|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 6:03 pm
Ki was irritable, her hand still throbbed, although far less than it had a few days ago, and parts of her hand had lingering numbness. In addition, she'd been unable to leave Oberon at home ever since the soul capture had gone down--the butterflox, playing the role of concerned protector, had been positively -hovering-. She'd thought his clinginess was irritating before, but by this point, she was feeling damn near suffocated.
Making her way down one of the run-down streets that criss-crossed near the port, she moved smoothly over the uneven streets, completely in her element.
As she pushed open the door to a local coffee shop--one of the many that looked out over the port of Gambino--Oberon was perched squarely on her shoulder, tail curled loosely around her upper arm. It wasn't one of those fancy starbucks-like establishments, but was instead one of those comfortable, easygoing cafes that usually had a few very loyal customers who were content to drink coffee and chatter most of their afternoons and evenings away. Careful to not use her injured hand, Ki fished out some of her (precious!) money, ordering and paying for a cappuccino. That finished, she headed back out the door, grabbing one of the empty tables out in front of the cafe. Leaning back in her chair, she made a face as she lay her much-abused right hand in her lap, the action prompting a twinge of pain.
Oberon promptly moved from her shoulder to her lap, careful to not jar the hand that also occupied it. With an irritated sigh, Ki nevertheless used her free hand to scritch the butterflox softly behind his ears. Flexing her throbbing hand stubbornly, she grunted. "Hmph. Stupid goddamned fish." she muttered, the words having become something of a mantra over the past few days.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 9:20 pm
Kumoru was absolutely relievied that Arlyn seemed to get along with his new sister. The necromancer figured it was likely because Lucretia was still very quiet, though she had started to speak a little from time to time. It was a wonderful change of pace from the periodic squabbles between the Anima and his other sister Serif.
A cause for celebration, too, Kumoru decided. And so he brought both Lucretia and Arlyn with him onto the bus up to Gambino for the day. Both of them had seemed confused by the offer, and Arlyn had wanted Donat to come along as well; the goat-boy had refused, saying that he was tired, and had encouraged his older brother to spend time with his sister, just the two of them.
And so, after an afternoon of rather quiet touring around, the necromancer led both his oldest and his youngest children into a coffee shop for a nice break.
"Arlyn, do you know what do you want?" he asked as they examined the menu posted in the window. "Looks like they have some juice and tea, too, not just coffee things." It was not too crowded, but there were still a fair number of people around. One of the people sitting at one of the outside tables a short distance away a little familiar, too... but Kumoru was not sure yet. She was sitting with her back to him, so the mage could not get a good look at her face.
"What's Lucretia getting?" he asked, turning his head towards his sister. He had had coffee a few times before, but he was not sure yet whether he felt more like coffee or juice.
"Ice water," the Raevan replied flatly, glancing down from the menu to peer at Arlyn. "Don't like anything else."
Arlyn frowned for a moment and sighed, then said, "Pineapple juice is good." A smile started to creep back across his features as Kumoru carefully placed a few bills in his hands, though. Arlyn liked to order and pay for himself, since it seemed more equal that way. Kumoru would not have to make his exchanges that way.
Kumoru opened the door and ushered the other two inside, and took a place up in line a little behind Arlyn so the boy could take care of his order first. It would give him another minute or so to see if he could try to catch a glimpse of the woman's face outside, too; he was pretty sure he had seen her before, but there was just no name coming.
Lucretia glanced around at the other patrons inside the shop, crossing her arms. A lot of them seemed to be watching her, so she stared right back. Maybe it would make them uncomfortable and they would stop looking. A lot of the people she had seen since she first left the labs with her father were like that.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 11:48 pm
Sipping at her cappuccino, Ki closed her eyes, allowing the rich, strong drink to wash over her palate. There was something to be said, in her opinion, for a good cup of coffee. She liked it without any sugar, and in fact usually went with straight black coffee...aside from the occasional indulgence. As she set down the cup with a soft clink, she could hear a man speaking to...what sounded like two younger beings--one male, and one female, although the female had yet to speak more than a few words.
