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

[The Jenn]

Femi saw the timid and she saw the sure, and she decided to go by that and his words. She gently bumped her head against his and whispered, "My Kazifel. Mine forever." Then her hand began its work and, in a matter of moments, it was as if he had never had a marking on his chest. Only bare, smooth wood remained. She looked at it and saw only potential, a promise for the future. Her future King.

Work continued, dusty but satisfying work, and her arms burned and her shoulders complained and she coughed and sneezed every now and again from all the particles flying in the air. Once things got a little too dusty for fast conversation, she switched to humming, a silly, strange little melody she used to hear some of the other children singing when she was little. She never sang it, didn't even really know the words, but the melody was nice. Her dolls seemed to like it. Maybe her Kazifel doll man would like it too.

By the time night hit and began to darken the room, she left for candles. This... would take a little bit longer than she expected. She kept forgetting just how big he was, even for a human doll, which were usually smaller than the bipeds. She wasn't a very big biped herself. Something about stunted growth and malnourishment, even though her parents tried to keep her fed as best they could. One meal a day was her standard, usually a small one.

Nearer to midnight than anything, her arms on fire and every muscle seeming tense and achy from the continuous, repetitive labor, she dropped to her haunches and breathed a slow sigh of relief. Dust coated the area all around them, but luckily it hadn't flown over to the bed. She wouldn't have to sleep in it, just deal with it in her fur and her mouth and everywhere else. That was fine, though, because she would be sleeping next to him. And now he was so much smoother than before. She forced herself up and grabbed the spare cloth she put nearby, an old towel, to rub away some of the dust. The rest she would catch in the morning. "Sleep time again," she murmured in a tired voice, forcing her body towards the bed. Sanding... combined with magic that morning... at least all of his blemishes were gone, all of the paint rubbed off, his entire body smooth and just waiting for a fresh coat of paint. The sheets were so very welcoming and she collapsed with a tired sigh of satisfaction.

[The Jenn]

Jenn and Kari both receive 2 tokens 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]

"Forever," he whispered in return. Before he could realize it his mark was gone. Lost. A new chapter had opened in his life. Was it good or was it bad? He couldn't quite tell yet. Things seemed to be going quite well.

Kazifel really had no concept of time yet. He watched it slip by. The work growing increasingly difficult for her. And with each passing minute he grew smoother. Still he wasn't quite sure if he like this idea of sanding. It was thankfully a one time thing.

He watched as Femi fell into bed, exhausted from the work. he couldn't help but feel bad. She was working so hard for him. He smiled to himself as he put a few of his clothes back on and slipped into bed besides her. He let Femi curl up besides him and squeeze him in her sleep. He really didn't feel like he slept but he knew there was time missing from when he stared at her soft face and from when he noticed a bit of morning light. Another day gone. Time was slowly coming back to him.

[The Jenn]

The squirrel woke up groggy, a little disoriented, wrapped around Kazifel's wooden body with her muscles complaining and aching like mad. Oh yes, she had definitely been sanding all day yesterday. The whole day, morning to midnight. Ouch. She groaned a little, her arms stiff when she pulled them away and rubbed one of them testingly. Ouch again. She was so glad she finished yesterday and didn't have any more hard work like that to do today.

Now her inner artist got to shine. She perked up a little, going from a small grimace to a sudden smile. She loved painting. It was always her favorite part. She had been told before that she was quite good at it and she'd gotten oodles of practice on all her dolls, even the plush ones. Porcelain was the most fun to paint for how it took the medium, but sometimes wood could soak it up so nicely. Primer first, though, oh yes. And then she would get to mix up his skin tone in a nice big batch so she wouldn't run out and would have plenty left over in case something got messed up. It had to be consistent and it had to be freshly made just for him.

Forgetting about food again in her excitement, she bounced a little on the bed, wincing, and then hopped off. "Do you want to be tan?" she asked with a giggle. "Pale? Pinkish? Reddish? Yellowish?"

[Kari Muffin]

He blinked at her sudden enthusiasm. He hadn't expected her to skip hop anywhere after all that work. Didn't that usually make people sore? He remembered when he pulled all nighters when he was younger to work on projects, he was never cheery in the morning.

"Er..." he looked at her. She was pale. He certainly didn't want to be that pale. And Tan? Er... what did she classify his old skin tone as? He was rather attached to his former skin tone, it was similar to the one he was born with after all. As much as he wanted change he didn't want that much of one. "Can I have my old skin tone? I think I like that the best." Hopefully she would remember what that looked like.

Without another word he slipped out of the bed and started to take off what little clothing he had on. He figured he might as well get started as soon as he could, she was fast when it came to gathering supplies. He paused for a moment and remembered something, "Did you remember to eat?"

