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 Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 8:48 am
Cosine was not sure what drove her to seek her brother out. It had been a very long time, since she had seen him. Years perhaps. They had met when he returned from his imprisonment in the puzzle cube and then one day she had gone to see him again and he wasn't there. She had heard nothing since, she had asked Tajnevaki about him and even Mystery had no clue. A mystery for Mystery. After that she had given up, things were busy for her and he clearly did not want to be found.
It was Zero that had brought thoughts of him back to her. She had heard that he had been seen near the forge. Cosine had filed the information in her mind for later, though as she tried to work it nagged at her. She had never felt at ease with their distance, though it always seemed hard for him to understand that the fading had made strangers out of them. She was not the goddess she had once been, not by a long shot.
So, for no particular reason she had decided to seek him out, though she had company in tow.
Behind her a pale young god bounced along, trying not to tread on the gauzy material of his mother's pale green dress, though at the same time making a game of it, stepping wide and juust missing it as she walked a few steps ahead. Beside him, keeping pace was a rather large black dog with piercing red eyes. He was the boy's shadow and seemed to follow him everywhere.
"Are we nearly there?" Isidore asked, jumping over a stone in the path. He had not been this way out of the Pantheon before, it was like a mini adventure.
"Almost." Cosine replied, and glanced back at him. "Watch where you are going Isi, you'll trip over."
"Okay mama." He replied, stopping his game and breaking into a quick run so he could catch up with her. He could see a building up ahead with smoke coming from the top. Thaat was exciting."
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Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 10:50 am
Another day, another tally. Arc was sprawled on a bench outside the main building, eyes on his clipboard, pencil in his mouth as well as behind his ear. He was working on a chart to show production levels for the arrow heads. The news wasn't fantastic. Numbers had been slowly decreasing, and he was puzzling out exactly why that would be, or at least what his figures could do to reveal the reason. It was early yet for lunch, so the forge was in full swing inside. Workers came and went, and the noise inside was deafening. Out here, in the cool air and sunshine, he felt better able to think.
He had taken the pencil from behind his ear and scribbled something down on one of the papers lower down in his stack, frowning down at the figures. Movement in his peripheral vision made him look up. The sun was in his eyes, however, making him squint and raise his hand, still holding his pencil, to shade his eyes to see better. He didn't recognize the billowy feminine figure in the distance, nor the little one that raced around the first. His mind still on the numbers, he lowered his hand and his eyes, once more focusing on his paperwork.
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Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 12:10 pm
Cosine spotted her brother as soon as he came into her line of sight. He had not changed at all. That in itself intrigued her, she doubted he would recognise her, aside from the feeling her mana gave off. She no longer had the look of her host, she had green feathered wing sprouting from her head as well as her larger, crow's wings, tucked behind her as she walked. Her clothing was floaty and light, not as modest as she might have been once in the time before. her hair flowed loose over her shoulders, all dark apart from one white streak, braided with pale feathers, a touch of the spirit world, other strands of hair were braided with other feathers and feathered charms, one of bone, one of wood, some of smaller feathers. Some might say she had more of a shamen-esque look about her.
Isidore kept pace with his mother, it was easier than his dad. He was way taller and walked really fast. He too had spotted the god, he knew he was a god because he could feel it. He was learning that, how to tell the gods from the mortals. A grin spread across his face and he charged off towards the god, not really bothered too much that he seemed to be busy. Scimitar, the large dog padded after him.
"Whatca doing?" Isidore asked as he appeared at the side of the seated god and brushed some of his teal hair out of his pale blue eyes.
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Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 12:47 pm
Arctang looked up to smile at the child who had scampered to his side. He was not at all bothered by the interruption, nor the presence of one so young. Children delighted him at all times. He pulled the pencil out of his mouth so that he held both in his hand. "A math problem," he answered truthfully, if simply. "Do you like math?" He tucked one pencil back behind his ear and threaded the other through his fingers securely. He regarded the child more intently, realizing that this was no ordinary child. This had to be one of the offspring of his fellow gods. Which meant the other figure was... he looked up at the approaching figure and stopped, a trickle of unnameable sensation alerting him. He tipped his head and narrowed his eyes, rising to his feet and setting his clipboard aside. Was that... could it be.... his twin? His eyes took in her many feathers and charms, the visible wings alongside her head, her ethereal style of dress. "Cosine?" he breathed, uncertain at his identification even as he said her name.
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Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 1:26 pm
"Oh yeah I do." Isidore grinned, trying to peer at the paper. "I'm not as good as my sisters but I like them, they're fun. Sometimes they make my brain hurt." He realised that the god was no longer paying attention to him and followed his gaze to his mother. He called her by name and he looked back at the god. There was some familiarity about him, if not in looks then in aura.
Cosine smiled as her brother identified her. So she wasn't wholly unrecognisable, that much was good.
"Brother, it has been a very long time." She said softly.
Isidore looked from his mum to the man again.
"Brother?" He asked, "This is your brother?" His eyes were wide with curiosity.
"yes Isi, this is your Uncle, Arctang."
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Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 2:09 pm
He gave in to impulse then, dropping the pencil in his fingers and leaping to his feet. He took his sister into his arms and gave her a great hug, holding her fiercely as if time and trial had separated them, rather than just time and a little space. Perhaps it was his recent thoughts on the Grigori, on what he was supposed to be focused on. He'd been dwelling on things of that nature more and more recently, on the threat they posed, and it lent an air of immediacy to the world that it had lacked for a long while now. He instantly regretted not having sought her out before now, as he held her close for several moments.
