Completed Even Darkness Must Pass [Moritz]

[Shiress]

18th
Spring 522

Shiress sat across from Ian on the bed, forearms resting against her knees, watching the toddler who sat cross-legged on the floor, bouncing his stuffed monkey along the area in front of him, attempting to give the monkey a semblance of 'walking.'

This monkey was such an innocent looking plaything, but, thanks to Shade shifting her perspective, Shiress now knew better. The monkey, Eenie was its name, was so far from innocent, and she had been oddly blind to its true origins. Was this monkey some sort of totem when shifted to flesh and blood? Shiress had even entertained such thoughts of the monkey being an observer for Rhysol's or possibly some type of spiritual vessel.

With a tilt of her head, Shiress lowered herself to sit on the floor in front of Ian, and the boy grinned up at her.

"Can mommy see Eenie?" she asked gently. The toddler hmmm'd and stretched out the toy for her to take.

Shiress accepted the stuffed animal and studied it closely. The monkey's fur felt real beneath Shiress's fingertips, soft and pliable. Eenie's ears were small and rounded, his mouth an odd stitched smile, but his eyes gave Shiress pause, even in Eenie's corporeal form. They were made of pure obsidian, with a tiny swirling speck of white for pupils. She had learned early on not to stare into those obsidian orbs for very long, lest she become dizzy and oftentimes nauseous.

Sighing, Shiress returned Ian's monkey to him and stood, glancing out the one window in the Inn's room, fear swamping her senses that she would see the ghost of her master again. Which reminded her; Syna's rays were high, and the day grew hot. If she tarried much longer, Shiress knew it would only grow hotter.

She inspected the billowy sleeveless blouse she wore, ensuring Ian hadn't deposited any surprises on it. Calling the tan top a blouse, though, felt rather generous, seeing as its length stopped, just below Shiress's chest, leaving her belly and back exposed. The brown linen pants she had donned earlier fell nearly below her slender hips.

Shiress grimaced, hating to wear anything that showed any amount of her skin. Her body was riddled with scars, a painted tapestry of abuse. Fingers gently probed along the raised, pink line of sutures that trailed nearly the entirety of her forearm, then lifted to swipe across the bruises and abrasions on her face, and the deep purple marks encircling her eyes left in the wake of an attack by a dead man. The old alongside the new, it would seem.

With Syka being so incredibly hot, though, Shiress was very quickly becoming less self-conscious, and this shift had to include the new, also, she realized, letting out a long sigh.

"come on, baby boy, let's get going before it's too hot."

Shiress took one of Ian's smaller hands in hers and led them both to the door and out into the sun's mercy. She had a fairly certain idea where this Moritz lived, and, thankfully, it shouldn't be a very long walk. Tugging Ian along beside her, his monkey clutched to his chest, they began walking.

Moritz's bungalow looked a lot like others Shiress had seen since she had arrived in Syka. She stood just outside its shade a tick before hoisting Ian up and onto a hip and navigating the steps. Taking a deep breath, stealing herself, she raised a hand and knocked. When the door swung in, Shiress smiled.

"Hello, are you Moritz?" she asked, offering her hand to shake, "I'm Shiress and-" Shiress paused, unable to recall who had given her his name, then shook her head, "I was told that you might be able to help me with a ...a...ghost." she hesitated before pulling Ian's monkey from his hand and holding it up for Moritz to see, "And with this."




Word Count - 691

[Moritz Craven]

18 Spring 522

Having been up late the night before, Moritz was still just stirring about his house. Stu had needed help with something he was cooking which was a item needing slow cooking. And if any instance fit the definition of slow cooking, this was it... Possibly something he was preparing for an upcoming tenday or testing out before serving it at one, Moritz ended up staying up in shifts overnight to watch a slab of beef cooking, adding juices and other liquids over time to keep it moist and from drying out... And then sitting some more and watching pig cook until finally Stu came to take over.

At the end Stu had said Moritz could sleep in a bit and come in to work late, where they would likely be serving samples of the finished product to test and compare against some other mix Stu had tried before.

