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 Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:16 pm
"Best stuff in the world!" He chirped slightly as the other stallion asked about his food. Nothing was better than these little things. Nothing ever. He looked at his little bundle that was quickly growing smaller.
"Don't know what its called. Tasty though. Makes the world go blurry." He grinned slightly. "Can feel better cause of it too."
He didn't notice the side affects that made him stumble or that made his hips stick out of his hide. All of that seemed insignificant in the pursuit of his favorite treat.
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:01 pm
Warning bells went off in Zaphiro's mind. Blurry? That sounded like the effects of a poison, not a food. But if it was a poison, then how could the other stallion possibly still be alive?
Zaphiro had never seen the application of medication, nor did he know about the power of hallucenigenic plants. Though he'd spent most of his life out in the wilds, such knowledge had never become his and he was therefore at a distinct disadvantage right now.
But just because he didn't know what he was dealing with didn't mean he didn't know something was wrong. The fact that Obsequium didn't seem to notice any problems only emphasized that fact, and now Zaphiro was determined to see what he could do to help.
Eyeing the bundle again, Zaphiro decided to see how lucky he could actually get. "So, have you been eating that stuff for long, Obsequium?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 11:31 am
"Forever and ever." He nodded. He'd always eaten the plants and had never really had a taste for anything else. He couldn't remember ever not. Then again he couldn't remember all that much about his 'younger' days anyway. He wasn't even sure he had younger days.
The plants were his life and they were all he needed to sustain him even if his body tried to complain occasionally. Nothing was wrong in the world as long as he could get at his favorite treat.
eying the blue stallion for a moment he clicked his tongue. "Why? Is it important how long i've been eating it?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 3:33 pm
Zaphiro frowned, not expecting to get such a direct question from the stallion. And why should he have been expecting it when all he'd gotten previously was ramblings and the occassional giggle?
Still, that directness was more than a little unsettling. If Obsequium had been eating that...that...plant for as long as he claimed, the potential consequences could be devastating. Probably already was, in fact, if the darker stallion's gaunt appearance was any indication. He was no doubt being killed slowly from the inside out...
The question was, what damage had that plant done to his mind? Had he become a beast, or merely a child? Would he fight? Fragile-looking as he was, Zaphiro wouldn't put it past him to fight tooth and hoof to protect that bundle of his, so he'd have to keep his guard up.
But directness deserved to be answered with directness, and he'd deliver. Lifting his head to squarely meet the other stallion's gaze, Zaphiro gave Obsequium a nod. "As a matter of fact it is, considering the state of your body. Are you aware that you look like a walking skeleton, friend Obsequium? Does this plant make up the entirety of your diet, or do you eat anything else?"
Another doubt, to be totally frank.
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Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 3:51 pm
The plants had addled his mind far beyond the compare of most but somewhere in there was the sharp mind he'd been born with. The problem was bringing it out aside from moments of brilliance. "I don't need anything else. As long as i have this the world is perfection."
He met the other's eyes and his lips pulled back into some semblance of a grin. "Isn't there something in this world that you would sell your soul for?" Everyone had something they would give everything and then some form. Some people would even go far enough to sell others for their 'thing'. "Something you'd give every ounce of yourself and even others for?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 5:09 pm
Nothing else; this stallion ate NOTHING besides those plants. And for how long? How old was he, anyway, and how had he managed to make it to adulthood without any true sustenance?
Was there some benefit to that plant? Even as it killed, it strengthened? Or maybe it brought strength at the expense of the mind and the body...
Zaphiro shook off the idea, his body all but shuddering with distaste at the mere concept. Nothing was worth that kind of sacrifice; the mind was what defined you, and if you lost it, then you were nothing.
This stallion didn't seem to think so, though. The eyes that met Zaphiro's were bright almost to the point of glowing, and that grin...it was disturbing in its perkiness. Was that what he meant when he spoke of selling his soul? That bundle was so precious that he was willing to sacrifice everything else, and for what?
Raising his chin, Zaphiro returned the other stallion's look. "Nothing is worth giving up everything else for, and definitely not to the point of sacrificing others. To acheive through one's own natural abilities, to lose and gain based on those self-same abilities."
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Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 5:39 pm
He giggled again. "No one is above the influence. You'll find something one day that you would sacrifice the whole world for." There was intelligence behind the twisted smile and bright eyes. "You may not do it but the idea will cross your mind."
He turned his head after a moment to snap at an insect that had taken interest in one of the cuts on his hide. When he looked back at Zaphiro the brightness and grin were gone from his face. It was like a switch had been turned on for a moment and just as quickly flicked off.
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Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 5:53 pm
It was a bluff; a statement mean to throw off any more questions, nothing more. So why was it so unsettling?
It had to be the eyes. The smile could be ignored, dismissed even; but those eyes seemed to be holding back a smug knowledge of things yet to happen. Which was ludicrous, of course, but unsettling nonetheless. Why was he letting this stallion get to him, anyway? He'd been fine up until a minute ago.
