Waking from hibernation
Apr. 3rd, 2015 07:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bitterguardianAmarante's first visit to Horvath's home was brief, but the place makes an impression. Deep underground, buried in metal and concrete and layers of wards even his old master would be impressed by, Horvath is an old dragon huddled in a subterranean lair. He may have mentioned 'the vault', and he's told her before of how he guards something the Morganians would gladly kill him to get. His home is a bomb shelter, and he keeps it very tightly under lock and key.
Inside this fortress, he's made a grand space, though. His library fills most of an abandoned train station, with a cathedral ceiling that's mostly lost in shadow and rows of bookshelves that stretch further than can be seen from standing in any one spot. There are throw rugs, plush antique chairs and couches, desks and tables piled with books and papers and knickknacks, and a few display stands and cabinets that hold bizarre and impressive items collected on his travels over the ages. Lamps scattered throughout the place cast just enough light to give a warm and cozy glow to the place, without making it too bright. It's a far cry from the sanctuary Mara took him to, but the place has been molded around him like well-worn clothing or a favorite chair. Every inch of the place is very him.
Winter sent him curling up close to home, in the kind of retreat he tried to warn her he so often falls prey to. The cold has begun to creep into his bones, the past few years, and he hates to even risk slipping on the ice. It's far easier to stay down here, in the warmth and comfort of his books and his cats. He feels a little guilty for it, but with spring, it seems time to make an effort to come out of hibernation. His invitation is tentative, since she's been busy serving her Lady over the winter, and having her visit him isn't much of a step outside himself, but he's trying. With a table laid out for tea, Horvath awaits his guest, while the cats demand his attention simply because they can sense his quiet anxieties.
Inside this fortress, he's made a grand space, though. His library fills most of an abandoned train station, with a cathedral ceiling that's mostly lost in shadow and rows of bookshelves that stretch further than can be seen from standing in any one spot. There are throw rugs, plush antique chairs and couches, desks and tables piled with books and papers and knickknacks, and a few display stands and cabinets that hold bizarre and impressive items collected on his travels over the ages. Lamps scattered throughout the place cast just enough light to give a warm and cozy glow to the place, without making it too bright. It's a far cry from the sanctuary Mara took him to, but the place has been molded around him like well-worn clothing or a favorite chair. Every inch of the place is very him.
Winter sent him curling up close to home, in the kind of retreat he tried to warn her he so often falls prey to. The cold has begun to creep into his bones, the past few years, and he hates to even risk slipping on the ice. It's far easier to stay down here, in the warmth and comfort of his books and his cats. He feels a little guilty for it, but with spring, it seems time to make an effort to come out of hibernation. His invitation is tentative, since she's been busy serving her Lady over the winter, and having her visit him isn't much of a step outside himself, but he's trying. With a table laid out for tea, Horvath awaits his guest, while the cats demand his attention simply because they can sense his quiet anxieties.
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Date: 2015-05-08 06:27 pm (UTC)"But I'll be sure to save him a few of these. And," He adds a little sheepishly, "I will strive not to eat so much I fall asleep. You certainly don't make that easy on me, though." Her restlessness to look over his medicinal herbs and other supplies is subtly infectious, though, and he's looking forward to that now.
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Date: 2015-05-09 12:07 am (UTC)In fact, Mara is already starting to plan it.
"Well we can, as they say, compromise? We can bring this tray with us to the couch later, and we can eat to our heart's content and then fall asleep with sticky fingers, and sticky lips!" Not that she's never done that before, oh no.
But then again, sticky fingers mean that cat hair would stick to them, and cats like to be petted. So perhaps there is a compromise for the compromise?
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Date: 2015-05-13 02:05 am (UTC)"Well, let me just taste one, and then we'll go poke at the medicine cabinet. It really has been too long since I took stock. I have a smaller supply of herbs and odds and ends in the bedroom, and I should probably pull them all out and make a list..." He has an organized mind, but he also has far too much stuff collected over the centuries to keep proper track of it all. Some ritual and healing supplies have an expiration date, but some do not, and if there's some powdered dragon's fang or other obscure stuff in the back of a dusty cabinet, he should probably get it cataloged. Mara just may be able to tell that her eagerness has begun to infect him, and she shouldn't be sorry for it. He's looking forward to it, now.
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Date: 2015-05-15 01:07 pm (UTC)"Just one? But of course ma chere!" She holds out the tray of precisely-cut edibles for him, but as Horvath reaches for it to take one, she pulls it away with a minxish grin. Laughing, she gets up, goes around the table and with one hand she takes his lunch plate away, then hugs him from behind. As he gets the one-armed hug, her other hand is setting the entire container of desserts in the place of his former plate.
"Oh Maximus, I would never be so cruel as to force you just one! Please, take a few if you like them. We've lots of time to explore your cabinets and shelves! And lists, oh yes!" Yes, if it sounds like she considers this just another adventure, he's right. Delving into places, retrieving forgotten artifacts... who cares if they are only bottles and jars of ingredients? To her the idea is fun!
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Date: 2015-05-20 01:05 am (UTC)"I did mean just one for now." He teases back, grinning. "I fully intend to try some of each and every kind before the day is done."
Smoke makes a made dash for the seat Mara recently vacated, pounces up onto it, and watches them both with her fluffy tail twitching. She knows a kindred spirit when she sees one, and the sudden movement just seems like another invitation to play.
*short reply is short, sorry!*
Date: 2015-05-28 03:17 am (UTC)Or at least, to pet a certain someone. "Mmmhmm, so that is how it is, mademoiselle petit chat?"
But long threads are long. ;)
Date: 2015-05-29 11:16 pm (UTC)The light kiss on his cheek makes him smile all the more, just a little sheepishly, but every touch from her seems to ease out of him a tension he never notices he's carrying. Mara is good for him, and the how and the why are unimportant. He takes the first bite carefully, not too small, not too big, and lets his eyes drift closed while he properly savors what she's made for him. Just knowing it was baked with him in mind makes it sweeter.
Smoke, on the recently abandoned chair, crouches slightly, and ducks her head a few times as if she's about to jump down, but she doesn't actually move her feet. Her tail continues to lash slowly, a touch-tempting grey fluffy cloud of fur that earned her name. She wants to play, but she wants to be sure Mara is safe to play with.
*had SUCH A HARD TIME thinking up a reply, shooot me*
Date: 2015-06-18 02:12 pm (UTC)So instead, as she came around the table, Amarante dipped her hand into her bag, pulling out a few dried, woven-together stalks of lavender. Crouching down, the woman began to play with the cat, forgetting the food, forgetting even Maxim for a while as she tempted and played back and forth with the cat. Not yet touching it with her hands, but getting it used to being close to her, in a game that they both were enjoying.