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 Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2014 8:36 pm
It was difficult for Amarus to understand exactly how she was feeling. It was probably somewhere between elation and apprehension. She held the container with the preserved red rose in her arms, before slipping it into the black cloth bag she wore around one hip. Sitting on top of a fence, she looked off into the distance and thought about what she intended to do.
Her thoughts wouldn't clear.
She had met with Xiu, she had spoken with Hel, and she had said his name aloud. She would never admit as much again, she hoped. Nevertheless, it had all been necessary to make it to this point. She had lost her memories of Mot, and she had gotten them back, and she had a dream. In that dream, there was a rose that didn't wither or die.
"I do not suppose this will ever become easier," she said. She didn't ever like to admit fear, or acknowledge the possibility of defeat. In this matter, however, she was going to find someone and she was facing both of those things.
Amarus dropped down off the fence, her white dress fluttering around her for a moment before she began to step down an inch above the ground. Step by step, towards the carriage where Mot sold things. Life after Amityville was still strange to Amarus.
"I wish I had my birds with me," she said, quietly. The company would have been much appreciated. She remembered, suddenly, the foxfire Mot had had. What was its name? Something silly, and cute.
Everything suddenly seemed like a bad decision. It was too late for that, though. Sliding the bag behind her, Amarus had caught sight of someone. "Mot?" she asked, quietly, stopping.
Bittiface Oh wait, you went offline xD here ; u;
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Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 6:27 am
Mot stood alongside his carriage of goods to sell. FooFoo, his beloved Dreamdust Foxfire, stood on top of it. He did this often, to make itself feel tall and intimidating while in the presence of Mot's Skeletal Horse. The wannabe cowboy turned as he heard Amarus speak, a grin spreading over his thin face in delight. " Amarus! Oh wow, It's been so long!" He gleamed and opened his arms, waiting for his hug. "You look wonderful!"
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Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 7:32 am
As he turned around, it became rapidly apparent it was him-- And he was as friendly as ever, while she was awkward. But not as much as she was before. She dropped her bag on the ground and closed the gap with force, slipping her arms around his waist and burying her face against his chest. "Mot!" was all she managed at first, word muffled.
She leaned her head up, "It has been so long that I think I cannot let go yet," she said, smiling and sticking the tip of her tongue out at him.
It was also hard not to keep staring up at him: he looked more or less like she had imagined he would, now, so long after she had seen him last. "And you are handsome, as you have always been," she teased.
Finally willing to let go, Amarus started to step away, so that she could admire FooFoo on the carriage. Seeing it again, she laughed and clapped her hands together in delight. "I remember you, little one!" she said, waving at the fluffy foxfire.
"Please forgive the suddenness of this visit, Mot," she said, "is it okay?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 7:13 pm
Mot might have been bowled over, had he not been bigger than her. While still skinny as a mop, he had at least built up some minimal semblance of muscle, thinly lining the body of bones. "Well you don't have to let go right away if you don't want to. I've missed you too, after all." He said with a cheerful smile and a happy voice. His cheeks dusted a rosy tint, chuckling bashfully at her flattering compliment. FooFoo stared down at Amarus from his perch, his nose suddenly lifting to meet the sky. Amarus held no treats. She was soooo below him. "No, it's no trouble! I always have time for friends." He pulled out a small wooden stool from his wares and set it down for her to sit and rest. "Please sit. Would you care for some coffee? I'd love to catch up."
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Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 7:31 pm
It had never occurred to Amarus she could even slightly bowl him over.
"I am glad to hear that-- it is easy to imagine, back on campus, that everyone has forgotten," she said, smiling at him, reflecting his happiness twofold.
As FooFoo stuck his nose up in the air, Amarus laughed, shaking her head; her bells rang. "Trust your foxfire to be a snob," she tased Mot. "I have my birds, at home; they carry messages for me, and Songbird has only ever been strange around one student-- Zar, I believe he made Songbird uncomfortable." Songbird was one of her two prized Phoenix Hatchlings-- songbird was her Comet one.
Probably because he would have tried to eat it, honestly. It was smarter than its Dream counterpart, aptly named Dream. Dream seemed to be fine around Zar. Also slightly out of reach.
She beamed at him, grateful he wasn't upset she had crashed his party. Sitting down was a little weird for her; she generally avoided any sitting situations like class because it would bore her to sleep. Literally. Because she was talking to Mot, though, and she had recently survived sitting to speak with Xiu, she suspected she would be fine.
"I am not sure I have ever had coffee-- I have been given tea, but it initially tasted of old leaves-- is coffee different?" Amarus asked, tilting her head. Her bells rang. "I would happily try it, if... ah, if it is no inconvenience to you."
Amarus, caring about someone else's comfort? Good thing there were no other witnesses, or she might have died on the spot.
Clapping her hands together suddenly, she remembered part of the reason she'd been looking for him: "Mot, do you sleep well, now? Are you rested?" she asked.
She had spent years of her life perfecting a technique for someone who probably and almost definitely no longer needed it, but she would never admit that the conversation in which he said he didn't sleep well was the entire reason she had learned how to bake her essence into things, and how to extract it, how to double it.
