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March 31st, 2005
Roleplay, originally on pages 505-512 of the old thread, now logged in guild

Your halls await, my lady, came the soft, sibilant thought that Sosiqui unconciously echoed with her own lip movements. Then she sighed.

"Must I?"

I wish to practice... being. The tugging was insistent; her vision blurred.

"Very well..." She closed her eyes and gave into the soft, misty, drifting feeling that welled up. When she opened them, it was to the bright halls of the mind, deep within.

...


Illumin stretched languidly in the pillow nest on the dais, then uncurled and climbed out, a bit clumsily but much better than he had before when Lucius had made stars rise and fall.

Lucius. He snorted. He could see the vague hostility on the other god's face, and he had done nothing - nothing! - to deserve such. It was confusing, and a bit annoying. He frowned, petulantly.

The two light sprockets, sensing his movement, flew down from their usual haunt among the lanterns and orbited around him, trilling in small, ecstatic voices. He smiled and held up one hand for them to rub against. "A naming... yes, you do need names. It is obvious you have intelligence... you recognize me, don't you?" He licked his lips. "Yes.... let me see... Glory," he said, pointing at one, "and Glow," then the other. "Excellent names for two bright mirrors of the light."

The two sprockets vibrated at each other, chased each other around in a brief spat, then returned to crooning affectionately at Illumin.

The god chuckled and retrieved some of the scented oils they burned for incense. "Come here," he called. They came, and he took them back to the nest to oil them. The oil smelled of sandalwood and jasmine, and the sprockets accepted his caresses with small shivers of glee.

Illumin smiled. They might not be human worshippers, but Glory and Glow were definitely a good start...

May 12th, 2005

May 12th, 2005

Sosiqui woke up in the middle of the night, curled up into a little ball in the center of the pillow-nest on the dais. She was sweating. Her muscles ached.

"Illumin..."

Silence, again, just the ceaseless flow of whispered thoughts. "Illumin. ILLUMIN," she repeated, again and again, until the repetition of his name threatened to drown her as well.

Gods, the moths were still there. It sounded like hundreds of them, softly pulsing in a mass against the window. She dared not look; she closed her eyes tightly. "Illumin, ANSWER ME!"

There was a long pause, then... Yes?

"... they're scaring me. Make them go away," she whimpered, curling up tighter.

They know what you deny. The god's voice was surprisingly gentle.

Sosiqui let out a slow sigh, then, and relaxed all her muscles. "It is time, then? Isn't it?"

Yes. Yes it is. There was a rising tide of excitement in his thoughts now. Her fingers twitched without her moving them.

"Then just... just do it. Get it over with," she said, not moving.

Open your eyes. Get up.

"No... I don't want to," she protested, but after a minute her legs moved without her telling them to do so. She trembled as Illumin brought her to stand in front of the window.

Open your eyes.

"Wait," she managed, as she felt him tugging at her eyelids. "Let me do this myself."

Very well.

She waited a few minutes before opening her eyes, only to see a few dozen moths fluttering outside the window - not half so many as she'd imagined. The moon was full and riding high, scintillating with a dancing light that only she, with her god-blessed eyes, could see.

"... it's lovely," she admitted.

I am glad.

"Illumin?"

Yes, my Avatar?

"Why didn't you talk to me before?"

So you could be yourself again. For a while.

She thought about this for a moment. "Thank you."

I am glad, he repeated, and then the moon grew full and huge and filled the sky and the window and then broke through it and there was nothing but light everywhere everywhere everywhere...




Illumin shuddered, then flung open the window in a convulsive movement. The moths streamed in, immediately flocking to land on his skin as it suddenly pulsed with a soft glow. The fluttering of their wings against his skin was soothing and gentle.

Yes. It is time.

He arched his back, and with another wild movement, let out a muffled shriek as he called forth a vestige of his true form. Bones cracked as moth-like wings burst forth from his shoulder to unfold wetly in the cool night air. Bright color crawled through his hair and tinted his body, which flowed and changed as the morph continued. Soon all vestiges of femininity were gone, leaving behind a smooth, androgynous form. Illumin tore the clothes away, sending the moths scattering, before collapsing back into the dais, shuddering violently.

