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 Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 8:43 pm
 RP that occured August 9, 2004: [size=9](Part 2)[/size][color=white] In the other room...In the guest room, on the windowsill, Talon was curled up beside Tahki, watching with half-interest as their chicks pattered back and forth along the sill, chirruping at one another, pausing now and then to groom each other in passing, and occasionally stealing berries from the branch he'd laid out for them.
He'd not expected Tahki's visit, but had been overjoyed to see her all the same...even when she'd questioned why he smelled so strongly of cinnamon today. He'd refrained from telling her about his brisk scrub-down in mouthwash the night before and when she asked to see her bird, he'd taken her to the sill where they'd lifted both of them out of the bonzai pot to stretch their legs and wings while the two fairies had watched them, languidly cuddled up together and talking.
For the last ten minutes or so, there had been silence.Tahki sighed softly, absently watching her bird interact with the other, her good hand gently smoothing out his hair, always enjoying that feel against her finger tips. While the smell of cinnamon certainly was getting rather strong, she didn't mind...it was interesting, and it smelled nice to her. Was that was humans meant when they said someone smelled nice? Because they smelled like cinnamon? ...Wait, this wasn't exactly why she was here.
Looking down at Talon, she decided to break the silence before she forgot to say it again.
"Talon? I remembered why I came here! I wanted to apologize...for last time..." she said softly, hoping not to be distrubing him with her talking again."Mm...?" he spoke as though he was awakening from a deep sleep. "Apologize for what?" She wasn't apologizing for the kiss, was she? He hoped not...he was just starting to get used to the fact they didn't have to be awkward around one another quite as much anymore..."For not telling you about Merri..." she explained, shifting a little bit so she could rest her head lightly against his. "I should have told you, and I'm sorry.""Oh...." a hand came up as he brushed the backs of his fingers over her cheek. "I understand why you didn't. Its all right, Tahki. If anything, I should be apologizing to you...and Yeande and whoever else I got angry by taking off that way..."Tahki blushed slightly, lifting her head to look at him. "But, you had a reason to be mad...oh! Merri did come home...did I already say that? I heard Shalafi got home, too...""Did he?" Tal's ears perked a bit. "Was he hurt?" This was news to him....he inwardly gave himself a kick for not helping more with the searching. Globin's emergence had....distracted him. But he was glad to hear that they were safe."I'm not sure about Shalafi...but Merri has a black eye. But, he won't tell us why..." she sighed softly, looking over toward her bird. "He just said he didn't feel safe at home anymore, and that we were in danger by being there."
Upon an earlier request from Merrimack, she left out the part about him being here. Of course, she didn't know if he actually stayed, anyway..."Hmm..." Talon sighed, wondering if Calico had gotten at him again. According to Yeande, he'd disappeared the same night Talon had gone back to the woods in an attempt to recover his circlet and feathers...so....long about the time Merri had been running away, HE was trying to chase off a hungry hawk. Bad news all around, he thought with a soft cluck of his tongue.
"Wonder if I should try talking to him..." he mused aloud. Merri had opened up to him a bit last time....he couldn't say he felt the memory feien actually -trusted- him, but he'd most definitely made a crack in Merri's shell. His eyes watched the blue-green chick as it fluffed out its chest feathers, burying its beak in them momentarily to preen.Tahki reached her good hand down to clasp around his gently, lifting his hand to her cheek to nuzzle softly. She looked sad for a moment, her large wings curling around him a little bit, as if to protect him from something.
"Talon...Merri's different now since he came back," she said quietly, her ears drooping a little more than usual. "He won't talk to me...he hardly talked to even Ares...""....but why?" Talonfaust asked, his eyes widening a bit in confusion. Shying away from his own mother, he could understand...when Ares had walked in on them in the bathroom a few days ago, she seemed to carry a certain air of intimidation about her whether she was aware of it or not.
But Tahki...?? Tahki, aside from perhaps Shalafi, was the least threatening person he could think of. What in the gods' names did he have against HER?"I don't know...I asked him if he was okay, and he just...acted so cold," she sighed, looking down at him again. "I don't know what made him run away...but whatever happened, it made him not wanna like anyone anymore, or something. I almost began to doubt he'd return to normal, Talon. I don't think he's home in his heart..."Tal sighed as well. Whatever Merri had undergone must have been awful if it had gotten to the point that he didn't even want to be with his own family. Fine, then, maybe he WOULDN'T talk to him....at least for awhile, but sooner or later....
He ran his fingers through Tahki's hair and pet over her ears soothingly "He'll come around." he assured her, believing it himself. "He can't stay angry forever. Hell, even *I* have limits." That much was true as well...ever since his "fiasco" with Globin last night, the two had avoided one another like the plague and Tal had finally begun to settle down again, deciding Globin wasn't necessarily a threat so much as he was just plain stupid...Tahki blushed slightly as his fingers brushed along her ears, always finding it hard not to think rather...strange...things when he did so. She always refrained from saying anything, however, as she really liked the feel. Instead, she rested her good hand down so she could put weight on that arm a little bit, enough to allow herself to slouch down to his level. She hated looking down on him...it made her feel bad.
"No, I know he can't forever...so I'll wait. Just like before," she said, smiling a little bit. "Everything will be back to normal soon, I hope...""I know it will." he assured her. "When you get scared badly enough, you get angry. Just ask that hawk I did business with." He allowed himself a faint smile then, nuzzling her forehead affectionately as she shifted her position, still toying with her hair and ears a bit. To him, it was in mimicry of the same soothing way Yeande had stroked his brow to make him relax, he was mindless of it stirring anything else.
His chick approached the branch again, plucking three berries from it and swallowing them before giving a single shrill twitter and fluffing its feathers out again, crouching low to the sill and seeming to disappear in a puff of down, apparantly deciding that had been enough excitement for one day.The red bird chirped softly, watching the other as it decided to sleep, hopping closer and cocking its head to the side. Chirping again, it huddled up next to the blue bird for a little warmth, crouching down and puffing up as well to rest.
Tahki grew distracted with his, turning her head a little bit to look at them better. "They seem to be friends," she giggled, smiling.Talon nodded once "You weren't here when they spent their first night together. I had to separate them because they wouldn't stop squawking at each other" They were cute, he had to admit, close together and puffed up that way. He wondered vaguely if that's what he and Tahki looked like to onlookers.Tahki couldn't help but make a reference to that.
"Sounds like a couple of feien I know," she smiled at him, hoping not to offend."Hmf." it was an indignant noise, but it was half-hearted too. "Hopefully, I'm done having problems with him after last night." he muttered, putting his free arm around her shoulders and giving her a gentle squeeze.Tahki shifted a little closer to him, lifting her good arm to put around him, hoping to keep balance with the way she was slouched.
"What happened exactly?" she asked again, still curious.Talon fidgeted, not really sure he wanted to talk about it but...maybe she'd understand his frustration finally.
"He left me this weepy nasty note in my journal," he began. "And then after I'd read it and he came back from wherever he'd gone, I went to confront him about it and he started getting strange on me. Started saying things I didn't understand, accusing me of having feelings I didn't have and then he---" he trailed off, wincing, feeling his teeth grit. "---snogged me. ******** kissed me like he had every right to and had the nerve to look SURPRISED when I went off to dive head-first into the listerine bottle...!!"...Well, that explained the cinnamon scent. However, she couldn't help but burst into a fit of giggles. He was angry about that...?
"I know its not my place to ask, but why does that anger you so? It sounds to me that it was all one big misunderstanding," she asked him, a little amused. She knew he was angry, but...but that was funny!"Because he could have -asked-! He didn't have to assume like that and---rrgh!" He was starting to get a funny taste in his mouth again, but knew that, after Karma had managed to fish him out of the listerine bottle with her toothbrush, had locked the mouthwash in the medicine cabinet so a repeat "baptising" would not happen."Awwww..." Tahki giggled, sitting up straight as her back started to hurt. "Is there anything I could do to help? You still seem upset about it.""I dunno..." he pouted, giving a sigh. "But since then, we haven't even looked at each other. I hope its the start of a trend. I think he's a bit off." ...oh if ever there were a case of the pot calling the kettle black...!Tahki kissed his forehead softly, looking down at him again.
"Well, I hope that one day, differences can be put aside so you two can live in peace. I don't like seeing you upset..." she smiled.He relaxed at the kiss, leaning heavily against her. "I don't like BEING upset....but I can't help it. There's too much and too many people to worry about." At least when he was with her, for a little while, none of that mattered. And he'd already promised himself that as long as Globin kept his distance, he wouldn't go seeking him out.Tahki carefully moved a little of his bangs away from his face, brushing her fingertips along his cheek.
"Then don't worry so much?" she suggested, trying to slouch down again."I try not to." he told her, catching her hand as she brushed his cheek and putting his own over it as he looked up at her. "Can't help it though, like I said. Sometimes I can just make it go away for awhile. Like now, for instance."She smiled a little bit, leaning closer a little bit to touch her nose to his. "Does it help when I'm here?" she asked him, being an honest question."It does." he said quietly, closing his eyes and gently nudging his forehead against hers, rubbing their noses together a bit. "And so much more than that.""Mm? What do you mean?" she asked curiously, her eyes closing a little bit."I mean....I mean...." he never got to really say what he meant as he brushed his mouth over hers lightly.Tahki's eyes opened fully for a moment as his mouth brushed against hers, blushing slightly. Closing her eyes, she pressed her lips softly against his, her wings folding around them a little bit.He let out a gentle exhale, his heart quickly reaching the same dizzying gallop it had the first time, but no longer feeling the underlying terror along with it. After a moment, he broke away, looking at her through green eyes that were narrowed with contentment, like a housecat that had just woken from a nap on a sunny windowsill.Tahki blinked her yellow eyes for a moment as she looked at him, smiling her happy smile. Lightly stroking his hair wish her fingers, she rested her forehead against his gently.
"I love you, Talon," she whispered softly. "I'll never forget that...""I wouldn't." he whispered back, brushing either of her ears with his fingertips. He liked them....on others they would have looked strange, yet somehow they suited her just fine. "...just as long as you don't forget that I love you back, Tahki."Tahki giggled a little bit, her ears twitching slightly. Wrapping her good arm around him, she pulled him a little closer, nuzzling her cheek softly against his. Things were difficult with just one arm...needing to use mostly her back for any support at the moment.
"I won't forget," she said softly, absently circling a finger inbetween his wings. "I'll never forget."Tal shivered a little at her touch and impulsively wriggled closer, his wings extending a little. "T-Then neither will I." he managed to get out, finding speech a little difficult as he rested his head in the nook between her shoulder and neck. One hand forgot what it was doing and simply rested on the back of her head, the other absently kept toying with her right ear.
He felt safe this way...he didn't want to have to let her go home eventually where they'd spend who knew how many days apart again.Tahki blushed a little bit once again, sighing softly. Oh, if only they could stay like this forever...with her arm healed, anyway. Playing with the ends of his hair a little bit, she gently rested her head against his, closing her eyes. It was as if it were too perfect, really, but she didn't mind, embracing him gently. Her wings still curled around Talon a little bit, like they were trying to keep him there.Tal gave a sound somewhere between a sigh and a deep-throated murr as his hair was played with. His hand slid down her shoulder and bumped the rough material of her cast. He felt a vague pang of upset...it wasn't the same self-loathing he'd felt when the accident had first happened, but he still felt guilty. He'd never STOPPED feeling guilty.
Saying nothing, he gently slipped his fingers under the lip of the cast, trying not to disturb her arm as he did so, and narrowed his eyes in concentration. As warmth began to tingle in his palm, he lifted his head a little, catching her in another kiss to distract her a little.
He didn't have the power to heal her fully, but maybe help her along a bit..."Mm?" Tahki hummed as she felt his fingers underneath her cast, but was definitely distracted by the kiss. She took in a sharp breath upon the feel, kissing him back softly, wondering why his hand felt so warm at the moment. It wasn't bad, a slight tingling sensation running down her arm, but it did seem to cause her cold spell to activate itself subconciously, her body beginning to feel a little too warm.Talon felt her skin begin to cool beneath his touch...not unbearably so, but the pocket of warmth that had spread between them began to diminish. He tried to summon in his mind's eye what the break might have looked like, tried to evision it being wrapped in tendrils of white and being knit together. This was harder than when he'd healed his arm. He'd been able to SEE the broken skin then.
This...well....he felt something happening, at least, and instinct told him it wasn't a bad something. But he wondered if it didn't hurt her, invading her injury this way. Where he normally would have clenched his eyes shut and gritted his teeth, he instead tilted his head a bit to the side into the kiss....it was easier this way, somehow. When they were this close. Had he tried this the night he'd found her in the woods, it probably would have turned out all wrong.Tahki sighed softly against his lips as she continued to kiss him, her cheeks stained with blush. Her arm continued to tingle within the cast, the air around them growing colder from her spell, but of course she couldn't feel this. Shifting a little bit to releave the pain in her back, she instinctively pulled him a little closer, her wings wrapping around them like a blanket.After a few more moments, feeling whatever well deep within him that his magic was drawn from begin to run dry, his fingers broke contact with her skin and he weakly withdrew them from her cast. The flesh of his arm felt feverishly warm, so the sudden coolness in the air was most welcome as he broke their kiss, leaning back on his haunches and panting a little.
He'd broken a sweat...whether that was from the magic or from other things, he couldn't tell, nor did it occur to him that he should care. "Is it any better....?" he asked breathlessly, peering at her through the haphazard strings of black hair that had fallen across his eyes.Tahki's eyes fluttered open as the kiss broke, trying to find focus again. Sitting up straight, she looked down at him, the tingling in her arm fading away. Was...what any better...? Oh! Now she remembered! That feeling...it was the same tingling she'd felt when Merrimack had healed her arm that time... Looking down at her cast, she noticed a slight frost beginning to form.
"Oh! Oh dear..." she realized, concentrating to turn her ability off. The air gradually grew warmer as the spell faded away. "I...I don't know...it doesn't hurt, if that helps at all. I could have Neko look at it when I get home?"
Looking at him, she continued to blush, looking a little sheepish. "I...um...thank you, Talon," she smiled, reaching over to gently place her hand over his. "Thank you...I think you did help..."Talon paused, then smiled crookedly, his own cheeks flushing. He didn't know what had come over him just then, but he found he liked it. It was the same sort of light-headed giddiness he'd felt after accidentally huffing gas at Meka's ill-fated dentist's office visit.
"You're welcome." he breathed, turning his hand palm up to twine his fingers with hers.Tahki glanced out the window for a moment, frowning slightly as she held onto his hand.
"I think it's time I head home..." she said quietly, almost sadly. "Neko said specifically that I couldn't stay here."Talon looked wounded, holding her hand a little tighter and then, reluctantly, letting her fingers slip through his. "....I guess not, no...." he sighed. Karma had told him similar last time she'd actually gotten him to sit still enough to talk to him for a minute. He didn't know why it was that suddenly both their bondmates seemed to be uncomfortable with them spending so much time around each other."Um...oh! I know! I'll see if I can stop by tomorrow! Or maybe you could visit me..." she suggested, hoping to cheer him up a little bit.His eyes lit up a little at the suggestion. "Maybe." he said with a nod. "I don't think they'd miss me if I left awhile..." No, he didn't think Karma would miss him at all, but he wondered if Ares wouldn't be watching them like a hawk.
....oh well. Seeing her with restrictions was better than not seeing her at all."Okay then!" she smiled, giggling a little bit. "Then I'll see you again soon!"
Leaning over, she kissed his cheek softly before standing up. "I love you, Talon...I hope you sleep well, okay?""Love you too, Tahki." he said softly, watching her stand. "And I'll try."Lifting herself into the air, Tahki flitted over to her bird, trying to figure out how to pick it up. This would be difficult...but at least she'd have a little help getting it home this time. Lightly patting the bird's back, she whispered quietly, "You're coming home now, okay? Later, I'll teach you how to fly and stuff so you can come back and see your friend!"
The little chick blinked a few times as it cocked his head to the side rathe sleeping before standing up. Chirping softly, it ruffled its red feathers, trying to wake up. Okay...again with trying to pick up the bird...The green-blue chick awoke as well, lifting its head out of the dandelion puff of down its body had become and blinking its black glassy eyes twice as it watched Tahki curiously.
"W---Would you like me to carry him out to Karma for you?" Talon offered, not wanting to seem like he was deeming her helpless, but not wanting to see her struggle either.Tahki kind of just stared at her bird for a moment, lifting her good arm every so often to try to figure out how it would work. ...No, no...this couldn't be done alone.
"Ah...y-yes please!" she smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. "I can't...pick it up by myself..."Tal nodded and got up, his legs having fallen asleep as they'd sat and feeling like they were full of ginger ale as he moved forward, working an arm around the chick and placing his other beneath it, lifting it in a practiced motion. It was like shuffling around big living marshmallows.
