Seth [King Cheetah] - elfgurl1234

[Seth_Avi]

[PM RP] All in the Family
8/15/11 - 8/17/11

Quote:

After leaving his mother's house and cleaning up, Dacj and Seth both drove over to the Cottage. He really would have preferred to make this announcement sooner than this, but considering that the lake digging project had started basically the day after it had been decided... Well, needless to say, there hadn't quite been time. But now there was certainly time, and there was no sense in letting it go to waste. Even if they hadn't decided on an exact date in September yet, there was still much to be decided and prepared. "So, shall we take the short-cut into her lab, or go down the long way?" Seth asked with a smile as they got out of their cars. Having already been engaged to one of her daughters before, he had to wonder how the Angora Hyte would take the news... No no, think positive. Everything would surely be fine. ... Right?

"Thirteen floors of stairs? I realize it's almost hypocritical of me to say so, but I'm not feeling that adventurous," Dacj said with a laugh. The kraken was not without some trepidation of her own, also in regards to her mother--Mena had a tendency to go over the top at times, and given Seth's seeming desire to really make all of this Not Too Big a Deal, she wasn't sure how long his resolve would last in the face of the Turkish Angora Hyte (to say nothing of Melisande who'd be getting involved soon as they told her too). After all, look at what Mena had done for Eli simply moving out. Given that Noelani's engagement had been very protracted and kept her on the fringes, Dacj suspected she might feel the need to be a bit more closely involved this time. She loved her mother, she really did, and it was hard to deny her anything that might give her a bit of enjoyment circumstances being as they were. This was still her and Seth's wedding though, and she wanted to be sure they had a say in things.

Seth was rather amused by her profession. "Oh? But you haven't lived until you've gone down thirteen flights of stairs in a power outage with naught but Eli's sparkles and a few flashlights." That had been... quite an evening, to say the least. And probably not the best of ways in which to be introduced to Trikuado nor the Queen of Threadina, but such was life. "But fine, if you insist then we'll go down the 'boring' way and save ourselves from the perils of clothing racks and dust bunnies." They couldn't forget about those killer dust bunnies, after all.

"I'm sure that was fun," Dacj said wryly, letting them both in the front door of the Cottage with her key. "Besides, if we went down the long way, I'd keep wanting to play dressup with you, dust bunny menaces or no. Plenty of things to put on down there, after all~" Not to mention take off. But that was probably getting a bit sidetracked, wasn't it...

"Ready to face Momma Kitty?" Dacj said, taking his hand in hers and placing the other to hover above the statue that served as the trigger for the 'easy' way down down.

"You can only imagine," he replied to the 'fun' comment, given he hadn't filled her in on the rest of that evening. But yes, it would probably be best not to encourage any 'distractions' along the way, whether those consisted of the addition or subtraction of clothing. At her question he nodded, giving her hand a light reassuring squeeze. "I'm ready."

And in the next instant, they were down in her mother's little cot room. "Mena?" the cheetah Hyte called out, cautiously opening the door to the lab proper. "Is this a bad time?" Perhaps they should have called ahead in case she was in the middle of an experiment or something... They could always just head back upstairs, but he hoped they didn't break her concentration in the meantime.

Seth overestimated Philomena's current lab operations--having finished the more complicated of her current projects some time ago with force-aging Phoebe into teenagedom (the wisdom of which Mena still wondered about occasionally), she now amused herself with the care and advancement of her domestic breed of tentacle beasties and, at present, with sudoku puzzles. Ah, the life of a mother whose children had mostly moved out (or effectively so in Missy and Dacj's cases). Still, the voice did come as a surprise. "Seth?" He hadn't been having any issues with the telepathy, had he...oh, no, there was a Dacj too. Purely a social call then, was this? Her ears swiveled forward in interest. "Well kids, what brings you by~?" Mena asked, propping up her elbows, clasping her hands and leaning forward in curiosity.

"Good things~" Dacj said breezily, taking a seat on a nearby spinny lab stool. "I see the house is still standing. S'always good to see~"

Oh good, she was having down time. That was a definite relief. "Hello," he greeted with a smile, a bit more relaxed this time as he followed after Dacj. "It's been a while since we've stopped by. How have you been?" Might as well open up with pleasant chit-chat, right? No sense in dive-bombing into things just yet. Besides, he was actually curious as to how the other was doing... She certainly looked to be doing well at the least.

Mena glanced from kraken to cat Hyte, made even more curious of the true reason for their being here beyond simple idle chat by the smalltalk. Dacj's penchant for cutting straight to the point had come from someone, after all. She liked dive-bombing straight into things! "Oh, you know. Keeping busy, as I'm sure you both have. Still working for your mom's?" She hadn't heard anything to the contrary.

"Mm, we were just there. Elf put in a lake. It was very nice," Dacj said, quite pleased. She was also a bit amused Seth was taking the roundabout way, but as she'd "stolen" the proposal from him (should she have gotten him a ring? Aaah, they needed to do that still, didn't they), she figured she could at least let him handle telling the parents. Besides, Mena already considered him her son basically, it was just a matter of formalities, really.

"Yeah, we've been working on that for quite a few days now," he replied. 'We' being basically the whole family; the dragons may have done most of the digging, but it had still taken everyone else to move the dug-up dirt. "My mother just picked up a new aquatic resident today, so she kinda needed a place to live." But yes, he was stalling. Not by very much of course, but he could already tell that Mena wasn't buying them being there simply for the sake of chit-chat. Perhaps it would be best just to dive into things after all...

"But um, there is another reason we're here aside from catching up." He glanced over at the kraken Hyte briefly before looking back to Mena with a small smile. "Dacj and I are engaged."

"Oh, well, I can certainly see why a lake would come in handy~ Phoebe just got a pool, poor thing," Mena said with a chuckle. And if he'd been working on that for several days, no doubt that meant Dacj hadn't seen him much in that time either. Even more curious as to why they'd seek her out then... Luckily, Seth chose not to draw out her pain. Another reason? Yes! And--oh. Well. That certainly explained the visit! Engagement, huh? Dacj certainly hadn't broached this subject with her before. Well well, it wasn't often she was genuinely surprised~ "Oh? Congratulations then," Mena said warmly, sliding off her stool to head over towards the other two Hytes and offering first Dacj a hug, then Seth. "So~ Date? Time? Place? Preferences for gifts?"

"No houses, Mom...uh. Unless Seth wants one," Dacj hedged. She was pretty sure he liked his apartment just fine and kids probably were a ways off--they'd just figure out the extra bedrooms when they needed them, right? "We were thinking of something pretty small. And soon. September, really."

"Ah, no, we're good. ^^;" Definitely no need for a house just yet. Perhaps after the kids, but... for now the two separate homes seemed to work well enough. "And yes, September, though we haven't decided on an exact date or place yet. There's still a lot of planning to do." Which they would be getting to once they told everyone about the engagement first. ... Though, they may wish to save Missy for last if they didn't want to spend the rest of the time from now until the wedding planning.

"Weddings do usually require a lot of planning," Mena agreed. Her own had been put together fairly quickly, and with the involvement of a second couple as well, but a month's timeframe or so seemed about right to her. "There's always the fall equinox coming up, though really the date's up to you too. Whatever day you feel like remembering for the rest of forever..." Choosing Valentine's had made things pretty easy on Colt, she supposed. "Is there anything I can do for you prep-wise then? Really, I'd love to help."

Dacj shrugged. "I figured Missy'd take over clothes, and Phoebe'll prolly kill me if she doesn't get to be maid of honor or whatever. I don't want you to worry about it or anything, Mom..." Since they kind of did still have Phanes and everything to worry about. But at the same time, letting Mena plan something nice could be a welcome change of pace for the catwoman.

"We're not entirely sure what all prep-work will be necessary yet since we haven't established any fine details, but if we need assistance with anything then we'll be sure to let you know," he replied with a smile. While he certainly didn't want her to go out of her way on anything, Seth also didn't want her to feel left out. She was the mother of the bride, after all, and he was in agreement with Dacj's unexpressed thought that Mena could use something a bit more cheerful to focus on. ... Or would wedding details only be a painful reminder for her? Crap, he hadn't thought of that. Maybe they wouldn't ask too much of her after all. But then that returned to the issue of feeling left out. ...... They'd find a balance somehow.

"Please do~" Mena said cheerily. "Don't forget to let me know when you have sorted out the basics, definitely!" A wedding was really just about what everyone needed, with all the rest going on. And with a wedding train to Dacj's dress to hide her tentacles, even Eli might manage to make it a day without a freak out. As an empath he really ought to know better than to let even a single flinch spoil his sister or his friend's day... "Onto the rest then, I presume? I take it Missy would have kidnapped Dacj away if you'd told her first," she added with a grin.

"Why she'd need to kidnap me, I have no idea. She's got all my measurements and more," Dacj said, shaking her head. "I'm sure she already has dressforms for all of us, really. A dressform is also likely more cooperative."

Seth didn't actually know what a dressform was, but he assumed it to be something like a mannequin and had no doubt that the pig Hyte did indeed have some. "Yeah, we'll probably save Missy for last..." Looking back to Dacj, he asked, "On that note, should we go ahead and head over to your brother's then double back? Otherwise we may not be able to tell him for the next week or two." Perhaps he was exaggerating, but there was the entirely real possibility that he wasn't. Whatever the case though, he did at least what to tell the kuppy before they began making plans with Missy.

"Sounds about right," Dacj agreed with a laugh. "Guess we're onto Eli next then. Be back in a bit, Mom~" She offered the catwoman another hug, a wave, and then toddled off for the portal upstairs. At least this time they could take one car to Eli's?

Mena waited for Dacj to saunter most of the way out before putting out a hand to stop Seth from following after just yet, smiling up at him. "I'm glad you two are happy together." She did wonder about Sorcha and the cow's place in things, but...well, she could sympathize with things as they stood too. "Try not to get too nervous, all right? We'll take care of all the worrisome things; you just focus on your happiness."

Seth blinked in surprise when Mena stopped him, but her words had him smiling warmly. "Thank you, Mena." He gave her another hug himself before moving to follow after Dacj agin. "We'll be back soon." Her sentiment had been a simple one, but it was one that warmed him up nonetheless. They truly were family.

It was a short while later that he and Dacj were pulling up in front of Eli and Kamiko's place. They'd called ahead of time to make sure that he was home, so the kuppy knew they were coming. "How do you suppose he'll react?" the cheetah Hyte asked casually as they got out of the car. He imagined the other would be a bit surprised to say the least (given how surprised he himself had been when Dacj had asked him), but he wasn't entirely sure beyond that.

"It's Eli. He'll be silly, in some way or another," Dacj said with an affectionately meant eyeroll. "Still, he is a magical boy. He's contractually obligated to be favor of things lovey-dovey if Japanese anime has anything to say about it." Not that real Contracters were anything like actually interested in love and justice for the most part; Eli was a pretty rare exception.

Eli met them at the door, quick to feel over their moods. No trouble. Always good. In fact, spirits seemed to be good all around. Why they were here though, he really didn't know. "Ah, hello, Seth, Dacj. What can I do for you?"

