At First Baguette [Wingy!]

[winged]

The moment her lips brushed against unimaginably soft lips, words escaped her as electrifying sensation, tangled irreversibly with intoxicating emotion surged to fill the void to brimming. It was impossible to analyze just how this moment, in particular, made her feel. Every hazy daydream she’d entertained so guiltily, spurred by a sideward glance at one girl or another, held no snuff next to this. Even as Mizu pulled away, a broad smile stretching her pretty little mouth, I’dou amicably followed it, resulting in a definite lack of personal space as one nose just brushed another, their breath intermingling in the crowded space.

Her own face was lit with a similar blush, though the shyness was evaporating at a considerable rate. Her hand still clutching the baker’s, I’dou’s thumb traced idle circles on the back of hand, fingers loosening their tight grip as she, too, leaned closer as Mizuko’s mouth collided with her own once more, this time vocalizing her pleasure with a breathy little moan of disappointment as she pulled away once more, face growing considerably redder as she checked herself. Shame was currently being punted to the wayside, however – it had no place here, so far as the rider was concerned.

Not with such an affectionate partner, at least. All the confirmation I’dou needed lay right there, etched into the essence of the affection mirrored from her face onto Mizu’s. Therefore the woman’s smile came easier, stupidly quirky as it was, as she continued to cling fast to the hand grasping hers, the other lifting slowly to curiously weave inquisitive fingers through the cloud of dark hair that crackled in the dry, wintry atmosphere. It clung like a living thing, and I’dou couldn’t help but choke on laughter at the silly notion of Mizuko’s hair being alive.

She felt fantastically un-self-conscious; airy, light, she knew she looked like an idiot, but she couldn’t care less. Her hand did pause, however, as the baker girl’s fumbling words echoed the very same sentiment she’d been basking in, unawares. “I like you, too.” I’dou’s voice was confident, where Mizuko’s had faltered. She’d didn’t conceive of any problem in confessing it, not now at least. She was still floating somewhere above cloud nine, and her hand soon resumed its stroking, eventually migrating southwards to brush the other girl’s cheek, happily distracted with marveling at how soft she was.

She hadn’t, notably, budged from her privacy invading posture, still leaning in close and her breath likely tickling Mizuko’s neck as she had to gaze down. Another thing to marvel at, being taller than someone else. “Not going to kick me out now, are you?” I’dou kept her voice light, despite her compelling desire to be reassured that she hadn’t messed up, somehow. Mizuko hadn’t really said much…she hadn’t done anything wrong, had she? Right?

[‡§åkørü‡]

Mizuko wasn't sure what I'dou was feeling, but she could only hope it was something similar to what she herself was. The second their lips touched, she was sure that sparks must be skittering along the surface of her skin, turning it into something that was not human, but fire. It was perfect - too perfect - so perfect that she had to pull away because she couldn't help but smile. As I'dou followed her, refusing her any space just as Mizu had refused the rider her space, the baker laughed softly. She didn't mind the crowding at all; in fact, she reveled in it.

Her free hand reached across her body, sought the hand that was currently stroking soft circles on the back of her own. With a light touch, she ran her fingers lightly over the rider's rougher skin, fascinated even as she leaned in to kiss I'dou again. Yet again she had to pull back, unable to stop the joyful grin that spread across her face. She didn't need to open her eyes to study the bluerider's face, because she was sure that it was as flushed, as happy as her own. The little sound that came from I'dou when she'd pulled away, though, made the baker giggle softly, because she felt the same. She didn't want the kiss to end - but it was too perfect. It seemed that the best things came only in small quantities... but there could be as many of them as she wanted there to be.

At last she opened her eyes, and found the very sight she'd been hoping to encounter. I'dou's face, red with what she hoped was pleasure, and such a sweet expression in her eyes that Mizu's heart melted at the sight of it. Her fingers twined tightly with the rider's, and she grinned when she heard her hair crackle slightly when the other's fingers met it. Somehow, the moment seemed right to say what she'd been thinking, and the baker was only rewarded when I'dou said that she liked her back. Her heart lurched with delight, and with a soft sigh of contentment, she leaned her face gently against the rider's fingers. The hand that was on top of I'dou's rose, and she cradled the woman's larger hand against her face, closing her eyes.

