New Beginnings

[MementoMori]

"Yeah, yeah. Go ahead and laugh your heart out." Aruth tried to grump out at his being laughed at, but then ending up chuckling himself. He had to admit that it had been pretty damned funny even for it being in reaction to something so different. 

"Alright then. let's do this." he said with a smile as Kit laid himself down on the side closest to the mirror. As he did so he noticed the human-like position he was putting him current cat body into. He supposed that it did make sense given the circumstances. Since he was about to see him in all of his glory. Oh...boy...that thought hadn't quite occured to him until then, but the reality was that he didn't want to stop this either. And he didn't know if the image would hold if he tried to cover him up. So when Kit suggested how to lay near him, he blushed a bit but then nodded laying himself down on the bed next to him on the bed, right behind him. "Okay...then on the count of three. 1....2...3..." he said and on three he tugged the blanket off the mirror with his mind.

Instantly his eyes went wide as they took in the scope of the man before him in the mirror. It was only thing to see him for just a second and a whole nother one to see him like this. "Wow....."he breathed.

[Seragil]

Naoise exhaled softly as he appeard in the mirror, he hadn’t exaggerated it had been a very long time since he saw his human image, closer to a century than not. He hadn’t changed much he decided as he looked over himself, his skin was still that lightly tanned colour, his body was still lean and if not gym buffed he was defiantly well defined with abs, pecs and all but he had a natural athletic build rather than the stocky body builder type. His hair was long, maybe too long as it fell past his shoulders, but it did bring attention to his thin warrior braid dangling from his temple and the druidic tribal tattoo on his left upper arm and shoulder, the stylised cat blatantly screaming his shifter form and then there was Loki’s gold and silver collar shining brightly in the reflection, the silver scroll work almost ablaze in the reflection looking almost like starfire, though its mundane counterpart was normal and ordinary looking. It was stunning and looked even more so against his tanned skin. It was beautiful and totally evil. He sighed a little sadly as he noticed the not quite human pose of his arms and legs but ignored it at Arutha soft exclamation. Smiling softly yet wickedly, his face alight with sensual innuendo, he captured Arutha’s dark green eyes with his own emerald ones.

“ Tá sé áthas chun freastal ar deireadh tú Arutha.” It is a pleasure to finally meet you Arutha, he said in gaelic telepathically to the man behind him before repeating it in English. “No doubt you have many question and I will do my best to answer them” He flicked his gaze to the nightsky outside the window before continueing. “We have an hour, less actually, maybe forty five minutes before this hours grace passes and my image returns to my daily visage.” He grins wickedly at Arutha before adding “You can if you wish cover my body with a sheet for modesty sake.”Still grinning he leans back slightly with his body so the reflection would show as if he was almost lounging against Arutha. “but only if you wish it” he finished as he once again catches Arutha’s green eyes with his own.

[MementoMori]

"You're beautiful." Arutha added, dark green eyes taking in every little detail of the other man's body. From the top of his head down to his toes, Kit looked he had indeed stepped out from historical romance novel. It had to be a historical one given the length of his hair and that stylised tribal cat on his left shoulder and arm, but by God was he breathtaking. The only other man he had seen like this had been Micah and while he was handsome, Kit was extraordinary. His face grew red almost to his ears as the other locked eyes with his with that oh so wicked smile on his face and that softly familiar lilting language. Just what was it and why was it so familiar?

"It's nice to finally meet you too." he said softly as he struggled to remember all the questions that he had. The view was more than a little distracting, but he told himself to try to calm down and focus. "That's good to know. I knew you weren't just an ordinary cat no matter what you said earlier. Your eyes are what give you away. They were too human." he said with a small smile before blushing a darker shade of red at the look on Kit's face as he was almost leaned against. "Maybe...that would be best. You're kinda...driving all my questions all out of my head with looking like that." he said honestly. "If you were fully a man right now, I'd probably want to touch you to make certain that you were real."