How to help anyone who had trouble sleeping or relaxing. All because she had wanted to help Mot, and had forgotten that along the way, over time.
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Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 7:52 pm
"Aha, yes. I aplogize. FooFoo is a bad minipet." He looked up and gave the mini a glare. "Naughty, bad Foxfire. He had a stint of kleptomania while I was in school." Mot gasped, and opened up a cupboard on the side of his wagon. It held a kettle and fire making kit. "Never had coffee? I live for it!" The reaper began setting up his small hot plate, fuelled by the cutest of little flames. He set the kettle atop it and waited. "Coffee has a bitter taste. If you don't care for anything bitter, you won't like it. I don't have any milk or sugar on me, since I prefer it black." He smiled and gave a laugh. Her question was met with a shake of his head, his braid of raven hair flipping over his shoulder. "No, I don't have much trouble sleeping anymore. I seem to have grown out of it. It was quite the adventure experimenting with different methods. However, the quiet country air seemed to calm my inner unrest."
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Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 8:04 pm
"Kleptomania? What kinds of things did he steal?" Amarus asked. She suddenly liked him more, and lamented the fact he apparently no longer was a kleptomaniac. She didn't exactly feel the need to steal anything herself, given she had no use for most material possessions.
Amarus was worried, when he gasped, only to realize it was over the coffee. She felt like this was a lot more elaborate than coffee she would have had anywhere. "I have a natural sweetener anyway, if I was that concerned," she said, the corner of her mouth quirking up. She bit her thumb open, and showed him the trickle of purple-pink essence.
"That is good," she said, with a smile. "I have something for you, though since you sleep well, now, there is likely no point for the other half of the gift-- it was, ah... Xiu helped me with something, but--"
Amarus reached for her bag, opened the flap, and withdrew the canister.
"I suppose in light of your good sleep in the quiet, clear air, I will not have to trouble her with the request," Amarus said, handing the canister over.
Inside was a special kind of sand she had inadvertantly stumbled upon, one which could preserve flowers. They didn't feel supple like they once did, but it looked like a red rose that would not fade with age.
"If you would accept it, that is," she said.
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Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 8:59 pm
"He uhh..." Mot fidgeted, a light blush dusting his cheeks. "He stole ghoul's undergarments. It was terribly embarrassing trying to get rid of the stash I found in the closet." FooFoo yipped in delight atop the carriage. Mot groaned. Mot's curiosity was perked. With patience he waited for Amarus to present the gift. The boil loved presents. The sight of the lovely gift softened Mot's features, a happy smile glowing upon his face. "It's lovely! Of course I will." He took the cannister, admiring the flower a moment longer. "What possessed you to get me such a thoughtful gift?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 10:09 am
Amarus looked up at FooFoo, and down at Mot, and then started to laugh. "Maybe he just wanted to feel pretty," Amarus suggested. Okay, admittedly that is not what she would have stolen were she ever inclined to steal. She wasn't, so it didn't matter much either way. "You could have stitched them together into a blanket," she joked, with a mischievous smile. And then sold it, more importantly.
She had missed this. Funny that she had found not only Mot, but FooFoo again as well. Internally picturing Malachi, her favourite non-bird companion who was a Lupia, playing with FooFoo... she cringed.
In fact, Amarus could count on one hand the number of times she had presented gifts that were not pins. This once. If she counted the number of times she had given gifts and pins, then three times. Amarus had never tried this hard before to find someone, nor to give them something, in her entire time here.
She was not about to tell him so.
Amarus was warmed by the smile, somehow. "You can remove the rose, if you would like-- it does not need the sand, I just travelled with it nestled safely like that. It will not wither, or appear aged. Its petals are not supple, that is true, but it was the best I could achieve," she admitted. She wished it was a better gift, actually, suddenly. Gift giving was hard.
"I..." Amarus paused, toying with the pink crystal at her throat. She looked down, not meeting Mot's eyes, as she tried to think quickly: did she tell the whole story? The truth? None of it?
All of it, she decided, suddenly. If she was going to go to all the trouble to do this, find him finally, she may as well tell him.
"Mot, please bear with me, I think I have come to you today because I need to tell you a story," she said, taking a step closer, folding her hands into a kuji-kiri to calm herself. She looked up at FooFoo and smiled, before she looked back and tried to summarize it best. "It may be a little out of order, as I have not yet told it. It is about an, ah... Lotus Eater," she said, shrugged her shoulder, with a lopsided smile. Alright, so she couldn't think fast and be creative all the time.
"Once upon a time, a Lotus Eater met a young cowboil with troubled sleep. She knew that her natural essence could help, but did not know how to apply it to that effect. Over time, with a lot of practice and work, she learned to use my--her-- essence, a strong narcotic and of comfort to many, to create something that could help. During that time, she ran into him at a dance, and ah, they listened to..." Amarus sand some of the words: I've been waiting to smile yeah, been holding it in for a while... I'm on top of the world. Amarus laughed. This story was hard to tell. It felt silly. She felt really, really ridiculous right now. Oh well. Just finish the story, and it would be done.
