• Ϯѻɼϯʉɼɛɗ • →ʂlคvɛ ɼp← f u l l

[iiGypsy_Jazz]

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[iiGypsy_Jazz]

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[SilentShadowDreamer]

((OOC: …Aaaaaand then health breakdown. F. My. Life.))

Marc’s gaze didn’t even flick up from what he was working on; it seemed for a moment almost that he might not have heard her. And then he did speak, and if he had heard her, he was clearly choosing simply to ignore her. “Unfortunately, that training will have to wait for a few cycles. I will be leaving town in order to acquire a purchaser. I will be taking one of the two older ships—the ones we arrived in.”

The detail he was giving her was rather extensive for a master to give a slave, particularly considering how new she was—and the height of her temper. Nevertheless, he continued patiently, speaking deliberately and clearly while continuing to make notes. “I will be away for three cycles. During that time, I expect that the four of you will behave well and cause no unnecessary problems.” For a moment, just a moment, he looked up at Maxy, and there was a half-second where there was something pleading in his gaze. Then it vanished like it had never been, replaced instead with a wry sort of amusement. “Please inform Reticence that he is not under any circumstances to teach you to fly the ship. I can only imagine what sort of damage you would do to it.”

Three cycles. One of two ships. And Reticence knew how to fly it.

That was all that he could say, and he hoped that Maxy would be smart enough to put it together from there. It was the best that he could do.

“You are dismissed,” he added curtly. Behind Maxy, the door slid silently open.  

[iiGypsy_Jazz]

His complete disregard for her outburst stunned Maxy into silence. She blinked at him slowly, taking everything in. What? How odd, this 'master' on theirs.

What reason would the master have had to of taught Reticence how to fly one of the ships? Either way, she did catch what he was getting at. Maybe the Keshval had a heart, after all. However, there was no way to tell if it was all a set-up.

At Passion's 'dismissal' she stood with a huff, and watched him for a minute. What could be going on in his head? She didn't hear the door open, but she somehow knew it had. Perhaps she was finally getting a connection with the home. "I can only hope you understand the will of those you don't truly know." and with that, she turned to leave.  

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Marc did not reply, and as Passion left, the door slid silently closed behind her.

Once she was gone, he turned over the piece of paper that had been sitting beside his hand the whole time he was talking to her. He'd had it so long, handled it so often, that it was nearly indecipherable now, but the words were so thoroughly imprinted on his mind that he didn't need it to be.

Bits of it, phrases of it, danced through his mind as he gazed unseeingly at the instruments on his desk.

Take care of him...

Please don't tell anyone...

Keep him safe...

I love you.

I love you.

And now she was dead, and now they wanted him to rid himself of the boy. Very well. The boy would be gone, but Marc would damn himself before he would see the boy go to anyone who was not him. Not after her.

He could only hope that Passion would do her part in passing on the message to the boy--to his boy--and that if she did, foolish loyalty would not outweigh self-preservation. He had spent all of the boy's life trying to drive him away, knowing that one day this day would have to come. Only now would he find out if he had done enough.

~

Curiosity met her in the passageway, and his eyes were full of unspoken questions. "The master said to meet you and bring you back to our room," he said quietly. Though he looked to be fairly bursting with things to ask, he managed to keep quiet as they walked.

He had to find out what she had been told. Did she know when Reticence would leave? Had the master told her anything at all?

Could they trust what, if anything, she did tell them?

He had no idea, but until they made it to their room, he would simply have to wait.  

[iiGypsy_Jazz]

She just nodded and followed his lead.

"Where's Reticence?" Maxy chewed her lip and pulled a lock of her hair so hard it was a wonder it didn't come out.
She didn't think Ret would leave the master. It wasn't like him....but maybe if he knew that's what the Keshval wanted....

Passion stole a glance at Curiosity from the corner of her eye. It was quick, though. She didn't want to make eye-contact. She didn't know what to make of the information she knew....what the master's silence had confirmed for her , and that which it didn't. Her head felt like it was rolling in every direction and her eyes nearly watered. She fought the urges she so usually gave into.

Would he even leave? Even though it was best? She knew they didn't trust her. Not really. Would he even listen?

She dropped her chin to her chest so her hair blocked her face. She didn't want to talk. It's a good thing she was finally getting the hang of the household or she might have walked into a thing or two.  

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Curiosity shrugged apathetically. “In our room now,” he said.

