((Author's Note: This was probably the easiest chapter for me to write.
The dynamics between Corrine and Magus are always fairly easy to write.
This is the first time they ever looked upon each other. And that look
will take them through several ages, several books. But I digress.
Enjoy.))
Chapter Seven
"Never put my trust in fate,
Surprises do arrive so late.
Why should I be surprised by you."
-Arcadia, The Flame
~* How long have I been in the cabin for? *~ Magus wondered to himself when he finally dragged his eyes away from the large tome that rested on his lap, the words had ceased to be and in their place comprehension had chosen to infiltrate his mind. When he became absorbed in something, the passage of time eluded him, hours and days became one and the same and he would of been none the wiser against their tricks. Candles lit around the spacious quarters flickered in some eerie dance and cast shadows that reached into the utmost corners yet for all that it provided him with enough illumination that he needed should he choose to read.
However once his concentration flickered out like a proverbial candle, he couldn't summoun it back just like that. After all it was his body's way of telling him that he needed to move on to something new else he burn himself out. He pronounced himself a lost cause and got up from his comfortable wing chair, walking over to his desk with lazy lawn coupled by a feline-like stretch toward the ceiling. A hungry rumbling he felt in his stomach and knew it was soon time to eat but while he was hungry he was reluctant to sit at the same table with Toma's little virgin and be the courteous host.. sociable was sorely pushing his limit he had told Toma earlier this afternoon. To put it plainly, the prospect held little appeal to Magus, he was of the mind to cancel his presence at dinner. They certainly wouldn't miss him and it would no doubt be a more pleasant atmosphere for the girl, however just as Toma had been honor bound to ask the girl, so he was similarly tied to act the host. For anyone else he would have broken the promise long since, this was Toma though and he couldn't revoke his word to the man that he considered his best friend.
His mind drifted back to his and Toma's meeting here in the the office a few hours back. Oh, how pathetic Toma had looked sitting there in the wing chair beside the fire, refusing to speak save for the barest necessities. Magus was of an opinion that Toma was just doing it to make him feel sorry for him but he said nothing, just lent a listening ear in case Toma wanted to vent. Sympathetic he knew he could not entirely be, after all there was a great deal of hidden mockery mirroring the surface of his thoughts and had he chosen to air them out, likely Toma would of never spoken to him again. Sometimes it was wiser to keep the mouth shut, remaining taciturn in given situations, that never hurt one.
Misgivings still hovered in Magus' mind fed by an overly active imagination. All the female archetypes that he detested came back to step on his nerves and haunt him before the actual meeting took place. Oh ~*gods I hope she is not a bubble head, might as well give me a sword to run myself through with*~ Magus thought as his stomach took a turn downward at the thought of trying to converse with a woman capable of no rational thought. ~*Or maybe the domineering type, bossy to a fault. If she tries to run my household I swear I will have words with her, and none of them pleasant*~ He put her into both categories in his mind and sincerely hoped she was wise enough not to speak as well as keep out of his affairs.
That did it, he did not want to go to dinner despite the fact that Slash had put on the menu all of his favorite dishes. ~*Would food be enough to tolerate sitting through an hour of gods knew what?*~ Very carefully he weighed the options in his mind and came to the calculated conclusion that it might not be possible. Easily he could make his excuses and plead a headache, the girl would still exist when they arrived at the fortress. Only then he would begin to play the extremely reluctant host however for right now he needed another evening of total solitude without interruptions from -anyone-.
He reached toward the bellpull that was put at the right hand side of his desk and gave it a swift tug. It was designed to sound in Ozzie and Slash's quarters to notify them that he required of their presence. And so he waited.
And he waited some more.
After a while he tugged the bellpull again, this time a bit roughly.
There was still no response.
To say that he was angry was a lie, he had been angry after the second pull. Being ignored by his servants was icing on the cake and it could be said that now he was in a controlled albeit seething rage. Mad enough to not stop at dark mattering Ozzie but Slash as well. Magus pushed himself up from his desk accompanied by a harsh growl of impatience. He did not think it was over-reacting, it was service that he was expecting. ~*And service I will damn well get!*~ the slamming of his cabin door punctuated that thought adequately.
Due to the heat of his anger he barely felt the wave of coldness that hit his skin once he stepped out into the dusky evening. The sun had set only a few moments before so there was still a lingering bit of light embraced by the sky. Such beauty of nature was lost on him as he searched around the deck for the something to yell at, no doubt he would of yelled at Toma had he seen him up here, or at least given him a scathing look to end all looks.
