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 Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 4:14 am
█║ SOLO: Second Chance
█║ INVOLVED: Anastascia, Zul
█║ SYNOPS: Zul can't deal with his upset.
The door to the laboratory slammed in the demon's wake. He half expected his woman to come tearing in after him, but to his grim surprise, it remained firmly shut. Distantly, he heard her boots on the linoleum in the hallway fading in the distance; perhaps she'd decided to give him a little time to himself.
"She's gone," he said out loud to himself. He'd said it about a dozen times just a few minutes ago, but this time, it held a great weight that settled on his chest, making his breathing hard and strained. Zul felt his eyes close, resting a hand on his face as a helplessness settled in the fiber of his being. Dayo is dead. Alex tried to tell him that she had 'lost her memories' and that it was still the same Dayo - but the way she moved, the way she acted, it wasn't Dayo at all. It was a Raevan he'd never met wearing the skin of his dead friend and he did not like her.
Opening his eyes with a distant lack of focus, he dropped his hand and floated slowly into the room, uttering a sigh that was as heavy as he felt. Give her a chance, his woman had begged him. It's her second chance to live. Gage didn't get that option and neither did Lucretia! What did Zul care?! He hadn't met either of those Raevans, and even if he had killed the Ice Rose, it didn't matter! They meant nothing to him! Ekundayo...she meant something to him. She was his friend! Not one to be claimed, not one to claim him, but two that existed with one another in a strange type of harmony. That Dayo was dead. He'd never see her again.
Zul exhaled in a shaky sound, pausing with his hand one of the tubes in the lab, this one filled. He often came into the room to get away from the monotony of Lab work or to escape Alex; it was like his safe zone at times and he was glad she respected it, even if it annoyed him to have to resort to it at all. Sky-blue eyes turned sidelong to the tube, observing the murky interior with a bland expression. "What about you?" he asked the tube, his voice dry and airy. "That one gets a second chance. Will you?"
He was certain the answer was 'no.' The demon entertained the idea that the majority of the Raevan and Guardian populace would only hear 'virus' and immediately assume whatever came out of the tank would be a vile thing. That...that was where he prided himself in who and what he was; he wasn't like them. He was different from the rest. When this Raevan was born, he would be the one to greet them and welcome them to the world. Zul did not hold a grudge against that which didn't hurt him. Everyone had survived - and even his woman, who had taken the worst of the damage dealt outside the Raevans, was looking forward to this one's birth. She'd said as much to him. She'd also said--
Why, then, can't you give Dayo a second chance?
Maybe it was because everyone else would be giving her that chance. Zul rested his inverted pentagram against the tube, the reinforced glass likely cool though he couldn't feel it. He couldn't explain to Alex why it was different, but he knew in his heart. The virus hadn't taken anything from him; it had made him violent, yes, possessive to a fault, but it was really only an amplification of his lesser desired traits. The Raevan wouldn't be the virus. Dayo, on the other hand, had lived and breathed and touched everyone's life she came into contact with in a positive way. Her absence had hurt him. Knowing they'd never play chase again made his chest ache terribly. That the Eagle's joyous demeanor and clumsy fashion of grace was lost to the world...that was unforgivable.
He could not accept this new one, bearing her name and her countenance. She was a fake. A farse. A lie. The one growing in the tube was new, with only its make up to be held against it, and that, in his weighted opinion, was foolish. "You'll be better than them," he told the tube, lifting his brow to draw his fingers over the glass again, "and their low thoughts. At least..." Zul paused, glancing to the door for a moment as he heard steps returning before looking back to the tube. "...at least you'll have Zeke. He's good people. I like him...I think you will too."
There was a soft knock at the door that he didn't answer immediately, staring into the empty tubes at the virus-Raevan's side. There'd be more newborns, more Raevans created by human hands that would never bear the stigma that this one would; he knew the Fake Dayo would not meet the same scrutiny and disdain. Right now, Zul knew he was in the right and there wasn't a single thing that was going to change his mind. Giving the filled tube a light pat in farewell, he floated through the room and to the door to address his woman. He had his beliefs, just as she, and he would not be shaken.
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Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2010 11:18 pm
Summary Alex has to be firm about Lucia's furture Guardianship. Zul distracts Rivener from a request by Aphi to plan a future date.
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Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 2:04 am
█║ RP LINK: RAEVAN PICK UP - Soar
█║ INVOLVED: Alex, Ekundayo, Fathle
█║ SYNOPS: Ekundayo is reborn and rehomed.
Summary Alex reluctantly hands Dayo over to her new Guardian - an enigmatic and handsome red-head named Fathle. She can't shake an odd feeling she gets from his gentle and patient demeanor, but Ekundayo is okay with him, and so too must she be...
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Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 8:13 pm
Summary Zul hears a scream, and upon investigating it, he finds a dark form over a bloody and broken Rivener! The demon in Zul burns brightly and the battle for Lucia's soul begins...
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Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 2:52 pm
█║ RP LINK: The Untellable
█║ INVOLVED: Lucia, Zul
█║ SYNOPS: Lucia is ready to talk.
Summary Lucia wants to talk about what happened, and Zul is ready to listen - and remind his friend that she is not the beast that possessed her.
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Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 3:05 pm
Summary Doucette becomes part of the Lab family after a most boisterous first impression.
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Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 5:53 pm
█║ SOLO: [GROWTH QUEST] Natural
█║ INVOLVED: Alex, Jezebelle, Zul
█║ SYNOPS: Alex hires a tutor for Zul.
Alex sighed deeply, laying in a splayed fashion against the couch, limbs akimbo like some doll dropped into her position. "Thank goodness this is the last one," she sighed, leaning her head back against the stiff support of the couch and staring listlessly at the ceiling. "Hopefully we can make a decision and get you started, huh?" The woman rolled her eyes towards her charge, smiling tiredly.
The demon was resting similarly against the Delaran couch, though his tri-horned head rested against the arm of the furniture, his blue eyes focused upon the mirror that had been temporarily seated against the opposite wall. "I liked Eddie," Zul remarked in a petulant manner, his usual smile absent in his pout.
"Eddie didn't know how to wear a hat and thought that pants belonged around the knees," came the tart reply, wrinkling her nose as if the words brought an unpleasant taste to her mouth. "He also said things like 'shizzle.' I don't want that in your vocabulary."
"Shizzle," the demon repeated with a snicker.
Alex gave Zul a nasty sidelong glance before pursing her lips, thinking. "Enrique was nice..."
"He kept staring at your breas--"
"But immature, got it, no Enrique." The woman slid down the couch until her head was on the opposite arm of the couch, rubbing her hands over her face. "Felicia? Travis? What was her name - Marjole?"
"Felicia looked like she'd study me more than teach me," Zul countered each name, lifting a hand and pointing at three fingers he had upright. "Travis smelled funny--"
"Right, weed," Alex added dejectedly.
"--and Marjole didn't seem to speak English any better than me." The demon frowned at the mirror, considering as well. "What about June?"
"June was a bible thumper."
"What does that mean?"