"Hello, Eli," Seth greeted pleasantly. "No need to do anything, we were just hoping to borrow a bit of your time is all." And this time there would be no ODing on alcohol and catnip, so that was certainly always a plus. This visit should definitely turn out better than the last. "I hope we're not interrupting anything."

"Oh, no, come on," Eli said, gesturing them inside. "If it's not a matter that needs privacy, feel free to take a seat in the living room," he suggested, waiting until Dacj was well clear of the door to shut it. Then he trailed after them to take a seat on the couch, albeit the edge of it. He didn't mean to look worried, really.

"Calm down, Eli, it's nothing bad," Dacj said wryly. "You might even approve~" They'd hardly gotten in the door and already the kuppy was being silly. Granted, last time between the two of them they had managed to give him an awful hangover and inadvertently discover his natural addiction to 'n**...

"Approve? Of what?" he asked curiously, glancing to Seth and cocking his head ever so slightly to one side in a questioning look. Dacj wasn't really the sort to need approval for anything. Had something happened with Seth then?

Dacj hadn't been kidding about the 'silly'. Eli was an empath-- surely he could tell from their moods that there was no reason at all to be worried, right? The kuppy's questioning didn't go unanswered for very long. "Well, the reason we came over is to share some news with you." Brief pause, before giving a small smile. "Dacj and I are engaged." Now to wait and see if they would actually be able to visibly see Eli's brain go 'tilt', or if the kuppy would have some other reaction to the news.

Eli's head tilted further. Engaged...? To be married? Was she getting married to Sorcha too? But he hadn't seen Sorcha in ages...he had a feeling he might need to talk to Dacj about Sorcha before too long. Not that the kuppy knew where she was either, but he couldn't imagine her reacting well to her girlfriend off and getting married while she was gone either... Why was it always the empath that had to sort these sorts of tangles out? Dacj didn't seem worried. Dacj didn't often worry about this kind of thing though, which was why he'd given her the temporary empathy, but he supposed she could only learn so many lessons at once...

Breathe, Eli, breathe. Sorcha wouldn't come after him first in any case, right? "Uh...wow. That is news indeed," he said, scratching behind an ear and trying not to say anything too stupid as he let it sink in. Really, other than the poly thing, he couldn't think of two people better suited for such a thing as marriage. "I guess it's about time?" he offered, with a sheepish smile. "I'm glad for both of you." He had no idea what'd brought it on, but yay for marrying?

...now just to hope they didn't plan on inviting Noelani either. He had a feeling there was a lot of work ahead so far as he was concerned...

So, he'd just about pegged it in his prediction of Eli going 'tilt'. He grew slightly nervous though as the silence stretched on, figuring that Eli was thinking through similar paths as he himself first had. Sorcha was a prominent glaring issue here, and for good reason. "Thank you," Seth replied with a meek smile, though the kuppy's own congratulations seemed more than a bit hesitant. Not that he himself had been immediately cool with the prospect until Dacj had further explained her feelings on the matter. Of course, Eli was also Noe's brother, so there was probably also that to take into acco-- oh God. They'd have to invite her if they were doing a family wedding, wouldn't they. That would be terribly awkward. Ok, ok, worry about that stuff later. Empath here. Just... don't think about Sorcha or Noe for now. Or any other complication that may arise, like future trips to Phanes. ... Why couldn't he just turn off his brain?

Dacj could accept Eli's cautionary congratulations, but the look on Seth's face...well, the cheetah had definitely turned a bit pale. What was he suddenly worried about? Better not be Sorcha--they'd gone over that. So what else, spawned by Eli...? Oh. Other kuppy. That had to be it, right? "Oi, both of you, stop looking faint. Do I have to talk to Noelani?" she asked, crossing her arms. Granted, they seemed to have sorted things out as best they could the last time they talked, but if it would stop everyone from worrying she supposed she could extend an effort at communication or something... "Or is there something else to worry over?"

"Sorcha," Eli offered, rather sorry to bring it up but it was relevant, so...

"That's between me and her, really. I've already talked all of that over with Seth, Eli," the kraken said, shaking her head. "Don't I get to get married with a minimum of fuss just like everyone else?"

He wasn't 'pale', he was just... not rosy. He was a bit surprised though when Dacj somehow managed to guess what he'd been thinking about. "I will talk to Noelani when the time comes," Seth replied back. (... Probably.) Then, half wryly and half apologetically, he added, "And sorry to break it to you, Love, but I don't think 'minimum fuss' really fits into this equation." How could it possibly ever be the case? Between the both of them. Pologamy and ex's didn't make any such situation easy, and that was discounting the rest of their lives. Sure, they would certainly strive for as little fuss as possible, but troubles would surely arise. They'd be fools to expect the opposite.

Dacj was not buying Seth-the-pessimist. She was getting married and it was going to be a happy, not-stress-filled thing or heaven help the person or thing who interfered! "Minimum fuss, all things considered. Whatever. The point is, this is our business and if we have to, I will totally elope with you."

Now Eli felt guilty. He was sure Mena for one would want to be part of things (to say nothing of Melisande, or even Phoebe really...or Mirth...) and he knew he wouldn't hear the end of it if his actions had been what tipped the kraken over the edge. "I'm sure you don't have to elope," he said quickly, reassuring both in voice and with subtle projection of calm and soothing. He couldn't really help it, he just didn't want anyone to jump to anything hasty.

While he'd considered the option of eloping before, that wouldn't really 'solve' anything and would likely only make things worse. Besides, he liked the idea of a proper wedding... It was just getting to the point of said hypothetical wedding that would be tricky. "I hardly see what would make that necessary," he replied, not really understanding what Dacj was getting into such a fuss about. Technically neither of them had even mentioned Noe, and Sorcha was only brought up once she out-right asked.

"Fuss may make it necessary," Dacj said wryly, scooting closer to Seth to lean on his shoulder. "Let's pick a date sooner than later, Seth." She was glad they'd already decided on September at least; she'd've gotten utterly fed up with everything long before spring if they'd ended up waiting. Fed up enough to haul Seth off for a sudden elopement, with his permission or no. Well. She'd have to get permission within the ceremony itself, but kidnapping was totally within the realm of things she could normally get away with...

Judging by the tone and feel of Dacj's emotions, Eli wondered if she wasn't thinking of more of a "deadline" than necessarily a save-the-date. He wisely decided voicing this aloud was a bad idea. "Dates are good. What kind of a timeframe did you have in mind...?"


Seth had much the same impression, though in this case he didn't particularly mind. He too wished to be wed sooner rather than later after all. "We were thinking September," he explained. "We just haven't yet figured out when in September. Perhaps a bit later on in the month to give more time for wedding prep...?" The questioning line was directed more towards Dacj, as she was the one asking for a date just a moment ago. They'd need to look at a calendar and see what worked for them... Which date would officially become their 'anniversary' date in years to come. It was a pleasant thought.

"Mom brought up the fall equinox--that'd be the 21st or 22nd? Could just go for a month straight from now though either," Dacj said, with a small shrug as she remained close to Seth. That would make it a bit earlier on. "Any numerology tips, onii-chan?" she asked, raising her eyebrow as she directed her gaze towards Eli.

"Aaah...not offhand, I'm sorry," he apologized. "So long as you pick something you like? Everyone else will just come when they're told, I suppose." Perhaps Kamiko would like to come to the wedding as well. Eli suspected were Dacj not overly concerned with her own affairs at the moment, she might be teasing him about her getting engaged first and now it seemed married off long before Eli ever did.

"We could look up this year's equinox date later as a potential wedding date," the cheetah Hyte replied with a light shrug. It sounded like an interesting type of day to hold a wedding on. Not to mention it would make remembering their anniversary much easier in later years. "In any case, sorry to have just dropped by on such short notice. ^^; We'll need to head back to the Cottage next to tell Missy the news as well..." ... Perhaps they should stop for food on the way back first if they wanted to have time for any eating the rest of the day.

"Thank you, Eli," Seth replied as the other offered to look up the date for them. Yes, Missy would probably be quite displeased if she didn't at least have that to work with. As it was, she would no doubt be asking them plenty of questions on details that they hadn't even had time to iron out yet. Of course, they may well be ironing everything out this evening for all he knew.

Eli left to find the answer for them, and returned in short order. "It'll be September 23rd this year, which falls on a Friday."

"Sounds like we've got a winner then," Dacj said, looking to Seth with a warm smile. So long as he had no objections, it seemed like the matter of date had been settled quickly enough.

"Indeed we do," Seth replied, smiling back. September 23rd... It sounded like a nice date. Not difficult to remember. "We should probably stop for a bite to eat before we go see Missy though. Care to join us, Eli?" It wasn't like they typically got to spend all that much time together, but if the other was busy then he would understand.

"Ah, sure," the kuppy said, surprised to be invited along. "I'll even do you a favor and request we not talk wedding details since that's all Missy'll want and I wouldn't want you to get tired of them so quickly," he added with a small smile. Also he didn't want Dacj to tease him. He was hoping she would be too distracted to pick up on it.

"Missy'll induce detail-fatigue in anyone about any clothing related subject," Dacj agreed, mostly from experience. She couldn't say the shopping trips with her older sister (cousin?) weren't usually interesting, but the pig Hyte's stamina was something else. Dacj was really hoping they could keep the store-shopping to a minimum for this venture though. "I'm sure she'll be relying on you for special effects or something."

"I will study my flashiest, showy parlor tricks," Eli 'promised' with a chuckle.

 

[elfgurl1234]

~Hope?~

[KKMC Meta Mission #6.1 PRP] I Am Become Death

Summary: Another lead to Colton and Zane's whereabouts turns out to be another well-laid trap. While the trio deals with fighting their strongest enemy yet, another trap for a certain kraken has been laid elsewhere...

 

[elfgurl1234]

~Another Rescue~

[KKMC Meta Mission #6.2 PRP] The Destroyer of Worlds

Summary: Dacj has fallen into enemy hands, and Seth and Missy must race against the clock to save her. In the meantime, the final pieces to Sabra Sabina's plans are falling into place-- but they require a sacrifice.

 

[elfgurl1234]

~Let Me Explain~

[Hytech PRP] Finally Home

Summary: Everyone has returned from Phanes safe and sound, and Seth decides that it is finally time that Eli be filled in a bit.

 

[Seth_Avi]

[PM RP] Readjusting
9/05/11 - 9/11/11

Quote:

The past two days... had been incredibly difficult. Of course the actual mayhem of Phanes had been the worst of it all, but even the next day he and Dacj were still very clearly feeling the effects of the emotional trauma. Dacj moreso, naturally. It pained the cheetah Hyte to see Dacj in such a state, staring off into space lifelessly for long periods of time and even breaking into tears on occasion. He tried his best to comfort her, but between the both of them the mood in his apartment remained rather somber. Ruby had come over to coo at them for a while, but even the firelizard eventually had to give up and return home.

Today hadn't been too different thus far, and currently Seth was cuddled up with Dacj on a pillow pile in the living room. He wasn't sure how or when all of these pillows had migrated to his place, but at the moment he was grateful for it. He purred lightly as he gave Dacj an affectionate nuzzle, more in an attempt to cheer them both up a bit rather than an automatic purr. He wished he could erase her pain.

