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 Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 3:25 am
This is a private RP for :
Natsuki and Roux
Location : Yanagitani/Star residence
Weather : Autumn Had he been avoiding this place? Home? Yes. If only to avoid the memories, the painful feeling of uselessness. For all his magical prowess and power, for all the people that he knew were frightened of him, for all the times he'd attacked or assaulted without thought or mercy he hadn't been able to do anything this time. Why not? The other person hadn't been afraid from the start. Roux did not knock on the door at first, he simply reached for the doorknob and twisted.. only to find it locked. He let his hand drop, staring with mounting anger at the offending piece of metal. The thought that it was probably safer for Natsuki to lock the house even if she was home did not cross his mind. There was only opposition, why would someone lock him, Roux, out? The air grew a bit more chilly about the icy Raeven as he reached out and knocked, crossing his arms moodily over his chest as soon as that was done. Along with all the new horrible emotions he wish he could just leave behind like forgotten bagadge came one called guilt. Guilt had been tightening it's grip on him more and more lately. He wanted it -gone- and so the only thing he could think to do was to alleviate the cause. In this case, see Natsuki. Hadn't he heard a thump the night that he'd woken up? But his world had been focused strongly inward at that time, trying to shield himself from the assault of feelings that war'd within him.
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Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 4:00 am
Since her collapse, Natsuki lightened her workload. With the money rolling in, regardless of her being present or not at work, she decided to take a week off, to get healthy again before returning to the grindstone. Leaving her cafe in the unbelievably capable hands of her staff, Natsuki enjoyed the changing of the seasons, lounging on her sofa reading a book and listening to some soothing music. Even with music and Parfait curled up in her basket on the floor, the house still felt empty. The cafe owner could only talk to a Gwee for so long without worrying about going crazy.
Her mind was pulled from the smutty trashiness of her romance novel when the sounds of someone rapping on the door, snapped her from her daydream. Lusty thoughts and the dashing, shirtless doctor would have to wait for another time, it seemed. Placing her bookmark in between the pages, Natsuki slipped off the couch, and shuffled her fluffy slippered-feet down the hall to the front door. When she peered out from the window beside the stained-glass front door, her eyes narrowed before softening in relief. "Well, look who finally came home?" She said, releasing a deep sigh and flipping the deadbolt off the door. Drawing the large door in, she crossed her arms exactly like Roux's and leaned against the door frame. Lighter bandages covered her arms, but obscured fading cuts and healing burns.
"Nice to see that you remembered where the house is," she said in a flat tone. Her gray eyes peered down at him, as she rubbed the bandage above her brown, attempting to collect her thoughts. She didn't outright demand an explanation why the icy raevan disappeared while she was unconscious and bleeding from the head in the kitchen, but she wasn't going to make his belated return home a simple one. Without Chloe present to take care of him, Natsuki was left the responsible adult figure for him. "Care to tell me where you have been?" the vibrant redhead inquired, without moving from the door frame to let him pass.
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Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 3:22 pm
Roux was immediatly aggrivated by Natsuki's attitude. The way she looked at him, arms crossed, the way she -spoke- to him. He was doing the gracious thing and coming here to see her and here she was acting the royal b***h.
Well Roux could do that too.
The Icy Frei narrowed his eyes to thin slits, the air just getting a tad chillier. For some reason Natsuki's words stung. He felt like lashing out and slapping her across the face, or simply turning around and floating away. All traces of guilt melted away with his (at least he thought it was) justified anger. He'd even been mulling over using the word 'sorry' but now it wasn't going to happen.
He didn't even want to try and go inside anymore. "Rivener." He said coldly.
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Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 8:14 pm
Natsuki had seen plenty of Roux's temper tantrums to know when she saw one. Too many people indulged his fits, and she was simply too tired of being one of those people whom yield to him. She raised her eye brows as he narrowed his eyes at her. She wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily. Then her expression soured like milk when Rivener's name was mentioned. That self-centered, obnoxious charge of Aphismet's invaded her house, and took advantage of her hospitality. She was curious to know how Roux would react when she told him that Aphismet's 'pet' is banned from the household, along with his irresponsible guardian, Aphismet.
"I should have known that you didn't float off by yourself in that condition," Natsuki said, shaking her head disapprovingly. Rubbing her forehead, she pushed stray hairs out off her face and tossed her head in the direction of the kitchen. Unsure if they were being watched, she wanted to get Roux out of sight before the neighbors took notice. Touching the missing persons posted of Chloe fastened beside the door, she gave it gentle touch as if she were telling Chloe there was one less thing for her to worry about. Roux was home again. "Come inside, Roux. We need to have a talk in the living room."
