Fire and Ice

[Neron]

The silence in the library was soothing. IT seemed to flow over you and fill you with a serenity. Perhaps the books full of spells warded away all things of distraction. This was a haven at the moment for a dark soul. Neron sat in the same high backed elegant chair that he had gotten last time, but this time he was bent over, hands clutching his head in pain, eyes squeezed closed. The voices were tormenting him, they yelled, screamed, whispered, talked, cursed, everything imaginable, they even seemed to be beating against his head from the inside. Neron's appearance hadn't improved any, instead it seemed to have gotten worse. His eyes had dark circles under them, his skin was sallow and pale, though the wounds and scratches were gone, for the fight had been last week, he looked as though it had just happened. For once in his life his hair was mussed and tousled like someone who hadn't been able to sleep for days and had been rolling around in bed. NO relief had come to him in days, but this time he had decided to try and conquer his past in a more peaceable manner. It required him to sit in a chair and wait the storm out. There was a certain aurora or essence about him at this time, everyone knew to leave him alone and not to bother the cringing shadow in the corner. The Librarians didn't mind him for he made no noise, and they knew better than to ask him to leave. So he was left to suffer. He hadn't been to the dorm after his talk with Jaedon, instead he meandered in the night and came here during the day. IT was nice to be alone As usual his luck didn't hold and he was soon aware of an approaching presence. Miriel. HE could tell her presence from anyone elses, it was special to him. Not wanting her to worry he straightened up and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to tidy the mess. Then turning his face he looked at her approaching figure. She to was as pallid as the moon and her usual graceful movements were slowed and slightly jerky. Even though her wound was now almost fully healed, thanks to Damion and her own special power, it had taken a lot of energy from her, energy that could take a long time to recharge. Upon her seeing Neron her face lightened up immediately. “Neron!” She exclaimed and headed toward him immediately. Even though he was glad to see her walking on her own, especially after the fight, he couldn't help but feel guilty and actually wish she wasn't there at this time. “I haven't seen you anywhere for days!” Her feet carried her to him before she collapsed in another chair weary and clutching her side. “Ah, who knew something could hurt so bad.. I don't know how you bore it when I found you..Though your wound was much worse than mine, It was deeper, mine just happened to be hit in the right spot.” She smiled at him but then it faded slightly as she noticed his appearance, “Hmm you don’t look so hot...”

[saerwen]

Damion had yet to see anyone that was within his usual run-ins. They all seemed either too weak to come out or darkness surrounded them. It was terrible, and he was feeling rather alone. He was worried though, he had yet to see Jaedon, and he was scared that she had gone and done something stupid. He had not seen her after he had saved Miriel. He let those thoughts flee from his mind as he started to think about Miriel. He wondered how she was doing. Hopefully she would be up and walking around now. He strode into the library with a large book in hand. It was a collection of all the Tom Clancey's novels. He liked to read those stories because he knew that they were not fake. Things like those in the books happened. It was bloody awful, but interesting at the same time. He liked to read books that displayed things that go on that you never really know about. He especially liked to read about NASA and the things that all of the other countries space programs do. So much goes on that you would never have thought possible or probable, and it was interesting to hear about them. He was planning on going into one of the little back rooms to read all by himself, because he did not feel like being disturbed, but as he was trying to find one, he saw the familiar forms of Neron and Miriel. Neron looked like a dead man alive, and Miriel was just pale. He walked over to them.”'Ello people! What a funny thing to find you fella's here!”

[»Míríel«]

Miriel had been observing Neron with a frown, he hadn't answered her. Then again he hadn't really had time, after all they had been interrupted. But this was an interruption that was greeted warmly. “Damion!” Miriel leapt up, though the movement caused her to wince, and wrapped Damion in a hug. After releasing him she took a step back and plopped into the chair. “I never got to thank you...” Then she leaned back in the chair and sighed deeply. “Though you would think I would learn I'm not ready to make quick movements just yet.” She opened her eyes and continued, “What brings you here Damion, just reading?” Neron sat, head bowed, shadows covering his face. The voices were louder and the headache stronger. If anyone had noticed he had almost a death grip on the chair he was sitting on. Damion's entry had been a mixture of luck and a curse. He had interrupted Miriel's worrying and had given Neron the grace not to answer, which he wasn't going to anyways. But then again his presence sent fuel to the voices, they seemed delighted in comparing Damion's good manners and unbending friendship to Neron's awful ones.


