>part seven<
�I . . .like you.�
D looked up, but not at him. He smiled gingerly. �I like you too, Detective. Though I hardly see why you had to come back tonight and tell me this.�
Leon stared at him. �You�re . . .really going to make me say it.�
�You need to say it. Things said become real.� The Count sat back in his chair without his prior amusement. He was utterly serious, but there was something of warmth still etched in his mouth. �Even for you, Detective.�
Leon was numb, to the tips of his fingers, but somehow pain still managed to crawl along every nerve. It was a new pain, one with an edge that he just couldn�t understand. � . . . What if I can�t say it? What if it�s just not something I can do?!�
D�s eyes finally fell on him, and Leon squirmed beneathe their unnatural weight. His hand stilled on the cat, soft pale fur peeking between his long white fingers. �And so you have given up before you have even begun. Why did you come back . . .� His last words were less of a question and more like a conviction. The cat lifted a paw to him but he ignored it, he seemed to be wounded, but ready to prove that he was not beyond defense.
�Understand this, D, please . . .do you know who I am, compared to who I was? The man I was wouldn�t have even looked at you a first time, let alone a second. But now I find myself following you with my eyes, following you with my thoughts. It isn�t something I can name, it has no name . . .but it has taken root in me and no amount of pushing will force it out.� Leon stared at the table as he spoke, the words coming to him and leaving him before he could determine what they were. Part of him was ever so pleased, to be free and uncensored, or even thought-out. But there was a cold snake coiling about in the pit of his stomach, its razor-sharp scales ripping holes in his very being. A choked sigh rattled out between his lips. �I am in fear of it and what it means to me.�
D�s biting eyes fell into some shifty blue emotion. Leon fought looking at him for what seemed like a pinch of eternity, but the continued silence finally forced him to raise his head. The Count�s gaze wove quietly over the cat, he lifted a slender hand and the creature moved immediately to nuzzle it, as if to give an answer to something that had not been asked.
�Do you know what I sold to Ms. Owens, Keiji-san?� Violet and gold eyes became still, platonic beneathe black shades. Leon couldn�t understand what had forced D to switch gears, but he was remotely thankful. He had to all but bite his tongue to keep back words that were insistent on having their way.
�No. What?�
D smiled slightly. One of those odd expressions that made it so clear that he had knowledge that no creature should be allowed to possess. �A Margotine.�
Leon�s confusion became quickly apparent. �A what?�
The Count raised gracefully with the feline held securely in the cradle of his arms. He leaned over and definitely placed it in Leon�s lap, then sank into the cushions beside him, so close that their hips and shoulders touched. Leon swallowed as the Chinese man�s sleeve fluttered momentarily against his arm.
�A Margotine, confidante to faeries and princesses . . . a creature of such beauty and refinement that, in its face, nothing can mar its perfection . . .�
Leon�s eyes were steadily growing wider with curiosity, he stared at D as if enthralled by his very words. �I . . .have never heard of this kind of creature,� he whispered absently, it wasn�t necessarily what was being said, but the way it was said.
�Odd,� the Count smiled quietly, �Because you are holding one.�
Leon�s eyes shot to the flicking tail, the soft white ears that turned to gather the sound of D�s voice. �This?� he questioned in such a low tone that it was more of a breath. �This�cat?�
D leaned more into Leon�s side, reached intently over his arm and stroked the �cat�. �She wears the garb of a feline, Keiji-san, but it is necessary. Such beauty has been known to inspire wars . . .�
�Is this the exact one that Alissa purchased?� Leon wasn�t agreeing with what the Count said, that such an awe-inspiring creature could exist, but he felt in no ways like commenting. No, he would like nothing better than to curl up and sleep for day after day. Lightly he ran the tips of his fingers over white fur that was more like stroking silk. The creature purred in a deep, rich voice.
D frowned, his painted lips falling just a touch at each corner. �No.� He sat back and left his hands folded in his lap. To Leon�s amazement D laid his head upon his shoulder and sighed. �Detective, a Margotine is unique in that it can lend it�s appearance to it�s mistress, giving her the ability to move about and see things in a perspective that could never be understood before . . .But to borrow a Margotine�s guise is to lend your own to it.�
Leon already did not like this story. To think of his beautiful Alissa lending her body to any creature sent frightened shivers throughout his breast. But he listened without interruption---there wasn�t much else he could do.
�But if that individual is wounded while in disguise, then she cannot return to her body, and the Margotine cannot return to its---�
�Are you saying that . . .Alissa is---�
�I am saying that the woman you know as Alissa still exists, but only in a different form.� D grasped the Margotine�s chin gently and turned its face to an angle that would make it visible to Leon. Its wide eyes fluttered then sleepily gazed up and it almost appeared to smile. He noted its eyes in fierce bright shades, one blue and the other green.
Leon was staring deep into eyes of such a lucid colour that he could see himself reflected back. The creature continued to purr, raised a tentative paw to his breast. �Alissa?� He turned to the Count suddenly.
�Where�s the margotine? If this is Alissa then the Margotine has her body!� In the same instant he jumped to his feet there was a soft rustle along the floor. Gripping �Alissa� gently against his breast he watched as the figure of a woman approached them. Leon gasped, immediately started forward, but D grasped his arm and held him back.
�Keiji-san, he is unused to his body and easy to overwhelm.�
�A . . .a---�
�Mere. His name is Mere.� The Count purposefully pried the pale beast out of Leon�s arms, smoothed down her semi-long fur. �Mere�s� arms raised and he moved toward D as if pulled by invisible strings, the Count nodded sympathetically and placed her within his grasp.
