Getting my backside out of the dark, I walk into it once again, only, now I have a gentle, snoring song to listen to. Putting some magic into my eyes, I look at Liada closely as she shuffles about. The bed rocks under the strain of her weight even with its custom-built origins and the quilt slips away. A familiar sight jiggling into the open with a hefty, curved-bottom flop.
Moving closer and crouching, I put a claw to my masked chin. She doesn't feel like I care enough about her and she is not wrong in that regard. For a while now, it's only been about Lari, Liada was simply the one I gave rent to when I wasn't paying off any fees regarding Lari. I suppose I need to find a way to show Liada that she has my attention, for the moment, while it is just us two.
Lari wants me to get them all back... Vadei, Einervaene, Rose and Vapooliar. There's only four people to find but the world is a big place. It only became apparent just how big when I was tricked into going out into the wastes around what was Tobaballe.
And even then, with all this experience, there's still a whole lot of world out there.
Vadei will probably be the easiest, I've been to her home before and Vapooliar's home is a sight on the way there, or was. Rose's home is on the move but a familiar enough trail should exist, I know what a flower looks like. It's Einervaene that's the problem. She wanted us to go to her home to help, though that plan was changed and thrown out.
"Count what I do have, I suppose." I click, reaching out for Liada's tit as she groans under the strain of some bad dream. It's not been necessary for a long time and I cannot remember if it was because I healed her or it became a lesser concern thanks to Smiling Jhurack. Either way, I know she enjoys the feeling of it, I can recall how she used her injuries as an excuse to find comfort in me. A happy breath escapes her lips and she squirms my way with soft eagerness.
Letting go, she whines at me even from the realm of dreams and my head tilts as I ponder something. The marks of that device she had on when I found her are still here, a fair bit of her reminds me of strawberries. I smile at the thought of that very unstrawlike fruit. That's an idea, I suppose, I've a lot of stories to tell her, maybe that will show her I care.
I can talk about my home, the journeys I've been on and the things I have done. I could ask her much the same but about her instead, I'm sure she must be fairly bothered by being the only ddrai'och in the world. At the very least, the impression of being the last. Certainly, a better circumstance than what I have.
Knowledge about my current kind is easy to find and I often take a fair few jobs involving them. Maybe it's because I still hate what I am, maybe there's nothing to it at all, I can't quite figure it out. Though, there's nothing new there. Picking myself up with a drawn-out nose-breath, I look the way of the door.
Reaching it without a creak, it opens and I swish around to the other side, ready to pull it back into place. My neck stops it and I am restrained by choice under the edge of the wooden guillotine. It's been a long time since I've been able to sleep normally, I should respect the fact Liada still can enjoy a bed.
A frown forms.
Maybe she'd like it if I made a point of sharing her bed even if I cannot sleep? I'd be spending hours with her at my side or in my arms when there is so much more I could be doing. Should work in showing her I care... Not tonight, another, yeah.
Closing the door, I move away and leap the bannister. The ground whooshes with the wind and I straighten out on my way to the kitchen, the familiar click and flash of an electrical light welcoming me. My jaw opens more than usual and I scratch my side, there's still washing up that needs to be done. A blank mind squeezes my mouth clear of words.
"...Oh. Oh, right, we forgot." I eventually muster in the step up to the sink. Using a claw to knock aside the metal handle, water starts to flow and I come to hate the clear, steaming liquid. Blue, it needs more blue. My claws splash into the bowl for a cloth and I go through what's on the side.
Clockwise and anti, up and down, with drips and swishes, the draining board fills up. The pile grows until all I have left is a bowl of mucky water and I can't help but glare at it. Bringing my soggy bandage-covered arm up, my magic comes to life with its pale, bluish glow. It's not the same. My jaw snaps.
"There's not a lake or river out there that can compare to your sweet, crispy freshness, is there, Lari?" I ask, wastefully hoping she can hear me in the mists Undwote searches. She's probably gone by now, taken up in the way I should've been back when Vapooliar killed me. Maybe I'll get lucky, maybe she's up on the Vightorhian like I was... Please.