Glow and Glory, along with the rest of the moths, descended then, hanging around the edges, watching the god.

"I have come back," he managed, wearily.

Wings fluttered in the night, and the sprockets sang.

August 27th, 2005

Memi looked at the door. It looked like an ordinary door. Actually, kinda like her house's front door. Maybe there was somone who told the doors how they should look. It sounded boring.

But the place was special, she knew. It was something she felt in the pit of her stomach when she couldn't eat--she'd felt it for a week. But her mother wouldn't let her out of the house. It's too dangerous she'd say. What if something happens and I'm not there to help?

Memi was confident she could face whatever was behind the door. She pushed the door open, peering around it curiously and unafraid.

Oddly enough, the second she had gone in, another turned the corner. The teenager looked lost, in the huge sweater that the was wearing and rolling the sleeves off in nervosity, in the location, and in overall everything.

She stopped in front of the same door, trying not to trip on the legs of her faded-out jeans that where a bit too long for her, and also worn by the contant motion of being walked on.

Was it there ? Yes, it was, no doubt. The call... this melody came from here.

Sillent, she pushed the door and entered as well.

A soft rustling sound came from nearby, a glint of light off a wing. The rustling sounds continued, apparently someone or womething at work just out of sight around the bend.

Memi turned and looked at the older girl who had entered behind her. "Hello, I'm Memi. What's your--" There was a rustle from the next room. She looked over her shoulder, and then looked at the older girl. Memi hadn't seen enough of her to know who was supposed to be the leader, but if she didn't investigate soon, Memi would go it alone.

Zero barely had the time to blink before she noticed both the child and the form. The rational, scientific part of her mind told her it was stupid... a scientific impossibility, she was imagining things with this strange song, she was about to make a fool out of herself...

But the other part of her glanced at the child. She didn't seem to belong there either - she didn't seem to know. Slowly going ahead and gentely putting her hand in the child's own, more for her own confort of knowing she was somehow not alone, for the confort of a physical contact she had not felt in a long time, than for relative safety for now, as there did not seem to be anything dangerous.

Thus, she peeked a bit. "...Hello ?" She called, trough what she had intended to come in a normal tone somehow came out choked into a whisper.

The sounds continued from the further room a scent of herbs wafting through the corridors. The wing flashed into view again with a wave of lavender scent. Clinking sounds and soft humming could be heard now too. The voice was just a touch too sweet to be human, too perfectly in tune.

"C'mon!" Memi dragged the nameless older girl behind her toward the song. Memi was very curious, and a bit reckless--her mother had always been exhausted herself chasing after her through playgrounds and the house.

"Hello!" Memi said cheerfully, loudly, as she rounded the corner, looking for the source of the song and scent.

The older girl let out a meep of surprise, but oddly didn't do anything to stop Memi from dragging her off, as if her mind was somewhere else, focused on something else.

The strange music... it was getting closer and closer...

The humming stopped when the child called out. "Yes?" The voice had a sweet lilt to it. As they entered the room it became apparent it was a kitchen, a woman standing near a burner, a few leaves of herb in her hand. The wings furled against her back and out of the way, light glinting off the indigo feathers. Kind lilac eyes looked at the new comers.

"Hello," Memi repeated, smiling. "I'm Memi, and this is..." It suddenly dawned on her that the girl hadn't actually told her her name. She nudged the older girl gently. She was so shy...

The nudge, thanksfully, snapped her out of her distraction, and she fully noticed just who they where facing.

She was JUST getting used to people with wings, but this was still a little too much. But then she seemed to understand what she was supposed to do.

"Gomen nasai ! Watashi wa- no, wait..." The sentence ended in a mutter, noticing that she had reverted to her native language in her nervosity. Wasn't this just starting to well ?

"I mean... Im sorry, my name is Zero..."

A momentary look of confusion passed when the language switched from Japanese to English but then the woman smiled. "Welcome, I am Beryl. What draws you to the Edelsteine shop?"

