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Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 8:56 am
(( Happens closely after the four clans event ))
It had come as a shock to hear that her Gran came down with a sickness that her family had fretted enough about to send her word while on War Isle. Levi spent the past week or so right after the last War class back home, helping her Ma with things and spending as much time with her adored elder as much as possible. She had left her place in West's hammock that very night thinking she might never see her Gran again, but things had turned out rather well to the tatzel ghoul's relief. The reminder of her loved ones back home coupled with the skills and events learned on the isles had yielded an ease out of her discomforts from the Death trial. Aside from her worrying about her Gran, Levi had nothing to fret over...
...or one more thing, perhaps.
That night, when she left, Levi had hoped he'd understand. Surely West had some kin he would want to help during times of tension, right? Maybe. Levi honestly didn't know that much about his family life. The thought of anything besides caring for ones kin was near unimaginable. Just one of the things she thought of on her way to the boil's room- the normal way for once.
Walking through the halls of demon dorm, Levi came to the familiar door and knocked in a rhythm. The thought of apologizing just would not compute no matter what she believed about her own disappearing act being somewhat rude on her part. There was no part of her that would allow an I'm sorry to pass through her lips for him right now. Nope. None at all. Maybe just a small one.
Her tail curled within itself as the minutes passed without a response. West ya'in? It seemed not; Levi even made her way over to his window and peered in to make sure he wasn't fooling with her. This first check up on the wrath demon was followed by others as the days passed. Was he alright? He was a strong boil so surely he could survive any training he might have gone through at the isle while she was gone, right? The ghoul considered jumping through the woods if this last attempt didn't result in seeing West at the door. He hadn't come by her dorm as far as she could tell and the woods was the only other place she could think he'd be in besides the fitness room and gyms; she'd already checked those.
Knocking this one last time, Levi glanced around to see if there were any spectators trying to figure out this recent ritual of hers in demon dorm. A glare would come their way if they questioned why she was there knocking every day without a response.
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 12:00 pm
When West had stumbled back onto Halloween soil more than a week ago, his mind had churned with uncertainty and a kind of terror he had never felt before. He thought he had experienced fear in the face of Red's blue fire, but this feeling ran deeper, an ever-present, sourceless paranoia that left him shivering and whimpering like a scareling. West had retreated to Telefsen's barren apartment a few hours after emerging from the portal, unsure if he'd ever be the same again, but five days ago he had awakened feeling more like himself, and last night he had finally felt restless enough to return to campus. His uncle's taunting had definitely pushed him toward that line of action, but he liked to think he would have been ready anyway. He had never thought to consider how many times he could stand being called a pansy piss-stained puggle ********, but the past week had certainly tested that limit. The fact that he could see concern in his uncle's eyes had been the only thing that kept him from socking the older demon in the jaw.
No one knew he was back at school, at least he didn't think anyone did, which was why he nearly jumped a foot when he heard a knock at his door. That was the only reason. He wasn't still afraid of his shadow or anything. West frowned as he stomped his way to the door, the carpeting muffling his momentary pout. He peeked through the peephole, his lips unconsciously turning up at their corners when he saw who it was. He hadn't seen her since they had been together on the Isle of War, that night before the portals had closed and everything had gone to hell. While he had been sick, thinking of her had been almost physically painful, but now that his brain was no longer cringing and whining all West wanted to do was see her again. And here she was.
"Where'd y'go?" he growled, pulling open the door as he spoke and glaring at her, the small smirk he still wore making his mixed expression a fitting mirror of his garbled thoughts. "I'm gonna hafta get a leash fer you, I swear." This seemed to spark something, and the boil appeared to have a minor epiphany as he turned and hurried back into his room. "Wait," he muttered, but he was back at the door, jacket in hand, only a moment later. "Got somethin' better'n a leash in mind," he said as he locked his door.
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 2:59 pm
Where'd I go? Where'd yew go? Her concern was met with a questioning in such a tone... West had a gift for raising Levi's adrenaline as well as agitation. Could ask ya'll tha same thi- Leash? A leash? Stunned momentarily, the tatzel ghoul wore a smirk of her own, prepared to counter. Don't be swearin' nothin' ya'll have'a hoot's chance in doin', West. Levi watched his changing expression, clearly noting that he was in thought about the matter.
She was about ready to sock him in the jaw if he suggested she where a leash right now. Opening her mouth to say something before she acted on these urges, West returned from the depth of his room back to the door and out of it, locking behind him.
