Something Like a Phenomena [Closed]

[Momo]

Ursula quietly padded down the long, stark hallway, pink eyes flicking from one picture to the next in quick succession. Ever since she could remember the venerable and renowned art museum had been like an old friend, and even though she hadn’t visited in years and years the fox still knew every exhibition like the back of her paw. There were changes, of course; the largest room was no longer home to the portraits but to confusing and somewhat irritating modern art, and she was unable to find the customs. To her left and right, however, were the bright colors and lazy forms of the Impressionists, although at the moment she was too happily engaged in a much less intellectual activity to observe them wholeheartedly.

What was so important? Well, she was stalking a Queen.

Wait! There were two addendums to that. First, Ursula wasn’t exactly stalking her. That sounded unbelievably creepy…in reality she was just harmlessly following her, careful to stay at a respectable distance (she wasn’t an idiot). Second, this wasn’t just a Queen, this was the Queen of Spades. Even better, the amazing woman was half-Yarrow; Ursula didn’t know much about royalty – she was only a measly six after all – but she wasn’t completely ignorant.

The Yarrow paused near a particularly dramatic landscape, with sloping hills and a clouded sky, but she hardly noticed. Her long-lashed eyes were partially focused on the first royal Spade she had ever met.

[The Jenn]

Donnie had only gotten a handful of chances to explore the museums available in the Capital before her rise to Queenship, and none since. She missed the culture. Living in the palace gave one an entirely different kind of culture, the kind that involved buildings just as beautiful as those housing regional treasures, but also political headaches and people always coming with questions and demands on her time. The artwork and objects within the palace walls had become mundane through daily exposure and she couldn't relax and just enjoy them anymore.

She had only visited this particular museum once before, the largest collection of art in the entire city, and she had been rushed by her family the first time through. She had only gotten to see half of the exhibits, and that was over a decade ago now. Memory of the place and objects had faded. It was like getting a first look at everything again.

Something had been prickling at the edges of her consciousness for a good few minutes now and she couldn't figure out what it was. It made the hairs on the back of her neck prickle uncomfortably, almost as if someone was staring a hole in her back. She wasn't as combat-hardened as a soldier, but she had come to develop a serious subconscious awareness of her surroundings in her position as the Queen of Spades. There was always someone looking at her. The trick was figuring out how hostile the consistent attention might be.

Or she could just be paranoid. That was always an option.

With a small sigh, hoping she didn't end up looking like a jittery fool, the wolverine spun around quickly and her eyes darted across the space behind her. Now, who looked guilty?

[Momo]

God, Ursula coveted her jewelry. She didn’t have the ambition to achieve a significant rank, but Suits she would like to live the high life – without all the responsibility, naturally. Maybe she’d become a nine at some point, she doubted that’d be very difficult. Then again, that didn’t make her a noble…The Yarrow shook her head, a little disgusted with herself but mostly just amused. She could be so vain sometimes. But those bracelets! How expensive they looked (and undoubtedly were).

Despite her magpie instincts, the fox made sure to keep her gaze fixated on a rather tepid still life of a bowl of oranges. Her nose curled up into a look of pure dislike. Not exactly a ‘wow’ piece, was it?

That instant, Ursula became aware of the fact that she wasn’t quite as smooth as she had previously thought. She had never been a spy before and had always been too loud for sneaking around. Take now for example, she was so pleased with the situation that she started to laugh, tail swaying back and forth. Yes, she would make the perfect secret agent.

But damn, what to say? She was a fair enough distance away from the Queen that she didn’t feel incredibly stupid and the bipedal Wolverine couldn’t possibly see her as a menace, but this was still pretty awkward. Nevertheless, Ursula put on a charming smile and dipped her lithe form into a slight curtsey.

“Excuse me, Your Majesty.” That was the correct title, right? “I hope I haven’t disturbed you.” That seemed safe enough. Did royalty still behead people? Melodramatic thoughts began to circle mercilessly in her head.

[The Jenn]

Donnie visibly relaxed when she realized the attention came from a Yarrow wolf who looked to be another museum-goer like herself. Between her region and her breed, she wasn't exactly hard to peg as the Queen and she'd become slowly used to more public attention as the weeks and months wore on, especially from members of her suits and realms. Even if they didn't know precisely who she was, the rank in and of itself was enough to attract notice in an average public setting.

This looked to be quite a pretty one, though. She gave the woman a smile of her own and inclined her head politely. "No, not at all. You'll have to forgive the paranoia. Apparently it can be contagious. Are you an artistic sort?"

