|
|
Post by Shaehern Azhrarn on Apr 15, 2011 18:45:01 GMT -5
Everything involved with Shaehern had sexual overtones and undertones. Really, it was just the way the man behaved that colored everything in the same way that wearing tinted glasses would--if you could tint glasses the color of sensual. The whole idea was rather absurd and Shaehern abandoned it. Well, maybe not entirely. The prospect of being able to produce such glasses would certainly keep him entertained for many, many years.
"I'd shove it up my own nose, but that would be a waste of perfectly good food." Shaehern simply popped another grape into his mouth. Somehow, he had managed to casually steer the topic away from the matter which had steered him toward the prospect of food. Not that he was really complaining too much about it, since silly shenanigans were the sort of thing that made up the majority of his existence. One might think that nothing existed beyond shenanigans.
"Perhaps getting bitten is a risk I'm willing to take. Maybe I enjoy that sort of thing." Shaehern winked before plucking a grape and taking aim at Jasmine. He rolled it between his nimble fingers as he debated tossing it into her mouth the next time she opened it.
Instead he just planted the plump piece of fruit on her lips with a casual offhand comment. "You might want to get it before Hades does." Gluttonous bird. And yet, his feathers were so magnificent. Still managed to be the envy of Shaehern after months of seeing them.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jasmine Krisp on Apr 15, 2011 19:09:33 GMT -5
Jasmine rolled her eyes a little at her own silly lines. ‘Be careful I bite’? No, nothing strange or sexual about that at all. Then again, this was Shaehern she was hanging out with, and goodness knows the man could turn anything into an innuendo with the slightest of ease. It was a talent, and a nuisance, but to the plum woman it just made conversations a lot more funny and interesting. Especially if he was working his word play around somebody more serious than her. That idea seeded in her brain and got stuck.
But who would be the victim?
“A waste of food and not nearly as funny,” she pointed out and brushed some hair from her line of vision. How the lavender locks always got free of the braid was beyond her. And of course Shae has a snappy little comeback to her biting joke, earning him a half-smirk. “Long as it doesn’t cost you an ear, right?” Hades noticed that the blue man looked like he was about to toss another grape and thus raised his head a bit. When the grape was put to his master’s lips, however, the bird did a little shrug and returned to a more rested position.
Gold eyes blinked once at the fruit, the one pressed to her lips and the one holding the grape respectably, before giggling and letting it slide into her mouth. Then of course she licked at Shaehern’s hand before giving him an impish little grin.
“Thank you, Shae-hen~”
|
|
|
|
Post by Shaehern Azhrarn on Apr 15, 2011 19:25:15 GMT -5
Who was the victim? That was the question, wasn't it? Certainly Shaehern could come up with half a dozen answers with great ease, but it was his personal opinion that everyone would be the victim. It just so happened that some victims were more willing than others. His devilish mind had more important things to ponder for the moment, however.
He fed Jasmine another grape and offhandedly tossed another to Hades. Whatever impish mood had taken Jasmine was certainly enjoyable. It seemed a shame to ruin it with conversation that had direction and point to it.
To be fair, he had mostly agreed to talk about those things that bothered him not so long ago. But that did not keep him from kissing his own fingers where Jasmine had licked them. Two could certainly play at the game. "You're very welcome."
Slowly and rhythmically his rings started to click together. "I believe we were going to talk about a few things earlier before I decided to settle down to an evening lunch, weren't we? It's amazing how quickly such things will slip the distracted mind."
Which was to say that Shaehern found Jasmine distraction-worthy, even if his mind was not truly distracted from the matter at hand. It was a compliment in its own way; a compliment that only Shaehern could give.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jasmine Krisp on Apr 15, 2011 21:42:06 GMT -5
The seeded idea in the plums head didn’t seem to want to go away that easily. The idea of having Shaehern and herself around an even greater straight-man seemed almost irresistible. Her devious little mind was already concocting possible add-ins to an evening out…Iugo was a possibility, but as of now her relationship with him was still horribly strained. She could blame Shae for that, but chose not to. Other than the ‘good doctor’ the only other third wheel she could see involved with them was Naelona. But Naelona and Shaehern were fighting.
…what if I fixed that?
Jasmine brushed back the schemes for a moment as Shae kissed his hand. She giggled, well aware just a spark of heat was in her cheeks. He was ever the playful smurf, wasn’t he? But he was right, they’d been talking about somewhat-important things before being distracted by their evening meal. Licking a little grape-juice from her lips the older woman nodded. “You’re right. Give me a moment to remember what in the world those things were.” Which was a joke of course, but she used the time to ‘remember’ to pull out her own bottle of hard lemonade and remove the cap. She waved it once.
“Fuel for thought: how is this ninety-nine percent alcohol and still tastes like fruit juice?”
