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 Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2013 5:35 pm
Wild Draw Card I love...
Mr. Wylie Morgan Green
I like...
No one
I know...
No one
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:46 am
withMr. Wylie Morgan Greenplayed byKatsura Zanshin statusOpen
Wylie took another peek out of his office window and stood, shaking his head. He needed a walk, nothing productive had been happening today at all. Not that that was surprising as 'Dearest Grandmother' had passed away so suddenly and violently not that long ago. Nodding at the rational excuse, he headed out into the garden. The gardens were his favorite outdoor hang out; the plants were thick and verdant, a good deterrent for anyone trying to shoot at him, and the flowers were fragrant and soothing. His landscaper definitely deserved a bonus come Christmas time.
Wylie made his way to the weeping willow, his feet automatically taking the path. He had roses and lilies down there. The Tiger lilies were due to bloom any day now, so said his landscaper. Wylie wanted to see them and maybe clip a few flowers for his office.
She had a ton of nicknames, some good and some not so good. Back home everyone there knew her as Scamp, because that's what the adults always said she was and the name just stuck. But here, far from home, she always gave her folks her birth name. Wild Draw Card, or just plain Wild. Lots of people seemed to find that fitting as well, though Wild had no notion what they were going on about.
She'd been up high in the sky, running along clouds and seeing if she could mold them into different shapes, thinking about her children and wondering if she should go visit. It had been a while since she'd seen her babies, all of whom had grown and had lives of their own. Well, it was probably too late to be a mother hen, not that she had it in her even now. A shiver broke through her thoughts. She'd been up here a while, and the cool air and damp from all those clouds was starting to get to her. She should probably land a bit and dry off.
Wild descended at a gentle angle. A speck of brilliant greens caught her attention, so she decided to glide that way. As she got closer she noticed it was a huge house with an even bigger garden! Excited, Wild fluttered a little overhead, peering down. There were little dots of color here and there and so many mounds of fluffy greenery. She just had to see it up close! Pulling her wings to her body she sharply plummeted towards the earth, until at the last moment, she spread them out again and touched down smooth, running a little to keep her momentum from toppling her.
The garden was even better up close! Without even bothering to give her surroundings more than a passing glance, Wild bounded forward and happily stuck her face up to a cluster of green that had a few bright orange flowers with little black speckles, waving proudly at the top of their long stalks. She gave them an enthusiastic sniff and made a happy cooing noise; they smelled as nice as they looked!
Wylie was taken aback as his peace was suddenly shattered with the arrival of a strange girl. Down she shot straight out of the sky and into his Tiger Lilies. The knife he'd taken to carrying with him /at all times/ was already out and ready for defense even while his mind tried to catch up with his body's kneejerk response. Honestly Wylie was flabbergasted that anyone had gotten passed his security, and he was kicking himself for leaving a hole in his defense. Three of his cousins could fly, dammit, and he'd left himself open like a fool. He needed guns, or bows and arrows, and guards on his walls and the roof and.... He needed to focus on the immediate threat.
“You, girl, who are you and what are you doing on my property?” Wylie demanded, stepping forward and keeping the knife low and ready. He was trying his hardest to keep his voice from shaking, so he probably sounded gruffer than he realized. “Which one of them sent you?” He demanded. Obviously she was from a cousin. Why would some random person just drop by to sniff the lilies?
He paled, thinking of an explanation: The air was poisoned and the lilies were the antidote! No, no, that's absurd. “Well? Who are you?”
When Wild looked up from her sniffing she was all smiles. The tone of the male didn't bother her. She got it a lot, for some reason. A few folk had tried to explain it to her, but she'd never quite got it; who wasn't happy to get company, even if it was unexpected?
"Hello," she chirped in a voice that was the essence of cheer yet also somehow the spirit of mischief. It was the kind of voice that promised an amazing, if maddening, time to anyone who fell into its spell. She made an odd movement that was part sideways skip, part leap, part spin, and part fluttering of wings, so that she landed six feet away from the pretty orange flowers. Her short run and leap into the lower branches of a nearby tree was just as graceful. Cultured she was not, but she had amazing athletic skills. Good thing she kept her midnight-colored hair in a close pixie cut...
"I'm Wild Draw," she said in that same cheerful voice, face popping out of the leaves quite suddenly. "You got a nice garden, mister!" Her face vanished and there was a rustling from the tree. Only the barest flickering of bright colors hinted at her movements, until she emerged at the top of the tree. It irked people how she could balance on thin branches that shouldn't be able to hold her weight, but Wild had been doing it for so long she didn't even think about it any more.
Gosh but the view from up here was stunning! She temporarily forgot about the man on the ground. This tree was nice too, a little less branches than she was used to but it still had a good, green smell. She happily perched and breathed it in as she cast her gaze about for the next patch of color she wanted to explore.
