[With the moon returned to its rightful place in the sky, and the last remaining fragments of spear picked from his belly, Elijah waits a few days before seeking out Katerina to clear his mind, and rearrange his thoughts. It's strange, seeing her again. Seeing her alive again, reigniting centuries old feelings that were meant to have been laid to rest with her passing. The situation is insane enough, even by Mikaelson standards, without adding his conflicted feelings for Hayley into the mix.]
[ katherine's sitting quite comfortably outside at the station, legs thrown over a chair and her mind not worrying about her previous actions. so what if she went after a strange girl? so what if she impaled elijah on a spear out of anger? he's on the opposite side of this war to her, as per usual. it isn't any different to how it is at home. she has no feelings pertaining to it nor does she particularly care. ]
[ of course, when he calls, she doesn't merely ignore him. ]
[ she doesn't really want to answer. he doesn't deserve it, after what he did — after what he does. he's simply yet another man who has let katherine pierce down. how did she end up with the same luck as the girl she had shed five hundred years ago? ]
[ ugh — ] What? [ she sounds just as impatient — and petulant — as the word. ]
[He forgives her for the spear, even for the part where she tossed him around like a rag doll. It will take some time for him to work through being kneed in the groin, however.]
[Her tone isn't surprising, after all he'd given her an exclusive sneak peek into her own future and it wasn't pretty. The Cure and her freedom had slipped out of her grasp forever, at least, as far as she knows. Elijah hadn't exactly been in the mood to tell her all the sordid details that happened afterwards, but he's had time to get over both the stabbing and her accusations.]
I thought perhaps you'd like to hear the rest of the story, now that you've had some time.
[ elijah isn't klaus, no matter how desperately at times she wants to paint him with the same brush. the salvatores would attempt to thread together a rather poor excuse of a future, where the elusive katherine pierce is brought to her knees and slain once and for all. it's not a story she wishes to hear, manufactured by minds as small as peas. but elijah's tale isn't one she wishes to know of, especially if it means she is still without a companion in the form of her freedom. ]
[Elijah is not his brother, and perhaps that is his saving grace. If he had been more like Niklaus, regardless of the power imbalance while the sky was empty, he would have chased her to the ends of the world. Instead, he leaves her to her anger, the anger that is his fault, so who is he really leaving her alone for?]
[ but it's a surprise nonetheless, katherine piece writing klaus mikaelson a letter. it's what elena would do, isn't it? except, her doppelgänger would sacrifice herself and see to it she were a corpse before she ever truly penned klaus a letter. there was no time within their respective lives to sit down, let alone for those who attend the school to even begin their homework. ]
[ nothing would stop klaus from pursuing her and exacting his proper revenge. it's as though elijah doesn't even know his brother, let alone her. letters don't get the point across. letters are footprints within the dirt one wants washed away with a flood. katherine pierce had eliminated any trace of herself for a good one hundred years in hopes her faux death would toss klaus from her trail. if it were as simple as penning him a letter, she would've had emily do so back in 1864. ]
I don't exactly have time to write letters, Elijah.
[A letter is the last thing any of them would expect Katerina to do, and perhaps that is why it was so effective. Of course, it helps that the contents of the letter changed the course of Niklaus', and the rest of the family's, life forever.]
And yet, the letter you wrote was enough to convince Niklaus to leave you alone.
[He has no intention of telling her what was in the letter, knowing she would find a way to use it against them, should Niklaus be recruited into this war.]
[ she doubts any of these things would convince klaus to leave her be. she has nothing up her sleeve. all she has is herself — and that's what klaus wants. it'd be easier to believe elijah's lying, but he's always only omitted information, perhaps speaking in circles to make it appear as though he's talking to her when he's simply making noise. klaus has lied, but elijah never has. what would he gain from lying to her about attaining the one thing she's so desperate for? ]
What did it say?
[ she can only assume elijah has read it. but she's not a big enough fool to believe he'll merely tell her due to her voice being softer. like his brother, if he has nothing to gain, his lips are sealed. ]
[It is only natural that Katerina would want to know the one piece of information she would come to possess that could derail the great and terrible Niklaus Mikaelson. As much as he would like to talk about the baby Hope Mikaelson who managed to unite the remaining Mikaelsons, he must continue the ruse of her death and keep her very existence a secret from the woman who revealed her to them in the first place.]
