Quest: Love Me [Kazifel] [Finished OMG FINALLY]

[Kari Muffin]

Happiness. Joy. Enthusiasm. So many things he still couldn't seem to grasp perfectly. He could feel them though. He could see the emotions in her face and her reactions. "All right. Thank you. I'm so happy," he said with a smile and a whisper.

He let her fuss over him with all of her happiness. Twenty years since someone had given him the attention he wanted, the attention he needed. Femi said she had been looking for him her entire life. Was it true? She couldn't have been that old, but Kazifel never was a good judge of age, even when he wasn't a doll. Memories. So many so painful, so few so happy. However he was happy right now as she ranted the details at him. He wanted to see it, he wanted to feel all of it. Well, not the sanding. The sanding didn't sound fun. He wasn't sure he would like it if he could feel it or if he couldn't feel it.

Kazifel reached up to trace his J with his fingers. If only he could feel it. That would come with time, he hoped.

[The Jenn]

Setting his sails, sewing them in place, pinning and attaching and being oh-so-careful with his soft new ribbons... her Kazifel would have the softest, most luxuriously beautiful wings. She finished all of that by the middle of the afternoon, alternately talking at him, to him, or with him, and sometimes just humming to herself. She liked to hum while she worked if her dolls weren't feeling in an especially communicative mood. Kazifel went through cycles of that like the rest of them, she supposed.

The gemstones were a little bit harder. Some of her fine tools were perfect for getting them out, but making grooves just right for each tiny stone in the wood of his wings proved more time-consuming and difficult than she had expected. She didn't often work with gems, not often at all. But... he just needed them! She was glad she had a good, sturdy, clear-drying clue to hold them in place.

By the time she finished his wings, night had fallen several hours past and food had been all but abandoned. She'd left only to relieve herself and to fetch more materials. Otherwise, the entire day was spent with her lovely Kazifel, talking and working and focused on her promise. She would fix him. Yes she would. The last step of the day was locating the old mirror she kept packed away for when she needed to work on something tricky and show him the end result. "What do you think?" she asked hesitantly, reaching out to brush one hand across the satin of a nearby ribbon. "Are they... what you wanted?"

She felt so tired, the exhaustion creeping along her fur like pins and needles, itching, telling her to sleep. She ignored it and waited for his reaction, heart in her throat. If he didn't like it, she didn't know what she would do. Probably break something. And start again tomorrow.

[The Jenn]

Jenn and Kari both receive 1 token each, to be redeemed in Ashwin's Shoppe. This will automatically be added to your recorded totals in the shoppe. Congratulations, and keep up the good RP!

[Kari Muffin]

The day was nice. He was simply happy to be with someone. She talked, he talked, she hummed. There never was an awkward silence. He would be happy with Femi. There was no way he could be miserable when he had hope like this. Joy welled up in him when she said she was finished. She had worked so hard to make him better. To make him more than perfect. To make him belong. The very thought would have made him cry. It also would have been absurd to anyone of a normal mental status. Kazifel certainly wasn't in a proper mental state yet, or possible ever. He would never see anything wrong with Femi. He refused to.

When he saw his wings in the mirror his eyes widened to amazing proportions. He wasn't sure what to say. What words could describe something that was beyond perfect? He did the only thing he could think of. Kazifel turned around a hugged her. She seemed to like that, so why not make her happy for making him happy?

She must have been tired. Sleepy. He wished he remembered what that really felt like. "You should sleep, shouldn't you? You must be tired of doing something so amazing and perfect."

[The Jenn]

Femi didn't expect him to turn around and hug her, had absolutely no idea he would do that, and just about melted into his arms with a happy, tired sigh. That was a good reaction. That was the best reaction she had ever gotten from anyone, Doll or Person, for something she had done. Since he was a Doll Person, he was just that amazing. And he thanked her with a hug. If she'd had the energy, she would have squirmed away and danced. As it was, she just rested against him and smiled, eyes half-lidded, in a private little world with him and no one else. The darkness seeping in through the windows and the soft glow of candlelight only helped that feeling.

"You're amazing and perfect, Kazifel, and I'll never get tired of showing you that," she murmured sleepily against his wooden neck and soft, silky hair. "I do need to sleep, though, you're right. Since you like how they look, the wings are done now, and we can move on to more of you. I'll fix up those last little cracks and blemishes in the morning, and then start to get you ready for painting."

She pulled away enough to step back and encourage him to follow her towards the bed, burrowing into the soft material and against his hard body. The contrast was so wonderful. Then her stomach made a loud, growling, high-pitched squealing noise and she whimpered a little. Food... had she forgotten food today? When did she last eat? She couldn't quite remember... everything was such a blur since she'd found her darling Kazifel at long last. "Could you remind me to eat tomorrow?" she asked almost shyly, voice soft. "I... I get distracted sometimes, and I can't when I'm in the middle of things."

