tampered | Log; Closed; Ongoing

Log; Closed; Ongoing

When; After this convo which logically follows this log.
Rating; PG-13
Characters;

wishsrequiem
Summary; Stork has arrived to play some Cloud Chess with Euphemia, but only if he can make it past uber!protective brother Lelouch.
Log;

It wasn't a difficult game, but Stork thought that maybe a relaxing round of Cloud Chess might give Euphemia something else to put her mind on. (What he didn't know was that Cloud Chess wasn't any different from Earth's version of chess, other than the pieces had different names and figurines.) Under one arm he carried the board which cleverly folded into two separate compartments and set itself up with the push of a button.

To say that he wasn't nervous would've been a lie, seeing as how the person he was now visiting had shot two people and, curse or not, that made the Merb leery. But at the same time, Euphemia had been nothing short of angelic to him (even saying he was polite and handsome for a Merb and asdfghjkl he was turning mottled just remembering) and he really, really wanted her to feel better. None of the strange behaviour in the City was their own fault, it was all the curses. Even his own behaviour so recently...

Stork arrived at Euphemia's choice of residence, now the second time he'd been here (the first when C.C. dragged him to that party). He wasn't bearing a cabbage this time... oh yeah, and he hadn't exactly told her he was coming. He hoped she wouldn't be mad ~~or have a gun~~.

Knock-knock!

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If Lelouch were to be honest, he had expected to hear a knock at their door quite a bit sooner than this. He was rather pleased that many of Euphemia's friends were more worried for her than scared. If there were, then at least they still had the courage to turn up. This was not going to turn up like another episode of the "Massacre Princess," as he feared it might be. He was still cautious, oh yes, very much so. One of these "friends" may only be showing a kind exterior.

Setting his book aside, Lelouch made his way to the door. He was going to be as polite as he could be, but staying up all night over this was not exactly what he would call fun. As he answered the door, he was mildly surprised to see who would be the first visitor.

"May I help you?"

Stork was relieved because he already knew this person, Euphemia's brother though he couldn't quite recall his name having only met him once at the party. It had been a while ago and he couldn't recall if he'd made a good -- or any -- impression upon the other house member.

"Is, uh, is Euphemia here?"

Lelouch knew this one well enough. At least Stork wasn't on his radar of people to keep a closer eye on. His eyes took note of the board in the other's arms before opening the door wider.

"Ah, that she is. Coming for a visit?"

Stork relaxed marginally as Lelouch didn't tell him to beat it. His four-fingered hands offered the board as though for Lelouch's inspection. "Cloud chess," he said. "I was talking to her and she..."

Hung up on me when I offered to come over didn't exactly have the right ring to it, and Stork groped desperately for an alternative. "... said she didn't know how to play?"

"She hung up on you," Lelouch corrected. No, he knew his sister well enough to know when she would avoid people. It must run in their blood. After looking over the board ( which he was actually a bit interested in himself ), he handed it back.

"Come on in then," he stated, moving aside for Stork to come inside. "She's in her room."

"Eheheh," was Stork's reply, admittedly it hadn't been a very good lie anyway so it was no surprise Lelouch had called him on it.

"Thanks," he said, stepping into the house at the invitation. He wouldn't presume to know where her room was (especially in light of the most recent curse and hoped, very much hoped that Lelouch didn't know he'd been hitting on Euphemia) and hesitated.

"Can I, uh, ask you something?"

As soon as Stork was in, Lelouch shut the door and locked it. He was being mindful to Euphemia's needs and it if someone wanted in, they could knock. He started to walk towards her room, getting that this one didn't know which was hers. The question made him stop in his tracks and a dark look crossed his features before he turned around, expression changing.

"I can't know unless you ask it."

Stork wondered how to broach this prickly subject (and he didn't like the look he was being given) but he wasn't about to bring it up with Euphemia herself.

"It was just a curse, right?" he asked. "It just seemed a lot... meaner, than most of them."

A very prickly subject indeed. Perhaps there was more to be concerned about with this one than he had originally thought. He rose a single eyebrow, playing along with it. For now. With this he would have to perhaps fish for more information.

"Really? It seemed like any curse to me."

Did he see her memories too?

