Quote of the Week: "Forget killing my brother... I get to be a boyfriend!" - Kia (commenting on a horribly OOC Naruto fic. Sasuke/OC. . )
Would've updated sooner, but was being a bugger and not letting me log on. x.x
Hey, totally random, I know, but... You remember Giacomo from last chapter, yeeesss? That name was totally picked on a whim at the last second (to tell the truth, I wasn't in the mood for an eastern name); I was actually pondering over whether to name him something boring, like Bob. No kidding.
But, hey, guess who won the Derby a week or two ago?
Giacomo, the horse. XD
"Hey, Lark! Get back here!" He snatched the corner of the wall with one hand, swinging around just in time to see the water manipulator halt outside her former bedroom door. She seemed to think for a moment, and Rogerik breathed a sigh of relief; finally, perhaps she would calm down and try to be rational!
His relief was short-lived as she bashed the door inwards with a surprisingly strong kick.
"No, don't! You idiot, do you know how pissed he's gonna be!" Rogerik lunged forwards, but his face met the wooden barrier full-force. In a futile attempt, he wedged his foot and shoulder into the gap of the door, hoping to prevent Lark from locking it behind her. But, and this he realized to late, a locked door was the least of his worries.
"Oh, someone else that I haven't met yet? I can understand letting Embyr stay in my sister's room - she's just a scared kid - but who else are you hiding here?"
"Hiding? Lark, they're assigned to this dorm! You were, I was, and so was everyone else that lived here!" He managed to grope around the inside of the room and hit the light switch; the posters and magazine-strewn floor were instantly illuminated by the warm muted light bulb. But, in the artificial light, he could see the bags under Lark's eyes even more clearly.
And the sphere of water in her hands was also all the more obvious.
"Up yours, you jackass!"
Water and sheer reiki combined was enough to force him away from the door, and the thief fell back onto his rear, water once again dripping from his nose and chin. From below, Giacomo tossed a fresh white towel up, where it hung itself on the blond's head. "You might need that," the smaller boy deadpanned, his voice quiet and raspy. Rogerik coughed and spluttered, but wiped the water out of his face. "Yeah...thanks."
She curled up on the larger bed, tail tucked neatly around her bare feet. There was a soft thwump, and a small orange-furred fox slunk over the covers to curl up at her side; the creature was content to just lie silently, just as curled up as his master, at first. But Embyr wasn't usually this withdrawn when she was in this room. The thief had promised them a safe place to rest, away from Prudence and her horrible-smelling perfumes and oils, away from all the candles that constantly dripped hot wax onto the floor.
Momi twitched his ear and lifted his head, trying to get a better view of Embyr's face. The fox girl had hidden her features half behind a sheet of white hair, and half buried in the pillow. All of her was scrunched up in a ball, constantly trying to make herself smaller, except for her ears -- they twitched and moved at every sound, seeming to almost be radar of a sort. With as best an exasperated sigh that the fox could muster, he crawled forwards, closer to the child's head, and buried his muzzle until her hair until he could lick her nose and cheek.
At the tiny growled whimper that came from the girl, and the smell of scented oil in her snowy hair, the familiar put the pieces together. Prudence. Or another girl. It wasn't the new girl, the one that had baited him out from under the bed earlier, of that he was sure -- that girl smelled like fog and rain and snow. This scent overpowered his sensitive nostrils, so sickeningly sweet that he was hard-pressed to pick out the smell of flowers among the rest of the chemicals. Humans... with their weaker noses, they had to use obnoxious concentrations of the perfume and soaps to even get a whiff at what nearly threatened to burn out the fox's nose in an overpowering aroma.
From the corner, the lovebird whistled and chirped, comfortable on his perch, one leg tucked up into his bright green feathers. Momi cocked a head at the bird's message, then sprawled out in the tiny nook of Embyr's arms, ignoring the desire to squirm free as the slender child's hands clutched to his fur. There was a whistling click of approval from the parrot in the corner, and the fox resisted the urge to snap back with a quick snarl to the feathered pest. Tell him how to take care of his human...the stupid git of a bird.
