Post by tsukikoko on Oct 16, 2018 20:44:29 GMT -6
As the door opened, as Viktoria took her first step outside the room she had been - apparently rather securely - locked in, her gaze snapped to a familiar scarred face. The feline's heart slammed almost painfully against the inside of her ribs, a surge of raw feeling spreading out from her chest in a fashion she didn't recognise. Relief, gratitude, guilt, apology, longing.. something, else? She couldn't place it all, but what she wanted solidified as an action in her head, as clear as crystal, despite the tangle of emotion raging inside her.
Yet, she held it back. Just for a moment. Long enough to glance up, see and hear Malthiel, see Sarkany slip sideways to give her space. To assess where entrances and exits were, the size of the space, sounds she could hear, scents in the air that spoke of anyone hidden, the distances of all involved. How quickly she could put herself between them.
Old habits.
When her gaze settled back on Cassius, the set of her ears and the lines of her eyes softened just a touch.
"Hallo.. Cassius."
She was reaching for him a second later, stepping forward and sweeping the man into her arms and off his feet. Her head lowered, forehead pressed to his shoulder as her voice rumbled quietly out from her chest, the sound near vibrating into him.
"I am... sorrrry." A slight lift of her head, a glance towards the seraph. "Should be getting, ah, potion... forr Sarrrkany." Her grip tightened, just a little. "I missed you." After that last, more intimate, murmur, the scarred feline simply held Cassius for a heartbeat or two.
Then, her head lifted, gaze settling on the other person in the room. Assessing with a neutral, deadpan expression. She anticipated something... more than she received. At least in a mental capacity. Never before had she looked at Malthiel, been in the same room as Malthiel and felt quite like she did. She had known there was a change in herself from the moment she woke up, but to be faced with the reality of it, to actually experience how visceral the difference was.. It was novel; incrediblely liberating and confusing in equal measure. The feline blinked.
It was a subtle thing when Viktoria moved her body. She shifted a little, as though to simply maneuver the man she still held onto a more comfortable position. But her body had angled in front of Sarkany, her muscled form hunched just a fraction over Cassius. Defensive. Alert.
"Hallo..." For once, she didn't feel the compulsion to call him sir. "-Malthiel." The name rolled off her tongue with a sense of freedom and elation. But equally, something inside her grasped and scrabbled, looking for a foundation that had always been there but now, was crumbled, less than it had been. She still felt the urge to be polite, to listen. But there was a very slight sharpness to her eyes as she watched the man and Viktoria thought that maybe, if it came to it, she might actually be able to say no to him. With that, yet another new series of emotions, sparking rapid fire through the base of her skull.
Disdain. Distrust. Irritation.
Malthiel hadn't known, necessarily, that he could control her. Or if he did, quite the level of the feline's sway beneath his command was most likely unknown to him. Viktoria could acknowledge that, yet still her experiences coloured how she felt, even with the gratefulness she held towards his assistance concerning her conditioning under Zramek. She hated that he held that power over her, no matter his awareness. It was just that now, her brain was able to allow in that hatred, at least to a muted degree.
Yet, she held it back. Just for a moment. Long enough to glance up, see and hear Malthiel, see Sarkany slip sideways to give her space. To assess where entrances and exits were, the size of the space, sounds she could hear, scents in the air that spoke of anyone hidden, the distances of all involved. How quickly she could put herself between them.
Old habits.
When her gaze settled back on Cassius, the set of her ears and the lines of her eyes softened just a touch.
"Hallo.. Cassius."
She was reaching for him a second later, stepping forward and sweeping the man into her arms and off his feet. Her head lowered, forehead pressed to his shoulder as her voice rumbled quietly out from her chest, the sound near vibrating into him.
"I am... sorrrry." A slight lift of her head, a glance towards the seraph. "Should be getting, ah, potion... forr Sarrrkany." Her grip tightened, just a little. "I missed you." After that last, more intimate, murmur, the scarred feline simply held Cassius for a heartbeat or two.
Then, her head lifted, gaze settling on the other person in the room. Assessing with a neutral, deadpan expression. She anticipated something... more than she received. At least in a mental capacity. Never before had she looked at Malthiel, been in the same room as Malthiel and felt quite like she did. She had known there was a change in herself from the moment she woke up, but to be faced with the reality of it, to actually experience how visceral the difference was.. It was novel; incrediblely liberating and confusing in equal measure. The feline blinked.
It was a subtle thing when Viktoria moved her body. She shifted a little, as though to simply maneuver the man she still held onto a more comfortable position. But her body had angled in front of Sarkany, her muscled form hunched just a fraction over Cassius. Defensive. Alert.
"Hallo..." For once, she didn't feel the compulsion to call him sir. "-Malthiel." The name rolled off her tongue with a sense of freedom and elation. But equally, something inside her grasped and scrabbled, looking for a foundation that had always been there but now, was crumbled, less than it had been. She still felt the urge to be polite, to listen. But there was a very slight sharpness to her eyes as she watched the man and Viktoria thought that maybe, if it came to it, she might actually be able to say no to him. With that, yet another new series of emotions, sparking rapid fire through the base of her skull.
Disdain. Distrust. Irritation.
Malthiel hadn't known, necessarily, that he could control her. Or if he did, quite the level of the feline's sway beneath his command was most likely unknown to him. Viktoria could acknowledge that, yet still her experiences coloured how she felt, even with the gratefulness she held towards his assistance concerning her conditioning under Zramek. She hated that he held that power over her, no matter his awareness. It was just that now, her brain was able to allow in that hatred, at least to a muted degree.