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Post by Mercutio on Jan 20, 2009 14:03:33 GMT -5
She'd reached for Mercutio. He flailed away as if he'd been shot, exactly as he had earlier when the zombie had grabbed at him and he hadn't been paying attention. He swung the chair up from the ground in one smooth movement and the only thing that kept him from smashing it into her was that at the last second something clicked in his brain and he actually noticed what Lavinia looked like.
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Post by Lavinia on Jan 20, 2009 14:14:08 GMT -5
Lavinia reacted to the chair-swinging rather than the actual impact, which, had he actually been going to hit her with it, would have been a very good thing indeed, and, knees bending suddenly, threw her arms up as though cowering. When the blow didn't come, and he paused, she skittered under his arm to the other side of them, straying close enough to Tybalt to brush his arm.
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Post by Tybalt on Jan 20, 2009 15:06:11 GMT -5
He spared the girl cowering behind him only a swift glance, registering only that she did not move like one of them and was clearly terrified before returning his attention to the growing crowd of the undead in front of him.
"Mercutio," he snapped. "We have to go- there's too many of them- are you going to take them all on yourself?"
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Post by Mercutio on Jan 20, 2009 15:45:17 GMT -5
Mercutio was still staring at Lavinia, as though trying to figure out what she was while at the same time not wanting to know. She had shrieked at him. And she didn't have hands. The contrast between her pretty face and jarring lack was surreal.
"Right-o, my sweet prince," he said absently, then raised his eyes to Tybalt's face. "Hmm, there are a lot of them, aren't there? I wonder how they're growing?"
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Post by Lavinia on Jan 20, 2009 16:05:41 GMT -5
Lavinia's arms were almost spread out and she started to whimper as she carefully edged a circle clockwise around Tybalt, her back to him, the position of her arms making it appear as though she were trying meticulously to protect him, although she merely had the tendency to move like that, particularly when frightened. She gave a soundless scream again after one headed towards them and she kicked it in the chest, stumbling backwards afterwards. Throwing glances repeatedly over her shoulder in anxiety - not wanting to turn away from the zombies completely, but trying to hold a steady glance anyway, however unsuccessfully - she said something that sounded like desperate pleading, although completely incomprehensible. In her dread, she'd forgotten she was able to speak telepathy.
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Post by Tybalt on Jan 21, 2009 17:20:35 GMT -5
He realized with a jolt that the woman had no hands- his first thought was that she must be one of the undead, but she didn't move like them and she certainly didn't act like them. He grabbed her roughly by the arm, as she wasn't moving fast enough in the opposite direction from the zombies for his taste. Mercutio could follow if he felt the need, or he could stay and play his game with the chair and die for all Tybalt cared.
There was no way of knowing if the infestation had spread to other streets, or indeed the whole city, but anywhere was better than being in the middle of a crowd of them.
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Post by Lavinia on Jan 21, 2009 17:30:22 GMT -5
Lavinia eeked again at being seized - again fearful of more violence, as she usually was, for Lavinia was not accustomed, in general, to being touched, and doubtless suffered a sad paranoia anyway - but the rude gesture's purpose became clear in a moment, and Lavinia, who if nothing else was swift, raced along with him, though her gait was hindered by her looking anxiously back at the taller one in alarm, wondering why she was being rushed out, but not he.
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Post by Mercutio on Jan 21, 2009 23:08:30 GMT -5
Mercutio sneered at Tybalt as the other man ran. He turned to face the zombies, standing very calmly, one hand on the chair as he leaned on it. He considered their growing numbers. He considered the fact that he had no real weapon ( a fact that Tybalt had been trying to impress upon him for a good many minutes, but which Mercutio dismissed out of hand because it was coming from Tybalt and Tybalt complained about the littlest little things).
It was with a sense of regret and resignation that Mercutio made a very rude gesture to the slowly approaching mass, and then turned and ran.
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Post by Tybalt on Jan 22, 2009 20:16:24 GMT -5
The lumbering crowd was numerous but slow, and they all seemed to be coming from the opposite direction, so it wasn't hard to lose them in the winding Paris streets. He pulled ran with the girl, glancing once behind him to see with relief that Mercutio was following.
They ran for what seemed like ages, stopping for breath only when they were nearly halfway across the city from any sign of the creatures. Tybalt said nothing, only let go his death grip of the girl's arm.
