[Open Post] "Cold-hearted orb that rules the night/Removes the colors from our sight"

[silvereyedphage]

Yet another loss, yet someone else snatched from him. This sense of emptiness has haunted Muraki too many times than he cares to recall. His nights, sleeping tangled in his sheets, have been sleepless. At least the days have been busy, running chemical analyses on the samples which that dark gent from the land of the Nile collected, or visiting

Comments

[ohmaiden]

Iphigenia's been in mourning as well--she's figured that Titus is probably gone for good, and that hurts her deeply.

When she tries to escape this feeling by leaving her room and going elsewhere, it doesn't help. So when she stumbles upon Muraki and his writing, she's almost relieved to have found what she thinks is a kindred spirit.

She sighs and sits near him, in an old rocking chair.

[silvereyedphage]

Hearing her movement and more particularly that sigh, he looks up, with a bit of a sad smile. "A nymph approaches: perhaps I shall at last find some inspiration," he says. "Are you feeling pensive tonight, Iphigenia?"

[ohmaiden]

She shrugs a little.

"I am, I guess. Too much thinking makes me worry, though, and then it gets worse."

[silvereyedphage]

"A crime that I've been guilty of committing myself, particularly now," he admits, dryly. "Do you want to talk about it? Don't think that I'm pressing you: some burdens are easier to bear if someone helps to shoulder it."

[ohmaiden]

She pauses a moment before answering,

"I miss Titus."

[silvereyedphage]

"I have not had the pleasure of meeting the young man personally," he admits. "I saw him in that play that was performed some months ago: he's quite talented, but no doubt...he was much more than that.

"You may tell me about him, if you feel ready to do so."

[ohmaiden]

"He was wonderful," she says softly. "I cared for him deeply."

[silvereyedphage]

"He seemed like a lovely young man: were you close, if I might ask?" he asks.

[ohmaiden]

"Yes, we were. We cared for each other."

[silvereyedphage]

"Dare I ask, were you sweethearts?" he asks, a bit mischievously, one eyebrow quirked.

[ohmaiden]

She nods, blushing slightly.

"We were, yes."

[silvereyedphage]

"You were very blessed, then, to find such a lover," he says, a bit fondly and sadly. "I pray, for your sake, that he finds his way back to this place and back to you: I have heard that sometimes people vanish from this place and return after a time.

"But that doesn't make it easier for those left behind, does it?"

[ohmaiden]

She nods, looking like she's on the verge of tears.

"Yes, indeed."

[silvereyedphage]

Offering comfort isn't something Muraki is good at doing, outside of a professional situation, but this isn't exactly a normal situation. He'll reach out and, typist willing, put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You can cry on my shoulder if you need to," he says.

[ohmaiden]

She tries to smile, just a little.

"You're very kind. Thank you."

[silvereyedphage]

"I strive to be," he says, self-deprecatingly, then growing serious, he adds, "I ...have lost someone as well, a woman who was like a sister in spirit to me."