He was still somewhat puttering about after his morning ablutions and had only been up for a bit when he heard someone at the door. As usual he was wearing just one item of clothing- at least when not armed-, though that one item covered most of his body. However the button up silk outfit was relatively cool, and more importantly it shifted with him allowing him to not worry about shredding clothing without being nude when he shifted. While nice looking, and oddly enough clearly indicating his name on a patch in writing when fully worn, it did cover most of his body. The only parts shown were below his ankles as he was bare footed, below his wrists as he was bare handed, and above his neck. The rest of his body however was covered by this garment.

Beyond garments Moritz was wearing a few items, though ones that he could not remove. A charm bracelet on one wrist with a few charms and which he could not remove, and an odd mood based color shifting star embedded in the back of his left hand which had become like that after an odd dream.

After hearing a knock Moritz opened to door and inspected the pair standing before him, a woman he was fairly certain he did not know and a child on her hip. Waiting for her to explain why she was there she seemed to explain soon enough, asking... His name? In response Moritz looked down at the patch on his outfit which clearly revealed his name, and let out a sigh. Planning to make a comment on how obvious his name was Moritz for the moment had forgotten his curse, perhaps as it was early still and he was not fully awake, and instead had an entirely different series of words come out of his mouth. Though likely they would be offset somewhat by the clear name on his suit.

"Moritz? No, don't know him. I'm John, John Johnson."

Taking the offered hand Moritz shook it, meeting the eyes of the small child with his own Iraso Okomo eyes which were quite odd and colorful. Between that and his odd colored hair he was quite distinct. He was also rather tall, having broken six foot the season or so prior during his last growth spurt.

Trying to say more Moritz remembered his situation, and kept silent for the moment. However when Shiress, the woman apparently, explained why she was there Moritz was even more surprised. She had come because of... A ghost? And a... Doll? He was unsure which was odder, though besides the one on the boat he

"Ghosts? Can't say I've seen any of those of late. But I'm always open to helping random people who show up on my doorstep. Although not seeing ghosts might be related to the pair of ghosts that have been haunting my eyes for the last decade or so. Gives them an odd glow when their awake, but does let me see ghost droppings. Gotta watch out for that, most people can't see them so they just walk right through them! Quite a pain to clean up, let me tell you."

Inspecting the trio, Moritz focused his combat sense he had gained the season prior, and began with Shiress. Focusing on her he felt... A bit of combat presence. Not much more or less than his own, perhaps within a similar range, so not entirely without combat ability. Next he turned to the child, and examined him. Once more focusing on his combat sense he examined and compared the two... Nothing, or close to it. Not surprising seeing as it was a young child, this boy seemed to have no ability to fight.

Lastly, and only because Shiress had asked him, Moritz focused his sight on the monkey thing. As he did he felt a... Tingle... On the back of his neck. This was tied with a strong combat presence, at least compared to Moritz own. Certainly not the strongest the Kelvic had seen, it was much stronger than either Moritz or Shiress', that he could tell for sure. More than that though he was unsure, but beyond a stuffed toy thing having a combat ability, a first for him, something was clearly off about the object.

Taking a step back and flinching a bit after looking closely and intently at the doll Moritz was clearly perturbed by the thing, though could not say this due to his curse.

"Help you with... What, exactly? Seems... A, uh, normal doll. Yep. Nothing odd to see. Ah look at the time, I probably should get going, I think I'm late for work."

While Moritz was saying this his eyes would dart about, meeting most places besides Shiress' gaze or the monkeys. He did end up meeting the small child's gaze, which he met for a moment. But his gaze seemed that of a normal child, not at all like the doll he had....

WC: 982

[Shiress]

When the door swung open, and Shiress got her first look at the man behind it, she couldn't help the little gasp that escaped her lips. Whatever the doctor thought the kelvic might look like, what she was currently looking at hadn't been it.

Moritz, or the one she thought was Moritz, had purple hair with bright pink stripes and a few black circles mixed in on top, but as strange as his hair may appear, the man's eyes had Shiress staring. The Kelvic's irises were a kaleidoscopic starburst, not too dissimilar to Ian's monkey. However, the stuffed toy's eyes lacked any color.

