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 Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:42 am
This had to be the first time Aoi had been actively nervous about something for a long while... The floramancer ran his hand through his monochrome petals, before speaking up. He hadn't even realized part of his voice was slipping through telepathically to the gentlemanly hawk, a sort of super-stereo set of vocals going on. Not loud, mind; just audible, strong, even possible not to notice the mental aspect of his speech at all. "Hello, Mr. Banning...It's nice to see you again..." The Alter allowed himself a soft smile. "I couldn't help but notice you seemed a little...worried, maybe, how have you been?" He carefully infused his words with every inkling of unobtrusiveness he could manage without making it seem obvious, wouldn't want to look like he was prying...
Elst, meanwhile, seemed perfectly content as he quietly sipped at his drink, mellow as a breezeless field of grass, it could be said. Affection had been exchanged with lovely Timka, so he couldn't possibly be happier. His mind was...aloof, for a while. He eventually drifted back from the clouds, however, and slowly realized that he had been standing there for quite some time. That wasn't good, was it. He'd never really had much of a sense of what was awkward, but this seemed like one of those times where he should go occupy himself with something...The slender vine of a man looked around briefly, perhaps he could go talk to someone, but all seemed preoccupied, until...was that Rhian?
It was, apparently, and she was quite alone, such a shame that was, wherever could Faolan and Ellandra be? Elst moved over to the Alter girl, offering a tranquil smile. "Oh...hello, Rhian, it's been so long since I have seen you..." Any air of glum Rhian carried was at first lost to the green man.
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Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 1:08 pm
Banning had a split-second to notice Rhian's entrance, before Aoi made his aggravatingly shifty attempt to 'make a conversation' with him. No doubt, regardless of the way he was trying to seem inconspicuous, something was going on here. The coincidence was too striking, and he'd noticed that the floramancer acted a little strangely several times before. Hm, so maybe today he would get the entire story instead of tease-pokes at the edge of his personal space suggesting something was wanted of him but nothing was ever asked.
Nice to see me again, yes, yes, we've heard it all before, now get to the point, will you. The Duke truly couldn't help glaring for a moment, rather annoyed by all this introductory chitchat from the get-go. Really, he had his manners and lived by them usually, but right now even basic courtesy was stretching his nerves a little.
"I have been well. What do you want from me." There, you have your answer, now have my question. No, he did not mean to waste any formalities on this. If Aoi was offended, he would apologise later, when he did not feel like he wanted to hit someone with something rare and expensive in order to be left alone with his thoughts.
Not far from this awkward-caustic scene, an entirely different sort of interaction was starting up when, just as Elst was greeting Rhian, Misha found a second to tear his attention away from his smaller siblings and do the same. Rather explosively, too. With a cheerful holler to his sweet little sister he moved away from the small crèche of protos-plus-Orpheus, and could just about quench the visual 'HELLO' that his forehead-crest issued forth by slapping his hand over the bright spot. Rather not blind everyone in the room, hahah.
"Rhian-sis!" Incoming bundle of sunrays, warm evening-mode, ten o'clock~
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 3:52 pm
"Hello, Elst," Rhian said, her usually perky voice subdued and quiet, along with much of her usually-bright presence. She smiled a little, but it was a weak one and it didn't truly reach her eyes. "Have you and Aoi been doing all right?" The alter asked, tilting her head a little as she waited for a response. Most of her usually bubbly personality seemed absent for the moment - missing, somehow, or shut off completely. It was hard to tell which, but for some reason Rhian just wasn't complete at the moment, and she knew it. She definitely felt it as she shifted her weight between her feet and wondered if she should go back home, after all this was a party and she didn't want to make anyone here sad by having them notice how empty she'd become with the absence of Lauss.
The former butterfly honestly hadn't thought that Lauss' vanishing would affect her quite this badly - she'd expected hurt, yes; quite a lot of it from what she'd experienced secondhand through Ellandra during her parents' brief separation, but nothing, nothing like this. Sometimes, lately, when she looked up at the night sky, she felt like she could slip right into the black spaces between the stars and never be seen again, and it wouldn't affect anything because there wasn't much left of her to leave. Oh, she still went through the motions of being herself, playing dress-up with the dogs and helping care for the babies; teasing Ziazan and interrupting Mama and Papa during awkward moments... but her heart, so to speak, just wasn't in it.
