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Fedora Warrior Vice Captain
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 Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2017 1:18 am
Rhone sighs and slowly steps forward, gazing somberly at the three on the ground.
"Honestly, that's a fair response, Oscuro. This is more my fault than I wish were so..."
He slowly approaches Azriel, occasionally stumbling slightly and clutching his abdomen, fully aware of what his body was feeling in reality, but also feeling a soothing comfort as his body slowly repaired itself. Once at Azriel's side, he kneels down in front of her eyes and rests his hand on her shoulder. He looks towards the ground and sighs while shaking his head before meeting her gaze with a look of gentle sadness.
"...Hey, kiddo. You did it. Eloysio's alive and we are as well. I need to apologize... I didn't know what a successful resurrection spell would actually do to us and based on that knowledge alone..."
He looks down again and furrows his brow as he thinks for a moment, soon returning his gaze back to Azriel.
"I shouldn't have let you go through with that. I shouldn't have even sent you into the knowledge spell!...but I did anyway."
His expression becomes determined and he nods his head.
"There's a reason for that. I trusted you would survive, and you've proven me right so far. I know it hurts. I know everything's awful right now. I know that you'll get through this pain and once you do, it'll make you stronger. I know..."
He stands up and lowers his hand down for Azriel to hold on to.
"I know that you're stronger than this! Stand up, Blues. This was a sizable first step, but we've got quite the road to walk."
~~~
After carefully placing Azriel in her own bed, Max makes her way to Rhone, rolling him over onto his side so she can sit down. While Eloysio talked to the attendants, she proceeded to take her revolver apart to clean it. She was halfway through reassembling it when she notices Eloysio's frenzied pacing. She ignores it until she finishes, quickly placing the final pieces and closing the weapon with a loud snap in an attempt to get his attention.
"Hey. Don't worry so much. I know you haven't known us for long, but if Rhone says he took the brunt of the damage, then I'm sure he did. After all, the girl's not coughing up blood now, is she?"
She finally looks up from her work as she holsters her weapon, afterward sitting with her knees curled up so she can rest her arms on them...and her chin on them. She continues talking with an almost bored expression and tone.
"The girls' fine and Rhone's regenerated limbs before. Pacing around looking worried won't do anything other than make other people aware of how worried you are. Sit down, relax, and enjoy being alive. These two went through a lot to bring you here, the last thing they'll want to see when they wake up is you looking guilty for existing. Plus you have wings!"
Her face shifts into a mischievous smile as she tilts her head to the side.
"Need I remind you that wings are rad? Plannin' on building some for myself one day."
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2017 10:52 pm
Though it could not be seen because their faces were still planted on the floor, the three made expressions of narrow-eyed confusion. The pain still cast a haze over their ability to think clearly.
Oscuro flopped her head over to the side to look up at Rhone, making a laugh that was half bitter, half amused. "Pfffffffftt. The hell're you soundin' all cheesy n' dramatic for all of a sudden."
Chiaro turned her head as well, her own face looking rather stern but she really was just intensely thinking. "You did not...anticipate these results...but you do not think in the slightest this could be rested off for a while?"
Azriel ceased twitching for a bit and stared at the hand Rhone offered her, but remained silent. Her counterparts' words and her own eyes were already sort of saying what was in her own mind. (Uh...yeah...just what are you trying to get at with all that, Rhone?) What did he mean, he shouldn't have? What was this road he was talking about?
But it wasn't as if she wasn't trying to reach out. Some effort could be seen in the twitching of the fingers closest to Rhone's hand, but she still felt too limp from pain and exhaustion.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2017 11:03 pm
The snap caused Eloysio to jolt out of his reverie and stop pacing. He turned toward Max, trying to put on a lighter expression but he could not yet remove that crease of worry off his brow.
"Those are all fair points. It's just...it all would've been a cruel irony if lives were lost, you know? I wanted to come back to life to actively work on saving hers. To have taken hers, not to mention an extra, in the process of getting mine back...I know, I know, I should be fixating on the fact that that didn't happen, but the reality that the possibility was open and very close to happening...it's something quite difficult to get to stop eating at me."
A sigh, and a silent pause to gather his thoughts on her last remark.
