|
|
Post by Bee on Oct 1, 2009 13:58:47 GMT -5
 There really was a very good reason he was visiting the Court of Hearts. He hadn't really come since Dre and Iggy's reception (ah, it was beautiful! He loved weddings, they were like crack; sweet, flowerly, cake-filled crack) except to bring some pretty clothes for his siblings (Ira was always appreciative, at least), but it had come to his attention that a couple of articles had been left behind when his siblings vacated (in their own ways; poor, poor Se) the Court. And he was not going to let a good dress go to waste. It was not in his nature. So there was really no choice but to fetch it. He was going to fix it up and give it back to his brother, pretty as new! Perhaps with a couple more fashionable ruffles. He headed down the halls to where he thought he remembered his brother's quarters being. |
|
|
|
Post by carcinoGeneticist on Oct 1, 2009 14:09:19 GMT -5
Boring days made for bored people, and Apocalypse was no exception. Heilyn was busy dealing with Seth's pregnancy. Xiven was busy dealing with some rather needy infants. He wasn't in any mood to deal with Rhiannon, and he wasn't feeling up to getting another black eye, which meant Alaster was right out. How long had it been since they'd last had a visitor? What he needed - well, wanted, technically - was for some bright-eyed face to make their way down the hall, eager to see the sights he could offer them. What he wanted was sex, which was an unfortunate result of boredom. Maybe he'd go find that washer-girl. She was always up for a quick ride in the hall closet. The one benefit of the rapidly-cooling weather was that the smell coming from the rose gardens wasn't as strong. He'd woken up with normal hands and, thus far, had managed to keep them that way. He had them stuffed into his pockets - one of the small things that he was forced to go without most of the time - as he marched down the halls, looking for something - someone - to do. The sound of footsteps caught his interest, and he turned to glance down the hall. What he saw made him smile. Pretty, graceful, feminine. Such a lovely dress, too. Apocalypse suppressed the urge to smirk, instead slipping on his most appropriately helpful face. " Excuse me, miss, are you looking for something?" |
|
|
|
Post by Bee on Oct 1, 2009 14:20:22 GMT -5
Iphis turned and smiled brightly at the blond human. He wondered when he had arrived at the Court of Hearts; he was terrible at keeping up with royalty, it seemed to switch out so often.
He was very polite, though! Iphis was happy to see that the Court was employing such kind and thoughtful people as Kings. The normal scope of employees tended to be...like his brother, who was very charming and kind himself, but also quite odd, and his other brother, who had apparently been not so much "odd and rather disagreeable" as "utterly ax crazy."
Sad state of affairs. He tried not to think about it.
"Oh, I'm just looking for my brother's rooms...He left a couple things when he left, and I was going to pick them up. I seem to have forgotten where they were, though," he said, with a slightly embarrassed trail of laughter.
|
|
|
|
Post by carcinoGeneticist on Oct 1, 2009 14:29:55 GMT -5
Up close, the woman was even lovelier than he'd thought from far away. Perhaps she was a bit lacking in the chest department, but he couldn't fault a sweet girl like herself for something like that, especially not when the rest of her cut such a striking figure. All that white fur... It made his eyes light up, some remnant of the Bog love of white fur making itself known rather abruptly in his head. He wanted to touch her. Damnit, was he really so desperate?
When he thought again about how long it had been since someone had touched him, his eyelid twitched. Yes, yes he was.
"Your brother?" he raised a hand, resting a curled finger against his lip as he thought about it. There had been a rather abrupt departure of a good portion of the court, so he had to decide exactly who this woman was talking about. "...Ira?"
It was a guess, but an educated one, at the very least. The woman said "left", which didn't carry the same meaning as "was murdered horribly by my other brother". He was also confident that she was related to the family - looking mostly canine, but with some equine features. Quite like the ex-Queen of Hearts. "If you'd like, I can show you there."
|
|
|
|
Post by Bee on Oct 1, 2009 14:41:00 GMT -5
The Court had employed some very kind and thoughtful people. He hoped this Court would last longer than the last one had, and remain stable. Imagine what sane people could accomplish for the Suit! Not that he paid much attention to that sort of thing; politics bored him nearly as much as bander matches did, he was sad to say.
He had tried to take an interest, since so many of his family members were involved, but...His brain just sort of shut down. He couldn't explain it. One moment he was trying to ask who the new Queen was, the next, it was all ruffles and shoes. Some kind of defense mechanism, maybe.
