"Well, you're not," Iris drawled. "That's improvement. One day you'll be trained in the ways of Yrnan elf-hood and everything," she jokes, unable to ever imagine Azriel as a Yrnan elf. And she finds she doesn't really fancy picturing the angel as anything different.
Azriel made a face. "That seems unlikely. I'm too much of a weakling to do that."
Disbelief clouded her striking gray eyes. "Weakling? You?" She glanced between the angel and her phoenix. "Never." Her firm Brachish echoes over the mountains of crackers.
Azriel raised an eyebrow delicately, and as if to prove her point, she held out her wing using her arm, showing that it had, in fact, been broken again. "Do you see? I couldn't even stop him. Ahyin took care of him. And the man who did this," she extended her injured arm. "I didn't even fight the guard who did this one," she briefly pulled up her shirt to see the wound on her stomach, which at least had stopped gushing blood.
Eyes darkening at the mention of the guard, Iris scooted closer to Azriel. Taking a piece of ice and waiting for it to melt, she used the cool water to gently trace and cleanse the wounds. Diligent and focused on her task, she mumbled, "We can do the whole snapping wing into place ordeal again." A smirk lightens her face at the thought.
Azriel sighed. "It'd be nice if we didn't have to. It feels like the demons of the Void have invaded my soul." She winced slightly as Iris moved the ice over a particularly sore spot, but tried to hide it.
"Shh," her voice came out surprisingly gentle, but with the angel, the elf is always different. "Focus on me." Her smirk widened. "More than you usually do. Hm, tell me about yourself. Any past lovers?" The topic itself sends a warning flash through Iris's system yet she brushed it off, annoyed. Realizing that when she is in a less delirious state, she'd regret this entire interaction, was not something she wanted to mull on.
(I usually don't comment on these things because that's sorta obnoxious of me but hell and heaven don't exist. Instead, the afterlife is known as the Void. It works as both heaven and hell.)
"Er, yes. A few. A girl gets lonely after the first 50 or so years. They were all lovely, of course, but… I guess none of them really felt right," she said thoughtfully.
( oh heck sorry I use that metaphor a lot)
(I wouldn't worry too much. Just do whatever you feel like. I'm just a guide…in a way)
(Haha way to be mysterious as heck reblod)
"Do continue," Iris inquired, twirling with of lock of Azriel's hair. She wasn't content to adjust the wing just yet. Popping an ice cube in her mouth, she clarified, "Those crackers are saltier than me. I don't know how Clare does it."
Azriel smiled a bit sadly. "There's not much to say. Most of them died. I made the mistake of falling in love with a human once. That ended badly. I don't know… like I said, there isn't a lot to say about the subject. However, I am curious now. What about you?"
The past shadowed her eyes as she finally told someone. "There's a lot of heartbreak," she confessed. "And a lot of confusion, too. I grew up learning to be the perfect one. Good physique, talents in learning, leadership skills. Except for sexuality," she gave a wry smile. "I don't know why, girls are so freaking perfect, but they are. And… apparently, not being straight rips the title of Perfect right under your feet. Especially for an elf in a strict household in Yrna."
Azriel widened her eyes a bit in surprise. "Really?" She breathed, " I can't even imagine. My family always thought everyone should be able to do what they want… or who they want, " she joked softly and lightly touched Iris's shoulder. "I'm hilarious."
While the girls were haveing a nice conversation about love, Clare was busy hiding from a bunch or guards who had come down the hall, She slipped between a pillar and a wall as they past, praying they wouldn't see her. She slipped out and continued running, she found the first stair case with ease and sprinted down, to her dismay who ever built this prison was smart and that stair case didn't lead all the way down. She ran across hall after hall searching for the next stair case, giving more and more time for some one else to discover they're escape. She found it and sprinted down, This time she could see the exit she was half way down the stairs when she spotted those doors… and roughly 10 guards guarding it. She slowed her run to a brisk walk filled with confidence brushing all of the dirt of of her clothes, she walked back up some of the stairs reached into her bag and grabbed a black and gold fur lined cape, she flung it around her shoulders and glided down the rest of the stairs, marching confident;y towards the door.
