[The only sound for a moment in this view of the snowy streets outside the Door proper-- no figure in view-- is the wind whistling. The only motion is a flurry of snowflakes, before the camera lurches and twists. A blurry flash of green is visible until it's just a close-up of reddish-violet eyes, bright with a mixture of emotion and irritation as ( Read more... )

[It's been quite a while since you've heard from Asellus, hasn't it? She's been almost conspicuously absent-- what has she been doing ( Read more... )

...You know, we're coming up on a time of year I always loved. Well, maybe not the weather, but the whole thing-- the harvest, the Saints' eve, all that. I remember dressing up with my aunt and visiting my parents' graves to clean them, having a special meal alongside the stones, listening to the stories of all my family-- my father, my mother, all ( Read more... )

[You're gardening-- pruning the roses--, and small, barely more than a toddler, looking up at your aunt-- a pinched, angry-looking middle-aged woman. She's stern, a little scary, and she's always talking about your father and mother and looking at you like you're not exactly what she wants around, but you know she loves you because why would she ( Read more... )

Ah--

[She looks a little awkward. It's been a while, Anatole, and unless you've been floating around the ruins or the Patrol grounds, you probably haven't seen much of Asellus. It feels like talking to strangers, almost-- friends she hasn't seen in a while and people she's never met. She almost looks shy, really.]Uh, long time no... see. What's ( Read more... )

[It's hard to tell just by looking at her that Asellus is feeling strange. On the one hand, she doesn't look all that different than normal-- maybe a little bit high-color, her eyes a little more heavy-lidded. They might seem to be more of a rich red in the normally red-violet depths than normal, if you watch for that sort of thing ( Read more... )

[Hey, look, it's Asellus! She's... working on something, something small and wooden. It's rough-hewn, but it looks like... a flowerbox ( Read more... )

[It's shaky, a blur of green and gray and something else, something faded and dirty. Her breathing is ragged and exhausted and quick. Aside from the rush of wind and the rustle of leaves, there's nothing before the feed cuts.]

[Some time later.]

[It's an impact that's turned the Forge on; it rolls and catches Asellus' face, tense with pain as she ( Read more... )

[This is the most mortified voice in the world.]

...I don't want one word.....Also, Arthur? I think I, uh, have a few things of yours. Mostly shiny things, nothing I think is too important or... breakable ( Read more... )

Auntie's store was just right over-- Huh? [Hear that? That's the pipingest voice that ever piped.]

Cool!

I've never been here before! But I didn't ride a realmship or anythin'. An' this isn't Shrike! Maybe I'm near the Tombs. [GASSSSSSSSP.] Maybe I'll get t'meet a GHOST. Or King Sei! Or-- or--

This is so cool!But Auntie's gonna get mad. "' ( Read more... )