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 Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2011 8:00 pm
 There was light chatter all about. Socializing, laughter, happiness. It surrounded the entirety of the small courtyard. Student's were clumped in their groups of friends, others were walking down to their next destination, with a pal or two on either side. Some were practicing their magic recently learned, studying in groups, or playing a game of catch. All your typical adolescent behavior, it was all present and accounted for. There were even the students who kept to themselves, tucked in corners, and more clear area's so as not to be in the way. Usually Athir would be apart of that group. But currently, the boy was walking from class that had just let out. He was passing by the courtyard, and gave a longing look to a particular spot that he'd often take refuge at. It was a small corner, with a bench and a tree right beside it. It was sort of isolated, and away from the rest of the area, which was great for reading, and studying. Speaking of which... in his arms was a decent stack of literature. All of it was from the library, all which had been thoroughly read. Some even more than once! But they weren't the school's. They belonged to, the recently discovered, town library. It'd mean a trip away from the safety and comfort of the school. His soft features held a slight tinge of nervousness, but... it was just a quick run there and back. No problem..! The golden long hair laid neat and smooth over his back and shoulders, gray eyes trained to the ground as he walked along the cream cobblestone. He passed many of his peers but none who greeted him. This was the norm, and just something that didn't bother him... consciously.
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Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 12:20 am
 She wasn't one hundred percent sure what had brought her back to Makai Royal again. There was no mission here. No person expecting to see her. Yet the Mononoke Reaper found her feet lightly traversing along the campus grounds. So...why was she here again? It was a question that had been swirling around Shaden's mind since she entered the school grounds itself. Just what did she expect to find in this place?
Like the feline she could shift into, Shaden had scaled up a tree to sit up in the branches. Up there, she hid among the the leaves of the upper branches and quietly watched the activity around the school, one hand reaching up to lightly tease the dagger necklace she wore - her scythe's de-summoned form. Nothing much had changed, she noted. Still the same old walls. Same scents, though there were plenty of new ones as well. What, with all the new students and magic that came into the school. This was in no way a surprise. And she found herself relaxing back against the the trunk of the tree, eyes closing to slits as she inhaled the scents she picked up. Earth, cinnamon, vanilla, spices, water. So many different scents in many different combinations. She separated them all into their own sections of her mind, memorizing them.
Waitaminute. Her ears perked forward. One scent stuck out to her. Cyan eyes flashing open, the Reaper looked around. Where was it coming from....there!
Jumping down from the tree with the grace of a feline, Shaden trailed after the teen. He seemed to have his arms full of books. Like when she first met him. He'd had a book then too. So he loved to read, if the stack of books in his arms was any indication. Though he seemed to have a fascination with the ground as well. Shaden felt her tail swish behind her, eyes barely giving the others that passed her anything more than a brief glance. They weren't of any interest to her.
Smiling, Shaden moved up along next to the boy, walking with him. "Y'know, watching the ground while walking can be dangerous. Never know who you might run into." She said lightly, giving Athir a smile. "How are you doing, kid? She leaned forward a little to peer at the titles on the books he was carrying. "What have you been reading this time?"
