#;rapha

     It’s not the suffocating feeling of imminent danger that bothers her the most. Nor the growing pressure of so many eyes burning holes on the back of her head wherever she goes. She is at the top of all of her classes - college or otherwise - and as her twenty first birthday approaches, the fact that she is unquestionably the best candidate to be the next head of the family goes from a novelty to be mocked to a pressing concern.

None of that troubles her anymore than they always have. What is grating on her nerves is the fact that she performed the ritual perfectly and nothing happened. She reviewed the circle, the spells, the chant dozens of times and found absolutely no flaws in them. She does not need to be doubting herself on top of everyone being out for her blood.

Most of her classmates have made their first contracts already, some of them with several spirits. She has until the end of the semester to prove herself, but that’s not what is important for her. The full extent of her powers are restrained until she comes of age, and she can only see herself surviving until then if she finds a powerful enough ally. Instead of wasting her time seeking out spirits, she summoned a demon.

[ this cold won’t go away and tea isn’t doing anything, what should i do? ]

If there would ever be something that could have alarmed her more than Rapha asking for health advice, Alice couldn’t tell. The message had her bolting straight up and immediately darting all across her house, gathering her medical bag, blankets of all varieties, any and everything she might need. 

She kept badgering him about his location and when he wouldn’t tell her, she called him endlessly until he finally picked up. By the time he admitted that he didn’t know where he was, Alice was already in her car and swallowed down the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach so she would keep sounding calm. 

“Okay, just keep talking to me. What’s around you?” It took her longer than she would have liked to find him, wandering the streets without aim while feverish. Alice was expecting having to argue with him, badger him into getting in the car, maybe even physically urging him inside - the very last resort considering how averse to touch he was. When he got in without so much as a snarky comment, her concerns grew tenfold. 

“Here. Blanket. Tea.” Once he was warmly half cocooned on the seat, she offered him the thermos with ginger green tea. “Where are you staying?” All she wanted was to bring him to her apartment. It was fully equipped to deal with anything. Hell, she might even get away with doing surgery on it. But it would be much better for him to come back to his senses in a place he felt safe in, or wherever was most familiar to him at least.

She acquired the information... easily. And it felt so wrong. Alice couldn’t even be glad that he was following instructions with how wrong it felt. Bringing him to the address, she made sure he was warm enough and guided him out of the car and into the flat, locking the door behind them and assessing the place, which didn’t have much to offer. It was more barren than practical, but it’d do.

     Raphael’s addition to her household was unexpected, but not at all unpleasant. She’d soon grown comfortable with his wintery presence - so refreshing amidst a village of summery souls - and appreciative of his company. Of course, it was good to have another set of working hands at the farm, his in particular worth perhaps triple that number. But more than that, she enjoyed his quiet, earnest nature. Alice still couldn’t understand what had brought the man to their quaint little village in the first place, but everything he did was with a singular - albeit secret - focus, devoid of any ulterior reasons.

And above even that, Raphael made her feel safe. Which was strange, because she’d never truly felt unsafe before for his presence to have changed it so. Not in the village where she knew everyone, nor in the forest where everything knew her. Even the strangers who passed by knew - if not by courtesy, by self preservation instincts - that she should not be made an enemy. Yet, with him around, she felt unnecessary to keep herself on guard at all times. With the now familiar chill of his aura within the reach of her senses, Alice felt like no harm would ever befall her.

It was her own carelessness that led her to carry that sense of invulnerability along with her beyond her own territory and his immediate range. The forest was just as much home as the farmhouse, and her newfound guardian was right there. However, by virtue of her habit of traversing that path every day, its exact distance slipped her mind. The discovery of a fresh sapling perfect for replanting closer to home had her distracted enough to not notice the warnings of the forest itself as the two men ambushed her. 

@vvhippoorwill​ asked: 'Looks like we missed each other.' the note stuck to the flat package left on top of her coffee table says. No more and no less –– there's no need. They'll probably see each other around, their paths will cross sooner or later. Birthdays aren't much in their world, anyway, and neither is this present, really: A french newspaper used as gift wrap, underneath a thin, plain folder –– inside, hand-painted watercolours of flowers he picked up in an antiquarian book shop, all of them poisonous.

     She knows he’s been there the moment she steps inside, his presence having grown beyond familiar and well into something she misses whenever she can afford to think of such things. Putting her suitcase down, Alice takes off her shoes and walks further into her sanctum while sorting through the mail that had collected over the days she was away, eyes absently searching for any clues as to the reason for Rapha’s visit. The answer is in plain sight. The package atop her coffee table stops her in her tracks and has her changing lanes, setting the letters aside in favor of whatever it is he’s left for her.

