1st Solo [video]

[whithersoevergo]

[In the darkness, a hunched figure appears near the fountain and the sound of a cello echoes over the network. The playing is precise and haunting, executed flawlessly until a single note is missed, then two, then there’s the sound of the bow being dropped and a scrape as the chair falls backward and the tall figure unfolds upwards, finally realizing that he's not where he was when he started the song.]

Saya?

[He looks around, movements as measured and precise as the music as the cello is packed away hastily. The figure stands again, turning, a pale, concerned face finally coming into view.]

SAYA! ANSWER ME! …Saya?

[He starts off in a direction, intent on something. Someone should stop probably him.]


[ooc: Pretend this is happening tonight, and just posted now because it's easier, okay?]

Comments

[whithersoevergo.livejournal.com]

[Solomon would know a thing or two about affecting minds and bodies without cause or permission, the way he and the rest of Diva's chevaliers have been experimenting and torturing and changing people. But the way he says it is ominous even without that knowledge, that it could be something beyond what Haji suspects.

And any so-called Deity that's capable of what's happened, of making Haji disappear from Saya's side and reappear by a fountain... that's a power worth respecting.

And something Haji will have to dwell on later.]

Your penthouse?

Action;

[whithersoevergo.livejournal.com]

Has Solomon done something to you?

[He knows that Somolon means Saya no harm, but it's easy to imagine him finding some way to keep her awake, to keep her close to him longer and it concerns him. None of Diva's chevalier's have shown any restraint when in comes to their experiments and designs.

But if Saya wishes to change the topic he will oblige, reaching to brush the hair from her face.]

Then Diva's children still live? You are with them and Kai?

[Which is good, he tells himself. Kai makes her smile, if she's found her family again... it was a good life for her once, it would be again.]

Action;

[liveontoday.livejournal.com]

Solomon?

[It's like this is a new idea that hasn't struck her in some time.]

No, not at all! He takes care of my transfusions but he's never done anything to me. I mean medically beyond that.

[Or at least not under the influence of a curse. And she's long since given up counting those as Solomon's doing when they do happen.

The topic change brings up a bright smile. While it makes her sad to think of them in some ways, she does still enjoy the memories she has of them with Kai.]

Mm. I was, that is. Kai's better with the babies than I am. Once I went to sleep, he was going to watch after them.

[favoritetraitor.livejournal.com]

The one I share with Saya, yes.

Action;

[whithersoevergo.livejournal.com]

[It could be a new idea to her. After all, it's Haji's job to be paranoid about people's motivations towards her. Especially after the fiasco that was Vietnam.

But there's no way he can miss the smile, that smile, the one he hasn't been able to give her since the days when he was still human. Before Diva. But if she's truly gone... oh, well. Something to think about later.]

Kai is a good man, Saya, I'm sure they will be in good hands. Was he watching over them alone?

[He can't think that he'd leave them entirely in Kai's hands, even if Haji's primary responsibility would be watching after Saya as she slept. Was there something Saya isn't telling him?

But perhaps this isn't the time or place.]

Come. Perhaps there is a better place for this discussion, Solomon mentioned a penthouse?

[whithersoevergo.livejournal.com]

I see. [But he doesn't entirely understand.]

Action; 1/2

[liveontoday.livejournal.com]

Ah, that...

[And she's saved by the second question, which apparently jumpstarts her from being thankful about seeing Haji again to remembering why she came in the first place.]

Oh!

[favoritetraitor.livejournal.com]

[Obviously. XD ]

... anyway. Please tell Saya that dinner will be arriving shortly. It'd be a shame to have it get cold.

[Not seeing a reason to postpone the inevitable.]

Action;

[liveontoday.livejournal.com]

That's right. Solomon has been here a lot longer than I have. He has a big apartment and everything.

[Oh, that's right!]

He even has some things of yours. Or... the other Haji who was here.

[That's always been a weird topic for her and she tends to think of them as 'the other Haji' or 'the other Saya'.]

I actually came to get you. I got a little sidetracked though so... we'll go back there.

[She pulls away from Haji then as she asks.]

Solomon mentioned it? You've been talking to him too?

[whithersoevergo.livejournal.com]

Of course.

[He is not Solomon's answering service, but he knows how regularly Saya needs to eat. Solomon wins this round and Haji clicks off the device.]

1/0 - Solomon in the lead.

[favoritetraitor.livejournal.com]

[Solomon disconnects as well. After all, now he needs to find a caterer willing to deliver a gourmet dinner without any notice whatsoever.]

Action;

[whithersoevergo.livejournal.com]

[He reaches into his pocket for the device, showing it to her. He has nothing to hide, after all.]