His hands clenched at their respective sides and he walked to the railing to look out over the sea, such a gesture of reflection marred by the minor annoyance etched on his visage. To tbe best of his knowledge, Ozzie could not swim and he could picture that Ozzie probably did something incredibly stupid and then Slash jumped in to save him. Ozzie in his hysterica could of dragged Slash to a watery grave, the blackest part of his already morbid mind thought out that possibility. It did seem viable to him and it cooled down his anger just a little bit.
A bubble of laughter echoing in the air broke through the web of his thoughts, startling him just a bit. Hearing Ozzie's familar guffaw sent a derisive smirk to play across his lips and it took all the willpower within him not to turn around and throw a Dark Matter at Ozzie out of the blue. Poise was in his form as he slowly spun on his hells and walked in the general direction of such a racket. Inwardly he was cataloging through the various spells that he had stored up in his memorized repertoire but he wouldn't let anyone else guess that judging from the impassive expression on his face.
He peered over the railing as his eyes zero'd in on Ozzie instinctively. The fat green blob was hard to miss despite the white robes that blended in neatly with the immaculate drifts of snow. ~*What is that he is holding, a snowball? Is that a grin on his face?*~ Magus thought incredulously as his eyes narrowed. ~*This isn't playtime, gods does it look like I run a nursery?*~ He thought to himself as he saw Slash standing there as well. It was no surprise that Slash had taken a less active role, chosing to stand there and watch silently, his arms folded across his chest and a strangely unfamiliar smile playing over his lips.
Never had Magus seen a smile on Slash's face nor was he ever so eager to be out associating with humans. ~*Have I gone mad?*~ Magus was inclined to wonder but he couldn't drag his eyes away from this tableaux of merrymaking that lay within his line of vision. There was Toma kneeling down on the ground, packing a huge snowball together between his hands. Laughter lurked in his eyes, the kind of laughter that in a small way Magus was envious of. When had Toma ever taken to sporting around with Ozzie and Slash? Usually Ozzie and Toma treated each other with hotly biting words but not now, now there was a truce of sorts. Toma threw the snowball and it went hurtling through the air in the direction of Ozzie, it missed its mark and landed a few feet away from the large green headed target.
"Proof that you have bad aim, Toma. I always knew it." A lilting female's voice rose above the rest of the clatter and shouts between Ozzie and Toma. It was a siren's voice, soft and melodious, enough to stop Magus' heart for the span of a moment and cause him to realize that he had a heart to begin with. ~*Toma's virgin..*~ Magus thought as he turned his scrutiny to her with interest. No longer did he remember his purpose for coming outside, so lost was he in the observation of these people that he barely even knew.
"I don't have bad aim." Toma pouted as he ducked to gather more snow.
Magus saw a voluminous black cloak, covering the girl so well that her features were not easily percieved. Granted a few tendrils of whispy snow silver hair pekeed out from under the hood and a glimmer of a clear complexion that was flushed with exertion were all that he could make out. Lurking in him though was a otherworldly desire to see her, hear her, find out for himself if she was indeed as beautiful as Toma made her out to be, all these numerous thoughts from merely hearing her voice. Such thoughts he tried to shove aside.
Corrine glanced up toward the skip and immediately Magus' own brown eyes clashed with vivid purple depths that he likened to the knowing shine of age old amethysts and for a moment he had the impulse to step back from such a forcefully mystic quality. He knew his answer quite instantly, Corrine was indeed well deserving of all Toma's lauds. His hands gripped the railing til the knuckles turned white and he didn't even realize that he was doing it. Ever fiber of his mind was cast upon the woman standing there and he was helpless to do anything -but- stare.
Softly, enigmatically she smiled and a magic passed between them, heightened by the winter wind that blew gently through her cloak and his chameleon hair. Magus dared not smile though he had the unnerving urge to do so. ~*How can she look so completely guileless?*~ Magus wondered and for a sweet moment, he forgot his past, forgot that she even knew anything about him, he even forgot what was to be in the near future. He was a man, and she was a woman and that was all that mattered.
Toma saw the way they held each other in their gaze and he dropped the snowball that he had started to pack. It crumpled to the ground in much the same fashion as his heart did. If there was only two things which he recognized, it was the frank look of admiration in Corrine's eyes and the enigmatic expression that Magus wore when he was trying to appear uninterested. Every chance he thought he had went up in a smoky haze of yesterday, for if nothing happened now.. it would eventually. After that he would be shut out from both of them.