Curious, she waited until she heard them enter the cafe before turning her head, sipping at her coffee as she tried to catch a glimpse. She was carefully discreet--after all, it was never a smart policy to make it obvious that you were -staring-.
Her eyes widened--one of the trio, the female who'd barely spoken, was one of the...floaty things that she'd first seen at the festival. This one, however, was pale--she looked like some sort of ice queen, in the she-pirate's mind...very lovely. From there, her gaze fell to Kumoru, and at that point the she-pirate furrowed her brow--there was something familiar about that one...although where she'd seen him before escaped her, at that particular moment.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 3:20 pm
Kumoru thought he could see the woman looking back at him through the window, but there was an inconvenient glare, from the way the lights inside hit the glass. Trying to lean to see around it better would look awkward, he determined, so the necromancer settled for turning back to Arlyn and Lucretia.
With so many outings with one child or another, the mage could not remember who had been with him the time he met the woman outside, if any of the kids had been along at all. He realized neither of these two would remember her, though; Lucretia had just joined the family, and Arlyn would not be able to recall a person by sight for obvious reasons.
"Want to sit outside?" he suggested to the pair of them.
"Yes," the Raevan replied simply. It was nice outside, and she was not about to disagree with her father if he wanted to sit in the fresh air.
"Okay," Arlyn said, adding his own response. Then, he walked up to the counter as he heard the cashier call for the next customer. The Anima placed his order and paid, and ran his hand along the counter for direction as he walked to the end of it to wait for his drink.
Pleased to see that Arlyn was gradually becoming at least a little more social, Kumoru stepped up to the counter when he had left, and ordered himself an iced latte, and some plain ice water for Lucretia.
Once he had paid, and the three of them had their drinks, Kumoru led them to the door and outside. He picked the closest table he could get to the woman he was trying to get a look at, but there were still two tables between them with other people - a side effect of it being a nice day out.
If she looked his way again, he could at least wave. And either think him crazy if they had not actually met before, or exchange names again if they had, so the necromancer would not have to keep wracking his brains for the name to match her face.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 11:11 pm
Ki stilled--had he caught her staring? However, when no anger crossed his expression, nor, really, any outward indication of having recognized her, she went back to her musing. Where had she seen the youngish man before? Still mindful of not being caught staring, she eyed his two companions more closely. The female, who was one of the same things she'd seen at the fundraiser, was intriguing, with her icy demeanor. But then the other...had a bandage over his eyes. As she watched the anima run his hand along the counter, she assumed that he really was blind--hard to believe, with how smoothly he'd been moving around with the other two.
Turning back to her drink when the trio headed back outside, she tried to remember where she'd seen the man before--after all, if she'd robbed him, for example, it probably was a good idea to get the hell out've here without letting him catch a clear glimpse of her own face...
As she'd been wracking her brain trying to remember where she'd seen Kumoru before, Ki had stopped petting Oberon, and as a result, the butterflox was shifting in her lap--not that she noticed, since he was still mindful of her injured hand, which was sharing said space. However, in an attempt to regain Ki's attention, his tail swished across the table, an action that tipped her still half-full cup of coffee over, the pungent liquid spilling towards her lap. Cursing, Ki scooted her chair back, almost knocking it into the people occupying the table behind her.
Mercifully, while it was a close call, she'd managed to avoid -wearing- any of the coffee. "Dammnit, Obe, watch where you're swinging that damn thing!" she muttered, shooting him an irritable glare. In the commotion, she'd forgotten to keep her face averted, and, to boot, had definitely drawn attention to herself. Making a face, she hoped that, if the familiar man had been one of her 'victims', he'd failed to remember her face. Still annoyed, she picked up the now-empty coffee cup, setting it in its saucer. What to do...should she go inside and ask for some napkins and mop it up herself (and get another cup of coffee) or just leave and let staff mess with it later?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 1:03 pm
Lucretia was working on eating her ice cubes. It was an interesting process; she would pick one carefully from her plastic cup with two fingers, and hold it in her palm, where it would sublimate into fog like dry ice rather than water ice. And then the Raevan gently sucked the resulting vapor into her mouth through puckered lips.