[Kari Muffin]

He would remember that. Kazifel mentally noted as he snuggled besides her that she needed food. It was one thing that he had also forgotten about was food. He had not seen someone eat for twenty some years. Perhaps it was longer? Cassiel locked herself in the lab often enough, and more often than not he forgot to eat. One day... one day he would be able to eat again perhaps? He wasn't sure if it matter now though. He had found someone who like him even though he was a doll, and she was going to help him feel again. Love. What did it feel like?

The night went by as timeless as it had the night before. The squirrel in his arms stirred, her stomach made another protesting sound. The doll figured now would be a good enough time to wake her up. "Femi," he whispered softly, "Femi you need to eat. It's morning."

[The Jenn]

A soft whisper in one of her small ears roused the squirrel from the fitfull arms of near-sleep. She had already begun to wake up but that sound encouraged her to open her eyes and blink in fuzzy confusion for a moment before things came back to her. Kazifel. Morning. Food. Her stomach protested forlornly once again and she winced, nodding. "Yes... yes, thank you, dearest. Food..."

She yawned a little and leaned over to kiss his cheek before wriggling out of bed and exiting the room for her kitchen. Did she have anything left to eat? She thought she might, if she hadn't eaten it earlier. Rifling through the dusty cabinets and dustier pantry, she was able to scrounge up a handful of nuts that hadn't gone stale and an apple that was soft but not too brown yet. That and a little water, and she would be set. It was a good thing they could go down quickly.

Stopping by the storage room on her way back, licking her fingers from the juices of the apple, she grabbed a few more sheets of sandpaper for the day's work and returned to the bedroom/workspace. Besides the kitchen, doll rooms, bathroom, and storage room, this was the only other space she had available to her. At least it was large enough to accommodate what she needed to do. She sucked the last bit of pulpy apple out from under a nail and rubbed her hand against her leg to dry it off.

"Are you ready for the long, tedious part that makes everything look worse before it looks better?" she asked with a slight giggle. Food always made her feel rather giddy, like a rush, especially when she hadn't eaten in so long. "I'm going to need you to take off your clothes again, so I can do it for you or you can do it while I set up a few sheets to collect the dust."

[Kari Muffin]

At least she asked him this time. He wouldn't be shocked by the sudden lack of clothing. He wasn't ready for this, but he didn't have much of a choice. She slipped out of the bed and began to strip. It was was just so very strange. Kazifel never thought he would be doing this for anyone.

He watched her finish up setting the collection sheets. He hesitated. He didn't like this. It seemed wrong somehow. A brief thought of Cassiel crossed his mind. She had worked so hard on this body and yet it had broken down so much there was almost nothing left of her handy work. He touched the J on his chest. It was over wasn't it?

The doll did what she wanted him to do. He had made a promise after all. One that he could easily keep if he listened. He just couldn't understand why thoughts of Cassiel lingered. She was gone and Femi was here right now.

[The Jenn]

Femi watched her handsome doll hesitate for a moment, tilting her head in thought. What made him pause, she wondered? Did he not like the thought of being sanded? Maybe that was it. "There'll be some dust, but it's better we get this out of the way now before I figure out how to make you feel again or it would hurt something awful. And I certainly don't want to hurt you if I don't have to."

When he finally approached and stepped onto the sheets, she nuzzled his cheek, unaware of his emotional turmoil. His eye was twitching a little bit again, but she chalked it up to nerves. She would be careful. She was always careful.

The sandpaper made a soft scratching noise as it glided across the wood of his arm, rather like a cat taking a bath. Getting around all of his joints would be tricky. She was just glad she had worked on these types of dolls numerous times before, even if they weren't Real, so she knew all the tricks to getting in around the balls without just taking him apart altogether. She didn't know if she could bear to do that. What if he fell apart and the life went out of him if someone took him apart? No way! There was absolutely no way she would risk something so horrible and devastating. She didn't know what she would do if he ever stopped moving.

All of this came out in chatter and speculation as she sanded. She always talked so much more around her dolls that it seemed second nature for anything and everything on her mind to come pouring out. She talked a little bit about what she ate that morning, what she liked to eat, and what she probably would be eating for the next few days (chestnuts) until she had him painted and dry enough to put his clothes back on and take a walk to her parents' house for more money.

Finally finishing both arms, she hesitated a moment before starting on his torso. The scrap of sandpaper moved to rest over his marking and she looked up at him, pink eyes searching. "This is okay, isn't it lovely? You know what you want me to paint instead?"

[Kari Muffin]

Her chatter was very welcome. Kazifel couldn't help but feel comforted by the fact that someone was talking to him, or at him. It didn't matter. He could here someone's voice and it wasn't filled with terror or disgust.

He watched as she carefully sanded his arms. He didn't like the sound very much, but he could get over himself. This was all for the ultimate cause of being fixed. He was going to be whole again.

Then she stopped at his mark. Something seemed to stop inside of him. He wanted to be hers, but he still had those memories. He once again reminded himself that Femi gave him a home, a promise, and happiness. The very least he could do was give her a smile and become her King. He had always wanted to become one, but he was never good enough for anyone. Until now.

"Yes. You can do it." He said to her. His expression was timid but sure of his decision. He would do it for her.