Welcome to Gaia! ::

Kit covered her cheek, pouting some before shaking her head some. “Well… It just depends on what you like. All of our food is pretty light but depending on what flavor of spice that you like, that depends on where you go.” She smiled some at him. “I prefer something a bit… spicier… and there is this great place near my apartment… my old apartment…” Oh how she loved to say that. “That has some great food. Do you like spicy foods?”

Dusk had actually forgotten about that… “Actually, just plant the thing on Gambler first and if you’re alright… then help them with the building. I just need someone that understands legalities and might have some good ideas. They said that the building was to become one for the community if no relatives come out and claim it, but they’re not agreeing on what it is that they want the building to become.” She smiled some at him, touching his cheek, “And yes… I’m glad to have my own personal handyman around.”

She continued to smile, nodding a bit. “That’s a good thing. I love spicy food… and yeah, it’s within walking distance.” Then again, to most elves, walking distance was a few miles… “It’s just a few blocks away.” Stretching some, the woman watched as they went into a pretty bad part of town and then pulled up to a pretty bad apartment. Thankfully… this would be one of the last times that she ever had to go near the damn thing. “Joker… is there anyone that you think we should invite when we get the house in order?” She had thought about that, remembering what he had said about inviting people over… but she really didn’t know anyone to invite.

Thinking about that, Dusk grinned, “Nope… not a single one… I probably should send someone, shouldn’t I?” Kyoshi was doing very well in learning the language so sometimes Dusk forgot that he still wasn’t really all that good at it. “I’ll call someone and get them down there.” Kissing him gently, she continued to smile before leaning back again, “You’re going to Gambler first, right? If so, then the guy should be there soon enough and before you get there, alright?”

“You want someone that likes you? Sheesh, that might be a short list…” Dusk grinned, kissing him quickly before handing him the papers. “I’ll have someone, but just like everyone needs to learn your humor, you need to learn our humor too, alright?” She touched his cheek, knowing that there really were only a few of her close friends that didn’t like Kyoshi; amazingly, none of them were those that gambler had met that had said that her kind was horrible and egotistical… imagine that. “But, alright. I’ll have someone there that can speak your language. Now, go, go. I have to get ready.”

Kit smiled a bit, “if we can bring back Monty, that would probably solve half of our problems…” Sighing some, they went to begin walking in the direction of the restaurant, the woman touching his hand gently. “But… alright. I’d like to invite everyone… hell, we can invite gambler and see if she’ll stop being whatever she’s being long enough to actually be nice again.”

“I scared you of it?” She looked amused, kissing his forehead as he took her hand. “I think that that makes no sense at all… but no, you’re right. No politics because I don’t want to deal with them at the table.” Shaking her head some, the woman smiled at him as they got closer to the restaurant, Kit nodding some as she saw it come into sight. “There it is.” The smell of the spices was obvious as they got closer, a man opening the door for them but he looked at Joker a bit strangely. It wasn’t often that elves and other races mixed, but everyone had noticed that it had happened a bit more now with some people… some didn’t mind, but others were a bit objective to it. “Where would you like to be seated, Joker?” Translating the man for Joker, Kit ignored any looks, kissing his cheek. She didn’t care what people thought.

Laughing, Dusk nodded as she soon got to work, checking on some things that needed to be worked on for when she spoke to the council. It wasn’t going to be too difficult, as long as Rave was there, for them to get rid of them. Dusk knew that she had wanted to do so since she first met Kristopher and Elianna… but it didn’t mean a damn thing to anyone else what she wanted. Now? Now that was what mattered and she wasn’t completely sure on what to do with that power. Closing her eyes for a moment, the woman smiled a bit to herself. She had Kyoshi… she had the kingdom… she just wished that she could have both of her groups of friends back. It was strange, thinking like that, but it was just what her mind kept going to.

A sigh came from her as she stood up, dressing in a long gown, a deep red as she put on the gloves, circlet, and just a light touch of makeup. She needed to look the part and it would guarantee that she got what she needed to if she could do so. Walking out of the room was difficult, not knowing if Rave would be there even harder, but she made her way to the council’s chambers, entering with her head held high. It seemed like she hadn’t been let down.