He then stood back to really look at her, and marveled. "You've changed," he said in awe. Indeed she had. He felt a faint flicker of chagrin at the realization that she had grown, been completely reborn, while he remained... well, only partly himself. One of his hands buried itself into his hair at the thought, but his mouth only quirked in a touch of self mockery. Leave it to him to drag behind. "But wait... Uncle?" He turned to stare at the little boy, then back to his sister, his eyes going very wide indeed. "Nephew? You mean... he's yours?!" His voice squeaked in astonishment on the last word as it dawned on him that she was a mother. He grasped her by the shoulders briefly, then mimicked a half faint, clutched at his heart, and rolled his gaze comically towards his nephew. "She's your mother?!" His demeanor now was very clearly playful, acting like he had to hold onto Cosine to keep himself upright, though in truth his touch was light.
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Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 3:40 pm
Isidore blinked as the man, his Uncle, launched himself at his mother. That surprised him a little. His mother gave good hugs to him and his sisters and his dad but he had never seen her hug anyone else. Cosine stiffened a little as she was pulled into a tight bear hug. She had not expected it, though she knew her brother had been missing a long time, maybe he had gone mad. She gave a nervous laugh as he released her and pushed some of her hair from her eyes.
"Yes, I have. You are as you were when I last saw you." She looked to Isidore and gave him a smile. "Yes, he is mine." Cosine smiled proudly. "One of three, he has two sisters." Isidore looked up at his Uncle as he grabbed his mother again, he hoped he wasn't trying to hurt her. His dad would not be happy, oh no, he might smash him like the bad king. He moved to her side, his fingers taking hold of her skirts protectively
"Yeah that's my mama."Cosine smirked at Arc's goofing around and placed her hand on Isidore's head. He was that little bit more sensitive than his sisters.
"This is Isidore, Funeral."
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Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 4:25 pm
He'd forgotten, again, how little she seemed to like physical affection. Her stiffening wounded him, but he strove valiantly not to let it show. He wasn't going to lessen his affections towards her unless she asked. This was his way of showing love. Had he known she thought he might be mad, he would have been much more deeply affected. Good thing as twins they did not share thoughts silently.
He gave her another wide-eyed look at the mention of two others. Goodness gracious, he was an uncle to three kidlets... godlets, in fact. He let go of Cosine as she introduced the protective little boy. He gave Isidore a serious and courtly bow. "I am glad to meet you, Funeral. I, like your mother, am Numbers, though I am the Pie Bird to her Counting Crow. I am honored to be your uncle." He gave the small child a smile then and hunkered down on his level. "You are very speical, you and your sisters. I hope we'll be friends."
He stood then and gave his twin an inquiring look. "So, what brings you to the forge?" He had been buried in his own affairs, granted, but he knew that this wasn't exactly her forte, or they'd have met earlier. It wasn't exactly like he hadn't been here. He'd just been... well, emotionally withdrawn and conveniently unavailable. To be perfectly honest, he hadn't felt much urge to reconnect with her. It seemed like every meeting they had was layered with awkwardness and disappointment, at least on his part. He'd rather come to the conclusion that he simply wasn't good for her life. He hadn't told her this, of course, but he was done hiding from things now. It was time he faced even his oddness with his sister. Time to man up, be a brother and an uncle, despite his personal wistfulness that it could be different.
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Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 2:02 am
Isidore watched the god, Arctang for a moment and eased away from his mother as he moved to be on his level. He gave a small smile and nodded.
"It's nice to meet you." He replied, the large dog easing down to the floor next to him. He didn't know his mother had a brother, or maybe he did and had forgotten. There was so much information lately to cram into his small brain.
"Do you like eating pie?"
Ah now there was a question.
"I have been looking for you." She replied, looking up at the building. "I came to find you once and you were not around, I asked your friend Mystery if he had seen you and he had not. Then one of my Aoidei saw you the other day, here. So I thought I would come and see if I could find you myself." She breathed in slowly. "I feel we always seem to end on bad terms, I wanted to make peace, but also help you to understand. I am not what I once was. I loathe that goddess."
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Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 2:56 pm
Arctang cast the boy a wry smile at his question, but did not answer it, as his twin caught his attention with her words. He gestured to welcome her to have a seat on the bench as he listened to her speak. It felt... strange that his twin could have been looking for him and yet not found him. Or that he himself hadn't sensed her desire to see him. He refrained from biting his lip but didn't quite suppress a soft sigh. Their twinnish-ness seemed to fade the more time went by. But he needed to accept this, rather than rail against it. Frustration over undeniable facts wouldn't change them.
He nodded once or twice, and almost spoke in reply after she mentioned making peace. The expression on his face was slightly dismayed, but the protest died on his lips at her last statement. She... loathed her old self? He paused to gather his scattered wits, feeling like something was wrong here, but unable to pin down exactly what he thought was wrong. After a few moments, he finally managed to say something sensible. "I... don't remember much from before the Fading," he admitted slowly. "I don't remember much about myself, and even less about you." He gave her a mournful look. "I've only ever felt like we should be connected, as twins. That is what has seemed so lacking since we awoke."
He stuffed his hands in his pockets and stared at his shoes. He really didn't want to admit this sort of thing to her, but it seemed necessary now. "All I've ever wanted was to be.. to feel... connected with you." He raised his eyes to hers, a desire to understand and a need for sibling affection. "I'm sorry if you are at odds with your old self, and I am truly sorry if that somehow means we can't... aren't...," he trailed off with a vague, frustrated gesture, not having words for whatever it was he thought they as twins should be like.
He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "However, if you think it better that we do our own thing, and stop trying so hard to be whatever it is we are not... together," he went on carefully, telling his heart to stop wailing, "then that is likely what we should do." He stopped, holding his breath for several heartbeats. Somehow she had always seemed older, wiser, meaning he could rely on her judgments. He had no idea if this was supposed to have changed too, but for her sake, he'd bend over backwards so she could feel contented with their relationship. It seemed the brotherly thing to do.
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