Juliette Coulombe (clearyourmind) wrote in emillion, |
The sudden shaking had awoken Vivi in time to watch a vase her mother had gifted her fall to the ground, the discordant sound of shattering glass filling the silence in the room, causing her to start. What on earth? she wondered, bewildered, as she quickly stood. It took a moment to gain her balance, but she managed to slip her feet in to her house shoes and throw on her robe. They would need to get outside; the groaning and creaks as the manor swayed with the earth’s movement were not comforting, and the walls could come down around them at any moment if they stayed. It took some time to locate Cloak and Dagger - the poor things had taken cover beneath a fainting couch in Genevieve’s sitting room - and even more to properly and carefully extract them. The scratches that stood in stark contrast to her pale skin were a small price to pay to ensure that they were safe. Bitterly cold air greeted them as they crossed the threshold from the kitchen - it had been the closest room to where the cats had taken shelter - into the garden. She caught sight of Juliette kneeling beside the trellis, which swayed dangerously. Without a thought, she sprinted across the grass. “Get away from there,” she called out. An earthquake was the last thing the Guildmaster needed tonight. Yet, at least Vivi had waken him quickly, in time to get into more… Suitable clothing than his knickers before helping to dig the cats out from under the furniture by the scruffs of their necks - They won’t feel it he’d promised Genevieve when she’d given him a look for the action - and locking their furry little butts under one arm before ushering Genevieve and himself out of the house. Exiting, the cats began to struggle for freedom from his grasp and Reinholdt frowned heavily. What in the name of Faram was going on here? The last time he’d felt something like this was…. Oh. Then rushing off the woman went towards one of her wards and his eyes darted after. “Be careful!” He called after, not even bothering to put on his normal facade of speech before hurrying after the Countess. “Are you hurt?” The question for the youngest ward was quick, his eyes scanning over her for possibly injury as the cats continued to struggle, but were kept firmly under a steely grip. With an answer obtained, his gaze shifted back to Genevieve. “I must go.” Were the only words out of the Duke’s mouth as worry zipped across his features before vanishing in a flash, and a very serious, business like demeanor - a cold, and hard facade - appeared. “Business. My apologies.” With that a brief kiss would be placed to Genevieve’s forehead as he passed off the cats, removed his jacket, slung it around her shoulders, and just like that, Reinholdt would be gone, stalking briskly across the garden and through the estate with a grave mission on his mind. So astounded was Juliette by the Duke’s appearance (she had known, but she hadn’t known) that she could only shake her head at him dazedly -- the trellis hadn’t yet fallen -- as she obediently moved away from it, puppy temporarily forgotten. Boris sat on the snowy ground, his hindquarters all but quivering, but seemed content to only look suspiciously at the unexpected newcomer. “Friend,” Juliette finally managed to say to the large dog, but by that time the Countess’ guest was already striding away. The cats, usually so charming when Juliette visited the main house, chose this moment to begin struggling in earnest against their mistress’ hold (no doubt Boris’ tense presence did not help), and Juliette placed a hand on Boris’ collar, hoping against hope that training would overcome instinct, because she did not doubt that he could make a fair attempt at catching them. With a yowl, one of the cats broke free and went sprinting for the nearest tree. Juliette dug in her heels as Boris attempted to drag her across the slippery lawn. For a few moments (and for a small, frightened puppy, a few moments were all it took) she’d taken her eyes off Mercutio; when the trellis creaked dangerously she whipped her head around, but by that time, he was no longer there. “Oh no.” |