Something besides a leash? The ghoul hadn't the faintest of ideas of what he meant. If yer talkin' 'bout some sorta cage contraption, by Jack, I'll be sending' ya off ta meet them mold mallows. Levi's experience with dissipation was far more comical than West's. Keeping up, Levi tried to read his face; no luck. Whatever he was thinking, she just couldn't get an idea of it through his expression. Aye, where're we goin'?
Ain'cha gonna tell me where ya'been? Avoiding telling him she came there everyday to see him? Why yes, she was. Knowing he would retaliate with his own inquiry again, the ghoul continued. ... ma'Gran was sick. They dun told me ta'come on back 'case those were her last days. She's gainin' back fit as'a fiddle though. Levi kept her eyes forward while speaking, waiting to see where West was taking her that suddenly became so important. Reckon she'll be 'round fer a time longer.
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 5:46 pm
He strode down the hall toward the dorm's exit, keeping his back to her to try hiding the delight he had gleaned from her brief burst of anger. His secretive act didn't work for long. West turned rather abruptly several seconds later when she mentioned cages, unable to keep his reaction in check. It was the first genuine guffaw he'd had in weeks, but he fought to continue their conversation through it, the next few words he uttered accompanied by an embarrassed assortment of ho-ho-hos, almost as if he had been possessed by Awkward Teenage Sandy Claws.
"No, I'm not... no cages. Leashes neither. It's a... uh... metterfor." He continued outside, pausing to face her again once she was near. "I was at my uncle's," he replied once the laughter had stopped. "I was... not okay. Things... Look..." He lifted his arm a bit as if he meant to take hers, but the limb had barely moved away from his side before he dropped it again and slid both hands behind his back. He lowered his voice, glancing around as if he suspected someone was eavesdropping in the trees. "Things got bad on th'islands after y'went away. Dun get upset when y'hear... stuff." Like he could stop her from getting upset. The ghoul would do what she wanted no matter what he said, but that didn't mean he couldn't secretly wish to shield her from what she would soon find out, even if it wouldn't do much good. "'M, uh, glad yer Gran's all right though. An' you too." His gaze flicked from her face to the ground, then he nodded sharply before he hurried off again.
"We're goin' t'th'eyePhone store, c'mon!" What that had to do with leashes was temporarily left a mystery.
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 4:25 pm
West's arm movement caused an automatic reaction. It was not what he wanted by his means, but something she did with the exact same intent. Her white tail came up and curved readily to coil with his. It lowered when the ghoul realized they were in a rather public place and eyes could be watching them right now. Could she just make them forget what they saw? Possibly. Did she want to do it right now? No. Right now West was taking her somewhere and she was too interested in this to feud with anyone else right at the moment.
Following onward, Levi's expression went serious when West avoided telling her the happenings himself. Why didn't he go on? Concern that she couldn't take it? How bad could it have possibly been? Last she recalled, they were training mounts and making weaponry- sounded like a fun time. What'happened?
The idea of her Gran and West being in the same space caused her to chill involuntarily. There was something pleasant about her Gran meeting him that made the ghoul tatzel want to chuckle. Instead the chill was followed by a grin and the tilting of her head in waiting for West's summary of what she had missed. We're 'a sturdy folk. But dun tell me them humans showed up 're nothin'! From past experiences, it was a guess that she said jokingly since they had always managed to appear on trips. Now Levi laughed; the idea was absurd as far as she knew. Hunters making it to the Isles of the Clans? They wouldn't stand a chance against Eris' and Invictus' kin. There was just so much there; the FEAR there had extraordinary power. She had felt it in that room back on Conquest Isle. The horseman; she wanted to learn so much more from them. It was a bit of a shame she had to leave early but it had also been unavoidable.
Eyephone? Yew gettin' a new one? Did'ja break it on tha'isle 're somethin'? Oh city folk; if that was what made West think the trip had been bad well~
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Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 12:42 pm
Wait... The sensation of something brushing against his tail, something warm and fuzzy and surprisingly strong, was oddly familiar. The boil turned to glance behind him, quickly facing forward again when he saw a flash of white out of the corner of his eye. Her tail. He had seen her coil the thing with Xiu's in a sort of greeting, but if she had been aiming to greet him that way, she had ample opportunity back in the hall. So why now? West wanted to ask, but here wasn't the place. It made him squirm inside to admit it, but he still had quite a bit to learn about the tatzel, and the only way he was ever going to do so was if he... acted like a real boilfriend. Maybe he could start small or something. A game of Truth or Dare with more...
