[Ended] Killing Time

[Kitty]

Osias was feeling restless, but he couldn't, for the life of him, decide on what to do or where to go. His studied had come to a halt for the night and most of the members of the court were sleeping.... which made it the perfect time for Osias to come out of his quarters. Even though he'd been here for quite awhile he still wasn't the most welcome of guests, or... resident rather. There were two factors that seemed to be saving him from quite a lot of misery, well three really.... his suit, his rank and the fact that Lysaras had made it clear to a few of her court members that she would not tolerate rotten behavior, but it still occurred.

The rat, who had gained a bit of wait since he'd been living here, was leaning against a far wall in an area he knew wasn't traveled often indulging himself in a rare treat, a smoke. He couldn't do all the things he'd done as a young man, narcotics were far to dangerous now a days, at least for someone in the position he was in, so this was the next best thing.

He sighed as he gazed up at the sky, it was quite a lovely, clear night and the stars were simply fantastic... but he wasn't in the right type of mood for this to be uplifting. What it really came down to was that Osias was lonely, and he knew very well that a big part of why was him.... his background, his looks.... his personality. They were distasteful... HE was distasteful... He wondered briefly how different life would have been should he have been born of his father's region, or even a mixed region.... which only brought him down more.

The little 'resident' in his mind didn't help, stealing his dream time for himself like any selfish little Queen would. Did he resent his son? Possibly. What bothered him most though was that people didn't seem to believe him, it did kind of sound suspicious didn't it? 'I have a song, a Queen of Diamonds, that lives in my head!', oh the thought made the King chuckle a bit out loud, what a riot it must be for others!

[Vyn]

Parvana had been adjusting nicely to living in Capital City. Crowds weren't as intimidating as they used to be and she was thoroughly enjoying living a life with more freedom. She did not, however, enjoy sharing the house with Anatolius and his random customers. She made sure to stay out of the house when he made plans to bring someone over or discretely left once he arrived home with someone in tow.

There was nothing worse than sitting in your bedroom and listening to your Uncle had rowdy sex.

So once again the little butterfly was wandering the moonlit streets. It reminded her of the night she'd finally reunited with Tolius, save that this time she was not being flung into a house full of crazy little kids. The world would never know how thankful she was to have no run into them again. This time, she also had a proper destination in mind: The Court of Spades.

It was late and the gates were probably closed, but she was curious about the palace and the trip was short on wing. When at last she alighted it was just outside the palace gates and she leaned up against it, peering inside curiously. The smell of smoke would soon catch her attention, causing the little Corvie to perk curiously.

"Is someone else here?" She asked aloud, voice soft but carrying in the clear night.

[Kitty]

He'd been about to either shove off and find some fun, or just go back in and up the stairs and aggravate himself further when a soft voice carried to his ears, feminine by the sound of it as well. It was completely foreign as well, odd that the court would have a visitor at this hour. His ears perked and he turned his head toward the sound but he couldn't see anyone from his present position.

He grasped the end of the smoke, putting out between his fingers and relishing on the burning sensation a moment before the scent of burnt hair wafted up to his nose, making it wrinkle slightly. He dug a small hole with a foot claw before bending down and burying the little treat carefully, making sure the ground looked as close to as it had before as he could make it. Now he was unencumbered and stalked closer to the edge of the wall, tail curled upward enough to where it wouldn't drag through the grass. He peered around the corner, his usual sneer firmly in place and then he spotted her, first the blue and then her. Aha, a Corvie.

He crooned to her, his voice sounding nice enough under the gruffness of it, if you listened closely that was.

Indeed there is, my little flutter, what might you be doing out so late?

[Vyn]

In the silence between her call and the response which would eventually come, Parvana found herself of the belief that her mind had simply been playing tricks on her and she really was alone with the night. If that were the case, then she could walk and enjoy the atmosphere.

Except, of course, that she wasn't alone and that a voice had very suddenly sounded from where she had not seen a person moments ago. The butterfly would jump slightly, spinning about with her wings fluttering in unspoken distress. That was really quite silly of her, allowing herself to be surprised like that. She had called out, why had she expected no one to answer?

"O-Oh, Hello!" She couldn't see the owner of the voice very well through the darkness but he appeared to be a rodent of some region and, for all the roughness of his voice, he seemed nice enough. "I couldn't sleep, so I was taking a walk. I hope I haven't been a bother?"

[Kitty]

He had frightened her, and that easily? Well, that certainly tugged at his more vile interests. She looked so.. .delicate, so... breakable. The corners of his maw twisted more, contorting his muzzle into more of a sadistic smirk then a mere sneer. He was, however, no fool and slowly began to amp up his Diamond charm. Years of practice with it had shown him exactly how much to start with and what integrals to increase it without, usually, arousing suspicion. With this card in play he edged closer and around the corner, his body somewhat rigid.

His tail, however, curled up behind him into an 's' shape, one that normally denoted that the vermin was content, which contrasted starkly to the rest of his body language. He wasn't feeling himself tonight, but at the same time he was. Lonely, but increasingly vile at the same time.... his mind was a sort of... blank slate. He had formed no real intentions as of now and his body just seemed to drift at it's own accord, it felt... strange, this detachment. Strange indeed.

Oh, not a bother at all, m'dear. Just don't get many visitors all the way out here at this time of night.

He paused near the gate, golden eyes regarding her more closely beyond their sickly secretions. Normally his perpetually running eyes embarrassed him greatly, but tonight they were just another thing on a list that his half-running mind simply ignored.

Tis awful late for explorations, now is the time of the vile, so they say.