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 8:13 pm
The further down the stone path he went, the more dense the crowd turned. It became difficult to maneuver around, especially with a huge pile of books weighing down Athir's front. His fingers were curled tightly, tips white now from the pressure of the stack, doing his best to get around with the added poundage. But he seemed to manage alright, just managing to miss bumping into others by a hair. Unfortunately... the reaper's unknowing arrival gave quite a shock to the intently focused boy, making him gasp, and lose his sense of balance when she spoke up. He'd turned his head to look towards her, but this in turn made him no longer able to gauge distances between those ahead of him... causing him to crash right into another student's back. The large pile of books went tumbling to the ground in a heap, Athir tripping right after them. Thankfully... or... coincidentally, the student who'd been involved in the accident ahead of him buffered the fall. There were plenty around who started to laugh at the spectacle, giggling girls hurrying past, fella's jovially hollering. The blonde boy quickly started to collect himself, face bright red, apologies being issued constantly to the boy he'd fallen onto, who was now shooting a fierce glare back... Offering to assist the other up, Athir's hand was slapped away, and the opposing boy went storming off... clearly embarrassed as well. Slowly, Athir looked to Shaden, forcing a small smile so as to be polite, "Oh.. Ms. Shaden... I haven't seen you in sometime.." bending down, pale hands began scooping up book after book, checking each to make sure they hadn't been damaged in the collision. Placing them back into an arm, and against his chest, he pushed back some of his long hair that was threatening to hinder his vision, eyes trained on the literature that he recovered, "It's just mostly history. For class, and such. As well as... some fiction..." his voice trailed slightly, that embarrassment only racking onto what already had formed. There were plenty of romance books... but they had been hidden in the center of the pile.. now exposed in their scattered state. "What brings you here on such a day, if I may ask." those gray eyes spared a peek up to the reaper, wanting to avert the attention to himself that he'd drawn.
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Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2011 10:34 pm
Shaden winced and moved to try and grab the boy before he went down but her shock at having caught him so off guard had delayed her reaction time by just enough. She wasn't quick enough to grab him before he bounced off the unfortunate boy in front of him. Athir, thankfully, wasn't hurt. Yet, if the look from the other boy was anything to go by. The books were splayed all around the ground between him and the boy he'd run into. And the Reaper felt absolutely responsible for this. It made her feel terrible at having surprised him.
And then there was laughing. Though none of it lasted very long the minute anyone met the Reaper's gaze. Ears pinned back her fierce cyan eyes traveled slowly around those who were foolish enough to stick around and just watch instead of offering the blonde any assistance. Well, she was glad to see things hadn't changed very much among the younger crowd.
Turning towards the boy Athir had run into, Shaden returned his fierce glare with an icy one of her own, daring him to try something. A very small smile tugged at her lips when the boy went storming off, tail flicking in mild amusement.
However the look she turned towards the boy was nothing but kind. And apologetic. She crouched down and snatched a several of the books before he could, so his burden wouldn't be quite so heavy. "No, 'fraid you haven't. Been away in Clarus Arbor." She answered, shooting Athir a lazy smile. "Reaper business." Of course she happened to grab a couple of those romance books, glancing at the titles as he was saying something about 'history' and 'class' as well as 'fiction'. Now she was grinning slyly at him. "Good choices." She murmured, tilting her stack slightly so she could read the other titles. Shaden didn't care what he liked to read. There was nothing wrong with a good romance book! She had several in her own collection of books back at her apartment.
Shaden didn't answer him right away, waiting for the boy to get his feet about him (and not yielding the books she held) before shrugging a shoulder. "Honestly, I have no idea why I came to the campus today. I just sort of...wandered here." Although with the way her feline half seemed to purr in pleasure at knowing the blonde boy was alright, maybe she'd come hoping to see how he was doing? Not that she was admitting to this.
'So...." She drawled, giving him a lopsided grin. "Where are we going today? I'm guessing a library, judging by all the books."
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Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 8:55 am
He'd gathered up as many books as he could, surprised and slightly anxious when Shaden began to assist. But it was rude to turn down help... Clutching his bundle to his chest, Athir stood carefully, shifting his arms and hands to arrange the literature into a more comfortable position... as best as he could. His gaze flickered over to Shaden's share, flushing considerably as he saw his romance novels in her possession. He tried his best to seem unfazed, looking down to his own pile instead to avert any chance of a gaze. "Did it go well then?" he asked softly, "I hope you weren't harmed." he'd heard of a reapers work... it was all things he couldn't imagine his own self doing. He wasn't really the fighting type. More so a lover than a fighter, if you will. Besides, he wasn't all that strong... Being tall and slim didn't do much good in the battling department. However... his blush brightened more as his romantic literature was pointed out, giving a very bashful expression than what was already made. Hugging his current books tighter, he murmured a tiny 'thank you', and peeked around the ground a few times to make sure no bookmarks, or pages had fluttered out during the collision.