Ziazan knew this, Rhian didn't even have to ask her genderless sibling to know that - Zia just knew like always, and so did Mama and Papa, but she was pretty sure that the babies, at least, were fooled and were kept happy. Rhian hadn't dared to try spinning cotton candy in the last few months; not only had her love of fluffy treat diminished with the increasing ache in her heart, but also the once pink and sweet treat had begun to dim, and now turned out as a grey cloud that tasted like one of those cookies that had been sitting on a shelf for too long and had lost all of its flavor.
Yes, maybe leaving would be best - it wouldn't be good to be a downer at a party that was supposed to be happy! And definitely not with Aoi there, if he sensed even a thin echo of how empty she'd become, he'd be over to her in a heartbeat trying to fix it, and as much as she loved her older brother, Rhian didn't particularly want his help. She didn't think he could do too much, anyway. But just as she'd made up her mind to make her excuses to Elst and back her way out of the party, Misha barreled over and straight into her, nearly knocking her off her feet with the force of his impact.
"Oh, hi there Misha," she said, not feeling up to adding the '-fluffy' to his name like she had in the past, though she knew that absence would probably put the bunny on high alert. She was alright though, really. She was accomplishing her purpose, helping her Mama out; and she was living a happy life with a family that loved her - so there was no need for her older siblings to work themselves into some kind of a tizzy over her. She only hoped that Misha, grown up as he was now, would keep anything he noticed to himself, because she really couldn't take having to explain to everyone that Lauss was gone. Not when she didn't even know when or how he'd gone, just that he was...
'Oh, Lauss... why can't you come home...?"'
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Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 9:37 pm
Sensing the aggravation and overall negativity from Banning immediately, Aoi shied away mentally, like a hand from a hot pan. His soft smile lessened. The following glare from the man did not help, and the Alter was soon near frowning. In his earlier days as Alter this could have affected him rather badly, but he'd fortunately matured since then, emotionally stronger. This did not change, however, the fact that the man was far from pleased with him. Aoi tried to remain pleasant nonetheless.
"I...was just wondering if you were okay, you honestly seem offset by something...It's a big part of my purpose, after all, I try to help with these things..." The Alter was being entirely honest, after all; he was earnestly concerned for the man, and was quite hesitant to think it might have anything to do with a certain feathered friend. Aoi took a deep breath, however, realizing that this might be a very important choice he needed to make. "And, well, there's something I need to talk to you about, it's important. I just think that this is really not the place for it, not in the middle of a party..." Ultimately, he wanted to hopefully have Banning over to the Nursery to talk about this particularly sensitive matter. It had been far too long that this secret had been kept.
Aoi could detect the new presence of his 'little sister' now in the room, and something was definitely off...but he could not go over to her just yet.
"We have been well, all is the usual aside from Aoi's coloration..." Elst trailed off, however, as it set upon him that something was definitely off with Rhian. The tall man may have been rather...oblivious to many things, but even he could not miss such obvious signs. "Rhian...are you alright...? He soon was wearing a soft look of concern for the girl, kneeling just slightly to even out their heights somewhat - he was over a foot taller than the Alter, after all.
At that moment, however, a rather beaming ray of good cheer rocketed towards the girl, and Elst's expression registered only the smallest hint of surprise as the rabbit-themed boy came into sudden view. "Oh, hello Misha..." Well then, this was becoming a rather odd clash of moods, wasn't it.
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 11:50 am
Indeed, Rhian's lack of enthusiasm and the sudden ditching of his usual title-suffix were signs Misha could not possibly miss. His initial hunch, not entirely thought through initially, hadn't been proven wrong. Something was amiss, and given the circumstances that he knew of, it wasn't that much of a mystery What the cause of her low mood was needed no asking, not for now. Banning kept them informed, after all.
