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Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 10:59 pm
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It would never have occurred to her--not in this situation, at least--to put her personal desires first. Of course she wanted to see her brother. Of course she wanted that tiny, annoying little anchor of banality amidst all the upheaval that was the Clans. Of course she wanted small familial comforts and someone to pick on while she found her way through the strange newness.
But she had tasks to do, first. She'd not had a proper spiritual communion with a priestess since the beginning of her self-imposed exile. Ritual was important, in all its forms: the fragrance of incense and the sounds of a priestess's quarters important now, as ever, in achieving the proper mindset. And mindset was vital right now. Kallistrate was ready to work.
The priestess in question was not Una (they'd never be Una, not ever again), but she was accommodating, willing for a compassionate one-on-one with a humble, penitent practitioner. It felt odd to attempt meditation without the (ritual, ritual) ritual of simultaneously braiding her hair, but she was working at it. And had been, on and off, for three days.
Three days was a long time for a rumor to travel in the confines of the tower.
She took a deep breath.
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Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 11:33 pm
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It was quiet, and it was calm: a serious focus that filled the air around the pair of them.
And into it stepped a whirling dervish.
He was quick, at least, and quiet -- at first. He didn't disturb the peace of the room with his footsteps, lingering near-silent by the door to watch the pair of them and make sure that the rumor mill, in this case, had been correct. He had laid eyes on the elaborate fall of braids around her head, the part of her lips and the slight gap between her teeth, the familiar upturn of her nose.
Ollie waited, before he broke her peace, and Lala was just lucky that the candle went out before it collided with the side of her head. By the time she turned, he was reaching for more, hop-skipping across the room so she wouldn't have an easy target in return.
"You are terrible!" He hadn't changed much, and his voice certainly hadn't changed, but maybe he'd gone just a little bit deeper and just a hair taller. "The worst! Three days! And you're here, and me just circling endlessly through the same tasks! Did you know?"
He raised a second candle, ready to throw, already moving to another position.
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Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 11:49 pm
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The priestess' actual Guardian moved as if to show them both summarily out, but the priestess, a silent bystander, raised a hand. This was good drama. No sense in cutting it short.
Lala rose, then subsided back to the floor so as to make a strategically smaller target, watching Ollie all wary-eyed and indignant and embarrassed and enraged and rubbing at the burgeoning bruise. At a small movement from her brother she flinched, throwing up her hands to protect her face. Dignified.
"Oliatos. This is a sacred space," she hissed between her teeth. And then, in contradiction of what she'd just said, she yanked a bangle off her arm and flung it right back, with equal force. "Show some respect."
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Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 4:44 pm
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He wasn't crying, but this was mostly because he didn't cry: training from a young age had killed any tendency toward tears. By this point, though, the anger had also faded out some, killing the desire to storm off. He blinked at her, swatting aside the bronze bowl, and his mouth had gone soft.
It was not quite a pout, but it was close. All at once, he sat down in the dirt.
"You're the brat." Which wasn't exactly a great retort, but it was a heartfelt one.
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Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 9:22 pm
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Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2014 7:43 pm
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"Then you'll be in my debt, because I wasn't pretending you don't exist, you little brat. I've been--" she hesitated, a little leery even now, but plunged ahead "--bored out of my skull for days, Ollie. Daaaaaays. I felt that I needed to--to right myself. Right things, I mean, as much as I can--before I saw you."
Kallistrate did not often betray emotion that wasn't raw anger. She didn't here, save for the tiny hitch in her voice.
"Anyway, you ruined that, you little s**t head. So the damage is done, I guess." She stood up, shaking out her robes, and reached to grab an antler and give it a little chiding shake. "Come with me and I'll show you where I'm staying right now, and give you your gifts, you materialistic thing--ought to be in Conquest. And you can show me what you've been learning while I was gone."
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