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Dangerous Conversationalist
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 Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 10:55 pm
Limp and slack-jawed like a fading drunk, he made an unintimidating figure in the semi-darkness, which was hardly a misconception. He was entirely vulnerable. For the space of several minutes, this body would remain barren of either presence, his rune diminishing into a dying ember, the mist lazily churning in the safety of his ringed lower form.
Switches had not always taken so long. In the early days, it had been a fairly streamlined process that could happen on a dime, faster with a certain incentive... But then, Basil had been easier to dominate then, more biddable. Easy to wake up in the mornings, and put to bed at night, with only the occasional departure. It was inevitable that there should be... more of him now. More of a personality for all its faults and habits and memories that needed sorting through. Although it was an adjustment for The Other, it would be only a temporary setback. Nothing to work a nerve over, like a late appointment or a broken window. He would find a way over this, somehow. He would just need to be more rigid in his planning. He was optimistic that these "breaks" might even do them a bit of good. He was always vigilant. Always listening, recording, commenting. The Other didn't get very much sleep, anymore... Not the way he used to. It would be refreshing.
It was in this way that his body would begin to heal, and correct itself, like a dusty parlor in desperate need of tidying before Basil could be expected to drift above his watery inner capsule. Brought afloat by the very last of The Other's energy and immeasurable willpower. Everything that was Basil would arrive behind his slow-blinking eyes, and with it, a sense of peace and contentedness.
One by one, his senses would begin to light up like bulbs on a switchboard. There was a steady rising and falling of his chest. The pervasive odor of saltwater and freshly mown grass. Seasonably warm in Gambino tonight, with a gentle crossbreeze just strong enough to lean him over, but not without someone to catch him.
There was movement underneath the eyelids, his eyes scurrying back and forth like a small animal running under a blanket. Turning against her shoulder, his face clenched and puckered in a painful expression, then relaxed completely. Before he had even opened his eyes, he knew that he was outside. It didn't surprise him anymore, and he knew that there were worse places to be. This was the second time he had woken up with Cordelia beside him, and it was a comfort. He tried to inhale deeply as a warm breeze swept through the porch, but found his nose to be congested, as if something were stopped up inside of it, full of tissue paper maybe? He was concerned to be tasting blood. Was he wounded? Had he wounded something else? Had someone been hurt...?
Resting against her without the slightest inclination to move, he reached into his hood to scratch an itch behind his ear. It was a little humid out, and the humidity had a way of making a person aware of their body. He sighed hoarsely, "Hi, Delia."
Although he was reluctant to do so, he pulled away so that he could hold himself steady. He wanted to have a look around. Visibly relaxing, he was grateful to find himself in familiar surroundings. It was the Shades' front porch. He was sure he remembered being here. It hadn't felt like such a very long time ago... Had he imagined it? Had he only now arrived? Was his visit only just beginning? It would be the first time in history that he had ever hallucinated being somewhere, only to do it over again in reality. "Outside..." He mumbled. He then turned to look at her, and felt suddenly in awe.
Sitting beside him, she was strikingly beautiful, and he had been unprepared to receive it. While Basil was content to stumble over most of what was presented to him like a tourist in his own life, The Other was meticulous in what he monitored through Basil's eyes, and in this case, had quietly observed the position of the moon as Basil admired the Shade house from the car. The way it hung in the sky, large and waxing like the brilliant shine from a tossed quarter. In his estimate, it would be full by Sunday.
By instructing Cordelia to sit on their right side, The Other had placed her in a very becoming light. Facing away from it for the most part, she would be encased in a pale, silvery aura, the right side of her face softly illuminated, bringing focus to the outstanding little mark on her chin. A glint in her eye. Hair that begged to be brushed away from her forehead. It was by design. She would be perfect. As far as The Other was concerned, nothing less would do.
He wanted to remark upon it, but then, bracing himself with one hand on the porch step, Basil became vaguely aware of a certain vibration. It was familiar. It was a car coming down the road, still a ways off. He would be the only one that could detect it, still too far away to be heard by normal ears, and it was this vibration that made him remember. Remember the music they had played together, the green and black bedroom, the sight of the old man. It came back in a hurry and crashed around his head.
He glanced away for a moment. He had not just arrived... He knew what that vibration meant. He could practically see the future, and was suddenly pressed for time. But time for what? He did not easily conceal his feelings, and had no understanding of why someone would want to. He seemed urgent and a bit uneasy. The moon beaming brightly behind her, he would be enclosed in her shadow, and that of his hood. It helped to mask the perfectly peculiar expression on his face as he began to wonder why for the first time in a while, he felt so unburdened without The Other whispering in his ear, and yet at the same time, as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders? He would need to leave very soon. He had felt an impulse. He acted.
