08-23-2018, 03:12 PM
Raffe had been watching the man that night, the first he had been allowed down from the rooms upstairs to mingle amongst the patrons. His cheeks were clean-shaven, his shock of dark hair neat. The press of his crisp clothes hung odd, like his body did not know how to relax beneath them, or they felt uncomfortable against his skin. The burnished eyes drew attention as much as they created an arc of silence around him. As far as Raffe could tell he spoke to no one, just wandered like a lost puppy, bright eyes drinking in the pomp and splendour of Kallisiti until he finally found a quieter corner to absorb it all from.
It wasn't exactly the first time Oriena had welcomed the city's waifs and strays into the heart of her kingdom, but he was certainly the oddest in the collection.
The evening rolled along fine, until one of the patrons put his hands where they weren't wanted. Lilya was professional; her grip efficiently pinched his hand off, eyes narrowed. Presently she would inform Carmen, who would take care of the rest, but Kasun clearly sensed something beneath the current. And he snapped like she'd screamed against a predator.
The rush of his bare feet padded against the floor as he launched himself at the man, and chaos erupted.
Raffe had always been something of a mediator in the orphanage, so he didn't even think before he vaulted forward, leaving the gape-mouthed customer he had been serving with a half finished drink. Ice and mixer spilled against the bar.
The man's muscles were like corded wire as Raffe tried to wrench him off amidst a shower of blood.
"Get everyone out." The snap of Carmen's orders knifed the pandemonium. Raffe managed to grapple the man back into the changing room before his grip slipped. Kasun's lips bared over bloody teeth, a growl low in his throat as he spun, gold eyes utterly mad. And he was fast. Nails raked Raffe's chest before the flash of those teeth dived low.
Something burst in his chest, like a storm suddenly raged uncontrolled.
And Kasun flung back, the twin orbs of his golden eyes winking abruptly out.
Raffe's hand shook at his throat, hot blood gushing through his fingers as he staggered back into the rails of costumes lining the wall. The pain didn't even touch him yet, eyes wide as Carmen's face swam into view above. Feathers and silk brushed his skin as he collapsed, the wire of hangers digging awkwardly as he crashed through.
"Shit shit shit." Carmen's hands slipped frantically, her face frozen with panic. Stoical Carmen. He'd never seen her so unravelled, and it pressed a stupid grin to his lips. But when he tried to speak, bubbles of iron burst against tongue instead of sound. She pushed his hands down hard. "For fuck's sake hold the pressure, Raffe!"
Carmen's voice became watery. The whole world blurred like he'd chucked a fist full of pills down his throat, and now he floated merrily away from everything. Even the pain drifted away, the panic, the realisation that time seeped out from the wound on his neck, that anything at all had existed before this loose collections of seconds.
She was arguing, a fierce flash of red in his peripheral as she paced. Then the pressure tightened, her grip pressing down where his had relaxed. "Don't you even fucking think of dying, do you hear me Rafael?"
He grinned up, but made no promises.
And when she spoke again it was not to him. Which was just as well because he did not hear her. As her red silhouette retreated another took her place in the swarming shadows of his vision.
It looked like a child.
Gaunt-cheeked, eyes like night. Her hair was a short curly crown, a constellation of freckles spotted across her nose. She did not smile, and though Raffe floated, something in her expression tugged at his compassion. Like a little sparrow in a cage. Trapped.
God, she couldn't be more than twelve.
Sudden cool shivered Raffe's skin beneath that solemn gaze, before she looked up at a looming shadow by her side. Dread filled his chest, a burst violent enough his limbs abruptly strained to scoot away from it. If he'd had the strength for that. As it was, he only gurgled a note of horror as the shadow nodded and she obediently knelt at his side, her dirty palms pressed over his hands.
Her touch plunged icy shards straight into his heart, and he screamed.
[[Note: This thread is closed. It's set in the past and runs concurrently with "Not Terrible"]]
It wasn't exactly the first time Oriena had welcomed the city's waifs and strays into the heart of her kingdom, but he was certainly the oddest in the collection.
The evening rolled along fine, until one of the patrons put his hands where they weren't wanted. Lilya was professional; her grip efficiently pinched his hand off, eyes narrowed. Presently she would inform Carmen, who would take care of the rest, but Kasun clearly sensed something beneath the current. And he snapped like she'd screamed against a predator.
The rush of his bare feet padded against the floor as he launched himself at the man, and chaos erupted.
Raffe had always been something of a mediator in the orphanage, so he didn't even think before he vaulted forward, leaving the gape-mouthed customer he had been serving with a half finished drink. Ice and mixer spilled against the bar.
The man's muscles were like corded wire as Raffe tried to wrench him off amidst a shower of blood.
"Get everyone out." The snap of Carmen's orders knifed the pandemonium. Raffe managed to grapple the man back into the changing room before his grip slipped. Kasun's lips bared over bloody teeth, a growl low in his throat as he spun, gold eyes utterly mad. And he was fast. Nails raked Raffe's chest before the flash of those teeth dived low.
Something burst in his chest, like a storm suddenly raged uncontrolled.
And Kasun flung back, the twin orbs of his golden eyes winking abruptly out.
Raffe's hand shook at his throat, hot blood gushing through his fingers as he staggered back into the rails of costumes lining the wall. The pain didn't even touch him yet, eyes wide as Carmen's face swam into view above. Feathers and silk brushed his skin as he collapsed, the wire of hangers digging awkwardly as he crashed through.
"Shit shit shit." Carmen's hands slipped frantically, her face frozen with panic. Stoical Carmen. He'd never seen her so unravelled, and it pressed a stupid grin to his lips. But when he tried to speak, bubbles of iron burst against tongue instead of sound. She pushed his hands down hard. "For fuck's sake hold the pressure, Raffe!"
Carmen's voice became watery. The whole world blurred like he'd chucked a fist full of pills down his throat, and now he floated merrily away from everything. Even the pain drifted away, the panic, the realisation that time seeped out from the wound on his neck, that anything at all had existed before this loose collections of seconds.
She was arguing, a fierce flash of red in his peripheral as she paced. Then the pressure tightened, her grip pressing down where his had relaxed. "Don't you even fucking think of dying, do you hear me Rafael?"
He grinned up, but made no promises.
And when she spoke again it was not to him. Which was just as well because he did not hear her. As her red silhouette retreated another took her place in the swarming shadows of his vision.
It looked like a child.
Gaunt-cheeked, eyes like night. Her hair was a short curly crown, a constellation of freckles spotted across her nose. She did not smile, and though Raffe floated, something in her expression tugged at his compassion. Like a little sparrow in a cage. Trapped.
God, she couldn't be more than twelve.
Sudden cool shivered Raffe's skin beneath that solemn gaze, before she looked up at a looming shadow by her side. Dread filled his chest, a burst violent enough his limbs abruptly strained to scoot away from it. If he'd had the strength for that. As it was, he only gurgled a note of horror as the shadow nodded and she obediently knelt at his side, her dirty palms pressed over his hands.
Her touch plunged icy shards straight into his heart, and he screamed.
[[Note: This thread is closed. It's set in the past and runs concurrently with "Not Terrible"]]