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 Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 9:53 am
RP with Naraka and Kesin.Meepfur Iden was huddled comfortably up against the arm of one of the sofas, bundled up in a nice hooded sweatshirt that was entirely inappropriate attire for a summer night. But she wasn't worried about being hot, it was just comfortable. Brushing a stubborn bit of hair back behind a long ear, she smiled, watching Toby sleep from across the room. The Velvet had desperately wanted to go visit the shop despite the lateness of the hour, hoping that maybe Carl or Willow or even Sid would be there, because he was awake and full of energy and wanted to play hero again. ...but that had lasted all of ten minutes after they got in the door to find no one, and he'd since fallen asleep in the box of stuffed animals that he'd been intending to play siege with. Naraka It's been a long time since Naraka has seen the velvet shop. Too long, he thinks looking upon it for the first time after nearly a year in Central America. He's got the look of someone who's been out in the elements for quite a while in his clothing and bagage, but his face and hair are just the same as ever. Kesin had found him earlier that day, before he had even arrived home. In fact, Naraka had the suspicion that Kesin had been waiting for him at the airport, for he'd appeared soon after Nar had gotten his bike and began his ride home, pelting down out of the sky at him, sqawking obscenities. He's riding on his shoulder now, placidly enough, chuckling over nothing imparticular. After juggling some bags, he manages to reach down and get the door open, adjusting his sun glasses and smiling around at all the plushes. "Oh... hello." Meepfur Iden was quite contentedly lost in thinking nothing when the door opened, and before she turned to look, her first suspicion was that maybe it would be LP. She hadn't seen the other woman in awhile, but not quite as long as she hadn't seen Naraka. ...whoa, wait. It only took a moment for the young vampire to fairly leap off the couch and pounce on Nar with a joyful hug, heedless of both bags and bird. "Naraka!" Naraka Nar reels back with an 'umpf' while Kesin, unseated, goes flapping off to a shelf to mutter over his shoulder. "Ow. Hey! I didn't expect to ah... to.... " He slows down and stops, a funny look on his face. Something is wrong. Something is terribly wrong. But as he's spent the vast majority of the last year with a vampire, it takes him a moment to realize that she, unlike he, ought to be alive. He cringes away from her, staring, mortified. "IDEN!! What happened to you??" Meepfur "Oh, did that hurt?" she asked sheepishly, "Sorry, I just..." Iden was grinning, and on the verge of giggling a little, until Nar got that horrible look on his face and pulled away. Her face fell, and she stared back at him, confused for a moment. Oh, hell. She'd kind of forgotten about that. Letting go, she ducked her head, rubbing the back of her neck. "Umm...hi? It's, uh, been awhile." She ducked out the question, or tried to, figuring the answer was maybe sort of obvious and she didn't have to go there. Because she really didn't know how. Naraka Unfortunately, Nar isn't going to let this go. In fact, he's QUITE disturbed. Disturbed enough to throw down his bags heedlessly. There is a rather sharp crunching sound, but he pays it no mind. "What what!! Iden, he didn't! Oh, don't tell me!" He clutches his hands over his eyes and doubles over, tottering, looking as though he might pass out or hurl or both. Meepfur While she had had plenty of time to give it some thought, she'd really never known what to expect from Naraka when he found out. She certainly hadn't expected anything anywhere near positive, but this was bad, and starting to disturb her. That crunching sound, whatever it was, made her flinch. Iden didn't have a clue what she was supposed to do, or if anything would help at all, but she really, really didn't want him to pass out the way he looked like he might. More than anything, though, she was stabbed with guilt for upsetting him so, and she hated that he looked that way he did because of her. The last thing she ever wanted was to hurt him somehow. "Hey, hey," she tried to keep her voice as steady as she could, and crouched in front of him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright, I'm sorry. I'm okay, I promise. Please calm down, please, I'm sorry." Naraka "No. No it's not." Naraka avoids her touch, recoiling from her cold, lifeless, inhuman fingers. He skirts around her, staggering to the couch and collapsing there. It takes him a while to find his voice, as shocked as he is, and it comes out in a quiet, broken wail, "What's happened? How could this happen? I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry... I should have known he'd do something like this to you. And now it's too late... " Meepfur It broke what composure she'd kept when he evaded her touch, avoided her, and she let herself fall the rest of the way to the floor, pulling her knees up to her chin and balling up. "What're you sorry for?" she murmurred, "He did it, not you. All you did was go away." Iden didn't mean for it to be accusing, but she realized once she'd said it that it must sound that way. "Sorry, I didn't mean..." she trailed off, looking away so that she could wipe her nose on her sleeve. Naraka Nar stares at her out of the corner of his eye. But there's nothing he can do now. What chance he might have had is gone. He blinks and bites his lip, trying not to go all to pieces. "I'm just... I thought I might keep you from that sort of thing. I didn't know he'd do something like this...." "Yark yark!" Kesin calls from the plushes. "Lovely lady turned all dead! Ha ha!" Inspired to sudden fury, Nar snatches up a cushion and hurls it at the bird, knocking plushes every which way. "Kesin! SHUT UP!" But his fit of anger is brief and soon he's lost it completely. He gets up and goes bolting into the basement. Meepfur Iden was surprised by Kesin's outburst, having pretty well forgotten the bird was even there. She didn't really mind it, though. He'd called her lovely, and it was a brief, flattering distraction before Nar lost it and fled. Blinking loose a few tears, she stared after him, distressed and still confused. Why was he so desperate to get away from her? What made her so terrible now? She was still Iden. She was caught where she was, not knowing if she should go after him and leave him alone. She looked up at the magpie, forlorn. "Good one, Kesin. Now what I'm I supposed to do?" In the back of her mind, she was very, very glad that Toby was a heavy sleeper, and buried under a mound off soft, muffling plushies. Naraka Kes appears at the other end of the shelf, settles his feathers, and, once he's sure Naraka's good and gone, struts out. "Oh, that Naraka. Hhhhrrrrnnnn..." He soars down to the couch and alights, peering at Iden with a sharp stare. Tilting his head, he says in a surprisingly serious tone, "Do what you please. Hmm? How am I to know what you are to do? Naraka has failed, you know? And he doen't like it." Meepfur Since when had Kesin gotten so good at talking? Sure, he'd spouted off Spnish that one time, and had proved himself very capable with insults, but it had never been anything so like a conversation. Maybe sometime she'd ask him, since at this point she wasn't sure if she'd get to talking with Nar in a situation when she could ask about it. Right now, she'd really just like to be able to talk to him, period. "I knew he wouldn't like it, but I didn't expect him to...act like that." Sighing, she reached up to give Kesin a little scratch, provided he didn't jump away, too. "I guess I should go try. The most he can do is yell, right?" Naraka "Perhaps you do not know Naraka very well," he says quietly, nodding, and then states simply, "He hates vampires."
As for the scratching, he takes it with a cluck of approval, appreciating the attention. "Yell! He can dance, too. Angry dance. I saw it once. I laughed." Meepfur "Yeah, well, he kind of is one," she griped, pushing herself to her feet. If he was shallow enough to start hating her, she didn't know what she'd do. Slap him, maybe, and hope it knocked a little sense into him. Slapping was supposed to be for people like Puck and sometimes Vlad, though. Nar didn't really belong on that list. "Angry dance, huh?" That got a small smile out of her, and another scratch for Kesin. "Maybe I'll get lucky and see it." "Well, wish me luck," she muttered. Fighting the urge to linger with the bird a little longer, she gave him a little pat and headed over to peek down into the basement and start on her way down the stairs. Naraka "Yes. That is why he hates them."
Kes clucks and closes his eyes, sidling up to her hand for more petting. "Eh? Good luck, good luck. If luck has to do with it, eh? Heh heh." It seems that Naraka isn't in the mood for dancing of any nature. He's standing in the middle of an isle between the dusty junk, staring up at nothing, tears running down his face. He glances back when he hears the shuffle of Iden's feet and turns away. Meepfur Kesin's words and little chuckle echoed in her head on her way down to find Naraka, who at least wasn't off hiding somewhere. Just crying. And she wasn't sure which was worse. "Hey." She wanted to go up to him and turn his head, to make him look at her, but she knew he'd never let her get close enough to do it. The best she could do was talk and hope he didn't start covering his ears, too. "Just because you can't see me 'cause you won't look at me doesn't mean I'm not here." Meepfur Kesin's words and little chuckle echoed in her head on her way down to find Naraka, who at least wasn't off hiding somewhere. Just crying. And she wasn't sure which was worse. "Hey." She wanted to go up to him and turn his head, to make him look at her, but she knew he'd never let her get close enough to do it. The best she could do was talk and hope he didn't start covering his ears, too. "Just because you can't see me 'cause you won't look at me doesn't mean I'm not here." Naraka He doesn't cover his ears. He doesn't really do much of anything but stand, clutching and unclutching his hands. "I know you're here.... But there's nothing I can say. I told you that I'd look after you, and I let you down, utterly and completely. I hadn't meant for it to be an idle promise... Now the worst has happened. There's nothing I can do. Not now. You've become one of the damned. It's the most horrible thing..." he trails off, unable to think of anything else to say. Meepfur "What, and now that you think you've screwed up, you're going to just run away from it?" Iden scrubbed at her eyes with her sleeve, trying to soak up the tears that had started to fall, and to give herself something to do. "I don't care if you can't say anything, I don't care if you can't do anything, I don't care." "I just don't want you t-to look at me like you did, or keep turning away when all I really want to know is where the hell you've been, and how you've been, and maybe a damn hug or something wouldn't hurt any," she spilled out, hugging herself. Naraka Saying she doesn't care doesn't make him feel any better. It sounds just terrible. "Don't.... How could you say that? I don't know if I believe you." He shakes his head and rubs his face, defeated. "I was in Central America. My friend, Chac... he needed some help with something. A project of his. It ended up.... being really extensive... We kind of got lost. I didn't mean to be gone for so long..." The hug he doesn't know that he can do. He turns around and tries, reaching out to her, but the touch of her dead skin is too much and he turns away, sobbing anew. Meepfur "Because it doesn't matter! Because it's done, and it's not going to change, and nobody can fix it, and...and it doesn't matter, because that's not what I want. I can't have it. I just want my friend." It was something, to hear the explanation, but that small thing didn't last. When he turned away again, she couldn't take it any longer. Iden just feel to her knees and rocked, finally letting herself go and sobbing. "So it doesn't matter anymore? All the things you used to say, and now you just say you don't believe me, and you turn around, because you can't stand what we are, because suddenly I'm just somehow awful for being that much more like you?!" Naraka "No, you're not awful.." He murmurs darkly. "It's just an awful thing you've been turned into. And I wouldn't wish it on anyone. And.... It's so terrible to see this done to you. I can't... I don't know if I can handle it..." Meepfur "I was afraid of that." Iden closed her eyes and swallowed, trying to find the will to stand up again. If he couldn't handle it, she should probably leave. "I guess I can't really blame you, I just.." she was interrupted for a moment by her own hiccupping. Somehow, it still managed to creep up on her when she was upset. "I guess I just hoped you might." Naraka "What? Might what? Iden, I'll do what ever you want. I owe you that much. But I can't imagine you're very happy with me. Nor should you be." Meepfur "Might be able to handle it," she clarified, slowly and tediously managing to pull herself up. "No, I'm not happy with you," she admitted, "You won't touch me, or let me touch you, and you ran away from me after I spent all this time missing you and waiting for you to come back. I stayed away for a long time after because I was afraid you'd do that, or chase me off or something, and I didn't think I could..handle it. But you were gone by the time I came back." "I don't mind that you went away, not really. I just worried, but D said it'd be okay." She scuffed at the floor with her shoe. "And now you're back, and that's okay now, but...this wasn't exactly the kind of thing I was hoping for." Naraka "What do you expect, Iden? This is the worst fate that could befall a living creature. If I were merciful, I would kill you now. But I don't know if I could do that... In fact, I'm pretty sure I can't. I wn't chase you off.... You're allowed to be here just as much as anyone else. It's your spear I don't trust," he snarls, his tone changing to one of a new and bitter hatred. Meepfur "I don't know what to expect, but I was kind of hoping it wouldn't be so close to rejection." She crossed her arms, rocking back on her heels. "And I kind of like being being alive for now, thanks, otherwise I might've taken care of that myself." The hatred that slipped into Nar's voice then was disturbing, and sent an involuntary shudder up her spine. "Trust him? You'd have to be stupid to, he's always been too unpredictable for that. But I still don't hate him, not really. I don't know if I ever really could." Naraka Nar really can't take her sarcasm right now. He looks back with a very strange expression. "Of course you do. That's all the trouble. That's how we all become trapped. For as long as we can, we prefer damnation." He puts his hands in his pockets and starts to shuffle slowly down the hall of boxes. "I see.." Meepfur Iden blinked right back, frowning. She couldn't help it, there were just some pieces of this she didn't understand yet. "I'm twenty years old, not two hundred. I'd be alive right now whether this had happened or not." She hesitated then, wondering if she should follow him or if she was really supposed to go now. Naraka "Your heart isn't beating," he replies, tonelessly. "And therefor, you ought to be dead. How old would you have to be to say, 'well, I really ought to have died'? What do numbers mean?" He turns back around, his eyes gleaming in the gloom, doubly so to a vampire who can see in the dark. "I can't... I can't talk about this right now... It is very hard. But I won't tell you why. You will find out on your own." Meepfur She almost opened her mouth to argue it, but wisely kept her jaw shut. She really didn't want to start some kind of debate, especially not now and especially not with Nar. "Sorry," she mumbled instead, watching his eyes. She wasn't used to seeing his like that. Iden shuffled her feet, wondering again if it was time to go. Maybe it was. "If you want to be left alone, I can..go. I should get Toby home, anyway." Naraka "Go, if you want to. If you ought to. I will be down here." He finds his little table and slumps into one of the old, rickety chairs. His head in his hands, he resembles some sort of drunk, or perhaps a brooding philosopher. He certainly doesn't look well. Meepfur It was tempting to go to him, offer him or hug or something, but she was pretty sure that wouldn't help. Maybe nothing really would, and whichever way she went wouldn't matter. So finally, with a sigh, she turned to go back up the stairs to where Toby and Kesin were. Hopefully Toby was still asleep, and she could get him home without waking him up. "Goodnight, then." Naraka Nar remains as he was until she is almost gone. With a second thought, he sits up and says, "Iden, wait. I wanted to say.... I wanted to tell you. I don't blame you for any of this. I'm not angry with you. I'm just very sorry..." Meepfur Iden stopped, hand curled around the railing, dreading for a moment what he might say, but when he'd finished, she relaxed. It wasn't a hug, but it was something, to know that he wasn't angry, that he still wouldn't chase her away. And maybe sometime, things would be something close to okay again. "Thanks. I...I am still glad you're back. I missed you." With that, she went to collect Toby, and maybe give Kesin another scratch if he was still around.