The blue-green chick immediately began to scold in protest at the first being taken as Talon spared it a dispassionate look. "Oh, get over it." he said to the other bird in a tone like a parent who's had just about enough of their child throwing tantrums. As though understanding, the bird ruffled its feathers and silenced, setting back down again, though it continued to watch.The small red bird chirped to the other a little bit, as if telling it that things would be okay, or that it would come back. Tahki could only giggle a little bit, thinking how cute it all was.
"Thank you, Talon...I really hope my arm will be completely better soon," she smiled, waiting for him before taking off. "Who knows...maybe I'll be able to take this off tomorrow!""Heh...I doubt I helped -that- much...." Tal remarked as he gave a flutter of his wings and rose off of the windowsill, his balance faltering in the air with the extra weight before he righted himself and headed for the slightly open guest room door. At least the bird wasn't struggling.
"But maybe...who knows?""We'll see," she said, fluttering out the door. Outside, she waited for a moment for him to follow before she glided down the hallway, looking around.
"Miss Lady?" she called out, looking for Karma. "Miss Lady?"Karma looked up from where she'd gotten caught up reading over a pamphlet that had come in the mail at the sound of Tahki's voice. Oh, hell...! She was supposed to have been checking in on everybody! What time was it?? A quick look at the clock and she realized that nearly an hour had passed since all of the feien had dispersed for different parts of the house. Rrrghh!! She decided quickly that she had no desire to know what Talon and Tahki had been up to as she fixed her face with a smile that was only slightly strained. "Living room!" she called, padding out of the kitchen to meet her there. Flitting into the living room, Tahki smiled, waving her good hand. "Hi, miss lady!" she giggled, floating over to the anthro (Please tell me if you'd rather I not call her that.). "I'm ready to go home now!"
Looking back at Talon, her ears twitched a little bit as the bird in his arms chirped softly. "Can you help me carry it, miss Lady? I have trouble because of my arm.""Hmm? Oh..." she noticed that Tal had followed her out of the guest room and currently had an armload of baby bird he seemed to be struggling a little with. "I suppose I can, yes" she said, approaching where the earth feien hovered and reaching out, gently taking the chick from him. As Tal looked up at her, she gave him a stern look which was immediately followed by a guilty downward glance from his direction. Uh huh....just as she'd thought. Turning her attention back to Tahki, making a mental note to have words with him when she got home, she sighed a little. "Let's get you home. Neko's probably starting to wonder where you are." "Okay miss lady!" Tahki nodded, turning back to Talon again. Flitting over to him quickly, she carefully hugged him, smiling. "I'll see you again soon, okay? Goodnight, Talon!"
With that, the cold feien fluttered back to Karma and landed gently on her shoulder, intending to bum a ride.Tal accepted the hug, though returned it as minimally as he could, feeling inexplicably embarrassed. But.....they hadn't done anything BAD, for crying out loud! It wasn't like they'd been killing things in there! It wasn't like he'd done anything shameful! What was wrong with telling someone you loved them?
As he watched Karma and Tahki leave, he gave an irritated snort and returned to the guest room, mindless of Globin and Merrimack sleeping on the bookshelf two rooms over.
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Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2004 6:37 pm
 (OOC Note: The following entry was written by Merrimack while at Talon's, so therefore is technically not with Neko at this particular time.) August 10, 2004[color=white] Merrimack
So...I've spent a day here. It's not too bad, I suppose. I got the quiet I requested, save for the random check-ins from Talon and Globin's bondmate...which is really much more than I can say about my own, who never dared to check on me in fear of being scolded. I won't scold this one...it's not my place to, anyway. She seems nice enough, but she's still much bigger than I am...therefore, she can't be trusted. ...I don't think.
Globin is also keeping an eye on me, it seems. Not...that I mind too much, I suppose, but he makes be feel a little funny at times. Almost clusmy...and rather light headed. An odd feeling it is, really...so I wonder if there's something wrong with me. Neko had the same reaction upon seeing him as she did with me... "Oh, he's pretty!" kind of thing. ...Maybe that's it. Just the fact that he's..."pretty." I'm still unsure about him, but...so long as he doesn't bother me too much...or try to touch me...
For the first time in almost a month, I slept rather well. I didn't wake up...I didn't have any nightmares of someone sneaking in and kidnapping me...I just slept. It felt nice, and I hope the same thing happens again tonight, because I, for the first time in probably my entire existance, didn't feel tired all day like I usually did. Perhaps it's also because I didn't really do much of anything...I merely meditated, and kept to myself so that I wouldn't be a burden for being here. That, and to make sure Talon doesn't know I'm here. So far, he hasn't caught on...which is good. Globin has seemed to have kept his promise, then. Perhaps...this feien might be trusted. If only he weren't so damn tall...
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Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2004 11:48 pm
(August 11, 2004)" Tahki! Can you come down here for a minute?" Neko called up the stairs, his tail flicking slightly. He glanced over to the table for a moment, making sure his little gizmo was still in tact. The magnifying glass was rather difficult to set up by itself, but since he needed both of his own hands...things would be difficult. The cold feien fluttered down the hall, peering over the top step. " Me?" she asked curiously, wondering if she might have done something wrong. " Um...whatcha need?" " I need to take a little at your arm," he smiled reassuringly before turning to walk toward the kitchen. " It's been a week, so I figured I'd see how it's doing so far." Oooo! She could finally take this thing off! Quickly gliding down the steps, she took notice that the usual celestrus wasn't around. How strange...but no matter! Zooming into the kitchen, Tahki beat Neko to the table, touching down softly. " What do I need to do?" she asked, looking up at her bondmate. " Just sit still, don't panic, and tell me if I hurt you," he replied, moving the magnifying so that he could see the small cast clearly. Picking up the tiny drill he normally used to cut rocks and gems with, Neko carefully took Tahki's cast between his fingers. " Whatever you do, don't move a muscle." Without waiting for a response, the demon hanyou turned on the little drill, and gently touched it down upon the cast, trying to cut away from the feien so that debris wouldn't get in her eyes. The high-pitched sound rung loudly in Tahki's ears as she cringed, twitching an eye closed and clenching her teeth from the grinding. Suddenly, she understood why the other pets weren't around at the moment. Neko worked carefully, being very carefully not to put too much pressure on the cast, in fear of cutting his feien by accident. In a moment's time, the bandage grew loose, and he stopped the drill, setting it down carefully. Slowly and gently, he removed the hard cast, placing his index finger softly underneath to hold it up. " Gnfumi," Neko whispered quietly, still peering through the glass. It reacted to the spell, acting like a soft x-ray, able to see the bones through the skin. Staring closely at the once wounded arm, He noticed something rather unusual. For humans, it normally took at least 2 or 3 weeks to heal a broken bone. For him, it took a week. This, however, almost seemed as if it had been healed for days. " Well...the good news, is that it's all better," he smiled, gently placing Tahki's arm in her sling that still hung around her shoulder. " However, the bad news, is that you need to take it a little slow before jumping into full use again. Ask Ares if she'll help you stretch it out for a bit, so that it can get used to moving again after a week." " YAY!!" Tahki cried, lifting both arms with joy, but immediately dropped her left again. " Ow ow ow..." " Yeah...it might hurt for a little bit. Which is why I said to take things slow," he sighed, shaking his head. His ears flicked a little bit, realizing they had company. Turning around, Neko spotted Ares watching from the couch, the purple cloth she'd been working on folded in her arms. " Sorry about that. I'm done with the drill." " Please put it away," Ares said quietly, her tail thumping a little bit against the arm of the couch. " And try to warn me next time." Neko raised his eyebrows at her, rubbing the back of his neck. " ...Right." Picking up the drill and the magnifying glass (with the makeshift holder), he stepped into the actual kitchen, taking a left to head down the stairs that lead to the underground basement. Ares' three eyes watched him leave before she stood up slowly, looking to Tahki. " Come here, child. I need you to try this on," she said simply, lifting a hand to motion the other feien over. Try what on...? Oh! Was it finished?? The dress she'd asked for? Taking off into the air, Tahki fluttered over to Ares, looking curiously at the fabric in the black and blue feien's arms. The older feien waited patiently for a moment, hoping the other would understand, and nodded as the cold feien lifted her arms slowly, wincing slightly from her left arm straightening out. Undoing the folded cloth, she bunched up the ends in her hands, and carefully slipped it over Tahki's head, making sure the strip got behind her neck. Dropping the skirt and pulling down to make sure the clothing was on right (and got over the other's wings), she took a step back to examine the dress she'd made. " Looks like Neko's lessons helped quite a bit," Ares said quietly, smiling slightly. " Go check the mirror." Tahki's yellow eyes almost seemed to sparkle as she quickly flitted over to the mirror that hung on the wall close to the stairs, in awe of her own reflection. The small piece of deep purple cloth had indeed transformed into a dress, rather similar to the one she'd seen on TV. A strip that hung around the back of her neck and attached itself to the front, a low back that stopped around where the skirt began (so that her wings would fit through without a problem), and cloth seeming to bunch up right at the top of the skirt, allowing a bit of a flow and ruffle to fall down. ...Ooooo!! It even shined a little bit! Ares must have rubbed a little glitter on it for her... Quickly rushing back to Ares, the cold feien pulled her into a tight hug, ignoring the pain in her left arm. " Oh thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!!" she squealed happily, unable to stop smiling. Ares smiled, and hugged Tahki back gently. " It was my pleasure. I'm glad that you like it."
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Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2004 12:45 am
 August 11, 2004[color=white] Ares
A part of me already misses my son again, after it being merely two days, but a part of me also is saying that this is for the better. He can't grow up unless it's on his own, right? I have no choice but to accept all of this, and hope he'll be all right. ...I have faith. He'll come home again when he's ready. I just...hope he'll visit me when he's grown physically, first.
Today was rather bleak, and I think I made a lot of progress in one area. I managed to finish Tahki's dress today, and with perfect timing, as her arm seems to be healed now. She likes it, which makes me happy, as I think I did a very good job for it being my first attempt at full clothing. I'll have to experiment more with this...perhaps Neko could get me different types of cloth, and see about finding a smaller needle and thinner thread.
I'm beginning to wonder if Arturo's ever coming back to get me. It's been a week and a half since we were supposed to leave, and the thought occurred to me that he might have left already. I hope not...I was looking rather forward to getting away for a little bit. Perhaps I shall go and visit him tomorrow...and while I'm out, I might as well see Tosten. It might be good for him to know I'll be gone for a while...perhaps he could check on Tahki to make sure she's all right while I'm away.
~~~~~~~~~~
Tahki
Eee! My arm is all healed it looks like! But Neko said I needed to be slow, so that it won't hurt. I wonder if it's 'cause Talon did that thingy the other day? If it is, then I really owe him a lot! 'cause now I can sorta move my arm all freely and stuff and it makes me HAPPY!
Oooo! Ares finished the dress I asked for! It's so pretty and shiney and purple! Neko told me I shouldn't show it to Talon, though. Not yet, he said...I wonder why? I don't understand all of this stuff he's been telling me. Neko said that it's my life, and my room to make mistakes, but he's a kid still and that things should be more calm. ...Or something like that. I don't understand! Am I doing something wrong? I asked Neko if it was wrong for me to love someone a lot younger than me, and he told me that age doesn't matter if you know what your heart feels (since he's like...a billion years older than Domonic!), and that what anybody says really shouldn't change my opinion on something. What does that mean? I should take things slower...but I shouldn't let that change my opinion? I think he's worried about something, and I'm not sure what. I'm...I'm not doing anything wrong, right? It's okay to kiss someone if you love them, right?
...Right?
~~~~~~~~~~
...Okay, I had something to say, but Tahki's entry disturbed me a little. I am NOT a billion years older that Domonic...just...a couple hundred thousand... ._. Okay, that just hurt. I'm not old!! gonk I'm going back to the roof to watch the meteor shower with Domonic and Ares...
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Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 1:56 pm
RP that occured August 12, 2004:[color=white] Ares stretched her arms a little bit as she glided to a stop by the gate of the Hurog, landing gracefully on the ground to rest for a moment. She knew the tower itself wasn't much further, but it was such a long journey to this place...and she didn't want to seem too tired when greeting Tosten. Taking in a deep breath, she exhaled slowly before lifting into the air again, hoping things wouldn't be too bad when she goes to see Arturo later. Not wanting to wait at the door, the black and blue feien flitted up toward the window of the tower, carefully landing on the window sill and peeking inside.
"Hello?" she called out, hoping someone might be around. "Tosten, are you here?"Having spent most of yesterday night winging about the keep when Nekota had decided to stay up later then expected, Tosten had transformed today into a day naptime. The doll house bed perched on the desk right beneath the silly was occupied by the sprawled adult form, wings dripping over either side and flomped onto the desktop due to their length.
"Unnh?" Came the sleepy response to the call, tugged up blanket rustling about before up popped his head, sitting up like a dazed child as he rubbed his eyes fiercely with both fists. Ah, the world seemed so bright he didn't want to open his eyes at all, so his ears twitched like almost comical antennae for the sound. "Someone... call me?"Ares blinked a few times, finding herself mildly amused by this, however she felt a little bad that she'd woken him up. Her wings folded down over her shoulders as she folded her hands together in front of her, tilting her head to the side a little bit.
"Did I come at a bad time?" she asked, still waiting at the sill. "I thought I'd stop by to see how you were."The voice registered then to be one most familiar and up peeked wide eyes over his balled up fists. A few blinks somewhat cleared them but the stinging of the daylight wasn't so bad now that he was aware who it was.
"Ares!" He squeaked in happy surprise and it seemed too late to be sending him back to nap now. Those wings came up, rustled once for awareness then were giving a good pump to take him off the bed to the sill like a light hop. "Hi, hi! Its not a bad time! I was just, uh, sleeping. A little. But I'm awake now, see~?" If bedmussed hair and rustled out of place feathers constituted awake.Ares smiled slightly, folding her left arm over her chest and lifting a delicate hand to her cheek. Well, he certainly SOUNDED like he was awake, even if he didn't look it. Flicking her tail a little bit, she shook her head lightly.
"I'm sorry for disturbing your slumber. I just wanted to see you," she assured him, now taking a few steps closer. "How have you been, Tosten? I hope you're doing better now..."Talk about easily satisfied. Tosten beamed a smile of summer sunshine and fluffed up his wings all the more against his back like it was a pleasure to know she wanted to see him. And for no particularly reason it seemed so far, how flattering! "It's okay, I didn't know I slept so late anyway. I've been good - things have been good! I stayed at Yeande's a li'l and, um, Ruya came by! She brought me a present!"
He fluttered away suddenly but was back just as quick once he had snatched up the painting, settling before her to present the picture of flowers and the thank you note that Ruya had delivered the other day. "She stayed a while, we watched Finding Nemo together." He added on happily.Ares looked at the painting for a moment, recalling how Ruya had been telling her she wanted to create something. Perhaps that was the hobby she picked up, and it was rather lovely. Leaning over a little bit, she looked at the painting more closely, just examining the small strokes with amusment.
"I'm happy to hear that...and it sounds that she's all right," she said quietly, straightening up again. "I...I didn't have the heart to tell her that Merri had come home. I didn't want her to be disappointed if she came by to see him, only to find him gone again."Tosten let the picture roll again when Ares was done examining, holding on for the time being. "Oh? Ah, um, I'm sorry... I told her. I mean, she was worried still and I didn't want her to worry. I mentioned he might not be home though, I think... I can't really remember." He brought up his hand and itched the back of his head sheepishly. So he really did leave? He thought to himself in the end, as Ares confirmed what Merrimack implied was true, that he wasn't going to stay at home. Perhaps it was for the best, as long as Merri felt safe."I...suppose it's better she heard it from you, then," she sighed, looking down toward the sill for a moment, her tail flicking a little bit. At least Ruya knew, then...perhaps Arturo and Nero didn't need to know about the fiacso just yet. ...No, she couldn't keep that from them. If only they'd been home before...
Biting her lower lip softly, Ares' three eyes narrowed a little bit as she thought, trying to figure out what to say. Perhaps she should just say it now, to get it out of the way...before she would forget and leave without a word about it.
"Listen, Tosten...though I did come here to see you, there was something I needed to tell you," she started softly, looking over to the other. "I'm going to be leaving for a little bit...I'm not quite sure when, exactly, but fairly soon. Could be tonight, could be tomorrow...I just thought I'd let you know, so that you wouldn't worry if you stopped by while I was gone."Tosten blinked at her in surprise a moment and tilted his head faintly to one side. Ares was going away for a bit...? Well that wasn't a big deal, or was it? It did unnerve his insides a little as she was the only feien he knew to turn to nowdays, if anything went long he didn't want to be alone. He'd manage, he decided.
"Oh oh, like a vacation? Yeande's on a vacation too! If you go somewhere fun bring me something back - or at least a story, I like stories!" Tosten yammered away after that awkward pause as his first reaction. "Where're you going? How long is it for? Its not really long, right? Is it?"Ares rubbed the back of her neck a little bit, raising a brow at his questions.
"Well, I'm going to Connecticut with Arturo to...visit an old friend, I guess you could say. He's going to show me where he used to live..." she explained. "He said it would take about a week to get there...so I'll be gone for at least two weeks."
