Midnight walk

[sanguineroyal.livejournal.com]

She had lost. Well, of course she had lost. She had expected to lose. The was really little chance of her winning. She had known that. The election hadn't been for actually gaining the position, but making herself known on the ship.

Still, that didn't mean that losing the election didn't hurt her pride. She had logically never expected to win, but emotionally she had expected it. Perhaps even felt entitled to it.

She had other things that she was free to do now, things that would continue to move her plan forward, but for now she ignored Kano's urging for her to keep moving with her plan. Instead she wandered among a labyrinth of flowers and shrubs of all sizes and species. Benches were placed periodically among the plants to sit and relax. Several fountains dotted the twists and turns of the path. The garden itself was half surrounded by a chest high wall, the other rounded wall was made of sheer rock face and was dotted with little white flowers that sparkled in the moonlight. They grew along the walls as well, so that the outer line of the garden seemed to be surrounded by silver. Closer investigation would reveal that the flowers were covered in a thin, clear mucous. One should still be careful by the chest-high wall, since just beyond that was the rest of the mountain face.

Every so often Nanashi would stop any bury her face in some of the flowers, taking in a deep breath, absorbing the scent of the flowers.

She was so lost in her own musings that she didn't even realize she had left the sensorium door open- which replaced the usual door to the garden. It helped that a great burst of wild flowers helped to block off the view of most of the door.

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[foreseen-future.livejournal.com]

Wandering into sensoriums is not one of Nura's skill sets. She used the sensoriums for that video game war with Ben and Paco, yes, but she's still not quite sure she's comfortable within the sensoriums. However the moment she walked into this beautiful garden, she suddenly felt quite at ease.

Nura bends to brush her fingers against a flower's petals. She brings one moonlit flower to her nose and sniffs it. A wonderful scent comes to her senses and she smiles. "...gorgeous."

[sanguineroyal.livejournal.com]

Nanashi could hear someone walking into her garden. She was surprised to find that she did not particularly mind. She minded even less as the owner of the footsteps said, "...gorgeous." The voice was familiar, but more importantly it appreciated flowers.

"They are, are they not? This was my private garden back home. Some place I could have silence and enjoy the moonlight."

[foreseen-future.livejournal.com]

Nura realizes that the person of the sensorium is near her (precogging gives her brief glimpses of approaching footsteps) and turns her head and gives the person - a beautiful, young woman looking a little older than she herself - a soft smile. "It's breathtaking is what it is. I imagine you must have achieved absolute peace here."

[sanguineroyal.livejournal.com]

Nanashi laughed softly. "I got as close as I was capable of to peace here. As beautiful as these flowers are, they can never reamain in perfect bloom. It always makes me think of my own species compared to humans." She sighed, burying her face into a large rose bloom.

She looked back up at the new comer, "I believe I have seen you before. You look very familiar."

[foreseen-future.livejournal.com]

Nura brushes the pad of her thumb against a bright purple flower's petals. Soft and delicate. "And I have seen you before as well," she says, remembering the woman from before. "We were comrades on the battlefield against the Devourer Worm." She reaches up with the hand not touching the flowers, to move back a lock of white hair to behind her ear.

[sanguineroyal.livejournal.com]

"Ah," Nanashi breathed in realisation. "Yes, I remember now. You are decently skilled." She stepped back and let herself fall back onto the bench behind her, slowing herself at the last moment with her flying abilities so that she landed lightly. She sighed heavily, caressing a peony that was bobbing behind her head.

"It is funny to think that we, who can do so much damage, can so gently touch a flower. I wonder if the Ohm are capable of thus."

[foreseen-future.livejournal.com]

Although it isn't a word she would use to describe her own skill set, Nura takes 'decently' as a compliment. "Well, I try to be prepared for whatever comes my way. It is the prerogative of a precog."

She turns her head to the bloom that she's caressing and ponders upon Nanashi's words. " I doubt the Ohm could touch a flower without crushing its petals," she says after a few lightquick seconds of pondering. "We can touch the flowers because we have the capability to care for their treatment. We can be gentle and soft, just like the flowers."

Her mouth becomes a tense thin line. "The Ohm, however, are cold and ruthless."

[needs-release.livejournal.com]

Sam had been on his way to the City to put another day into seeing if the Ruthwen house was squished in there among the buildings. But he had been distracted by the lovely scent of flowers. Among them was the captivating scent of a certain Vampire Queen. He wasn't sure if her company was good or bad for him, but he was still occasionally intoxicated by her, by her scent, by the power she exuded. Together, they were two souls, tortured, but eternal. It wasn't too much to ask to be comforted in each others' presence, was it?

