Castle Library

[Silquestnocte]

Rose listened intently to his answers, sometimes nodding slightly, blushed a bit more with his answer to her plague, and at its finale, sighed softly with contentment. He really was quite through. It was almost impossible that the unreachable librarian from yesterday was now smiling across from her. Oh how a pair of slippers can change things.

Rose looked at him earnestly, "Are you sure you have no questions for me?"

Red Gypsy

 

[Red Gypsy]

Silenced Nocturne

((Ugg.. short post... Sorry))

Cain couldn't help a small laugh this time and shook his head, "Perhaps later, Miss Rosabel. For now, why don't you go and study that scroll. I'm sure you can find it and will be careful with it. For now, I'm simply going to sit for a bit longer then try my legs out again," he told her softly, finding her enthusiasm entertaining.

He hadn't actually given a laugh of any sort in a long time and that had startled him a bit. She was a bit of a scamp.  

[Silquestnocte]

Rose shrugged a very non-committal shrug "alright then..."and was about to stand up when she realized that she had one final, and likely uncomfortable question for him. She mentally crossed her fingers, this one was a bit of a gamble. Now she was getting nervous. "Whatdidyoumeanyesterdaywhenyousaidifonlyiwasmale?"

Well that was smooth. Just show him how utterly mature you are when it comes to cute guys. Maybe she hadn't matured much at all for the past odd century. Her face turned beet red, if she could pluck the words from the air and then burn them, Rose would have. But what was said, was now said. And there was no going back.

Her hands suddenly found the ends of her hair in need of a twist. Without another word, she stood up and did the only thing she could do, run through the shelves and towards the scroll, and pray he wouldn't recover use of his legs for a few minutes.

((No problem, it was a good post regardless of length))

Red Gypsy

 

[Red Gypsy]

Silenced Nocturne

For Rose's sake, it was probably best that it took him a few moments to get through the jumble she'd made of her question. When it did, he did some blushing of his own. He hadn't realized he'd said that out loud.

He looked up to see if she was waiting on his answer and found her gone, though he could hear her in the back of the library.

He gave a soft sigh and tested his legs and found that he could actually stay upright. But now that he was, he wondered if he should go and answer that question or not. It was a bit of a problem to explain.

He thought about it for another moment then gave another soft sigh and left the library to do some hard thinking in his rooms. Safest place to go for that, he thought.  

[Silquestnocte]

Rose reached the back of the library much faster than she had expected. She discovered that she had lost her appetite for knowledge somewhere along the way. She needed a story to lose herself in. Or maybe a hole she could hide in for a bit. Rose looked at her watch. It would be a bit until dawn. First she paced a bit, then did some face-palming, finally she opened up a recent edition of a psychology textbook, sat at a small table, and started reading up on Freud. The passage on dream interpretations was almost like a lullaby to her, and she soon found herself yawning. Feeling weary from all the thinking and questioning that had gone on, she closed the book, and soon, using the book as a pillow fell into a light doze. Nothing in the Library made a sound except for her soft breaths.

Sweet serenity.

Red Gypsy

((sorry for the drama, I like to see my characters suffer sometimes))  

[Red Gypsy]

Silenced Nocturne

((It's okay. I do the same thing all the time.))

Cane returned to the library several hours later, still confused but fairly sure that the object of his confusion was the solution to it. He just had to find out what her angle was.

He heard something different, a sound he wasn't used to in here and moved to investigate. He couldn't stop the soft bark of laughter that escaped him when he saw her but was able to control himself past that so he didn't wake her. Instead, he carefully removed the book and put it back on the shelf then eased her into his arms, trying not to wake her up.

He carried her back to the couch in the sitting area, knowing full well that it was much more comfortable than the table she'd been resting her head on. He even pulled the light afghan from the back of the couch and placed it over her, knowing that it would help regulate her body temperature. No sense in letting her catch a chill or get overheated as the night moved into morning.

He'd have loved to stay, but he could feel morning coming. Still, he hesitated just a moment to look down at her with a small frown and found himself pushing a lock of her hair out of her face in a tender movement that shocked him. It shook him enough that he left without another sound, using his enhanced speed to escape before she could wake up.  