" 'Cuz it's here," Memi said with a grin. "And I wanted to be here. So why not?" Memi looked at the winged odd-colored woman with interest. "So why do you look like that? Most people I know don't have skin out of a crayon box. Was it magic or were you born that way?"

Zero cringed just sightly, hoping the woman would not find offence, or else they would most likely be in deep poop.

"Ano... I have no idea." She admitted. She's allready humiliated herself, it didn't really matter now... Even if I just sounded so silly. "...For about a day, I've been hearing some kind of music... It... seems to come from here. I am deeply sorry if I interrupted something..."

At least she could console herself that, trough history, about all the geniuses where a bit toc toc...

"The color suits me and changes to my moods. That's why I'm this color."

She chuckled a bit and listened. "Then you've both been called. Look in your pockets, perhaps you already have it with you and are merely looking for an aide for this step..."

"Oh." Memi blinked, and considered this for a moment. "Neat! Do you think you could teach me how?" She glanced around the room, taking in all the interesting things scattered around the room. She let go of Zero's hand and approached Beryl. "Can I touch your wings? I don't have any," she said, as if it weren't completely obvious.

Called... ?

Confusion filled the teen's mind, but she obeyed, starting to turn in her pockets, accidentally spilling the contents, which considered of bubble gum, a small screwdriver, and a case of screws. Feeling her pale face turn a deep red, she threw herself on her knees to pick the whole.

"Ahhh, gomen, gomen !!!"

"Of course you can, just be gentle." SMilng she knelt down so the child could look. Seeing teh screws fall over the ground and the driver kit she just smiled and scooped up the ones near her. "Not to worry, it happens. And I see I was right." She held up a smooth blue gem to the light, letting it glint. "Meki, do you have a stone in your pockets?"

"Don't think so," Memi said, patting Beryl's wings gently. "Jen has a pet bird, but his wings don't feel anything like yours." She trailed her hand across the leading edge of Beryl's wing. "What's flying like? I haven't even been in an airplane."

The red in Zero's face did not fade, however, quickly shoving the whole in her pocket before peering up to look at the gem...

And how the soft music seemed to come from it.

The look on her fact was sightly priceless. If it was producing the music, and somehow was in her pocket all along, how and why did the sound had seemed to come from here and not her pocket ?

Her brow furrowed just a bit in confusion and nervosity. This was so somehow ******** with the laws of physics...

"Called?" came a lazy, impudent voice from the stairwell. "Must everyone who comes here be 'called'? Does that mean the boy who brought my Chinese food yesterday was also summoned? Shall I go and bring him back to meet his destiny?" Illumin leaned on the bannister and glanced down at those gathered, his mothlike wings flapping lazily.

"]"Do you now remember Calling your own or does your own "light and glory" blind the vain Light?" Beryl's tone was a bit sort.

Turning back to the duo she placed the gem in Zero's hand. "Often one will be called here to receive a gem such as this. THey are rare, and extrememly special. Don't mind Illumin there. Brilliant but a bit dummer during the waking hours like any dawn."

Memi giggled and left Beryl's side to look up the stairwell at the person on the stairwell. "Hello, I'm Memi." She seemed determined to introduce herself to as many people as possible. "But I didn't bring any Chinese..."

Eying Memi just a bit, Zero decided to focus on what was completely puzzeling her. She eyed the blue stone with equally blue eyes, finally raising them to look at Beryl's face for the first time in this conversation, driven with a scientific mind's desire to know and understand.

"...But im sure i didn't have it before." She said. "...Special ? How so, miss ?"

Turning back she smiled, the stone on her chest glinting as she turned, eyes smiling. "There is a goddess inside waiting to awaken. Like I was." he hand brushed the gem just below her collarbone.

Illumin snorted, but his eyes were bright with more than their usual glow. "Foreordained providence, and all that, hmmm? Well then." He was showing off now, vaulting down the stairs with such speed that he ALMOST seemed to float in midair, and his loincloth - only worn because others tended to pout at him without it - fluttered wildly. "No Chinese? What good are you, then?"