Leaning close, his lips briefly made contact with the corner of her mouth. An affectionate peck like the kind Genie might have given her father when she had not seen him in a while. A gesture he had seen practiced several times in his life, but had never received or initiated, and had always been a bit curious about. He had never asked about it, and no one had ever given him an explanation for it. Left to his own devices, he decided that it just seemed like the thing to do for someone that you would miss when they were gone. Sure, occasionally Genie might have left a peck on his cheek or forehead like a mother to her son, but in Cordelia's case, he had felt especially close to her just now. Lost in a mood that was difficult to examine or appreciate in the short amount of time that he had. All that he knew, was that the peck had instantly felt stingy and insufficient. He decided very quickly that it wasn't anything special. Creative as ever, he thought, what rule said that it should be only the corner or the cheek? Who knew when he would be able to see Cordelia again!
And so he tried a second time, migrating to the center. More full on the mouth with a deeper contact. It was not perfect. He made a number of amateur mistakes, like bumping noses and having nowhere for his hands. It was a boy's kiss, lacking in raw passion, but gentle and sincere. Although a bit cold, she was unexpectedly soft, and when he parted, he felt as if he had discovered something completely unheard of. Revolutionized, and in his opinion improved upon what had been a very strange and unimpressive act of affection. Why hadn't anyone ever thought to stray from the corner? It was terrific! He couldn't supress a grin, rejoicing his ingenuity. At this time, the thrumming of Genie's engine could be heard, and Basil was sorely disappointed. He glanced behind him. He would see the headlights in another moment.
"Oh..." He said softly. His time was up. There would not be a third attempt.
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 10:58 pm
"Hey..." she murmured softly as a more genuine smile finally graced her dark lips at hearing that fond and familiar nickname. Cordelia was completely unaware of how the other had strategically placed her, unaware of the effect she was having on Basil, the both of them perhaps. All the basilisk knew was that the boy she so adored unconditionally was back and that was all that really mattered now.
Things were quiet again, but it wasn't an uncomfortable quiet like earlier. It was different somehow, more peaceful. Now that he was back and she was calm, things just felt as they should, how they'd always been. Of course Delia's curious nature was pleading with her to ask him what that had all been earlier with the other, yet there was another part of her that just didn't want to ruin the moment. She really didn't want his first visit out to see her tainted, at least in his eyes, especially if he didn't know anything about what had happened. And what she could gauge just now by his body language alone was that he was a bit confused about their new location like the other had been when he'd suddenly shown up in her bedroom.
Basil must have figured out that his time with her was coming to an end and that Genie was on her way to pick him up soon. How soon she wasn't sure either, but it surely would be any moment now. So when the cobra leaned in to give her a quick peck, something Cordelia was quite use to as her grandfather had a similar way of greeting and departing with her, she thought nothing of it really, only that it was awful sweet of him. So it was rather unexpected when he swooped in once more and she suddenly felt his lips smashed against her own.
There had been no time to prepare, no time to react to this spur of the moment action. Cordelia was nothing more than a big blank, in total shock of what was occurring. A kiss...her first kiss...Basil was kissing her! How should she feel about this? Earlier her body had reacted all on it's own as if it had been expecting something, her heart beating like there was no tomorrow. Yet now...she didn't know what to say or how to react, so Delia did nothing and just allowed it to happen.
Coming up from the basement, sapphire eyes looked about with confusion. Adrian could have sworn he'd heard talking just a moment ago, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out where those two kids were now. It wasn't until he'd looked towards the front door and noticed it was slightly ajar that he realized where the Raevans must be. As quiet as a mouse, the Brit approached and peered out. The two where sitting side by side with Basil leaning his head on her shoulder. Call him old fashion but somehow he felt the scene should have been flipped, yet at the same time he thought the two adorable nonetheless.
Now a man Adrian's age, with all he's seen and done, would find little to nothing that could make him blush so easily. Yet when Basil found the courage to put his feelings for the man's granddaughter into physical form, the elder gent couldn't stop the familiar flow of heat rushing to his aged cheeks. This was something he shouldn't be witnessing and in his attempt to flee found he'd become rather clumsy all of a sudden, tripping on his own feet as well as the front door rug. Embarrassed beyond belief at the awful noise he was making, Adrian prayed that the two on the porch couldn't hear him and tried to slip away as quietly as he could manage then.