"...Heh. I get the aesthetic appeal of wings, but what other good can they be if they're not even functional? I mean, I'm not even sure if this body was made physically capable of making these work..."
While he spoke, he was able to get as far as willing them to flare out, but as for getting them to flutter and possibly make him hover, something wasn't quite clicking in his brain yet. The only wings he ever had in his previous life were like Azriel's, and they obviously weren't the same. He put a hand to his chest, at about the center of his ribcage, trying to see if he could figure out what was moving inside him to lift them up. He cross-referenced in his mind what he had read of dragonfly anatomy, but it was difficult to make sense of in combination with human anatomy. As for recordings on fairy anatomy? Nonexistent. They always turned to dust when they died.
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Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 5:03 pm
Sirea was about ready to catch Eloysio when he nearly tripped from his misstep, though she was relieved when he caught himself. "If you say so." She said with a soft chuckle as she followed them to the infirmary. After arriving at their destination, the werevixen decided to stay with them with her sharing concern for Azriel and Rhone's well-beings. She had noticed how the attendants and nurse had stared at Eloysio when he spoke with them, mostly due to his fairy-like features.
Once Azriel and Rhone were laid carefully upon futons, Sirea walked over to take a seat near a corner of the room while Eloysio had paced in a frenzied manner. Her fox ears perked up upon hearing the loud snap from Max's revolver as well as listening to the conversation between her and Eloysio. "Hey, it'll be alright. I'm with Max on that. Both Azriel and Rhone knew of the high risk it would take to bring you back to life, and in a new body at that. They were willing to go through with it for your sake. They didn't have to, but they did." She said with a soft smile. She was worried for them too, though she was certain they wouldn't want for Eloysio to feel so guilty for their condition. "The fact they were able to pull it off altogether was absolutely amazing. It's definitely not everyday you get to see someone who's been dead for thousands of years get revived."
On the subject of Eloysio's wings, Sirea tilted her head slightly as she gazed at the wings. "Hmmm....Can't say I have seen anyone who had wings like yours before, but..." Getting up from her spot near the corner, she walked over to get a closer look at the wings. Curiosity definitely got the better of her. She reached to very gently tug a wing, being careful not to accidentally damage it. "I'm not a wingfolk or a winged werefolk, but perhaps in time you'll figure out how to use those wings. If Azriel can fly with those mix-matched wings of hers, maybe you can with yours."
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Fedora Warrior Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 3:57 am
Rhone sighs and tugs on his hat slightly.
"That's a side effect of how I do this. When I manifest inside someone's mind, I'm having to project myself through my subconscious. It kinda...amplifies certain aspects of my personality. It also keeps me from being able to lie or withhold information..."
His eyes go wide for a moment before he creases his brow with his right index finger and thumb while closing his eyes.
"And apparently keeps me from shutting up. Good."
It's at this point that he sees Azriel's hand move slightly. His expression softens a bit as he sits down next to her, one leg drawn towards himself while the other lays outstretched.
"I didn't expect you to actually stand up...but I'm damn happy you tried. Rest all you need. I'm sure Eloysio will keep watch of your physical form and I'll stay here for a bit in case you need anything. Although to be honest, me being here is for me as well. If I stay out of my own head, I won't have to experience the nightmare I'm probably having in my unconscious state. Kinda nice getting to rest without all that nonsense."
~~~
After watching Sirea tug on Eloysio's wing a few times, Max tilts her head to the other side and thinks for a moment before springing up and approaching the fairy man.
"The kid gives me an idea. You're puttin' too much thought into figuring your wings out."
She stands behind him and places a hand on each wing before gently opening and closing them.
"Don't think. Feel."
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2017 5:09 pm
((Rhone's interactions continue in: The Sanctuary of Azriel's Heart)) Eloysio didn't really mind the tugging, as long as it wasn't too hard. It kind of helped in a way, in regards to feeling what's moving around inside him, but he couldn't grasp just how yet. "Er...well...of course Azriel's wings are functional?" he responded to Sirea, "Because even though they're mismatched, they still have a proper balance and positioning to them? I've had experience with such wings, but these are entirely different." He chuckled a bit, sheepishly. When Max started handling his wings, he closed his eyes and creased his brow in contemplation, putting a hand to his chin. At first he couldn't help but do the exact opposite and think even more about it. It's just as I thought, it feels as if each one is controlled by individual muscles, but how does that sort of structure even exist within me...?