Pausing for a moment, she smiled, hoping to help a little bit. "As soon as I come back, you'll be the first person I visit, okay? I'll tell you how the trip was...anything you want to know."T-two weeks? Wow, that sounded like forever! Tosten stared at her a moment once again as his initial response before smiling brightly and giving a prompt nod. "Okay! You hafta have lots of fun, okay? Cause I'll be expecting good stories! I won't forget either, I remember stuff like that!" He tapped his temple proudly and gave a teasing look for all his claims. Visiting an old friend of Arturo's, though? He didn't think any of Arturo's friends were alive - er, he decided not to ask about such a thing out loud.
"Tahki's going to be home all alone?" He asked in mild surprise.Ares nodded slowly.
"Yes...I was kind of hoping if you could check on her sometimes, just to make sure she's all right," she said, more or less asking in a way. "She's not exactly thrilled about being the only one there, and I very much doubt Neko will let her visit Talon too much, so I fear she may get rather lonely at times."
Lifting a hand, she gently placed it on Tosten's shoulder. "Will you do that for me?"Ah, was this why she came? Ooh.. he had a job to do for Ares! Tosten preened, his feathers floofing as they did, and he nodded immediately in agreement.
"Absolutely! I'll make sure to go by and we can play and everything. Don't worry." Which just reminded him that he wanted to innocently... investigate with her about this Talon anyway that he was suddenly learning so much about. It was a good turn of events in his opinion, having a reason to spend more time with Tahki."Thank you," she smiled, sighing with relief. "I would really appreciate it."
Thinking for a moment, Ares looked past Tosten to peek inside of the tower, her wings shifting a little bit. She didn't want to leave just yet... She was going to be gone for a while, and it really had been quite some time since she spent time with Tosten. She just wanted to stick around a little longer.
"You know, I don't think I've ever really been this far in the Hurog before," she commented lightly, perhaps trying to hint at something. "I've only really seen the outside."Tosten didn't seem to get it at first, just eyeing her curiously for the comment and glancing off into the room as well. Not that there was anything impressive about the chamber beyond, it was as messy as any bedroom with just the unusual aspect of having stone walls as opposed to usual building materials.
"Ah, well its not, well... there's not much to it and, uh.... er...." He fumbled for a moment, trying to think of a good excuse for keeping her here where there wouldn't be any trouble but nothing came to mind. Worse, she might just leave then, think that he didn't want to see her. So resigned himself and smiled to her, "Do you want to see around anyway? I don't think there's anything neat to see but I can give you a tour."Ares thought for a moment, noticing Tosten's slight hesitation. Perhaps there was something...ah. The perfect idea.
"Hmm...tell you what. You say there's nothing really neat...so, why don't we make a little game of this?" she suggested. "Perhaps...pretend it's something else?"Tosten seemed mildly tempted and wholely doubtful both at the same time. There was a reason he left the keep when he wanted to play; Calico got mad, Oreg told him to grow up, and Nekota didn't try to stop him but he didn't join in either. The Keep wasn't a fun pretend zone.
"Pretend its something else...?" He inquired slowly."Yes..." Ares nodded, thinking for a moment. "Like...for instance....it could be...a castle? Or, we could pretend we're sneaking around..."
Well, she wasn't exactly good at this sort of thing. This was usually where Tahki came in, thinking of a much better idea.
"I'm sorry...I'm really not good at thinking up these sort of things. I just thought...I'd try to make it more fun for you..."Tosten tilted his head curiously, trying to absorb this moment. Ares was trying to play? Ares? It was a pity it had to be now, he thought, as the idea of playing pretend with her sounded like a fun time.
"It's okay - I like playing games like that! I just don't play it inside as much, it gets on, er, some peoples nerves." He itched the back of his neck sheepishly. "But I can show you around anyway, if you still want! Maybe there's something neat somewhere I haven't noticed yet." He fanned his wings and flit up into the air, encouraging her to follow. He had no idea what he was doing but it was better then her leaving.Unfolding her wings, she lifted herself into the air, floating over next to him.
"Perhaps...another time, then. Please...lead the way."Tosten smiled and flit to the doorway, pausing to point to the room they had just entered the keep through. "This is Nekota's room, is where I stay and stuff too! See, where we were, that was my place-" He pointed out the desk beneath the open window with its crowded supply of papers like carpets and old paint stains on both the walls and doll house furniture.
"But this way, this way! I can show you... uh... the tv room downstairs, its kinda neat!" He fluttered away encouragingly into the long, dark stone corridor and from there to a decline of stone steps. They led into an entrance hall, ultimately just a big empty room to which the heavy wooden front doors opened toward. And off he was going again, past the single statue present there, for a doorless archway beside the stair case.
The room he took her to was significantly large. The main hall transformed into at least three rooms as one. One end dedicated to rugs, couches, televisions, games, and the like. The center had a few entertainment things, a pingpong table, pool table, bumper pool (an annoying thing Nekota regretted finding at a garage sale) ... the other end seeming to be more of a miniature studio of paints and scattered fabrics someone must have been sewing.Ares glanced around the room for a moment, a little curious of the way it was set it. It seemed to be some kind of...recreation center, with everything that was in it. However, it was the little studio that caught her attention.
"Tosten, what's that?" she asked, pointing over toward the paints.Tosten followed her gesture with his eyes before fluttering closer with an encouraging gesture. "This is, ah... people paint! Nekota likes to paint too, but he doesn't do it often. I think its one of those things...uh... phases, yes! Sometimes he wants to, sometimes he doesn't." He hovered over the open drawer of paint tubes thoughtfully.
"I don't like them as much as mine. These smell funny. Oh, but I want to paint on one of these one day!" He flit to the easel, propping up a wide and blank canvas. "Look, its like... a GIANT paper! I could paint everyone in it, or just a really big picture, with lots of color - it'd take a long time though I think... but it'd be fun! Mm?" He swung back to look at her for approval.Ares followed him, listening as he explained. So...it was like, a corner studio? ...Wait, he SEWED? Well, that wasn't too odd...since Neko still did such things while being a man at the moment. Looking up at the large canvas, she smiled, thinking about how Tosten might manage that.
"I look forward to seeing it one day, Tosten," she said quietly, looking over to him. "If you ever do paint something this big, it would be an honor to see it."Tosten gave her the usual curious look as though much of what she said often surprised him... and on a level it did, though he didn't understand why. But a smile, as true as those since he was young, lit his face proudly.
"I'll make it really beautiful when I do it... maybe Em'll put it in the shop to make it more pretty too!" He added on eagerly, though he'd wonder over that once he even knew what to start painting. "Ah, where next... well, um... there's the kitchen? But I guess a kitchen is a kitchen! How about, uh... well there's the bar! No one uses it but its a neat place so lets go see that!"
And off he was going again."Bar?" she questioned before following after him, curious as to what he was talking about."A bar!" Tosten agreed as he flit back through the keep corridors for the next chamber on their sight-seeing tour. Another open doorway led to yet another room more furnished then the prior. It was as he claimed it to be... a bar. A saloon type if anything with the long wooden counter and old stools, racks for bottles (but most were missing, those present heavy with dust), chairs and tables unused. At first the only light was that of the evening sun casting through three sets of windows, specifically the one most left whom was open just a touch and pourig in that amber lighting. But a good struggle with the lightswitch and the bar room was lit up fully after a momentary flicker of the old bulb.
"Look, look - isn't this cool? Over here!" He was off again, for the wooden stage that tucked the corner. Small in terms for human, like where just a small skit could be performed or a lone singer sit... but in feien terms it might as well have been the broadway stage to him.Sunil scowled at the landcape on her way up to the Keep. She shouldn't even be making this trip, but Calico had to be spoken to. If he slipped up when he saw her in the tavern and let on they know eachother they would both be in serious trouble. As she got by the Keep, Sunil headed straight for the open window she knew led to the bedroom. On her way up though, she heard Tosten speaking to someone. It was probably nothing, but given his knowledge of Calico and Sunil's relationship, it bore listening to. Sunil pressed herself up against the wall outside the window she heard him from and prepared to wait. Ares' gaze wandered around the bar for a moment, wondering why it seemed rather familiar. She'd seen something else like this before, and she couldn't quite place....ah! The tavern in the woods...the one that Neko used to run. This place reminded her of there...though, it was still different here. It seemed unused, or uncared for, as if forgotten years ago. Flitting after Tosten, she looked at the stage curiously, landing for a moment to rest. How...quaint.
"This isn't so bad, Tosten," she commented quietly, her tail flicking a little bit as she turned around to look the bar over again. "I'd say that this was rather nice."Tosten landed upon the stage as well, and gave a nice overdramatic twirl. Talk about sucking up the spotlight, and he was well aware of it as he laughed right afterwards, tucking an arm behind his head sheepishly as if for once aware of how childish he was being... but did it stop him? Absolutely not. "I like this room cause this is a stage, that they do those plays on - do you see them on TV? They stand here and have a big, you know, dramatic light on them and they usually ... I dunno, talk, and sing!"
He turned to face the empty room, cleared his throat dramatically and without an ounce of shame belted out a 'lah lah lah!' ... only to kind of squeak weirdly at the end, blush all at once and end it all in a fit of giggles. "Singing isn't my strong point - you try! Be the star of your play, go go!" He turned to Ares expectingly.Ares blinked a few times, a very light blush crossing her cheeks. He wanted her to sing? Rubbing the back of her neck, she looked out at the bar, thinking for a moment.
"Well...what would you like me to sing?" she asked, before a bit of a tune began to play in her head. Humming softly for a moment, she closed her eyes as she seemed to wait for a certain part of the song. Then, she began to sing quietly, her voice gentle, smooth, and rather calm.
"I wish for this night-time
to last for a lifetime
The darkness around me
Shores of a solar sea
Oh how I wish to go down with the sun
Sleeping...weeping
With you..."Tosten honestly didn't expect her to do it and was just fondly amused when she blushed, even so lightly, over his encouragement. But what a surprise that came over him when she began to hum instead of decline ... and when she began to actually sing? He was stunned. It wiped that foolish grin clear off his face and left an expression akin to a quiet wonder, like when a child first saw a firefly and wondered how in the world lights could dance. Was she going to continue? He wouldn't imagine so but she had surprised him once already so he made no effort to interrupt, clasping his hands behind his back as though afraid they'd do something silly. And he watched her, absolutely amazed she would do such a thing... singing, he had learned, was one of the most number one embarrassing things to do in front of anyone if you hadn't the confidence.Upon hitting the last note, she blinked her eyes open, folding one arm over her chest to grasp her other arm lightly in her hand.
"It's...no opera, but I don't sing much aloud," she admitted softly, giving a sidelong glance to Tosten. "Was that suitable?"Tosten blinked back at her then beamed a smile a moment later, freeing his hands for a light bit of applauses. "It was beautiful!" He declared. "I knew you had a singer's voice, a gut instinct, you know?"
A few giggles which in turn faded into a thoughtful silence. He tilted his head a little, studying Ares wonderingly. "... Why'd you do it?" He couldn't help but ask as though this had deep meaning. And at least to him it really did. "Why'd you sing? Ah, I don't mean anything by that - it honestly was beautiful! I'm jealous, I wasn't blessed with a singers voice, woe, woe --heehee-ahem... I mean, well, why though?"Ares looked over at him for a moment, her short ears twitching a little bit. Why? ...Perhaps that was a good question. Her tail swayed from left to right as she thought, turning her head upward to look at the old lights. Why did she do it? She stopped singing to Neko during that time she'd grown distant before she grew up, so why sing for Tosten. She blinked in wonder herself, her wings folding down over her shoulders as her arm dropped back to her side.
"Well, you did kind of ask," she responded, pursing her red lips for a moment. "I suppose a part of me wanted to, as well. You're my friend after all...I can't deny you of requests unless I saw them to be unreasonable. Perhaps I just...didn't see a reason not to."Tosten let that answer sink in for perhaps an almost awkward silence before he made a little hiccupy noise and was latched, without much warning, onto one of her arms. He clung like it was his childhood safety blankie, resting his head against her shoulder for a few moments. "Mm, I love you Ares~" He mentioned in a sing-song tone then released her at once, like a sufferer of bipolar disorder his mood had swung almost drastically as he peered most seriously into her face. It wasn't so much a mood swing as it was the dropping of one mask for another.
"But you're so confusing. I mean, well, you know. Why do you... do stuff like that when you know I'm... ah, well... keeping things from you?" He was reluctant to admit it but it was puzzling him terribly. Even Yeande put up a fight when aware of his secrets and it was hard enough to settle her down with his reasoning. But Ares just accepted it... why was it so much harder to deal with it when it was accepted then Yeande's arguing? Strange.Ares watched him with calm red eyes for a moment as he spoke, taking into consideration what he said. At first, it had bothered her...especially when he wouldn't say anything while Merrimack was missing. However, after finding out that Shalafi had been missing, and seeing how Yeande was still calm about it...she'd realized something. During that time, she'd LET herself become bothered by the secrets. After giving it a lot of thought, she'd decided that it wasn't necessary to be angered, much less annoyed, and had just learned to accept the fact that things were being hidden from her. It wasn't that she didn't care...it was because from Tahki, she realized she just needed to give things a little more time. Gently placing a delicate hand on Tosten's dark cheek, Ares' red lips curved into a slight smile.
"Because I don't let that bother me," she assured him. "At first, I was troubled by it, yes. But I realized that...well...some things are kept hidden for a reason. I trust you, Tosten...you're one of the very few feien that I DO trust, whole-heartedly. I know that one day, you may confide in me. But until then, I won't let that keep me from still being your friend...from being someone you can still turn to when you do need someone."Tosten tipped his head a little to the side, more into her touch as he loved to drink up affection whenever it was offered to him. "Ares... I wish I had a good and brave excuse to give you for keeping these secrets." He replied more softly, closing his eyes and giving that apologetic smile he found he was always giving her far too often. "Actually its just because I'm a coward... I guess, at least. I'll understand if you don't forgive me when its over - ah, well... I'll try to understand ... but I'm sorry for a lot of things I could have stopped but didn't." What a silly thing to ramble but he said it anyway and it felt good to say before finally getting to the point. He opened his eyes timidly and smiled once more.
"I know its horrible of me to wait till you have to go to do this but... if you want, I'll, ah... tell you everything... not right now though. Can we.. meet again? In the morning, before you go?" He inquired softly. He needed time to prepare himself for this. What if she was angry? If she hated him? Definitely things he had to get the courage for before he confronted her.Ares took a few steps closer to the other feien, closing her third eye and gently resting her forehead against his, being careful of his horn.
"Tosten, there isn't a thing in this world that you could possibly do that wouldn't be forgiven," she explained quietly, placing her other hand on his cheek to hold his head carefully in her hands. "Yes...we can meet tomorrow morning. I'll be sure to tell Arturo not to leave until I get there...so come at any time. All right?"He tried to believe her but Tosten decided it was more of a 'moment' thing... he'll wait to hear her say that after he admits that he could have protected her son a long time ago and possibly prevented what he had become today... a distrustful, abused feien. He didn't want more to happen, and he firmly decided to go through with this. No second thoughts.
"Okay. It, ah, it'll be early. I don't want to stop your trip or anything! I'll come to the window, at your house - that works, right?""Yes, yes that's fine...I'll ask Neko to leave it open tonight," she said, pulling herself back a little. "And, don't be afraid of waking me up or anything...I'll need to be up early anyway."Tosten stepped back himself and fanned his wings, grinning lightly as he resumed his own antics. Easier and safer to do, like a reassuring blanket. "Mm! Okay then! Ah, I think the tour is over for now, its going to be late soon and... well, I'll be seeing you in the morning." An innocent way of saying he wanted to be alone now to plan for what was ahead.
He fluttered into the air once more. "I'll take you back upstairs, its the easiest way out."Ares nodded in understanding, unfolding her wings and lifting herself into the air.
"Thank you for the tour, by the way. It really is quite nice here," she told him, flitting next to him. "I'll have to see about coming here to visit more when I get back."Tosten led the way back through corridors, the entrance hall, upstairs, and ultimately back to the bedroom. During the flight he glanced back and grinned at her words, "You should! And there's like a hundred more rooms, if you like looking a boring stuff like this. But maybe we can make it fun... a game, like you said!" He replied back happily, heavily exaggerating the number of rooms in the keep but it was nonetheless a hefty sized establishment.
Once back at the sill he touched down once more to bid her a final farewell. "Make sure you fly safe, okay? Cause Ruya says the owls are... noc... nocturnal, so that means they'd be waking up now - and they're awful things, those owls!"Ares smiled a little bit, wrapping her arms around Tosten to give him a gentle hug.
"I'll be careful," she assured him as she pulled away, slowly floating backwards out of the window. "I'll see you in the morning, Tosten. Have a good night."