The woman glanced down the couch at Zul before staring tersely at the ceiling. "It means I wouldn't have left her alone with you. She wouldn't have taken well...like the people in the village last year."
Silence settled between the two, he staring at the mirror that reflected the kitchen, she at the ceiling and tracing patterns in the wood with her eyes. It had been a long and arduous journey to find a suitable tutor for Zul, one that was not yet over. Alex had decided it was time for her charge to learn - not because she felt he was ignorant, but because she honestly wanted him to understand those around him and maybe find his place with them. She was mostly looking for someone to teach him history - to tell the rise and fall and fallibility of humankind, and since she could barely remember her own past, it was decided they'd hire someone to do the teaching.
"Derrick?"
"Drunk. Veronica?"
"Too pink. What a--"
A knock stopped both of them from speaking, two sets of eyes turning towards the door. It took a moment before Alex finally disentangled herself from the couch and leaped to her feet, casting her eyes to Zul. "You know the drill." The demon gave her a mock salute, staying put and resuming staring at the mirror as she moved to the front door, unlatching it and opening it wide. "Hello! You must be--"
Alex stared for a moment, surprise on her face. The woman at the door was...decidedly unlike the others. Dark, rich skin, darker hair Egyptian-straight with a few strands dipped in honey blonde. More piercings in her ears than Zul had on his whole body, not including the stud in her nose and the small holders beneath her lip and in her eyebrow. Despite her more jolting appearance and clothing that would have made Zeke jealous, her eyes held something else in them - the green leaf turning to autumn gold, almond shaped and foreign. Quite frankly, she was rather pretty.
"Jezebelle," the girl said with a knowing smile, extending a hand with filigree-painted nails. "Alex, I hope? You sure look like an Alex!"
And just like that, the spell was broken. Alex laughed, taking the woman's offered hand and giving her a good shake. "Guilty as charged," she teased, stepping back and releasing Jezebelle's hand, motioning into the house. "Come in! You're right on time." Directing the woman into the kitchen, the Italian made sure to sit the prospective tutor in the proper seat and, with a glance towards the living room and the offer of a drink, she took her own seat and began the interview.
~*~
Seated as they were, Zul had a perfect view of the woman being interviewed thanks to the mirror. Each expression made, each tap of nail against her glass of juice and shift of feet against the stool was noted. He'd never met anyone with skin as dark as hers, finding her appearance both exotic and curious. Her hair almost didn't look real to him, so straight and shiny as it was; only the shift of her head and the parting of the dark locks when her earring swayed convinced him it wasn't a wig. She was unusual, animated in her speech and seemed genuinely excited with each question posed. Zul liked her immediately.
The interview lasted all of thirty minutes, but it was two hours later when they got off the topic and allowed time for Jezebelle to ask questions to Alex. It was perhaps even more important than the interview itself, or so his woman had said; it showed something about their character and true interest, or something. Zul watched Jezebelle as she posed her questions - 'how long will the tutoring last?', 'what subjects do you want to focus on?' and 'do I need to come here?' being the rather normal ones - keenly aware of her body language and the way she was genuinely interested in the responses. Unlike the others, who assumed they'd be teaching some sort of kid, it seemed Jezebelle was treating the option as an open book - or in the very least, she was making no assumptions.
She was pretty and seemed smart; her laughter didn't make his ears bleed; she didn't seem to be carrying any odd odors with her and, for the most part, it seemed Alex liked her too.
He made up his mind. Jezebelle would be his tutor.
She asked how old he was then, prompting him to 'sit' up and push himself off the couch, floating around the furniture and out of the living room at his full height. "I'll be two this year," the demon interjected smoothly. "I am Zul, and I want you to teach me."
~*~
Silence filled the kitchen.
Alex bit her bottom lip, glancing between Jezebelle and Zul. None of the tutors had met her charge; why he was introducing himself when no discussion between them had happened, she was uncertain. The potential tutor was staring at him with her lips parted, her eyes a touch wide. It wasn't like the Italian could blame her. It was a reaction she herself had many years ago when she'd first encountered the Raevans.
"You're..." Jezebelle's soft voice filled the deafening silence. Slowly, the woman released the glass and stood, each action careful and uncertain as if the Frei would dart away or disappear. Zul found it deeply amusing, but stayed where he was, watching her.
"I am Zul. I am your student."
Those autumn-gold eyes turned to Alex; she nodded to Jezebelle, extending a hand towards her charge. "This is the one I'm taking care of. He is a Raevan, and as he's said twice now, his name is Zul. He's, ah...apparently making the decision of who he wants to be his tutor." The tightness in her voice at the end of the sentence suggested she wasn't pleased with it, but that she didn't outright deny the claim was also a good sign.
Another stretch of silence followed before laughter began; it was from Jezebelle, a quiet but heartfelt sound of amazement and, to Alex's contentment, an excited type of delight. "Oh my gosh, Zul! You're - you're gorgeous! A Raevan, you said?" Even though the last part was directed at Alex, her bright eyes were all for the Frei, walking over to him and extending her hand. He started to shake her hand, but was surprised to find that he was instead pulled into a hug. "Oh sugar, I'd be honored to teach you!" Jezebelle pulled back enough to look at Zul, who looked at her with wide eyes. "I'm Jezebelle, and sweetie, we're gonna get along just fine."
Once the surprise wore off of Alex and Zul's faces, it quickly became apparent that the tutor had chosen them.
Jezebelle was hired that night.
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Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 7:59 pm
Summary The day has finally come - Zeke picks up Anastacia with great fanfare and jumbled emotions from all.
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Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:00 pm
█║ RP LINK: In The Grass
█║ INVOLVED: Lucia, Melisande, Zul
█║ SYNOPS: Lucia seeks help from a dear friend.
Summary Lucia needs some help and stability from a dear friend without saying too much. Zul meets Melisande for the first time with a fixated awe and mixed emotions.
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 2:14 am
█║ SOLO: [GROWTH QUEST] Something About You
█║ INVOLVED: Jezebelle, Zul
█║ SYNOPS: It's time for an aptitude test!
She was looking at him over her double espresso, pink-trimmed neon green nails idly swirling the red stick that left divots against the bubbly foam in its wake, the liquid slightly paler than her skin. The other manicured fingers drummed absently against her dimpled cheek, her chin resting against her palm to allow herself to look at him without hindrance or embarrassment. Her cherry-painted lips had a pale pearl color along the seam and a piercing pattern Alex had called a 'snake bite'; it was rather charming, especially since she was smiling at him, the gloss literally lighting the expression on her face. Genuine warmth in that look touched her almond-shaped amber-green eyes, the likes of which were lightly framed with mascara, the tips of her lashes touching her slender, pierced brows. There was an enameled happy-face stud on the left side of her nose that kept drawing his attention, even more than her straight cut midnight bangs and the locks of hair that framed her slightly rounded face, the smartly angled-cut hair moving like a beaded veil with each tilt of her head.
"So," she said conversationally, her smile warm and filled with a child-like excitement, "Zul. I'm excited to be your tutor!" Those odd eyes that reminded him forcibly of what leaves looked like before the autumn chill sparkled at him with intrigue. "Do you have any questions for me before we get started?"