Rave was standing there in a suit, looking perfect in the elvish fit and standing tall with the blank look that he always had. He nodded to his queen as she walked in but other than that did nothing else. Dusk took the center of the room, the door closing as she spoke. “The five of you understand why we’re here, correct?” Given the angry looks on most of their features, she simply nodded without waiting. “The elves no longer need a high power council. There was no need for the council when my father ruled and there is none now. We are thankful of the control that you held while none of the royal family ruled, but now that we are back in power, the council is no longer needed.” An uproar occurred and Dusk didn’t move, didn’t flinch. Instead, she nodded as Rave came up.

It was amusing on how quickly everyone silenced themselves.

“The council is to hold power only when there is no one available.” His smooth voice sounded, the low tambour making even her shiver a bit. It had been a while since Rave had spoken like this… no emotion anywhere in his voice or eyes. The only thing he showed was seriousness to his work. It was a good thing, yes, but Dusk had to force herself not to give into the sadness that was growing. She didn’t want to lose the progress that Gambler had made with Rave, didn’t want to watch him fall back into the emotionless state that he had been in for so long, but it seemed like there wasn’t a damn thing that she could do to stop it. Sighing softly, she nodded some, watching as Rave continued to speak. The faces of the council never ceased to amuse her.

“We no longer need a set of bodies to sit around in an office, doing nothing but bickering with the person who currently rules. Under the law of our people, Cecilia is the head of the country, the nation, and that is to be understood and accepted. If you would have understood that and worked with the Queen instead of constantly fighting with her, then this would not have occurred.” His hands were clasped behind his back, the frown still there as he shook his head to himself. “We cannot allow acts of this kind to continue if we are to rebuild our country.” A hand raised from the stoic man as someone tried to object; an icy glance silencing all. “We need to repair damage. The Queen and I have decided that if you wish to continue to work for our government, then we will allow that but you will be advisors, nothing more.” Dusk nodded in approval. It was a good thing to have Rave say all of this… he was trusted, looked up to… and hopefully feared enough for this to go over well.

The council watched, livid, but they watched nonetheless before one of them stood, nodding. She was surprised to find that it was Kristopher. “Alright… We will remain advisors… but what does this make of our position, Queen?” Dusk wasn’t surprised by the bitterness that she heard, but that was to be expected. It wasn’t a bad thing in her mind; they were people, after all, and this had been a position that they had held for nearly a century, probably more.

“You will still keep your title, the pay, the home, the protection; everything that we have offered you in the past. But, you will not have near the power that you had before.” She shook her head, “At this time, we just can’t afford it. The country wasn’t hit as hard as some of the neighboring areas, but not only do we have this most recent damage to work on, we have all of the things that we already had to worry about. I don’t want to have my people fighting against one another people the council and their queen can’t even get along.” She frowned more. “Maybe, eventually, you will gain back the power; but right now, we just can’t afford to waste time arguing. I don’t want to damage this country, I want to rebuild it and make it great again. I can’t do that if you won’t let me make any moves in order to get there.”

For a moment, no one said anything and Dusk wondered if she had said to much. Slowly, however, there were raises of the council and each one bowed to her. Eyes widening, Dusk watched, shocked, that they would do that. They had yet to bow to her without the eyes of the people on them and… it meant more than she had ever thought that it would.

Giving them a nod of respect as well, she listened as Rave and the council worked with one another, giving an oath and making sure that everything was kept the way that it needed to. For a while, she just stood there, not totally sure on what it was that they were going to do now, but it wasn’t long before all of them dispersed and she was alone with Rave. Turning to him, the two alone in the chambers, the woman gently touched his arm, “I’m glad that you came back, Rave.” He didn’t speak for a moment before a soft sigh came from him and he touched her hand, “I apologize for my absence… I…” “You had to get yourself together, it’s fine.” She reached up, kissing his cheek gently. “I’m glad that you’re back, though.”

He didn’t smile back, but he did nod some to the woman. It was better than nothing… “Rave, where’s Kalore?” The two began to walk off, Dusk glancing over at him as they made their way to the gardens near the royal chambers. She really needed to think of a better name… it was too big to be a bedroom and it was even bigger than a suite… But her attention was back to Rave as he spoke.