That a witch in New Orleans was attempting to make a move against him. [In her own words, no less.] She had information that successfully managed to remove Niklaus from your trail.
[ it isn't lost on katherine that he doesn't tell her what. it makes her think — perhaps elijah doesn't want her to have that piece of information, fearful she'll use it against him, or maybe it's merely something he doesn't know himself, as klaus had never quite seemed to respect elijah to the degree elijah apparently and stupidly respects his brother. it's the latter she believes in, elijah perhaps reading her letter she had signed klaus' name to, or maybe she had read it to him as a parting farewell, ensuring the noble elijah mikaelson were to deliver her letter knowing it would secure her the very thing she wanted — and the very thing he never quite did. it isn't about them — if it were, she thinks elijah would've told her so, feeding that stupid and naive human girl who had believed in love until it had consumed her whole and spat out something else entirely. their love has never been enough, whether it's in the form of a nobleman infatuated with a familiar face or a villainess softening and allowing her humanity to cripple her for a man she sometimes doesn't think she recognises. ]
It sounds too good to be true.
[ honestly. had god finally looked down upon her and deemed her worthy of his own kind hand? she highly doubts that; no divinity has ever been on katerina petrova's — or even katherine pierce's — side. there's no one looking out for her but herself. not even elijah — he's informing her of this to regain her trust and her allegiance. she isn't as naive and dumb as elena gilbert, believing the best in people when she has become all too familiar with their vicious side. elijah has never wanted her to have her freedom as it had taken her far, far away from him. ]
[ she doesn't want to think about it at all. her tone is harder, disbelieving, as katherine pierce is not katerina petrova and does not believe in such fanciful and unattainable things. five hundred years of running and she has finally caught what she has been chasing? this particular game will never be over, unlike theirs where she believes he'd thrown in the towel a long, long time ago. ]
How long will this freedom last, Elijah? Five days? Five weeks? Five centuries?
I was hoping I might be able to have a chat with you about a couple of things, at the behest of Higgin, the majordomo of Caer Scima. I'm looking to take note of your current whereabouts and any special abilities you may have or may have been granted by Morla.
I appreciate that this is actually very forward, but you'd be doing me an incredible favour by getting in touch.
[ unfortunately, kieren's caught katherine at a very bad time. after losing elijah, she's been none too keen to amuse nor entertain others in their quests of ... questing. hence, she keeps her response short. ]
[It hadn't hit him until he'd lifted the tie out of the box -- that scent. His eyes had turned red and his fangs had dropped in an automatic response to it.
Then he'd spent the rest of the night getting shitfaced from his neverending flask of Scotch, testing its limits and petting the tie, wishing it was wrapped around a certain slender neck so he could squeeze the life out of her again and again.
But, sadly, that wasn't to be, so instead, he fantasized about what he wanted to do to her until the wee hours of the morning, when he took a stake he'd fashioned out of one of the splintered chairs in the room (don't ask) and went looking for her. He didn't find her (more's the pity), but he did get directions to her assigned room. After kicking the door open and seeing that she wasn't home (his life, why must it be fucked?), he settled for impaling the stake through her door before carefully closing it and strolling back to his rooms.
He almost hung the tie off it, but decided that wearing it would maybe piss her off. Or himself. He was muddled and angry and couldn't quite think properly. But hey, he'd left her a present.
[ angry lady sounds a hell of a lot nicer than self-serving, evil slut vampire. she likes lumina already. ]
Bird thing [ lbr, katherine doesn't remember a chocobo is called a chocobo, so her voice sort of trails off before she picks it up again. ] ... girl. I'm not fetching one of your feathery friends again if that's why you're bothering me.
[ if they're introducing themselves to one another, she supposes this has to be serious. she narrows her eyes, as if she can glean what it is lumina wants from her — she has no clue what it could be. she'd escorted witches to a spire once, so long ago, and she's beaten clarisse la rue at her own game, but, otherwise, the legend of katherine pierce has remained in her world, never once seeping into the drabwurld to follow her and harm her as she knows it inevitably will. ]
[ she doesn't think to introduce herself. it isn't out of arrogance, believing lumina knows who she is, as it's more in her attempt to get straight to the point. ]
[Lumina had remembered her just because of how angry she seemed, and the casualness with which she threatened violence. But she'd pryed a little before she'd called her again.]