He stopped short and turned a sharp look at Levi in response to her prediction. His eyes narrowed, upper lip twitching in a momentary snarl. "They did," he replied before he could think to try softening his words. "The shits came through a hole jus' like ours. Ran away like pansies through one too. Well, kinda. But that's'not th'bad part." He looked at her again, a detached sort of confusion in his eyes. When he spoke, his voice was low, an angry, grating whisper. "The islands... we were near th'portals when it'appened. They kinda... fell in on'emselves. I dunno fer sure that Hunters did it, but I dunno who else would. An' when th'Horsemen're back on their feet, those humans're gonna pay." He didn't mention the Insanity. Despite his minor slipup previously, the way the phoenix had affected him was something he wanted to keep to himself for as long as possible, which was likely to only be another five minutes at the rate he was sharing. "I dunno when that'll be though. Most of 'em... they're gone." West secretly mourned the chance to go back, to visit the isles the way they had been. There was so much he didn't know about the world outside of Halloween, and now a very large part of that world had been obliterated. He also kind of missed Arnie, but he definitely wasn't bringing that up.
The boil slipped his hand into his jacket and retrieved his phone, twiddling it in his fingers for a moment before checking to see if he had any messages (he didn't) and dropping it back into his pocket. Through everything that had happened, the hunk of plastic had somehow stayed with him. "Nope, got mine. I mean t'get one fer you."
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Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 4:05 pm
She stopped. What? He had to be messing with her mind. There was misplaced anger all over her expression at first but as her thoughts drifted onto the more personal/individual aspects of this information, her eyes glazed over and lacked a spark. Was there nowhere they could go anymore? Would the hunters so easily be able to destroy her own kin one day? The faces of the instructors on Conquest Isle as well as War were clearly visible to her. Never had this country ghoul from the farms seen or known this much dissipation and destruction. Life had been so much simpler on the mountain. You lived a life of farming and herding. You mated and had scrapings to raise right and keep the family trades alive. Alive. Few died at the same time. Ever. This mass genocide of a whole people wasn't computable. Levi wished she had been there. Would her presence have meant something at all? If Invictus and the heirs were there, there was no chance her FEAR would have made a difference. Invictus' kin... His experience was her nightmare. What hope was left? The tatzel couldn't find words to bring a brighter side to this fact; the horsemen couldn't fight the humans. What could she as a student have left to hope for? There was no fight that would bring back the land that was lost, was there? Her own town meant so much to her and to have it gone- Tch-! Shutting her eyes tight and gritting her teeth in remembrance of her dreams (the fire burning her crops), her ears lowered and the shrieking pain inside was enough to make her curl down on the ground right now. A sound of loss and despair that couldn't be mended internally. Hands covering her ears in clenched fists trying to mute the sound were fruitless. The tatzel town meant everything to her kin. Where would they go? What would they- She was still with West. Levi's hands fell slowly and arms wrapped around her middle to keep them somewhere else. Ears were forced back up and she tried to look unmentioned by what he'd told her. It became easier and easier to do by the millisecond. Levi didn't feel; the ghoul was a pit of emptiness. They're gone. Repeating what he'd said was all she could do. The usually fight-driven ghoul had finally met an end to empathy through all that was going on through this school. Levi had dissipated, been captured, been forced into a cage, been weaponized, been tortured and beat. A weapon used by her enemies to slay her own kind. All the fight she'd done hadn't meant a thing. Reducing her to a powerless pumpkin was what it felt like; just waiting to be plucked and incinerated. Waiting for the inevitable. She and her family would be crushed and no amount of fight left in her would change this. An eyePhone? Why? If her emotionless appearance wasn't enough of an indication to her current mood, the tone in her voice was. Or rather, a lack of tone in her voice. The usually upbeat and rowdy ghoul was strained for words and for reason. A phone wouldn't help her. It wouldn't return the isles to the horsemen that survived. It wouldn't save her kin from the hunters burning their homes and crops down. What good would it do?
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Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 7:30 pm
It took the demon a moment to notice she was no longer keeping up, a realization sparked by another brief flash of her anger. Unlike the first, however, this one felt sickly, its bitter remnants lingering in the pit of his stomach long after the strongest sensation had faded away. He stopped and turned, his steady, even breathing put on hold when he saw the pain twisting her features. She straightened soon after, pulling herself together admirably, but her dead eyes and monotonous voice broadcast her despair clearly enough on their own.