Muffling a snort, the elf turned to her angel with dull, blank eyes. She tangled her fingers in hers, asking, “You realize when we get out of this cracker Afterlife, I will have to go back to them.” Her fist clenched. “And I will have to be the perfect daughter again. Probably have an arranged marriage. Probably-” her voice chokes, overrun with emotion. But she couldn’t say the words… “I’ve never met someone like you.” Her statement hung over their heads, both understanding the value and purposeful lack thereof.
(So Reblod can you roll the magic dice to see if she makes it past the guards with out being questioned)
Azriel looked down for a moment. "Neither have I," she thought for a moment, then made up her mind. "But… what if you don't go back to them? Perfect daughters are completely overrated. I'm a disappointment, and look where that got me. Er, besides arrested, I mean. I've done quite a bit more than get arrested. We - we could go somewhere else, anywhere else, and - " she had to stop. She was having trouble handling strong emotions, and felt her eyes prick. "I just - I think it would be nice not to be alone again."
(ooo yes definitely…so odds might be…1 - immediately arrested (guards are on edge), 2-3 - searched and questioned (carrying out procedure with suspicion), 4-5 - questioned briefly (they're a bit too busy to care), 6 - they ignore you (good acting?). If you get questioned I'll roll again and see if you can weasel your way out. so I rolled…a 4!)
Tenderly, Iris wiped away her angel's tears with a corner of her grey cloak, wishing she had wings to ensnare Azriel in, warm and soothing. But the elf only had ice, unlike water. Ice, a brutal and cold, powerful and unmerciful power. The Yrnan remains silent, not letting herself hope upon the question yet also lacking the courage to refute her request. "No matter what happens… I'll protect you," Iris vows, knowing it's a foolish decision. "I won't abandon you or forget you, my angel."
Azriel wrapped her arms around Iris, feeling like she should let go but finding herself unable to. "Promise?" She whispered, so softly she wasn't even sure if Iris had heard her.
Turning her cool gaze onto the angel, eyes unexpectedly brimming with emotion, "Promise."
"Okay," she whispered, almost childlike. Then she sat up and wiped her face with her sleeve, regaining her composure quickly. "Thank you. For that."
Arabella had to hold back a shriek of joy as the lovers became closer. Was Bella spying and eavesdropping, technically yes, but hey, there might be an echo in the cracker pit. Just as she climbed to the top of a pile of crackers, the mountain toppled carrying the girl with it. Let Bella just say, crackers are sharp! She got some cuts, but the most painful was a cracker crashing into her right cheek, the salt wasn’t helping.
(Just a little bit of extra worldbuilding. So the Senkreinese girl mentioned an eclipse. On this world, there's a solar eclipse twice a year. This is because Solum, one of the three moons, passes in front of it. (Solum 'follows' the sun in its arc through the sky so it only appears during the day and sometimes it'll block the sun.) One solar eclipse is in the middle of summer and the other is in the middle of winter during the long night (they aren't aware of this eclipse because they already experience a week-ish long night). If there was no solar eclipse, Medeis would have a verrry long day that would balance out the freezing cold but instead, sometimes midsummer is as cold as winter. These solar eclipses last about a week. At this point, the eclipse would be coming in about four days)
(Dude that's cool and good to know)
Clare was stopped by the guard and her training came into play, "What's your business here, why are you leaving this place." The guards didn't really give her a second glance but she put on her best snob impression, "Hump! I came here to visit my brother In-Law on behalf of my sister the dimwit! Don't you know who I am!" She used her best 'Karen' Voice ,the one woman who you wanted to just let pass and not deal with because she's to much of a trouble.
The guards share looks. Tired, stressed looks. They step aside and open the door for her to pass.
(1 - they catch on, 2-3 - further questioning, 4-6 - give in. Rolled a 5. Just saying, I nearly rolled a 1 but just as it landed it fell off my desk. I didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed)
Clare flipped her hair and stalked out, but not to quickly, to fast and it would give her away. She didn't drop her 'Karen' persona until she was out of sight of the door, as soon as she was out of sight she slipped into the forest out of sight out of mind. She walked away, before finding a little clearing, here she took off her cape and her belt bag. She opened the belt bag put her cape into the clothes area of the dimension before closing the bag and reopening it to the cracker dimension, she peered in and… "Did you guy's seriously Crush Half off my crackers! I'm going to have to clean that all out you know!" She held the bag wide open, Alright every one get out, you've done enough damage." She was already using a small amount of magic to peace together the cracker crumbs on the floor into whole crackers and stack them back up.