Fleeting as it was, an idea flashed through his mind as he grasped up a few handfulls of powdery snow and shaped it into a soft sphere. The jealous suitor in him wanted to break that eye contact and somehow prevent what he saw as inevitable He aimed the snowball at Corrine and then let go, throwing it not so hard to hurt her but not so softly that it would land before hitting its destined mark.
Ozzie saw Toma's hand spring out to throw it and he toddled over as fast as he could in order to take the hit for Corrine. Magus thought that perhaps it was so that Ozzie could win a few brownie points in Corrine's favor but he kept his musings deep inside his head where they rightly belonged.
"I will save you, Lady Corrine!" Ozzie called out as he threw himself in front of the snowball and then fell to the ground with a resounding thud that closely resembled a little earthquake. Perhaps a bit of dramatics were employed but that was only to get extra kisses and cuddles. Sure as hell he was not aware of the mixed vibes that radiated from Toma, Magus or Corrine but that could no doubt be attributed to the fact that he was a largely self centered monster. "Owww.."
Corrine and Magus did break eye contact at the sound of Ozzie's advent and eventual crash. She immediately fell to the snowy floor beside Ozzie and peered down at him and then her hand reached over to brush off the a shimmer of snowy fluff from his nose, causing him to sneeze.
"Are you alright?" Corrine inquired with the utmost concern showing in her voice. "You really shouldn't of dived for that. It was just a silly little snowball."
"Awww my head hurts. Can you please kiss it better?" Ozzie asked with wide golden puppy eyes.
There was nothing for Corrine to do but drop a light kiss down onto Ozzie's shiny emerald head. She accompanied it by a soft laugh. "Is that better?"
"Uhuh."
Magus had smiled just a bit when he saw Ozzie get hit by a snowball however soon the smile wore away to be replaced with a look of extreme puzzlement at Ozzie's obviously lovesick behavior.. ~*What spell did this girl put my minions under?*~ Magus pondered, watching normally reclusive Slash appear at her side to offer his own help. These proceedings were given extreme scrutiny and yet he seasoned it with his own brand of disinterest.
One thing became clear.
He wasn't going to miss dinner.
Nothing short of his death could keep him away.
The dynamics between Corrine and Magus are always fairly easy to write.
This is the first time they ever looked upon each other. And that look
will take them through several ages, several books. But I digress.
Enjoy.))
Chapter Seven
"Never put my trust in fate,
Surprises do arrive so late.
Why should I be surprised by you."
-Arcadia, The Flame
~* How long have I been in the cabin for? *~ Magus wondered to himself when he finally dragged his eyes away from the large tome that rested on his lap, the words had ceased to be and in their place comprehension had chosen to infiltrate his mind. When he became absorbed in something, the passage of time eluded him, hours and days became one and the same and he would of been none the wiser against their tricks. Candles lit around the spacious quarters flickered in some eerie dance and cast shadows that reached into the utmost corners yet for all that it provided him with enough illumination that he needed should he choose to read.
However once his concentration flickered out like a proverbial candle, he couldn't summoun it back just like that. After all it was his body's way of telling him that he needed to move on to something new else he burn himself out. He pronounced himself a lost cause and got up from his comfortable wing chair, walking over to his desk with lazy lawn coupled by a feline-like stretch toward the ceiling. A hungry rumbling he felt in his stomach and knew it was soon time to eat but while he was hungry he was reluctant to sit at the same table with Toma's little virgin and be the courteous host.. sociable was sorely pushing his limit he had told Toma earlier this afternoon. To put it plainly, the prospect held little appeal to Magus, he was of the mind to cancel his presence at dinner. They certainly wouldn't miss him and it would no doubt be a more pleasant atmosphere for the girl, however just as Toma had been honor bound to ask the girl, so he was similarly tied to act the host. For anyone else he would have broken the promise long since, this was Toma though and he couldn't revoke his word to the man that he considered his best friend.
His mind drifted back to his and Toma's meeting here in the the office a few hours back. Oh, how pathetic Toma had looked sitting there in the wing chair beside the fire, refusing to speak save for the barest necessities. Magus was of an opinion that Toma was just doing it to make him feel sorry for him but he said nothing, just lent a listening ear in case Toma wanted to vent. Sympathetic he knew he could not entirely be, after all there was a great deal of hidden mockery mirroring the surface of his thoughts and had he chosen to air them out, likely Toma would of never spoken to him again. Sometimes it was wiser to keep the mouth shut, remaining taciturn in given situations, that never hurt one.