[Silquestnocte]

Rosabel Marcellus

Rose was in a feild of butterflies. They danced around her, but when ever she brushed against one, they shattered into a fine powder. After about the fifth time it happened, she lay flat on her back inside the long soft grass, that way the butterflies would stay safe. Finally, after watching so many butterflies of all shapes colors and sizes fly past her, a slim one, neither the largest or the brightest, it was a deep blue, but when the sunlight shone through its wings, they appeared a deep ruby red. It was circling over her, unlike the rest which simply flew on. Without thinking Rose reached up. It landed for a moment, then fluttered down and rested onto her nose instead. When it's wings opened again, she closed her eyes. And when she opened them again, she was looking at the ceiling of the library.

The distinct feeling that she had dreamed lingered over her, like the scent of a long dead flower. Rose sat up, she was on a couch again. But didn't she nod off at a table? An afghan slid off of her as she swung her legs around so she could stand up. Was this Cain's doing?

This whole thing was so utterly frustrating. She had what she had called previously "The double F disease" The double F stood for fickle female, and it had never conflicted her before. On one hand he was completely gorgeous, intelligent, seemed kind, and liked books!, he didn't even mind it too much when she interrogated him!, on the other, well they had met yesterday for starters, and Rose still wasn't quite sure if he was interested or not. She barley even knew anything about him! But it somehow it seemed during these past two days she had managed to develop at least a crush on him. God how she hated being frozen at nineteen, these raging hormones would never subside, and they had caused her a few minor problems before. Rose rubbed at her temples. They had only known each other for two days. If this weird problem didn't get sorted out soon, it would forever make even friendship feel weird. But in order to figure out a solution to this, she had to figure out exactly what she wanted.

Did she actually want a relationship with Cain? Would she be willing to make things incredibly awkward between them for a a good segment of time if she failed? (and right now she had no idea if she was failing or not) Finally, she decided to follow the path of "nothing ventured, nothing gained" Maybe she had already decided. This internal monologue reminded her very much of the one she had yesterday. Resolute in her path, she left the library, and discovered that the pale fingers of dawn were already beginning to creep above the turrets. Rose quickly flagged down a passing servant, and after receiving directions, strode towards Cain's quarters. Maybe it was a stupid plan of action, but it was still a plan. ((EXIT))

Red Gypsy

 

[Red Gypsy]

Silenced Nocturne

Cain lead Rose into the library, taking her directly over to the shelf he needed and started to pull a few books down, seemingly selecting them at random, "Most of these, I know, don't have anything to do with protective spells but they do reference blocking the 'evildoer', which amounts to the same thing. I'll go through these, if you'll set them over on the big table for me, then I'll pull some books which actually detail spells for you to go through," he said as he pulled down a couple more books then carefully passed the stack over to her, knowing that they weren't heavy enough to worry her.

While she was gone, he pulled down quite a few then followed her with them. He put them on the big table and organized them into stacks for her, "There... That should make things easier for you... They're organized by magical practice. Religious, Wiccan, Druidic, and so forth. I even added one on Blood Magic, so you should find that interesting, especially since it's a very rare copy. Just look through them and when you find a protection spell of the type we're looking for, just mark the page with a piece of the thin fabric in the center of the table and set it aside. Read as much as you like, though. One never knows when something in one of these will come in handy," he explained to her then gave her lips a teasing kiss since he simply couldn't resist doing so.

But he did behave himself long enough to shift to the other side of the table to get started on his part of the work. He set up a small blank notebook to one side, several sheets of plain blank paper, and several quills with a bottle of ink. For some reason, he'd never been able to manage with the newer pens that had been made and stuck to what he knew best, quill and ink. He set the more obscure books to his left then started working, reading through each book until he came to a reference he was looking for. Then he made a note about it on one of the sheets of paper and moved on to the next one.

It did seem like tedious work, but when he was finished, there would be a new book for the shelves that detailed just this subject and would make it much easier for him to research the subject again if he needed to.

The books he was looking through were, indeed, obscure. And badly written. But he pressed through them, barely noticing when one of the servants came in with a tray of food for Rose and set it up in the front seating area then let her know it was there.

