The intrepid explorer returns! [End]

[Shinigami]

Well, she'd heard all sorts of interesting things about the Court, like a new King showing up and making herself useful, and then getting pissy at Lysaras, and then killing Lysaras and becoming The Queen, and it was all terribly exciting, she was sure. She'd have to make sure to stalk down this new Queen and introduce herself (not that she'd ever introduced herself to Lysaras, she didn't think, but it was the principal of the thing, not the point that she was after. So she'd introduce herself to this new Queen and they could be bestest buddies in the whole wide world.

But that wasn't her concern right now, oh no. Right now Harlequinn was jinging her stealthy way down a hallway (though the jingling might possibly have been counteracting the stealth) in search of a certain someone. A very certain someone, whom she loved more than life itself, and for whom she had a boquet of flowers. She'd gone out of her way to stop in Kahmden to pick up the flowers - carefully spelled to survive the trip - in order to present them to her Dearest Vessatha when she returned from her latest job.

The edible body paint, on the other hand, she'd had to get in the Capital City. But again it was the principal of the thing, not the point.

[ooc: Jenn, feel free to bring in Donnie to meet this...interesting character, if you wish. If not, no sweat. ^_^]

[Greenie]

Vessatha was about to kill something. Two more cooks had gone and quit, despite her offer of a bonus and several attempts at intimidation. Damn squirrels were just so unreliable. Obviously she needed to hire more mustelids; she'd get more work done that way.

To attempt to relax, she'd gone and settled down in the library on one of the nice couches. Vessie had no intention of reading - she wouldn't be able to concentrate on a book - but it was quiet, and the stupid people wouldn't think to look for her here. (Why? Because the stupid people didn't read.) It hadn't helped when several librarians had come over to question if she was okay, if she needed to go to the infirmary (did she look sick or something? sheesh!) and finally Vessatha decided that from now on, she was going to hire mutes, just so they'd all leave her alone.

[Shinigami]

Jingle.

The sound was soft, though distinctive, especially in the quiet of the library. Quinn wasn't directly in view at the moment - or at least she was a little hard to see, which had made sneaking past the librarians easy enough - but she didn't mind letting a bell or two announce her presence.

Especially considering that the last time she had come up silently upon her Most Radiant Gift, she'd nearly been brained with a frying pan, and she really had no desire to repeat that particular incident (even if there weren't any frying pans in the vicinity, because she was fairly sure the Queen of her Heart was capable of making a weapon out of anything).

It hadn't actually taken too long to track Vessatha down to the Library, though she'd gone to the kitchen first. After that she just had to follow the trail of traumatized servants who were twitching at even the slightest flash of red with blue spots. Because it was entertaining, she'd shifted herself into a Kahmden, just to watch them jerk madly out of her way as she passed.

Jingle.

She crept closer to the reclining ferret.

[Greenie]

Was it Christmas?

Why was she hearing bells? Very distinctive, familiar bells, though for some reason her sleep-addled brain wasn't placing them. The ferret rose her head and glanced around, but when she didn't see anything other than stacks of books and empty chairs, shrugged and settled back down, her long legs gracefully curled over the armrest while her arms settled behind her neck.

Within a few minutes she was dozing once more, until the jingling noise seemed to get closer. What the bloody hell was jingling? Was it someone's idea of a sick joke, bringing bells into the library to disturb readers? She was going to from somone's ass if that was the case. The jingling stopped, almost as if it was behind a nearby bookshelf.. "Who the bloody hell is jingling? Don't make me rip fur out," She called out loudly enough to be heard in the immediate area.

[Shinigami]

"I would offer flowers instead of fur, my dearest one," she crooned, finally coming into focus and stepping out from her rather flimsy hiding place - an empty bookshelf that was open on both sides, so that had one looked through the shelves, they would be able to see her...well, not clearly, but they would have been able to see her. Her poor beloved looked near half-dead with exhaustion, she saw now. The poor thing; what had happened to drive her beloved to the ragged edges of her energy like this?

Maybe it had to do with the new Queen thing, and the reason that over half the Court seemed to be missing, and there were a number of new faces all around.

