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 Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 2:04 pm
She shot Last a nasty look that promised swift retaliation if he uttered one word against her Guardian. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with him," she said coolly. "It is called Awakening, and it is a natural part of a Guardian's development, though only some seem able to achieve it." She shrugged. "Oberon is human-smart, now...and he looks a little different." And is larger than he used to be, and can talk, though she doubted they would believe that last unless they heard him for themselves. For better or worse, he did not often deign to speak to anyone other than her.
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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 12:19 pm
Last blanches, leaning back with his hands held out before him, as if to show he is unarmed -- which he certainly isn't, save perhaps in a battle of wits. "Woah, woah, woah, didn't mean that! The rumors were funny, we didn't know if he'd taken sick or gotten hurt or something."
One can almost hear the muscles straining from First's frantic nodding, as if to impress upon Rajani the strangeness of the things they'd heard. "Everybody said something different, when we asked."
From her shoulder, Unwelcome makes a sound like a snort, as if to imply how little she believes that, which causes First's expression to twist into one of a man who has just been utterly betrayed. This makes Unwelcome fluff up her feathers, pleased; the rook may not mind her unusual name, but it's plain that she doesn't mind giving him a hard time for how she has been treated until now.
Last clears his throat, apparently hoping to take away some of the attention from his brother's shock. " .. what does he look like now?"
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Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 2:22 pm
Rajani sent Last one final look as though to say yes, you'd best be minding that tongue, before giving First a flat look. Even his rook refused to believe him. At least she could rely on one of the members of the household to be honest, even if it was the familiar and not her own, dear friends.
Still, she would not be surprised if it were indeed the case that wild and varied rumors were spreading about Oberon and the other Guardians who had Awakened. People tended to get a little carried away when wolves prowled the north and Guardians emerged from the Wood.
"Bigger," she said, sliding her eyes back to the younger twin. "In body and antler alike. His head is different, too; longer, narrower, more elegant. And his tail grew much longer."
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Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 8:47 pm
"His tail?" Plainly Last either does not believe this or simply does not understand; overall it is rather hard to picture. He rubs at his forehead carefully, lest he break the scab on the cut that runs across his forehead, and tries not to look perplexed. It's one thing to have a baby fawn grow into a large buck; that is definitely going to happen and there is no way to get around it. It will be only a matter of time before they will have to see about finding a stable for Unwanted to sleep in at night. But .. altering his very shape?
First is having a larger crisis over this bit; he has managed to summon up the courage to frown again. "But why?" He sounds genuinely interested, and this is one of the few good signs: they may be scared out of their wits and bloody stubborn idiots .. but maybe, just maybe, having Unwanted and Unwelcome will change them for the better.
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Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 12:02 pm
The look that Raj gave last clearly said that his idiocy defied words. If he was that disbelieving, then he could just go outside and see for himself. That ought to shock him to silence.
She shrugged at First's question. "Who can say?" Of course, she had not been so idle that she had not looked into the question herself. There were no definitive answers, but she did have a running theory. "They say that the Wardens were the wisest of all, leading the Guardians against the wolves. Well, the wolves are back. Why not Wardens?"
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Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 8:33 pm
Last reddens again -- he is going to scald his cheeks if he is not careful -- and puts another bowl of greens, this time mixed with chunks of carrot, on the floor. Unwanted can hardly contain his joy; he leaves off the half-eaten greens from the last bowl and ducks over to the new one, trailing half-eaten bits of greenery the whole way. First frowns at this, trying to brush up the crumbs and pour them into the old bowl, even as Last is setting aside the rest of the preparations and moving off from the table.
"So that's why you're meeting that soldier, then?" This is from First, who from his position on the floor looks more intently at Rajani, and with a solemnity that she might not have expected of him. "You've decided you're off to be a Warden?"
For once, Last does not say a word. Although he winces visibly he makes a beeline for the door, perhaps intending to see the changed Oberon for himself, because no matter how dangerous it might be to chance the Guardian's temper, it's a whole lot less dangerous than chancing Rajani's ..
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Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 9:42 pm
Luckily for Last, Rajani suddenly became intensely focused on his brother. This was not so lucky for First. His intent in speaking those words may have been innocent enough...well, innocent for a Grimm, at least. However, the words themselves said a lot more than his question. They said that the Freds were aware of her dealings with Macaire - something that she was quite certain that she had never mentioned to them. In fact, it was not something that she had ever mentioned to anyone. Indeed, the only time it ever came up was during the meetings themselves.
Naturally, the gypsy might find herself curious as to how, exactly, First knew that she used to meet with Macaire for training sessions, and perhaps that she still met with him regularly enough for other reasons.