Anyway, onto the other matters. Jazz took one sip, letting the mix of cool lemonade and burning alcohol mix into her system before speaking. “You and Naelona had a fight, and it started about the blonde human, but then it escalated into something much more personal. Right?” It felt odd being the one in the dark about an issue amongst her peers. Shae must never know that feeling, having eyes and ears wherever he wants, where he wants, when he wants. Jasmine relied on rumors and half-truths, as well as her own better judgment, before she got the full truth to the tale.
“How bad did this argument get? Stinging each other with poisoned tongues…or did it get worse?”
|
|
|
|
Post by Shaehern Azhrarn on Apr 15, 2011 22:05:33 GMT -5
Shaehern had a sixth sense for when the gears in someone's head were turning. He could hear the gears slowly grinding against each other as new parts of a greater machination were put into place in the little chickadee's mind. He would let her have her secrets for now, but whatever it was that she was pondering, he was interested.
Then again, perhaps he was misreading her body language. It was a possibility, but it felt terribly improbable. Regardless, now was neither the time nor place for prying into personal thoughts of shenanigans. Were it Garland, then it could have been brought to the table without so much as the batting of an eyelash. Garland von Clossen was just that sort of man.
"No one said it's ninety-nine percent alcohol--probably closer to one-hundred. Jokes aside, the mystical secret is in how they manage to fit a supernatural amount of flavor into the little bottle." It was a trick of the mind more than anything. Poor man's lemonade was much simpler, but the best stuff included a peculiar blend of alcohols and... something else. Humans had one combination of alcohols that came out tasting like chocolate. It was delicious, but not nearly as coma-inducing as a shot of Wonderland's Own Best Lemonade.
Or whatever it was that they called themselves now.
He took another long pull from his own non-alcoholic beverage and enjoyed the sour flavor spreading through his body. It just contrasted with how sweet he always behaved.
"It turned personal. She pressed my buttons and I pushed hers right back. I ended up drowning her." Shaehern said the last part with a detached, nonchalant attitude. He took another cautious sip of lemonade.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jasmine Krisp on Apr 15, 2011 22:19:20 GMT -5
“Really? Huh,” Jasmine took another sip from her liquor, the strong alcoholic content doing nothing to mess with her head in the slightest as she simply sipped away, “Back when they first started selling the stuff it was ninety…I think. It was a long time ago if I recall.” The plum woman shrugged before swirling the bottle in her right hand. The ideas were still clicking into place in her little head, even faster now that she’d figured out more ways to ‘fix’ things between companions…or at least put a band-aid over it and see if it heals itself.
It would have to be a big band-aid. Or duct-tape.
Now most normal sane persons would be disturbed by that last sentence Shaehern spoke. Jasmine was a sane person, but she certainly wasn’t normal by anybody’s standards. Instead of being shocked or scared, the little plum simply leaned forward and tipped Shae’s bottle up, spilling some of the drink onto him with a serious yet aloof face. “Moron. Didn’t anybody ever teach you not to drown people who tick you off? If that were the case there’d be a lot more bodies in our pool.” Leaning back in her seat those bright golden orbs narrowed almost threateningly.
Arguing was one thing, almost killing somebody was something else. “I’m going to assume you didn’t kill her, or that if you did you breathed her back to life.”
Cause if not, this bottle’s going through your head.
|
|
|
|
Post by Shaehern Azhrarn on Apr 15, 2011 22:48:16 GMT -5
A thoughtful drink took a turn for the messy as Shaehern's clothes got into something of a sticky wicket. Given the complete lack of water nearby the man could safely say that the specially treated cloth was ruined.
He wished that he could say it was uncalled for, but that was not the case. He simply wiped the sour mixture off of his chin and then took another drink without saying so much as a word.
He did not fancy dealing with an annoyed Jasmine Krisp. Really, he should have known better than to tell her about such a thing, but she had asked. Shaehern thought she deserved the honest answer. Goodness forbid that he get away with just a light ear thrashing.
"Perhaps it is hard for you to imagine me in a state of convulsing rage. It is very, very difficult to overcome your base urges when you become like that and your modus operandi is within arm's reach." The pool had been right there and Shaehern was known for drowning his victims. Really, there would have been no doubts about who did it should someone have found Naelona's corpse floating there in the water.
It was a disturbing thought when Shaehern considered the implications of being framed for the murder. It was not pleasant.
"She had it coming, and she should have realized she had it coming as soon as she crossed the line, but that's not the point. She's breathing now." She slapped him a couple times after he revived her, but those did not leave much in the way of physical marks.
