» ✕ ° ʙᴀʙʏ ʙɪʀᴅ.

  HONESTLY, HE shouldn’t have been so surprised. still, usually care-free eyes betrayed his true emotions, shock widening the grey-blue irises. for a moment he was, extremely uncharacteristically, speechless.  of course she would offer to do it herself. through his surprise he still managed to scold himself for thinking aloud in the first place. how had he not seen this coming?

         ❛ no, absolutely not. it’s too dangerous ❜

his rational mind knew TWO things. ONE, this was obviously the most effective way to go about this, and no one could handle it better than edea. TWO, there was no way in hell that she wasn’t going to do this, no matter what he said. he knew, more so than the amnesiac knew anything about himself, that once she set her mind to it Edea was a brave, unstoppable tidal wave. despite knowing this with absolute certainty, ringabel still couldn’t help but be COMPLETELY opposed to it, some odd protective side ( though she was the last person to need HIS protection, he knew this just as welll ) made him speak, stubbornly.

        ❛ ╾╾ there’s another way we haven’t seen yet, we just have to keep thinking. ❜

            ❛    that’s the most   LAMEST  REASON   ever !   ❜    &  she confronts him,  standing her ground.   (  her   MIND    was set   &   there was no   CHANGING   it.  )     ❛    i am   CAPABLE   of handling myself  in-case you haven’t noticed already.    ❜      TRULY,   the  GRAND  MARSHALL’S  DAUGHTER    was not only   STRONG-WILLED,    but physically    STRONG    in    BATTLES    as well.         ❛    besides our whole journey is   ‘  DANGEROUS.  ‘    &   we have all   SURVIVED   this far ;  i don’t think a little undercover mission is going to be    ROUGHER   than any other things we have faced.    ❜    

           &  she sighs to his   STUBBORNNESS.  (   though she was not the one to   JUDGE   what it came to being   STUBBORN.    )      ❛    it’s a good plan   &  i am going through with it.  if you don’t like it,  then you just have to suck it up.  we   NEED   these answers.   ❜   

   It had never really crossed his mind as hard or easy—seraphim existed as they did, as would humans, as would most anything else in the worlds that were. Perhaps, in some small semblance, he understood his kin lived in troubled times, but didn’t they all carry their own burdens and strife? Who was even to say their pain was comparable? “… That’s true,” he begins, conceding a smile to his features at the mere sentiment. “It’s gotten better lately—you being able to see me is proof of that.”

   And what a pleasant thought it was (We’re getting closer to that day, one step at a time.); “Ah, well, that makes more sense, now that you put it that way.” Fingers rap lightly against his sides, a casual calm overtaking him in that moment, “I had meant a particular facet of seraphic society, actually, although it’s more the crystals that caught my attention than the vestals.”

             ❛   i’ll look forward to that !  ❜    &    she says,  one being    ABLE   to sense   CHEERFULNESS   within her voice   &   she gives a smile, to match her voice.  she did not only   WAIT   for such moment to come for herself,   (  as seemingly,  she is already   CAPABLE   of seeing them.  )   but for him  &  his kin. 

          though that smile is soon to   FADE,    CURIOUS   look   REPLACING   it once more ;    ❛    what kind of facet ?   ❜    

   “You wouldn’t be the first—to be raised without ever even hearing of us.” A hint of melancholy, a drop of sadness at the verity of such a fact, but the seraph knew far better than to dwell on the circumstances of the present (they could make a better future; they surely would.).

   “With the priestesses…?” He mulls the thought over visibly, crown momentarily tilting to and fro, “I’d think humans in general share more in common with them than the seraphim do.”

             ❛    so it’s not that   COMMON   to know about your kind, huh ?  ------------   ❜    &   one can hear hint of   EMPATHY   within her tune.      ❛    ---------------  must not be easy.    ❜     for one’s whole  EXISTENCE   being something only a few   BELIEVE   in,  few who   ACKNOWLEDGE  it.....what a heavy   BURDEN    to carry.       ❛    but hey !  at least you know there is one person more who can   SEE   you   &   knows of your kind !    ❜     &   she attempted to   LIGHTEN  his mood,  taking thoughts   AWAY   from those that must not be easy to be   REMINDED   of.      ❛    & yeah well,  you were the one to   COMPARE   them in the first place.  i was just saying i could   UNDERSTAND   why they   REMINDED   you of   SERAPHIM.  ❜   

