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Post by Spiderfly on Feb 9, 2009 20:00:34 GMT -5
 He'd been seated this way for a while now. His feet dangled off the edge of the bed, shifting uncomfortably in his soft leather shoes. Absently, his fingers lifted up, stroking his collar, before settling in his lap again. The cat was distantly aware of the shape beside him. Odd that the closeness of his Queen was becoming less and less of a supporting factor. People didn't believe him, though few openly said anything. Only those who were familiar with him, those that he wouldn't hurt. Not without need anyways. Gently he began to rock back and forth, eyes blank though fixed on the wall in front of him. A strange uncomfortable feeling started welling in his chest, his hand reaching up to fondle his collar, his necklace, collar, then back down to his lap again. Every few minutes they'd repeat the same nervous cycle. |
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Post by The Jenn on Feb 9, 2009 20:11:20 GMT -5
The ghost of Serafino reclined on the bed, more because Pravus didn't need to see him drifting through any more furniture in his current mental state than because he cared. A semblance of normalcy always seemed to sit better with the cat than proof of his insubstantiality. He had been watching the man fidget with some small discomfort in his own mind. Things had become oddly distant. Everything had, really, from his own connection with existence to his relationship with his kitten. He felt like he was drifting along where no one else could follow and it unsettled him, when he bothered to think about it. "I can't read your thoughts," he said in an idle tone, turning from his inspection of the pillow to look at Pravus once again. "What put you in this mood? Did someone else dispute my existence?" It had happened often enough. If the cat had brought it to him when he'd still been alive, he wouldn't have believed, either. Still, it was wearing for both of them, and always put the Queen in a foul mood. "I do wish I could still light them on fire. That would be satisfying. The Court has changed... so much." |
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Post by Spiderfly on Mar 5, 2009 10:44:08 GMT -5
Pravus frowned a little but stopped fidgeting. He looked towards his Queen and a flash of sadness passed over his face. His head shook side to side before he turned to stare across the room to his small side table.
"No . . " He frowned a little again before standing abruptly and walking over to the table. "No one said anything. . ." He mumbled more to himself than anything.
His hands balled anxiously at his sides before he sat down and reached haltingly for the pen sitting in his inkwell. As soon as he lifted it he began scribbling on the pad that always sat waiting. Several times he stopped, furrowing his forehead, before roughly scratching out what he wrote. After a few sheets his the ground he finally seemed to accept what was written.
Gently, he reached behind his neck and undid the clasp of his necklace. . .
He stopped. . he'd never taken it off. Not since he was a child, not for anyone. Pravus let it pool in his hand and set it on the note. |
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Post by The Jenn on Mar 5, 2009 10:49:59 GMT -5
Fino watched his King silently stress, wondering what had agitated the man so much. Normally he wasn't a fretter, especially not with his Queen by his side. This was... unusual. It wasn't until Pravus actually reached up and undid the clasp of his amber necklace that he felt stirred enough to actually move and go to see what had been written.
"I've never seen that bauble off your neck," he said quietly, resting one hand on the man's shoulder. However insubstantial, the fact that there was still feeling available to him through the feline was comforting. Or it used to be? It might still be. He was having trouble telling. Over the years, his grasp on his fondness for living had begun to face like a memory and he couldn't tell whether he liked some things out of nostalgia or actual fondness anymore. It was vaguely annoying. Everything became more insubstantial when only one person in the world was tangible. His moods had also become increasingly subject to flux.
"Why don't you tell me what's going on?"
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Post by Spiderfly on Mar 5, 2009 12:11:53 GMT -5
Pravus blinked down at what he'd just written. He tilted his head, regarding it for a moment. His golden necklace sparkled and sat upon the page.
"Xiven. . .
Sorry."
The necklace was for her. If he could do anything for her, he'd leave her this. . . Yes, that's what he could do for her. But what exactly was he planning to do? Even the cat was unsure what was going on in his head. He thought he could live with people questioning his sanity, but everyday he felt a little more off. It was like a veil was slowly falling over his vision. Like he wasn't really sure what he saw was reality.
He blinked a little and pursed his lips but didn't look up at Fino.
"I'm. . not sure."
It was as if a trance was slowly falling over him. He felt like all control of his body was gone, he was about to do something, and he wasn't even sure what it was. But he'd know when he got there. With a small huff he stood up, his posture oddly relaxed. |
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Post by The Jenn on Mar 5, 2009 12:28:18 GMT -5
Crimson eyes narrowed as Fino silently watched the cat for a moment, gauging his mood. Ultimately, he couldn't tell, which made him slightly uneasy. He'd been with Pravus in body for many years, and in spirit for even more. For decades, he had known this man in many ways, and the fact that he had trouble reading him now was bizarre.