When Basil had pulled away, Cordelia's fingers lightly traced across her lips, still dumbfounded. Shouldn't she feel something now? All the books, all the movies always had the girl full of thoughts and feelings after getting their first kiss. Yet Cordelia couldn't find them. It was like his kiss had sucked them all out of her. Was she happy it had happened? Sad? Mad? She didn't know now. She didn't even know if she would later once he was gone.
Delia's head began to turn towards the front door behind them, obviously having heard something there a moment prior, yet her steel eyes were redirected towards the new noise and headlights making their way down the road then. "Genie's here..." the snake uttered as a matter of fact, no inflection anywhere in her smokey voice to gauge her emotions at that precise moment.
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Dangerous Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 11:54 pm
Basil made a point of facing away from the sight of Genie's car as it turned the corner and pulled up beside the house, parking a bit crookedly in her urgency, if only to avoid looking directly into the fierce glow of her headlights.
As he did, he did not turn to face Cordelia in her awestruck state, but rather, stared past her into the yard, if only until the car had come to a stop and it was safe to look. Lights could have a very adverse effect upon him.
His heart began to beat a little quicker with the certain excitement that came with saying one's goodbyes, and was hesitant to stand up. At this time, he too became alarmed at the terrible scuffling and bumping he heard from indoors. It was only now that he turned to the Basilisk as if to say that she should check on it, but was again disrupted by the sight of her. With her eyes cast away and her fingers to her lips, it was difficult for Basil to guess how she was feeling, and her voice certainly didn't offer any clues. She was strangely quiet. It hadn't occured to him that he might have done something wrong or improper, and so he could only assume that she was as sad as he was to see him go.
From the car, Genie cracked her window so that she could have a better view of the two of them on the porch. It was strange that the porch light should not be on. She had to wait a moment for her eyes to adjust before she could tell who was who. This was also by design. By telling Cordelia to leave it off before she came outside, in the event that Genie should arrive early, it would be easier to disguise their conversation. It would also prevent any unexpected hiccups in the "switching" process if both he and Basil were left in darkness.
She waited. She considered beeping the horn, but felt that it might be rude, given how late the hour was.
Cordelia had sounded calm enough when she had made the call, but with the news that Basil had been "compromised", she couldn't help but worry. From what she could see, he appeared to be alright, and Cordelia hadn't made it sound as though anyone else had been hurt or otherwise inconvenienced by the boy's behavior. It had been very difficult nontheless not to ask questions and give Cordelia the impression that she was in any danger. Admittedly, she had stopped to marvel at the very grownup way that Cordelia had conducted herself over the phone. Even Genie still did not feel comfortable letting Basil handle his own calls, which might have been for the best. He had enough voices to contend with without having one deliberately pressed to his ear...
Basil did not know the proper method of consoling someone. It had never been taught to him, and he was not observant to pick up on even a simple shoulder-touch or the empty platitudes that one person might offer to another. He only leaned down a bit, drawing his hood tighter around his face to protect his ears from the wind. "Bye Delia," He said quietly, "I'm sorry about your..." He had wanted to refer to her instrument, but was unable to remember at the moment what it was called. This frustrated him.
Wiggling his upper lip a bit, he did not have a spare moment to ask whether something had happened to him that his nose should be feeling so strangely. The Other was not here to explain things, or lift the shroud of confusion he seemed perpetually lost in. He supposed it was nothing. He allowed himself to trail off, and knew that Cordelia wouldn't fault him for it. She understood how he was... How he lost track of things.
He looked at her in the moonlight a bit longer. His eyesight being what it was, she would be too blurry for him to see once he got any farther than the mailbox, and so he took his time admiring her. He wanted to remember this. He didn't remember very many things, and in his limited opinion, there was nothing more gnawing and more painful than the feeling of missing something. Never knowing what it might have been. The people he had met or the places he had gone. He knew that it would hurt him to lose this. It would hurt him very deeply...
Crossing the lawn and climbing into the back of Genie's car, he grunted as he flopped belly down onto the torn back seat. He was feeling very tired, and was in no mood to answer the bulk of Genie's many questions as she waved vaguely towards the Shade house and drove away. He couldn't contain a very large smile as he pressed his cheek to his shoulder and shut his eyes. The significance of his first kiss would not dawn on him until much later. He rarely thought of things in terms of "firsts", but even so, somehow, this had felt important. He had discovered something brilliant. Something intimate and wonderful, and was still naive enough to believe that he had been the first to do so. Once they had left the city limits of Gambino and tore into the open countryside, Basil scrambled to sit up and rest his elbows on the back of Genie's seat.
"Put a seatbelt on." She barked,
He smiled even wider, "Genie, guess what..."
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