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Post by Mano Berwyn on Oct 11, 2018 20:04:20 GMT -5
Mano sat at home staring at the letter Orenda had given him. God, he’d made a mess of things. It would be nice to blame Dare, who’d asked if they would be in the closet forever, but this wasn’t about Dare. Why couldn’t he ever just be content with his life? Why did he have to always end up bored or frustrated and demand a change even when things were going well? It was impossible to imagine that things weren’t his fault, despite the letter speaking of Lani.
If nothing else, he managed to always be at least a little self-centered.
He’d come home in hopes of relaxing with Eros after his latest crisis-they seemed to be so much more common now-and found an empty house, which had made his blood run cold. Of course, it had been strange that Eros had left alone, but it was easy to come up with excuses. Now, he wanted to call the elf back, to do whatever necessary to make her bring him to Eros. He clenched his jaw and resisted. No, if Eros needed space, Mano would give it to him. Mano had asked far too much already, and forcing contact wouldn’t help matters.
He reread the letter. Lani. Only then did his mind latch onto that idea. If she was the one named, then maybe he should speak with her. Eros had always managed to get him to resist going to her, but he knew where she lived. After this long, he knew where just about everyone lived in the little area. Being a shop owner who spoke to everyone had its advantages.
It wasn’t a good idea. In fact, it was a very bad idea. He shouldn’t go to her, but whatever had happened had made Eros leave. Since the damn elf had disappeared as soon as the letter was delivered, he’d not even been able to ask questions, and he couldn’t be expected to sleep now, not with this letter. When his family elf refused to bring him straight to Lani, or Lani to him, he scowled slightly. Perhaps he was simply too old now, and besides, Lani had won the thing over years ago. He cleared his throat, stood, smoothed down his dress robes, and left.
_____
Mano spared little thought for how strange it might look for someone to be strolling along the street that held students homes in dress robes. Even though they weren't quite as formal as he would have worn to a ball, they were sure to stand out. He walked briskly along the street until he found the house he needed, then paused for just a few moments before approaching the door and giving it a few loud, sharp knocks. Almost immediately, he shifted from foot to foot, in no mood for patience.
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Post by Caspian Catalyst on Oct 11, 2018 21:47:45 GMT -5
Cat opened the door and took a long glance at the man standing on the other side. Then he shut the door again. Hard. He wasn't a frequent customer of the cafe in Valfirid, had never sat and studied Lani's face, but there was enough information to put it all together.
"Hey, Ev, any idea what Lani's brother would be doing here?" he asked, heading for the couch. The guy was Society, right? Hopefully he'd get the hint.
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Post by Evelyn Fiore on Oct 11, 2018 21:55:10 GMT -5
Evelyn raised an eyebrow over the edge of her book and shook her head. "They haven't had any contact, have they?" So far as she knew there had been practically no contact between Lani and either man, Mano nor Eros. She shifted her legs to let Cat join her on the couch. It wasn't unusual to lounge together during homework or downtime. "He couldn't owl? Or...surely he has an elf." A personal visit made little sense.
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Post by Mano Berwyn on Oct 11, 2018 21:58:10 GMT -5
Mano had never had the door slammed in his face when his mouth was open to speak, and he wasn't quite certain what to do with it. It did manage to draw him out of his mission, though, if only for a moment. He cleared his throat again, perhaps just a symbol of his discomfort in frustration, then raised his hand for another series of sharp raps against the door. No, he would not simply barge in, however much he wanted to ignore politeness.
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Post by Caspian Catalyst on Oct 11, 2018 22:12:12 GMT -5
Cat didn't even glance up at the noise, but grabbed his wand and gave it a flick to turn off the porch light. Lani would have told them if she'd worked things out with her brother, and if she hadn't worked things out, there was no way the guy was going to bother her. "I can set a silencing charm on the door," he suggested.
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Post by Evelyn Fiore on Oct 11, 2018 22:19:42 GMT -5
Evelyn's lips quirked and she lay the book against her chest. "Oooh, have you ever met Mano?" she asked. "He's rather...insistent, to say the least. Perhaps we should tell Lani that her brother has come visiting. Then she could decide if she wants to see him." It only seemed fair to let Lani choose.