"Momi..." Embyr spoke calmly, not at all like the other times when she had retreated from the outside world like this. Those times, she had been crying, or trying to hold in the tears. But although her voice was steady, her nails threatened to dig themselves into her palms. "Prudence and Lark... they're going to cause a lot of trouble, aren't they?"
Momi remained silent, unable to reply. Not only from his lack of a physical speaking ability, but from the sheer fact that there was really nothing to say, either. Lark and Prudence, cause trouble? No, really?
That stupid thief, Rogerik. He had a knack for inviting trouble wherever he went. The fox had heard of Lark before, eavesdropping on the thief and the water rat, Koryu, one night. She was a hot ticket... but Prudence was different. She could be cruel. Whoever got in her way had to pay a hefty price.
After all, it had only taken one night for the water rat to disappear after it had talked down to the girl.
With slitted eyes, the fox familiar glanced at the digital clock on the bedpost. On the display were the numbers 1:14 in light-up red. No wonder why Embyr had just collapsed on the bed like she had... tutoring wasn't all that and a bag of chips. The fact that she was so young never made the job any easier, especially when tutoring teens in her grade group; as such, it wasn't hard to imagine that some of her clients were less than amiable.
A quiet knock came from the door, but Embyr didn't even stir, until she heard the voice that followed.
"Embyr? Do you, uh, mind if I come up?"
No reply from his kitsune master, but the door below swung open anyways. Momi moved closer to the white-haired girl as the newcomer softly padded up the carpeted stairs and across to the bed. Just as quietly as an owl swooping down on it's prey, the older girl sat on the edge of the bed and gently laid a hand on Embyr's shoulder.
He stayed still, muscles tense and fur bristled, until the red numbers on the clock changed again, marking another minute. Lost. Wasted...
"You okay, kiddo? Eh?" The black-haired girl softly pushed Embyr's shoulder, gray-blue eyes worried. Despite his normally gentle demeanor, the fox familiar growled in the back of his throat, but that growl was cut short as the young girl by his side, sat up, stared at the new girl with bloodshot eyes, and then clasped onto Lark's arm. Surprised, the snarl faded from his lips and his fur relaxed along his back, once again a smooth and shiny pelt.
"L-Lark... I...I..." The fox girl gave up on words, her grip beginning to loosen. With a faked sigh of exasperation, Lark rolled her eyes and gently patted the younger student on the back. "Rough night, Embyr?"
A silent nod.
"How about you just chill. Wanna watch a movie?"
More silence, even when Momi pushed his cold nose into the fox girl's open palm. He shared a look with Lark, which would have been an amusing moment indeed, if only the object of their worries wasn't on the verge of complete gloom. Prying Embyr off of her arm, Lark slid off the bed and began to shuffle around in a corner of the room that held a moderately-sized TV and stacks of boxes.
"Tell you what? I'll find the Rocky Horror Picture show and you tell me what's on your mind?"
Embyr nodded, quietly, but Momi growled at the mention of the title. Lark made a face. "Fine, fine... I'll get something that's not R-rated..." Triumphantly, she held up a tape and read the label. "How about... Amele?"
Wind sifted the strewn papers on the floor, and the window curtains tickled the back of his neck. He wasn't pleased... oh, no. Someone had been in here, even going so far as to damage the doorknob, as he noticed upon closer inspection. Growling and running a hand through his orange hair, the boy made a quick visual inspection on the rest of his bedroom. Nothing was touched, save for his bed. Whoever had broken in had had themselves a little pity-party, evident by the still-damp spots on the covers. The sheets were rumpled, and the impression of a face was still faintly evident on the pillow.
There were slight amounts of reiki in the spots on his bed, so weak in concentration it was like pinpointing a tear in a puddle. Still, he sensed it, and the fact that it was there in the first place annoyed him to no end.
Personal space. That was all he had asked for. Just that no one come into his room.
Two months, and already that promise his roommates had held to was broken. Then again, they were humans, after all -- save the youngest, the fox-girl. He hadn't expected too much.
He was upset, yes... nearly enough to slam the door open out of anger. But he opened the door quietly and calmly walked down the hall, past the stairs, and just as silently opened the door leading to the third-floor bedroom. Down on the first floor, he guessed that the others now knew he was here; better for them, he figured, as they could now get out of the way. Let him take the blame... again.