"Which soldier might that be?" she inquired innocently enough, though if First were astute, he might detect the sudden reemergence of danger.
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Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 9:51 pm
Oh, First knows this is dangerous territory. He knows it as well as Last does, it's just a matter of being too bull-headed to want to back away from it. A flush creeps into his cheeks, despite his very real seriousness on this matter, despite the knowledge that while he may have missed the well-deserved scolding that Last received regarding the names of their new friends, he's about to lead his way into an equally volatile argument, perhaps all the more so for its being unexpected. "The Airelander," First confirms, watching her steadily, as Unwelcome shifts from foot to foot, plainly uneasy. The Rook quorks quietly to herself, plainly uncertain as to which of them she ought to try and soothe.
"The big one, with the brown and white wit--Guardian." Witch-deer. They aren't animals of legend to the Freds, not before and not yet. They may accept that Unwanted and Unwelcome are here to stay, a part of their lives and special because of it, but it will be a long while yet before other Guardians and familiars are accorded the same respect. "You've been meeting him regular-like. He bought the weapons off a guy I know." This at least gives her one answer, how the Freds found out in the first place; any foreigner like Macaire buying multiple weapons is going to attract attention, and it's perhaps lucky (in a way) that it was the Freds who happened to find out, and not the City Guard.
"Raj, you ain't a fighter," First bursts out suddenly. "Not like that! You really think you're going to go off and just get yourself killed, just 'cause you got Obbie?" He's worried about her. More than that, he's afraid for her, although this is a uniquely Fred-like way to express that -- if one equates the Freds with being utterly unable to gently deal with womenfolk.
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Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 7:57 pm
Rajani eyes - rather darker than their usual brilliant green - narrowed infinitesimally and she growled quietly at the unfortunate man who had crossed her. The Airelander. The big one with the brown and white witch-deer. Oh, yes. She knew what he had meant to say. It was equally obvious that he was speaking of Macaire, just as she had suspected. He had also as good as told her how the soldier had come to his attention.
What was not so obvious was why he then felt the need to not only investigate Macaire - though were she in a reasonable mood, she might acknowledge that an initial investigation into potentially troublesome people might be prudent for those who led the underworld - but go on to keep tabs on who he met with. More to the point, she wanted to know why in the seven hells he had deemed it wise to keep an eye on her private business. Rajani intended to find out. Before she could start her latest interrogation of the evening, however, First just had to go and say something even more stupid.
She was out of her chair and halfway across the room before she even realized she had moved. If Last had inspired the desire to smack him, then First was well ahead of the curve. Rajani was experiencing the intense need to strangle him.
"Your spy hasn't done his job properly if you think me incapable of fighting," she snarled. "You think I'm some starry-eyed child with delusions of heroism? You think I want to go to war? I'd be much happier if none of this had ever happened, but it has. I have no time to waste on what-ifs or could-have-beens. The wolves are coming and I have a Guardian. I was chosen for a reason, and it bloody well wasn't so I could cower behind the big, strong soldiers and watch as everyone else dies."
Never mind that at present she was more liable to be involved in communications than battle. First certainly did not need to know that, and she would be lying to herself if she really believed that she would never have to fight. She was no Seer, but even she knew that it was inevitable. The gypsy would see blood. It was only a question of how much.
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Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 2:13 pm
"I know you can fight men, but they're easy. This is wolves, Raj! This is something else! And you're -- you're important, you can't just run off, things would just fall apart if you weren't here, you know they would!" The anger has slipped into something else, become something almost frantic, his words coming fast and hard and just a little bit louder than they should be. He doesn't draw back when she stands up and presses towards him, even though he must know of the danger; all the same, neither does he move to defend himself, or reach for one of the weapons that's surely on his person.
She's known them too long, perhaps, long enough for it to be engrained that if she hits them, they damn well better take it, because they deserve it.
"I know nothing ain't gonna be the same anymore, ever again, I know that, but just go after the first wave of them have gone, and started to figure it all out -- just wait, please, can't you just do that? 'Cause you know we can't let you go alone --" He draws a deep breath and then the final bombshell drops out of his lips, although perhaps he is speaking too broadly when he uses the word 'we'. " -- you know wherever you go we'll have to follow."
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Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 7:54 pm
"I would rather fight wolves than men," she retorted, and it was true. The gypsy might have held her own against scum more than once, but she was not entirely certain that she was capable of killing a man. Or rather, she was not comfortable with the idea. Wolves, even intelligent ones, were still animals. As such, any remorse would be distant. "And I'm not that important. I doubt anyone would notice my absence. I'm only here off and on, anyway."