With her answer given, he nodded slowly in understanding, "Well.. it is nice to see you again." he replied, eyes lifting to meet hers with a sincerely warm look. Perhaps she came to visit some of her old teachers, or maybe younger students that she'd once went to school with but hadn't graduated just yet. Either way, her presence was very much welcomed. She'd always been kind towards Athir, and he found himself comfortable around her the more they met. In truth, he admired her. The strength that she exuded, and the confidence that she held.
A look of surprise contorted on his features at her question, brightening slightly after a short period of time, "Oh, yes. These are the library's in town. I was on my way to drop them off." he paused, tipping his head curiously, "Are you sure there isn't anything you are needing to attend to? I wouldn't want to take you away from anything you had planned."
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Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 5:48 pm
He really was adorable. Shaden couldn't help the smile that spread at his bashfulness over the romance novels. So what if he liked to read them? There was nothing wrong with that! Hell, she didn't blame him. The Reaper herself had a few romance books she tended to read over and over again. Probably enough times to warrant searching for less beat up and dog eared editions. And she couldn't be blamed for taking each book in her pile in turn and flipping open a few pages to get an idea for what the storyline was about. Might be something of interest to her, after all!
"It went as well as it could." She said absently, eyes on the book in her hand. Her ears were perked forward, twitching as she listened for people walking in her path. They best move unless they wanted to be run over! "Harmed?" Shaden glanced over at Athir, a quirky grin spreading. "I can promise that my opponent looked worse." She said teasingly before shrugging a shoulder. "Just a few scratches here and there. Nothing serious or unusual. Thanks for asking."
That soft smile replaced the quirky and teasing one. "I agree. It's nice to see you again too." Especially whole and in one piece. Shaden still regretted the abrupt disappearance after that ball. But she'd been called back and had to report in. Then sent out again. Geez. No wonder she found herself wandering here. The Reaper had been worried about the kid.
"How have you been, dear?" She asked curiously. "Classes and all that going well?"
A laugh escaped and she gently bumped his shoulder. "Nope! I got nothing going on today or tomorrow and the day after, if I'm lucky. So I'm afraid you are stuck with me for the day." She paused, and gave him a look. "Unless...you don't want an older lady hangin' around you?" Her lips twitched, a sign she was teasing the poor boy again.
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Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 8:29 pm
There was clear relief in the boy's features, and posture. His shoulder's weren't so bunched and raised towards his ears as Shaden revealed that the job had gone on without any major concerns. The last thing he wanted was to burden her with his literature if she were injured from such a fight! Oh! But what if she were tired! His eyes flickered up to meet hers, as if trying to see if sleep and rest had been on her agenda for the recent days. She looked quite well. In good health and all... Certainly he didn't want to insult her. So he kept his mouth shut, and gave a simple nod in approval, "I'm glad to hear that." his soft voice uttered. It was hard to even really believe that someone could even damage the reaper. She seemed like the type to know her opponents move before they did!
With his gathered portion of books neatly resting against his chest, he made a few moves to get out of the way of passing by students, most giving a berth to the pair chatting, after witnessing the early episode. His eyes lifted to meet her bright cyan ones, smiling sweetly at her kind questioning, " I've been quite well, thank you. My studies have been keeping me quite busy and entertained." Now that he had a main focus in the magic department, healing, it was becoming easier to figure out how to pursue the future that was slowly starting to come into form in his mind. But she wouldn't want to hear him rambling about that..! Such a silly thought. He smiled a bit more bashfully now, eyes lowering somewhat to veer to the side so as to lessen his enthusiasm, and let his train of thought trail.
