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Ursula was your name, wasn't it.
[This time around, Kaede's voice was different. Colder, more curt.]
I remember your name. [Sort of.] I need to...
[Kaede's voice hesitates and trails off, and she growls to herself in frustration. Asking for help like this--at all--was worse than pulling teeth. Admitting she needed help in the first place was hard enough.]
...need to ask you something.
[This time around, Kaede's voice was different. Colder, more curt.]
I remember your name. [Sort of.] I need to...
[Kaede's voice hesitates and trails off, and she growls to herself in frustration. Asking for help like this--at all--was worse than pulling teeth. Admitting she needed help in the first place was hard enough.]
...need to ask you something.
[[from here]]
[ Chariot wanted to give some clever response back, but Fang's attack on her neck completely derailed any attempt at words. Or even thought, for that matter. She gasped, back arching beneath Fang, the bond flooding with desire and affection now that both parties had given their enthusiastic consent. This was already different from that morning with Ramesses, the emotions of the bond heightening her senses well beyond the threshold she'd nearly gotten used to.
If she was a star that 'shined' for those she loved, then she was brilliant enough to be the sun itself in that moment, her free hand clenching at any fabric on Fang she could, giving insistent tugs, admitting to herself she didn't... actually know how to undress the other, but she didn't want to let go at all, either. ]
[ Chariot wanted to give some clever response back, but Fang's attack on her neck completely derailed any attempt at words. Or even thought, for that matter. She gasped, back arching beneath Fang, the bond flooding with desire and affection now that both parties had given their enthusiastic consent. This was already different from that morning with Ramesses, the emotions of the bond heightening her senses well beyond the threshold she'd nearly gotten used to.
If she was a star that 'shined' for those she loved, then she was brilliant enough to be the sun itself in that moment, her free hand clenching at any fabric on Fang she could, giving insistent tugs, admitting to herself she didn't... actually know how to undress the other, but she didn't want to let go at all, either. ]
[Frustration, worry, powerlessness, apprehension, uncertainty, fear. The emotions hung together, ever-shifting into each other and inseparable, a horribly churning miasma in her mind. Fang did her best to tamp down on it, to tell herself that it was all fine, that this changed nothing; it worked for a time, limiting the impulses to little flashes and fleeting bubbles.]
[But it didn't stop it from festering quickly, rising from her worry-stricken heart to the back of her throat like bile, and it was all Fang could do to keep it in check until she got back to the apartment. The woman rarely shied from expressing herself, but something about it all left her feeling raw, as if her skin all burned off, choked her vision down a single point and rendered her unable to hear anything but the pounding of her own heart. Fang couldn't cope with the uncertainty, didn't know how, and the door clicking shut behind her brought a kind of... safety with it. Fang set the line of fish she'd caught in the sink absentmindedly, numbly, as if her body was carrying on without her.]
[All of this, every lingering doubt Fang thought she had dealt with or carefully balanced rushing back at her with a vengeance... just because Lightning wasn't as she should be—wasn't where she should be. Because Lightning was here.]
[Her glass-like fragility broke. Fang spun on her heel with a frustrated yell, kicking one of the chairs around the small table. It bounced off the wall with a crack, miraculously unshattered, though a few joints had broken.]
[But it didn't stop it from festering quickly, rising from her worry-stricken heart to the back of her throat like bile, and it was all Fang could do to keep it in check until she got back to the apartment. The woman rarely shied from expressing herself, but something about it all left her feeling raw, as if her skin all burned off, choked her vision down a single point and rendered her unable to hear anything but the pounding of her own heart. Fang couldn't cope with the uncertainty, didn't know how, and the door clicking shut behind her brought a kind of... safety with it. Fang set the line of fish she'd caught in the sink absentmindedly, numbly, as if her body was carrying on without her.]
[All of this, every lingering doubt Fang thought she had dealt with or carefully balanced rushing back at her with a vengeance... just because Lightning wasn't as she should be—wasn't where she should be. Because Lightning was here.]
[Her glass-like fragility broke. Fang spun on her heel with a frustrated yell, kicking one of the chairs around the small table. It bounced off the wall with a crack, miraculously unshattered, though a few joints had broken.]
