I have hiked the Wild Animal Park...
Dec. 26th, 2004 03:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lavandarlizard2...I am dead...
But not without compensation for y'all.
BFB - 083c - Strange Days I
We crowded into the woman’s living room like a herd of buffalo. She didn’t seem to be surprised, though.
Somewhere along the way, we managed to acquire the rest of the Magical Investigations Office, except for Q. He is currently in discussions with the mayor of a rather large city over the lack of attention paid by that city to complaints from its Magical residents. If we had to disturb him, we would, but not until every other avenue had been explored.
For some reason, Humans get quite agitated when they feel they are being ‘disrespected’ by Magical Creatures. The reasoning behind that feeling escapes me, but whether or not to call Q out of his meetings is not my decision to make, so I do not dwell on it.
Usually.
Tonight, though, I really wished the Master Wizard were here. Maybe he couldn’t just pluck Duo from the otherspace, but he could certainly calm the two hysterical Dragons. Tiffany was doing her best with Heero, and I had a death grip on Wufei, but it just wasn’t the same.
“Of course, I know Duo’s a Banshee,” Ms Werner was saying. “He mentioned it probably the second time he was in the shop. I’ve never met a Banshee before so I was curious. We talked about it, about how he wanted to learn to knit because that’s what his mother did. He mentioned not wanting to… well, to spread that around, so I’ve never mentioned it to anyone else. Just kind of forgot about it, you know?”
We all nodded automatically. Some Magical Creatures can ‘pass’ as Human, and do, simply for the convenience of anonymity in that society. Most Humans are okay, but there are some…
“They started hanging out together a few months ago, just before Christmas. Now, I have nothing personally against the girl; she’s had a hard time of it, but still she’s more than a little odd. Always talking bad about her mother and her sister – they took off together a couple of years ago – and sort of scuttling around hiding in shadows the way she does. She’s never turned up with bruises or anything like that, but I have wondered if her dad might... well, hit her sometimes, you know?
“I’ve tried to talk to her a couple of times, about how things are between them, but she always says ‘fine’ as if that makes any difference.” She snorted, waving her hand in the air. “He’s a quiet one too. Not surprising the mother left. But there’s nothing wrong with quiet, you know?”
Heads bobbed appropriately. The woman could certainly carry a conversation. Estaban had gone rather glassy-eyed. Tiffany watched the woman with a concentration just short of glaring. Heero was under such tight control, he was bordering on catatonic. The woman had information. She would impart it at her own speed, and in her own way. Nothing he could say or do would hurry her along, and if he tried, she would just stop talking to us.
“But anyway, you don’t want to hear about that.” She sipped at her coffee. “Now, I don’t claim any kind of ‘powers’, you know, but that girl just worries me. Duo is a sweetheart, and men in general just don’t understand women, but women can be sweet as pie on the surface and meaner than a rabid wolverine underneath. Julie never said or did anything I could point to and say, ‘there; that’s what bothers me’ but it just worried me to see Duo with her. But you can’t tell a man anything about women. Even a Banshee man,” she said darkly.
She went on in that vein for a bit longer, but there was nothing in it that we could grab hold of and use. As we were leaving though, she added, “If you want to find Duo, you better find her.”
Heero growled his agreement.
Ten minutes later we were trying futilely to interest the Human authorities in Duo’s disappearance. The deputy was sympathetic, but adamant. Without evidence of foul play, they could not get involved for 48 hours. Duo was an adult, and therefore perfectly capable of disappearing whenever he chose.
Predictably, Wufei was screaming his head off; in Chinese, fortunately, or he’d probably have been arrested for the language he used. Heero was uncommonly quiet, though, and that worried me. Tiffany was concerned as well.
When he stalked out of the building, we ran after him.
“Heero!” cried the Witch. “What are you going to do?”
“Find him,” he snarled. “I don’t need their help!”
“Heero, wait,” I said, trying to soothe him. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. This time he stopped and glared at me. “We don’t need to get them involved; we’ll just spread the word among the Magical community. Someone is likely to have seen her or him.”
He looked at me and blinked slowly. That alone would have told me how tightly wound he was. “All right,” he rumbled.
It was after 0100; it would be hard to find people at this hour, but we began contacting those we could find.
A Faerie had seen Duo that afternoon petting a dog and chatting with the dog’s owner.
A Wizard had spoken to Duo around the same time.
The manager of a convenience store remembered seeing the two of them together. She bought sodas while Duo waited in a yellow Toyota.
Beyond that, nothing.
Jake was bouncing back and forth like a damn tennis ball between us and the address on Nokaki, but there was no sign of anyone at home or of an old yellow Toyota.
Heero was to the point of calling Teal, something he was loathe to do since it would be as much as admitting that he had failed to protect the Banshee as he had promised Teal he would.
