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jeriendhalShort but eventful entry today.
When Rolas awoke, it was late afternoon, judging from the sunlight slanting through the grotto. He was lying on his side on the picnic blanket, another blanket covering him. He felt relaxed, more so than he had in many, many months, the tension he’d been carrying left aside somehow, though gentle Melika’s care. She said she desires to seduce me. If she would do this to me again, I very well might let her. “Melika?” he called out softly.
“She’s inside, speaking to Alice,” he heard his sister answer. He rolled over to find her sitting on the wrought iron bench, looking down on him. Her expression was not happy, nor relaxed. He didn’t know if she was capable of such emotions anymore. But she did appear… thoughtful was perhaps the best word.
“Hullo, Salli. How did it go?” he asked cautiously, rising up onto his knees, careful to keep his distance from her so she wouldn’t startle.
Salli bit her lip. “I’m not sure. We talked for almost four hours.” Which in and of itself was something of a wonder. Rolas himself had never managed to get his sister to speak of her experiences for more than five minutes. “She actually understood me, I think.” Salli’s face changed to an expression of wonder. “She understood what it was like.”
“Would you like to talk to her again?”
“I think so.” She touched her paw above her heart. “I feel all drained, like a bucket that was turned over and shaken to get all the drops out. It was exhausting. I’m to see her again tomorrow though.”
“Good, good. That makes me very happy, Salli.”
“Me too, Little Brother.” Hearing her use his old nickname widened the smile already forming on his lips.
“Thank you for letting me push you into this, Salli,” he told her, taking her paws into his own.
“Thank you for pushing, Rolas,” she said. Her expression turned to a frown and she turned his paws up in her own. “Where did you get these little scars?”
“Eh?” He looked down, seeing the tiny, healed over wounds from his attempt to control his temper when he had told the Red Vixen his sister’s tragic story. “That’s nothing, Salli. I got a bit overexcited when I was in that pirate’s hands.”
“You hurt yourself.”
“It’s not important.”
“It is to me, Brother.” She chewed on her lip again, ducking her head down, then seemed to force herself to meet his eyes. “When Mother and Father told me they weren’t going to ransom you, I said some horrible things to them. I told them that they were monsters that didn’t truly love you, or me.”
“Salli, you were upset. People often say things they’ll later regret when they’re upset.”
“I wanted to lash out at them, to hurt them. Then, later, after you had returned, I thought about what I had said to them, and I realized I had been acting very selfish. Worse, I had been acting like him. I don’t want to be like him.” No need to specify who him was. Kev Highglider’s name was not something that passed through Salli’s lips, or from anyone in hearing distance of her, anymore.
Rolas shook his head and took hold of her hands once again. “Salli, you could no more be like your… like him… than I could.”
“I’ve only been thinking about myself, how much I hurt. I hadn’t even noticed your paws before now. When you were away all I could think about how I was going to miss you. It didn’t ever enter my head how horribly you must have been treated.”
He smiled. “It wasn’t that bad, Salli. I wasn’t mistreated in any way. My greatest problem was boredom. That and worrying about how all of you were doing.” Goddess, he wasn’t even going to try to explain his very peculiar captor to her, or his own reactions to his captivity. Since coming home, being locked away in an isolated cell, not responsible for his own fate or anyone else’s, had some terribly appealing points in comparison to his life at the moment.
“I’m just happy you go away from her,” Melika said, stepping into the grotto. “Hullo, Rolas. Did you sleep well?”
“Very much so. Thank you, Melika.”
“How are you feeling now?”
Seducable was his first thought. Instead he answered, “Very happy that things went well with Salli and Dr. Quan.”
“As am I. Salli, I understand you’re going to speak to Dr. Quan again tomorrow. Would it be all right if I steal your brother for a bit while you’re talking with her?”
His sister’s lips turned up and, the Holy Den Mother be praised, the ghost of a smile crossed her lips. “I’ve no objections, Mel.”
“Nor I,” Rolas asked, since he couldn’t help but notice his own opinion wasn’t consulted in this transaction.
