clayce | 001. out there in the sun | beneath the sky // open post

[ There's a distinct feeling of deja vu as she sights the length of red-scaled tail stretching out from the corner of the building that obscures the main lawn from this side of Falner. It's been roughly twenty-eight years, Cisco realizes, doing the math in her head as she walks up to Aidan, Netsach's founder dozing on the lawn in a manner much like the one he is doing now.

She stops right beside his closed eye, and waits. ]

[He had been aware of her arrival from the moment she had touched down, in the company of her children and (surprisingly) Alistair Mordechai. He had traced her progress, listened in on her conversation with Liandrin Delacroix.

None of that shows, though, because it takes nearly a minute before the dragon is breathing in deep, huffing out a slow, contented sigh, then slowly cracking that eye open just enough to get the job done.]

Have I ever told you that that haircut suits you?

[She has not changed, not physically, but Aidan Clayce knows better than to think that Cisco Montelibano-Profaci has not changed at all.]

Edited 2013-12-29 10:45 (UTC)

[ She laughs at that, one hand coming up to touch at the ends of her hair. She'd gotten the haircut at the hotel just the evening before, a small treat, a first in ten years since she'd wandered off like the prodigal daughter.

How short, ma'am? the hairdresser had asked, fingers petting at the length of her dark hair, falling then to her waist. She'd gestured then, about two inches below her shoulder, proceeded to explain the style she'd sported back when she'd been active in the years after the Breaking of the Veil. ]

Hello, Aidan.

[ This brings her back, to over two decades ago, except this time the fox in her skin wants to sit beside the massive dragon instead of quailing before it, because this one is family, not predator. ]

Hello. Would you be so kind as to scratch my ear? Can't quite reach the usual spot again.

[...Well, no. He could, but the sunlight is warm and the grass is nice, and he's finally talking, yet again, to one of the children-now-women who had been with Netsach during one of its more trying times.

He had worried, of course. Many of them had, whether they liked to admit it or not. Perhaps it was because seeing another child break because that was the price of growing up as a Keeper of the Vigil hit too close to home, too often.]

Of course, [ she steps close and reaches up to do just as Aidan asks.

It's so normal, as if wandering by suddenly after she'd dropped off the map for a good ten years wasn't anything to bat an eyelash at. With Lia, she'd had to give her report, had to recall the printed out accounts of her movements, each contact, all the way down to the one that she'd had to personally put down just a year before. With Aidan, it is a request to scratch behind his massive ear.

It's nice. ]

Right here?

Mmm. Yes.

[And if his verbal response isn't enough to assure her, the slight shiver of pleasure just beneath his scales probably would be.]

Thank you. Rethe is out right now, so...

[It's becoming easier, day by day, to say things like that. To remind himself that he's with somebody whom he could love for all eternity, someone who could love him just as perfectly and just as fiercely in return.]

[ She keeps the motion up, because scratching the Voidseeker's ear whilst he is in dragon form is surprisingly soothing. ] Nice to know I can be of assistance then, even if it is hard to compare to an angel.

[ It's hard to miss the tone of contentment in Aidan's voice. She hadn't been around when his relationship with Rethe had teetered on unsteady legs, had only been there to witness them start to settle into each other and much later, to be present when they'd exchanged vows.

Her hand slows at that, her thoughts wandering not wholly unexpected in a familiar direction, particularly since it is her left hand that's lifted to scratch at Aidan's ear, putting it in line of sight.

( Her wedding ring is tucked away beneath her shirt, hung around a thin gold chain because silver burns her kind as they do werewolves. )

Her expression droops, just a little, but it's enough for anyone to see that her thoughts are elsewhere. She doesn't mind that Aidan will see, though. Of all the Malice Kings, he was the first she'd ever met, and as imposing as he had been, everyone she knew had referred to him as 'Father', though her interpretation of that has always been more parental as opposed to religious. ]

[There's a light chuckle at that statement, but otherwise, nothing else. He only speaks again, once he spots the lack of a ring, the shift in Cisco's expression.]

You can take your time with that. Speaking to him, I mean. [A beat.] You have time to spare now.

[ There's a moment of hesitation as she struggles for the words, and her head turns as she hears the familiar noise of children at play. She spies the twins not too far away just then, their hands clasped even as Maggie looks on with the curious ( and hungry ) gaze of someone who has never had anyone but her brother to bother. ]

He'll either call tonight or he'll let it lie for a while longer. [ Her voice is soft. ] You know how the rumor mill goes in these parts.

And I also know that he's not the type to care what others say, much less turn to other people to give him news when the affected party is within reach.

[He's shifting his head a little bit now, to look at her better.]

Enough on that, though. There are equally pressing concerns at hand for you now, I'm sure.

[ True enough. But it helps to hear it from someone else. Ten years is a long time for anyone to wait, even for those with extended life spans.

She turns back to Aidan then, ] We'll be staying at my old house in Quezon City for the meantime. I know it's far from convenient but I'm not-- [ she makes a face ] --I don't think it's a good idea for me to wander down to see my brothers, just yet.