Wylie spun to try and keep her in his sights, though what use that was he didn't know. Not only were her movements completely random, she seemed about as interested in him as he was about bugs. They were there...but not interesting enough to spend time conversing with them. Galling, really. Didn't she know who he was? And, if not, didn't she realize someone with a place like this should command some sort of respect? He was flabbergasted. And he felt silly holding the useless knife in his hand. Wylie refused to give it up yet, though; as soon as he did, she might attack.
He blinked at her next words; he had a nice garden? Wha...how...he was /so/ confused. This girl was not anything how he'd imagine an assassin to be. “Thank you?” he replied, suspicion lacing his voice. “Is that why you've come? To see my garden?” What an odd girl. Without realizing it, the death grip he had on his knife loosened just a bit. His personal radar, always on full alert around his cousins, was barely going off at all. Aside from how scarily fast she was, he felt little threat from her.
Wild hummed a cheerful affirmative. Her eyes were too busy peering at a dot of purple and trying to make it out. Lilacs? She hoped so! Wild loved the smell of lilacs, so fragrant and sweet! The blossoms just never seemed to last though, like they put everything they had in their short life span. She did follow up on her hum, at least, even if she wasn't looking at him.
"I was up in the clouds, which is really fun, but if you play in them too much you get wet. Wet is bad for feathers, and it gets cold. So I decided to fly lower for a bit, and your place is one of the most colorful specks around so I came to look."
Finally she looked down, multi-colored eyes sparkling. "It's so pretty, and so big! How do you keep up with it all? I can't even keep one plant alive, let alone this many!" Of course that was because she forgot to water them, and was so often going this way and that that she was rarely in a single place long enough to call home and care for plants. Her few attempts were either taken away by her children or thrown out, depending on how alive the plant still was. Not that she remember any of that, at the moment.
In the clouds. Wylie felt a twinge of envy flow through him; it was the one thing he envied about his other cousins. All but he and Plum could fly. Though it didn't sound to lovely if one just got wet and cold up there. He frowned before looking up, his blue eyes meeting her prismatic ones.
“I don't. I have a landscaper.” He said with importance as if that was a huge achievement. “He's the one who takes care of all of the plants and makes sure they bloom and don't die. I make sure he has all the water, food, and garden tools he needs.” He looked around his garden and nodded. Everything was arrange nicely, and she said he had the most colorful speck. That meant his garden was the best. Good. The flattery, unintentional as it seemed to be, relaxed him even further.
“What are you looking at up there? If there's a particular spot you'd like to see, I'll show it to you. I'll even give you a tour of the whole garden. The tiger lilies are my favorites, but I know every flower in this garden.”
"Oooh, that must be nice. I think I'd need a gardener if I ever tried to grow one of my own, so they can look after it when I'm gone." Which was a lot, even Wild had to admit. It was a wonder she stayed in one place as long as she did when bowls suddenly showed up. Of course she'd been about to travel just a teeny bit, what with all her children being winged, but babies couldn't fly as far or as strong and she got the feeling dragging them over hill and heather might not be good for them.
Her eyes grew even wider at the male's offer. A private tour? Sign her up! "Really," she asked, voice gleeful. She crouched then sprang forward into the air, doing a front flip and coming out of it with feet pointed down and arms outstretched, same as her wings. She didn't flap, just used them to catch air and slow her descent. Even still, she hit the ground with a loud thud. It didn't seem to phase her though, since she popped right back up.
"That would be great! I saw some purple over that way-," she pointed, "-but I couldn't tell quite what it was."
What did he think he was doing? Offering a tour of his grounds. That's it, old man, you've lost your senses completely. Wylie watched her land and winced at the loud thud as she hit the ground. “I have many purple flowers in that direction. Morning glories, lilacs, violets, butterfly bushes. If we can grow them here in this climate, my landscaper does it. Currently we're in the tree garden.” He waved to all of the different trees growing about. “We have a few flowers here, like the tiger lilies and a couple of rare species, but mostly trees and a small stream.”
And benches along a path that lead directly to the house. Wylie steered her in the opposite direction of the house path. “The flowers are kind of grouped together by color. But there's a bit of overlap at the edges of each section. I forget what my landscaper calls the effect, but I do like it. Any particular flower you'd like to see? I can't boast all of them, but what I do have is spectacular.”
"Lilacs," was the near-instant response that came from her lips as soon as she was sure the male was finished talking. "I loooove lilacs! They're so pretty and they smell so nice." She was a small thing, compared to this male, and had to trot to keep up as he started walking at a brisk pace. The further they went down the path the slower he got, like he'd been trying to walk away from something.
