Miranda
- Ingenious Pilot -
All that we see, or seem, is but a dream, a dream within a dream.%\1\%
Posts: 221
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Post by Miranda on Apr 4, 2009 22:09:13 GMT -5
Daniel had not lied or misdirected her in any way, although Miranda most certainly had not been expecting him to. Why would he have? He'd been more than brutally honest and open in her dealings with him, from her own perspective, which in some ways made it ghastlier than it would have been even from the usual point of view. Unfortunately Miranda could not quite shake thoughts of Daniel from her mind as she dragged herself into the cathedral, not in any state to appreciate the beauty of the place, though more than aware of serenity of it.
Nonetheless, Miranda was likewise more than certain that no matter how many had prayed here and found peace, there were those who had suffered here, bad things that had happened, in times of war, or something of that kind. Miranda, already more than attuned to these kinds of things, was especially sensitive to the feelings of violation that she found in here underlying the wonderful medieval piety of it.
Miranda dropped herself into one of the front pews and curled up in it as though going to sleep on the hard wood. She was so very cold and so very tired and so very sore, now that she thought of it. There would be bruises on her body soon, marks on her throat, rather high on it in places, from the unusual attention Daniel had paid her. She'd be more than reminded of it's having happened. And Miranda didn't want to be someone who pretended things were not as they were - she considered herself far from it; a pioneer of the truth - but she did want, just for once, to sleep, to feel oblivion from it, perhaps. And so, shutting her eyes tightly and wrapping her arms around herself, Miranda tried as absolutely hard as she could to try and conjure up the most abstract images and sensations to cover, artificially, the ones she already felt, to perhaps finally find peace...
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Post by Notre Dame on Apr 6, 2009 10:37:12 GMT -5
There weren't many people in the cathedral at this time of night, only the priests, the candles, and a few very unfortunate or very pious individuals.
Notre Dame was none of those, but she was there also. She'd been helping the priests with their lighting- the older one, not the younger one, he spooked too easily and spilled the wax- when Miranda had entered. She was a very pale, very pretty thing, bruised, clothed lightly and in some disorder, and Notre Dame was at her side at once like a curious ghost, for she hadn't spoken the Word. So for Miranda, preventing her from sleep, there would be the very clear feeling of being watched; now Notre Dame was leaning over the pew behind her, close enough that the strands of her hair brushed Miranda's shoulder, and counting the blossoming bruises. There was the faint brush of her fingers against Miranda's throat as Notre Dame moved some hair out of the way.
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Miranda
- Ingenious Pilot -
All that we see, or seem, is but a dream, a dream within a dream.%\1\%
Posts: 221
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Post by Miranda on Apr 6, 2009 10:48:43 GMT -5
Miranda felt the tips of fingers and the ends of hair against her skin, a ticklesome feeling, and the fingers cold, although not in a manner that made her shiver any more violently than she had grown accustomed to, and it did strike her immediately that it might have been a ghost, or another dream, or the ghost of a dream. And therefore it did strike her that it might be a bit ironic to sit up and inform it that she wanted to sleep, but when Miranda had sat up, moving a hand to cover herself again, she knew rather immediately what she was seeing.
"Oh," said Miranda, in a very soft and ragged voice, from exhaustion more than anything actually rough in her throat. "It's you." She herself was not entirely certain what she was saying, but it did make sense as the words came out, and she expected them to make more sense as things went on.
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Post by Notre Dame on Apr 6, 2009 10:54:42 GMT -5
Notre Dame tilted her head at her in silence, then smiled. "You're not here to pray."