They opened again immediately, however, when the rider asked if she was going to kick her out now. Puzzled, Mizuko stared at her for a moment, and then her face split in a broad grin. Disentangling her fingers from I'dou's, the baker quite deliberately reached up, caught the rider's face in both hands, and kissed her soundly. She lingered there for a moment, tangling her hands in the jet-black hair, and then decided to cement the promise of that kiss and gave her another one, just to be safe. She couldn't help but wonder at how soft her lips were - they were so kissable, and she really wanted nothing more than to sit here forever, touching the face that to her was so heartbreakingly beautiful, kissing those gorgeous soft lips. "Does that answer your question?" she inquired sweetly. Her thumbs gently brushed I'dou's cheeks - rougher than her own and more abused by weather, but wonderful to the touch.

She couldn't help but wonder, though, how long the rider would stay. Today? Tomorrow? She would have to get back to the Eyrie, wouldn't she? The thought made a small frown tug at the corners of her lips. Selfishly, she wanted I'dou to stay here with her, for as long as they wanted each other. Personally, she would be satisfied never to let the bluerider go, never to let her go back to Eyrie without she, Mizuko. It was selfish, of course. But she tried not to ruin the moment with her feelings, let a cheery grin light her face instead. She didn't even ask, not even playfully, if I'dou was going to leave her. They shouldn't worry about things like that right now. They didn't matter - not when you were living in the moment like this.

[/center]

[winged]

It was a happiness that numbed the senses. I’dou didn’t have the time or attention to think of anything other than what sat right in front of her, the pleasant sensations that elicited little thrills of delight which trickled teasingly down her spine. Words were heady things, full of promise and expectation. Touch was something else entirely, and it had an addictive quality that tended to crowd out rational thought in favor of sensation. One wasn’t required to think in order to kiss, for example, or run silky strands of hair through the fingers of an exploring hand. Time was of no consequence, and indeed a good many moments passed in that crowded, spotless flat.

Reality tired of distraction, however, and inserted itself most inconveniently in the form of an angry growl, echoing from I’dou’s midsection. The rider’s face colored scarlet, her lips pursed in a frowning countenance as she stared directly past Mizuko, trying to pretend that hadn’t happened. Logic began to sink its talons in regardless, the romantic mood (or what constituted romantic between the two) irreversibly shattered.

“…uh.” Still cozied up quite close to the baker, I’dou finally released her bated breath with a long-suffering sigh, a note of amusement smoothing out her scrunched up features. Her obvious appetite sat there like the elephant in the room, patiently awaiting acknowledgment with another despairing gurgle, and an even rosier complexion. Any time now.

[Aikaph]

To say the lweast, Shadoph did not enjoy being ridden by others besides Xo’li, but he did enjoy pestering people with his sarcasm. Since they had taken off, he had criticized how I’dou rode him. You’re sitting funny. Stop yanking! Sheesh, why are you splaying your legs out so far? I’m not fat. The poot Grayrider had to suffer through this the entire way to Sayaie, but she seemed to be faring quite well. Xo’li had made him promise that he wouldn’t betray the charade that he was supposed to be holding, and he only obliged because His promised a picture of him fully colored.

By now he had thoroughly bored himself. The guards did not enjoy his company, and there was nothing to eat, and Xo’li wasn’t there. BUT, what he did have was the ability to peek in I’dou’s mind without troubles. Laraph had given him that liberty before they left, and he was rather amused by how flustered she could get. With as smug little grin in his mindvoice, he let loose the best thing he could come up with without ruining the façade. Well, well, well. What do we have here, miiine?

[/color] he questioned rather loudly, and allowing himself to broadcast to both I’dou and Mizuko. Having a little fun, are we? I’m so happy for you! Now if only you had told me you were going on a daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate~!