[Still, she doesn't answer right away. Because she isn't really sure she actually wants to do this. Well, no, she knows she doesn't want to, but what other choice does she have?]
Uh. [Her usual amused chipperness is gone. She can't even really fake it right now.]
Remember when you were threatening to kill my chocobo if I didn't show up and get it? Would you have really done that? Without...caring?
[ katherine may not know lumina at all, but she remembers she had a certain pep to her. how she had responded to katherine when she had found her chocobo had reminded her of the cheerleaders of mystic falls, of how her own doppelgänger had once tried to give spelling lessons to those in the stands of a football game. she has no ill feelings toward her — or anyone who is a little peppy like a cheerleader — so much so she's aggravated at herself for remembering when it gives her nothing to work to her advantage, if she wanted to somehow wrap lumina around her finger. ]
[ to her, it's a strange question, but one that apparently requires an answer she's strangely willing to give. ] The ugly bird thing? [ she doesn't require a response as she remembers. it'd been a strange creature with a snappy temperament, but lumina had treated it like it was a pet, some dog with feathers instead of fur. ]
[ if the chocobo had been a true threat to her, katherine would've snapped its neck without a second thought. easily, she replies, ] Yes. I don't care for ugly birds. [ but she hadn't because lumina had asked her not to. and that's one thing she doesn't want to think about at all. ]
[ potato, tomato. it's evident by katherine's roll of her eyes she's growing exasperated with the back and forth over birds that she'll always call ugly, if only to irritate lumina. it's what normal people do, taking the piss out of each other, even though katherine would always like to posture herself as being above them all. (it's a lie, a part of her wishes she had what elena has with her girlfriends.) ]
[ but it shouldn't surprise her that it all comes down to a favour. truthfully, she's done nothing to earn lumina's friendship. she supposes, though, the girl who loves ugly birds had seen something inside katherine that most are blind to. ]
[ the irritation seeps from her features as she tilts her head. It depends on what it is. [ there's a very brief pause before she raises her brows. ] And why.
It's called a Kitsune. [Lumina sounds a little more certain right then, at least, since this is just information. Not intent.] It's a magical fox...person.
[She sucks in a breath.]
The Roc, that giant god bird, needs the heart of a kitsune as part of it's cure. I have everything else but-
[ another goddamn bird, she thinks with a roll of her eyes. she's never truthfully had anything against birds before. she dislikes crows and lorikeets, but some of the grand birds she has seen in the wild and the zoo have been quite beautiful. ]
[ it just appears as though lumina's intent on remaining as bird girl forever to her. ]
[ she also doesn't acknowledge with a flinch or an arch of her brow the slight softness to person. she knows the mythology behind the kitsune, a magical fox that shapeshifts into women, if the books and old folk that have since died or wandered far from her are to be right. she's killed humans to werewolves to witches to vampires to ]
But the heart of the kitsune. [ she finishes what she seems unable to say due to its implications. ]
[ katherine inhales to only exhale, as if she's tired or perhaps simply resigned herself to assisting already. ] And you thought the angry lady that I apparently am would want to pull it from a kitsune's chest for you for yet another bird you seem to admire so much.
[ if she saves this giant god bird that froze half the world last year, does this mean she'll get some good karma? ]
[ katherine doubts it. ]
[ she sighs. ]
If you protest how I go about it, then the giant god bird that isn't yours can die. [ and she can go back to being so incredibly bored. will she feel guilty over it? that's up for debate. ]
The angry lady's name is Katherine. And I'll want something in return, especially if I get ruin my shoes for this.
[ it probably helps to emphasise that, even though there's a good chance by now lumina knows not to give katherine pierce a bird at all. but she isn't so sure of what she wants. usually, she knows everything about the person she's trying to manipulate, but all she possesses in her hands is that lumina likes birds. ]
[ if she rain checks on that, she doubts it'll matter much. it's not like she needs lumina for anything dire like the girl does her. ]
How about we wait and see? If this kitsune ends up ruining my shoes, I want to make sure what I get in return covers those costs.