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Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 3:30 pm
Iden had gotten lucky, and gotten home without Toby waking up to see the state she was in. She couldn't have dealt with that then, when all she wanted to do was go down and hide in the dark. What she hadn't clearly realized, though, was that of course she wouldn't be alone down in the dark...but it wasn't being alone that she really needed.
Vlad's presence in itself wasn't a comfort; he didn't stroke her hair or speak in that practiced voice he might use to soothe an animal. All he did was let her rest against him, one arm draped loosely around her. But it was contact, it was something, and she was desperate for it. Someone who didn't recoil or flinch away from touching her. Iden clung to him and sobbed without tears, burying her face against his chest. He smelled like horse because he'd been working with Cora, and that smell was an old, familiar one.
Somewhere in the back of her mind Iden recognized this all as absurd, trying to find solace in him somehow. Everything, everything was his fault. He'd turned everything upside-down, inside-out, and made her into what she was. And it was what she'd become that had horrified Nar and hurt him. It was all his fault, even how she'd become so close to and dependent on Naraka in the first place.
He was everything awful in her life, and somehow so much of what she needed. He'd woken her up with pain, bent her again and again until she thought she might break, and drawn her out with his touch, and it was all perfectly done, perfectly planned and played. He frightened her, fascinated her, and drew her in. He'd taken her freedom and given her damnation, given her every reason in the world to hate him, every possible motivation to run away from him.
But in the end, all she could ever do was run to him, because he was everything she needed, and despite all the things he'd put her through, rejection had never been one of them. And right now, he was doing something not even her closest friend had been able to do.
He held her, and it was exactly what she needed.
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Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:09 pm
RP with Willow and LP.Meepfur Discouraged by the lack of company to be found in the shop the night before last, Toby had spent a good part of this evening pleading with his mother to go back...only for some reason, she hadn't seemed to want to. But Tori was tired, and since it was after dark, Iden was the only option if he wanted to go visit.She'd given in, finally, and walked him there. But as they got close, she leaned down and nudged him forward with a smile. "You go on in, I think I'll stay here. It's nice out tonight, y'know?" Toby, though he looked a little puzzled, went on in the door as she opened it for him. "Okay, if you're really sure. I won't be too late, promise."Iden moved a little further down the street, and settled herself on the curb. LP Willow wondered towards the shop dragging LP along... in that ghostly mannor. "You work too much LP You need to come to the shop and stop being a stick in the mud." She saw Iden as she walked towards the shop and saw Toby entering into it. "TOBY!!!!" She Yelled happily and ran off towards her friend leaving LP struggling with the ghosts."Let me go, I can walk perfectly fine on my own. I do have work to do and I would've appericated....." She trailed off when she saw Iden, sitting there on the curb seeming somewhat unhappy. Finally when the ghosts let her go she moved up towards the woman and tilted her head, "Mind if I sit down?" She asked in a rather soft tone. Meepfur "Willow!" Toby cried in happy surprise. "Willow, Willow you grew!" And she was so pretty. Okay, she'd always been pretty, but now she was really pretty. "When did you grow? What was it like?!"Iden heard the chatter, but she didn't actually look up to see what it was until after LP had been let go, having been preoccuppied with playing with the shoelaces that tied her armwarmers. She smiled up at the other woman, waving a hand. "Sure, go ahead." LP Willow grined widely, "I know. It was quite fun actully until the last bit but how about I start at the beginning." Her tail flickered as she tugged slightly on her sleeves looking around, "How about we sit down because it's a bit of a long story to be trueful."LP nodded softly and sat down beside her on the curb. "You look sort of down in the dumps. What's the matter?" If she noticed the change in Iden she didn't mention it or showed it. Meepfur Toby's tail wagged furiously behind him, and he nodded. "Okay! Here, how about the couch?" And so saying, that was where he went, clambering hurriedly up onto it so that he could offer Willow a hand up."Huh? Oh, I'm okay. I just don't feel like being inside, is all." It wasn't really a lie, just not the detailed truth. She pushed her hair back behind her ear, smiling. "How've you been?" LP Willow grined as she followed him, "Soundsl like a good place to me." She giggled and took his offering hand though most of the time she could do it without help, she wouldn't never decline it. "Thank you toby."
Her ears twitched as she sorted out things that were said to her by some of her ghost pals and she chuckled, "I suppose but really B it is a story worth telling many a times." She said speaking to the thin air beside the couch.LP looked at Iden with a brow lofted and then shurged, "Ah well if you don't want to talk about it." Sure LP might not always be the brightest one of the bunch but she could tell when people weren't happy. "I've been busy, and to be honest trying to keep Willow out of the movies she's been wanting to watch." She chuckled with a shake of her head. "That girl wants to watch more R-rated movies than I ever cared for. She picks up every one of them she sees that 'looks cool'." Meepfur "You're welcome!" Toby wagged his tail a little more as he helped her up. It wasn't that he didn't think Willow could get up herself, it was just polite to offer, like with opening doors, even though he had trouble with that because of his size.
While he got comfortable, he tilted his head at the tiger, ears perking. "B? Oh, wait...that ghost thing, right?" He thought he remembered something like that."It's really nothing major, honest. It'll be fine." Eventually. Hopefully. She didn't really want to go blabbering about personal stuff to everyone, since it had to do with Nar and she wasn't sure how he'd feel about that. "Oh really?" she asked, chuckling a little. "What is it she's been picking up? Some of 'em really aren't too bad." LP Willow chuckled, "Yes B's one of my ghost pals." She grinned as she set down crossing her legs infont of her, rather out of habbit than anything else. "I get many funny looks from others when I stalk talking to them." She shurged, "I don't know why."
She took a moment to get comfortable and into a story telling postion. Her tail flickered softly as she smiled, "So I suppose we're ready for that story now eh?" Slightly wishing there was popcorn but they'd have to do without.LP shurged, "Okay, but you know if you ever need someone to talk to and you can always come find me." She nodded as she offered, "I might not be able to help much but sometimes just going on about a problem helps one feel better." She shurged, "Everything from Vampire movies to killer movies, like that Hostel movie." She let off a slight shutter as she mentioned the one movie she hated most. "They maynot be that bad it's just that I'd rather he not watch them, if you know what I mean. After all some of those movies just slander and create bad names for her ghost pals and the vampires." Meepfur "I guess it's 'cause they can't see 'em, y'know? Looks like you're talking to someone who isn't there." Toby kicked his feet over the edge of the couch.
"Yeah, I'm ready to hear!" His tail swished over the couch fabric as he wagged it, just remembering to tag on, "Please?""Thanks, LP." The offer made her smile a little, and she nodded, filing it away for later. "Hostel, huh? I don't even want to see that." Iden grimaced. That had just looked...ugh. "I still watch vampire movies, though," she admitted with a giggle. "But for some things shouldn't she be alright, if she knows the difference between what's movie and what's real? Especially since she knows some real ghosts and vampires." LP Willow shurged, "Maybe that's what it is. Althought I thought everyone knew ghosts were real."
Cracking her knuckles softly she nodded before lauching into the simi short version of the story. "Well it all started when I was woken up by Nayati in a room, much like an empty bedroom, nothing in it at all. There wasn't even the sound of my ghosts, everything was pitch quite." Her tone was soft, and almost fortune teller like quite.
"Me and Nayati were working on a way to figure out how to get out of the room, finally I asked him if he had any of his seeds with him so he could make a vine for one of use to climb up and try the doorknob to see if it was unlocked. Which it was but we both had to push on it; for I was held up by his vines and had trouble trying to open the door without a floor to brace myself on, nor my friends." She paused and looked towards where B was with a nod. 'It was quite painful not to be able to hear or talk to them at all. But once the door was opened we came out into a beautiful forrest."Nodding softly LP shurged, "No problem, what are friends for?" Nodding softly she agreed, "I actully went to watch it with a friend of mine and I was trying to find an excuse to leave. That was the most horriblest movie I'd ever seen." She paused looking at Iden before shaking her head, "She does but still, I hate to listen to her whine when they've done something wrong because she actully writes the directors of the movies and sends them nasty letters." She paused when the vampire thing was mentioned; and with a slight nervous chuckle added, "Hehe, she doesn't really remember Nar." she muttered in a quite tone looking around. "I think that's were she's picked up the habbit of getting books to read with vampire knowlendge in them and is looking for any movies with them as well." She shook her head softly, "I keep telling her those things don't hold squat about the truth." Meepfur "Some people do. Mom does, she said Vlad used to be a ghost." He frowned a little. It didn't quite make sense, but Iden had said it, so it must be true.
Willow hadn't been able to hear her ghost friends at all? That would be hard, if she was so used to them being around all the time. "I'm glad you guys got out! But a forest, huh? That must've been cool!""Does she?" Iden couldn't help but laugh a little. "Those must be something to read!" "Oh, she doesn't remember Nar? Was he...gone by the time she grew enough, then?" She frowned a little. Maybe he had been...until the other night, Iden hadn't seen him since the beginning of last summer. "I dunno, though, every now and then they manage to get something right." LP Willow nodded softly listening the the whole Vlad thing, "Interesting... I havne't heard that one before."
She nodded, "It was, see we were walking and had seemed like it had been forever since we left that little room, trying to find our way out. So we stopped to ask a grasshopper if he knew where the ghosts were. He said something about a graveyard and to keep going stright out of the forest."
Her tail flickered as she recalled everything that happened, "Well after he'd hopped away we kept moving but it started getting dark after a while and Nayati was getting cold. So once we found a decent place we stopped to hunker down for the night and sleep, it was slightly chilly but it wasn't as bad for me as it was for Nayati. He made a left from a tree big enough for us both to sleep in, and he found him some berries, while I made a fire using one of the hairs from his tail and a bunch of sticks and leaves and dry grass I had gathered."LP nodded softly, "They are I normally get to read a bit of them before she snatchs them away and runs to the post office drop box." "He's been gone atleast since then. I beleive he's been gone about a year now." She pondered, "He dissapered a few months before she grew I do beleive." She shurged softly, "Althought she mentioned running into Kesin so he might be coming back soon." Nodding with a shurg, "True they do every now and then." She paused waiting to bite back was she was about to say. But before she could she muttered looking at Iden, "I hope you don't think I'm trying to be rude or anything, but you look a bit paler than I remember you being." Meepfur "A graveyard? Really?" Toby's eyes went wide as he pictured in his mind the scene from Quest for Glory when the hero covered himself in Undead Unguent and went into the gaveyard to pick a mandrake, and all the ghosts were floating around him but couldn't hurt him."Little more than, I think." She looked down for a second, playing with her armwarmers again. "Yeah, he umm, came back the other night." "Oh! Oh, that. Right." Iden doubted LP would freak out on her, but she couldn't help but be a little nervous. Nevertheless, she grinned at the other woman, showing fang. LP Willow nodded, "Yes we had to find a graveyard, and apperently something bad was there because the cricket was scare of it." She nodded gentally. "Anyways I ended up having to catch and kill a...mouse... for food." Her ears twitchs slightly in unhappyness of that time, "But yeah me and Nayati had eaten our fill and he'd already gone to sleep while I was slightly awake and wondered off for a few moments before returning to kill the fire and ended up curling up with him to keep him warm."
Her voice trailed off, "He really needs to get some thicker fur." She said with a nod, "But when we woke up he was startled, for apperently I'd grown over the night, and now I'm like an Inch shorter than he is." Thinking with a slightly wrinkled nose she shurged, "Which this is when we started bricking for some odd reason."LP blinked, "Oh, well I'll have to prod the old goat for leaving us without a warning." She said in that joking sort of way she had. Pausing at the site of Idens fangs she nodded with a thoughful look before saying, "Ahh I see. I suppose you're resident vampire had a hand in it?" LP didn't seem upset in the least rather she slightly worried, and wondered if Nara had come back last night and if this had something to do with her seeming upset. LP remembered how Nara talked about Iden before they met and he seemed rather wanting to keep her 'safe' atleast that's the sort of vibe she'd gotten off of Nar. Meepfur Toby had to perk his ears to pick up on just what it was Willow had to kill. A mouse? What was so wrong about eating a mouse? He didn't quite understand. "Did it taste bad or something?"
"Shorter than him, huh? But you're taller than me now!" He nodded, tilting his head. "Bricking?" One more thing he didn't quite comprehend."Well, if you do, you should probably be gentle about it. I doubt he's in the mood." Iden frowned. That would be her fault. "Yeah, that'd be it," she confirmed. "It was awhile ago now, though, more than a year." LP Willow shook her head, "Trea...." she murfed shaking the thought out of her head again. "Very much so," She giggled and ruffled his hair playfully. "Bickering.... [[ack bad spelling/grammer on willow's part xD]] I mean we fought."
She shurged, "Anyways we ran into a nice toad and I started talking to him and he took us out of the forest and through sort of a swampy part of the lands, before we came to the graveyard by the time we were almost there I releized that Nayati was no longer behind up but he'd went on ahead of us so he reached the clear patch between us and the gate first. After giving the noble toad a thankyou kiss on the head I scurried to catch up with Nayati were we went to find the Mosuluemn[sp? x-x]LP nodded softly, "oh..." Meepfur "Trea? Are they a Velvet, a mouse Velvet?" If so, Toby had never met them. He definitely needed to start coming around the shop more. He laughed when she ruffled his hair, ducking his head. "Oh, you fought? What for?"
