To be honest, he was less phased than he should have been. Of course, you'd need more than that to kill his psyche.
Nonetheless, Catheris Orial wished not to speak of the morning after. Especially after that damned dream made him wake in a cold sweat, it forced him to sit still in his bed. He stared at the wall blankly whilst wrapped in his poofy blanket for about half an hour.
However, today was another occasion which took place after the ink over-blotting incident. Oh saintesses, the chill of the ink glazing over his eyeballs still haunted him. Unfortunately, he did not have the leisure time to be lazing about. He took his leather crossbody bag (for work purposes) and black-fur collared coat dangling from the rack beside the door as he headed out.
Today's trip was for design research with Mr. Suit who Reena referred Catheris to. Lately he felt more fatigued and lightheaded, but that was an insubstantial reason as to not hold himself to the usual standard for his appearance. Catheris put a bit more thought into his looks today to mask his poor condition.
Catheris preferred the talk with the consultant be done over the internet. However he was sent something that could be summed up as 'I prefer doing my business in person as to avoid tedious communications concerning not being able to grasp the subject clearly. This way I can effectively offer you insight regarding your application of this information.'
He sighed. Whatever must be done, must be done...
Perhaps a '^0^' would have followed at the end if the other party wasn't using a professional tone.
He'd arrived a bit early to outer Ste. Laurent. This region was also called outer Aberose–Virosiad's central city. The dealings away from Aberose were considered more... irrelevant, to put it bluntly. So close proximity to Aberose was a status symbol.
He crossed his hands as he leaned over the wall of the canal's bridge—the city's signature tourist trademark.
Hence why the city was known for its decadent taste.
If Aberose displayed humankind's most advanced technology, then Laurent displayed humankind's appreciation for beauty and aesthetics. Its European architecture paid attention to every detail, most buildings had intricately carved grandiose pillars holding up high ceilings. Stunning expensive stone floored most buildings such as a coveted marble type derived from a certain small region.
Adding onto that, the appreciation of fashion was displayed via the well known districts where a myriad of ateliers dedicated to the craft were situated in the city. Catheris used to frequent this area in the past for that reason as well; his apprenticeship days were spent here.
And if someone knew their way around Ste. Laurent, they could easily find the spots where people dealt tarot cards and did palm readings—stuff of that sort. Sellers there usually had rich histories and an elite clientele ...so in conclusion, it may be an opportunity that'd be more effective than the sole presence of a church.
Perhaps he'd buy a talisman—no, he could afford to shell out on someone's services. His dreams do seem to have something more sinister as the root of all his issues. Someone definitely practiced exorcising dream demons, right?
At least that'd be one of his issues dealt with.
'The weather is getting colder these days, isn't it?' Catheris peered down, absentmindedly admiring how the flow of the water gently went its path.
His front strands of hair flew with a sharp gust of air, enough of a reminder for him to go on his way.
'Cold.'
The consultation was at the other's office. He must've been quite the successful man, as the location sent was a pretty good area even for Virosiad's standards. All Catheris knew about the man was from Reena and his work profile. He only wore suits at their meetings: nothing more, nothing less. He was told Mr. Suit was rather neutral in the sense that he was enigmatic, maintaining a professional monotone attitude throughout dealings.
***
...
Outside the wind ran rampant, and (almost) winter's depressing dull gray sky reigned. Seeing as how the weather was, Catheris tugged his hood a bit more over his head by the fur collar.
This area in particular homed a lot of evergreen trees. It smelt sharply of thick pine due to the cold.
Anxiously, he took a step forward scurrying his vision for a doorbell. Once pressed, he stood still like a tree, waiting patiently and seriously lest he was to be caught off guard.
Such serious waiting, yet he was caught off guard by the vibration in his pocket. The message read:
[The door is unlocked already. My office is located on the 3rd floor, just walk straight ahead and enter that room.]
Ah. Catheris hastily shoved his phone back in.
The door's lock clicked open, and his shoes clacked onto the dark hardwood floors. All the lights were shut off, leaving the house poorly lit by sundown. The only exception was the bit of light peeking out above from the staircase–a lone ceiling light. The inside somehow felt more uncomfortable as the air felt a bit prickly–numbing, even.
