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Post by Maria on Oct 29, 2008 9:44:21 GMT -5
Maria didn’t know what to say. She had wanted her current state of being, but just because she did didn’t meant that others liked being immortal. Being eternally unable to communicate like Lavinia would make such an existence torture. Not only couldn’t she speak, she couldn’t even write down what she was thinking. The vampire felt the sudden urge to hug the other woman—for while Maria could definitely be cruel, but there were some things that crossed the line even by her reckoning.
“Maybe…we could figure it out. There are a lot of strange things in this city. It stands to reason that somebody, somewhere, will have an explanation.” She offered.
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Post by Lavinia on Oct 29, 2008 10:46:05 GMT -5
Lavinia understood the inclusion of herself in Maria's words, in the use of "we", but she was unsure of how far Maria meant to take that. She felt a level closer to Maria than she felt to anyone else in this place, simply by virtue of Maria's own immortality, and of course the fact that Maria could understand her without Lavinia's needing to mime, but not close enough to feel comfortable depending on her further. There was too great a chance of being rejected.
There were strange things. Lavinia's heartbeat quickened as possibilities began to go through her mind. Lavinia had been around for a very long time, but without direction, without any pull in any single direction. She had stumbled across things, but never sought with purpose. And here she was with someone like Maria...Lavinia's excitement bordered heavily on anxiety and she felt a little ill at the thought of finding an explanation, although it did not prevent her from desiring to know if such a thing was possible. Wondering if Maria could mean what she said, Lavinia stared at her, reaching out and brushing her arm with her wrist unthinkingly.
((I am very sorry you are stuck with the worldless creature of doom. Really, I suppose it never occurred to me that she would be so hard to play with.))
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Post by Mortimer on Oct 29, 2008 11:12:46 GMT -5
((Non-speaking characters are fun to play. ))
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Post by Lavinia on Oct 29, 2008 14:15:46 GMT -5
((It really depends on the character. Lavinia doesn't just not speak, but she's also not sound of mind and can't articulate things with her hands. I'm trying to develop her more so that she's easier to play, and easier for others to play with, but it seems slow going.
Unless the wink implied sarcasm maybe?))
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Post by Mortimer on Oct 29, 2008 14:17:01 GMT -5
((Read Wanizame's early posts. XD))
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Post by Maria on Oct 29, 2008 18:36:25 GMT -5
((I don't mind! It makes me think more on this character and how she'd do/react to things outside of what she's used to. Besides, I think you're doing a good job so far. )) *Having no hand to clasp, Maria instead touched Lavinia's forearm* "I do mean it. I don't know what I'd do if I never knew how I ended up the way I am." *She bit her lip thoughtfully* "We don't have to go looking, but if you want to I think we can start with the rumors of seers and magicians. But we'd have to be careful...I have a feeling we could catch the wrong kind of attention if we're too haphazard."
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Post by Lavinia on Oct 30, 2008 17:25:06 GMT -5
Lavinia nodded slowly but very deliberately so, eyes wide and fixed on Maria's, unsmiling. Most people who met her felt a surge of disgust and pity, and then there were others who simply pitied her, viewing her as a thing without a mind because she could not speak or gesture, and often behaved as though quite mad, and often very disoriented from drink or the despair of living. But she was genuinely thankful that Maria had pushed herself so far to empathize beyond pity. Maria seemed more distinct, less hazy, more real, than the other people Lavinia met; she had never tried to distinguish one person from another before, and it was almost as though waking up from somnambulism.
She lifted one stump and pressed it against her chest as though clasping her hand against her heart before she opened her mouth and made speaking noises, a mass of indistinguished vowels, the general gist of was total agreement. She nodded very quickly, head bobbing like a bird's. There was nothing she did not agree with in that statement - Lavinia had caught the wrong kind of attention before. It rarely ended well. But rumors were always good, for if she could not speak, Lavinia could certainly here.
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Post by Maria on Oct 30, 2008 17:46:00 GMT -5
*Maria nodded, her thoughts already turning to what lay ahead*
"We can go as soon as you're ready. I don't know if you had any other plans for this evening..."
In all honesty, Maria was wanting to go now, excited at the prospect of both an adventure and helping out Lavinia. She hadn't had much of a chance to poke around the more obscure corners of Paris, and here was her opportunity.
