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 Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2022 6:03 pm
The coffee table that was usually in the middle of Sadie's smallish apartment had been pushed a few feet to the side to make room for one paint-splattered easel and one brand new one. She had full set of oil paints on the corner of that table, new, in a box, with names like Cadmium Yellow and Prussian Blue. She'd pulled out some other art supplies, too, in case Caedus wanted to try out some of them. She had many, many watercolors, some in trays and some in well-worn tubes, some pastels, some charcoals, and her tablet was there for playing with digital. Sadie wasn't a very textbook hostess, despite her family's best efforts to turn her into one. There were blankets on her floor and dishes in her sink, but she had at least washed a few cups so that they could have tea or something while they worked. The water for paint, on the other hand, went in mason jars. She'd drank paint too many times to risk putting it in anything that looked closer to a mug. Then her eyes flicked to the door while she waited and wondered if Caedus would actually be there.
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 7:34 am
Caedus was looking forward to tonight, probably. Excitement was often twinged with worry and doubt and grief. He didn’t often go into the city. Or visit people. Or go to their residences. Not like this, at least. In some ways, Caedus had grown since he’d returned to Earth. In other ways, he’d regressed. He had the option for a civilian glamour, to better blend in, but he wasn’t making use of it. Instead, he arrived on her doorstep discretely, but also suspiciously. Not an inch of skin was showing. His outfit was dark and nondescript, though he had a sharp cut to it. It fit him well, for the most part. Except for the heavy, hooded coat he arrived in, and the scarf wrapped around his neck and face. The rain worked in his favor tonight. His boots were a bit wet, but the umbrella he’d brought had done a good job of protecting him. He was still cold, though, and eager to get out of sight, just in case. He knocked on the door and held his breath. “Sadie?” he called out, just so she’d know it was him. …He really hoped he was at the right place.
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Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2022 4:36 pm
Sadie had enough hosting manners not to keep someone waiting. She pulled the door open a few seconds after she heard her name, only to squint at the bundle of fabric that she found there waiting for her. It took her a few seconds to pick out golden eyes from under the coat, at which point her smile cracked wide. "That's me. Sadie," she confirmed, because while she wasn't wrapped up the way he was, he hadn't seen her outside of glamour before, and while she was still a tall, willowy thing with pale hair and a set of scars that should have marked her, magic made things strange. She didn't want him all worried that he'd shown up at the wrong place. "Are you okay?" she asked, and had to stop and blink and clarify, "Um, did you get rained on, I mean? I have tea if you're chilly, and coffee, and maybe some hot chocolate somewhere. Oh, and so many blankets." So many, really. She'd tried folding them up since she had company but there was still a stack of them on the couch, and a sloppier pile on the bed half-visible behind the divider wall. "Although also, um, are you okay? I was worried, after everything." She was wearing long sleeves so he didn't have to look so much at what his starseed had done to her arms, and she tugged those sleeves over her hands as she looked over, brows nudging together.
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Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2022 7:02 pm
“I am okay,” he said, and stepped inside. He seemed relieved to know that he was in the right place, and there always seemed to be a bit of worry when he arrived anywhere. There didn’t appear to be anyone hiding in her apartment, no threats. No one had followed him, so far as he could tell. He could relax. He pulled the hood down, and while he was a bit wet, it wasn’t anything really troublesome. He placed his umbrella by the door and began removing his coat. “It was a little wet outside but I will take off my boots. I do not want to drag any water in. Your home is very cozy. It is chilly outside, something warm to drink would be wonderful. If it would not be too much of an inconvenience.” He already seemed like he was worried about intruding. When his wet coat slid off, he was wearing a large grey sweater over his uniform. “Are you okay?”
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2022 7:08 am
He said he was okay, and Sadie nodded, not about to question any of that just yet when they were supposed to be having a nice, happy time. "That's the closet if you want to hang any of it up," she said instead, waving towards an accordion door while she watched a few droplets dribble off his boots and onto her kitchen floor. Although, it wasn't like she was going to argue if he tried leaving his things there in a heap. She was a Neptune Knight. She wasn't afraid of a little water. He hadn't said what kind of drink he wanted, so she looked through the boxes she had laid out on her counter until she pulled out a sachet of honey-vanilla-lavender, something calming without being too bitter, and she laid it into a clean mug, then flipped the switch on her electric kettle. "I'm okay, I think," she said as she worked. "Well, it's still war, but, um, I became a Knight? Oh, and I found these little oysters up on my wonder. Animals, Caedus." Honestly, since that awful battle, things had been going okay for her.