However, he did prove that he wasn't totally unaware of her when he set the last book aside and moved to sit with her while she ate the light meal and he sipped at a glass of mild bloodwine that had been brought for him.

Alright, the bottle had been brought just in case he'd snap out of his work and come back to the real world. But he'd snapped out of it the moment Rose had left the table and had simply joined her for her meal.  

[Silquestnocte]

Rose happily followed him, and cheerfully put the books where Cain had asked.

The evening seemed to rush by for Rose, little facts about magic she didn't know before and new spells and methods were soon bouncing around in her brain. She was unfazed by the occasionally convoluted speech, Rose knew how to read through some of the metaphors. Of course it didn't hurt that she had a voracious appetite for the written word.
There was soon a tidy stack of books with little fabric slips sticking haphazardly out of them, and she was still completely entertained.

Reading was fun after all!


At some point, Morty wandered in and stood silently in a corner, waiting for a command. He liked it in this new place. His new mistress didn't yell at all, or dismember things when she became cross. There were however nice people that gave him some meat, and there was no one who tried to snatch it away! A small part of him, left over from the man he used to be, admired the beauty of the place as well. He especially liked the soft flowers that grew in the courtyard. No dismal swamp here. Morty was about as happy as a reanimated corpse could be.

Rose's mind had been completely immersed in Druidic wards when a servant told her that there was a meal set up in one of the sitting area. It was rather interesting, as Druids didn't exactly have a written language, the author had approximated their pronunciation and meaning in Welsh (a closely related language). Rose had blinked at the servant, her mind still set on "Cymric". It took her a moment to switch languages again, but she was soon sitting and enjoying a light lunch with Cain.

Rose wiped away a rouge crumb from her mouth "So... How are things going for you?"

Red Gypsy

 

[Red Gypsy]

Silenced Nocturne

Cain simply took another sip before he started talking, his eyes somehow managed to wind up glued to that crumb for a moment, "Oh. Yes. Well some of them are a bit long-winded. Most of them are entirely wrong in practice but alright in theory. I've noted down the better ideas for Sebastet to look over. I'll be going through your books next. As it is, I'm still trying to figure out what that one fool was talking about when he said something about 'circles within circles' combined with some nonsense about 'form the circles within the heart'. I don't do magic, though, so it'll be up to Sebastet to pick through it," he said with a shrug.

He still found it interesting that for all the knowledge he'd gained, he still couldn't do any magic whatsoever. But everyone to their own, he guessed.

"I don't have to ask you about yours. Your eyes are still glowing a bit. I can tell you're enjoying it," he told her with a small smile, finding that he loved it when she looked like that.  

[Silquestnocte]

Rose nodded happily "Yes, I'm having a blast."

Rose contemplated the "circle within a circle" bit... Her eyes went vacant for a moment as her focus turned inward. She touched her right thumb to her finger tips of that hand, she stopped when she got to her index finger again. It was a little gesture that helped her recall things, you could see her doing it whenever she encountered someone whose name she had forgotten. Rose blinked, back in the present. "You mean like a magic circle? I've haven't heard the 'circle within the heart' bit before, but circles within circles sounds like a diagram. Here, I'll draw my favorite for you, it can really beef up some spells." Rose drew a pencil from her pocket, and a spare piece of paper wafted over from the table.

Soon she had drawn a circle, with circles inside of it, framed by a hexagon. Rose held it up "Like this, see? It re-routs the energy you draw from yourself and wherever else you're using and focuses it. You have to be careful though, if you draw it incorrectly it can misfire rather badly. How do you think both my hair and my eyes turned pink? But it can also be used to disperse energy, like if you were trying to break a hex on something. I'm guessing if you figured out the right one, you could even maintain a field of magical energy, perfect for a protection spell." Realising that she had been rambling a bit she added a bit sheepishly "Well, that's my guess anyway..."
((here's what I had in mind))

Red Gypsy

 

[Red Gypsy]

Silenced Nocturne

Cain looked over the diagram and nodded slowly as she explained it, smiling when she mentioned her hair and eyes, "Why don't you write it up and we'll add it to the notes for Sebastet," he suggested then found one of his hands moving through her hair, "As for your hair and eyes... I find them to be a beautiful accident," he told her softly and leaned over to give her a light kiss.