Misgivings still hovered in Magus' mind fed by an overly active imagination. All the female archetypes that he detested came back to step on his nerves and haunt him before the actual meeting took place. Oh ~*gods I hope she is not a bubble head, might as well give me a sword to run myself through with*~ Magus thought as his stomach took a turn downward at the thought of trying to converse with a woman capable of no rational thought. ~*Or maybe the domineering type, bossy to a fault. If she tries to run my household I swear I will have words with her, and none of them pleasant*~ He put her into both categories in his mind and sincerely hoped she was wise enough not to speak as well as keep out of his affairs.
That did it, he did not want to go to dinner despite the fact that Slash had put on the menu all of his favorite dishes. ~*Would food be enough to tolerate sitting through an hour of gods knew what?*~ Very carefully he weighed the options in his mind and came to the calculated conclusion that it might not be possible. Easily he could make his excuses and plead a headache, the girl would still exist when they arrived at the fortress. Only then he would begin to play the extremely reluctant host however for right now he needed another evening of total solitude without interruptions from -anyone-.
He reached toward the bellpull that was put at the right hand side of his desk and gave it a swift tug. It was designed to sound in Ozzie and Slash's quarters to notify them that he required of their presence. And so he waited.
And he waited some more.
After a while he tugged the bellpull again, this time a bit roughly.
There was still no response.
To say that he was angry was a lie, he had been angry after the second pull. Being ignored by his servants was icing on the cake and it could be said that now he was in a controlled albeit seething rage. Mad enough to not stop at dark mattering Ozzie but Slash as well. Magus pushed himself up from his desk accompanied by a harsh growl of impatience. He did not think it was over-reacting, it was service that he was expecting. ~*And service I will damn well get!*~ the slamming of his cabin door punctuated that thought adequately.
Due to the heat of his anger he barely felt the wave of coldness that hit his skin once he stepped out into the dusky evening. The sun had set only a few moments before so there was still a lingering bit of light embraced by the sky. Such beauty of nature was lost on him as he searched around the deck for the something to yell at, no doubt he would of yelled at Toma had he seen him up here, or at least given him a scathing look to end all looks.
His hands clenched at their respective sides and he walked to the railing to look out over the sea, such a gesture of reflection marred by the minor annoyance etched on his visage. To tbe best of his knowledge, Ozzie could not swim and he could picture that Ozzie probably did something incredibly stupid and then Slash jumped in to save him. Ozzie in his hysterica could of dragged Slash to a watery grave, the blackest part of his already morbid mind thought out that possibility. It did seem viable to him and it cooled down his anger just a little bit.
A bubble of laughter echoing in the air broke through the web of his thoughts, startling him just a bit. Hearing Ozzie's familar guffaw sent a derisive smirk to play across his lips and it took all the willpower within him not to turn around and throw a Dark Matter at Ozzie out of the blue. Poise was in his form as he slowly spun on his hells and walked in the general direction of such a racket. Inwardly he was cataloging through the various spells that he had stored up in his memorized repertoire but he wouldn't let anyone else guess that judging from the impassive expression on his face.
He peered over the railing as his eyes zero'd in on Ozzie instinctively. The fat green blob was hard to miss despite the white robes that blended in neatly with the immaculate drifts of snow. ~*What is that he is holding, a snowball? Is that a grin on his face?*~ Magus thought incredulously as his eyes narrowed. ~*This isn't playtime, gods does it look like I run a nursery?*~ He thought to himself as he saw Slash standing there as well. It was no surprise that Slash had taken a less active role, chosing to stand there and watch silently, his arms folded across his chest and a strangely unfamiliar smile playing over his lips.
Never had Magus seen a smile on Slash's face nor was he ever so eager to be out associating with humans. ~*Have I gone mad?*~ Magus was inclined to wonder but he couldn't drag his eyes away from this tableaux of merrymaking that lay within his line of vision. There was Toma kneeling down on the ground, packing a huge snowball together between his hands. Laughter lurked in his eyes, the kind of laughter that in a small way Magus was envious of. When had Toma ever taken to sporting around with Ozzie and Slash? Usually Ozzie and Toma treated each other with hotly biting words but not now, now there was a truce of sorts. Toma threw the snowball and it went hurtling through the air in the direction of Ozzie, it missed its mark and landed a few feet away from the large green headed target.