Miriel continued talking to Damion, "Have you seen Jaedon lately?" She then smiled brightly, "Though knowing how things usually happen, I bet she will turn up sooner or later...This place has a special draw for her."

[♣Duchess]

Here in this vast space of infinite knowledge, hidden by the binding of musty old leather and cotton alike, Duchess found inner peace--the only kind she ever COULD manage to find. Such a pleasant aroma these small, pleasant packages of hidden secrets carried. She clambered up the somewhat wobbley ladder to the tip-top of the shining wooden shelf, her eyes whisking back and forth, attempting to find a title of her liking. "Ah!" She exclaimed to herself as her eyes touched upon a rather old volume at the far end of the sturdy bookcase. Her dainty fingers, covered by a glove of black lace, stretched out as far as physically possible and to no avail. It was simply out of reach. Duchess furrowed her brow, set her ruffled skirt straight, and clenched the handles of the ladder with tight, lacey fists. Attempting to thrust herself in arm's length of her target, she leaned back, set her eyes straight on the novel, then whisked the ladder forward with all her might.

A bit too much might, that is.

Wooshing right past the intended target, Duchess continued onward and onward, past the entire bloody shelf, zooming into the hallway for a mere second, and then finally making a crash landing against the complete opposite shelf. Flinging her arms in the air like a mad chicken, the poor girl just barely managed to keep her balance, as well as keep her hat on top of her piled hair. Eventually her body quit its nonsensical quivering, and she settled herself out. If only the books had been so lucky.

Like a paper avalanche, they surged off the shelves, bombarding her with heavy hardbacks. Regardless of her will to not be buried in a blimey mountain of books, the ladder beneath her feet gave her no refuge. With one final "thwack" to the head by a copy of Moby Dick, Duchess found herself falling, falling...

The books ceased their descent. Absolute silence returned to the library.

A fluffy black tail with white stripes cascading downward to the very tip flicked violently with irritation and surprise.

"Well, that didn't quite go as planned..." she muttered, her fur frazzled at the ends. She glanced down at her feet--er, paws, and sighed deeply.

"Eight lives, left, I do suppose..."

[saerwen]

Damion was quite shocked when Miriel ran up and gave him a hug. He was not really used to that... But he got over it tollerably well when she told him the reason for it. "I have told you this before Miriel. No need to thank me." he gave a jovial smile and walked over to a chair beside Miriel. "Ah, yes. I have a few things that I wanted to look into, and then the adventures of Tom Clancey called me away. I am hopeless when it comes to his books I must say. I might as well be an addict as embarrassing as that is to admit." He was speaking with mock shame.

He then perked up when Miriel asked about Jaedon. "You haven't seen her recently either?" he looked slightly troubled. "I haven't seen her since before your fight..." he was deeply puzzled and it was clearly obvious. "Hey Neron, have you run into her since then? I would have thought that after such a long time, she would be hanging around somewhere that we just happen to be." He then looked back to Miriel. "I was really hoping that she had talked to you or that you had seen her, because I am a little worried. If we don't run into each other she usually seeks me out." He shook his head. "I sure hope that we see her soon, because I am worried that she might have gone and done something stupid when we weren't watching... You know those awful gut feelings that just tell you something went wrong..."

He then turned back to Neron, "Are you alright, man? You look like you are having a rough day...Are you feeling alright?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While this conversation was taking place, a dark figure entered through the large library doors. It looked like a phantom, clad in black, coming from the grave to haunt those in the library. It walked with a slump, hand held to stomach, face bowed. It weaved in between the shelves of the library in a maze that would have seemed to lead nowhere, but the phantom seemed to have a purpose.

The sound of heavy breathing could be heard, as though someone nearby had been running for miles without ceasing. Had you been paying attention, you would have noticed that it was not someone else, but rather the 'phantom' who was really not a phantom at all. It was a girl, with pitch black, curling hair falling around her completely pale face which held bloodshot, emerald eyes that had tears streaming down them. She put her hand against the bookshelf to steady herself as she stumbled, her hand shaking just about as much as the rest of her. She was limping now, walking with pain in every step. She went around one of the bookshelves as a ladder went flying past her, knocking her unsteady figure to the ground. She ground her teeth together as she stifled a scream of agony. Forcing herself to gain composure and try to act as though nothing were wrong, she wiped her nose on her sleeve, taking her tears away as well as the blood stains that had been there previously. She then heard a thump as she looked up and saw a girl falling from a ladder, but then she realized... It was a furball, a little. She had seen these things before, cheshire cats. They were always tricksy in her experience, ans she usually didn't like them. However, her present thoughts weighed on her mind and caused her to do something that she wouldn't normally do. She got up and walked over to the cat, and then, pushing the pain from her mind as she did it, knelt down.