She didn't mean to be depressing, but it kind of came with the territory. At least having Seth close also ensured he kept her from being a lump in one place for too long--he'd encourage her to move every so often, often under the guise of activities she suspected were meant to cheer her up. He knew better than to push too hard on it, but soothing music and food had definitely been attempted, as well as Ruby's own contributions to the mood. It made the kraken feel even worse that the crimson flitter had been forced to leave because they were too damn sad. What did that say about them, that not even projected positivity could make much of a dent in their current negativity?

And his attempts to cheer her continued, with purring and nuzzling. She hadn't realized before now he could force himself to; the discovery also did not make her feel much better. It was at least comfortable to snuggle amongst her migratory pillows, and she was grateful that despite herself, he was still trying. She felt badly for making him try so hard to comfort her, but his efforts were helping at least a small bit. "I hate feeling like this," she muttered, sighing. But between flashes back to her brief stay in the palace to the sibyl's last message to putting Seth through all this trouble... It was like a deep, deep hole, and it was very difficult to climb out of, even with help.

This certainly wasn't the first time that Seth had ever consciously decided to purr, nor would it probably be the last. His ears perked slightly when the kraken spoke, but then resumed their prior position at her actual words. "... I could call Eli," he suggested quietly before turning to his previous purring. It wasn't an unreasonable suggestion really; he was an empath and her brother and he hadn't been able to see her since before the recent Phanes mess. ... Even if he didn't come very close, he could still try some projecting from afar...

"I'll forgo the tentacle hysteria, thanks," she said wryly. Not that she assumed he'd get close enough for that--though touch was supposed to help with projecting. If he couldn't touch her, he wouldn't be nearly as helpful. It was kind of too bad Seth didn't have empathy; telepathy could be useful but she'd already decided simply excising the memories was not a path she wanted to take. It was too risky, and it wasn't like anyone could take the memories away from Seth (unless he asked Reira) so that would be cruel to have him remember and her not. With empathy she'd still be a pain but at least he could feel like he was doing something with more immediate effects? "Though...I wonder. 'Member that empathy spell? Maybe if Eli could work it so you could project at me..." She just didn't want to face Eli himself quite yet. It was testament to her willingness to do something, anything, to break out of this mood she was willing to suggest the idea despite the fact it would leave Seth knowledgeable of exactly how much pain she was really is. Eli could help Seth after, if he had to.

Well, it wasn't like Seth would have invited Eli over without having a talk with him first. ... A long talk, and one that he was still rather inclined to have in perhaps a few days time or so. Having a phobia was one thing, but when it hurt one of your own family members in this way... Well, needless to say, it had gone on long enough.

He was intrigued though by her counter suggestion. "I can ask," he replied, fishing his cell phone out of his pocket to start a text message. "... Is that really want you want?" He had never used any sort of empathy before, so he would have to practice for a bit to try to even remotely get the hang of that sort of projecting. Not to mention the fact that, given his own state of semi-funk, there were no guarantees that such an experiment would work.

"...only if you're willing." She had a suspicion he'd lie about willingness or not so long as it seemed to be making a difference. Maybe it had been a bad idea to suggest it after all... "I don't want you to feel you 'need' to." After all, other people didn't have empaths around, and they got over things like this. It would just take time to heal the pysche, was all. Even if time was not a particular luxury they had at the moment. Whenever Eli was ready to take the fight to Nevreso...

The thought of the woman was enough to send Dacj shuddering once more. How deceiving Contractors looked--young and beautiful and confident, and Nevreso was no exception. The taint of Chaos corruption had left no visible mark. But her cruelty far surpassed even Sabra Sabina's--at least Shimy had the decency of some kind of motive, even if she hid behind the greater good. There was nothing good or even excusable behind Nevreso's smiles and pleasantries. It made her body ache in protest just to even think for a moment on the injuries the woman had given her...

Could she really subject Seth to her emotions when her emotions felt like this? "...and I'm worried you'd get lost, feeling what I am now," the kraken amended, before burying her face close to Seth's chest.

"Of course I'm willing," he replied automatically, though whether or not his response was heard was debatable as Dacj was shuddering and had a far away look in her eyes again. He waited patiently as her mind completed it's latest circuit, and once she had buried her face back into his chest he held her close. "If I did my job right then perhaps we could both stay afloat," he offered, placing a light kiss atop of her head. Cell phone still in his hand, he opened it up and punched out a quick text to Eli.

Remember the empathy spell you used on Dacj before? Is there a version that allows for projecting? -Seth

Message sent. Empathy would only really be a temporary solution, but perhaps a small break in the pain would at least help her to heal better.

That would be nice, if it could, but Dacj wasn't willing to trust to anything blindly right now, other than that Seth was here and not going anywhere. That could be trusted absolutely. He had stepped into the most dangerous place in several worlds just to carry her back; staying close now was the easier task, presumably.

The answer to Seth's text came promptly.

...I can modify it for that purpose, if you'd like. It won't be easy to deal with that kind of turbulence though.

Have you told her about your magic yet?
-Eli

... Of course that would be the first thing that Eli would ask him about. He was quiet as he typed the reply.

... No, not just yet. And I know it wouldn't be easy, but considering your on-going proximity issues with her, the only other option would be to let her weather it out on her own. -Seth

Sent. He doubted the kuppy would be cruel enough to just leave things at that, even if he was (understandably) still miffed at them for keeping him in the dark for so long. "Eli says the spell can be modified. Would you want to come with me if I drove to his place, or should I ask him to come here instead?" Leaving her on her own was not even an option. One way or the other, he would be near her still.

Hmm. Out to Eli's place? Maybe getting out of the nest, comforting and cozy as it was, might have some merit. "Since we're askin' for his help, his place might be best," she said. It was definitely as shielded as this place now was, with considerable defenses. It was safer than most places. Even if it meant seeing Eli, it was a big enough house where they could hide out in one of the guest rooms or the medi-suite even; Dacj wasn't sure Seth had ever been in there since to her knowledge it was mostly for patching Kamiko and Eli up after patrols... Even brief thoughts of the Shiba Inu woman brought to mind the trap that had caught her and the kraken's body tensed; she wondered if Eli had told Kamiko yet about what had happened.

"I'll let him know we're on our way then." And while holing up in his own place was cozy, it might do them both a bit of good to move about some and get some fresh air. Besides, it wasn't like Eli's place wasn't nice as well. He wrote back another message to him.

Thank you, Eli. We'll be over soon then. -Seth

"Anything we should take with us?" he asked, sticking his phone back into his pocket before moving carefully to both stand and help Dacj up as well. "Pillows? Snacks? Other?" Not that Eli didn't have food and such at his own place, but if there was something in particular that Dacj thought she might be in the mood for later...

She was careful as she put weight on her tentacles, wary of phantom pain even though she knew she'd been long healed. Maybe it struck so hard because she hadn't been awake to see herself healed, so she couldn't quite believe the injuries had gone away so quickly. Seth's support was certainly appreciated though, and a brief stab of grief came at the thought that she couldn't imagine dancing while she was being this tender on her tentacles. She didn't want to feel crippled, but she didn't know how not to.

"Ah...sure. A few pillows'd be nice, I'm sure Eli's got plenty of snacks at his place." And sugar. Her brother could totally make her cookies, he liked baking, didn't he? Something soft and warm and terribly bad for her sounded like an excellent idea at the moment.

Seth gave a faint smile and nod at her request. "I'll grab a bag to pack some pillows in then." There was no telling how long they'd stay over, so perhaps it might not hurt to pack a few toiletries and such as well...

~*~

The drive to Eli's had been a mostly silent one, with occasional attempts at idle chatter. It was a mildly cloudy day, but it didn't quite look like it was going to rain either. He was glad for that, because he doubted that a rainy day would do anything to help improve their current situation. [We're here,] he announced to Eli as he turned off the car. The cheetah Hyte was quick to move around to Dacj's door to help her out of the car before grabbing the pillow bag from the back seat. "Ready to head inside?"

Eli felt them approach long before they so much as rang the doorbell. Granted, he'd had his shields partially down and mental senses extended to get a better idea of what he was dealing with, but it was hard to miss the oncoming storm--both of them. Dacj's felt a rather more intense, shifting between wildly different emotions from grief to fear to self-hatred and refusing to settle for long. Seth's was more of a perpetual gloom, that wasn't unfamiliar to the kuppy. He'd felt a lot of Seth's emotions over the time they'd known one another, including extremes like this.

He went to greet them, worrying on his way down the stairs. He knew that he was likely the best choice to be working on both of their emotional states, but his phobia did still exist and Dacj had enough to worry about without focusing on his fear or any other inadvertent magic blasts it might cause. So in that way, doing this for Seth was probably doing Dacj a favor. But Seth would be stuck dealing with a storm the equal of some of the worst he'd ever felt himself personally, and Seth was not exactly great at dealing with his own emotions. "Hello, Seth, Dacj," he said quietly, opening the door and letting them in. "Wherever you'd like to go is fine, it's a quiet day here. If you're worried about shielding, all the rooms on the second floor are."

He glanced to Seth. [Are you sure about this? It's bad, Seth. Her alone is worse than the breakdowns from back when Noe was kidnapped, and you'll still feel what you're feeling now. You'll have to be able to separate her feelings from yours to have this work.] Dacj looked as bad as she felt. She looked physically kept up, if perhaps with mussy hair, but that was understandable if she'd been resting or laying down a lot. But her eyes were very distant, and she didn't quite seem to meet his gaze even though she looked at him when he greeted them. There was none of the warmth or brightness he was used to feeling from her presence, the contained energy she tended to expend with a sly smile in a particularly clever prank. No, this Dacj was something else. And he mourned for his sister, who had been forced to go through so much for some connection to him or Eltimion even in her past life he didn't quite understand. Even when she was fearful of her magic, even when she'd been upset from Seth's breakup with Noe and it had gone out of control...even then she'd still been herself. She wasn't now.

"Thank you, Eli," he replied before meeting the other's eyes. ... That bad, huh? He remembered quite well what a useless lump he'd been back when Noe was kidnapped, as well as back when they had simply broken up. The cheetah Hyte was terrible when it came to dealing with emotions, but... he had to at least still try. Because Dacj wasn't herself anymore, and even without empathy he could clearly see the pain and guilt and fear that continued to afflict her, and that more than anything else is what had him down as well. She didn't deserve to be in a state like this; no one did. [... I am sure.] Not in his ability, but at least in his willingness. [Could you just... give me at least a brief tutorial or something afterward? A little experience wouldn't hurt.]

[No, you're right, a bit of experience before jumping in would be best,] the kuppy agreed with a mental sigh. Why did he feel like letting Seth do this was akin to pushing the cheetah off a cliff? Well, it might actually feel like that, come to think of it... [But it'll be the same as hers in that once I give it to you, it'll be on a timer. I can't lift it earlier than the set parameters of the spell.] And that was the real trouble of things. If it proved too overwhelming for Seth, Eli would have two major crises to deal with.

[...Should I try first? With Dacj?] He didn't know if he could manage being close enough to her to project, because he'd have to touch her. But it seemed the slightly more responsible thing to do, even if he feared hurting her a bit more in the process.

Pushing off a cliff? It might be more akin to being dropped into and abyss really. But again, even if Seth was clearly in over his head, he still had to try.

