Escher Tower Waltz, Vol 1: Queen in the Cat House (Carliah)

[Hijinks]

Jink woke up, yowling slightly as he yawned, and managing to contain the sound in his pillow so he didn't wake Carliah up. His arm was still loosely around her, and he left it there for a bit, savoring both her presence in the Force, and lying there next to him. He swore under his breath as he saw the Escher from the window of the bedroom. He'd wanted to let the red queen sleep for a bit longer. He sighed quietly at the wine-sodden state of the shirt he'd been wearing last night, and his ears flattened in annoyance. He'd never get those stains out. He rummaged through a drawer with his mind, and found what he wanted: an old rock and roll t-shirt from a band he'd only seen as an illusion of the Escher. He did rather enjoy their music, though.

The shirt floated to a side table, and rested there, while Jink tried to figure out how to wake Carliah up. In the end he just ended up purring in a low voice and leaning his head on Carliah's shoulder. That was good enough for now.

[member='Darth Vivaldi']

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

Carliah yawned and rolled over, snuggling closer to Jink and mumbling.

"Just five more minutes?" she whined, laying her head on his chest and trying to fall asleep again. Carliah was not a morning person in any sense of the word. Usually the servants tasked with waking her would suffer a broken hand when they did,even though she was the one who ordered them to wake her at a specific time. She yawned again and held him closer. [member="Hijinks"]

 

[Hijinks]

Jink brightened when he saw Carliah wake up, and he stretched his tail to brush her leg lightly.

"Give it fifteen minutes, and you can sleep in my bed instead of this one."

He slid his arm under and around the mad queen, and rolled her up onto him, so she could lean on his chest more comfortably. He smiled at his sleepy-voiced love, and pointed out the window.

"We're only a couple minutes away from the Escher. I'll understand if you don't want to get dressed yet, though."

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

Carliah whined and finally pulled herself off of him and out of bed. She pulled on her usual dress and smiled at the playful kitty. She wondered what exactly this tower of his would be like, and what sort of wonders it held. Carliah liked studying strange things, and this tower sounded like a dream. She couldn't wait to get inside. "So tell me more about this tower of yours, kitty." [member="Hijinks"]

 

[Hijinks]

Jink grinned at the sudden turnaround as he pulled his shirt on, minus the chains he always wore under his clothes when they were outside. Of course with nobody but him, Carliah, and Joelle in the Escher, there was nobody to attack them. He reached a hand out to take hers and chuckled softly.

"No matter what you expect the doors to lead to, that's most likely not it. Huge doors could lead to closets, and I've found tiny doors that lead to rooms that can hold whole illusory worlds. It was almost made to mess with whoever isn't the guardian of it themselves."

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

Carliah smiled and took his hand, allowing him to lead her. She had a feeling if she strayed to far from the cat she would get lost within his tower. The Miraluka was very interested in how he even came to guard this mysterious place. She smiled brightly up at him as she followed close behind him. The idea of doors that could take you anywhere made her curiosity go wild. "And how did you come to be the guardian of such a place?" [member="Hijinks"]

 

[Hijinks]

Jink smiled at the thought of discussing the topic of one of his favorite places, with one of his favorite people. He pulled Carliah close to him and smiled a bit sadly as he thought of his parents. He still didn't know if it was consolation or pain to him that they were dead, but they sure hadn't liked him very much when they were among the living.

"Apparently, there's a specific line of Shi'ido that guards this place, and I'm just the last of them. I'll probably have to train another guardian myself, but I really didn't have very good experiences with anybody from my species. The worst was this cold fish of a woman my parents tried to marry me off to... I think she might still be wandering around in her mind, trying to figure out what she did to piss off my mom."

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

Carliah couldn't help but laugh at the thought. She couldn't imagine her precious cat being forced into a marriage. She held him tightly when he was seeking comfort from her at the thought of his parents.

"Well who do you think you should train then?" The Miraluka asked curiously. [member="Hijinks"]

 

[Hijinks]

Jink thought about how to answer that. He didn't know at all... Other Shi'ido were a bit nasty to him, always ready to look down on his choice to get stuck in his current form. But, the thought process brought him to an unhappy place: The reminder that Carliah and Joelle would grow old and die long before he did. He felt his red queen's arms around him, and smiled sadly.

"I dunno, love... But, it can't be you or Joelle. A two hundred year lifespan is nothing to sneeze at, but it's nothing to a tower that's been in existence since the Hyperspace War. I don't wanna think about this too much, really. All it does is remind me that I'll outlive you and our little kitten."

He closed his eyes, and rested his head on top of Carliah's, trying not to actually cry.

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

Carliah nodded and pulled him into a hug. She couldn't imagine how painful that knowledge must be for him. Having to watch as everyone you ever loved died would be an unbearable occurence. She gently kissed his cheek and smiled, trying to cheer him up.