                 ❛ APOLOGIES. ❜ THE word falls out easily ╾╾ though brows still furrowed in thought ╾╾  this far, far, FAR from being his first time saying such things, blue eyes momentarily lingering on edea. the comments of beautiful women come out almost naturally, without him even thinking at times, though this apology covered both that AND the mentioning once more of the ‘technique’. it was really was bothering him, more than he would admit aloud.

muscles tense in thought as his stare moves outwards again, not focusing on what’s infront of them but lost in thought. ringabel continues to stroke his chin, almost absently. ❛ ╾╾ the only way is to investigate him closer, though how to do that i’m not sure. ❜ some mirth falls into his tone, a very SLIGHT grin twitching one corner of his lip upwards as he says,   ❛ perhaps we can dress Tiz up like a beautiful woman and see what happens. ❜

          ❛    as   TEMPTED   as i am to see tiz wearing a dress  -----------   ❜    &  even though she   DOUBTED   tiz had the    COURAGE    to do such thing, even if it were to   UNRAVEL     the   TRUTH     of    RED.       ❛    if we really want to   SUCCEED   ------------  i’ll do it.   ❜    (  her lips are   GRACED   with a  CONFIDENT   smile.  )   if they   TRULY   wanted to find out what was going on,   what   SECRETS   were    HIDDEN  in this town,  they had to have a plan that would definitely work.  (   there was no room for   MISTAKES.  )   & she had no   PROBLEM   with such task   &   already having to put her    MIND    into the mission ;     there was no   STOPPING   her. 

    ❛ I AGREE  —— the entire town seems to be on it’s side or something of that sort. even the women, though beautiful as they may be, have something —— dare i say,   ——  suspicious about them. ❜ and it wasn’t just the fact that they were falling for someone like RED. the nickname, even silently in his mind, was thought of with a tint of annoyance, something rare in ringabel’s set of emotions. and even when it was there it was rarely so WRITTEN on his face such as now. 

glad, though saying nothing of it, that edea voiced his opinion ( that he wasn’t simply being PARANOID, because where would such an unbecoming emotion fit in with a casanova? ), so that he could agree. eyebrows stayed furrowed in suspicion as clouded blue eyes scanned the city in question once more.  ❛ perhaps his ‘TECHNIQUE,’ ❜ it really was bothering him  ❛ is a, pardon my pun, RED HERRING, and we’re missing the bigger picture. ❜

              ❛    geez   RINGABEL    ----------    ❜    &  she rolls her eyes to his comment about the women.  this was something    a  MEMBER    of their group should already be   USED   to.   it just left her    FEEL    ever so   STRANGE  ANNOYANCE,   which she however   REFUSES   to inspect closer,  &  so leaves it be. 

             &  she places her hand upon her hip,  sighing yet again.   ❛    AGAIN   with the technique ?    ❜    she supposed it was just too   GOOD   to be   TRUE   that he would let such   INSIGNIFICANT   thought go.  but  REGARDLESS,   listens to him.  he had a point,  there was something more to it,  something more they have yet to   UNRAVEL.   

         ‵      no, no, no, no                it’s more like  BLUE  sends in messages  via  images , but those   images  are projected directly into my   brain  . there are NO words exchanged between us just … mostly purrs and telepathic idea-feeding. it’s neat, right ? i  KNOW . BLUE  is amazing. we’re even more amazing together .     ′

      an affectionate hand  encases  a small fraction of that  GARGANTUAN  paw, cyan and burnished with the solicitude the   BLUE PALADIN   has dealt to his own SOMA ; the  luminous  purrs hum at the back of his skull, trusting,  encouraging . 

        ‵     i can show you what’s  inside, if you want. just try not to  freak out  when it opens its mouth. ′

        she nodded along as he explained,  TRYING   to   UNDERSTAND   it all. as complicated  &  STRANGE it all sounded, she did manage to understand what he meant.  (  those two  ---------- it goes without saying they share some kind of   BOND.   )     ❛    TEAMWORK   tends to do that.     ❜    (  bring the best out of each other.  )    &  she had learned that it does not suit anyone ;   what was more   TERRIFYING   she had witnessed her own   COUNTRYMEN   belong under those who doesn’t.   she then   RAISES   a brow,  CURIOUS  not only of whether his offer was   TRULY  GENUINE,   but the fact you would enter into it through it’s mouth.     ❛   really ?    ------------   &  you enter into through it’s  mouth ?   i  WONDER   how the first time you learned that went.    ❜    

       ❛   ———  i suppose that is true. however , we did leave quite a mess in the process.  ❜  

         &  she sighs,   DEFEATED   as she knows the   TRUTH   even without having to look around herself twice.   ❛    yeah -------- i suppose those are situations you can’t get out of without making a   MESS.   ❜      but everyone   INVOLVED    were  UNHARMED ;   everyone  SURVIVED.    that’s what mattered to her.

