RepercussionsAndConsequences[continued from Paradise Lost] Voices. “Smells like her.” “She doesn’t look like her, though.” “The nose doesn’t lie.” “But… she has…” “Breasts? Okay. Granted that makes no sense, but it’s her I’m telling you.” “How can you be sure?” “Watch. This works every time.” Gillian suddenly had a fish-head-smelling paw thrust into her nose. “I’m hungry!” Ginger announced. She made a disgusted face and pushed it away. "Thank you for not putting the litter-box-smelling paw up my nose instead." Ginger meowed triumphantly, “Told you!” Gillian opened her eyes. "Am I...alive?" Ginger gave a snort, “Considering how empty your life is, I’ve asked that very question ever since I met you.” Seabhac knelt down beside her, a worried frown on his face. “Hey there,” he said cautiously. “You are Gillian, right? I mean. You’ve got her voice. And her eyes." He smiled softly, brushing back her long, silken hair. Gillian smiled at Seabhac, taking in every detail of his worried face. "Yes, it's me." She sat up and leaned toward him, her hand cupping his cheek as her hair fell over her shoulders in gentle waves—rather different from the unmanageable curls she had last time he saw her. Her lips met his softly, like rose petals against the skin. Seabhac stiffened at her touch, pulling away. But only for an instant. His hand looped around to the center of her back, pulling her forward into a firm embrace. “I thought I’d lost you,” he whispered against her mouth, and then kissed her again with a surprising ferocity. Ginger, however, let out a fearful screech; thrusting her body between them rudely. “Who the &%^$ are you and what have you done with my Kitten?!” Gillian sighed wistfully at the interruption. She scooped up her familiar and held her nose an inch from her own, all the while focusing on sending warm fuzzies through their link. "It's me. Really. All Gillian. And...um..." Her face reddened. "...and Cybele—we Joined. It wasn't my intent but I needed to if I was going to survive the creation ritual, so...we did." Ginger gave a frightened mew, “Oh bugger.” But as their mental connection deepened, she became more relaxed. “Well, I guess it’s for the best, right? But I’m not going to call you ‘Boss’ or ‘Mistress.’ I had enough of that crap in my last incarnation.” "Fair enough. I wouldn't want you to, anyway," Gillian replied. She bumped her head into Gillian’s chin and began to purr, “Good to have you back, kid.” Gillian kissed Ginger on the nose and set her down in her lap. Seabhac nodded, smiling brightly. “I concur with the Little Terror.” She looked past Ginger toward Seabhac. "We need to talk. We all need to talk. Dworkin's-eyeteeth-on-a-stick-god-yes we all need to talk. "How much time has gone by here?" Seabhac sat down beside her, “It’s about Fourth Strike. You’ve only been gone a few hours. I got worried when I couldn't find you in Amber, so I came up here with Ginger. Just about thirty minutes ago, you came tumbling out of a door that hadn't been there before. It was an entrance to behold, let me tell you.” They were in one of the upper floor alcoves and Gillian had to crane her head to look down at the door in question while she stroked Ginger. He was right—it hadn't been there before. "Hunh." He rubbed her back, his smile faltering. “I’m not going to like this ‘talk’ am I?” "Um...I dislike helping you form a negative impression before we've even started, but...probably not," she replied, ending in a very small voice. "Should...should we find someplace more...private?" “I'm used to bad news. Considering that people might notice you pouring out of that uniform, I think an expedient retreat is a wise idea,” he said, offering her his hand. Ginger walked out in front of them, leading the way with her question-mark tail held high. “I think I can construct a glamour to help mask your uh… new hotness, but I’ll need time.” "The hell you will," Ginger chimed. "I want to try that body ou... uh. I mean... Uh. Wow. I think it might rain this morning." She began to whistle not-so-innocently. "Wh-what?" Feeling faint twinges of panic, Gillian stopped and looked down at herself. Gillian's uniform strained under the weight of her rather 'buxom' new body... the same body Shiva had provided her during their 'Dance.' Perfect, desirable femininity in every regard. "Oh-My-Grandfather's-Great-Hairy--AAARRGHH!" She shrieked in horror and clapped her hands over her mouth. Ginger shrieked and shot straight up a nearby stack, cowering at the top. “What? What? What?! More demons?” Seabhac grimaced, rubbing his ringing ear. “Serpent’s Tail, Gilly! If Hobbs wasn’t dead to the world to begin with, he certainly is now from the heart-attack he just had.” He leaned over the railing, scanning the library below. After a moment, he let out a relieved breath. “Nothing. We're good.” He straightened his glasses, a wry smile blooming. “I take it you didn’t notice the. . . uh. . . .” He gestured at her with his fingertip. “Boobage?” Ginger ventured. Gillian's face reddened. "I knew. Sorta. I mean, I didn't look at myself at great length. Like in a mirror. But I knew some things had changed. I just thought they'd go away with the pregnancy." She burst into tears. Seabhac had a flummoxed moment of pure, mental disconnection. On one hand, his perceptive and quizzical brain hoisted a colossal flag of WTFness over the word ‘pregnancy.’ On the other, his heart broke like a Faberge egg under a sumo wrestler at the deluge of tears. In the end, heart won over head; his arms wrapping her up in their strong embrace, his hand guiding her face to his comforting shoulder. “Shhhh, angel,” he consoled. “It’s okay. I’m here.” He rubbed her back, allowing her to cry as much as she needed. Ginger – ever mindful – remained atop the shelf, sending waves of reassurance. But for now, she allowed the new person in Gilly’s life to handle the tears. Gillian sobbed against Seabhac's shoulder. Her story came out eventually, sentence fragments alternating with rushes of words that bordered on babbling. She told him everything--well, she left out the details of her time with Shiva and stuck just to the facts there, but in one form or another, all of the events were covered. She sniffed and wiped at her eyes, her forehead still resting against the base of Seabhac's neck. "I shouldn't have given in to Shiva. That was careless and I almost died. I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't--Cybele told me the place was a trap, but she didn't elaborate on what that meant and I still should have resisted more." Gillian raised her head to finally look at Seabhac. "But even above that, the thing I most...regret..." She trailed off, sniffed again, and turned her gaze downward. "The thing I most regret is losing my virginity to someone I didn't love," she whispered. "I was hoping one day... that we..." She cut herself off and started anxiously wringing the skirt of her uniform. "I'm afraid I've hurt you terribly with all of this, Seabhac. I am so sorry. I didn't think through to the consequences and what it all meant--I just impulsively reacted. Can you forgive me?" Seabhac smiled, stroking her cheek with his thumb, brushing the tears away. “Forgive you? For what?” he said softly. “You were swept up in the moment. Magic – in all its forms – is intoxicating. I understand that more than most. And why would I fault you for making one of the same mistakes I made?” He allowed that to register for a moment, stroking her hair. “I’m not virginal by any means, Gilly. That belongs to a pit-demoness from House Helgram. And like you, it was the magic that drew me in. Blinded me to the cost. I’m not proud of that, but I can’t undo that moment.” His fingers cupped her chin, raising her eyes to meet his loving gaze. “But our first time will erase all that, Gilly. There will only be you. No other. Not in my past. Not in my future. Only you. So, the only question should be, ‘will you forgive me for my impulsiveness now?’” Seabhac leaned in, touching his lips to hers. Without taking her eyes way from his face, Gillian stabbed her finger in warning at her familiar before Ginger could even think to utter any sort of protest about wanting breakfast at that particular moment. <See?> she said to Cybelle as she returned his kiss. <Honesty prevails.> ~Blah, blah, blah~ Cybele retorted. ~He’ll still break your heart, Cherub. Wait and see.~ Gillian was too distracted to reply. Ginger remained silent, content to watch and make saccharine sighing noises. Seabhac broke the kiss and leaned back, his hands still on her hips. “Shall I escort you home? You might want an hour’s rest before classes start. And I can come by later on to walk you to class. Oh. And to give you a Glamour for the New-You issue. I can’t reverse this, but at least no one will notice other than you and I.” He tilted his head, “Sound like a plan?” "Sounds like a plan," she smiled. "Thank you." After Seabhac escorted her up the stairs to her room and left, Gillian laid down and tried to rest, snuggling up with Ginger purring loudly in her ear, but her brain wouldn't let her. Jumping from one thought to another with gay abandon, it kept her wide awake and restless despite a feeling of weariness that reached her very bones. She eventually gave up and went to finish her homework due that day instead. About twenty minutes into it, Gillian realized that she wasn't wearing her glasses. She fished them out her pocket, put them on, and was alarmed to discover that