It was Saturday, and Keira had off that day. As such, she currently found herself wandering through an older part of the woods on the south end of River Lake, the trees shiedling her for the most part from not only the sun, but prying eyes as well. A few ghosts floated by, and she greeted them in passing. They were surprisingly new spirits, and still retained the memories from when they had been alive, however; none of them seemed overly interested in drowning her with their troubles, and Keira was quite content to leave it at that.
Nari and Kami bounded after her, occasionally dashing ahead, playing with leaves, or each other, the young foxes rather happy to be outside. It brought something of a ghost of a smile to her face. She had no idea why the cubs seemed so attached to her, but they never left her side. In a way, they were her family.
Kami suddenly pricked her ears up, and gave a small yip, dashing off through the bushes. Frowning, Keira followed her, to make sure the kit stayed out of trouble, although; trouble seemed to have found them. Or perhaps just Keira, as she found herself face to face with none other than Virgil Solomon. Keira blinked once, the smile that had been on her face gone, replaced by the calm mask of neutrality she wore around others.
"Mr. Solomon." She said briskly.
Honestly, after the fiftieth unauthorized realm transfer spat something nasty out practically on our front doorstep, things got a little annoying. Virgil was, of course, a very patient being, but most of the attempts were made by low-grade spirits and the occasional demon. One time, there had been a lesser kami. Heād quite enjoyed putting fear into a god. Or rather, watching Ephraim do it. While Virgil was fully capable of intimidating even the higher-order gods, his disdain for them was great enough that he would rather the Hound handle it. The only extra-worldly creature he was concerned with anymore was Benihime, and when he found her, that bitch was going to die.
This particular section of the dark forest surrounding River Lake was home to one of the townās Hollow Points, those special zones where the veil between realms was thin. This particular rift led to and from the realm of the dead, Shino. As such, there were various spirits floating about from time to time, but most of them gave him a wide berth. As well they shouldākitsune were one of the few creatures just as dangerous to the dead as they were to the living, should they choose to be. Virgil did not, on most occasions, and chose to reserve the burn of his foxfire for things other than twisted amusement. Thoughā¦ he really did get bored sometimes. Even so, most of the ghosts here were not malignant, and unlike Ephraim, it was decidedly not his job to put things back where they belonged. He couldnāt operate a Gate even if heād wanted to.
So instead, he laid sprawled in the meadow, the dark bark of the trees like columns, supporting the canopy of rich, emerald green leaves. The sun occasionally peeked through it, stippling the grass and Virgil himself in dappled light. His loose hair fanned about his person like a silvery cloud, bereft of no luster for lack of light, but for once, he was not particularly attempting to exude any allure. There was nobody here, after all, and while certain aspects of his appetitive drives were rather insatiable, one might say, he was a being capable of quite some degree of control. A fog-colored butterfly passed him by, landing for a curious moment on his nose, and he smiled, exhaling a gentle puff of air to bid it on its way. āFlattering,ā he murmured as it took off, ābut misguided. I am no flower.ā
His keen ears picked up on a yipping noise, and he placed it immediately as belonging to Kami, the female fox so often in the mediumās company. The associated scent was enough to confirm that she was, indeed, headed this way. āI can never decide if the gods love me or hate me,ā he said to the fox as she curled up on his chest. āI do hope itās bothābut they shouldnāt make it so easy.ā He fell silent, however, until the woman herself appeared, adopting that cool, crisp demeanor of hers. It was amusing, how much she managed to hide with it. Too bad there was no hiding from an empath.
āMiss Mizuki,ā he replied, though his tone was anything but cool. If she was an autumn leaf with a hint of frost at the edges, he wasā¦ oh right. He was what heād always been. Sex and death. Cunning and sensuality. A fox, in the truest sense. He turned his head faintly to meet her eyes, though he had yet to sit up. He didnāt feel the need. āYour friends are delightful, I must say.ā
As if in response, Nari, too, went running up to the blonde man, and Keira simply silently watched them for a few seconds, before replying, "They certainly like you well enough, it would seem."