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Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2022 9:00 am
“Oh, of course,” he said, and once he’d completely wriggled out of his jacket he diligently hung it up. Except, everything seemed to be slow in his mind and then suddenly it all caught up at once and he turned to her. Whatever morose haze had been clinging to him seemed to dissipate and even though he looked a bit tired, he suddenly looked much younger and much more alert. “A Knight? Congratulations–oysters? Alive, you did?” He had to shake his head to realign his thoughts. “That is wonderful, you will have to tell me more. Encke has insects on his world, he showed me. My heart is pounding,” he said as he rested a hand over his chest. “I am very excited for you.”
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Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 8:53 am
"Oysters, yes," she said, some of the awkwardness relaxing out of her own mannerisms as Caedus seemed to brighten. "They are oysters, so they didn't really do much, but they're there, and alive, and all silver-iridescent." Her kettle was the nice kind, and it worked fast. In no time at all, a flashing light showed that it was done, and she poured some water into the mug and handed it over as the steam began to curl from the top. "Encke's got it more interesting. Just the bugs are breathtaking, but last time I was up there, we found a mouse." She hadn't been meaning to talk so much about her passion for space, but now that she'd started the tangent, her eyes were sparkling. "Something big is happening, Caedus. I can feel it." Every tiny spark of life felt like it might be a harbinger for something more. "I should show you my cove sometime, my Wonder. Well, today I've already got all this paint ready, so you'll just have to come back, now that I know you're okay."
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2022 8:36 pm
Caedus accepted the tea and held it between his hands, as eager for the warmth as he was the flavor. He had learned to wait for such things to cool, so for now he just seemed to appreciate being able to soak up the heat. “I would like that very much. I am eager to see this paint of yours, but a cove sounds beautiful. I must confess, I still have such wanderlust. I never outgrew it. But I am trying to be responsible. There is so much at stake, I am trying very hard to overcome all that must be done.” He didn’t want to be selfish and do things just because he could. And yet, he knew that he was selfish, because he was not willing to die. Or worse, cease to exist in all forms, in this life and every other that should follow after him. “But I would love to see your world. And your oysters. I hope this ‘something big’ is also ‘something good’. I have not been up to Encke’s world in a while. I should visit him, too. I am afraid I have been keeping to myself. I thought, perhaps I might be able to find my focus, but. Whenever I try to meditate it feels like all I hear is screaming. I worry about this thing inside of me,” he confessed, and only now his eyes were focused quite firmly on the rising steam from his mug. He didn’t often talk about his starseed, probably for very good reason, but he felt comfortable enough to at least whisper the confession in her presence.
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Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2022 4:22 pm
"You don't think it's responsible to go to space?" asked Sadie. "Don't you think that if you're trying to heal a world, it might help to go look at other worlds that are healing?" As ever, her questions were gentle, but she was comfortable enough around Caedus that she wasn't shying away, or apologetic about what she was asking. She did walk away, though, once the tea was all fixed and her friend seemed to be enjoying it, because if they were going to talk about deep things, she was going to curl up. Like this, she didn't have her cape or her mermaid skirts to wrap up in, so a blanket would have to do, and she sat cross-legged on her couch as she pulled one up around her shoulders. "Anyway, Pendour's supposed to be this peaceful place, I think. That's what I'm trying to make it. It's supposed to help you find yourself. It's supposed to make the screaming stop for a while. Sometimes, all that takes more than just sitting with your eyes closed." She was careful to hold the blanket so that it covered her arms and her hands and ever single one of her fingers, so that not a single burn that she'd gotten trying to pull his soul away from Lyndin would show. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, once she was sure they were hidden. "Your starseed, I mean?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2022 10:46 pm
Sadie had a point, of course. If he was looking to heal a world, it was a good idea to observe what was happening on worlds that were already healing. And yet, he still found a way to feel guilty because he knew he’d have enjoyed it. Probably more than he deserved to. Her Wonder sounded lovely, though. Everything that he wanted. Peaceful. Quiet. Safe. He chewed on the inside of his cheek while he considered. The cup was warm and he was glad he was holding it so tightly when she asked about his starseed because he nearly dropped it. Caedus’ eyes shot up in alarm. “Oh,” he said, and it seemed for a few seconds that it was the only word he could think of. His face was an empty canvas, unreadable beyond its surprise and uncertainty. There was a brief second of guilt and shame, and then he was trying to compose himself again. “No, thank you.” The answer wasn’t quite right and his brows knit together because he knew that wasn’t entirely true. It was just difficult to explain. But then, everything was. He didn’t go anywhere wanting to talk about it, but it wasn’t a thought that popped into his head. Was he supposed to? Would knowing help someone? Would talking about it help him? His thoughts felt all scrambled but he didn’t want to have answered her incompletely. He clarified, “That is, I do not know what to say about it. Did you have a question?”
