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Post by Carlos Castro on Mar 16, 2009 15:00:57 GMT -5
((*snort*))
The man was short, uncommonly so (as he'd thought). But pretty, too, in a rather smooth way that reminded him of someone he could not immediately place.
"You're not the only man who goes anywhere he wants," he retorted, but without indignation. He spoke with the sort of certainty that made his welcome a fact all by itself.
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Post by Mortimer on Mar 16, 2009 15:07:04 GMT -5
"Oh!" he gave a little hop and hummed pleasantly, leaning up to peer better at the man, his pretty eyes flickering back and forth over the fat man's features.
"You're in the opera! I've seen you sing sometimes. You're very good," he smiled.
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Post by Carlos Castro on Mar 16, 2009 15:53:36 GMT -5
Carlos liked the way the man was studying him. He liked the compliment, too. He liked, in general, being flattered.
"I am," he rumbled pleasantly, preening a bit. "In the opera. And thank you. What do you do, er, Monsieur?"
There was something odd about the man, something Carlos hesitated to classify as "not smelling right" but which did rather seem that way.
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Post by Mortimer on Mar 16, 2009 16:06:52 GMT -5
"Do?"
He had to think about that. What did he do? Well recently...
"I take lovers." he smiled pleasantly, showing off his gleaming triangular teeth.
"Oh, but I'm going to sing in the opera soon."
He was standing with his hands folded behind his back while they spoke, and he rocked forward on his heels, straining to keep his fingers from touching at the fine fabric of Carlos' shirt.
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Post by Carlos Castro on Mar 16, 2009 16:30:46 GMT -5
Carlos blinked, both at the frank statement and the sharp teeth, suddenly visible. They put him in mind of Maleo, and the strange non-human smell... Something was up. The fellow moved, and spoke, slightly oddly as well.
"You might wish to be a little more circumspect with that first part, if you wish the second," he pointed out, still a little uncertain about how he felt. It brought his own past into too sharp a focus, for one. And the man was was just generally disconcerting.
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Post by Mortimer on Mar 16, 2009 16:41:11 GMT -5
"Oh. Why?"
He tilted his head and his own nostrils flared a bit--this man smelled odd too. Human, but not all the way human, and in his distraction, his hands found their way to Carlos's shirt and played with buttons they encountered. He didn't seem to notice this himself.
"I'm Mortimer. Do you live inside the opera too?"
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Post by Carlos Castro on Mar 16, 2009 16:50:02 GMT -5
Carlos took a step back.
"Hey, now," he said, American a bit more apparent in his surprise. Not that Mortimer would know that. "I'm not exactly in a position to take a lover at the moment. You... live in the opera?"
His eyes narrowed slightly, wondering how many people lived in the opera.
"Alone?"
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Post by Mortimer on Mar 16, 2009 17:12:01 GMT -5
"Oh, I don't need a lover right now."
He agreed and then nodded, not wanting to mention Erik to anyone.
"Yes. I like it here, don't you?"
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Post by Carlos Castro on Mar 16, 2009 17:21:21 GMT -5
Carlos glanced around the sets, the artificiality of this place belying the obvious haven it was for... well, all sorts of things.
"I suppose," he said, wondering at the man's tactile forwardness. "Though there's a lot to be said for penthouse suites." Why would he live here? Though that was hardly the most pressing question.
Maybe he lived here because he couldn't live on the outside. The teeth, the smell... Maybe something had happened to him. As it had happened to Carlos. Or Maleo--as much as he wished to put the man from his mind.
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Post by Mortimer on Mar 16, 2009 17:36:30 GMT -5
"What's a penthouse?"
Mortimer asked curiously and stepped closer again, his fingers not done with their exploration of the textures of his shirt.
"You smell like the cellars."
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Post by Carlos Castro on Mar 16, 2009 17:38:21 GMT -5
"Top floor of a hotel or apartment, with a balcony and a nice--"
He looked down as the man's odd fingers--he couldn't immediately tell what was off about them--played with his clothing. Well, really!
"So you do," he said quickly, without thinking.
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Post by Mortimer on Mar 16, 2009 17:43:59 GMT -5
The little man laughed, softly and musically with good humor.
"You can't smell where I've been--people can't smell things like that. But I do live in the cellars--sometimes. Sometimes I live in the ceiling."
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Post by Carlos Castro on Mar 16, 2009 17:57:20 GMT -5
Of course he could, but explaining that would mean explaining a bit too much, so Carlos focused on the man instead, finally noticing his... webbed fingers? There was also something suspiciously claw-like about the tips. And the way he referred to "people" as if he wasn't one... Carlos hated to be rude, but... No, wait, he didn't.
"What exactly are you?"
Whatever he was, he had a lovely voice, and Carlos wondered if he ought to be worried. Not that he would.
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Post by Mortimer on Mar 16, 2009 18:04:06 GMT -5
At the question, Mortimer backed off, looking uncomfortable and folding his hands behind his back, his gaze dropping to the floor.
"I'm a man..." he muttered, sounding ashamed and uncertain.
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Post by Carlos Castro on Mar 16, 2009 18:09:22 GMT -5
He looked caught-out, like an errant schoolboy, and Carlos--not affronted, really, anyway--softened towards him somewhat.
"Of course you are," he said, for wasn't he, too, a man? "But what else?"
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