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 Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 9:11 pm
After the fight with Guinevere, Nikolai had finally felt alone. Completely alone for the first time. It had frightened him at first to have this feeling, but the Sanctum's peacefullness was quick to quell his anxieties somehow. Whether it was because this was a place where Heralds were meant to be or for some other reasons, Nikolai was left to his thoughts to decide on what he was going to do.
The dreams here were far more vivid than they ever had been in the Human's world. Nikolai learned things he would not have otherwise and was presented with problems he did not know yet how to overcome. Silence once more came to him in the absence of other people while his only companions became his thoughts. There was never a time in the Sanctum he wasn't trying to understand what he was to do now. Jade was going to worry for him, probably think he was dead unless Guinevere told her where he was. But it would be better this way so she would never know what it was he had done to her and no longer hurt inside at the hypocracy of it all.
Now the ruins of the Sanctum had become his home, and though he fought at loneliness when he stopped to let his thoughts sink in. From where he was perched atop a wall of the ruins, Nikolai was beginning to wonder just what Guinevere and Jade were doing by now.
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Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 1:00 pm
Guinevere had been scolded and grounded and yelled at, but she hadn't told Jade. She hadn't told anyone, because it wasn't her decision. She had taken her grounding and taken her punishment, and Kotatsu had been concerned as the Herald had done something she had never done before; Quietly obey.
Well, all things must pass, and the more Guinevere sat in her room, the more she worried about Nikolai, the friend who had so recently slipped back into her life. He had a lot on his plate right now, and she had left him. THat wasn't what made a good friend. She knew that, but...
But when he hadn't wanted to go back to Jade, she couldn't help it. She had been through too much with Aaron leaving to ever understand Nikolai's decision. She didn't want to understand. Understand or not though, she still cared about him. And people in distress might forget to do important things like eat properly and drink lots of fluids, so she still had to CARE. Which was why she was sneaking out of the house now, a picnic basket full of food under one arm.
When she arrived in the Sanctum an hour or so later, she looked around. "Nikolai?" she called tentatively. Come to think of it, the Sanctum was a big place to try to find someone in.
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Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 1:47 pm
The cawing of those ghostly birds brought Nikolai's head from out of the clouds to look over towards the noise. What he saw made him blanch; Guinevere was there?! Eyes wide in momentary surprise, Nikolai opened his wings as he stood on the short wall and took off towards where she had appeared in the field.
His heart pounded wildly as excited thoughts came to mind. Had Guinevere decided to stay with him instead of forcing him to return? Would she finally understand that this Sanctum was where they belonged and not in the human world any more? While these and other ponderings whipped through his mind faster than he could keep up with the boy was quickly closing in on the girl's location. He didn't say a word, all that needed to be said was in his wide grin, as the boy nearly dive-bombed the girl in an overly affectionate hug.
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Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 1:56 pm
Guinevere gasped and twisted her head around to get a look at her attacker, only to see Nikolai himself. She smiled warmly and hugged him back. "Hi, you." she whispered, and then pulled back to take a look at him. "How are you? You've been eating right? Sleeping somewhere safe and dry?" She studied him worriedly, all the questions that had been nagging at her flooding into her mouth. "Are you okay?" She couldn't imagine living on her own. Guinevere was fairly independent, but she was still just a child, and the more she thought about Nikolai alone in the Sanctum the more she had fretted. Seeing him alive and well was a load off her mind.
"It's good to see you." she said finally, stopping her questions for a moment. It needed to be said, especially after how she had left him last time. However, she wouldn't apologize for leaving, much as she felt it should be done. She had done what she needed to. They both had choices to make.
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Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 4:44 pm
When he was standing fully once again Nikolai beamed at his dear friend Guinevere brightly enough to daze a deer-- if there were deer in the Sanctum. He didn't reply to what she said with words, but a slight blush at all the questions and a few nods of the head were enough to say he was doing all right. Pointing towards the ruins of the Sanctum where he'd been staying, the boy reached to take her free hand hesitantly-- she might not like being touched after all-- and tried to guide her to his little Home as it were. The smell of food brought a curious expression to his face that made him all the more aware of how hungry he'd become.
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Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 5:46 pm
Guinevere relaxed. So he really was fine, just fine. She smiled weakly back at him, grasping his hand when he took hers and letting him lead her. There was an odd expression she couldn't quite place on his face, and she shifted the picnic basket nervously. It was so surreal, Nikolai not living with Jade. The Sanctum was pretty surreal even without the fact she was there to visit a friend living on his own. She went to walk closer to the starry Herald. "What's up?"
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Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 7:00 pm
Looking to where they were heading, Nikolai's the circut of stars around his head twinkled as they walked through the grass towards the Sanctum's ruins. The sun never seemed to stop shining in the day and the nights were so warm despite the cold winter of the normal world. It was more than paradise to little Nikolai, and that was better than he could have hoped for back with humans.
Bringing Guin around the wall he'd been sitting on before, she could see where he'd been nesting for the past few days once around it. Soft heather that Nikolai once picked for Guin filled a mossy bed with an impression of where the little Herald had been sleeping. By this time of day it was in the shade, so Nikolai brought Guin to a sunny spot a short distance from his little bed.