He was dressed more casually than usual, a pale blue polo shirt tucked into black trousers, with a white belt and his trademark pink sneakers. They were starting to show signs of wear, since it was harder to keep them clean on the ship. However, they ranked with his wedding ring and his cell phone among things that he would treasure above all else as tokens of his home.

"Those are lovely," he said gently to her, from rather close behind her.

[sanguineroyal.livejournal.com]

Nanashi heard Sam coming up from behind her. She couldn't mistake the cadence of his footsteps or even the sound of his heart at that point. She let his soft voice wash over her, the same way she was letting the scents wash over her.

She straightened up, closing the gap between them, "One of my human children started this garden for me a long, long, time ago. All but the moon flowers are the same type of flower as she had originally planted. They are truly lovely."

She looked over her shoulder at Sam with a bright smile. "I see you have caught me using the sensoriums again." There was no guilt in that smile- rather the opposite. She bore a grin of the cat who had caught the canary.

[needs-release.livejournal.com]

Sam looked the garden over, not surprised in the least that he hadn't managed to sneak up on her. Not that he'd been trying to. "For as much as I've studied, botany is not one of the subjects that has gotten my attention yet." Yet, meaning that as he got older, he would need projects to maintain his attention, and not languish into the apathetic melancholy that was stereotypical of his species.

He smirked, and shrugged, not removing his hands from his pockets. "I'm quite used to people ignoring my medical advice. From my brother checking himself out of the infirmary to run off with his boyfriend, to my Lord pushing himself far farther than he should to protect his house, when he has many loyal people around him that can take over so he may heal. I think I would have been more surprised if you had listened."

[sanguineroyal.livejournal.com]

"Flowers tend to die when I try to care for them. Many vampires have this problem in our world. If it were otherwise, I would have studied botany much more closely." She heaved a sigh.

"No, I have not been one to listen to advice about my health. I believe it happens when you are so hard to kill." Nanashi turned around with another sigh, "I take it you love flowers as well."

[needs-release.livejournal.com]

"Well, the corollary to sunlight is a problem for us. Usually a household needs to hire a human landscaping company to keep things maintained during the day. The neighbors usually complain if you try to mow the lawn at 3 a.m.," he smirked.

He ran a hand over some blooms, enjoying their texture. Their scent played an impressive symphony across his senses.

[sanguineroyal.livejournal.com]

"What do you mean by 'mow the lawn'? Is it some sort of botany phrase?" Nanashi looked inquisitively at Sam. Not only was she not familiar with a mower, she had no concept of a lawn.

Despite her confusion, when she saw Sam caressing some of the flowers she took his hand and began to lead him away, "If you enjoy the feel of flowers, then I must show you these."

She led him further into the garden, managing the complex twists and turns with practised ease until she reached a spattering of red flowers () that hung in bunches from bush-like plants. "Amaranths, I believe these are called. Feel how soft the tiny flowers are. It is almost like all the small flowers create one large one."

[needs-release.livejournal.com]

He chuckled a bit. "It's how you take care of a lawn to keep the grass cropped short. It's essentially a whirling blade that cuts it down. And it makes a lot of noise."

He let her lead him away. She was being very childlike right now. It was kind of endearing. "Ah, yes, I've heard of these. Lady Katarina had them planted on her property when she was pregnant with her second child. She has an affinity for red when she's pregnant." He ran his hand over the blooms, a soft smile on his face still. It was times like this where he appreciated his heightened sense of smell.

[playsin-traffic.livejournal.com]

Tony paused at the door. All he could see was flowers and for some reason that made him feel a bit better. The ship was starting to weigh on him, despite all of the good that had come with it (Kate), despite the friends, he still found himself constantly frustrated with a perceived helplessness and it wasn't doing his inner beast any good. He eyed the plants for a moment and then slowly slipped inside. For a few very long moments he simply took all of the green growth in and then took a deep breath.

Try to find peace.

[sanguineroyal.livejournal.com]

There was a new heartbeat in the garden with her. Someone had wandered in. Well, of all the places in the castle, she had always felt most at peace here. The voices rarely interupted her thoughts here.

She straightened, looking above the flowerbeds at the newcomer. She shifted her cloak with her family crest on her shoulders and spoke softly, "Welcome. Enjoing the garden little one. Ah, I apologise. It is an old habit to say little one." A habit that caused more trouble for her than it was worth.