She took a few steps towards the canine and glanced at the piece she'd been examining. Oranges. They were well-painted, if a bit dull. She far preferred floral still lifes. Orange blossoms around the fruit would have made for a much more attractive painting, in her opinion. "I'm Donnie," she offered in slightly belated introduction. Whether it was necessary or not, if the woman hadn't known who she was before then she probably would now, unless she lived under some sort of political rock.

[Momo]

Ursula’s smile skipped across her face and she breathed easy. She had always assumed royals were hotheaded – certainly not calm, levelheaded people –but luckily Queen…what was her name again? D-something…

Donalda, that was it! Well, luckily Queen Donalda wasn’t fulfilling that stereotype. She was a very large wolverine, and the Yarrow was quite aware of what she had done to win her throne.

Hell, she actually smiled, causing the fox to go weak with relief. Paranoia? Not all that surprising, considering her incredible position of power. Laughing at the question, she scrunched up her nose and shook her head. “I don’t have any artistic ability, if that’s what you mean, Your Majesty. I think that’s why I come here, to admire what I could never hope to duplicate.” She giggled and shot a glance at the oranges. “I don’t think I’d waste my time on something like that, however. What about you?” She was part Villa, after all, so she could probably either paint a picture or play an instrument.

“It's lovely to meet you, Queen Donnie. I’m Ursula.” She dipped a little into a graceful, albeit never-before-used curtsy. “Do you come to the museum often?” She felt like she was asking too many question, one of those things she did when she was nervous.

[The Jenn]

Donnie could have a hot head when she got upset, but there was absolutely no call for it here. The woman did nothing but pay attention to her, which enough people did on a daily basis, and the conversation seemed tame. She didn't get to interact with people often enough outside Court life anymore. She kind of missed it. The small talk helped her relax and think about something besides her suit.

"I play the harp whenever I get the time. I've never been especially good with the visual arts, but I know the basics. You don't have much of a choice when you go to school in the Villa." Music, writing, art... her school offered a course on flower arranging that she had taken as an alternative to some of the more intense graphics classes, but she had a solid grasp of the basics.

"Ursula? A very classic name. I believe an aunt om my mother's side had the name, actually. I think it means something about bears." She just barely remembered her Aunt Ursula, who had died when she was six. A very eccentric bird, older than her mother and in poor health for most of her life. She'd been the furthest thing anyone could imagine from a bear. "Unfortunately, I've only been here once before. I don't get a lot of time to explore the Capital. I've been to quite a few museums in the Villa, though. I would recommend visiting if you ever get the chance. If a type of artistic expression exists, you can bet that someone has collected it there."

[Momo]

Ursula raised an eyebrow, thoroughly impressed. Having only her animal form it was difficult, if not impossible, to excel in the arts. She knew how to play the piano a bit, but it was nothing to write home about. As for the visuals…well, her fingerpaintings had been displayed on the refrigerator when she was little, and that was the extent of her skill in that particular field.

“The harp? That’s exotic.” Actually, she couldn’t remember ever seeing one. She laughed at the realization. “I’m becoming increasingly more jealous of you, Your Majesty; I’ve always wanted to learn those sorts of things.” So sue her – she dreamed of the libraries in Esterberry but if push came to shove a school in Villa seemed like so much more fun. And more useful too, as she was never going to become a teacher or scientist, making an intensive Esterberry education worthless.

She pressed her lips together, containing another bout of chuckles. “Is it? I suppose my mother was always fond of traditional names, never mind the fact that her own name is Inali. As for it’s meaning, I was always teased for the fact it means ‘little she-bear.’ Apparently she had high hopes concerning my personality,” she added with a roll of her eyes.

“That’s too bad, it's truly an amazing place, but you must be incredibly busy.” She didn’t know much about what went down in the Courts, but she assumed there was too much work for jaunts to the Capital. She smirked and looked up at Donnie. “Okay, now I’m completely envious; I’ve always wanted to go to Villa, but for some reason I never manage to go anywhere but here and the Gardens. It seems like I’m stuck.” An understatement, really, but she doubted The Queen suffered from the same silly problem.

[The Jenn]

"It's not the most common instrument, since it's a lot more difficult to play with paws than with hands or talons," Donnie agreed, thoroughly amused by the conversation. "The schools in the Villa always take into account physical limitations, though. You'd be amazed at what some of the more determined musicians and artists have gotten around." Really, she had missed casual banter with people she didn't have to work with every day. It was very different, somehow. Maybe she would have to find a way to incorporate more trips to the Capital into her schedule, finding ways to incorporate work so she didn't feel guilty about it. That would be pleasant.