... Unless Eli tried first. [If you think you are able, then by all means please do,] Seth replied, before giving the kuppy a very pointed look. [But if you try then don't you dare flinch away from her. Understood?] Phobia or no phobia, he would have none of it. The last thing Dacj needed to deal with right now was her brother's inadvertent rejection of her. But if Eli could manage the task on his own, then all the better.

Eli could feel the iron of Seth's reprimand, a smoldering burn the kuppy knew would get much worse were he to actually hurt Dacj even inadvertently. To manage this task, he was going to have to be able to accept her--all of her, dreaded tentacles and all. The question was did he think he could, in order to bring back the cheery, conniving sister he knew, and yes, did love? There were times they'd been closer than others, when he'd tried to keep her crush a secret and tried to tell her to move on. Or when he'd helped her any number of times with things she needed for one scheme or another. They'd been closer before she started dating Seth, he thought, but it was only to be expected. She'd partially taken his friend away, but in exchange they had both been very happy--Eli knew that, he could feel it. Despite his misgivings about Sorcha when they told him the news of their engagement, after Dacj's tetchyness had been dealt with...they were thrilled with each other. And now they were like this...Dacj listless and broken, and Seth able to muster himself out of the gloom at Dacj's pain only to metaphorically hiss at Eli were he to make it one iota worse.

He was an empath. He needed to fix them both, well as he could.

Focus, Eli. She is your sister, and she trusts you. Be worthy of that trust. Silent reminder to himself delivered, he avoided answering Seth directly for the moment and instead turned to Dacj. "Where would you like to get comfortable? Can I get you anything?" he asked, softly with a tentative smile, starting slow with just regular projection of calm and comfort. No touch, just waves of pleasant emotion.

"I really want like, a whole bunch of fresh baked cookies right now," the kraken admitted, tucking her short hair behind an ear. Eli felt a twinge now that he truly looked at it; it was his first time really glimpsing the true length of the shorn hair. "Chocolate chip or something, maybe."

Eli smiled a bit wider. "That can certainly be arranged. Go pick one of the guest rooms to hole up in and I'll be sure to deliver them soon's they're done."

Dacj nodded, pushing against Seth lightly to get him to lead the way upstairs. She didn't feel like dragging him along today. Nor did she plan to be picky about which room she got, probably just the first one on whatever side Seth turned towards.

Seth had to smile ever so faintly too at her request. Baking was definitely something the kuppy would be more than able to do for her. He himself had not trying much baking at all considering his lack of a sweet tooth. At Dacj's push he led the way up the stairs and to the second floor, turning into the first spare guest room that they came upon. Unlike the room they had stayed in the last time they were here, this one was of a green color theme. Not that he particularly cared about the color of the room, but it did make him vaguely curious as to what all of the different themes were. "Would you prefer the pillows on the bed, floor, or couch?" Well, the couch might not afford much room given it was more of a loveseat than a full couch, but it was still an option.

Did she want to stretch out on the bed, or snuggle closer on the couch? Well, if Eli was going to remain around, perhaps it would be kinder to slip her tentacles under bedsheets... "Bed, I think," she said aloud, moving to make her thought of keeping her tentacles out of a sight a reality. She'd had her fill of exercise on the stairs and now was grateful to half-hide under covers once more. "After I've had my fill of snacks...when d'ya think he'll do the spell thing?" She felt a little guilty for even asking. But anything was better than continuing to wallow...

"I'm not sure," he answered honestly, climbing into the bed with her once she was settled. That depended on if Eli plucked up the courage to just do it himself or if he'd give him a try at it. "Though when he does do the spell I may actually have to get a small tutorial from him outside of the room first. Would you be alright being alone for a small bit?" he asked, genuinely concerned. The last thing he wanted to do was make her feel worse by him being gone for too long.

"I could manage for a small bit, probably," Dacj said as she snuggled close, even though brief irrational thoughts flashed through her mind at the very thought of it. No, someone was not going to come take her away again, especially not by some sort of stealth attack. Seth leaving would not cause the room to melt away into some other scene like the sim room...or one of Nevreso's illusions...were it not for the very real proof of her injuries that others had seen, she might've guessed that was mere illusion as well. Very skilled, very painful illusion...but it seemed Nevreso preferred to save her magic for other things. It didn't matter anyway. Nothing was making it through Eli's front door...or the roof...or the back entrances. Dammit.

No, she wouldn't be okay with it. She wanted to be, but she wouldn't. She could almost see the value of suppressing emotions now... Might make her a little less pathetic, at least for long enough to Seth to get his tutorial.

... She was lying. Even without looking he could tell, but a brief glance at her surface thoughts confirmed it. He nuzzled her gently as she snuggled close, doing his best to comfort her in the face of her fears. “We would still be just right outside the door,” he said quietly, lightly wrapping his tail around her waist. “No one can get in here.” Anyone who tried would die a very quick and painful death. As it was he would very much love to get his hand around Nevreso’s throat if he was given the chance. No one tortured Dacj and got away with it. She would pay for what she had done if he ever saw her.

Apparently she was that easy to see through. "I know no one can," she agreed with a sigh. "...I just can't seem to make myself believe it, is all." Which was where she was assuming the empathy would help. Once she could get over her fear... She'd thought she was past this, the guilt and the fear, and for awhile she had been, but then all it had taken was a few cruel hours (or less? She wasn't sure how long they had kept her) to undo months of work towards finally, finally being okay with herself and her emotions...

Eli needed to hurry up with those cookies.

He didn't say anything in response to her remark, simply continuing to hold her close in his own silent reassurance of his presence there.

By the time Eli came upstairs with the cookies, Seth had already unpacked the extra pillows they'd brought along to help make Dacj more comfortable. For whatever good they were worth. The cookies might help more though. He gave the kuppy a faint nod of greeting, but otherwise didn't say anything... aloud. [Have you decided then?] He needed to know what to mentally prepare himself for.

[I want to try one thing with you first...and then we'll see,] the kuppy thought back, moving closer to the bed to offer the plate of warm cookies to Dacj. "Your confectioneries ~ I'll even overlook crumbs on the bed," he said, gently teasing as he gauged her emotions. They had gotten slightly worse, in such a short span...yes, something would have to be done sooner than later. [We can even do it in here. I'm going to give you a glimpse of what she's feeling the way I feel it, but without giving you empathy to amplify it. Sound like a good test?] If he couldn't handle even that, they had a definitive answer.

"It's much appreciated," Dacj told Eli, as she placed the plate on top of a blanket-covered tentacle. She took two immediately to munch on, gooey chocolate putting her in a slightly better of a mood. There was certainly something to be said for "comfort food".

The cheetah Hyte's ear flicked lightly as he listened to Eli's proposal, but in the end he couldn't fault the suggestion. [Sounds fair,] he replied, making sure to first lock away any and all of his own emotions so that he was nothing but a (mostly) numb slate inside. This would be the real test here, seeing if he could even handle a fraction of emotions that he would be unable to bury since they would not actually be his own. [... Whenever you're ready then.] Donotreactdonotreactdonotreactdonotreact...

Eli felt what Seth was up to, and he didn't think it would be doing the cheetah any favors. Make him all the more certain that he was mostly just feeling Dacj's emotions, maybe, but that didn't mean the dam he was using to hold his own back was going to hold... [Hold on.]

There was a fine line between too much and not enough to prove an accurate test. A wave of grief, self-loathing, fear, anxiety, shifting between the extremes crept up on Seth slowly. It put the metaphorical-minded Eli in mind of a thunderstorm; generally rumbling but with brief, sharp flashes that were somewhat akin to stabbing. It was slightly muted from what she was actually feeling, but it should prove the point...

Why... was their self-loathing mixed in among the storm of emotions beginning to overtake him? There should not be self-loathing in there! But the rest... was not good. On reflex he scrambled inwardly to push away these stabbing emotions, but nothing he did had any effect in stemming the wave. If this is what Dacj was feeling then Eli needed to have done something two days ago and-- he honestly didn't know how he was still maintaining even a semblance of a poker face, because all he wanted to do right now was hide in a safe corner somewhere right now and cry his eyes out. This was pathetic, he couldn't even be strong enough to be able to help his fiance. What was he good for? Spying on and invading people's thoughts? Like that helped worth a damn. That wouldn't keep their family safe. Nevreso could come back at any moment and despite all of his threats otherwise there was really nothing he could do. Dacj would be hurt again and it would be all his fault for not protecting her and--

The cheetah was near a break-down.

Eli sensed him nearing the breaking point (well, that hadn't lasted long) and withdrew the artificially projected emotions, replacing them with more soothing, calming feelings. [Guess that settles that,] the kuppy thought quietly, not trying to accuse Seth or diminish him in any way. It was reluctant only because Eli knew what needed to happen next. [You may want to leave the room for this. I'm going to have to talk her through things and...you getting into a killing rage probably is going to be a bit distracting.]

Despite the few moments that had passed, Dacj got the feeling something was very wrong, starting with Seth's stony face. "What's going on?" she asked, cautious, looking from Seth to Eli. "...are you two talking telepathically?" Dammit, she hated when they did that. Wait. Why was Seth using his telepathy? To keep an eye on her thoughts? Did she really seem that she was that badly off...? Okay, well, she was, but he still could've mentioned it...

.... Damn it all. It was a relief for the more calm and soothing emotions to come and settle in instead, but it only further proved that he would be unable to help Dacj with this and it tore him up inside to know that that had only been a fraction of what she was feeling right now. He blinked as Dacj asked if they were using telepathy. He supposed he'd been silent for a bit too long. "Sorry, Eli was just testing me to see if I would actually be able to handle the empathy," he replied apologetically. "... He's going to give it a try first." [... When you say 'talk her through things'...?] Did he actually mean what he thought he did?

Seth's answer didn't quite satisfy her (they'd never mentioned the testing to her and she'd been present the whole time...had she just zoned out?) but the surprise of Eli acquiescing drove any accusations from her mind. "Eli is? Won't you need to touch me to project well?" she asked, frowning.

[I mean, she's going to tell me details of what happened so I can speed up the process of letting time heal them...basically.] He assumed the details would not be particularly pleasant. "Yes, I will. We're going to see if we can deal with your fears and mine all in one go," Eli said with a sheepish look.

... If that was the case, then Eli was right; he would need to leave the room. There was no way he couldn't not fall into a rage were he to hear the details of what she had undergone. It was bad enough just having seen the end result. "I'm going to have to step outside while Eli's working," Seth told her apologetically, unwrapping his tail from around her waist as he spoke. "I'll be just outside of the door though." He really didn't want to go, but... it wouldn't be good for him to interfere in this right now.

Now Dacj really wasn't buying that some sort of communication wasn't going on right in front of her. Why was Seth going to have to leave? Shouldn't he want to stay, to provide support to her and Eli? Eli also didn't seem surprised by Seth's statement. "If...you have to," she said, still frowning. Just outside the door meant outside the shielding. Was Eli going to try something that would be dangerous for anyone else to be around...?