Tipping the bowl, it jostles in the turbulent waves of the kitchen puddle and I go to a window. My frown grows and my eyes can't seem to find the energy to be anything but miserable. That's right, it was starting to rain earlier. Special rain with plenty of magic within...
What's normally clear glass starts to stain with a ghostly aqua light. The droplets gather into webs made of brief-lived streams and many isolated little dots remain. Pitter patter, pitter patter. The wind disturbs it naturally and sometimes, it falls with greater intensity in particular spots.
"Footsteps, almost." I delude with the echo of her laughter in my head. She loved the rain, she loved to dance in it much like anything else but rain was special, especially magic-rich rain like this. The magic of her home, in the sky and falling onto her. An athletic body that glowed with more than just her power.
And when it wasn't raining, she'd make her own rain and keep that smile forever burning bright. In heavy downpour, it became my ironic lighthouse, the darkness of her mouth sticking out amongst all the passing strips of wet light. Hand-in-hand she would try to make us both dance. She loved to dance...
"But you do too, don't you?" I ask, looking up the way of Liada's room with a quiver that makes my eyes gently sting. I do not know what to do here, Lari loved to dance and so does Liada. But I cannot do anything relating to dance because it just makes me think of Lari and Liada doesn't want me to!
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My grip tightens just short of causing any damage to Liada's home.
"Gods damn this life of mine... Bad luck, bad luck..." I curse, putting a palm to my face and squeezing tight. Snarling with growing tremors, I snap my jaw to stop a roar from coming out. I want to shout... Scream.
Dammit, dammit!
"Tch!" I go, storming out as quietly as I can to the shop floor. My leg strikes a chair by accident and the bang makes me freeze up. Looking up the stairs, I shrivel up at the thought of bothering Liada as she tries to sleep. The rain catches my attention as does a brassy shine.
Maybe I need some time outdoors. I have too much energy, too much experience with going out all night and fighting. Staying here will only bother her... A claw touches wood, ringing out.
"Of course you did, you stupid, bloody idiot..." I mouth off at myself, quickly opening the door and moving to close it again.
"N-Nin...?" I hear her call just as the lock goes back on. Her shadow is up there, her eyes most prominent, it all slowly moves back into her bedroom. Looking down at the wet ground, I shake my head, smacking my right leg gently.
Stepping out into the street proper, I withhold the urge to soar off into the sky on one of my magic ropes. Lacking pockets, I worm my thumbs into the bandages sticking to my hips. It doesn't take long for much of my outfit to get soaked and its appearance grows notably in weight even with the lack of feeling. A smile nearly forms, but, I can't manage it.
Here I am, walking the streets of Thrurstradtur at night and that's all I am doing, I'm just walking. There's no villain to hunt, no bedridden love to worry about. That part of my life is gone, in the past like so many other things. It's weird, really, life.
You wait all this time to get to the end of something and once you get there, the aftermath is basically any other day. The overwhelming joy or dread you have going there and through it vanishes as the clock strikes the final hour.
"For as much as has changed, it's all still the same." I remark, thinking to the other times I have found myself walking in the rain. Tilting my hat back, my neck follows the motion until my lenses are unobstructed and a blue drop hits the glass. The rain is uncaring to my loss of vision and it keeps on going, falling on me endlessly. A gust of wind blows in, putting waves of motion into otherwise down-going water.
A claw comes out, idly moving its digits.
Throwing the arm behind me, magic lights my palm up and my breathing grows in strength. Only, I'm still. The arm comes down but my arcane power does not vanish. The fire-like power burns only in visage, putting it near even dry, sheltered wood does nothing.
A moody guard comes around a corner, torch in hand.
"Hey, no spell-casting!" he goes and I wave my arm out of action. My eyes widen and I close the gap between us with a quick jog.
"Right, sorry. Uh, odd question, City Guardsman, but, can I have your communicator, please?" I say, asking for the means to get into contact with Inerish with the hopes she might have some mind-distracting work for me.
