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Post by The Jenn on Mar 16, 2008 23:07:37 GMT -5
The contact was... remarkably comforting for Lior, especially when he hadn't been sure too long ago whether his uncle would live or die. As much as he always thought the man was distant and disinterested in him, he was still the only one besides Linda who continued to remember his birthday, give him presents, the only one who really seemed to give a damn that he'd been born. A lot of people tended to dismiss him in favor of his sister. He honestly couldn't blame them. He didn't present himself like Linda did at all.
And he couldn't deny the sincerity in Bernard's words, not with his ability what it was. He had still been stupid in his actions whether his uncle thought so or not, but the caring was incredibly genuine. It really touched him for someone to say that, especially this man, the one person his father had really looked up to and his papa grudgingly respected. "Thank you, Uncle. That... means a lot. I appreciate it. And I'm very sorry that you can't sleep." As stupid and trite as it was to say, he was feeling a little awkward.
Further mention of the boy made the feline wince slightly. "To be honest - and this is going to sound very strange, I know - his face almost reminded me of... Father's." It was painful. Oh, was it painful. That wound was far too fresh to poke. "He looked nothing like him in appearance, black hair and purple eyes, scrawny almost, but something about the pale skin and the way his face was shaped, something about his nose too, it just brought him to mind."
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Post by Nathalia on Mar 17, 2008 22:46:12 GMT -5
"Heh, when have I ever been able to sleep, by my own fault or no?"
He asked with a dry chuckle, honestly, he tried to lighten the mood a little, keeping his hand gently against Lior's scalp...the fact that the boy hadn't pulled away was reassuring, he'd been afraid he might run...
Bernard's attention snapped to the Feline fully when he next spoke however...somehting in the back of his mind knew that what he said was familiar...but how...? Torquhelm, Human, black hair...purple eyes...face like Serafino's...
He ruffled Lior's ears gently and gave a small shrug, trying not to move too much, knowing that once Lior left and the pain returned, he would be hard pressed not to scream...
"Strange...odd how things like that can happen..."
His voice sounded pained, just hearing his nephew referenced was painful...he had let them all down...
"But, these things happen...odd though...very odd. Lior? Just promise me one thing, ok?"
He smiled lightly and looked up at the ceiling...finally laying back down fully.
"If you do leave again...no, you don't have to tell anyone, you're an adult...just... Leave me an address so that I can still find you if I need to, alright?"
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Post by The Jenn on Mar 18, 2008 16:27:35 GMT -5
"You can sleep when it comes to morning, according to Lani..." Lior flicked his ears at the affectionate gesture, golden eyes coming back up to Bernard's face, watching him... injured like that, he had to be hurting, but the cat had no idea how bad it actually was. He'd never been injured like that, or even in a life-threatening situation since Khizr nearly drowned him in the palace lake several years back.
The pain in Bernard's voice mimicked the pain the feline felt now whenever his father's face came to mind. It was so strange... he hadn't thought he would be nearly so affected were his father to die, but he hadn't thought about it for very long either. They'd never been close... but he couldn't deny that it hurt.
"If I ever go anywhere, Uncle, I'll let you know either before I leave or after I've settled," he promised quietly. He had no idea where he would go, what he would do... the palace was home, after all, and always had been... but he had been feeling the urge to just go and see of late. He couldn't quite explain it, even to himself.
He watched the man lay down, the various injuries scattered across his body - his eye, his rank - and those were only the ones he could see. They weren't anywhere close to healed yet. "I just wanted to come in and... well, see you, to be honest. Would you like me to go? I can always come back later, when it isn't so late."
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Post by Nathalia on Mar 18, 2008 18:57:23 GMT -5
"Well, yes...I'll admit to that, though thanks to Lani, I often can't."
He said with a smirk, glad to hear a little humor from Lior, it was a step in the right direction at any rate...
"Thank you, that's a load off of my mind, believe me. I just don't want to lose anyone else, you know?"
He let the words fade and then shrugged apologetically.
"I really do appreciate it, Lior. Thank you and feel free to stop in any time, it's always good to see you, no matter how busy I may be. But...seeing as I feel as though I might pass out, you may want to take a rain-check."
He gave the boy another smile...he would spend more time with him from now on, if given the chance...he just wished he had seen it sooner.