[usually, they keep up with letters and visits. the locket is a rare choice.]
Katherine, I'm going to ask you a bit of an odd question that you're free to refuse.
[she sounds...not tired, but with a hint of strain in her voice. that's from losing her mind last night over what had happened and then burning through power via spoken spells to try and at least help with some damage while she drew in favours and rewrote out the spellwork she'd originally implemented for the guards to hold the building together. thank god they had four mages and people who'd assist them of their own. some pieces might be salvageable.]
[ whenever someone approaches her with that, she knows she needs to worry. but it's for a different reason entirely when it comes from grell. it's a reason she's never had to contemplate before. ]
[ rather than ask what is it?, tricking herself into sounding like elena as that's more of a question she would say, katherine opts for humour instead. her voice is warm, stripped of any concern she knows she feels humming beneath her skin. ] You look horrible in yellow. There, I said it.
[ she cracks a smile, but doesn't latch onto grell's own quip. she suspects something's wrong. she doesn't need to depend on her five hundred years of reading people, meeting different sorts of personalities, and simply living to know that. ]
What war? [ the smile is evident in her voice. truthfully, the war is a little downer for even katherine. she feels she's been in one for so long she appreciates the conversations she can have that don't even acknowledge it. ] Name a day and a place, Grell. You know I'll be there.
Marvellous. I'll be sending you another message once I've gotten the ungodly amount of things that await me under control - I don't recommend responsibility, ever.
[ except she does, and although she thinks to offer grell her help with a little quip of how she can carry a semi truck and it feel like a feather in her hands, she doubts that's what grell wants. she also presumes that would be breaking their first rule in "ignore everything club." ]
[ she pauses, and does debate whether or not to even ask. ] Should I be worried about you?
[ that doesn't sound good to katherine. she's been on the other side of it, rummaging through the bathroom of damon and stefan to find the moonstone. but that had been hers to begin with, anyway. she doubted it was the same for grell, having someone go through her underwear drawer searching for their own somewhere in there. ]
You should consider getting a better lock on your door. [ but they've never quite stopped her. she pauses, almost on purpose, and spares a glance to her snoring red varren near the foot of her bed. ] Or an ugly dog. Iliana could frighten even the dead with how unattractive she is.
See, the interesting thing is that I had locks on it all. Pretty solid ones - but the thief got in anyway, took what they wanted, and left me this stuffed bear. Hardly a fair trade.
[ katherine rolls her eyes. of course the red head would like the red varren. ]
Sounds like the beginning of a love story. [ her smile is evident in her voice. her love story with stefan had come to a halt before she had revitalised it with a knife to his chest. it'd been romantic, she thinks, even though she knows it's nothing close to sixteen candles and a boom box. ]
Once I used to get stuffed bears. [ the purposeful pout is evident in her voice. ] Now all I get is backs turned toward me.
[ it's evident in her voice, tone turning saccharine, that she's teasing, ] I'm jealous.
It'll only be a love story if it ends with me getting their heart - literally. Don't be jealous that you're not getting things taken from you by a coward who can't even leave a note - the super shy aren't my type, anyway.
[she says it sweetly, as if there hadn't been the threat of complete violence in there.]
But who knows, one day you might get a bear again, darling ribbon round its neck and all.
[ but they're katherine's, if she's honest. though she loves confidence in a man, the blushing shy ones have always made for decent prey. she feels as though she's been robbed, and grell has been matched with the wrong type of admirer. ]
[ her voice is warm, her smile evident in her tone, ] Are you going to leave me a bear to find one day?
[but she's considering. she can't make a stuffed toy like they have in her world, but with fabric, patience, and time, there might be something she can do, if only to make her smile.]
[ she rolls her eyes with a smile. the surprises katherine's used to receiving are the ones that are brutal, the ones that are meant to knock her down a few pegs. she forgets what it's like to be given a candlelit dinner, or even a stuffed bear. romance had died long, long ago. ]
Did you ever wonder if I can even be surprised anymore? I've been around for a long time.
So have I, but life would find a way. Or are you saying that you wouldn't be surprised to walk into your room and find Ganondorf there wearing naught but a lacy petticoat?
