[R] Skyping with the Princess (Snowball X Aurora)

[LP]

Snowball's tail flickered, he'd waited till Azzo had left for the Airport. That's when he opened the laptop and started pulling up Skype as he often did when the knight wasn't around.

He sat waiting for it to connect.

Connecting: Please wait while Princess Snowswirl connects . . .

Merlin was sitting in the chair while Snowball was on the desk. His tail wagged happily giving a light woof at the cat.

"Merlin... what has Azzo told you about sitting on the... ugh never mind Aurora'll be happy to see you too." He said as he purred. Of course his name on the chat was Guardian Snowlion. "It's not obvious at all," He'd created both names after all and monitored the friends that were added. His tail flickered.

Iris_Virus

I'm headed to bed because I have to get up earlyish tomorrow and do some errands before lunch. @_@

 

[Iris_virus]

The young woman that appeared on the illuminated screen was not the same one that had left the Guardian (and pup) months before. She was recognizable, of course, but the weight of the past months had taken its toll on Aurora. Despite the light touch of makeup on her face, the fatigue she felt was dreadfully apparent. Her eyes were dark and puffy, her expression fairly blank, the curve of her cheeks hinting at the fact that she'd lost a little weight. Her hair was pulled back in a simple long braid, a far cry from the meticulous and painstaking care she'd used to put into her extravagent hairstyles. Her clothing echo'd her hair, simple and ulitarian. Her breathing pattern seemed to shake through her chest like a constant sigh, a sound that she'd adopted quite frequently over the past few months. It had been a gradual progression that Snowball had likely noticed through their occassional Skype session, but it was particular clear today.

However as the cat's image flashed on the screen in front of her a momentary glimmer of the past Aurora shone through, a small relieved smile touching her face. "Snowball...."

"And Merlin too?" The smile continued, the tone of her voice lifting an octave in that sweet way people often greeted pets.

Her fingers brushed the screen softly as if somehow the motion could make it through the distance between them, before finally settling back in her chair again, her voice soft. "One of the bison is calving today so everyone is busy and out of the house. Plus I locked the door, so we don't need to be nearly as... careful as usual."

"How are you? How is Azzo?"

"Have you both been keeping out of trouble?" It was an question she knew the answer to. Of course they hadn't been keeping out of trouble. Even as she was tucked away selfishly dealing with her family instead of the war her friends fought in. But she assumed he'd lie to her again. The same sweet lies Azzo had been feeding her to reassure her that everything was okay.

"I've got a few souviners for you. Luckily Azzo is coming to help me pack up and carry all my luggage." It was a strained joke, but a tease nonetheless. Oh how she missed home and was ready to come back.  

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Merlin was the first to respond giving an excited woof trying to stand on the screen and lick Aurora's face that was until snowball was pushing him back.

"NO! BAD DOG. Sit." When he managed to get Merlin settled down and a crossed stare given the dog's reaction to seeing Aurora. "Sorry, he's excited to see you. As am I." He smiled as his tail flickered.

"Oh, well it's always good to have new family members even if they're the four legged and hooved kind. Azzo's on his way to the airport, thankfully perhaps." He was looking at Aurora. "Have you been getting enough sleep?" He asked eyes narrowed. Azzo had that bought where he didn't sleep much but Snowball hadn't mentioned it.

The cat laughed at the question of keeping out of trouble. "Of course! We always keep out of trouble. It's been quite here." He answered trying not to mention having been knocked out by a knight with a pitcher, or much of anything else that was . . . really, really concerning.

"Ohh! Souviners, I can't wait. I hope mine's purp--" He paused and laughed, "Whatever you got me I'm sure it'll be great."

He paused, "So, anything new up there besides the calf? Hopefully the weather's better. It's sweltering down here. I've almost considered finding someone to give me a poodle cut." He shook out his fur. "Azzo got us a little wadey pool though so me and Merlin's been hanging out it in."

Snowball was trying to decide what all to fill her in on.

Iris_Virus

 

[Iris_virus]

((Derp derp, why the hell did I do purple for my first post. XD Gawd I'm rusty... *goes back to fix that*))

An honest to goodness laugh escaped her at Merlin's enthusiastic hello, a soft crooning tone touching her voice. "Now, now, I'll be home in a few days." Luckily Snowball was able to calm him down.. a broken computer would have been a little hard to explain to Azzo.

Even as a child she'd never really considered the ranch animals as 'pets'. The bison would all eventually be slaughtered or sold, the dogs used for herding and security rarely ever making it inside. While her father and many brothers had always taken care of the ranch, he had made an actual effort to keep his only daughter away from them. While they toiled and worked she'd gone to dance classes and special classes or helped her mother in the house. Eventually taking over all the house work herself.