But he ignored that oddness as the interior took his breath away. The gold of the exquisitely intricate frames against dark azure walls matched perfectly in the living room to his left. Plenty of things were framed—too many things, in fact, that he couldn't pay attention to everything fully. The decor was most definitely grand maximalism.
It seemed "fresh" with the amount of leafy greenery and glass ornaments. The seating looked like it came straight from a castle, with intricate wavy metal frames/accents and detailed floral patterns made with delicate lines.
Oh my, even the floor had blooming flowers carved into it.
-Nevermind. Catheris would've liked a bit more time to just admire things but – he was here for business, after all.
He made his way to the T-shaped staircase before him, steadying himself by holding onto the thick wooden hand railing. His breathing was slow and cautious.
It didn't feel dangerous. It just felt off.
He was ticked off the moment he peered into the glass windows of the doors on the second floor: dozens of file cabinets lined up together in rows. It reminded him of that hallway, the one that smelled of bitter almonds in his dream. He couldn't pinpoint how, but it exuded the same vibes.
The file room wasn't eerie by any means, but it made him feel subtly deranged if he kept looking at it. He looked away and kept walking. He had places to be. He continued on, each creak sending distress signals to his system. He sucked in his stomach to lessen the straining anxiety.
He peered at the bottom floor from the top before making his way down the hall. With a click, he peered into the slit of the opening.
The skylight of the room was blocked by a metal cover. Hanging below was a wood platform suspended with chains from the room's corners. A singular boob light was attached to the platform. Other than that, a dim lamp standing in the corner illuminated the office.
Singular light... just like that drea– no, nevermind.
He glanced at the consultant. Right before him sat 'Suit Man' behind a well-crafted mahogany desk with a myriad of compartments. He tapped his pen on the desk with a leather-glove clad hand while mindlessly staring to the side at a clock. The hands, which resembled a piano's metronome, sharply clicked with a hypnotic pace.
The wooden prism with a golden plate facing Catheris was engraved with the name "Aoirnoc[1]Beo[2]''. And underneath that in smaller text size, 'Private Investigator'. It wasn't right to refer to him by name – they weren't close by any means.
An inexplicable sense of deja vu clicked, the fleeting presence so faint you could only grasp it in a dream. As if they'd met before.
His silver-dipped bangs parted on the right. His fluffy hair was ruffled a bit and grew a bit long, down to his shoulders, it was tied into a short ponytail in the back. He had long, pretty lashes and pretty yellow fox eyes. They were the color of glowing amber, black spiral swirling to the pupil. And underneath the right eye were two pretty moles in the outer corner. As well as the fact he wore quite the neat pinstripe suit.
The consultant's eyes widened the moment he saw Catheris before composing himself into something appropriate.
His baritone voice had a slight, pleasant trans-Atlantic accent.
"-Ahem, please take a seat."
He looked at a schedule on his desk, then right back at him.
"Right, Orpheus Orial. I'll be happy to help you out today. Let's see.. Wistoroth information, you want to make a meaningful design, yes?"
A client wanted something themed for their family, so yeah.
Catheris nodded "Mn." Does he do this as a hobby?
He was amiable; however, he lacked the expected energeticness she spoke of. More mellow than her description, relaxed.
"Reena's treated me quite well. Make yourself comfortable here," he began.
What ensued was a long discussion about the spirits of Wisteroth, defined by the sky tornados made up of a multitude of types of spirits. The theme Catheris' client picked focused more on the spirits: they had the top half of a fox and their lower bodies were like a wisp. He went into detail how the bottom half was speculated to have been eaten off. Another theory was that they were not granted the right to walk this earth, rather, their lower wisps halves were a cruel wish granted. They had longed to experience human civilization, only to merely spectate as a fluttering apparition.
As for the actual purpose of the tornado?
The man handed him a few pictures of said tornado.
