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Post by The Jenn on Feb 24, 2008 0:08:52 GMT -5
Before she went downstairs with him, Thyme turned her head to her dresser, eyes scanning for something in particular. When they found it, she walked over and took it carefully in her mouth, wishing yet again that she had hands to work with. Someday she would be old enough to get her biped form. Until that day came, she would just use what she had.
She trotted downstairs after Conway and bumped her nose against his thigh when they got to the sitting room, tilting her head up so that he could see there was something in her mouth. She then carefully dropped it in his hand. It was the small golden vertebrae that she had shaped on a whim, modeling it after one of his as he sat and ate lunch with her one day. "For you to remember me by, wherever you end up," she said with a small, embarrassed shrug and a smile.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Feb 24, 2008 0:56:59 GMT -5
Conway couldn't help but smile. "Thank you," he said quietly. If anyone had walked by it would have looked like he mouthed the words. He was honestly touched. Why... why on earth was she giving this to him? Why did people like him when he was such a horrible person?
It felt like he was going to cry again damn it. He shook his head and then caught sight of Josephine coming into the room. The young wolf's eyes widened at her disheveled state. What he hell?
She brushed a bit of hair out of her face before speaking. "Today your lesson is taking place in the basement. Follow me, no time to waste." Josephine huffed as she turned around on her heal and swiftly made for the basement. She opened the door and left it open so the pair of them would walk through. Apparently she wasn't going to explain what was going on until she reached her destination.
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Post by The Jenn on Feb 24, 2008 1:04:37 GMT -5
That he would speak to her again out in the open, even quietly, made Thyme feel a tiny bit better. It certainly made giving him the present less embarrassing, which was nice, and she only noticed her aunt come in when Conway looked that way and his eyes widened.
She turned and had the same reaction herself. What was going on? Josephine never let herself look less than perfect, even in her own house and even in the morning. Her makeup looked completely half-assed and her hair was a mess. This was completely out of the ordinary.
And they were going down to the basement. Uh oh. That wasn't a good sign. With the briefest glance at Conway, she stood and walked through the door, headed downstairs, no idea what they were going to find this time. The place was just as unwelcoming as she remembered and, watching her aunt's gorgeous coat billow out behind her, she wondered not for the first time just how many rooms it actually had.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Feb 24, 2008 1:25:28 GMT -5
Her heals tapped heavily on the floor as she turned the corner to reveal something that looked like a closet, when she opened the door, it revealed a rather large room with a woman sitting at the at the opposite side. She was a pretty looking song bird, with one simple chain attaching her to the wall. A smug look was painted on her beak as she watched the woman enter.
She was a low ranked heart from Avington. She was giving Josephine a look of pure amusement. The old woman growled at the bipedal song bird. Stupid bitch made her stay up all night and she got nothing out of it. Birds. DAMN BIRDS. "This, Thyme, is a rather annoying guest. I need you to get to know her. Conway is simply here to prevent you from doing something stupid."
Josephine took a deep breath and motion to Conway to move outside for a moment. He did as such, and Josephine was kind enough to explain the situation to him. How she expected him to tell Thyme what she wanted, he wasn't sure. She was obviously a little too sleep deprived to think clearly.
Once she had stumbled off to get to her bed Conway returned to the room, not shutting the door behind him, though he was holding the keys. "So... your Aunt needs information out of this woman and she's obviously too tired to think clearly. You need to get her name, why she was found at someone's mansion and then.... the old bag just gurgled something at me." Conway wasn't actually going to repeat the bit where Josephine had said she was going to mess with the bird's head to the point where she would be someone's sex toy for the rest of her days. Thyme really didn't need to know that.
The song bird tilted her head as she watched the man's mouth move. What the hell?
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Post by The Jenn on Feb 24, 2008 1:39:18 GMT -5
Digesting the situation as best she could, Thyme waited for Conway to say what he was going to say and then looked over at the woman against the wall. She was pretty, the wolf had to give her that, and if it was enough to make her Aunt look that much of a mess in front of anyone then obviously she could resist a hell of a lot. What did Josephine expect her to do?
Well, crap. This was going to be unbelievably difficult. She didn't even know if she could do it. At the same time, she had to. Her aunt had told her to. So what could she do?
She walked up to the woman and sat down near her, staring with wide red eyes. "My brother eats people, you know. He's a vampire. He just knocks them unconscious and sucks their blood until they're empty, lifeless husks, and then he leaves their bodies out in the open to be eaten by wild animals. Do you have any siblings?"
Waiting a breath or two, she continued. "So you see, there's already a family precedent for strangeness. Take me for example. You're a Heart, yes? You know all about summoned weapons?"