In truth Merlin was the closest she'd ever had to having her own pet. Perhaps that was why poor Snowball had been so exuberantly met with baths, and beauty treatments, and over pampering.

"I'm alright." Her hand shifted, trying to brush away any worry he might be feeling. "It's just been a lot of work around here." And a few unpleasant dreams, but that was to be expected. "I think a change of scenery will do me worlds of good." She was tired both physically and emotionally of the feeling of disappointment each night not to see her father come in from work, or settle in to the dinner table.

Another amused soft grin, before her cheek came to rest against her hand. "Of course they're purple silly, why would I bring you back anything else?"

"Uck.. The pleasant temperatures up here are going to be sorely missed when I get home then I imagine."

"It seems like I've finally got everything squared away, or atleast.. as much as I can do for the time being. Luckily I can do most of this 'executor of estate' stuff from back in Destiny City."

"But Mato has officially moved out. He used a bit of his inheritence to buy himself a some land to start a small ranch of his own. Chayton is all signed up and prepared to leave for college this fall."

"Tokala is basically taking over Dad's place here taking care of the ranch. For the time being Bodaway, Lallo, and Lila ((I literally do not remember if I ever named the step mom sooo.. will come back and fix the name if I find what it was XD)) are going to be staying and living here at the ranch too. I hope they stay.. Tokala could really use the help.. but you never know. Eventually Lila will probably want to move on and find a place of her own.. I'm just hoping that she waits for Bodaway and Lallo to get through school." Even after being here for months Aurora still hadn't really bonded with her stepmom, but the younger boys seemed to like her well enough. Given that she couldn't stay herself.. she could only hope for the best.

Closing her eyes for a moment she laughed a little. "Who would ever think I missed fighting strange shadow monsters. I'm so so tired of paperwork. Give me a blood thirsty General any day."

"Still plenty of those running around I imagine?" Not so subtle digging to see just how 'out of trouble' her boys had been.  

[LP]

((Rofl it happesn!))

Snowball looked back at Merlin, "See. She'll be home soon. I told you there's nothing to worry about." The cat's tail flickered, "I've got him trained better than Azzo does." The cat said.

His ears twitched as she said she was okay. He looked at her almost as if he didn't entirely believe her. "That's like Azzo saying he didn't wake up screaming for weeks." He muttered trying to keep it under his breath though she might've caught a few words of that.

His tail twitched though his expression shifted from doubt to pleasantly surprised, "Ohhh you know me so well~" He beamed, "It'll go great with the rest of the things I've managed to collect. Wait till you seee~!" He paused quickly adding, "They were all thrown away or bought I promise - don't believe anything else that Azzo says otherwise." He cleared his throat a little hoping that maybe he really wouldn't say anything about the few pieces he conned people out of by looking at them really, really sad - or about the food he often got that way.

"Yes, I'm sure you'll start to feel better once you're back home. Get back out into the night air. Maybe take a trip up to see the old castle." He looked at her hopeful. He would've killed for some snow right about now and that was the only way he knew to get it.

"They're sorely missed where I'm sitting and I haven't even been up that way." He started laughing a little bit before she said most of the rest of what she needed to do could be done back in the city. "Yes, and if you have to go back take Azzo with you for the shorter trips. It'll do him some good to take a break once in a while from the city and it should help keep you from going quite as crazy."

His tail flickered as she spoke about who all had moved out and who was staying. "Well I'm sure Mato'll still visit and keep an eye on his younger sibblings. There's no way he'd just leave family hanging. Chayton'll probably go back during the holiday breaks. So they can keep the youngers company then."

He nodded when she said Tokala was taking over, "Good, at least the ranch'll stay in the family then. I'm sure they'll all do fine - if she's any decent mother she won't leave the kidlets to fend for themselves without a father until they're old enough to actually leave the nest. After that point I couldn't blame her for whatever she wanted to do." He stretched, Snowball was usually a reassurance as it was his job to keep his senshi fairly clam when possible.

He laughed a little, "Yeahhhhhh. . . . Oh there's plenty of those and then some I'm sure." He was trying not to shift uncomfortably. "I've noticed a string of uh... unusual occurrences and some of the knights seem more blood thirsty than the enemy, the dark mirrors seem to be partly zombied. . . . I find all this fairly problematic. Though more so when youma show up where they're not suppose to b--- uhhhh." He paused and his ears twitched as he realized he might have said too much.

"Well......" Then he didn't know what else to say to actually remove those sentences from existence. He had wanted to wait until she was back to mention the oddities and larger concerns but. . . too late now.

Iris_Virus

 

[Iris_virus]

Her free hand lifted towards her mouth, one finger extending as if she were telling a secret, her voice hushing just a smidge. "Well we both know Azzo is a little bit of a pushover." She teased, though her expression turned serious once more as she thought she caught something about waking up screaming.