[If Chariot was anticipating a lot of grandeur when it comes to Ramesses' gift, she would actually be somewhat mistaken. The box is, of course, neatly wrapped with gold and blue that make its sender unmistakable, but it is neither particularly large nor is there anything overdone about it. For Ramesses, it likely seems understated. Especially when he once offered to build her an observatory of her own.]
[Unwrapping and unboxing the contents, Chariot will find a faience amulet of a winged and horned goddess. It isn't enchanted because such a thing would be unnecessary in his eyes; the image of the goddess alone offers divine protection that supersedes anything else in this world or any other. What may give said goddess' identity away are the small pieces of inset quartz arranged in likely familiar constellations in miniature along her body and wings. It is an amulet of the goddess of the sky, Nut, who protects the moon and (most importantly) the sun, granting them safe passage on their daily journeys to bring about the next day and night, the barrier between order and chaos.]
[Unwrapping and unboxing the contents, Chariot will find a faience amulet of a winged and horned goddess. It isn't enchanted because such a thing would be unnecessary in his eyes; the image of the goddess alone offers divine protection that supersedes anything else in this world or any other. What may give said goddess' identity away are the small pieces of inset quartz arranged in likely familiar constellations in miniature along her body and wings. It is an amulet of the goddess of the sky, Nut, who protects the moon and (most importantly) the sun, granting them safe passage on their daily journeys to bring about the next day and night, the barrier between order and chaos.]
[The package left on her doorstep contains a plate of homemade cookies from Marie and a fresh lily flower.
“Happy Holidays! We are not friends yet but I hope we can become friends in the coming year.” is what the attached note says]
“Happy Holidays! We are not friends yet but I hope we can become friends in the coming year.” is what the attached note says]
[A case for her glasses, with stars and the colors red and blue all being what she associates her mom with. In addition to that, there's a card with a brief message on just how much she loves her.
And of course, she's signed it with her new name: Monika Callistis.]
And of course, she's signed it with her new name: Monika Callistis.]
[Though the weather prevents them from doing much stargazing, Monika and Chariot are still sitting at their usual spot. The snow continues to fall while the two are sitting a further indoors than normal.
A pair of coffee cups set on the table next to them, steaming and warm.
The two are holding hands, with Monika still looking at the sky above.]
It's incredible to think about.
Back when we first met, I never once thought that you and I...
[A pause, as she huddles up a bit closer.]
That I'd end up calling you my mom.
A pair of coffee cups set on the table next to them, steaming and warm.
The two are holding hands, with Monika still looking at the sky above.]
It's incredible to think about.
Back when we first met, I never once thought that you and I...
[A pause, as she huddles up a bit closer.]
That I'd end up calling you my mom.
[Of course she was going to visit her mom. Once news reached Monika that everyone had come back safe and sound, it was the one and only thing she wanted to do.
Everything else could wait.
She made her way over, finding out where Chariot was being kept. She knocked on the door a few times before letting herself in and...]
Mom...
[Monika rushed over to her side, giving Chariot the biggest hug she could muster.
She missed her so much.]
Mom! You're here, you're really here!
[Then came the tears and crying, with Monika holding nothing back.]
Everything else could wait.
She made her way over, finding out where Chariot was being kept. She knocked on the door a few times before letting herself in and...]
Mom...
[Monika rushed over to her side, giving Chariot the biggest hug she could muster.
She missed her so much.]
Mom! You're here, you're really here!
[Then came the tears and crying, with Monika holding nothing back.]
[With the school's activities done for the day, Monika tidies up the classroom while Chariot helps wherever she can. As the two of them begin to wrap up, Monika takes this opportunity to ask something that's been on her mind lately.
Something she's been wanting to ask when it was just the two of them.]
Um, so I've been wondering.
You have a relationship with Fang, and... others, right?
Physically speaking, what is it about them that you like the most?
[There's a reason for this, honest.]
Something she's been wanting to ask when it was just the two of them.]
Um, so I've been wondering.