She stopped and turned around where she hovered in place of one of the chairs, though, as she heard swearing and the sudden scraping of a chair across the pavement. And, putting a hand to her mouth, tried to stifle a small giggle.
The necromancer turned as well, a hand going for his stack of napkins by reflex - a reflex he had suspected acquiring as a result of having young children. He shot Lucretia a quick glance, then walked over to the woman's table, armed with about seven napkins.
Glancing at the little winged fox-like creature - Kumoru had not seen what exactly had occurred, but he had a feeling the little pet had had something to do with it - he offered the woman the napkins.
"Need a hand with anything?" he asked, now struggling even more to come up with a name or something. Kumoru would not likely be helping her, had he not thought her familiar before. Though he supposed that, if he was wrong about knowing her, a little good Samaritan work could not hurt. Since it was too late now, and all.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 6:07 pm
Ki, who was in the middle of another annoyed rebuke, directed at Oberon, stopped mid-sentence. Oberon, much to her continued irritation, seemed unfazed by her angry outbursts, and was perched calmly on her shoulder. At the appearance of Kumoru, however, his posture changed, becoming slightly more suspicious--and he pressed the side of his body more closely up against the side of Ki's head.
Turning to look at Kumoru, she blinked. Where had she seen him before? However, he wasn't looking like he wanted to kill her, or asking her where his money was, so she could only assume that, at least, their meeting had been one in which she HADN'T robbed him. "Oh uh...thank you," she said, eyeing the napkins with relief. "And no, no, we should be okay, I think. The napkins, though, are a godsend--Obe here can be rather careless." This last was said with a deliberate glare at her furry companion--not an easy task with him plastered to the side of her face.
Careful to extend her good hand, the other held loosely at her waist, she smiled. "And...have we met before? I can't help but think I've seen you somewhere before this..." The words were out before she could stop herself from saying them, although she was kicking herself afterwards--what if she was wrong, and he just had a horrible memory. Nothing to do about it now, I suppose...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 12:36 am
Kumoru was relieved he had not been imagining a previous meeting with her, as well, but managed to keep the relief from showing outwardly. He noted with interest that she was offering him what was usually considered the wrong hand to shake, but bowed to her in reply anyway before taking her left hand in his own left hand.
"I believe so," he replied, noting before he straightened that her right hand seemed to be somehow injured - which explained why he had gotten the left hand instead. "Though I must confess that my memory fails to come up with your name." The necromancer's tone was polite, but businesslike and somewhat stiff.
"And, ah, do you need any help wiping up the spill on the table?" he went on to offer, in case she thought she might have trouble with her hurt hand; hopefully the proposal would not offend her.
Lucretia watched her father for a moment, then turned her attention back to her meal of ice cubes.
"What's going on? Where did Kumoru go?" Arlyn asked, turning his head as though looking around in order to try to better pinpoint where his father's voice was coming from now.
The Raevan shrugged, glancing up only briefly from her ice as she told her brother, "He's talking to some woman."
That meant he would be back, at least. "Oh," he replied, sounding as though he had expected a slightly more exciting answer. Then he went back to sipping at his juice.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 3:03 am
Ki's eyes widened almost imperceptibly when he bowed before taking her hand. Interesting...and not a practice she was used to.
"Ki'retha." she said, straightforward and to the point. Her tone wasn't brusque, by any means, but instead, perhaps, slightly reserved--even guarded. It wasn't deliberate, or even a conscious decision...just natural caution.
