|
Post by Armand on May 20, 2009 12:17:42 GMT -5
Armand too was in the library, although he slipped in much later, after Eli had been there a while already. Armand did not care about closing times or off-limits, and- he knew- neither did Daniel, and it was not that he was looking for him but Armand couldn't help but gravitate to a library occasionally, as though he'd glimpse him.
Eli's was a strange presence, not weak, but mild and rather unobtrusive. The tickle of it got to him after he'd settled on top of a shelf, legs crossed, arms folded, not intending to move but wary and a little curious. There were still a few people there, gradually being herded out with blind eyes to the vampire who'd flitted in past those flitting out, and Armand did not immediately identify the vague brushing of another old presence as belonging to the slim child reading a book in German.
|
|
Eli
- In the Duggins -
I'm twelve... more or less.%\3\%
Posts: 80
|
Post by Eli on May 20, 2009 17:47:54 GMT -5
It was still unclear whether or not Eli knew there was another vampire in the room. It was surely possible that Eli did not know it, but whether Eli knew or not was not likely to make a difference in her behavior. She continued to hold the book open before her, flipping the pages open almost hungrily.
Eli did not care that it was closing time, either, not even after a library assistant came up to her and chided her rather harshly for lollygagging while her family was off. Eli looked up and listened, even smiled, but after the woman turned, Eli's face grew only thoughtful, and she picked up the book again and walked calmly off into the shadows of the shelf.
The assistant did not seem to notice she had not listened, nor even that there had ever been a child to scold, as she left, rather blank-faced, to get her keys and lock up for the night.
|
|
|
Post by Armand on May 20, 2009 18:37:35 GMT -5
All the mortals were gone now. It was only Armand and the other. Mildly curious, he locked onto the shadows of the perpendicular shelves ahead. The first thing he noticed was the flash of dim light against reflective eyes, green-lit like a cat's. But the darkness wasn't hard to penetrate, and the eyes, while momentarily arresting, winked out like they'd been turned away while Armand looked harder.
For a moment, his surprise was evident on his face.
|
|
Eli
- In the Duggins -
I'm twelve... more or less.%\3\%
Posts: 80
|
Post by Eli on May 20, 2009 18:47:12 GMT -5
Eli only barely smiled back at him, noticing she was noticed, noticing but not - it was not a cold smile that was meant to be cruel, mocking, or sarcastic, but any genuine warmth was distant and absent, this distance only lengthened by the way her eyes seemed to be looking beyond him even with her eyes fixing to his.
After a moment she turned and placed the closed German book on a shelf and stepped out from total darkness into the dim slots of moonlight that came out in slivers from one of the closed shutters; everyone had left, and there was no longer any light. It was not a problem for either of them.
|
|
|
Post by Armand on May 20, 2009 19:35:43 GMT -5
Older than Claudia, younger than himself. Adrogenyous, slim, equally silent. Armand watched her steadily as she emerged. Paris was his territory, true, but it was large and full of many like himself, and he'd long since learned to share.
|
|
Eli
- In the Duggins -
I'm twelve... more or less.%\3\%
Posts: 80
|
Post by Eli on May 20, 2009 20:10:25 GMT -5
Eli continued to creep out, walking in the same way as ever - toes slightly curled, steps careful as a cat's - with her eyes on the other vampire in apparent interest. When she got near enough she would climb the shelf opposite him fleetly and stare back at him; she gave no thought to whether or not he'd allow such a thing.
|
|
|
Post by Armand on May 21, 2009 7:48:56 GMT -5
Armand did; why wouldn't he? Whether or not he realized it, Armand would always gives more consideration to a child blooddrinker than an adult, and he would never make the mistake of underestimating one based on appearence. His head turned towards her as she climbed, his expression blank but somehow mildly expectant, his large dark eyes still intent. He had better things to do than sit and stare at another all night long, but he was interested in seeing who would speak first, or if it was necessary.
|
|
Eli
- In the Duggins -
I'm twelve... more or less.%\3\%
Posts: 80
|
Post by Eli on May 21, 2009 14:17:22 GMT -5
Eli perched on a library shelf the same as he did, only slightly more compact in build and therefore only slightly more compact when folded up on the shelf. They mirrored each other strangely. Eli was the darker of them. This other had crisp, red-gold hair and an amber quality to its glassy eyes, and seemed in its own way better dressed, whereas Eli's own hair was dark and a bit oily, eyes that faintly glowing green. These were all secondary characteristics, though. They did not judge each other based upon the outward shell. Merely, they could infer from each other what the circumstances of their own fatal bite had been, if this was the appearance. Who had done it and why; if it was a boy's face, regardless of the whiteness it took on, or the passivity, that said a great deal more.