You have a relationship with Fang, and... others, right?
Physically speaking, what is it about them that you like the most?
[There's a reason for this, honest.]
[Hopefully Chariot prepare herself for her birthday. While Ramesses has done well to dial it down to a 5 or a 6 lately, birthdays are special exceptions as far as he's concerned. Because while celebrating birthdays is a bit of a more modern tradition, it is one that he is happy to adopt. And it seems more appropriate now more than ever to celebrate the blessing of Chariot's life.]
[And so, Chariot will find herself beset with a number presents from Pharaoh.]
[There are a couple of bottles of fine wine that he expects she will wait to drink until Mio gives her the okay but will appreciate once she is able. She is also gifted with a cake (not one that he baked himself, mind you) that's really small enough that no one would fault her for enjoying it entirely on her own. For the approaching warmer weather, he also gifts her with two linen pleated dresses, one blue and another green, and a sheer, tasseled white shawl embroidered with golden stars to wear with either dress. There are also a few smaller bottles of perfumes, one being similar to what Ramesses himself wears and the rest are scents he believes she will enjoy.]
[Lastly, and perhaps most importantly of all, Ramesses gifts her with a tapestry. With no real means to build great monuments and temples as he would typically, he took to commissioning this great work instead. Through both pictures and hieroglyphs, the tapestry depicts Chariot's time in Aefenglom. Even if she doesn't ask Ramesses for a translation (or how to read it, both of which he would patiently do for her), Chariot would be correct in assuming that the narrative is a bit more bombastic and tells of her achievements and the family she has made for herself here with the same sort of boisterous tone Ramesses might speak of his own legacy. Ramesses has also had the tapestry enchanted so that when exposed to magically created light, the blue of Ursula's hair changes to red and the transliterated cartouche beside her reads Chariot instead.]
[And so, Chariot will find herself beset with a number presents from Pharaoh.]
[There are a couple of bottles of fine wine that he expects she will wait to drink until Mio gives her the okay but will appreciate once she is able. She is also gifted with a cake (not one that he baked himself, mind you) that's really small enough that no one would fault her for enjoying it entirely on her own. For the approaching warmer weather, he also gifts her with two linen pleated dresses, one blue and another green, and a sheer, tasseled white shawl embroidered with golden stars to wear with either dress. There are also a few smaller bottles of perfumes, one being similar to what Ramesses himself wears and the rest are scents he believes she will enjoy.]
[Lastly, and perhaps most importantly of all, Ramesses gifts her with a tapestry. With no real means to build great monuments and temples as he would typically, he took to commissioning this great work instead. Through both pictures and hieroglyphs, the tapestry depicts Chariot's time in Aefenglom. Even if she doesn't ask Ramesses for a translation (or how to read it, both of which he would patiently do for her), Chariot would be correct in assuming that the narrative is a bit more bombastic and tells of her achievements and the family she has made for herself here with the same sort of boisterous tone Ramesses might speak of his own legacy. Ramesses has also had the tapestry enchanted so that when exposed to magically created light, the blue of Ursula's hair changes to red and the transliterated cartouche beside her reads Chariot instead.]
[Fang didn't hesitate for much. In the face of what transpired between her and Kaede, and the incredible distress that wasn't her own echoing in the back of her head, the Turnskin's steps slowed on the stairs up to their apartment. With the cold of the rain and the ache of her recently healed injuries, Fang wanted nothing more than to be home.]
[But she dreaded having to explain herself. She owed Chariot that much, didn't she?]
[Fang tossed her now-tattered winter cloak on the railing outside, the damn thing hopelessly dirtied with what blood and grime the rain failed to wash out. Slow as she was to approach, Fang didn't falter in entering; there was no point in putting this all off.]
[She came in wordless looking like, well, a drowned cat. Soaked utterly to the bone, her patches of fur matted with the same remnants of blood and mud as her cloak, and bearing the angry pink lines of freshly healed wounds—on her right leg, her left shoulder, but most notably, four thicker ones that raked across the right half of Fang's face, from her temple diagonally downwards, and by some grace of the universe sparing her eye.]