[I'll be very careful with her,] Eli promised Seth silently as he created a small stool with quick hand gestures and faint pink magic. He set it beside the bed and hesitated only a moment before reaching for his sister's hand. There was no one else who could help her; it was all up to him. He owed her this much. It helped that she was conscientious and had already tried, in her own way, to make things easier for him by tucking her tentacles out of sight. Though he had a feeling part of what was going to need to happen was going to require them out in the open, dealing with their inevitable injuries sustained... His furry thick fingers held Dacj's slimmer, more delicate ones carefully, and he nodded to Seth--best to leave now. He waited for the cheetah to go and close the door behind him before looking back to his sister. "You're going to have to tell me what happened, Dacj. Your emotions are everywhere right now, so the only longterm way to fix them is to start from the beginning."

Well, that explained Seth. He'd slit throats for much less than torture against her person...the thought of it caused an uncomfortable nervous giggle, and the kuppy's head tilted ever so slightly to one side. Dacj suppressed another giggle; Eli always looked so much like a puppy when he did that... It occurred to her belatedly that this was the first time her brother had held her hand and that the touch felt more like Mena's than Seth's, triggering a more pleasant flash of memory back to when she was a child and her mother had been into beach field trips for both of her young tentacled girls at the time. Then she realized she felt much more relaxed than she had in days and looked to Eli, unable to quite summon 'suspicion' but figuring him for the cause anyway. "Already working on me, huh?" she asked with a faint smile.

"That sort of is the point you know," Eli said wryly, smiling back. It only lasted for a few moments though, until he assumed a more neutral expression, steeling himself for what he might hear next. He'd heard more stories than most of Nevreso's cruelty, but that didn't mean he was any more prepared than Seth was to hear the details all laid out... The difference was the kuppy was used to dealing with emotions in a more positive way, and an expert at separating his own from others'. Still, even accounting for his mother's depression the once, this was going to be the hardest task he'd ever faced since getting his shielding... "Whenever you're ready, Dacj."

She took a deep breath, and then several more, letting Eli's projected comfort slow her anxiously beating heart and lull her into a state of pure recitation. It was just giving the facts, right? Even if she could remember them in every painful detail... "It wasn't really getting taken that scared me, you know. It was waking up in that palace--it looked just like Zephyrus, Eli, and that should've been warning enough. But I didn't know--she started out so...so pleasant, even if she made my skin crawl and I knew something was wrong. She was just like Shimy, you know--Nevreso. Same smile, same voice, same manipulative b***h underneath..."

"I think Shimy's possibly even more so," Eli interjected mildly, working to soothe away the fear and panic and doubt in the kraken brought to mind by her own words. "The difference is that Shimy cares for that world, Phanes, more than anyone else, I think. Nevreso cares for no one. Not even her own sister." Where was Miri now? Eli wasn't sure he wanted to know. It had been so long since they'd heard back from her...

Caught between the Empress who would let corruption bury the planet in fires far brighter and more all-consuming than those of Dies Irae, and the woman-not-a-woman at all, once Ti'ama who still cherished the husk of a world built around her own decaying former body. How lucky they were. Dacj wondered if Eli could feel sarcasm even in her thoughts. "She didn't know who I was, you know. She thought I was the sibyl reborn. It had been long enough, decades even, for the sibyl t've been born naturally, so she didn't even realize I was a Hyte like you. But the sibyl tried to kill her once, so she took exception. I imagine that's the reason she set the red moon on me within five minutes of my waking up."

Eli frowned, concentrating briefly on the rush of fear new and old--old he could only expect as a remnant of her fear from the time on Zephyrus, with that old preserved bit of evil. "Mayameer was there? Corporeally?"

"Oh, she was solid all right. Like Elti can be." Dacj shivered. "She took my tentacles in her hands--she had magic she used like claws--and all she had to do was touch and the skin split open and she just laughed, because my blood was a color she wasn't expecting..."

This was the chaos-form of Mayameer, he guessed, but he didn't have much time to dwell on the matter, since Dacj's raw emotions were gaping wounds now as surely as she'd described the physical ones. "Tentacles? She did this to more than one?" he prompted, keeping his straight face while inwardly squirming. For once, it wasn't because of the limbs themselves--no, it was because he'd never thought of them as that delicate. She didn't describe fighting back--her emotions told him it hadn't seemed to occur to her, because they were submissive and fearful--and he wondered for the first time, looking at her hands, if her limbs weren't more like extra long fingers. The torture she described then, more akin to breaking helpless fingers or toes than stronger arms or legs.

"If I hadn't been healed as quickly as I was, they'd be covered in scarring. Not just them, all of me. Everything except the face," Dacj said bitterly, angry tears welling up. What good would she have been then, scarred and possibly crippled? She already couldn't run--what if she couldn't walk, either? She almost resisted the feel of Eli's attempts to place the stronger extremes of her emotions behind a sort of veil--she wanted to stay angry at her captors, she wanted revenge--

"But you weren't," Eli reassured her quietly. "You were rescued, and Seth brought you to safety, and even with everything that happened you were still able to be healed as if nothing happened. Does the disparity of your memories and the lack of scarring bother you?"

"...yes." How could it not? It was as if everything had been some kind of terrible dream, and everyone else was able to simply gloss over it. Everyone but her and Seth, witnesses of the bloody disaster that had been the kraken at the end of things. "But I don't want to just forget these memories. I spent half a year tossing and turning over dreams I didn't understand until Seth was able to uncover some of the sibyl's memories still hidden in my mind...my soul? I don't want to forget anything important like that ever again."

"That's why you've got an empath helping you instead of someone else now. Your memories will stay, they'll just...not be as vivid. Do you see what I've started to do?" Eli asked, still all comfort and reassurance as he worked at the deeper level on the knot of negative emotions still comprising the core of the problem. "They'll be further away. Past, like Zephyrus. Ages ago, it'll feel like. And then you can 'worry' more about things like your wedding. Remember?"

It seemed impossible, after what she'd felt, but...Eli was telling her the truth. What she'd started telling him--the pain wasn't so immediate anymore. "Weddings. Yes. Those," she said, laughing faintly, in a momentary good mood before the fear crept in once more. "I don't know--if I can stand to be touched. Cuddling's one thing, but Seth's got claws he can't retract...I know he's careful, but I don't want to freak out in the middle of an otherwise pleasant moment..."

"Well, there's one way to partially test that without getting Seth involved," Eli said, surprised by his own sudden confidence as he flipped the blankets over Dacj's tentacles back. He squeezed her hand lightly, tensing only for a second before his free hand patted the lower mass of tentacles nearer to the tips. They were much stiller than he was used to thinking of them as, and far softer than he'd ever realized. And squishy. Very delicate and squishy. "Does that feel like you can't stand it?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"No..." she said quietly, eyes wide as she witnessed the one sight she honestly never thought she'd see. He was voluntarily touching her limbs. He was--when had he--what? Confusion and a fair bit of awe replaced the fear and tenseness of before, and she held her limbs still lest some sudden movement on her part frighten him--not that they'd been up to their usual roiling antics, of late.

"And I'm sure Seth's methods of persuasion are much better than even mine in that regard," the kuppy added, teasing. "You'll be fine, Dacj. I don't intend to let you leave here until I as an empath am satisfied you've healed emotionally too. I'm sorry it took me this long to try."

"You're never gonna top this though," Dacj murmured back, unable to believe he was still able to stand this--and smile and tease at her! What was this? Could she actually feel...good, even happy, after everything? It seemed Eli was determined to get her there...

Seth felt like the ultimate failure as he left the room. Why hadn’t he been able to handle even just that small sample that Eli had given him? It wasn’t as if he himself hadn’t felt any such emotions in the past… and maybe even now to a small degree. He didn’t want Dacj to be in that sort of turmoil. He wanted to help her. It hurt a bit to know that he couldn’t.

He paced around for a small bit before eventually just settling for sitting down beside the door. How was Dacj doing right now? What were… they talking about? He couldn’t check even if he had wanted to due to the room’s shielding. Was she wanting him back right now? Was Eli able to push past his phobia? … He had to be. Eli could feel better than anyone what Dacj was feeling right now, and even with his phobia there was no way he could just let that lie. She’ll be fine, Eli will help her. … They don’t need me.

It occurred to Seth then that since the trip to Phanes this was his first moment of actually being alone. Of having nothing to do. These past few days he’d been focusing with single-minded intensity on doing what he could to help Dacj, so much so that most any and all of his own thoughts and emotions had been shoved off to the side. He felt… tired. Exhausted. A part of him ached, though he was in no physical pain. His mind flashed unbidden to the sight of Dacj when he had found her, to the smell, the blood, the burns… So many burns… And he had done nothing. No revenge extracted, nor could he even summon up enough energy to heal her himself. He’d been too late to spare her any pain, too weak to alleviate it. Just as he was too weak now to even help her with the aftermath. His eyes burned as he rested his head down on his arms.

He couldn’t help the sibyl either. He had just stood there with the rest, watching as she suffered and died a second and very painful death. And frankly… it scared him. Dacj and her past self were entirely different people, but they shared the same soul. How could he be sure she wouldn’t ever try to pull some equally noble and stupid trick someday? Sabra wouldn’t hesitate to ask it of her, if it came down to it. They were all just pawns to her, there to help her save Phanes. Well bully for Phanes, her old shell of a planet, but what about them? They may not have been ‘important’ compared to say Haiaen and Donab and Twilight and the like, but they were still people with their own thoughts and emotions and a right to just peacefully live their lives. Even Eli shouldn’t have to be involved in any of this as he was. How did everyone expect a three year old non-kristi’os kuppy to be able to save a little girl from Chaos that had destroyed an entire Empire? It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t even remotely reasonable, and there was no way that their next visit to Phanes wouldn’t end with some sort of suffering. Everything had a price, and Seth was terrified to find out what such a price may be.

… And in the end, they’d never even found Colton or Zane. So many had died in those missions, and to what end? So the Red Moon could play with them and send dead Praetorate at them? Mena was without her husband and son, and Eli was without his father and twin. There was no telling where they were anymore. … Perhaps he should just go find a hole somewhere to crawl into now while he futilely willed the universe to stop being so cruel.

Eli continued to talk with Dacj, working through the rest of her memories of pain and fear surrounding her meeting with Nevreso and Mayameer, until she stopped flinching every time she remembered something, and she could speak matter-of-factly about her torture even if it still made her uncomfortable. Uncomfortable was fine. To numb her entirely to what had happened would likely have longterm effects Eli wasn't willing to risk, and she was still smiling by the end of it. It helped, he was sure, he kept teasing her about Seth. She felt badly for exposing him to the sight she'd been and the unhappy lump she'd continued to be coming back from Phanes, and she extracted a promise out of him that he would help Seth feel better about things too. "I have to push and hammer and pry and all I can ever do is try, but you've got something better than that," she'd explained. "I know he must be in really bad shape, so...you have to, Eli. I'm sure it's tiring and I don't mean to take advantage of you..."

"No, it needs to be done," he'd agreed. He still felt badly that he'd let Seth be after the breakup with Noelani, and he wondered if that had been the beginning of a shaky foundation--or, no, Seth had always buried his emotions, Noelani or no. But it was about time he at least tried to help Seth. "You'll be all right alone?"

"Now I will," she said, with a smile. "Might take a nap. Send him in when you're done with him." Chuckling, the kuppy waved a goodbye and braced himself before he opened the door.