Moving out of the way of mainstream traffic, he headed towards a less crowded area along the side of the path, so as not to be an obstacle to overcome. He perked up a little as he felt that playful nudge, flushing lightly at her added words for tease. Laughing softly, he shook his head in reassurance, "I would love to have your company, Shaden." he replied sweetly. He glanced back into the line of students, and waited for an opportune moment to slide into the 'vein', peeking back to make sure Shaden was following, "How long do you get to be off of work?" he asked curiously. Perhaps it was like having a mini-vacation; off for a little while, and then back to work! Like school!
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 6:10 pm
Her smile turned into something warm yet strange. Shaden couldn't help but wonder, especially after the way Athir seemed to worry about her well being, how he would react if she informed him that he was the reason she'd wandered this way. Would that adorable flush color his skin again? Poor kid. Hadn't he told her before that he didn't have many friends? Clearly, she needed to visit more often then.
"You're going to spoil me rotten with how sweet you are." She murmured, tail lazily swinging as she walked. It mildly amused her that he seemed to move out of the way of people instead of making them move. Huh. Guess that was just part of who she was. Not one to back down easily. Well that and she just didn't feel like taking those few extra steps to avoid someone.
Shaden gave him an intrigued look. "Oh are they? And what, may I ask, is it that you are studying?" The Reaper grinned. "I seem to remember enjoying some of my studies...but only some." She winked mischievously at Athir.
"In fact, I think anything mathematical was my least favorite. Or well..." She paused in that thought, rewording things. "I enjoyed working with the numbers, just not the lecture." Surprisingly, she had been a good student. Did her homework. Studied. Got good grades. She just never liked the long drawn out lectures very much. It was the actual work the Mononoke had enjoyed the most. Testing out what your Professor's had taught you yourself.
Quite innocently, and very subtly, Shaden slowed her pace just enough to switch sides with Athir. He may or may not have been able to figure out way. It was clear he was trying not to give anyone a reason to run into him. So she put herself in the first line of fire, so to speak. Shaden had no problems with elbowing some idiot that didn't move out of the way. What? She was pleading innocence! Oh and look at all the students that could possibly get in the way...
Her gaze drifted back over to the boy's. "Excellent!" She chirped. "Guess you're stuck with me for the day, darlin'." Oh now that was an interesting question. She pondered the best answer to give him there. "Well, technically speaking, I'm always 'on duty'." Shaden gave him a small smile, though it wasn't quite so playful. "But we do get small breaks from being the first selected for missions occasionally. Especially the small things. Like the job I just had back in Clarus Arbor. Minor rumor that needed to be checked out and dealt with. However for the larger stuff, we all get called in. Like the occurrence in Lumena." The last was said softly. She disliked the town. And had not been happy with what they discovered - the fallen Reaper that became a monster. But she had gotten to meet Athir there. The first good thing to come out of that town in a long time for her.
"Hmm...so how long do I get to keep your company today? Y'know, without having to resort to following you home and bothering you there." There was that devilish look again.
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Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 10:14 am
As they made their way along the outdoor hallway, a door was soon before them. Opening it, and moving aside for Shaden to enter first, he followed her in behind, "Oh well, I've been studying medicine, and healing.." he replied shyly, soft eyes lowering to the ground in a bashful gesture. It was silly, really. Nothing grandious or amazing like what a Reaper does, or an Ars Lilium. It was a modest and minor interest. He even felt a bit embarrassed in telling her. But he just wasn't the fighting type. Didn't have the spirit for it.
Inside the school, the hallways were just as crowded, but easier to get around in due to their larger width. Walking along with more ease now, he could give fuller attention to the mononoke, smiling, and nodding along. "It's ok, Shaden. I'm not very good at mathematics either." He wasn't bad, but he wasn't about to tell her that. It wouldn't be polite! Then again, his standard's for himself were probably higher than they needed to be. So in his eyes, he indeed wasn't that good at them. Turning a corner of the hall he reached his locker, to which he opened, and placed in a few of his school books that would be needed for tomorrow's lesson's, but not at the current moment. Closing it, he waited to enter the line of moving bodies once more, unaware of Shaden's courteous protection.