"You kissed a toad?! And you didn't get warts?" He peered at Willow just to make sure.Iden picked at her boots in the relative silence. "So Willow ran into Kesin, huh? He's gotten a lot better at talking since he's been gone." LP Willow nodded, "She's Yume's Velveteen. A child like you." She said softly nodding, "I still haven't figured out why we fought. Nayati just all of a sudden started being mean." A soft pout touched her maw, but that lasted mear seconds, "No silly, you can't get warts from normal toads. Only the ones that've been bewitched."
She chuckled, "But anyways we made it to the Mosulemn and I started hearing the voices 'Help meeee'" she imiated a sound which would've been a fly drowning almost. "So we reached the mosulemn door and I was talking and the little girl from my last quest told me that she and the others had been locked up by Willam Trent's father. So Nayati had to grow vines again that held me up while I picked the lock.... if you've ever seen those old westerns and they're trying to get into the safe by putting their ears to the safe and listening for the clicks, that's how i did that." She trailled off there letting that sink into toby's skull.LP nodded, "She said he talked rather well. Which is quite a shock considering what he used to talk like. She said he still had that same appiate too." There was a soft giggle from the girl. "So, since you don't feel like going inside you wanna walk and get an ice cream maybe? I think there's a store open down the street. We might can grab toby and willow something in a small bowl to bring back." Meepfur "Oh, I see." Maybe he'd meet Trea sometime...and Nayati, but he wasn't so sure about that, since Willow said he'd been mean to her. Hmm. "Bewitched ones? I guess that makes sense. How do you tell the difference, though?"
"William Trent?" Toby frowned. "Who's that? And what's a...a Western?" The Velvet had never heard of such a thing before, since Iden wasn't a fan or anything."Yeah, you can actually have a real conversation with him now. But he's still hungry as ever, huh? Somehow I'm not surprised!" "Alright, that sounds good," she agreed. "Toby's always happy to eat, too, and he loves ice cream." LP "Yeah, Trea's kind of shy thought, and Nayati... well he's nice most of the time but he can be a jerk. Ever since I've grown he treats me differently."
"I'm not sure, I can't find much on him save he owned soemthing durning the civil war." Her tail flickered softly, "But when I do findout who the man was that locked up my friends he better already be dead." She giggled at the 'what's a western thing'. "A western is where a bunch of cowboys plays cops and robbers." She figured that would be the best and simplest way of putting it.
"But yeah I got the lock unlocked but it was suck and wouldn't turn so I could get it off so Nayati helped me and when I finally got the lock off his Vines snapped and we fell to the ground and he landed on his back making sure I landed ontop of him so I wasn't hurt bad... and he had brused ribs, lucky us B tried to help soften the fall before we hit too hard."LP chuckled, "Well atleast he's civil... wait I might not want to jinx that." She chuckled and nodded, "Kesin's always been a pig though." With a grin she chuckled getting up and offering a hand to Iden to help her to her feet. "Willow's always loved it as well because of the cream in it. She's spoiled." She said with a laugh. Meepfur "Huh." Toby scratched his chin, thinking about this sometime-jerk thing. Vlad was a jerk sometimes, but that was probably different somehow. "He's from that Civil War thing? Maybe I'll ask Mom if she knows, she likes history a lot."
"Oh, cowboys! They ride horses a lot, don't they? Mom said we use saddles like they do." Toby scratched behind one his ears. "I'm glad you didn't get hurt, Willow. It's good you have friends who'll take care of you, yeah?""Well, mostly civil," she amended with a small grin. "He'll still crack one." Iden took LP's hand and stood. "I don't know what exactly it is about it that Toby loves, but boy he does. Just plain old vanilla, too." LP Willow grined and nodded, "Yes, As far as I can find. I've been doing research on computers when I go to the libaraies. And that's about all I've found of Willam Trent." Her tail flickered as she shurged softly. "He'll get what's coming to him, that's forsure."
"Yes, Cowboys! And that they do, the bad ones are the ones that rob the safes. So I've learned how to pick a lock by watching them. Funny thing is they've never managed to get the lock unlocked." She giggled, and nodded. "Yes all my friends will take good care of my if I'm ever in need."
She watched Toby scratch and she giggled with a joking tone, "Toby doesn't have fleas does he?"Nodding LP shurged, "Oh well, you can't teach an old dog all new tricks. Atleast he's more civil than he has been." With a chuckle LP nodded gentally, "Willow will eat anything that's made from cream though I don't let her eat too much of anything sweet 'cause I'm not sure how much a tiger can take. I know she cant' eat any fruits or veggies. We tried that once." She wrinkled her nose. Meepfur "That Civil War was a long time ago, wasn't it? He must already be dead, then, unless he's a vampire or something."
"I didn't know there were bad cowboys. I guess there are bad everythings." Toby frowned a little, but then perked up again. "Well, I'm here too, if you ever need anything!"
"Fleas?" Toby blinked, looking horrified by the thought. "But I'm clean!""I think the only thing Toby can't eat is chocolate. He eats meat mostly, and he still likes dog biscuits and things, but he'll eat most anything you give him at least once." LP "Yes it did, back when there were like 13 states and all." She nodded, she did do her homework everynow and then.
"Unfourtnally there are bad everythings at some point in time, no matter how nice you wish it." Her tail flickered and she nodded, "Thank you toby," she scooted over beside the little one and gave him a hug. "It's always nice to have people around willing to help."
She giggled as his horrified look, "You can be clean and have fleas. They're attracted by fur mostly. Myself living out in the woods, LP insists on a flea dip on occasion."LP nodded, "I suppose it's the whole tiger blood that doesn't let her digest them properly as they sould be. Althought I don't know how well she'd do on them now she's grown. I might ask Iris when I see her what she thinks." Having a bit of skip in her step she grinned, "So what's you're favorite type of icecream?" Meepfur "Yeah, you're right. We just have to make sure they don't win, is all!" Toby smiled, wagging his tail as he returned the hug.
"I don't live in the woods, though." Dismayed, he flicked his ears back. "Do you really think I might have fleas?""Sounds like a good idea, she might know." "Me? Peanut butter chocolate chip. I can't have it anymore, though, makes me sick." Iden sighed. "It doesn't really taste as good now, either." LP She nodded, "Oh there's no way the bad guys will win." She blinked, "The good people are smarter."
Looking at him in a more serious way she shurged, "Fleas come from anything really, grass, trees, flowers... It's not impossible to get them. But if you start itching alot you might want to get a flea dip for just incase. Better safe than sorry." She said with a nod.LP nodded in agreement. "Wow, that kind of sucks. I couldn't imanage not having my favorite things in life. Maybe we can mix up a homemade batch of blood ice cream?" She sort of half way joked, for she wasn't sure how well cream settled with Vampires. "We can always make shaved ice if all else fails." She nodded with a grin. Meepfur Now he was worried. He didn't itch that much, but what if he DID have fleas? What if he...what if he gave them to other people, like Willow? That would be awful! "I hope I don't have fleas, then I'd have to stay away from everyone.""Yeah, it's...a little weird." It didn't bother her usually, but it was kind of disappointing. "Blood Hawaiian ice, huh?" Iden laughed. "There's an idea." LP Willow snerked, "No, no you wouldn't have to stay away from everyone Toby. They're just parasites that can easily be cured with something called Advantix and a flea dip. Which most of them drown when you take a nice tub bath anyways." She nodded mater of factly.LP nodded, "I guess there's somethings in life that just bites.... No pun intended." She added as an afterthought before nodding. "Yes well atleast it'd be something that's for sure. We could start up our own little shaved ice place." Meepfur "But if I had them, wouldn't I give them to everyone else?" He scratched his head thoughtfully. "A flea dip? That sounds like it would be weird. What's it like?"Iden chuckled. "With a menu like that, we'd have all the weirdos in town." LP "You could but it's not like they'd kill anyone to have them." Her tail flickered, "it's just like a normal bath but it's got a rather bad smell to it. Atleast I think it does."LP nodded with a chuckled, "Blood Hawaiin Ice from the finest sources, the best creams, and just for mesure toss in a few coffee types, and we would have all the weirdos in town and maybe Vlad too." She grined, "The Night Crawler Cafe` is what we could call it." She paused before pondering and add on, "The Living Dead Cafe` would work too." Meepfur "But then they'd be mad at me for giving them to them." It was an idea he just couldn't abide. "A bad smell? I guess it could be worse." He wiggled his nose."Heehee, who's donating?" Iden asked, chuckling. The idea of Vlad licking away at an ice cream cone cracked her up. "I think I like Night Crawler. Y'know, it kind of reminds me of this one series of books about vampires, it's got some places with names like that." LP Willow laughed, "They'd get over it dear. Besides they wouldn't know if you gave it to them or not."
She ran her hand through her hair softly pondering. "So what have you been up to lately?"LP giggled, "I'd offer but I don't know if anyone would want ex-demon blood." She counted on her fingers for a moment, "But I know plently of people and animals that wouldn't give a hoot or a hollar about it." Nodding when she said she liked Night Crawler as a name there came a grin over the girl's face. "Yeah? Well we just need a building and what not and we can get it started." There was a wink, was LP really serious about the shop? Pausing she looked around and laughed, "Oh wow, there's the Ice cream shop up there." She nodded to a nice large ice cream shaped sign above the door. Meepfur "Me? Practicing, mostly. Reading and writing, and riding, and fighting, and manners. All this stuff I need to know for the next time I grow, so I can be a squire!""Y'never know, maybe somebody would. Maybe it's got a little extra kick to it, huh?" She grinned at LP, looking her over jokingly. Iden giggled. "Y'know, Nar would probably think we're crazy right about now." At that thought, her face fell a little, but she went right back to grinning. She wasn't sure if LP was serious about it or just joking, but it was fun to go along with it. "Oh! Sneaks up on ya, doesn't it?" Iden opened the door, holding it for the other woman. LP Willow grined boardly with a chuckle, "Well I can't wait till I have more friends 'my age' to hang around with." Her tail flickered. "A squire sounds lovely thought, are you going to be one like in the mid-evil times?"LP chuckled, "I doubt it. But who am I to say?" She gave a chuckle. "Ah yes, Nar would have a duck fit." She nodded admitily before watching Iden's face fall a bit. She gave the woman a quick, one armed snug before grinning. "He'd get over it soon enough, he wouldn't want to miss out on the fun." Nodding she chuckled, "Indeed it does, Thank you." She slipped in past Iden moving to the counter to look at the speicals they had for the night. Meepfur "Then I'll have to hurry and learn, I guess! Then I can grow and be your age again." The younger Velvet was quite serious, and determined to keep his word. "Yep, I hope so! Vlad's kinda been helpin' a little, sometimes. He made me my waster." He patted his wooden practice sword."Well, I could always tell you." Iden winked, but then laughed, making it clear she was just joking. She wouldn't really do that to her friend. She didn't quite have time to return the hug, but she did smile. "As long as you're the one who springs it on him, I've surprised him enough already!" Following LP in, she too peered at the offerings, mostly out of curiosity. For Toby, she'd just stick with vanilla. LP Willow grined softly, "Ahh well you can take a bit of time because you don't need to rush. It's fun to hang out with you as you are." She said with a grin.
Looking at the waster she shurged, "LP's got tons more of those things that I'll ever be able to handle. I think she gets atleast 10 a week now.... she's as bad as Kesin in collecting shinies." She chuckled. "Maybe she can help you out a bit.LP chuckled, "Ah well then just wait till I get a cut or something and you can heal it up. That way it'll be a pleasent note." She said with a laugh. "Ah, of crouse. I'd like to see the look on his face when he hears it to." She paused and started to imate what she thought he'd be saying, "You're going to do what? Haven't you two made enough trouble around here as it is? Now you're going to open up a shop? What's next dismembered heads?" Pondering she tapped the glass, "Hrmm, Rainbow Vanilla I think for willow will do nicely. She's always had a thing for the different colors. Pondering over what to get herself she shurged, "Hrmm... Coconut almond, or chocolate chip...." She asked looking over to Iden for some help. Meepfur "I do wanna be older, though. Then I can have a real sword! Seppa promised she'd make me one." He was so looking forward to that.
"Who's Kesin?" he asked. "Another Velvet?"Iden couldn't help it, at LP's imitation of Nar she fell into a gigglefit. "I'd like to se it, but maybe from far away." "Huh, rainbow?" She peered at it. "Maybe that's what I'll get for Toby, since it's still the same flavor and all. Just a little cooler." Iden made a face, then. "Eww, coconut. Go for the chocolate chip!" LP Willow giggled and nodded, "Well that's great. Then you and LP can.... wait no you can't because her's would squash us." She giggled.
"Oh yes he's another velvet. The resident vampire's vevleteen." She said with a nod. "The way Kesin talks Nara never feeds him though."A grin and nod as LP giggled as well. "Ah yes, atleast out of hitting distance.... althought that might be a bit impossible for me." Nodding she pointed to it, "See it's Red, Blue and White. Quite tastey too, has a bit more of the Vanilla in it I think." She nodded and giggled again as Iden made the face at the coconut. "Okay chocolate chip it is then. Ah they're alright. I've had to crack them open when me and Willow stay on the beach for it's too cold in the winter to stay were we live." She wrinkled her nose, "bad thing about caves.... no insullation." [[edited slgihtly for I buggered it up.]] She nodded at Iden, "I'll pay if you want to order Toby and you something [meaning on the same bill]." She had told one of the waiters how she wanted the ice creams and what size waiting to see what Iden would order. Meepfur "That would be a problem." Toby chuckled a little. "Oh, there's another vampire around here? I've never seen them.""Aww, he wouldn't really hit you, I'm sure. Kesin did say he does an 'angry dance,' though." "I always thought coconut tasted kind of like soap." She tapped the glass on the case, peering in. "Really, you stay on the beach when it's cold? Why live in a cave, anyway?" "Alright, if you're sure? I treat next time we come, then." Nodding, she ordered a small of the colorful vanilla for Toby...and a small peanut butter chip for herself, too. "I'll probably regret it later, but hey, people give themselves hangovers all the time." LP Willow nodded and chuckled, "Indeed, to both those. See the other Vampire is Naraka, I think you've seen him when you were an animal like me. He's dissapered as far as I know for now. LP said something about him treating Iden like a sister once. But who knows."LP blinked and tried to imange Nara doing a dance. "The only dance I can see him doing is the drunkard dance." She giggled at the thought of it. "It's not that bad, good in cakes." she said with a nod, "And pies." She paused looking at Iden with a gental chuckle as she forked out the cash for the ice cream, handing Iden her's and tobys. "Well See the funny thing about it is... I can't really afford a decent house, and well Caves are free." She shurgged taking a lick from the chocolate chip cone she'd ordered herself. "And yes I'm sure, I don't mind paying. It's not like I have any bills to pay." She nodded as she watched Iden, "Ehh not all the time. I've quite muchly cut out a good bit of my drinking." She admited, "And to imange I have a whole 'celler' full."