[Seragil]

Naoise smiled softly back at Arutha’s reflection. “Thank you” he said telepathically in response to the compliment “You aren’t too bad on the eye either you know.” He continued softly. “As for my eyes well you know what they say, eyes can be windows to the soul...as can mirrors” he finished with a grin. Then taking pity on Arutha he used his own telekinesis to pull the bed cover up and over them both. "Well I may be covered but...”He grinned wickedly again as his reflection cocked an eyebrow at Arutha, reflecting the emotion and facial expressions his body could not. “now it looks like we have or are going to sleep together.” he finished with a wink and a grin, his emerald eyes filled with mirth and a teasing heat.

Though he was teasing Arutha and acting like he was the man in the mirror; free and alive in every sense of the word,  he couldn’t forget the truth either and couldn’t help but wonder why the collar wasn’t trying to stop this or ruin this moment with one of its spiteful attacks. At Arutha’s last comment he catches the mans eyes once more and replies seriously “I am real Arutha, you can touch my body and it will be reflected here, showing you what it is you are really touching. I am the man you see, but I am also the cat beside you. I am both, I always have been.” He smiled gently, the image reflecting it as human emotions, it was a teasingly, wicked smile, gentle yet a little sad all at the same time. He didn’t continue with that chain of conversation because he knew to do so would most likely rouse the collar and he didn’t want to spoil this reprieve. The collar couldn’t react to what he said simply because he was stating the plain truth,  a truth that was plain to see due to the effect of the new moon. Still smiling he gives Arutha a little shrug of his shoulder as if to say its a mystery, then smiling blissfully he fully leaned against Arutha and grinned at him and waited for the questions to begin.

[MementoMori]

Arutha smiled a tad bashfully and nodded. "Thanks." he said softly. "Quite true. I guess you've proved that in both ways in your eyes and in the mirror. After this I don't think that I will ever look at another mirror the same way again." he said with a small chuckle. He would always be wondering if there was anything else that a mirror could do. "Hey!...You're not helping things." he said half protested shortly after Kit had used his own ability to cover them both up. His blush had renewed itself full force at that. "Remember I'm supposed to be asking questions right....not driven to distraction by your naughty ways." he reminded just as the tone of the conversation once more grew serious.

He nodded and found himself reaching out a tentative hand to lightly touch Kit's face on the cheek. "So...you are indeed. I'm sorry...but I just had to do this to prove to myself that this isn't a dream." he said softly. "So what are you exactly? Or is that something you can't say without the collar acting up again?" he asked as more questions started to re-flood his brain. "I'm guessing that it is some kind of shifter otherwise this whole thing wouldn't be happening right now, but somehow you're stuck in that form. Right?"

[Seragil]

Naoise leaned into the touch and purred softly, enjoying the feel of Arutha ‘s hand softly touching his face before catching his dark green eyes with his own as Arutha started his questions.

He loved the fact Aruatha already seemed to guess the heart of the problem and so smiled encouragingly at him as he prepared to answer.

“Yes I am a shifter, a cat one obviously,” Here he stopped and considered how to continue. He couldn’t talk about the collar or anything from his past that involved the collar and its curse nor could he tell Arutha his real name, but maybe if he was careful he could talk about his family...maybe. “Amongst certain social circles my family was quite well known for its shifter abilities and other things.” he finished softly while at the same time hoping by not talking about the collar Arutha would pick up that he couldn’t talk about it.

[MementoMori]

Feeling him lean into the touch, Arutha couldn't help but smile at the gentle sound of Kit's purr. This definitely was no dream even though it had elements of one. Now was the time to focus on his questions and how he might phrase them without the collar acting up again. He knew that it had to be the key to everything given all the times it had acted up. When he looked back, it had acted up every time Kit had mentioned something more specific about himself or the collar itself. He would just have to work around it.

"That also explains the tattoo. Gorgeous work by the way. A Celtic based design right?" he complimented with another smile as he waited for the other to continue. "Hmm....this probably means that there must be a record somewhere about them if I knew where to look." he said thoughtfully. Though he had no idea of where he would even start when it came to that. "So how old are you? You look a little older than me but looks in this city are a dime a dozen. You could be any age given what you are?"