"Hey... Need some help?" she didn't talk really loud, and her tone probably wouldn't have struck anyone as really friendly, but this was just about all that she could muster while perfectly hiding her pain so that none could ever see it.

*****************************************************************************

As Damion was waiting for Neron's response, they all heard a loud bang, crash, and then a soft thud. A bookshelf rather close to them shook, causing some of the books to fall off. "What was that?" Damion jumped up and ran to investigate. When he got there he really had no idea what to say.

[Neron]

Bloody sound, that blasted thing, sometimes Neron just wished he was deaf just for some blessed peace. Why was it that every time he wanted to be alone someone had to come waltzing in and disturb him. His strong but elegant fingers grasped tighter on the chair as another noise thundered out in the quiet library. To others it probably was a loud crash, but with this beast of a headache, it sounded like an atom bomb being detonated right by him. All that came from him was a little, "gah...."
Luckily no one seemed to be paying him any attention, finally a stroke of luck. Thank goodness for a distraction. But what was the distraction, he didn't care enough to want to look. HE would hear about it soon enough.

-------------

Miriel nearly jumped out of her skin at the sounds of books toppling from their places and something else falling down. Book usually jump from their shelves down to the floor by themselves and the person who knocked them down most likely got a painful jolt of some sort. After all being clobbered on the head iwth multiple books at the same time was never a nice experience.

Miriel stood up from her chair and followed Damion to the sight of the noise. Quite frankly the sight was amusing, Jaedon stood over a Cheshire cat, a very amusing creature to say in the least. "What on earth happened here?" Though it was quite obvious what had happened with the ladder flung way off to the end and the pile of books scattered around, Miriel had to ask. Though she didn't wait for an answer, instead she reached down and plucked a book off the floor before placing on the shelf. As she did this a startling observation came to her. Turning to Jaedon she noticed her squatted down looking at the Cheshire cat. Her green eyes blinked for a moment, Jaedon was actually being caring. A smile came to her lips, perhaps a change for the better. Though her appearance did seem quite....different. Usually she was all collected, everything was in place and in order and JAedon was in control. But right now Jaedon didn't look like she had her hands on the reigns, if you get what she meant. "What is going on, First Neron acting strange now Jaedon.." Perhaps Jaedon had done something stupid, Miriel wouldn't put it completely past her. Walking over she looked at the Cheshire cat, "You're not hurt are you?" Miriel then glanced at Jaedon to let her know that this applied to her also, even though it might not be directed directly toward her.

[♣Duchess]

Duchess raised a timid paw and glanced at it with her slitted eyes, tilting her head this way and back. Her little pink tongue shot out and licked the still twitching fur for a moment before she brought it back, hurled it at her face, and punched herself with it. The impact made her chin fly upward as she steadied her already wobbly self.

"Well, it appears I still seem to be alive, seeing as that hurt like the dickens." She looked between the two figures hovering over her, appearing as hairless giants to one such as herself. A creeping grin crossed her feline mouth until it covered nearly her entire face. Her ears twitched with amusement and her tail flicked, her stripes beginning to glow a light orange as she laughed in a way only a mutant cat-like creature could. Her wide, illuminated eyes fixated on the little dark one, tilting her furry face sideways in confusion.

"Perhaps I should be asking the same," she began, noticing the girl's rather sulky disposition, "although I'd much rather not intrude. Courtesy is next to god...esy." She grinned brightly again, swishing her now vibrantly colored black and orange fluffball of a tail back and forth with glee. Skipping around on her little feet, she regarded another young lady who had had the dearest kindness to come to her aid.

"Oh, please do pardon my clumsy nature. Which, I must say, is rather ironic, seeing as felines such as myself shall always land on their toes.." She glanced behind her at the mountain of books plopped on top of one another. "...But it seems I've only got the 'land'ing part right.."