Turning around, the black and blue feien quickly glided toward the gate of the Hurog to leave.Pressed up against the outside wall of the keep, Sunil was glad for the falling darkness that had hidden her from Ares. She was so shocked by what she'd overheard that she hadn't even though to move. She was in shock and could not believe what she had just heard. Tosten was going to tell Ares everything? Now granted, that was probably more trouble for Calico than it was for her, but Sunil didn't need the kind of s**t this would bring down. She thought for a while, growing more and more agitated. She needed a plan, and she needed one quickly. Threats weren't going to work if they hadn't before. What needed to happen was Tosten needed to disappear between tonight and tomorrow morning. Sure people would be suspicious, but they could ask questions of someone they couldn't find. "Errrgh, " Sunil groaned in frustration. There was no other solution. She would have to kidnap Tosten and bring him somewhere she could keep him for a while. She sneered as she started up the wall, Tosten would never know what hit him.
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Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 2:49 pm
(OOC Note: The following entry was written by Merrimack while at Talon's, so therefore is technically not with Neko at this particular time.) August 12, 2004[color=white] Merrimack
There hasn't been a lot going on as of late. It's been a little quiet around here...I mean, too quiet. There hasn't been any yelling lately, save for the small arguements between Meka and Miss Kitsune. I haven't even heard Talon's annoying cries of anger since that night I got here (and curse him for waking me that night...he's lucky I went back to sleep right away). ...Why does this silence bother me? It's like some unwarrented request that one would wish to stop.
I decided to call Mother yesterday, just to let her know that I was all right. Thankfully, Miss Kitsune's phone had a speaker option, so that I wouldn't have to fly back and forth from the listening device to the microphone of the receiver. So...Mother is leaving for a couple of weeks. I suppose that shouldn't be a problem. Not like...it matters, right? It's not like I'm there to miss her. ...Though...I do hope she's safe on her trip.
For some unknown reason, Globin had asked me to read to him today. What is this, a library? Am I supposed to be some sort of...teacher for him? No matter...since I didn't have anything else to do, I read to him anyway, and I must say that reading with company is a lot nicer than reading by one's self. So, we read Les Miserables...transliterated into English, of course. It...was depressing, to say the least, and I can't decribe how I really felt about it. I did like it, as...a book. However, it was...just... Well, anyway. I found a book that had some plays in script form...I think it was Shakespear. Perhaps sometime, I could convince Globin to act out a few scenes with me...it was difficult with Mother, since back then all of the characters were played by men. This will make things a little easier...
Well, it's getting late, so I'll sleep now. Hopefully, tomorrow will bring about more happenings...something interesting for me to write about.
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Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 8:32 pm
August 13, 2004[color=white] Ares
Well, I'm just about to leave, but I thought I'd write in here before I go. I went to see Tosten last night, to tell him that I was going to be gone for a little bit. ...I'm not sure where to say it went well or not, because things did get a little confusing. At first, he didn't seem all to happy, but he was happy nonetheless, and promised to check on Tahki for me since she'll be alone. Gods, I hope she'll be okay by herself.
Well, Tosten told me that he wanted to tell me everything that he'd been hiding. He said that he would come this morning, and tell me everything before I had to leave. I got up this morning...no Tosten. I waited...and waited...and waited. I decided to check over there quickly, to see if he was home, or if maybe he'd forgotten. ...He wasn't there. Nekota said that he was probably playing out back, and would be back later. I...won't be here later, unfortunately, so I suppose it'll have to wait until I return. Something seems a little...strange about all of this...Tosten isn't one to go against his own words. I can't question it, though, and will only hope for the best when I come back.
Tahki, I know you'll see this later. Please...just...be careful, okay? Take care of yourself. (And, Neko.) Don't be any trouble for Tosten, and... ...Well, try not to spend too much time with Talon while I'm gone.
~~~~~~~~~~
....Once again, my feien spoil my mood. TAHKI is supposed to take care of ME? crying Oh, that hurts...that just hurts. ...Ares...Ares, please be safe. Come back to me in one piece. I'll try to bring Merri back home before your return...
~~~~~~~~~~
Okay...I've calmed down a bit, seeing Ares off. Now, there was something I was going to write...ah, that's it. I know I haven't talked about it much myself in here, but I'm sure there's been enough from Tahki. I'm beginning to wonder if...really...this whole situation is being blown out of proportion. Tahki can take care of herself, I know...and really, the age difference doesn't bother me at all. However, it still feels as if I'm taking care of a 16 year old child, telling her she can't see her 10 year old boyfriend. Does that make sense? Well, I haven't told her that she couldn't see him, no. That just wouldn't be fair, especially when I shouldn't have THAT much authority over her. But...I just get the feeling that the two of them are moving too fast. Of course, I could be wrong, as I've never seen them do anything...nor do I want to see them doing anything...but but but! Arrrrrg, this is frustrating.
So anyway...Karma and I had a little chat with Talon yesterday. I was on my way to visit Merri, and I managed to catch her along the way. With...Talon. And I guess the "over-protective" father bit just kinda jumped into play at that point...so we reemed him a bit before he started talking. ...I have no idea what came over me, but I had gone on about "no touching below the shoulders", and then he mentioned her ears. Okay, I guess I can see the fascination in that, since they're so incredibly long. But...even Tahki won't let me touch her ears. When I tried the first time, she asked me not to...something about being really sensitive. So...Talon can touch them, but I can't?? ...I wonder if that's kinda like how women are about their br--whoops! Er....ignore that last comment.
I'm not sure if we really got through to him or not, but I hope it at least helped. After coming home, I spoke with Tahki about it, just to make sure she understood. At first, she kind of pouted about it, not finding it fair that "she gets these talks, and Ares didn't"...Gods, I never thought I'd hear her say that. Ares never DID anything like this...not when she was still a child, anyway. No, I didn't like the fact that she was a child, in love with two adults...but, she was a little more mature about it, as well. I suppose I can understand this...since Tahki's still rather childish, but that isn't the point. Talon's still young, and he's trying to grow up a month before she really should. No no no...he was trying to grow up much before then. So, before I gave up, Tahki asked me an interesting question. What COULD she do, then, that wouldn't end up making me worry? But...it isn't me who...bah. I rather shocked by the question, personally, as I'd never heard her ask, much less try to be, so adult about this. What could she do? I told her the truth.
She could limit herself. Perhaps just small kisses, instead of "passionate" ones if she'd done those. Holding hands is fine, I don't care...SOME cuddling is fine...but even still, limit the touch. Perhaps even stop it at holding hands, if it becomes a problem. There's so many things I could tell her, but do you know how hard it is to explain these things to a fairy, when everything you know deals with humans? >.< It's a b***h, I'll tell you that much. To, in simple terms, I told her to cut back on the intimacy...I said that after he grew up, I wouldn't care as much, but I'd like prefer her to not rush things. She seemed to be fine with that, so I left it at that.
Well, that was yesterday. And, maybe I'm a major push-over, because now I feel bad about it. All right then...I'm about to give her a bit of a gift. After seeing Ares off, I remembered that I had gotten a...few...new pets the other day, so I stopped by the pixapet store really quick. ...I forgot I'd gotten so many. Remind me not to do that again, please. Since Tahki IS the general keeper of most of the pixapets, due to their small size, she's getting more to care for (one of them which will be hers to keep...there's a couple for Ares and Merri in here too, but they'll get them when they return home). Perhaps this will help with the lonely factor...and possibly prevent her from visiting Talon constantly. ...I'm not scheming, really.
~~~~~~~~~~
Tahki
...Wow! Neko wasn't kidding when he said there was a few! ...Wait, that's not right. He WAS kidding. There was 16 of them in that box he brought home! There's some puppies...but most of them are little kitties. I even get to keep one! I picked one that was all grey and spotted, but Neko told me he'd already picked out one for me. She's sooooo cute!! She's kinda colored like Winter, but darker...and she has these really cute stripes! Hee hee...like a tiger! But...smaller! I'm gonna name her Krystal.
They're aaaaaaaaaall so cute and tiny and cuddly and soft and warm and...a little noisy. Ooooo, I wonder what Talon might think!! Maybe he can help me take care of some, since there's so many! dvkjnknk Um...dnnong ack! ngiojdgn Npanuao kainkytty!111 Dbionbsdbln'tgkka rugn oaknakdgn tejehjejhbhegheyuure KEFIUYSSNLVN P2211111!!!!422
DLNDJDBNJNANGT9U4Hnlnn SNAMGEJNBLNLSNONV nbkneonutn vNNNRGIWnkjrgknewe
Okay...I better take them back upstairs before they make more scratches on the keys...
~~~~~~~~~~
eek .......TAHKI!!!!!!!!!! stressed What the hell did you do to my keyboard?!!! scream
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Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 8:34 pm
RP that occured August 13, 2004: [size=9]([url=http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=20181]From the guild[/url] wink [/size][color=white] Arith can be seen floating around the outskirts of the forest, taking in the beauty of early morning - whereas all life is crisp and comforting. With a flap of her wings, she slowly lands on the ground, deciding to take to walking for a bit.Ares glided along the side of the road, feeling a little upset that Tosten didn't come by like he had said he would. She waited as long as she could for him, but the morning was slowly coming to an end, the afternoon soon arriving. Flapping her black and blue wings a little bit, she dove closer to the ground, intending to manuver around the few people that were out.
Finally reaching a bit of a clearing, Ares slowed herself down a little bit, glancing about. This certainly was the way to Arturo's...but something seemed a little different. Perhaps it was just the low flying, as she normally tended to flying higher near the branches. Feeling a little tired, she decided to rest her wings for a moment, flapping her wings a little bit as she landed softly on the ground. Stretching her arms and back before beginning to walk, she looked around again, something white catching the corner of her eyes. Now what could that be? Upon closer inspection, she realized it was a feien...and that it was Arith.
"Hello?" she called out, her tail swaying a little bit, hoping she wasn't bothering the child.At first it seemed as though the youg white feien hadn't heard the woman, but then, Arith swung around slowly at the sound of someone calling her name - something she wasn't accustom to. Perking slightly, she looked around with her vibrant green eyes until she spotted Ares out of the side of vision.
Happily she turned around, waving to the older feien, content to see her once again "Oh! Hello, Miss Ares, pleasure to see you!" She called out as she slowly made her way to her friend, a smile playing on her still young face. Cantering her head, she looked up to Ares "How have you been?" the young feien asked, a polite curious smile still on her face. She had been hoping to see this feien once again - because of the last time they had met had an impact on her and she had been thinking a bit since then.Ares smiled a little bit, folding her wings down over her shoulders.
"Oh, I've had better days...hopefully my trip will brighten that up a bit," she said softly, bending her knees and resting her hands on them so she could be eye level with Arith. "And how have you been since we last talked? It seems to have been quite some time ago."Arith smiled warmly at the answer she had gotten from Ares as she mimicked the actions with her own wings, nodding "A trip, hmm? I hope you do enjoy yourself - trips and vacations tend to be enjoyable" She stated with a small giggle.
As she stiffled it, she watched as the taller feien came down to meet her eye to eye, nodding softly at the question. Shuffling her foot around the ground lightly she said "It's been pretty busy at my home. Soala came home and we moved out of the summerhome and into a .. dormatory, so he can goto what he calls University" She scrinched her nose up about university - it just meant Nerpin'd be home a little less - and it's a bit lonely without him somedays. Shaking it off, she continued "But ever since I talked with you, I've been taking a lot of consideration with my magic - and now that the magic book had been updated, I've been thinking a whole lot more about what I'm going to do.." she finished in a bit of a mumble. She was still a bit worried about her magical abilities, but knew she'd figure something out.Ares had to to think for a moment, trying to remember what a university was. Neko had mentioned something about it when he started school a few months back...perhaps it was a college. Her tail flicked a little bit as Arith spoke, recalling the conversation she'd had about magic with her.
"You have?" she asked quietly, still smiling. "What are you going to do?"Arith smiled at the question, scratching her chin with her index finger - looking up a bit "Well, I haven't patted anything down yet, but I think I'll work on some supportive spells, such as healling and whatnot. I may try to work with other elements.. because they seem so interesting!" she said, chipper and happy. She seemed more content about her magic then she had beforehand - and it seemed to create a warm atmosphere for her."So, like a healer of sorts?" she asked, running a hand through her short blue hair. "That should be nice...it truely suits you, and I'm sure the feien could use someone who'll help."
Well, that was certainly nice, Ares thought. Not all of the feien were selfish or foolish...there was still hope for them yet.
"Have you been practicing?" she asked, standing upright.Arith gave a warp smile at the complement and chuckled "Something like thath I would suppose. We don't have many helpers, and it seemed to fit me." she chuckled once more, tilting her head.
When she heard the second question, she shok it, her braid flowing onto her shoulder "No, I haven't had the time to try - but Nerpin said when we're all set and ready, unpacked he said, that I could practice on things then. All I have is a minor heal right now.""Well, that certainly is a start," she said, nodding her head a little bit. "I see quite a bit of potential in you, Arith. I'm sure you'll be a great healer one day."
Glancing up toward the sky for a moment, she tried to judge what time it was. Well, there was still a little bit of time...
"What else have you been up to lately?" she asked, looking back down at the white feien. "Staying out of trouble, I would hope."Arith's cheeks ran a small shade of pink at the complement and rubbed the back of her head softly, muttering a soft "Thank you Miss. Ares." Before perking at the second question.
With a small chuckle she shook her head at the older feien, smiling "No trouble last I checked, I've not the time recently to even concept some trouble. I haven't even the time to see my bestfriend - Shux, but I've been trying to make time now. Should be getting back to the population soon." she finished with a small titter.Ares couldn't help but giggle lightly at the last comment. She knew exactly how that was, having felt terrible for not having time to spend with Tosten. And time not spent with Arturo was going to be made up by this trip.
"Well, I hope that things go well...making time for your friends is always a good choice," she nodded a little bit to assure her. "There's always enough time to just let them know that you're still thinking of them, right? To let them know that you still care..."
There were probably others that she really should speak with again, after thinking about it.Arith nodded, stifflling her own giggle as she heard Ares' remark. With a soft smile she agreed with the older feien "But of course. I would suppose they know you care - but it's always nice to find time to take them aside and let them know their still in your heart." she said warmly. She herself had a few people she would care to talk with more often, tell them she cares. Ares gently placed her hand on Arith's head, smoothing out the side of her hair a little bit.
"You're a sweet one," she said softly, a genuine smile appearing on her red lips. "I wish I could meet others that are like you, Arith. I hope you never change."Arith's tint became a bit darker, smiling softly as her hair was smoothed down, she chuckled "Your a very nice feien Miss Ares, I admire you a lot" she said, cantering her head "And I'm sure there'll be a few like me someday, I doubt I should change very much - I wouldn't know what to change to" she finished with a small giggle.Ares sighed softly, closing her three eyes for a moment. Yes...there was definitely a chance for the feien still. Dropping her hand gently back to her side, she unfolded her wings, smiling once more.
"Thank you, Arith," she said softly, opening her eyes again. "I'm sure there are many that admire you, as well. I know that if you were around when I was still young, I would have looked up to you. Forgive me for needing to cut our conversation a little short, but I really must be going. Arturo and I need to try to get as far as we can today."Arith nodded, smiling again as she herself unfolded her wings "That is allright - I need to get back home and unpack my own stuff - thank you for a lovely conversation and I hope you enjoy your vacation miss Ares." she said with a curt nod and a wave "Hope to catch you again."Ares nodded, waving her fingers a little bit.
"Take care, Arith," she said softly as she lifted herself into the air, and began her journey to Arturo's again.Arith waved once more before taking off herself, flowing towards her new home. Happy to have had a conversation with her friend.
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Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 10:42 pm
 RP that occured August 14, 2004:[color=white] Tak...tak tak...tap tak TAKtap...
Merrimack swung his play-sword once more at Globin's, his long ears twitching slightly. Tak! They had been reading aloud again, this time a familiar play by Shakesprear: Romeo and Juliet. As they were reading, one thing just seemed to lead to another...first, it was just Merri reading out the script. Then, Globin began to join in, as the two took turns with parts, eventually leading to the "stage" that was a shelf. Now, it was just full blown acting, going as far as taking a few of Meka's figurines to use as extra players. Globin, temporarily known as Mercutio and Benvolio at the moment, had drawn his sword and challanged Merri, now temporarily known as Tybalt and Romeo. A few more swings, and he began his next line.
"Draw, Benvolio; beat down their weapons," 'Romeo' began, doing his best to say the lines while being 'Tybalt' fighting 'Mercutio.' "Gentlemen, for shame, forbear this outrage! Tybalt, Mercutio, the prince expressly hath forbidden bandying in Verona streets: Hold, Tybalt!"
'Tybalt' tried to lead 'Mercutio' behind the figurine that was supposed to be Romeo. "good Mercutio!"Globin, stealing occasional glances at the book from where it was propped nearby so he wouldn't lose his place, followed Merri's lead and slipped behind 'Romeo', reaching over the figurine's shoulder to take another swipe at 'Tybalt'. TAK! It was impossible to get a good vantage point from here, but he supposed that was the point...especially considering what would be coming next, had he read correctly.
On cue, he felt semi-hard plastic jab against his belly from beneath one of 'Romeo's' arms. It wasn't enough to hurt badly, though it seemed 'Tybalt' had gotten a bit lost in his role as his breath left him with an audible whoof and made him double over before keeling onto his backside, and then sprawling to his back.