Gods ? Wait, no, gods didn't resist, right ? Right. Everything had a nice, scientific explaination...

But when Illumin zoomed down the stairs quicker than her sight could register, she failed to come up with that scientific explaination that would have made everything okay.

Swallowing the lump in her troat, she focused on Beryl again, still watching Memi by the corner of her eyes, in some kind of protecting instinct she didn't know she had.

She had seen many crazy things in this world, anyway...

"...And..." Her voice had choked again, but she forced it up. "...What do I have to do with all of this ?"

"I know who I am and I'm at peace with that. Better than most people can say," Memi said with a grin. "What good are you?" she asked in reply, tilting her head slightly to one side.

"She has a fair question, Illumin. Oh! I know, could you get that lightbulb in the corner to work? It's been flickering." The dig was deliberate, sent with a grin on her face.

Turning back to Zero she motioned to some charis where they could sit and converse. "You were called by this one to join with her. To help her be reborn."

Illumin spluttered. "I am Light," he said, drawing himself up to his full height and flaring his wings behind him, for dramatic effect. A soft glow suffused through his skin - not quite the wild glory he'd once held, but that would come in time. "That should be enough," he added, self-importantly.

He shot a glare at Beryl. "Electric things, feh. Go call some lord of lightning for such silly trinkets."

"Well, is it?" Memi asked. "It's pretty, but is it enough?" She held her serious demeanor for another couple of seconds, and then lapsed back to a childlike giggle and asked, "Can I touch your wings?"

Zero's eyes whidened just a bit, as she about flopped in the chair.

Yes.. the laws of physics was on vacation.

"...Me ?" As if there was a doubt. Her small eyes where so full of confusion, her mind so swallowed in it that she feared that she might drown. "...How am I supposed to do something like that, im not really... someone... you know... important and powerful and all that."

Yes, she did not understand a thing.

"More Dim Bulb I'd say." She whispered the sentence just loud enough to know Illumin would hear, sending a buffet of air against his wings at just the right speed to send him to his rear.

"Lord of silling trinkets? Is that who you saw for your wardrobe? I thought you were trying to pay homage to Eamnonn, my apologies." Her tone was entirely unapologetic.

"Whether or not you think yourself important, Zero, you are. Here and now. And you've been chosen to help in a rather serious task."

Illumin jumped, then turned to send another glare in Beryl's direction, this one strong enough that... well, it almost LOOKED like eye-lasers, even though it had no effect whatsoever.

Attempting to restore his bruised dignity, he turned back to Memi. "If you like," he said, graciously. It always paid to be kind to humans when their following depended on them. True, this was a bit more contact than he would allow... but then he hadn't fully reascended to his glory, had he? A bit of indulgence could be allowed. Perhaps she'd remember her brush with Light for the rest of her life, and the memory would become a shining beacon treasured until she died. Ah, yes, of course.

Zero watched in sillence, up to the point where the god of light was sent crashing on his godly behind.

Must not laugh... Must not... Must not...

....SNERK !!!!!!!!!!!!

Cough.

"...Gomen." However, Zero sounded like she was apologetic for 3 people. "...But what am I supposed to do, lady... ? Forgive me, but I don't understand..."

Memi gently touched his wings, marveling at the play of light across them. "They're really pretty." She brushed the surface of them with one palm, and looked up at him. "What is this task she's telling Zero about?" she asked.

Illumin swelled under the praise, then glanced over and frowned. Oh... wait, was that a gem in that other woman's hand?

Well, damn. They really WERE called. That meant they couldn't be his worshippers, too... what a shame. He shook his head sadly, then turned back to Memi. "Hmm.... well. You see that gem?" He quirked one finger in Zero's direction. "It bears a god or goddess, waiting to be reborn. Like me." He swept his hair away and indicated the gem on the left side of his neck.

"He's right. It's up to you to help this diety be reborn. Will you?"

That was nice and all... But no one was really answering her question.

"I know that... But what am I supposed to do in order for it to happen ? I would prefer to know what will happen exactly, if you could tell me."