[Vyn]

Parvana's wings fluttered nervously, uncertain as to the male's intentions. Worse yet, she'd gotten a good look at him once he came around the gate. He was a Lowlander! Her stomach churned and her body tensed but she quickly soothed her tension and forced herself to smile cordially.

For all that he was insanely gross he was also quite charming, which probably had a lot to do with the diamond mark upon his breast. So she continued to swallow down her revulsion until she could reply calmly, there was no point in being rude. ...Though she did have to wonder what a Diamond was doing in the Court in Spades.

"I would imagine not... I didn't even expect anyone to be awake." She laughed a little, smiling despite her underlying unease. "My roommate was being...rather loud." She shrugged as if to say 'what can you do' and went on. "So I thought I might check out the Palace." Vana had also hoped it would be somewhat safer to go to the palace, where there were guards, than to wander the streets. "May I ask what brings you here at such an hour? Do you live here?"

[Kitty]

He took in her fluttering, it was a most noticeable activity after all, and his smirk broadened. He loved that reaction while at the same time he loathed it. From his own personal experience he'd gathered that lowlanders were nothing terribly frightening, some had quite grotesque appearances, but really, they were generally low ranked and weak. Especially that canine, gods she still made his skin crawl. But, he mused, I'm not a thing like them am I? His tail curled at his own thoughts and he moved closer to her, picking his way almost daintily across the earth.

His ears twitched as she began to speak, and he rested his tail on the earth, smirking all the while. He carefully guarded his tone, letting nothing into except an underlying tone of humor.

Tis much better to assume that there's always someone awake, and always someone watching.

It was hard to tell if he was giving her actual advice, or if he was merely trying to frighten her more, but that was just his own sense of rather dry humor. to answer the rest of her sentence he crouched down a bit, bringing himself down to eye level with the little butterfly, releasing his restraint on his voice.

In a way I do live here, in others I do not. I have.... ties here.

To be perfectly honest it was the only place to date that had given him any meaning of 'belonging' at all. Part of that was directly the fault of a certain blue haired man whilst the rest was more something he'd gotten used to and loved as a child, his entire family, well, the entirety of it he cared about, were all spades .... and he enjoyed their company in one way or another. The way was generally determined by the who, and how they acted.

[Vyn]

Parvana's wings had slowly eased their nervous fluttering as she determined herself to be proper and polite in front of the rather...icky...rat. Lowlanders in a whole, weren't bad. Not to Vana, at least, but it was as hard to dispel myths and rumors as it was to ignore her parents old teachings.

She was working on it though.

"You're probably right about that." She blushed a bit, lowering her head in embarrassment before lifting her blue eyes to peer at him again. "I grew up in Corvistowne, I should have thought of that... No one ever sleeps there."

When he drew down to eye level, Vana blinked a little and then tilted her head. Unsure if she should be worried or not. He was full of mixed signals, making her body tense one moment and calm the next. Her wings fluttered again, confusion surging through her.

"I see. Well, ties are good enough to belong anywhere, I would say." Swallowing down her uneasiness about touching him, Parvana extended a paw to him. "I'm Parvana, by the way."

[Kitty]

He wasn't entirely sure what he was in the mood to do, or attempt to do, this evening and was presently just letting himself do whatever it was it felt like the moment it did. He did, however, enjoy the fluttering of her delicate looking wings. As much as he was feeling... off, he was quite curious and had never actually met an insect. On a professional level, she was fascinating, on a personal level she held a naivety about her that very much made the rat want to break her. He'd done it before, and my... .hadn't it been fun?

The blush was mildly endearing and threw him completely off guard, no one but that girl... Tamah? ever blushed around him and she certainly didn't creep him out. He completely missed the sentence before she stuck out one of her paws, or whatever it was you would call them, and he hesitated a moment before the gesture clicked in his mind and he took the paw in his hand. It would become apparent that his slender digits were nothing really, they'd feel very much like touching bone on it would be covered in fur of course, but his shake was firm.

Parvana? I am Osias.

He left his rank off his introduction, seeing no need to be so formal, plus the red K would stand out rather well against his drab brown coat. He was also quite impressed that she made the first move, so to speak, but it was also far to unbelievable to be anything more then a simple figment of his imagination.... right? And well, he had to give it props... coming up with a Corvistownian insect.... that was truly impressive! However... .she was very much real, the touch proved it.

The wave of crazed confusion ebbed down a bit and he was suddenly overwhelmed with a comforting sort of curiosity. He enjoyed everything about attaining knowledge and lifted his gaze to her wings. This time around his voice was completely different, almost... .shy? Very strange indeed, even for him.

Might I ... touch them?

[[ OOC: His muse in this thread is confusing me greatly... .o.o ]]

[Vyn]

For all that Parvana was crushingly shy at times, she was very much determined to rectify this and learn to properly enjoy people and company and all that stuff that Anatolius raved about. She'd gotten a few doses of it, but most of her friends remained as quiet and reserved as she. If only she could break out of her shell and gain a proper backbone, then she'd truly be happy.

Years of conditioning were painfully hard to break.

"It's a pleasure, Osias." The brief contact was interesting but she was pleased to see she hadn't abruptly contracted a disease or something. Really, his touch was just bony and even then it wasn't all too bad as it had been firm and steady nonetheless.

His question, however, still managed to throw her for a massive loop. Touch them? Her wings fluttered slightly as she tilted her gaze back to look at them. "Uhm, yeah.. I don't see why not, really."

The little butterfly nearly added that they 'weren't much' but they really were, weren't they? She was one of the few butterflies in the world and...well, it just made her all the more awkward with herself.