It was also terrible underpowered retribution considering the nature behind them. "Needless to say, I'm just going to give her some space for a couple decades." The two of them had endured longer breaks in the history of their acquaintanceship, after all.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jasmine Krisp on Apr 15, 2011 22:59:31 GMT -5
Did Jasmine really care if she ruined Shaehern’s clothing with the lemonade? Not really, no, they were clothes. And stupid children deserved a punishment of sorts, even if the thing one was punishing them for was trying to drown somebody. Not it seemed her plans were going to need much more than a band-aid. These things would need a cast, then surgery, or simply blunt force to the head repeatedly with a hammer or other portable heavy object.
Jazz was more peeved that her friend would even do something like that more than the fact he did do it.
“It is, actually, because so much of the time I see you as my equal. Then I remember that you’re a moody spoiled child and it makes much more sense.” Jasmine let out a sigh and lowered her face into her left hand, staring at Shae with a blank but stern look in her eyes. “There are better ways to handle these things than trying to drown somebody. I admit I don’t know everything about your past, nor do I know hers, but I do know she doesn’t know yours either. Isn’t it a little unfair to Naelona to walk around the problem and then try to kill her when she tries to figure out why?”
Hades let out a high-pitched noise at something, a change in the air perhaps. Jasmine ignored it and shook her head. “I said it before…you two are on opposite paths but making the same stupid mistakes…and what’s worse, you won’t or can’t learn from yourselves or from each other.”
|
|
|
|
Post by Shaehern Azhrarn on Apr 16, 2011 12:08:21 GMT -5
A spoiled child? Really? How she could wound him with her words! Shaehern put a hand against his forehead and tipped it backwards. He would have added the necessary theatrics, but at about that time he felt a kiss from the sky plant itself on the palm of his hand. Perhaps they would not have so much time for theatrics as he had hoped.
It was a shame since being theatrical was the only reasonable way he knew to get through this conversation.
"She would not have stood for me prying into her business. She reminds me of this on a regular basis when I attempt to do so. She was doing much more than prying into my business. In fact, she was being subversive, and I dare to say she was doing a terrible job at it." Shaehern seemed to not want to budge on this point. Naelona had crossed some kind of line, and he would be damned to admit that he might have overreacted slightly.
"What you see when you look at the pair of us is simply snippets or photographs of our positions. If you knew the history, then you would understand that it is not two separate paths. It is the same path. She and I are headed in opposite directions. I tread the ground she used to know, and the inverse is also true. We passed each other some time ago." So far as Shaehern could yet tell, the path was not circular and neither of them would be getting any closer as the years wore on.
"But I'm afraid we have arrived at something of a delay. I'd move for cover if I were you." Shaehern could taste it on the air. Furthermore, he could feel it. There would be heavy rain here shortly.
Almost on cue, the raindrops started plummeting from the sky in lighter force and growing more heavy with each passing second. Shaehern loved water, but he imagined Jasmine and Hades might not be so appreciative of the early spring rain.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jasmine Krisp on Apr 16, 2011 12:28:44 GMT -5
Jasmine knew all too well that she was only seeing parts of the picture. She knew it since that evening spent with Naelona that she was missing something…something Naelona was missing as well. Just what it was something only Shaehern might be willing to tell her, but would he be willing to divulge such information? He’d called her special and offered his truths for free, but she had a feeling some of that knowledge might still be unsellable. His theatrics just earned the blue man a little snicker.
Shaehern was always Shaehern, no matter what.
He took her separate paths hypothesis and twisted it to what he saw was the truth. Jazz blinked and leaned in a little more, just to listen better. They passed each other long ago, something she could understand, and yet if they were walking in opposite directions how were they always meeting on their path? “Sound like you’ll have to tell me the history so I can understand better.”
And then came the rain.
Now Jasmine did like rain, as well as swimming and other things involving water, but getting drenched by a early-spring storm in the middle of the night was not high on her list of things to do. With a little yelp the woman felt a few drops herself touching right at the top of her head, the spot they always seemed to hit it seemed, before Hades started to stand. He extended one wing, one long powerful wing, and covered the basket and his mistress before ducking his head under the limb.
Right on time for the downpour. Jazz sighed and lifted her palm to her face. “Thanks nature. All we needed was more mud.” Looking up at the crying sky through her familar's feathers, the plum woman made a little sound like a mewl. "What should we do? We can duck into the forest or try and go home...at this rate the rain will be impossible to see through. Do you know a place we can wait out the storm in?"
Jasmine could swear she heard a roll of thunder.
|
|
|
|
Post by Shaehern Azhrarn on Apr 16, 2011 13:01:54 GMT -5
Wonderland rains--you could never predict them. Well, Shaehern was not necessarily certain about the nature of the weather in Wonderland, but he knew that short-term forecasting was not completely out of the picture if you spent a great deal of time outside. Gardening was something of a side hobby for Shaehern and he had learned to appreciate being able to determine when the rain was coming. It was a task made easier in the light, however.