"But we'd better be getting back to work so we can still have some time to ourselves later," he said as he stood, taking her hand in his as he helped her to her feet.

He truly did have good intentions when they started back. But when he caught sight of her skirt swaying in front of him when she moved on ahead, all his good intentions flew out the window. He took her hand and lead her into the back of the library where the scrolls were kept and backed her up against the wall as he gave her a very passionate kiss.

When he finally let her up for air, he grinned at her, "I believe I have a promise to keep..." he said simply with a low growl then proceeded to show her the benefits of wearing a skirt...  

[Silquestnocte]

Rose smiled brightly, happy that she had been able to help a little bit. She gladly accepted both his compliment and kiss, and started to nearly skipped back to the table. They hadn't gotten very far before Cain took her by the hand and led her through the shelves to the back of the library.

Morty had a good idea what was going to happen when the clumsy assassin suddenly started leading his mistress in a different direction. He quickly exited the library and stood outside the doors to deter anyone who may try to enter.

Then he was kissing her, rather enthusiastically in fact. Rose began to feel dizzy, his kiss was intoxicating... And he certainly kept his promise from earlier.

When they were finished, Rose's legs were malfunctioning, they felt like she was standing on Jell-o. She had looped her arms around Cain's neck to keep herself from tipping over. With a small laugh she said"I'm going to have to wear skirts more often..."

She reached up to place a light kiss on Cain's forehead. "I thought we were going to get back to work. What changed your mind?"

Red Gypsy

 

[Red Gypsy]

Silenced Nocturne

Cain had no problem holding her up as he smoothed her skirt back down and fastened his jeans. But he had to laugh at her question, giving her lips a teasing kiss as he put his arms around her waist, "The sight of that skirt swinging around your legs... You have no idea how enticing that can be..." he told her simply, completely unrepentant for interrupting the work for this. It had been totally worth it.

When she was steady on her legs again, he lead her back to the table so they could both get back to work. Thankfully, things passed quickly after that, mostly thanks to her working ahead of him so that he only had to write down the notes on the spells she'd found for him. After that, it was only a matter of getting everything written clearly then putting it all down in the notebook. The notebook would go on the shelf, the actual notes would go to Sebastet.

"Perhaps Morty could deliver the notes to Sebastet's office while we go see about your dinner. After that, what would you like to do, love?" he suggested then waited for her answer. Admittedly, that swinging skirt of hers was a temptation again but he kept himself in check this time...  

[Silquestnocte]

Rosabel Marcellus

Time seemed to melt away after that little intermission, Rose's eyes raced through the books, quickly processing what was and wasn't there, soon it was done.

Rose was doodling an anatomically correct heart, complete with the Vena Cava and pericardium and all of it's little veins, when Cain spoke to her about getting Morty to take the notes up to Sebastet. Rose tapped her pencil to her chin, thinking, then she smiled "Why don't we go exploring? The castle is pretty big, and I haven't seen all of it yet... Plus we could look for a good place to hold a wedding reception." She was smiling by the end of her suggestion.

Rose picked up the notes and looked around for Morty, she knew that he had wandered sometime earlier... Morty felt his mistress looking for him, and soon presented himself, ready for a task. Rose handed Morty the notes "Please take this to Sebastet's office. It's on the first floor of her tower, if it's locked, then wait for her. Thank you." Morty simply took the notes into his hands, and then turned on his heel to go deliver it to Sebaset. In approximately five minutes, they would be sitting on her desk, ready to be reviewed.

As Morty went off like the obedient (and efficient) reanimated corpse he was, Rose turned back to Cain with a glint of mischief in her eyes. Giggles were threatening to emerge, but Rose managed to keep them under control "Or We could hold a conference over a mirror or two with a few of my friends and we could give them a bigger shock since they played around with tesla coils" She hadn't found the time to send any letters to them in the past few weeks, Rose had kinda been caught up in Cain and her experiments, and the wonderful library. They were still under the impression that Rose was still resolute in spinsterdom, she couldn't even imagine their faces...

Red Gypsy