[why that was what came to mind, no one would ever know. Grell's mind is ever an enigma.]
[ katherine laughs, ] Oh, god. That may just be the very thing to kill me.
[ maybe if damon and stefan heard of ganondorf wearing nothing but a lacy petticoat, they'd think to force bonnie into spelling him into mystic falls to do the deed. but it's more amusing, if anything else, to think something so utterly rare could be the very death of her. ]
[ it doesn't go unnoticed by her by how she seems to relax with grell on the other line. ]
But why are you even thinking of Ganondorf wearing such a thing? Grell, you can do better than a man with green skin. Purple seems more your shade.
You say it like you've been matchmaking in your mind, dear.
[at least it's mutual between them. talking to Katherine like this is one of the few moments of the last month she hasn't felt at least somewhat annoyed.]
[delivered before the sun rises is something small in the hands of an imp - it is a stuffed bear, in blue cloth with black button eyes. it's a little lopsided, but carefully stitched, and filled with straw and a few pieces of lavender tucked in. around the neck is a velvet ribbon, in violet.
there is no note, and once the bear is taken, the imp will bow once to Katherine and scurry away.]
( When Yule comes, two packages will be delivered, both festively wrapped; a card taped to the top will show that it's addressed to her, with happy wishes for Yule, signed from Clarke.
The first is a large envelope. Once opened, a collection of papers will be found within; the first will be a intricate rune, and the pages that follow will explain how to use it. Clarke will write that this rune was created for Katherine, and that no one else will know how to use it without Katherine teaching it to them. The rune is intended to worn in whatever way works best for her and works as an impenetrable barrier whenever activated with her blood; she recalls Katherine's original desire to learn from Clarke in order to protect herself, after all. If the envelope is overturned, there will be a necklace with a silver disc on it, the rune burned into the disc; a short note will accompany, simply stating until you find something better; prick your finger and place blood on the rune to activate its power.
The second is a box containing four glass baubles filled with various types of coloured energy and a note accompanying to explain what each one will do; they're Clarke's newly fashioned spell balls. The first is white and described as housing a spell that will bring someone back from the brink of death; the second is a bright blue, explained to be used to freeze its target in place; the third is black for shadow, and said to throw the target into a state of temporary sensory deprivation; the fourth is a deep purple and Clarke explains that it's a shadow companion for whenever Katherine needs help. When the fourth bauble is broken, a large wolf-sized companion will rise from the broken shards and defend her until the spell is broken by whoever opposes her. )
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
manipulative) wrote2015-05-22 12:21 pm
audio; oct 16th
Katerina. A word.
[It's not a request.]
audio; oct 16th
[ of course, when he calls, she doesn't merely ignore him. ]
[ she doesn't really want to answer. he doesn't deserve it, after what he did — after what he does. he's simply yet another man who has let katherine pierce down. how did she end up with the same luck as the girl she had shed five hundred years ago? ]
[ ugh — ] What? [ she sounds just as impatient — and petulant — as the word. ]
[ there, there's your word. ]
audio; oct 16th
[Her tone isn't surprising, after all he'd given her an exclusive sneak peek into her own future and it wasn't pretty. The Cure and her freedom had slipped out of her grasp forever, at least, as far as she knows. Elijah hadn't exactly been in the mood to tell her all the sordid details that happened afterwards, but he's had time to get over both the stabbing and her accusations.]
I thought perhaps you'd like to hear the rest of the story, now that you've had some time.
audio; oct 16th
Only if it has a happy ending.
[ so, no. ]
audio; oct 16th
You send Niklaus a letter.
[Chances are, it isn't her.]
audio; oct 16th
[ but it's a surprise nonetheless, katherine piece writing klaus mikaelson a letter. it's what elena would do, isn't it? except, her doppelgänger would sacrifice herself and see to it she were a corpse before she ever truly penned klaus a letter. there was no time within their respective lives to sit down, let alone for those who attend the school to even begin their homework. ]
[ nothing would stop klaus from pursuing her and exacting his proper revenge. it's as though elijah doesn't even know his brother, let alone her. letters don't get the point across. letters are footprints within the dirt one wants washed away with a flood. katherine pierce had eliminated any trace of herself for a good one hundred years in hopes her faux death would toss klaus from her trail. if it were as simple as penning him a letter, she would've had emily do so back in 1864. ]
I don't exactly have time to write letters, Elijah.
audio; oct 16th
And yet, the letter you wrote was enough to convince Niklaus to leave you alone.
