GoldenCat/ObsidianAftermath04
- - Back to Sixth Movement
- - Back to A Dance of Angels
End of Barriers
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: She had banished all flame from her room. She had made it into as cool and stable womb of the earth as she could, but alas, such was impossible. She could not hear the backround thrumb of the deep places of the world, were Essence almost flowed as rivers and pooled, like sacred ponds into cupped and supplicant hands, bringing such bounty to the lips of those truely thirsty.
But alas, Spire’s essence had been too wounded.
And the quarters the Winlandian soldiers had secured was far too crowded....
She rested in a bed not made for one of her height, though she had made do. It was quiet, dark, and secluded. Though she felt not the familar sensations of her home, lost to her, it was at least a place where should be at peace, collect her thoughts, and find her rest.
Her gown lay over a chair, shorn from her like a lamb's wool, and she lay bare to the world, only a scant sheet of linen veiling her virtue. Her long, curly hair pooled about her shoulders, its glossy mass covering her pillow.
- Gennadi takes a moment to appreciate the sight, slipping in quietly to rest on the side of the bed. A stone tray retains the heat of the kitchen, and wonderful smells drift forth in steaming trails. He waves a few at her with a hand that glows, a soft blue light to illuminate the room.
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: Though she might not display it at times, and though her deep had been sleep due to the sheer amount of her Essence expended and her ears were keen, and her nostrils sharp. The gentle sound of the door opening brought her out of the depths of her dreams; dreams of past glory and heartache. The smell of the food caused a gentle rumble to issue forth from her stomach, and brought her into wakefulness. Her lashes brushed her cheek gently like a creasting wave as she opened her eyes and blinked several times, slowly. She stirred in her bed, placing a hand on her breastbone to keep the sheet covering her as she sat up. She looks around, and finds Gennadi with a plate of food..
...and most probably a boyish grin.
- Gennadi does indeed have a grin, turned halfway to face her and sprawled out catlike against the head of the bed. "I'll get the jokes out of the way and ask what a lady like you is doing in a place like this. Brought you some breakfast." He sets the tray down, black stone contrasting with white porcelain and the colorful food selections. "Don't expect this too often, now."
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: She takes the tray from him cordially, and shifts her stunning figure in the bed as she leans closer toward the tray. Leaning a bit, she gently wafts the aroma, before smiling faintly. "It is a nice change, to be sure." She glances up at Gennadi, and arches an eyebrow at him, "Though this one wonders to what honor she is being paid by this act of thoughfulness." She takes up a small bit of her food, and eats it as she watches him for his response.
- Gennadi blinks. "Hey, who said anything about me paying you? I'm just the agent." He chuckles. "Besides, I was getting an early snack myself, and I was curious how you fared after I left."
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: She seems to consider Gennadi for a long moment, wondering if this was a test of her honesty or merely a polite inquirey. She frowned ever so faintly, at the way the Dark Angel seemed to be effecting her behavior patterns. The shrewd woman might do such, but would Gennadi?
Can one trust the Exalted?
Her frown falls back into a sedated smile, and she takes up another small piece of her breakfast, it hovers before her mouth as she answers, "It is hard to know of your comings and goings, for as little as I know of the Star Chosen, I know you conceal yourselves with great adeptness."
Gennadi: "Mhm. Though I'd think announcing that I was leaving in the middle of the arguement would have stuck in your memory." He shakes his head sadly. "Did I guess at the food right? I wasn't sure what you'd enjoy, so I mostly picked pretty things."
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: "Pretty things often have rotten cores," she says in retort, it flowing smoothly from her lips, even as the food she held there past beyond them. "But the thought its appreciated, and the presentation, dazzling." The corners of her lips turn upwards a little more into a more amused expression, but the change is subtle, "Ah, well, the evening drew to a close and took the Pale Angel to the Demanse I capped to speak with Ecstacy, whom I had entrapped in a bit of Yasal Crystal."
Gennadi: "I should hope not, or my investment will not bear fruit." He taps the wall for safety. "Ah, good. You seem to have made it through that night without any more trouble. I was a bit worried, the party got more out of hand than I planned."
