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Post by seraaches on Sept 6, 2009 16:41:55 GMT -5
Humming cheerfully under his breath, Ira readjusted the pack slung over his back. It was big and bulky and if one didn't know what was withing, one would likely be very. . . confused on what it might be. Two long and slightly wide items-- equal in dimensions-- were tied to the sides and their contents were the part that just couldn't easily be guessed. His ears flicked in the breeze of a lovely overcast day and he swished his tail from side to side as he waved at the guards and fairly sailed into the Court of Clubs. He didn't actually have an appointment, but Elias was something like a grandfather figure or an uncle or a very strange, kind-of old with a very scary face father. And Ira wasn't exactly unknown even here. So he inquired as to His Majesty Elias' whereabouts and would fairly skip off to find the man. |
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Post by Trebias on Sept 6, 2009 16:58:28 GMT -5
 Restless, Elias got up from his desk to pace back and forth across the room. He was used to being active, rowing, hiking, hunting. Most definitely NOT sitting behind a desk shuffling the papers and requests by the filthy masses. The only reason he'd sought the position with its bureaucratic nature was to help unite this Court with the Court of Hearts and consolidate the power that he and Whip had been seeking. Once he got the Courts as united as he could make them, garnering more support by valiantly leading the troops in the war instead of sending the non-titled Cards to die in their place. It was a plan that he'd spent decades bringing to fruition. It was a plan that was now in the toilet. Why he'd agreed it was even approaching a remotely good idea to NOT kill the now Queen of Hearts. . .he had to pace some more, these thoughts didn't do any good. What was done was done, and it would hurt his position even more if he were to turn Perseus into a statue and bury him. What he needed was to take his mind off of the whole situation. |
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Post by Bee on Sept 6, 2009 23:31:10 GMT -5
 It was really the first time in Ezra's life he had ever had need of hope. Most of the time he just didn't care about the outcome of anything enough to emotionally invest himself in it that way. But now--now, with his face hanging off, and his skin a putrid sheet hung over his bones, the only thing left of the real him his front leg--now he had a desired outcome. And that was to be whole again. His entire life was waiting on it. He approached the Court of Clubs very, very carefully, of course. If anyone caught sight of a Lowlander--especially one like him--he would be thrown into a lake. If he were lucky. He just needed to get to Elyse. Hadyn's sister, a reputable healer, the woman in whom he was investing his future. Any chance to do anything with his life. Any chance to see his niece-daughter do anything with her life. Elyse needed to be able to help him. |
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Post by seraaches on Sept 7, 2009 20:22:34 GMT -5
Ira's hooves clip-clopped down the hallways and even his steps sounded cheerful. Not that this was an entirely strange situation for him; Ira was notoriously cheerful at not always opportune times. Today, however, seemed like a good day for cheer. Elias was sure to be pleased, and Ira was going to head off into the Highlands and see about becoming a mother. Things were good.
The King of Hearts finally came to the office of his Mommy Dearest's mentor-- with no sign of Mommy Dearest, though that was all right. Mommy Dearest didn't handle certain reminders very well.
The stallion knocked cheerfully and pushed open the door, expecting to see the Josiggy within and terribly happy to see him. Everyone was happy to see Ira, after all; he was just naturally lovable and affable. Like Sid! Oh, how he loved that little rascal! He still felt a burst of love and pride whenever he thought of how Sid tried to save him.
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Post by Trebias on Sept 7, 2009 20:31:33 GMT -5
Elias picked up his staff, twirling it a little, swinging it. He knew better than to even tap anything with it: it was too heavy to play around with. He'd found that out the hard way when Odex had used his abilities to teach El how to fight with it. Sure, Odex hadn't complained, but the Torque didn't really TALK that much.
Elias looked up when the door opened, hand clutching his staff tighter. He wondered who would be coming in without waiting to be announced. Ah, yes. Ira. The name was still nearly a curse in his mind.