... ... ...
No...no. Fine. Just...let's see how the subconscious might take over.After a about a minute of letting Max open and close his wings, he was able to do it on his own in a slow, undulating sort of succession. The upper pair would fold in first, followed by the middle and lower; after which, the upper pair would spread back out followed by the succeeding pairs. Then the cycle would repeat.
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Fedora Warrior Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2017 11:33 pm
Max's eyes light up as she watches the wings move on their own.
"Aha! See, that wasn't so hard!"
She takes a small journal out of a pocket on the right side of her vest along with a small pen and begins writing and drawing furiously while trying to examine Eloysio's wings from every angle. After a few moments, she grows visibly frustrated.
"No, no, no... I can't see how the muscles in your back move with the wings. Hold on."
She begins tugging at the back of Eloysio's coat, trying to get a look underneath, either oblivious or uncaring how it looks to others around.
"Hey. Lose this for a sec, okay? I need to get a better look at this."
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Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2017 4:23 pm
Sirea blinked for a moment when Eloysio mentioned of his own experience with wings similar to Azriel's. "You've had wings like Azriel's before?" She tilted her head curiously. "If anything, you're the first I've seen with your current wings." It was then Max approached and handled Eloysio's wings. "I'm with Max on that one. It'll just come to you as if by instinct.... Least that's how it was with my ears and tail." She then watched as Eloysio was able to move his wings on their own. She gave a nod in approval. "Way to go, Eloysio." She smiled a bit as her fox ears twitched a bit.
Glancing over to Max, she tilted her head curiously as Max took out a small journal and seemed to be writing and drawing on it while examining Eloysio's wings. She then blinked when Max tugged the back of the blonde male's coat. "Wow, Max. Don't make the guy feel uncomfortable." ^.^; She herself wouldn't mind studying the wings as well, but she didn't want to push Eloysio to the point of feeling uncomfortable of being studied.
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Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2017 7:35 pm
Eloysio perked up for a moment, realizing what he just said to Sirea. It was supposed to be Azriel's place to talk about about the Chiaroscuro Soul, when she was comfortable enough. He put a hand to his chin (while continuing to move his wings) as he thought carefully about his words in response to the fox lady. "...Yes, that was in my previous life over 3000 years ago. You see, Azriel bears something I made that made her wings like that. I had worn it myself. Exactly what it is, however...I'll leave that to her to explain."
A pang of embarrassment heated up his face and turned it slightly red when Max suggested he remove his upper garments. Disrobing in front of these women? It was kind of an uncomfortable premise, but at least it was just the top. And more than the degree he was feeling bashful about it, he too wanted to comprehend what Max was trying to.
"Er...alright...." sweatdrop
He unbuttoned his vest because that too needed to be removed, then bunched his wings together and folded them downward in order for them to fit through the slots. After getting his arms out of his coat and vest, the clothes just slid off his wings easily. How lucky that the combination ritual and alchemic crafting process didn't make them ingrained to each other.
He proceeded to flare his wings out again and move them slowly as he did before.
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Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 8:41 pm
Max cocks her head to the side, mildly amused.
"Huh. Didn't think you'd actually go through with it. I appreciate it, though."
She leans forward to better examine the muscles moving the wings, even going so far as to place her hand over them to feel them move and tracing them with her finger. Satisfied, she retrieves her journal and begins drawing from a few different angles. When she's done, she places the journal on a nearby table open so anyone can see what she'd done. On the pages were several very detailed drawings of Eloysio's back, with different wing placements and angles, and all kinds of notes and indecipherable equations next to them.
"Thank you for modeling for me. You shouldn't be so embarrassed to be shirtless, by the way."
She lays back down on her back next to Rhone and places her hands behind her head.
"You look good. Don't you agree, Sirea?"
She eyes the werefox with a slight grin on her face.