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Post by Lavinia on Oct 30, 2008 17:51:19 GMT -5
Lavinia shook her head. Her hair hadn't been washed thoroughly in a while, and while it was not grimy, it moved a bit like seaweed. No, she had nothing planned. Plans for this evening? Lavinia didn't make plans. She didn't keep a pocketbook - Lavinia did not even know how to write French letters, in all honesty - and she did not know anyone. Her plans involved begging for money, trying to put it away, trying to take it out to pay for meals and various intoxicants, and finding places to sleep. It was easier to be mad. It was easier to anguish in a sort of half-insanity than it was to try and bear things logically. But on some level of thinking, it had occurred to Lavinia that it was much easier to pay attention to all that Maria said to her if she was thinking rather lucidly. Making an effort to push the more muddled thoughts from her mind, Lavinia said some quick sentence to express that she had no plans, and gingerly moved to the side so as to put her feet on the floor from the mattress and push herself up. It wasn't quite as easy to do without hands.
It did not occur to Lavinia that Maria might have meant that to imply that Lavinia oughtn't be ready immediately.
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Post by Maria on Oct 31, 2008 16:44:35 GMT -5
As Lavinia stood, Maria got to her feet as well, following the other woman’s train of thought. She held out a hand to steady her companion. It was upsetting that Lavinia had to live like a vagabond, and Maria made a mental note later to bring up the motel with Lavinia.
“I have a place in mind already. It’s not too far, I don’t think. I’ve heard so many rumors about the place that it bears investigating.”
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Post by Lavinia on Oct 31, 2008 21:57:57 GMT -5
Lavinia had done a great deal of walking on foot. But now that she was standing, she felt a moment of shy self-consciousness, that she was communicating with Maria - however unlikely it seemed - and being spoken to back. She had not interacted much with the world for a very long time, but interaction with others was completely alien to her, and she felt very bare in a manner she was unused to.
Some wordless babbling in curiosity and some avid head-nodding chimed well with her train of thought, which ran somewhere along the lines of agreement. Yes, rumors. What rumors? She tried to ask that, and was so used to Maria responding to her thoughts that it was almost as though Maria could understand what she tried, tongue-lessly, to say; and so she spoke aloud more often, useless though it was.
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Post by Maria on Nov 1, 2008 16:15:19 GMT -5
Maria was getting used to it, to, the conversation almost moving as though it were completely out loud. It was also helping her develop her mind-reading skill better.
"Rumors of a witch, and a powerful one. It's said she can do just about anything..."
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Post by Lavinia on Nov 1, 2008 16:30:36 GMT -5
It suddenly occurred to Lavinia that a witch might be able to assist her, Lavinia, with gaining the same ability it seemed immortals like Maria possessed. If Maria could, why couldn't Lavinia? How useful it would be to speak directly into the mind of another, if a witch could grant such a thing. Lavinia had heard stories of witches who could. Lavinia had little of monetary value to offer a witch, but if she could offer servitude... well, one more century was not a great deal to ask. And perhaps a witch might pity Lavinia, might find her suffering payment enough.
Lavinia babbled some more, an excited question, wondering if Maria had heard any rumors about the witch granting mental abilities of that nature. How had Maria learned it? If she had only heard rumors about this witch, it was certainly not from her.
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Post by Maria on Nov 2, 2008 20:42:09 GMT -5
"Oh, others like me told me about her--it sounds like she helps people, so long as you are willing to pay fairly. Though I have no idea what a witch would consider 'fair' payment."
Absent-mindedly, she patted the pocket on her jeans, reassured by the wad of cash there.
"I've heard that she can make the old young again, bring the dead back to life--somebody like that should be able to help you with whatever you need."
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Post by Lavinia on Nov 4, 2008 9:49:27 GMT -5
To speak, to speak, to speak. The Latin word, of course, was the one ringing in her mind, the one her mouth formed and failed to say, but the feeling behind it was more than just the word. It was a method of communication, a way of interacting in the world, life itself again, existence in the minds and thoughts of others rather than being an undead, ageless thing that sat apart and adrift. It was Lavinia's sole desire. She tottered after Maria like a child but with far more grace.
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