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Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:09 pm
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Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:10 pm
((And another RP with LP!))
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Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:43 pm
((What goes here? Oh god, I don't even know!))
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Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:43 pm
((A little somethin'. Maybe.))
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Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:46 pm
((This doesn't really belong here! And it's old, hideously old and backdated! But it needs somewhere to go, so here it goes. Plz to not mind.)) Daimyn As DSS is closed (omfg, Daim the tracer strikes again! -___-), I've cleared out the guild to make room for a wild horse RPG I want to run. I made a log of Cora's journal, though, because that was a hell of a lot of writing, and I didn't want you to lose it if you still wanted it. xD Quote: Meepfur  To begin with a note, although Rawiya Queen's Coronet, or Cora for short, is only an 'official' pet as of today, she's been something of a background character of mine since June of last year. So, well...I'm going to backtrack and start there in this journal. Also to note, any other DSS horses I might acquire will not share this journal, as they will have nothing to do with Cora or any other characters that appear here. In addition, because of the..restricting nature of this little storyline, this uses a different 'version' of Cora than will be used for group RPs, etc.And I..might..prettify it sometime later on. Meepfur Cora is an odd one out in the stables of the Siira Sepluchery, which lies a safe but unappreciable distance outside of Durem. Cora lives in the main barn alongside the siirae, but is only to be let out in a separate, more traditional paddock than these dangerously zombie-like creatures. The description is as follows:Quote: The main barn is divided into four sections, each section with nine stalls. Every stall has a divided full door that opens onto the aisle, so that the top half can be opened and closed independently of the bottom. Both halves lock, and can only be opened by the master key or that particular siira owner's key. There is also another locking door at the back of the stall that usually remains open, and leads to an outside area shared with the rest of the section's occupants.
These outside areas aren't fenced in, but walled in by eight-foot stone walls; more for the protection of the stupidly curious than for the siirae's benefit.
At the far end of the barn are doors to yet another walled area where siirae can mingle with others who aren't their section-mates if their owners wish them to. It's basically like a dog park, so non-boarding siira owners can bring their siirae by for a visit. All owners' keys work on the doors to this area.
There's a separate, four-stall breeding barn with similar, smaller outside enclosures, including one for the actual, ah..deed. Siira females stay for two weeks after giving birth, and their foals stay for two weeks longer.
Another, much smaller building houses a tiny office and a little living room, the latter of which siira owners have access to. Other than that, siira owners have the keys to their siirae's stalls, and as such do have access to the attached enclosure, but entering it is discouraged (except in the case of the breeding barn enclosures), and should only be done when necessary. Meepfur Sabah is behind the Siira Sepulchery, and is Cora's current owner, who has done very little with the mare in the two years she's owned her. Mostly she's kept her..well, simply to keep her. In reality, the enigmatic woman has little to no use for a horse, even such a fine one. Iden is an acquaintance of Sabah's, who works for her, doing most of the day-to-day (or night-to-night, as it were) work around the stables. This young vampire is ideal for dealing with the undead siirae, but as a result of her work with them, she isn't able to give Cora the attention she might like to. Does however have good experience in caring for and riding horses, and to an extent training them, after growing up on a small farm (but not an actual horse farm) in southern Kentucky. Vlad is an Archeo, Dracula resurrected, who lives with Iden and is the vampire who turned her. He was raised from the beginning as a warrior and a horseman, son of the leader of a people renowned as cavalry, and during his six years as a political hostage of the Ottoman Empire, his knowledge of horses and training was expanded; here also he would have become familiar with the Arabian breed. Called by one historical source "that evil horseman." Meepfur As another note, an OOC one, I readily admit to not only being very out of practice when it comes to horses and riding, but also being pretty in-the-dark about horse training in general; not to mention mediaeval Turkish and Eastern European methods and warhorse training. Just so you're prepared for the fact that I might well get some things wrong here and there. I am trying my best, I promise. Meepfur Late June 2005"I have to say, girl, this just may be the strangest thing I've yet seen," Vlad noted idly as he meandered down the main corridor of the..bizarrely fortified siira barn. One of the half-equine creatures popped its decayed head over the half-door of it's stall, and he cupped a hand under its muzzle, fingers tapping against the exposed bone around its nostrils as he added, "And considering who I live with, that's saying something.""Oh, thanks," Iden returned dryly from within the depths of an unoccupied stall. "C'mon, how much weirder d'you get than being stuck in a spear for five hundred years?" He snorted, giving the siira another cursory study before dropping his hand and continuing on down the aisle. "I said the strangest thing I'd seen, not the strangest thing that's ever happened to me.""Sorry, my mistake." But her tone was sarcastic rather than apologetic, accompanied by a roll of her eyes he couldn't see. "Really though, is it that weird? Even compared to all the crazy things I've got hangin' around the house?" "While I do have to admit that little dog of yours is odd, he loses out to...these. Part horse, part dog, and all undead. Yes, it's 'that weird.'" Of course, weird though it was, it was of great interest. These things were among the lower ranks of the undead, really just a sort of zombie. Could they be controlled by a vampire, then?
As he ran a hand back through his dark brown hair, his thoughts were interrupted by a piercing whinny down in the next section of the barn, closer to the entrance. Accompanied by the stomp of a hoof, it sounded rather more lively than anything he'd yet heard out of a siira. They tended to sound either dry and cracking, or wet and gurgling; generally unpleasant, really.
A dark, distinctly whole and equine head came partly into view, and the end stall's resident set to chewing intently on the stall door. Then, quite promptly, she stilled her chewing only to set her teeth firmly around the wood, and inhale.
"Oh, now that's no good," Vlad observed with a sour grimace, reacting out of pure, if long-unused, habit. He strode right down the aisle 'til he reached the culprit, and flicked her white-snipped nose.
The mare jerked her head back with a snort, startled and highly offended, and glared at the strange man. Spitefully, watching him all the while, she tilted her head and very deliberately clamped her teeth down on the side of her little window.
Only to be flicked in the nose again, this time harder, and told testily, "Don't do that.""Don't do what?" Iden piped up again, "I didn't do anything." Frowning, she leaned out of the stall she was cleaning. "Oh, I see you've met Cora." "Yes," he affirmed, with a pause to flick the mare on the nose again, "She is...sucking air.""Oh, cribbing? Yeah, she does that a lot. Weaves too. Bored, probably." Stuffing her hands in her pockets, she left her work to walk down the corridor and stand next to Vlad. "A strange word for it," the Romanian murmurred. "And weaving, that is when they sway back and forth? Doesn't this Sabah woman do anything to occupy her?""No, not really. Not at all. She gets let out most every day, but uh..that's about it." "Unfortunate, for the horse especially." He frowned, leaning to the side to get a better looks inside the stall, and the horse it held. "She's a fine thing, though her coloring is strange. An Arabian, I take it, but certainly not pure. She really does nothing with her?""No, she's got Appaloosa too." Iden rubbed the back of her neck, thinking. "And Sab really doesn't do a thing with her. Look, I could ask if she'd mind someone else doing something with her. She really does need something to do." And so do you, I bet.Vlad nodded, before giving the cribbing mare another nose flick. "I'd appreciate it." Meepfur A few nights later..Tonight Vlad came to the stable alone, while Iden was off doing other things -- which was just fine by him. He'd really rather not hanging over his shoulder, even if it was mostly out of curiosity. Sabah had given them permission to 'do something' with Cora, unsurprisingly indifferent about the whole matter.
That is one woman, he thought to himself with a bemused smirk, That I do not understand. And I don't believe I care to, either. Sliding open the barn door just enough to fit comfortably through, the vampire was greeted by the busily unpleasant sounds of siirae having their dinner to start off their night. They were nocturnal, and having spent half her life around them, Cora had apparently become as close to it as any naturally diurnal creature would.
Not yet bothering to turn up the dim lights, he ducked into the small room just inside the door, plucking a purple halter and the attached lead from a nail that held them up. If something was purple, it probably belonged to the mare, according to Iden. Halter in hand, he quickly located a purple plastic container with grooming supplies in it, and picked that up too.
Going back out into the corridor, he found the light switch (although it wasn't really a switch, but more a dial), and turned the lights up a bit; more for the horse's benefit than his own. As he stooped to set the box of assorted brushes and things outside Cora's stall, he stopped halfway and simply dropped it, peering into the stall with narrowed eyes. Cora wasn't inside. She was supposed to be in this stall.
The door at the back of the stall that led into one of the siira enclosures, however, wasn't supposed to be open. Yet there it was, standing wide open.
"Damn!" Vlad didn't bother taking the time to unlock and open the bottom half-door of the stall; he simply vaulted over it and was through the back door almost as soon as he'd landed.
In the far corner of the walled enclosure, the dark silhouette of a horse rose up in defiance against the three siirae that had driven her there, striped forehooves striking out and connecting with a sharp crack against one bony muzzle. But even as that one staggered back, shaking its head, another's head snaked out towards the horse's shoulder, fangs flashing in the moonlight.
"Las-o!" the vampire's voice rang out in his native tongue, harsh and angry, "Las-o î® pace!"
The language didn't matter; the command was clear, and for the siirae there was no choice but to obey it: Leave her alone. The remaining two reeled back as though shoved away, and all three darted glances Vlad's way before fleeing inside to their own stalls, leaving the shaking mare in the corner.
After watching them go, Vlad made his way slowly over to the frightened horse. She stayed as she was, neither moving towards him nor cringing away. He reached out with his empty hand, offering it to her to sniff, palm-up but fingers curled into a fist.
After a moment, she lowered her head, taking in deep breaths. Cora was no stranger to the peculiar scent of the undead, and she knew well enough to be able to distinguish vampire from siira. And she had never suffered at the hands of a vampire. Another long moment passed, and then she butted her head against his chest, expelling a deep and shaking sigh.
Smiling faintly, he brought one hand, the one that held the halter, up to rest under her head, and with the other he stroked the side of her face. "There there, bravă fată," he murmurred, "Shhhh. You've naught to fear any longer." Meepfur And a couple hours after that...When Iden entered the barn, the lights inside were turned to their brightest, which was something of a rarity really. After several blinks of her light-sensitive eyes, she spotted Vlad perched on the half-door of Cora's stall, one foot planted against the side of the opening for balance, while his other foot was free to dangle, leg swinging gently back and forth. After watching him a moment, she spoke up, "You afraid of the dark all of a sudden?" He didn't move form his place or turn his head to acknowledge her, or even answer her teasing question. He simply said, "Her door needs to be fixed.""Then what're you sitting on it for?" "Not this one," he returned, in a tone that had her expecting 'stupid girl' to be tagged on at the end. "The lock broke on the back one. Didn't you say those things were reinforced?""Not hers; she's just a horse, so why bother?" She frowned. "Did something happen? She alright?" Iden moved towards him so that she could have a look in the stall, and see that Cora was, indeed, safe and whole. Vlad snorted in disgust. "Well, someone should have bothered, and they sure as hell better bother now. She's fine, but she wouldn't have been if I hadn't come by when I did. Oh, speaking of which, you might want to check on the siirae in this section. She gave one of them a good crack on the face.""Damn, Sabah won't be happy about that." Wrinkling her nose, she started on her way down the row, having a peek inside each stall to check on the siirae inside until she came across the 'victim.' The shaggy chestnut overo inside was missing a chunk of exposed skeleton from her muzzle, making her even less of a pretty sight than she was normally. "Oh, now that's just gross." Iden's expression turned to one of disgust. "She's oozing!" "Let her ooze," he suggested almost cheerfully. "And while you do that, the lock here really does need replacing.""Yeah, yeah, whatever." Waving his reminder off, she made for the door to the outside again. "I'll go find Seppa I guess, she can witch it back to shape. I don't feel like screwing with it."
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Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:48 pm
((Here comes another reserved~!))
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Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:49 pm
((And another, and that should do it!))