Oof, that was bad. "Seth. Come with me for a bit will you? Dacj's fine, she wanted a bit of a rest," the kuppy said, reassuring. Eli tried not to frown at the speed with which he felt Seth speed-suppressing his emotions. Yes, he had his work cut out for him all right...

The cheetah Hyte's ears twitched at the sound of the doorknob turning, and he was quick to dry his eyes (which his enhanced speed helped with a small bit) before the door even fully opened. Had he thought about it he might have used that same moment to also completely recover himself first, but his immediate focus was back on knowing how Dacj was doing. [You're sure she's alright?] he asked, getting up to follow Eli. Did the other want to talk with him about something she'd told him in there? Or did he just have more questions about recent events in general? He supposed he'd find out soon enough.

[Positive. You'll see for yourself, in a bit,] Eli promised, leading the way to a workroom next door. Also shielded, it boasted a large table and several chairs. Eli gestured for Seth to make himself comfortable as he closed (and magically locked) the door. Just in case. "Now let's talk about you," Eli said, slightly wry as he eyed the cheetah Hyte. "While you're here, you might as well use the empath available. I know you're not really a fan of this kind of thing, Seth, but I've felt you at your worst and I'd like to think you trust me enough to let me try to help you. So let's talk about your feelings...like the ones you're so intent on bottling up." He paired his opening shocker with a heavy dose of relaxation, comfort, and, just to be safe, security. Especially lacking in touch, it wouldn't be overwhelming at the moment, but it ought to take the edge off Seth's objections.

Seth was relieved to hear that Dacj was in fact doing better. He still wanted to go and see her, but... he could at least let her rest for a bit on her own. The fact that she could rest on her own now was certainly an improvement.

"Now let's talk about you."

Oh God damn it. He should have known better. He kept a straight face as Eli spoke, but he definitely was not happy about this latest little development. It wasn't that he didn't trust Eli, he just... didn't like dealing with emotions like this. "I was worried about Dacj," he said with a faint shrug. Which wasn't a lie, but it definitely wasn't all that he had been thinking about. "You don't really need to worry about me so much, though I do appreciate it."

Straight faces meant absolutely nothing to an empath, but Eli was also sure Seth knew that. "I know you were," Eli agreed. "And we'll talk about that too. But I can't help you if you won't tell me anything, and I'm already worried about you. Why is it all right--imperative even--for me to help Dacj and not to help you? You went through a lot on Phanes too." He let his concern show in his voice while making sure to keep the emotion blasting strictly neutral-calming. Sooner or later, he'd lead Seth to talk.

Because he wasn't the one tortured by an evil Empress and and insane Chaos-filled girl. Also, Dacj had specifically asked for help, so... [What are you wanting to help me with? A bit of residual stress? That'll wear off.] ... Unlike his magic, apparently. He'd tried taking the off pill a few times more since that day, but still no luck. Not that it mattered much at this point anyway. Aside from dream sharing, he at least had enough control over it now where it didn't make much of a difference. He was just going to have to live with it.

"You're dealing with much more than residual stress, Seth," Eli said, shaking his head. "You saw your loved one broken and burned and bloody--that's the sort of thing that leaves a mark on your pysche. I'm sure you feared her mortality, even for the briefest of moments before you realized she was still breathing. The fact that you burned your own magic channels wide open in your frantic need to get to her tells me just as much as your emotions do, Seth." The words sounded harsh even to him, speaking aloud like this, but he felt it was important he speak plainly. And they were targeted to get a reaction out of Seth, even if Eli wondered if that emotional reaction would be to turn angry and get upset at the kuppy.

The cheetah Hyte's ears tucked back as Eli spoke, unable to refute anything that the kuppy had said. "There was that..." he replied sheepishly, trying vainly not to let the haunting image come to mind. It still hurt just to remember the state she'd been in, even if she was now healed. [... What do you want me to say?] His mental voice was defeated.

It seemed the reaction was rather to break the cheetah--not quite what Eli had intended, but it would suffice. He moved closer to Seth to lay a hand on his shoulder, projecting soothing for the pain of the memory. "Start wherever you like--just tell me your thoughts, instead of hiding them," Eli advised. "Like with Dacj, I need you to tell me details--it'll bring the pain or bad feelings to mind, yes, but only long enough for me to help fix them. Imagine not having to bottle everything up--the stress of it must be immense, on some level. What happens when Dacj pries--that's just a bit of steam being released from the pressure of keeping it under wraps, hmm?"

The corner of Seth's lip twitched into the faintest of smirks at Eli's last remark. "She can get rather insistent with her prying," he remarked idly, mind wandering as he tried to figure out where the hell he should even start. The soothing was helping more than he cared to admit, but... didn't entirely clear his mind much. "... I'm sorry for not having been much help a little while ago," he started, though his statement was a bit distracted as his mind still just swam about on its own. As his mind circled back around to the incident at the palace, an idle thought occurred to him wondering if the Vanth's scissors would have been as effective on Nevreso as they were on Atropos herself... That was an almost pleasant thought, though perhaps not in a very good way.

"She's not one to give up easily," Eli agreed. His very first meeting with her had taught him that, when a small kraken-girl appeared on the apartment doorstep all matter of fact and entirely on her own. That was Dacj all right... "I think you underestimate yourself," Eli said, raising an eyebrow. "Though perhaps it was very foolish of me to test you like that, with Dacj's emotions. I really should have known better, but in fear sometimes we do silly things. I shouldn't expect you to be able to do what was a job for an empath, and I'm sure there are plenty of things you are better suited for than me." It wasn't a platitude; Eli felt it quite strongly. He didn't see Seth as useless in the slightest. He caught a hint of Seth's pleasantly-violent sudden change of mood, eyebrow arching all the higher. "Are you disappointed that you didn't get to punish anyone at the palace for what happened?"

About the only thing Seth could even imagine that he could do better than Eli was healing, and that was only because the other had magic overload and difficulty controlling it. Eli already ran quite fast though, and given the nature of his camellia status with Elti there wasn't really anything preventing him from trying to learn telepathy either. It wasn't like he didn't already use a very mild form of it daily in his link with his Ti'ama. "I wouldn't mind getting my claws around Nevreso," he muttered darkly, though he supposed he was in a very long waiting line for that privilege. Dacj wasn't the first nor the last person that the woman had tortured after all. He shook his head. "It was just a stray thought." And it had originally involved death scissors versus claws, but the details weren't altogether important.

Contrary to Seth's belief, refining telepathy was not really in Eli's to-do list, and all he ever used the rudimentary form of it was purely for communication, not for any of the more advanced skills Seth had learned from his teacher or picked up on his own. He nodded sympathetically to Seth's admission, though he wasn't one much for that direct of violence himself no matter what the offense. "Just a stray thought is what rather a lot of thoughts are, I think," he offered, encouraging. "But on the bright side of things, even if you weren't able to exact any vengeance, you did rescue Dacj basically single-handedly, in the heart of enemy territory. That's not a failure, that's a success. Because of you, she was able to get the medical attention she needed quickly. That's a good thing, right?"

Seth flushed ever so slightly at Eli's praise. It hadn't been entirely single-handedly. Without Eurus and the Vanth scissors and that other Vanth woman, there would have been no way possible for them to actually make it in and out of that palace. And the only reasons he'd even been able to do what he had done were because 1) his speed magic made it so easy that it was almost rather cheap, 2) he also had the advantage of telepathy to find Dacj, and 3) he was damn lucky that the good part of Mayameer had taken over when she did. But yes, the important thing in the end was that she was saved, not quite who had done the saving. "I am glad she is safe," he agreed. ... Though he did feel slightly bad for having struggled against the Healers in the camp to give her up. He had basically lost whatever functionality was left of his mind at that point, as was evidenced by the fact that he couldn't remember anything beyond that blurred memory. And the fact that Reira had apparently needed to knock him out once more. Leave it to the telepathic merwoman to be amused by having to shut down her pupil's mind. Which reminded him, he was going to have to go visit her again soon if Dacj was actually doing better now-- he still couldn't quite imagine how he was supposed to shield himself in his sleep though aside from relying on T'gillan to help. He suspected the powerstone was only helping him now out of pity...

Eli was feeling varying emotions and still had no idea what was prompting them--he was an empath, not a mind reader, and "I am glad she is safe" was not terribly specific. "New idea," Eli suggested wryly. "Why don't you project your stream of consciousness at me so I can tell what these emotions go with." Otherwise, it seemed, he'd be fighting a losing battle. The kuppy definitely had newfound respect for Dacj's ability to pry anything specific out of the cheetah.

Project his thoughts as they came...? That sounded entirely awkward, though he could see where it might be a bit easier and more helpful than having to force himself to speak. "I can give it a try," he replied awkwardly, toying around with his telepathy for a moment as he tried to figure out how to make such a thing work without simply bringing Eli into his own mind. "Um, give me a moment. Never quite tried this before." After all, for what purpose would he have ever used such a thing before?

The cheetah Hyte relaxed and played with his telepathic 'hearing' a bit until he finally managed to get it to reverse-- where he couldn't hear Eli's thoughts but the other could presumably hear his. This felt... entirely vulnerable. He didn't like it. It didn't matter that the room was shielded (though that certainly helped), it just felt weird having his mind 'open' like this. Thoughts were fickle things after all, what if something bad came to-- no no no, don't even go down that trail, that was just like begging a bad mental image of some sort to appear. Focus on the room, ignore the fact that Eli was hearing every bit of this inane mental rambling right now-- did he mention that he didn't like this? [What were we discussing before?] he asked wryly, trying to redirect his own mental chatter into something slightly more constructive than vulnerability issues.

Eli waited patiently, not quite sure how this was going to work either until suddenly Seth seemed to succeed and the kuppy could hear a rush of slightly nervous thoughts. Back to calm projecting then... "Vulnerability issues are entirely pertinent to the general subject at hand you know." Not to mention generally explained a lot. "I know you're usually very private and that's why you prefer to bottle up your emotions the way you do. But vulnerable can be productive. Doesn't Dacj like it when you voluntarily offer her a glimpse beyond that wall of yours?" he asked, thoughtful. He'd figured it was part of why they worked so well. Dacj liked secrets, especially the ones she was privy to; Seth liked to keep them.

The calm projecting would be fighting an uphill battle. He hardly saw how being vulnerable was 'productive' in any way. "Yes, she does," he agreed, though most times that he did so was more just out of ease than especially wishing to share. It was easier to just show her a memory directly rather than having to put things into words. Words had power. Saying things aloud essentially acknowledged they existed in the first place. Well, generally speaking. Obviously there were lies and fiction and such, but those could be construed just as easily with thoughts as they could be with words. Maybe even moreso. Why had he agreed to this again? "As I said earlier, she's very persistent. She won't usually stop until I admit at least something." What was the last conversation they'd had like that? He was having trouble remembering, really. He was sure she would probably remember well enough though. He didn't try to frustrate her with his vagueness, he just sorta... did. Could he close his mind yet?