Eli seemed to be contemplating something, taken aback, perhaps, and therefore not sure of what to say.
|
|
|
Post by Armand on May 21, 2009 14:27:34 GMT -5
The problem with pleasantries was that most of them were completely inane, removed from any real meaning by sheer virtue of what Armand and this other were. But it didn't hurt to pretend to be civilized. He tilted his head forward, in some slow recollection of a bow. "My name is Armand."
|
|
Eli
- In the Duggins -
I'm twelve... more or less.%\3\%
Posts: 80
|
Post by Eli on May 21, 2009 15:02:20 GMT -5
Eli was used to either speaking casually with mortals or not speaking at all to others of their kind; she had not met any. She tilted her head as an animal might if it heard a strange noise, perking up as it listened to it, but not really because it understood. She had, of course, but had never been given a name without preamble. "Eli," she replied, after a moment, once resigned to this. She did not find it offensive, no, but it was a little strange. She was passive, though, non-judgmental.
|
|
|
Post by Armand on May 23, 2009 16:15:20 GMT -5
Eli. A boy's name. Voice with the androgenyous lilt of youth, tangled hair longer than Armand's, like a smaller, thinner, darker version of himself. Despite the feral air to Eli's movements, she obviously had some sense if she could answer him. Armand had never seen her before, nor heard of her- tales of child-like blooddrinkers generally got around- but that did not mean, in this version of Paris, that she hadn't been living here for some time. He tilted his head to the side, shoulders loose, fingers splayed on the edge of the bookshelf, feet dangling- altogether an open, non-threatening posture. Armand wondered idly whether she'd tell him anything he didn't already know.
|
|
Eli
- In the Duggins -
I'm twelve... more or less.%\3\%
Posts: 80
|
Post by Eli on May 23, 2009 16:46:08 GMT -5
Eli did not sink into a more acceptably adult posture - folded legs or arms or any of the kind, like a kid kneeling in the street playing jacks and balls or marbles - but as she relaxed into it, she looked as intelligent as any of their kind, and there was nothing unstable or insane in her. She remained perched like that, watching him watching her.
She'd never seen another one so young, had very rarely seen any others at all, and said very quietly after a moment, "Are there others in Paris?"
It was a soft inquiry, and did not especially seem like a question, spoken almost like a statement. She meant other vampires. She could not imagine it; they generally did not seem to spend time together. She had known only those who were extremely solitary, and when she had met others, she had gotten the impression that she should pass by fast.
|
|
|
Post by George Boleyn on May 23, 2009 16:54:26 GMT -5
"Yes. Paris is capable of sustaining many." More than Armand was comfortable with, here in this Paris where there was a blooddrinker around every corner. Eli was new in town, it seemed, if she did not know.
|
|
Eli
- In the Duggins -
I'm twelve... more or less.%\3\%
Posts: 80
|
Post by Eli on May 23, 2009 17:05:19 GMT -5
Eli's gaze got a bit distant as she processed this. Capable, yes, but were they capable of the company? She refocused her eyes within moments; after all, she didn't know enough of their kind, all of which seemed just as alien to her as humans did, to begin to form a judgment, and she'd never try. She tilted her head slightly, shoulders hunching just a bit, but it was only a readjustment of her position, not that she was becoming more sly or more shrewd. "I'm from Sweden."
|
|
|
Post by Armand on May 28, 2009 6:44:56 GMT -5
Armand inclined his head, one eyebrow quirking faintly as if to say, is that so? He knew very little about Sweden. He'd never cared. He still didn't, although it reaffirmed his suspicion that Eli was new to Paris.
|
|