"I am hurt..." he wheezed. "A plague o' both your houses! I am sped.
Is he gone, and hath nothing?"
Remembering he was also supposed to be playing Benvolio and that the figurine was still standing nearly a foot away in the middle of the shelf, he gave a sigh of annoyance and crawled forward briskly, seizing the figure by the leg and hauling it back to where he'd been laying before continuing.
"What, art thou hurt?"
"Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch; marry, 'tis enough." he resumed sprawling on the floor of the shelf. "Where is my page? Go, villain, fetch a surgeon."Merrimack had to think for a moment, before realizing it was his line. Pretending to run away, he set his sword down and stepped behind 'Romeo', turning the figure toward 'Mercutio'.
"Courage, man; the hurt cannot be much," he said, glancing back at the book."No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church-door; but 'tis enough,'twill serve: ask for me to-morrow, and you shall find me a grave man." 'Mercutio' clutched at his invisible stabwound and winced, looking as though it was taking great pains to talk.
"I am peppered, I warrant, for this world. A plague o' both your houses! 'Zounds, a dog, a rat, a mouse, a cat, to scratch a man to death! a braggart, a rogue, a villain, that fights by the book of arithmetic!" Growing angry, 'Mercutio' reached up, seizing 'Romeo' by the plastic tail of his shirt, raising his voice.
"Why the devil came you between us? I was hurt under your arm."Merrimack looked down for a moment, as if hurt by the words. "I thought all for the best."'Mercutio's' grip faltered on 'Romeo's' shirt and his hand fell back to his chest as he gave an angry and pained moan.
"Help me into some house, Benvolio, Or I shall faint." Saying so, he hoisted himself up, using 'Benvolio' for support and hanging from him limply, pretending to be supported by the figure as he staggered across the shelf with it, yelling over his shoulder as he went.
"A plague o' both your houses! They have made worms' meat of me: I have it, And soundly too: your houses!"Merrimack glanced once again to the book, turning 'Romeo' toward the "audience".
"This gentleman, the prince's near ally, My very friend, hath got his mortal hurt," he said sadly, a clear voice ringing throughout the air. "In my behalf; my reputation stain'd with Tybalt's slander,--Tybalt, that an hour hath been my kinsman! O sweet Juliet..."
Merrimack raised his head toward the heavens, his voice growing softer. "Thy beauty hath made me effeminate and in my temper soften'd valour's steel!"Pausing a moment to look over his lines, Globin brought the figure back across the shelf and set it beside 'Romeo', leaving it there. Now that he was no longer playing two characters, there was little need for the prop.
"O Romeo, Romeo, brave Mercutio's dead!" he cried, running the last five steps to Merri's side and looking extremely upset. "That gallant spirit hath aspired the clouds, Which too untimely here did scorn the earth." He began to wring his hands, as though he might cry at any moment.Merrimack jumped up a little, trying to see if he could reach the figure's head. Damn being short... Instead, he turned 'Romeo' to face 'Benvolio'.
"This day's black fate on more days doth depend; this but begins the woe, others must end," he said sadly before looking toward the book again. ...Oh s**t. The tricky part was coming up next.Globin hung his head a moment, as though listening to Merri's words with a heavy heart before darting his head up and looking over his shoulder at nothing.
"Here comes the furious Tybalt back again." he declared, backing off a step or two to hide behind Merri.Merrimack twitched slightly, glaring at the swords that were across the "stage." Augh...he had to run, and quickly.
"Alive, in triumph! and Mercutio slain!" he cried, already angry. "Away to heaven, respective lenity, and fire-eyed fury be my conduct now!"
As fast as he could, Merrimack bolted toward the two swords, quickly picking them up in either hand, and immediately turning around, heading back toward 'Benvolio' and 'Romeo'.
"Now, Tybalt, take the villain back again, that late thou gavest me; for Mercutio's soul is but a little way above our heads," he huffed through his teeth, taking as steady breaths as he could from the run. Curse his stamina...curse it! "Staying for thine to keep him company: Either thou, or I, or both, must go with him."
Placing the sword in 'Romeo's' hand, he held up his own.
"Thou, wretched boy, that didst consort him here, Shalt with him hence," 'Tybalt' said spitefully.
Thus, 'Romeo's' voice changed to vengance. "This shall determine that."
Once again, Merrimack twitched, trying to figure out how this would work, smacking his sword against the figurine's as he thought. How...ridiculous.Globin watched, amused and trying not to laugh as Merri and the figurine fought one another, his crimson eyes all but glowing with delight. Gods, this was fun...! Who would have thought Shakespeare of all things could bring Merrimack so far out of his shell?
He sat by, waiting for 'Romeo' to slay 'Tybalt' before speaking again, interested to see how this would be pulled off.How dull! Fighting an inanimate object in acting, no less, was horrible. A few more whacks and he could say he was done, right? Tak...tak....tak... However, with that last swing, the figure wobbled a little too much, and began to fall forward. Merri, of course, didn't notice at first.
Just as he opened his mouth to give a half-hearted cry, a real one came out as the figure fell right onto him, causing him to topple over. Blinking a few times, he twitched as he drummed his fingers along the shelf, scowling at the figure.
"That's NOT how it was supposed to happen..." he scolded it, as if it would understand.Globin grinned, unable to help it, and moved forward to haul 'Romeo' off of Merri. "Getting a little ahead of himself, I think. You're not Juliet." he teased good naturedly as he stood the figure up again.
"You all right?" he asked then, kneeling so he wouldn't be towering over the older feien.Merrimack rubbed the back of his head a little bit as he sat up slowly, wincing a little. Damn...that kind of hurt. ...But, his body began to feel a little funny from that, kind of tingly and just plain tired.
"Yeah...I think so," he responded, his voice a little shakey.Globin blinked, noting that Merri both sounded weaker and that his body was...different? It was as though he was creating his own faint aura of light. He hadn't been hit THAT hard, had he?? Not enough to be fatal...!! The smile dropped off of the younger feien's face as he backed away a couple of steps.
"Are you....?" he started to ask, not sure what he meant to say. He certainly would wait to see what was happening first, but part of him wanted to flee and get help right then and there...! He'd overheard Karma discussing 'gemstones' and using them in accordance with feien that had passed on...that wasn't happening to Merri, was it??Merrimack blinked a few times, watching Globin back away. What? Was something happening? He stood up slowly, looking up like he usually had to when speaking to just about anyone. However, when he looked up, he noticed that no one was there. ...And, did the shelf shrink, or something?? Because the board right about them certainly looked a lot closer than it did only a moment ago. Blinking his orange eyes a few times, he slowly looked down to find Globin. There was something wrong with this picture...
"Um...did...you just shrink?" he asked, not quite understanding. Looking at his hands and feet, everything seemed okay to him. He looked normal...didn't he? ...No, no. Something was different.
Merrimack's red wings dropped down a little bit, thinking about it again. Everything looked small now...his body had stopped tingling, a bit of him almost seemed to feel safer. Looking at his hands again, it slowly clicked. "O-oh my..."Globin swallowed hard, eyes wide in bewildered wonder. A moment ago he'd stood nearly a head taller than the other feien....now the top of his head just barely reached past his waist. Feeling suddenly intimidated, Globin gave a flutter of his wings to hover up to be eye level with the memory feien, studying his face with child-like curiousity.
"Merri...." he said in a hushed tone, and then shakily pointed across the room at Meka's dresser where a mirror was situated, saying nothing, his action indicating enough that the now quite-taller feien ought to go look at himself.Merrimack looked across the room, looking toward the mirror in wonder. Was he...scary? Was something just horribly wrong? Stepping to the edge of the shelf, the now much larger feien took flight, gliding himself over to the mirror. At first glance, he didn't notice anything special, other than that he'd grown. However, continuing to look at his own reflection, he slowly came to realize what was wrong. Flitting closer to the mirror, he gently placed a hand where his face was, his three eyes growing wider. He was tall...no, he wasn't just tall. He was GIGANTIC. Of everyone he'd ever met, he could probably tower over them easily... So why was he still afraid? Quickly turning around, he grabbed at his bi-colored hair, curling up in the air a little bit.
"Good GOD, I scare even myself..." he whispered, finding the intimidation in his own reflection. Wait...wait wait wait. This could be used to his own advantage. Yes....yes, definitely to his advantage. Well, perhaps after his black eye had completely healed, anyway...the red tint under his eye wasn't exactly appealing. But, being able to tower over the others...they wouldn't hurt him, right? ...Right?Globin hesitated and then fluttered across the room to join Merri on the dresser. "Well..." he breathed, still seeming bewildered. "I daresay whoever's been giving you trouble won't be doing it anymore..." Slowly, he broke into a smile.
"Look at you! So regal! Your family won't recognize you when they see you next!" he prattled, clearly impressed as he wondered if he would look anything like that when he grew up one day."Won't recognize me, or run away from me?" he sighed, looking off to the side for a moment. He just saw the down side to everything, didn't he?
Landing on the dresser, Merrimack practically just plopped down into a sit, staring at his long legs. It could be used to his advantage...but would that mean he'd end alone even still at the end?"Merri...." Globin sighed, wondering how he could possibly be disappointed in himself as he plopped down next to him, now feeling much more like a child in his presense. "Why would they be afraid of you? I'm not." he offered. "It'll take them a bit of getting used to, I'm sure, but you're still Merrimack, aren't you?"
He looked up at him with twinkling crimson eyes, trying to look as reassuring as he could. "I think it suits you." Globin racked his brain for something he could say to drive that point home a little further that wouldn't seem like he was merely blowing sunshine up the older feien's tailpipe. "Hell, I'll go so far as to say you're handsome." he said with a definitive nod of his head.Merrimack blinked a few times, a very light blush running over his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck. It's not like anyone exactly told him such things everyday...if ever.
"You...think so?" he asked curiously, looking down at the other, "I don't look...ridiculous or anything...?"
Oh, how stupid was that? It was as if everytime someone gave him a compliment, something wouldn't register right and he couldn't think. "I...er...I mean..."
But what did he mean? He looked up a bit, feeling that he was giving it too much thought."Ridiculous? Of course not..." Globin said, perking his ears a bit and looking confused as to how Merri could think such a thing. He hesitated a moment and then, as though remembering something, flitted back across the room to the bookcase, struggling with the open Shakespeare book a moment before managing to wrestle it closed and turn the cover outward where it could be seen across the room.
The cover bore a collage of illustrations from the collected works therein and it was to one of them that Globin pointed now, a watercolor of Romeo and Tybalt in the throes of their swordfight.
"Look," he said, pointing at Romeo, his finger tracing the slope of the drawing's forehead, the strong line of its jaw, and the curve of its nose. "....had he a third eye and your hair, Merrimack, the resemblance would be uncanny."
He spoke with gentle sincerity, Merri's adult features having instantly reminded him of the figure on the cover of the book. He didn't want Merri to be upset...he'd dealt with several days straight of Merri being upset and something such as this was certainly not something to get bent out of shape over. Certainly not something to feel as though he was a freak about...Merrimack stared at the picture from across the room for a moment, squinting his eyes a little bit. No, he couldn't see it...and much less did he really understand. Standing up again, he took wing to the bookcase, taking a look at the picture Globin was pointing out. No...he still couldn't see it. Though, he did get what the other feien was getting at, and he closed his eyes for a moment. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad...perhaps only the ones he WANTED to intimidate would be so, and... Well, it was still hard to trust the others, even if they weren't bigger than him anymore.
"Thank you," he said quietly, landing on the bookshelf.Globin smiled faintly and nodded "You're welcome." He abandoned the book, then, walking a short distance from it and sitting, deciding they were done with it for the day.
"Sometimes you think its the end of the world when one person decides they hate you when you've done nothing to deserve it." he mused aloud, picking up a lock of his own silver-white hair and threading his fingers through it to work the tangles out. "Then eventually you realize that its -their- problem, not yours."Merrimack's ears perked up a little as he spoke, running a hand through his hair. Did he even know how right that he was? Glancing down at the book for a moment, he thought, wondering if it truely was just their problem. It becomes one's own problem when it didn't stop, didn't it? He was hated by a particular feien for no reason...he was abused solely for that fact, as well. So how could that not be his problem?
"That may be true, but not every situation is similar," he sighed, looking to Globin. "Should it be in one's nature, it does become their problem, as well as that person's.""Sometimes." Globin agreed with a small solemn nod. "But sometimes you come to pity that person." He sighed and drew his wings about himself. "When I first decided for a fact that Talon hated me, I was devastated. I hadn't done anything wrong, I didn't think I had done anything to deserve it, yet the way he yelled at me and threatened me, you'd think I'd killed his entire family three times over."
He made a small, fractured, humorless chuckle. "Then I decided 'no. This doesn't make sense. It must run deeper than this' and I got to thinking. And I decided, maybe it wasn't hate at all, maybe it was something else that was misguided. And....as much as I'd like it if he'd accept me as a friend and brother, I didn't reciprocate feelings of -that- sort and told him so. That's where the mark on my cheek came from when you first got here.
Then I paid a little more attention, watched him, talked to Karma...." he lifted his eyes to look at Merri and sighed a little. "He's crazy, Merri. Not enough to be dangerous, but crazy all the same. And once I learned that, I felt badly for him. I can't take anything he says or does to heart anymore because I know he may not mean it....."
Globin quirked a brow, seeming perplexed by his own words and shook his head slightly "....does that make me crazy?"Merrimack's expression softed quite a bit as he listened to the other, his wings drooping down lazily. It did make sense...in fact, it made a lot of sense. However, Talon wasn't anything like Calico. Walking around the book, he folded his arms behind his back, slowly making his way over to Globin.
"No, that doesn't make you crazy," he told him, trying to figure out his own words before he would say them. "But, the situation I have is much different than the one you have with Talon. True, he may be a bit crazy...however, he's just one not to care much for change. He can be pittied...however, the one who harmed me doesn't deserve even that much."
Taking in a deep breath, the memory feien exhaled slowly, closing his eyes as he continued to take slow, graceful steps. "I'm simply hated by a particular feien all because I wouldn't appoligize for something he deserved. He hurt me, I called him an idiot, and the whole thing just...went from there. He's ruthless...he's harmed other feien, even taking one as some sort of possession, and felt the need to beat me to get it through their head. Granted...had I not tried to run away, I wouldn't have gotten it that bad...but what would someone else have done? I live in some sort of nightmare, in fear he's going to show up anywhere...he kidnapped me from my own home, damn it. I ran away so that he wouldn't hurt my family...and that's why I'm here now. So I won't be a danger to them...since he doesn't know where this place is."
Stopping at the edge of the shelf, he sat down quietly next to the blood feien, letting his legs dangle over the edge. "He doesn't deserve pity...he doesn't deserve anything.""That's....very sad that someone can be that terrible." Globin murmured, drawing his wings a little more tightly around himself as though keeping out an unseen chill. "I wouldn't pity him either...I'd fear him too much."
He couldn't bring himself to look up at Merri, realizing just how awful the other feien had had it lately. It most certainly overshadowed what he'd been through....made it look like nothing, in fact.
"....you're very strong for living through that, though." he said in a barely audible voice. "Had it been me, I would have broken. And its brave of you to still be able to worry for your family, even after all of that...especially to leave them behind and go to a strange place on your own. Most would have hidden behind them and demanded protection even if they couldn't provide it."
He turned his head away and drew his knees to his chest, hugging them to himself. "Its a shame we couldn't have run into one another under more pleasant circumstances, but thank you for trusting me enough to be here. One wouldn't expect you to trust anyone after that."He closed his eyes for a moment, folding his hands in his lap. "But that's just it," he started again, "I DID break. I DIDN'T trust anyone...because they all broke their promise..."
Hanging his head low, Merrimack hunched over a little, resting his elbows on his knees, and bringing his hands up to rest his chin on them. "They promised me...swore to me that they wouldn't let anything happen to me. Twice, they told me this...and twice something happened. The first time, it wasn't so hard to forget...but the second, I snapped. I still don't trust them...not even my mother."
Sighing lightly, he opened his eyes partially, looking out toward the room. "And to be honest, I don't even know why I trust you. It's...it's as if I already know you're not going to hurt me. That...all you want is to be accepted."Globin knit his brow and still didn't look up, wishing he could do something. Anything. "I'd never hurt you, Merrimack. Or anyone if I can avoid it. I can't even raise my voice to Talon in defense without feeling filthy afterward..." He hitched a sigh.
".....did they know what it was they were protecting you from....? D-Did you tell them, I mean?" he asked tentatively, knowing he was now trespassing into what wasn't his business and ready to withdraw if Merri should make him feel unwelcome there."They knew..." he said quietly. "Or rather, most of them knew... I don't know that many people, to be honest. The only ones who didn't know were my parents and my sister, Ruya."Globin's ears folded back sorrowfully and sighed again. "I'm sure, had they been there---" he trailed off, and shook his head. It wasn't his place to make assumptions. He didn't know enough about the situation.