It was hardly Heero’s fault, but as I said, Dragons are serious about their possessions.
And then, the mix changed.
A whiff of sulfur and a wavering of the air announced the arrival of a demon. A moment later, Zephyrus materialized.
Wufei let out a roar that should have been impossible for someone his size. He threw himself at the demon before he’d much more than solidified. Before anyone else could even move, Heero had him by the collar and face-down on the ground, a knee in his back.
The Wyvern glared up at the demon. “What are you doing here?” he snarled.
Zephyrus blinked and quirked an elegant eyebrow upward. “I heard that you are looking for Duo,” he said smoothly. “I came to help.”
I will forever be awed by Heero’s control. He could have, and wanted to, tell the kaze exactly what to do with his offer of help, but he didn’t. Instead he swallowed whatever enmity he felt toward the careless demon, and said roughly, “Thank you. We can use all the help we can get.”
Wufei made some incomprehensible noises, thrashing wildly in Heero’s grip, and Heero shook him like a rag. “Shut up! If he can help, he’s welcome! Just stop it!”
Zephyrus drifted lazily my direction. I won’t fall for his blandishments any longer, but I don’t have the same feeling toward him that Wufei has. Wufei is insulted, indignant and angry enough on my behalf; why should I be? Besides, it was not all Zephyrus’ fault, what happened between us. He was just being what he is; my fault for not recognizing it.
“Hello, Trowa,” he purred. Didn’t mean anything; Zephyrus always sounds like he’s initiating a seduction; I suppose because he usually is. “What’s happened? Why is every Magical Creature in the county asking about Duo?”
So, I told him what we knew.
By the time I finished, Zephyrus was as agitated as the rest of us. “Duo wouldn’t just take off,” he muttered.
“No duh, you stupid…” Wufei’s comment was cut off by a glare from Heero.
“Something is very wrong,” Heero said tightly. “I want him back, or I want someone’s fucking heart! Preferably both!” he snarled, and his eyes were just… not Heero at all.
I blinked and stepped back a pace, in case Heero did something… hostile. I’ve never seen that light in his eyes before; it did not bode well for anyone standing between him and his Chosen.
Zephyrus made a kind of full-body shivering motion, like a cat settling its skin more properly into place, and then said, “I will ask of the demon realm.” He paused rather uncomfortably. “There are others there who know Duo, though he doesn’t know them.”
Heero glared, and I thought for a moment that Zeph would melt into a puddle right there. But my friend said only, “Thank you, Zephyrus. I appreciate your help.”
Zephyrus nodded and faded away.
The rest of the night and half the morning passed with no word of Duo. Heero… Well, Heero was not doing very well by that time. His vocabulary had been reduced to snarls and rumbles, and he was testier than Wufei on a bad day. We’d done everything we could; Tiffany and Moira had both cast every spell or charm they knew to try to locate what was missing or lost, but none of it told us anything. Now we were just waiting for information to come to us.
And then, just before noon, Zephyrus appeared again. He displayed none of his usual arch sophistication. He strode into the Castle like a cavalier, cloak swirling, the long feather in his hat bouncing energetically, tail switching purposefully. Everyone who encountered him stopped to stare. We don’t, as a rule, get demons inside the Castle; the wards severely limit their powers and they hate to be at such a disadvantage.
He planted himself in front of Heero, speaking as if only to the Wyvern.
“A demon in South Dakota saw the car. About three hours ago, on highway 212, east bound.”
...tbc...
But not without compensation for y'all.
BFB - 083c - Strange Days I
We crowded into the woman’s living room like a herd of buffalo. She didn’t seem to be surprised, though.
Somewhere along the way, we managed to acquire the rest of the Magical Investigations Office, except for Q. He is currently in discussions with the mayor of a rather large city over the lack of attention paid by that city to complaints from its Magical residents. If we had to disturb him, we would, but not until every other avenue had been explored.
For some reason, Humans get quite agitated when they feel they are being ‘disrespected’ by Magical Creatures. The reasoning behind that feeling escapes me, but whether or not to call Q out of his meetings is not my decision to make, so I do not dwell on it.
Usually.
Tonight, though, I really wished the Master Wizard were here. Maybe he couldn’t just pluck Duo from the otherspace, but he could certainly calm the two hysterical Dragons. Tiffany was doing her best with Heero, and I had a death grip on Wufei, but it just wasn’t the same.
“Of course, I know Duo’s a Banshee,” Ms Werner was saying. “He mentioned it probably the second time he was in the shop. I’ve never met a Banshee before so I was curious. We talked about it, about how he wanted to learn to knit because that’s what his mother did. He mentioned not wanting to… well, to spread that around, so I’ve never mentioned it to anyone else. Just kind of forgot about it, you know?”
