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Post by skyeknight on Feb 23, 2017 2:03:34 GMT
After arriving back in the city, Aqua took a few more days off the recover from the flight. She literally had to make her own way back to the city since she forwent her cell phone before he trip. But it felt good to fly that long without the constant pressure the iron human city left her. She made a mental note that if she were ever to retire, it would be in the countryside. But she also wanted to give Sunshine some more time with Riku. She felt it would do them both some good. Riku was a rookie, but there was only so much Aqua alone could teach him. She certainly didn't want him developing her bad habits. He could learn from other detectives. But also, Sunshine was in an emotional state after Shadow disappeared. It would do her some good to have some solid backup, which Riku proved he was very capable of.
Aqua asked Riku to meet her on one of his breaks so she could go over her findings at the Seelie Court. She wasn't sure how he would take it all, but figured the worst come to worse, she put in for early retirement. With that in mind, she picked up her usual order, along with Riku's and waited at a picnic table next to the Nevermore kiosk. The taste of peppermint tea danced across her tongue and she felt like it tasted better, sharper perhaps? Was it because of eating Seelie foods for the last few weeks? She didn't know and decided not to question it too much.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2017 21:22:12 GMT
To say that Riku was excited to see Aqua again was an understatement. He'd cracked his first case without Aqua, and had done it with a completely different partner to boot. Not that he didn't like Sunshine, but he knew she understood missing a partner. Sadly for her her partner had gone AWOL and Riku's had just gone to the Seelie Courts. He walked into the kiosk with a happy spirit ,immediately looking for his partner. He soon spotted her blue head and walked towards her with a slight spring in his step. Really that was nothing new since his new form. He was a lot bouncier as a rabbit. He sat down across from her and picked up his cup. He tasted it. Dandelion tea with a hint of nutmeg and cinnamon and sugar added. Just the way he usually ordered. Aqua knew him so well already, it really made him happy. "So, how'd it go?"
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Post by skyeknight on Feb 23, 2017 22:10:46 GMT
"What? No, hello?" Aqua asked.
She smiled despite the teasing. It was still strange to see her partner's inhuman shape, but a welcome sight nevertheless. If the Seelie realm had been a 'welcoming' place, she might have offered to take Riku there with her, but they weren't. Actually, she was fairly certain that most of the beings who resided in the realm hadn't been around a human in at least a few centuries. Perhaps a few decades if she were generous. Aside from the Queen and her closest council, she had been treated like an outsider. Despite the human world being mostly inhospitable, not all of the people were. It was a very confusing sort of conundrum.
"It was... different. Not at all what I would have expected." she said, answering him, "And successful... to a degree."
She held up the scroll that the queen herself had confirmed would hold Riku's cure, but it was in a language she didn't recognize. Perhaps pulling her father's old books out of storage would help but until then, Riku was going to remain a little fluffier than usual. She was going to do her best to get this done as fast as she could. Hopefully, whatever Riku's curse was would hold out until she got an answer for him. She didn't think he wanted to stay fuzzy forever, especially when the dead of summer hit.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2017 0:23:02 GMT
"Oops sorry. Hello" he said with a chuckle and waved a little at her. His ears perked up and he looked at her and the scroll. "I'm going to be human again soon?" he asked, hardly daring to believe it. He looked down at his furry paw/hands and his overly long legs scrunched up to fit under the table built to hold normal humans. "I uh, thanks Aqua. I could hug you"
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Post by skyeknight on Feb 24, 2017 1:05:22 GMT
"There's a catch. I can't read the language. It'll take me some time to translate it," Aqua said.
She hated bursting his bubble like that. She really did. He looked so hopeful that he would finally be himself again. She placed a hand on his paw. She would see her partner human again. That much she promised. It was why she had gone to the Seelie realm in the first place. Met with all of the beings of the Seelie court, including the queen herself. All for Riku. All for Sunshine.
"Never stopped you from hugging me before," she said.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2017 1:53:10 GMT
His ears drooped but he tried to stay positive. Just because she couldn't read it now doesn't mean she couldn't read it period. It would just take her some time. He laughed and gestured at how he was squeezed into the booth. "I don't feel like getting up right now" he stated. It was frankly embarrassing and he'd save that for when he absolutely had to get out of the booth. "So, how did your visit in general go? Were the other faeries nice? Oh! I have some awesome news to tell you too!"
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Post by skyeknight on Feb 24, 2017 2:08:51 GMT
Aqua laughed. She put the scroll back a way. She would dig out her father's old books and start translating when she got home, but for now, she wanted to catch up with Riku. She took a sip of her tea, smiling to herself over the taste, still unable to believe why it tasted so much better now. But she thought of what she could tell Riku that he would be interested in. Aside from the other faeries and members of the realm didn't talk to her, she was quasi-hostage of the Queen and her dad was a spy.
"I met the Queen... Apparently, my dad worked for her." Aqua said. "And... she wants me to do the same."
She had to tell him. She couldn't lie to her partner. Lies were what ended her first partnership. She wasn't going to make the same mistakes with Riku. This time, she would have her partner's back when he needed her most. Starting with making him human again. She wanted Riku to hear it from her, not have it blow up in her face later on down the line.