So taken aback by the strangeness of the man's eyes, Shiress nearly missed what he was saying. Giving her head a minute shake, she recentered her attention and dragged her eyes away from his and directly down to the name tag pinned on the Kelvic's shirt.

Frowning, Shiress's eyes shot back up to his just in time to hear him mention...

"Ghost droppings...what..." she repeated in a bewildered mumble, squinting and more confused than ever.

Shiress's musings were obviously listening because her mind immediately began attempting to conjure up images of her ghost leaving.... Oh, gods, no.

"Please," she said, placing a hand on the door in case the Kelvic meant to shut it in her face. "It's not just a normal doll, I promise you."

Shiress's gaze lowered to the name tag on the man's shirt again, and she couldn't help but scowl as she pointed at it, eyes narrowing, "And I thought you said your name was John Johnson? If you're not Moritz, how do you know the monkey's just a normal doll?"

Resituating her son on her hip, Shiress tried and failed to understand what was going on with this man.

"Look, if I could just come in and explain what's been going on with me, I think you may better understand what I'm asking of you. It'll only take a moment." she said, then a look of concern crossed her face, "Unless you are truly late for work, then I could come back at a later time, but I really do need your help."





Word Count - 402

[Moritz Craven]

Moritz was not overly surprised when Shiress seemed more confused than anything else by his words, certainly more so than she seemed informed by them. Which did not surprise the Kelvic, seeing as each word was a heaping pile of lies. He was still curious how it worked, but clearly whatever was upon him twisted the words as they came out of his mouth even though they were clear in his mind.

When she finally did say something back it was to ask if she could come inside. The Kelvic who was always armed by nature of some odd abilities and magic upon him, wasn't too afraid of a random person coming in who did not seem to mean any harm... And besides if they were actually skilled and wanted him dead then he had little chance of doing anything anyways, so protesting or telling her not to come in would do little. Similar reasoning, he thought, to a ghost possessing him a few seasons back in the Outpost.

Leaving the door open and heading inside Moritz waved at the woman, turning back to go inside and giving her room to do so.

"Sure, I'd like nothing more than for a random person I've never met before to come inside my house, quite a pleasant thing. Feel free. And even more so with your child's doll which... Is totally normal and not at all plotting to kill me in my sleep. Yep, definitely not that at all. Just a normal doll of normal variety, without any abnormal abilities or capabilities or the wherewithal to open my throat with its fluffy paws.."

At this point Moritz was looking away while he spoke, and began puttering about the house somewhat while waiting for the woman and friends to enter, cleaning a bit and putting up some random items he had left out. Not expecting guests his house was a bit disorganized but not outright dirty.

At the mention of his name tag Moritz simply shrugged while still looking away before responding.

"Oh that, I think it was like that when I got the clothing, maybe the designers name. Or perhaps the previous owner. Though I'm sure if I was this Moritz fellow you keep mentioning I'm sure he wouldn't be able to notice anything odd either, so I'm unsure why you think he would."

After giving the woman and accompanying creatures a chance to enter Moritz would take a seat and meet the woman's eyes again for a moment before focusing in his mind on his Iraso sight. With a willing of power the Iraso markings on his eyes came to life and his view was overlayed once more with his djed sight.

In that view everything around him came to life in a new way, down to the tiniest nail or board of wood and up to the people around him. Shiress and the child didn't seem too odd, at least compared to other peoples djed he had seen. He took a few moments to inspect each of these, but did not notice anything immediately unusual or dangerous. Normal people with normal and average djed... perhaps even a bit below average.

Done with that he turned his eyes to inspect the doll, and immediately noticed its oddness. Not that it had odd djed in and of itself, he wasn't even sure what such would look like, but for a stuffed doll it certainly had more djed than he would expect for a similarly sized mundane object. Of course that wasn't a guarantee that it was odd, but that tied with his other noted features on the doll seemed to indicate it was outside the norm and different in some manner. Focusing his eyes on it for a bit he tried to understand its djed, peeling away at the layers and looking at it deeply in each bit, but did not immediately learn anything from it.