"I wished to bring you a gift from your home, my Bright Shining One. I saw them as I passed, and thought of you! I wish I hadn't been gone from you for so long." Her voice was the cultured, formal tones that she tended to use after she'd been dealing with Face Cards for some time. Almost shyly, she offered the bouquet of flowers, still rather recognizable behind the Kahmden colors at the Ten of Spades on her chest, if only because of her breed, her bells, and the floating blue scarf.

[Greenie]

Vessatha stared in exasperation at the otter in front of her, her surprise rendering her immobile. Quickly her instincts took over; she rose an eyebrow at the changed - but still recognizable - woman in front of her. "Quinn, why the hell are you pretending to be a Kahmden? The spots really don't suit you." She said roughly, her emotions masked by an expression of annoyance.

Almost immediately after, she sat up and launched herself at Quinn, heedless of the bookshelves around them and the excessive amount of force she'd used to propel herself, considering the short distance she had to go. Vessie latched onto the otter and buried her face in her neck, her sheer relief at seeing her mate unharmed making her speechless.

She turned her head to look at the flowers, a small smile sprouting. It'd been a very long while since she'd seen something truly Kahmden.. far too long. Vessatha missed her home region far more than she'd ever admit. She reached out and gently rubbed one of the petals. "Thank you.."

[Shinigami]

"I am truly sorry, beloved," she simpered, and the Kahmden colors and patterns paled and faded away into the usual crisp black-and-white-and-gold that she sported. She barely had returned to her normal self before the both of them went flying as she was hit in the chest by a Kahmden ferret, and her breathing was being cut off, but that was okay because it was the holder of her heart who was doing it, the one whom she breathed for as it was.

"I'm sure we can find a vase for them around here somewhere, right?" Her voice turned a bit anxious. "I wanted to get you some seeds for them so that you could have a window box to remind you, but I couldn't find any. I'll get some for you the next time I'm out that way, because you deserve all these flowers, and more. Even if you do outshine them all in your beauty." She offered the bouquet to her partner.

[Greenie]

Vessa relaxed her hold a tiny bit to allow the otter to breathe and was relieved when their fur no longer matched. There was a reason she had left Kahmden, and it had nothing to do with the flowers. Her hand trailed across Quinn's back and began absently tracing the wings she knew were there, though her head wasn't in a position to see them.

"There are vases in the kitchen. I doubt the librarians have any, dear." Vessa said with a smile. She laughed a bit as Quinn rambled about the seeds, then gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "The seeds are a sweet idea, love, but I'm a horrible gardener. Why don't we see how long I can keep these alive first?" She unwrapped one of her arms to take the flowers, and took a long breath of the faint perfume. Trust Kahmden horticulturists to avoid overpowering scents.

[Shinigami]

She chirped happily at the feeling of her angel's hands on her back, snuggling closer, careful to keep from squashing the flowers because there wouldn't be much point in crushing them when she'd gone to so much trouble to bring them all the way here and keep them in good shape. In return she delicately traced one of the lines of blue spots through the red fur, the line and patterns familiar as her own heartbeat.

"Oh, of course my ruby diadem," she cooed. "And if I ever do find seeds - and I will, because they'll be a lovely reminder for you - then we can always talk one of the gardeners here into taking care of them for you!" What a brilliant idea? Then her precious wouldn't have to bestir herself to take care of the flowers, but could still have them.

Of course, getting up long enough to retrieve a base for the flowers generally entailed actually, y'know getting up, and Quinn didn't feel like letting go of her Vessatha long enough to do that.

[Greenie]

She laughed at the otter's enthusiasm, then twirled one of the stems between her forefinger and thumb to watch the petals twirl gently. "I'll see if I can bribe one later. I think Donnie brought a club in to work on improving the gardens.. I don't know if he knows anything about Kahmden stems, though. It's worth looking into." She mused, then shrugged. She would root him out later and pick his brain.

Vessa just relaxed against Quinn for a moment, then playfully nibbled her neck and moved away with a smile. "I think the librarians would appreciate if we cuddled elsewhere, my dear." She grabbed for the otter's hands with the flowers in the other and led her through the maze of shelves until they were in one of the corridors. "Anyplace in particular you'd like to go? We should probably stop by the kitchens for a vase, I don't think I have any."