"I won't say you're safe here, because I don't want it to end up being another lie, should something happen....only that I believe you are." He finally dared to look at Merri again. "And that's something I want to believe very strongly."Merrimack sat upright, resting his hands along the edge of the shelf, his fingers curling around. "And...I wish I could say that I believe you," he said softly, looking up toward the bottom of the shelf above them. "I wish that I could say that I flat out trust that. However, I can't...I'd be lying, and I prefer not to do such things."
Thinking for a moment, he took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "I can say, though...that I've never felt safer at the moment. Around any place, any feien...than I do at this very moment. Even if I can't tell you that I trust you completely right now, I can say that I at least feel safe."Globin allowed his wings to fold back along his spine a little, not quite hiding in them anymore. "Even that, I value." he said quietly. "I wouldn't ask you do to more than that, not when you've only known me a few days."
His eyes stole to the red digits of Meka's nightstand alarm clock and he realized it was starting to get late. It was dark out, the sounds outside of the bedroom had diminished down to the drone of the television and Karma or Meka putting dishes away in the kitchen. Normally his visits with Merri were sporadic throughout the day so he wouldn't infringe on his space, and then at night they roosted on opposite sides of the shelf, just near enough to detect one another's presense.
He wondered if, since he'd been bothering Merri since he'd gotten up and that they'd spent most of the day reading and play-acting, if he wouldn't be asked to leave tonight to give him some time alone.Merrimack stiffled a yawn, the day beginning to catch up to him. Well, today certainly was rather interesting. He got to act out part of a play, grew up, and once again let out the pent up agrivation he had toward the dark feien. All the while, he actually had fun while doing so...if that wasn't a first. Glancing at the clock for a moment, he began to realize just how much he wanted to sleep. However, something was bothering him... Why did he feel guilty now that he wasn't home?
"I think I need to go see her..." he sighed, lifting a hand to rub the back of his neck. "I can stay there just yet, but I need to go see her."Globin nodded in understanding. "All right." He said, getting up. "Want me to get Karma to open a window for you? She closed them all, from what I hear...something about keeping Talon under house arrest for a bit." He paused "Or would you rather she take you there? I don't think she'd mind either..."Merrimack stood then, resting both of his hands on the back of his neck. "I know I can't make it there by myself...but I can't let Neko know I'm there, either.""Perhaps Meka could take you and let you off at the end of the walkway?" he offered. "Not that he's one of my favorite acquaintences, but I know he's taken Talon to Neko's once or twice to see Tahki...""That could work. I don't plan to stay long..." he said, nodding a little bit.Globin offered a thin smile and rose into the air with a flap of his wings "I'll go ask him then. Just a minute." Saying so, he winged out of the room, turning to the side to make it through the narrow gap in the slightly-open door.Merrimack peered at the door for a moment, running a hand through his hair before letting his hands fall back at his sides.A moment later, an irritated raccoonshounen shuffled into the room, Globin perched on his shoulder, looking like he'd just been roused from a nap. "What the hell am I doing now...?" he grumbled. "Just taking Merri home for a bit. No one's supposed to know he's there." the blood feien informed him calmly."And why do I keep getting dragged into the middle of these damn fairy trysts?" Meka demanded sourly. "Because you don't play favorites...?" Globin offered. "It won't be long. Just up to the end of the driveway, wait a few minutes for him to come back, and we walk home. Then I won't bother you for anything else.""Fine...only because I don't want to listen to Karma bitching at me for saying no." he sighed, crossing his arms over his chest as Globin looked up to Merri. "He'll take you." he informed the other feien with a nod."Ah...good then," he said, taking wing for a moment to perch on Meka's other shoulder. "Er...thank you, sir.""Uh huh..." the raccoon said sullenly, not particularly thrilled with being pulled away from the TV, but he'd live, Globin was sure. "Thank you, Meka." he said, giving the raccoon a quick hug...or what passed as a hug for someone his size, and moreso seemed like he was squeezing the side of his head. Meka's ear twitched, knocking Globin off balance and forcing him to take wing to catch himself.
"I'll be here when you get back, I suppose." he told Merri as he hovered in the air. "Or elsewhere if you'd rather. Just tell me so." he said with a wave. "Good luck."Merrimack waved a little bit, his wings drooping again. Company today would depend on the short visit he was making.
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Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 10:42 pm
(August 14, 2004)Merrimack looked at the house for a moment, almost reluctant as he floated up to the bedroom window, noticing the screen had been pulled down. Okay...that wasn't too hard to get past, especially since it wasn't as heavy as the window itself. Glancing back at Meka for a moment, the raccoon man practically glared at him, wanting to get this over with. With a light sigh, the tall feien carefully began to lift the screen door. " Whooooooooooooooo's theeeeeere?" Tahki called from the desk, slightly burried underneath a bunch of kitten and puppy pixapets. Merrimack didn't answer at first, lifting the door enough for him to get through. Or at least, try to get through. " Have I come at a bad time?" he asked, trying to fit under the screen. Damn...not wide enough. However, the red and black feien was immediately there, a tiny tiger cub resting on her head. Quickly, she lifted the door upwards, much more than she needed to, and pulled the other feien into a hug. " MERRI! Merri Merri Merri you're HOME!!" she cried happily, hugging the other tightly. " You're home you're home yo--" " Shhhhh, not so loud!" he panicked a little bit, scrambling out of Tahki's grasp and looking down at her. " I don't want Neko to know. I'm just he--...um, yes?" Tahki had knelt down and begun to pat at his legs curiously, wondering why he was so tall. He wasn't standing on anything, so why did she have to look so far up at him? Maybe there was something... Pinch." OW! Damn it, woman, that hurts!" he scowled, taking a few steps away from the cold feien and rubbing his calf where she pinched him. Oooo, that meant it was real, right? Happily, Tahki hugged him again, giggling to herself. " Merri Merri Merri! You grew up!!" she stated the obvious, nuzzling her cheek against his chest. " You're so big now!" Merrimack twitched slightly, blushing. Did she HAVE to do that? Grabbing her arms firmly, he pulled her away from him, though it took some effort since Tahki was so much stronger than him. " Would you please not d--" he started, but was once again interrupted. " Oh! Merri! Look at all the kitties!" she exclaimed, taking the other feien's hand and dragging him toward the desk. " They're so cute and tiny and oh! One of them is for y--" " Will you PLEASE shut up for just one minute?!" Merrimack snapped, snatching his hand back and taking deep breaths with frustration. He should have known this would have happened...she wasn't going to listen! Tahki stopped in the air, looking to the taller feien. The tiger cub on her head roared very softly, and she picked it up to put it down on the desk. She looked up at him again upon landing, looking a little hurt. Even her ears seemed to droop down more than usual. " I'm...I'm sorry..." she said quietly, folding her hands carefully behind her back. " I was just so happy to see you back..." The memory feien bit his lip softly as he looked down at her, taking in one more deep breath to exhale slowly. Closing his eyes for a moment, he calmed himself down before landing in front of her, opening his orange eyes again to look into her yellow ones. " Listen...I'm not home for good or anything. I just...I thought I should see you, is all," he said quietly, his wings drooping down like they normally did. " And...a part of me wanted to say that I'm sorry." Tahki blinked a few times, not understanding. " Sorry about what?" " For...for not believing in you. For not trusting you before," he sighed, looking off to the side for a moment. " You didn't mean for any of what happened to happen, and...I just blamed everything on the people that I knew. So, I'm sorry." She tilted her head a little bit, thinking about his words. He was apologizing for that?? But...he had every reason to be mad, didn't he? They did, after all, fail to protect him like they said they would. " Merri, if anyone should be sorry, it should be me. I could have been here with you, and i--" she started to say, but Merrimack stopped her, gently touching a finger to her lips. " Shhhh...please, just leave it at that," he whispered, bending down to lean in closer to her. His fingers slipped away, and she tried to speak again. " But Merri I---mmmph!" Tahki's eyes blinked open wide as Merrimack brushed his lips against hers, gently grasping her shoulders as he kissed her. After a moment, he pulled back slowly, and pulled the female feien into a hug. " Goodbye, Tahki...the next time I see you will be when I return for good," he said quietly, stroking the back of her head softly. Standing up again, he left her frozen there, flitting to the window and pulling the screen closed from the outside. Tahki couldn't even watch him as a few tears slowly fell from her eyes, rolling down her cheeks as she feel to her knees onto the desk, leaning back to sit down. " Merri...?" she called out, even though he was already gone. " Why...?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2004 12:25 am
(OOC Note: The following entry was written by Merrimack while at Talon's, so therefore is technically not with Neko at this particular time.) August 14, 2004[color=white] Merrimack
So...today was indeed interesting. First, it started out normal...ish, anyway. Globin asked me to read to him again, so I picked out that book I found with the Shakespear plays in it. Today's menu? Romeo and Juliet. It was fun, actually...at first, I was just reading out the parts to him. However, soon, he joined in himself, and we both began to read the parts. Then, we started acting...we used some of Meka's figurines for the other players. It was after Mercutio and Tybalt's death that we stopped do to...an unexpected event.
Apparently, I have grown. ...Very, very tall, which is an odd happening since I was rather short. A whole 6 and a half inches, after finding out my exact height. Interesting...the sad thing is that I'm perhaps too intimidating, as I'm scared of my own reflection. Globin doesn't seem to mind much...in fact, he even complimented me. He called me...handsome. For some reason, I couldn't think straight after hearing such a thing. It was as if someone grabbed my brain and took off with it, leaving me to be an empty shell for a few moments. I wonder if that's normal? Hmph...I doubt it.
I told Globin about Calico today. I'm not sure if I mentioned the name, but I did tell him what had happened. He had a right to know, right? I think I trust him enough...but something he told me made me realize something. I was blaming everyone else for the fact that I wasn't protected, and hadn't even thought about what might have happened had someone been there. They wouldn't have just LET it happen, I'm sure. So...great. Now I feel rather horrible about the whole thing. Slowly...I'm going to forgive and forget again, and see how things go from there. As much as I hate apologizes, there are a few people who deserve them...and Tahki was the first on my list.
I stopped by home to see her, and I think I did something rather stupid. Or rather, something that just wasn't me. I apologized to her...and then I kissed her. It's not exactly wrong, I know...since she's not my sister or anything. However, I do know of her feelings for Talon...so what came over me? Why did I kiss her...? It wasn't anything like how I thought it would be, which I suppose is a good thing, as I understand that it isn't love that I feel anymore.
Love... Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever know what that's like. If I'd actually be happy being that way, or if I should just give up on it now and never look back. Yes, I know there are many types of the feeling...but I'm talking about that true love that few seem to find. Like, for instance, the love between Mother and Father is very different from the love between Mother and Tosten. Talon and Tahki could be another example, but I'm not too sure...and I doubt it would be a very good one. Feelings... if only they didn't exist, there wouldn't be these kinds of problems. Fear, hatred...love.
If only...I didn't have to feel...
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Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2004 12:38 am
August 15, 2004[color=white] Tahki
I'm confused! ...Well, I guess when am I not confused or curious about something...but still! I'm confused! Merri came home last night! ...Kinda...sorta... He stopped by! And he was reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally tall!!! eek I wonder why he's so tall?? I've never seen a feien so big! But that's okay...because he's Merri!! He stopped by yesterday. He said sorry, and then he kissed me.
Why did he kiss me?! crying I don't understand!! I thought kissing was for people who liked eachother and well I know that Merri likes me because we lived together and stuff but we're just friends aren't we? WHYWHYWHYWHYWHY???? Poo. I don't get it.
Ares has only been gone two days and I'm already lonely. I wonder if Tosten will stop by sometime soon? She told me he would be... I wonder if Talon's okay? I wanna go visit him sooooo bad, but Neko told me I shouldn't while Merri's there. So, it's just me and the kitties and puppies. But but but, they don't talk much because they're so young! And there's sooooooo many of them! They're so cute and tiny and...Krystal called me "mommy" the other day. Hee hee hee...I like that! I can be a mommy like Ares! But, it's not the same. Hmmmmm.....hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......I wonder if I'll ever be a real mommy? I wanna be one...but I dunno how Talon feels about that. 'Cause 'cause 'cause I'd want him to be the daddy! And...wait, Neko told me to take it slow. xp ....But, I wanna be a mommy.
Maybe Talon can help me with some of these pets...and he could be daddy for them...
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Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2004 12:40 am
RP that occured August 16, 2004:[color=white] A white-winged shape darted through the air and straight into the branches of a tree that stood near Neko's house. After a short pause, and a quick flurry of movement, it darted next to a bush that was slightly closer. Then to the top of the mailbox, eventually making its way to Neko's east-side window.
Talon, upon reaching the windowsill paused and drew a deep breath, looking over his shoulder and reaching up to pick twigs from his hair. He'd made it! He thought for sure someone had caught him leaving and so had taken much longer than he normally would have to arrive, pausing to hide now and then and taking purposeful sidetracks.
It seemed, however, he was in the clear. And to make things better, it looked as though the window wasn't closed today. Sparing another quick look around, he moved to step inside, colliding with the wire screen. Clenching his teeth, he pressed his palms against it and gave a few futile pushes. Damn!! It was just like the one Karma had put over the window back home and he hadn't brought anything to shred this one!
He was about to go and find a pointy stick, when something else occurred to him as he knelt, taking the bottom of the screen firmly in either hand and tugging upward. Much to his surprise, it came up easily...he wondered if the one at home would have done the same if he had tried. Oops. Oh well.
Stepping in and lowering the screen behind him, he ducked behind the first bit of cover he could find, one of the curtains, and scanned the room for signs of Ares or Neko or someone who would alert his bond of where he was.The room was rather silent, save for the annoying cries on many pixapets, all swarming over a lump on the desk. No one seemed to be around, aside from the animals, and a lone blue and black celestrus napping on the bed. He'd opened an eye to look at the white feien that had entered the room, but thought nothing of it, immediately going back to sleep after ruffling his feathers and shaking his furry a little bit. A small white kitten, somehow managing to get to the window sill, blindly bumped around, bumping into Talon's foot before slowly making its way toward the now open window.
The swarm of annoying pets began to cry louded as they crawled clumsily over the lump, a hand and a few red and black feathers sticking out of the pile.Talon grabbed up the kitten before it could get out of the window and, holding it under one arm, used his other to secure the screen in place so none of them could get out. God...where had they all come from...?? Setting the kitten down and growing curious about the nearby swarm of pets and what exactly it was they were crowded over, he flitted toward them and approached.
He saw a brief flash of red and black...very familiar red and black, at that. Blinking, he began to reach out and remove the pixas from the dogpile they'd created, setting them aside as he attempted to unearth whatever or WHOever they were swarming. "...Tahki...?" he asked experimentally.For a moment there was silence before Tahki quickly sat up, the pixapets growing eerily quiet. A snowy tiger cub rested on her head, clinging lightly.
"Wha--huh??" she blinked sleepily, ruffling her feathers a little. She could hear Sasuke snickering in the corner, and saw Trowa trying hard not to smile. Looking over her shoulder, she picked up Kia from her head, blinking her yellow eyes a few times. "Talon??" she questioned, wondering how he'd gotten inside.
...Wait. It was registering....OH!! There it went. Getting up quickly, or at least, to her knees, she shuffled her way over to him, setting Kia down gently.
"Talon, you're heeeere!" she giggled, throwing her arms around the white feien in a hug.Talon barely had time to register that it was, indeed, Tahki underneath the heap of pets before he was being hugged. Once he had, however, he eagerly returned it as he closed his eyes and allowed himself a faint smile, trying to ignore the tickling of fur and cold sniffing noses around his legs and ankles.
"I missed you..." he murmured, not being able to think of anything else to say at the immediate moment.Tahki smiled, pulling away from him and leaning back to sit down. Immediately, a tiny tabby crawled up into her lap, followed by a reddish brown kitten with stripes. A leopard cub and dingo pup began to paw at Talon's legs, as if begging for attention.
"I missed you too, Talon! I was so busy, though...taking care of these guys," she explained, picking up the reddish kitten that was pawing at her stomach. "Neko said that I shouldn't leave them alone for too long, since they're too small for her to care for and I'm the only other one here at the moment, aside from Domonic."Talon absently knelt, beginning to simultaneously skritch behind both the leopard and dingo's ears. If there was one thing he'd learned around Yeande it was that you did NOT ignore the pixas when they begged for your attention, or you'd quickly find yourself buried in them.
"Where did they all come from?" he asked, looking perplexed. "There didn't -used- to be this many...." He edged forward, trying to move to sit closer to Tahki and found his way blocked as more animals came to sit between them, as though making a vested and innocent effort to keep them apart from each other.As soon as the cub and pup get their ears scratches, three more pixacats made their way toward Talon, demanding attention as well. Tahki already had five more pixacats and pups crawling into her lap, one making its way to her shoulder.
"Neko brought them!" she giggled, holding up the reddish brown kitten in her hands. "This one is mine! Her name is Kyrstal." The white kitten Talon had rescued began to blindly bump into his leg. "And that's Merri's, whenever he comes home. And and and, this one is for Ares! And the black puppy, too!"