We all nodded automatically. Some Magical Creatures can ‘pass’ as Human, and do, simply for the convenience of anonymity in that society. Most Humans are okay, but there are some…
“They started hanging out together a few months ago, just before Christmas. Now, I have nothing personally against the girl; she’s had a hard time of it, but still she’s more than a little odd. Always talking bad about her mother and her sister – they took off together a couple of years ago – and sort of scuttling around hiding in shadows the way she does. She’s never turned up with bruises or anything like that, but I have wondered if her dad might... well, hit her sometimes, you know?
“I’ve tried to talk to her a couple of times, about how things are between them, but she always says ‘fine’ as if that makes any difference.” She snorted, waving her hand in the air. “He’s a quiet one too. Not surprising the mother left. But there’s nothing wrong with quiet, you know?”
Heads bobbed appropriately. The woman could certainly carry a conversation. Estaban had gone rather glassy-eyed. Tiffany watched the woman with a concentration just short of glaring. Heero was under such tight control, he was bordering on catatonic. The woman had information. She would impart it at her own speed, and in her own way. Nothing he could say or do would hurry her along, and if he tried, she would just stop talking to us.
“But anyway, you don’t want to hear about that.” She sipped at her coffee. “Now, I don’t claim any kind of ‘powers’, you know, but that girl just worries me. Duo is a sweetheart, and men in general just don’t understand women, but women can be sweet as pie on the surface and meaner than a rabid wolverine underneath. Julie never said or did anything I could point to and say, ‘there; that’s what bothers me’ but it just worried me to see Duo with her. But you can’t tell a man anything about women. Even a Banshee man,” she said darkly.
She went on in that vein for a bit longer, but there was nothing in it that we could grab hold of and use. As we were leaving though, she added, “If you want to find Duo, you better find her.”
Heero growled his agreement.
Ten minutes later we were trying futilely to interest the Human authorities in Duo’s disappearance. The deputy was sympathetic, but adamant. Without evidence of foul play, they could not get involved for 48 hours. Duo was an adult, and therefore perfectly capable of disappearing whenever he chose.
Predictably, Wufei was screaming his head off; in Chinese, fortunately, or he’d probably have been arrested for the language he used. Heero was uncommonly quiet, though, and that worried me. Tiffany was concerned as well.
When he stalked out of the building, we ran after him.
“Heero!” cried the Witch. “What are you going to do?”
“Find him,” he snarled. “I don’t need their help!”
“Heero, wait,” I said, trying to soothe him. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. This time he stopped and glared at me. “We don’t need to get them involved; we’ll just spread the word among the Magical community. Someone is likely to have seen her or him.”
He looked at me and blinked slowly. That alone would have told me how tightly wound he was. “All right,” he rumbled.
It was after 0100; it would be hard to find people at this hour, but we began contacting those we could find.
A Faerie had seen Duo that afternoon petting a dog and chatting with the dog’s owner.
A Wizard had spoken to Duo around the same time.
The manager of a convenience store remembered seeing the two of them together. She bought sodas while Duo waited in a yellow Toyota.
Beyond that, nothing.
Jake was bouncing back and forth like a damn tennis ball between us and the address on Nokaki, but there was no sign of anyone at home or of an old yellow Toyota.
Heero was to the point of calling Teal, something he was loathe to do since it would be as much as admitting that he had failed to protect the Banshee as he had promised Teal he would.
It was hardly Heero’s fault, but as I said, Dragons are serious about their possessions.
And then, the mix changed.
A whiff of sulfur and a wavering of the air announced the arrival of a demon. A moment later, Zephyrus materialized.
Wufei let out a roar that should have been impossible for someone his size. He threw himself at the demon before he’d much more than solidified. Before anyone else could even move, Heero had him by the collar and face-down on the ground, a knee in his back.
The Wyvern glared up at the demon. “What are you doing here?” he snarled.
Zephyrus blinked and quirked an elegant eyebrow upward. “I heard that you are looking for Duo,” he said smoothly. “I came to help.”
I will forever be awed by Heero’s control. He could have, and wanted to, tell the kaze exactly what to do with his offer of help, but he didn’t. Instead he swallowed whatever enmity he felt toward the careless demon, and said roughly, “Thank you. We can use all the help we can get.”
Wufei made some incomprehensible noises, thrashing wildly in Heero’s grip, and Heero shook him like a rag. “Shut up! If he can help, he’s welcome! Just stop it!”
Zephyrus drifted lazily my direction. I won’t fall for his blandishments any longer, but I don’t have the same feeling toward him that Wufei has. Wufei is insulted, indignant and angry enough on my behalf; why should I be? Besides, it was not all Zephyrus’ fault, what happened between us. He was just being what he is; my fault for not recognizing it.