[Seragil]

Naoise grinned broadly at Arutha’s reflection in the mirror, that was a brilliant line of questioning, but now he had to answer; giving Arutha his exact age could activate the collar. After thinking of a response he smiled again and prayed Arutha liked history. “I was born during the time the Danish King Canute was sole King of England. My Grandmother never thought much of the English Kings and we avoided mainstream authority as much as possible. “ here he grinned in memory. “We were one of the few surviving old Celtic families. My parents were what would now be called Bards and my Grandmother was known as the Aretha, she was the head of the Druidic Order, it was she who did my tattoo, as for me...well.” he smiled sadly before continuing. “ I was what would have been called a Maghivellwyn, “ here he shrugged nonchalantly though it was obvious remembering those times and his family was hard for him. “But now I guess you could call me a Llewellyn... a full druid. Seanmháthair would have been proud.” He frowned slightly as he looked at himself in the mirror and the collar around his neck then grinned wryly. “Sort of” He finished with another sad little shrug before catching Aruthas eyes again.

“What of yourself Arutha? I mean I know we only have a few more minutes before the hour passes, but that just means my human reflection disappears. I will still remain so this time doesn’t have to be all about me.”He finished with another small grin.

[MementoMori]

Arutha smiled back at Kit. He was glad that they were on the same page when it came to dodging the collar's machinations. It was after all he didn't want to waste this previous time with accidently getting poor Kit fried again by the collar by something either of them said. At first he nodded as he listened, thinking back to some of his history classes. Then his eyes widened with shock as he did the math. "Holy Shit!  You've got to be at least 900 years old give or take about fifty if you were alive at the time of King Canute." he said only to make a odd face as a strange thought darted across his mind. "I don't know whether or not to be disturbed or even more curious about the fact that I was oggling you earlier." he said. "I'm sorry. There goes my brain off on a weird tangent. As you were saying." he added as the other caught his gaze.

"Okay fine. Well I'm twenty-three. I moved here with my sister over a year ago. I suppose that we got bored at home and decided to travel before we ended up here and we've never left. This place seems more like home I guess probably because of Micah, my old fiancee."

[Seragil]

Naoise chuckled sending the mental laughter down their mutual link, it was warm and soft and just a little husky. “ I maybe old in years but age wise I have been 23 for over 900 years. So in truth” he said with a small wry smirk “We are exactly the same age...so feel free to ogle away.”He finished with a slow, saucy smile.

“Only a year and a half?” He asked with some surprise, as he had assumed Arutha had been in the city for awhile. At the mention of a fiancée Naoise looked at Arutha with some seriousness. Old Fiancée? Was it a recent break up, was it mutual, or was it...messy? “ He asked with some concern. He hoped for Arutha’s sake that it had been mutual and not messy but by the pain he had heard and felt when Arutha mentioned him he wasn’t holding out much hope.

[MementoMori]

As his face reddened once more, Arutha couldn't help but smile back. "Now you are just encouragable." he said with a small chuckle, "Still that's good to know so I don't have to feel weird or anything."

He then shrugged at the other's surprised look. "Alot can happen during that time and I'm certain when it comes to this city alot has." he replied before looking down at his hands and at the ring he still wore. Even though Micah was dead for sometime by now, he still couldn't quite make himself take it off yet. He looked back up into Kit's eyes and sighed. "I suppose that you could call it none of those things. Everything had been fine...better than that even until one day while out on an errand, Micah just disappeared into thin air. That happened a few months after we had gotten here. We tried to get the police involved, but without a hint of foul play they thought he just had run off. Kevla and I even tried to do our own detective work and ask around the area where had had said he would be only to come up with nothing."