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Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:57 pm
RP with Naraka.Meepfur Iden tromped down the sidewalk in her usual heavy boots, thumbs hooked in the belt loops of her pants as she walked along, humming intermittently to herself. It was a nice night, cool and a little bit windy, and she liked it just fine; why she was still out strolling, really. She had nothing in particular to do or get done, she was just wandering around wasting time. Well, not wasting. She was enjoying herself, even if she wasn't doing something somehow productive. Moving along as she was without any goal in mind, the young vampire hadn't given the little toy shop any thought, and certainly hadn't brought Toby out with her; but as she passed by the windowed front, she paused, and then on impulse opened the door. Even without the little dog, she did like to look in now and then...she'd always liked it here, after all. Naraka Soft, choking dust floats lazily through the air, drifting down, softer than snow, onto boxes, tarps, instruments of unknown function. Junk. In a moment it's up again, caught in a waft of air, swept impatiently from a melting lump of cardboard which can only very vaguely be named 'box' for it's terrible loss of shape. The dirt doesn't take kindly to the disturbance, and attacks its disturber, clinging to his hair and clothes, filling the air to choke him. Fortunately, Naraka doesn't need to breath. Day in and day out, sunlight and no light, all have been blurring together uncomfortably for him, as when he's found hmself back down into one of his darker and more antisocial of moods. A vampire can afford to have lengthy moodswings, and avail themselves to them often, whether they like it or no. And Naraka's found himself in the downswing for quite a while now. As ever, when he is unhappy, and feeling trapped, antisocial, unproductive, tired, old, angry, sad, and a whole lot of other things, he begins to pointlessly and fruitlessly 'clean'. Or rather, move the junk around and around and disturb the dust, as he is doing now, on the pretense of better arranging it. The upstairs, he does not touch, knowing it to be the domain of the shopkeepers. But the basement's been given up to him, and though all the things there aren't his, he feels perfectly comfortable with moving them around and around the space without any genuine purpose. Meepfur Empty. Well, that was normal enough, lately, though it was a disappointing sort of normalcy. She hadn't even seen LP in months, much less Dee, so she hadn't had any girlfriends to talk to in quite awhile. Well, unless you counted a pard or two, but it just wasn't quite the same. So all in all, things had been completely uneventful, sometimes a little boring, and when she stopped to think about it, kind of lonely. Frowning a little, she eyed the door that led to the basement, considering. Sure, she called down to see if her friend was there more than once before, but Iden wasn't entirely sure Naraka would want to see her, given how things had gone last time. But still...it was just too tempting. So, pushing back her doubt, she decided to take the risk, moving to open the door and peek down into the dark. "Naraka?" It was the same, quiet question it always was. Naraka He ought to be thankful that there are so many things in the basement to move around and around and around, but in his current mood, he just feels like it's all a big pain in the a**. With a shake of his head, he grabs the next sagging box, just as he hears the door squeak. He turns apbruptly and all the contents spill right through the water damaged bottom, leaving a torn jumble of cardboard and peeling tape in his hands, and a pile of rusty gears, pipes, and an assortment of nondescript metal scraps on his feet. Thank goodness for steel-toed shoes! "DAMN!!" he snarls, kicking a pipe and stomping clear of the mess. "YEAH??? Who is it?!" Meepfur At the terrible clamor of what sounded like an awful lot of metal things suddenly being dropped to the basement floor, Iden flinched backwards some, trying to shake the loud clatter out of her head. Apparently she'd chosen a particularly bad time to come knocking, if all that - and Naraka's response - were anything to judge by. "It's me," she answered as she leaned forward again, one hand on the door and the other on the frame. After a moment, she clarified, "Iden. I can, uhh...I'll go, if you're busy." Naraka The dust in the dim lights creates a foggy haze, blocking out the view to the stairs, and dampening smell. 'WHO?' Naraka's about to shout, but his question is answered before he has the chance to ask it. Nar feels a sudden clutching at the pit of his stomach. He's not sure if he even wants to see Iden. Not sure if he can take it. Pretend he isn't here? Well that's bloody impossible now. Feign sudden death? Already dead. With a little sigh, he heads for the door. Nar appears at the bottom of the stairs like a wraith out of the mist of grime. "Yeah... I'm not busy. Not anything I can't put off." He stops in the middle of the staircase, looking up and then off into the gloom. Meepfur Iden sniffed unwisely, wrinkling her nose a little as stray dust took the invitation to go right up her nose. Bleeh, what a gross feeling! Just what was Naraka doing down there to stir up all the dust? It was an idle train of thought that she quickly forgot when he appeared, as she became increasingly aware that maybe this had been a bad idea that she hadn't quite thought out. But, well...she smiled nervously, rubbing the back of her neck. "Do you, uh..wanna come up here, or should I come down?" "Or we could stay where we are, I guess," she added as an afterthought. Naraka "Don't," he growls, gruffly. "This basement has to be one of the seven levels of hell, the state it's in right now. We'll go up." He stumps slowly up and into the main shop, giving an irritated shake of his head. For most people, a fine coating of dust comes out light and relatively unobtrusive, but Naraka looks like a very white cat who's been out for a dirt bath. Pretty grungy. "Well.... I guess I oughtn't be tracking all this stuff in here. I'll just clean it later...." He casts his eye around the shop and down at his feet. Meepfur Iden backed out of the way to let him up into the shop, tilting her head as she studied the terribly dusty vampire and asked what she figured was a pretty safe question, "What're you up to down there, kicking up all the dust?" She had a certain feminine urge to try and tidy his hair up or brush off his shirt, which she carefully supressed. It probably wouldn't be a very welcome gesture just now, and she'd rather stand around awkwardly than have him shy away again. So she just rocked back on her heels, watching him. Naraka "Just... moving," he says vaguely, and then to clarify, "Not myself. The... stuff. I got tired of it looking the exact same way all the time. Time for a change." He glances at her cautiously out of the corner of his eye and then strolls off to the door to peer out onto the dark street and see what sort of weather it is. Meepfur For a split second, she thought that Naraka really might be moving, but the worry was short-lived when he elaborated. Even if she didn't see him much at all, and even if she didn't know where she stood with him, it was just bizarre to think of the place without him. He'd always been there, after all. "Yeah," she responded slowly, pushing a stubborn lock of hair behind her ear, "Sometimes it's nice if things are a little bit different." Just...maybe not your friends. "As long as you don't forget and trip on something that wasn't there before." It was a sad little attempt at light-heartedness. Naraka "That's just the worst thing about it. I move everything around because I'm tired of seeing the exact same goddamn thing every day, and then once I've done it, I miss the way it used to be. Kind of a.... Holden Caulfield-esque delimma." He snorts and turns back around, giving her a sudden and intense look, as he had been avoiding eye contact before. It's a little defiant, as if to mean that he's not afraid, or not disturbed, or not angry and sad, though he is all of those things. "Did you want me for anything in particular?" Meepfur "A...a wha-?" she started to ask sheepishly, having no idea who or what Holden Caulfield was. He sounded scientific, or maybe literary. Maybe. But then Nar rounded on her, and she set one foot back as she met the intensity of his gaze, the giving-way a touch instinctual. "Well, no..not really. I was just walking by, and I..." She shrugged helplessly, trailing off and looking to the side. Naraka "Right." He looks around and has a seat on a wooden stool beside the front counter. "Good thing. I'm not good for much these days." His statement has kind of a dry bitterness to it, and he gives her a long glance. "You look... well.. how have you been anyway?" He asks as though he really doesn't want to know; it's only a nicety. The actuality of the matter is that he's a little afraid of what the answer might be. Meepfur Not sure whether to follow and sit, Iden opted to stay where she was. Not good for much? She frowned. "You doin' alright?" "I've been good," she answered with a genuine smile, because it was mostly true. "We moved, and Toby's a kid now, and...well, everything's fine. I haven't seen much of anyone lately, but I don't really come around as much as I used to." Naraka "Yes.... no... I don't know. Not really." He scratches his head and a cloud of dust comes out. "I guess you could say I'm sick. Vampires don't really get sick in the body, but they get emotionally ill. Spiritually ill, maybe. But I've been the same. Just the same, really. Not a big deal at all. Only, I haven't seen many people either." He catches the smile, and feels a little relieved. "Fine. Well, that's good. Better than 'so so'. Much better than 'bad'. In fact, fine is only a little lower than 'great' or 'stupendous'. ********. That sort of thing." He glances distractedly towards the window as someone walks by on the further side of the street. "Moved where?" Meepfur Iden frowned worriedly, although somewhere in the back of her mind the little dust-cloud born from Naraka's hair struck her as terribly funny. "I, um..hope you feel better?" she offered, not quite sure what to say to that kind of thing. "Or however that works. I haven't really run into it yet, I don't ********'? That's a new one! I think I like it." She chuckled, absently following his gaze. "Oh, to Gaia. Where I thought this place was...well, I'm still not really sure where it is, but y'know, whatever. I got a job, and the house kind of came with it. It's not big or anything, but it's better than the apartment. Dee even came over to visit once." Naraka Naraka chooses to ignore her question. He feels uncomfortable talking about his problems. "Yes, I think I made it up. I don't know. Anyway, all that sounds.... nice.... It's a good place to live, this... I've been here for a while now..." His words come halting, as if he doesn't even know what he's saying. "What do you do?" Meepfur Made it up? Well, she wasn't going to push it, so she went on to answer his question instead. "I take care of these, umm...well, more weird critters like I have running around, y'know?" She paused, scratching her head while she pieced together an explanation in her head. "Siirae. They're like horses, but not as nice. Or pretty. They're undead, like zombies or something I guess. I'm not really sure." Naraka Narka frowns. It hardly sounds entertaining. Or pleasant. "I see.... well..... well, that's more of a job than I've got, so pip pip, cheerio! At least you're keeping busy." He trails off, unsure of what to say. Meepfur Iden saw the frown and shrugged. "It's not so bad, really. I don't mind it any." Maybe on the rare occasion she managed to get herself bit, but that really didn't happen anymore. "Anyway, it is something to do, and it's nice to have more room." Left to the awkward lull, she scuffed the toe of her boot on the floor. "Hey, Nar?" she ventured, "Are we...okay?" She couldn't deny it was driving her sort of crazy, what had happened last time they'd seen each other, and how different things seemed to have gotten. She just had to ask. Naraka "More room is just what I need, myself," he mutters, thinking of all the clutter and the feeling of suffocating, though he doesn't know that's what it is. "OK? I'm not entirely certain what you mean, so you'd better spell it out for me." He's gone on the defensive, stiffened, like a wolf who's scented danger, and it makes him surly. "OK? We? " Meepfur "I mean.." She kicked her toe against the floor again, looking down. The question somehow got harder to ask when it wasn't vague, especially with Nar looking like he was. But finally, she looked back up, voice hesitantly soft, "Are we still friends, or...?" Or what? She didn't know. Naraka "Friends? I have no idea. But OK? No," he says decisively, coldly. " I'm not ok, anyway. I'm furious. And I am horrified. You wanted to know the truth, didn't you? And here it is. I hate what you've become. I hate what that monster did to you. You are DEAD. You should be six feet under. Vampires are barely human. We're missing everything that means anything to a creature in this world. We've got no life. Hell, we might not even have any souls. All we've got is a worthless, persistant will to go on, nothing else, nothing that makes us alive. It is a curse, and I wouldn't wish it on anybody, least of all, you. How could we be friends when I let this happen to you? That's the real question, isn't it! I don't know. I don't know." He leans forward and clutches at his head in some kind of peculiar agony. "What's the use of forever if you can't do a goddamn thing with it? What's the point of having been here and not having the sense to stop it? The fact is, I probably ought to kill you. It would be the merciful thing to do. But I'm a coward and can't bring myself to do so. No, no, we're not friends. Friends save each other from eternal damnation, don't they? semi-eternal, anyway." He stands up, shaken and distraught over his outburst, half a mind to bolt out the door, half a mind to head for the basement, which leaves him standing right inbetween. Meepfur Needless to say, it was not what she wanted to hear, but what a part of her had expected. Things couldn't just be fixed, automatically all better just because she wanted them to be. Still, it hadn't stopped her from wishing. But some of what Naraka said just didn't sit right, and it wasn't something she could just listen to and then let him run away. Again. "We're not missing everything! A heartbeat, so what? We can feel, we can live we can love, what's it matter that we can't go out in the sun?" She threw hands up in frustration, just wishing he'd listen. Really listen. "And you didn't let it happen! If anyone did, I did! I could have left whenever I wanted, but I didn't! I let it happen, alright?" "Friends don't have to save each other," she sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. "They're just supposed to..I don't know. Just be around." Naraka Naraka turns on her, his fangs bared with malice. But it is not a malice directed at her. "We can NOT live. We can NOT feel. Not like we are meant to. And you can't give me bullshit about not going into the sun. How it means nothing to you. I know for a fact that you miss it. Because it is a part of us. It's a part of our right as creatures of the light and air to go into the sun without bursting into flames! And if you don't miss it yet, you will. And when you sit, alone, in the deafening silence of your own death, you'll wish to god that you at least had a heartbeat that you could listen to instead of nothing at all." He snarls and turns to begin a clipped, brisk pacing, like an angry old caged tiger. "You've still got a human mentality. Your soul is still telling you that you'll be dead in a while, and maybe not seeing the sun and taking other people's blood for life isn't so bad, maybe for the first hundred years or so, but it is insidious. It weighs, slowly, and you wish you could just DIE of it, already, but you can't. I know all these things. You do not. But you will. And then you'll know how damned foolish I was." He casts a weary, troubled eye over her. "Everyone is just around.... " Meepfur Iden backed away from those bared fangs reflexively, but this time she didn't look away. "Yes we can! We CAN feel! Or were you lying to me all along? Is that what it is? Just make up your damn mind already and decide what you are! What happened to caring? What happened to your goddamn wheel?!" "I'm not gonna stand here and believe that everything's terrible and pointless and whatever bullshit! I can't! That's not how it is, it can't be. There has to be a reason." "I liked when you were around," she whispered, hastily wiping her eyes as though she could erase the evidence of how much this was hurting, "And you said you would be. Or was there some small print nobody told me about?" Naraka "We can feel but not like we're supposed to. You can't. You just can't after so many years. It gets bleached out of you. All the color just goes right out! And for crissakes, what are you accusing me of? Not caring!?! Are you serious!? If I didn't care, I wouldn't be saying ANY of this." He glowers for a long moment, frustrated to the extreme, and then falls back to his heartless pacing. "It's in my failing, as ever it was. Because it sickens me to see you this way. And I swear to god, I thought I'd have a total breakdown when I saw you.... when I couldn't feel you anymore. Your life. It's gone. And you want to say I don't care? For all that? You can tell me that I'm a ******** up, overreactive, mean-tempered screwball with no sense of timing and an overgrown sense of calamity, and that's probably all true, but I can't believe you'd tell me that I don't care." Meepfur "I'm not saying you don't care, but you're the one saying we can't feel! I'm saying you don't make sense!" She crossed her arms, every bit as frustrated. And desperate. "All