"And you? I still haven't caught your name, either." Even as she asked the question, she was shaking her head in reply to his query. "Really, it's not necessary--it was my clumsy beast who knocked the damn thing over, anyway." This punctuated with yet another glare at Oberon--who, predictably, ignored it completely, swishing his tail carelessly. Upon realization that Asahi wasn't an immediate threat, the butterflox had taken to looking around curiously, although his gaze returned frequently to the man speaking to Ki, as if to ensure that the situation hadn't altered.
Changing the subject, Ki'retha looked back at the table he'd come from. "Interesting companions," she observed, wondering at the way that the raevan 'ate' her ice cubes. "What was her...fel essence?" she asked, pleased at herself for having remembered the term. It was far more convenient to be the one asking the questions, after all.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 8:09 pm
"Nice to meet you," he replied, glancing down at the table as he set the remaining napkins down on the edge of it. "Moreso this time than the last, I figure, if neither of us can quite remember the day or the circumstances."
"I'm Kumoru," the necromancer added, looking back at Ki and the little creature who was with her. He was about to try cautiously offering the butterfly-winged fox a crooked finger in greeting, but froze as Ki spoke again.
Had he met her at the Labs once, then? Regardless, she clearly recognized what Lucretia was. "It was a rose made of ice," Kumoru told her after a moment; by his tone, he was not reluctant to give up the information by any means, just a touch surprised. "And the boy came from a lantern."
Only on Gaia would this conversation sound even remotely normal.
"I have three others at home," he went on. "An older boy, with brown fur and horns like a goat; a younger one with red hooves and little horns, and blue stripes; and a little girl with..." The mage paused for half a second as his eyebrow twitched. "... Reddish hair and no animal parts, but you'd remember her anyway by the noise."
Kumoru glanced back at the pair at the table to be sure they were still enjoying their drinks. Then he turned back to Ki, a slightly hopeful look on his face. "I generally take at least one of them with me when I go out. I don't know if you remember seeing any of the others."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 5:01 am
Ki furrowed his brow as he described his other...children, for lack of a better term. Dear god, what was he, Mr. Nanny?! The mere thought of trying to keep track of that many was enough to make her cringe. However, one of those descriptions tickled at the back of her mind...
"I think you had the one with the...blue stripes with you the last time." she said, nodding to herself. "And it's a pleasure to meet you, also." Mustn't forget her manners, not completely, anyway...particularly since he'd been so polite as to offer her napkins to clean up Obe's mess with. The boy who'd come from a lantern piqued at her curiosity as well, but for now, she wasn't about to let an opportunity to gather a bit more information about the 'raevans' pass her by.
Picking up the napkins he'd set on the table's edge, she set about mopping up the remainder of the mess, ignoring Obe's insistent pawing at her earlobe. "Are the...raevans hard to care for?" she asked, her tone somewhat tentative, as the word still seemed unfamiliar. Rose of Ice, hmm? She could see parts of that fel essence reflected in the raevan seated at Kumoru's table...and despite her own misgivings about the whole 'guardian' thing, she had to admit it was rather intriguing. She still hadn't decided quite what she was going to do, when hers arrived--would it be male or female? What sort of personality was it going to have? And even worse...what if it wanted to call her 'Mom', or 'Mommy'?!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 10:04 pm
The mage's gaze directed itself skyward as he worked to recall more details of the previous meeting with Ki, since now, at least, he knew that he had been with his Fa'e child. "Ah, so you've met Bhel, then," he murmured aloud, as much to her as to himself.
Then he returned his gaze to her, and put on a small, polite smile to help mask the fact that, for whatever reason, he still had a bit of trouble recalling their meeting. Regardless, he bowed in response to her introduction; all the politeness that people of his world expected of mages had been taught to him so thoroughly that the gestures and words came to him as though by reflex.
The necromancer's expression relaxed to something a bit more neutral, though, as he responded to her next question: "Lucretia has been a pretty quick learner, and has been quiet enough to get along with the other children. She seemed to come with at least a certain amount of maturity" - he added a quick "thank goodness" under his breath before continuing - "and she also eats ice, which makes her quite simple to care for."