West had never really learned how to mourn properly. Prior to attending Amityville he'd had no experience with true death and thus little reason to fear his kin succumbing to it. He had lived in a world where the wrath demons he knew personally rarely visited the pumpkin patch, but the rumors that more of their kind appeared in Halloween day after day never ceased. It seemed humans were an angry bunch. On top of that, his entire existence was powered by rage, a viscous, churning anger that not only kept him running, but fueled nearly every one of his emotions and reactions. There was definitely a place for irate sadness and certainly a time to fear, but for the most part there was a rather single minded drive behind the feelings he felt. When he was threatened, he got angry. When one of the startlingly small number of people he truly cared about was threatened, he got angry. When nearly all of the members of a race of creatures he had hoped would teach him to kill Hunters were... murdered by Hunters, he got really angry. His wrath was a blessing in that he didn't often break down due to misery. It was a curse because it couldn't help him in situations like this where it really might have been nice to properly console his ghoulfriend.
He was reminded of Scarentine's for a moment, of how much he had wanted Levi to feel happy again after he had made her miserable. He recalled the drastic measures his subconscious had taken to get her to do so. He hadn't been in his right mind then, and even though he was now, he still took a handful of steps toward her, closing the distance between them almost immediately. A small but quite insistent portion of his brain wanted to hold her again, but he quickly beat it into submission. The only indication that it remained at all was a twitch in the muscles of his arm as he raised it a second time, his fingers closing around her bicep.
"Stop it," he said, squeezing her arm a little harder than was polite. "Dun go wherever y'jus' went. Yer comin' t'the damn eyePhone store and I'm gettin' ya a damn phone so I can find ya when yer not'ere." He let go and pointed sharply at the ground near his feet. "The heirs're still alive. If we all give up now, the Hunters'll win fer sure. I know their game now. They're not takin' me." While he had started out community-oriented enough, by the time he cut himself off, it sounded as though West was trying to convince himself that everything was all right as much as he was the ghoul. He cleared his throat. "They die. We saw. We jus' hafta get 'em all first."
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Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 10:10 pm
There was a sign of that misplaced anger again. What is he thinking?! The ghoul hissed at his response to her. Everything could end at any moment and of all the things he wanted, he wanted her to have an eyePhone right now. How'do ya do that? West's ability to agitate her; apparently there was a use for it. What Levi really spoke of though was West's ability to go on. Not only was he still gunning for victory but he never seemed down. What happened to him after she was turned? Did he not have kin like she did to worry about?
Blinking, a bit more of the ghoul came back little by little as she put herself in West's shoes instead. Things didn't phase him. Or at least Levi was unable to read any sort of sadness from the boil. Ya'll think it's a fight? Levi had doubted it was at this point.
He wanted to get her an eyePhone to... keep in touch with her. Through all that happened that he must've saw, he wanted to have a way to talk to her anywhere. She shook her head for a moment, a faint smile returning as she looked to the ground. Yer a piece'a work, West. An exasperated chuckle escaped her lips. Used ta'think it mattered. Fightin' tha'odds. But it don't feel much like'a fight anymore. They went somewhere, the hunters showed up, they died and came back regretting. How da'we fight somethin' we dun hardly know nothin' bout? Weapons, past halloweeners, strange technology and those pendants; these were things she didn't know how to handle with her brand of physical fighting. We got one. But- fer how many more're out there, we don't know. They hadn't seen what the hunter's homes looked like or where they came from. The human world yes, but not where these hunters gathered or what their numbers where like.
Wantin' ta make sure I get that message 'a yer final farewells? It hurt her somewhere in her gut to think West would meet with a final dissipation. It hurt her more that she thought of this as a possibility for his wanting her to have an eyePhone. She didn't want to see that message.
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Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 6:53 pm
Rather than growling or hissing in return, West stepped away, abruptly and uncomfortably, his fists clenching tentatively at his sides as if his hands were being pulled closed by a reluctant puppeteer. It was easy to be confident that they would win, that they had any chance at all against opponents who could so easily infiltrate, capture, lobotomize... it was so easy to believe when he didn't think things through... when he didn't think at all. Why was she making him think?
Of course he had family, and despite his most fervent desires to the contrary for the most part, he cared what happened to them. She wanted to give up. No, he couldn't believe that. But she said she didn't want to fight. She said she didn't think there was one anymore. Without a fight, West didn't think there was much of a reason for him to exist. To stop fighting was to lie down and die. He knew he should have been relieved to see that veneer of despair crack and the shadow of her usual smile grace her face, but instead he felt twitchy and slightly warm, his anger building past its usual pleasant buzz.