Turning her attention back to the heap of paper and binding, she nuzzled a random novel here and there, only to have more tumbling out and nearly smack her right on the ears. She arched her back and tentatively stepped back, letting a moment of silence pass before attempting to tackle the angsty pile again. She began to dig them out with her paws, careful to withhold her claws, muttering things such as "messy, messy, messy... 'Oh what a ruckus I've caused...." as she did. Her form suddenly stretched itself out, growing taller and longer as her undivided attention zoned in on the task at hand. The fur on her skin retracted, being replaced with a poof of unruly light blond hair that sat rather disorderly upon her head. The stripes donning her back faded into oblivion, only to be replaced by a full and ruffly dress in the colors of only black and white. An elegant rose perched itself in her otherwise wild curls, perfectly content to be amongst all the dysfunction that was Duchess. As she attempted to sort through the reckage, the only part of it all that she happened to notice was that the books were getting lower and lower, whilst she herself towered higher and higher. Stopping in her tracks, she peered downward only to see, once again, her "skin" had returned to her. She covered part of her now human face with her gloved hand, a wide grin taking the place of her worry. A now distant part of her mind jogged her scrambled brains, reminding her of the two most likely still standing behind her. She gracefully twirled around and beamed at the both of them.

"Well it seems not much is my choice anymore, hmm? After all, I certainly would not have chosen to cause such a disastrous catastrophe. Or a catastrophic disaster, for that matter." She curtsied deeply to them both, the brilliant smile still planted on her rosey face.

[saerwen]

Damion was about to die with laughter... He loved cheshire cats, they always had a way of finding trouble, but they continued to keep charm as they waltzed in. He watched at the cat regained her skin and turned to face them. Her blonde hair shocked Damion at first, but then he realized that he really wasn't one to be talking about striking hair as he flicked some of the snow white hair out of his eyes. He thought her attire rather interesting. He had not seen that kind of clothing for a while...A little old fashioned for the date, but then again, he wasn't one to talk about that either seeing as how he was still wearing oxford type sweaters. "Alright Damion, this is when you start asking how old this cheshire cat really is..." he thought to himself.

"Oh, who needs choices anyways?" he smiled as he walked over to the pile of books. "Without them, life is carefree, with them, it's a bloody mess my dear." He was going to pick up the books, but he had noticed Jaedon's presence.

"Jaedon, would you mind going and keeping Neron company? It seems that he decided to stay put around the corner. Miriel and I can help our new little friend pick up these books." he looked to Jaedon with a sweet smile on his face. It was then that he noticed she really looked horrible, like she hadn't slept in a while, or something like that. He figured that her going and sitting down was surely a good idea.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jaedon wasn't going to argue. She had to say that even though the cat had done nothing other than knock her over on accident, she didn't like her. Perhaps it was just the pain putting her in a temperamental state. She could make no other reason for her dislike other than that she was blonde, and she smiled too much. Sighing and shaking her head, Jaedon rose from her crouch painfully slow, trying not to jar anything too bad. She pushed her silky black curls away from her face and started to walk away without saying anything.

She walked over to where Neron was sitting with his head bowed, death gripping the chair. She didn't say anything, she just plopped her figure down in the chair next to him, opposite the one that Miriel had previously occupied on the other side. She let out a little groan of pain and then a sigh with as deep a breath as she could muster. Then she leaned back, resting her head on the back of the chair, and then closing her eyes. Her hand unconsciously moved to her stomach, gripping her right side.

*****************************************************************************

Damion watched as Jaedon left. Something wasn't right, but he wasn't going to worry about that now. He bent over and started picking up books, placing them in the appropriate places. He then turned to the little blonde and spoke, "So, what's your name, little friend?" He smiled at her, ice blue eyes focusing only on her face as he bent over to pick up some more books. He was quite amused at this turn of events.

[»Míríel«]

Miriel was picking up books from the ground about her. Luckily it seemed that no one had gotten hurt. She sighed, that was good seeing that she would barely be able to heal anything at this time. Her slender fingers rubbed the books, almost petting them, as she cherished the feel of leather on her fingertips. How could people never want to read, they didn't know what they were missing out. Sure the science books weren't to enjoyable, but the novels and the fiction, that was man's greatest achievements. Yes the science and math books were made by genius and they talked about all sorts of ways to make thing better with the world. But it was the novels that pulled you into a new world, a perfect world, a world of your dreams. You got to be whatever you wanted, whether a little pixie flying through the forest, or a graceful elf, or a heavy troll, anything and the adventures were right there.

