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Post by Lucca on Aug 8, 2011 13:40:50 GMT -5
 There was always a lot of work to be done. That much hadn't changed when Colin had become The Queen of his Court, except in sheer volume of paperwork. And there were very few Cards he could delegate to, considering how many titled nobles had resigned after the incident. Colin couldn't blame them, he supposed, although he'd often raged at them, scorning their weakness and inability to stand for their Court. As a result of being so busy and having so much to see to, it was far longer than the Cardinal liked before he could get around to attending to slightly more...personal matters. He needed to meet with certain members of staff and he just hadn't gotten the chance. There were matters that he'd meant to see to even before his sudden promotion. One of them, if he wasn't very much mistaken, was about to walk into his office. Colin made sure to double check with the servant standing outside that tea was on the way, and then went to sit behind his desk, forcing himself to look utterly composed. In truth, he was nervous. If anyone was going to support and respect him as their leader, it would hopefully be an old friend. But he'd seen rather too much to just assume. |
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Post by Kari Muffin on Aug 8, 2011 23:20:26 GMT -5
Ichigo had been terrified that he was going to lose his job. He had been hurt to an extreme degree, and he hardly knew if they would be willing to deal with him while he was recovering. Even when he had made a full recovery he looked like hell, and hardly seemed like a prim and properly presentable guard. But he wasn't fired, which was encouraging. Though he had found out very disturbing news when he had returned to the Court of Spades after his official leave time. There had been various rumors that the Queen had disappeared and a new one had assumed the thrown, it wasn't until he arrived at the palace that he had received a straight answer. Colin. Was it his friend? The description sounded exactly like him, and how many Villa Cardinals were around the Court of Spades? The mouse went through all the typical formalities to have a meeting with the Queen. (His friend was a Queen, that was a little terrifying) and he still wasn't exactly sure what he was going to say to the man. The mouse made his way down the hallway, though he could probably be heard from a mile away with his odd icy limb. He paused in front of the door anyway and knocked, awaiting the response to enter the Queen's office. |
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Post by Lucca on Aug 9, 2011 8:50:28 GMT -5
The minutes ticked by, and Colin sat as still as a statue, forcing down the impulse to fidget. It would probably result in knocking something off his desk or a number of equally embarrassing accidents, and Ichigo would choose that exact time to walk in, he was sure. It was a little bit paranoid, or perhaps just skeptical, but after the week he'd had, Colin felt he was justified. Still, he allowed his clawed feet to scratch just a bit at the legs of the chair beneath him; not enough to leave a mark, but enough to make the faintest of sounds, like mice scrambling around in the recesses of...
Actually he'd better not do that. He stopped his restless movements again, and heard...he blinked. That sound was familiar. It was an odd clunking noise, seeming to echo dully from out in the hall. The corners of his beak twitched, but he forced his expression into a carefully neutral one. The Queen could not afford to show such familiarity and leave himself vulnerable without knowing the situation first. He practically held his breath as the sounds got closer, and then came the knock.
"You may enter," he intoned, voice carefully neutral. In the moments before the door opened, Colin briefly reflected on the fact that he had no real idea of what he was going to say.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Aug 9, 2011 12:43:27 GMT -5
The mouse stared at the door for a brief moment after he heard the voice. That was the Colin that he had known before, there was no real doubt now. However, there was the matter of what he looked like now...
He stood on his back legs to carefully open the door. "Good morning, your Majesty," he said as soon as he entered, taking a careful bow on his mismatched limbs. A small part of him was screaming about how awful he looked, while the other part of him was telling him to quietly stick to formalities. Obviously he listened to the reassuring part of him and carefully made his way across the floor to take a seat in front of the Queen.
It took a little bit of time for him to gracefully take a seat in a chair. "I apologize for not coming sooner, Your Majesty I had a few complicated matters that I had to attend to while on my leave of absence."
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Post by Lucca on Aug 10, 2011 9:15:44 GMT -5
It was a moment or so before the door opened, but it was long enough for Colin to regret his neutral tone. Should he have been friendlier? Was Ichigo afraid that Colin no longer thought of them as friends? The half crazed thought he flitted across his mind to get up and throw the door open himself, protocol be damned, when it finally did open and...
By all the Suits! What had -happened- to the poor Mouse? When last they'd met, the icy leg had been the main problem. But now...he looked like he'd been through a meat grinder. Horrified curiosity danced urgently through the Cardinal's brain, but he forced his face to stay calm, his beak to curve into a polite smile with just a dash of friendly recognition, and he wing to brush out to the chair that the man was already making his way towards. "Please, have a seat, Ichigo. It's been a long time." That was an understatement.
