Post by saladin luzifer on Sept 27, 2013 4:03:44 GMT -5
stupid. stupid. stupid.
on the brink of tears, luce dragged herself away from school, small footsteps leading her on the path home. the little girl made poor progress in getting back to her apartment. she slipped her red hood over her head, feeling more security in having something over her head than nothing at all.
but as she walked, the bag slung over her shoulders felt twice as heavy as before.
"idiots," she spat. her voice shuddered as she repeated the same word. if it weren't for her friends in school, she would not have attended every single day. her parents always left very early in the morning, anyway -- her staying home would have gone unnoticed. she continued trudging on, until she glanced up upon the feeling that something was amiss.
luce frowned. this wasn't the part of town that she was used to. everything seemed more upscale and more pricey than the area she lived in. the girl froze, hands on the strap of her bag.
by the time she sank into one of the swings at a nearby playground, she was rather certain that she had taken a wrong turn somewhere. her tears from being teased had disappeared by now, and were replaced by a different sort of tears.
"stupid," she muttered under her breath, no longer sure if the word was directed at her schoolmates or at herself.
Post by Nathaniel de Boer on Sept 27, 2013 4:29:19 GMT -5
walk among us never judge us
There are too many stray animals in this city for the wealth it holds. He's not surprised, after all these years, and he can't really say that he cares one way or another either. You know a people by how they treat their animals and these people can't even feed themselves equally.
Still, he finds himself at the park every once in a while. Tossing scraps of meat into the air for his fox to wheel about and catch, a few cans of tuna opened and left behind the bench. Waiting for the skinny cats to slink out of the bushes once he's gone and scratch at each other for the last meager bite.
They aren't the ones howling today though. The fox pauses with a slice of last night's filet mignon in her mouth and cocks her head to the side. If he focuses, he can almost hear what she hears.
I don't care, he says. She drops the steak on the ground and trots off. He sighs and stands up before following after her. There's a sleeper girl on the swings at the far side of the park, a hood dyed far brighter than his fox's fur pulled up over her head. The fox darts forward, darts back, and then finally dashes in to press her muzzle against the girl's knees.
He stands back with his hands in his pockets, watching.
Post by saladin luzifer on Sept 27, 2013 4:46:21 GMT -5
she couldn't hear what he said, for she was engrossed in her thoughts. in hindsight, those thoughts were silly ones. there was no point in getting angered about people who would do the very same tomorrow -- oh, but it was hard to not feel angered by their childish words! she exhaled in a sigh.
her thoughts continued as she wrestled with herself. luce was fervently telling herself to recompose and find a way home, but her feet wouldn't move. she was rather tired from all that walking -- all the same, she glanced up upon a press against her knees. luce was quite ready to run, had she not seen that it was a fox.
"hallo," luce greeted the fox, "what are you saying?" the girl tilted her head, watching the playful creature. her hood fell off her head as she got off the swing to pet it on the head. "..." realizing that a pretty thing like the fox wouldn't be unsupervised around these parts, luce raised her head, albeit hesitantly.
sure enough, there was a man watching after his pet. luce's bottom lip disappeared under her teeth.
Post by Nathaniel de Boer on Sept 27, 2013 4:56:51 GMT -5
walk among us never judge us
She doesn't really say anything, he says. Her name is Bau, if you'd like to call her that. She's friendly.
As if to prove him right, the fox sits down heavily at the girl's feet and wags her tail, more canid than vulpine. She's not a very good familiar, he thinks, but she's a fairly decent pet.
The fox looks over her shoulder at him with flashing eyes, and turns her attention back to the girl.
He considers several questions to ask her, and then dismisses all of them. Tedious answers, tedious curiosities. Her eyes are red-rimmed.
I hope you're not crying because of the cats around here. That's a silly way to find out you're allergic.
Post by saladin luzifer on Sept 27, 2013 5:13:06 GMT -5
"bau," luce repeated after him, and nodded. "hallo there, bau." she petted the fox on the head again, rather enjoying the texture of fur under her touch. the creature was adorable, but her parents would never let her have one of them. something about responsibility and her not being old enough -- she would rather they remove their prejudices and let her just try for once.
she continued to rub the fox's head, pausing only when he spoke again. a frown curved her lips; luce wasn't good at pretending to feel something else. maybe that's why they pick on you, the little voice in her head nagged. "... no, i'm not crying because of the cats," said luce.
were there really cats about the area? she glanced around, as if trying to ascertain it for fact. she turned back to bau soon enough. "how long have you had her, um. are you a sir or a mister?"