Miriel had not noticed Jaedon's looks of pain, nor her irregular movements to much. Perhaps it was for the better. Though she did notice that Damion had a strange note to his voice as he told her to keep Neron company. Those two were always in the darkest moods... Her attention had been diverted to the cheshire cat which had become a striking figure. Never before had Miriel seen hair so blonde, it looked so fake, but Miriel knew better. So many people would kill for hair like that. This cat, well human now, certainly could bring a smile to your face with her babbling. She was a strange one, but as Miriel had found, Strange characters in your life made it more enjoyable and interesting, most of the time. Take Jaedon and Neron for instance, they were very strange cases. "Don't worry, I have gotten used to those with a clumsy nature...I'm sure you and my friend would get along, he seems to have the same problem as you." She smiled kindly and winked, "Though don't tell him I said so..." Her hands reached for another book and she straightened stiffly to put it on the shelf. "So what brings you to this place, a book of fantasy, or science, or perhaps one with spells is more for your taste?"

-----------

Neron's eyes cracked open at the sound of footsteps, so much for peace and quite. Every step sounded like a thunderclap to him. "Why is it when you have a headache every noise seems amplified?" Then the sound of someone plopping into a chair disturbed his thoughts. A sigh came from him as he decided to look up, might as well see who it was. A dark figure came to is sight, and a familiar one, "Jaedon...figures...I should have known she would turn up eventually" His green eyes glimmered slightly, "You are following me, admit it." IT was his attempt at a joke but it was useless it just caused a cringe across his face, even his voice seemed loud. This grimace caused him to look down, focusing on her hand clutching her right side. Another sigh. "Don't tell me you did something stupid."

[♣Duchess]

Duchess replied, without glancing upward, "Indeed that may be true, but would life without choice not be a life filled with ignorance? I must say, I certainly do not subscribe to the belief that ignorance is bliss, but dark chocolate comes rather close..." She gathered up a stack of thick hardbacks in her twig-like arms, hoisting them up with all the might she had within her non-existent muscles. She swiveled around to face the speaker and nearly dropped the books right on her feet. Her jaw dropped open like a snapped hinge.

He was absolutely, jaw-droppingly (literally), unbelievably stunning.

Ever so carefully, as to not break her little toes, she set the books down in a neat pile and fiddled with her skirt nervously. Realizing her mouth was still hanging open like a porthole, she slammed her lips shut with a gloved hand, feeling her already scarlet face burn redder and redder with every second of feeding her eyes with this beautiful creature. Talk about eye-candy. Subconciously she started to bite her tongue, apparently hard enough to draw blood. Feeling the metal-y tang on her taste buds completely disgusted her, but she witheld her petty concerns. Still straightening out her already perfectly centered skirt and fluffing her already marshmallow-like blond bob, she attempted to spit out her own name. What a mistake.

"I-I-I-I-I'm...I-I'm.."

She swiftly took a book, then proceeded to whack herself in the face with it.

"I'm Duchess," she finally managed to mutter, a grin already beginning to grow on her face. "And my poor noggin seems to be taking an awful lot of torture today.." Duchess added quietly, rubbing her now extremely sore forehead. Setting the abused novel aside gingerly, she snapped up and turned her attention to Miriel, happy but saddened at the same time to be removing her vision from Damion, who seemed to be very talented at jumbling her already scrabbled mind.

"Hmm. Now that I think about it.. I can't quite seem to remember what it was I was looking for.." She bowed down, an oversized bow tied around her waist, and peered at the particular work of literature she had used as a memory-jogger. Daintily picking it up, she smiled and hugged it close to her chest.

"Ah! How could I have forgotten? 'The Nature and Habit of the Lyre Bird.'" Ah, Ividine. How her heart ached for his sugar-sweet voice, his warm embrace, and his melt-in-your-mouth butterscotch cookies that were to die for. If he wouldn't come to her, she would come to him. Or rather, she would hunt him down. And then come to him. It had been exactly 759 days since they had last spoken to one another. She could not bear to wait another. Life without Ividine was like... Peanut butter without bananas. Now that is worse than tragic.

[saerwen]

Damion could not help but snicker at Miriels mention of Neron and his more than slightly clumsy habit. "Oh dear, telling Neron that he actually has a problem... That would scare him, the poor thing." Damion was purely poking fun. He usually didn't say things like that, but he felt in the mood for it, like it was a good thing, for once.

