|
|
Post by Satra on Apr 6, 2009 14:37:04 GMT -5
[Terribly sorry for the wait. >> Perpetual tiredness sucks a muse dry.]
Hadrian gave a slow blink, pausing as his eyes were closed, as she gave his muzzle a small scritch. He just took in the feeling. The touch was nice. It was comforting. It helped his brain calm. She was the right person to go to. She'd lived a long, full life... not to, uh, yanno... say she was old... guh. Hadrian was glad she couldn't hear his thoughts. He really did not want to be slapped again.
"Thank you," he responded and sulked off.
Radek just tilted his head. He was very much used to the attention being on him and he didn't like it when it wasn't.
"Okay, fine," he sighed heavily. Then he tilted his head. "I'm not hungry... except for candy." Oho! He was a sneaky thing, wasn't he? Surely his clever trick would work on a foolish old person! For he was so very, very smart.
|
|
|
|
Post by The Jenn on Apr 8, 2009 13:24:36 GMT -5
"You vill be fatter and vide avake if I give you candy," Anoushka responded flatly, nudging him harder in the right direction. "That is entirely the opposite of vhat I vant, so no. If Hadrian vants to feed you sveet things, he's more than free. I'll make you eat ten full radishes for every bite of candy. Or you can just have some cow to gnaw on. It's up to you."
Bleh, radishes. She hated the things. They were nasty and no one ever cooked them in such a way that she could stomach them. Surely the boy wouldn't like them either. One way or the other, she'd get him down to the kitchens and shove something at him that he'd eat, and then watch him for as long as her patience held out. If she could suck the energy out of him like some kind of leech, she very much would have.
|
|
|
|
Post by Satra on Apr 9, 2009 11:04:44 GMT -5
Radek's eye went wide. The radish rule was far worse than what Hadrian did as punishment! He closed his gaping mouth and listen.
"Erm, cow sounds good... yeah okay!" Cow was very good! He followed her down to the kitchens, bombarding her with questions the entire way down. "So, how come grass is green? Mommy said something weird and confusing about 'klorfull' and light and how plants eat light and it didn't make any sense. And how can I get a big mohawk like Mommy? I think it's way cool and I want one, too. And how come..."This was going to be a long evening. [bleh, a little short, sorry.  ] |
|
|
|
Post by The Jenn on Apr 10, 2009 9:29:16 GMT -5
The evening was... very long, yes. Anoushka growled at the questions in an effort to get him to quiet down long enough for them to get to the kitchens. Even if he just kept asking them and expected no response, that was fine. Did he just ask them to hear the sound of his own irritating voice? It seemed not only possible, but likely, especially with how quickly they popped out with no pause for an answer.
She fed him and then dragged him outside so that he could run around for a little while, occasionally throwing a stick for him to chase. It wouldn't work for much longer, but his attention span was still short enough to manage it. Her arms didn't much appreciate the force required anymore, which further aggravated her.
Hopefully it wouldn't take Hadrian too long to calm down and come to her for conversation. She felt antsy, not knowing what was going on when it could be politically significant, not to mention that it obviously affected the canine profoundly.
|
|
|
|
Post by Satra on Apr 25, 2009 18:43:57 GMT -5
Radek eventually quieted himself when she was just growling at him instead of actually answering any of his questions. After some time, he just walked along side her quietly, jogging forward whenever he fell behind her long, swift steps or when he distracted himself too long jumping and biting and yapping at shadows and random adornments along the hall. He never lingered long enough to actually destroy anything, just bite at it a little. after some time of not receiving any attention, he lunged forward and bit at Anoushka's binding.
After dealing with whatever punishment Anoushka saw fit to throw at the child from chomping at her bindings and after being stuffed with food, he chased a stick that was being thrown for him. However, the stick was boring and didn't lavish him with attention. Why wasn't this boring old person marveling over his gold markings like everyone else? He eventually went to harass her, ignoring the stick completely.
(Yeah, he's not going to give up... shall I assume she's going to thrown him at someone else to look after him? XD )
--
It took Hadrian much longer than he expected to calm down. Every time he thought he was ready to talk, just thinking about what he was going to say brought him close to tears. He stayed in his room and curled up on his bed. Ever since Radek came along, he didn't keep alcohol or a live marijuana plant in his room, but he didn't want to go out to the kitchen to get any booze or have anyone bring some to his room out of fear of the risk of them asking him what was wrong. He made a point of at least trying to make friends with the staff, so there was a chance one of them would ask.
He received some joy from watching Lady Anoushka throw a stick for their son to chase after, but that small bit of joy fell as he saw her getting progressively more annoyed as the activity wore on. He brought himself away from the window, not wanting to see how it ended. He knew he would be taking longer than she was able to tolerate the pup. He tried not to let it bother him, just concentrating on calming himself. He knew he had a small box with a single joint in it somewhere in his room. It had been a while he'd even thought about it. He wondered if it was still good.
-
The sun was setting. He'd sent Anoushka a letter requesting her to meet him in the garden to talk. He hoped he'd smoked long enough ago that the smell was gone, but partof him really didn't care. He was ready to have someone else there to talk. He waited patiently for her, just lying on the grass and letting the smell of dirt and plants keep him relaxed.