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: "It is my impression that when you gather a room of people who are larger than life, you also, at times, have clashes of their larger than life egos and passions. This is merely an observation, however."
She leaned back on the bed again, and considered Gennadi, "I assume thats not the question you actually came to ask me, Gentleman of a Blue Soul." She stated, gently lifting one of her eyebrows to punctuate the question.
Gennadi: "Who said I'm here to ask questions?" He smiles. "I'm here to bring you some breakfast, see how you're feeling, and kill a bit of time. Nothing more and nothing less. As I said to the others, I can't be acting out a devilish sidereal plot all of the time." A wink, and his eyes shine at her in mirth for a moment. "I have to wonder where you've been that you can't take something so simple as breakfast without looking for alterior motives."
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: She leans back on her elbows, the sheerness of the sheet combined with the gently light cascading from the Sidereal's palm baths her in Sapphire. The subtle, gentle outline of her nipples pressing against the nearness of the linen next to her scandiously scintilating form do wonders to distract one from inconsequencial matters...
...like remembering to blink.
"Perhaps my time on the surface and my... experiance just prior to my arrival to the former have caused me to become a bit jaded," she smirks faintly at her own pun, before continuing, "But I usually fine that any who seek me out do so for my knowledge and skill, rather than to share my company." She lays a long, slender finger against the side of her chin, as she recants part of that statement, "Though, Seventh Moon does seem to be the notable exception."
Gennadi: "It is the exception that proves the rule. I haven't had time to meet him yet, but I can imagine he is not the average Exalt. I find it pleasing, if odd, that you have not appended sharing your body to the list of seeking out. I would imagine a woman such as you receives many invitations of tha nature."
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: "It has always been so, in times past. I have always looked the way I looked, save for my... coloration." She taps her cheek very hard with a nail. A dull tap can be heard. "Most people think this is actually how I look. It is actually a charm my people know of, to infuse the substance of our flesh with the solid protection of White Jade. Blade Jade makes one swift, Red Jade impervious to heat and flame, Green Jade sooths our wounds, and Blue releaves us of our burdens." She smiles a little more as she realizes the secrets of her homeland spilled from her lips like a drunkard speaking with a buxom woman.
"However, I do not mean to go on. It does happen... from time to time."
Gennadi: "Do you appreciate it? Not to be crass, but one can hardly call the tableaux before me a turnoff. Jade-infused or no, the sight is there. As far as I know, you have not eased the pangs of your loneliness with lovers, but..." He shrugs. "I can't imagine that such a thing would be widely known."
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: "Gennadi, I am young for my people, but I am old enough to know that constant dilliances with every man or woman that poses an opportunity of sexual union with me is rather unfulfilling. When I give of myself physically to another, it is deeper than raw lust. I hold few in my intimacy enough to even see me as I am, much less share my bed."
She sighs softly at this, pausing for a moment, "I can only make love to someone I care deeply about. So deeply that my soul aches when they weep, and quivers with bliss at their joy." She glanced toward the far wall, showing him but her profile. "I shared my bed with Kanti once. I asked her to warm the cold places of my heart, for I saw a pain in her profound. I ached for her suffering. I was a fool, perhaps, to think that a moment of intimacy with another could balm scars so deeply cut, and with such skilled percision."
"Very few wounds can scar one's Essence, but she bares them." "That the Dark Angel grants her succor and seems to geniunely care about her well being allows me to forgive her subtle slights against me. She does bare a small measure of compassion, but you have to look close at times. I see it light her eyes when she gazes on Moon adoringly, though I doubt she wants others to see." She smiled sadly now, and sat up a bit, and reached over for her plate. "Underneath it all. Underneath all the pain and the horror and the hard times she has endured, the Dark Angel is capable of compassion. That is why I find her beautiful."
She looked back at him, and shook her head a little bit, "I'm sorry, you came for a pleasent chat and I gave you my pathos instead," she said in a voice as soft as velvet. "Who was she that accompanied you to the party, might I inquire?" she states suddenly, with a like change in her tone.
Gennadi: "Which one? I brought twenty-four women for my grand entrance. The dancer was Shaliya. She is... it is complicated. The sidereal are almost alone in that their familiars, the beings bound to their hearts and minds, are full beings, living spirits drawn up from the level of the beasts, or in Shaliya's case, a mindless hunting rose. She can be a bit of a klutz, but having forged the link to true life with my own essence and drive, I can't help but forgive her her minor imperfections."