He pulled out his best trick: not the deadpan, not even sarcasm. He toyed with her and ultimately embarrassed her right in front of the girl. He didn’t care; she wasn’t His, and his real His hadn’t said anything about teasing, now did he? No, he didn’t. Now let’s see where this takes our little nutball…[/center]

[‡§åkørü‡]

Mizuko would have been glad to keep kissing I'dou forever, lost in their own private wilderness of joy and sensation. Unfortunately, halfway towards the bluerider's face to steal another kiss, the baker heard a sound she most definitely recognized. Seized by an almost irresistible desire to giggle, she bit her tongue and flicked her gaze to the rider's face. Just as suspected, I'dou was blushing furiously, staring past Mizu's head with a small frown on her face. It took every ounce of willpower the baker had not to laugh, but she couldn't suppress the tiny grin that appeared on her own lips.

"Hu..." she tried to finish with the 'ngry' that was supposed to come next, but an unfamiliar voice popped into her head unbidden. Dark eyes widened, and the baker lunged off the bed, grabbing I'dou's hand and dragging her downstairs. Here she grabbed the punishment baguette off the counter, clutching it in one hand and staring at the doorway they'd just come through with huge eyes and rapid breathing. "What was that? Did it follow us?" she whispered, crushing the rider's fingers in her own. She crept forward, peering around the edge of the doorway as if expecting something to jump out at her.

Really, for all she knew someone was waiting to jump out at her. Mizuko hadn't paused long enough even to figure out that the voice had been inside her head, not out of it, and now she watched the narrow stairwell expectantly, tense and ready to attack whatever followed her. Nothing was appearing, however, and she couldn't hear footsteps, or the voice. "Who is 'mine'?" she whispered, apparently having forgotten all about the romantic moment in favour of looking for this new menace.

She had not, on the other hand, forgotten about the rumbling-stomach noise she'd heard. Reluctantly the baker released I'dou's hand, and pointed without looking at the baskets and shelves behind her. "Pick something to eat. My treat. I'll get whoever's up there," she decided under her breath. With that, she crept to the foot of the stairs, baguette in hand, and then tip-toed quietly up the first few steps, wide-eyed but determined to get whatever person was hiding in her room. In her house! Oh, the nerve! It obviously didn't occur to her that the voice had said 'if only you had told me' and therefore implied that the owner knew her or I'dou. No, she was only reacting to the voice and she was determined to beat up the person it belonged to.

[/center]

[winged]

The illusion of privacy was further shattered as a loud, raucous voice filled the empty spaces of her mind, echoing off private thoughts and crowding most uncomfortably in a niche it didn’t fit. She could hear Shadoph just fine, but it was a strained effort not to simply throw up the mental block that she’d perfected through a year’s worth of stubborn, mulish behavior. She was accustomed to Laraph’s modulated softness, feminine and discreet for all her bubbly tendencies. The blue’s playful admonishment felt like an ill-fitting glove, and the rider gave her head a brief shake before she was jerked back into the realm of the here and now, dragged half-protesting down the steps as Mizu armed herself with one of the neglected baguettes, peering suspiciously outside.

What was she doing? Confusion left the woman mulling, not without a mental jab in Shadoph’s general direction however. He was being a pest on purpose; his voice was still ringing in her ears! It was while she was in the process of attempting to shut the blue’s pie hole that I’dou made the connection, and she began chuckling at Mizu’s stalking. Giggles that blossomed into full-out laughter, though I’dou tried her best to suppress them to a more discreet level; no good presenting herself into a mentally disturbed light.

“Y-you heard him?” Her voice rose and fell in natural cadence amongst the sputters of amusement. “That’s Shadoph, he’s not here.” It wasn’t really a funny matter, Mizuko didn’t know any better! It was mean to laugh, but laugh she did. Foregoing the offer of a free meal, the rider jogged quickly up the stairs and gently took fast grip of Mizu’s baguette, applying pressure to force the smaller girl to drop her aggression. “He’s – a simourv.” She hesitated to apply for ownership of the blue harlequin, despite the damages already done. “There’s no intruder, he’s just projecting his voice.”

Why bespeak Mizu, though? I’dou contemplated it a moment, before throwing barely formed inklings out the window. He was just trying to mess with her – and I’dou by proxy. Haha, funny Shadoph. What do you want? Besides to be a pain.