"Ira," he greeted. "You're in a good mood. Find a dead kitty? No, wait, I know what it is. One of your brothers or sisters got hurt, is that right?" El wondered if the sarcasm would be lost on the stallion. Sometimes he seemed smarter than he let on, but El was pretty sure that was mostly accidental.
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Post by Bee on Sept 7, 2009 20:48:04 GMT -5
The problem was he didn't quite know where to look, and it wasn't as though he could just approach someone and ask them for directions. Dread weighed heavy on his heart. He had never been in any grand position in life--short of his brief and perplexing career as something of an idol singer--but now he had sunk to a new low: skulking around the shrubbery, trying to find a woman who might not show up anywhere. He was closer to the castle proper now, having gotten a bit more daring.
Bushes rubbed his open sores. He winced. He cursed himself up and down for reading aloud from that ridiculous book. That nutty woman had warned him. But he had caught her curiosity. And now look where he was. He had gotten interested in something, and ended up little more than a walking corpse.
But...he really couldn't afford that kind of self-pity right now. He needed to find Elyse, somewhere in these maze-like grounds. She could cure him.
She could, she could...
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Post by seraaches on Sept 7, 2009 21:10:13 GMT -5
Ira smiled brightly at the older man, noting that looked a bit stressed. Aww, poor Uncle E! He didn't have a handy assistant like Ira to help him out. The King made a mental note to send word to Levi to get to the Court of Clubs as soon as he could. Silas was fine, but far too serious. And, Ira thought privately, far too likely to go along with whatever his father told him to do. He thought Silas needed a woman's touch in his life. Maybe he could find El a girlfriend. He let that thought sparkle about in his mind for a moment before shaking his head at the man's question.
"No, no, everyone's fine. Sid tried to save my life." He beamed brighter at this. He carefully pulled off his bag and slung it around so that the strange burdens were put upwards.
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Post by Trebias on Sept 7, 2009 21:36:34 GMT -5
Well, if nobody was hurt, it ruled out body parts in the bag. Well, techincally, it could still be full of dead kittens, El didn't know if Ira would consider them part of "everyone."
Still, what was the kid doing here? He should be trying to keep his brother in line. El hadn't seen Iggy or Dre, so he'd assumed they'd all been busy with that. Maybe they kept Perseus from homicidal rampages in shifts? It made sense. Not as much sense as not letting him rule in the first place, but at least they were being smart care-takers. It almost counted for something.
"So, is your brother less crazy than usual? I thought you had to keep him under a pretty tight leash." The thought occurred to El that Ira might be trying to rule the Court of Hearts through his supposedly easily controlled brother. Was he cagey enough for that?
"What do you want?"
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Post by Bee on Sept 7, 2009 22:43:58 GMT -5
For a moment, Ezra thought he saw a flash of black and blue, which was what he had been told Elyse looked like. He followed it, closer and closer still to the castle, but it wasn't her. It was male, for one thing, small, neither a cat nor a rodent, and probably little more than a servant. It also, he realized, did not have ivy trailing all over it. Another small failure.
And now he was closer to people than he would've liked. He saw guards. He saw people roaming about. Any one of them could see a suspicious, skeletal streak of brown against the green of the landscape and into the lake he'd go. He shrunk back into the shrubs, against a wall. Brown on brown. Better.
He hoped no one would pick up on his smell. He doubted flowers would mask the scent of putrification.
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Post by seraaches on Sept 7, 2009 22:57:36 GMT -5
Ira was working on untying one of the long, large items that still seemed horribly bulky, really. "Se is the best he's been in a long time," the King said cheerfully, if in a slightly abstracted tone. "Aha!" The bundle finally came loose from the pack.
He beamed up at the man yet again as he rose to his full height, thus causing him to tower over the human form. "I'm here because I brought you a present!" He was obviously more than a little excited about this.
He carried over to the desk-- still bundled up-- and laid it almost reverentially on top of the paperwork there. A few straps kept it all covered, but Ira had placed them on the top so they were easily accessible. "Ta-da!" he exclaimed cheerfully, stepping back to his pack and throwing it easily back over his shoulder. He waited expectantly, however, for El to open it.
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