Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Before the retrograde (closed)

Ferous was probably ignoring other facets of life needing attention with... Most of it spent at the library since Chiara watched the mechanisms and meters and cameras be put in place. Of course, Drae's return would cause a noticeable change in the clock as Ferous ran analysis on old data. 'Father' could keep track of himself for a while. Still, a headache was overwhelming amidst the sensitive electronic equipment--already rubbing temples and looking exhausted from it, Ferous' elbow slid off the table and face clipped the surface as a tremendous squeeling almost BLINDED ferous, it was so bad. Energy properly returning to the clock meant the hypersensitive equipment was just about screaming, formerly monitoring the most obscure flow. Cursing, Ferous broke from the table and pulled a series of power cords, looking dazed but squinting at the clock. Well... Ferous hadn't needed to do anything dramatic and... "He's..." alive. Whatever. Ferous had tried to give hope to Chiara but that didn't necessarily mean he(c)

had been alive... Just not lost. The two were seperate ideas entirely. Of course this guaranteed nothing of where he -was-. The utilitarian was bizarrely efficient at breaking down the better part of the equipment, leaving a camera standing and a few other meters reading in case a search was necessary, but... The rest entered bags, which packed into the enormous hiking backpack that they had come in before cluttering the library. "Via... We have less than twelve hours till you retrograde and drag me down with you." Ferous called to seemingly empty space. "Draeval is somewhere, and alive. Look for him before we turn into babbling, nonoperational clowns." Ferous hated retrograde. Really. Standing with the pack mounted, Ferous considered options. The equipment needed to eventually go back to a lab, but the city was so far it would take forever, and that wasn't time to waste. Hopefully Chiara's place would serve well enough, even if that still meant a bit of a hike. It was nothing like going to the far end of(c)

--the city. So after hefty hike, the rarity of Ferous opening the physical door of Chiara's cabin occured. "CHIARA!" it came out about ten decibels louder than intended, ears STILL ringing. "He's... Back. I don't know where, or--" if Chiara was even home really, as the living area was checked, and if vacant, the kitchen. Go figure... Chiara already -knew-. Once again, behind the curve, even when trying to be vigilant. Typical, really.

Poor Ferous, if only she'd known that Draeval's presence had first come into the world hours before and not entirely himself. When he'd landed he'd been fleeing from his captor but still didn't have "himself" back. Even his wife didn't recognize him when he landed, and now as they finished their romp through the wild he could finally feel his full connection to the world snap to life when the clock turned back on.

Now they were finishing their run and Draeval was making his way to the front porch of the cabin when his ears flipped forward at Fer's yells. 'I tink dat Fer iz lookin far ya Key...' He shifted and slowed down so that wolf!Chiara could pad ahead of him.

Chiara had been having fun with her husband, but now they were back at the cabin. Her ears laid back at the yell, it had been very loud. She's wondering what's wrong, and she'll head up to the door and scratch on it daintily with one paw.

Hopefully Ferous could hear that, because she couldn't really open the door right now. If Ferous did open the door, he'd find a sleek black wolf sitting there, with both ears pricked forward, "Hello Babe." Yeah, that's Chiara, wearing Draeval's collar. She might need some help getting it off.

Scratching at the door would normally be easily heard, but at the moment Ferous mostly heared EEEEEEEE. An exploration of the house returned nothing and no one. Well, that wouldn't stop the search. The door opened again and... Drae? No, another wolf. And it appeared to be talking. Well, Ferous made out 'babe'. Kneeling, Ferous put a hand on her. "Sweetheart...?" a hand swept down and caught the collar. Brows furrowed. "I... was coming to say he's back." more at a loss for words now, Ferous sighed. "But it seems like you already... Know that." for some reason the old one seemed dejected, but still cracked a smile. "Where is he? Is he okay? I guess the... Analysis wasn't as up to par as I thought." god forbid some negative change had occured and Ferous had still been far behind.

Draeval padded a few feet behind Chiara and whuffled lightly at Ferous with a gentle wag of his tail. He looked more or less alright, though his energy signature wasn't exactly Draeval. The wolf looked like he was no worse for the wear, but perhaps Fer could pick up change in alignment he'd gone through.

He was Draeval, there was no doubt, and he was safe. But something just wasn't the same. Even when he padded over and head bumped Fer, there was something that...just seemed to be missing. "I'm not zurprize dat ya didn't catc' me Poppy." He nuzzled against her more and offered a gentle wave of his tail.

At least he wasn't dead?

Chiara's tail wagged harder when Ferous touched her, "He's here..." Around then Draeval was padding up, and Chiara's tail wagged a little harder, "I was at the Old Haunt. He almost fell on me." So yeah, she kind of knew he was home. "Can you help me with this?" She'd tilt her head to expose the collar, she lacked hands to be able to take it off herself.