"Oh? Anything happen while I was gone?" she asked.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2017 19:08:57 GMT
Riku's eyes widened. That was quite the revelation. He wondered how Aqua had handled it when she found out. Knowing her, it was either by shutting down or taking some time out to process it. She was the type of person who needed to process things. "So you met the queen and your dad worked for her. As what, a diplomat or something? You are a cop here, it would be fitting in a weird way" Riku grinned when she asked if anything had happened and nodded. "Okay so I decided to grab a case for Sunshine and I which was interesting to me. A series of jewelry thefts. I thought it might be a sick Other and Sunshine agreed with me. Because the jewelry was healing stones set in silver which amplified the healing properties" he grinned with a gleam in his eye. "And I was right, too"
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Post by skyeknight on Feb 24, 2017 19:23:29 GMT
"Not exactly." Aqua said uncertainly. "She wants me to be her spy. Report on things that happen here in the human realm and tell her. She said she would give me information in return..."
She warily glanced up at her partner. At least his week and a half while she was away was successful and productive. In a way, she was proud of him. He had finally broke a big case on his own (with the help of a new partner) but it had been a successful one. He certainly came a long way from being too rough with drunk Others to finding a jewelry thief. Still, the circumstances were sad. An Other who was only stealing healing stones in an attempt to cure an ailment.
"So what happens to the sick Other?" Aqua asked.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2017 19:42:36 GMT
"A spy. On what about humans exactly? We aren't exactly a secretive sort" That was weird, he couldn't tell if Aqua was upset by this fact or if she was okay with it. She had lived with humans all her life. Could she spy on them? He shrugged at her question. "Well, they are in the hospital right now, but when they get treated they're facing robbery charges and either six months in jail or a fine. I'd say they're pretty lucky it's only a slap on the wrist. It could have been a lot worse"
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Post by skyeknight on Feb 24, 2017 21:14:07 GMT
"I'd more or less be an informant from what she said. The people who live in her realm don't exactly get out often." she said. "So I'd report things that are going on here. I had to agree in order to get the scroll for your cure..."
That was the sad thing, her 'people' had cut themselves off from humans. The faeries in the human world were so different from their counterparts in the Seelie Realm, they may as well as have been a different breed entirely. And that was what Aqua was realizing. She wasn't like the Seelie Faeries of the Seelie Court. She was a Seelie Faery of the Human realm. But she hadn't exactly had a lot of contact with other fey like her. She was still trying to piece together what this meant for her but one step at a time.
"How's it feel for your first big collar?" Aqua asked.
Riku had to have been rather estatic about his first big work on his own. She just wished she could have seen it. But she had things that she had to do and a cure for him to find. There was always his next big bust. Then he could show her what he learned from working with Sunshine as a partner. Maybe rotating partners wouldn't be such a bad idea? She would have to talk to Sunshine and Shadow... Once they found the later that was.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2017 22:40:21 GMT
"You didn't have to" he said ."I'm getting used to being a rabbit, if it made you uncomfortable, I would have understood" Yes, he would love to be human again but no he didn't need to be human again, if it really came down to it. He could sacrifice that for the good of Aqua. He felt bad that because of him she had felt pressured to take on a job by the Seelie Queen. His ears went up again and he gave her two thumbs up. "I feel great! I am so lucky Sunshine was there, she noticed things I missed in the photos and it was only with her help that I managed to figure it out. We make almost as good a team as you and I" he hoped Aqua wasn't offended by that.
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Post by skyeknight on Feb 25, 2017 1:56:48 GMT
"Riku, you're my partner." Aqua said, surprised that he even suggested her not trying to pursue a cure for him. "I've got your back. No matter what."
Getting news to the queen was like mailing her a newspaper daily. Except she now had to send mail via crow? Strange but something she would get used to she supposed. Riku's humanity was worth being a 'news reporter' to the woman. And it wasn't like the job was going to be for life. Aqua doubted that one little spell would be worth an entire life of servitude to the queen. She would find a way out of it eventually. For now she would play along, for Riku and Sunshine's sake.
"That's good to hear. I'm glad things worked out." she said. "Thanks for looking out for Sunshine. Shadow's disappeared and I'm sure she needed someone to help level her out."
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2017 0:40:11 GMT
"Oh" he said, surprised. He'd just assumed that was just in the field, not in other things. His family had never really been close enough for him to really trust them having his back. Except Weiss. She was a good sister, even if lately they were estranged. "Yea, things worked out nicely. I was glad to be her shoulder to cry on while Shadow's...uh...awol. It was nice spending time with more people"
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Post by skyeknight on Mar 1, 2017 1:53:09 GMT
He didn't seem to know what to do with her response. The soft utterance of 'oh' made Aqua's heart twinge. Did he really think she didn't trust him as a partner? She would have to do better by him in the near future. Especially since she knew that his family wasn't in the picture. Sure, her partner was human. She would lose him too one day, but she would just have to worry about right then. Right there. The moment. Not the inevitable future.
"I knew you two would do each other some good." Aqua said happily. "She needed someone to talk to and you needed someone other than me to learn from."
Riku would only be as good as an officer as he was taught to be. Sunshine had a few tricks up her sleeve. But right now she was raw and hurting. Riku helped that. Aqua was glad her little hunch was right.
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