It was a poignant first impression - or second, as the case may have been. Her odd appearance had first struck a chord with him because of his affinity towards Zeke - only, this one was female and supposed to be his 'teacher.' He didn't resent her for it, that she knew more than he, but he did question just how much the woman could teach him. "No," the demon remarked, bone wings resting against his back, leaning his elbows on the table. Zul never cared much for trapping his wings between his back and seat, and thus, he was bent as forward as he could be without laying across the etched and stained table, avoiding touching the gaudy spearmint-and-cream vinyl booth backing. "Do you have any for me, Jaysahbelle?"
His tutor giggled. "Oh my goodness, you have an accent! That's so cute!" She dropped her hand from her cheek to reach out for his, fingers lighting against the gloved portion of his wrist, grinning with slightly crooked white teeth against the bi-tone of her lips. "Just call me Jez or Belle. Everyone else does."
Those words, if anything, prompted him to give her a new nickname, one that was his and his alone. “Jazz,” he said simply, delighting inwardly at the peel of laughter that chased the name.
“Sugar, you are a keeper,” the woman grinned in a charmed type of manner, unwittingly stroking the demon’s ego. Sitting upright, she reached to her side beyond where Zul could easily see, procuring three sheets of paper and a pencil, putting all the object in front of her new pupil. “See here, I want you to fill these out to the best of your ability.” The neon watermelon nails tapped against the printed paper with a muted clacking sound. “This’ll tell me how much you know, or maybe help us expand on what you already know, okay? No such thing as a right answer here, so don’t you fret none.”
The Frei nodded his understanding, withdrawing the pencil from her fingers and holding it in his own. Blue eyes turned over the paper, reading it easily enough – “English Assessment” – though half the page was just that: reading. It was something along the lines Jazz had just said, and with a mental shrug, he moved to the second half of the page. Fill In The Blanks. A dark brow lofted, looking over the sentences that had words missing with options beneath. Glancing to his tutor to see if it was some time of joke – and guessing that it wasn’t, as she was apparently writing something on a notepad that he couldn’t see – he quickly wrote in the answers and put the page aside. “Done with that one,” he commented, just in case she didn’t see the motion.
Which, it appeared, she had not. Those almond-leaf eyes flicked up to him and then to the page, minute surprise in them, though a sense of pleasure therein as well. She reached over and plucked the page off the table with a little difficulty due to some remaining sticky substance from the previous table occupants, turning it to face her and quickly skimming the contents. “Your reading seems to be just dandy,” she expressed with a look of being impressed, “and so is your grammar. Not sure if that’s dumb luck or you’re some sort of prodigy, but we’ll take what we can get.” She rested the paper next to her cup, nodding at him to continue.
And so he did. The second page took him a little longer to do – it was headlined “Math” – and the third, entitled “History,” was left empty. Reviewing what he’d written in for the Math segment, Jazz pursed her thick lips thoughtfully and looked over to him. “Here’s what we’re going to do,” she started to say, putting the papers down and pulling out a coin purse from her Capri pockets. Withdrawing approximately twenty coins, she put them on the table in front of Zul and nodded to the pile. “You willing to experiment with me?”
The demon nodded, peering over the gold curiously before looking back to his tutor.
“All right. Count me out four pieces, would you kindly?”
Zul counted the four individually, looking back to the woman for instructions.
Something lit over her face. “Count me out five.” He did so, again, one by one. “Put ‘em back?” Once the Raevan had done so, she asked him to count out four again. “Now, I want you to count me out nine total.” Zul hesitated, and Jazz wasn’t entirely surprised by the look she gave him. He thought about it for a moment, and after some consideration, he counted the four he had and used that method to count out the other five. “Ah hah! I see now. Okay Zul, I want you to have a total of six, put the rest back.” Again, he counted out the ones he had to six and pushed the rest to the pile. “We’ll have to work on that with some simple tables,” she murmured to herself, earning a perplexed look from the demon. “See, sweetie, what you’re doin’ here is – is, look, you’re counting them out each time rather than telling yourself, four plus five equals nine, or nine minus three equals six. You follow?”
He turned the words over in his mind, thinking, and while it seemed a bit hard to wrap his mind around on one hand, he did understand that it should have been easier for him, that he was missing some fine detail. “I understand,” he said at length, something like awe in his voice. “I never thought about it like that.”
Jazz daintily smacked her palm against the table, a triumphant smile on her face. “That’s just it! We have to make you think like that. But…in that same thought, I want you to do another experiment with me.” He nodded, intrigued. “Tell me three words that mean the same thing as ‘green.’”
“Green?” Zul repeated, somewhat baffled. His lips parted, sky-blue eyes shifting to the side in thought. Words that meant green? “Ah…grass?”
She smiled again, kind and patient. “Not that is green honey, that means green. Another word for green.” He again gave her the blank look of surprise, and slowly, he shook his head. “Don’t worry, let’s try another! How about…love? Can you think of words like love, or that make you think of the word, love?”
“Butterflies,” the demon murmured quietly.
Shaped brows lifted over her eyes with curiosity, a knowing smile forming. “Not bad. Can you think of any others?” Another shake of his head. She bit her bottom lip, and Zul found himself inwardly amazed when the glossy substance didn’t cling to her teeth. “What about uh…music? Alex said you like music.”
The Frei sat up a bit straighter, the bone wings rattling against his shoulders. “Song?” He paused to consider more words for his coveted hobby, but that was just it. Music. Did it need more words? “Guitar…”
“That’s good Zul,” Jazz smiled at him, making something on her notepad. After a few moments of pen scratching against paper and the distant twang of some old country song passing the time, her eyes returned to him. “You can read just fabulous, and you understand grammar. You’re a bit shy on extended vocabulary and your math needs a bit more depth. History…is a complete clean slate.” She gathered the papers he’d written upon, shuffling them and putting them in her pack at her side. “All in all, you’re doing better than most of my peers.” He snorted quietly, earning a sideways grin from his tutor. “Don’t you doubt your teacher! And don’t doubt me when I say this.” Leaning on her elbows, Jazz gave her pupil a fond smile, resting her hand over his. “By the time we’re done here, the student will surpass the teacher. I have no doubts in my mind, Zul, you’re going to teach me a lot more than I teach you.” She lightly patted his hands; in her closeness, he got a whiff of something that smelled like brown sugar and vanilla. “Now, I don’t want to be conventional, but I bet you couldn’t tell that.” The Frei gave the dark-skinned woman a toothy grin, shaking his head to play along with her game. Jazz chuckled, a quiet and girly sound. “So with that being said, I’m going to give you some homework next week, and at the end of this month, we’re going to go out and spend some time together, okay?”
The Frei nodded, though his expression clearly said he didn’t understand in the slightest. “Don’t we have to spend time to teach?” he inquired, likely looking more boyish than he intended to.
Lacquered nails gathered the belongings at her side and on the table, giving the demon a knowing and playful look. “You’ll see, sugar,” Jazz promised, zipping up her satchel. “You’ll see. See you next week? Here?”