"Everything about you glows," Memi said, peering at the gem, his wings, and everything about him. "So.... a person sticks a gem on them, and they become a god?" Memi looked between Beryl and Illumin critically.

"Basically." Illumin waved one hand at the display of gems - he'd never really looked at them in any detail. Well, except that one time when he'd gloated over them, but he'd had hot sake at the time and hadn't been quite himself... really. "They're over there, but not just ANYONE can have one. They call their perfect hosts, and then eat them up. Chomp, chomp." He mimed jaws snapping together with his hands. Maybe if he could dissuade this girl from taking a gem, she would make a lovely High Priestess someday. Ooh, yes.

"There is already a soul within the gem, just the barest trace of the diety. You sould bond, combine and become one and the same. Whether the conciousness of the host remains is up the the both of you. Over time the host's soul will fall dormant, usually coddled by the diety that takes them over. All you need to do is choose a spot for the gem."

"So..." Memi looked over at the display. "The gem eats you. And the gem becomes a god. Sounds weird." She walked over to the display, and peered into it. So many beautiful stones.... "Um.... are they supposed to glow?" Her attention was drawn to one stone in particular, a sharp, diamond shaped stone. She looked at it more closely, and blurted, "Can I have that one?"


Zero felt in sillence at that, in quiet reflection. If she did this, then... It meant she was giving up, that she would never be able to go home. That she would never see her father again...

But another hand, she *couldn't* go back. She would have to recreate the accident, and she didn't have what she needed... And this "magic" thing that seemed so common out here couldn't do a thing for her.

And well... Maybe she WAS perfect for this. Her father probabely tought she was dead... And who would miss her here ?

The music from the gem, however, seemed to soften a bit, become words in the corner of her ears for a split second.

Do not think sutch things, my one, for they are false.

"...I don't know." She admitted.

Illumin growled at the glowing gem. How dare it?! She was a perfectly nice girl, and while the Chinese food boy had a certain something to him (likely the scent of chow mein that hung around him, but... eh) he was not what Illumin was looking for in a worshipper. The potential for blind admiration made him quite happy and... and... damn it!

He glanced warily at Beryl, then sighed. "It might want you," he admitted, making a mental note to smack the deity when it manifested.

"There is no "might". She does." Carefully she tried the glass and found she could slip her arm through, but was only able to grasp the gem Memi had pointed to.

"Since I could not have removed this elsewise, I think it was meant to be your's." She held her palm open, gem glinting in the light as she offered it to the girl.

Looking between the girls she gave a soft sigh. "If you are unsure you may stay with me for a time." She gave a sharp whistle, almost painful. A heartbeat later little clacking footsteps could be heard running down the stairs.

"Yes lady?"

"Go get some spaces ready for guests, Arrow."

"Yes, Lady." The birdboy hopped and fluttered back up the stairs to see to his goddess's needs.

"Why are all the GOOD ones taken?" Illumin lamented. "Wait, she?"

She...?

Hmmmmm.

Beryl was fought over so much you'd swear she was the last scrap in a kennel of starving dogs. Khiviance was... herself, and Illumin found her far too complex to be worth his time.

But... this girl was already...

Well, hel-LO lover.

"Well. Congratulations, I suppose?" Illumin tilted his head at Memi and beamed at her, literally, his face aglow with shifting light. "How does it feel, to be offered such a thing?"

Zero winced a bit when the sound hit her ears, but calmed down a bit, and then it registered.

Staying here ? It sounded oddly conforting... She didn't want to go back to her appartment now... She didn't want to stay alone right now.

But then, she technically wasn't alone, she thought, glancing at the gem in her palm. The voice had faded as if it was never there, replaced by the soft hum she seemed to be the only one to hear.

"...Thank you." She gave a small bow.

Memi held out her hands for the gem,a nd then curled her fingers around it possessively, like she was afraid it would fly from her grasp, or someone would take it from her. She glanced up sharply at the suggestion that she could stay, and showed the first sign of uncertainty. "But... I've got to..."