she now couldn't see properly. She took them off again, startled, and sat quietly in her chair for several long moments. When Seabhac came back to escort her to class, she was subdued in mood and wearing a large sweater that presumably once belonged to her older brother Jonathan. Her hair was was pulled back and her glasses sat on her desk. "The white uniform shirt won't, um, button," she explained. "I'll have to procure some new ones somehow." Seabhac stood there for a moment, staring at her. He shook his head and blushed, “Sorry, just… uh… being a guy. You look beautiful. I mean. Different. You were beautiful before too. This is just. Different.” She looked at him askance. He sat at the foot of the bed and pulled a polished piece of tiger’s eye attached at the end of a gold chain. “I’ll try to get you a new uniform. And my grandmother is about your size. She has plenty of clothes back at the chateau, you can borrow. But in the meantime, I want you to try this.” He offers the gem to her. “Wearing this should take care of your appearance. I got it from the Goblin Market this morning. Trolls are experts at Glamour stones, you see.” "I wondered what form you had in mind for the spell. An enchanted object makes sense," she agreed, taking the necklace from him and slipping it over her head. She felt a cool shiver pass through her skin, but otherwise she didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. "Okay. How...how do I look?" Ginger chimed, “Like a warthog’s ballsack. So, in other words, pretty much back to normal.” Seabhac ignored the feline and raised Gillian’s knuckles to his lips, blessing each with a kiss. “You look gorgeous, Gilly. I think this will work perfectly. Just don’t shift out of Amber with this thing on. The magic will probably be drained or not work at all.” Gillian blushed and smiled. She tended to side with Ginger in matters of her appearance, so she quite didn't understand what Seabhac saw when he looked at her. Regardless, it felt nice. "So the stone is environment-specific? If I left Amber and, say, just had it in my pocket instead of wearing it, then would it still be active? Or does it need to stay in Amber, period?" “I suspect it’d work throughout the Golden Circle, to one degree or another. Most of the paradigms run parallel with Amber’s,” Seabhac replied. “But beyond that, it would simple cease to work. It isn’t a true Conjuration. Not like an Elder can create.” He paused, “I wonder if Joao could use this as a model to make you a permanent one. We think Delwin - his Other - is skilled in such things. If he didn’t die from his concussion, that is.” He glanced worriedly toward the window. Ginger yawned, “If he did die, do you think they’ve serve fish as his wake?” Gillian's eyes went wide and her hands fluttered in agitation. "Oh! Yeah, I remember him conjuring that mirror. Concussion? And Cole--did he Join? What happened to everyone after I...um...bipped out?" “Oh, Cole Joined, to be certain,” Seabhac groaned. “Finddo is not an affable fellow. He nearly attacked Joao during the process. Fortunately, Temnal drew on his Other’s talents for healing; otherwise I’m quite sure Joao would have died before the Dark Hour concluded." "Died?" Gillian squeaked. “Cole - er, Finddo - came up with a new use for the lab equipment. Put a pretty, nice dent in Joao’s head,” Seabhac nodded. She winced. "And Cynwyd brought Finddo under control not long after that. He’s definitely Osric. He actually shapeshifted while we watched.” He touched her hand, “But I was more concerned about you. Selfish, sure, but there it is.” Gillian's heart melted. This was all way too good to be true, a cynical part of herself complained. She was letting him in way too far way too fast and he was going to hurt her way too spectacularly someday. ~Isn’t that the truth?~ Cybelle snorted. Gillian ignored her Other. "And Raina? Did she come back?" she asked. “Not that I know of,” he replied, nervously. “No one has seen Raina since last night. If she doesn’t show up soon, we might want to send out a group to find her. She could still be in Shadow with no way to get back, for all we know. Joao has a connection to her, so we might want to find him. “Last I heard, he’d headed off to the infirmary. After being stuck there all night, I’m sure he’d be more than up for joining a search party.” Gillian nodded. "Sounds like it'll be a full day. I think I'll need coffee." Ginger coughed, “And fish heads.” Seabhac nodded, “And then some.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek, “I won’t be on campus until after seven or eight. So, I’ll see you tonight, Gilly.” He left the pair (or was it trio?) to their morning quest for coffee and fish heads. [continued in Fantastic Mr Fox] |