From what he could tell of the tiny ki droplets, the person who had cried them onto his pillow was in the usually locked bedroom. He slid, noiselessly, over the rug, maneuvering around boxes and furniture with ease. His target sat on the floor in front of the TV, leaning against the bed footboard and reaching for her glass of water every so often as people paraded across the television screen, talking in French as subtitles popped up in the bottom of the picture. She never noticed him, never looked behind her, never even shivered from the sudden feeling that something very, very dangerous was behind her.
He raised one hand, fingers bent so that they nearly resembled gnarled claws, over his head and took another step, this time garnering more than just the stranger's head and hand from over the footboard. Sprawled on the floor, head in the strange girl's lap, with her white tail curled around her to conserve heat, was Embyr -- fast asleep.
He misstepped, then. Took a slightly larger gasp of air and let the muscles in his raised arm and hand relax as he saw the younger demon, defenseless and altogether giving off the sense of perfect innocence. She raised a small hand to her face, wiped away some imaginary irritant that floated about her eyebrow, and buried her face deeper into the older girl's lap.
Finally noticing something was amiss (or perhaps she had been aware from the very beginning and had just stayed stoicly ignorant of the situation), the black-haired teen focused one blue-gray eye on the young man behind her. He was taller, slightly, than she had remembered him, from seeing him that one time, and his hair seemed to be even more of a mess. But, one thing that couldn't be mistaken were those eyes.
"Hey, Ayame."
Ayame lowered his hand completely, his orange bangs falling into his red eyes. "You're lucky she's here," he stated, jerking his chin at the ten-year-old fox. Lark patted Embyr's head affectionately, and turned her attention back to the TV screen. "You wanna stay for the end? Watching Amele."
"I hate subtitles." Nevertheless, he sat down cross-legged on the bed.
Four seconds to notice Ayame had returned to their abode, one second to realize he was angry, and another two seconds to figure out why. Four seconds to run up the stairs and catch himself on the second-floor landing, cursing the fire manipulator all the while. One second to throw open the door and lunge up the carpeted stairs. His foot caught the edge of the fifth step. He fell, caught himself. His other foot slipped and he nearly slid down a step. Crawled up. Got to feet and leapt forwards.
Too late!
Ayame was sitting on the bed, unmoving. His breathing was even undetectable, but Rogerik had grown used to it, living with the stoic teen for the last few months. If anything, no matter how much Prudence clung to him or Giacomo caused uneasiness to stir in his gut, Ayame was always a calm controlled presence. Before, the teen had been unpredictable, aggressive, overly competitive and ready to fight anything.
He saw a slender hand reach out at take the glass of water that was visible around the footboard, and breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God Ayame had mellowed out over the summer...
"Rogerik, you okay? You look like someone died." Lark's arm waved to him from behind the footboard, and he managed to catch a bit of her reflection in the tiny mirror plates that decorated the base of a music box near the television. He remembered that particular knick-knack on the shelf above Lyra's computer desk and, sure enough, there was an empty space among the various seashells and other little trinkets. So she had moved it... had noticed Ayame before he could physically express his anger.
Embyr was curled by her side, and Lark lifted the remote, stopping the video and hitting the rewind button just as the black and white credits started rolling. "Can you do me a favor and hit the light? Not too bright -- don't wanna wake Embyr-chan up." As the thief dazedly pushed up the sliding light switch, the water manipulator struggled to slide herself out from under the younger girl. It would have been much easier, if Embyr hadn't started to move, clutching onto Lark's jeans as the black-haired girl tried to move.
With one fluid movement, without so much as disturbing the depression he had left in the bedcover, Ayame scooped up the fox girl in his arms and carefully deposited her in the bed once Rogerik had flung back a corner of the covers. As Ayame tucked the girl in with unusual tenderness, Lark slowly stretched her legs, getting the blood flowing back into them. Finally getting to her feet, she pointed at Rogerik. "You."
"Uh, yeah, me..?" He pointed at himself, waiting for Lark to get out the rest of her sentence. She blinked her gray-blue eyes, which were tired from reading tiny subtitles in the dark at three in the morning, and swayed on her feet. "I wanna talk to you in the back room for a minute." She turned the thief around on her way to the connected third-floor room, and guided him through the tacked-up sheet. Once her blond roommate was all the way through, she popped her head back through the doorway.