[Aikaph]

Shadoph was more than amused by the baker’s reaction, and even more so by I’dou’s reaction to her friend’s reaction! Oh, this turned out better than expected~! Whe asked what he wanted after a mean little jab from ‘His,’ he only gave a mental shrug. Well, if you must know, I’m booooooooored, he replied bluntly, reverting back to his sarcasm. Besides, my back is still sore from you sitting as if I were a table.

[/color] That part was true; she didn’t know how to sit on a Blue worth crap! He had a terrible sore from her sitting all weird, and he shoved some of that soreness at her for good measure. That’ll teach her to sit on him weird.

But the baker… Ah, she was funny. Did she really think that a Simourv, probably as big as the building, was inside it? Pathetic. Yes, because I can SO fit in a tiny room, he replied in a deadpan voice to Mizu and Mizu only. I’dou would find out eventually what he was telling the girl. Listen here, and listen good: I’dou doesn’t like it when I talk to people like this, but don’t tell her, okay? he asked Mizuki, obviously telling her to tell I’dou what he was saying while saying for her to not. You make sure to come to the Eyrie sometime, okay? I know that Mine would enjoy it if you did.[/color] With that, Shadoph retreated from the poor girl’s mind (not leaving the impression like a Searcher; if he was a Searcher, all of Pohono would be doomed), and watched with more than mild amusement as the chain of events that followed began to unfold.[/center]

[‡§åkørü‡]

"Of course I heard him! He was right there!" Mizuko squeaked indignantly. "I'm not deaf!" Honestly, if she were deaf she wouldn't even have reacted to the voice in her head. She tried to ignore the laughter. Shadoph? She had no idea who Shadoph was, but she wanted him out of her house! How had he gotten in, anyway? And then it registered that he wasn't here. Of course, that was only after she'd gotten halfway up the stairs.

The baker protested as I'dou's hand closed on the baguette, halting both progress and the inevitable swing that her jangled nerves would have made if she hadn't been so focused on the imaginary intruder. As it was, she twisted to glare up at her. "Projecting his voice?" she asked stupidly, and then paused. OH. Oh, she was stupid! Why hadn't she realized that? Especially after the rider had said 'he's a simourv.' Honestly. The frustration made her pull at the baguette, intending to yank it out of I'dou's hands, before she hesitated. The voice was back in her head. It was talking to her! Talking!

"I-I'dou?" she queried uncertainly, "he's... talking to me." Having no idea that she could just talk back by using her mind, the baker couldn't tell him to shut up and so she listened mutely to what he was telling her. She didn't care if I'dou didn't like it when he talked to other people. It was him breaking the rules, not her! Besides, he'd started it.

What he said next took her off guard, however. Come to the Eyrie? "O...oh," she gasped faintly. What was she supposed to say to that? Blushing in a manner that suggested I'dou obviously hadn't been the cause, Mizuko used the opportunity to jerk the breadstick out of the rider's hands and race the rest of the way up the stairs, just to make sure. As she'd been told, there was nothing there and, embarrassed, the baker walked back down in a manner that was as dignified as she could manage. Besides that, however, the bluerider had laughed at her for wanting an intruder out of her face. Covering for herself, the baker whacked I'dou with the baguette on the way down the stairs, then grabbed her hand and pulled her into the bakery. "Where is he if he's not in here? Can all simourvs do that?" she demanded, scuttling to the window and peeking out. "And why's he talking to me if you don't like it when he does?"

[/center]

[winged]

She could feel the baguette stiffen beneath her well-meaning grasp, could see the way the naturally open body language of the baker grew rigid and perhaps even cold as her flustered voice pierced the suddenly fallen quiet of the shop, stringent and amusing of its own accord, if I’dou were foolish enough to continue laughing at the sake Mizuko’s self-esteem. She wasn’t, fortunately, and tried her best to explain, her own hands releasing the baker’s chosen weapon and held before her in a wordless attempt at hushing confused panic before it escalated into anything else.