[playsin-traffic.livejournal.com]

There was moment where Tony visibly bristled at the words "little one". As much as he might be used to insults (or perceived ones), his inner beast never really adjusted to them. It just got angry. He fought down the surge of temper and just shrugged his shoulders. "...just looking 'round."

He squinted at her curiously. "...hey, you were one of the people runnin' in the election, right?"

[sanguineroyal.livejournal.com]

Nanashi smiled, "Indeed, I was. But alas, I did not gain enough favour to secure a position."

[watchwith3hands.livejournal.com]

There was a small, fluffy green blur running around the ship, that had just happened to find its way to the sensoriums. It had never been in there before, and was quite surprised to find a garden in a room that had seemed smaller from the outside. It wanted very much to explore this place, and maybe pee on it to mark it as their property.

Unfortunately for it, not two minutes after in ran into the room, it was followed by a very frazzled and out-of-breath Brazilian, who was scowling and brandishing a leash. He stormed into the garden, any trace of his usual happy disposition completely gone. "FATI, YOU STUPID DOG," he roared, not even caring if he was disturbing someone else's sensorium time, "GET BACK HERE, YOU DAMN MUTT!"

[sanguineroyal.livejournal.com]

Nanashi heart the tiny, fast-beating heart rush into the room. She found the source, sqatting by one of the flower beds. She held her place, pulling her shoulders back and holding her head high in a confident pose- a rather common pose for her.

"No."

It was not the words that were important, but her tone and her body language. When the alien dog stood back up she knelt and patted her on the head with a smile, "Good dog."

Nanashi was not particularly fond of animals in general, but she did appreciate how loyal dogs were in the very least. When they were trained properly at least. She couldn't imagine these alien dogs being much different.

Which meant that this one was not particularly well trained. Not if it was about to pee on her precious flowers. She wondered who the owner was, but didn't have to wonder long when she heard Rei's voice from down the hall. She intercepted the dog- who had taken to running down the path- and picked her up, standing within view of the entrance, waiting for her seritavi to come in.

"I believe your puppy has a fondness for flowers."

[watchwith3hands.livejournal.com]

As Rei got closer, it was obvious just how frazzled he was. There were dark circles around his eyes, and his facial hair, usually so immaculately groomed, was mussed. He was running, but it hurt - his legs were sore and bruised under his pants.

When he spotted Nanashi and the dog, he slowed down and stormed towards them.

"Bad dog," he hissed, glowering at the puppy. The dog whimpered a bit and looked back at him with big black eyes.

"Oh no you don't, you little monster," he said, not even seeming to take notice of the fact that someone was holding the dog, "that doesn't work on me anymore. I've figured out your little tricks."

[sanguineroyal.livejournal.com]

Nanashi couldn't help but to laugh a bit.

"Having trouble training her I see. You really need to be stronger with her. She can tell that she's getting to you."

She really wanted to find a comb and fix him up. He looked so stressed. That always gave blood a bit of a sour taste. Maybe it was more of those... har- homores- hormones! that Sam had mentioned.

"It looks like she may have figured out some of your tricks as well."

[watchwith3hands.livejournal.com]

Without even looking at the vampire's face, Rei reached out and lifted his dog from her hands. Holding it under one arm, he used his free hand to latch the leash onto her collar. "I am so finding a solid freaking chain, do you hear me? And I'm going to weld it to your collar you little mongrel." He mumbled under his breath. He then set Fati on the ground.

"Sit." He snapped. She yipped, but didn't sit. "I. Said. Sit." He growled, the 's' becoming a hiss as his forked tongue flicked out of his mouth. She yipped again, but obeyed.

"Good," he said. He then finally seemed to take notice of Nanashi. "Sorry, what did you say?" He asked, rubbing his temples. He could feel the start of a headache. Well, at least here that didn't mean loosing a grip on time and falling through the cracks.

[sanguineroyal.livejournal.com]

"I was saying that she is not listening because you are too obviously flustered by her."

She smiled at him and motioned to a bench, "Take a seat, relax. You've let your new pup get you far too riled up." Was that actual concern in her voice? Well, yes, it was, but concern that her back-up food supply was going to kill himself with stress.

[watchwith3hands.livejournal.com]

"Yes, well, I'm starting to believe God put dogs into the universe to annoy people. If I could go and punch the moron that decided to domesticate wolves without probably royally screwing most of human history, I would." He was rambling, though it wasn't his normal easy-going, slow paced rambling. He was speaking very quickly, and it showed just how out of sorts he was.