At her rather lukewarm response to his greeting -Misha already had his arms around her at that point, in a brief warm cuddle smelling of sand and sun-drenched plains- he let her go calmly, making sure to set her down back to her feet. He didn't need to be in the Social class to sense that she was saddened, lonely, most likely. At least the fact that she had bothered to come see them was a hopeful sign that she was still in part her butterfly-self seeking some company. It would have been a lot more worrying to find that she'd holed herself up in Farstep... Of course, Ziazan was there with her, so if anything should take a turn for the worst, it could always call for support. Not that that was such a pleasant idea at all, no.
Thinking this over for a moment, Misha scanned her over, then tried to catch her gaze. The others would be alright for now, he needed to make sure his littlest eldest sister was alright.
"Are you hanging in there a little, hm...?" he asked her, speaking softly now, letting her know that he was aware of the situation and how concerned he was in one vocalisation. If even Elst noticed that soemthing was off -no offense to the living vegetable there-, no question that no matter how she tried to not exude a sense of gloom, there was no hiding it from those who cherished her.
"You are a magicker for as far as I am concerned. Even if something unsettled me it is none of your concern, strictly speaking." Harsh counter, crude words, no matter how hard Banning struggled to keep himself from raising his voice, to not snarl out his retort. The entire story of how the floramancer had gotten himself into trouble more than a dozen times had given him an impression of these antics that could hardly be viewed as impressive.
"Though I'd be most intrigued to hear what has been going on here at last. Not now, not here indeed. I will not be played with, understand."
My, my... Not even a tamed and captured eagle should be teased, for even the most tolerant and reserved of them will invariably lash out, show those talons, when they reach their limit. Banning had reached his, in this unexpected manner. Nothing could have prepared him for the suspicions stirring within him, and neither did he know how to deal with them, or himself right now. It was time for some damage control, set his limits out, defend his barriers. He was still Duke DeLonghy in this, someone who had never allowed anyone to trifle with him in the way that suddenly everyone seemed to be trying to. Ever since this project had started to pick up it had become harder and harder to maintain his distance... No respect these days, none at all. Who was he, some sort of pitiful grumpy old uncle who could be fixed with a cuddle and being invited to tea parties more often? No, thank you kindly, sirs. He knew his position, and they better remember it.
With that in mind, Banning kept taxing Aoi sharply, not without a relieved sort of satisfaction finding that the essentic had quickly realised that this would not be a pleasant chit-chat. Only once he had convinced himself that he was being taken seriously, that he had fended off any attempts at some touchy-feely contact, did he allow his feathers to settle, his posture to slacken slightly.
"My apologies... You are not wrong in calling me out on my state of mind." Alright, so he was at least trying to make up for almost throwing a hissy fit. "Please forgive me for being a little... ill-tempered. I would love to hear what you believe you have to say. On your terms."
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Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 6:12 pm
"I'm alright Misha, Elst," Rhian said, offering both her companions a watery smile. She knew she wasn't all right, not exactly, but she was really doing so much better than she had been before. She'd left the house, after all; she wasn't hiding herself away for all of eternity in hope that Lauss would somehow come back, that everything would be right again. Deep down, she somehow had the feeling that it never would be, not as it had once been.
On some days, the better days, she felt like the moon; all alone in the night sky, but not alone, exactly, because Drente was there, and so were the stars. On the worse days, she felt as if her life were the void between the stars, sucking her in and stealing the life out of her. Those were the days she was lucky to even get out of bed, let alone do much visiting. She could tell that Misha knew why she was sad, but that Elst didn't; and she didn't know how she could tell the kindly plant man that Lauss was... was gone. She didn't want to make him have to think about something like that; not on a party night.
Sighing a little, she felt her companions deserved a little more than a simple 'I'm alright' when she clearly wasn't, so the flutterby added a soft, barely-there, "I just miss him, that's all," by way of explanation.
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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 1:59 am
Elst observed Rhian softly, just trying to discern what is was that troubled her. She was sad, yes...but why? She'd always been the happier one, cheerful, what could possibly be bringing her down? A smooth sync with Aoi, however, quickly answered his questions. The floramancer had began bringing their connection to full swing, out of concern for his little sister, and as Aoi observed, Elst became aware. By the time Rhian mentioned that she missed 'him', Elst knew exactly who she referred to. This can't be good...For the moment, Elst remained silent, not sure of how to help her.