the times we talked, and everything you said, and now you turn around an tell me you can't feel right, when I know you do!" "Yeah, it's gone," she spat bitterly. "But I'm still here! You thought you'd have a breakdown? Try having your best friend running the hell away from you and going on about how he should kill you! Maybe I live with a goddamn monster, but at least he'll touch me!" It was low and she knew it, but it hurt. Naraka "No, no... no, you don't understand. We can... really... but not right. Not the way.... look... I can't explain. I can't, and it is making you angry. You'll find out for yourself...." He looks at her, despairing, but tough, as always, the delicacy of life petrified into stone. At her final statement, his features go rigid, frozen in a vague sort of shock and going no further. Only there is a sinking in him, without sight or sound, but easily sensed. "That.... that is too much. I'm sorry. Don't you understand? I know I've done something horrible to you. And I know you've a right to punish me further... but why this? I can't. I'm sorry. No, I know you don't understand any of this. How could you? You still think you're human. You haven't learned yet..... " he's begun to talk in a quiet monotone, as though speaking to himself alone. Meepfur "I don't want to hurt you, I just..." Her shoulders sagged, and she shook her head. "I just want you to know." Wanted to push him into acceptance, into something. Tired of standing, tired of everything, she sank to the floor, sitting with her legs carelessly crossed. "Maybe I'm not human, but I'm Iden. I'm still me. Isn't that what's supposed to matter?" Naraka "No... you did... or you wouldn't have said that...." He digs his palm into his eye and wipes the grime around and around on his face. "You are for now... But who will you be? No, I don't know... I don't know what to say.... I don't know how to redeem myself. It's so hard." Meepfur "Maybe," she admitted, even though the realization stung. It was always a lot easier to just change the wording and twist the meaning another way, but in the end it was the same thing. "I don't know, either. But nobody ever does. You don't have to live years and years to change." "I just want you to still be my friend. To be safe again." Safe to go to, to talk to, be around, whatever. Not this. Iden sighed, leaning forward. "But I guess that's more to ask than I thought." Naraka Naraka slides down to the floor as well, a number of feet away and stares at her, brooding. "It's different.... " is all he has to say. "There is something I can do for you. The only thing. But I'm frightened. I'm afraid that I might.... I might become something.... something I used to be. I don't know. I don't know if I learned enough. But I would be able to protect you." Meepfur Well, they were both on the floor. It was something, sort of, and she raised her head. "Frightened? Protect me? I...don't understand," she said slowly, looking at him with trepidation. Something he used to be? If that meant what she thought it did... "Maybe it's not worth it, if..if you might.." Naraka Naraka's expression darkens. "The only way to frighten a bully is to be stronger. I do believe I'd have been a fairly powerful vampire by now, if not for my big decision to put a stop to it. And that's easy enough to remedy. Fantastically easy, really. All it takes is a knife and a little bit of help. And I'd do it in an instant... only, I couldn't take turning into some kind of beast. I think... I could handle all that desire. I think I've learned... but I can't be for sure. What if it takes me all at once? That's all the trouble. " Meepfur "Whoa, you.." Iden went wide-eyed, horrified in a way. That he'd...that she could push him to that. "You can't! I mean, if you wanted to, but...not for me." What if it undid everything? It would be terrible, so terrible, to make him sacrifice that. "I'll help you if it's what you want, but I...I can't ask you to do it. I won't. I'm not worth all that." Naraka "No. I don't," he sighs. "It scares me. But I've got to. To make up for what I've done. It's a step back.... but maybe two steps forward.... eventually... You see... Vlad wouldn't be able to hurt you, if you were under my protection, then.... You'd be free. Maybe not free of being a vampire. I can't save you from that. But I can save you from him." Meepfur "But I..." Iden trailed off, putting her face in her hands. God, it was so hard to respond to that, to know how, or even to know what the right answer was. She had to sit there, quiet, and wonder. To decide whether it would end. "If I left, if I...I'd never be able to forget it. I don't think I'd ever stop regretting it. Giving up." "It doesn't scare me anymore, not really." She lifted her head, running her hands back through her hair. "This whole thing. I know I'm supposed to want out, and maybe I do, but...but at the same time I don't. And if I give up on it now, what was the point of it all? What do I have left?" Naraka "I'm not sure what you mean.... " Naraka says, wearied to the very marrow of him. "I don't understand... I don't know what to say. It.. It's up to you. I won't do anything for now. But how can you expect me to stand by and do nothing? It's not very fair. Not after everything I've been through." Meepfur "I know it's stupid, but I love him...and God help me, sometimes I'm sure I need him." She brought her knees up, tucking them under her chin and staring off at nothing. "I know what you mean, but I don't know if I can. I'm afraid. Not of him, of...where I'd be without it all. If I'd be anywhere at all." Naraka "You'd be yourself, " he growls sullenly. "And you'd be better off by yourself, probably. You don't need him. but I can't tell you that. You wouldn't listen. You aren't. But if he ever hurts you, really, you know what to do. Just come here, and I'll make sure he never does it again." Meepfur Eyes sliding shut a moment, she nodded. He was right, to an extent she wasn't listening...she was just so tangled up, so sure she needed him, that she wanted it. "I'm not ready to be by myself again, but...I'll remember. I'll come." Hesitantly, she reached out a hand, hoping that maybe he'd take it. "Thank you." Naraka "I really should... get back to work..." Naraka stands, swaying on his feet a little. "Or maybe some sleep. And I guess you'd better get home before it gets light out. That wouldn't do, would it? And I imagine you have work to do. So, I guess I'll say goodbye." He tentatively reaches his hand down to help her up. It makes him shudder a little, her lifeless hand, but he doesn't let go. Meepfur "Probably sleep," she suggested with a faint smile. "And yeah, I'd better get home." Standing with his help, she nodded. "Goodnight then, Nar." She was tired, very tired, but she was feeling better. Like things had a hope of being right. Because despite the shudder, at least he'd taken her hand without pulling away. Naraka "Goodnight." He lets her go, and turns away from her, going all to pieces in an instant like shattering glass. He walks to the door of his basement home with tears streaming down his face, making mud, and goes down into his dark and dirty refuge, He held out to the last, for it isn't fair to break down in front of someone so vulnerable, and he can only hope she didn't see. Naraka crawls off to some corner to sit and nurse his misery, weep for his broken history and sorrows, and for Iden's present which is breaking also, and for his inability to do anything about it. But he can't weep forever, and eventually darkness takes him and he falls asleep.
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Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:58 pm
((I suppose I need another one now. Oh dear.))
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Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 8:03 pm
RP with Naraka. [Vlad]Naraka A soft, deep wail floats up from the bowels of the shop and stops. After a brief silence another begins, higher, a little louder, with a trill thrown in at the end. Nar's warming up the old pipe organ, but only intermitantly. He's not in the mood to play anything at present. Meepfur Vlad was beginning to get annoyed. Ever since she'd come home yesterday, she'd been acting terribly strange. A different kind of strange than the last time she'd been to see Naraka, but this one he liked even worse. The girl was being cool and avoidant, uneasy. It was frustrating.
He could hardly forbid her from going to see the other vampire - well, he could, but there was no way it would take, and even if it would, she'd be miserable. And he wouldn't like that any better than the way she was now! So he'd taken it into his head that the solution was to go and have a word with the problem.
He strode into the shop, intent on finding Naraka. What he encountered was a wailing from down below. There certainly wasn't anyone up here. Frowning, he opened up the door that was doing a poor job of keeping the noise downstairs and sniffed. Smelled like Naraka down there. Naraka Nar begins to play a little snatch of something here, a line or two of something there, but no single piece really takes, and it comes out a patchwork tune with a lot of breaks inbtween. He doesn't hear the sound of the door, and only catches the intruder when his boots make the stairs creak. He pauses to look over his shoulder, frowning. Meepfur Vlad wasn't making any attempts at stealth tonight, not finding it necessary to be anything but straightforward. So he creaked his way down the stairs without a care, stopping at the bottom to peer through the dark at the vampire seated at the organ. And there he stood where he'd stopped, arms crossed and waiting for a reaction, which he figured was inevitable. Naraka Naraka recognizes the figure who rounds the corner and into his view. His first impulse is one of sudden and intense loathing, but his expression is vague and meaningless, the sort one might wear if an alien wearing a banana costume and holding a birthday cake appeared before them--a reaction beyond expression. He slowly turns back around to his instrument and sits stone silent. Meepfur Vlad had been expecting something more, honestly, beyond the attempt to block out his existence for a moment or two. No matter, he'd just get straight to the point. "For how concerned you seemed about my distressing her, you seem to do fantastically at it yourself." Naraka "An accident," he responds without much feeling. "It was folly... I suppose... well, I won't presume to know why you are here. But if you are going to tell me off, or beat me up, or whatever it is, I suppose you'd better get it over with. I can't explain myself. I seriously doubt you'd understand. Or maybe you came for something else?" Meepfur Vlad snorted. Beat him up? No, he wasn't here for that - he was above being just some brute, in his opinion. "An accident twice? Perhaps. Whatever it is you've been doing or saying, stop it. I don't appreciate the meddling. If you think you're doing well by her, you're not - you're upsetting the stability I've given her." Naraka "The stability you've given her," he says with a short, humorless laugh. "Alright. sure. Listen, I know I haven't been doing a very good job of explaining myself to her. But as I don't feel the need to explain myself to you, I won't. As for meddling, I really don't know how you mean. I'm sorry that I made her upset, and that's the truth. I honestly don't know what you want out of her, and so I can't tell you what I've done to screw that up. If, perhaps, you could explain yourself a little better?" He turns back around and fixes Vlad with a peculiar stare. He really ought to pity this fellow, for being so hurtful, so bitter, and so sad. And as soon as he realizes it, he knows that he's capable of it. And that is a relief. Meepfur "She's mine, and I want her to stay that way. The way she is. I've spent too much time on her for you to go upsetting things. I'm not going to let you undo it all, whether you mean to or not." He bared his fangs in a quiet, frustrated snarl. "Whatever it is you're up to when she comes to see you, it throws her off! Any other time, she's content how she is, but somehow you upset that." And he hated it. Naraka "Oh," Naraka says shortly, and softly. He does not show it, but deep down, he's pleased. So.... she listens to him after all? Perhaps there's some hope yet. "Well... well, we've all the time in the world, haven't we? Spent too much time? I wonder, Vlad, what about you makes you think you have a claim to people. I wonder why anyone does. Some kind of failing of self, I suppose. An incompleteness of the soul. I am afraid that I don't believe in owning people, and that may very well come out in the things I say." He gives Vlad a quiet stare. "If you let her go, I think she would come back to you. Wouldn't you rather a companion than a slave?" Meepfur Vlad's smile turned to one of distaste. "She has never been a slave; she has always stayed of her own will. I worked at her, yes, until she gave way to me, to herself. It wouldn't have come out the way it has if she hadn't been willing!"
"Of course she would come back to me," he scoffed. "She needs me, despite what this modern world would say. Not everyone is born to be independent, and she was not. Has it ever occurred to you that she likes where she is? That what she needs and wants is someone dominant to her?" Naraka Naraka shakes his head a little and turns back to his instrument to fiddle with one of the loose pipes. "It is a kind of slavery, that. And... I suppose it's possible... but I don't think that's the case, or she wouldn't be giving you any trouble. I think perhaps.... you even know that you are fooling yourself. I wish I could give you any kind of decisive answer, but for all that I've been alive, I can't seem to get across with any clarity. It's kind of funny, once I think about it! But I just can't laugh. You ever have that problem?" Meepfur "She's not giving me trouble," he protested, wrinkling his nose. "She's simply being strange." Though he didn't say as much, it worried him. The change of it bothered him. "I don't want you having another accident, because you're every bit as capable of breaking that girl as I am!"
"Or haven't you figured that out yet? That somehow you've made her need you, too?" Fooling himself? Hah! He was no fool, not at all. Naraka's final, pointless question, he dismissed. Naraka "Well.... " he says mildly, "You said she was behaving in a way you didn't approve of or like.... that's all I meant. Perhaps we have a different take on what giving someone trouble means. We are, after all, very different." He pauses for a moment, digesting his statement and says, "I think you don't give Iden enough credit. You say she is soft and quiet and easily broken. You imply it, let's say, because you've never really said it. I can see that you are a stickler for terms, and so I will try to be as precise as I can. You imply these words, but her strength is in her vulnerability. And I think.. yes, I could do something terrible to her.... we have such an enormous capability of harming one another. Everyone. You could break me, I could break you, given enough time. You know? But I don't want to. And I think you're discounting a kind of strength that perhaps you don't know much about." He turns himself full around and sits on his bench with his hands between his knees, his head bowed, thinking. "You'll have to explain that last bit to me. I think we've a vastly different definition of 'need' as well." Meepfur "Evidently we do," he agreed with annoyance, skipping over most of the rest of what Naraka said; well, not deigning to answer to it, anyway, except for the last.
"She depends on you - not in the same way she does me, for different reasons, but just as strongly. Not anyone could break her, but you or I could. Rejection from either one of us would leave the other with pieces to try and put back together." He was visibly bothered by that, that sort of sharing. 'Us' was so distasteful when it included someone he didn't like. Naraka (( but if it were someone he enjoyed, a happy threesome could ensue? XD )) "Hmph," Naraka grunts. He really doesn't like this much. "I'm not out to reject anyone. I'm curious, though. Perhaps you could indulge me. Are you concerned merely because you don't want for your toy to be broken, or do you have any kind of genuine compassion for the girl?" Meepfur It was the sort of question Vlad hated...well, there were a good few things he hated, but questions that got so personal were particularly aggravating to him. His first impulse was to say something along the lines of 'none of your business,' or to brush it off entirely. So, in a roundabout way, he said 'yes' to both - and it actually was an honest answer. "I take care of what's mine." Naraka "Ah..." he says, noncommital. Vlad's sad attempt at honesty is a little lost on him, and he's not sure how to take it. "You'd think after so many years, we'd have sorted through this sort of thing. Well... I am a terrible host. Would you like something to drink? A cracker, perhaps?" He smiles a little. He doesn't have any crackers. Meepfur Vlad lifted an eyebrow. It was an odd, pale attempt at some kind of humor - so sorry that it was actually amusing, in a backwards sort of way. "No thank you," he said dryly. "Crackers are...very dry." Naraka "A good thing. I don't keep crackers. I find them rather undigestable. A seat, then." He stands and waves his hands at the organ bench. "The only clean thing in the place to sit on, at present. I am going to hazard a guess that perhaps you are curious about me. You can ask anything you like. Was there something else you wanted? I'm afraid I am terrible at reading between the lines, sometimes." Meepfur "Hazarded indeed, because you'd be wrong." Oh, he was curious, truth be told, but he'd far rather stay curious than admit it. He did not intend to start getting familiar, even if there was that annoying, inescapable connection. Vlad just didn't do familiar...it was an old habit, of sorts, that he was very much stuck in.