"Proof that you have bad aim, Toma. I always knew it." A lilting female's voice rose above the rest of the clatter and shouts between Ozzie and Toma. It was a siren's voice, soft and melodious, enough to stop Magus' heart for the span of a moment and cause him to realize that he had a heart to begin with. ~*Toma's virgin..*~ Magus thought as he turned his scrutiny to her with interest. No longer did he remember his purpose for coming outside, so lost was he in the observation of these people that he barely even knew.
"I don't have bad aim." Toma pouted as he ducked to gather more snow.
Magus saw a voluminous black cloak, covering the girl so well that her features were not easily percieved. Granted a few tendrils of whispy snow silver hair pekeed out from under the hood and a glimmer of a clear complexion that was flushed with exertion were all that he could make out. Lurking in him though was a otherworldly desire to see her, hear her, find out for himself if she was indeed as beautiful as Toma made her out to be, all these numerous thoughts from merely hearing her voice. Such thoughts he tried to shove aside.
Corrine glanced up toward the skip and immediately Magus' own brown eyes clashed with vivid purple depths that he likened to the knowing shine of age old amethysts and for a moment he had the impulse to step back from such a forcefully mystic quality. He knew his answer quite instantly, Corrine was indeed well deserving of all Toma's lauds. His hands gripped the railing til the knuckles turned white and he didn't even realize that he was doing it. Ever fiber of his mind was cast upon the woman standing there and he was helpless to do anything -but- stare.
Softly, enigmatically she smiled and a magic passed between them, heightened by the winter wind that blew gently through her cloak and his chameleon hair. Magus dared not smile though he had the unnerving urge to do so. ~*How can she look so completely guileless?*~ Magus wondered and for a sweet moment, he forgot his past, forgot that she even knew anything about him, he even forgot what was to be in the near future. He was a man, and she was a woman and that was all that mattered.
Toma saw the way they held each other in their gaze and he dropped the snowball that he had started to pack. It crumpled to the ground in much the same fashion as his heart did. If there was only two things which he recognized, it was the frank look of admiration in Corrine's eyes and the enigmatic expression that Magus wore when he was trying to appear uninterested. Every chance he thought he had went up in a smoky haze of yesterday, for if nothing happened now.. it would eventually. After that he would be shut out from both of them.
Fleeting as it was, an idea flashed through his mind as he grasped up a few handfulls of powdery snow and shaped it into a soft sphere. The jealous suitor in him wanted to break that eye contact and somehow prevent what he saw as inevitable He aimed the snowball at Corrine and then let go, throwing it not so hard to hurt her but not so softly that it would land before hitting its destined mark.
Ozzie saw Toma's hand spring out to throw it and he toddled over as fast as he could in order to take the hit for Corrine. Magus thought that perhaps it was so that Ozzie could win a few brownie points in Corrine's favor but he kept his musings deep inside his head where they rightly belonged.
"I will save you, Lady Corrine!" Ozzie called out as he threw himself in front of the snowball and then fell to the ground with a resounding thud that closely resembled a little earthquake. Perhaps a bit of dramatics were employed but that was only to get extra kisses and cuddles. Sure as hell he was not aware of the mixed vibes that radiated from Toma, Magus or Corrine but that could no doubt be attributed to the fact that he was a largely self centered monster. "Owww.."
Corrine and Magus did break eye contact at the sound of Ozzie's advent and eventual crash. She immediately fell to the snowy floor beside Ozzie and peered down at him and then her hand reached over to brush off the a shimmer of snowy fluff from his nose, causing him to sneeze.
"Are you alright?" Corrine inquired with the utmost concern showing in her voice. "You really shouldn't of dived for that. It was just a silly little snowball."
"Awww my head hurts. Can you please kiss it better?" Ozzie asked with wide golden puppy eyes.
There was nothing for Corrine to do but drop a light kiss down onto Ozzie's shiny emerald head. She accompanied it by a soft laugh. "Is that better?"
"Uhuh."
Magus had smiled just a bit when he saw Ozzie get hit by a snowball however soon the smile wore away to be replaced with a look of extreme puzzlement at Ozzie's obviously lovesick behavior.. ~*What spell did this girl put my minions under?*~ Magus pondered, watching normally reclusive Slash appear at her side to offer his own help. These proceedings were given extreme scrutiny and yet he seasoned it with his own brand of disinterest.
One thing became clear.
He wasn't going to miss dinner.
Nothing short of his death could keep him away.