WC: 654

[Shiress]

Shiress eyed the young man in bewilderment as he moved away from the entrance, the derisive statement flung at her request to come inside belying his blatant opened door invitation. Shaking her head, Shiress shot a look of consternation at Moritz's back but followed him into the bungalow.

...fluffy paws?

Shiress snorted softly to herself and watched the Kelvic busy himself by not really doing much of anything and lowered herself onto a couch cushion, pulling Ian around to sit in her lap.


"So, Mr. Johnson, you're telling me that you are not Moritz?" she asked, an explanation for the young man's odd behavior beginning to take shape.

Every single person was cursed in Syka, save two. All the curses were different and ranged from others forgetting who you are to growing horns and fur. Either Moritz was cursed with the inability to admit his true identity or, judging by his dubious assumption about the monkey, he was cursed with the inability to speak the truth or cursed to only speak lies. Which, Shiress realized, was more or less the same thing.

"Are you a male?" she asked, hiking a challenging brow, then added, "Am I a female?"

The doctor caught Moritz's oddly colored gaze as he sat beside her on the couch, and when his gaze suddenly deepened the instant before color burst to life in the Kelvic's eyes, Shiress's eyebrows shot skyward.

This man was definitely Moritz, and those eyes were doing something...magical. A dozen questions formed in the doctor's inquisitive mind, but she knew it would do no good to ask, seeing as the answers she would be given would be...not the right ones.

Moritz's eyes dropped from Ian's and settled on the monkey in the toddler's arms. When several chimes passed, and still Moritz didn't speak, Shiress cleared her throat.

"I um...the reason I came to see you today is because of the curse, my curse," Shiress bit at her bottom lip, trying to decide what to tell him and how much to share about it, "I was enslaved when I was younger," she began, scrubbing a nervous hand down the top of her thigh, "I, um...killed my master sometime later and now, since arriving in Syka, my master, Elijah Jordan, his ghost has been attacking me physically. I think mentally, too."

There was no need to point to the noticeable bruising and abrasions covering her face, Moritz could easily see them if he looked, but Shiress did turn her arm over and lifted it, showing the Kelvic the gash running from the inside of her elbow to nearly her wrist that had been sutured closed the week before. Lowering her arm, Shiress pulled her bag around and pulled out a small piece of paper.

"Tazrae," she said, then frowned, reading, "everyone forgets her, evidently. She told me you might help me, somehow, but not exactly how." she grimaced, " and with the monkey. Did you see anything at all?"

Taking full advantage of his mother's distraction, Ian slid down off her lap, closed the small distance between him and Moritz, and climbed into the Kelvic's lap, his storm-colored eyes gazing up admiringly at the man.

"You have butiful hair," the toddler said, rather matter-of-factly, slid his little thumb into his mouth, grinned around it at his seemingly new friend, then laid his head down on Moritz's chest, legs swinging happily.



Word Count - 600

[Moritz Craven]

Done for the moment inspecting the people and things djed, Moritz willed his Iraso sight to turn back off and after a moment the glow from his awakened sight faded as did the slightly visible glow on his eyes from his magic's activation. He was not one to waste djed, and was not going to keep it on for no reason. And he did not expect to learn much more from staring at the people around him... He could spend some time trying to memorize their djed, but that would take awhile. Plus he had no idea which of the three to do... And he really had no reason to do so.

"Nope, not Moritz, never have been and never will be."

When the woman suddenly changed the topic and began asking him random odd questions he realized that she, as others had, was perhaps working out the effect upon him and his particular malady. Her questions seemed to indicate that at least, seeing as she had begun asking answers with clear questions not to different from how Alric had done before.

"Male, no, I actually don't have a gender. I'm part flower or tree on my fathers side, I forget which. At a certain point in my cycle my ears will grow extra large, fall off, and land in some fresh dirt. Then two smaller me's will grow, before eventually the ears will grow back. It does make hearing harder for awhile, so not all that convenient. As for you, well you are clearly not female even more so clearly than that I am not a man. I hear certain animals have a taste for them though, so they always come in pairs, so usually at least one gets by."