[My apologies again for the length and wait. >> ]
|
|
|
|
Post by The Jenn on Jun 28, 2009 15:02:58 GMT -5
For chewing on her binding, Anoushka whipped one of them off and gave his ass a sharp whack, glaring at him when he yelped and trying to stop growling long enough to tell him NO. She fed him, made sure she cleaned him up, and found one of his usual babysitters when all else failed and he didn't rise to the bark-covered lure anymore.
Gah. He was so exhausting. She would have been able to keep up with his energy just fine about... twenty years ago. The thought made her hunch and growl at nothing for a moment before she took refuge in her room. She'd been feeling far more achy of late.
She jerked awake with a grunt when she heard a knocking on the door and realized that she must have dozed off. For how long? She hated napping, but she'd been finding herself without a choice if she didn't want to burn down to a nub. Accepting the letter, she glanced at it and then made her way towards the garden, trying to work out some of the stiffness in her limbs from the impromptu rest. By the time she reached Hadrian, she was moving smoothly again. She sat down carefully with a few pops the only betrayal.
She gave him leave to speak first.
|
|
|
|
Post by Satra on Jul 12, 2009 1:55:11 GMT -5
Radek yelped and growled at being smacked on the bottom with Anoushka's binding, then promptly quieted himself after being put in his place. The shenanigans started right up against as he was handed off. Surely there was SOMEONE in this place that would let him get away with stuff!
------
Hadrian wagged his tail at Anoushka's approach. He curled up next to her after she settled, mohawk squished against her leg.
"Thank you, so much for coming out to see me on such short notice. I know that y--" he stopped himself from saying 'have been having a hard time getting around lately', "--ou have more important things to do." He took a deep breath, rolled over to his stomach to look up and her and began.
"I-- you're aware that I have a sister in the Court of Hearts, right? Well, a few days ago, her..." Hadrian's lip twitched in disgust. How he hated that man, "...boyfriend up and left and she left to follow him. Problem is, according to rumor, he's snapped and she left without her meds. She's... not exactly the most mentally stable person without them. On top of all that, she commanded to her summoned weapon that he stay behind. So now she's somewhere out in the world following some disgusting self-serving son of a bitch without her meds without the only person who could be there in an instant for her at her very whim. I'm... a little shaken to say the least."
|
|
|
|
Post by The Jenn on Jul 13, 2009 20:54:23 GMT -5
One hand reached out to dig in the thick Solandrian fur and scratch at the neck beneath, an absently fond gesture. Anoushka wondered what he'd been about to say before he took a pause there, but decided that she didn't want to know. The boy was slowly and painfully learning the delicate art of tact. She'd never been especially good at art, herself.
"Sounds like a right pain in the ass," she said with a healthy dose of 'tact', her hand stilling in its scritches before resuming them with more vigor. Unfortunately, it was the same arm she'd used to repetitively throw the stick over and over earlier that day and the annoying thing was feeling sore. It forced her to slow. "Yes, I can understand vhy you needed the boy out of your fur for a little vhile. That isn't easy news to take. You seem to have a pretty close family, though. I doubt she'll be able to stay avay for too long. Vith all of the Court influence at our collective disposal, is there anything you think that ve can do to help from here?"
She didn't have much invested in the family beyond Hadrian himself... well, and their sprog... but that was still an investment. She wouldn't offer her leverage to many people, but Hadrian was one of the few.
|
|
|
|
Post by Satra on Jul 16, 2009 13:17:02 GMT -5
His tail began to wag as her fingers dug in through his fur and scritched his neck as he spoke. It was very comforting. It helped keep him from getting worked up from thinking too hard about the situation. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths while listening to her speak. He could feel his chest begin to tighten and his eyes heat as tears formed. No matter how ready he thought he was to talking about it, actually going through with it was rough.
"Yeah..." he whispered. After a few more deep breaths, he was ready to continue, "Yeah, we have a very close family... And... if we can spare it, help in the search for her... I know we couldn't do a lot," he felt his voice faltering. It was his usual guilt for asking for personal favors, "seeing as it is Hearts' Court and not Club business. It would be me, as the least hard-working noble in this entire court, asking the court to use its resources for a personal favor."
|
|
|
|
Post by The Jenn on Jul 16, 2009 13:42:53 GMT -5
Anoushka could smell the pain, even if she hadn't been looking for it with her eyes. She'd never felt anything like this with regards to family - it wouldn't have been worth it - but she'd felt it about men, and about lost Queens earlier on in her career. It made her uncomfortable to see, but at the same time...
Her arms wrapped, one around his neck and one half-looped around his torso, and she hefted until he was sprawled half-across her lap where she could more comfortably dig her fingers into his fur and absently rub them against his neck. "Don't cut yourself short just because of vhat's going on. It's irritating and not like you, so stop. As it stands, ve can probably spare you for a little vhile so that you can look for the vayvard Hearts noble. It vould be a show of compassion betveen Courts, vhatever's happening in that godforsaken palace at the moment. And I coulf vatch the brat. There's an extra room in my suite, as you vell know. I could arrange things." An even bigger concession from her. It was a sign of affection even more so than the loose hug-headlock.
|
|
]