That last bit would sting if she allowed herself to think about it too deeply, but she also thought it accurate. Lana had been the most important person in her life since the moment she was born and after she had died, Rajani had not allowed herself to get truly close to anyone. The Freds were the closest thing she had to family now. They were the only ones she might count as close, and even then, she had her secrets.
The gypsy did not stay put long enough to get comfortable. Of course, the boys were doing their best to change that, what with providing her with a flat and offering to employ her, but her nature was to rove. Even now, she traveled hither and thither. No one expected her to stay put. What was joining the coming war but another of her journeys?
Rajani was prepared to start in on him again in earnest, but First's final proclamation took the wind right out of her sails. Instead, she could only stare at him, incredulous and shocked.
"...if that's all it takes to get you to own up to your fate, then maybe I should have mentioned this first and saved myself hours' worth of arguing," she said at last, because she had no idea what to make of his words. Why would they (or even one of them) follow her into battle? They had both made it abundantly clear that wolves and Guardians and familiars were not their cup of tea, though fate seemed to disagree. Why should her decision have any bearing on what they decide?
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Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2013 5:45 pm
With those words flung between them, so real and heavy and alive that the words seem to stare at them both, expecting a response, First shrinks back in on himself. He looks down at the little Guardian fawn, which has reached the bottom of the second bowl, and grown so tired due to the meal that it lays beside the bowl, head hooked over the edge, eyes heavy. Anywhere is better than looking directly at Rajani, when his cheeks have gone red and he's plainly wondering why he opened his damn mouth in the first place.
"Never much believed in following fate," he mutters, for lack of anything better to say, and moves off from them all to a small cupboard beside the matched beds. From here he takes out a bottle and a pair of tiny glasses no bigger than a child's fist. This is a nobleman's past-time, but their wages don't much show in their lives otherwise -- it's no surprise that the Freds would splurge on expensive spirits, perhaps simply to show that they could. He pours the two little glasses full and offers one to her, still without meeting her gaze. "Always thought it's better to follow people instead."
He doesn't try to explain why he thinks she's a person worth following. He's more than half afraid to. But plainly he does, for though he's embarrassed he does not take his promise back.
Where she goes, they'll follow. It's a novel concept.
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Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2013 3:28 pm
The gypsy stared blankly at the proffered glass before accepting it and knocking back the shot. With a slight grimace, she set the glass on a table. By the spirits, this conversation was exhausting. It had more twists and turns and ups and downs than even the most complex verses she had ever learned. Once again, she collapsed into the chair she had claimed.
Even with the warm buzz of liquor filling her, she could not fathom why the boys would want to follow her. It was incomprehensible. Of course, no force on this earth could bring her to ask First for clarification. Something told her that she did not really want to know. Besides, the night had been stressful enough; she hardly needed to add anything more on top of it.
With a heartfelt sigh, she propped her elbow on the armrest and buried her hand in her hair. What more could she possibly say?
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Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 9:32 am
Outside, Last is offering Oberon carrots -- he has a great big bundle of them, and is ready to feed them to the newly Awakened Guardian one by one, in the comradely fashion with which he would share a pint at a pub with a close mate. He is tired, by now, and not in the least interested in going back up to his flat, not until it has been silent for long enough that either his twin sib has met his match or until Rajani comes down to fetch her companion.
"I just want you to know," he tells Oberon listlessly, "that this time it weren't my fault. She'd got upset, and I apologized, and she'd gotten settled again, and were all ready to smile and laugh, and then he goes and says something even I know's stupid."
Upstairs, First has put back another shot, and then another, and if she will take it, given Rajani the same -- and it has relaxed him, at least, so that he is not so twisted up with embarrassment and uncertainty. He begins to smile, and tickle Unwelcome's feathers, dropping himself into the opposite chair in front of their small fireplace. "Maybe it ain't so bad," he tells her, with a hint of amusement, finally trying to see the better side of their undesired situation. "Could teach her to steal. Kip into open windows, take the jewelry, and bring it out again."
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Posted: Sat Apr 20, 2013 8:54 pm
In a rare show of tolerance, Oberon accepted the carrots from one of the men in Rajani's life of whom he least approved. Of course, he could simply be making the sensible decision to accept the bribe for a temporary truce. Either way, he offered the younger Fred no violence, and seemed to be listening to him with a sympathetic ear.
Inside, the gypsy had accepted the second and third shots, and was staring pensively at her fourth. They had served to mellow her, if nothing else. "She's clever enough to manage," she told him. "If she'll listen to you, that is."
Hawthorn had kept watch and acted as a decoy for her on more than one job, and he was naught but a clever companion. She could only imagine how much more useful a rook familiar would be in thieving.
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