Valentine
- In the Duggins -
I'll have you know, I'm a very important man!%\0\%
Posts: 99
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Post by Valentine on Nov 23, 2008 0:10:59 GMT -5
Continued from: Not+a+disaster...+not+a+disaster...The otherworldly beggar found himself disoriented all over again as he was lead through the winding and backtracking corridors, hallways and very narrow passages. Going from the blinding outside daylight into the pitch black of the cellars, Valentine had to shake his head several times to get his eyes to adjust, but it was still dark all around him. When they reached the underground lair of this "Erik" that Mortimer had been talking about, Valentine felt his legs weakening underneath him. How long would it be before they - no, he, seeing as he was the unannounced guest and Mortimer seemed to make it rather clear that death was an option with this Erik person. "Moortimer, yeh live doon here? It's so dahrk, I can 'ardly see me 'and before me oon oiyes."
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Post by Mortimer on Nov 23, 2008 0:22:59 GMT -5
He chuckled and led the man around the dark shore of the lake, easily finding the door and opening it up to the contrast of Erik's home--warm and bright and cozy.
"This is Erik's house." He stepped inside and tugged the man after him, closing the door on the dark outside and then pointing to the little coat hook next to the door, where he hung his own bright green longcoat. "Come in! Erik, Julian are above, f' sing-story. Julian sings very pretty, deep, strong. Erik watches."
He tugged his boots off and set them near the door, wiggling his bare toes and made his way into the parlor, stripping as he went, as was typical for him when he returned home, where he preferred go about without clothing, and usually in his less-human shape (though he kept that for the man's sake, remembering how Valmont had reacted unfavorably toward it in the ally).
"Monsieur? Tea, fish, chocolate? Apples?"
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Valentine
- In the Duggins -
I'll have you know, I'm a very important man!%\0\%
Posts: 99
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Post by Valentine on Nov 23, 2008 0:44:15 GMT -5
"Oh..." Taking a hint from Mortimer's example, Valentine removed his large overcoat, everything in the interior pockets shifting and banging together like weights. Underneath the coat he wore a simple brown shirt with the wide collar and no sleeves, leaving his thin, strong arms exposed to the warm room. There were marks, similar to the one on his face, going down the outsides of both arms, broken up with small, half-inch patches of skin, making the lines into triple-segments. Unlike his host, however, he kept his shoes (and pants) on still, watching the nude little man curiously.
"Uh... yes... annythin' t'eat soonds good t'me..." he said, noticing more of the interesting markings all over Mortimer's body. "Where did yeh say yeh got thoose mahrkin's again? They're... pritty." Well, it helped to compliment his new friend, as he felt terribly out of place and was hesitant to sit just yet.
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Post by Mortimer on Nov 23, 2008 0:59:21 GMT -5
"Netmen." He said, and padded away into the kitchen area to make some tea and fetch the box of chocolates he had stashed in the back of a cupboard (he had to climb up onto the counter to retrieve it).
The little man returned a few minutes later with the box and two cups on a tray with the tea along with a rather large bowl full of sugar and a jar of honey, setting the affair down on the table that was near the hearth. He climbed into Erik's chair with a slight purr, missing the man and hoping he'd be home soon so he could sit in his bony lap and listen to stories about Persia and mirrors and dancing skeletons.
"Gave f' make more money when selling. Lots of pretty rings too, but...hm...Henry took them out long long time."
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Valentine
- In the Duggins -
I'll have you know, I'm a very important man!%\0\%
Posts: 99
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Post by Valentine on Nov 23, 2008 1:19:18 GMT -5
"Rings? Like jewels?" Were his eyes not a pair of stationary holes in the mask, they would have lit up at the idea of any sort of riches, past or present. Now invested in the conversation (or rather the food presented with it) Valentine took the other chair by the hearth, helping himself to the extra cup, looking back and forth between the honey and the sugar, hand seeming to follow his gaze. Finally settling on the sugar, he spooned some into his cup and stirred, leaning forward to engage himself more in the talk of the supposed "riches."
"Would yeh'appen ta still have thoose rings? I mean, as a mominto ove yer past?" Plucking a little chocolate from the box, he inspected it in the firelight a moment and bit into it, giving a pleased noise when he discovered it was filled with sticky caramel. The other six that followed in rapid succession were equally gratifying, it seemed, once they had disappeared through his painted lips.
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Post by Mortimer on Nov 23, 2008 1:26:12 GMT -5
Mortimer blinked, perhaps a bit miffed in his way that all of his chocolates were being eaten so rapidly and rabidly.
"No...gone long time."
He mixed a hefty serving of sugar and a good couple of spoonfuls of honey into his own cup and slurped at it, smacking his lips and licking the sticky residue from them, picking up a chocolate between his more delicate fingers and pushing it into his mouth, his sharp teeth making quick work of it before he pointed to the old holes in his earlobes and the faint scars around his collarbones.
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Valentine
- In the Duggins -
I'll have you know, I'm a very important man!%\0\%
Posts: 99
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Post by Valentine on Nov 23, 2008 1:34:28 GMT -5
Valentine's hand shrunk away from the box of chocolates before he took an eighth piece, and he not-so-casually moved his hand to the honey pot, deciding to just pretend he needed more sticky sweetness in his cup... but he was awfully hungry still. Globbing a little honey into his cup, he sat back and looked at the piercing scars, grimacing a little.
