|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 1:56 pm
"The first thing I insist on is that you don't use white. I get that you think it's cute, and I get that you don't want to use blue when you use that for half your characters, but I really must insist."
The Butterfly glared at her.
"What? It's really so hard to be legible?" The woman with her smirked through her peacock-feathered mask, folding her arms over her chest. She looked sharp in her gray, pin-stripe suit, auburn hair in a tight dancer's bun. The Butterfly was jealous. It just didn't seem fair that the Horse could be flat-chested, wearing an unflattering color, and have such unattractive blue-gray eyes, yet still be so alluring. It couldn't be human.
The Butterfly turned to the side, and a full-length mirror appeared--
"Glad you're not ignoring me, girl," the Horse remarked with a raised eyebrow. "For a second there, I was afraid you were about to go on an internal comparative tirade."
The Butterfly glared at her again. She was so cute when she glared. It was like watching an angry kitten, or perhaps a lover.
"You know what? I really hate you sometimes. Why don't you go jump in a lake."
The Horse was tempted to purr, just to complete the effect of the tease. "Oh, but girl! Whatever would I do in a lake? I'm no fish to swim nor mermaiden to siren men, and lakes tend to dislike fire." A lick of flame swept up her arm, a small reminder of the Horse's preferred nature. "And if I go underwater and leave you here, you'll forget to play the music."
Oh. Right, the music... The Butterfly turned to her desk (which suddenly appeared, with her laptop on it) and waved the mouse around to break the screensaver. The site she wanted was playlist.com... "Yay for Google Chrome," she murmured. "It screws up the guilds and red-screens me with spam, but at least I don't have to type the whole d*mn address. ...There we go."
And there was rock. cool
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 2:17 pm
SOME TIME LATER...
"Okay," the Butterfly started with a frown, "so, there's music. Now what?" She looked up at the Horse in confusion.
The Horse paused, tilting her head and looking away at first, then giving the Butterfly the once-over. "Wings," she said, putting one hand on her hip and snapping the fingers of her other hand. Snapping her fingers included not just the typical thumb and middle finger, but also the pinky finger and ring finger, one right after another.
The Butterfly closed her eyes into a trance-like state, and monarch butterfly wings unfolded from her spine.
The Horse looked at her critically. "You do realize that those are constructed, right? That they're not from your real essence, just a symbol you cooked up to go with the name?"
The Butterfly opened her eyes and glared at her.
The Horse shook her head dismissively and continued, "No, really. The other wings are going to come back. The feather ones, the demon ones, and the strong ones, as well as the tail and the--"
"The--tentacle thing"?
The Horse nodded. "Yes, maybe. That one, the extra pair of arms--and the dragon will take you over. The demon and the dragon both, and the dragon will be whether you want it to or not. You do realize that, I hope? There will come a point where you're not so busy with 'real life' that you leave your guard up, and you will be taken by surprise someday. Maybe not when you meet Dragon, because I expect you'll be on your guard then--" A dark blue easy chair appeared, and the Horse took a seat in it, rocking back and forth gently. "--but it will happen. Do you understand?"
The Butterfly held her gaze, then turned away. "If it's going to happen," she said quietly, "then it's going to happen, and I won't guess about that. But I am getting stronger all the time, and--"
"You are not." The Horse's gaze sharpened. "You are stronger, but that is due to effort and work, to fighting me, and you are not nearly strong enough to stop the inevitable. No one can control their own nature, and you are not the exception to this rule. Someday, it will simple catch you up and devour you--with your facades, perhaps not even recognizing you as yourself. It will happen, girl. Do you--"
"No!" The Butterfly spun around in her own chair, glaring fiercely. "No, I DON'T understand! Why can't I choose? Why can't I choose just one part of the course and go that route? Alone!?"
The Horse shook her head. "It's not--"
"No, you listen to me!" the Buttefly shouted, standing up to be over the Horse. "This is my life, my destiny, and I will choose it myself! That's what destiny is, isn't it? The one you choose yourself. Not the same thing as fate. This isn't fate, ...you. This is destiny." She jabbed a finger at herself. "My choice. Not inevitable. I will control this." She swallowed, stepping back with a proud tilt of her chin and a hint of tears in her eyes, obviously fighting some strong emotion. "This is my power, my magic, my life," she stated tremulously. "I will control it. Nothing is going to control me."
The Horse just breathed out and shook her head slowly. "Then it will not control you. But it will swallow you whole."
The Butterfly blinked, corners of her mouth twitching downward, and tears fell. "Fine," she barked. "Then you can just get out."
So the Horse did, vanishing into the air and leaving the Butterfly all alone in Everywhere and Nowhere.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 8:21 am
-Later-
Butterfly sighed and turned to the Horse. "Don't you just hate it when everyone you love to watch rp stops for a time, and at the same time you have too much of a headache to work on your own writing and rps?"
Horse looked at her blankly. "I don't rp, girl. Don't you just hate it when someone asks you a completely non-applicable question just to avoid thinking about and doing the things that actually need to get done."
Butterfly opened her mouth to reply, then stopped. In fact, she did hate it when people did that. "Yes."
