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Who: Shrieky, Manticore and Angela!
What: The Manticore leaves Baedal
Where: The Temple in Mog Hill
When: Givdi evening
Notes: I've made a couple of assumptions on how getting rid of a Manticore would work, but modz hit me up and I will make edits if I ASSUME TOO MUCH.
Warnings: Sad Mermaid.

The two of them linger together, a little out of the way at the mouth of the temple. Preliminary debates and discussions and loud arguments have all taken place and been squared away now. He'll be allowed to stay for the ceremony, to be certain that it actually takes place, since he doesn't trust them to fulfill their promises unobserved.

He doesn't have a lot of trust to offer in general.

He's still afraid that the ceremony will hurt the Manticore, and that as it suffers, he'll just be standing there stupidly, assuming that it's being released. He's afraid that once it's gone, it'll only get lost somewhere else, in a place without friends, alone and without care. He's afraid that it will want to come back, but the way will be closed to it.

More than this, he has this creeping apprehension that the Manticore is only going through with this because he brought it here and he talked to these people about it, and that it doesn't really want to leave, and that if things go wrong, it will wonder why he would do these terrible things to it? When they were supposed to be friends?

The Shrieking Boy puts his face in the Manticore's fur.

They're supposed to be saying goodbye now.

He can smell a heavy, animal musk, and above that, the strange fragrances of the oils which have been used to anoint it in advance of it's departure. Distantly, the chanting of the devotees is beginning to fill the temple, and he does not want the Manticore to go.

The vast weight of the animal shifts beneath him. Under fur, muscles and tendons twist and tense, and one enormous paw comes down across his shoulders. The Shrieking Boy reciprocates, wrapping his arms as far as he can around it's golden body. When it speaks to him, the deep tenor of it's notes vibrate through it's body and into his.

He sniffles, then pulls back quickly, because he doesn't want to get the Manticore's fur wet.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to. If you're scared, then you can just stay here with me! You can stay for as long as you want."

But the Manticore isn't scared. It leans forward and pushes it's forehead against The Shrieking Boy's, and it makes a noise that he doesn't quite understand. The Mermaid made it welcome, but Baedal made it ill, and it's ready to leave now.

They stay like that for a few moments, but there's a lure in the chanting now, and before long the Manticore is rising to it's feet. He pushes himself up alongside it, and they walk together towards the priestesses. They're almost ready now, and he reaches up to wipe his face. To make his woe less open.

The air in the temple feels thick and tangible. The phrase 'could be cut with a knife' crosses his mind, and suddenly, with a flourish, one of the women raises a ceremonial dagger, and does just that, slashing it through the atmosphere with one smooth motion.

At first, nothing changes. Then, slowly, just like a sheet of torn fabric, the image of reality begins to fold open. Opening up into a sky full of stars beyond.

The Manticore gives a sound of abject happiness, it winds around his legs one more time, rubbing fondly against him, before leaping towards the opening. It seems lighter now, all the colours of it more iridescent. The gold of it's fur now more like actual spun gold than he remembers, lit by some inner illumination that gives it a vital glow. It's feet barely touch the ground, and he understands suddenly, how stupid he was to be afraid for it out there. How foolish it was to assume that such a creature might ever want to stay here, with him.

He doesn't wait to see them close the gateway. The Manticore isn't looking back, and watching it depart doesn't make this any easier. Instead, The Shrieking Boy goes back out into the city, to the market, or one of the bars, and tries to pretend that he's friends with all the strangers there.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

They know her by name here at Pele's Curse which either says something about Angela's bubbly personality or the fact she runs up an impressive tab and always manages to pay it off at the end of the night. Right now, it's mostly her personality as she sashays into the place, dressed to kill anyone's vision, with a bright smile on her face. Her first stop's at the bar to give the tender on shift tonight a hug and a compliment on his new haircut. It's enough to get her a free shot or two.

Shrieky is drinking something lime green which makes his mouth tingle and comes in a glass which is the shape of a triangle. First he'd tried to pretend he was friends with the bartender. Then he'd tried to pretend to be friends with some girls who had lovely, violet tentacles coming from their faces, then for a while he'd pretended to be friends with a large group of young men who were playing cards (a gambit which had gone well enough until it became clear that Shrieky was just putting down cards at random and that none of them knew his name.)

Now, he isn't pretending to be friends with anyone. He's just nursing his green drink, sitting at the Bar, and thinking about his Manticore.

He's so engrossed in his thoughts that he almost misses Angela, as she waltzes over to the bar, but the flash of colour draws his eye, and he glances across to her quickly, before smiling, almost on reflex.

"Hello!"

He knew Angela! And he liked her as well! He barely even needed to pretend when she was the person in the bar!

She's busy knocking back the shot when Shrieky calls out to her and she smiles through the glass at him, but not before she puts up a single finger to him because it's rude to speak with your mouth full. With that done and her throat tingling, Angela shuffles down the bar to hop on the stool next to him, giving him a one-armed hug, because that is what Angelas do.

"Hey you," because she still does not know his name, "What are you doing here?"

Edited 2012-04-15 19:02 (UTC)

The one armed hug is nice (if a little untested for him, in terms of how hugs go) and he leans into it automatically, flopping his head on her shoulder.

"I came out to make friends, but they keep wandering off." Oh, the sad nature of bars. Then, because in the heat of the moment, he's struck by the desire to express his unhappiness to her: "The Manticore left, earlier."

Had he brought the Manticore to her house when he'd gone to visit Himli? Had Angela even heard of the Manticore? Shrieky wasn't certain, but it seemed like the kind of thing she ought to be told.

Shrieky really reminds her of an overgrown child sometimes. Not a manchild which to Angela is a totally different and negative thing, but just somebody who is brand new to the world and isn't quite sure how to act in it. She understands though, even if she doesn't fully understand Shrieky himself.

"Well, those aren't very good friends, are they?" she asks hypothetically, sliding onto the stool next to him. Her brow narrows at the mention of the creature. She knows what a manticore is, she just doesn't know about the Manticore. "What manticore?"