Post by Nathaniel de Boer on Sept 27, 2013 5:28:01 GMT -5
walk among us never judge us
Two years. They only live three or four years in the wild, but she's got another eight years ahead of her at the least as a pet. Far longer than that, perhaps, as a familiar, but no guarantees. He'd find out eventually. Maybe she'd be dead by the next morning, her body short-circuiting under hte force of the magical bond, energy it had never been equipped to handle. Maybe she'd never die.
As for her second question: Neither, he says lightly. Mr. de Boer is my father's name, and sir seems rather formal. You can call be Nathaniel, if you'd like. May I ask yours?
Post by saladin luzifer on Sept 27, 2013 5:32:58 GMT -5
"oh ... that's a good thing, i suppose," luce said cheerfully enough, beaming down at the fox. it was a pity that she didn't really live around this block, or she'd get to see bau more often in the evenings. it was a charming creature to have, after all. (and luce herself had never had anything to call her own. not even a flimsy goldfish or a hardy tortoise.)
she removed the bag from her shoulders and placed it next to her. she sat cross-legged on the ground, trying to life bau up while paying keen attention to what the man was telling her. "my name is --" she said, but stopped abruptly. this was a man, a human of similar gender to the boys in her class, and she remembered what boys often did to her about her name.
"-- luce." the girl settled for her nickname, and nodded just once. "it's very nice to meet you, nathaniel," luce said, repeating what her teachers and parents had taught her to say, and then walked up to the man and quite simply held her hand out to shake.
Post by Nathaniel de Boer on Sept 27, 2013 11:38:23 GMT -5
walk among us never judge us
Bau goes limp to let the girl pick her up. He isn't very affectionate. He can't blame her for lapping up the attention.
Luce, he says. There's a town in Slovenia named Luce. He terrorized it for a year in 1356. He's not sure if that's a good memory or not. That's a very nice name.
He shakes her hand gravely. The height difference is--pronounced, but he can reach her hand if he leans a bit. I come here from time to time, he says, But I've never seen you here before. And you're swinging by yourself. You didn't come with anyone to the playground?
Post by saladin luzifer on Sept 27, 2013 23:03:03 GMT -5
"... really?" she shook his hand quietly, unsure of whether smiling was the right response in the situation. people used to say her name was nice -- and then add something to the end. about how it was like a boy's name. luce thought that she had been right to withhold her full name from the man, even though he seemed perfectly sensible and unlikely to tease her for it. "thank you," said luce, and smiled anyway.
"no, i came alone." the words were out from luce's mouth before she realized what she had done, and the girl took a tentative step back. fox or no fox, she had just told a stranger that she was alone -- which, upon second thought, was already painfully obvious from the beginning.
slowly, luce trudged back to bau and attempted to shake hands with it.
Post by Nathaniel de Boer on Sept 28, 2013 18:11:54 GMT -5
walk among us never judge us
He shifts his weight from one leg to the other. You shouldn't do that, he says, perhaps unnecessarily. This is a nicer part of town, but going places alone is always dangerous. That's why I have Bau.
He nods at the fox, who has risen up on her hindquarters to waver unsteadily and bat her paw at Luce's hand.
Post by saladin luzifer on Sept 29, 2013 22:44:22 GMT -5
how in the world was a fox supposed to protect a grown man like nathaniel? the idea of a fox protecting its human was something out of a fairy tale, but luce decided that she wasn't too old for fairy tales. quite enjoying the thought of it, she smiled at the man and nodded in agreement. "bau's amazing," said the girl, and laughed softly at the fox's attempt to shake hands. it was a shaky attempt, but luce was certain that due practice ought to -- and then she realized that she most likely was never going to see this man and his fox again.
still wearing the small, warm smile on her face from before, luce shook her head. "i live a few blocks away ... i think," she said, "one minute." she rummaged around in her bag, located her phone, and started scrolling through it. "this address."
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