Still, he managed to hide his shaken nerves behind the banal facade of his expression. "Maybe no one is above temptation, but not everyone has to give into it. It's possible to overcome; you yourself don't have to be locked in with your plants!"
However, as Obsequium glanced back his way Zaphiro got the impression this was a lost cause. That eerie brightness was gone...assuming it had been there at all. Great, now HE was going crazy.
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Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 6:04 pm
He giggled again and pranced in a small circle. "Temptation is the killer of all, the bane of Kings and the destroyer of kingdoms. No one is above temptation." He stopped as he faced the blue stallion again. "Not even you."
He took a few steps forward so he was closer to the other. "Something is tempting you now to ask me all these questions yes? Otherwise you'd have already left." The brightness was still missing from his eyes but something else was there. It was almost as if he'd had this conversation already and was recalling something else.
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Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 6:22 pm
Zaphiro tensed slightly. It was one thing to wander unknowingly into a situation, it was another to go in of your own voition. He should have known that there would be more to this Soquili than might first meet the eye; that laughter should have told him as much. But now that he was actively involved in a potentially dangerous situation, he was thinking about those things in a whole new light.
To be frank, he had no idea what the stallion's game was. Was he offended at having his life choices obliquely criticized? Or did he just like to mess with the minds of others?
He'd have to play it much closer now...
So it was with careful thought that he finally decided what to say. "True. But curiousity is slightly different from temptation, at least in this sense. I could refrain from asking questions, but if I had to stop I wouldn't really be concerned about losing that perogative. That aside, I'm not willing to sacrifice anything to continue to question you. Could you say the same about your own temptation?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 6:47 pm
"Curisouty is merely a mild form of temptation. A form that is often times more dangerous than temptation itself." He was coming off his buzz but since his attention had been taken by this stallion he didn't think of going for his treat again. He was far too interested in playing with the stallion.
"I would give up anything for it. Is that not obvious? Are you going to lecture me on the evils of what i'm doing and how it must be hurting me?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 7:10 pm
It COULD have been a lucky guess. But Zaphiro had the uncomfortable feeling that those eerily bright eyes were looking right through him, even to the point of reading his mind.
Or was that the intent?
Zaphiro's gaze was steady, belying the fact that he felt like the mouse facing off against a hungry cat. But he wasn't going to be made to feel like a hypocrit, no sir.
"I don't pressume to lecture on what I don't understand. I don't even know what your plant bundle even IS, let alone what it does. I can only see that you look emaciated to the point that I'm amazed your legs haven't broken beneath your weight, meager as it is. Is it a bad thing to expression concern on behalf of a fellow Soquili?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 11:34 am
He tilted his head again and giggled. "Have you ever seen the plants the two leggers use to hold ceremonies? It makes a really pretty blue smoke." He nodded as he spoke. "It's delicious and tasty and beautiful."
The bundle didn't look all that lovely but to Obsesquim it was the most beautiful thing ever created. "I don't need concern. I just need my plants" That was it. Everything he ever wanted and needed was bundled up inside those little plants.
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Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 10:52 pm
"No..." And yet that wasn't completely true. Zaphiro remembered seeing the ceremony once, once when he was very small; the two leggers would put a tube to their mouths, and the blue smoke would rise...and then they would act strange. But he'd never seen the plant that caused they smoke, never even known that such a plant existed.
But he strongly doubted it was good. One only had to look at the stallion's face when he spoke of those plants to see the love that was there for them...and one only had to look at his body to see what love they had for him. It was sad, disgusting, and profoundly terrifying, all at once.
And there was nothing he could do about it.
Given how long he'd been talking to this stallion, it was amazing that it had taken Zaphiro this long to realize that fact; he was normally a pretty astute stallion, after all. But he'd spent who knows how long now standing here, trying to figure out how to help a total stranger who DEFINITELY didn't want to be helped...why? Was he really that altruistic?
No, he really wasn't, and it was time he acted on that.
"In that case, I'll take you up on that request and take myself and my concern elsewhere. It's been...interesting, Obsequium. Hopefully if I see you again, things will be different."
And hopefully Obe wouldn't be dead. With that, Zaphiro gave the other stallion a clipped bow, then started back off the way he'd come. But how long would it take him to get this meeting out of his mind?
Too long.
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Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 12:17 am
He giggled as the other stallion headed away from him. It wasn't odd for him to have others take a few looks at him and leave so he thought nothing of it.
"Do have fun Zaphiro." He grinned around his bundle and trotted in a circle for a moment. He almost tripped over his feet but managed to keep his balance with another loud giggle.
He certainly wouldn't forget the blue stallion any time soon. He hadn't had such an interesting conversation in so long. The meeting had been fun and he'd have some things to think about for weeks hopefully.
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