The note was obscure and, had he been alive, a shiver of worry might have made its way up his spine. He was too disconnected from his body for such a reaction anymore, but he felt the oddity of the situation nonetheless. Why, of all things, was he leaving a one-worded note for Xiven? Along with... his necklace?
It was a disturbing parallel to the last letter he ever wrote, sending for the sword that he had commissioned for Linda as a present. Before...
...he died. His eyes opened a little wider and he regarded Pravus more closely. "What are you planning, kitten? What are you hiding?"
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Post by Spiderfly on Mar 5, 2009 14:06:34 GMT -5
Pravus shook trying to dispell the odd sensation of something running down his back. His skin broke out into goosebumps and he stared at the note for a minute more, placing his hand gently over the necklace. Even for the cat this was a horribly strange state of mind. It had been quite a long time since. . since. . What had happened the last time he'd felt like this? He slipped into his own mind, remembering the whispering of robes, the figure of his Queen returning to him again.
For all he tried he honestly couldn't quite remember what he'd been about to do before he'd seen his Queen that day. It hadn't been good though. And yet he didn't fight the feeling. If only he knew how much his disconnectedness mirrored Fino's.
"I'm not hiding anything. ." He finally looked up, his soft golden eyes fixing on his Queen's. He was real, or real enough for Pravus but. . it was starting to not be enough. Something inside the cat was breaking, and he didn't know how to fix it.
"I just. . I need to get out of this room." He said blankly turning and moving towards the door. |
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Post by The Jenn on Mar 5, 2009 14:12:19 GMT -5
Fino stayed standing, watching something go on behind Pravus's hazy golden eyes and wonder what strain of sanity or madness was running through the feline's mind. He wasn't exactly a mentally stable individual. Neither was the Queen, granted, but he was already dead. Pravus wasn't.
Not yet, anyway.
But was changing that such a bad thing? What would happen to Fino should his kitten die? His eyes narrowed and he followed the man as he headed towards the door, speaking behind him but not touching him. He didn't know what had or hadn't already occurred to him. "And what do you expect is going to happen once you're out? Are you going to do something dramatic, like fling yourself out of a window, or take advantage of the tools in the basement? You have quite a few venues open to you." Some part of him almost wanted to see it. "What are you going to do, my shadow? Follow me at last? Do you even know?"
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Post by Spiderfly on Mar 5, 2009 14:19:19 GMT -5
Pravus rested a hand on the doorknob and felt he first stirrings of some anger in his chest. At least it was an emotion other than emptiness. He let the words of his Queen hit him. Throwing himself out a window? Surely not. . or his tools. . he didn't know. Didn't know what he wanted to do, what he was capable of. Fino was making it sound as if he was going to kill himself but he wasn't sure that's what he was going to do. Even as he thought it, he knew that no, that was what he intended. For some reason the cat just didn't view it as dying.
"Do you think me so. . so. . " He couldn't finish his sentence, he wasn't even sure what he'd been about to ask. His hand tightened on the doorknob a little and he growled under his breath.
"I /don't/ know. I don't know /anything/." Pravus whipped open the door and stepped into the hallway. His eyes flicked back and forth down the hallway in either direction, suddenly confused. Unsure of where he was headed. He picked a direction and headed right, stalking off down the stone aisle. |
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Post by The Jenn on Mar 5, 2009 14:30:32 GMT -5
In his period after death, Fino had become more jaded and cruel in his whims, slowly losing what parts of his mind were attached to affection. Pravus was normally shielded from such emotions, at least towards himself. The ghostly Queen retained that vestige of affection and even love for the man, even as he drifted further from the physical plane. Still, sometimes it was hard to... care. About anything. Especially the living.
Word games had always been something he could use against the feline when he so chose, confusing him and muddling his mind until he didn't know what was real anymore. He very rarely did so, but the feeling of remorse afterwards had been dimming throughout the years. "I think many things of you, kitten," he said in an idle tone, floating after the man. He didn't bother walking at the moment. If Pravus turned around and saw him drifting half a foot off the ground, more the better for Fino's weird little mood.
"But what do you think of me? What do you think of all this? Are you done? Is it over? Do you have anything left to live for in this life? You just said goodbye to your... daughter. What more is there?" Distaste laced his tone when referencing Xiven.
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