"Y-ya don't think so, huh?" He frowned at the faint hitch in his voice, unsure as to how it had gotten there. "Who cares if we dunno what t'do? What'd y'have us do instead if we aren't fightin'? Sit round'n cry about it? Volunteer t'work wit' them?" His voice seemed too loud and his fists jerked open again, nearly rising to cup his ears as hers had. Instead he reached for her wrist, his touch much more gentle than before. West exhaled abruptly as his unwelcome tension began to drain away at a crawl.
"If y'dun want m'ghouly goodbye texts, I won't send 'em. But if yer ever in a spot y'dun think yer gettin' out of, I wanna know." He let her go again. "Y'd better tell me." If he ever got word that she was close to gone, well, it would be his cue to throw any minuscule sense of self-preservation he did possess right out the window.
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Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 10:58 pm
Working with them. WORKING WITH THEM?! ...what?The ghoul produced a growling sound through clenched teeth. Never would she accept that as a possibility willingly.
That was where West opened her eyes again. The tatzel was made aware that she still existed; she wasn't gone yet. So long as I'm still here, there is a fight. So long as she was there- or West. Down to her instinctual belief that anything he could do, she could (try to) do better, Levi regained a position on the front lines of combat readiness. A revival of her need to protect her kin, a need to defend the school and all of halloween from invading humans. This surge of energy completely shifted her focus from despair to rage. Never would'I give them suckers a dang sliver'a hope'in'help from me, Jackdangit. At best, it was her fighting spirit returning to her; at its worst, it was the adoption of self-destruction when things got rough. Either way, Levi was now willing to put everything into dismembering and disposing of the hunters.
A brief silence followed West's words and his grabbing her wrist. The feel of his fingers enclosing around her joint didn't feel restricting so much as like a subtle hug. Levi's eyes darted from one side to the other looking for onlookers before responding. Her features were genuinely reacting to this small move of his with both uneasiness and gratefulness. If Levi moved a bit closer to West, it went unnoticed by her. Naw, boil, I want'ta have 'em... but... them things 'er expensive, ain't they? Concern; surely this was no simple purchase. If West was intending to buy one for her, he must consider these texts very important. In turn, he must have considered her to be...
An image of back in the outdoor gym crossed her mind, causing her to cough in correction. Well, if'ya think it'sa good idear. I reckon I can give it'a go.
I had taken all but a few sentences from West for Levi to rekindle her flame of fighting ferocity. Internally, she felt like she had to commend him. Forcing it out, she managed a simplified compliment. Y'know- yer smarter than'ya look, West.
Well done.
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 8:19 am
He responded to the growl with a barely perceptible and unintentional stiffening of his spine, but he didn't smile as she experienced her epiphany, at least not right away. Seeing her fall into a funk like this was disconcerting. She was the happy one, optimistic and... perky. West was loath to admit it, but second to her willingness to fight him with everything from fists to words, he liked her cheerfulness best. Or maybe it was her legs. Either way, her attitude ranked pretty damn high.
"Good," he muttered, watching her cautiously. He saw another burst of anger flit across her face, but he gleaned nothing from it, no dizziness, no euphoria, not even a momentary chill. Maybe he had just missed it. He doubted that, but maybe. "Dunno, I guess," he continued in a clearer voice. "M'dad's not gonna notice a few extra seeds're gone ev'ry month. I know 'im." And if Duran Warrick did wonder why his son was springing for a second phone, well, West would welcome his father's questions on the subject.
He nodded as he initiated his brisk pace once more. Yes, he thought it was an excellent idea. "Glad yer on boar—"
Wait. What?
"Smarter than I look?" He stopped again, glaring at her with what he hoped was some degree of menace. His attempt lasted all of four seconds, and before he spoke again his mouth had bent itself in a smarmy grin. "Y'sayin' I look like a dumbass? Look who's talkin'."
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 12:59 pm
Levi continued to follow at West's speed with an energetic bounce in her step. Now the ghoul was feeling like nothing would take her down. Then West opened his mouth again. Things became the same old thing in a matter of words from the wrath demon and the hairs on the end of Levi's tail bristled with her reply. So yer calling' ME a dumbass?! Ain't even sure'a what'tha heck ya'll 're talkin' 'bout n' THAT's- Clenching a fist, the tatzel ghoul shoved the knuckles of her hand into West's side. It was a place where West would feel the hit, but it certainly wasn't her best punch. This was a warning shot. Any hits back she was prepared to eagerly receive. Raising a brow now with a grin spreading off to one side of her lips in a smirk, she continued.