Once he had finished his odd explanation and his review with his eyes Shiress seemed to take that as a chance to talk some more, and tried to further explain and reiterate her reason for being there today. Most of it seemed similar to before, but it also seemed to include some specifics.

The one thing he found odd and which explained why someone had sent her to a spiritist, even if he was only a beginner one, was due to her particular affliction. However looking around he had not seen any signs of a ghost, nor had he seen anything in her djed which was average and uniform and did not indicate someone hiding within haunting her... He also did not notice any of the signs of a ghost, nor did he see anything to indicate one was actually here... Was it in her head? Or was the ghost just not here right now?

He wasn't really sure what to think about the slavery bit, he supposed it was good she had gotten out of it, but not being from a city where slavery occurred he didn't know overly much about it.

"Well, I did see quite a few signs of ghosts droppings on and around you, so that would indicate you have been at least walking through some things. I suppose that could indicate a ghost being around. Its hard to say now though, since there are so many ghosts about near here I could be confusing the new ones as the local ones instead of this you are speaking about."

While the woman did seem a bit the worse for wear she did not seem to have any signs of possession of haunting, at least none he could detect. Perhaps she was just clumsy and hurt herself? It was hard to tell apart from his limited knowledge the difference between accidental or self inflicted wounds versus outside ones, not being a person trained in medicine or the like. Either way she did seem to be handling and steeling through the pain well despite the various wounds she had.

"The monkey seemed fine, totally normal. Not anything unexpected or outside the norm really."

As the two of them talked Moritz noticed some movement and saw the child with Shiress come over and settled with a plop into his lap. Moritz didn't really respond to this overly much, not really being bothered by it, though it did remind him of the not to distant past of his schooling back in Lhavit and the other children he had classes with and befriended... Only to outgrow them and end up in another class for bigger kids where he learned new things... And then once more outgrew them and was pushed on to new classes with new kids... If anything he felt he got along better with children than adults, as he lightly ruffled the child's hair in response to his arrival and words.

Feeling at his own hair for a moment Moritz shrugged before responding to the small child.

"Yes, it takes quite a bit of work to keep it so shiny and smooth. I've got to shave it fresh each day, and apply some oil until the light catches it just right. I hear it helps you move quicker without hair, so it seemed a simple enough thing to decide on. Besides, with all of the ghosts around, most spiritists lose their hair so not much point in keeping what little will grow. Or at least, that is what my mother explained to me."

WC: 885

[Shiress]

Moritz was most definitely cursed to tell lies, but Shiress couldn't help but wonder if what the man said was intentionally humorous. She had to admire Moritz if he was putting a funny spin on his curse. That took spirit.

Shiress stared at the Kelvic mutely, biting so hard at her bottom lip in an attempt to not laugh at the poor man, she could taste copper. Unfortunately, when the Kelvic described himself as a flower, or perhaps a tree, Shiress had just taken the waterskin from her bag, unstoppered it, and placed it to her lips,right as she lost all pretense of control. The healer snorted out an unexpected laugh so forcibly that she accidentally sprayed the poor man, and her son, with spit water.

Slapping a hand over her mouth, somewhat belatedly, Shiress jumped up and hurried to the kitchen area, eyes scanning for a towel or something...there... Grabbing what she thought might be a handtowel, she rushed back to Moritz and handed it over.

"I am so sorry," she said, sitting back down and shaking her head, "I didn't mean to drench you," frowning, she pointed to a spot on the man's chin, stifling a giggle, "you have a little just there."

Waiting for Moritz to wipe her spit from his face, Shiress tried to think up a way to get the man to tell her the truth and failed. Obviously, it was apparent his curse wouldn't allow him to speak the truth, and she didn't have a clue how to phrase a question to trick the affliction. Even if there was a way.

Instead, the doctor decided to weasel a little more amusement out of the Kelvic for her own benefit.

"If I am not a female, " she asked, grinning, "what am I? Do you have to be watered since you obviously take after your father? Speaking of," a mischievous glint came into Shiress's eyes, "How would one mate with a tree?"