He looked back at the ice-colored girl, then again to Ki. "I gather each is different, though, like people, so maybe there are others who are more of a handful."
Lucretia met her father's gaze when he looked at her, and set her ice down on the table after a moment to drift over slowly to join Kumoru at Ki's table. She said nothing even as she stopped beside Kumoru's shoulder, resting her fingertips lightly on his forearm and studying Ki and the little creature with her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:16 pm
Bhel. The name...well, it didn't ring any bells, that she could think of off-hand, but at the same time, it wasn't ENTIRELY unfamiliar. Giving the necromancer a small smile in return, she tapped Obe on the nose when the butterflox made a small murr-ing noise.
Tilting her head, she nodded as he described Lucretia's learning habits, and diet. As she did so, she fidgeted, moving the fingers of her still slightly-stiff hand. Turning, she looked directly at the raevan, eyes shifting over her with open curiosity as Lucretia moved to hover beside her guardian. It was amazing to her, to think that this young...woman, or part of one, had been formed from combining something in a test tube with a soul.
"How did you figure out what she ate?"
As Ki continued to pick at Asahi's brain for information, Oberon was finding himself distracted from his protectiveness by the icey raevan standing not far away. Flapping his wings, he flitted a bit closer, swishing his tail as he stopped a few inches away from the new arrival, foxy face openly curious, as if waiting to see what her response was.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 7:17 am
Lucretia's eyes widened slightly as the butterflox moved and made a noise. It was alive? She had seen things like him, little animals and such, scattered about her sibblings' rooms, but none of them ever moved. Her brother Arlyn claimed that his plush sheep spoke to him, but she had yet to hear it make a sound. The little creature before her was clearly not a stuffed animal, though.
With one hand still resting on her father's arm, Lucretia touched the fingers of her free hand to her lips for a moment as she pondered the little winged creature before her. Then, after a moment, she hesitantly reached out towards it, glancing quickly back and forth between Oberon and his apparent owner as though asking permission to touch the butterflox. She lacked the word to really articulate what she thought of the little thing, but... she liked how it looked; Lucretia hoped it would be friendly.
"It took me a few days," the necromancer admitted. "The day she came home with me, I tried taking her through the aisles of the grocery store to see if she would point out anything in particular that she wanted. She was quiet the whole time, though."
He closed his eyes and rested one hand on Lucretia's. "So I kept her shut inside for a few days, monitoring her to see if she ate anything. I figured if she went after anything in the house, then I could keep giving her that. And if she did not, then she would be hungry enough to pick something the next time through the grocery store."
The mage glanced back at Lucretia, smiling faintly. It had certainly not been what his parenting magazines had suggested to do for picky eaters, but it had worked.
"Why do you ask? Do you have a Raevan as well?"
"Oh, you don't mind, do you?" Kumoru asked on Lucretia's behalf as he saw her reaching for Oberon. "She won't hurt him."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 7:47 pm
Although she'd asked a question to Asahi, Ki continued to observe Lucretia, obviously interested in the way she moved, and the way she interacted. Nodding, as if half to herself, she turned to look at the necromancer once again after he spoke. "I don't mind at all--Oberon dictates his own friend-making." she said it with a small grin, even as she made a small gesture at the butterflox.
"And I suppose you could say that...I received my fel essence, and only recently finally captured a soul...however, I still don't -really- know all that much about what to expect...and so I'm not even sure how I'm going to cope with another...responsibility, for lack of a better word." My my, she was being forthright, at this point.
Oberon, utterly disinterested in the conversation, continued to stare at the raevan for another moment, tilting his head to the side when she held out a hand towards him, and sniffing at the 'offering' curiously. Liking what it told him, he stuck out his pink tongue, licking at her fingertips before flitting a bit closer, waiting to see her reaction.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