Wholly interested in this strange, unique woman and her wiles, Zul nodded his tri-horned head, donning an expression that matched her own, full of play and interest. “Next week,” he repeated. He was looking forward to it!
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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 10:23 pm
█║ SOLO: [GROWTH QUEST] Turn the Page
█║ INVOLVED: Alex, Zul
█║ SYNOPS: While doing some homework, Zul is a little too honest.
"What's that?"
The demon lifted his head, his half-formed body hunched over the dining room table, a pen poised in his left hand. Zul blinked up at Alex, coming out of his studious fog and glancing around the kitchen to remind himself of where he was. He was so turned in on himself when trying to fill out the required information that he fairly lost a sense of where he was. 'Sitting' upright, he tapped his free hand against the single sheet of paper. "Homework."
He watched as his woman took a seat near by, her hands wrapped around a sweating glass of chocolate milk. "She gives you homework? Oh I'm so glad we picked her." Alex chuckled, putting the glass on the table and resting her elbow upon its surface, her fingers lacing into her hair against her head so she could lean comfortably. "What's she got you doing?"
Brilliant blue eyes turned back to the page, flitting over the words and digesting them again. "She wants me to choose a single word to describe how I feel about each of these subjects." Zul saw Alex's eyebrow raise, her expression mildly impressed at his speech but he let it slide, preening inwardly. "I've finished a few, but they're..." The Frei again looked to his woman, his expression drawn with thought. "...taxing."
"Huh," came the reply, Alex's green eyes dropping to the paper. "Can I take a look?" When it was slid to her, she turned it around with one finger and looked over the existing comments, reading out loud. "Music - happy. House - empty. Outside - fun." The Italian pursed her lips and slid the paper back. "Is this exactly what she wanted?"
Zul slowly shook his head, his right hand lifting to push some of his light hair back around his curled horn. "No. She wants...her example was, when she thinks of dancing, she thinks of freedom." It was clear that the way he said it indicated he didn't exactly understand, or empathize in the least. "Descriptive words that don't mean the obvious, is what she said."
"Okay." Alex chewed on her lower lip for a moment, tapping her fingers against the table. "Let's try it again, okay?" When he nodded, she nodded in return and lowered her hand from her hair, lacing her fingers together over the surface of the table. "Music. It makes you happy, but a lot of things make you happy. How happy does it make you?"
The demon looked thoughtfully at his woman, considering her question. "Very," he replied with slight bafflement in his tone. "It's one of my most favorite things."
She lightly smacked her palms against the table, unfurling her fingers to point one index finger at her charge. "Bingo! So, something that means a lot to you should be described in something that means more than anything else! Does that make sense?" Alex started to drum her fingers against the table again, eyes turning around the kitchen, seeking an example. "Ah! Like, see my drink here? I like it, but it's not my favorite. Chocolate milk makes me feel...youthful. Reminds me of being a kid, so I draw from that. My favorite is hot cocoa!"
Zul knitted his dark brows together. It made sense, in a way, but he didn't really have a lot of experience to draw from like his woman did. "How would you describe hot cocoa in one word?"
Alex leaned back on her stool, wrapping her arms around herself and giving the Frei a glowing look. "Cozy."
"Cozy? Like..." The demon licked his lips. He was grasping at straws, but he was getting more handfuls now. "...like how you feel in a blanket?"
"Yep!" she confirmed cheerfully. "That's perfect! I feel warm and comfortable. It makes me think of sitting in front of a fireplace while it snows outside, so...cozy." Alex leaned over the table, her smile crooked but excited. "So. What is music to you?"
Zul's wings stretched and shuddered, a tell-tale sign that he was thinking, searching for something. What was music to him? It was...soothing. He found himself lost in hours of music with his player. It was movement, like his game. Music talked to him better than words, more clearly than motion. It made him feel... "Alive," he said out loud.
The woman's dark brows lifted in surprise, lips pursed before she nodded. "That works! Alive is better than happy, right?"
The Frei nodded, crossing out his previous word and writing 'Alive' in his neat, scroll-work handwriting. "House?" he prompted Alex, glancing up to her.
Her smile faded, something touching her eyes. "You said empty, right? I don't...that can mean a lot of things, really, Zul." Alex paused for a moment, worry creasing her brows. "Do you not like it here?"
"No," he replied without any type of remorse, missing the way Alex blanched, his eyes again resting on the paper. How did the house make him feel? "It doesn't make me feel anything. I don't care about it. I don't like it, I don't dislike it. It's just there."
"Then empty is fine," she murmured with faint surprise.
Zul moved on, unconcerned. "Outside." When he thought of outside, he didn't think of just the sky and the grass and all that lay between, but of his experiences there. Meeting Rivener and Lucia and Melisande, his sickness, exploring the beach...flowers. 'Fun' seemed such a pale word now that he really looked at it. "It's where life happens," he finally said in a sort of helpless manner. It seemed trying to keep things to a single word would be a lot more difficult than he anticipated.
He didn't see her trying to wipe away her struggle with the previous revelation, instead focusing on his homework. "It's a place that many things can happen, but what does it mean to you? Keep that question in mind. What does it mean, and how do you feel about it?"
Zul lidded his eyes, pressing his index finger against his lips and staring off into the distance. Whenever he went outside, there was surely an adventure to be had - for better or for worse, though it was always his wish that it was for better. Granted, that didn't mean he wanted things to be safe and regulated, he simply wanted things to work to his favor. A selfish desire, maybe, but it was his fondest... "Hope." 'Fun' was smartly crossed out and the new word written in, a look of satisfaction smoothing his features.
"A good one." He looked to Alex, finally noticing the strange way she was looking at him. She immediately smiled, extending her hand. "What's next?"
The demon looked to the paper. "Yourself," he read out loud. Well, that was easy. Writing down 'proud,' he looked to the fifth option. "Write down five humans and five Raevans and describe, in one word, what they mean to you." Zul looked back to Alex, pursing his lips. "You may not want to stay for this."
Alex laughed, folding her arms over the table and grinning at her charge in a jaunty manner. "Try me."
The Frei shrugged, looking to the paper and thinking. Five humans. Lifting the pen, he put down the five names. "Alix, Afeezmet, E-sigh, Bear and Anita." Zul tapped the pen to his lips before beginning to write the words, starting at the bottom of the list with Anita. "Satisfaction. Inspiration." The Raevan crinkled his nose in disgust for a moment. "Blindness. Obliviousness."
"Hey!" The woman looked rather offended. "That's not nice--!"
"Home." He marked the word next to Alex's name, effectively silencing the woman. In the corner of his eye, he could see a pinch of red on her cheeks. "Now Raevans." That would be easy, too! "Rivener, Lucia, Melisahnde, Varun and Shoe-lee-anne." He sounded out the names as he wrote them down, not minding if he misspelled them just yet. Starting from the bottom of the list once again, he began to write. "Innocence." Zul paused, considering how to label Varun. "Matched. No--" he scratched it out, "--Mirror." While the two couldn't have been further apart in all that they were, the one thing that connected them was something solid, understandable and tangible to touch. It was good enough for him.