Well, that wasn't important right now. She grinned cheerfully as she followed, occasionally straying in either direction as a new bit of color or an interesting shape caught her eye. Even trees were interesting, some that she'd never seen before and some only rarely. Once they got more into a flower-filled section though she began cooing at the various blossoms they passed, pausing more frequently to look before trotting back up to her impromptu guide.
"Where's all the other people, mister," she asked during one such catch-up session. As they walking Wild noticed they were the only two people around. It seemed strange to her, given how vast the grounds were and how big the house. Surely everyone wasn't just sitting inside on this lovely day?
As Wylie walked with Wild Draw, he realized that his stroll had turned more into a hurry up and stop occasion. She darted hither and yon to go inspect and coo over plants he'd seen a million times. At first he was a bit irritated; if she wanted to see lilacs, /why/ was she head first in a hydrangea bush? After a while, her enthusiasm was catching, and he started seeing the garden as if for the first time. He would wait as long as she needed, taking in everything around him and enjoying the fragrances wafting in the small breeze.
“Other people?” He asked, looking down at Wild Draw, wondering who she could mean. The...people who worked for him, maybe? “Well, it's my landscaper's day off, which is why I'm out here. I prefer to visit the garden when I'm not going to be in his way. And I only employ minimal staff at the house since there's only me living there now.” He replied. He had maybe three maids and a cook; he wasn't messy enough or fat enough to need more than those four people in the house.
Wild gave him a curious look. "Don't ya get lonely in that great big house all by yourself?" She certainly couldn't imagine it. Even living alone she only used as much space as she needed. What did he need all that room for, if it wasn't filled with people?
Wylie gave Wild Card a confused look. "Lonely? Not really. I used to live there with my parents, but they are no longer around so one wing of the house is closed off now." And he had the maids for...occacional conversation. He looked out around the garden and pointed to the lilacs. "Here they are. Aren't they lovely?"
Wild thought about it for a moment. She supposed the man was telling her the truth. Just because she liked company didn’t mean she constantly sought it out, either. In fact, others might call her way of life lonely given how very often by herself she was when traveling. Plus everyone had a different nature. No use meddling in the life of a recluse when they were already happy how they were.
That was about when her attention got caught up in the lilacs the man pointed out to her. They were in bloom, too! With a wide grin on her face Wild bounded forward and buried her face in the nearest cluster of delicate purple blossoms. For all her speed and enthusiasm, she inhaled gently and let the scent drift to her, so as not to find herself with a noseful of flowers!
“They’re amazing,” she called back happily over her shoulder, still with that large smile on her face. “I don’t get to see lilacs too often, they only bloom for such a short time and usually I’m off somewhere and I miss it.” She turned to bury her face in the plant and breathe in the smell again.
Wylie watched the expressions chasing themselves over Wild's face and wondered if it really was that odd to her for him to live alone in a large house. He never thought of it as odd as he was never close to most of his family, and the vast majority of his education had taken place through home tutors. And then it didn't matter anymore as she was off to go bury her face in another bunch of his flowers. The corner of his mouth twitch up in a tiny smile at her antics. She was completely foreign to him; none of his family would /dare/ act in such an open and carefree way. It was cute, in a naive way.
“Thank you. I have a greenhouse, so we can get the flowers to bloom continuously for several weeks by planting them at staggered intervals.” He might not do any gardening, but he definitely took an interest in it. “We have a few tropical flowers there that we can't plant at all outside since it's too cold. We can see them when you're done with the lilacs.” He paused before crouching down beside her. “Ah, you can pick a few blooms if you'd like.” His landscaper might have his head for 'ruining' the flower bed, but the flowers would grow back.
Quite suddenly, he realized that he'd never given Wild Draw his name. Embarrassed, he ran his hand through his hair and stood rather abruptly. “Ah, my apologies for not introducing myself earlier. I am Wylie Morgan Green. Please forgive my rudeness.” The last was a combination of lacking manners and pulling the knife, but he'd rather not remind the girl that he'd threatened her earlier.
Wild gave Wylie a huge smile. She examined the bush for a moment, then with great care she pulled away a small sprig of blossoms from the plant. Such care might have surprised those used to her gung-ho and energetic ways, but being active didn't mean she couldn't also be gentle.
She tucked the sprig behind her ear, pushing back strand of coal-black hair. The bright purple only added to the multi-colored effect of her eyes.
"I've been to the tropics once before. It wasn't for long so I don't know if it's always the same temperature, but the air was very wet!" Wild glanced at Wylie and cocked an eyebrow at him curiously. "How 'bout you, ever travel?" She suddenly smiled hugely. "I'm sure it's a lot less hazardous to walk into a room and see a pretty plant, but it's also lots of fun wandering through a jungle and discovering pretties along the way."
Wylie noticed how the flower made Wild Draw look. He /definitely/ noticed how the colors in her eyes seemed to dance with the new addition of the purple near them. His expression tightened and he stood, putting a little bit of distance between them. He barely knew her and she could still be an assassin, just...a really good actor. That line of thinking was getting staler and less likely the longer he talked to her, though.