He noticed the cheshire cats sudden nervous action. He was more than slightly amused when she started priming her skirt, obsessing over ensuring that it was perfect. She was staring at him, mouth hanging open. He just gave her a few quick side glances as she continued to regain her composure and make herself a little more presentable, although, he thought that she was fine. Her left glove was a little twisted, but that happened so easily with gloves. Then the hair... Why was it women always straightened their clothing, and then their hair. The blonde locks were purely gorgeous, and he took notice as she tried to fix them.

When she started stuttering he had the worst urge in the world to say, "Cat got your tongue?" but he bit it back and just chuckled. Jaedon would be proud of him. He was having evil thoughts today, and with more than just this little blonde one. When she hit herself with the book he looked a bit strangely. "Well, it seems that abuse comes mostly from you, my dear Duchess." He went back to placing books on the shelf, working on the top shelves since the ladies could reach them without having a ladder, and he was quite sure any run-ins with that said device would turn catastrophic. He listened as Duchess answered Miriel's question with.

"An interesting choice. Is there any particular reason, or just idle research?" Damion querried. Then he turned to Miriel. "I am sorry Miriel, I just realized that I have forgotten a very important question, how are you doing?" He blinked the blue eyes as he seemed to be asking for forgiveness with every look and movement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jaedon wanted to laugh, but she knew that it would hurt. She grinned instead, showing that she fully enjoyed the comment. "Aaahh...no." she had kept her eyes closed, but now she cracked one eye open and gave Neron a side glance.She noticed the grimace that spread across his face after he spoke. "That would prove a little too easy, I need a challenge." She closed her eyes tightly as she felt something in her midsection start hurting. She admitted it...She was a complete idiot, but somehow, the pain that she was feeling felt like a kind of justification. It made her feel like what she had just done was okay, because she deserved it.

"What is wrong with you?" she clutched her side a little harder and slightly clenched her teeth.

When Neron asked her if she had done something stupid both eyes shot open. She gave him a look that was very dangerous, eyes seeming to become a little more dark. Then, as quickly as it came, it faded. She sighed. "Yup. Stupid me went and did something stupid." She shut her mouth into a tight line, and then rubbed her still bloodshot eyes. "Don't tell."

[Neron]

Miriel watched as Duchess quickly went through a routine check of herself. It was like watching a cat try to make sure every last hair was prime and proper, which made sense since Duchess was one. Her eyes glanced from Damion to Duchess, then back again. The scene was quite hysterical, poor Damion didn't pick up the clues that Duchess was sending off at all. "Poor dense Damion..." She stifled a laugh. HE could be so slow sometimes, but that only added to his love able nature. She shook her head as he said another "My dear" she had gotten used to this talk from Damion, but she wondered what this would do to Duchess.

When he turned to her Miriel and asked her how she was doing she concentrated on a book that she was putting on the shelf, shifting it this way and that. "Oh fine." She looked up and saw his look and couldn't help but smile, "I'm doing much better, thanks to you." Turning her face from him she grabbed another book. She had almost been on the brink of death and lately he dreams had been full of the feeling of life slipping away. It was an awful dream, but one that she knew would pass soon, hopefully.

---------

Neron winced slightly at her comment about it being to east. "Ouch JAedon, being brutal today. I'm surprised." His dark hair fell into his eyes, causing him to have to flick it out of the way. "After all you have such a sweet and gentle nature." This caused a smirk to come to his face as his words were dripping with sarcasm. But her next question caused silence to stretch between them. His face bowed again as he muttered, "just a headache......" In truth there was a lot more to it then a little headache, it was more like a migraine on a rampage. IT was like his whole body was fighting against itself, making him unable to eat, sleep, or do anything of that nature until one side won. But it was something he had to do, hopefully he would make it out with some sanity. This brought a grim smile to his face, "Not like you had any of that to begin with.."

But his head lifted and he looked at her once more. His eyes were opened wide in a mock innocent look, "Oh I would never dream of doing that..." He finished off with his face darkening, "Well not right now. Though you must tell me the details of your stupid adventure, it seems like quit a good story."

[♣Duchess]

Duchess smiled sheepishly. One really should not mistreat their own brains, although hers seemed to be uncooperative. At his comment about her tongue, she tilted her head sideways and raised one eyebrow. "But... If that were the case... Would I not be able to 'get' my own tongue? I do believe I already have it.."Shrugging that aside, she laughed at the absurdity of the thought. Being a Cheshire Cat did certainly come with its advantages, seeing as one could act completely insane and have a solid excuse to do so. The word "abnormal" did not apply to one such as Duchess, seeing as there really wasn't anything classified as "normal" for a Cheshire Cat, except for behaviors that were considered abnormal by everyone else. It's honestly confusing, but her entire lifestyle was based on confusion and uncertainty. It was all she knew.