It was just too much of a temptation, and it felt so good to actually laugh that Shiress just couldn't help herself. Eventually, though, she realized she was using the Kelvic's time selfishly and readied herself to leave and stood.

Smiling, She said, "I really am sorry. I haven't laughed like that since..." she sighed, amusement fading, as did her smile, "well, for a long while, I guess."

An idea bloomed, and she retook her seat, head slightly tilted as she considered the spiritist a tick, wondering if he might could tell her about Ian's toy while not actually talking about the monkey at all.

"Ian is obviously a monkey, just like that one," Shiress pointed at the stuffed toy in her son's arm with a raised brow, "Can you do your thing," she twirled her fingers in the air in the direction of Moritz's eyes, "and tell me about him?"


Ian chimed in then, obviously having used the time between Moritz's hair comment to now to work out what the man had said.

"Can I cut my hair off so I can run faster, too, mommy?"

Shiress's wide eyes lifted from her son to Moritz with a -you better fix this- glare.




Word Count - 565

[Moritz Craven]

Moritz was a bit surprised when Shiress suddenly started laughing, not entirely sure why. It took him a bit to realize something he had said must have been the culprit, as he did sometimes say odd things when his words were changed to lies.

As she laughed and sprayed a spurt of water over both him and her son the boy hopped up in reaction, while Moritz tried to pull away unsuccessfully. By the time he realized what was happening it was already over, and both he and the boy were somewhat wet from the sudden spray.

Taking the offered towel Shiress had found Moritz wiped his own face dry, before turning and doing the same to the boy. His clothing on the other hand was not so easy to dry, and would either need to be left to dry out or worn for awhile until they were suitably dried.

Of course Syka being a rather wet place, raining willy nilly as it did, being wet was not unheard of and not the end of the world. And so both he and the boy shrugged off the sudden wetness quickly enough, while the boy seemed to find the entire thing funny more so than upsetting.

When she seemed to calm down a bit she asked a few more questions, though Moritz was beginning to think she did so just to hear him say something comical more so than any actual tactic or method of getting info, after all she seemed to have already worked out what was going on with him.

"Well generally if someone is not female they are male, so it seems clear what you are doesn't it? Not sure why you are asking me... As for my parentage, I believe it involved someone being possessed by the ghost of a murdered plant, but I am unsure on the specifics as I am not one to pry into my parents life on such things. Perhaps one of them could explain it to you, I'm sure they'd be all to happy to do so. And don't you drink liquids and things as well? That seems to imply you are part plant as well, perhaps a lesser portion than me... So I'm unsure why you would point out my own liquid intake habits."

Turning to the boy and the doll Moritz pondered for a bit, unsure what she was talking about, and trying to say as much only to once more have his words twisted. He assumed the woman wanted him to use his Iraso sight on the doll, but he had already done so earlier and commented on it so was unsure what else he would glean from examining it more.

"Monkey, I don't see any monkey here. There is a turtle in my lap, and a rabbit over there, but I don't see any monkey. Perhaps you need to see a doctor, get your eyes checked? Might be some kind of plant rot affecting them. As for the rabbit, I don't have anything of not to say on it, earlier or now, but I'm sure you could wave your fingers about yourself if you wanted."

As the two paused talking for a moment the small boy interrupted, after a moment Moritz realizing at his words that he was responding to the lies he had said about his own hair... Which was clearly not shaved off bald but full on his head. When he looked up from the child to Shiress he noticed the eyes she was making at him, but did not really understand. Did she... want something from him? If so, what? And what could he even do, if he tried to help it would only make things worse, surely she realized that by now.

"I don't see any reason not to cut it off, I mean surely no one involved with you would have a problem with it. Nope, seems like anyone not wanting you to do so is just being mean and doesn't want you to be fast. No other reason why someone might want you to not do so."

WC: 685

[Shiress]

Shiress liked Moritz. Even if her seeking help from the man was for naught, she was still glad she had met him, though it might have been preferable in better circumstances. Shaking her head, Shiress grinned at Moritz, his answers solidifying her earlier conception that he was cursed to tell lies.