The note makes her chuckle. Of course, it couldn’t be from anyone else, but even if it could, the straightforwardness of it acts as a signature in and of itself. Carefully, she unsticks it from the newspaper - taking note of the city and the date out of pure habit - and opens the gift, only to openly gasp into her living room. An entirely genuine smile blooms across her lips despite herself, fingertips gingerly caressing the paper. These are without a doubt the loveliest flowers she’s ever gotten, her favorite birthday gift by far.

     Something is not right. She feels it even before getting to her unit - in the same way she can sometimes sense when a mission will not go according to her plans - slowing down her steps slightly but not bothering to quiet them. Wary, Alice unlocks the door, comforted by the number of weapons hidden right at the entrance in case someone managed to lie in wait for her. Only she’s not greeted by an intruder, but rather by Christmas lights. Her body relaxes immediately at the realization that this particular disturbance to her routine is a welcomed one.

Without the need to rush into action, the doctor sets her bags aside and takes off her coat and shoes, padding across the wooden floors towards the kitchen, where she figures she’ll find him. “Hm?” She hums in question, unfazed by the lack of greeting or explanation for the change in decor. “For what?” Alice looks back through the memories of their recent interactions - she’s just gotten back from a trip, but even before that she can’t think of anything that would have warranted this type of repayment.

     Things have been peaceful lately. Perhaps the addition of a very reliable companion - contracted, but for a lonely soul in seclusion, a companion nonetheless - has slightly dulled the edge of the very much warranted paranoia she’s developed over the years. Maybe the old her, more starved and desperate for survival, would have been wary of it. Would have seen it coming.

The safety checks on her way home have become second nature. A burst of cleansing energy to nullify any curses, another to disperse shikigamis. As she enters her building, she opens her second sight and scans for anyone with powers nearby, greeting the doorman with a smile. Taking a moment to retrieve her mail, she inspects and reinforces the protective seals there, and holds the building related letters and papers together with the ones she retrieved from her PO box earlier in the day.

By the time she gets to her floor, she’s gone past a number of lesser barriers, placed there merely to warn trespassers and inform her of their presence. Her door, on the other hand, has spells woven, carved and cast upon it that are meant to actually defend her small territory, and even inflict harm if someone tried to fiddle with it enough.

Stepping inside allows her to finally take an easy breath. Flipping through her mail while she toes off her boots, a peculiar colored paper grabs her attention. It’s the lightest shade of pink, almost white. Beautiful and nicely textured. Actual letter paper that a younger version of herself might have collected had she been allowed a normal childhood. Turning it around, she sees a name that surprises her. Only pleasantly so, instead of raising a red flag as it should have.

@vvhippoorwill​ [ sunday with a twist ]

     What an... odd question to hear. It’s not something she’s ever been asked before, and, Alice realizes now, she’s never even considered it. Growing up in such an unfavorable and hostile environment, her waking thoughts were constantly occupied with fulfilling her duties. There simply was no time to fantasize about anything other than making it through the day.

It does make sense for him to ask, though. He, summoned to this plane of existence for the express purpose of fulfilling her wishes. She’d been clear about those from the start. She wants, needs his help to clear the last few hurdles standing between her and independence from the family that wants to watch her fail.

Freedom. That’s all she wants. Would that be an adequate answer to the question? After she’d established herself enough to be able to think beyond her immediate survival, that was the one notion that kept her going. She fought so she could one day unshackle herself from this clan and never look back. So much so that she was willing to sell away her soul for the sake of it.

But that wasn’t a fantasy per se.

Realizing the growing stretch of silence, she quickly changes gears, not wanting to give Nova such an easy chance to follow her train of thought and unlock more doors into her psyche. And then a single, crystal clear idea surges from the shadowed depths of her soul.

     She likes having Rapha around. Sure, she would prefer it if he was healthy and actually more careful with himself, of course. He makes an absolutely lousy patient, but he is a treasured friend. Alice worries a bit whenever she leaves for work, but they’re past the flight risk phase, which reassures her enough to leave him to his own devices for several hours at a time.

When she does return, she’s immediately embraced by the heavenly scent of apple pie, which has her setting aside her things and making a bee line to the kitchen. The potted cactus has her gasping with a bright smile, gingerly picking it up and chuckling to herself as the perfect name for the lil fella makes itself known in her mind.

It smells way too good for her to wait for dinner, so she cuts herself a slice and is going to grab a fork when she notices the many apples she’d bought a few days back still sitting there on the fruit bowl. Her joyous moment slowly ebbs away as her brows furrow. She grabs the fork and marches on to go scold him, making the mistake of taking a bite on her way to the living room, which turns her into happy goo again.

“This is so good..!” She whines, plopping down on the sofa across from where he’s sitting on the couch. “So you’re off the hook for today.” Giving him a stern pointed look, Alice takes another bite and melts onto her seat with a gleeful smile. “Thanks, Rapha.”