"That's fine, we can discuss something else if you'd like," @Hijinks

 

[Hijinks]

Jink remained silent, and held onto Carliah tight. She was solid, he could feel her, in his arms and through the Force. There was no reason to think about losing her, or Joelle. But he did, anyway. He cried a little bit into her hair, and let her cuddle up to him. Finally, he closed his eyes and kept his voice at a whisper.

"I love you, Carliah... You know that, but I'm saying it anyway. Got all damn maudlin about it, too, look at me. I'm supposed to be the guardian of this ancient floating castle that screws with people's minds, and here I am crying all over you."

He laughed weakly, and sat back down on the bed, his tail drooping. Why did he get like this so quick?

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

Carliah sat next time him and let her hand rub his back gently. Most people would assume that being a Sith she didn't really know how to feel 'love', 'concern', 'joy', or any other positive emotions, but she could. She just didn't know how to draw power from them. She pulled him closer to her and kissed his forehead, much like she would do to one of her own children.

"It's okay Jink... You're strong, you'll figure things out and you'll be okay," Carliah replied, attempting to comfort him. She hated seeing her precious kitty so sad. [member="Hijinks"]

 

[Hijinks]

Jink slung his tail around Carliah, purring slightly despite himself. The feel of the red queen's hand on his spine was enough to make him perk up a bit, as was indicated by his soft ear rubbing up on her face.

"I'll be okay, maybe, but you'll be dead... And having you as an illusion of the Escher would feel... disturbing. For now, though... That hand on my back is making me crazy."

He yowled, suddenly brightening, and ran a hand through the red-clad woman's hair. His own fur was mostly raised, now, and his toothy grin was only a little bit away from her face.

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

Carliah giggle and reached up to scratch the spot between his ears. She found his cat-like mannerisms amusing. He was fun to have around, and for a brief moment, Carliah was grateful that she would likely die before him, only because it meant she'd never have to miss him. The Mad Queen's thoughts turned to sadness though as she realized that he would then be forced to suffer in the wake of her death. She sighed softly and continued petting him. [member="Hijinks"]

 

[Hijinks]

Jink's ears flattened again as he sensed Carliah's sadness for him. It felt worse, coming from her, than it did when he felt it. Possibly because he'd caused her to think of what would happen to him when she was gone. Now it was his turn to comfort her, and he had a vague idea.

"If it makes you feel any better, I could probably bind you and Joelle to a room in the Escher... Horribly selfish of me, but I'd do it to keep you two around while I live. Not something I can do to living people, incidentally."

Both because he couldn't hold off the urge to do so, and because he was trying to distract his red-clad love from her saddening train of thought, the purple-furred cat purred and pressed his lips to her neck.

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

Carliah blushed and bit back a moan. She giggled a bit and replied to his statement, "I wouldn't mind, if you really wanted too."

Carliah had no problem with being bound to a room in the Escher. It could be interesting, being able to mess with peoples heads even in death. She was sure her legacy on Widek would carry on long past her lifetime, and she would be interested to meet people who only knew of her as some legend or story to scare children. [member="Hijinks"]

 

[Hijinks]

Jink grinned like a madman when he saw Carliah blush, and grinned even wider as he put his arms back around her. There was something about her that always managed to drive the Cheshire Warden mad with energy. Maybe it just her reaction to his teasing, but he thoroughly enjoyed being with this mad lady he'd fallen in love with.

"You bet I'll want to. Crazier things have been done, mostly by that walking breast you used to call Master."

With that little problem resolved, Jink turned to his new problem: How to make himself back off long enough to get the two of them into the actual castle. Totally contrary to this goal, his mouth began working its way up to the Red Queen's ear.

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

Carliah giggled more and squirmed in his grasp. She didn't want to stop, but they'd never get anywhere like this. The Mad Queen let him continue for a few minutes before gently pushing him away.

"We'll never get anywhere if you keep teasing me, you silly kitty," She told him, kissing his cheek after she gently pushed him off of her neck. There would be plenty of time for this later. [member="Hijinks"]

 

[Hijinks]

Jink sighed, and took Carliah's hand as he slid away a tiny bit. But the sigh was belied by the grin that was spreading over the cat's face again. There was time to 'play' later. Maybe even in one of the old illusory 'realities' he'd wanted to show her. His tail twitched away from the queen's waist, and Jink's voice lowered to a teasing whisper.

"There's plenty of 'anywhere' to play in, that's for sure. Maybe I'll take another stab at teasing soon."

Squeezing her hand, he stood up, and nodded towards the boarding ramp.

[member="Darth Vivaldi"]

 

[Carliah Dakrone]

The Red Queen giggled as she followed after him. His remark about teasing had her looking forward to whatever it was he had planned for the rest of her stay in his tower. The Mad woman gazed around in amazement as she followed Jink into his home. She really had no idea what to expect of the place where her mysterious kitty lived. [member="Hijinks"]