He waited while his friend sat, forcing himself not to fidget. But as soon as the Mid-Ranger began speaking again, babbling out apologies, Colin shook his head. "Believe me, I understand. If anything, I owe you an apology. I meant to arrange this meeting much earlier." 'Possibly before whatever happened to you recently...happened', he thought, and it hung unspoken in the air.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Aug 11, 2011 13:24:26 GMT -5
Ichigo relaxed only slightly when Colin spoke. Honestly he should feel so anxious over the entire things--they had been friends--but the formal part of Ichigo always thought about rank. Not to mention Colin was now the Queen of Spades. The situation was a little different when dealing with Thyme as much as a tiny part of him wanted to have a panic attack over the fact that she was titled nobility.
"A lot happened since we saw each other last," Ichigo said as he bowed his head slightly. "I apologize for my appearance. I was involved in the incident that happened in the city and I ran into a former employer who had been driven mad with rage. Unfortunately she was a King of Hearts, and I was a overwhelmed."
It was better to be straight forward about a situation like this. He didn't want the man wondering the entire time why he was so horribly maimed. "And I heard that you've had a lot on your plate due to recent events."
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Post by Lucca on Aug 16, 2011 8:45:51 GMT -5
Colin noted, with the efficiency of habit, that Ichigo's shoulders seemed less tense after his words. It meant that he'd chosen them well, and he felt a surge of pride. Even with everything going on lately, he still had his training. His charms hadn't deserted him, and he hadn't managed to bungle and lose one of the only true friends he'd ever had. Yet, a small, doubting part of him couldn't help but add. Colin stoutly ignored it. He made a concerned sound as Ichigo went into his story.
"I am sorry to hear that. All the Courts were hit rather hard in those odd events, though, except for the Clubs." And why had they been spared? It was something that still puzzled Colin. That horrid man had said they were someone's responsibility, as well, so perhaps he had never made it there. But that was a tangent for another day. "I am sure you fought bravely, Ichigo." And he certainly appreciated the Mouse's honesty. Suits only knew how many morons thought they could get away with half truths, or even outright lies, just because he wasn't a Diamond. He was still a Queen with a long history of learning how to read other Cards.
Colin nodded. "Yes, I do. You heard what happened to the Former Queen Donalda, right? I mean the proper story, not all the far-fetched rumors." He'd had to go to great lengths to find out such a thing himself, despite knowing at least the partial truth already.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Aug 18, 2011 23:51:15 GMT -5
He had heard about the trouble in the Courts, and considering a King of Hearts had beaten to him to pulp before dying horribly he could imagine that they all had their hands full. "I don't know what the official word is, I just heard that the Queen of Spades had a potential incident in the Lakes before everything collapsed. But I'm only working on pieced together speculation." He said with an honest smile. "If you would care to enlighten me on the matter properly I would be grateful."
He was in the dark on quite a bit since his recovery. Ichigo could feel a pinprick of shame about it, but really he had a valid excuse to slack on current events. He had barely been able to stand, and doctors had been worried about piecing him back together. Literally. The thought was still a little nauseating.
But his friend was the Queen of Spades, and he should have known about that sooner. At least the man still seemed genuinely interested in being friends.
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Post by Lucca on Aug 20, 2011 14:40:45 GMT -5
Colin let his beak curve in a sad little smile. "That's about all I'm working under, too. It's all been a bit hush hush, but I've managed to glean the important bits." Not surprising, when one considered that all of the Cardinal's work as a Jack had prepared him for finding things out that others didn't want him to know. He'd become rather the expert at making Cards think they were just making conversation when they were giving him exactly what he needed to know. Sometimes all it took was a word, a laugh, a gesture...and they didn't even realize they'd just spilled their secrets.
Colin leaned forward a bit over the desk to get closer to Ichigo, eyes bright and intent. "They say that the former Queen of Spades...is no longer a Spade." He eyed his friend's face for a reaction. This wasn't exactly something he told just anyone, after all. Information was valuable, especially if you were a new Queen already fighting for respect from a few hard boiled purists who didn't like the loss of Donnie, who'd brought the reputation of Spades back out of the muck from which Lysarus had sunk it. He was no fool and he knew the accusations that would be thrown his way by Cards still confused and terrified by recent events.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Aug 22, 2011 17:45:22 GMT -5
It was nice to know that he wasn't the only one working on speculation, though that was a terrible thing to think about.
At the news the mouse's brow quirked a bit. He had met a young lady that had been born one suit, and had changed to another, if he hadn't seen her summonable weapons he probably wouldn't have believed her. Of course, it was still difficult to believe, and he always had his doubts about the possibility. However with the way things had gone in the city that was probably the least bizarre occurrence.
"That's...." he began, not really sure where he was going with the sentence. "Unfortunate for her? Unbelievable? If I hadn't experienced bizarre events myself, I wouldn't believe it was possible." The mouse gave a small shrug. What else could he say about the former Queen? If she wasn't a Spade any more she couldn't do anything to help the Court of Spades.
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