"..." he leans back, taken aback by what I hope is just my stature.
"Don't worry." I go, waving a hand as I start to move away.
"Dark Crow, I didn't realise it was you. S-Sure, hold on... Here." the guard goes as he fiddles through his equipment.
"I'm probably going to wander off with this, that's not an issue, is it?" I ask, slightly waving the small piece of tech around in a loose grip.
"I need an excuse to get out of the rain." he quickly answers with joyous stiffness.
"Can't say I feel the same... Thank you." I tell him as I get to work handling the human-intended piece of equipment with the three digits I can spare. The rain is distracting, however, so I set it down with a groan and look out for an empty shelter of any kind. Spotting one, I head under it and plop down with a metallic bang, my back end shuffling about on the simple seat.
The communicator makes noise.
"Come in? Who is this? You shouldn't know this frequency!" some woman who's clearly just doing their time at the office goes on with warnings quickly following.
"Is Inerish there by any chance?" I ask, making a point of turning up the volume with my chittering in the event that, that is all I will need to prove my identity. It goes quiet on the other end suddenly, no noise of any kind.
The background noise returns.
"The Grandguard is not present at the moment, no, Dark Crow." she answers with some kind of tapping rhythm making it through her mic.
"Can you get her for me, please? I would like to talk to her." I say and it goes quiet again.
"Patching her through." the woman explains and an electrical noise buzzes.
"Now is not the time for casual calls." Inerish chastises from somewhere that is clearly quieter than usual. She's not in her command centre place? I'm pretty sure I can hear some kind of string instrument as well and the rattle of silverware.
"Bit late for dinner." I comment, hoping to maybe give myself a slight smirk.
"It's a bit late for you to be up, you should be in bed like the rest of the good people of this city." she scolds mockingly with the poor imitation of a mother.
"I can hear a whole restaurant on your end." I say, leaning out into the rain and looking about before falling back onto my seat.
"That tends to happen when all I have is a simple communicator designed to get urgent messages to me while I am off-duty." she deadpans with the thrown-down rattle of what I am betting is a spoon. Only heard one metal noise just now.
"Will you be getting back to work before the night's out?" I ask, watching a small group of people run between the decorative cloth covers in front of shops.
"Now that you are bothering me about that place, yes." she groans with what must've been a roll of the eyes. I know that tone too well.
"Do you happen to know if there's any work posted by your people or any of the witch guilds?" I question with the click of my left set of claws.
"Please tell me you're not interrupting one of my few nights off to ask about odd jobs..." she borders on sobbing out to me, some kind of native swear going off at the end and I simply blank out on it.
"To get the truth out, no, I'm just mentally occupied right now. And I'd appreciate a distraction that my mind cannot reliably waffle off in." I explain to her as the raindrops on my mask lenses stick in my vision even as I blink. Using the dryer insides of my cloak to wipe them does nothing. The gentle, shallow blue of the rain is still making me think of...
She starts to laugh.
"Seeing as I am not working, not that I'd care in uniform either, but, that's very sweet to hear." she gently goes and I huff, amused by the girlie talk.
"It's not all that nice to experience..." I say, shrinking in size as the misery gets to me.
"There's not a whole lot I can do right now, Dark Crow, but, try not to let it drag you down. You were going out nightly in the name of that Ibenoroccon, she's not going to be leaving anywhere important anytime soon. Whatever it is you are trying to do, you need to take your time." she offers up as advice and I slowly nod to it before shaking in disapproval.
"I wish I could wait." I quietly mutter as four names pass through my head again. Vadei, Rose, Vapooliar, Einervaene. On my honour as a person, as a man and everything else... I swore to the dying love of my life that I would go out into the world and find them.
I promised her that I'd go on to love them instead if they would have me...
"Well, if it's a distraction you're looking for, why not come here to where I am fine dining? I'm sure I can make you quite the attention grabber. There's always more room for more traditional excitement here in the wealthier parts of the city." Inerish offers as my focus is lost in the ever-shifting downpour maze.