Entry 542; Day 1087

[misterblackbird]

[Filtered from Known DELILAH Members || Unhackable]I should have known this curse will come upon us sooner or later this month: mistletoe growing from every corner and doorway. I can hardly think of a better sign of the season in the City than this. Truly, it is splendid. And one must, of course, observe the custom of the mistletoe. And the

Comments

[action]

[misterblackbird]

[Cain feels obliged to at least show his face at the cafe from time to time, despite everything else he has to endure at the moment. It's another place to gather information, perhaps. It's at least something.

He's set himself up at one of the tables for a moment, looking over some papers, and brooding.

The place is decorated twice over--once as intended and then again with sprouting greenery. How festive. None of it suits Cain's mood.]

[action]

[misterblackbird]

[He will try to be polite... He'll even stand up when she approaches because that is the "done thing."]

No, not to speak of.

Good afternoon, Miss Euphie. I hadn't expected to see you here today.

Action

[allinhishands]

[The fates have gifted or cursed someone today for father and son have crossed paths. However, this tale doesn't end there. Oh no. That would be too short a story.

The fates have also caused them to cross paths on the streets under a bit of the mistletoe. What else is there to do but to give in to the curse at hand?

Father and son meet fact to face in the City.

Such a touching reunion is best met with father pressing a kiss to his son's youthful lips.]

Action

[misterblackbird]

[It doesn't--indeed, it hardly can--cross Cain's mind that he and his father might, somehow, be on the same street at the same time in the City. Such madness, such impossibility would be like the planets themselves changing their orbits.

But such things do happen, somehow.

And yet, his notion of the very impossibility of such a thing means that he is blind to the man so nearby and does not, somehow, even see him. Not at first, at least.]

Action

[allinhishands]

[One of them is blind and yet the other is not. He sees his son coming up and lifts a brow. How interesting that they would see each other like this.

Though, he really doesn't have complaints. Not even about the mistletoe that he can see above his son's head.

Smiling just a bit, he moved closer to him, mildly curious to see how this would turnout.]

Action

[misterblackbird]

[There is something--some scent, some shadow, some sense of familiarity like a scene first seen played out in a forgotten nightmare--that makes him tense and cast about for some source. And it is in this moment that Cain sees him. And in him, in Cain, is nothing but terror and rage, rage and terror. And the mistletoe--that stupid plant--hanging over all of it.]

You--

as if I could pass up some of this [Action]

[primrosella]

[It's not hard to spot Cain in the City in winter, not when the buildings and skies go gray and desaturated, and he's there as always in black and white in the midst of it. She's not hard to spot, either, in her familiar old red woolen cloak, still bright and cheery despite the years she's had it in use, and for a moment they might well be nothing more than two strangers passing in the Square, standing out against the dreary day.

But still she stops, and looks, and can't decide if she dares get his attention or approach--because who knows who might be watching, and there are no such things as filters in the open air.]

[Action]

[misterblackbird]

[He casts a glance her way--how can he not? He sees the colour of that cloak, and he knows who wears it. And if there is someone that he might want to see, even at times like these, it might be her.

And there she stands.

He'll risk it. In such a place as this, with so many people, surely no one will try anything here. And he can draw her away, someplace where, perhaps, they won't be seen. He will guard her--that has been his promise for so long. He will guard her.

He dares a smile in her direction.]

[Action]

[primrosella]

[They're rare enough, Cain's smiles, that there's no missing this one, no matter the distance. That she ducks her head a little is the only indication she gives that she's seen it, and knows she's been seen, but she's also known Cain long enough to guess that even something so slight will be recognition enough.

She tips her head, as if something has just caught her eye, and walks over to a nearby store window to rather deliberately admire the decorations, giving him ample chance to see what she's doing before going to the door and slipping inside, the long tails of her cloak trailing behind her.]

[Action]

[misterblackbird]

[Splendid. That's simple enough. He's rather glad that they've known one another long enough to be able to communicate in such a way. After a few moments--long enough, he hopes, to have anyone watching lose interest or not perceive a connection between the two of them, he will follow her into that same shop and look for her red cloak inside...]

[doujin_dork]

It's pretty much a decision of if you want to spend the day alone.

[Only you would mention mistletoe being poisonous, Cain.]

If you need to duck out at all, you can come over to my shop.

I mean, uh! That's not to say that I want us to be, uh, cursed together? But I've got some room.

[misterblackbird]

I didn't suppose that was what you meant at all. And, thank you--I may do that, if I find myself in that corner of town. As it is, I've enough to do that I should be able to simply keep moving. That may be the best thing to do.

[doujin_dork]

Alright, well. Good luck.

If worse comes to worst, though, you could probably just use your hat as a shield or a mask.