[But she dreaded having to explain herself. She owed Chariot that much, didn't she?]
[Fang tossed her now-tattered winter cloak on the railing outside, the damn thing hopelessly dirtied with what blood and grime the rain failed to wash out. Slow as she was to approach, Fang didn't falter in entering; there was no point in putting this all off.]
[She came in wordless looking like, well, a drowned cat. Soaked utterly to the bone, her patches of fur matted with the same remnants of blood and mud as her cloak, and bearing the angry pink lines of freshly healed wounds—on her right leg, her left shoulder, but most notably, four thicker ones that raked across the right half of Fang's face, from her temple diagonally downwards, and by some grace of the universe sparing her eye.]
[Kaede had waited, until the morning light broke through the clouds and the rain of last night was a faint memory in the gutters. The rest of the night...wasn't so easily forgotten. She'd waited on the rooftop, a small curl of shadow, until the coming dawn burned away the shadows and made it difficult to hide.
After she and Fang had parted, the Chimera had gone back to the gloomy ghost-ridden mansion. She'd dried herself off, changed to dry clothes, and assuaged the gnawing hunger for mana--leaving her mind clear, to better see her regrets, to feel the rippling waves of Chariot's worry. Kaede had slept little the rest of the night, even when her usually aloof petalwolf had sleepily come to curl up against her back.
The storms had stopped during the night, and left her with no further excuses for her not to go. What if Fang was still there? Kaede couldn't--she wasn't ready, to talk to her yet. If Fang even wanted to talk to her anymore. Did Chariot want to see her, after she'd hurt her Bonded? The fussing concern gnawing at her mind was its own answer.
She was just stalling now. The Chimera slid off of the roof, lofting down with now dry wings to the balcony with Chariot's telescope. Her landing was quiet, but still jostled her aching ribs. Kaede took in a deep breath--winced, at the stab of the bruises there, and braced herself.
The Monster didn't open the door; she knocked first. She was reasonably sure the Turnskin was out right now, but in case she wasn't...]
...Chariot?
[The Chimera's voice was uncharacteristically tentative.
In comparison to Fang, Kaede seemed almost uninjured. The only outward sign was that the rearmost point of an antler was missing, the fracture an uneven break rather than a clean cut.
Her thoughts was where the tangled mess lay.]
After she and Fang had parted, the Chimera had gone back to the gloomy ghost-ridden mansion. She'd dried herself off, changed to dry clothes, and assuaged the gnawing hunger for mana--leaving her mind clear, to better see her regrets, to feel the rippling waves of Chariot's worry. Kaede had slept little the rest of the night, even when her usually aloof petalwolf had sleepily come to curl up against her back.
The storms had stopped during the night, and left her with no further excuses for her not to go. What if Fang was still there? Kaede couldn't--she wasn't ready, to talk to her yet. If Fang even wanted to talk to her anymore. Did Chariot want to see her, after she'd hurt her Bonded? The fussing concern gnawing at her mind was its own answer.
She was just stalling now. The Chimera slid off of the roof, lofting down with now dry wings to the balcony with Chariot's telescope. Her landing was quiet, but still jostled her aching ribs. Kaede took in a deep breath--winced, at the stab of the bruises there, and braced herself.
The Monster didn't open the door; she knocked first. She was reasonably sure the Turnskin was out right now, but in case she wasn't...]
...Chariot?
[The Chimera's voice was uncharacteristically tentative.
In comparison to Fang, Kaede seemed almost uninjured. The only outward sign was that the rearmost point of an antler was missing, the fracture an uneven break rather than a clean cut.
Her thoughts was where the tangled mess lay.]
Edited 2020-03-07 21:49 (UTC)
[It's a quiet afternoon at the refugee school and the two are just about done with the day's paperwork and reports. Before they actually wrap up, however, Monika takes advantage of the privacy to ask something that's been on her mind lately.]
Um, so I was wondering...
Do you know of any good, uh, cleaning spells?
[She's going somewhere with this, honest.]
Um, so I was wondering...
Do you know of any good, uh, cleaning spells?
[She's going somewhere with this, honest.]
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