[He has no intention of telling her what was in the letter, knowing she would find a way to use it against them, should Niklaus be recruited into this war.]
audio; oct 16th
[ you owe me a very expensive pair of heels. ]
[ she doubts any of these things would convince klaus to leave her be. she has nothing up her sleeve. all she has is herself — and that's what klaus wants. it'd be easier to believe elijah's lying, but he's always only omitted information, perhaps speaking in circles to make it appear as though he's talking to her when he's simply making noise. klaus has lied, but elijah never has. what would he gain from lying to her about attaining the one thing she's so desperate for? ]
What did it say?
[ she can only assume elijah has read it. but she's not a big enough fool to believe he'll merely tell her due to her voice being softer. like his brother, if he has nothing to gain, his lips are sealed. ]
audio; oct 16th
That a witch in New Orleans was attempting to make a move against him. [In her own words, no less.] She had information that successfully managed to remove Niklaus from your trail.
[No, he isn't saying what.]
You obtained your own freedom, Katerina.
audio; oct 16th
It sounds too good to be true.
[ honestly. had god finally looked down upon her and deemed her worthy of his own kind hand? she highly doubts that; no divinity has ever been on katerina petrova's — or even katherine pierce's — side. there's no one looking out for her but herself. not even elijah — he's informing her of this to regain her trust and her allegiance. she isn't as naive and dumb as elena gilbert, believing the best in people when she has become all too familiar with their vicious side. elijah has never wanted her to have her freedom as it had taken her far, far away from him. ]
[ she doesn't want to think about it at all. her tone is harder, disbelieving, as katherine pierce is not katerina petrova and does not believe in such fanciful and unattainable things. five hundred years of running and she has finally caught what she has been chasing? this particular game will never be over, unlike theirs where she believes he'd thrown in the towel a long, long time ago. ]
How long will this freedom last, Elijah? Five days? Five weeks? Five centuries?
MASS TEXT; backdated to the 1st.
I was hoping I might be able to have a chat with you about a couple of things, at the behest of Higgin, the majordomo of Caer Scima. I'm looking to take note of your current whereabouts and any special abilities you may have or may have been granted by Morla.
I appreciate that this is actually very forward, but you'd be doing me an incredible favour by getting in touch.
Sincerely,
Kieren Walker
MASS TEXT; a million years later, i am so sorry.
Dear Kieren Walker,
Why?
Sincerely,
Katherine Pierce.
it is okay!
no subject
no subject
Driveby action in response to hers
Then he'd spent the rest of the night getting shitfaced from his neverending flask of Scotch, testing its limits and petting the tie, wishing it was wrapped around a certain slender neck so he could squeeze the life out of her again and again.
But, sadly, that wasn't to be, so instead, he fantasized about what he wanted to do to her until the wee hours of the morning, when he took a stake he'd fashioned out of one of the splintered chairs in the room (don't ask) and went looking for her. He didn't find her (more's the pity), but he did get directions to her assigned room. After kicking the door open and seeing that she wasn't home (his life, why must it be fucked?), he settled for impaling the stake through her door before carefully closing it and strolling back to his rooms.
He almost hung the tie off it, but decided that wearing it would maybe piss her off. Or himself. He was muddled and angry and couldn't quite think properly. But hey, he'd left her a present.
...
There may also be a dead imp on her bed. Oops.]
Locket: Video
Locket: Video
Bird thing [ lbr, katherine doesn't remember a chocobo is called a chocobo, so her voice sort of trails off before she picks it up again. ] ... girl. I'm not fetching one of your feathery friends again if that's why you're bothering me.
Locket: Video
[There's a beat.]
My name's Lumina.
Locket: Video
[ she doesn't think to introduce herself. it isn't out of arrogance, believing lumina knows who she is, as it's more in her attempt to get straight to the point. ]
What is it?
Locket: Video
[Still, she doesn't answer right away. Because she isn't really sure she actually wants to do this. Well, no, she knows she doesn't want to, but what other choice does she have?]