"I think Ursula was one of the names under consideration when I was born, but my father didn't like it and so it was nixed. Probably would have fit me, though. My mother enjoyed traditional names. It's why my sister and I ended up Estella and Donalda." She made a face, but it was good-natured. This was obviously an old complaint and had worn down from truly annoying to a comfortably prickly conversation piece.

She crossed her arms thoughtfully. "Stuck? You know, that's kind of funny. I had to get out of the Villa to start unsticking myself, and Yarrow was where I went. Then here, briefly, and then the Court. What is it you actually want to do with yourself? What's holding you back?" She was a very firm believer that if people were stuck, they needed to unstick themselves as quickly as possible. Going through life like a Corvistowne clockwork was no way to live, and she had little respect for people who were content to do so.

[Momo]

Ursula laughed loudly at Donnie’s comment; the noise drew looks from a few, more serious museumgoers. She pressed her lips together sheepishly and nodded. “That must be difficult.” Oh, to have hands! That seemed the main reason to get a biped form, as far as the Yarrow was concerned. “I know it was hard enough for me to learn the piano, so I can’t imagine how horribly I’d mutilate something as fragile as a harp.” It was painful just to think about. “I had a girlfriend who went to a school in Villa, actually. She started out as the most graceless person possible, and after a few years she came out a ballerina who could play two instruments.” It was then she had sworn that if she ever had daughters they’d be educated in the Villa manner.

“Yeah…I think my mother had problems choosing between Ursula and Florence. I’m eternally grateful that I didn’t end up named that,” she added, chuckling. “But it seems like our mothers were on the same wavelength. And I like Donalda, it’s easy to make a nickname out of.” How could you shorten Ursula? Ursy? That just sounded stupid.

She listened intently, surprised by how Donnie managed to ask her these questions without being disgustingly condescending. It was a nice change of pace. “It is a strange coincidence; I’m caught in the Gardens, I think.” She couldn’t stand being there most of the time, and yet so often there she was, for whatever reason. “Honestly…I don’t know,” she said and sighed. “I never thought I was particularly ambitious, especially for a Heart, but maybe I am and that’s why I feel so static, Ursula shifted her weight and furrowed her brow, caught between anxiety at her situation and the thought that she was a fool for making everything so complicated. It should be easy, right? Easier than this, at any rate.

“You know when you get so used to seeing life one way, it doesn’t seem possible to change the way you’re actually living?” She mused thoughtfully. “That’s my problem.”

She blushed under her fur and smirked. “But this isn’t a therapy session, and now I feel very silly telling someone like you my tiny issues.” The fox forced herself to laugh, anything to get away from that vein of conversation. “So, what is the hardest thing about being Queen, your Majesty? The one job that makes it impossible to relax?”

[The Jenn]

((OOC: Loud muse is loud and just starts talking. xD I swear, she's got such a big mouth sometimes.))


"Ah, the piano. It was one of the only instruments that almost everyone had to learn the basics for in school, regardless of preference or species. If you took an introductory music course, you learned it... and I can't think of many people who got out of those classes, whether they were writers or artists or actors or anything else. So useful, though. I've never regretted my schooling." It was a point of pride, having been educated in the Villa. Being someplace like Esterberry was all well and good if you were the scholastic sort, but she'd heard people go on about how they restricted creativity in many ways rather than fostering it and that just seemed the height of foolishness for an artist.

Florence. Wasn't that a gem. "Yes, I don't regret my name, but only because of the easy nickname. And I guess it sounds nice and official on documents, but really... eh."

And then the canine started talking about her rut, and it struck something oddly familiar in the wolverine's mind. "It took me the longest time to rank up from King to Queen, you know," she mused after a moment's consideration. "An old... lover of mine, she was a Queen and it was so easy to just fall into place as her little King, you know? So easy to have ambitions towards the Court as 'future plans', and imagine gaining rank as something that would happen another day. I think the relationship was what really put my goals on hold. When I got out of it, everything started falling into place. You need to figure out what's holding you back and get away from it, whatever it is. And don't give me that therapy nonsense. Shrinks are a pain in the ass. This is just a conversation."

She'd been happy in that relationship. Content, almost, especially in the beginning. That wasn't an emotion she felt often, not with her go-get-em attitude and her antsy nature to always be doing something. Looking back on it, she might have been happy as Sadie's little Spade King for a while, but not forever. If the relationship hadn't started going downhill for other reasons, that would have done it after long enough. Sigh.

"Being a Queen is a bitch because you can't really be anything else." She thrived on the stress, became motivated for the long hours, and loved the feeling of power and responsibility. But really, that was what got her. "It's hard being a Queen and a musician, or a Queen and a friend, or a Queen and a lover. The rank always has to come first or you're just not doing your job properly. That's where a lot of people have trouble, I think."