Visiting Lekivian (Mino)

[Fawn]

11th of Glade, 121

Her laughter was light as a hummingbirds wings. "I 'spose it's handy to have a seamstress in the family, then?" She didn't know if that was her profession, but by the way she'd chastised her clothing and Mino's own comment, she could only assume. The girl didn't hesitate to melt into his touch once more. It was Naila's fault, she'd punched and kicked every ounce of resistance out of her the previous day and left her absolutely famished for a kinder affection.

A sound something between a sigh and a moan escaped her lips as he eyes closed, head leaning into his hand. But the sweetness of his hand was quickly matched by the softness of his lips upon her forehead. Her eyes shot open, she froze in that moment as her heart nearly jumped out of her chest. She'd been kissed before. On the lips, on the cheek, hell even where his lips currently were- but not so tenderly. Her cheeks became hot as he left her forehead and said something. She couldn't make it out, whatever it was it was not nearly as important as his lips.

"A-ah! Aye, I donna mind waitin for ye-" She stuttered out, almost stumbling along with him as her feet tried to catch up to her heart.

Fawn plopped down on the chair softly, reluctantly letting go of his hand as he went back to his paperwork. It wasn't her original ideal, but it slowly turned into one. In this way she could follow his movements. Her eyes tracing his form like an artist studying a sculpture. They traced every wrinkle in fabric, every tight pinch around joints, the way his glasses somehow perfectly followed his jawline and only elongated his already regal face. She liked the way a vein in his neck would shift when his head turned, the way his hair would fall and reveal his ears that twitched every so often.

After a few minutes of watching she was smiling, contently, and brought both feet up to the chair while draping her arms across the side. She was small enough to ball herself up in the chair, and yet still comfortably lay her head upon her arms and sit lazily, observing him, and staying quiet. As much as she was desperate to speak with him, she wanted him away from the damn paperwork and walking down the street with her. And that meant patience. Damned, stupid patience. If patience were a person she might have bargained with them.

But at least she was here. At least he was here, in front of her eyes and within reach.

Finally when he was finished, the last of the papers being filed away as necessary, her head perked up and she bounced off the seat in classic Fawn-fashion. "Done?!" She asked, excitement sparkling through her bruised complexion.

"What is it yer preppin' for anyways?"

[Mino]

Being watched was nothing new to Mino.

There had been a time when it was a constant thing. He’d been young — and small, so small — with a habit of slipping away. To where, he couldn’t quite remember but he knew it resulted in his monitoring at times. But this was different. The gaze on him made his skin warm, goosebumps rising over his arms. It only seemed to spur him onto moving faster, attempting to focus. The minutes ticked on, drew closer to the hour until he had filed away the last set of papers. For now, at least. He was sure there would be more work for him.

He stretched, arms lifting up and rising onto the balls of his feet as Fawn hopped out of the chair. She’d been so quiet, but not the same kind of quiet he’d kept her company for before. That couldn’t have been considered a quiet to him. “Yep.” He groaned, blinked as his arms swung down and he rolled his shoulders.

Mino hesitated at her question. It wasn’t a secret that the cotillion happened — it was more if he should tell her. There would need to be an explanation of the nuances of what the event truly was, even if she did get part of it. He blinked, scratched at his neck. “My family is fairly social, and we host a big gathering every year. You could think of it like babysitting a bunch of wealthy children.” Quite a number of said children’s family put a lot into the cotillion. Aside from it being something like a coming of age for them, there was also much to be gained from the attendance.

He wondered, for a short moment, if the prince would be attending this year. His memory was hazy on the royal’s presence in previous years, but he also hadn’t actively been paying attention to the guests then. Just the ones that the Lady had wanted him to smile at in particular.

“That, and all the charitable things my mothers like to put their hands in need to be accounted for.” Those words were surprisingly hard to get out. Mothers — captors; wardens? There were a lot of words for the Ladies were, but he knew that mothers didn’t exactly fit them. Even if they liked to play at it.

But — he wouldn’t be thinking about that now. Now, was ice cream and walk. “Could you check the third drawer? I think I left clothes in there.” The easiest way to get out of doing work, he’d learned, was a simple shift and escape out the window to the far side of the room. The tree by it was close enough that he could hop from ledge to branch and back if need be. But it would always be the issue of clothes that he had to deal with. The city had certain scents that were stronger than others and lingered over his skin even when he shifted. The solution to that: fresh clothes. Which, he should have a new set in his drawers. Somewhere.

[Fawn]

11th of Glade, 121

Even just sitting in his presence made her feel more like herself. Each second that had gone by reminding her of who she was, who she was allowed to be around him. It was a strange mix of the unknown and comfortability as she sorted out the parts of her she knew over the parts she didn't wish to know. Like the pain, the underlying fear of being so close to a closed window. But Minos steady breathing and the sound of his clothes shifting quieted her thoughts over the hour, and by the time he was done had forgotten all about the window, and of her fear.