“I...haven't been to the tropics, actually. I...I work a lot.” Wow, that sounded lame even to him. But there were diseases and deadly animals in the tropics; and it made him sound like a paranoid, scaredy-cat if he said that out loud. “I, uh, don't think a city boy like myself would do very well in the actual tropics...unless I'm lounging around on a beach. I'm sure I'd be all types of useless in the middle of a forest, or far too busy looking out for danger than for pretties.” He sent her a small, slightly sheepish smile. He used to /like/ exploring when he was younger. He wondered if he'd have gone to the jungle if he had grown up in a different family.
Wild bounced a little in place. "You should go, you should totally go! There's lot of stuff you can do that doesn't involve going in the wilderness! Personally I think wild stuff is prettier, but there's lots of stuff that's made to look pretty so people can experience tropics without having to be in danger." Pineapple, for example. Wild absolutely adored fresh-picked pineapple, so sweet and juicy with a wonderful crispness to it!
She took a moment to slow down before enthusiasm swept her up. Usually when her plans to unheave someone's life included travel, it was much easier if they were willing to go along with it. "Did you ever want to visit the tropics? You aren't the least bit curious about what it's like to actually be there?"
Wylie watched her as she bounced up and down and talk a mile a minute, inwardly shaking his head. Where did she get all of her energy? “I've been to an island back when my parents were still alive, but we never strayed far from civilization. We drank out of coconuts, all the 'wildlife' we saw were people in skimpy bathing suits, and we listened to the dulcet sounds of coins plinking into slot machines.” Wylie turned and looked at his flowers, reaching out to touch a bit of drooping wisteria.
“I used to love exploring things when I was young. Go on adventures, look for treasure.” He smiled wistfully. “Now I stay in my house, making sure no one can get in. My life is one day of threatening danger after another.” Wylie shook his head, realizing what he'd said too late. He winced.
How unfair, being all cooped up in a house when he had once looked for adventure and excitement! Wild seemed to puff a little with indignation at the thought. Not that his garden wasn't a lovely place, but it was still just a single garden that changed only with the seasons. There was so much more to see and do in life than walk the same paths over and over!
The fire of determination now lit, if she could have Wild probably would have kidnapped Wylie right then and there. The tropics were a bit too far even more an imagined boost of strength, but she would have thought up /something/ to add a bit of excitement to his life! It didn't seem to occur to her that she'd already introduced quite a bit of excitement today, and that her thoughts didn't just toe the line but rather jumped it after a running start!
"There's got to be something around here we can do that counts as an adventure," she said, looking around as though one might pop out of one of the flowers. "People need adventures, even adults," she continued firmly, wings fluttering with pent up energy. "They add fun and excitement to life!"
Wylie watched Wild's reactions to what he was saying and realized she hadn't even noticed his comment. Silly thing, didn't she realize that there was too much danger in the world to just run through it willy-nilly? She could go out and be killed at any moment outside of these walls. Even if she didn't have murderous cousins like he did, there were still cars and poisonous animals and lions and all kinds of dangers.
...So why did the thoughts of those things make him feel more like leaving these walls than staying behind them another day? “Something adventurous to do around here? Well, I....” He trailed off, watching her vibrate with energy. He needed to think of an adventure fast or she was going to drag him off down the street to find one. “Do you like secret passages? I have a few in the mansion.” He gestured towards the building. “And...maybe we could...get one of my servants to hide something and go on a treasure hunt. That's kind of an adventure, right?”
Wild practically exploded with excitement at the thought. Real hidden passages and a treasure hunt?! That was an awesome suggest! She'd done a couple explorations herself, but those had mostly been old ruins or caves and nothing with secret passages or treasures other than maybe some old pieces of pottery or shiny stones. She hadn't even taken those, since it seemed disrespectful to the ruins to take something without leaving something in return, and besides she'd probably just loose or break them and that would be all kinds of sad.
She beamed at Wylie, eyes shining with enthusiasm. "That sounds amazing! Are you thinking tandem hunt or a contest to see who gets the treasure first. Oooh, I wonder about prizes! I mean I can't think of anything I want, besides the flowers, but you already gave me those so we'll have to think of something else." She fluttered her wings as she thought. "Ooh, maybe like a request or something?" She grinned broadly. "Like if I win I'm gonna request you go on a journey with me one day! Or if it's a tandem hunt we'll think of some other prize. Maybe the treasure is a delicious treat or something?" She bounced in place some more, already humming to be off!
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:48 am
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:49 am
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:50 am
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:51 am
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:52 am
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:53 am
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:54 am
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:55 am
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:56 am
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:57 am
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:58 am
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:59 am
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 2:00 am
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