Moving on to the Muse, he considered his response for a long moment, his eyes far away and thoughtful. It was hard to pinpoint that one. "Purity." Yes, that was suitable for now. "Joy." He had no ill memories of Lucia; even in her darkest hour, Zul could not find fault in their interaction and was deeply impressed by her strength to hold on. And last but not least... "Everything."
He saw Alex move to correct him, but surprisingly, she stopped and said nothing. Zul looked over his list with satisfaction, glancing up when his woman tapped the paper. "Good job," she smiled at him, picking at the corner. "Now the other side."
The Frei blinked. "Other side?"
Alex flipped the paper over and, sure enough, there were more questions. In fact, it seemed he'd completed the second half first. He made a sound of discontent, making the female laugh. "You're on your own this time, pal." Standing, she retrieved her glass and moved to exit the kitchen, though she rested a hand on his shoulder, giving the tan skin a squeeze. "I'm proud of you, Zul." He felt a brief touch of lips against his brow, and the woman was gone.
A smile formed then, even as his eyes rested upon the page of homework he had yet to finish. He knew that he had at least one answer on that page that would always be correct, no matter how many words he learned: home.
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Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 10:59 pm
█║ SOLO: [GROWTH QUEST] Deja Vu
█║ INVOLVED: Jezebelle, Zul
█║ SYNOPS: Zul discovers the power of words.
Her heeled boots clicked over the linoleum floor of the mall with each step, his own passage at her side silent and constant. She had dyed a portion of her hair since he'd last seen her, and it was to this that his eyes kept flicking back towards; amongst her short, black cropped hair, there was now a thick band of yellow that faded into orange, and into red, no larger than two inches in width. "You inspired it," she finally told him when she caught him peeking at it once again.
"Hm?" He hadn't really been listening to what his tutor had been saying, which somewhat defeated the purpose of their venture but he couldn't help it. All the midnight of her hair against the burnished dark of her skin, and that beam of light over her left eye - it was fetching. Zul turned to face her, dropping his sky-cut eyes to meet her mossy green gaze. Jezebelle wasn't wearing the happy face stud in her nose today, instead a muted, tiny onyx ball in its place. The loops in her lips were also replaced with smaller studs, allowing him to better see and appreciate her smile. "Me?"
"Yeah!" The woman laughed, taking the Raevan's elbow and leading him further into the mall. "Your hair is hot sugar, and I like to take a piece of the people I admire with me. Is that weird?"
The demon thought about it for a moment, thinking of Rivener and giving a slight shake of his head, smiling. "I like it."
"Great!"
They walked and looked around the mall for a time, both of them rather unfettered by the glances they earned by being in one another's company. Zul was entirely used to the mantle of eyes, and by the way his tutor seemed to shrug off the same look that settled on her, she was accustomed to the attention as well. "Jazz?" When she looked at him and smiled at his given nickname, he tilted his tri-horned head to the side and asked, "What are we doing here?"
Her glossy beige smile grew, giving him the sense that he'd done something right. It was something he had learned to thoroughly appreciate in the woman's presence - there was no question if she was happy with him or not, often rewarded for the little things. It was...sweet, in a sense. "I thought you'd never ask darling," she laughed, patting the arm she held. "Today, we're going to work on metaphors and similies." When the Frei gave his best blank stare, Jez laughed again. "We're going to work on your vocabulary a bit, that agreeable?"
Zul straightened a bit, interest lighting his crystalline eyes. "Very. But, how?"
Their pace slowed as they began to walk by a clothing store, her eyes turning towards the window to settle on the clothes poised behind the glass wall. "You were expecting paperwork?" She didn't have to turn her head to see him nod. "Honey, I don't believe anyone learns by just opening their ears and reading words. Especially you." Jez looked at the Frei with that kind smile, the look making his chest warm with gratitude. "So let's get started. What color is that blouse?"
Lifting her hand from his arm, she pointed one ringed digit at one of the summery ensembles, the color hardly solid, more a mix of something soft and familiar. The Frei peered at it, then back to Jez. "Orangey yellow," he answered rather promptly, if not somewhat bewildered.
"That's not a color though."
Zul lifted his dark brows, looking back at the article and trying to place it as a color. He'd seen it before, hadn't he? Sure, it looked like something he'd see on a fruit, but... "...fruity?"
Jezebelle laughed, though it wasn't at him. "Getting warmer!" she encouraged him, giving his arm a squeeze. "Does it remind you of fruit?" When he nodded, she gave a happy shrug of her shoulders and squeezed his arm. "Which fruit?"
"A..." The demon had a time trying to relate colors to fruits. "...a peach?"
"Very good!" The young woman nodded enthusiastically, lifting her hand to brush her bangs to the side. "When you see something that brings to mind a memory or an image, use it! Like you said, this outfit's color can be called peach, and people would understand what the color is better than orangey-yellow, see?" She stepped a bit beyond the outfit, pointing to another. It was a pale, indistiguished color that Zul would not have rightly known how to describe. "This one is more like...wet sand. Would you agree?"
As the words were spoken, the image of the sand on the beach came to mind, a muted barely-there color that was deepened when the water lapped over it. "Yes," he said in a slow, surprised manner. Understanding was dawning on his face as the pieces fit snuggly together at what she was trying to teach him. "Then...this one," he pointed to a softer blue garment, "would be sky blue?"
"Yes! Yes! Perfect!" Jez laughed and Zul found her enthusiasm contagious, grinning at her mirth. "Or, when you begin to learn more about words and their descriptive power, you could call it robin's egg blue. There's cornflower, sapphire, cerulean...you'll see. You probably already know them by sight, we're just going to put words to them so you can expand on them, okay?"
The next hour was spent naming colors and mental images to just about everything they passed: salmon shoes, blood-red gems in rings, a broken-rainbow CD cover (or as Zul had said, it "looked like a painter had a tantrum"), a scarf that looked like rolling fog, a purse that was as offensive as looking at the sun and small glass figurines that were as fragile as a dandelion. The demon's awareness expanded as he began to relate notions and experiences to the most mundane of things, rather than saving it for the greater expressions. He felt enlightened to be taught all that he was, though his tutor swore up and down that she was only taking what he already knew and applying it. Zul felt confident with her belief in him, something he hadn't really had before. It was an enpowering feeling unlike anything he'd known; for those who had relied on him, for those he had taught, it was nothing like the feeling of having someone support him so wholly.
"--think?"
Zul came out of his own thoughts, turning his attention back to the woman at his side, who now easily had her arm looped with his, which he held as any gentleman should. "What?"
"Got your head in the clouds, sugar?" Jez grinned.
The demon absorbed the words, understanding them and chuckling at the mental image it gave him. How did anyone think of these things? "I guess so," he bowed his head as if to take them out of said clouds. "I am sorry. What did you say?"
The smile remained, though there was something off in her eyes. "I said, my hair, what do you think?"
He was confused for a moment. The brightness that she carried around her had dimmed, and now she looked different in a way he couldn't quite place. "I said I liked it earlier..."
