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 Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2014 4:12 am
"Ah!" she exclaimed in surprise at being so suddenly lifted. Hearing those words from him... she was certain that, in this very moment, she was the happiest being the universe would ever contain. She closed her eyes and nuzzled closely against his chest, listening to the comforting beat of his heart. This day and all the hopes she had for it, and this moment of pure bliss... so far, everything was going almost perfectly.
Almost.
To say Shanderaa wasn't very good at reading people was a massive understatement. Even Matasoga, her master and the person she held the closest and strongest relationship with, was mysterious and difficult to figure out a lot of the time. His usual stoic, controlled demeanor made this all the trickier for her. Because of the strength of their bond, however, she could often tell on a very subtle, subliminal level when something wasn't quite right with him. She was now aware of the unusually quick speed at which he was walking, and (unconsciously) a subtle change in heart rate. Her eyes remained closed, but her smile had faded away. Gradually, the sweet moment faded into the initial concern.
The frustrating part was she couldn't exactly figure out why. What could possibly be bothering him? Had he still not fully recovered all his strength yet? Those wishes did take a lot out of him, after all. Or, did the guildhall transformation perhaps not turn out as he had planned? Was this disappointment with the end result? Or... maybe... oh no, had she done something inappropriate, just now?! He was smiling, and seemed quite pleased with her gift, and his words of love felt completely genuine... but she also knew he had mastered total control over expressing his emotions. And if she were the cause of his unhappiness... that was absolutely unacceptable.
No matter what it was, she had to know. She slowly opened her eyes, and lifted and turned her head up to face Matasoga. She hesitated for a second before asking, afraid of what the answer may be, but determined to help in any way possible if it turned out her intuition was correct.
"Um. Sir? Is... is everything alright?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 1:04 am
How she learned, or even began to guess this was beyond him, entirely, but this made things both harder and easier for him. Misleading was one thing, but outright lying to her wasn't something that he was willing to do, regardless of how easy it would be for him to do so. Besides, if one person outside of the research team needed to know (or perhaps simply should) it was her. He took several more steps and slowed his gait to a halt before speaking.
"I've looked over the specifications that Taika noted while she was in here. There's a lot, and I have a team put together researching more," he said.
His tone graven, he continued with "But to make the journey that I desire, a fuel source is necessary. It needs the body of a spellcaster, and that person must have had enough magic in their body that they could only be a Disciple, and not an outsider."
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Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 1:24 am
"Oh? So... a sacrifice of someone in the guild is needed then?! Something like that?" She would never have guessed that their journey would take such a dark turn. "But then why were you out h-"
...
...
Oh. Oh no.
Within a split second, all the pieces fell together. She had totally forgotten that... she was buried right about where they were just standing. He must have been... and then I came along and...
And that must have made it even worse. Good going, Shandy. You made things harder for your already upset master without even trying. He must think you're a total creep now. Best minion my a**.
"Sir, I... ...I'msosorry!" she blurted out, clinging to him even tighter. "You were, and then I... I didn't realize... p-please forgive me..."
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Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 1:43 am
"It's alright," he said, and he meant it. He knew that she had known about Haruka's death, and that he had told her all about Haruka in the week that ensued. He talked about little else and saw no one else during that time. What she didn't know and couldn't have known was what he was thinking of out here, alone.
He often came out here still, usually at times when he wouldn't be missed, and told her about things that had happened in the guild, at least once a week. Even during slow weeks when not much of anything was happening, he tried to make a story of at least some menial event, and if he knew for certain that no one was watching, he'd sometimes kneel down to pet the grass as he might her head and whisper "I miss you."
Today was more meditative, though. This report of Taika's gave him a lot to think about.
"I just came here to think... And you couldn't have known what about," he said, solemnly.
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Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 2:02 am
"I see..." She still felt awful, even with his reassuring words. Even so, there was no undoing it all now, she supposed. What needed to be done now was what she liked to believe she did best, providing comfort and support. "Well... Is there anything I can do? For you, I mean?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 2:16 am
He quietly considered, for a moment and shook his head, and quietly said, "No, not as it pertains to that. You've done enough to sooth me in regard to her death."
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Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 2:28 am
"Ah... I see. Well..." She returned to her previous snuggled-in state. "Just know that I'm here for you. Always. I mean, I know it's not always easy for you to open up but... you can tell me anything, Sir. I may be a complete failure when it comes to talking about things, but I can always listen. Just know that... okay?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 2:34 am
"I do... And thanks," he said simply. Indeed he did, and never doubted his Queen's intentions. He then began walking again, in the same direction in which he had started.
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Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 2:42 am
"Of course! It's what I do." she replied, her dopey smile finally returning. "Because... I love you, Sir." She lifted her head, turned to him, and kissed his cheek. "Er, but uh, you already knew that, eheh." she hastily added, blush returning as well.
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Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 2:48 am
His smile returned as well, though markedly more subdued than hers, his eyes ahead. He turned then down to look at her, and then for a moment he stopped walking and his face darkened, as he beheld what looked to be (partially) white lips. He wordlessly and without gesture cast a prestidigitation spell to remove the white greasepaint from his face off of her lips.
His smile returned and he said, "There. All better," and began to walk again.
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Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 2:56 am
"Er, wait, what? Better?" Now she was confused. Did he maybe mean... yeah, yeah that was it! He was feeling better now. Of course! Thank goodness. Her worries melted away, replaced by feelings of contentment. "Yeah, much better." she said softly, nuzzling back in and closing her eyes once more.
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Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 3:04 am
Matasoga was quite unsure of whether she had somehow pieced together what he meant by that or (and this is what he was leaning toward) had misinterpreted his meaning altogether, but it didn't matter. He certainly wasn't about to bring her up in the conversation. In fact conversing further about anything wasn't much on Matasoga's mind. He meant to seek comfort and repose in one of his favorite places and try to think of other things, for the time being to distance himself from his troubles. They would certainly be waiting for him there when this holiday was over.
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Posted: Mon May 26, 2014 2:55 am
Shanderaa walked the path to the training grounds, without her usual enthusiasm or spring in her step this time. It wasn't that she was disinterested in today's lesson. Far from it! Sneak attacks sounded damned interesting. Her thoughts were merely... elsewhere. That was all. She decided before she had set out for the day that this would most certainly not interfere with training, though! And that, no matter what, she would not let it show through that something was at all amiss!
Maybe if she kept telling herself that, it would eventually be true.
She arrived at the usual location, as ready as she could be given the circumstances.
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Posted: Mon May 26, 2014 3:07 am
Kromli had his back turned to the Guildhall as she approached. He was still arranging dummies of all sorts, mostly of varied humanoids and demons, the most common enemies of Matasoga's that were vulnerable to sneak attacks on stakes and racks.
He sensed her approach as she drew near and turned to wave at her.
"Hey, good to see you," he said as she got closer.
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Posted: Mon May 26, 2014 3:25 am
"H-heeeey there!" she responded, waving back weakly. "I'm um... here! ...Yep."
Oh no. Oh dammit no. Paranoia about how successful this poorly constructed facade was going was brewing already. It had been building over months now, and had only recently gotten to it's current impossible-to-ignore state. She silently cursed herself for denying and excusing it for so long, and for having not plotted out how to maintain an appearance of normalcy despite having had ample time to do so. Dammit dammit dammit! Quick! Subject change! Subject change!
"I uh. See you've arranged some... stuff, here. Mannequins! What is this, an indie horror game? Ahaha... hahah... ha." she laughed, nervously.
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