*continued in next post*  

[Seth_Avi]

[PM RP] Readjusting (Continued)
9/05/11 - 9/11/11

Quote:

Eli didn't have many options but to fight the good fight, and he half wondered if Seth wasn't the more difficult case than even a despondent Dacj. "You're persistent too, you know. Like when it came to training your magic, so you'd be prepared for those missions. You pushed yourself to master more in months than most do in years, even with the benefit of highly skilled instructors." He tilted his head just a bit to one side, thoughtful. "It's a helping people thing, I think. If someone needs help, you'll do whatever you can for them, if they ask. Most of the time it's harmless, but I think we can both agree there are times when it's gotten you into a bit of trouble..." And it was one way to mask perceived vulnerability.

Seth listened quietly as Eli spoke. Ok, so, he was a bit of an idiot when it came to over-training (even he admitted that), but he wasn't entirely sure where the other was going with this. What about 'helping people'? It wasn't like he regretted doing that in any way or form, and he still wasn't quite sure how it was germane to previous conversation. Well, he supposed he'd gone off of the 'persistent' bit. ... Yay for him and Dacj being equally stubborn then...?

"I was thinking of Noelani, actually," Eli said wryly, when Seth didn't quite get the lead-in. "The impulse to help her get over her previous relationship was what started things, right?" Not that any of them had forseen it going the way it did, but, well, that was life for you. "The problem comes when you can't save people from themselves." That was certainly one way to put it...

"Though you and Dacj seem to be on more equal footing than your previous relationship, you're still worried about being vulnerable with her. You don't think she'll leave you...?" Considering it was Dacj, Eli would think he wouldn't, but Seth's thoughts were taking paths the kuppy wouldn't necessarily expect...

Seth was actually a bit offended by Eli's remark concerning Noelani. He had actually gone into the relationship because he liked her and cared for her. No, he hadn't wanted to see her hurting, but that certainly wasn't his sole reason for dating her. ... Maybe her for him it seemed, but that was beside the point. He shook his head at the question concerning Dacj. "No, I don't think she will leave me," he replied. At least not the traditional way. "I'm not concerned about that." In the end it was actually the fact that he knew Dacj would stay that had led him to try exploring a relationship with her instead of waiting and trying to work things out with Noe-- whom once again he hadn't seen in quite a while yet. They really ought to take a Hyte census sometime just to see who was even on gaia anymore...

"Not the traditional way?" There was something...leaving, but not in the sense of breaking up. Oooooh. "So you're worried about her dying. Or her taking a leaf out of your book and doing something noble that has a high likelihood of death," Eli suggested, back to projecting on high for comfort and soothing.

His book? Try her own damn book. Nothing he'd done had ever actually resulted in his death. Though he tried to hide it, a brief flash of both Elti's awakening and the recent bridge-making crossed his mind's eye. Of course he was worried about her dying, with examples like that to follow.

Eli had been aware in the abstract of the sibyl's waking Eltimion somehow, but the reality according to the grim flashback--well, it was a suicide mission, and only the fact that Elti had been determined to save her had kept her alive. The bridge-making was harder to decipher, but he got the sense of a remnant of the sibyl had given up what remained of her life to bring Donab and Haiaen through to this world. Seth's own thoughts seemed to suggest she'd volunteered quite quickly for the task. With examples like that to follow...yes, it was a little troubling.

"Dacj is not the sibyl, Seth. She's lived a rather different life. If you're so frightened of her following in her past life's footsteps, why can't you speak to her about it? Maybe she can reassure you she doesn't intend to let the past repeat itself. Or if she hesitates, then maybe you can help her see the value of relying on others to help so a 'noble sacrifice' is rendered unnecessary," Eli said quietly, trying to tuck his own thoughts and feelings on the matter away, until he could speak to Dacj about them later. It seemed more than ever learning about the sibyl was going to be a really good idea...

"When would I have had time to speak with her about it, Eli?" he replied flatly. "She's been an emotional wreck the past few days and I only just thought this out myself in the hallway." Yes, it was a bit delayed, but he needed his privacy for thinking through things. It was just how his mind operated. "And what if she does hesitate? What if despite all assurances someday Sabra shows up some day and demands her life in exchange for y--" Don't finish that thought. "Demands her life for whatever scheme she's devised to save Phanes. And somehow yet again Dacj's soul is the ~only~ one in this universe that can act as a proper channel or some s**t like that." He couldn't suppress the rage bubbling up inside. "What then, Eli? What the hell are we supposed to do?" It wasn't fair. None of them should be so easily disposable to her. Why did a living soul have to be a channel?

Here came the anger and fear he'd been expecting. "In exchange for me? I doubt Sabra's that fond of me," Eli said quietly. He really did; more often than not it felt like he was a thorn in his grandmother's side, kept around only on account of the prophecy or whatever it was that said he would be able to help Mayameer. "What would you do if it was you who was asked to do such a thing? Your life, in exchange for Phanes and all its inhabitants. Or your life, in exchange for my father and brother's. I'm not saying I want that to happen--I would never, ever ask anything so great of you or my sister--but to confront your fear...what would you do?" No, it wasn't fair. They were children, compared to everyone else involved in this game on Phanes and it was difficult, but that was why they needed to all be on the same page. He wanted Seth to be able to sleep at night and not worry that he or Dacj would even be asked to make such a sacrifice.

That wasn't true. The First to Shine may have been a manipulative b***h, but she still cared for her family in her own psychotic way. Still didn't make him trust how expendable or non-expendable any of them were to her though. ... s**t, he'd just thought of her by her other name, hadn't he. Well, sorry Eli if he hadn't figured it out yet, but now he'd know why his own mind broke back on Zephyrus that time.

As far as what he would do... "If there was no other option... then I probably would." Maybe. He liked to think that he would anyway, but who knew how he would actually act if it came down to the wire. He was sure that most people liked to think of themselves as being more noble than they actually were. But even his own mortality aside, he didn't want to leave anyone behind. Every death affected someone in some way. All of those nameless men at the abbey had had family and friends of their own somewhere who were likely still mourning their deaths. The various workers who had gone missing into the Burned Lands and would never be seen again. Even the scum from their first mission probably had a mother or relative somewhere who cared. Choosing to kill or be killed or let die never went without its retribution. There was no 'easy' answer, nor a perfectly right one. He hated it.

Kekesmaphai--bwuh--what? Shimy was--oh, dear. Shocked was probably the charitable way to describe the look on his face. Yes, it explained a lot but--he'd always thought the kekesmaphai was nice, like Elti. For Seth to say otherwise--air of truth thought it might have--was like to tell someone their patron saint was a horrible person who murdered kittens. Or stole candy from children. Fit the multiple lifetimes part too well to be able to deny away... He'd talk to Shimy later. Right now, he had to focus--Seth was not about to pull punches when he got in a state like this.

"If that's true, it's hardly fair to expect Dacj to make a completely different choice were the circumstances that defined--that she was the only option," Eli pointed out softly. "I don't claim to speak for her. But it is true you know, that we get our choices. It's not a perfect system and lots of people suffer, even die, almost needlessly. But we can't make others choose the way we'd like them to; all we can do is make our choices and hope that something better comes of our actions." Hence the whole reason he'd been talked into overthrowing Nevreso in the first place--her own people would generally be much better off without it. Surely there had to be someone in that country who could rule it more wisely...

"But however I'm supposed to 'heal' Mayameer, I don't think it involves entirely resolving her of her responsibility or guilt in what's happened. However pure the girl at the core may be, the rest of her or what's wearing her face has done unspeakable things, both to the Empire and to us. To Dacj. To all those people who were killed by the Shades she sent to stop you. I don't know how one handles restitution at that kind of level, but I'm certainly going to try to make her see it's a problem that needs some kind of solution." Assuming she didn't kill him dead in the first two seconds. Or get a chance to 'play' with him the way she had Dacj. Oh, he still didn't know how he was supposed to pull this off...

Why did.. Eli have to be right? The cheetah Hyte closed his mind again as he caved to grief and fear, lessened though it was by the kuppy's efforts. She couldn't-- Nononono, he didn't want to imagine such a life without Dacj. Not again, he couldn't-- he couldn't do it. Dacj should never be anything but happy and alive for a long long time to come. His mind reeled with its own waking nightmares.

And Eli bringing up Mayameer didn't much help, because honestly he feared for Eli too. Eli was his best friend and practically a brother to him. He didn't want to see anything happen to him any more than he did Dacj. Or any of the family. [Eli,] he said wearily, [Please just... be careful. In whatever has to happen in the future.] Could he go crawl up in his hole now?

He felt the sudden absence of Seth's thoughts as keenly as he did the cheetah's preemptive grief. It had a familiar sort of tinge to it, and Eli had a faint idea why. [I'll be very careful,] he promised. No matter what people might think of him, he had every intention of fighting to get through this in one piece. And if worst came to worst...well, he was a Contractor. Elti would be bringing him back sooner than later. Of course she'd have to work with what she had and that prompted entirely squicky thoughts of being reborn as Dacj and Seth's son and, no matter how much he liked them, he was sure that would be terribly awkward for them too and really something best to be avoided at all costs.

Back to the subject at hand. "I don't think she'd ever want to leave, Seth. She's wanted you for most of her life--had to fight to get you--I think you maybe overestimate her altruism," he added, slightly wry. "I think what she calls her selfishness is simply a reaction to all the martyring her previous life seemed to be so ready to do. She wouldn't turn to such a drastic option without fighting first, and you'd be right there with her, I'm sure. If this is what losing her would do to you--all you need to do is tell her that. She doesn't want to have you repeat any part of your past, not over her. I don't want to see either of you in this kind of pain either."

No, Seth couldn't go crawl away in his hole yet. Eli drew the ready-to-flee cheetah into a friendly hug, making sure to project all the stronger with the closer touch. "We will make it through this. I won't let anyone get hurt if I can help it, Seth--not you, not Dacj, not even myself."

Eli... had a bit of a point. Maybe. He hoped. He was willing to grasp at the metaphorical straws though in preference to his recent thoughts. "You're right," he said faintly, before he suddenly found himself being hugged by the kuppy. Huh, empathy was an interesting thing in how effective it actually was. "Fair enough. ... We can't go changing the future and all and denying Cass and Kitten of their friends and siblings," the cheetah Hyte remarked with a slightly wry smile. "I know Kitten would just be heartbroken without her twin, mischief making brothers." Perhaps that bit of an amusing spoiler there would help lighten the mood slightly. Of course, had Seth actually known the true nature of future events, perhaps he might not have made that specific tease.

Eli raised an eyebrow. "Twins, eh? So long as they're not allergic to sparkles too..." Seriously, what was with that? Oh, well. He'd deal with future!Kitten when she came into her timeline properly...and presumably these mischief-making twin brothers as well. He ought to have known he'd have one than one future child...

He let go of Seth, looking the other over. Was Eli satisfied with the progress made? Given the choice, he knew Seth would bolt as soon as he was given the opportunity to. "I know you'll always be reluctant to share your more vulnerable side with others, and I do know better than Dacj you need your time alone to process things, but it's much easier to go along with her before she gets out the battering ram," the kuppy advised. "And don't forget the future children thing goes both ways--and for heaven's sake, tell Dacj about your magic before she has to find out via telepathic offspring." It was Seth she'd be murdering then.

He always managed to forget about the sparkle allergy somehow. Poor Eli. Well, hopefully it wouldn't prove too difficult to simply avoid using sparkle magic around only Kitten. "Technically telepathic offspring was still a possibility even before this..." the cheetah Hyte said slowly, though he threw his hands up in surrender at the exasperated look he received from the other. "But yes, yes, I'll go tell her when I see her next." And he'd gotten a bit better about the battering ram thing, so...