The Horse nodded and went back to whatever it is she does when not being bothered by an incessant little girl.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 11:21 pm
A short redhead appeared in the room that was nowhere but everywhere and partially somewhere, but not quite anywhere. She blinked a few times, then began turning around in slow circles while rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet, a series of actions that made her resemble a bobble-head toy. By the time she'd finished inspecting she took a seat on the ground, folding her legs up in indian style and waited for anyone else to show up.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 9:08 pm
Butterfly stood in front of her, head tilted, with no mechanism of appearance whatsoever. "...Hello. And who are you? Are you... Pan, by chance?"
Butterfly wore her usual brown dress and stockings, though the orange embroidery was mysteriously absent. On her face was the orange and black sequined mask, hiding her features in case this was someone who would know her pawn.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 5:14 pm
The redhead gave a slight smile. "Nah, just Ruby. Pan an' Roxy are still kinda shy. I can drag 'em both in if you'd be likin' though. Helps to have a decent 'mount of influence."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 6:36 pm
Butterfly blinked and her eyes widened in surprise. "Eh... foggy in here. I should have recognized you, sorry." She was particularly glad she'd kept the mask on, now. Ruby looked different in person than she'd expected!
She sat down across from the other woman, legs folded to one side and skirt tucked under loosely. "So what brings you here, Ruby? St. Claire, right? And... who is Roxy?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 11:17 pm
"No worries, sugar, happens all the time." Ruby's head bobbed a few more times as if in rhythm with some silent music. "I was bored an' thought it'd be fun to come visit somewhere new, an' when the opportunity came, I took it faster'n the others. I don't get out much these days. An' it's Lannen now, actually."
Ruby let out a soft chuckle, a hint of malice in at the edges. "Roxy is one of the new gals, an' she hates the name Roxy, though I think it's kinda cute myself. She prefers goin' strictly by Roxanna .Her Granddaddy used to call her Ksana, or Ksanushka. An' sometimes she lets a few folks call her Anna. But she really prickles when you call her Roxy."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 10:53 pm
Butterfly grinned with a mischievous humor. "Then I'll make sure to call her the entirely wrong thing, if ever I see her. Have you ever seen that musical, Chicago..?"
She shook her head. "An interesting way you have, finding these hidden places. I wonder if it's not that others wouldn't take the chance, but that they'd find it difficult to arrive. So, you took his name?" She leaned back, and suddenly they were sitting in a cushion-filled pagoda. "That's getting less common these days. I kept my own name, when I got married."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:09 am
Ruby's grin tightened, "Sugar, why do you think I call her Roxy? Irresistible, considerin' the murder investigation."
"Dunno, that or they're busy. Ora's always busy. Though I do have a habit of slippin' into places I shouldn't, an' outa places I'm sposed to be stickin' with." Ruby tilted her head sending her curls bouncing as the area transformed. "I spose it's gettin' less common. But you gotta remember, despite his love for modernism, Arch's still a real old an' traditional fella. It'd probably hurt him some if'n I hadn't taken the name."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:32 am
Butterfly giggled. "Awesome. I love that play."
She nodded as Ruby continued. "That makes sense. An' that is a consideration. I would have changed mine, too, if it mattered to him, but it didn't and it was easier not to do the paperwork." She giggled again and hid a grin behind her hand. "But you know, I've been wondering--is Lannen even a surname? I mean, I have some vague idea what Arch is and where he comes from... I'm surprised the tradition even carries over."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 4:17 pm
"Aye, paperwork is never fun." Ruby gave a slight shrug of her shoulders. "I can't recall whether I asked his folks if they shared the last name or not, but if he wasn't born with it, Arch's been usin' it so long that he might as well have been. As for where he comes from, he ain't exactly really a heave/angel being. They call 'emselves angels an' they call their place of livin' heaven, but it's different than what you'd think, an' more tied in with Juridan than earth."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 4:45 pm
Butterfly got a weird look on her face as Ruby mentioned his parents, and it was only half hidden under the mask. "Auh... yeah, I knew that much. By 'vague,' I meant that my source of information wasn't entirely reliable. So, how are his parents? Do they, uh... approve?"
A cherry lemonade appeared in her hand, and Butterfly suddenly realized how inhospitable she was being and sat up. "Oh! I'm so sorry--It's been so long since there were guests here, I've completely forgotten my manners. Would you like something to drink? Or eat, perhaps?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 5:01 pm
Ruby tilted her head. "Oh, well I wouldn't exactly call myself much of a reliable source of information either. I get confused more'n not, when he's tryin' to explain it to me."
"His parents are.... interestin'. Though I dunno if they approve exactly, they're happy he's happy, an' I don't think they would've wished him on any of the gals in heaven. They consider him somethin' of a wild one, which he kinda is. They're the kind of folks that'll be happy to send cards and well-wishes, but ain't likely to visit...an' if they do, they'll be more'n happy to leave."
Ruby chuckled, "Strawberry anythin' would keep me chipper as a squirrel."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 7:27 pm
Butterfly grinned and replied, "You're tempting me to give you a daiquiri. What's your preference--alcohol, shake, icey, pop, pink lemonade, or straight fruit juice? Give me too many choices here, and I'll fret that you would have liked something else, you know. Anything you want."
She sipped on her own a moment before the conversation continued. "I'd assume his wife would know better than the one I was speaking to. Which reality I'm in shifts, and you're more likely to have the current version of it.
"Ahh, parents-in-law..." She shook her head. "I'm scheduled to meet the mother-in-law in... about a week and a half. It's awkward, because he met mine before we married, and they've visited since and like him, but I'm on the edge of my seat meeting his. I'm... not sure what we'll think of each other. Kinda scary."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