"I..." He blushed at the cracked and quiet sound of his disused voice. "I missed you, Guin." The blush deepened as he looked to the other Herald's face while his stars twinkled excitedly. Letting go of her hand, he went to take a seat in the warm grass and folded up his wings tightly despite the occasional embaressed twitch.
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Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 7:11 pm
Guinevere sat down next to him, looking around the comfortable home with no small amount of curiosity. It looked cosy, she decided, and another wave of relief swept over her. "I missed you too." she muttered, looking at the heather. A few moments passed in silence as she picked at the ground awkwardly. She wasn't good at dealing with people. The people she liked the most were kidnappers or abandoners. Finally, she lifted up the picnic basket. "I brought you some food in case you weren't eating well. Have you been finding enough to eat around here?" She rummaged around. "I brought... Juice boxes, sandwiches, fruit, and cookies. Just in case." Smiling sheepishly she put it between them. "I thought maybe we could have lunch while we caught up." she suggested.
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Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 7:21 pm
A small grumble came from Nikolai's stomach as if to answer for him. It was strange; it was like he didn't require food in the Sanctum nearly as much as he did in the Human world. But the long distance it took to fly to the lake for water or the forest for wild strawberries or the apple tree off in the field made for the perfect wings for flight. The smell of food-- especially the cookies-- however elicited a familiar hunger for a tasty mouthful of something home cooked.
"Th-thank you..." He whispered quietly, taking his sandwich and began to nibble on it while trying to hold his friend's gaze. If she was really going to stay with him, Nikolai would be overjoyed; it didn't occur to him that Guin only came to check up on him.
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Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:55 pm
Guinevere picked up her sandwich and nibbled at it too. "I didn't tell Jade or anybody about you." she said between bites. "And I won't." They needed to tie up some loose threads, and she paused, thinking about how to continue. "I'm sorry I chose not to stay with you, but I have to think about what's best for me, too." She looked at the ground, fidgeting. "I still want to study magic, even after all that happened. think I just have to be less mystical and more sensible about it. I don't want to hurt anyone." Tracing patterns in the heather, she spoke more. "The best place for me to learn is in the human world. Maybe when you and I are older, maybe then I might come to the Sanctum." She had thought long and hard about this, and she had had reservations, but she was sure what she was doing was right. "I'm not as independent as you. I still have some growing up to do before I can start to live on my own."
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Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 5:37 am
Eating quietly as he listened to this, Nikolai's happy expression had began to fade when he saw she would not actually stay with him. It was lonely here; even if he had peace of mind and all the serenity in the world it wouldn't make him feel less alone. Nodding, Nikolai eventually lifted his head with a faint smile of understanding-- he would ask too much of Guinevere to leave her life behind for his sake, or for the sake of his loneliness. "I'm not sure if-if I want to go back." He said hoarsely, and took a drink from the juice box she brought in hopes of soothing his broken voice. "But... I have to tell Mo--Jade what happened." His brow furrowed at the conclusion he'd come to. This would not be easy, and it was likely Jade would come to hate him for it. But at least then he could live in the Sanctum with no regrets. "Maybe it would be easier if she hates me...."
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Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:37 pm
Guinevere nodded. "She deserves to know." she said carefully. "I don't think she'll hate you." She didn't hate Aaron. After all the issues he had brought up, she still loved him like a father. She sipped a juicebox. "Whatever she thinks, I won't hate you." She didn't know what else to say. She had never been in a position like it and all the advice she could offer was that of an abandoned girl's. "And I can come back with food and to visit some days." She didn't look at him, embarrassed. "If that's okay with you, of course."
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Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 10:57 pm
Gaze falling away as color rose in his cheeks, Nikolai could only steal glances at her before he gathered up his courage. Leaning closer to her, the boy hesitantly invaded Guin's personal space to steal more than just a glance but a kiss on her cheek. What Nikolai would do without Guinevere's support he didn't know, but the Herald knew he wouldn't be nearly as strong without her. Bowing his head, the boy's hair couldn't hide the bright red blush and spasms of twinkling light from the stars around his head. He was more than a little embaressed, but he hoped she understood how much he appreciated her help through this whole ordeal.
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Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 4:40 pm
Guinevere blinked and looked at Nikolai, cheeks red with surprised embarrassment. "I'll take that as a yes, then." she said wryly. She sighed and leaned back, closing her eyes. "Everything's happening too quickly." she murmured, and she meant it. Everything in her life happened too quickly these days, when only a few days ago she would have found it interesting if Pucci coughed up a hairball. "Do things always happen this quickly around you, Nikolai?"
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Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 6:40 pm
The boy giggled at the question embaressedly and ducked his head as he looked to Guinevere with a smile. He didn't know what to say to Guinevere, but to see her happy and not angry with him for the action warmed his cheeks and left Nikolai feeling glad. Picking up his juice box again the boy's feathered wings fluffed as he sipped his drink quietly. "Guin?" Hesitant to say more, he looked to the grass in front of him. "Will you come back to see me if I have to stay here?" If Jade wouldn't forgive him then Nikolai wanted to be sure he would see one familiar face at least.
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