It was hard to contain the giddy feeling bubbling inside Athir from Shaden's excitement, and compliance. It was so nice to have someone to talk to, and hang out with! And she seemed eager to join him for the day too! It was hard to believe, but he wasn't complaining! Chuckling softly, he hugged his remaining books happily, "Thank you for spending the day with me, Shaden~" he murmured bashfully.
Heading for the main entrance of the school, so as to head for the library, his interest was piqued at her response. Always on duty? Looking up to her with his curious expression, his eyes widened a little. Wow... so she was busy year round.. that must be taxing on her in so many ways! A slight look of sympathy took to his features, even more so at the mentioning of the ball... It'd been the most terrifying day of his life. Letting his gaze return to the ground, as usual, a subtle nod was given, "You're so amazing, Shaden.." he murmured in a tone of awe.
Leaving the front doors, his eyes lifted briefly to glance at the traffic on the walkway before him. Plenty of students were in their groups of friends, chatting away, planning places to hang out and play games or study.. something he'd always been envious of. But he looked up to Shaden once more, smile brightening on his gentle face, "For as long as you'd like. I've no other duties to get to urgently." if anything, he'd just be at home studying all night...
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Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 8:48 pm
"Medicine and healing?" She glanced at the boy, features soft. "I think that's a great thing to study. And I bet you'll be a fantastic healer one day." Shaden grinned, lightly bumping her arm to Athir's. "Ha! In fact I bet I'll be coming to you for expert care when in need of a healer!" Clearly, she found nothing wrong with pursuing medicine and healing nor did she think it was anything to be embarrassed about.
"I'll share a little secret with you." The Reaper said, lowering her voice and leaning towards him. "Follow what your heart tells you. Because that is where you will be strongest." She winked before straightening and shifting the books she carried slightly.
Shaden watched everything. The other students milling about. How they looked surprised to see her or the way they traveled in small little packs with no regard for anyone in their way. Then there was the school halls itself. Old and the same as she remembered. Just like the crowd of students moving from one lesson to another. Those brave enough to brush by her got neutral looks and those who felt making eye contact was safe learned their lesson as cyan eyes returned their gazes with something befitting a Reaper. Dangerous and cold and not going to put up with kiddies trying to act tough.
"Bah! I bet you are just fine at mathematics. Don't even try to argue it!" She laughed, following him to his locker and leaning sideways against the others while he stored some of his books in it. "Can't be too hard on yourself, kid. You'll never have any fun." As soon as the locker was closed up and they were entering to flow of traffic - she may have shouldered one or two people out of the way - she placed herself right back in ther 'protective' position.
Hearing his bashful thanks, the Reaper felt a warm, tingly and constricting feeling. Did he truly not have any friends to hang with? She snorted softly. Well, that was changing! He had her now. There was no denying she felt attached to the boy. He was starting to almost seem like a little brother in her eyes. She smiled, a very warm and caring sort of thing. "You are more than welcome. But I should be thanking you for wanting to hang with an older woman like me~" Alright, alright, so she wasn't that old. Just...older than Athir. If he watched her carefully as they approached the main entrance, he probably could have picked up on the slight shift in her features. The straightening of her back. Ears perking forward in a more alert manner. Even her stride seemed to become slightly more fluid. An almost unconscious gesture on her part. It was just natural to her to be on 'standby' when moving from one location to another.
Of course the shift was quick and was replaced almost immediately as she shot Athir a faintly surprised look. "I'm amazing?" She blinked and possibly had a very faint bit of red coloring her cheeks. No one ever called her amazing. She was quiet for a minute before responding in a fond voice. "I think you are a truly fantastic and sweet boy." She paused. "And don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
The Reaper grinned and nodded, eyes flashing quickly around them. A habit as well. "Right, then lets get these books returned for you and then figure out what to do from there. Though I may have an idea~" She added with a teasing look but no other explanation. "However, books first! So lead the way, darling!"
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