Another soft smile touched her as he mentioned his collection and the oh so legitimate way he'd achieved the pieces. And then the castle. It had been so very long since she'd been, having been too afraid to ever henshin up in Alaska, her large aura certain to draw some attention.

As he spoke about her family she seemed to loosen even more, truly comforted. Despite the little time she'd spent with her step mother, she'd been with her younger brothers fore almost a decade. Surely she felt connected to Bodaway and Lallo. She'd do the best for them. Aurora just needed to stop worrying about every little old thing. Especially when there were ACTUAL things to worry about back in Destiny City.

Whether or not her youngest brothers grew up in their family home really was a small drop in the bucket compared to her brothers growing up in a world not torn to pieces by the Negaverse.

Her eyes seemed to focus, attention perking as Snowball accidentally spilled the bit of of information. What he was saying was weird... something most certainly must have changed while she was gone. And more importantly, that information was about a thousand times more interesting then all the talk of hospice care, funerals, bills, and estates that she'd been plagued with. Poor Snowball wasn't going to get away with brushing the details under the rug.

"That sounds exceptionally odd.... Something must of happened or changed, no? Are youma popping up more frequently, or just in weirder places now?" Not that amusement parks and schools weren't weird and unfortunate enough.

Suddenly a look of guilt crossed her face, matched by the twinge of guilt that could be heard on her voice. "Have you seen any of my knights...? Are they doing alright?"  

[LP]

Snowball nodded, "Well of course. As long as you know the right buttons so that he pushes over." He laughed a little, "He still tries to look as tough as ever. You know how he does."

His tail flickered as she smiled. He paused, "Well... it'll be easier to explain about the dark mirror senshi later." He said with a pause and then sighed, "For the youma... there was one in kitty command. Where we keep the main frames. No idea how it got in there or how long it had been hidden in the walls. Then there was a senshi named Hugbell... there was a Youma on her homeworld. It attacked her and a lot of us got swept into the battle. I'm still not sure how we got swept there and whatever took us, brought us back. It's... concerning to say the least. Places we thought were safe aren't as safe as they once were."

He paused, "Well... I haven't gotten to talk to many but I've seen them in passing. They all seem to be doing well." He shifted a little. It was more difficult than one could ever think to keep up with knights and senshi. "I'm sure once you're back it won't be that difficult to catch up with all of them!"

Iris_Virus

 

[Iris_virus]

She nodded a little as he spoke of the knights. She'd hoped for better, more specific news.. but it wasn't like she could blame Snowball for that. Hell.. she couldn't even blame the knights themselves if they wanted nothing to do with her after she'd abandoned them so abruptly and unceremoniously. As long as they were well though.. even if they wanted nothing to do with her as long as they were all alive and happy (well as happy as one could be while partaking in a war) then she was grateful.

Aurora's eyes widened, her mouth tightening into a firm frown as Snowball shared the startling information. They were ON homeworlds and in safe havens? How in the world had that happened!? Were there some on Polaris tearing up the home she'd neglected over the past months? If they could get to homeworlds then where couldn't they get? Would they just show up in the homes of Order while they slept in bed? "That's beyond concerning. Do you know how long it's been going on?"

"Ughh.. It's a good thing I'm coming back soon. I assume Azzo knows?"  

[LP]

Snowball's tail flickered, "Honestly, I'm sure everyone's doing fine. It's a little difficult to keep up with knights and senshi. Specially when one decides to try and kill a negaverse agent by smashing his head in and getting knocked o---- er.." He paused scratching his ear with his hind leg. "Um... well... and a concussion -- mildly I think.... Anyways. It's reallllyyy really hard. I couldn't always ask Azzo to help because he was busy with other things. I should've done better." He added his head dropping a little bit. He knew he'd let her down.

He paused, "Ohhhh... um... Not sure. We haven't gathered enough data on it. So far it seems like two separate incidents as one seems to have been around longer than just this Era. At least from what I could tell from the way Hugbell was talking. I didn't get a chance to get much information. . . I don't even know if she got the attention she needed."

He paused, "However, counting the two I know about? One Happened in March the other May. Still the data's inconclusive, but it seems like they could go or be just about anywhere it's just a mater of what or where. The one on the little senshi's homeworld seemed to be maybe different in some way. I'm not sure. It's going to take more than two cases to find out what's going on for sure."

He paused when she asked if Azzo knew, then gave a nervous chuckle. "Um.... welllllllllllll. I might have avoided mentioning it, just a little bit.... He wasn't with me in either occurrence. Only cats can get in to the Kitty Command. . . At least that's how it's suppose to be coded, and only Order at that. I'm not even sure what went wrong there."