Ya'look...
Levi's tail swayed behind her with every step. The way her thoughts were now suddenly generating convinced the tatzel that whatever fell out of her mouth might result in further misunderstanding. You look strong. I wonder how much stronger you can get. I want to see you become stronger. The more she saw him, the more his appearance became a part of his physical strength.
Somehow.
Scratching up behind one ear with her claws, Levi looked for another comeback suitable. Ya'look better when yer on'tha floor under me. Kekeke~ Pinning him meant she had won the fights in their past and she cackled through her fangs at the brilliance of her retaliation. As was usually the case, the direct reading of her words was not her intended interpretation.
Oh- West would definitely try to get smart with her again, but that was something of comfort. Levi didn't know what sort of way a ghoul acted when getting a boilfriend, so she went on acting as if he were a boil who she was rivals friends a sparring partner with. Only unlike her other sparring partner, Xiu, Levi wanted to have West win as much as she wanted to make him powerless against her. It was an odd mixture of feelings.
So how far'is this 'ere shop anywho? Crossing both her forearms behind her back, Levi's tail took on wider sways. If it happened to hit the demon boil's tail, it was surely unintentional. In no way was her subconscious urging her to act on impulse to be tricky with West in whatever the smallest measure. Old habits die hard ...or perhaps new ones were just surfacing.
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 1:45 pm
He saw her arm jut toward him a split second before her fist ground into his side. West's initial reaction consisted of an affronted grunt, but he followed that by sending a fist and a muttered curse after her retreating arm as quickly as he could manage. It wasn't quick enough. It might never be. He was... okay with that. The boil's brain cycled through his limited repertoire of mocking replies, and he had a good one right on the tip of his tongue, at least until Levi started flapping hers again.
On. The floor. Under...
West coughed. He almost stopped again, but instead he gave his legs the order to speed up, which resulted in several stiff-legged stuttering steps that he hoped she didn't notice. This wasn't the first time he had wondered whether or not she was playing with him, if she actually had a whole world of reference material she used to taunt boils between those fuzzy ears. But then there was the wholly spontaneous cackling and her genuine curiosity as to whether or not he had liked her before she pushed him to admit it and Scarentine's... oh, Scarentine's. There was no way he was mentioning Scarentine's.
The demon registered that he was taking quite a while with his response, long enough for her to get suspicious about the direction of his thoughts if she was inclined to do so. He hastily picked one of his stock fill-in-the-blank taunts (I'll show you where you can stick your ___, in this case floor which made absolutely no sense at at all), but before he could get it out of his mouth, he felt her tail brush his once again, and the words died in his throat.
"It's, um... not far?" he replied, looking straight ahead, brows furrowed. "Near th'place that computer ghoul had th'dance party crap y'dragged me to." Levi's tail brushed his for a third time and West grabbed his own in response, curling it around his waist so tightly it resembled a living belt. The brief unguarded look he turned her way was equal parts irritated and confused, with a surprising sprinkling of longing thrown in. "Yer doin' that on purpose, aren'tcha?" he grated, his eyes going all narrow.
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 4:45 pm
Aye? Puzzled brow rose to West's question. What's all this now? Relieving a hand from her back, she pointed a finger and made a swirly gesture to West's new tail belt. Makin' fer some sorta fashion statement? Her own tail moved to wrap around her shoulders like a boa as if she were some fancy pantsy skeeV actress. How'bout this? Works, city boil? Whether she was serious or just playing around was questionable.
One thing that was certain was West's expression just then had Levi a bit uncomfortable. He was either disgusted or defeated by her for some reason (the tail, Levi, the tail) and she glanced from the sidewalk back up to West's eyes to look for changes in expression. A realization came to her then; Levi liked his scowl. His current expression wasn't so much unwelcome as it wasn't one of his usually displeased looks. How many more looks will you show me? The ghoul was studying his face for too long again before she coughed in correction.
Oh, aye. I see tha'videogame place over thar! That's it thar, ain't it? The tatzel's tail lay like dead weight over her shoulders while she stroked the length of it, end twitching to her movements. Her free hand now pointed off into the near distance toward what she thought might be the same arcade where they'd done the DDD competitions. This where'ya got yers, West?
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