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Post by Mercutio on Jan 22, 2009 22:45:17 GMT -5
It wasn't until they were halfway across the city that Mercutio realized what he'd done, that is, followed Tybalt, a Capulet- well, that last bit he could drop, he was trying so hard not to fall back on that, even if it was habit at times. Still, he'd run after the other man, and not for any reason that Mercutio could think of, which disgusted him. What could he possibly want from Tybalt? Before either Tybalt or the girl could speak to him- he had not yet discovered Lavinia had no tongue, although she'd been suspiciously quiet besides her alarming screech- Mercutio whirled on his heel to leave, putting a hand to the little dagger at his waist to ensure that it was still there. He wasn't wearing a sheath for it, so it was only tucked in his belt, and even as dull as it was he didn't want to lose it.
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Post by Lavinia on Jan 23, 2009 16:13:45 GMT -5
Lavinia had gotten increasingly white-faced and out-of-breath as they had continued on, but had grown no less fleet, fear driving her better than her misery ever had. If she was stumblesome and delicate under normal circumstances, she could show surprising strength under abnormal ones.
She was no less relieved when they stopped, for he was taller, longer-legged, and faster than she was, and her arm hurt a great deal, and would doubtless bruise. Her relief was also great to find that his companion had not been abandoned. But she was bewildered and almost wounded when he did not speak a word to them and moved to leave. She didn't think they were safe yet, and even though they had long since escaped the large mass that they had been unfortunate to be in in the first place, she felt they had to do something for the rest of Paris. This had to be made known. Lavinia did not consciously think that she could not speak to communicate to them - and did not remember she could speak telepathically - but she did know, for some reason or other, that she could not warn anyone, and needed someone else to.
And they needed to get off the streets in case that crowd spread out this far. Lavinia called out after him, frantic, gesturing at him with one arm and tapping his companion with the other, looking from back and forth, dark hair wispy around her face from the running. She began to speak very rapidly in Latin - incoherent, tongueless Latin, of course - about how they needed to get to the centre of the city and warn people and stage a quarantine and then they needed to find Maria who would undoubtedly know everything, or, if she didn't, the gentle-hearted witch would, and get out of harm's way. Had she had hands, they would have been very eloquent in their gestures, the orders of making which were sent down along her nerves by her brain to the nonexistent joints and muscles that would have made them for anyone else.
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Post by Tybalt on Jan 28, 2009 16:39:07 GMT -5
The girl's frantic babbling was strange and almost frightening to hear- he wanted to stop her shrill, senseless voice, stop her waving about handless stumps of arms- it brought to mind something out of a painting of Hell or a nightmare. He was so distracted by the macabre vision of her, that it took him a moment to realize that she wanted him to stop Mercutio from leaving, but he'd be damned if he tried to catch his attention. She wouldn't stop, though, so he put a hand on each of her shoulders and held her still.
"Stop," he said, struggling to keep from shouting at her.
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Post by Mercutio on Jan 28, 2009 17:05:22 GMT -5
Lavinia's incoherent babbling had stopped Mercutio in his tracks- he whipped around, wide-eyed and with his hand on his knife, to stare.
It took him a few tries, as unsettled as he was, even still, by the girl's appearence- but he wasn't the one next to her, so he managed to say, lowly, "Oh, Tybalt. You have such a way with the ladies."
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Post by Lavinia on Jan 28, 2009 17:55:58 GMT -5
Lavinia's shoulders hunched just slightly, natural reaction to being touched, but she did not feel frightened enough to draw back or make a peep. Nonetheless, she was frustrated and unhappy that she couldn't get her point across. Even though the other did not manage to leave - it was something.
She managed one more breathless plea that gave way to a frustrated moan, and her eyes scrunched shut once as she stomped one foot and hit herself unexpectedly in the forehead with the stump of her wrist, thrice - this was on purpose, although the way she did it made it look as though, once she'd started, she was going to never stop.
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Post by Tybalt on Jan 28, 2009 21:05:12 GMT -5
Ignoring Mercutio's quip, Tybalt backed away from the girl, still unsure whether she was mad or just frustrated by her inability to communicate. He felt a kind of horrified pity, looking at her- he didn't want to know how she'd come to be like this. He didn't touch her again.
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