Well tornados in general: they violently suck things into their column of air, no? As Wisteroth is celebrated to remember the lives of those lost, this extravagant display of nature is to bid those recently dead a peaceful farewell.
"Ah–"
Their hands accidentally brushed when Mr. Suit was rifling through the table for a document to reference off of, whereas Catheris was rifling through for his stylus.
Catheris: ...
Catheris: ?
"Sorry," the consultant blurted, updating the images in Catheris's hands to the ones displaying the electrifying purple tornado phase.
He seemed to be a bit shaken up and fidgety. His excitement appeared muffled, but now he came off as plain paranoid; his movements and speech were rushed. But Catheris did not have the time to pry into his affairs, really.
"It's alright ," Catheris assured blandly.
The man explained the purple phase. The sky turned a bright purple, clouds swirled to the eye of the storm, and heavy purple thunder struck around the tornado. The phenomenon was triggered by a tornado sucking in wandering life essence–which was stuck to the earth's field due to past grudges and regrets. Just things that made them attached to their life and made them unable to move onto the soul system to be reincarnated.
Families held ceremonies to honor their deceased, which intertwined with the concept of praying. This acted like a binding agent that created the tornado in the first place.
This is why Virosiad also held public ceremonies for those who did not have anyone to perform a ceremony: the John and Jane Does, horrendous people disliked by all, etc. It did the world no good to have wandering life essence waiting to be recycled.
Speaking of the life essence, whilst the tornado signified it moving on–a certain event without fail occurred on every occasion—Wisteroth's tornado spirits who ate the life essence to further every aspect of their existence appeared, whether it was to further their lifespan or to refine their power.
And sometimes, he'd catch the other man staring at the top of his head when he himself was so entranced in taking notes his bangs touched the screen. Whenever Catheris lifted his head up to meet his penetrating gaze, the consultant averted it off to the side.
"...?"
In the end, due to the foxes' playful nature, the concepts were settled. Dress shirts with fine gold, blue, purple, and red embroidery displaying the foxes prancing around in various areas depending on the piece: across the collar, collarbone, waist, back, even extending to the sleeves and their cuffs.
More items would surely be designed on that basis, but such was the first thing that came to Catheris' mind.
Pulled from a cabinet, scrolls of Eastern style ink calligraphy drawings unraveled in front of Catheris, "Aren't they cute?"
Perhaps a '^0^' this time as an expression would have followed at the end if the consultant wasn't a bit drained instead of a '-w-'
"Indeed."
Catheris removed his hand from his chin, swaying his head to examine the notes on his tablet for one final check.
"I suppose that'll be all now. It was shorter than I expected, thank you." He shoved his belongings sprawled out on the desk into his crossbody bag.
There was a minute of silence between them. He collected the papers he brought, shuffling them towards himself and tapping their bottoms on the table so they created a neat pile. The man tried to not make it obvious that he was staring at him. He pretended to look indifferently and ignore his presence whilst on his phone. Something felt off. It didn't feel like it came out of admiration, nor did they have a background that would explain any other type of burning gaze.
It was a mere one-time meeting— that's what he used to keep these thoughts to himself.
Catheris was the first to break the deafeningly still atmosphere. "I'll be taking my leave now."
He swept his bangs in place one last time whilst adjusting the position of his bag's shoulder strap. Just as he was about to place his hand on the doorknob, his wrist was grabbed from behind.
...
"Excuse me," Catheris paused, confused hesitance in his voice. "...Do we know each other?"
.
..
...
The other held up his wrist to examine the – supposedly – blue veins, stretching the skin of the area out to reveal they were fading to black with black dots spreading upwards, and only the veins on his hands were untainted.
He also leaned into Catheris' personal space rather too close for his liking. "You... how are you not dead..."
His expression turned increasingly concerned: eyebrows furrowed in concentration whilst ignoring Catheris's insistent squirming.
'May I help you? But if it's not urgent I'll have to go-" Catheris blurted without thinking much, attempting to shove the man off by pushing his shoulder. He turned his head to the door and pulled his bag closer to him.