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Post by The Jenn on Mar 18, 2008 19:20:53 GMT -5
Lior attempted a small laugh but couldn't quite manage to make it sound anything besides half-hearted, which it very much was. Especially with his uncle's next statement. It was just another layer of skin peeled away from that wound in his mind, which must have been so much worse in his uncle's that he couldn't even imagine. He'd looked at the man once through his ring and... hadn't liked what he'd seen. Not that he liked anything he saw while wearing that cursed but prized item that was constantly on a chain around his neck now.
He'd always wondered what made the ring-hallucination of Bernard cry like that, as he frantically dove through equally unreal books and magical substances, burying itself in its work to a frightening degree. He didn't... he couldn't bear looking at his uncle through the ring's eyes now. He didn't want to see it. He really didn't.
"Alright, Uncle. Try to get a little rest... I'll stop back in when I hear that you're feeling a bit better and allowing visitors. Goodbye." With a small duck of his head, he turned and quietly exited the room.
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Post by Nathalia on Mar 19, 2008 16:33:24 GMT -5
"Goodbye, Lior. Get some rest too, alright?" He called after his nephew, hoping that the Cat wouldn't sit up awake and beat at himself all night...hills that boy worried him now. His entire body pained him as he let his concentration on his pain ability drop. Clenching his teeth, he tried to stop any noises other than small gasps to escape him...his side felt like it was on fire.
The pain fell to a manageable level slowly and once it had, Bernard let himself pass out.
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A wiry form moved quietly through the halls of the palace of Hearts. He crept slowly, clicking softly every once in awhile as bone met with marble floor...it took him a full half-hour to make it to the room where he knew Bernard to be.
Picking the lock on the door was simple and he had soon slunk in and closed the door behind him, moving over to the bed he cast a small ball of dim blue light and gave the King of Hearts a once-over.
Varestes's face fell as he observed what had befallen his Highlander. Long fingers reached out to circle the empty eye-socket gingerly and then traced their way over the new scar on the side of his throat.
"Holy hell...who did this...?" He murmured, stroking Bernard's swirled hair gently and letting the ends flop off of his fingers back onto the pillow. "Bernard..."
When the other man didn't wake or stir, he gingerly pulled the blankets back to see if anything else had happened. His mouth fell open a little as he saw the side wound...and the mass of stitches in Bernard's' leg...the new scars all over his body...the bruises and dents that were obviously broken ribs.
What had happened? He pulled the blankets back up and pulled off his bone mask, setting it aside along with his taloned rings. Settling his head lightly near the other King's face and letting his bright hair spread out over the pillow, he stroked Bernard's hair lightly and continuously, murmuring softly in his ear.
"Poor Bernard...my poor, poor Bernard..." He whispered, nuzzling the uninjured side of his beloveds face and extinguishing the ball of light. Nuzzled up protectively against his Highlander.
He stayed there until he could see cracks of light beginning to shine under the door. Slowly, he stood, leaning down and lightly pressing his lips to Bernard's...the other man didn't even twitch so he did it again, a little more eagerly, stroking the man's hair again gently.
"I'll come back for you again soon...I'll keep you safe...I'm sorry that I wasn't there...Bernard, I'm sorry."
He whispered, before slinking off into the hall, pulling the door shut behind him and fleeing to the rooftops, activating his cloaking spell and hurrying off to the nearest town to get a coach.
[OOC: Xenon. XD I be ready for the Seth-Bat! <3 Just bring him in at any point tomorrow and Temmin'll probably be in there doctoring at Bernard.]
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Mar 19, 2008 19:25:59 GMT -5
He had assumed his biped form and patiently sat through a bath and thourough brushing, both of which he had insisted weren't necessary. After all, he'd bathed the day before, and nothing had happened between now and then. With as much fur as the man had, it was more than a pain to get it all combed out, and it looked fine as it was. But Heilyn had been almost scarily persistent in it, and filled with more than a little hormonal frustration, something that Seth didn't understand. His ears twitched as he made his way down the halls towards the man's room. That had been another issue, it turned out. The man could remember the path to Bernard's room without any trouble. He'd always had a photographic memory of sorts and had been there less than 12 hours ago, and as such he had insisted that Heilyn need not trouble herself to force her very pregnant self to walk too terribly far, and not up and down the countless stairs that seemed to fill the palace. Yes, really, he could manage. He could even manage to do so while carrying the things that she'd brought back. No, he wasn't just being cocky. Pregnant women were very scary and very unpredictable, the bat had realized. He hoped that this would be the last of his dealings with them. The bat hesitated outside of Bernard's door, giving the frame a precursory knock before poking his head into the room. Ahh, there was a doctor there. " Oh, Your Highness, I'm sorry to interrupt. I can come back in a little while, if you like.[/b]" |
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Post by Nathalia on Mar 19, 2008 19:42:38 GMT -5
Bernard sat up a little straighter as a knock, and then a voice, came around the door. He caught sight of the blue-furred head that stuck itself inside and recognized him as...Seth? Yes, Seth, from last night...Heilyn's....yeah...
