin," he proclaimed, clasping one hand to his breast, with the queer impression that he was stalling for time. "It must be fate. Perhaps we've met before in another life."
He continued hesitating until he finally mustered up the courage to step onto her hand, moving with the gingerness of a person who did not very much like being touched. He reached out and tentatively took hold of her thumb for balance, and then quickly glanced at Blaithe's face, as if questioning whether this was acceptable. Claune had only ever allowed himself to be carried by two other people in his life, discounting Nicholas.
Then he turned his attention back to Hero. His expression, which for a moment had almost been vulnerable, wrinkled into a theatrical rendition of dismay. "Well, I did say I had feet for a head, didn't I? How insensitive of you—of course I can't smell. But you're right to criticize my manners. It was a poor introduction; I apologize. It's very good to meet you, kind and gentle sir." Claune placed one belled shoe before the other and dropped Hero an elegant, practiced-looking curtsy, pinching his fingers around an invisible skirt. "If my name suits me, may I ask how you came by yours?"
Nicholas's mouth thinned. He didn't know anything of Jin Ho's history, but having overheard part of the Plagues' conversation it wasn't difficult to draw the connection (no pun intended) that a paint brush might have once played an important role in his past. Or still did; from their brief interaction so far it was impossible to tell whether Jin Ho had been right or left-handed, and it seemed impolite to ask directly.
"Claune came from a violin I once played," he confessed in a slightly lower tone than before, in case any of the Plagues happened to be listening. "I find that there's a certain disconnect between us. We have difficulty understanding one another, as if—" a line appeared between his eyebrows as he searched for the right way to express the thought "—well, as if I'm a one-armed man trying, and failing, to play his old instrument. But Blaithe seems to be doing admirably well. Are you very close to one another?"
He was thinking back to the way Jin Ho had walked inside with Blaithe tucked so carefully against him. Claune, he imagined, would never let Nicholas get away with displaying that much affection.
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Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 6:33 pm
The sentiment reached Blaithe and she couldn’t help but smile a little more naturally. She had noticed his hesitance when climbing onto her hand and for his sake, she moved her hand away from the table slowly and carefully once she was sure he had a good hold on her thumb. It was a sensation she couldn’t get used to, holding onto an Excito with her own hands – she had been so small for far too long; Claune would have been able to hold her like an infant if she were still an Excito… there were not enough words to explain her relief at being human sized.
Claune’s feigned manners grated at Hero’s nerves but he held calm, but only due to Blaithe’s cooing and shushes. The cat’s ears fell back and he let out a slight grumble, but he remained where he was. ”I earned my name by saving Blaithe from rats,” he spat.
Blaithe’s hand offered a quick pat to Hero’s head, giving a soft and tender stroke to calm him further. She did pull away to elaborate, making a pinching motion between her thumb and forefinger. ”When I was small, I was no larger than an inch, so I was told,” she explained, giving a bit more urgency to her rescue. ”Hero has been my companion for quite a while, even before he had grown.”
In fact, that was when he grew.
”Interesting that our instruments, though different, have become similar companions,” Jin Ho mused, his voice lighter than it had been in months. His demeanor fell by just a bit as Nicholas continued and he passed a quick glance toward the Caedos held carefully in Blaithe’s hands. ”I admit that I was not the greatest Grimm upon my own incidents… My poor Blaithe, I forced her to mature far too quickly; I am lucky that she cares for me the way she does.” he sighed. Jin Ho was ashamed of how he had acted toward his companion during his downfall – she didn’t deserve the treatment she received but she was ever eager to please regardless. ”I am sure whatever rift has been made between the two of you, it can be mended. I was once a scribe with Blaithe as my brush. I am sure you will find your median.”
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