"Ayame, can you, uh... go somewhere else or something?" She asked, as the taller boy merely blinked red eyes at her and shrugged. Giving Embyr one last pat on the head, he turned and walked mechanically towards the stairs. Lark gave an affirmative nod and turned back to the curtained-off room, not bothering to make sure the orange-haired fire manipulator really left the room or not.
So stay he did, crouched upon the stairs and ducking just out of view. Although he couldn't see a thing, save for the faint outline of the balcony doors and the shadowy expanse of blue carpet, the conversation in the other room was clear as a bell, even with the hushed tones that Lark and Rogerik were using.
"How could you let that witch take the watch? That's our lifeline!"
"Well, she didn't take it, exactly..."
"So you gave it to her? Idiot!"
"I didn't give it to her because I wanted to!"
For a moment, silence reigned. Then...
"...You have just totally disregarded the literal term of 'give'."
"Listen, why she has it is totally irrelevant right now. Let's just get it back, okay?"
"And once we do, what's to say it won't end up with her again! I was gone for five hours, and in that time my home is reassigned to some other nitwits, Rachel moves out, Erika is probably on the brink of having a heart attack because of all the crap that's been going on, and three months pass. Three!"
"Hey, I'm sorry-"
"And did I forget to mention that Prudence has the watch!"
Embyr shifted in her sleep. There was a scuffle from behind the beads, and all that could be heard were a few muffled angry shouts. The fire controller smirked, and shifted position, intending to sneak down the stairs as soon as possible, and faster than any human could hope, thanks to his demonic blood. But first... first he wanted to know how this "exchange" would turn out.
"You suck."
"But we're gonna get the watch," Rogerik said, perhaps a bit too lighthearted for the situation. Their silhouettes were all that was visible through the doorway, and he slowly traveled down the stairs as the clacking of the plastic beads signaled the two teen's emergence from the room. "By now, Prudence has probably stepped up the security of her room."
Lark snorted. "Look at you; you're a thief. Security is your specialty."
"Traps and devices. Not guard dogs," he muttered. A squawk of a complaint issued from the white-wire cage of Atauro, and both teens hissed a "Quiet!" at the covered cage. "Just wait until tomorrow morning before you go snooping around Pru's room." There was a annoyed grumbled from Lark, but she seated herself on the rug. "Yeah, whatever. Just toss me that pillow."
The fluffy projectile soared through the air in a graceful arc, and Lark caught it. Fluffing it, she dragged an extra blanket from the foot of her sister's bed down, and made herself comfortable. "'Night, Rogerik."
The thief paused, as Ayame ducked out of the doorway as soon as he came into view of the staircase, but the demon was gone before he could hear the reply. Keeping an ear out, he slid along the hallway wall; however, he wasn't quite as aware of the rest of surroundings as usual. Still facing the doorway to the third-floor bedroom, his back bumped into someone. Someone small, scrawny, and weak enough to yelp an "ow!" from the collision.
Not that Ayame would ever have expected Giacomo to be on the second floor. The boy was scared of Prudence and, as such, spent most of his time either in the basement or, more rarely, on the first floor. Now, in his over-sized clothes, the mouse of a boy stared hotly at the demon with his brown eyes. "What do you think you're doing?" He snarled, slowly getting to his knees. With one red-eyes look, the fierce expression that Giacomo wore crumpled.
"You better get downstairs, human." The orange-haired teenager of a demon stared as the smaller roommate scrambled for the stairs. If the brown-haired boy had bothered to even stand up as he made his mad dash, Ayame suspected his knees would be shaking. With a snort, he turned and headed for his room, acting as if the entire event had never taken place. Besides, although he didn't plan on going to classes the next day, he still wanted to get a full night's sleep.
"Ayame... w-what happened between those two?" He paused, lazily focused on the human, and leaned against the wall with a shrug. What was it with the general lack of fear, tonight? "None of our business. Now git."