Watching the other girl’s face as she was, I’dou realized that revelation had dawned on Mizuko, however, and allowed the silence to settle once more, face pinching in a frown as the baker’s expression grew distant once more, eyes wide as though…

Shadoph, you’d better knock it off. The rider had spent enough time dwelling around fellow simourv and riders to recognize when someone was conversing with an internalized presence. Poor Mizuko, she felt a good deal of fondness and pity for the poor baker who was being overwhelmed by a nosy blue. Maybe she’d ask Laraph to speak to him, once she was back.

Speak to him about what? What’re you doing, you haven’t spoken to me. When are you coming back?[/color] As if bidden, a rush of extraneous anxiety buffeted the gray rider, as her beast’s suppressed emotions poured through the gap in her rider’s defenses. Answering as if beckoned, the gray took up a shamelessly intimate position in I’dou’s mind, peering through the girl’s gray-blue eyes at a now flustered Mizuko.

Omnipresent, Laraph was privy to the frustrated swipe Mizuko took at I’dou’s head, and the little wince of pain that followed. Already incensed, the gray took it upon herself to stretch – and touch the baker’s mind from her rider’s. It was a strain, but a particularly dormant stubborn streak had been aroused. Why did you do that? Who are you? Her words were not as rambunctious as Shadoph’s, but they held an inherent force the blue could not, and never would possess. The authority of a queen, subdued but present all the same, a cold tide bubbling and frothing at the shores of Mizu’s mind.

I’dou had frozen mid-stroke of her offended cranium, eyes bulging as she felt the intensity of Laraph’s ire shift and re-direct itself. Laraph, don’t! The gray, of course, had already done her damage, and inquired confusedly (and in a somewhat hurt voice) why. She was only defending Hers! I’dou should be treated respectfully, what was wrong with wanting respect for her?[/size]

[‡§åkørü‡]

Mizuko didn't have time to notice that I'dou wasn't laughing at her anymore. Instead, she occupied herself with listening to the simourv in her head, unable to understand why he was there and why he could talk to her without even being present. She'd never met a rider, had only occasionally watched them do their work of ridding Sayaie of koxi. She certainly didn't know about the telepathic abilities between simourvs and humans - and if she'd heard rumours of it, she'd only heard of the great creatures being able to communicate with their riders. Not other people!

Of course, the fact that the voice was in her head wasn't as bemusing as the fact that Shadoph suggested that she go visit I'dou in the Eyrie. Of course, she liked the idea - but he should let her find that out for herself! She didn't want to go based on the advice of a... a... a simourv she hadn't even seen! Trying to figure out how to make him shut up and leave, Mizu abruptly realized that he wasn't talking anymore.

Oh. Well. Good, then. The baker took the opportunity to scuttle up and make extra sure that nobody was in her flat. Unless Shadoph were invisible (and tinier than any simourv she'd ever seen) he wasn't there. Reassured, Mizu trotted back down the stairs, and gave the rider a perfunctory whack with the breadstick, revenge for being laughed at.

And then someone else's voice filtered into her head. Mizuko stopped dead. Her expression had gone back to normal, but now her eyes flickered with something resembling nervousness. Glancing around, she tried to find the source of the voice, and then realized that it was another simourv. A new one, and from the voice... well, it was female, but she couldn't place why it felt so authoritative. It shouldn't be here, in her shop! In her home! She'd been enjoying herself, and then suddenly these gigantic birds were talking to her!

Most of the colour had drained from Mizuko's face, and she stood there for several long moments, unable to stop herself from shifting so she stood with her back to the counter, armed with her baguette as if it could defend her against the voices in her head. "Who was that one?" she demanded. Her voice shook, just a little bit, and upon realizing it, the baker bit her tongue and glared at I'dou, her eyes demanding to know why birds she couldn't see were suddenly talking to her. How many simourvs could a rider have? She'd heard that they could only have one (and no surprise, considering how big they were). So why was there another talking to her? Why wasn't it Shadoph? She could live with the idea of one simourv bugging her. Two was too much to handle, partly because she didn't truly know who either one was. And why was the second voice so cold and angry-sounding? She'd only smacked I'dou with a baguette - not hard enough to do any real damage, and besides that it had been warranted (at least, to her it had been).