Laharl was guarding the black puppy, however, on the other side of the desk."Comes home?" Talon questioned, wincing as one of the pixacats rose to its hind legs and batted at one of his ears. He was quickly finding that he was no longer petting these animals so much as he was having his hands swallowed in fur and lapping tongues...it was a bit disconcerting, really. "Merri isn't here?"Tahki shook her head, frowning slightly. "Nope, he's not here..." she said quietly, watching the twin tiger cubs get into a pouncing stance. She couldn't tell him...which was frustrating. "I'm not sure when he's coming home, either."
Their tails began to swish in sync before they jumped at the same time, the two cubs landing on Talon's shoulders. As if on cue, the entire horde of new pixapets began to move, crawling in a little swarm to Talon.
"Ah...uuuuuhhh....wait wait! Don't do that!" she tried to scold them, but didn't exactly have the heart for it. If they were successful in knocking Talon over, they immediately curled up all over him to try and nap."Mmrrpphhh...!!" Talon gave a muffled protest as he was suddenly blanketed in animals and pinned to his back on the desktop, his wings uncomfortably folded beneath him. Their fur and the already-warm day outside made him cocooned in a sweltering pocket of heat as he wriggled an arm free and began removing the cubs from himself.
As he sat up, he found the mewling animals were trying to reclaim their spots, looking annoyed at him for disturbing them. "No...!" he said sternly. He couldn't bring himself to flat-out scream at them as he would have if this were one of the feien at the shop being this annoying...they were just babies who didn't know any better, but still...even babies could learn their limits.
Two of the pixas, looking chastised, seated themselves nearby and looked at him perplexedly as they curled their tails around themselves, though they didn't make any further attempts to climb on him as he continued to unearth himself from the rest of the furry blanket of pets.Tahki's ears twitched slightly as she could hear Sasuke and Trowa both snickering, Yuki and Merick rolling their eyes at them. Smiling to herself, the cold feien began to pick up a few of the pixacats and pups, flitting quickly over to the adult pixacats. Their snickering immediately stopped as she began to place the kittens around them, the kittens slowly stepping toward them."W-wait...foul demon! Stay back!" Sasuke snorted, glaring at one of the tiger cubs. It stared back at him before pouncing, a leopard close behind."N-no! Get off!!" Trowa complained as a few kittens cornered him before crawling over him, more kittens getting place by the adults.Once all of the kittens were in the corner with the two cosplay pets, swarming over the two and curling up for naps, Tahki nodded to herself, placing her hands on her hips.
"Watch them for me for a little bit!" she beamed happily before flitting back to Talon. Sasuke and Trowa grumbled as the kittens and pups slept on top of them.Talon turned his head to the side, spitting out a bit of fur as he got up. His chest and belly were marred with tiny hairline scratches from their claws, but otherwise he was no worse for wear. Casting a slightly wary look at the heap of sleeping kittens nearby before satisfying himself that they wouldn't come barrelling at him again, he moved forward to meet Tahki.
"If I'm not worried about one of my friends being hurt or running away, I'm worrying about being accosted by pixas." he remarked, silently thanking the maker he'd been able to avoid ending up with his own. With as much as Karma seemed to like to see him squirm, it was a wonder he DIDN'T have his own little pile of fluffy mewling hell waiting for him back home."Sorry about that," Tahki smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck before sitting back down. "They really like warm bodies...and they kept me up for most of the night, so I thought I'd try to get a nap in."
Looking up at him, she smiled warmly, folding her hands in her lap. "So what brings you here today? Coming to visit?""Of course I'm here to visit." he said, trying to smooth the irritation from a moment ago out of his voice as he seated himself across from her. "I haven't seen you in days. Its been hell." He bit his lip thoughtfully. "....actually, my bondmate doesn't know I'm gone yet. I don't think she does, at least." He looked over his shoulder as though expecting her to appear. "....maybe she does by now. I don't care." he sighed.
"Ever since she and Neko got ahold of me a couple days back, I haven't been allowed to leave the house. She closed all the windows and everything because she said she doesn't trust me." He gave an angered sigh, his wings flaring a bit behind him. It wasn't fair, dammit...Tahki frowned slightly, her long ears drooping a little bit. She'd heard about Neko having a talk with him, but she didn't know about what his bondmate had done to prevent him from going anywhere. Neko wouldn't even go that far...then again, Tahki wasn't one to just run away if told not to.
"Mmmm, Neko talked to me, too, Talon," she said softly, wishing she could cheer him up. "He didn't get mad or locked me up or anything, but he said we SHOULD take things slower...at least until you grow up too. Then he said he didn't care what we did, so long as it wasn't too fast. ....Or, something like that.""I don't understand it." Talon remarked, reaching up to rub at one eye distractedly. "We aren't bothering anybody....I just like being close to you, that's all. You calm me down inside...I tried to explain THAT too, and she kept bringing up the same stupid analogy about twenty-year-olds seeing thirteen-year-olds."
His ears flattened a bit in dejection. "There's no logic in it....why stop something if its not hurting anyone?" he blinked suddenly, as though realizing something and looked at Tahki as his brows drew together worriedly. "....I'm -not- hurting you, am I...?" he asked, making sure.Tahki smiled a little bit, shaking her head. Of course he wasn't hurting her! He was doing anything BUT hurting her...unless, pain was actually a happy feeling, and it liked to disguise itself. Putting the bottoms of her feet together and grabbing her ankles, Tahki hunched over a little bit. Her left arm buckled for a moment, but quickly caught itself.
"I think I kind of understand why they're worried, though..." she said, looking down at her feet and wiggling her toes. "I think they're worried you might regret not living like a child, maybe? You're so grown up, which is really neat, but...don't you think you might miss being little?"
It was an honest question, really, as she was still trying to understand everything herself. Neko was always so busy telling Tahki to start growing up...and here they were telling Talon to STOP growing up.Talon looked thoughtful for a minute, but then shook his head. "Why would I miss it? There's nothing about it I like. Being small, being vulnerable, nobody taking me seriously, Karma constantly ordering me around like she knows what's best for me even though I don't think she even knows what's best for herself sometimes..."
He found a stray twig in his hair that he'd missed and began to attempt to free it before it could become hopelessly snarled therein. "In fact, the sooner I grow up, the better. Then nobody will have any excuse for trying to put up roadblocks constantly. I shouldn't have to stage an espionage mission just to be near someone I care for."Tahki couldn't help but giggle a little bit, closing her eyes for a moment. He was like some sort of secret agent, on a mission for...for love! Or, a love ninja! How exciting! How...cute! Opening her eyes again, she frowned slightly, her expression softening a bit. A part of her felt bad that they had to sneak around like this...something about it just felt wrong. So very, very wrong.
"Sometimes I miss being little," she said quietly, curling her wings around herself a little bit. "When I was still little, I wasn't expected of much, and I could be the way I am without anyone worrying. It was normal...I was a kid. And, if I was still little, they probably wouldn't have such a problem with all of this."
At least, that was her theory.
"I don't think what we're doing is wrong, but...sometimes I wonder if they're right. What if there's a reason we're not understanding for why they want us to "slow down"? What if something bad happens because we didn't listen?""Then maybe they should just come out with it and say so instead of dancing around it like this." he grumbled. "I've been through enough that nothing rattles my cage anymore." He paused, his thoughts turning to Globin and his eyes narrowing just a bit "....not much anyway." he relented.
"I mean, what? It obviously doesn't hurt anyone, or upset anyone but -them-....maybe -they- have the problem."
He decided to drop the subject before it got any uglier and reached over his head, stretching his arms. He wanted to move closer to her, but wondered if that was even a good idea at the moment. He didn't want to make it seem like he was forcing the issue simply to spite their bonds.
"....aside from the new mass of fuzz and claws, has anything else happened since I saw you last?"Tahki thought for a moment before remembering. She found it rather surprising that he hadn't said anything about her arm yet.
"Notice anything different?" she grinned, sitting upright, still grasping her feet.Talon studied her a moment. Was this a trick question...? Different...different....ohhh dear... He started at the top, scanning her hair to see if she'd, perhaps, styled it differently...no, it was still in the same buns it had always been in. Ear decorations, maybe...? No, nothing there either....no new strings, no new glitter, no rings or bracelet---
His eyes stuttered to a stop on her left arm where the cast no longer was, his eyes widening.
"Your arm..." he breathed. "Its--better...??""Yep!" she nodded happily, stretching out her arms. "I got to take it off a couple days after I saw you!"
She smiled broaded as she thought about it. "See, see?? I think you helped me!"Helped...? Oh...! He -had- tried to mend her, hadn't he? Given everything else they'd been caught up in at the time, he'd nearly forgotten.
"Did I...?" he asked, not looking as though he was much impressed with himself, despite the fact a slight flush rose in his cheeks. "I'm glad for that, then."Tahki giggled a little bit before reaching over and pulling him into a hug.
"Thank you, Talon," she smiled, hugging him a little tighter. "You and Merri always seem to be looking out for me. I just hope I can do the same for you guys someday."
Her ears twitched a little bit as she heard something pad up behind her, releasing Talon to look behind her."Mommy?" Krystal piped up softly, padding a little closer. "The others and me are getting hungry..."Tahki thought for a moment, before realizing what time it must have been. "Whoops! I almost forgot!"Tal was about to protest being drawn out of the hug when he heard the young pixa speak to Tahki with its request, immediately becoming confused.
"Mommy...?" Talon questioned, quirking a brow first at Krystal and then at Tahki. That was a first...he'd never heard any of Yeande's pixas call her mommy, or even Youko daddy before.Tahki blushed a little bit, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Eh heh heh heh...Krystal likes to call me mommy..." she explained, the little kitten pawing at her arm. "She knows my name, but that's just what she c--""Mommy..." the little pixacat whined, giving the cold feien sad eyes."Okay okay!" Tahki stood up and took wing for a moment, floating over to one of the closed doors of the desk. Tugging the drawer open, she peeked inside for a moment before finding the small bag (about her size) inside that contained the food for the pixas. Resting on the edge of the drawer, she reached down and unfolded the top of the bag, grabbed the sodacap she used for feeding, and dipped it inside to collect enough food for the kitten/puppy horde. Flitting back to the desk, she set the bottle cap down carefully, looking over to the other end of the desk.
"Group 1!" she called out, backing away before the wave of tiny pixapets swarmed over the cap to get their food.Talon sat back on his haunches and watched this with interest. For as long as he'd known her, he'd never known Tahki to be organized about anything....she had always seemed perfectly happy to drop something half-finished if something prettier or shinier took her attention. To actually see her focus was impressive.
Maybe she really -was- growing up, he mused, watching as the pixas all crowded each other to eat. He supposed living in a constant mass of activity like this would HAVE to make one more responsible...if you looked away for even a minute, you could lose one in a cranny somewhere. Hmf...maybe this is what it felt like for humans when they bonded with fairies.Once the wave was gone, fleeing in a mewing, barking mass of pixa toward the other end of the counter, Tahki went to grab the bottle cap again.
"Hmmm...Talon, are you hungry?" she asked curiously, flitting back to the drawer to retrieve more food. Dipping the cap inside of the bag to gather more crumbs, she returned to the desk and set the refilled cap down.
"Group 2!" she called, and the adult pixas casually made their way to the food dish, much more organized and civil than the younger pets."Not really...." he said, wrinkling his nose a bit as he listened to the crunching and smacking of the pixa's jaws. He ate little as it was...watching and listening to others eat made his stomach turn. For one reason or another, it just seemed unnatural to him. At least Watchweyr swallowed her berries whole...
He ate when he had to, of course....he didn't let himself go hungry, but it was always as little as he could get away with. It would have been nice, honestly, if he was allowed to eat the sort of things he COULD stomach...pickles were a favorite, but were deemed "junk food" in his bond's house."Are you suuuure?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at him and folding her hands behind her back. "Absolutely, positively suuure?"He blinked at her in a confused manner. "After watching THAT massacre, how could anyone have an appetite?" he questioned, looking nearby where the younger pixas were still licking crumbs from themselves and each other.Tahki laughed a little nervously, blushing slightly.
"It took me all weekend to get them to do the group thing, so I can't exactly complain about them being messy..." she explained, waiting for the adult pixas to finish their meal. "They'll be better when they're older, I hope."
The cold feien looked down at her feet, realizing Krystal was pawing at her foot. Picking up the bengal kitten, she smiled, letting the cat curl up in her arms.
"It's a little hard, actually...watching them all," she said, ruffling her feather a little bit, a few loose ones floating down onto the desk. "I get scared that one of them is gonna get lost or fall off the desk or something.""One of them almost got out the window when I came in." Talon pointed out. "I caught it before it made it out of the screen, though..." He looked toward the group, trying to pick out the white kitten in question, but that was much like looking for a needle in a very furry haystack.
"Don't you have anyone to help you? This is an almost impossible responsibility for one person..." even as he said it, it started to make sense. THAT had been why Neko had gotten so many of them -- to keep her busy and obligated so she wouldn't have time to leave as much as she had been recently when they were seeing one another every two days or so.Tahki knew which one he was talking about.
"She's blind," she told him, "so it's a good thing you picked her up when you did. She really likes the window...the breeze from it."
Looking to the pets for a moment, she frowned slightly.
"Well, when Neko ordered them, she's hoped that Ares would be here to help me. However, Ares said she was leaving the day they all got here...so I was stuck with them by myself.""And nobody helps you with them? Not Merri, not Neko, not anybody?" he asked, sounding incredulous. This many pixas would be a contest for even two people to look out for, he didn't know how Tahki had managed by herself for so long."Well, Merri hasn't been here at all," she said, blinking a few times. "He left the day I went to see you. And they're too small for Neko to help out."
Looking to the adults for a moment, she noticed they were finished eating, and went to grab the cap to put it back. "Once they've finished growing, that's when Neko can start helping, since they're about the size of mice and rats by that point. Otherwise, she might accidently squish them or something..."
Flitting over to the drawer with Krystal still in her arms, she dropped the bottle cap back inside, then began to fold the bag closed. "So, I have to care for them myself until Ares or Merri comes back, or until they grow up.""That's not fair....not with this many of them." Talon muttered. She'd wear herself out if she kept up this way...and...while he wasn't especially fond of being heaped in avalanches of fur....
"What if I helped?" he offered, cringing at first at his own words, but then quickly warming up to them. Yes, what if he DID help? Maybe that would get Neko and Karma over whatever hang-up this was they had about him being too young to do anything right. Maybe, in turn, they'd leave him alone about trusting him near Tahki as well.Tahki blinked a few times before fluttering out of the drawer, and pressing her shoulder against the end to try and push it closed. It took a few tries to get it fully closed.
Floating back to the desk, she landed quietly in front of him, resting down into a sit. Help her? ...Well, she didn't doubt that he could, but how would his bond feel about that?
"Well, I don't see why you couldn't," she said, petting Krystal softly."Good." he said with a nod. "I'm going to try not to go back home for at least a couple of days if I can avoid it. I'll be damned if she locks me inside again."
Saying so, he sank down into a sit as well. "....That is if I can hide long enough...." He didn't feel the need to ask how to feed or water the pets as he'd gotten plenty of experience at Yeande's...however Tahki's method was more organized than Youko's suggestion of simply 'Drop the bag and RUN'.Tahki frowned slightly. That was something Ianios had gone, but under different circumstances.
"Don't you think they'd worry?" she asked curious, just wanted to be sure. "And you don't have to worry about Neko coming up here and finding you. He tries not to come around when there's small pixas around...he's too afraid of stepping on a stray.""I'll leave a message with Globin....provided I can even find HIM." Talon replied, realizing the blood feien had been quite scarce the past few days for some reason or another. "I just won't say I'm staying -here-." he said firmly. "If Neko can't find me, and you don't tell him I'm here, she'll think I'm elsewhere. And apparantly being anywhere else doesn't bother her anywhere nearly as much as it bothers her when I'm here." his eyes narrowed a bit.
"She didn't even question me when I came home bleeding and beaten up after that damned hawk came after me, after all..."This was news to her.
"Excuse me?" she blinked, out of shock and surprise."I didn't tell you about that?" Tal asked, scratching his head. He'd forgotten who'd he'd told and who he hadn't, honestly...after the initial rush at having survived it had worn off, he'd brushed it off as a situation where he probably would have reacted better than he had and decided it wasn't something boastworthy.
"The day after you hurt your arm, I went back looking for my circlet and your feathers because I couldn't sleep well without them. I found the circlet, the feathers were gone. Well....no, maybe they're still there. I didn't have time to really look for them because some goddamned rat with wings calling itself a hawk decided it was going to try and tear me apart."
Saying so, he twisted his leg slightly...more for his own benefit than for Tahki's to examine the scar there from the claw punctures. It wasn't a hideous mark, but it was easily noticed if one were looking at the back of his legs for whatever reason.Tahki looked at his leg for a moment, absently reaching a hand over to lightly brush her fingers over the scar. He'd...gone back to get his circlet and feathers?? It had only just occurred to her that he didn't have the feathers any longer. Looking at him, she thought, gently placing Krystal down in her lap. Feathers... Reaching a hand back to her wings, she carefully plucked two from her wings, wanting them to be fresh, unlike the ones that tended to molt away. It was sheer luck to be one of each color, holding the two feathers out to him.Talon looked at the feathers, reaching out as though to take them but instead wrapping his fingers around hers.
