#carouselofcuriosities

@carouselofcuriosities &&. said... “HEY! Sugar bear! Look, I found these and thought of you — so you know I just HAD to gift them to the bestest most funniest fool of them all ~ !” She hands him a bouquet of baby blue hibiscus’ and black dahlias. They’re vibrant, gorgeous, and hydrated — still dripping from water droplets. Suspicious.

the  beast  blinks,  glancing  down  at  the  bouquet  as  it's  pressed  into  his  hands.  (  the  water  droplets  don't  escape  his  notice  —  what  do  you  think  he  is?  an  amateur?  )  ❝  blue  hibiscus  and  black  dahlia?  ❞  shadow  milk  quips,  humming  thoughtfully.  ❝  aww,  you  shouldn't  have!  ...  actually,  what  am  i  saying?  OF  COURSE  you  should  have!  ❞  he  deserves  nice  things,  doesn't  he?

a  tentacle  raises,  carefully  tracing  the  edge  of  one  delicate  petal  with  a  deftness  even  fingers  would  fail  to  replicate.   ❝  althooough,  suddenly  i  am  so,  so  curious.  ❞   the  beast  tilts  his  head.  ❝  what  WAS  going  through  the  artist's  noggin  when  she  assembled  this  arrangement,  hmm?  oh, the  colors  ARE so,  so,  SO  on  brand  —  BONUS  POINTS  FOR  YOOOU!  ...  but  that  couldn't  be  the  ONLY  REASON,  now  could  it?  ❞  why,  not  for  a  fellow  clown!  perish  the  thought!  ❝  i  mean,  the  entire  floriography  dictionary  is  your  symbolic  oyster!  so  why  oh  whyyy  would  you  choose  these  flowers  in  par-tic-u-lar  out  of  the  whole  bunch?  ❞  shadow  milk  nudges  a  blue  hibiscus  with  one  of  his  tentacles.  ❝  rarity!  uniqueness!  beauty!  well,  that's  just  a  dead-ringer  for  moi.  aaand  as  for  this  one...  ❞  he  nudges  a  dahlia.

❝  ...  betrayal.  ❞   his  voice  goes  eerily  flat.  ❝  is  this  foreshadowing?  are  you  going  to  betray  me?  ❞  the  beast  pauses,  fixing  eve  with  an  unblinking  stare.  it  drags  on.  and  on.  and  on  and  on  and  on.  long  enough  that  it  becomes  genuinely  uncomfortable.

❝  aw,  who  am  i  kidding?  ❞  shadow  milk  suddenly  smiles.  (  uh  huh.  isn't  he  just  so,  so  trusting?  )  ❝  you  would  NEVER  do  a  thing  like  that,  now  would  you?  ❞

The moment his skull turned to see just who had approached him, his empty sockets landed on one of the most mesmerizing creatures he's ever seen before.

Clad in dark blue, red and gold, she stood before him like the personification of the starry sky. Golden suns, moons and stars upon the fabric that looked more like the night itself, the glint of those metal bells that hung by the edge of her clothing. It was obviously a beloved outfit, well taken care of, and so well made.

Neophytos was enraptured, of course. Captured by the sight of this stranger, he couldn't help but remember another person he's met before. It was a memory filled with laughter and kindness, of sharp red eyes and a wide smile full of sharp teeth, with love hidden beneath instead of danger. Blasted hour it was that he forgot to summon his flesh to reveal a grin, just to show how delighted he was to be in the presence of this colorful woman.

Though he was silent for but a moment, he quickly tilted his head upwards to stare at her as if caught off guard by her voice.

"Devilishly gorgeous and divinely stupendous, even!"

The kitsune's enthusiasm--and applause--were genuine, not even dampened by that little slip-up near the end. He was as much a gentleman as he was a showman, after all!

He thought she was a beastmen. That was had driven him to pursue her. The thing about murder was that it tended to provoke questions and investigations, depending on who it was, and while normally that was of no consequence to the daemon, at the moment he wanted his profile to be low.

A lord or even a well loved commoner might be missed. No one would give a toss if one of the cloven ones died.

“Pretty…”

Looks like something catches her eye more than sparkling gold.

Normally, even just skirting the edge of the Forest of the Green Mother was a peaceful affair. Quiet, tranquil even, beautiful--

"AHA, GOTCHA!!"

And sometimes the peace and quiet was interrupted by loud shouting and splashing in the river, raucous enough to send flocks of birds fleeing from the trees.

Eve could no doubt see the cause of the commotion: a human... ish woman, clad in dark crocodilian scales, waist-deep in the river and furiously wrestling a catfish that seemed to be as long as she was tall--maybe a bit longer.