"Then if you'll agree to speak to me too once in awhile if you're worrying yourself sick over something, I suppose I can leave you in her hands," Eli allowed. "If there's nothing else you'd like to tell me, you can go cuddle your almost-wife." Missy had to be working overtime on prep for it; he was sure she'd be running them down for fittings any day now once Eli gave her the all-clear to harass them once more...

"Define 'once in a while'," Seth replied with a small smile, standing up and stretching a bit. "But thank you for your help. Is there anything we can do for you?" After all, between the two of them the poor empath had to have been run ragged. He could at least go get him a drink or cook him lunch or something.

"Before it gets bad," Eli quipped back, shaking his head at the offer. "No, I can manage taking the rest of the day...or next few maybe...very easy. You two stay as long as you like." He was sure Dacj would protest moving for awhile, and Seth could likely use a bit more comfort to reinforce the empathic-'work' done on him as well. "Dacj--might need a little more help, but only to minor degrees, I think. Your patience and care will probably solve most of the unresolved issues, and I think you might be a hair more convincing so far as her tentacles are concerned. She was rather worried to even twitch them the wrong way when I was in there," he admitted sheepishly. "But that was because she was trying to take care of my feelings." The kuppy led the way to the door, unlocking it with a gesture and opening the door. "I trust you will both do well though."

He was very tempted to add 'define bad', but decided against it last minute. "As long as we like, hm? We'll be out of your hair in six months then," he replied jokingly. He took the latter part of Eli's statements more seriously though, and gave a brief nod of understanding. "Thank you again."

Seth made no hesitation in returning straight to Dacj's room, though he was very careful to be silent as he entered. He didn't wish to wake her, after all. Though, such an effort might be a bit futile considering that she was bound to at least stir when he climbed into the bed with her. Should I go to the loveseat instead...? No. Selfish though it was, in light of recent conversations he'd really rather lay with Dacj right now. He moved very slowly and carefully as he tried to climb into the bed without waking her.

Eli rolled his eyes at the six months jab. "Hey, so long as you start buying groceries...!" he called after Seth, chuckling to himself as he sought his own bed to go crash into.

She'd napped, yes, but Eli and Seth had really taken a long time. Thus, she was already closing to waking when Seth snuck back into the room, but it wasn't until the bed moved slightly under the new weight that she first opened her eyes to a welcome sight. "Seth?" she asked, smiling as she reached out to touch his hair. "How're you feelin'?" She wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep, but it did feel like awhile...

Well, so much for not waking her. "I'm alright," he said with a smile of his own, purring lightly as she began to play with his hair. "And you?" It was so good to see her smiling again; he couldn't help but be happy himself right now. The past few days had felt as if he may never see that smile again.

"Much better," she said, her own relief at that fact evident. She'd never meant to hurt him or make him feel guilty... Dacj's tentacles moved slowly for the cheetah, feeling their way across the bed to fondly touch and tickle Seth's legs and shins. "Eli touched my limbs! Well, really more of the tips, but he did it without fainting or squeaking or even looking squeamish~" she reported happily, clearly still a little in awe of the whole experience. It was just--she didn't think it was ever going to happen, until it did, and now she was vaguely wondering if it was really true that anything was possible.

"He did?" Seth replied, surprised at first before smiling again, happy for the both of them. "Well then, clearly we're going to have to throw Eli a little celebratory party later then, hm? Shall we break out the cupcake mix again?" Clearly the kuppy had made great strides today, and even if his phobia wasn't completely gone it was good to know that he could at least stand to be close to his sister now. Certainly a good thing to be happy about.

"Seems like we may have to~" she agreed, snuggling Seth close. Not only was it a huge step for Eli, he'd also done a lot of work for them today. She still felt a little guilty about helping to keep him out of the loop of things, but it seemed he didn't begrudge them that much anymore. They were very lucky to have such a good friend--she was lucky to have such a kind brother. "I see you were trying to sneak in before I woke up," she added with a chuckle. "Isn't this much better, with me awake?"

The cheetah Hyte chuckled, wrapping his arms around her to hold her close. "No argument there," he replied with a smile, giving her a light kiss. "I just didn't want to disrupt your sleep. I know you probably needed the rest." As he probably would too in a bit, but for now he was simply enjoying the warm fuzzies. ... Though he wondered if admitting that his magic was permanent now would diminish the warm fuzzies of the moment any. Hm, dilemma...

"Somethin' on your mind?" she prompted, when he fell silent. She would say she slept better with him around anyway, so it was just as well she'd woken up for now. But his quietness made her curious; it was entirely possible he was just musing on whatever he and Eli had spoken of while she'd been napping.

Well, that was technically what he was musing on, but perhaps not in the manner that she had been thinking. "Sort of. It's nothing overly important," he said casually, tail sliding its way back across her waist. "I do have a small confession I need to make though. My magic is permanently 'on' now." Seth did his best to pass it off in the most casual manner possible so as not to sour the good mood any. He may have had a few days to adjust to the idea now (as well as some minor empath help), but this was going to be news for Dacj, so... Hopefully she'd take it alright.

Confession? Of what? ...Oh. She frowned slightly, though his expression would suggest it didn't upset him at least. "I'm sorry. Was it because of me...?" Maybe such a question was a sort of narcissistic thing to ask. "Are you okay with it?" After all, she wasn't--well, okay, she would be living with it because they'd be living together, but she'd never had any problems with his magic. The telepathy could be sort of useful, really (when she was privy to said telepathic conversations!) and the speed... Oh, s**t. Was he reading her mind now? Maybe she should not remind him that from now on her likelihood of ever winning a tentacle fight or any sort of vaguely athletic competition against him was doomed. She wouldn't put it past him to cheat at Twister too. Wait, that was still thinking about it. So far as offspring went, well...who knew what the genetic mix would bring out. It likely wouldn't show until they were teenagers at the least if not adults, so there'd be time to figure out the best way to handle things.

"I'm fine with it," Seth replied, not directly answering her first question. "It's probably easier than having to deal with the pills anyway, so..." He gave a light shrug. A small part of him wondered just how long T'gillan would be willing to help him shield for.

[You have until tomorrow to contact Reira,] the powerstone replied flatly. [Don't push it.]

Well, that certainly answered that. [Thank you.] Now just to hope that Reira was back on gaia and not still on Phanes... "Sorry for not having told you sooner, but it didn't quite seem the time..."

She noticed he avoided saying anything about her. Which meant it probably was on her account. Damn it. She felt badly that he'd ended up with permanent magic when the whole point of Mena's pills was to provide a temporary advantage...on the bright side, he ought to be able to heal all the time as well? That might come in handy someday. "I can see why you'd've waited," she agreed--and it probably just would have had her hating herself all the more, quite honestly. At least now she was enough out of the dark and gloom to be able to take the news without flinching or beating herself up too much. What could she really have done to prevent it? If it wasn't this last 'trip' to Phanes, it might've happened sometime in the big fight against the Empire, if all it had taken was her in mortal danger... "Thank you for telling me now though. You're able to still control it as well as you did before?"

He nodded. "The magic itself isn't any different from before. Just permanently in 'on' mode." And perhaps even a slight bit stronger than before, though he wasn't actually positive on that. Perhaps that boost in ability when he'd been fighting Atropos was merely due to his emotional state at the time. Sort of like that time with Kitten. ... It'd be helpful if he could figure out how to use telepathy that well without first becoming homicidal. Also, he'd need to train to be able to use his controlled speed for longer periods of time without burning out as he did. But for now, wedding stuff first. [On the bright side, unless we're separated by a shielded room you'll have an easier time getting a hold of me?] It wasn't as if he habitually kept his own mind shielded unless he was doing something that required shielding, after all.

"Well. That's one less thing to worry about," she said, relieved to hear his training at least had paid off. And that left him with all kinds of handy tricks, like shielding and the automatic sleep thing and sorting through memories. Had he ever figured out the trick of blocking dream sharing? He certainly hadn't been sharing with her the past few days and they'd certainly been together the whole time... [There is that. I shall abuse the privilege terribly, I think~] she added, amused. Actually, she could think of a whole host of ill-advised ideas to 'get a hold' of him with, and she was rather looking forward to trying some of them out...

['Abuse' the privilege, eh?] he replied, amused. [Since when can hearing from a loved one be abused?] As long as she wasn't trying to have a conversation with him at inopportune moments, he didn't see any reason for him to mind. [Abuse away~]

Having a conversation with him at inopportune moments was the least of her nefarious plans, and she chuckled at the open invitation. [Oh, don't worry~ I will,] she promised, resolving to save the big reveal for later...when it would be the most fun. [Right now, I'll be more gentle,] the kraken added, club tentacles stroking Seth's back and side as she claimed a kiss and let her lips linger against his. [We'll be alright together, mm?] Now that they'd gotten a lift and a pull out of the darkness, away from the edge...everything could go back to the way it was, couldn't it? Save for the improvements they'd made.

[No doubts there, my Love,] he replied, smiling against her lips before kissing her again. They would definitely be fine together. It was nice to be able to see a real chance for happiness again. Best not to let it get away from them.

 

[elfgurl1234]

~Fluffy Details~

[Hytech PRP] Sleepless In The Treehouse

Summary: Seth's new magic makes getting a restful night's sleep quite troublesome.

 

[elfgurl1234]

Dear Sis
9/13/11

He really didn't want to do this. He had put it off for as long as possible, but with only ten days left until the wedding he couldn't possibly wait any longer. He didn't think this would end overly well, but... he had to write Noelani. Whether things would be awkward or not she was still very much a part of the family, and it was only right that she be invited to a family wedding. He didn't expect her to come, but that didn't excuse not inviting her. The cheetah Hyte waited until Missy had dragged Dacj off for some wedding prep before taking a seat at his desk and beginning to write.

Dear Noe,

I hope you have been well these past few months. Not much new has been going on at Hytech this past year, though I suppose that's not really a surprise. Liesel, the deer Hyte, grew into a teenager recently though, so that spurred a day or so of activity around the place.

But the reason I write to you now is for a bit more personal news. About a month ago Dacj and I agreed to get married. We decided on a small family wedding, to be held on the 23rd of this month. I know that we have not spoken much recently, but you are still both family and a friend. If you do not wish to come I will understand, but if you do there is an invitation attached with the time, date, and place. Regardless of your decision, I do hope to see you again sometime soon. Stay well, Noe.

Sincerely,
Seth

The cheetah Hyte looked over the letter a few times after finishing it. Ugh, it just sounded so... something. But it was still necessary and he couldn't think of any better way to put things. Folding it up carefully, he placed the letter in an envelope along with the invitation before handing it off to Ruby. "You know where to go." The crimson chirruped and nuzzled him briefly before disappearing with it. Now just to see what became of things.  

[elfgurl1234]

~The Wedding~

[Hytech PRP] I Do

Summary: September 23, 2011

 

[elfgurl1234]

~A Day in Your Shoes~

[Hytech PRP] The Trials and Travails of Limbs Foreign

Summary: Dacj and Seth wake up one morning to find that they're not quite themselves...