Aoi, meanwhile, was torn between two situations - one unsettlingly hostile Banning, dude, I'm just trying to help you...and one little sister that greatly needed attention. Upon linking with Elst, Aoi realized just how bad it was; come to think of it, Lauss had been gone for far, far too long. Which added a third worry over how Lauss was, why would he disappear like this...but back to the present. Acid-toned man.
"Magicker or not, part of my purpose is to care..." Really now, what was jabbing him so hard in the ribs to be so harsh...nothing compared to the hostility Aoi had received from particular others, however. "And it doesn't change that I can be concerned for people, either, I only want to help." Completely truthful; Aoi kept his tone pleasant as could be appropriate, despite the unpleasantness directed towards him.
"I...I honestly don't know why you think I'm playing with you, though, the...goal here is something I think you'd want as much as I do. I've wanted to get this done for ages, now, but everything seemed to get in the way and I kept doubting myself over if it would be a good idea or not." Alright, deep breath now, he seems to be calming down... "Oh, it's okay, all forgiven of course, I'm sorry for bothering you...I think it'd be best if we met at the nursery, it's a good environment, and private too. Would a day or two from now be acceptable?" He tried his best to be semi-professional, now; it was obvious that any extra pleasantness he used would not be taken well.
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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 4:15 am
Yes, she missed him. That was obvious, it was logical, there was no way the kind-hearted flutterby would not mourn the departure of her most cherished friend, the one she loved with all her heart. At least Misha was convinced that the servicer was alright, wherever he was right now. Technically the messenger would be able to find him, but as things were, it was clear that he was not to make an attempt. That Rhian hadn't asked him to so far hinted that she realised this as well.
"That's alright..." the bunny nodded quietly, offering her a gentle reassuring smile, for a moment sharing in her sadness. Don't be ashamed of how you feel, hm, it's alright. Nobody expects you to be bouncing around with joy when you really aren't in any mood to.
And hey, he missed Lauss, too, in his own way. There just was something about that oblivious, valiantly struggling goofball that made him so invariably himself, that was now so clearly missing from the whole that was their loosely-knit family. Not in the least the fact that he had connected to his dearest sister in such a profound manner, similar to but vastly different from the way Ziazan and Crux had shared that uncanny partnership of theirs.
"It'll be okay, hm, sis. I'm glad you came to join us today, it's been ages since we saw you..." he laid a warm hand on her shoulder then, addressing her almost sotto-voce, his attention focused solely on her. No need to be crude with her, even if in the end the plan was to try and make her forget about her worries for even a moment, perhaps by engaging into the action going on right here?
"Say Rhian, now that you're here, would you mind saying hello to the new arrivals? I'm sure they'd be quite impressed to find they have such a lovely big sister hovering around." A twinkle of a cheeky smile there, a little tilt of the head, hm, hm? Does that sound like a plan? "You don't have to, mind."
__
Elsewhere, things weren't half as downy-soft. Alright, the entire purpose-or-not argument Banning could ignore for now. The suggestion that he needed to be cared about, however, the idea alone that the little self-righteous brat had any right to get his nose into the man's business simply because he cared, that was a bridge too far. It was quite an effort to hold back on even more vicious comebacks to this, let it be at a visible puffing up, a warning intake of breath to make his chest swell ominously.
Little did Banning realise that he had about as much control over his overreacting self-defense mechanism as a cat can control its tail twitching. For now he allowed himself to retain his dignity by believing this was all just the way he wanted it, to keep everyone at bay and prove how wide the distance was between him and Aoi. Yes, this was him acting on purpose, just the way he liked it.
Yes, absolutely.
Yeah, right.
At least the message was going through clearly, and Bane grimly recognised all the signs in the floramancer of someone who was at least as uncomfortable now as he himself was. Served him right.