"Did they heart more gooin' in or oot?" he asked quietly, trying to keep the conversation going somehow. He really was bad at this, when he wasn't talking about himself. He felt awfully fidgety, fueled by his own tension at possibly being able to die down there, as well as he was in a new and strange place that kept getting stranger. At least to him.
"An' this Ehrik an' Julian... are they yer fam'ly? Loike a father, broother, uncle, coosin, er soomethin' loike that?"
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Post by Mortimer on Nov 23, 2008 1:40:52 GMT -5
"Don't remember in. Hurt much much out." He smiled, though, and brought his legs up into the chair, curling his arms around his knees, warm and content where he perched.
"What is? Erik, Julian are more-than-friends. Very important. Care love much."
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Valentine
- In the Duggins -
I'll have you know, I'm a very important man!%\0\%
Posts: 99
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Post by Valentine on Nov 23, 2008 1:54:41 GMT -5
Leaning forward again (he did move around a lot, didn't he?), Valentine put his cup back on the saucer, trying to think of how to explain "family." He wasn't so sure himself.
"Well, er... fam'ly is... Well, I s'pose th'way to explain it is loike specific people in yer loife respons'ble fer yer upbringin' an life. I had a mum once, but she weren't really me mum..." Waving his hand over his face, he decided to skip that part and go into what he thought he knew.
"Loike... a father is... soomeone who takes cahre of the hoose an' esspences, an' brings in mooney, from whut I oonderstand. A mum takes cahre of the little thins, loike dishes an' doostin' an'... an' babies. Broothers an' sisters are loike... they're like older'r yoonger versions of yerself, except soometimes they either wanna be joost loike you or have nothin' ta do with yeh..." As he spoke, he moved his hands in front of himself, drawing invisible pictures of family figures and family trees.
"Aht least that's 'ow it were explained t'me."
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Post by Mortimer on Nov 23, 2008 2:13:17 GMT -5
Mortimer scratched his head and tried to smooth his wild hair a bit, not really understanding, but supposing Erik and Julian were all of those things to him, in different ways.
"Oh." He said, and pushed up from his chair, giving a long stretch when he stood and padding back into the kitchen.
"I like fish sandwiches!" he called back and clattered around the kitchen, making a bit of a mess and coming back with two of the mentioned items on plates. "Cold is okay? Is cooked this morning."
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Valentine
- In the Duggins -
I'll have you know, I'm a very important man!%\0\%
Posts: 99
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Post by Valentine on Nov 23, 2008 2:21:40 GMT -5
Valentine grinned broadly - all this free food was a boon, and a bit of damnation on Mortimer's part. Feed a stray and they will stay...
"Anny food is fine by me!" chirped Valentine, changing the way he sat in the chair to fit his long legs under him, going cross-legged again. "Thank you fer yer generosity in helpin' a doown-on-'is luck mahn..." he said, trying to garner a few sympathy points. Maybe if he could solidly convince Mortimer that he was just a good, but unfortunate person, he could convince whoever may want to kill him to avoid that altogether.
"Luhks delicious," he said, rubbing his hands together greedily.
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Post by Mortimer on Nov 23, 2008 2:32:11 GMT -5
"Yes, is very good."
He climbed into his own chair again, sitting similarly to the man near him and picking up his own little dinner, chomping into it and closing his eyes in a chewing smile, making little noises of pleasure between eating and gulping slurry-sticky tea, watching the other man closely when his eyes were open, rather liking the rich brown stripes on his body.
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Valentine
- In the Duggins -
I'll have you know, I'm a very important man!%\0\%
Posts: 99
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Post by Valentine on Nov 23, 2008 2:44:00 GMT -5
If Valentine were the paranoid sort, he might have gotten suspicious of the little man watching him eat, but as it was, his focus was of course on the sandwich he was eating, this time taking it down slowly, desiring to savor the meal this round, picking it apart with his fingers and eating it elegantly.
"Twas very good," said Valetine upon finishing the sandwich, neatly wiping his fingers on a little napkin from the tray. "Certaynly hit the spot..." he said lazily, leaning back and rubbing his stomach over his loose shirt.
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Post by Mortimer on Nov 23, 2008 2:54:16 GMT -5
The little man smiled happily and finished his own sandwich and tea, sticking his longish tongue into the cup to lap up the honey-mud stuck at the bottom and then clicking it down onto the table again, curling over with a clicking purr.
He was quite comfortable as he was in Valentine's presence not having been told he should keep clothes on, or asked about his lack of dangly--or non-dangly--bits. After a moment of relaxation, he sat up again and chirpped.
"Monsieur like f' swim?"
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Valentine
- In the Duggins -
I'll have you know, I'm a very important man!%\0\%
Posts: 99
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Post by Valentine on Nov 23, 2008 3:07:30 GMT -5
Valentine tilted his head and scratched at his neck a bit, thinking back on it. He wasn't sure if he liked to, but there was one way to find out.
"We can see if Ah do..." he said thoughtfully, putting his feet on the floor. "Boot shouldn't we wait? We 'aven't 'ad dessert, an' aren't yeh s'posed to wait after a meal befoore goin' swimmin'?"
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