She wondered what he was doing out here, contemplating asking for a second, however, she held her tongue. It wasn't like it was any of her business, anyhow. A subtle tremor ran through her, when their eyes met. A part of her senses always seemed to be screaming at her to run whenever she came too close to Virgil or Ephraim, but in Virgil's case, another part of her seemed to be almost...drawn to him, like a magnet. It annoyed her as much as it confused her.
"You are here alone?" She blinked after she said it. What an absurd question.
āMm, donāt blame them too much. It is my nature to be loved or fearedā¦ or both.ā His eyes narrowed slightly, the nature of the aquamarine gaze shifting until there was a faint hint of danger in it, but not too much of course. Most people managed to convince themselves that they were imagining things. His index finger curled under Kamiās chin, and he scratched her there with an amused half-smile on his face, diverting his eyes from Keira long enough to do so, but returning them as soon as sheād asked the question. A perfectly-arched brow ascended his forehead, and he stood smoothly, repositioning Nari over his shoulder and cradling Kami in one bent arm.
He drifted a few steps closer, stopping just barely inside of what he took to be her personal space, which was admittedly quite a lot more than most people reserved. āItās just me, you, and our mutual friends,ā he said languidly, referring of course to the foxes--or was it more than that? āBut I do wonder, Miss Mizuki, what could possibly have possessed you to ask a question like thatā¦ā His smirk was wicked, but his eye were light with amusement.
Keira did not think that she imagined seeing danger in his eyes. She knew she'd seen it. Every nerve ending in her body screamed danger whenever she looked at the man before her. He was dangerous, she just could not figure out in what ways. Perhaps in every way. She shuddered involuntarily. It was worse with Ephraim, it had always been worse with the dark-haired man, but Virgil still affected her, too. Keira could simply not understand it.
But then, she did not need to. Her arms had been hanging by her sides, but the minute Virgil stepped closer to her, she crossed them in front of her, holding them against her abdomen, as if to form a wall between herself and him. She glanced away from him, unable to hold his aquamarine gaze any longer.
"It is unusual to see someone this far into the forest alone, is all. Most of the locals believe it to be haunted, and dangerous." And how right most of them were. Ghosts of all ages glided past them, male and female. Over the course of two years, Keira had spoken to quite a few of them, and helped those that she could. Some were beyond help, though.
She was uncomftorably aware of him, when he was this close, and she could feel...something, like there was something shifting underneath his skin. There was something nagging in the back of her own mind, too, something that called her to command him.
Keira could have scoffed at the thought. She had no authority to comand anyone, let alone a man who flirted with everyone and seemed to have no shame in it. She took two steps away from him, unable to remain. Her skin crawled, and if she could see herself in a mirror [which she did not own, surprisingly, and those she could not get rid of were covered], she would have noticed that her grey eyes had begun to glow, ever so slightly. It was the power that slumbered deep within her, reacting to being in such close proximity to one such as Virgil. Not that she knew that, or would even understand it if she did. She blinked slowly, becoming slightly light-headed.
"I apologize for intruding." She said, but still did not move. It was something that had been ingrained in her, after years of being institutionalized. You did not leave until you were left, or bid to go. She couldn't help it, either. It was more than just second nature by now, it was almost to the point where it was a need.
Her defensive posture was not unexpected. She was spiritually aware, and as such, instinctively wary of something as powerful as he was. For once, the thought carried no arroganceāit was simply true. There were few beings in the world that could hope to stand up to a yokai of his particular stature. Weaker ones, certainly, but those few that occupied his own place on the Wheel were posed little threat by anything other than one another, though the dark beings of Yoruno sometimes became problematic.
He was amused by her response, and cocked his head to one side, a length of his silver hair falling over the corresponding shoulder. āAn interesting explanation. But dangerous for whom, I wonder?ā Technically, he would probably fall into the category of a reason the place was dangerous, rather than someone who out to avoid it for such reasons. But of course, she had no way to know that.