“Good,” Melika said. “Rolas, when you come over tomorrow, there are some matters I’d like to discuss with you in private.”
“As you wish, milady.” He leaned down and kissed her paw and she graced him with a dazzling smile.
* * *
He was still feeling quite cheered when he and Salli got home. Coming inside, the first person he bumped into was Mother.
“How did things go, Rolas?” she asked him softly, watching as Salli went up the stairs to her suite, pleading understandable emotional exaustion.
“Better than we could have hoped for, I think,” he told her. “Salli seems to have developed a very heartening rapport with Melika’s Dr. Quan. She actually smiled at me at least once.”
“Oh!” Mother covered her lips in surprise and no small amount of delight. “Oh, today has been a good day, especially with the other news we heard about.”
“We’re getting the insurance money after all?” Rolas asked hopefully.
“Better than that.”
“Our dear Countess has died of an unexpected heart attack?”
“Not that good, but almost. Look at the newsnets.” She dragged him to her study and flipped on the comsole, switching to the newsnet page.
INFAMOUS VULPINE PIRATE BELIEVED DEAD
The so called Red Vixen, who for the past three years has menaced civilian freighters transiting the Disputed Territories, was believed to be killed in the past week when the gutted remains of a ship, identified as her galleon The Scarlet Claw, was found adrift in the New China Republic system. The United System Forces confirmed that no private mercenaries or Navy vessels had reported engaging the pirate vessel in combat recently. “That probably means she ran afoul of another pirate,” said a USF press representative, Commander Deborah Blackcrow. “Happily, that means one less that we have to worry about.”
The Red Vixen’s most notable recent exploit was the kidnapping of Lord Rolas Darktail, when she attacked his House’s produce freighter, the Sallivera…
“Well,” Rolas said a moment later, after he finished reading, his heart gone strangely numb, “she did say she didn’t care to have Mavra Chan as her enemy.”
TBC
When Rolas awoke, it was late afternoon, judging from the sunlight slanting through the grotto. He was lying on his side on the picnic blanket, another blanket covering him. He felt relaxed, more so than he had in many, many months, the tension he’d been carrying left aside somehow, though gentle Melika’s care. She said she desires to seduce me. If she would do this to me again, I very well might let her. “Melika?” he called out softly.
“She’s inside, speaking to Alice,” he heard his sister answer. He rolled over to find her sitting on the wrought iron bench, looking down on him. Her expression was not happy, nor relaxed. He didn’t know if she was capable of such emotions anymore. But she did appear… thoughtful was perhaps the best word.
“Hullo, Salli. How did it go?” he asked cautiously, rising up onto his knees, careful to keep his distance from her so she wouldn’t startle.
Salli bit her lip. “I’m not sure. We talked for almost four hours.” Which in and of itself was something of a wonder. Rolas himself had never managed to get his sister to speak of her experiences for more than five minutes. “She actually understood me, I think.” Salli’s face changed to an expression of wonder. “She understood what it was like.”
“Would you like to talk to her again?”
“I think so.” She touched her paw above her heart. “I feel all drained, like a bucket that was turned over and shaken to get all the drops out. It was exhausting. I’m to see her again tomorrow though.”
“Good, good. That makes me very happy, Salli.”
“Me too, Little Brother.” Hearing her use his old nickname widened the smile already forming on his lips.
“Thank you for letting me push you into this, Salli,” he told her, taking her paws into his own.
“Thank you for pushing, Rolas,” she said. Her expression turned to a frown and she turned his paws up in her own. “Where did you get these little scars?”
“Eh?” He looked down, seeing the tiny, healed over wounds from his attempt to control his temper when he had told the Red Vixen his sister’s tragic story. “That’s nothing, Salli. I got a bit overexcited when I was in that pirate’s hands.”
“You hurt yourself.”
“It’s not important.”
“It is to me, Brother.” She chewed on her lip again, ducking her head down, then seemed to force herself to meet his eyes. “When Mother and Father told me they weren’t going to ransom you, I said some horrible things to them. I told them that they were monsters that didn’t truly love you, or me.”