Shoulders slumped, Giacomo trudged down the staircase. Ayame stared, watching him go with a slight smirk. But it didn't take long for the smirk to fade. The kid was an annoying rat to Ayame, yes, but it couldn't hurt to tell him anything. When he first tried to talk, it came out as a cough, but the demon caught himself as the human turned to look over his shoulder. "Prudence is just going to get her dues, is all. The new girl is gonna make sure of that."
As Giacomo's face lit up and the undernourished boy nearly skipped down the rest of the stairs, Ayame retreated to his room. There went his good deed for the day...
He didn't realize how tired he was until he nearly stumbled down the basement stairs. With a moan, he flumped down on his bed, burying his face in the pillow. What he wouldn't give for things to be simpler...
If Lark hadn't come... he hated to admit it, but the thought appealed to him. If she hadn't shown up out of the blue, he would've been able to just move on and have memories to look back on fondly. Reikai would take care of Givanni. Prudence would eventually leave him the hell alone. There would be no angry reunions or discord in the house.
But, for the last three months, all he had wanted was for them to come back. The tantei, Jin, Holly, the sisters... they had all become a family for him. With them around, he didn't have to worry about Gomo or anyone else, really. After "defeating" a giant zombie dragon, people tended to give you extra space.
Then again, if it weren't for Yusuke, Lark, and co., the giant zombie dragon would never have existed to begin with.
Thoughts mixed, swirled, with memories. Random images, moments that had gone by years ago, opinions -- all one typhoon of useless noise and visions. Twisted into a dream, a nightmare. He lived in a world that no human could ever have imagined. A world no normal person would even dare to think of, for fear it would drag them in. A place full of so many miracles and wonders and horrors that it never let you go.
Conscious thought became dream, dreams were reality, reality was a bitch... it was a vicious cycle. A cycle that continued to confuse and irritate him long after he fell asleep.
Giacomo had stayed quiet, curled under the sheets of his bed, until the erratic breathing of the older boy in the bed across from his had grown steadily slower. The noise and muttering had been enough to wake him up. Normally the blond was silent at night, to the point the room seemed to echo.
Carefully, slowly, the mouse-haired boy tossed off the covers and swung his feet down. Rogerik had fallen asleep without even bothering to change his clothes, without even so much as throwing a blanket on. Technically, he wasn't supposed to use his abilities unless his target gave permission, but the curiosity was gnawing at him. He wasn't the type that, once he found out a little bit of information about a topic, was willing to let that subject be. No... He drained every possible source of information, whether the topic interested him or not.
The possible eradication of Prudence. That interested him very, very, much.
With a tentative hand, he ran his fingers over the sleeve of Rogerik's shirt. Quick and soft enough to make the entire thing seem like an illusion. He had never done this before to any of his roommates, only once to his cousin. That was before he had been enrolled at the academy, so that he might learn to control it.
As soon as his fingers touched the fabric, his eyes widened, and he fought the urge to clutch onto the thief's shirt.
Interesting... interesting indeed... Rogerik's life, so far, had proven to be attention grabbing. Some people, the memories that they had were so common. He wasn't looking for the earliest remembered birthday, sibling rivalries, or everyday life. He had enough of that -- there were millions with the same experiences, although they didn't know it.
The blond's latest thoughts were reading out almost like glimpses of an action or fantasy novel. And if this was only a normal human..! Mentally, Giacomo made a note to peer into the lives of some of his more demonic classmates.
He hadn't learned a thing, really; but one thing he did gain was the new girl's latest ambition: steal back the antique watch Prudence had been tinkering with. There was only a sense of importance around the task; no back-story, nothing specific. Just one look, though, was enough to send his mind reeling as he stalked back to his bed.
And all that night, he dreamed of riding a large dragon taking off above burning ruins of a building.
Cookies to whoever guesses Giacomo's ability! And... stuff... >.>
This little arc is wrapping up in three chapters. I swear. X.x I still wanna do the little April vacation excursion (focusing on the Aurata twins! Yay!) and I need to take care of Hanabi and his "voices"... and Givanni... :headdesk: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuughh! One the bright side, school is ending. More time to type. MCAS is dead. Finals are... almost dead? x.x Gah! I don't care, anymore! I just want to get this done!
Hey, remember last year around this time, when I was up to chapter 30-something..? ;.;