"No, no," she laughed softly under her breath, "tell me what it looks like. Like we've been doing."
"Ah." Zul's expression lit with understanding, both at her words and what it was that made her look different. She was guarded. Was she frightened of what he'd say? Curious, the demon floated a little lower so he could look her in the eye, his free hand lifting to touch his fingers over the swathed bangs. "Your hair looks like a piece of the setting sun didn't want to leave you."
The guarded expression fell, and in its place was sheer surprise, a strange type of vulnerability that Zul found himself fascinated by. All he'd done was answer her question in the way he'd been taught - but even knowing that, it seemed she hadn't been prepared for him to catch on. Or was it the words he used? He didn't have time to question it further as she recovered, lowering her eyes demurely before looking back up at him through dark lashes. "They're gonna throw me in jail for arming you with a deadly weapon, Zul. That silver tongue is going to steal many a heart, you mark my words."
The demon laughed then, a rolling sound of smoke and amusement. "I'll free you, if they try!"
"No doubt using that wit and gilded word! Hooboy, I fear the day you learn how to use that boyish charm!"
The two continued on to get Jezebelle a bagel from one of the food stands and himself a small cup of ice. After their lunch break, they would continue, and Zul would continue to learn the power of words...
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Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 3:34 pm
█║ SOLO: [GROWTH QUEST] Waiting on the World to Change
█║ INVOLVED: Brandon, Jezebelle, Zul
█║ SYNOPS: Zul has a lot of growing up to do.
It was another beautiful day, even by Zul's standards. His eyes looked upwards to the sky, the blue cut from the same cloth, a few clouds puffed distantly in faded cotton white. The park they sat at was teeming with families taking advantage of the clear day in July, the full rays of the sun made bearable by the canopy of green and amber tree boughs. It was something he'd seen countless times before and yet, he hadn't really seen it. He could look at the scene and pick out individual details, give them names, feelings, thoughts; it made him vaguely ashamed that he'd been so narrow-sighted before her.
Jezebelle.
"Hm?" The woman at his side turned her autumn eyes to him, blinking behind a caramel-swirled vanilla ice cream cone.
The demon stared unblinking before offering a faint smile. "I was just thinking how nice the weather was," he replied, unaware he'd said her name out loud.
Jez beamed a happy smile at the Frei, who found himself taken with the way her eyes seemed to smile as brightly as her painted lips. "Isn't it perfect? I wish there were more days like this!" she exclaimed with a deep sigh, looking over the scene with longing.
Zul looked to the sky again, considering. Perfect? Not to him. "I like the rain," he finally said, smiling up at the endless blanket of blue. "I think it's perfect right before the storm - the ash clouds, the looming sense of tension...the smell of rain. That's my perfect." Uttering a wistful sigh, he turned his eyes back to Jezebelle, surprised to see her looking at him with a strange expression.
It took him a few heart beats to realize it was admiration. "You are something else, sugar," she said softly. "Don't ever change for nobody, you hear?"
It was his turn to give her a strange look, trying to figure out if her words were some sort of expression that he didn't know. Unable to decipher what they could mean, he shook his head slowly. "Don't intend to," he replied easily. "Why would anyone do that?"
"That? You mean change?"
"Yes."
"Ah." The woman closed her eyes for a moment, breathing in deeply. Zul recognized his as her 'thinking pose,' something she did when she was considering how to word something in a way that he could easily absorb the information. He always found it considerate - she said she just didn't like to repeat herself, but the sentiment was kind all the same. "Sometimes," she started, opening her eyes to her ice cream, "people change the way they act or the things they like to seem more appealing to someone else. It's a form of seeking acceptance, approval, love..."
The Raevan found the idea ridiculous, but when Jezebelle fell quiet, he realized she was serious. "But...why?" Zul was truly baffled by the notion, distaste clear on his features. "If they can't accept you, or approve of you, or - or love you for who you are, why would they be worth your time and effot?" Something in the way his tutor was smiling made him feel uneasy. Was he missing something?
A dark hand lit upon his shoulder. "You're absolutely right," Jez said at length, looking at him with yet another expression that was odd on her jovial face; he thought, this time, it might be the type one gives when weighing another's worth. "No one has the right to pass judgement. But some people, sweetie, it's the only way to impress them. And sometimes...it's important. In a job, in school - sometimes you don't want to stand out. Sometimes it's safer to blend in." She withdrew her hand. "Now don't get me wrong sugar, it ain't right and I don't condone it, but it happens. It's nothing to be ashamed of." The radiant smile he knew her for returned to her face, easing some of the discomfort he was feeling. "But you? Don't ever change."
"Didn't plan on it," he replied with a faint smile. Change? Why the heck would he change for anyone? Take it or leave it, that's how he always felt about meeting others and learning about them. It occurred to him, however, that those he'd been hard on might have been trying to do what Jezebelle suggested - not being themselves in order to impress him, or in the very least, be accepted. Suddenly, the whole notion of a first impression and human greeting standards made a lot more sense. "Why do humans make everything so complicated?" he asked Jez in a puzzled tone, blue eyes seeking an answer.
She wasn't looking at him, however, but beyond him. In a strange motion, she began to spin the cone in her hands, lowering her chin and averting her eyes after a few moments. Strangest of all, she was smiling in a way he'd never seen before, a small gesture that exclaimed happy so loudly that it made his chest ache. What was this...?
"'ey, if it ain't the Belle of the ball - and what's this? Your Beast?"
Every fiber in Zul's being felt cold. Generally, the Frei was an accepting creature, giving everyone a fair and even chance to be friendly. The words spoken by a dopey voice behind him immediately struck off any hope for any type of civility. 'Standing' from where they were seated on the bench, the Frei turned slowly with a sharp, unfriendly look in his eyes, his smile absent. The perpetrator was decidedly beneath him in any type of social standing: overalls cut and sewn into pants, the straps still attached for fashion, the garments patched and written on in faded marker. He wore a dirty wife beater and studded cuffs around his wrists, some sort of flaming skull tattoo screaming from his elbow to his shoulder. His face was long and angular, unappealing and decidedly cruel in the way his thick brows settled over his blue eyes, his pierced lips curved in a crude smile. The male's hair was short, spiked haphazardly, his ears lined with loops.
Zul didn't like him.
"Come on, Brandon, don't be so mean," Jezebelle laughed, making the Frei bristle even more. She sounded off and he didn't like it one bit. The dark-skinned woman moved to try and get around the Raevan that was blocking her from the male named Brandon. "He's--"
Zul immediately put an arm out around Jezebelle, holding her back with an alarmed sidelong glance. This guy reeked of deceit and alcohol. He couldn't let his tutor be friendly with the scumbag!
"Zul, baby, it's okay," she said in a surprised tone of voice, lifting her hands to rest on the forearm that crossed her chest. "He's a friend." She looked even more confused when the Frei gave her a 'are you sure?' type of look, disbelief just as clear on his own face. A friend? Maybe of the nearest gutter, but surely not a friend of his Jezebelle--!