Uh. [Her usual amused chipperness is gone. She can't even really fake it right now.]
Remember when you were threatening to kill my chocobo if I didn't show up and get it? Would you have really done that? Without...caring?
Locket: Video
[ to her, it's a strange question, but one that apparently requires an answer she's strangely willing to give. ] The ugly bird thing? [ she doesn't require a response as she remembers. it'd been a strange creature with a snappy temperament, but lumina had treated it like it was a pet, some dog with feathers instead of fur. ]
[ if the chocobo had been a true threat to her, katherine would've snapped its neck without a second thought. easily, she replies, ] Yes. I don't care for ugly birds. [ but she hadn't because lumina had asked her not to. and that's one thing she doesn't want to think about at all. ]
Locket: Video
[Don't knock her ponies, Katherine. But at least a little bit of the spark comes back into her voice, if only for a second.]
But that's not. Uh. Right, anyway.
I uh. Ugh. This is so... ANYWAY! Do you...would you be willing to hunt something else?
Locket: Video
[ but it shouldn't surprise her that it all comes down to a favour. truthfully, she's done nothing to earn lumina's friendship. she supposes, though, the girl who loves ugly birds had seen something inside katherine that most are blind to. ]
[ the irritation seeps from her features as she tilts her head. It depends on what it is. [ there's a very brief pause before she raises her brows. ] And why.
Locket: Video
[She sucks in a breath.]
The Roc, that giant god bird, needs the heart of a kitsune as part of it's cure. I have everything else but-
[But she couldn't actually kill something.]
Locket: Video
[ it just appears as though lumina's intent on remaining as bird girl forever to her. ]
[ she also doesn't acknowledge with a flinch or an arch of her brow the slight softness to person. she knows the mythology behind the kitsune, a magical fox that shapeshifts into women, if the books and old folk that have since died or wandered far from her are to be right. she's killed humans to werewolves to witches to vampires to ]
But the heart of the kitsune. [ she finishes what she seems unable to say due to its implications. ]
[ katherine inhales to only exhale, as if she's tired or perhaps simply resigned herself to assisting already. ] And you thought the angry lady that I apparently am would want to pull it from a kitsune's chest for you for yet another bird you seem to admire so much.
Locket: Video
[She sighs.]
And I don't want you to. But...there isn't any other choice. I looked.
Locket: Video
[ katherine doubts it. ]
[ she sighs. ]
If you protest how I go about it, then the giant god bird that isn't yours can die. [ and she can go back to being so incredibly bored. will she feel guilty over it? that's up for debate. ]
The angry lady's name is Katherine. And I'll want something in return, especially if I get ruin my shoes for this.
Locket: Video
[Was that awful? Probably awful. But now they're talking deals. SHe can do deals.]
...Well, Katherine. What would you want in return?
Locket: Video
[ it probably helps to emphasise that, even though there's a good chance by now lumina knows not to give katherine pierce a bird at all. but she isn't so sure of what she wants. usually, she knows everything about the person she's trying to manipulate, but all she possesses in her hands is that lumina likes birds. ]
[ if she rain checks on that, she doubts it'll matter much. it's not like she needs lumina for anything dire like the girl does her. ]
How about we wait and see? If this kitsune ends up ruining my shoes, I want to make sure what I get in return covers those costs.
voice, 8/16
Katherine, I'm going to ask you a bit of an odd question that you're free to refuse.
[she sounds...not tired, but with a hint of strain in her voice. that's from losing her mind last night over what had happened and then burning through power via spoken spells to try and at least help with some damage while she drew in favours and rewrote out the spellwork she'd originally implemented for the guards to hold the building together. thank god they had four mages and people who'd assist them of their own. some pieces might be salvageable.]
voice, 8/16
[ rather than ask what is it?, tricking herself into sounding like elena as that's more of a question she would say, katherine opts for humour instead. her voice is warm, stripped of any concern she knows she feels humming beneath her skin. ] You look horrible in yellow. There, I said it.
no subject
[she pulls up enough energy to be something close to her usual vibrancy, easily trading words and wit. it's not easy, but it's something.]