The air around them shifted as the power in him called to the power in her, beckoning it forth with an invisible gesture every bit as seductive as the one he might use of his own choice, but in a different sense. He was intrigued to note that the light in her eyes, the manifestation of her spirituality, brightened, and he felt the slightest bit of pressure from her will. He almost laughed. Almost. She didnāt know she was doing it, but she was trying to compel him. Foolish girl. Not even her god of an ancestor was capable of thatānot without his soul and quite a lot of trickery. But all the same, there was an undeniable connection there, a thread, so tenuous and thin, but stronger than he expected, and he felt just a little of his demonic energy escape the tight bounds in which it was confined, flecks of bright gold entering the dazzling blue of his irises.
It was impossible to maintain human guise around Inariāthe god was simply so connected to the kitsune that they could never be other than they were in its presence. That was not a power this girl had, but that little thread of it was there, and he was immensely curious to know what would happen, if she ever recognized that sliver of divinity for what it was. It was probably good that he was intrigued and amused, because his other visceral instinct had been to kill her for even thinking she could try to command him. He recognized however, that she did not believe she was doing this, and was in fact unaware of what effect she was having.
He, however, was not. While Virgil quite liked pinning people in place with nothing but his eyes or his smile, her reluctance to leave now was not because she was charmed by him, though she was not inured to him, either. Even so, the inability of her feet to move came from elsewhere, and he had no desire to exercise that kind of control over anyone anymore than he wished it to be exercised upon him. In fact, he found it moderately disgusting to even think about. The villainous smile faded from his face, and he sighed through his nose, placing Kami down on the forest floor, and gently removing Nari from his shoulder as well. Straightening, he looked at her with uncharacteristic sobriety, then shook his head. āDonāt beā¦ there was already a crowd, no?ā The place, after all, was filled with ghosts. His face regained its usual half-smirk as he passed her by on his way back into town though, and as he passed, he tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear with surprising gentleness, letting his long fingers trail lazily along her shoulder until his momentum took him by.
Let her try and forget that.
Keira narrowed her eyes slightly. What had he meant by that? A crowd...? Nari ran up to her, jumping up into her arms as Virgil left, and when he tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, she...
Did nothing. She stood right where he'd left her, a surprised look breaking through the mask. She hadn't flinched, or shied away from him. He'd touched her, and she'd not reacted.
What on earth did that mean?
Nari and Kami bounded after her, occasionally dashing ahead, playing with leaves, or each other, the young foxes rather happy to be outside. It brought something of a ghost of a smile to her face. She had no idea why the cubs seemed so attached to her, but they never left her side. In a way, they were her family.
Kami suddenly pricked her ears up, and gave a small yip, dashing off through the bushes. Frowning, Keira followed her, to make sure the kit stayed out of trouble, although; trouble seemed to have found them. Or perhaps just Keira, as she found herself face to face with none other than Virgil Solomon. Keira blinked once, the smile that had been on her face gone, replaced by the calm mask of neutrality she wore around others.
"Mr. Solomon." She said briskly.
Honestly, after the fiftieth unauthorized realm transfer spat something nasty out practically on our front doorstep, things got a little annoying. Virgil was, of course, a very patient being, but most of the attempts were made by low-grade spirits and the occasional demon. One time, there had been a lesser kami. Heād quite enjoyed putting fear into a god. Or rather, watching Ephraim do it. While Virgil was fully capable of intimidating even the higher-order gods, his disdain for them was great enough that he would rather the Hound handle it. The only extra-worldly creature he was concerned with anymore was Benihime, and when he found her, that bitch was going to die.
This particular section of the dark forest surrounding River Lake was home to one of the townās Hollow Points, those special zones where the veil between realms was thin. This particular rift led to and from the realm of the dead, Shino. As such, there were various spirits floating about from time to time, but most of them gave him a wide berth. As well they shouldākitsune were one of the few creatures just as dangerous to the dead as they were to the living, should they choose to be. Virgil did not, on most occasions, and chose to reserve the burn of his foxfire for things other than twisted amusement. Thoughā¦ he really did get bored sometimes. Even so, most of the ghosts here were not malignant, and unlike Ephraim, it was decidedly not his job to put things back where they belonged. He couldnāt operate a Gate even if heād wanted to.