"Does he speak or is he dumb?" Brandon asked, giving Zul a look that was condescending with that terrible smirk.
The demon turned his head back to Brandon, chin lifted and his eyes dark. "I speak. Better than you, clearly," Zul replied in a humorless tone, the usual soft smoky undertones lost into a threat of steam. Ignoring the male's suddenly unkind look, he focused his attention on Jez. "We should go." It was less of a suggestion and more an insistence.
Jezebelle was baffled and at a loss, having never seen her student hostile before. Giving Brandon a brief smile and a wave of the hand not holding the cone, she apologized, "Sorry, I'm tutoring right now, so..."
Brandon curled his lip, but Zul wasn't looking at him. "Yeah," he said with annoyance. "So, uh, I'll see ya Saturday, right? You're still gonna go to that party? It'll be sick."
"Yes, I'll be there," Jez said with a girlish giggle, making the Raevan's wings spread. Brandon took a step back and even Jezebelle seemed caught off guard, her lips parted in surprise. "I - look, I'll see you there, okay? Save a dance for me!"
"Yeah..." The male looked at the Frei with a dark expression before he turned, heading off and lifting his hand without looking back.
Silence stretched between tutor and pupil, both watching the retreating form for a time. Zul finally folded his wings down, and that seemed to prompt Jezebelle to smack him in the shoulder. "What?" the demon jerked, startled at the gesture.
"Don't be so mean sugar! He's not so bad!" Jez puckered her lower lip into a pout, effectively draining Zul of his hostility. "I think he's swell. He's just trying to be the big dog with another guy around, you know? That's just how guys are."
The demon stared for a time. Big dog? To hell with dogs. He was the Alpha. "You were acting funny," he said bluntly, frowning at his tutor. Blue eyes sought her own gilded greens, his dark brows knitted in concern.
Like before, her guard was suddenly dropped, that delicious vulnerability so plain on her face. She rapidly began to rebuild her defenses, but Zul had already seen the bare truth: she was interested in him. "I'm a lady, Zul, I'm allowed to act the part around suitors," she finally said with a lift of her chin and a demure lowering of her eyes, teasing in her voice.
"If they're suitable," the demon scoffed, earning a dismayed sound from his tutor. "I wouldn't call him a gentleman or worthy of my lady in the least." Zul turned his eyes towards the area Brandon was last seen, but he was long gone. If looks could kill, the human male may have spontaneously combusted anyway.
When he looked back to Jez, he was pleasantly surprised to see that her dark cheeks had taken on a lighter hue of red. "There you go with that silver tongue again," she muttered, curling her arm with Zul's and licking her melting ice cream sullenly. "But I guess it's nice for a lady to have her knight, isn't it sugar?"
"I'm no knight, Lady Jazz," he countered with a smile that was as cold and unkind as the one Brandon had worn. "I'm the dragon."
Jezebelle laughed delightedly, leading her pupil away from the park and off to the nearest coffee shop to continue their lessons. Zul smiled and pretended all was well with the world once more, but the more he thought about it, the more keen he was on the idea of being the monster against Brandon the Gutter Troll. He hoped he'd never have to see the filth again, but had a distinct, uneasy feeling in the memory of her happiness that he wouldn't be so lucky...
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Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 3:35 pm
█║ MSN SHORT: Those Three Words
█║ INVOLVED: Rivener, Zul
█║ SYNOPS: The heart wants what the heart wants.
It was easy for Rivener to find Zul. As always, the Demon waited for him in his room or on the balcony just outside the bedroom's doors. The Scorpion's ruby eyes flared to life, a wide beaming grin spreading across his face as he found his precious one: tonight it was the balcony Zul had chosen as his waiting spot. "My Zuuuuul," Rivener purred, sighing in contentment and rushing forward to lace arms around the Frei's shoulders, drawing him close so Riv could nuzzle at the short, burn-colored hair. "Mnnnhh."
He missed the Scorpion. As time moved on and became less ample between them, he felt the sharp loss of something in his chest, though he couldn't rightfully say what. Spending more time with the humans only made him more acutely aware of Rivener's absence in his days. When Zul's name reached his long ears, his whole expression warmed into a muted joy, turning to greet the Sigel by wrapping his arms around him in turn and squeezing him as close as he could to his half-formed body. "My Rivener," he purred softly into the other's jacket. "I missed you."
Another deep sigh of contentment. Rivener lived for this moment, counting down the time every single night until he'd get to come home and see his Zul. Ever since his accident, they barely had time together... If it wasn't Zul's job, it was his tutoring or Riv's job stealing all their time. Not fair. More than once the Sigel had almost quit just so he could see Zul more, but he'd thought better of it: surely Felix wouldn't agree, and what might Zul think of such dependant desperation on Riv's part? So all the Scorpion could do was wait and count down until they could see one another. Thought that didn't keep him from thinking about Zul every moment of the day! Everytime he'd see something he thought his beloved would enjoy, Riv felt a new pang of loneliness. Today such a pang had caused Riv to make a very sudden, impulsive purchase. "I missed you too, my precious wonderful Zul. I wanted to see you so much... I got you a present!" Riv grinned, not offering it just yet. He wanted to see Zul's reaction at the news before the actual object.
If a demon could purr, the Baphomet was doing his damndest, wrapped in a tangle of arms against his Scorpion. Blue eyes had lidded heavily at the gentle, flattering words spoken to him, but those that followed changed his expression; his gaze sharpened, head tilting to look at Rivener with clear surprise on his face, dark brows lifted. "A gift?" Zul almost asked what the occassion was, but distantly remembering his first meeting with Zeke - 'Just to see him smile,' the man had said, 'It's my deepest wish to always see him happy,' - and just like that, the demon began to smile himself, wholly and pleasantly caught off guard. Could Rivener...feel the same towards him? "Rivener," he murmured in a softly abashed voice, his surprise rendering him momentarily speechless. "You...didn't have to..."
Riv chuckled affectionately under his breath, charmed at Zul's reaction. The slow change from surprise to flattered happiness. That bright, honest smile. Riv felt his cheeks heat up, flushing with pride at having made Zul so happy. "I wanted to," he answered easily, moving one hand from around Zul to instead rummage around in a pocket, pushing aside his cell phone and a handful of money to locate the small box. "I saw it and thought of you, so how could I not get it?" He moved away slightly so he could offer the treasure between them, smiling hopefully. Gently he opened the lid, revealing what he'd bought: a bright red flower made of rubies, the size of a quarter, dangling from a golden chain.