                              his story was painted in the constellations;     BORN a child of stars, raised in home that left his amour for the cosmic to grow with each year.    had it never been his initial dream to go to space, a small part of him knew he would have regretted CHILDISH FEARS.     a breath of content to curl from his lips when nostalgia had hit him.     but now he bathed in the nebulae, FEARS to flow through his vein like blood but never stopping him. 

                             her persistence did nothing but FUEL the mirth to run so warm in his system, the occasional little chuckle to flutter from his lips when she REGARDED HIM with the longing of his experience.     ( he would have to, put in her situation. )     however, he could only sigh, WHIMS folded in his lips when he shook his head but expression only morphed with the tease to line his words.   ❛  i don’t know, i could go on for HOURS talking about it. you sure you’re up for that?  ❜

             ❛    i was the one to ask you to in the first place, didn’t  i  ?   ❜   she chuckles,  the answer to his question seeming so   OBVIOUS.   LIVING  AMONG  STARS  -------------  the very thought would leave anyone who   DWELLS   upon the grounds   CURIOUS,   YEARNING   to hear more.  many would   CLAIM   it is  IMPOSSIBLE  -------------  but during this little time since the   BABY BIRD   spread her  WINGS   &  FLEW  to see the   WORLD    with her own eyes,   she had learned so much,  &   witnessed most   STRANGEST   things.   (   so she   BELIEVED  him,   believed  in his words.  )    &   surely,  would gain more information of the subject.

               ❛   --------------- so, i am all ears !  tell me whatever you   FEEL   like !   ❜    &   she had   REMINDED   herself to add the last part ;   not wanting to push his limits too far.   (  there must be things he  WISHES   to   HIDE.   that is the case for everyone ;   &   she knew it was also so in  SPACE.   )   

       ❛   ——— i don’t think fine is the word i’d use to describe it ... ❜  

         ❛   come on, we  SURVIVED   &   no-one got  KILLED  !    ❜    (  but didn’t   HELP   with the   MESS   they caused.   )

                     ❛ hmmm ❜

a noise that is a mix somewhere of discontent, thoughtfulness, and most a whine falls from his lips, hand reaching to stroke his chin. nevertheless, he didn’t continue asking, knowing full well she wouldn’t give an answer if she didn’t want to. his mind almost ACHED to figure out what the old man had been teasing about, teasing as it may have been, though whether it was more so because of the CASANOVA in him, or simply the fact that it was a mental challenge he was having trouble solving, was unclear.

                        ❛ such as the fact that he’s extremely untrustworthy?                           I wouldn’t trust him as far as you could throw him.                           there has to be SOMETHING behind this. ❜

           ❛    there is something   FISHY   about that guy.  though he may be just an   OLD  CASANOVA.    ❜    &  she  WONDERS   which was the   TRUTH,    ❛    but then again this whole place seems ----------   STRANGE.    ❜     something was   WRONG,  -----------  &   she was not going to let such thing be, she would not   LINGER   with the   FEELING   of something going on  ----------- she was going to find out what was  HAPPENING.

        ❝ … you spoke of markings —— i assumed you meant my hand. ❞ his mind LINGERS on a single thought, obviously. pity the chosen, for death picks their victims without remorse. as a result of his own impending death, his mind is scrambled. sufficient words are sought after, but, evidently, he is unsuccessful. the markings visible on his hand and forearm represent his purpose, even though it has ended. the significance of the mark remains nonetheless : a reminder, an expiration date, a gift. alas, when said hand rises to his face, he realizes —— he bore more markings, those of which that are significant to his culture, the very same forsaken all those years ago. a single digit gestures to the pale yellow markings adorning freckled cheeks, forehead, chin, and lip, ❝ forgive me. it seems i’ve misunderstood —– if you’d like to know anything about my vallaslin, i’d be more than willing to share. ❞

             ❛    VALLASLIN.    ❜      she   REPEATS   the word,  that has   REMAINED    UNKNOWN   to her ears before this very moment.   (   &  it seems she was  GRANTED   with a  CHANCE  to feed her  CURIOSITY.  )   a moment of   SILENCE   surrounds them ;  when she takes time to   DECIDE   the first question.    ❛    is there a  MEANING  behind them ?   like, is one of them  a   MARK    of     BRAVERY   or of that kind  ?    ❜