"No, there was nothing else. That was all." Considering things very much finished, it was time for him to leave. But rather than head back up the stairs, which felt too much like retreating for him to be comfortable with, he chose his more immediate option - to let himself be pulled back by his spear. And like that, pop, he was gone from Naraka's dusty basement! Naraka "Well..." Naraka begins to say, but before he can get in another word, the guy's just up and disappeared. "Well!" he says again, with a little more shock and vigor. "And there he goes. Goodbye, then," he mutters, though there's no use for it. And it's over as abruptly as it began. Naraka turns himself back to his organ and broods. All in all, it was a very good meeting. He feels as though he handled himself well. Far better than he had expected. And he'd learned something terribly useful. And he begins to think that maybe having forever isn't so bad. And perhaps it isn't just Iden he's been waiting for.
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Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 8:18 pm
RP with LP, Willow, and Naraka.LP Willow was sitting in the shop. There seemed to have been visitors the night before. The shop didn't smell as musty as it had just a few days ago. She was looking for Nayati again, doubting he'd come around she sat on the table tail flickering as she set there listening to everything around her.
"No, no, no Peter that's not nice." She said her eyes were closed and her ear gave and irrated flick. "If you can't say something nice about some one you shouldn't say anything at all." Appernetly this made the ghost mad because the door flew open and closed with a slam.
Willow sighed and shook her head. Her ghosts were acting stranger than normal, more restless, she wondered what was wrong with them. Maybe it was the fact spring would soon be here.LP a few moments later entered the shop yawning, before she made her way to a couch and sat down on it half asleep. "Job hunting is no fun... Not to mention having just finished part of you're temple." She rubbed her eyes and shook her head. "Where have you been the past few days Willow?" She asked curiously it wasn't like the tiger to dissaper right after breakfast and not come home till it was bed time. "Looking for someone...." She stated simplely and left it at that. Meepfur After he'd found out that his mother had been to the shop without him, Toby had been feeling terribly left out! He wanted to see his friends, too. It felt like it had been ages since he'd seen Sidney or Willow or anyone else. He'd finally convinced Iden to come along, and now he ran down the sidewalk in front of her in his open-toed boots.
He waited at the door for her to open it, adjusting his hat and making sure the feather was straight.Quirking a smile, Iden opened the door for him, then followed him in. And there was LP! She grinned, happy to se one of her friends. "Hey there!" "Willow!" Toby called cheerfully, tail wagging. LP LP blinked opening her eyes slightly tried like. "Oh hello." She said with a grin before sitting up a bit strighter. "It's been a while hasn't it?" She asked, living out in the woods and having been working like she had she lost track of time. Willow opened one eye before grinning. "Why hello Toby! It's great to see you again!" She said with a giggle and she jumped down off the table landing with a soft thud on her feet. "And hi Miss Iden!" She said waving to the lady as she ran over to greet Toby.
She grinned when she got there. "Toby you won't beleive who I ran into the other day!"Meepfur "Yeah," Iden agreed, "Months I think. It's so hard to catch anyone anymore!" Crossing the room, she settled herself on the couch next to LP. "So what've you been up to?" "Hello, Willow," she returned, waggling her fingers in a light wave to the girl. "I'm so glad you're here! Nobody ever is anymore when we come. It's been forever since I saw you or Sid!" The little dog continued to wag his tail, delighted tos ee one of hisf riends again at last. "Who?" he crowed curiously, "Was it Sid? Carl maybe?"LP LP stiffled another yawn shaking her head. "Ehh I've been busy. This is the first time I've been back in a while. Willow I think lives here now more than at our place." She shurged, "Honestly I've been building Willow some Asian style temples and looking for a job." "I'm glad you're here too Toby" She smiled and chuckled at the delight and curiousity of her friend. "I saw Acia actully. I've been trying to catch Nayati but it seems almost impossilbe, and I've yet to see Sid or Carl, or even trea for that matter." She frowned for a moment.Meepfur "I haven't been back much lately either, but I came the other night by myself and Toby got jealous when I told him." Iden chuckled a little. "Building her temples?" she asked curiously. "Looking for any kind of job in particular, or just looking?" "Acia? I've never met them! Or Trea or Nayati, but I think mom's talked about Nayati before. Who're they?" He'd never realized there were so many Velvets he didn't even know about!LP "Yeah." LP nodded, "I figured she might be happy if she had someplace to call her own." Pondering the question for a moment she shurged, "Just looking mostly." "She's a glider, she's been around longer than myself, Trea's a mouse she's got here after me I think, and Nayati belongs to Iris he's been here since before any of us. Atleast Acorrding to LP." She Murred, "He's cute too."Meepfur "Oh, I see. That's kinda cool! We redid Toby's room a little while ago, I think he's pretty happy with it." Iden leaned forward comfortably, folding her arms across her thighs. "Good luck with that, then. I hope you find something you'll like." "A glider?" he asked, "What's that?" The only 'glider' he'd heard of was the hang-glider sort, not an animal sort.LP "Thanks." She said, "I just hope it doesn't end up killing me for lack of sleep I've been getting. Everything just feels so restless around the house I can't stand it." "A glider is like a squrril with like skin from arms to legs, the skin there is like what's on a bat." She said trying to think of how to explain it. Her tial flickered. "Oh and Nayati's a Unicorn, Iforgot to mention that."Meepfur "Sounds like you oughtta take a break or something, just kinda chill someplace, y'know?" Iden pursed her lips, thinking. "I know what it's like to need something to do, though." "Oh." Those gliders sounded like they looked awful funny! Bat-skin from arm to leg and all that, plus a fluffy squirrel tail! How bizarre. "Wow, is he really? That's so cool! I've read about unicorns."LP "Yeah.... but I have no clue were to go. I think it's Willow's ghosts though. Sometimes they get overly rowdy and you just can't sleep in a place like that." She sighed shaking her head. She chuckled, "Yes, you'll have to meet her sometime. She likes to hide in her lab some of the tme." Tail flickering she nodded sitting down crossed legged. "He is." Her tail flickered before chuckling, "It might sound silly but someone told me I had a crush on him, I don't know if he 'feels' the same."Meepfur "Well, if you ever need to, you could always come by my place," she offered after a moment of consideration. "If you can take a lot of weird critters running around! They're kind of all over the place...easy enough to chase them out of a room, though." Contrary to what she said, it actually took a bit of work, especially with the pooka, but she could roust them out if she had to. "A lab? You mean, like a scientist?" Since neither Iden or Turmali were particularly mathematically or scientifically inclined, he didn't have a whole lot of exposure to that kind of stuff, so in a way it was exotic.
"A crush?" So far, that was something not in the dog-child's vocabulary or experience.LP "Thanks, I think I could take the animals better than I could Willow's friends, as long as I'm not inclided for a midnight snack for Vlad." She remember their last meeting, he was something she'd rather not mess with. Willow turned around and glared at LP when she said that. "They can't help it, they've got cabin fevor."
Turning back to Toby she chuckled, "Yes she's like a scientist, she says she bores people with her stuff. I'd doubt that. If she would ever get out of that lab of hers and actully talk to someone or build something with them she might find she's not as boring as she thinks she is."
She blinked, "Oh yes, it's when you like someone alot. Atleast according to Acia's Sister that's what it is." She slightly blushed. "He's been acting kinda odd since I grew though so I don't know if he likes me in the same way or not. The way he act you'd think he's almost scare of me...."Meepfur "No, he'd leave you alone!" Iden laughed and leaned back against the couch cushions. "I don't think my friends are very interesting to him." "Mom doesn't like that kind of stuff," he said, reaching under his hat to scratch his head. Spring was getting closer, and he was starting to get itchy. Shedding was such a bother! "Says she doesn't get it."
"That it?" Toby blinked, considering this new information. "Why would he be scared of you, though?"LP "We'll that's good." She said with a laugh. "I might tag along with you tonight. Atleast I'd get one night of good rest." She shurged at Willow, she couldn't help that they were getting restless and keeping her up. "I mean as long as you don't mind. I don't want to tag along and be a bother to anyone." "Yeah?" She chuckled, She liked the warm weather better, she didn't think she shed. Her fur seemed thin as it was. She tilted her head at Toby, "You're all itchy?" She asked tilting her head, "Blah I get some of it but then again I watch Bill Nye when there's nothing else on."
She shurged and nodded, "Yeah. That's it." Her tail flickered thoughtfully, "I'm not sure although one of his vines did grab me once, almost like Nayati lost controll of them and tried to drag me over towards him. It was sorta creepy."Meepfur "Oh yeah, you're perfectly welcome to come! I'l just chase out the pooka and you'll be all set. It'll be great to have someone over." Iden grinned. "Dee came over to hang out once, but I don't get many visitors that don't come on four feet, y'know?" "Yeah," Toby confirmed, frowning as he resettled his hat. "I'm kinda starting to shed some. I watch TV with Tori, but I've never seen whoever that Bill Nye guy is. Kind of a funny name, though."
"Real creepy!" he agreed. "What's he got vines for, though?"LP "Thanks Iden." She said smiling softly, "It'd beat sleeping on the couch here tonight." She chuckled as she smiled. "Ah so you get those visitors too eh?" She chuckled. "I'm sorry, I don't think I have that problem." She said poking at her own fur. Nodding, "Bill's kind of hard to find on TV. Just have to know where to look."
"Heh" She nodded, "He can grow things that's his talents, he's really good at it."Meepfur "No problem," she answered, still smiling. "Oh yeah, all the time! And most of them wind up hanging around, too. At least there's space for them all." "Don't you? Maybe it's a dog thing," Toby mused, pulling a little at his tail fur. "We might not get the channel, dunno."
"Grow things, huh? And you can talk to ghosts, and Sid hypnotizes things...I wonder what I do." It didn't bother him at all, just made him curious.LP She chuckled and nodded. "I know what you mean." She grinned. "WEll maybe it's because I have rather thin fur." She shurged softly.
"Maybe you're good at being a prince."Meepfur "There are a few with attitudes," she admitted with a touch of a grin. "One even tried to have a go at Nar once! But I'll be sure to fend them off." "Maybe," he conceded, peering at Willow's fur and then back at his own. "I had thinner fur before, but I got a little fluffier when I grew. I'm glad, though, 'cause I got pretty cold!"
"A prince?" Toby looked down at himself, turning his hands over. "I don't know about that. You've gotta be born that way."LP "Oh don't worry. I'm a heavy sleeper. I once had a raccoon hitting me on the head trying to wake me up and Willow had to shoo him off." She chuckled "The only time I can't sleep is when there's so much tension and restlessness in the air. It drives me nuts." Willow chuckled and nodded, "Yeah I'm suppose to be mostly a warm weather speices I think." She said with a nod. Her tail flickered.