"A gathering?" She asked, curiosity sudden piqued. "Like a party?" Fawn had never been to a party- certainly not the type Mino was accustomed to. Her own town gatherings had mainly been about resources, or when there had been an actual party it was simply to celebrate the day of someone's birth- though she'd missed hers this year during her travel to Kalzasi.

"Ye wouldn'a be inclined to let me crash it, would ye?" She teased, bushing off her dress from the wrinkles that had set in. "Or I could bring a cake, give yer family a real run for their money with my 'hick bakin'." Fawn grinned, mimicking Mino's stretching with popping joints and a sigh. Truly, she had no idea the scale of the cotillion about to be held, as her own town held less than 50 people at any given time, but perhaps this was one of those cases where ignorance played a part in her charm.

Fawn nodded, raising a brow as she turned from him to rifle through the drawer he spoke of. "Aye, sure." She found the set he was speaking of rather quickly, the soft fabric comforting her fingers as she pulled it from below a few stacks of papers and pens. "Aha! Found em-" When she turned around he was gone, and in his place a heap of clothes sitting on the floor. The window had been opened as well, leaving her just a glimpse of his form as he bounded across the estate and out past it's walls. Blinking, she scoffed with a smirk before reaching into her bag, placing the clothes at the bottom of it and pulling out a small brown box no bigger than her palm. Made of a light wood, and with a small tag reading 'Mino' on top, she placed the item in the third drawer to replace the clothing.

With a flush to her cheeks, she closed the drawer and made her way out of the room. Her curls once more bouncing atop her shoulders.

"Leaving so soon, Miss Brisbane?" The hostess asked, pulling a nod from the girl.

"Aye, thank ye fer havin' me." She bowed, grin plastered on her face as she took part in the farce he was concocting, and made her way out of the estate.

When she finally passed the gate and it closed behind her she sighed with a relieved smile. She'd done it- gone down a set of stairs without fear for the first time since that day. And she had Mino to thank for that, as when she passed down the stairs just moments ago the only thoughts in her mind had been of him. With a final satisfied smile, she turned and rushed down the wall to meet him.

[Mino]

Realistically, Mino could have walked out the door with Fawn. It was perhaps something someone in a different situation might have done, but they certainly weren’t Mino. They certainly weren’t watched for signs of dissent with his current situation. And they hadn’t had a hot bit of metal poked into their flesh at the start of the season. It was a lump on his chest, hidden just barely by fur. Easily mistaken for a boil to someone with untrained eyes. He huffed as he went down from one branch to the next, careful of the branches that didn’t appear to be able to hold his weight.

The ground was still softening from the cold and snow of the last season, but was comfortable beneath his paws as he landed in the garden. He knew the route out to the gates like the back of his hand. Er, paw. His previous endeavors of sneaking out had gone much the same way. Tail swishing and ears flicking, he looked back to the open window for signs that someone might have gone in to look for him. Mino stared up at the wall for a moment, bottom wiggling as he got himself into position.

Pushing off from the ground, he let his claws rake over the brick of the wall. They dug in for a short second before he pushed off again, propelling himself higher up the wall. The initial jump had already taken him up a great height already, and there wasn’t much more wall to scale. Once he reached the ledge, he hopped down, bracing for the landing. The alleys connected to his home were easy to navigate when he had been through them so many times.

The caracal followed the scent of lavender and grass until there was Fawn, waiting for him. His ears flicked as he slowed to a trot, rubbed up against her leg before nudging her in the direction of another alley so he could get his clothes.

He licked his lips, tail held a little higher as he walked ahead of her.

One couldn’t be sure if it was the ice cream or the walk that had him excited.

[Paragon]

R E W A R D S

Fawn
XP: 8. Cannot be used for magic.
Requested Lore:
Socialization: Leaving Notes
Socialization: Telling Just Enough of the Truth
Socialization: Wear Finer Clothes to appease High Society
Socialization: Leaving Gifts For Someone to Find
Socialization: Not Responding to Bullying
Knowledge: Lekivian Estate
Knowledge: Violet Lekivian
Knolwedge: Iris Lekivian
Knowledge: Heather Lekivian

Mino
XP: 8. Cannot be used for magic.
Requested Lore:

Acrobatics: From ledge to branch
Acrobatics: Jumping down from a high wall
Climbing: Using a jump to propel you higher up a wall
Climbing: Scaling a high wall
Finance: Creating a budget
Finance: Managing budgets
Investigation: A real smile versus a faked one
Mathematics: Reading numbers
Negotiation: Remaining firm in your stance on something
Negotiation: Reminding the other party of where you stand on a matter
Tactics: A good escape route
Seduction: Could be a useful tool for negotiation