"Thank you! That would be very sweet of you..." He trailed off, realizing that he still did not, in fact, have any idea who this person was, then added, "I'm sorry, I don't have your name."
|
|
|
|
Post by carcinoGeneticist on Oct 1, 2009 14:45:46 GMT -5
This was going well so far. Apocalypse inclined his head to the side, giving her a small and happy smile. He did like being helpful. Being helpful had a lovely habit of returning in the form of something good for Apocalypse, the man had often found. If nothing else, this was a much more interesting way of spending an afternoon than skulking about and wondering what he was going to do with himself.
"Ah, really, it's no problem." he said, giving the woman a bashful grin, a faint blush present on his cheeks. After a moment, he extended a hand to her, one eyebrow raised. Hopefully, she'd take it. Physical contact was nice, and would bring them that much closer when they walked. "My name is Apocalypse. And you are...?"
It didn't matter, of course, but it was nice to have a name to attach to a face.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bee on Oct 1, 2009 15:00:46 GMT -5
"Iphis," he said, cheerfully, taking the man's hand. He preferred hugs, but they had just met, after all, and this Apocalypse person seemed a little shy, despite his rather intimidating name.
(His mother must have been a little high on pain medication or something; he knew his own mother said that she was close to giving them names like "Life-Ruiner," "Monstrosity" and "Should've Been Aborted." Mom had a strange sense of humor.)
Maybe Iphis could thank him for his help by inviting him over for tea later! That sounded lovely. He did so adore having guests, when he could persuade Zeev to be sociable or otherwise get him out of the house--Zeev seemed to view his tea parties like a coming plague. But he thought Apocalypse might be game.
"Yes, Ira's my brother. I take it you knew him? He's very friendly."
|
|
|
|
Post by carcinoGeneticist on Oct 1, 2009 15:11:20 GMT -5
Hm, interesting name, to be certain. In some ways, Apocalypse felt it was almost too masculine, but that thought was easily ignored. Especially when the rest of the creature was obviously - undeniably - female. Once the hand was in his grasp, the man lifted it, glancing up at the white figure before closing his eyes and pressing a soft kiss against the woman's knuckles. A soft little sigh escaped him, the inhalation of breath letting him smell the flowery scent of the woman's fur. No roses, thank the Suits.
It was that sigh that did him in. Much as he would have liked to answer the woman's next question, his nose was currently having a small seizure, and his eyes started to water - painfully. It almost felt like his throat was closing up, his chest going oddly tight.
What -- ?
Apocalypse sneezed. Then he sneezed again, harder this time, enough to make his body arch forward, blond hair flying in his face. He raised a hand, as if in apology for what was going on, but then another sneeze caught him.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bee on Oct 1, 2009 15:33:12 GMT -5
Iphis's eyes widened in alarm; Apocalypse appeared to be having the worst allergy attack Iphis had ever seen--well, not quite as bad as what happened when he had strawberries, but exceptionally terrible. He wondered what was in the air that he reacted so poorly to--maybe Iphis had put the perfume on a little strong this morning? Oh, he would feel terrible.
He patted the man reassuringly on the back, glancing around for a seat or something that he could lead the poor bloke to while he waited out what appeared to be a miniature seizure. There was very little in this hallway, curse it all. He gave Apocalypse another worried glance.
"There--there there--why don't we get you somewhere where you can, um--do you need a doctor?" He looked quite like he did. Perhaps set him down somewhere and run for help--yes, that sounded like a good plan.
|
|
|
|
Post by carcinoGeneticist on Oct 1, 2009 16:11:30 GMT -5
Normally, the pat on the back would have been appreciated, but Apocalypse was beginning to feel a hint of blind panic. It felt - no lie - as if his lungs were trying to wrench themselves free of his body, to go off into the world and do lung-like activities somewhere other than his torso. He raised his hands to his neck as he took several failed attempts at sucking in a breath. His throat really did seem to be closing up.
It felt almost as though it was Iphis's closeness that was doing this to him, and the man raised wide, horrified eyes to regard the beautiful woman. Was she -- ? There were traces of purple and pink in her hair, he saw now. How had he missed it before? Had the white fur really been so damn appealing?
"Hrrrnh," Apocalypse said, somewhere between a whimper and a terrified gasp. He opened his mouth and sucked air in. Better. Much better. He just needed to get one or two good mouthfuls like this and he'd be fine. The coughing wasn't as bad anymore, and he finally got a breath in through his nose, a cooling wind making its way in through the windows and playing across his face, helping to soothe him.
For a moment, at least, until he took another breath of the cool air. Of course, there was another scent on the breeze. His arms twitched. Then they began to mutate horribly, Apocalypse letting out a crazed shout, every ounce of self-control he'd had vanishing as a second. "AUGH!"
|
|