As Damion asked about her book of choice, she held it closer to her chest, her fingers apprehensively tapping against the cover. She glanced down at it for a moment, embarrassed to admit her motives, but could not hide the truth. "It's... My last resort," she replied quietly, shyly. Her glance shifted to Miriel, trying to avoid Damion's questioning stare. "A dear old friend of mine... He vanished from my life not too long ago. I thought that perhaps..." She stared down again, her voice getting more timid as she continued. "..Perhaps I could get a clue, as to where he might be. Through research of his kind."

She sighed a long, refreshing sigh, her eyes drifting out the open window. "Oh, I do miss him so.." What more could she do? The world was so vast and expansive. Surely she couldn't set out alone and hope to get lucky. Luck was the worst strategy. So instead, using the little logic she had set aside in her mind, she decided to start at the beginning, and could only pray it would lead her somewhere.

[saerwen]

Damion laughed at Duchess' comment. "Ah, but now I know more than one cat. You aren't the only feline at this school, trust me. However, it seems that you are proving to be the sweetest that I have met." Damion looked at Miriel for a long time, his arm resting on the bookshelf, leaning on it a little. She seemed to be thinking about something. Damion knew that she was probably still a little sore, so she wasn't fully alright, but Miriel would never admit it.

"No, it's not thanks to me. You're the one that can heal." Damion smiled as he spoke with a matter-of-fact tone.

He then turned back to Duchess who had just explained why she chose her book. "Hmm... Do know if he had a reason for leaving? If you knew a reason then it might give further insight as to where he has gone." His eyes looked at her with a gentle curiosity, displaying that he truly wanted to help.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Brutal..." she scoffed. "Hardly." She gave him a side glance. "Though, if you ever call me sweet again I might get that way." She noticed the pause. Neron had more to the story than what he was telling. That was the only explanation for him pausing like that. He had been debating on whether or not to tell her something, but that was okay with her. If he wanted to keep secrets, then she would keep her own.

"Sucks for you." was all that she said. There was little pity in her voice.

She eyed him with narrowed green eyes. She could hardly stop herself from her response, which was rather filled with disgust. Another scoff escaped her. "Don't even try to play innocent, Neron, it'll make me throw up, and your nose will get a lot longer." She smirked when he asked for the story. "I think that I will keep that story... It is awfully boring, nothing happens, and I won something big." She sounded really dull, but as she said the last little bit she let her eyes drift over to Neron, a gleam filling them. She then let her eyes get really big, like she was scared or upset, a rather innocent and pitiful look. "You even might laugh at me."

[»Míríel«]

Miriel smiled at Damion, "But without you I wouldn't have had a chance to heal." She placed another book on the shelf and turned to Duchess. "How long has he been gone?" Miriel knew what it was like to have someone who meant so much to suddenly go missing in your life. Perhaps Duchess had a different experience, like a fight or a note or something. She smiled crookedly at the strange girl before her, "What was he like?"

This girl, Duchess, was so strange, for she was so open to everyone. It seemed that she opened her heart to everyone and spilled out her history and purposes like a waterfall at your feet, swamping you in it. "She must have nothing to hide..." Miriel winced slightly as she moved the wrong way and another thought came to her, "Or she shares a lot to make a disguise that she has nothing to hide," She shook her head, "Miriel my dear, you over think things way to much."

------------------

Neron winced at her threats, not for the threat in itself, but the tone of voice send lightning through his head. His face paled a bit because of the pain. He tried to shake it off with playful banter, "Well I don't think a long nose will help me in any way.. it's long enough already. Though perhaps it will warn people to stay away from me." A sigh came from the depths of Neron's soul as he settled back in his chair. A creaking noise interrupted the silence with its groaning as Neron shifted his weight back. His dark head rested heavily on the back of the high winged back chair. "WEll then....." His eyes closed. "Perhaps you can lull me to sleep with your boring story, quite frankly I don't think it can be any more boring than what we are experiencing right now." His eyes cracked for a moment as he cast a glance over her form, "Let me guess, you won a bit injury to your side, that seems like something you would earn... especially with your social graces. His eyes closed once more, "Plus I'm not a person who laughs, though...with you in the picture it might heighten my chances."