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Post by Kari Muffin on Feb 24, 2008 1:47:34 GMT -5
Conway blinked. What the hell? He shifted his weight uncomfortably on his feet. That was a really weird thing to say, and he didn't think she was lying. How could she lie about something like that? Was that.... "the Number" she never really spoke about?
The woman blinked with surprise. What in the name of the suits was the little girl talking of. She shifted away from her for a moment before leaning forward with her head in her hands. A smirk was on her beak still as she tilted her head out of curiosity. "Oh?" she asked. "What do you plan on showing me little girl?"
She had a lot of confidence for someone locked in a basement. Obviously Aunt Josephine's order was not to physically harm the woman, but find information. The problem being that, even though she was a low level heart she had rather amazing magical skills that prevented Josephine from using her normal methods of magic. She was also a stone cold bitch.
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Post by The Jenn on Feb 24, 2008 1:55:00 GMT -5
Thyme bared her teeth in a grin. It wasn't friendly, but it wasn't very threatening either. She didn't know what kind of person she was dealing with, but obviously they thought that being fifteen meant she was a 'little girl' and maybe she could use that to her advantage. Who knew?
"Well, there are plenty of things that I could show you, Miss, and probably even more that I could tell you. Growing up in the Tulgey Wood makes for some interesting stories to Outsiders, apparently." She straightened her head from its tilt and tried to relax her muscles a bit more so that she could sit comfortably, shifting her head so that her mane didn't fall in her eyes. "You're separated by a region from the Wood back in Avington, so maybe you don't hear as many stories, but there are plenty of them out there. It might be that natural affinity with the unusual that affects me. I really don't know. But you'll notice that I'm a Club. Would you believe me if I told you that I can summon a weapon?"
By every right, it should be impossible. Only Hearts could summon weapons. Everyone who knew anything about the subject of summonable weaponry knew that. For a Heart, it was even more of a certainty, she was sure.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Feb 24, 2008 2:12:39 GMT -5
Conway raised an eyebrow. What on earth was Thyme getting at? Why was she telling the woman these things?
"I..." The woman's eyes widened briefly. This little girl came from that place? That was horrifying! Her feathers fluffed up at the mere thought of all of the horror stories. The smirk on her face wavered for a moment before she gathered her composure. "I don't believe that's possible little girl. I'm not stupid. The old lady knows that all too well."
She snorted as she leaned her back against the wall once again. Her wings were very much attached to her arms so she didn't have to worry about them. She glanced over the girl once more. A little Highlander with red eyes. She looked nothing like that old woman. Strange. This was just an overall boring little event. She eyed the man who was keeping his distance. Strange people this woman kept.
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Post by The Jenn on Feb 24, 2008 2:24:50 GMT -5
Thyme's eyes narrowed slightly until they looked half-lidded and she slowly smiled, mimicking her grandfather for all she was worth. The squirrel could be absolutely creepy when he wanted to and she hoped she was doing his expression justice. It was kind of like when he looked at Dad and seemed like he wanted to turn the man into a pile of smoldering ash, except to non-Tulgeys it would probably be weird as hell. Which was why it worked on Dad, she supposed.
"The old lady knows that? Then apparently the old lady doesn't know everything." Twitching, she turned her head and summoned her beautiful basket hilted rapier to grasp in her mouth. Her eyes were still on the woman and spoke volumes. She let the tip of it move closer until it lightly poked the woman in the arm. Then the weapon disappeared. It was very, very obviously a summonable weapon, to the point where it would be damned hard to debate its existence.
Her eyes remained locked on the woman's. "So there's one impossibility laid bare, isn't it? Maybe you don't know everything after all, Miss. Am I a Club with aberrant magic? A Heart with the wrong marking? And what are you? I can answer, if you want." Her eyes narrowed once more. "You're keeping me from my reading," she whispered.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Feb 24, 2008 2:34:25 GMT -5
"Demon!" The woman said as soon as the weapon pressed up against her arm. She tried to move away, but she could only go so far because of the chain. She shuddered. "DEMON SPAWN!" She shrieked as she was at the edge of her chain, trying her hardest to stay way from the girl.
What monster could do that? If it was possible for the woman to gnaw off her own leg, she would have done so. However she was a bit too full of pride for that just yet. She just wanted the little girl to stay away from her. She frantically looked at the the man at the other end of the room with pleading eyes. "Get her away from me!"
Conway rolled his eyes. Okay, so Thyme was creepy sometimes. She wasn't that bad... then again Conway knew how the whole impossible weapon thing happened. That could be helping with the situation--well, not the horrible vibe. That was something weird in an entirely different sense. With a sweeping motion he flipped off the bird, and returned to staring at the ceiling.
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