“Salli, you were upset. People often say things they’ll later regret when they’re upset.”
“I wanted to lash out at them, to hurt them. Then, later, after you had returned, I thought about what I had said to them, and I realized I had been acting very selfish. Worse, I had been acting like him. I don’t want to be like him.” No need to specify who him was. Kev Highglider’s name was not something that passed through Salli’s lips, or from anyone in hearing distance of her, anymore.
Rolas shook his head and took hold of her hands once again. “Salli, you could no more be like your… like him… than I could.”
“I’ve only been thinking about myself, how much I hurt. I hadn’t even noticed your paws before now. When you were away all I could think about how I was going to miss you. It didn’t ever enter my head how horribly you must have been treated.”
He smiled. “It wasn’t that bad, Salli. I wasn’t mistreated in any way. My greatest problem was boredom. That and worrying about how all of you were doing.” Goddess, he wasn’t even going to try to explain his very peculiar captor to her, or his own reactions to his captivity. Since coming home, being locked away in an isolated cell, not responsible for his own fate or anyone else’s, had some terribly appealing points in comparison to his life at the moment.
“I’m just happy you go away from her,” Melika said, stepping into the grotto. “Hullo, Rolas. Did you sleep well?”
“Very much so. Thank you, Melika.”
“How are you feeling now?”
Seducable was his first thought. Instead he answered, “Very happy that things went well with Salli and Dr. Quan.”
“As am I. Salli, I understand you’re going to speak to Dr. Quan again tomorrow. Would it be all right if I steal your brother for a bit while you’re talking with her?”
His sister’s lips turned up and, the Holy Den Mother be praised, the ghost of a smile crossed her lips. “I’ve no objections, Mel.”
“Nor I,” Rolas asked, since he couldn’t help but notice his own opinion wasn’t consulted in this transaction.
“Good,” Melika said. “Rolas, when you come over tomorrow, there are some matters I’d like to discuss with you in private.”
“As you wish, milady.” He leaned down and kissed her paw and she graced him with a dazzling smile.
* * *
He was still feeling quite cheered when he and Salli got home. Coming inside, the first person he bumped into was Mother.
“How did things go, Rolas?” she asked him softly, watching as Salli went up the stairs to her suite, pleading understandable emotional exaustion.
“Better than we could have hoped for, I think,” he told her. “Salli seems to have developed a very heartening rapport with Melika’s Dr. Quan. She actually smiled at me at least once.”
“Oh!” Mother covered her lips in surprise and no small amount of delight. “Oh, today has been a good day, especially with the other news we heard about.”
“We’re getting the insurance money after all?” Rolas asked hopefully.
“Better than that.”
“Our dear Countess has died of an unexpected heart attack?”
“Not that good, but almost. Look at the newsnets.” She dragged him to her study and flipped on the comsole, switching to the newsnet page.
INFAMOUS VULPINE PIRATE BELIEVED DEAD
The so called Red Vixen, who for the past three years has menaced civilian freighters transiting the Disputed Territories, was believed to be killed in the past week when the gutted remains of a ship, identified as her galleon The Scarlet Claw, was found adrift in the New China Republic system. The United System Forces confirmed that no private mercenaries or Navy vessels had reported engaging the pirate vessel in combat recently. “That probably means she ran afoul of another pirate,” said a USF press representative, Commander Deborah Blackcrow. “Happily, that means one less that we have to worry about.”
The Red Vixen’s most notable recent exploit was the kidnapping of Lord Rolas Darktail, when she attacked his House’s produce freighter, the Sallivera…
“Well,” Rolas said a moment later, after he finished reading, his heart gone strangely numb, “she did say she didn’t care to have Mavra Chan as her enemy.”
TBC
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-08-29 12:15 am (UTC)Poor Red... fallen by Mavra...
I hope that helps the cause of Rolas and the insurance - even if he might miss her...
But I hope Melika will comfort him in his grieve...
=)
mjkj
no subject
Date: 2008-08-29 05:29 am (UTC)And yay, Salli. And Rolas and Melika, for that matter [g].