She stepped inside, giving Roux the space he needed to enter the house. Pointing down the hallway, she prepared to lock the door up tight again, once the Frei was inside. Hopefully, the inevitable conversation would not be a frustrating one.
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 6:57 am
Roux paused in the doorway, still intent on throwing his little tantrum over Natsuki's initial attitude. And this demand of a 'talk' made him feel all the more sour and angry. The Ice Frei gave slightly, however, floating inward so that Natsuki could close the door behind them and lock it. He moved to the living room, floating in the center and glaring challangingly at Natsuki.
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 7:18 am
The door's dead bolt snapped into place, quickly followed by a twist the knob lock. At this point, Natsuki had no idea what to expect from Roux, and what could have possibly compelled him to make his way back to the house. Not that she had been clearing out Roux's things or anything, but she pretty much figured that the icy raevan preferred living with Rivener and his lot over the gilded cage he lived in with Natsuki and Chloe. Why the scorpion raevan took Roux in his delicate condition without so much as a single word to her was completely beyond Natsuki.
"I don't know if it means anything to you, Roux, but I've been worried sick since you had runaway," Natsuki said, hastily scooping up her pain medications, relaxation CD compilations and her aromatherapy oils from the coffee table. In a sweeping motion, she cleared the table in five seconds flat, and dropped down on the couch. She hated playing the bad cop and being stuck being Roux's Girl Scout leader instead of the head of her own household.
"I've been so sick lately, Roux. From all the stress between Chloe's disappearance, and when I woke to find you gone," Natsuki continued, clutching her brow in frustration. "I was certain that Dr. Kyou would fire me, and Chloe would never forgive me." Without knowing it, Natsuki broke down and started crying. Roux was the single feather which caused the roof to collapse in on Natsuki.
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 11:10 pm
It didn't really mean too much to Roux, he didn't care that Natsuki worried in complete and flat honesty. At least... at first..
The ice Raeven was shocked from his foul mood, the air warming slightly as he completely dropped the focus he seemed to always have when it came to his magical talents. Natsuki was crying. The Frei blinked, expression gone safely bland as his focus rushed inward at the explosion of that horrible, dirty emotion of Guilt with a capitol gee.
He spoke, remaining where he was across the room from Natsuki. "Not her." It was a plain statement, firm. She -wasn't- Chloe. He didn't -want- her to be. She was tearing herself apart trying, and it was just hurting her and annoying him - at least from Roux's perspective.
Seeing the way Natsuki almost seemed to crumple in upon herself.. the tears that flowed down her cheeks like small rivers. There was a small sound, and Roux got the strange sensation, like the night that he had awoken from his cocoon with Rivener's aid. Except it wasn't the waking up, it was the feeling of the ice cracking and breaking... it was all metephorical but the Frei certainly didn't understand this completely, despite his maturing he was still... young.
Roux realized that the sound had come from himself. His pale hand held in a fist on his chest, over his heart and pressing against it as though holding something in.
Even his tears reflected the origins from where he came... Everlasting Ice. Ice that would never melt, no matter what. As they collected and slipped from the corners of his eyes they froze into tiny crystaline globes, pattering with the faintest sound to the carpted floor.
Why was he crying, what was this.. this... "Not fair.." Roux choaked slightly, struggling valiently with his pride and the crushing sadness that tightened like steel bands about his chest. His throat worked as he pressed his lips together, looking blandly at the wall behind Natsuki in an attempt to stop the stupid tears.
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 11:33 pm
Roux's flat admission that Natsuki wasn't Chloe was the equivalent of a slap in the face. Of all the disrespectful, ungrateful things the raevan could have spat in her face, that one by far was the most insulting.
"You may think that Rivener was the only person caring about you since Chloe disappeared, but you've got to realize that I've been here too," Natsuki retorted dangerously, pulling herself together, and wiping the tears defiantly from her cheeks. She would have slapped the icy Frei for his insolence, but as Roux so tactlessly pointed out, Natsuki wasn't Chloe, and therefore had no semblance of control over him. Like a boiling pot with a lid, something fierce brewed within, threatening to boil over at any minute. The icy Frei may have been averting his gaze from her, but her eyes zoomed in on him with a hurricane churning deep within them.
"I've been the one clearing out the melted ice from your room, making sure no one came and stole you away in the middle of the night, and took care of you when no one else could come. I may not be Chloe, but you will respect me, Roux. You may think you were alone, but assure you. You weren't I was here, and the least you should be is thankful. I am not Chloe, and I will not let you talk to me like you do to her." In a fit of rage, she bashed her bandaged fist on the coffee table, causing the glass ware to jump slightly. If he was going to cry, that was fine. If he wanted to lash out and freeze things, that was his problem. Natsuki was tired, but not so much that she'd let a being with less than a third of a torso boss her around. "If you want to cry, fine. Cry. But I am no longer going to baby you. It's prime time for you to learn a little responsibility, Roux, and you can either take my help, or deal with it by yourself to protect your precious pride."
