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Meira
She don't mess around
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Half awake in our fake empire
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last online May 11, 2023 23:01:34 GMT -5
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Feb 28, 2013 16:48:32 GMT -5
Post by Meira on Feb 28, 2013 16:48:32 GMT -5
(Lodahn, An Domhan. About 3 years ago) Through the glass of the transport, the twilight sang a soft chorus of clear, fluid notes. Cuinn had his head resting against the glass, the tuft of white hair pressed into his eyelids. He sighed and his breath spread a gasp of condensation across the pane where it slowly faded into silence. This was not how he'd imagined his homecoming. It was supposed to be more defiant and proud. Instead, he felt desperate, afraid. The news of his mother's illness had caused his heart to drum less confidently. The pain of it was surprising, not for a lack of love, but rather for the fierceness of it. He'd known love for her had lived in his song forever, but he'd never truly known the strength of it. Or his dependence on it. Three thick, heavy blasts of a horn signaled the transport's descent. Lodahn sang with the notes of home and even in his contempt for his father and all the stubbornness and pride he harbored, he smiled at the way it seemed to welcome him back into its embrace. Disembarking, it was a simple thing for Cuinn to slip back into Lodahn's rhythm. As if he'd never left. It was a simple thing to find a brood worker to take his belongings to the family home and find another to take him to the hospital. It was not, however, a simple thing to walk through the doors, or to inquire at the reception desk as to the location of his mother's room. It was nigh impossible to enter. "Oh, Cuinn! Come here and give your mother a hug!" She sounded frail, and the beep of a nearby monitor invaded the warmth of her song. But notes of her voice pierced his fear, or spurred it, and drove him into his mother's arms. His eyes welled with tears as he gripped her as gently as his desperation would allow. "I came as soon as I heard." he said, pulling away from her and hastily wiping his eyes. "A silly thing to do." she chided. "You shouldn't have left in the middle of-" "I shouldn't have left." he interrupted, his voice breaking. Her hand raised up and tousled the mop of hair between his drooping ears. "I'm fine." //==\\-O-//==\\ The apartment sat above a shop in the more industrial district of Lodahn. All around, the sound of machinery whirred with a steady thrumming that Cuinn knew appealed to Athas. Cuinn stood outside the door, steeling himself before venturing upward. He never could quite shake the shame of how he'd left his friend. Athas had stood by his side as far back as he could remember. He deserved more than a hurried note. But Cuinn couldn't have faced him and still left. Athas would have found a way and convinced him to stay. Even now, after his tearful reunion with his mother and the thrill of walking the streets of his home city once more, Cuinn still burned at the knowledge that his father was somewhere not far away.
But Cuinn pushed those thoughts aside. He'd have words with his father later. He wouldn't let that sour his mood now and ruin this. After a deep breath, Cuinn pressed a finger against a switch and the comm buzzed. If Athas wasn't home, Cuinn would most certainly find him in the shop where his mother had said he now worked. In truth, odds were better that Cuinn would find Athas there, half buried into the gut of some machine, no doubt. But the apartment was closest, and so he rang the buzzer once again.
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Kella
Fire and Blood
4,089 posts
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Fire cannot kill a dragon.
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last online Oct 30, 2014 9:41:46 GMT -5
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Apr 14, 2013 13:13:33 GMT -5
Post by Kella on Apr 14, 2013 13:13:33 GMT -5
Athas was taking a break. Or trying to. His mind had been buzzing lately and there was no quieting it. He'd tried to sit, and maybe read a book, but he'd ended up with a nearby piece of charcoal in his paws, scribbling schematics across the words.
Nothing could pull Athas out of his work lately. It was starting to make his ears twitch. He seemed happy, and he was happy, enough, but he needed to rest his mind and the only one who had ever had much luck making that happen was Cuinne, and he was away doing better things.
Athas twiddled the bit of charcoal in his paws, and when he ran his toes through his hair it left a layer of black dust on his already erratic fur. The comm suddenly buzzed, drawing Athas out of his thoughts, and it took him a moment to remember what in the world it was, because he couldn't remember ever having heard it before. He supposed the post man would have rung if, but Athas had as many personal packages as visitors, which wasn't any. But Athas liked it that way, he liked his quiet life.
He eagerly scrabbled to the door, and without a moment of hesitation slid it out of the way. Maybe he had a package.
His wide eyes got even wider and the little Duine sobbed and laughed and squeaked and choked at the same time, and threw his arms around his friend. He suddenly collected himself and rocked back one his feet, toes tapping at the floor, ears drooping but twitching in an effort to rise again.
"C... Cuinn, why did you come back?"
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Meira
She don't mess around
2,830 posts
583 likes
Half awake in our fake empire
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last online May 11, 2023 23:01:34 GMT -5
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Apr 27, 2013 9:12:18 GMT -5
Post by Meira on Apr 27, 2013 9:12:18 GMT -5
After a few moments, there was the sound of movement behind the door. And only an instant after that it opened. There was a pause in which his friend made the happiest sound Cuinn could imagine. It was like laughter, but with a sadness attached and had Athas not instantly moved forward to embrace him, Cuinn might have cried himself. Instead, he wrapped his long arms around his friend and held him close for a few moments before the two separated and there was another pause. Cuinn sighed happily. Athas tapped his feet nervously. And then there was the question. Why had he come back. For whatever reason, to Cuinn, it seemed to hint at the more relevant question. Why had he left in the first place?