[ At that point, she watches as three children wander close for the basics of introductions, and how, when the three run off, Maggie gives chase, a rather put-upon Renae trailing behind, the exasperated I'm sorry, Mom written all over his face as he turns to her once, flopping his arms in defeat as he goes mind his sister. ]

You're his favorite. [ She turns a smile back to the Voidseeker. ] Alistair is hers. From the stories I told them.

Am I?

[He is used to hearing that. Everyone loves dragons, it seems, especially the small children of the many Hunters on the Estate.]

One would think that more children would find me frightening. [A beat, then:] Alistair too.

[Alistair especially. His standoffish demeanor was usually enough to scare away pretty much everybody, and keep them from seeing what he could really be like.]

Edited 2013-12-29 15:09 (UTC)

[ She lets her hand drop, folds her arms across her chest as if to keep warm from a cold that is not really there. The expression on her face is thoughtful, musing, and she smiles up at Aidan, recalling the way she'd narrated their first meeting. ]

I think Renae is partial to the fact that the big, scary dragon has an even bigger heart. [ She takes a breath, her gaze sliding over to where the children are at play. ] I told him how his mother was scared shitless at the sight of a long and curved tail, because she didn't know better and it's kind of hard not to be afraid of something that huge when you're as big as a gym bag when in animal form. [ Her voice softens when she adds: ] I think he also liked how the dragon was someone everyone called "Father". People who get called that usually are because they're admired and respected.

[ To anyone watching, the smile that she throws Aidan is remiscent of the smile she used to wear in the earlier years of her career in Netsach: the hint of mischief in the curve of her lips, the slight glint of cheekiness in her eyes. ]

And Alistair... well. [ She'd only started telling the stories she remembered after they'd settled in China, when the need to bring the twins a sense of normalcy had overridden her desire to keep on running. Maggie had been having night terrors then, though she would claim not to remember much upon waking, so when Cisco had noted the way her daughter perked up at the mention of the tracker who would never grow old, who had asked to stay frozen in order to keep an eye on a charge she hadn't had the heart to name, she'd started including more of what she could remember from her own experiences; slid in the stories that Wolf's Choice and Cen had recounted to her of Mapayapa and the missions that had come and gone before she'd fallen among their number. ]

Hard not to latch onto the grumpy and grizzled anti-hero. Though I don't imagine Alistair would appreciate being compared to the likes of Han Solo.

[He listens intently, of course. Hearing from his own is one of the main things that keep him grounded, keep him sane and focused. It's always the little things that remind one why they keep on going.

At that last part, though, he chuckles, deep and amused.]

I highly doubt that, yes. [And now a part of him simply can't unsee it.] I've always seen him more as an anti-hero straight out of a gangster movie, though. Call it, ah, firsthand experience of that possibility, I suppose.

[Yeah, that one? Quite a story for the kids.]

[ She's giving him a look at that, a cross between amused and wanting to press him more for details and the incredulous expression that says simply: Please, tell me you're joking.

Cisco shakes her head a moment after, and then settles down quietly on the grass beside him. ]

[Is this big-ass dragon grinning?

Yes. Just a little bit.]

Welcome home, by the way.

[ Her shoulders curl in a little, her head ducking before as she looks up at Aidan again. ]

It's good to be home.

Edited 2014-01-01 21:48 (UTC)

Do come around the Great Hall more often, if you can. For at least one meal a day.

[ She nods, her voice soft when she replies: ] I will.

[ She picks at a nail, looks up to where her children are, and laughs. ]

I'm so sick of Thai food.

[Heh.]

Then it's a good that the kitchen staff here makes it a point to provide a variety of things for everyone, mm?

That's very true.

[ She sets her cheek against her palm and lets out a soft, contented sigh. ]

[Cracking an eye open to watch her, and also because it really is nice to have her close by again.]

Maybe you could bring your children around too. Make it a habit.

[ She looks to Aidan at that, cheek still resting in her hand. ]

I don't think convincing them will be much of a problem, truth be told.

[ And because she knows that they will have to go again -- not right away, of course -- but soon enough, she presses her hands to the ground, the motion akin to one of the yoga stances, and lifts herself enough to scoot closer to the familiar warmth of the dragon; smiles, and leans sideways, the entire line of her left side from head to ear to shoulder comfy against Aidan's cheek.

She takes a breath. ]

It really is good to be back.

Edited 2014-01-13 21:33 (UTC)

[Affection is such a great thing. Part of him now realizes how he was such a fucking idiot for pushing everyone away for so long.]

And you're not going to leave again anytime soon. Are you?

[It had to be said.]

[ And this is the distinct sound of a sigh escaping her. ]

Not as far as I went the last time. [ She won't go into it. Not her brothers. Not just yet. ]

I'm taking the kids to Quezon City for the night. [ And then, quieter: ] I'll figure everything else out tomorrow.

Edited 2014-01-15 01:03 (UTC)

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clayce - 2014-01-15 04:20 (UTC) - Expand

001. out there in the sun | beneath the sky // open post

January, 2040 : It's good to be home.

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HAD TO BE DONE OKOK and finally i get an excuse to use this icon

uguuuuu

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