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Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2022 4:49 pm
Sadie sat perfectly still waiting for Caedus's answer, and when he said he did not want to talk about it, she nodded without hesitating. It was his choice, of course. It was his starseed. "Not questions, really," she said with a little shrug. "I just thought, you might be thinking about it a lot after everything that's happened. Sometimes, when you talk, it can keep the thoughts from, um, swirling around inside so much?" It had been reaching out and talking to people that had gotten Sadie to the point where she was at, after some of the things she'd been through had turned her into a depressed shadow of a thing, curled up in bed sometimes for months. She was hardly about to pry, though, so instead she patted the couch next to her. "Um, but we can do the art instead. That can help, too, and that's what I promised you, yes? Do you want to pick a tutorial?" She grabbed her remote and turned on her TV, which was pulled up to a playlist of paint night tutorials. They were mostly Bob Ross, like before, but there were a few other options in a similar style.
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Posted: Fri May 06, 2022 7:30 am
Caedus seemed to think for a few seconds but he came when beckoned and took a seat on the couch next to her. He looked at the television for a moment and nodded. He didn’t have a preference for what tutorial they watched and he trusted her to take the lead there. It was easier to think about the art, anyway. As he sat on the couch, he placed his hands over his knees and seemed pensive. His eyes didn’t leave the television for a long moment, and then he finally managed to move his eyes back to her. “I cannot think of anything to say. I have many thoughts swirling, though. You are correct about that. But I have been alone with my thoughts for a very, very long time. I have gotten used to them. I am not sure how to share them, not really. There is both too much, and not enough, maybe.”
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Posted: Sat May 07, 2022 3:43 pm
Sadie listened to what Caedus was saying. She didn't rush into picking a video, even when he seemed to be leaving the decision up to her. She listened, and she even flicked her gaze over to make eye contact with him for a few seconds. Not for the first time, she wished she'd had more training in matters like this. If she'd known more about psychology, then maybe she would have been able to know what questions she could ask to help him process things instead of shying away, looking around her room nervously. Instead, she nudged the new easel closer to him. "It's okay," she said. "There's other ways to help with swirling thoughts." She'd invited him here to try one of them, after all. "Here's your paints. You can let me know if you need more of any of the colors, and we can always pause the video if you need more time on something. Um. Let's see." Taking the remote up, Sadie scrolled through the options for a few seconds before choosing a classic looking Bob Ross episode with mountains, and a lake. The video started, and she glanced over to see if Caedus would need anything.
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2022 8:24 pm
Caedus glanced at the easel when it was pushed towards him; he looked at it and the paints and then nodded. “No, this looks to be more than adequate. Have you done this one before?” he asked. He was visibly curious about everything, and the distraction seemed welcome enough. He ran his fingers over the bristles of the brush, and examined the paints. “Do I have to follow along with him? I do not want to slow you down. I will do my best, but this is very new to me. Although, I am very happy to try. It seems exciting.” His brows remained just slightly furrowed, like maybe he was still dwelling on some of his thoughts, but he’d eased significantly since Sadie spoke again. Maybe it was just something that would take time, he didn’t know. He felt like he’d taken enough already.
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Posted: Thu May 19, 2022 3:32 pm
"I've done it some," she said, although the soft, almost nervous way she said that suggested that maybe she hadn't done it so much. "These aren't really the paints I tend to reach for, but I've tried them." They weren't her watercolors, that was what she was trying to say, but despite any nerves, she held the brush like she'd done it plenty of times before, and when the video suggested laying out colors for a sky, she was following along, making her own soft wash of blues edged with violets. "You don't have to follow if you don't want to. You can do your own thing," she said, and wondered if maybe that was what she should have gone for, if she should turn the video off and just allow her friend to play a little. "I know you liked watching him before, though."
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