|
|
Post by Trebias on Jul 8, 2008 12:58:03 GMT -5
Elias made his way through the hallways of the Court of Hearts, glad that his rank and connections finally afforded him passage with little to no hassle from the Hearts within. Well, his rank, connections, and huge bipedal form.
He and The Queen of Hearts hadn’t spoken much of the circumstances surrounding El’s advancement. The canine hoped that the argument wouldn’t turn into something that would fester and rot. The Queen of Hearts was one of the few Cards Elias would call friend. Scratch that, Whip was family, and El didn’t want to lose his family.
He reached the Queen’s office, hoping that things weren’t too busy. Maybe Rai was taking his advice so they could move on with their plans? Nah, Rai didn’t trust anyone enough for that. He announced himself to the assistant at the door. The Josiggy Canine was a regular enough fixture that he could get admittance without a lot of questions or waiting.
|
|
|
|
Post by seraaches on Jul 8, 2008 13:18:04 GMT -5
Today was no exception; argument or not, El still had free access to the Queen of Hearts.
If one looked closely, it might become apparent that there were a few less stacks of paper littering the desk, but for most it would seem that the Queen of Hearts was still utterly buried beneath paperwork.
Today, however-- at least, right at this moment-- the man wasn't actually working on paperwork or anything even official.
Standing at his side and chatting nearly a mile a minute, Irashin was talking rather excitedly about having acquired 'it' at the Bazaar from a goat in a veil. Rai looked bemused as he flipped the piece over in his hands and if he'd been in bipedal himself, his ears surely would have been tilted back.
"Elias!" Ira greeted his nanny with a bright grin. "You've come just in time."
Rai's cool eyes glanced to his longtime friend, expression purposefully neutral. It El still wanted to fight, he would, but, again, he was more than willing to just let it be water under the bridge for now.
|
|
|
|
Post by Trebias on Jul 8, 2008 13:34:55 GMT -5
The canine walked confidently into the office, hit full in the face by the wall of words that issued forth. Ira. It could be nobody else.
“I’m in time, am I?” Elias answered the kid brightly. It could be pretty hard to NOT like the kid. “In time for what, exactly. Hey, Whip. Glad to see you’re not swimming through papers all the time.” He softened the words with a grin.
“So what do you have there? Looks like an ashtray with holes in it. Makes it not really work as a tray then.” He looked more closely. “A mask, huh? From a goat in a mask, or veil or whatever. Pretty interesting, I guess. What makes this so special that you’re so excited by it?” Not that Ira had to have a reason to be excited. He was pretty sure he’d seen the kid get excited about gravel. Craziness.
|
|
|
|
Post by seraaches on Jul 8, 2008 13:49:51 GMT -5
Rai's expression warmed and softened at the same time, still pleased by how well El got along with his kids-- especially since most of them hated his own guts-- and pleased that the canine wasn't making some sort of sharp jab rather than just an acknowledgment of changing things. Sadly, it wasn't a real use of committees, he finally had a Queen on staff; with her presence and Ira's rather amazing ability to get things done, Rai found he might actually have a chance of beginning to catch up enough on paperwork that he could have something like a real life. At least, sort of.
Ira was staring flatly at Elias now, giving the distinct impression of a lofted brow as though the canine was absolutely slow for not immediately knowing what was so wonderful about all of this. "He was wearing a veil."
|
|
|
|
Post by Trebias on Jul 8, 2008 14:26:28 GMT -5
“A veil. *HE* was wearing a veil. I don’t suppose he was a friend of your brother?” El hadn’t seen a lot of males wearing veils that weren’t offering their. . .services to others. “And, you paid him money. Super. So, Ira, I’m going to take you out to town some time and show you people it’s okay to talk to, and people you should avoid, and definitely who you should not give money. Strangers are on that list, for future reference. That’s okay, I didn’t tell you that one. Also look out for females with Adam’s apples, huh?”
