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 Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2016 4:53 pm
Thorne had come to Other Ashdown for no particular reason but to feed the plant otherbeings occupying Coalsmoke and ask Mare not to embarrass Alg further while in service to him. But that had been accomplished faster than he'd wanted to leave, and without much else to do, he'd ended up on the fault line between Ashdown and the unruly overgrowth of forest on the opposite end, trailing through the grey mist of cracked and abandoned parking lots, overgrown playgrounds.
He hummed and sung a song as he went, the noise muted beneath the soft deluge, rain drops sliding against his cheek, his jawline. It was a familiar cold, and he could easily deflect it if he wanted, but Thorne wasn't in the mood to bother yet.
He continued to sing as he went, turning towards the woods that tangled with this edge of the town, hungry and devouring, shifting as he went, until his wings curled up and flared, spraying water around him in every direction, glittering like fragmentary passages of a galaxy in collapse.
If anyone else was around, surely they would hear him if they didn't see him first.
After all, he wasn't exactly trying to hide.( total word count: 1492200/122/103/134/107/164/70/90/174/168/35/59/66 )
lizbottt hi take this crappy start q q <3 i hope its alright!
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 4:12 pm
America hummed along with his song before realizing there was a song, there was another person nearby, wandering this Other Place easy and nice. Out not to simply explore, but to begin the habit of vigilance, it still doesn't occur to her that it might be someone terrible. That it may be the take and torture sort that approached rather than the friendlier folks she was most accustomed to. Maybe it was that, but maybe it was just as much the singing that kept her guard down. It was a nice song. In the distance, a bluejay gave a hawk's cry. Rocking back on her heels as the fellow came into view, America found him to be a little familiar and a lot strange. When a pause softened his song, she gave a little wave. " Well how do! Have we met? Pretty sure I'd remember the..." Horns. Wings. It was hard to look away from them, to be honest. "But you seem awful familiar."
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 6:09 pm
Thorne cocked his head as America came into view, slowing to a halt. His wings furled a bit, coming up over his head to keep the deluge off of him so that he could peer closer at the girl.
His mouth curved into a wild smile though at the wave, half-way warm.
"Good evening," he returned with a regal hum, "To be honest, I'm not really sure. Perhaps? These are new," he gestured to the wings, ruffling them slightly and scattering droplets, "A gift from the Court, I guess." He paused and tilted his head, eyes coming back down to meet America's.
"Were you at Blackfriars, by chance?" He rumbled, trying to think back, and added, "I'm glad you knew the tune."
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 6:33 pm
"Yeah, I was...Thorne!" She snapped her fingers as the light bulb lit up and she remembered him fully, without all the new. The girl beams at him, pleased to remember, pleased to be right and to meet up with him again. And then the expression halts as the word court catches up to her, falls as Shun's mention of Thorne seeps in. America is the sort to wear her feelings for everyone to see, and the sequence of her own realizations are plain as day. "Um...Detective Shun told me about...he said people were taken..."
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 7:29 pm
"Oh - yes," Thorne said, warm and surprised. He hadn't expected her to remember a name, remember anything actually, and couldn't help but laugh, waving a hand. "You're - " he pauses, tries for names, "America, right? It's been a long time."
Her expression changed so quickly though that Thorne wondered at it, and his smile turned shadowy, still gentle, but his eyes were watchful and sharp.
"Yes," he said slowly, "I was there for three months. Most of us were - apart from Lady." His eyes lowered, and a self-deprecating laugh burned in his throat. "It was an event, if nothing else."
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 8:08 pm
"Yeah, America, got it in one." She tried to smile for it, but felt too much sudden weight to manage. "I'm glad you're...wait," she paused, considering his words and Shun's earlier ones and where they were. "Are you? Free?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 8:18 pm
"Free in a strange way," Thorne replied, sounding wry and dark and regal, the laughter slicing his throat in a different way now. He shifted, twisted his wings and let the drops of rain slide off of them, pattering the puddles around their feet. "I am not longer bound to my Patron, and the fetch that stole my body is gone. But I'm a part of the Court, in as much as the moonwalkers are a part of Other Ashdown, and the wargs are a part of their familiars. I am simply... closely tied to a different sect, I guess." He ran a hand through his rain-damp hair, restless.
"At least now I can leave when I want though," he said, smiling slightly. "The Madam - Melany - was a b***h of a Patron."
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 8:27 pm
It was the laughter, the turn of voice, more than wings and horns that had America asking, cautiously, "Will you be...the kidnapping thing, will you be part of that too?" Abruptly, she corrected herself, "From this Court's side, I mean." Bad things sunk into good people all the time, after all, no magic needed.
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 8:49 pm
Thorne paused and looked at her, considerate. His eyes were half-shadowed, the glow of endless galaxies swallowing the depths of his pupils. He was wild and inhuman. this guise of his was something out of lore and legend, not made to be real. Not made to be here.
"I am allowed, if that is my wish," Thorne said, softly, "But the choice is mine, as it is with everyone who holds a title at Court. It is not a requirement of us, if that is what you're asking."
He paused, cocking his head to the side, looking at America with wild, wild eyes.
"Do I scare you?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 9:05 pm
America met that gaze and to be honest, Thorne was really pretty and kinda cool as ********, but yeah, she was scared. "The I'm allowed thing, yeah, that scares me. The part where you're not saying you won't kidnap and torture folks, I don't know if I should be scared or pissed off or just more patient, gotta say." But she wasn't moving away, either. "I remembered your name, real clearly, 'cause so many folks were calling out your name when you got hurt trying to protect them back at that library. That many people worried about a fellow, he's probably a real good person."
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 9:30 pm
Thorne smiled at her and shrugged, looking warm and regal, apologetic all the same. He said, "I'm meant to be a guide, I was told. A noble of the court. But the court is a dangerous place right now. The one it is named for does not rule it. I can't say what will happen, what I would do to help restore it, but - " He paused and bowed his head. "I will never just start thieving people in the night like the woman that had raised me."
He folded his wings neatly, watching her with a docile, apologetic look, still wild, still burning with that regal storybook creature inside of him that had been born of this, of Melany's quest for beauty, the break he had made from her chain of obedience.
"That's all I want to do," Thorne says softly, more human in words than appearance, "I want to protect people. I want to be a good person for them."
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Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2016 11:37 am
America let out the breath she'd been holding, her expression lightening with obvious relief. "Well," she offered, a little huff of laughter in her voice, "I can't be mad at that." She held out her hand to him, "America Jones. Can you fly or are they just there to be really cool lookin'?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2016 11:52 am
Thorne hummed a soft melody and nodded at her with a laugh. "You are free to punch me if you ever feel the need," he said, wry, "I'm sure if it comes to that, I've done something worth deserving it."
He shook her hand, a smile turning upwards and amused on his face.
"Surprisingly," he retorted, "I can stay airborne. The learning curve was - an event, if nothing else."
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Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2016 12:02 pm
There was a definite air of wistfulness as she thought it over. "But worth it, right? Sometimes I get to go flying through..." America gestured to a small figure up in a nearby tree, the blue of its feathers standing out against the muted dim of the Other Place, "... his eyes. Wouldn't trade it for anything, 'cept taking up the wind in person."
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Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2016 12:26 pm
Thorne chuckled, the sound warm and amused in his throat.
"You could say that," he responded, "As soon as I got over the absolute terror of growing antlers in the middle of the night." He tilted his head up to follow America's gaze to the blue bird in the tree, a small dot of color in the grey deluge. "That must be a fascinating experience," he retorted and glanced back at the red-haired girl, "Well, if you ever want a ride, let me know. I promise I won't drop you."
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