Leon watched as the cat snuggled almost gleefully into what looked like Alissa�s breast. D�s hand on his arm kept him from rushing up and putting himself in the centre of their strange reunion. �What happened,� he whispered.
�Alissa was injured while,� D smiled quietly at the feline who was now staring at them from the sheltering arms of her own body, �traipsing about town. As I remember it,� the Count�s head tilted to the side, �You were in a cat-fight.�
Leon could swear that the cat blushed, her tail flicked from side to side and then she looked up at him, started to push away from Mere. Leon shot forward with D on his heels. She jumped straight into Leon�s arms, her claws gripping into his shirt as if to dare anyone to try and remove her. The Count shook his head.
�For some reason, she likes you, Detective---�
�Can they be switched back?!!� Leon cried out, turned to D and away from the figure of Alissa.
�No. But she can regain mortality again if her appearance is worn by another---and they are injured . . .but she can never return to her original body.�
Leon stared at him in fragile silence. �I�ll do it,� he whispered.
The Count�s eyes widened in consuming disbelief. �You will NOT!!� Alissa seemed to mirror him with her own high-pitched growl. �She does not want that of you.� D reached for her, but Leon automatically backed away.
�Give her to me, Count. I�m not asking!�
D started to object heatedly, but then refrained. His chin dropped and silky black hair fell around his face. �You may take her and the Margotine with you, but there is a contract to be signed first.� He gazed back up with bitter, unfamiliar eyes, and then turned.
Leon was so painfully aware of what he saw in D�s expression, he wanted to tell him that this obsession he had with Alissa had nothing to do with him. That he just couldn�t bear to watch such a promising woman simply fade away . . .But when the Count returned with paper in hand, he couldn�t say a word. He stared at the business-like exactness of his movements and hated himself. D placed the contract on the table and Leon moved to stand over it, studied it.
�First condition,� the Count situated himself emotionlessly into his seat then reached for his tea, �You must give her fresh meat and water, nothing more. Second, she and the Margotine must never be separated for any reason. And third---listen to this one very carefully, Detective---You must never borrow her appearance. If this third rule is broken, � he looked up to Leon with nothing short of malicious promise written in his face, �I will kill Alissa as she is in your body.� With that D produced a pen and laid it across the pristine sheet of paper. �Please sign here.�
Leon couldn�t swallow, he felt tears trying to break through but he couldn�t---wouldn�t let them proclaim their presence. �I . . .can�t sign this,� he whispered, voice breaking just as the emotion on his face had. He looked at the pale statuesque face of D. �You know I can�t.�
�Then you cannot have her.� D removed her from Leon�s embrace and purposefully handed her back to Mere. �If a contract is not signed then she remains here.� Leon watched with jaded eyes as the creature in Alissa�s form shuffled away awkwardly. He couldn�t shout . . .he didn�t know what to say.
�I can�t let this be,� he spoke definitely as the Count returned to stand before him. �I can�t let her go as she is!�
D shook his head, �I expected nothing less of you, but this is not your concern. You *cannot* sacrifice your self for her. But, if it will calm you, I am in the process of creating a suitable remedy.� He grasped Leon�s hand and led him to the couch, urged him to sit. He then lowered down beside him and picked up the contract, his eyes passed over it momentarily and then he ripped it into two pieces.
�What?�
�Catherine Owens will be here in the morning . . .Alissa will be with her family again, but maybe not as they can understand. The Margotine is a fiercely intelligent creature and it will be fairly easy for him to pass as his mistress. I would not do this in normal settings, but this once I will. For you, Keiji-san, because you will wrap yourself up in this until no one is happy. And because it is what Alissa wants.�
He thought over it for a moment, part of him still demanded that it was unacceptable. But it was the best avenue that had been presented. His dislike of the idea was as simple as his selfish wish to keep Alissa where he could always watch over her. And his own loneliness, to have something waiting on him when he returned from work . . . Instead of an empty apartment with the same mess that proclaimed that he was indeed all alone. But he didn�t spend a lot of time at his apartment anymore . . .
It was best, so he let her go. It wasn�t like he had to forget her completely, he could always visit her---but she was better off with her sister. What did he know about taking care of a cat anyway? And there was no way he would be able to explain Alissa suddenly reappearing in his care. No, the Count had come up with the only remotely acceptable solution. And if it�s what Alissa wanted . . .
Leon intertwined his fingers through D�s then kissed the back of his hand. �Thank you,� his eyes twinkling all the while with faint tears. And then he straightened. �D . . .what I said before---I . . .think I can name what this is---�
�You have already named it, Detective. It is that which cannot be named.�
Leon stared at the pale creature before him as he presented a small, self-satisfied smile. �So, what now?�
D intently took up his hands and placed them over the tiny buttons that ran down the front of his outfit, leaned forward. �Shall we try this again, Detective?�
"The gracious Margotines with their white, silky fur . . . Some of them accompanied the Faeries on their errands or served charming princesses to whom they reported the secrets and gossip they had picked up here and there by slinking along corridors and ladies' boudiers in nearby castles and houses. Sometimes they even allowed their mistresses to take on their appearance to wander through the countryside or surprise an unfaithful lover. However, if she was wounded during her 'metamorphosis' she was condemned to remain imprisoned in her borrowed form. Other more cheeky Margotines could curl up on the lap of beautiful youths, climb into bed with them and take on the appearance of young girls after the youths had fallen asleep..." ~ The Great Encyclopedia of Faeries, by Pierre Dubois (illustrated by Claudine & Roland Sabatier)