[/center]

[winged]

The look Mizuko pinned her with made I’dou gulp, her throat visibly constricting as the healthy flush of color wrought by her earlier joviality faded to a guiltier pallor. Descending those steps that remained between she and the ground floor of the quaint little shop, the rider stood straight-backed while facing the baker, as if preparing for her execution. Laraph had gone and spoiled it, she could see the uncertainty and suspicion flickering in the other girl’s gaze, and suddenly her feather light lies felt like hundred pound weights compressing her chest. It disturbed her, how terribly she felt now, at seeing a once open and happy face closed and unresponsive.

Angrily, I’dou shoved Laraph’s hovering presence from the forefront of her mind. Her anger at the simourv, who was in return broadcasting such heartbroken misery that the tightness in I’dou’s chest felt nigh unbearable, choked the words from her breathless throat, before I’dou clumsily began an explanation. She kept her distance, and made a hell of an effort to keep her voice on an even keel. She couldn’t quite keep the tightness from harshening her diction, however. “That was Laraph, she’s a gray.” I’dou hesitated, feeling for some sort of reaction from the baker. Did she understand the simourv hierarchy? Maybe, maybe she could fool her through this little slip-up, as well.

“Shadoph was being a pest, and Laraph got concerned. They’re very sorry for upsetting you, simourv don’t really mean any harm.” Skies above, she sounded so very condescending, and she physically winced at the forced necessity. “That’s how they communicate, they speak with their minds. It’s, ah, unsettling at first, I know.” Her hands had gravitated forward, as if silently pleading Mizu to take her explanation at face value.

Laraph, having been shoved aside, had mutely and metaphorically watched over her rider’s shoulder as I’dou minced through a choppy explanation. She was quite angry herself, tail lashing and threatening to bowl over a few concerned Eyrie residents who had gathered to observe the younger queen in the pen, huddled over her meal gone stone cold. Still, through her anger, she could feel I’dou’s remorse and the gray was duty-bound to forgive – even if not fully. Not wishing to upset the delicate situation any further, but feeling responsible for the smoothing over of this hiccup, Laraph bespoke Mizuko once again, her words warmer now – a warm tropical current rather than a wintry tide.

I’m sorry for startling you, my name’s Laraph. I’dou seems very fond of you, and I was only a little curious. It wasn’t the whole truth, it wasn’t even necessarily half of the truth, but she was trying. Very hard. My rider doesn’t like very many people, so that makes you special!

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, always.

[‡§åkørü‡]

Mizuko didn't miss the fact that I'dou had swallowed, as people tended to do when they were nervous. She glared at her, silently demanding to know who these voices belonged to and why they were talking to her, and why it had only happened after the rider appeared in her shop. Her grip on the baguette became tighter, and the baker stared hard at the girl she'd been so happily kissing just a few minutes ago. She would have loved to kiss her again... but not in this mood. Not with strange voices she didn't know speaking to her - and coming from bodies she couldn't see, projected into her head.

At least there seemed to be an explanation. Eager to grab onto anything that would help her figure out what on Pohono was going on, Mizu listened to I'dou's explanation. She wasn't sure what being grey had to do with anything, but maybe there was some sort of hierarchy for the simourvs' colours. She'd no idea but, grateful for an explanation that made sense, she decided to believe the rider. Theoretically, dealing with the giant bird-creatures all the time, she would know what was going on with them. And, thankful for the knowledge that she wasn't the only one who found the voices unsettling, the baker softened slightly. "Yes, they are," she grumbled. It was confusing, but she supposed if they stopped talking for a while she could get used to the idea.

And they had stopped talking - mostly. In fact, grateful that things had been explained to her, the baker had managed a small, confused smile. She started to move towards I'dou, baguette-hand relaxing slightly so that her 'weapon' resembled a breadstick more than a sword once more. About to reach out and catch one of the hands that was extended to her, Mizuko paused as the female voice swept into her head once again - but it was warmer this time.