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Fedora Warrior Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2017 3:40 pm
Sirea blinked for a moment as her fox ears twitched upon listening to Eloysio's words. So Azriel's wings became mix-matched due to a device he made. It had her become even more curious as to what this device was. "Huh...and here I thought she was born like that or something." She then gave a nod in understanding. "Fair enough. Azriel can explain about it when she's ready. She did seem rather uncomfortable when it came to the subject of her wings, and I don't want to push her on it."
She did notice that Eloysio did seem uncomfortable with the thought of having to remove his upper garments. Not that she blamed him for it. Afterall, he was in the presence of two females, and from the impression she was getting from him, he seemed more of the gentleman type. She watched curiously as Max did her thing with examining the muscles moving Eloysio's wings, and drawing into her journal. Once Max was done, the werevixen peeked over at the journal to take a moment to go through the pages. "That is some detailed work, Max."
Her ears then perked up upon hearing Max's question regarding if she agreed on Eloysio looking good shirtless. "W-What?" A slight blush stained her cheeks while the tips of her ears droop slightly in embarrassment as she looked at the shirtless Eloysio then to Max then back to Eloysio then back to Max once more. She did feel a bit awkward that she was dragged into that part of the conversation. She had never complimented a guy being shirtless before. It wasn't so bad it were a guy dressed up nicely, but shirtless...it was more awkward for her. "W-Well...um...uh..." It wasn't as if Eloysio was hideous to look at. Just say something nice. It's not like he's going to bite your head off or steal your soul. Just a friendly compliment. She thought to herself before she glanced back at Eloysio. "For a guy who's like thousands of years old...I admitthatyoulookgoodforyourage,butpleasedon'ttakethisthewrongwayI'mnotlookingforaromanticpartneroranythingofthesort." She said the last bit very fast that soon after, she placed Max's journal back on the table before she quickly turned to face the wall. She crouched down while covering her face with her hands to hide her embarrassment, her tail swishing back and forth behind her. This is very awkward...So embarrassing...
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Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2017 7:14 am
"..." The compliments only served to make Eloysio feel more even embarrassed, so much that he got even redder in the face and just fell completely silent. He wasn't used to receiving compliments on his appearance, and the only other women who ever called him "handsome" in his life were his mother and his sisters.
It didn't help that one more female suddenly made herself present in the room, and it was the attendant Eloysio asked to fetch some things for him. "Here are the items you requested, sir, but I'm afraid we..." Once she was fully aware of what she was seeing in this room (namely, a shirtless man and a girl cowering over in the corner for some reason), she tensed up and blushed in embarrassment as well. She didn't really want to know what was going on, so she didn't ask. "...w-we...do not have the crystals you are looking for. I...I'm sorry, I'll just leave this here and...e-excuse myself..." She set the tray down on the table beside Max's journal, bowed, and walked out of the room hastily with her head bowed real low.
Eloysio was practically shivering with nervousness over all that was happening. He scrunched up his clothes in his hands and buried his face in them for a few moments, taking one long deep breath to calm himself down. After which, he tried to put them back on again—he was met with some difficulty because his wings were longer than his arms, so he depended on his telekinesis to get his them through the slots.
"I'm uh, terribly sorry about creating such an awkward mood, Sirea," he apologized while he buttoned up and then patted out the wrinkles, "I er, do appreciate the compliments, though."
Wishing to put all of that behind him now, he went over to Max's journal and looked through the notes she had taken, muttering under his breath to himself. "Now what do we have here...hmm, yes...seems like it's its own compartmentalized area...and there are 'breathing ducts' at the base...fascinating..." He went on to find that not only were there notes, there were also some rather flattering comments. "Oh for heaven's sake..." he sighed out in a whisper, facepalming and closing the book. His face was also going slightly red again.
Eloysio turned to face the general direction Max was in. "I have to hand it to you; your notes put me a lot closer to understanding how to achieve flight with these wings. I'd seek a more spacious place to test that understanding as a wind may kick up and make a mess in here, but this isn't the time for that. Now for a rousing round of alchemy." He turned back to the table and rubbed his hands together, eyeing the tray of items that the attendant brought in with a wide grin. Then he cut a few pages off the roll of fresh parchment and got to work drawing out transmutation glyphs.