He eyes her, a bit surprised. 'It was not wholly a pleasant chat, I must admit. The thought had occured to me to establish certain... expectations of conduct. I aim to please, and if you enjoyed flattery, or detested having men try to look down your dresses, I would have simply adjusted accordingly. Now, my turn for questions. Why do you ask?"
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: "It was my cloddish attempt to change the subject away from the other topic, of course," she indulges him with a true smile, though it is quickly gone. "And what expectations of conduct would, please? If we are to work together, you must know my heart about certain things, and I must know whom you associate. After all, had I not asked, I should not have known who that woman was in certainly, and might have merely had to make a guess."
Gennadi: "Guesses are not so bad. As she is often my agent, you'd have found out eventually. As for expectations of conduct..." He shrugs again, unused to being the one asked for that sort of decision. "I had mostly thought to make our association pleasant. It costs me little to nothing to do some small things, and it is not as if I am so bereft of joy in my life I must force providing such on an associate. I can draw up a list of names for you later. As of late, it is mostly Shaliya, whom I've explained, and Sandara... she's, well, complicated too. A virginal Neomah."
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: She arches an eyebrow and covers her mouth to prevent her snicker from being too obvious. "You don't say?" She rises, her back to him, and moves to her attire, which she begins to don. Its still as pearlesent and radient as it had ever been, still in the shape of the gown she had shifted it to a few nights before.
"Hrm... did you use a tome for her name, cast your spell randomly, or force a name out of another demon?"
Gennadi: "Tome. Alas, it seems woefully out of date. I have some ideas as to what happened, but for now I am mostly trying to make things easy for her here in creation." He averts his eyes out of politeness. "It seems I have a habit of dealing with complicated women."
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: "Most women you'll meet are complicated in some way. Only a foolish man expects things to be simple. The way of nature is that of the curving way. Nothing is ever straightforward as one would think."
After donning her gown, she allows her hair to cascade down her back, and she is as precistine as though she came fresh she came from the baths. "You know, I always found it amusing that Neomah were thought of as prostitutes rather than breeders, even though the one you speak of seems a touch odd."
Gennadi: "When you're young, command vastly showy powers of essence, and just spent a year learning the art of sorcery, the first thing on one's mind is not often children. This one seems to mostly be a priestess and an enigma. Very attractive, frightened of losing her identity should she give in to her racial urges. Good pillow, though. Cute when she's sleeping."
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: "Allow me to look over your book sometime, would you? I might be able to solve her. I should actually like to meet her sometime, as it seems I shall have to know her if I am to be in your service at present."
Gennadi: "I'll introduce you sometime. I'm sure she'll appreciate being in the room with someone who can distract people from ogling her." He kicks his feet up on the bed, easily taking possession of it for the moment. "So, what are your plans for today?"
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: She places a finger on her chin again and thinks a little about that, "I believe I was going to continue shoring up the Demanse. As well as speaking to the Smiling Lover about stocking it with her Courtisans. Why do you inquire?"
Gennadi: "I've got to return to the Zephyr anyway. I thought perhaps I'd take you along. It shouldn't take more than a few hours. I could have you back after lunch."
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: "I think that would be pleasent. Is the Zephyr the fabulous airship I've heard so much about?"
Gennadi: "It is indeed. Careful about poking around too much, Cal can be playful."
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: 'Cal?' she mouths soundlessly. She dons her slippers, sitting on the bed briefly as she does so. "Well, I should like to see it then."
Gennadi: "The ship's spirit is awakened. And, ah, everything you'd imagine a female pilot for a first age solar's pleasure yacht would be." He chuckles as he catches her while she sits down. He quickly sits up, crossing around behind her in a lightning motion. As she turns around to see him, her lips settle against his in a kiss. He doesn't give her long to consider it as he continues on to his feet. "It's a date, then. I'll pick you up in an hour." A wave, and a twinkle of those eternally blue eyes before he leaves.
- - Back to Sixth Movement
- - Back to A Dance of Angels