Iris_Virus

 

[Iris_virus]

She visibly cringed as Snowball let the details slip. Not so much at the attempted maiming or murder, Polaris had, after all, greatly hurt and even killed negaverse agents in the past. But rather at the thought of her knight being hurt. However she was quick to try and comfort Snowball in return. "It's not your fault. We can only be in so many places at once. And no matter how diligent you are things happen."

"You've done a truly great job Snowball. I'm so proud of you and thankful for all you've done."

"However we are going to have a talking to if you keep keeping secrets from everyone." A soft tease. She understood why he'd kept it from her while she was gone, though not so much why he'd kept it from Azzo. He'd better not hide so much information once she was back. "Secrets don't make friends." She added the childish saying in lamely, giving him one more teasing glance before shifting back in her seat in thought, one finger playing mindlessly with a few strands of her bangs.

"That really is very puzzling. I'll do my best to see if I can find out anything about it when I get back. Though I feel like you might be better equipped when it comes to the cat stuff, I'll help however I can."

Glancing at the edge of her computer screen, she sat up straight once more, thinking out loud. "I really need to check how long it takes to get to the airport again. I want to make sure I'm there waiting when Azzo's plane gets in."  

[LP]

Snowball sighed, "Yes well... considering I was the one to get knocked out I feel like I could've done a better job.... The officer wasn't even trying to do anything. I couldn't just let them kill him."

Merlin had sat still for a while and surprisingly wasn't asleep yet but the dog stuck his nose to the Cats back and gave a puff of air to get it's attention. Whimpering a bit he looked at the screen and back at the cat.

Snowball looked at Merlin curiously because he did this when she said secrets don't make friends. "Merrrrlliinnnnn we can't tell them about the snacks we get!!! Geeze." It's not like Azzo didn't know. "They throw them out anyways if we don't get there first."

He looked back at her, "Seriously though, I would've told both of you eventually. He's got enough worrying going on with you on the other side of the states. I can't pull him into worrying anymore than that. He's already tried to forbid me from going out on my own. I mean come oonn how can I do my job!?"

He sighed and licked his fur. "I better see if I can get some food out for Merlin and go on our walk anyways. The plane probably won't be there for another hour roughly. Depending on how delays and lay overs go." He sent her a url. "They show delays and overlays." He added, as he typed in the flight information for her. "You can keep track on how long before he gets there."

He sighed. "Hurry back okay? I can't keep all of us sane here much longer by myself." He tried to nuzzle the screen and then had to stop Merlin from licking it. "No. NO DROOL ON THE ELECTRONICS. I blow up enough stuff we can't damage this!" Snowball's fur was mostly in the Camera as he shoved the dog back.

In the background Aurora could hear Merlin whining.

"Trust me I'll fill you in on anything I forgot or didn't when you come baccckkk Aurora - Merlin stopit - Ugh you stupid dog. He's getting restless have a safe trip to pick up Azzo. Make sure you two behave." He added pointedly as if he was insinuating that the pair might get into 'trouble.'

Iris_Virus

 

[Iris_virus]

Another soft worried frown touched her. Snowball had been hurt and in serious danger. Azzo had been so consumed with worry for her that it'd been effecting him that badly...

Aurora wished she could touch the cat through the screen. Her hand seemed to tingle with the desire to run down this silky back. But alas, so many miles.. She'd just have to try her very best to make up for it.

"Go ahead and take him out." She laughed, waving lightly to the screen and blowing a kiss, before pulling up the url he'd sent her. "I'll see you guys in a few days. Miss you soooo much."  

[LP]

"Call me before you guys leave, okay? If the house is a mess I'll have to make sure it gets cleaned back up! I may have to hire a maid."

Snowball nodded and smiled, "Don't worry we'll be fine! I'll make sure if I take Merlin out on my normal rounds as a guardian to keep his identity safe!" He waved, "I missed you too, when you get back and rested will you cook us something good? Azzo still can't cook worth a darn."

Merlin was already headed towards the door as Snowball headbutted the camera once more. "I'll see you soon. Don't forget okay?"

Iris_Virus

 

[Iris_virus]

"I can clean when I get home." She insisted. "I don't mind, it's actually kind of soothing." Though... it depended on how bad the mess WAS. It was scary to think what 3 boys could possibly do to a place.

"Wait, wait.. don't take Merlin patrolling!" She called out, but it was too late, the Skype session disconnecting. Ughhh.. Aurora had a feeling there was going to be a lot of wrangling and mothering going down as soon as she got home. But for the time being she had a very important date to prepare for.

Clearing the screens on the computer, she pushed the button before heading off. A little over an hour until she could see Azzo. And mere days until she'd set her feet back in Destiny City.

(Fin)