Stork had indeed seen her memories (http://deadly-legacy.livejournal.com/5360.html?thread=1078768#t1078768) some time ago, but in the panic of trying to talk some sense into her he'd completely forgotten about it until he was gathering his chess pieces for the trip over here.

From Lelouch's answer, he wondered if perhaps her brother simply didn't know and he wasn't about to get involved in that familial mess. Instead he said, "She shouldn't have such bad luck with curses. She's too nice to deserve one like that."

"I would be inclined to agree with that."

And he would too. Euphemia didn't deserve any of this. Perhaps that was why he was so determined to make sure she recovered from it this time around. A large portion of this was due to guilt as well. While he didn't have to resort to killing her again, not that it would have done any good in the end, there was something to be said for him to be able to find a solution for this that didn't end in blood shed. If anything, his time here only reinforced that his plans back home really needed to be completed.

Lelouch rubbed his temple a bit. "This place seems keen on making us relive parts that we'd rather not have to live through again."

It was a harmless statement, one that had kernel of truth to it. However, perhaps it would open up other questions as well.

Stork was in the midst of nodding agreeably when he realized that, if Lelouch was talking about Euphemia, then he did know that this had happened before and this was too complicated for his sanity.

Looks like he was going to need the relaxing game as much as Euphemia might, or he'd go into a full-blown paranoia mode.

"Okay. Well," he fumbled the conversation a bit. "I'll just see if she's feeling up to playing. With me. The game, I mean. Playing the game. Yes. This one right here, in the box."

Ah, so he did know something after all. Either that or he was hiding something. Interesting. He would let it go for now, as Euphemia needed someone to pull her out of her current state and that someone could not be him. Everything else was being compiled in the back of his mind for later use.

"Even if she isn't, I would encourage you to do so anyway."

With that said, he knocked on Euphemia's door...

She had heard the voices, but not what they were saying or who the visitor was. Still, it seemed like an appropriate time to dress for the day as she had still been wearing pajamas before. Her hair was all down instead of having buns at the sides of her head that always sat there when she'd get ready for the day, and she was in a simple dress. No stockings or shoes.

She said and did nothing for a moment after the knock. Finally, she stood and put her hand on the knob. Another pause, and then she opened it slightly, hiding herself behind the door. "Lelouch?"

"Plus one," Stork said timidly, peeking over Lelouch's shoulder -- which was funny, because Stork was taller but his odd posture meant he didn't look it. "I thought, uh, maybe you'd like to try Cloud Chess after all. It must've been a bad connection on the line since our earlier call, um... dropped."

Yes, he was totally trying to be a gentleman in his own weird way.

Lelouch moved a bit to the side for Stork. He was attempting to be accommodating. This probably wasn't what Euphemia really wanted. Though it was really what she needed.

"Well I will leave you two be."

"Yes, I suppose it must have." Even though they all knew that wasn't the case.

She pulled the door open wider. There was really nothing left to do, but be gracious. "Thank you, Lelouch. Please come in, Stork." The room is definitely a girl's room and a girly one at that. It is mostly in purple and pink with flowers and ribbons. There is a small sitting area with a table to the side of the room. The bed is still unmade as though she'd been in it just recently even given how it had passed into afternoon by now.

Stork's opinion of Euphie's character was even more solidified by both her agreement... and her bedroom. It was pastel shades everywhere. She was definitely the girliest girl Stork had ever been around.

Still, he felt it necessary to apologize. "Sorry for coming over unannounced."

"It's all right. I'm sorry I was rude. I just...don't know if I'll be very good company." She's not really making eye contact. She did her best to wash away evidence of the crying, but it's not hard to tell she had been earlier.

Stork thinks Euphie is good company without trying, but he's wary of saying that for fear she'll think he's repeating his previous curse.

Instead, he starts unpacking the pieces and depressing the button which unfolds the game board from quarters into its play position. The pieces don't look much like typical chess pieces: the pawns are little motorcycle-looking things, the Knights are upright shields, the bishops are slender staves affixed with itty-bitty crystals.

"Skimmers, Sky Knights, Crystal Mages," he names off each piece respectively as he sets them up.

"Oh, these are kind of cute." She touches one of the pawns. "Is it very different from regular chess?"