"They're not important to me because they're pretty, Tahki. They're important to me because they're part of you. And when I couldn't be near you, sometimes they were my only comfort when I was up late and alone. That's why I went back." He met her eyes.
"I know you probably don't want to hear this, but if it ever came to it, I think I'd be prepared to die for you and more. It was well worth the risk going back."
Slowly, gently, he took the feathers from her and reached behind himself to resituate them in his circlet. They were a bit different than the ones he'd gotten from her when they were both children...broader, firmer, no doubt they were taller too.Tahki blushed as she listened to him, her narrow eyes growing a little wider. Die for her...? But...she didn't want him to die... She looked down at her lap sadly, gently petting Krystal's head.
"N-no Talon...please don't die," she said softly, perhaps not fully understanding. "Don't ever die...""I don't plan to, unless it would somehow save you." he told her. "But as I said, only if it ever came to that. I'm not going anywhere."
When the feathers were comfortably sitting against the back of his head, making him feel whole and right again for the first time in weeks since he'd lost the others, he leaned forward and hugged her, mindful of the pixa in her lap so he wouldn't hurt it.Tahki hugged him back tight, nuzzling her cheek against his head a little bit, careful of the feathers.
"But...even then, please don't," she said, her wings curling around a little bit. "I don't wanna be left alone...""I couldn't be without you either." he told her truthfully. "I swear to the gods I couldn't. I don't even want to think about it." .....why WERE they thinking about it, for that matter?? It wasn't going to happen, and so there was no reason for both of them to be clinging to each other like they only had a few days to live.
He turned his head, his lips brushing her ear as he spoke, due to how closely she was holding him. "Don't worry about me." he whispered. "When I said I loved you, I had forever in mind. I'm sorry I brought this up. Nobody's going to die."Tahki blushed as his lips brushed against her ear, biting her lower lip softly. She turned her head to look at him, still looking a bit sad by the thought, her ears drooping a little more than usual. Movement in her lap, however, distracted her as she looked down to see Krystal playing with a feather that had fallen on her. Blinking a few times, she watched her play, her wings opening up a little bit.
"Talon?" she said quietly before her voice turned into a whisper. "I wanna be a mommy."Talon's eyes had followed Tahki's gaze down to Krystal, watching her play as well. He felt bad for upsetting her...but that really WAS how deeply his feelings ran for her. If ever a situation came up where his life would needed to be traded for hers, he -would- give it without a second tho----wait, what..???
He jolted a little as though he'd been struck by an invisible hand and lifted his head to blink at her. ".....what?" he asked, not sure he'd heard correctly, his ears pricking up as high as they could go like an alerted jackrabbit's.Tahki reached a hand down to gently scratch Krystal's stomach with a finger, who in responce mewed happily.
"I want to be a mommy," she repeated herself, a little louder this time. "I mean, a real one. ...Like Ares.""You---" he trailed off. Okay....THAT he had not been expecting.
"I--" he tried again, not having much better luck as he rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn't upset, per-say, so much as very confused. This seemed a bit out of left field, even for Tahki...
"....how?" he heard himself ask at last, and immediately wanted to kick himself in the head. HOW was obvious, he thought to himself angrily. The pressing question, rather, was where did she plan on getting said child? Yes...he was still a bit thick on some matters....Tahki had to think about that for a moment. Now what was it that she'd read...? Oh yeah!
"Well, I take the one I wanna breed with, and take them to see Corvus! And then...I guess he does something," she explained, wondering if that helped at all. ...Perhaps, explaining where the thought came from would be good too.
"Well...see...I've been kinda thinking about it for a while, and at first I wasn't sure if I wanted to, but I have this plan and everything! Well, when Krystal started calling me mommy, I decided that I really wanted to, 'cause I think I can take care of another feien, since I take pretty good care of the pixas, and I think I helped Merri, and...I wanna be a mommy!"
Okay, maybe that didn't help.Talon furrowed his brow and drew away a little to sit beside her. O...kay....that wasn't entirely helpful.
"....I suppose you'd make a good one." he nodded, though he seemed troubled, wondering who she had in mind to take to see Corvus, his mind instantly assuming it was yet ANOTHER thing limited only to adults. Feh...'enjoy his childhood' indeed....not when it was getting in the way constantly. "....would I be allowed to visit still?"Tahki blinked a few times, not understanding. "Why wouldn't you be?" she asked curiously, leaning down a little to be eye level with him."I...I don't know." he muttered, drawing his knees to his chest. "I just--I suppose a lot of time would go into a child, that's all....and you and whoever else would have your hands full, I just don't know if you'd want me getting in the way."
He didn't want to get in the way of her dreams, and was now telling himself that over and over to keep from protesting...but he hoped desperately that this wasn't going to become yet another hurdle keeping them apart from one another.Tahki stared at him for a moment, wondering why something wasn't clicking. Did she miss something? Or rather, forget to mention something? ...Oops! Of course! The cold feien burst into a fit of giggles, placing a hand over her mouth to try to keep herself from outright laughing.
"Oh, Talon...you silly goose!" she managed through giggles. "I want you to be daddy!"Whuh---wait, HIM?? Talon's world momentarily whitewashed itself into muted grays and whites as what could only be described as a neurode nuclear explosion went off somewhere in his head, momentarily making him incapable of thinking.
"You want.....I--" he couldn't even form a coherant sentence, there were too many things trying to come out at once and he suddenly felt like he was tripping over his own tongue.
After a minute or two, he'd finally calmed himself down enough to try and speak, swallowing his emotion as best as he could, not wanting to scare her away from the idea. It was obviously something she wanted, and maybe deep down it was something he wanted, but currently he didn't know WHAT he thought.
"......are you sure that's a good idea...?" he asked quietly. He'd worried about it fleetingly before...he'd never actually put any solid stock into his worries because he'd never thought he'd really BE in a situation where he was being asked to father children. He'd come to terms with the fact he was, at least, a little crazy...what if it was catching? Worse yet, what if it wasn't and he ended up with children that had to constantly make excuses for their father?Tahki thought for a moment, looking back at Krystal. Was it? Or was it a bad idea DISGUISED as a good idea? It was something that she wanted...and who else would be the daddy? She loved him...was there supposed to be something else?
"I really did think about it a lot," she replied, carefully picking up her kitten from her lap. "I remember how I always looked up to Ares because she was so kind and sweet, and loved me like she did Merri, even though I wasn't hers. I wanna know if I can be a mother like Ares can, or if I'm just doomed to live my life the way it is now; feeling like I haven't accomplished anything. There's no one else I'd rather have help me to accomplish something, Talon...and, I love you. Wouldn't that make it an even better accomplishment? Raising someone with the one you love?""I'm just....worried, that's all." he told her. "I have no doubt you'd be a good mother, Tahki....I just wonder what sort of father I'd be." And now he really -was- starting to wonder....what did he have to offer children of his own, anyway? A bad temper, people either giving him a wide berth or being afraid of him...
He was starting to see what Globin had meant about seeing things in himself that were terrifying, and he was equally starting to hate the fact that that frost-maned jackass could be RIGHT about something...and if he had to be right about anything, WHY did it have to be something as big as this??
At the moment, what was left of the little boy in him wanted to come out desperately and run from all of this screaming. But....no. He couldn't do that, and he knew it. Tahki was the one person he simply could NOT turn and walk away from. Had this been anyone else, he would have been gone shortly after 'I want to be a mommy'.Tahki noticed his distress, frowning slightly. Worried...? Thinking about that again, she smiled slightly, reaching a hand over to gently place on top of his.
"Talon...if I didn't believe in you...if I didn't think you'd do a good job, do you think I would have mentioned anything?" she asked him, peering into his eyes. "I wouldn't decide this on my own. I said something not only because...I want to...but because I think we could make it work together. I can't raise a bloom by myself...I KNOW that I can't do it alone. But, I think I can with you...does that make sense?""I---guess it does..." he said slowly, still thinking heavily. This wasn't exactly something he could back out of if he decided it didn't work...he'd be stuck with it, good or bad. And, really, it could go either way...it would either be something he regretted terribly, or something he'd feel blessed about in the longrun. Hell, maybe both.
"How badly do you want this, Tahki.....?" he asked, looking levelly right back into her eyes. He wanted to make sure this was something that she had, indeed, centered her world around before he ventured trying to make a decision. If she was deadset on being a mother, he supposed he could learn to be deadset on being a father, given the time to get used to the idea. If this was just a musing of hers, maybe she could be swayed from it....at least for awhile.Tahki looked back at him, giving him one of those innocent looks a child gave their parents when they either wanted something or had done something wrong. One of those "I love you, mommy/daddy" looks.
"I'm not going to tell you," she replied, closing her eyes for a moment. "Because, I don't want you doing this just because I want to. I want you to be doing this because YOU want to, too."She didn't even need to say it, the look in her eyes was answer enough. She wanted this like a fish wanted water, that was clear enough....damn. He was silent for several minutes, pros pulling on one side of his mind, cons pulling on the other, waiting for one to outweigh the other.
It wasn't that he didn't want to be a father, he just didn't want to be a -failure- of a father. And knowing he'd have Tahki at his side to help him with it was comforting....it would be moreso comforting if she wouldn't be shooting in the dark just as much as he would.
....but then there was Ares, and Yeande, and others they could ask for help and advice if they felt they were going too off-course....they WOULD have lots of people to turn to. Even if those particular people didn't support them in the beginning, and they likely wouldn't...
It would be a bumpy ride if they were to have children, he concluded, but it would be a ride they'd have help with if they needed it. He wanted to see Tahki happy...and he wanted to be happy with her. He steeled himself, pushing insecurities back forcefully. This was something they could do, he promised himself. Something they WOULD do.
".....I do." he managed to get out. "I just....this is something I'll need you to help me with. A lot."Tahki just seemed to brighten, right then and there, her smile and eyes growing wide with happiness and excitment. In one big swoop, she hugged him tight, lifting him up a little bit with her height, unable to say anything at the moment. She couldn't think, couldn't speak...all she knew was that she was happy, and trying not to cry from joy.
"Of course I'll help you! We'll be in this together...from now until the very end," she finally managed to say, loosening her hold on him. "Forever...""Forever." Talon agreed, hugging her back and trying to keep the afterthoughts at bay. It couldn't be that hard, he reasoned....not when most of the feien he knew of hadn't had parents at all and had managed to grow up fine.
Comforted a bit by this, he nestled closer to her, absently stroking her hair. To hell with Karma and Neko's lecturing for the moment. "W-" he paused and cleared his throat as his voice cracked into a younger pitch briefly, betraying the inner stress he'd felt a moment ago. "When did you want to do this...?" he asked.When? Tahki blinked a few times, not exactly having thought about that. ...When would be a good time? They could always wait for him to grow up, but who knew how long that would take. Maybe a couple of weeks? Perhaps Ares could come back before they bred, so that Neko wouldn't be suspicious of her being gone. ...Then again, sneaking behind both of their backs didn't sound like a good idea. Hmmm...
"Well, when do you think would be a good time?" she asked curiously, resting her head gently on his."I--suppose whenever you're ready." he said with a slight shrug. He really had no idea in mind either. If it was left up to him, it might never get done, in fact. "Just tell me when the time feels right, and I'll be with you when you go."
He lifted his head a bit to venture a kiss on her forehead.Tahki smiled a little bit, lowering her head a little so that it would be easy for him. When the time was right...? Yes, yes that sounded good.
"Okay...when it feels right, then," she said softly, holding Talon close for a moment. She felt a little guilty, recalling what Neko had told her to be careful of, but...what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him, right? Her wings folded down a little bit, curling around the white feien a little bit as she held him.Talon sighed softly against her, trying to content himself. He'd missed her touch for a week, and what they'd just discussed wasn't something she was demanding they go out and take care of right then and there...they had more time to discuss it and make plans while he did more soulsearching. With any luck, he could get his attitude curbed and his thoughts squared away before any blooms arrived...but he above anyone else knew how much work that was going to take.
Which is why he'd worry about it later, he decided. Later. Not right now.
"Love you..." he murmured against her shoulder.Tahki nuzzled her cheek softly against his head, her fingers absently playing with his hair as she closed her eyes.
"I love you, too..." she whispered softly, kissing the top of his head. "And I always will."He smiled a bit, his heart kicking up a few paces as it always did when he heard that from her. He reached down, picking up Krystal and gently placing the now-sleeping pixa aside, doing his best not to disturb her before slipping into Tahki's lap with almost serpentine grace like the dragon he claimed to be.
It was an innocent gesture, he just wanted to be as close as he could to her at the moment. Nothing more. He sat still, arms linked around her neck, and head tucked beneath hers with his eyes shut peacefully.Tahki giggled a little bit, curling her wings around him as she adjusted her hold on him a little bit. Hmmm, this was nice. Just being able to sit here like this, in each other's arms...this is what made her happy, and usually at peace. This was truely everything she ever needed...
Opening her eyes a little bit, she watched as a few of the pixacats slowly began to swarm around them a little bit, curling up close to Tahki for a warm body, since Talon was taking up her lap. She couldn't help but smile a little bit, their little tails curling around their bodies and becoming tiny balls of furry mess, sleeping to their hearts content. If they were still napping, that probably meant that they'd be up and awake later.His voice still slightly muffled against her, Talon spoke again as he felt the warmth of one of the pixas lean against one of his ankles as it settled itself. "We're going to get swarmed again, aren't we....?""Not until later," she giggled. "They're still sleeping...thankfully. Otherwise, they'd get more jealous of you since you took their spot.""I think, if they try hard, they just might live." he smirked, nuzzling her neck affectionately. "Though I can easily see why they'd be jealous." He lifted his head a little to look at her again, green eyes glittering in the room's light in about as close to unguardedly happy as Talon got.Tahki blushed slightly as she smiled, leaning down a little bit to gently rest her forehead against his.
"I guess that means they'll have to fight you for it if one of them wants it bad enough?" she mused, her fingers playing with his hair again."I suppose they can try." he replied non-chalantly. "The key word being 'try', I mean..."
He brought one hand up to trace the outline of her face with the backs of his fingertips in a slow and distracted manner.She sighed softly at his touch, closing her eyes for a moment.
"Mmmm...so you'll be my dragon knight? Protect the princess from the furry tsunami?" she asked curiously, her ears perking up slightly."Always." he whispered. "Draconic protection is serious business...even in events of furry disasters." His eyes twinkled just a bit...not more than a mere spark of emerald in each as he leaned in and kissed her softly.Her eyes opened a little bit as he kissed her, but then closed again as she kissed him back. Instinctively, Tahki's wings drew up a little bit from being folded down, curling around them still as if shielding them both from the outside world. She felt guilty, really...but she felt that her own happiness was a bit more important at this point as she disregarded Neko's cautions from before.Tal likewise heard Karma and Neko's threats and warnings briefly surface in his mind and pushed them away before they could linger long enough to cause any guilt. He'd just agreed to have children with her, he doubted a kiss was going to warp him horribly.
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Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2004 1:45 pm
August 17, 2004[color=white] Tahki
Oooooo, there's so much I wanna say right now but I can't because I know that Neko reads this and I don't wanna get in trouble and I don't wanna get someone else in trouble but I'm really happy! Hmmmmm I wish I...wait! I can do something!Tahki flitted back up the stairs after typing, remembering all the paper they had lying around. Neko watched a bit suspiciously, but decided not to say anything (much less investigate) as he prepared lunch. Looking over her shoulder for a moment, the cold feien fluttered into the bedroom, noticing Talon was still occupied with the pixapets' lunch. That would give her enough time to write, more than likely, since she hadn't planned on writing too much. Gliding over to the end of the desk with all the art supplies, Tahki picked up a small stack of paper, her red quill, and dipped the end in the red paint. Sitting down, she began to write again, her letters rather sloppy and quickly written. On a piece of paper...[color=white]
I can write it here! I'll just have to hide it and stuff...that shouldn't be hard since Neko doesn't come around his room when there's new pixas. Talon came over yesterday! It was so nice! He got to...kinda meet...all 15 of the new kitties and puppies Neko had brought home, but I don't think he minds too much. He said he was gonna help me! That'll be really nice, since it's hard to take care of them all by myself. It's feeding time right now...luckily, they're not swarming him too bad today.
Aaah I get to be a mommy! Talon said he would be daddy, so I'm really happy! I think he'll do a good job...he doesn't seem to think so, but I think he will! It's so exciting...I dunno when we'll go, though, but he said when I feel it's time, then he'll be with me, so maybe he'll know too? Hmmm I'm a little nervous, but I think that's normal. This will be fun, right? It'll be nice...and I can be a mommy like Ares, and she could help us if we have any questions and it'll be great! I just hope nothing goes wrong...
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 1:45 am
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