With the knowledge of Reticence’s impending absence, the boy seemed to be colder. Whether Naïveté would be the same had yet to be seen, but it made sense; they had all known one another for so long, and if Reticence, who everyone had thought untouchable, could be sent away…what might that mean for the rest of them?

Since Passion didn’t want to talk, Curiosity left it as it was, saying not a word for the entire trip back to their rooms—unusual for the normally gregarious and friendly boy. Once they had reached the room where the boys slept, Curiosity went inside.

The door remained open for Passion to go through, if she wanted to.  

[iiGypsy_Jazz]

Passion didn't even think about hesitating at the door, but simply followed. Everyone was turning into ice, now. Her eyes were felt like ice too, and she blinked to rid herself of the sensation.

"Reticence....I'd like to talk to you..." she coughed a little uncomfortably, "..alone, if that's alright."

The Master really didn't say she should keep it under wraps, but she figured she's let Reticence make his decision before the others knew.

"It's about the master." she fiddled with the ends of her hair, and it gave her an air of innocence.

It was fairly obvious this wasn't something she was comfortable doing. She dragged her toes along the floor at a point, looking just about everywhere, but at them.
She tapped her foot in a ballet position on the floor 3 times, before abruptly turning and walking into the hallway, implying for him to follow.

It was hard to believe at just the beginning of this cycle she had been trying to drag the blushing boy from his room.  

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Reticence looked up, and his gaze was as empty and dull as it had been when she’d left. There didn’t seem to be the slightest change, even in the way they’d been sitting. Naïveté was still looking small and shattered, and when Curiosity went to rejoin them, he slid into exactly the same position he’d been sitting in before. They didn’t look at one another, didn’t speak; it was as though they had frozen in a tableau.

At last, Reticence spoke. His voice was a little huskier than it had been before, remnants of the ragged, whispery voice he’d been using when Passion had left the room. Wearily, he said, “Fine.”

No arguments. No questions. Nothing that the boy she had known should have done. It was as though the announcement had simply snuffed out everything that was Reticence and left this hollow, shambling automaton in his place. Mechanically, he rose, Naïveté and Curiosity shifting apart just far enough to allow him to move before resuming their earlier positions.

He walked slowly, as though he wasn’t entirely sure that his limbs would hold him, and as he passed Passion, he said, “Come.” Then he kept walking, never glancing to see if she was following or not. It just seemed to be assumed that she would. It was a scene reminiscent of the moment when his father had first directed Passion to follow him into the ship—Reticence, no matter how broken, clearly came by his leadership naturally.  

[iiGypsy_Jazz]

For once, Passion followed obediently, "Behind the art room?" she asked quietly, just to be sure.

She quickened her steps as not to fall too far behind. He was taller than her by quite a bit and had longer legs and she seemed to be moving in slow motion.
Her mind boggled over how to phrase what she had to say.

Meanwhile, her fingers twitched at her sides, like she wasn't sure what to do but yearned to do it.

Her chin wasn't held so high as it was before, but it didn't drag to her chest like when she had been with Curiosity.
She had something to prove to Reticence. What it was, she had no clue, but she felt it. It was why he couldn't get sold.
He just couldn't.

It would break her.  

[iiGypsy_Jazz]

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[SilentShadowDreamer]

Reticence shrugged his shoulders, eyes focused ahead of him with no real recognition in them. "Sure." There was no enthusiasm in his voice; one place to speak in private would be as good as anywhere else, his manner seemed to say. He wouldn't be here long anyway--why did he care what places had once been his, once been special?

He didn't know how right he was.

They wound through the empty hallways, his gaze still focused on something that only he could see. Nevertheless, he walked with quiet confidence through the hallways. No hesitation, no uncertainty, no wrong turns. He knew this place, knew it in a way that the others could only dream of knowing it.

If he'd been there all his life, it made sense, really.

Once they reached the art room, he went straight on through the halls and twists and turns until they found the small room with the humming black boxes where they had been before. Once he'd sat on one of them--lowering himself as though he were made of glass--he at last turned his eyes on Passion, and once again they were fully open, pinning her with the power in them.

"What is it?"

His voice was dull and hopeless. It didn't matter, that voice seemed to say. What could matter...now?  

[iiGypsy_Jazz]

Passion gulped when she was hit with the intensity of his gaze. Lowering herself onto her own box, she lightly touched his knee, still not used to the lack of contact the others seemed to be used to.

She looked up, meeting his eyes with her own.
"The Keshval...er master...."
she looked down for a second and tried to believe this plan would work. She looked up with a fiery flash,
"He wants to save you."