Sorry, Chi. Draeval showing himself equalled being bypassed as the wolf got grabbed and hugged, probably too hard. "You dumb dog... Getting us all worried about you." typically difference would be detected. "IR, UV, EM... I was looking through everything for you." if that made... sense. Still, Ferous released and turned to Chiara. "Oh... Right." fiddle fiddle. Hopefully it came off easy enough.

Draeval was about to say something when he got picked up and squeezed, there was a sudden yelping definitely the cry of a dog in pain and he shuddered hard in Fer's arms. Sorry Fer, sudden movements and the slightest bit of pressure are freaking him out right now.

Once he was released he skittered off into the house to lurk between the couch and the chair, with his nails scratching against the floor as he went, and curled his tail around his hind leg. "Zorry." He looked pitiful, ears flicked down and eyes wide. He'd been through some things Fer. And it was obvious he was still freaked out because he was shaking.

There were a few moments of shaking before he came back out, his tail was still tucked but he offered a little wag of the tip of it. "...'i."

Chiara is eventually helped out of her collar after being pushed aside, and she'll pick it up once she turns back to human. It wasn't rocket science, just a simple buckle collar, so Fer could handle it. She's in the nude though, since clothing didn't make the change well, and she's about to head inside when Draeval yelps and runs in to hide. Chiara's confused and she'll watch him, "What's the matter?"

She'll look back and forth between Drae and Fer, and as long as Drae wasn't peeing on her floor or something, she'll head for her room, "I'm going to put some clothes on."

Ferous knew the look of a startled animal. He could take his space. That and Ferous realizes just how... Out of character that almost was. Ferous stood, cleared her throat and tugged up the leather collar to... shrink back into. Cooly of course, and absolutely not embarassed. ...nope. The lack of eye contact must have been coincidence when walking back in, hands shoved in pockets. "I... Should, uh... Go tell Via. Get him off of combing the river styx... Or detroit... You know." yeah, the search parameters had been pretty broad.

He whined and pawed at the air by Fer, 'I'm zorry...I'm juz...I'm a lil outta zortz.' He looked over to Chiara and offered a gentle wag of his tail, he didn't mean to!

Once he collected himself he trotted over to Fer with his head down and nosed at her leg gently. "Ya were really lookin far me?" It was sheepish.

"Well... Yeah." still no direct glance, of course. "Everyone was ready to accept death... But Via didn't find you with any of the psychopomps, and it was illogical for your clock to maintain steady pulse and lighting without deterioration of energy indicated..." ferous stopped. Yeah, nevermind that. "...you should go tell your wolven family. I think I broke their hearts when I discussed the goings on, and they couldn't sense you." no way Ferous was emotional. Nope. "Via painted something for you for a eulogy. It's fairly impressive."

Chiara had figured they could use some time alone, so she took her time getting dressed. She's going to come back out with a pair of pajama pants on and a cami, and she's pulling her hair up into a ponytail. They were talking, so she'll just slip into the kitchen to start water for tea. She figured everyone could use some, and it wasn't as if it took a lot of extra work to make more than one cup.

The painting that Ferous was speaking of was hanging in the living room over the couch, so Draeval could see it if he wanted to.

Drae quirked his head, "Bella waz purdy zure I waz alibe." And he vaguely remembered Chiara keeping a light on as well. His tail twitch lightly. "Datz w'ere we came fram...Bellz waz waitin far me at da edge ub da packlandz. Datz w'y we were bot' wolbez...we went far a run."

He blinked at Fer for a long moment, "W'y would 'e da dat?" But he looked around until he spotted it on the wall. His ears twitched Draeval was so confused.

"I will give her that." Bella, that is. "Because we care about you, you lummox."

Draeval flicked his ears lightly, first up and then down. There was a long moment of pause where it was obvious the wolf was denying something that crossed his mind. He shifted on his paws. Well this was awkward.

"Now," Ferous reached up under the coat's edges, tilting a holster and fishing out an oddly simple looking revolver, popping it open to check the chamber, closing it and giving it a spin, "As you are jumpy, and traumatized, I should ask: who shall I go hunt." there was an intensity to that. Draeval returning jumpy and shaken indicated some offense somewhere, and Ferous staring into Drae may not help, but... Hopefully he got the gist of the question.

Chiara came out of the kitchen with three steaming mugs of tea, "Did you want your collar?" She'd set Drae's tea down, and her own tea, before offering a mug to Ferous. She'll go back to hers then and pick it up, taking a big sip of it...or as big a sip as she could take while it was still hot.

"Is Luci here?" She didn't know if he could do the invisible thing like Ferous could, "Did he want some tea too?"