[Seragil]

Naoise didn’t miss the look at the ring and realised the significance off it. Arutha had been and might still be deeply in love with Michah and having someone so important to you just disappear without a trace, to never know what happened, worse to not be given the chance to say good bye made his heart ache for the man. He had been in the city a little longer then Arutha and had been around a lot longer then the 23 year old so knew exactly how someone could just disappear, he also knew how in a city so full of other worldly and supernatural beings finding answers could be nearly imposable, but then he was also an other worldly, supernatural being and Arutha had helped him so much already he couldn’t not offer his help, plus the guy was just so damn cute and he hated seeing that lost sad look in his eyes.

“Arutha unless the detective was a really good psychic and the police believed that vampires, demons, ghost and ghouls walked our streets then no..I doubt they could have helped in any capacity.”Wanting to impress his seriousness upon the young man he rolled over so that he was literally laying on top of Aruthas chest. He placed his left paw gently against Arutha’s check as he leaned his face in close to his, his bright emerald green eyes intense and serious, totally unaware that in the mirror it looked like his naked human self was laying on top of the man, the sheet now around his hips exposing his rippling muscles and sleek upper physique as he gently cupped the other mans cheek, his face mere inches from Arutha’s as his hair fell down around them almost shielding their right sides in a curtain of midnight. “I know for a fact vampires, ghosts and ghouls walk our streets and though I am no psychic I do have a bag full of pretty tricks” he said quietly yet intensely into Arutha’s mind “I can and will help you, if that is what you want, if you really want answers, we will find them Arutha. I promise”

[MementoMori]

"I know that now, but back then I didn't. All I knew was that he was gone." Aruthas said with a small sad smile. "I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that he's most likely dead. I mean people go missing in this city all the time. You'd have to be stupid not to notice it but then when you factor in all the weird creatures here it is not that much surprise. Werewolf friend, remember." he reminded. "It's just the not knowing...that is the worst." he added with a small sigh just before Kit suddenly moved to lay on top of his chest. Once more he found himself draw into those bright eyes, mildly aware of their forms in the mirror. He didn't dare focus on that for it would be too distracting.

What seemed to matter the most at the moment was the seriousness and the compassion that he saw in Kit's eyes as he felt a paw gently touch his face.He smiled softly as he lifted up a hand to lightly touch the paw/hand that cradled his face. "Thank you, Kit. I appreciate it." he said quietly before smiling a little more. "You know a guy could really fall for you. You're quite the catch even with the whole collar situation. You're very sweet and kind."

[Seragil]

At Arutha’s gently spoken words Naoise went still. He hadn’t meant to push things so far, to have them come so far. Confused, worried and a little scared he turned his face away from Arutha’s for a second to clear his thoughts, only to see his human reflection and Aruthas in the mirror. The image was beautiful, breath takingly so, erotic, romantic and innocent all rolled into one. Unable to look at what he believed could never be he turned back to Arutha with closed eyes, yet he kept his paw where it was, even now awash with sorrow and regret he just couldn’t force himself to pull away from the man’s touch.

 “Do not fall for me Arutha, it can never work, can never be.  As much as i would have liked to think otherwise, to do so would to delve into madness...I can’t live on an impossible dream Arutha. “ he said as he opened his eyes, eyes that reflected his sorrow and regret, unaware that in the mirror his eyes shimmered with tears his cat form couldn’t form.

[MementoMori]

Arutha frowned as he felt Kit go still. He hadn't meant to hurt him. He had meant it for a compliment. Though as he turned his head to look in the mirror, he felt his throat catch on a breath at the simplicity of their forms laying so. It was just so aching beautiful and yet once more it was his eyes that held the story as he watched him close them so sadly. It was almost as that small compliment had injured him. Damn it....he should have probably chosen his words better.

"Please don't cry, Kit." he said gently, lifting up the opposite hand to lightly touch his head. "The last thing that I want to do is hurt you. You've done more for me in these past few days that even my own sister has. I mean to say that I feel happier then I have in a long time because you are here." he said quietly. "I know that I wasn't looking to fall or anything of the kind because of my past, but I also can't deny that there is something.....a draw here between us. So who is to really say what is impossible or not? Stranger things have happened and do happen all the time especially in this City."