So instead, he laid sprawled in the meadow, the dark bark of the trees like columns, supporting the canopy of rich, emerald green leaves. The sun occasionally peeked through it, stippling the grass and Virgil himself in dappled light. His loose hair fanned about his person like a silvery cloud, bereft of no luster for lack of light, but for once, he was not particularly attempting to exude any allure. There was nobody here, after all, and while certain aspects of his appetitive drives were rather insatiable, one might say, he was a being capable of quite some degree of control. A fog-colored butterfly passed him by, landing for a curious moment on his nose, and he smiled, exhaling a gentle puff of air to bid it on its way. āFlattering,ā he murmured as it took off, ābut misguided. I am no flower.ā
His keen ears picked up on a yipping noise, and he placed it immediately as belonging to Kami, the female fox so often in the mediumās company. The associated scent was enough to confirm that she was, indeed, headed this way. āI can never decide if the gods love me or hate me,ā he said to the fox as she curled up on his chest. āI do hope itās bothābut they shouldnāt make it so easy.ā He fell silent, however, until the woman herself appeared, adopting that cool, crisp demeanor of hers. It was amusing, how much she managed to hide with it. Too bad there was no hiding from an empath.
āMiss Mizuki,ā he replied, though his tone was anything but cool. If she was an autumn leaf with a hint of frost at the edges, he wasā¦ oh right. He was what heād always been. Sex and death. Cunning and sensuality. A fox, in the truest sense. He turned his head faintly to meet her eyes, though he had yet to sit up. He didnāt feel the need. āYour friends are delightful, I must say.ā
As if in response, Nari, too, went running up to the blonde man, and Keira simply silently watched them for a few seconds, before replying, "They certainly like you well enough, it would seem."
She wondered what he was doing out here, contemplating asking for a second, however, she held her tongue. It wasn't like it was any of her business, anyhow. A subtle tremor ran through her, when their eyes met. A part of her senses always seemed to be screaming at her to run whenever she came too close to Virgil or Ephraim, but in Virgil's case, another part of her seemed to be almost...drawn to him, like a magnet. It annoyed her as much as it confused her.
"You are here alone?" She blinked after she said it. What an absurd question.
āMm, donāt blame them too much. It is my nature to be loved or fearedā¦ or both.ā His eyes narrowed slightly, the nature of the aquamarine gaze shifting until there was a faint hint of danger in it, but not too much of course. Most people managed to convince themselves that they were imagining things. His index finger curled under Kamiās chin, and he scratched her there with an amused half-smile on his face, diverting his eyes from Keira long enough to do so, but returning them as soon as sheād asked the question. A perfectly-arched brow ascended his forehead, and he stood smoothly, repositioning Nari over his shoulder and cradling Kami in one bent arm.
He drifted a few steps closer, stopping just barely inside of what he took to be her personal space, which was admittedly quite a lot more than most people reserved. āItās just me, you, and our mutual friends,ā he said languidly, referring of course to the foxes--or was it more than that? āBut I do wonder, Miss Mizuki, what could possibly have possessed you to ask a question like thatā¦ā His smirk was wicked, but his eye were light with amusement.
Keira did not think that she imagined seeing danger in his eyes. She knew she'd seen it. Every nerve ending in her body screamed danger whenever she looked at the man before her. He was dangerous, she just could not figure out in what ways. Perhaps in every way. She shuddered involuntarily. It was worse with Ephraim, it had always been worse with the dark-haired man, but Virgil still affected her, too. Keira could simply not understand it.
But then, she did not need to. Her arms had been hanging by her sides, but the minute Virgil stepped closer to her, she crossed them in front of her, holding them against her abdomen, as if to form a wall between herself and him. She glanced away from him, unable to hold his aquamarine gaze any longer.
"It is unusual to see someone this far into the forest alone, is all. Most of the locals believe it to be haunted, and dangerous." And how right most of them were. Ghosts of all ages glided past them, male and female. Over the course of two years, Keira had spoken to quite a few of them, and helped those that she could. Some were beyond help, though.