He looked more closely at the mask. “You didn’t pay a lot for that, did you? Because, it’s, like, not finished. Look, is that a leaf? It is kind of sinister looking, though. You could put that on a wall, Whip, behind your desk, and people would see it, and you would just stare at them, and they would have to sit there and wonder what the mask had to do anything, and if you were going to kill and eat them. I like it!”
|
|
|
|
Post by seraaches on Jul 8, 2008 14:46:27 GMT -5
"It was supremely expensive!" Ira crowed as though he had just won some sort of important prize. "He looked like his face had been ripped off! He said it tried to eat his skull and that this man was going to pay him oodles for it, except by that point it was already stuck to his face, so he said he'd get it off, but the man had already left, but he said that he was going to get it off anyway so he pulled and pulled and it wasn't working so he got a Midori witch doctor to magick it off and he nearly died!" This was presented without a single breath. Ira looked expectantly from his Mommy Dearest to Nanny Love as though they should now be praising him.
Rai gave a low, deep sigh and fought he urge to smack his eldest son across the face. He also resisted the urge to rub at his missing left arm, though the thought did cross his mind that perhaps El's suggestion had merit. "They wouldn't be looking at anything else," he said softly.
|
|
|
|
Post by Trebias on Jul 9, 2008 10:41:24 GMT -5
Elias just didn’t get the kid sometimes. “Sunny Boy, what do you think the odds are that a cursed item like that is going to come from anyone but Cauter?” Elias asked. “The alternative is that this guy was trying to sell a single rough mask that he didn’t know would try and kill him when he put it on to demonstrate. . .why did he put it on, instead of holding up a mirror so the buyer could check it out for himself? If it was just for display, then why would it matter what it looked like when worn? Things aren’t adding up for anyone but the gay card that sold you the mask, Ira. He came out pretty good. Because he took your money,” Elias added, fairly certain that Ira wouldn’t get his point without being beaten with it. Even then, there was no guarantee that the kid would get it. Where did I go wrong teaching him, El thought smiling.
|
|
|
|
Post by seraaches on Jul 9, 2008 11:02:44 GMT -5
"Oh, he didn't take me money," Ira answered airily. "He took Mommy dearest's money." This was pronounced as though any wrong-doing was fixed simply because it was Rai's money rather than his.
Rai sighed and rolled his eyes, leaning his elbows on his desk so he could rest his chin on his hands. "Ira, I've told you to stop getting into my things."
"That's how I keep your stuff organized, Mother," Ira sent his father an almost blank look.
Rai debated about trying this argument again, but, like most of the repeat arguments in his life, it wasn't really worth it, so he just dropped it.
"Your veiled goat could just be playing off of scars achieved some other way," the Queen pointed out instead. "There's no proof that they came from a mask attaching itself to his face."
Ira sent his mother a dour look. "A veil."
|
|
|
|
Post by Trebias on Jul 9, 2008 13:18:22 GMT -5
“Yeah, veil, scarred face, big bad curse. OOOOoooH! So scary!” El quickly nabbed the mask from Rai’s hands, feeling a slight tingle. Tingle? Bah. He was ranting in his typical fashion as he moved the mask closer to his face. “Oh, I can feel the evil, the magic! It’s getting closer, I think it’s going to consume me!?” A pause before he pulled his hands away from his face, the mask still on his face, as he started screaming. A very detached, very small part of his mind was glad that people would hear him scream and think that nobody would be safe from the anger of Queen Shinrai. The rest of his mind, a very large part, was consumed by the fact that his brain was burning with the heat of a smithy’s furnace. The pain was spreading down his back, and he couldn’t stop the guttural moans and screams from issuing forth.
When he came back to himself, the world was tilted on its side. He couldn’t have been out for long, because Rai and Ira were still just standing there, and he would have thought one of them would have come to his side by now. His head was very hazy, but he thought he could get to his feet. The pain was gone, the only reminder of it the weakness he felt through his body and the hoarseness of his throat. Had he imagined it? “What?” he asked, looking at the other two.
|
|
|
|
Post by seraaches on Jul 10, 2008 1:35:52 GMT -5
Rai was staring at his longtime friend and mentor and it was rather obvious from how his son was positioned that the only reason no one was at Elias' side was because Ira had stopped the Queen of Hearts from going.
Now, however, the pair were staring rather blatantly at the other man. His question was met with the same blank looks of shock and disbelief. Well, Rai looked shocked and disbelieving, and Ira was watching his nanny with the first hint of possible animosity.
". . . El. . . do you feel all right?"
The human took another step forward, but Ira shifted his body to be utterly and completely in the way yet again. Rai sent his eldest a dark look, but Ira's ears were both still pricked towards the other man, wary and vaguely mistrusting. He let those be obvious in his gaze, a challenge to Elias to prove those feelings unneeded.
|
|