“I believe that he went back to his home, Dusk.” He didn’t look back for a moment as they walked slowly through the gardens. She frowned a bit, “Is he going to be alright? I mean… I know what he does when he’s upset and I-“ Rave shook his head, stopping as he gently touched her arm. “Dusk… both of us are wrecked emotionally; I am not too high to admit that.” He sighed, shaking his head once more. “I believe that it would be for the best if he were to be left alone for a day or so… until all of this mess is fixed. What Gambler did, not allowing him to see Monty, messed with him more than I believe anything else could have possibly done.” Dusk bit her lip, nodding. She agreed with that. “but what do we do to fix it?” He didn’t speak for a while as they sat down on one of the benched. To talk about all this while surrounded with the beautiful flowers of the midmorning… it wasn’t right but it was now or never.

“I… I am not too sure, Dusk.” He looked up into the sky, frowning a bit. “I am not too sure that I know what to do with myself… but I suggest getting him back to work as soon as possible. Avoid anything that will remind him of the redhead and pray.” Dusk bit her lip, nodding some. “I… I was afraid that that would be the only option…” Rave nodded, glancing over at her. “Get him to be a trainer for the new archers, have him help with hand to hand combat, have him be a messenger if it is needed. Kalore can do many things, but I would put him into things that do not involve anything that Eri had him do. Work, true work, may be the best for him right now.”

Sighing, Dusk ran a hand through her hair as she leaned against the arm of the bench, not caring if it wasn’t ‘lady-like’. “Damn… I guess that that’s really going to be for the best then, huh?” rave only nodded. “Damn.”

The man just watched them, confused, but then nodded slowly as Kit translated, soon tugging Joker along, rolling her eyes. “You don’t need to pay… I chose the place, so I wanna pay.” Kissing his cheek, she smiled at him as they sat down, the woman sitting across from him. “Now… I think that we should do something together, with Dusk and all of them, something that’s going to make everyone forget about that whole incident with the bad guy and the spiders.” Kit shivered a bit. She hated spiders… Smiling some at the other, she leaned on her arm, touching his hand. “Now… what’s this about me scaring you?”

Rave and Dusk stayed outside for a long time before he stood up, bowing, “I will check on our soldiers and begin training them.” She raised a brow, “You don’t have to jump into work.” There was a ghost of emotion in his eyes, but it was obvious that he wasn’t really going to smile. No… No, that was something that he wasn’t going to do for a while. “I need to get back to work, Dusk. It will be for the best.” She sighed, nodding, before she sank down, leaning against the bench as she sat on the ground, looking up into the mid afternoon sky. It was pretty out.. very pretty.

Touching his cheek, the woman smiled a bit at the other as she shook her head, “I don’t care if you’re crazy or whatever it is that you seem to always be so worried about. Joker, I like you a lot and I want you to stay with me… I knew why it was that you wanted me to have a basement and I had a feeling that that might be a problem and something that we might end up doing but that doesn’t bother me, alright?” Leaning over, she kissed his nose, still smiling at him. “I think… that you worry too much. I think that you really need to relax and just know that I didn’t just let you live with me; I wanted you to, alright?” Another soft kiss and she continued to smile. “Just… just trust me on that, alright?”

It took a moment for Dusk to get the energy and the drive to get up from the garden floor. Sitting there among the flowers, it was nearly impossible for her to want to actually go out and do something that would involve any work. She had already sent someone out to meet up at the worksite but… she really just wanted to see Kyoshi, celebrate. Step one was a success and she was thankful that something had finally gone well. The woman had accepted a riot of some form but thankfully it hadn’t happened and thankfully things were seeming to finally turn up a little well for everyone on her side of things.

The kiss surprised her, but smiling softly she leaned over and kissed him again. “I don’t think we should get everything… unless that’s how much you eat?” An amused look was on her face as she leaned over and kissed his nose again. Kit didn’t give herself enough credit, no, but she didn’t think that she honestly needed any. It wasn’t like she could do anything really worthwhile, but maybe some people thought so? Well, Kit could make a kickass drink, that much she did know. “Two appetizers… two meals, salads, and desserts… That should be good, right?”

She laughed, nodding some, “I eat, don’t worry.” Winking at the other, she and Joker found what they wanted to eat before she ordered, the language flowing like water off her tongue. It wasn’t difficult and the meal wouldn’t be expensive, but Kit continued to smile as the man nodded, giving a slight bow to them before returning with their drinks. “So… tell me, do you have any idea on where it is that you want to set up your practice now?” She blinked some, watching him with curiosity obvious in her eyes. What was it that he was going to do? There were a lot of places that needed doctors, but she didn’t know how easy it was going to be to set up the practice…