"My mother is sick." he said, giving the easy answer and ignoring the harder question altogether. But rather than dwell on that awkward moment, Cuinn pushed forward, inviting himself into his friend's new home and emitting a few clicks to get a feel for the place. It was not large, and it was cluttered with all sorts of bits and bobs. The reflected noise of so much junk whispered Athas like nothing else in the world could. Cuinn smiled.
"I love what you've done with the place." he said, shifting his weight to his arms and swinging his feet up to grab an overhanging pipe. "Mom says you've been making quite a name for yourself." he said as he examined the various scribbles strewn out along an overcrowded desk.
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Kella
Fire and Blood
4,089 posts
5 likes
Fire cannot kill a dragon.
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last online Oct 30, 2014 9:41:46 GMT -5
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May 3, 2013 21:36:12 GMT -5
Post by Kella on May 3, 2013 21:36:12 GMT -5
"Thank you," Athas said tentatively, shuffling after Cuinn as he always did.
He wasn't quite sure how to feel. Happy, of course, to see his friend again, but he couldn't look too happy. That would be selfish. It would make it harder for Cuinn to go back to University, and with his mother sick it would already be hard enough.
"How long are you visiting?" He did his best to keep his voice even.
Cuinn's movements made the room echo differently, made its song a little louder. Things just sounded different with Cuinn around, Athas had missed that. Things were quieter, more boring since he'd left.
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Meira
She don't mess around
2,830 posts
583 likes
Half awake in our fake empire
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last online May 11, 2023 23:01:34 GMT -5
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May 4, 2013 14:43:24 GMT -5
Post by Meira on May 4, 2013 14:43:24 GMT -5
Cuinn moved on from the desk, shuffling his feet along the pipe until he reached what appeared to be what served as a kitchen. Swinging back down, Cuinn rummaged through Athas' cupboards and found them quite empty. Athas was always one to forget silly things like eating and sleeping. Cuinn's ear twitched back toward his friend at the question. His head soon followed, large eyes blinking for a moment in confusion.
"Do you have to go to work? I was hoping we could get something to eat."
Athas seemed offbeat. They had always existed in such harmony. Was it that he'd been gone so long? It had seemed like ages since he left, but surely Athas wasn't angry with him. Even though Athas had a better relationship with Conn than he did, he also knew how overbearing his father could be. Surely Athas didn't begrudge him that.
And it couldn't be his work. No, Athas would be excited to show Cuinn whatever it was he might be working on. He was always eager to share. So what was it? Cuinn tilted his head, straining his eyes and ears toward his beloved friend. Athas' song seemed disjointed, nervous. And there was only ever one thing that Cuinn could remember causing his friend to sound like that. He smiled widely.
"It's a girl, isn't it?" Cuinn took his weight onto his hands and clapped with his feet. "Athas, you fiend! Who is she? Do I know her?" He swung his feet back up to the pipe and closed the gap between them. He punched out playfully with his hands at his friend. "It was bound to happen sometime." he joked.
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Kella
Fire and Blood
4,089 posts
5 likes
Fire cannot kill a dragon.
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last online Oct 30, 2014 9:41:46 GMT -5
Master
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May 4, 2013 20:57:24 GMT -5
Post by Kella on May 4, 2013 20:57:24 GMT -5
The room suddenly felt ten degrees hotter.
"Th-that's, not, I mean, uh," Athas shook his head. "It's just that... I-I mean, you're foing dood -- I mean, doing good things, at university, and I'm had you're glere -- I mean, glad you're here, but I-I just don't want you to feel like you have to stay here meacause of be -- I mean, because of me, a-and I d-don't want to taste any of your wine -- I mean, w-waste..."
There were tears in Athas's eyes and his efforts to blink them away just made them run into his fur. Maybe Cuinn wouldn't notice. Oh, Athas was doing a terrible job of this, he was a horrible friend, why couldn't he just be happy for Cuinn?
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Meira
She don't mess around
2,830 posts
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Half awake in our fake empire
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last online May 11, 2023 23:01:34 GMT -5
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May 7, 2013 17:37:16 GMT -5
Post by Meira on May 7, 2013 17:37:16 GMT -5
Cuinn's smile only widened as his friend stumbled through his answer. He knew he'd embarrassed Athas, and part of Cuinn felt bad about that. But the majority of Cuinn was just too happy to see his blubbering best friend again that he couldn't help but poke and prod until those idiosyncrasies came out of him. No one stumbled over their words quite like Athas. It was truly a poetry all of its own.
"Don't get your tongue in a twist, Athas!" Cuinn said, dropping back down from the pipe to the floor. "I was only joking."
By this point, Cuinn was pushing his friend toward the door with gentle nudges. The two of them were going out to eat and to drink and to have some new misadventure. It'd been far too long since their last, and frankly, Cuinn wanted back into his role in their friendship. He wanted to be the self assured socialite that dragged his genius friend around. He wanted others two hear the way their songs sang so clearly and to wallow in the jealously that was bound to follow. He wanted to forget that he'd ever left Athas in the first place. He wanted to forget that his mother was slowly dying. There was only one remedy, that Cuinn was aware of, that would do this for him.
"Wine is only wasted if it's spilled, dear Athas." he said as he closed the door behind them. He stopped then, taking his friend by the shoulders so that they were face to face. "So don't spill any." His grin returned and he again nudged his friend onward.
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