If she went home, Mom would take it from her. And she'd have to go back to the hospital again. And they'd probably not let her go anywhere, and probably yell at her for sneaking out...

"Couch fort!" Memi ran over to the couching facing the fire, and began to take the cushions out to build the walls of her fortress of fluff.

After sending Illumin a look that clearly told him to keep his hands to himself until later she laughed and walked over to Memi. "You know, I can make a bed for you in my spaces. Do you have family that might need to know where you are? Do you, Zero? I'll be happy to answer any questions you'd like that I can."

Couch... fort?

Illumin forced a smile onto his face again, through the confused look that temporarily took over. "What have you got to do?" he asked, casually, sliiiiding over to the couch, wings fluttering lightly with interest.

Zero couldn't help but smile a bit, watching Memi build her fort of fluff. How could she not be worried ?

Perhaps children where blessed with things like that... And perhaps she had grown entirely too fast.

She let out a small sigh.

"...I got no one waiting for me, miss. Beside, I don't feel like being alone right now." She admitted.

She looked up at him and paused, one of the cushions locked in her hands. After a moment she stood up and put it back on the couch, and sat on it. She seemed to struggle for a minute, and decided on her answer. "I have to go. But I have to stay. I have so many things I have to do that I have to decide what I want to do. Does that make sense?"

"Where do you have to go that could possibly be more important than this?" Illumin shrugged and helped peel one of the cushions off the couch. "Are not the gods more vital than anything else in this world?"

"It makes some sense, little one. Here, put your jewel in the pouch and don't let anyone else take it from you. You were meant to have it." She took a small velvet pouch from her belt and handed it to the girl.

"Zero, you may stay with me as long as you like. You are not the first, and I doubt you will be the last." She offered the teen a warm smile, the breeze in the room becoming a faint bit warmer and tinted with the scent of lily of the valley.

"Mom says the only important thing is to be true to yourself," she said matter-of-factly, watching Illumin intently. "And I want to do that. If a person is false to themself, are they going to be any use to a god?" Memi stared at her closed hand for a moment, and then back up at Illumin. "It feels like a heartbeat."

"Being true is very important," Illumin said, his heartbeat quickening. Even on this they were agreed - and a good thing, too. Truth and light were intertwined at the heart. Oh, this could be wonderful indeed.

Once the goddess manifested, at least. A faint poke from within, probably originating from his own former host, reminded him that for now... this was a child, really.

Rats. "I am sure you'll do fine," he reassured her, then glanced over to Beryl. "What gem is this?"

Did the woman... the goddess, know how much all this had meant for her at this moment ? The wind around her like a warm embrace was a welcome distraction. She just wanted to sleep... Not to think about all this. Maybe it would go away then ?

No, that was a childish thought. It wouldn't go away... she had to come to a decision.

"I understand." She whispered a bit to herself. "...But I am conflicted in between something I probabely have no chance to regaining at any rate, and this..." She continued, this time loud enough for Beryl to hear.

"Do you need to talk to someone? I have been told I listen well." The goddess moved smoothly from the fort to the teen, wings down and out in an encompasing gesture meant to welcome and comfort.

The little girl musing over the heartbeat of the gem was rather cute. "You know, some times with the older gods and goddesses here you can hear two heartbeats from their gems. One from the host and one from the diety. You have Medicine little one. And Zero, Music."

"Thanks Illumin, you're the best!" Memi launched herself at him, hugging him around his neck. Her hand was still closed around the gem, and the gem's pulsing could be felt through her hand, slowly adjusting to Memi's own heartbeat.

Illumin's first act was to glance at Beryl, to make sure she wouldn't kill him. Protective creature that she was....

Then, he gently encircled the child in his arms, surprised at the pleasant feeling it caused. "You are most welcome," he said, finally. "And you are welcome to stay with me, too, should you wish," he added, calculatingly, but looking over to Beryl again. His look clearly said that he didn't mean the invitation THAT way. (You pervert. Feh.)
Music... ? Well that explained the hum...