Whatever interesting direction the conversation would take would simply have to wait. Rain would not make for a pleasant conversation-fellow at all. The walk back to the Palace was a long one, as well.
"There's an old shack in the deep woods. It's been quite a few years since it has had a proper tenant, but it's marginally closer than the Palace if you know where to find it." As a matter of fact, Shaehern knew exactly where to find the shack.
It now served mostly as a hiding place for slaves on the run. It was a terrible choice of hiding places, but it provided shelter. In theory, it was best utilized as a place to stay in the winter, but you really had nowhere else to go from there.
Shaehern imagined that the pest problem might not be so bad right now, but come summer it would be a miserable place to be. Such was the price to pay for having a roof above their heads.
"It would not be my first choice, but there you have it."
|
|
|
|
Post by Jasmine Krisp on Apr 16, 2011 22:18:26 GMT -5
The idea of finding shelter was on the top of Jasmine’s list. At the mention of a small shack around, closer than the palace at least, the little woman smiled weakly and nodded. “Sounds like a plan. I think it’s just a quick storm, bu--Hades!!” Almost on cue the blue bird withdrew his wing and flapped it repeatedly to dry himself, not only hitting his owner with a gust of wind but also leaving her in the rain. Jazz sputtered a few obscenities and fell off her make-shift seat.
“Fucking bird,” she hissed, glaring dagger at the cocky phoenix.
Pulling herself up on the slippery rocks, the plum looked to Shaehern with a embarrassed and somewhat feeble grimace. She hated her familiar with a burning passion at this point, to the point where she was amazed the rain wasn’t steaming off of her little body. But what could she do? Hades was still protecting the basket of food, if not his poor mistress. It showed that his loyalties lied with his stomach.
Jasmine started up, though she seemed to be having a problem standing between her tiny frame being pelted with rain and the slick ground.
Wobbly arms tried to steady herself before she threw a look at Shaehern. “Umm…n-normally I wouldn’t ask this…but help me?”
|
|
|
|
Post by Shaehern Azhrarn on Apr 17, 2011 21:49:36 GMT -5
The little plum had something of a foul mouth. Shaehern thought that it matched her blueberry's apparently foul temper just fine. He grinned at her, but only because he always found her reactions to Hades so amusing. The bird really did have her on a leash; it was impossible to imagine it the other way around.
The rain was picking up quickly, so the two of them would have to move. Really, whose brilliant idea was it to move out into the middle of the woods on a night when they wouldn't even have the slightest hint of rain moving in overhead? Right, it was his idea.
Shaehern offered Jasmine a hand up. It would certainly be very difficult to get a proper footing in the mud, though Shaehern was a little surprised she could not ask for the trees to lend a limb. Then again, you were never really certain exactly how much help a given tree would be, even if you knew how to ask properly.
"Doesn't seem like we have too much time to waste here." From out of his sleeves Shaehern procured a large white cloth to put over the top of the basket. It would have been extremely ridiculous to watch Hades attempt to move the basket while shielding the food.
Likewise, either Shaehern or Jasmine carrying the basket while the gluttonous phoenix was perched on the side to protect the precious cargo was equally ridiculous.
"We do not have time for the ridiculous. Let us make haste!" With one hand attached to Jasmine and the other now looped around the basket, Shaehern was off. "TALLY HO!"
|
|
|
|
Post by Jasmine Krisp on Apr 18, 2011 16:33:55 GMT -5
Hades was in a rather foul mood, and for a good reason. Unlike some birds (and certain odd blue men) the phoenix didn’t have the sort of water-resistance they did. His precious feathers were getting wet! If he didn’t beat them they would get utterly soaked, and then he wouldn’t be able to fly! So what if it knocked little Jasmine off her feet? She could just change into dry clothes and be fine. His feathers were irreplaceable!
Jasmine wanted to cut off his wings and use them as umbrellas.
The rain was heavy on the plum woman’s body, making it hard to keep her balance. Shaehern’s aid was welcome it say the least even if she was a little embarrassed. “Th-Thanks,” she mumbled, brushing some soaked bangs out of her face. They simply fell back over her eyes. “I never liked rain. Swimming, yes, but not when I’m trying to walk!” Damn rain, damn midget-body…damn birdbrain.
Jasmine blinked through her hair as Shae magically pulled out a white cloth over the basket. Well wasn’t he prepared? “Next time pack an umbrella, dear.” Then there was that little hypocritical humor about ridiculous things. He was the one running off with her in tow yelling ‘Tally HO’ through the woods. Jazz didn’t even bother stopping her laughter as they went off. “For the hunt!”
Hades rolled his eyes and kicked off in the opposite direction. He was going to fly back to the palace himself.
|
|