"Well maybe a Knight then?" She pondered, "Although aren't there some that while not royal come to be considered Princes?"Meepfur "Hitting you in the head?" Iden laughed - it was just such a funny picture! "Well, you should be just fine then! It's not the quietest place, but there's not usually anything crazy going on." Now and then, of course, given who she lived with, but it was hardly constant. "Oh, right! Jungles and all that? I don't think I'd like those very much." All hot and humid and rainy. Not his kinda place at all! "A knight, yeah. I can do that! Not sure about becoming a prince, though. I think you'd have to marry a princess for that. I'll ask Mom."LP She nodded, "It was rather interesting." She sighed. "I have a very bad feeling of doom. Which when don't I?" She laughed and shook her head. "Right!" She chuckled, "Well they're not for everyone." Nodding softly, "Well still nice to aim high isn't it?"Meepfur "A feeling of doom?" Iden asked worriedly. "What do you mean by that? "I bet princesses are nice," he mused. "You know, pretty and nice and all that. I've never met one, but they look that way in all the pictures! And everyone always wants to save them, so there's gotta be a reason."LP "Blah, just an old friend most likely going to get a dose of her past they do not want to have." She sighed, "They use to be a princess of a strong empire which as long since fell. They don't remember anything of their past or past friends." She sighed, "I just don't know when she's going to run into them. With out knowleadge of who they are it's likely bad things are to happen. As things sometimes do happen." "I'm not sure Toby, I never met a real one. Atleast not one that could speek...." She chuckled, "I think the reason they save them is to get the princesses' kiss. I think it's a reward of such."Meepfur She furrowed her brow, trying to process what exactly LP was getting at. "So it's...some past life thing? I thought most people didn't really remember that kinda stuff. I mean, I definitely don't, supposing I had any." "You met a princess who couldn't talk?!" Toby stared agape at Willow. That was so cool! "A kiss? Yeah, I guess so."LP "Ummm well she has more of Animesa than haivng a past life...." LP shurged, "Which I suppose could be just as bad. Some people do remember bits and peices of their past lives if they focus right." Willow chuckled, "She's a Toad." She nodded and grinned. "Well what else could a princess give a knight, a kiss is the only really thoughful thing in that type of situation."Meepfur "Amnesia? Huh." Iden scratched her head, thoughtful. "So she's never died, she's just kinda gone on since then or something? Well, I think I'm just as fine not knowing about mine. I've got enough to think about!" "A toad?" Toby perked his ears, curious. "Is she a Velvet too?"LP "Nope, she's never died..." She chuckled, "Ah I'd like to forget mine all save for the friend. It's such a bother sometimes you have to look over you're shoulder to make sure no one is following you if you remember you're past." She stiffled a yawn. "It's about like sleeping, when you think about it... welll it never really happens." "Yup a Toad!" She chuckled, "If i'm not mistaken an she is a princess she is indeed also a Velvet." Her tail flickered happily. "Although I might have to see if you'll save me one day. Seeing as how these ghosts are getting a bit antsy."Meepfur "I thought it was princes who were toads. Well, got turned into 'em anyway." Toby tilted his head, tail wagging litte. "Save you? Well, I could! If you ever need it, I'll be right there! I'm supposed to be a knight, after all." LP She chuckled, "Yes well then you don't have to live in my world." "Sure but princesses can be too, Fionna on Shrek was turned into an Orge." She chuckled, "Good maybe one day we'll have our last growing quests with each other and maybe with some luck Nayati will be tossed into it too and we'll have to like save a princess and fight some smelly old beast!" She giggled at the thought.Naraka The basement door gives a gentle creeking, and Naraka peers suspiciously out of the small crack. He'd heard the voices upstairs, but had been timid, at first, and unwilling to see any company. Gradually, however, he became curious and decided to see. LP, he hasn't seen in quite a while, and Iden, he's not sure he's ready to face, but it would probably be better with someone else around. He steps boot onto the top step and slowly opens the door to come into the shop. But, horrors, he is not garbed in his usual gear by any means! Or rather, he is, when he hasn't been in a long time. His pale hair is spiked straight up and he's bedecked in an awful lot of buckles, fishnet, and leather. ( can provide old, terrible pictures, if you like, but you might be better off with your imagination XD ) "Well... good evening," he says, his hands on his hips as he casts a slow and curious glance around the shop, and goes off to sit in his usual place in the corner. Meepfur "Well, n-" Fortunately for Iden, who was having a bit of a time finding just the way to reply to LP, Naraka came up out of the basement, saving her from her little problem. But..he...he looked so different! His hair was all spiked up! She was shocked into staring for a moment. "Hey," she responded, late and still staring. Not in a bad way, she was just trying to get her head around it! "Yeah!" Toby grinned, his tail's wagging picking up. "But...I still have to catch up with you first." The dog-child turned his head at the entrance of someone he'd never seen before, ears perked with interest. "Hello, sir," he said politely.LP LP blinked as Nara 'rose from the dead' she blinked and caught herself in a mid-chukle and turned it into a cough. "Nice outfit. I'm totally tempted to ask you if I can borrow that one of these days." She grinned, "How've you been I haven't seen you since what? Forever ago?" Willow grined and nodded. "Of crouse but it'd be fun none the less." Hearing someone enter she blinked, "Ohhhh Hello strange man." She tugged at Toby and nodded towards the guy as if to ask if he wanted to go get a closer look at him. He seemed very interesting, and alive but not. Much more so than Iden did anyways.Naraka "Oh, LP, you know I used to dress like this a while ago. And... I've been... I've been." He leaves it at that and takes a long look at the little canine velvet and then glances over to the other. "Hello. Haven't seen a velvet in a long time besides Kes.... I forgot how.. peculiar you are. And small." Meepfur Iden wanted terribly to go over and investigate Naraka's new hairdo, but she was good and contained herself, settling for just looking instead. He looked...younger that way. Kind of punkish. Toby responded to the tugging postively, scooting closer with Willow to get a better look at this spiky-haired guy. He was certainly a vampire, he semelled quite a lot like Vlad and Iden, but for Toby it was a perfectly normal sort of smell, so that wasn't the source of his interest. He was just new! "Kes?" he asked, tail wagging hesitantly. It seemed to be the day for learning about other Velvets. "Who's that?"
"Oh!" he said after a moment, remembering his manners. "I'm Toby."LP LP chuckled and shook her head yawning. "If you say so nara... it's been a while though. Even then I was tempted to ask you if I could borrow it." She sighed. "You look better that way." She closed her eyes slightly though fighting a fit of sleep. "He's a bird. Fat little fellow to." Willow nodded and chuckled. "I remember him he likes shines!" She whispered to toby, "lets go have a closer look at him." She grined and nodded.
"I'm Willow!" Willow chimmed in before she flicked her ear in an anonnied mannorism. Sighing she picked herself up. "Ugh actully I have to go. I have some work to attend to... apperently one of the ghosts is in dire need of talking to me. Sorry Toby. If you're around tomorrow or something we might can hang out!" With out another word she skitted off the door opening for her and closing after she skittered off into the night.Naraka "Hullo, Toby. Willow. I used to know you when you were just a.... a tiger" he finishes to the door slamming closed. "Well.... I used to know you when you were just a little dog, too" he says to Toby, turning back. "Willow's right. Kesin's a fat little b*****d with a handsome black and white suit, and enough conceit to kill you with. But, after railing on me for just about an hour in spanish for something I didn't even know I did, he flew off, and I haven't seen him since." Meepfur Iden glanced over at LP, who seemed to be getting very sleepy, and wondered if the other woman would even make the walk back to her place! Well, if she didn't, she supposed she could manage. "Kesin seems to do that a lot," she mused, "Just disappear off places." "Oh...later, Willow!" he called after the tiger, ears drooping just a little. Maybe he would see her tomorrow! "Really?" he then asked of Nar, head tilted as he peered up at the tall vampire. He didn't really seem all that familiar.LP LP murfed and shook her head, "He'll show up sooner or later. Maybe later I'll put up some shiney things back at my place. I'm sure he'll see it and come for a visit. Maybe I can get him to come back and strighten things out for you." Looking towards the door she frown. "Willow's been doing that alot lately. Sometimes I worry about her going off like that, most of the time she dissappers so fast I can't follow her." Naraka "Kesin takes after me, I guess. Only, he doesn't feel the need to explain himself to anybody. Then, he never really gets himself attached to anybody either, which is his peculiar sort of wisdom, I suppose." He leans back and closes his eyes. "LP, you spoil that bird. What he needs is a punch on the beak." Meepfur "He's so cute when he's stuffed, though," she chuckled, 'siding' with LP. "He always looks so pitiful! If I had something shiny, I think I'd give it to him, too. He's such a charmer, sometimes." Toby scratched his chin, considering the fact that his fellow Velvets seemed to do a lot of straying. Why would they want to leave? Everything was just fine here! He couldn't imagine going off and leaving everyone behind, even if it was just for a little while. He'd worry about his mom too much.
With Willow gone, he climbed up into Iden's lap, thinking that perhaps a bit of a nap wouldn't go amiss while everyone else chatted.LP "I know I do... Can't help it. I spoil Willow to a point as well." She crossed her arms, "Well I won't punch him in the beak if I'll see him I'll tell him off if you want me to though." LP looked at Toby with her head tilted. "She'll be back." She assured the pup. Naraka "Yeah, he ought to be stuffed," Naraka agrees, knowing that's not what she meant. "I see he's taken you in as well. He's pitiful, alright, but not for the reasons you're thinking of. That's just a ruse. That the both of you have so sadly fallen for, it seems. And I was just kidding about punching him. He's so damned small. Well, don't bother. He's shameless." Meepfur Iden helped Toby up, giving him a smile and a little pat. He wound up keeping some very odd hours, given who he lived with. "Aww, c'mon," she said with a giggle, "He told Ri off, and that's plenty for me! Ri was annoyed for days, it was awesome." Toby nodded at LP, removing his hat and making himself comfortable. Until then, he'd just catch a few extra z's. Like most dogs, he had knack for being able to sleep just about anywhere, anytime.LP "Blah stuffed." She shook her head, "He was stuffed at one point remember. I don't think it's possible to reverse things like that." She shifted softly on the couch watching Toby. It would be nice to be able to sleep any where and anytime like he could. She chuckled. Naraka " Yeah, it is. It's this magical art called taxidermy. You just scoop out their insides and replace it with stuffing. Very simple." As for this 'Ri' character, he really isn't sure what Iden's talking about, and so he lets it go and frowns off at the dusty corner instead. Meepfur Iden laughed - as terrible a threat as it was, it certainly wasn't serious, and it was very funny. 'Magical art,' indeed. As for Ri, that had been the fuzzy little critter with a habit of spouting off, but she didn't realize that Nar had forgotten, so it didn't occur to her to clarify. ''So...why the hair change?" she asked after a moment, unable to resist. The clothes were interesting too, but the hair. She'd never thought of Naraka as the type to do that. LP Looking around she tilted her head and lofted a brow she was interested for the answer as well. Although he did look younger. Naraka Naraka certainly doesn't remember. He's been too preoccupied to memorize every furball that comes into the shop and tangles with Kesin (of which there are many). "Hair change?" He reaches up to the spikey mass on his head and gives it a pat or two. "Oh..... I suppose you weren't around... I used to keep my hair this way.. for fun. For a change of pace. Boy, was I thrilled when I started to see people doing this. Hair pointing straight up in the air?? A miracle! Genius!! Who'd have thought! And so I started doing it as well. Maybe to take myself less seriously. Or maybe to make myself taller. Or maybe to appear more dangerous. Something psychological, sure. More than one reason, probably. And in the same way, I let it go. I'll tell you I did it because I just got tired of fiddling with it, which would be partially true, but also, maybe there was a reason that I got tired of fiddling with it. But I told myself that I'd stop saying everything I think, and so I'd better shut my mouth." Which he does, promptly. Meepfur "Like you need to be any taller?" she prodded, giggling. "It does make you look like you've got an attitude, that's for sure. Younger. Well, not that you look old at all." It was funny, though, to think of spiky hair as some sort of revolutionary thing...people'd certainly been able to do it by the time she'd been born! "I wonder what Vlad would look like if he ever changed his hair.." The thought of Dracula with short, spiky hair like some punk kid was pricelessly hysterical, and soon she snorted with laughter. LP LP shook her head. "Vlad's got the attitude for a moehawk if you ask me." She shurged leaning on the arm of the couch and looking up at the ceiling. Naraka Naraka's expression darkens at the mention of Vlad, and he bites his lip, resolving to say nothing. Psychological is right. It's easier to ignore someone, dressed this way. Armored in metal and black, hackles raised, his look says 'leave me alone' so he doesn't have to. He fixes Iden with a level stare. She seems fine, and he's about to say so, but decides just to let it be. Instead, he stands, and says, "Well, I'm headed out. Good evening." Meepfur A mohawk? That was even worse! Iden started to laugh even harder, but then she caught Naraka's darkened expression and stare, and the amusement fell away. She straightened, but despite it looked a little wilted. "Oh...later, I guess," she said quietly. In hindsight, she probably shouldn't have mentioned Vlad, but it had just been so funny. At least, she figured that was the reason for Naraka's abrupt decision to leave, since she couldn't see a reason for it in anything else she'd said. "You do look good," she tried cheerily, "With your hair like that." LP LP looked at Nara and then to Iden. She started to ask him why was he leave but decideing not to she just looked at him with a lofted brow. "Nar if you see Willow tell her I'll be sleeping over at Iden's. I can't stand it in the cave tonight..." Naraka "Yeah, sure," he says to LP. "If I see her. Night." He gives a sad, half-a-wave and heads out the front door. First looking one way, and then the other, he picks a directon to go and stalks off into the dark. Meepfur Iden returned the wave and watched him go, sad. Naraka gone, she mussed a hand through he hair, frowning as she looked over at LP with a sheepish "Oops?" LP LP got up, slightly unsteady because of her lack of sleep. "What was that about that?" She said leaning on the window seal to steady herself. Then looking over to Iden. Wilow was sitting on the street corner looking slightly mad at the world. What to do was the question she had no answer on this, everyone was so crazy, it was worse than the confusing things LP did. She poked at a peice of paper with her toe.Meepfur "Naraka, well.." Gently moving Toby from her lap and onto the couch, Iden stood too, rubbing the back of her neck. "Him and Vlad, they don't really get on. I mean, it's more complicated than that, but..." She trailed off, shrugging helplessly. LP She looked at Meep shaking her head leaning on the wall crossing her arms. "I can see why. Sadly, but I can." She looked over at Iden, "I suppose Nara's a bit sour at Vlad 'cause of what he did." Meepfur "Yeah," she confirmed with a sad nod. "Yeah, that's got a bit to do with it. He's not as bad about it as he was, but...well, I wouldn't call it bad, 'cause it's justified, but you know." LP Lofting a brow she shurged. "Well maybe you two need to sit down and talk it out." Looking around the room for a second. "Nar's got a sense of pride to him sure,and he may feel it's his fault. Yet maybe you two could come to better terms on it if you talked." Meepfur Iden nodded. "We've been working at it, really, but I'm getting to realize that it's gonna take more than one talk. I think a lot of it is time, too." She turned her hand, looking over the pale skin. "Getting used to things." LP LP shurged, "It took him a while to actully not be skeptical of me. It's just the way he is." she remembered back when she first came into the shop how rahter 'unpleasnt' he could be if he wanted to be. "Atleast you two are trying to work it out." She wtched iden as she turned her hand over. "Honestly I know what you mean there." She gave a soft nod before looking about. "So instead of hanging about this place... it's suddenly got that sullen feeling of gloom and what not. Shall we head to your's." She asked her head tilted to the side. "I might pick up some coffee on the way if there's a place and you dont' mind." Meepfur "Sounds good to me," she said with a nod. Yeah, a change of atmosphere would probably be good. "I don't know if you've got a certain kind you like, but I know Tori keeps some coffee around. I wouldn't mind stopping, though, if you want to." Returning to the couch, she nudged Toby awake, informing him that it was time to go home. Toby woke with a yawn and a stretch, one that went from nose to tail. Retrieving his hat, he slid from the couch and gave himself a good shake to finish waking up from his small nap. He resettled his hat on his head and nodded. "Ready!"LP LP shurged, "Ehh either way. It'd be nice to have some however I get it. It'll keep me up for a little bit longer either way it goes." She grined as she watched Toby stretch. "Must be nice to be able to sleep like that Toby." She said with a chuckle as she waited on Iden. Meepfur "Well, if you're not picky, we can go straight home. Up to you, though." SMiling at LP and Toby both, she held the door open. "Shall we?" "Huh?" Toby blinked up at LP, waiting for her to go through the door first. "Oh!" He scratched under his hat, grinning. "Just how I sleep, I guess."LP LP grined and walked outside and chuckled. "Toby would you like a ride?" She asked offering him her arm. ((Continued + here.))
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