But she pushed that at the back of her mind, forcing a smile out for Beryl. She felt like she could trust her somehow... The first being she could trust in months...

"...Perhaps I do, if you would be so kind..."

"Aside from the founders, I have been here longest I think. I have seen the others grow so I have a fair background. We can retreat to my spaces and talk if you like. And Illumin, just make sure I can check on Memi, alright?"

Zero just nodded. "I would appreciate..." Not that she minded Memi and Illumin's presence.... It was just that she would prefer to be alone with the wind goddess for something this... personal.

Memi leaned back a bit, and considered. "Well... I mean, that would be great, but I've already taken the couches apart..." And the couches here were incredibly comfortable.

"You can come visit, then," Illumin said quickly, holding out the couch cushion he'd liberated. "I have a nice big room," he added. "With lots of lanterns. It's upstairs, the one with the rising sun on the doorway and the lights on either side."

Sosiqui was laughing at him now.

Dammit!

"You know, Memi, I think he has a rather large selection of cusions in his room to make a fort with. And I can take care of these. The ones in his room are better." With a conspirator's wink she shooed the girl towards Light.

If you'll follow me then we can go upstairs and talk." Smilng she started for the spiral stairs, motioning for the young woman to follow.

Zero simpely nodded, following the goddess, not resisting giving out a giggle at the whole situation.

Memi looked between Illumin and Beryl, then at the cushions. Someone was going to clean up after her? What a concept... She grinned at Beryl and called, "Thank you!" before hugging Illumin again.

Illumin raised one eyebrow at Beryl - this was hardly expected - but was interrupted from any further attempts at conversation by another hug. My, but she was cuddly?

Dammit, Medicine, he thought, then sighed again. Well. There were worse things to have, and he had to admit that the girl was amusing. And... well, snuggly. Which wasn't really all bad.... adoration WAS adoration, right? He could practically feel it strengthening him already.

Chuckling she waved a hand and created a small flury of wind that settled the cushions back on the couch. "Come, we can talk over tea and treats. How does that sound?" She led Zero down the hall to the door that showed a stained glass storm raging on a sea.

Zero somehow kept her jaw from hitting the ground, how, she had no idea. Maybe she was, god forbid, getting used to all this.

"That would be lovely. Arigato." She nodded, still following but not going ahead into the room without Beryl's permission. It would be rude...

Memi let go of Illumin and then looked at Beryl's back as she went upstairs. "Thanks for being nice." And he didn't even know... but would that matter to a god.

"You're welcome," Illumin said sincerely. "Please, come up to my rooms should you have need," he repeated. "Oh, and the kitchen is over there."

The toll of her exuberance crashed down on her, all at once. "I'm really tired." And she hadn't been able to keep food down all day. She'd try eating when she didn't have an audience. "I'm going to take a nap." It would be pleasant to just flop down on the couch and drop off. "I'll talk to you later, okay?" She looked like she wanted to hug him again, but refrained, glancing at her hand enclosing the gem, which seemed to be the only thing keeping her going. She stood up, leaning forward slightly too much, and then took off at a run for the stairs.

Memi paused at the top of the stairs to catch her breath and pull a little energy from the gem, which it seemed almost too happy to give. She looked around for the doorway Illumin had described, and stumbled through it, the last of her energy melting away as she made her way across the room to the only bed she could determine. She curled up into it and fell fast asleep, her body in a pose of perfect relaxation except one hand, clasped tightly enough around it to draw blood.

"... that's my bed," Illumin said, peevishly, then sighed.

Oh well. He tucked her in, feeling a bit silly about it, and stalked off towards the bathroom. A good soak would do him good. And tomorrow he'd see if he couldn't coax a nice bed for HER out of the walls.

A note was left next to one of Illumin's favorite lanterns:


In the margins of the note, lanterns and candles are drawn with little halos of light around each. In the bottom left corner, a small door is sketched with a faint arrow pointing at it, with "My Room" and a smiley face on the other end.

A package and note were left in front of Illumin's door...



Inside were two lava lamps, one purple-pink, one green.

October 7th, 2005
Roleplay, page 335-344