He smiled and waved the Bat in. Surprised to see the man now in a Bipedal form, it was very well muscled...no wonder Heilyn preferred...
"Ah, Seth. No, please come in and chase this damnable man out, will you?" He joked, giving the neon orange and black Heron beside him a prod in the side as he said so. "I'm fine, Temmin, really. I'm feeling much better than I did yesterday..."
The Heron nodded, though he rolled his eyes slightly and packed up his things.
"If you say so, your Highness. I'll be back in a few hours, enjoy your visit, I'll just leave the door unlocked so that you can have more visitors if you want them."
"Oh good, then I can escape." Bernard muttered with a grin, as the Heron stalked out.
He turned back to the Bat, shaking his head. "So, Seth, good to see you again. How was your evening?"
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Mar 19, 2008 20:43:57 GMT -5
Seth gave Bernard a wide grin, appreciating the man's sense of humor. "Whatever you say, Highness.[/b]" he replied, giving the heron a wide grin. When the man left, Seth slid into the room, taking a seat beside Bernard's bed and looking down at the package in his lap. All in all, he felt much more calm than he had imagined he would, knowing what he knew. He and Heilyn had spoken... Words last night. Words about her pregnancy. Words about the fact that there was a possibility that he wasn't the father.
Seth hadn't been sure what to say then, and he still wasn't sure what to say now. He knew that they needed to talk. As it was, he felt extremely bulky next to the frail King, and he shifted somewhat uncomfortably. He still wasn't completely used to this form.
"The same to you, your Highness.[/b]" the bat replied, mind going back to his lessons in ettiquite. It was nice to see the man, if only to talk. He had been waiting a long time for this meeting. "It was... as pleasant as it could be. Lyn and I had quite a lot to talk about in the last few days. Even if...[/b]" he cut himself off with a small shake of his head. Why was he so intimidated? "Well. It's gonna be rough when the children come.[/b]"
Seth took a deep breath, clearing his mind. "I brought the things that Lyn brought back for you, I hope that they'll make the healing process less dull.[/b]" he nodded to the bag of books and other curious trinkets, feeling quite curious as to what all was in the bag. He hadn't taken the time to look. "And yourself? I hope you weren't too overwhelmed by visitors last night.[/b]" a weak smile.
Seth was awkward. How could he say what he needed to say?
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Post by Nathalia on Mar 19, 2008 21:10:13 GMT -5
The Bat came in and took a seat, responding well to the humor and causing the Heron to huff a little on his way out. It was more in his stance than anything...and Bernard could tell...and appreciate it. He smiled in earnest, and snickered.
"Poor Temmin, we all abuse him in this palace.."
He smiled and nodded, waving a hand lightly at the greeting.
"Oh please, drop the "your Highness" bit, you can just call me Bernard." He winced a little with sympathy as Seth explained some of his...more recent troubles... He remembered how it had been for his brother to deal with Lin when she had been pregnant, and how it had been to deal with his nephew, and he had heard about what Sekhmet had been like...poor Seth.
"My condolences, but from what I hear you grow to like the little morons." He said with a grin. "We also have quite a few people in the palace who will be perfectly willing to help you two out. I know Dymphna is fond of children, though if I were you I would shoot for Betsy. She's a really thick-furred Cat, a maid...Serafino swears by her."
He hoped that would help to take the Bat's mind off of the kids being an issue, there were always people who would want to play with them more than their own parents...at least as far as he had seen.
"Oh dear god, thank you, you're saving me from dying of boredom over infection, I assure you." He said happily, eying the bag, already overly curious, trying his best to ignore the way that the man kept saying Lyn. "I'm doing alright, thanks. I wasn't too overwhelmed but I could have done with maybe one or two people less. I'd do anything to avoid Gaston today, at any rate."
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