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Post by Erik on May 9, 2007 9:47:14 GMT -5
*Erik could not suppress a small smile, a quirk of the lips, really, at the cat's renewed insistence on being alive. He caressed her sleek white coat gently.*
"And where have you been?" *he asked it, not expecting a response. He remembered suddenly that he was not alone with the cat, and glanced up at Megan. Flustered, he made a vague hand motion.* "Very well. Er, yes. As you see fit."
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Post by Lady Norrington on May 9, 2007 9:49:26 GMT -5
Megan jumped back in surprise, then practically shouted:
"Oooh, you've got a KITTY!"
All thoughts of false faces gone, she swooped in and scooped the little white kitten into her arms.
"Hi, baby!" she cooed, scratching Blanchette behind the ears. "Oh, you're such a pretty baby! Yes, you are!"
She held the kitten at arms' length like a baby, pulled her back in and kissed the tip of her nose.
"Oh, what a pretty baby! You are just adorable!"
It was obvious: Megan had a serious weakness, and that was kittens.
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Post by Erik on May 9, 2007 10:01:16 GMT -5
*Erik stared at her in shock for a moment. Then he began to feel sick, and stood up to retrieve the cat.*
"It is not a baby. It is a cat. And you're frightening her."
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Post by Lady Norrington on May 9, 2007 10:04:42 GMT -5
"I am not! Am I, sweet kitty?"
Of course, Blanchette couldn't reply, so Megan resignedly pulled up a chair and started pressing putty over the pasteboard nose to make it look more realistic.
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Post by Erik on May 9, 2007 11:17:18 GMT -5
*Erik felt a little bad about snatching the cat away. He just felt protective of the little thing.*
"You... may play with the cat when your duties are done," *he grudgingly allowed.*
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Post by Lady Norrington on May 9, 2007 11:23:33 GMT -5
"I used to have a cat," Megan said plaintively. "She died not long ago. She was twenty years old, though, so she'd lived a good life."
She turned and looked him straight in the face, trying to take it all in at once so she could avoid any unwanted reactions.
"Okay," she muttered. "Here we go."
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Post by Erik on May 9, 2007 11:50:17 GMT -5
*Erik stiffened, but held himself still. It was difficult; every instinct warned against letting her anywhere near his face. He was defenseless like this. His fingers dug into the seat of the chair. He wondered if there would be indents when he got up.
He flinched at her first touch.*
"It's cold," *he defended.*
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Post by Lady Norrington on May 9, 2007 11:54:22 GMT -5
The truth was, there was something so fundamentally askew about the most basic aspects of his face that Megan had to press her thumbs gently into his skin to find most of the actual contours.
"God," she muttered, "it's like tissue paper."
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Post by Erik on May 9, 2007 13:40:44 GMT -5
"Watch it," *Erik warned. This made him very uncomfortable. Blanchette had jumped back onto his lap, and he schooled himself to gentleness as he stroked her.* "Erik's face is many things, but it is not tissue paper. Are you certain you know what you're doing?"
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Post by Lady Norrington on May 9, 2007 13:45:53 GMT -5
No, she thought miserably.
"Yes," said Megan. "It's just- it feels like I could tear you open if I press too hard."
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Post by Erik on May 9, 2007 14:01:00 GMT -5
*He felt almost sorry for her. She was a mere child, he reminded himself.*
"You cannot hurt me," *he explained patiently.* "Erik has been through harder things that this; his face is not so fragile as it may look."
Elsewise, he'd have rubbed it off years ago, *he thought grimly.*
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Post by Lady Norrington on May 9, 2007 14:03:13 GMT -5
"Can I do something?" she asked slowly. "Before I start?"
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Post by Erik on May 9, 2007 16:41:26 GMT -5
*"Do something"? Like what, he thought. Like go to the ladies? But he would not be so indelicate as to ask, even if she was serving him.*
"Certainly," *he said graciously.*
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Post by Lady Norrington on May 9, 2007 16:43:59 GMT -5
Megan leaned in and very gently kissed him on the mouth.
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Post by Erik on May 9, 2007 16:47:47 GMT -5
*Erik remained frozen for one eternal moment, where it seemed as if time, or at least his heart, had stopped completely. All sensation abandoned him, but for his lips, or hers rather.
Then, just as quickly, time (or maybe just his heart) slammed back again and he rocketed to his feet, upsetting the chair and Blanchette as he crossed the space to the far wall without seeming to move. With his back to Megan he sought to catch his breath, even as his treacherous hand reached to touch the place her lips just had.*
"You cannot... Erik did not..." *He tried to make sense around broken breaths. But there wasn't any to be made. Except...*
"HOW DARE YOU?" *he roared, rounding on her.*
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