If Sirea or Max would like to watch, he wouldn't mind.
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Fedora Warrior Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 9:17 pm
Max sighs and takes a flask out of the left side pocket of her vest and takes several gulps of whatever's inside. Afterward, she places the flask on the nightstand next to the bed she's laying on, her face looking slightly more flush as she looks back over towards Sirea.
"Oh, lighten up, kid. I wasn't trying to make you confess something, I just wanted you to admire the view a little!"
She takes a few more gulps from the flask, her speech slurs slightly.
"I guess I also wan'ed to mess wi' you a little...thought it'd be fun...annit was. Don' worry, though, look at whoever you want to. I let m'eyes wander around some, m'self..."
Noticing Eloysio getting to work, she unsteadily stands up and walks over to him. She has to stand on the tips of her toes in order to peer over his shoulder, bringing her face uncomfortably close to his.
"Whatcha workin' on?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2017 9:50 pm
Sirea's ears twitched upon hearing the female attendant Eloysio had spoken with earlier when she came into the room, yet the werevixen remained where she was. She even felt more embarrassed from the attendant's reaction, even as the latter had left quickly. She then shook her head when Eloysio apologized. "N-No no...no need to apologize....I mean, it's not like I've never seen a shirtless man before." Sirea said as she was giving herself a moment to compose herself before she would slowly stand up then turned around to face Eloysio. She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "It's just that...I've never complimented a guy over his bare upper body before..." She then smiled a little. "Though despite the awkwardness, I think you ought to be lucky to receive such compliments during your first night back from the dead, especially with your additional features." She said, gesturing to Eloysio's wings and antennae. "Werefolk don't often get comments like that."
She then blushed from hearing Max's comment, the tips of her ears drooping a bit. "I...just didnt want to give the wrong kind of impression that I seemed attracted to him or something, yet...I didn't want to be rude and not say anything nice to him." Max was right though. It wasnt like she was trying to get the werevixen to confess anything, but it was still a bit awkward for her. She then rubbed the back of her head. "If anything, least you didn't wet willie me and made my tail frizz out." She chuckled a bit.
Her ears soon perked up when Eloysio mentioned a round of alchemy. "You're an alchemist? I think I have briefly read something about alchemy in a book once, but never have seen it in action before." Curiosity getting the better of her, she would walk over to him and Max to watch as well.
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Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2017 6:59 am
Eloysio paused his drawing while he looked to werefox and listened to her explain herself. "Well, I appreciate your courtesy too, Sirea," he responded with a warm smile. Though when she added the comment about people being taken aback by Werefolk features, there was sympathy in his eyes. It took him back to his memories of his previous life when he traveled the world of Vanaheim. On Midgardian territory, they were seen as mostly slaves along with humans and elvenkind. Expendable help. Test subjects. And relatively recently, in Aselia, they faced discrimination. He pitied the race as a whole.
And then he perked up as he listened to Max become utterly plastered. My word. Why would she choose now of all times to become intoxicated? And what exactly is that kind of liquor? Either it's that potent or she's a lightweight... he thought. He began to worry too, as a drunk person usually meant...a clumsy person. He hoped Max wouldn't interfere with his work too badly.
"Oof!" he grunted as she abruptly leaned onto his back trying to look over his shoulder, shoving her face against his. It was a good thing he put aside the quill in anticipation, so that he wouldn't accidentally ruin the glyph he just finished with one misplaced mark and have to start over again. "...W-well. First of all, I'll be working on crafting the final piece of my ensemble—my specialized monocle. I couldn't include it during the ritual because there was no space for its transmutation circle. Then I'll make talismans that will help Azriel and Rhone heal faster."
He looked to Sirea and grinned in response to her latest query. "Why, yes. I don't mean to brag, but in my previous life I was the greatest alchemist Vanaheim had ever seen."
Now he looked to the tray of materials he requested, picking up some to examine them and thinking out loud. "Let's see here...the medical solutions and herbs are accounted for...they were able to obtain the gold-adamantium alloy I need for my monocle but didn't have crystals in stock...curious, that..." He sighed at the latter realization. "I know Azriel has an impressive collection of crystals in her pack, but..."
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