She was uncomftorably aware of him, when he was this close, and she could feel...something, like there was something shifting underneath his skin. There was something nagging in the back of her own mind, too, something that called her to command him.
Keira could have scoffed at the thought. She had no authority to comand anyone, let alone a man who flirted with everyone and seemed to have no shame in it. She took two steps away from him, unable to remain. Her skin crawled, and if she could see herself in a mirror [which she did not own, surprisingly, and those she could not get rid of were covered], she would have noticed that her grey eyes had begun to glow, ever so slightly. It was the power that slumbered deep within her, reacting to being in such close proximity to one such as Virgil. Not that she knew that, or would even understand it if she did. She blinked slowly, becoming slightly light-headed.
"I apologize for intruding." She said, but still did not move. It was something that had been ingrained in her, after years of being institutionalized. You did not leave until you were left, or bid to go. She couldn't help it, either. It was more than just second nature by now, it was almost to the point where it was a need.
Her defensive posture was not unexpected. She was spiritually aware, and as such, instinctively wary of something as powerful as he was. For once, the thought carried no arroganceāit was simply true. There were few beings in the world that could hope to stand up to a yokai of his particular stature. Weaker ones, certainly, but those few that occupied his own place on the Wheel were posed little threat by anything other than one another, though the dark beings of Yoruno sometimes became problematic.
He was amused by her response, and cocked his head to one side, a length of his silver hair falling over the corresponding shoulder. āAn interesting explanation. But dangerous for whom, I wonder?ā Technically, he would probably fall into the category of a reason the place was dangerous, rather than someone who out to avoid it for such reasons. But of course, she had no way to know that.
The air around them shifted as the power in him called to the power in her, beckoning it forth with an invisible gesture every bit as seductive as the one he might use of his own choice, but in a different sense. He was intrigued to note that the light in her eyes, the manifestation of her spirituality, brightened, and he felt the slightest bit of pressure from her will. He almost laughed. Almost. She didnāt know she was doing it, but she was trying to compel him. Foolish girl. Not even her god of an ancestor was capable of thatānot without his soul and quite a lot of trickery. But all the same, there was an undeniable connection there, a thread, so tenuous and thin, but stronger than he expected, and he felt just a little of his demonic energy escape the tight bounds in which it was confined, flecks of bright gold entering the dazzling blue of his irises.
It was impossible to maintain human guise around Inariāthe god was simply so connected to the kitsune that they could never be other than they were in its presence. That was not a power this girl had, but that little thread of it was there, and he was immensely curious to know what would happen, if she ever recognized that sliver of divinity for what it was. It was probably good that he was intrigued and amused, because his other visceral instinct had been to kill her for even thinking she could try to command him. He recognized however, that she did not believe she was doing this, and was in fact unaware of what effect she was having.
He, however, was not. While Virgil quite liked pinning people in place with nothing but his eyes or his smile, her reluctance to leave now was not because she was charmed by him, though she was not inured to him, either. Even so, the inability of her feet to move came from elsewhere, and he had no desire to exercise that kind of control over anyone anymore than he wished it to be exercised upon him. In fact, he found it moderately disgusting to even think about. The villainous smile faded from his face, and he sighed through his nose, placing Kami down on the forest floor, and gently removing Nari from his shoulder as well. Straightening, he looked at her with uncharacteristic sobriety, then shook his head. āDonāt beā¦ there was already a crowd, no?ā The place, after all, was filled with ghosts. His face regained its usual half-smirk as he passed her by on his way back into town though, and as he passed, he tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear with surprising gentleness, letting his long fingers trail lazily along her shoulder until his momentum took him by.
Let her try and forget that.
Keira narrowed her eyes slightly. What had he meant by that? A crowd...? Nari ran up to her, jumping up into her arms as Virgil left, and when he tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, she...
Did nothing. She stood right where he'd left her, a surprised look breaking through the mask. She hadn't flinched, or shied away from him. He'd touched her, and she'd not reacted.
What on earth did that mean?