He leaned against the Sigel opposite of the side that was being rummaged in, curious what the gift could be but unable to tear his eyes from Rivener all the while. Zul had been having his doubts - about many things - and he hadn't realized how heavy they'd made him until now, feeling as light and excited as he had the day he knew he was going to live with the Scorpion. Allowing himself to be pulled away from, he hovered with a silent hum of anticipation, finally moving his sky-cut eyes down to Rivener's hands as they procured a box. It was larger than the ring box, so he couldn't even wager a guess; when Rivener opened the lid, to say he was blown away was an understatement. The demon's eyes grew at least as wide as the pendant, jaw slackening in the surprise that laced up his spine. A flower. A red flower. Just like--when they'd talked--and that time he was gone. Zul was floored by the gesture - and what it meant to them! "Rivener!" he exclaimed, his voice even lower than usual. "It's..." All the tutoring went out the proverbial window, his fingers gently lifting the box from the Scorpion's hands. A new expression lit his features - one of being deeply touched - and with a firm hold on the box and his treasure, his arms found their way around Rivener's shoulders, tightly holding on as his lips sought the Sigel's in an equally firm, affectionate kiss. "Thank you!" he murmured as he took a breath, another kiss following thereafter.
Just as Zul hadn't torn his eyes away while Riv procured the box, now Riv's eyes fixed onto Zul as the demon looked at his gift. Zul's joy was so REAL, so incredibly heartfelt and perfect that Rivener grinned, feeling his chest swell with warmth. He had known Zul would like the gift, but he hadn't expected this slack-jawed, stunned shock. The Sigel let out a light laugh, allowing Zul to take the box. Riv thrummed all over with his own joy now: pleased beyond measure to have found such a perfect present, to have made his precious Frei smile so much. A kiss was the perfect gift in return, Riv's arms twining around Zul's body eagerly once the Baphomet returned into Riv's embrace, lips finding lips. The Scorpion's were curled up in a smile at the edges. Zul's murmured thanks drew a quiet, happy moan from Riv as they kissed again, the Sigel only able to formulate a reply once they parted for air again. "I'm so glad you like it. This one won't wilt or need water... It will always be vibrant and beautiful. Keep it safe, hm? My Flower?" The sudden pet-name was comical if one didn't know the meaning of flowers to the two Raevans: Zul looked anything BUT a flower. Still, Rivener found it fit very well and he decided then and there he'd call Zul his Flower in private whenever he could.
Arms still around the Sigel's shoulders and neck, his hands lifted to sift through the bi-colored hair, his gaze gentle and more than a bit admiring. Rivener had chosen him. There was only the thrum of energy between them when they were together, something that strengthened each time they touched, and wrapped up as they were, he felt vibrantly alive. "I will--" Surprise lit his features again at the nickname, but it made him laugh, a low, smoke-filled sound. "I will be your Flower," he agreed good-naturedly, chest warm for all it meant for them. What it meant to him... The demon kissed Rivener once again, murmuring softly against his lips, "I love you." Another kiss - and then Zul looked perfectly surprised, as if it were the Scorpion that had said the words and not he. For a moment, his expression wavered between uncertainty and defiance - fully expecting the Scorpion to say that he couldn't love him, that he was wrong. Clinging to how right it felt and how easily the words had left him, he lifted his chin and let his expression settle on how he really felt: a sense of belonging. "I do," he added quietly, hoping to refute any denial on Rivener's part, "as much as I can. I do."
Rivener laughed along with Zul after the impromptu nickname, though he was pleased to hear the demon-frei agree to be Rivener's Flower. It was more than just a word to them, after all. Riv's heart soared and he shivered from the feeling of all that fluttering in his stomach, like a million butterflies trying to get free. "My Flower," Riv tested again before another light kiss, smiling against Zul's lips helplessly. He'd be smiling all night, surely. Soft breath tickled Rivener's lips as Zul whispered something between kisses, and it took about the same time for Riv to process what had just been said as it took Zul to realize he'd said it. Both males moved at once, Riv gasping in surprise and staring over at the cerulean eyes with wide ruby-red shock. The Scorpion's heart felt like it stopped in his chest, inflating to the point of bursting. The blood in his ears pounded a racket and his whole body tingled. He remembered to breathe and drew in air desperately, beginning to tremble as he did so. H-had he heard-? Was it a mistake? Had Zul j-just... But they'd agreed! Not until Zul was a Sigel, because the Frei couldn't be sure-... Half-thoughts and jumbled protests died as Zul claimed defiantly that yes, he DID love Rivener. As much as he could, which was much more than enough for the Sigel. The world suddenly seemed to pull back into focus around them and Rivener LAUGHED with elation, latching himself onto Zul tightly, hugging, running clawed fingers gently through the short locks. "I can't believe-... Say it again! Please, my Flower? Say it again, tell me again..."
The way Rivener was looking at him made him feel a bit uneasy, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle, standing calmly by his claim. Maybe he couldn't really be in love until the butterflies could be felt, but that didn't mean he couldn't love with all he did have. Zul watched the Scorpion suck in a deep breath, preparing himself for the denial and gentle rejection - the likes of which never came. The demon felt surprise settle in his chest - now a constant companion more than unusual in this evening - as the Sigel laughed, the grip Rivener had on him tightening ten-fold and rather pleasurably so. Squeezing the box against his palm, he closed his eyes and uttered another smoky purr at the fingers sliding through his hair. The request that fell from the Scorpion made him smile, an expression of tender joy as he pressed his lips against the lobe of Rivener's long ear. "I love you," he repeated easily, elation making him feel weightless. "I love you and I'll say it as long as you'll let me, my Rivener."
He was flying. He must be. He felt the same as he did up there in the sky, like the air was thinner and lighter, like his head was full of fluff, like his breathing came so easily it filled him with the merest sip of air. Another light laugh, cut short by the moan he couldn't hold back at feeling the other's lips on his ear, nibbling. Rivener knew, logically, that he should have been fighting this. Should have been saying, again, how they should wait until Zul was a Sigel... But as much as Riv wanted to fight it, he just COULDN'T. He'd DREAMED of this day ever since he'd met Zul on that pier on Valentine's! He'd wanted it so badly he'd truly and literally dreamed it, though it never felt this WONDERFUL. "Say it always! Say it forever, my Zul, my Flower, my precious beloved. I love you too, I love you so very much!" With another half-choked moan Rivener set his own lips to Zul's neck, nibbling above the gorget, running fingers still through Zul's hair the way they both knew the demon liked. "I love you. I love you!" The words spilled non-stop, coming as easily as breathing between kisses and nibbles. Rivener felt INVINCIBLE now.
He felt the same wonder - if they should have been waiting, but he didn't know why. Zul felt that if he felt anything at all, it should be shared, but that would bring back the gnawing doubt and thus he didn't think on it further. Instead, he kept his arms around the Sigel, contenting himself with the knowledge that the time WOULD come, eventually, and he'd see what that brought when it got there. The demon couldn't help the laughter that came with Rivener's potent insistance of using the words that he was told not to before, both charmed and amused by it. "Anything to make my Rivener happy," he murmured softly, settling against the elder Raevan as his hair was exploited pleasurably. He didn't feel the heady rush of needing to clash their lips and lay claim to Rivener like when the virus had him. This time, it was like how he felt when sunbathing on a flat rock: warm, at ease, at peace with the world and the Raevan in his embrace. "Love you," he purred again, eyes flicking towards the hand that was still gripping the box. Who knew that fated day a year ago would lead him this far? He was grateful, and knew he'd take good care of his Rivener's beloved Flower - in more ways than one.
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