Of course something was off... The shifty gazes, the awkward air when Catheris was scribbling notes and beta prototypes down furiously, the fidgety thumb scrolling movement, the whole second floor, now this..!
What do you mean by "May I help you?"
??
Catheris froze, 'HE JUST ASKED HOW YOU WEREN'T DEAD.'
"Just bear with me for the time being-" The other man said.
...
The hold on Catheris's wrist was too tight and it began to ache from stiffness. He could feel his pinky turning numb. The prior onset awkwardness turned alert. He tried to tug away towards the door again, away from the other. "I really don't know what's going on so just explain... you're acting weird right now-"
"How are you alive with these levels of contamination..."
How would he know-
Catheris could feel his throat closing in while sensing a sudden shift in the air.
Without wasting a second he was forced to the floor and his arms were locked behind him in an uncomfortable position. His back was being crushed from being kneeled on. The arm pressed against the back of his neck threatened to end his life.
He didn't dare speak.
After a few seconds of silence he was finally freed, the tense situation fizzled out as the consultant stood up frantically and began surveying the room in disarray. Pacing about the room for the source of his concern, only for it to trace back to Catheris.
Catheris began to walk backwards, almost falling over when he reached the door as the darkened figure approached. The consultant leaned against the door, arm above Catheris's head, he could feel the audible heavy breaths brushed against his hair. Catheris' hand had been raised up to the other's face, shrouded in darkness except those glowing amber pupils. Catheris slowly moved his gaze, attentively observing for what the consultant was checking for.
The consultant stopped, turning his back on him as he walked towards his desk. He stopped right before it and slammed his palm on the top, lightly punching his forehead with the other fist before dramatically dropping his head—heaving a deep sigh of relief.
Suddenly, the man's voice became somewhat filled with an exasperated crazed madness calming down "I don't know what you're trying to accomplish by hiding it."
...
"What do you mean by this 'contamination' stuff and how I'm not dead yet?" Catheris snapped, finding that his tone of voice seemed oddly over-defensive.
The consultant turned around, and for a split second their eyes met, before the other darted his vision to the floor. He gestured his hands up like a guilty person. "You exhibit a level of ink a corpse has – no, you actually have way more than the degree they're found with." He sighed. "I was checking if you were the culprit, pretty much impossible to not know what's up these days unless you're a hermit."
By all means his current appearance was giving: "...Hey buddy look, we can sort things out."
There it was, the infamous overly-wide smile nervously twitching at the corners of his lips. He was finally understanding what Reena was getting at. He totally looks like a con man right now.
"That's... possible?" Honestly, at this point, Catheris wished he were a corpse.
"-And what are you implying right now, Mr. Beo?"
"If this keeps up, even without its mental interference ...you'd be dead on its contamination alone."
"..How much is it?" the treatment.
He stared at Catheris's wrist, squinting to inspect closer. "You don't seem like you'd need treatment thaaaat immediately. Let's just plan on another meeting. ...Anyways, I have affairs that need me. Let's call that all for today."
Catheris left the scene, none the wiser to the contents which laid on the other side of the desk. There sat a beige file folder, stamped on top with red ink read a bold 'CONFIDENTIAL' with 'Deliamois' underneath.
***
The sound of the door closing behind him felt as if he were in some action movie, like he missed being bombed by a foot–evading death's grasp by mere milliseconds.
Catheris hadn't really processed a thing–it happened all too quickly.
Huuuu.
Well, he supposed it was a development made for the better?
'All's well that ends well.'
Ah, all that talk about the Solstice holiday period reminded him he still needed to buy a few things for the final phase—the gift exchange. Reena quite liked her antiques. The old-timey styled shop Catheris liked was a bit pricey, so he only went for special occasions–the one with the twins and their caretaker.
Right... he had something to do on his way back.
Nonetheless, as one thing he noted since the beginning, he exited still thinking,
'He has a rather fine suit.'
***
[1] Long O, so if I were to simplify it'd be like oh-are nock. The connected oh-are sounds like
oh-wh(Aoirnoc)-are-nock?? Anyways don't worry about his first name everyone calls him beo anyways.
[2] Bee-oh