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 11:44 pm
Whatever Natsuki had taken from the two simple words it brought forth an ugly torrent of anger. With each admission he felt more and more apathetic, pride slipped away and he turned away as well with it. More tiny ice crystals cascaded to the carpet.
He felt like being sick. He -felt- sick. He hated all of this, if he could return to the way he was before...
He'd just meant...
..He'd actually not being trying to be mean.
He gave a small vocilization, an outburst of hoarse sound and brought his hands to his head, closing his eyes. This wasn't fair! He hated the new power that others gained over him because of his newness to these emotions. And they power they had.. they held complete sway over the Raeven.
"Are Natsuki!" His voice sounded disgustingly thin. "Stop no you are be. You are... are be.." Cold rage fled his body and replaced with just... cold. He stopped trying to speak. It was a sham anyway, he couldn't do it. Not like Pasha could, or like Rivener, or even Eiry, whom he hated because he was younger and it wasn't fair that he could speak.
Roux shivered for the first time in his life.
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 12:40 am
Natsuki felt refreshed, having honestly told Roux how she was feeling. Though the thought of Roux's mental condition hadn't crossed her mind at all. Heartless as it may be, she took pleasure in seeing the icy raevan attempt to express an emotion other than cold, aloofness and selfishness. When his tears continued, and he attempted to explain what he intended to say, her eyes close softly. Naturally, with the complications of Roux's inability to express himself, she'd back him into a corner. Mulling over his jumbled words, she finally figured out what the Ice Prince was trying to tell her. 'Chloe is Chloe, and Natsuki is Natsuki.'
Sitting on the couch, Natsuki simply held her arms open. "Come here," Natsuki sighed deeply, making it plainly clear that she wanted Roux to come to her. Most likely, he wouldn't but Natsuki, wanted to encourage the icy raevan to trust her, without the mandatory bribe of food and compliments. "You aren't alone in this Roux. Natsuki is here, too."
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 12:54 am
Roux looked back, his expression waring between that of a lost child and the prideful Roc that he was. He floated slightly closer, brows furrowed in a feirce scowel as he still tried to stop the tears. Reaching up he plucked a golden pendent around his neck, red gem glimmering slightly. Kyou was there, too.
He floated to her, hesitating just in front of her. He realized for the first time that deep, deep down he really...
"Want Chloe.."
Roux settled with Natsuki, however, floating down to 'sit' beside her on the couch where his pride still kept him from letting himself go and just cry.
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 4:10 pm
"I know, honey, I do, too. We'll find her and bring her home. Let's just take one day at a time, Roux," Natsuki soothed, putting her arm around the Icy Raevan's shoulder and drawing him close into a matronly hug. Her voice was soft, like singing a child a lullaby. Bandaged fingers stroked his hair gently, coaxing the lonely bird from his caged heart. She knew it was a far cry from a easy feat, but she wanted Roux to feel at home without Chloe around because Natsuki couldn't truthfully say when or if her roommate would ever come home.
"This house will always be your home, Roux. You're safe here," Natsuki said, rocking slowly, squeezing Roux gently.
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 4:26 pm
Roux allowed Natsuki to wrap her arm about him, let her touch his hair and rock with him. He took in a deep breath that shuddered softly, and then exhaled, eyes blinking tears away.
He leaned slightly against Natsuki, letting his hands rest in his lap. He made a slight sound in the back of his throat, eyes half closing. He nodded mutely, not having much more to say except...
"He hurt I."
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 4:45 pm
The room was silent as the pair sat on the couch together. Then, like the thunderous crack that shook her from her slumber the night Roux awoke, three words chilled her to the core. After months of knowing absolutely nothing, Roux insinuated that Chloe hadn't disappeared after another quarrel with the icy raevan as she had expected.
A man was responsible for this mess. Someone invaded her home and taken her, and hurt an young Frei in the process. The discovery of new information related to Chloe's disappearance was refreshing. Unfortunately, it came with the chilling loss of personal security.
"Oh Roux..." Natsuki said, trying to keep her wits about herself. Normally, she'd grill someone for every last detail, but she knew with Roux, that might do more damage than good. Calming her racing pulse down, she calmly pieced together her first question, asking it slowly and kindly. "Was it someone Chloe knew?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 7:30 pm
The small bit of information was all that Natsuki would get out of him, though. He pressed his lips together, falling silent as the small icy teardrops stopped. He reached up to press his palms against his eyes and sighed.
He didn't want to think about it anymore.
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