Stork is pleased, since he made all the pieces by hand -- that was what he did in his "down time", when he wasn't working on a project that kept him up at odd hours. Her response meant she was actually taking some interest in what he was doing, which was much better than the empty politeness from a few minutes ago.

"I don't think it would be?" he thought about it. "I've found a lot of things from Atmos are similar here."

She is trying. "Oh, really? I would think it would be very much different."

"I thought it would be too," Stork said, placing the last of the pieces into their correct spots and then folding his long-limbed frame into the chair across from her. "But aside from floating terras and Cyclonians and airships, people mostly act the same. There are even people here who'd make good Sky Knights, I think."

He fussily aligned one of the pieces exactly to its square; he'd given her the equivalent of the white pieces. "If the board looks the same, I think the game itself is probably the same."

"Are you a sky knight?"

She looks down at the board and nods. "It does. But we also play checkers on a board like this and it's different."

"M-Me?" Stork almost fell out of his seat. "No, I'm a carrier pilot. I'm not someone who'd make a good Sky Knight. You have to be brave and... have no concern for keeping all your limbs intact. Stuff like that."

Stork didn't know checkers, but he decided to make the first move (in Cloud Chess, white didn't always move first) and nudged forward one of his "skimmers", a pawn.

"On the Condor, Piper made all her pieces out of various crystals," he recounted musingly. "So one side was metal and one side crystal."

"I wonder if sky knights are like the knights in my world. Like Suzaku. He's brave." She's not going to think so much about the amputation point though.

"But you're brave too, Stork." She moves a piece the way she thinks it should go in chess at least.

"It sounds lovely, but these are nice too. Is Piper a friend of yours?"

Stork's nodding approvingly at Euphie's move, so it looks like the rules are just about the same. But his head goes funny sideways when she says he's brave.

"I'm definitely not!" he seems to be making a pointed insistence that he's not brave. Brave usually equaled stupid in his experience. Stupid typically wound up dead. Or captured. Or eaten. But then he thinks, at least she means it in a nice way, rather than a "hey you go stand on the front lines" sort of way, and that's not as bad.

"Piper is part of my squad," he answers. "She's our tactical support. And crystal specialist." He sounds almost like he's rhyming the titles off, like they're practiced.

"You're here aren't you?" And this seems to be proof enough to her that you are brave. She doesn't think of it as a stupid thing, but a strong and noble one.

"So you depend on her?"

Stork gave a small "eheh" sound, looking intently at his pieces (although he couldn't be studying his moves that hard, they were only two moves in) but peeked at her through long bangs after a moment, trying to figure out if that had been rhetorical or not.

"Well, I... thought I should also come over and apologize for. You know, talking to you like... that." He meant of course the stupid curse that had made him hit on her and other women. Still no mention of her curse, but if she brought it up? He'd at least lend an ear.

"On Piper? Yeah, lots. Everybody's got their place in the squad. When we're short-handed everything's thrown out of whack."

"For talking to me like that?" Does he mean...? No, he must mean the day before. She'd almost forgotten. "You were cursed. It was surprising, but I didn't mind."

"Hmm," Stork said wisely. "It does seem like cursed people do unlikely things, doesn't it?"

Touche, Stork. Touche.

She looks up at him, knowing what he's getting at and thinking it's sweet, but not that easy. "They do, but some things are easy to deal with and some aren't."

Stork's bony shoulders lift in a shrug. He's not used to trying to persuade other people and that's not where his strength is. "Just saying. You're going to get it from other people too. Might as well get used to it."

"I suppose so." She looks at him thoughtfully for a time before speaking again. "You're a very kind person."

The Merb is turning funny colours -- which, because his skin is green, means he's turning sort of mottled and limey. "M'not," he said, sounding strangled.

Completely and utterly flustered, he puts his Sky Knight in a wide-open position.

A little regretfully, she takes advantage of this position. "No, really."

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Log; Closed; Ongoing

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I find lol irony in Stork coming to play chess with this family of all people.

oh good. glad I am not the only one XD

I only thought about it after I was posting, lol

ha ha ha XD

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icon more related to inward thoughts

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I really should learn chess sometime...

It's very fun! Also, EEEE that vgift is adorable, ty!!

<333

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Sorry for the delay!

That's okay!