"A plant ghost, huh," she laughed, "well, maybe, since I'm part plant too, we're related in some way," she shrugged, "Never know."

Shiress glanced down to Ian in Moritz's lap as the Kelvic spoke to him, and she couldn't even bring herself to be irritated that the man was all but encouraging her son to cut all his hair off; Shiress should have seen that coming.

"Fast!" Ian exclaimed, zooming his monkey back and forth through the air in front of him.

Unhappy with his confinement restricting his fastness, Ian climbed down off the Kelvic and began running back and forth in front of where they sat in an apparent effort to show Moritz how fast he could go. Shiress's gaze lingered on her rambunctious toddler a moment before her eyes shifted back to Moritz.

"Moritz, thank you," she smiled, "I know you couldn't tell me exactly what you wanted to, but I really do appreciate the time you took to speak with me, and I don't want to take away any more of it. It was really nice to meet you," she extended a hand for the man to shake, "I'm a doctor and if there's ever anything that I can do for you, please just ask. I'm staying at The Protea Inn, room 2. Please, don't hesitate to come to see me if you need me," she added. To Ian, she said, "Ian, come on, baby, tell Mr. Moritz bye."

Rising to her feet, Shiress watched as her son threw himself at Moritz, wrapping his little arms tightly around the Kelvic's neck, then leaned back enough to peck a quick kiss on his cheek.

"You my new best fwend, k" the toddler declared, his tiny hand thumping Moritz's back affectionately, "you can come play wif me sometimes."

Ian pulled away and took his mother's hand as she led them to the door. Just as Shiress pulled the door open, Ian let go of Shiress's hand and plunged it into a pocket, then turned back to Moritz.

"Dis is for you, for being my fwend," he said, then pressed two charms in the Kelvic's hand, one a metal clover, the other a silver cat.

Ian frowned down at the charms, confused, then exclaimed, "Oh! Dis one's mommy's." he said, plucking the cat charm back out of Moritz's hand and handing it over to Shiress, who smiled and received it proudly, taking Ian by the hand.

"Thank you again," Shiress said, "I hope you have a great rest of your day," she added, turned, and headed back toward the inn.





Word Count - 516

[Moritz Craven]

If nothing else Moritz could tell that Shiress had been amused by their meeting, though he felt in some way that some aspect of that humor she felt had been at his own expense. In the end he did not overly care much, and if it made her happy and did not hurt him then he felt no problem with it at the moment.

While Ian seemed to hear his words being young he did not seem overly worried by them, and was more interested in showcasing how fast he was right then rather than any other such things an adult might dwell on.

Moritz smiled as he watched the child zoom about, feeling it was fine so long as the youth didn't break anything. Otherwise he could rush about all he liked.

As Ian ran about Shiress tried to thank him, to which the Kelvic replied with a shrug. He was unsure what else he could really do, since anything more would end up twisted as all of his words were, and so he simply gave a non-committal gesture and listened to what she had to say. He did take the offered hand and shook back, though he felt this was more a meaningless formality of a gesture more than really communicating anything in actuality.

She was a doctor, noted, she was staying at the Protea Inn in the second room, noted. In fact thinking on it he was fairly certain he knew some other people related to that place...

When the boy went to say his leavings he more so hugged Moritz than anything, wrapping his arms around his neck and looking at the Kelvic as only a child could to another person. He also seemed to announce that they were best friends, to which Moritz was unsure how to respond and so simply looked back the boy with his odd eyes. When he did try to respond quite odd things were said which seemed to just make the child laugh again without fully understanding what he meant.

"My mortal foe, prepare yourself for our next meeting, upon which we shall do battle!"

Suddenly though as they went to leave Ian moved back again and handed him a small charm, one of which he ended up giving to his mother but the other he firmly decided was to be Moritz. Looking closely he noticed it would fit well on his charm bracelet, and without thinking about it added the small thing on along with the other ones.

As Shiress made her final departure and goodbyes Moritz shook his fist before replying.

"I wish your day to be filled with flames and destruction, and for a angry goat to chew on your prize flowers."

WC: 455