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Post by Mano Berwyn on Oct 11, 2018 22:23:52 GMT -5
Were Mano a teeth-grinding man, his would have been worn to instant stubs when that light turned off. He wasn't used to being turned away, and he just felt so powerless. The elf he'd used to keep tabs on Lani had given him nothing, even if the thing was his first thought to get around the man of the house. Why hadn't he gotten an elf of his own? Well, he'd thought to be self-sufficient, of course, that damn arrogance of his. "Orenda!" he called. When she responded to the summons, he continued. "Take me to Lani." Surely it would work.
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Post by Caspian Catalyst on Oct 11, 2018 22:37:25 GMT -5
It didn't work. Orenda wasn't willing to break into someone's house, not even for Mano, though she offered to take any messages to Lani's elf.
"Go ahead and tell her," Cat was saying to Evelyn. She was pretty much friends with their roommate now, and Cat wouldn't know what to say to get the girl to come out of her room if she didn't want to. He'd just as soon put a silencing spell up and finish his homework.
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Post by Evelyn Fiore on Oct 11, 2018 22:46:19 GMT -5
Evelyn paused a moment, then set aside her book and sat up. She took a brief kiss simply for the feel of it before standing. "I knew he'd come around sooner or later," she said, not that she'd ever thought it would take so long, or happen on a night Lani had gone on a date.
It only took half a minute for her to trot up the steps to Lani's room, where the girl had hidden herself away as soon as she had come home from her date. She knocked lightly on the door. "Lani, love? Your brother's on the porch."
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Post by Lani Berwyn on Oct 11, 2018 22:50:29 GMT -5
Lani had been unwilling to talk with the others in the house about her disaster of a date. Even if she wanted to do so, time would provide perspective and make things easier. Or, perhaps, it wouldn't, considering her horrible conversation with Eros. She had gotten a letter from Eros minutes before the knock on her door, though she wasn't sure what to think about it. At Evelyn's soft voice, though, she forced herself to stand and open the door. Only a crack. "I don't think I want to talk to him."
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Post by Mano Berwyn on Oct 11, 2018 22:52:59 GMT -5
Mano sucked on his tongue, actually sucked on his tongue, out of frustration when Orenda wouldn't help him. No, he didn't want to send a message to an elf that had once been his loyal servant, he wanted to talk to his sister! His next knock was less appropriate and more like a bang. "Cat, she is my sister, and you have no right to keep me from her!" he called through the door.
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Post by Caspian Catalyst on Oct 11, 2018 23:03:23 GMT -5
The only reason Cat didn't set that silencing spell was because the man on the porch needed set straight. He groaned with frustration as he got up and headed to the door at a clip. He flipped on the porch light with one hand as he reached for the doorknob with the other, and let it rest there with the door cracked. He leaned into the door frame.
"Listen, your sister is twenty-three years old and is an adult in any country, any society, all right? I don't own her, I'm not keeping her from you, she just doesn't want to see you. You don't own her either. She'll talk to you if she wants to, and if she doesn't, you're sh~ out of luck. Entiendes amigo?"
Do you understand, dude?
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Post by Evelyn Fiore on Oct 11, 2018 23:10:51 GMT -5
"I won't make you talk to him, I just thought you'd like to know he was here," Evelyn said, and, just faintly, she heard the man speaking. Without knowing his voice, it was difficult to pick out what he was saying. "We can keep him away if you'd rather." Lani wasn't that much younger than them in age, but it often felt like she was still a teen. Evelyn, at least, felt more than a little protective over her.
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Post by Lani Berwyn on Oct 11, 2018 23:16:35 GMT -5
Lani knew her brother's voice far better, but still only picked out a few words. What she picked out wasn't reassuring. "He won't give up," she said. "He always gets what he wants, it's what he's used to. I should speak with him, the two of you don't need to bother with him." It wasn't a great place to be in, considering what had happened, but maybe she could at least keep Mano from harassing her friends.
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Post by Mano Berwyn on Oct 11, 2018 23:18:28 GMT -5
"You looked at me and shut the door," Mano pointed out, thoroughly past annoyed and frustrated at this point. "It isn't like you went to her and asked whether or not she would like to speak with me. Now, please," he said that last word with a bit of teeth grinding, anyway, despite his best efforts, "get me my sister."
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