I only wanted to ask if at a time in a few days you'd be free - I miss your company. My one condition is that all talk of the war is flatly banned.
no subject
What war? [ the smile is evident in her voice. truthfully, the war is a little downer for even katherine. she feels she's been in one for so long she appreciates the conversations she can have that don't even acknowledge it. ] Name a day and a place, Grell. You know I'll be there.
no subject
no subject
[ except she does, and although she thinks to offer grell her help with a little quip of how she can carry a semi truck and it feel like a feather in her hands, she doubts that's what grell wants. she also presumes that would be breaking their first rule in "ignore everything club." ]
[ she pauses, and does debate whether or not to even ask. ] Should I be worried about you?
no subject
Oh, it's nothing so long as I don't let myself slouch. I've faced worse times before - some of it's just dreadfully boring and retreading old ground.
[...]
Someone's been messing with my things, let's put it that way.
no subject
You should consider getting a better lock on your door. [ but they've never quite stopped her. she pauses, almost on purpose, and spares a glance to her snoring red varren near the foot of her bed. ] Or an ugly dog. Iliana could frighten even the dead with how unattractive she is.
no subject
[for a weird alien dog.]
See, the interesting thing is that I had locks on it all. Pretty solid ones - but the thief got in anyway, took what they wanted, and left me this stuffed bear. Hardly a fair trade.
no subject
Sounds like the beginning of a love story. [ her smile is evident in her voice. her love story with stefan had come to a halt before she had revitalised it with a knife to his chest. it'd been romantic, she thinks, even though she knows it's nothing close to sixteen candles and a boom box. ]
Once I used to get stuffed bears. [ the purposeful pout is evident in her voice. ] Now all I get is backs turned toward me.
[ it's evident in her voice, tone turning saccharine, that she's teasing, ] I'm jealous.
no subject
[she says it sweetly, as if there hadn't been the threat of complete violence in there.]
But who knows, one day you might get a bear again, darling ribbon round its neck and all.
no subject
[ her voice is warm, her smile evident in her tone, ] Are you going to leave me a bear to find one day?
no subject
[but she's considering. she can't make a stuffed toy like they have in her world, but with fabric, patience, and time, there might be something she can do, if only to make her smile.]
no subject
Did you ever wonder if I can even be surprised anymore? I've been around for a long time.
no subject
[why that was what came to mind, no one would ever know. Grell's mind is ever an enigma.]
no subject
[ maybe if damon and stefan heard of ganondorf wearing nothing but a lacy petticoat, they'd think to force bonnie into spelling him into mystic falls to do the deed. but it's more amusing, if anything else, to think something so utterly rare could be the very death of her. ]
[ it doesn't go unnoticed by her by how she seems to relax with grell on the other line. ]
But why are you even thinking of Ganondorf wearing such a thing? Grell, you can do better than a man with green skin. Purple seems more your shade.
no subject
[at least it's mutual between them. talking to Katherine like this is one of the few moments of the last month she hasn't felt at least somewhat annoyed.]
sept. 11th, other.
there is no note, and once the bear is taken, the imp will bow once to Katherine and scurry away.]
Yule Delivery »
The first is a large envelope. Once opened, a collection of papers will be found within; the first will be a intricate rune, and the pages that follow will explain how to use it. Clarke will write that this rune was created for Katherine, and that no one else will know how to use it without Katherine teaching it to them. The rune is intended to worn in whatever way works best for her and works as an impenetrable barrier whenever activated with her blood; she recalls Katherine's original desire to learn from Clarke in order to protect herself, after all. If the envelope is overturned, there will be a necklace with a silver disc on it, the rune burned into the disc; a short note will accompany, simply stating until you find something better; prick your finger and place blood on the rune to activate its power.
The second is a box containing four glass baubles filled with various types of coloured energy and a note accompanying to explain what each one will do; they're Clarke's newly fashioned spell balls. The first is white and described as housing a spell that will bring someone back from the brink of death; the second is a bright blue, explained to be used to freeze its target in place; the third is black for shadow, and said to throw the target into a state of temporary sensory deprivation; the fourth is a deep purple and Clarke explains that it's a shadow companion for whenever Katherine needs help. When the fourth bauble is broken, a large wolf-sized companion will rise from the broken shards and defend her until the spell is broken by whoever opposes her. )