Back on track, she continued. "After that night, however, they did not really speak. She continued to do what she had done before. By the time she was successful at her endeavour, the lotus eater had been presented with a choice: forget what had weighed her down the most, what had hurt and would not stop. Or, she could continue to fail in her endeavours because one thing made her weak." Amarus couldn't even say this part aloud. She just touched her chest, over where her heart should be. An automatic gesture. She smiled, remembering, but the smile was a little more sad than she had meant it to be.
"She forgot all of the details about him, she forgot everyone she had ever, ah, felt anything for. And then she was given a new choice, to remember. She remembered. She ran for vice president, a long while after, and figures from her past reappeared. Xiu, Zar, amongst others. She asked Xiu if it was possible to make an object linked to dreams, so that it would be there for someone in their sleep if they wanted it to be. She said yes, but had to know the name of the person it was for," Amarus said. The story was long, she would have felt bad for talking so much if it wasn't so very important to say it all now before she lost the nerve.
"She told Xiu. Xiu gave her the choice of how to proceed. The Lotus Eater said she would speak with him, first-- once she found him. Hel helped, in part, and when she was able to find him, she realized he no longer needed a beacon in dreams or any help at all. All she could give him was the rose, the physical object which could have been tied to dreams, because at least then a part of her would be with him regardless," she finished. She rested a hand against her face, and finally looked at Mot.
"At least, that is how I imagine the story went. Who would go to such trouble over a rose?" she asked, smiling. "And that, I believe, is altogether enough talking for the rest of my life," she added, laughing, her bells ringing. She sighed, and took a deep breath, though it was unnecessary. She shut her eyes, trying to calm down. Her essence was flaring against her skin, nerves wired hard. It was very hard not to feel incredibly stupid right now.
Then she felt a stone sink in her heart, because that was it. Her story, or at least the small parts that contained him, summarized. It felt so neat, and easy to tie into completion. She wished it was harder than that.
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Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 1:44 pm
Mot waited patiently for her to tell her story. A story quite obviously about herself. It was endearing, and childish, but Mot gave her a chance. The story was actually both new, and familiar. He knew parts of this story. After all, he'd been in it. All this time, Amarus had put so much effort into helping him, and he never knew. He didn't know she'd forgotten, didn't know herself and Xiu, and even Hel, worked to get him something so precious. Mot, being the sensitive soul he was, almost shed a tear. He rubbed at his eye with a bashful smile as she concluded her tale. "To think, the Lotus Eater did all that for a silly wannabe cowboil." He chuckled. "Thank you, Amarus. I can't believe you did so much for me." The kettle whined as it finished boiling, startling Mot from his state. "Ah! J-just a moment!" He rushed to fetch it, pouring them both a mug of hot coffee. He soon came back to her, offering the mug. "If it isn't too much trouble, maybe the story doesn't have to end there. Coffee?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 2:00 pm
So she wasn't the best at it, she'd probably never even tried to tell someone about feelings before. Maybe like once. She didn't know. There was a reason when she'd been given a chance to shed that burden she had jumped at it.
When thanked, she shrugged a shoulder and looked back up at FooFoo again. "Thank you for listening, I know it was terribly long," she said.
Amarus held out her hands to accept the mug happily, letting herself feel its warmth. "I look forward to trying this, for one," she said, and tried not to think too much about the story not ending there.
At least it hadn't been pity. She would take a coffee over pity any day. She leaned her face close to the coffee, and inhaled its scent with her eyes shut. She smiled. It smelled a little strange, but good. "Thank you for the coffee, Mot," she said, and blew on it taking a careful sip. She tilted her head at it, thinking about the taste. Weird, but not bad. And it really woke her up. That was strange. Feeling alert was not entirely normal for the lotus eater.
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Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 8:52 pm
"I don't mind. I like hearing you talk." He responded fondly. "It would be a shame if we sat in silence every chance we met." There was something to be said for comfortable silences. However, a good conversation and entrancing storytelling were exceptions. "You're welcome. I take it you're enjoying it?" He sipped his own, revelling in the bold flavour.
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Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 11:39 pm
"I am glad of it; perhaps you will endure more of it in the future?" she asked, with an easy smile. She seemed to relax, slowly, holding the coffee and taking more sips of it. Like the end of the world as she had known it had come, and now she was free to just be herself.
And Mot being nearby only served to give her cause to smile anew every time she looked up, glancing back down into the coffee with a quiet smile on her face. "It would be a shame, it's true-- I like the sound of your voice, and I like talking to you," she said. "Even though I don't usually know what I'm saying," she admitted, at her own expense.
"I am, it is unlike anything I've had before. It makes me feel like I'm not constantly about to fall asleep, which is new," she said. The taste was really good. She wasn't sure she could handle as much alertness as she suspected it would provide, though. She chewed at her thumb, as innocuously as she could, and got a few drops of her essence to chase the caffeine.
Better.
She leaned back. "Do you know what will happen next for us?" she asked, smiling at him as if he had told her a good joke or a funny story. It was a real question, but it didn't seem to carry any weight to it. She was happy just the way she was, now that she'd said all she'd kept a secret.
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