“Hello, Trowa,” he purred. Didn’t mean anything; Zephyrus always sounds like he’s initiating a seduction; I suppose because he usually is. “What’s happened? Why is every Magical Creature in the county asking about Duo?”
So, I told him what we knew.
By the time I finished, Zephyrus was as agitated as the rest of us. “Duo wouldn’t just take off,” he muttered.
“No duh, you stupid…” Wufei’s comment was cut off by a glare from Heero.
“Something is very wrong,” Heero said tightly. “I want him back, or I want someone’s fucking heart! Preferably both!” he snarled, and his eyes were just… not Heero at all.
I blinked and stepped back a pace, in case Heero did something… hostile. I’ve never seen that light in his eyes before; it did not bode well for anyone standing between him and his Chosen.
Zephyrus made a kind of full-body shivering motion, like a cat settling its skin more properly into place, and then said, “I will ask of the demon realm.” He paused rather uncomfortably. “There are others there who know Duo, though he doesn’t know them.”
Heero glared, and I thought for a moment that Zeph would melt into a puddle right there. But my friend said only, “Thank you, Zephyrus. I appreciate your help.”
Zephyrus nodded and faded away.
The rest of the night and half the morning passed with no word of Duo. Heero… Well, Heero was not doing very well by that time. His vocabulary had been reduced to snarls and rumbles, and he was testier than Wufei on a bad day. We’d done everything we could; Tiffany and Moira had both cast every spell or charm they knew to try to locate what was missing or lost, but none of it told us anything. Now we were just waiting for information to come to us.
And then, just before noon, Zephyrus appeared again. He displayed none of his usual arch sophistication. He strode into the Castle like a cavalier, cloak swirling, the long feather in his hat bouncing energetically, tail switching purposefully. Everyone who encountered him stopped to stare. We don’t, as a rule, get demons inside the Castle; the wards severely limit their powers and they hate to be at such a disadvantage.
He planted himself in front of Heero, speaking as if only to the Wyvern.
“A demon in South Dakota saw the car. About three hours ago, on highway 212, east bound.”
...tbc...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-12-26 04:04 pm (UTC)I will start running around in circles and banging my head on hard surfaces if I don´t get the last part before I have to go home again *flails*
*plys you with chocolate and all kinds of good stuff*
*massages you*
You aren´t dead. really, you are not! Believe me!
no subject
Date: 2004-12-26 04:23 pm (UTC)Wow, even good old Zephy made an appearance, eh?? I would love to know which demons know Duo, is one of them his Dad?
Augh! Write more soon please!!!!
P.S. Have I mentioned that I love you? And have you lost weight, because you look fantastic!! And wow I think you do a fabulous job and your talent for writing is overshadowed only by your sparkling beautiful personality?? *nodnod*
no subject
Date: 2004-12-26 08:27 pm (UTC)You're not going to wax my truck, are you? Because that would just be scary...
no subject
Date: 2004-12-27 12:09 am (UTC)*considers*
But his Dad is Death who, at last to me, isn´t a Demon. .... nyah, think we can catch the lizard and make her write more? *gets out the big guns*
<- fell from the chair due to hard laughing
Jeezus, I´ve got to take lessons from you how one 'kisses up' [sorry, can´t think of another term that would translate what I mean more closly]
no subject
Date: 2004-12-26 08:25 pm (UTC)When are you leaving? This thing is long...
no subject
Date: 2004-12-27 12:05 am (UTC)Well, yes, ok, you could really use a shower, but hey, you are an artist, you are allowed to have some, hmm, let´s call it 'personality quirks'.
So, a question that the other commenter brought on, too.
"There are others there who know Duo, though he doesn’t know them.”
WHO? And why the *beep* didn´t they Banshee-sit the damn Banshee´s ass? *fumes*
I leave in approximal ... 24 hours -.-
And the net-café won´t open again till Jan 5 *sighs*
Woe to the person without internet access at home. Woe is me ..... *snorts*
no subject
Date: 2004-12-26 05:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-26 08:24 pm (UTC)um... nope...?
no subject
Date: 2004-12-26 06:09 pm (UTC)*chews nails*
*puts chocolate on shrine along with everybody else*
Now go write more...
no subject
Date: 2004-12-26 08:23 pm (UTC)More?! You want more?!
...tomorrow...
*is that a rope behind your back?*
no subject
Date: 2004-12-27 06:13 am (UTC)*cough*
I live with hamsters, m'dear; I know you get farther with bribes and gifts than threats. ^___^
no subject
Date: 2004-12-27 11:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-26 09:38 pm (UTC)*looks at the shrine*
*places Starbucks gift card on the shrine*
*gives puppy eyes*
More, soon? Please?
no subject
Date: 2004-12-27 11:08 am (UTC)