"Don't think in my stead, Aoi. In the case that you are aware of what I think this is about, then you better have a very, very good explanation for bringing this up at all. I find myself hoping for your own good that you're just erring about with some unsubstantial delusion to waste my time." Unbending, unyielding. Stuck in inner conflict, the outward Banning, while still never once raising his voice, was by all means just as scathing as the doubt growing within him.
It just couldn't be, it couldn't. It made no sense, there was no logic to it at all. If, -and he already hated himself for even considering this at all-, IF this truly was about the one topic he had avoided for all these years, then...
The questions that would raise were too much to handle.
"Two days from now. I will talk about the exact time with your father, then." glare-o-glare.
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 2:24 am
Aoi sighed slightly, mentally, as he watched Banning's mood worsen, held barely back by threads. He knew defense mechanisms when he saw them, and he'd do whatever he could to help for the time being - which was just not to interfere further, to let things play out in two days time. "I wouldn't want to waste your time. Dad'll help choose a time we can close the nursery for your visit." He took a deep breath, thinking. "I just hope it all works out...Rhian needs me now, please excuse me." Without any further commentary, Aoi turned and headed over to his distressed little sister, unaffected by the glares he received.
He could not stop the part of his mind that drifted into memories, to before everything was so complicated, before he had taken in so much pain. To when Rhian was still young and undamaged by loss, before so many things had gone wrong. Back to when he could simply be happy without the constant searing pain of the worry he held for the rest of the world chaining him down. Deep inside his ashen form, there was still that silent flower, fresh from the stone, eager and curious to explore the world around him without the heavy responsibilities he would later take on. Mere memories, they were, but they were of safer times. Aoi kept them close.
Don't worry, Rhian, I'll help you...
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Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 10:39 pm
Rhian accepted Misha's hand on her shoulder without complaint; simply standing there for a long moment, saying nothing, feeling too much. Her antennae twitched almost thoughtfully, and after a small eternity of standing nearly as still as a statue - so unlike the ever moving flutterthing she usually was - the female alter stepped closer to Misha and threw her arms around the solar-powered bunny in a nearly-desperate hug.
"Maybe - maybe in a bit, Misha," she said finally, her voice cracking from the strain of keeping herself composed. Phooey to those that thought since she wasn't human she wasn't feeling; she almost wished she were unfeeling at this moment in time. As she stood there, clinging to Misha like he was her last lifeline to sanity, Rhian closed her eyes, her mind drawing herto that endless void she saw in the sky at night,the place between the stars. It felt as though it might swallow her up, essence and all...
The times that she hurt the most, when the pain of Lauss being gone was almost too much for her tender essence to bear; the times that she felt that no matter the love her family gave her, no matter the support and reassurance they gave her, she would still feel that shredding, torn-apart pain in her being, for all of eternity... at those times, she rather welcomed the void.
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:16 am
Poor little flutterby... Lauss' departure surely hit her hard, as was likely with a pure Socialite like her.
Misha nodded calmly at her response, not really having expected any differently -though he could only try, no? He laid his arms around her gently then, offering her all the comfort he could give with a warm squeeze, a soft pat on her back. Hush, little sister, hush, it's alright, I'm here for you... and not just me.
"Hey Rhian... look who's coming to join us." he whispered to her, upon registering Aoi's steady approach, and giving her just a little nudge so she could see what he was referring to.
In the same breath, the bunny also took notice of his boss' less than sympathetic mood. Oh boy, what was that now, hm... No doubt about 'that'. No doubt. Not with the presence he'd felt around, or with Aoi having talked to him.
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Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 12:57 am
[[So very sorry for the delay, worst writer's block I've ever had... x.x]]
Aoi's eyes were soft with concern as he approached Rhian' drawing closer, he could sense out more and more of her pain. As she was currently mid-embrace with Misha, there was little he could do physically, but he rested a hand on her shoulder, gently, and the faint grey of his mist became visible along his arm. It moved slowly, towards her, bringing with it the feeling of tranquility that Aoi often offered, as he offered to take away whatever little bit of pain he could for her. Anything to help his little sister feel better.
"Hey sis..."
Aoi tried to smile for her as best he could, to try and give her a little light in that void.
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