'That makes you special!' the voice said, and a small smile twitched up the corners of the baker's mouth. She ran over what she had just heard - and stopped dead, eyes suddenly dark and cold. Just to make sure she wasn't second-guessing, Mizu scanned her memory of the words again. That was definitely what the grey had said. Her rider. The baker's eyes narrowed, and she lifted the baguette, then swung it at the side of I'dou's head. Half of it snapped off, and she merely bent to pick up the other half before raising one portion of the baguette over her head, poised to hit her again. "You're the grey's rider? Laraph's? I thought Shadoph was yours!"

Unable to contain herself, Mizuko whacked I'dou in the head again, and then again and again, although the blows probably didn't hurt much because of the fact that the weapons were in fact made of bread. Still, she was an expert at abusing people with breadsticks; with anger and hurt at being lied to roiling up inside her, the baker's attacks only grew more vicious than they had to be. "Why-- are-- there-- two-- of-- them!?" She was breathless from rage and exertion, true, but she still wanted to know the answer. And why shouldn't she? What wasn't wrong with pretending another simourv was your own, or acting like you had one simourv when you had two, or... whatever was going on? She didn't know anymore, so she took out her anger by beating I'dou with her breadsticks, though she refrained from screaming at her, which was in itself a small mercy. A very small mercy, but a mercy nonetheless.

[/center]

[winged]

She should have seen it coming. It was entirely her own fault for believing her luck was benevolent enough to let her slide. I’dou saw Mizuko slowly relax as her words sunk in, and she herself relaxed in turn. Good, good; she’d avoided catastrophe. She nearly breathed a blustery sigh of relief before catching herself right before committing the act that would prove all her fast talking for naught. The rider had even managed a half smile as she saw the baker reach for one of her hands, trust once again warming her eyes.

Then, by some cruel twist of fate, Mizuko’s face hardened again into ugly denial. Her mind was leaps and bounds ahead of her sluggish body, and she could see the baguette arcing, with disaster in mind, towards her head. That certainly didn’t prevent the baguette from hitting its mark, however. Caught off-guard and unprepared, the gray rider’s head snapped back with the unexpected force of the baker’s fury. Her weaknesses further exposed, she could only throw up a clumsy defense as Mizuko continued to beat her, the woman’s voice shooting up the scales into a frantic squeal of her own.

“S-stop!” The bread was flaking off from the blunt force of the other girl’s swings, snowing golden brown crust on I’dou’s head and shoulders. She looked rather speckled in no time, and a hilarious image indeed, if she wasn’t so desperately cringing away from the seemingly unprovoked violence. There, a swat to her head, another swing clipping her chin through her awkwardly positioned arm guard.

Two? It didn’t take long for I’dou to connect the dots, although she didn’t have much opportunity to explain herself directly off the bat. Her attention was torn in three separate ways – formulating a shoddy reply, raging at Laraph, and defending herself from the doughy onslaught. Why did you do this? Ignoring Laraph’s immediate concerns over her rider’s well-being (she was being attacked after all), I’dou deflatedly begged the rhetorical question of her simourv, before wearily throwing her arms up in plea for pardon. “I lied!” Wince, ow. She’d come close to poking her in the eye with that strike. “Laraph’s my simourv, I-I just rode Sha-“ ow, a smack to the jaw that time. “-ph into town for the day! I’M SORRY.”

Please, for the love of simourv, would she STOP?

[‡§åkørü‡]

Mizuko didn't stop the first time she was asked. She'd already figured out that the rider had lied - the greyrider, as it turned out. Mercilessly battering the woman she'd so recently been sitting on her bed kissing, the baker flailed with the baguettes, whacking her again and again. Anger burned bright patches across her cheeks and lit her eyes with a vicious light. Ignoring the fact that she was getting bits of bread all over the floor and, of course, I'dou, Mizu took in the fragments of sentences that reached her, but didn't stop her onslaught for any of them.