He says dinner will be arriving soon, you should eat if you're hungry.

[Saya first, no matter what. And if it's not the human food she wants, he won't turn her away if it's his blood she wants. It would hardly be the first time.

And after, perhaps they need to discuss this 'other Haji' business.]

1/0 - Solomon in the lead - FOR NOW.

[whithersoevergo.livejournal.com]

[ooc: I lol'd. Damn you, Solomon.]

Action;

[liveontoday.livejournal.com]

[Since he's offering and this is Saya, the thought 'he may want to keep this private' doesn't enter her mind right off the bat, she blinks at the message.

She doesn't catch the crack about the penthouse, at least yet, but she hms.]

Arriving? We must be ordering tonight.

[Which with Solomon was never a little affair. It seemed to make him happy though so she never breathed a word about how she'd be just as happy with a ridiculous amount of Chinese food as she would be with four-star cuisine.

She nods though.]

Just follow me then, it's not that far away.

[It's a testament to how many years they've spent together that she's just kind of falling back into routine. Her leading, assured he was following nearby.]

Action;

[whithersoevergo.livejournal.com]

Yes, Saya.

[He says it simply, with all the decades and decades of experience he has with it, falling into step behind her and to the side just as he always has. He makes sure to keep his eyes on the shadows, and on the streets, learning the layout as they go.]

[unweighty.livejournal.com]

Satellite? I suppose- but the barriers only go so far and gravity can only let go so much.

[whithersoevergo.livejournal.com]

Barriers?

[He's not talkative, but the question is clear. What barriers, what does he have to destroy to get Saya home?]

Action;

[liveontoday.livejournal.com]

[It's a short and somewhat quiet walk. And not really all that far either. After they ride the elevator up to the proper floor, Saya leads him on to the penthouse itself.]

Action;

[whithersoevergo.livejournal.com]

[It's difficult to control his instincts. They are heading towards a place belonging to Solomon, and despite his actions, despite what he gave to protect Saya, it is still difficult to think of him as more than Diva's Chevalier. An enemy.

The strange fact that he also feels gratitude towards him for caring for Saya in this place only confuses the issue further. But for now... the location appears safe and Says seems to have no hesitation.]

You are comfortable here?

Action;

[liveontoday.livejournal.com]

Mm. I wasn't at first but... it's been a while now. Now and then there are curses that turn things strange for a bit but Solomon and I don't fight. [She smiles faintly to the man as she turns on a light.] I don't want to fight, maybe that's a better way of putting it. Not that Solomon tries usually but... I'm not sure I could anymore if he did.

[Then she pauses, smile slipping and voice lowering a touch.]

Haji... he's dead, isn't he? Not here of course but at home.

[She hated asking it out loud, in Solomon's own apartment, but she couldn't help it. No one else had ever come from home besides Diva. And that Diva was so big and pregnant, obviously from a time when Solomon was still firmly her Chevalier, that she wouldn't have had any answer for Saya.]

Action;

[whithersoevergo.livejournal.com]

I will protect you if it comes to that.

[He looks around the apartment, getting his bearings as Saya speaks. He's never really cared much, one way or the other, where they lived so long as Saya was comfortable and safe, but this was... nice. Certainly nicer than the apartment David and Kai had secured in New York.

But her next question makes him turn to her, expression serious as he tries to decide what to tell her. But he didn't want to start keeping things from her again as he did when her memory was lost. The things he didn't want to tell her because she was so... happy.]

I believe so. During the fight with James, your sword pierced him. I can't imagine he survived. [He pauses.]

I am sorry.

[unweighty.livejournal.com]

The barrier. It contains and it prevents. Protects and confines. It is a blessing and a curse- what to do with it indeed.

[whithersoevergo.livejournal.com]

But... what is it?

Action; 1/2

[liveontoday.livejournal.com]

I know.

[When had he ever failed to protect her, save during his absence the last time she awoke.

She mulls over his response, giving her head a shake when he adds the sorry.]

There's no reason to be. I did ask, after all.

Action; 2/2

[liveontoday.livejournal.com]

I suspected as much but I wasn't really sure. Back then it wasn't like he was on my mind.

[At all, frankly. She hadn't been thoroughly insensible to his offers or his feelings but... well, who had time for such? And what right did she have to such? At the time, she firmly thought none at all.]

Can I ask you for a favor then, Haji? Don't tell him, alright? A long time ago when I first arrived here, [she leaves out the 'first time' bit because it's unimportant] he wanted to know if he could help raise Diva's twins if we both ever returned home. He asked me very nicely if he could be a part of their lives.