i'm coming home : prestige

[S. Mortem]

Moving quickly on nimble paws, the blue tortoiseshell slips into the mansion, almost silent aside from her heavy breathing. When she's able to slow, finally hidden behind walls, she does her best to calm herself down. The rapid beating of her heart is loud in her ears. A part of her wonders whether her quick heart rate is from her run here, or the fact that the Mess Hall is so near. Will she never be able to escape that intolerable place? Even throughout the passing years, the image of bodies piling up had haunted her, leaving her restless and lacking sleep. And even worse? Those willing to stoop to the low of eating said bodies. The shiver that runs down her spine is clue enough to her disliking for the room, and those who tend to hang around. With a loud sigh, she's on the move once more, heading down the mansion's halls with a rather low level of stealth.

She's Sola Mortem, and should be living up to the name gracefully, but she's exhausted and on edge. Therefore, all attempts to be that powerful feline are thrown out the window. She can be Sola Mortem another day.

For now... she needs to get herself together. There's too much on her mind. For one, the fact that the group now goes by the Rosebloods, a name that doesn't sit well with her solely due to it being the former alias of a former leader. She feels as if she's worshipping yet another lost cause. Ears flattening back against her head, the domestic cat prays that there aren't any Daemons around. She had never liked the spirits much.

However, she is then comforted by remembering that no one is aware of her return yet, and that in itself is a good thing. She doesn't want to see anyone, or have to live up to their expectations of her. After all, how long has it been? What version of her lives on in the minds of the others? She's an absolute mess now, filled with paranoia, jealousy, anger. She looks to the formerly mentioned cannibals with vague disgust, but views herself with an inflated ego, when she's no better. Thinking about it now, she's happy to be back with familiar faces, but her sense of loyalty isn't kicking in... What if she hurts someone? Will she care? There's too much to consider, and it has her stopping in her tracks, barely aware of the fact that she's no longer alone.

And while Sola originally believed that she would prefer to stay out of the public eye for the time being, perhaps running into someone is exactly what she wanted.

[emil]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; padding: 10px; height: auto; overflow: auto;"][div style="width: 400px; padding: 0px; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"]it was definitely weird to be back. after all this time, his home, this place of so many memories, was bustling again. he'd spent years on his own, trying to push the memories from his mind, never imagining that anyone would remember, moreso regathering them. it was nerve wracking to be among others again. to have a few familiar faces around again, to even have a few people recognize him. it was terrifying, and thrilling, everything he'd always dreamed of and everything he was afraid of, all at once.

he didn't recognize her, not at first. so much had changed, so much going on, his mind couldn't process it all. he'd been trudging through the halls, so late at night he'd figured everyone else would be asleep. seemed there was more than one night owl in the rosebloods. his paws slowed to a stop when he heard another set coming down the hall toward him, blue eyes slowly dragging up from the spot on the floor where they'd been focused, gaze finally settling on the woman's face. they stayed there for some time, wondering who she was, why she was running around the halls at this hour. prestige gave a small frown, laced with mild concern for her, until finally he opened his scarred maw to croak out a few words. "are you alright?"

the tuxedo fell silent again. he swayed ever so slightly as he watched the pretty blue tortoiseshell, brow furrowing the longer he stared. she seemed familiar. "have we met?" he mumbled after a moment, head tipping to the side. fuck, he was tired.

[S. Mortem]

Blinking, the female attempts to bring her focus onto the tuxedo, craning her neck to get a better look at him. Clearly she's more focused on the idea that they've met, rather than his original question of whether or not she's alright, but she provides an answer to that within moments. "I, uh - I'm fine." It's a quick yet almost hesitant response, her voice quiet.

She's staring.
It's something that she realizes rather early on, but she keeps her gaze steady, mustard-colored eyes showing vague curiosity. When it clicks, which is rather quickly due to her intelligence, the expression on her face changes almost immediately. There's a light grin, and the tension previously in her muscles dissipates, allowing her to be calm enough to sit back on her haunches. "It's you." Her voice is light with a hint of amusement, and she briefly thinks back to a simpler time: when she met Prestige as Livius' boyfriend. There's a quick moment in which her ears flatten back, and it's clear she's thinking about something, but she keeps the smile, doing her best to brush off the memories for the time being. After all, this is a reunion, which should be a positive interaction. Besides, she'd always liked Pres.

"The name's Sola." She doesn't feel the need to say anymore, because the name is bound to ring a bell, so she simply sits there, the tip of her tail lightly flicking back and forth as she awaits the realization; the lightbulb.

[emil]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; padding: 10px; height: auto; overflow: auto;"][div style="width: 400px; padding: 0px; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"]it's you.

"me?" prestige mumbled, brow furrowing in confusion. it'd become a bit more common, being recognized, but it still managed to catch him off guard every time. except, this time was different. he could feel the same bit of familiarity creeping at him the longer he looked at the other feline, and when she told her name, all sleep was gone from his body. suddenly he was a kid again; a young guard, dumb and in love, meeting sola for the first time.

the tuxedo's ears perked and he straightened up, blue eyes going wide. "sola?" he murmured, an undertone of disbelief in his voice. could it really be her? oh, it had been so long; he'd missed her so much, but people were cruel. for all he knew this woman could just be playing a trick on him, but... he knew, deep down, it was her. prestige let out a short breath before he rushed forward, shoving his cheek into her fur, unable to restrain a loud purr. "it's been so long," the tom said softly. "i didn't think i'd ever see you again." there was a hint of pain as he spoke, eyes squeezed shut, but he smiled into her fur and continued his rather loud purring.