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Miranda
- Ingenious Pilot -
All that we see, or seem, is but a dream, a dream within a dream.%\1\%
Posts: 221
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Post by Miranda on Apr 6, 2009 11:03:24 GMT -5
"I'm here to sleep - " Or, she supposed she had been. It appeared lately that she didn't know why she was doing anything. Miranda suddenly felt very ill and blanched, looking away from Notre Dame's face. She was quite pretty, of course, and there was truly nothing wrong with her, but Miranda's mind had thought to something else, naturally. She looked back after a moment. "I didn't know it was Paris," she said very quietly, befitting the somber sleepy nature of the cathedral. "Not until D... Daniel directed me to Notre Dame." She had not been able to suppress what might have been a shudder, and what might have just been cold.
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Post by Notre Dame on Apr 6, 2009 11:08:20 GMT -5
Notre Dame shifted to draw her leg up under her on the bench, eyes never leaving Miranda. She watched her shudder with curious detachment, ignoring her words in favor of something which more pressing to her now than Miranda's geographical disorientation. "You have to say the Word. Sanctuary. I can't help you if you don't."
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Miranda
- Ingenious Pilot -
All that we see, or seem, is but a dream, a dream within a dream.%\1\%
Posts: 221
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Post by Miranda on Apr 6, 2009 11:10:28 GMT -5
Miranda blinked a moment and then smiled rather slowly. It was a lovely smile, despite all the exhaustion. And to her mind, Notre Dame and she looked rather similar in some ways, and as Miranda could not know how Notre Dame usually appeared, she supposed she was touched by this. "Sanctuary."
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Post by Notre Dame on Apr 6, 2009 11:16:57 GMT -5
And Miranda was warm. Notre Dame herself didn't experience temperature, but she took note of things like that when humans came into her cathedral. Shivering meant cold.
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Miranda
- Ingenious Pilot -
All that we see, or seem, is but a dream, a dream within a dream.%\1\%
Posts: 221
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Post by Miranda on Apr 6, 2009 11:31:08 GMT -5
The most incredulous - and yet entirely accepting - smile came to Miranda's face. "Thank you," she said, already brightening quite a bit. It felt good, being warm.
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Post by Notre Dame on Apr 6, 2009 11:48:12 GMT -5
Notre Dame inclined her head in an absent sort of way, propping her chin up on her hand. She watched Miranda as though waiting to see what she'd do next; she'd done her part, after all. The only thing that could be expected of a cathedral was to keep its occupants warm, safe, and dry, and now Miranda would be all of those things.
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Miranda
- Ingenious Pilot -
All that we see, or seem, is but a dream, a dream within a dream.%\1\%
Posts: 221
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Post by Miranda on Apr 6, 2009 16:13:03 GMT -5
Although Miranda was very tired, she was more than certain she would have time to sleep later. Daniel... had sent her here, after all. Whyever he'd done it, Notre Dame herself was helping Miranda. She didn't know if that happened to everyone or not, but she was very grateful and did not want to waste the opportunity.
She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head against them. The pew wasn't comfortable to sleep on, anyway, in all honesty, so she would not have fallen immediately to sleep in any case.
"Madame," she asked politely after a moment, "This is my first time in Paris, and I am not sure where to go in the morning. Do you know where... where I could go?"
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Post by Notre Dame on Apr 6, 2009 16:15:07 GMT -5
A blank stare, until Notre Dame blinked. "You will not stay here?"
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Miranda
- Ingenious Pilot -
All that we see, or seem, is but a dream, a dream within a dream.%\1\%
Posts: 221
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Post by Miranda on Apr 6, 2009 16:18:20 GMT -5
Miranda smiled and gently shook her head.
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Post by Notre Dame on Apr 6, 2009 16:22:16 GMT -5
"Why not? It is a better building than many other." Notre Dame was geniunely curious, peering at Miranda with wide violet eyes.
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Miranda
- Ingenious Pilot -
All that we see, or seem, is but a dream, a dream within a dream.%\1\%
Posts: 221
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Post by Miranda on Apr 6, 2009 16:36:50 GMT -5
"Well," said Miranda, sort of gently, "I will be disturbing the worshipers, and I'll need to eat, and to sleep, and to do things in the day... it is a lovely building, but only God lives here."
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