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Post by Erik on Dec 7, 2008 11:32:23 GMT -5
Erik stared incredulously at Valentine. "Am I correct in the knowledge that your mask is... unremoveable?" he asked. "You may get away with such things behind the scenes, if you can make yourself useful. But on stage?" He scoffed. "Never."
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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 Dec 7, 2008 19:05:18 GMT -5
Valentine snuffed, getting awfully exhausted of people disbelieving his claim. Mortimer was one thing - at least the sharkman was interested in learning about everything - and he believed Valentine.
"No, it doesn'a coome off..." he said in exhaustion. "It's naught tied'r secoored by anny oother means than it's stook. Isn' yoors the same?" he asked, pointing out Erik's still face.
((Valentine's horror wouldn't lay in Erik's death-face appearance, just that Erik can take his "face" off.))
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Post by Erik on Dec 7, 2008 19:38:16 GMT -5
Erik, of course, found his question quite natural. "Then it is not a mask at all," he said. "It is your face. And as you may have noticed, though perhaps not registered, those of us who make a habit of looking as Erik does--or you do--are the minority here. Erik's mask comes off, for it covers something he'd rather most did not see. The point, however, is that people here expect to be able to look behind it."
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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 Dec 7, 2008 23:33:44 GMT -5
Valentine's mouth opened in an expression of horror and he almost seemed ready to wretch onto Erik's nice clean floor.
"Tha's hoorible! Whoy would annyun wanna do that?!" Valentine touched his mask all over, immediately feeling for cracks or spaces, expecting it to suddenly peel off at any given moment and expose the muscle tissue and bone beneath it. "Issat whoy everyun round 'ere'as soft'n squishy faces? D'they jus go aroun' peelin' off their mahsks?!"
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Post by Mortimer on Dec 8, 2008 0:06:37 GMT -5
Mortimer giggled and reached up to swat Valentine's hands away from his mask, touching the interesting surface of it himself.
"People don't have masks. I like Valentine's face. Very handsome."
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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 Dec 8, 2008 0:11:51 GMT -5
"But..." Valentine's hands dropped to his sides and his panic was disarmed by the innocent statement - he still did not quite understand, but he found himself resigning to Mortimer's touch, calmed by it.
"So whut if my mahsk is stook to m'face then? Wot's there 'arm innit?" he asked, looking to Erik since he seemed to be the authority on this.
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Post by Erik on Dec 8, 2008 11:05:57 GMT -5
"None inherent, except that you're different," he said, the word falling from his twisted lips like a curse. "People don't like that. Erik... wears a mask because his, er soft face is even less agreeable. But even this does not give him license to walk freely amongst men. No! He must sit here, like an outlaw, for Man is a curious creature and the very act of hiding something makes him feel justified in exposing it."
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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 Dec 9, 2008 1:40:48 GMT -5
Well, that wasn't quite right, in a way that made Valentine feel a bit of indignation toward mankind without even yet having had a real problem with humanity. Folding his arms against his chest, Valentine shifted his weight back and forth, trying to reconcile with this fact.
Everything was much different in his own City of Light than what was here. In fact, he was fairly certain that Erik was only terrifying to him in demeanor - if he'd known him in another way, his appearance would hardly make a difference... well, unless he was a giant. Things larger than Valentine, or openly more vicious than a rabbit tended to make him more nervous.
"'Snot fair t'you, is it? Prolly whoy that bloody goon on the street jus' yelled a'me..." he muttered, thinking back to when he'd first attempted to stagger out of the alley he'd found himself in. And he was quite sure that, if given the chance, he could probably see something similar in Erik like Mortimer saw... once they got past the whole hostility and housing issue.
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Post by Mortimer on Dec 9, 2008 1:48:37 GMT -5
Mortimer stayed near Valentine now, taking up his strong and nimble hand, smiling.
"Will take you up now, find place f' stay. Much much empty rooms, no one will notice way up up. And Valentine can work f' sing-stories. Pull ropes, move things, be quick, quiet. Mortimer will visit with every day, too. Okay."
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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 Dec 9, 2008 1:56:48 GMT -5
Thought train once again derailed by Mortimer's sweet innocence, Valentine unwound his arms from each other and smiled, relaxing again.
"Roight, yes, a place t'stay. Thank you, Moortimer," he said, his voice dropping to softer, warmer tones when he thanked the little sharkman. Raising his free hand, he took Erik's without caution and shook it firmly, giving the elder man a polite nod of his head. "An' thahnk you too, Mon-sieur Ehrik." Though he wasn't quite sure of why he was thanking the other masked man; perhaps for the advice, the temporary use of his house, or sparing his life when discovering the drifter was there - Valentine left it for Erik to choose.
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Post by Erik on Dec 9, 2008 10:35:44 GMT -5
Erik was not certain either, but neither did he think much about Valentine's words. Erik was certain that, when he was thanked, he deserved it for some reason even when he didn't. The thing about not killing people was that it was a mistake one could remedy in the future. While that might allow the other fellow the upper hand, or the chance to hurt you, Erik was also convinced of his own immortality.
"An excellent idea," he told Mortimer, weary of the masked man's intrusion. "Be careful." He did not specify to whom he spoke, or what they were to be careful of. That was for them to decide.
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Post by Mortimer on Dec 9, 2008 13:32:29 GMT -5
Mortimer grinned happily and dragged Valentine along by the hand, stopping only a moment at the door to let him get his coat before leading him out and up the long way from the cellar to Above and further up into the topmost floors of the Opera.
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