[The Jenn]

Femi paused in her giddy wiggle at his questions, tilting her head thoughtfully. Her body thanked her for the rest. "Your old skin tone would be pinkish, I think, since pale is like the people here and you certainly weren't tan. So that means some white, some red, some peach... maybe a teensy bit of brown... I'll see what I-"

She paused suddenly. "Eat? Oh! Yes! I do need to do that. Thank you for reminding me, love!" She hopped over to kiss his cheek and hand him a towel. "I'm just going to run outside and see what's fallen off the trees, since I don't think I can do much climbing today. You brush yourself off more so you'll be ready for the primer. Alright? Alright!" So saying, she went from the room quickly and out into the mildly chilly autumn air, which fluffed up her fur. Chestnuts were all over the place around her house, one reason she had picked it when her parents offered to buy her a separate place to live with her dolls. Food was always there if she didn't feel like going to visit them for more money yet. She gathered a dozen or so, held carefully against her body so as not to spill out everywhere, and then returned to pile them on the floor next to her workspace. Plopping down next to them to eat, she looked up to watch Kazifel clean himself off.

"Primer first, which will be a thick, even white. Then while you're drying, I can see about mixing up some paint to match your old skin, and then we'll..."

She suddenly trailed off, watching his hair as it moved all around his body. There was... so much of it. She simply adored it, but the thought of painting around it made her eyes widen with worry. "Ah... Kazifel, dearest, could I ask you a question?" She hesitated, not quite sure if it was 'right' to ask this of him or not. What would happen if she did it? But the work would get so messy if she didn't. "Can I, ah... would you mind if I removed... your head? For painting? I promise I'll put it back on as soon as we're finished! It'll only take a quick break, and the mending for something that clean would be easy..."

[Kari Muffin]

Apparently he had done the right thing in reminding her to eat. He wasn't exactly paying attention to her color theory. It never really did interest him. As she gathered nuts outside he brushed himself off. Kazifel continued to do so when she returned.

"Never was fond of primer," he muttered as he looked to the locket that was on the bed. He would be subjected to plenty of paint fumes today wouldn't he.

Then she suggested quite a thing. Something that made his eye twitch viciously and him spin around to look at Femi. His head. She wanted to remove his head from his body? He knew it was because of his hair but. He head very much belonged on his shoulders. He shouldn't have to have it removed. He didn't want to think what would happen if it was simply severed. Kazifel highly doubted that it would kill him, he had been popped out of joint before, but his head... it belonged on his neck.

"I don't really like that idea." He hesitated. He was supposed to trust her. "B-but it might be all right." He said in a small voice.

[The Jenn]

Femi bit her lip, debating with herself. She had to remove his head. She really did. His hair was so fine and silky, which she would never want to change, but even braiding it and pinning it crazily atop his head would let some of them wisp down and get caught in the paint. There really was no choice. But how could she do it so he wouldn't look so sad and scared and worried at her, with his eye all twitchy like that?

She walked over and gathered his hair in her paws, testing how flyaway it was going to be. Very. Mrr. She let it back down and pet it, thinking. "Well..." she said slowly, "either I take your head off for the day and put it back on at night, once the primer's dried a little bit. Or... I guess I can paint the front half of you today? And let it dry overnight, if you stand there and don't move... and then tilt your body and your hair and everything the other way and paint the front half tomorrow?"

Biting her lip again, she let go of his hair. "That would mean I couldn't get to the painting until the day after next, though... and it would be two days for each side then, too, and another one for your head. I don't think I have enough food to go that long without visiting my parents. But I simply can't let them see you until you're properly painted! Oh..." She whimpered. "Maybe if I just spread it out... don't eat tomorrow, or the day after the day after tomorrow... it might last?"

[Kari Muffin]

Damn it. He didn't have a happy choice either way. He would have let out a sigh if it were possible. He just couldn't let her suffer. He felt horrible if he did. She... she was doing this all for him and he was repaying her with being difficult.

His lips quivered with protest as he stared straight ahead. The other options wouldn't do. They were far too complicated. He wanted to keep his head though. He rather liked it being attached to the rest of his body.

No. But. She. ARGH. Femi had already won. There was no way the doll could go against her logic. If it made it easier for her he simply had to follow it. He had to shut up that voice in his head that protested and let her fix him properly.

He let out a slight whimper, "Y-you can take my head off then. Anything to make it easier for you, Femi. Anything."

[The Jenn]

Femi watched his face, his lips quivering and his eye twitching. He didn't really want this to happen. But... he said okay. And he said it in such a sweet and beautiful way that there was no way she could do anything else. Cutting off his head would now be all the more special to her for how gracefully he gave in.

She gave him a brief hug, that whimper making her want to wiggle for how cute it was. She refrained, however, and reached up to cradle his face. "I'll be so careful, my darling Kazifel, I promise you. Nothing has ever been so important as my being careful right now. Thank you so much." A quick nuzzle to his nose and then she focused her eyes on him, one hand moving down to his neck. She caressed it briefly, and then focused her ability. A clean split appeared, his body straight enough that his head remained where it was, and she gently picked it up off of his neck.

"There we go," she whispered, looking into his eyes. Long hair trailed down around her hands, so very handsome. "Kazifel? Darling? Are you alright? Please tell me you're still okay... please..."