I'dou's arms, getting in the way, were making it more difficult to land any decent hits on her. Still, the baker kept trying, viciously assaulting whatever parts of the rider she could reach. She managed to get the rider on the chin, and then several times on the forearm before she successfully landed a hit high on the cheekbone, and then the jaw. Only when I'dou all but begged for mercy, pleading "I'm sorry!" did Mizuko halt her attack. Chest heaving from the effort of flailing the rather dilapidated breadsticks around, the baker glared at the rider. Angry tears had risen to her eyes, and she swiped them away with a crumb-specked wrist, throwing one of the baguette-halves on the counter at the same time.

"Then why didn't you t-tell me?" she demanded, stepping close to I'dou and rising onto her toes so she matched the taller girl's height. Jaw set firmly in anger, the baker's hand clenched around the one half of baguette she still held onto. "Why would you lie?" Wasn't it easier just to say she'd borrowed someone else's simourv to go to town, than pretend it was yours? Mizuko had never understood lying to begin with, and about something like this, where the solution should be so obvious, the lack of necessity was infuriating.

"And why didn't you just ride Laraph?" she demanded as an afterthought. What about a grey would make her want to ride a different simourv instead? Surely they couldn't be that different, and wouldn't it be better just to ride your own bonded bird, instead of sitting astride someone else's? Mizu, having virtually no guile in the first place, was totally baffled by this... but she was angry, too. Angry that I'dou had lied to her, and especially angry that she'd tried to cover it up with more lies. Hot tears stung the backs of her eyes, and the baker clenched her fist around the baguette. Glancing at it, she came to a decision, and threw it at the rider's chest, trying not to either cry or storm out of the room as she was tempted to do. She'd be an adult about this. Besides the violence, of course. She told herself she was mature, that she could handle this - even though in reality, she couldn't. All she wanted to do was hit I'dou again, and then run away where she couldn't be found, to go cry... or maybe bake. Baking always took away the pain.

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[winged]

The force driving those crusty weapons of hers was not terribly painful. It was disconcerting, certainly, to be assaulted by foodstuffs (and the bits of flaky crust that flaked off into her head of dark hair and crept down the collar of her shirt itched tremendously), but I’dou would come away with no physical wounds to speak of such an impromptu molestation. The devil was in the details – the dark, fuming anger that lent a startling degree of ferocity to the baker’s lashings. Well-versed in hatred and all its incomprehensible forms, I’dou was understandably upset to see that pestilent emotion surfacing, once again, on another’s face.

The confusion of the situation was further enhanced by the mixing of the two individual moodsets that dominated the scene. She was obviously hurt and frustrated with Mizu’s irrational behavior, but she couldn’t quite dislodge the earlier ruminations of affection that lingered like week-old perfume in the now toxic atmosphere. It only seemed to undermine the paltry attempts made for brevity, and the rider wore a sour look indeed when Mizu finally paused, choking on tears and demanding reasons. Reasons why, reasons to lessen the hurt she clearly felt. And at that moment, I’dou bristled at the implication. It wasn’t logical, it was clearly irrational – but that didn’t prevent her from feeling it.
Averting her eyes in shame (whether from her own disgrace or Mizu’s desperate anger), I’dou responded tightly. “I didn’t want to be recognized.” Drawing on the miasma of their quickly deteriorating relationship, it was difficult to tell where the rider was coming from. Did she resent being a queen rider? Did she intend to play citizens for fools? …perhaps a bit of both, but her shame encroached upon the entire subject, and she felt disinclined to proceed any further. She couldn’t – it sat there like an avalanche awaiting a trigger, looming and threatening to smother her if she tried to acknowledge it.

“Look, I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…” Thoughtfully, the rider didn’t finish the sentence, allowing unresolved matters to fade into the background once more, souring things further. It was an insult to continue any further, clearly – I’dou didn’t know what she was sorry for, and in some ways she didn’t feel sorry at all, and things were so confused. “I apologize for misleading you.” A formal expression of regret, fitting of her rank. It felt so false, falling like lead from her tongue before she wordlessly turned and exited the bakery – her posterity ruined somewhat by the flakes of bread that still clung to her hair and clothes. Just a touch, though.
Shadoph, let’s go. She didn’t want to be here anymore. She’d go back, to Laraph. Where she clearly belonged.