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

[clayce]

Take a prompt, take some time, drop in whenever you like.

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Waking the Dead 2.0 || Falner Estate || Because I can totes make my own threads.

[clayce]

[And here we have a big-ass dragon out on the lawn behind the main mansion, sleeping.

Yes, this is normal.]

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

[kinesthesia]

[ 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. ]

[clayce]

[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.]

[kinesthesia]

[ 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. ]

[clayce]

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.]

[kinesthesia]

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?

[clayce]

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.]

[kinesthesia]

[ 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. ]

[clayce]

[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.

[kinesthesia]

[ 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.

[clayce]

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.

[kinesthesia]

[ 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.

[clayce]

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.]

Between the Lines || Aidan and Kaz; March 2063

[ktotheatothez]

[There's a Dragon on the Lawn. Kaz smiles as he watches the Voidseeker be turned into a playground, be greeted by Hunters, other Malice Kings... And by his 'children'. He's done this a lot over the past couple of days, having found that the roof of their dorm is the perfect place to relax, meditate... But he doesn't miss much when he's sitting up here.

Today though... Today feels different, because he's clambering down the side of their dorm (f**k yeah parkour) and making his way to where Aidan Clayce is just... Being still. Feeling a little bushed still, Kaz actually sits near the Dragon's side and leans against him, feeling the rumble of his breathing over the Wings of Therion, currently strapped to his back.

Kaz's eyes close and his breathing falls in sync with Aidan's - not asleep, but he IS starting to calm down.]

[clayce]

[A bit of time passes before Aidan finally speaks to him.]

Your form is improving.

[He's not just being kind. It really is.]

[ktotheatothez]

Good morning, Father. Thank you, though my dismount off the balcony was a bit sloppy.

[ He smiles just a little, because he's been Running all over Falner in full gear so that he'd get used to having to move about in potential battle situations. So yeah, maybe it's starting to show - not that he can take pride in it just yet.]

I see you most mornings, I thought that I'd meditate near you today.

[clayce]

Excellent. Now I have some company.

[That did not happen to be wild children. Not to say that other folks didn't come around. Most of them just didn't stay for very long.]

[ktotheatothez]

[Company. Hm. Company to the Voidseeker. Kaz's eyebrows have a bad habit of shooting up when he gets surprised, and this shouldn't be a big deal. But he still blushes a little bit.]

Well, I can try to be good company, Father. Have I ever told you that I rather like dragons?

[clayce]

Oh? Why?

[ktotheatothez]

I used to read books about them from before the the Wolrd of Light learned of everything... All kinds of stuff about Dragons. Saviors... Destroyers...

[He pauses then. Kaz isn't actually sure how to word because they're kinda cool without sounding dismissive of the things Aidan has gone through.

He knows of Aidan's involvement in the decades before he was born, and knows some other things from poking around the Arcanum... But...]

Maybe at the core of things I just like the reality of them. Of you being real, instead of being just stories kids like me can read about.

[clayce]

That's nice to hear. Dragons were legendary for a very long time, even as things go in the World of Darkness.

[A pause, filled in with Aidan yawning just a little. This is so relaxing. =w=]

This state, though, is something I inherited more than anything else.

[ktotheatothez]

[The childlike curiousity in his eyes would be unmistakable. Of course he wants to ask, but Kaz's sense of delicacy in this holds back the question. So he settles for closing his eyes again, letting the calm flow again, mirroring Aidan's yawn (as much as a kid can).]

Mmhm. Sorry, couldn't help that... Sympathetic yawner, apparently.

[clayce]

It's fine.

[Heh. And, because Voidseeker:]

You want to ask me something.

[ktotheatothez]

[Kaz cracks an eyelid open, breathing out. 'Course he'd notice, so Kaz shrugs and turns around to sit facing Aidan. (well, his ginormous dragon eye anyway)]

You said... Inherited. So... You weren't always a dragon. I was curious how that happened is all.

[He smiles sheepishly, like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.]

[clayce]

I don't really know myself. Perhaps the universe wished to give me a second chance, and gave me all of this power in order to use it to guide everyone.

[He had, after all, been the one who had taught the Mages of the Fifth World magic.]