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Post by Tybalt on Nov 19, 2011 21:55:28 GMT -5
He flushed and looked hopeless. He was convinced this would be a humiliating exercise in how very little intelligence he had.
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Post by Victor von Doom on Nov 19, 2011 21:56:18 GMT -5
"Can you read Latin?"
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Post by Tybalt on Nov 19, 2011 21:58:57 GMT -5
He shook his head mutely. He could honestly barely read Italian, and his handwriting was cramped and nearly illegible, and holding a pen of any kind for an extended period hurt his hand.
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Post by Victor von Doom on Nov 20, 2011 0:25:59 GMT -5
Victor made a vaguely disapproving noise, amplified by the metal and everything he said seeming to come from on high. It was less directed at Tybalt for a lack of knowledge and more at those who had deprived him of the groundwork of a magical education.
"Any Gypsy dialects?"
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Post by Tybalt on Nov 20, 2011 0:28:08 GMT -5
"....I only know Italian, my lord," he said, feeling miserable (although in Verona this was obviously sufficient).
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Post by Victor von Doom on Nov 20, 2011 1:57:28 GMT -5
"Very well. You'll learn what you need of both in my service. Now walk with me."
He left it at that.
The castle itself was full of carefully arranged contrasts, and even in the early morning some of the lamps remained burning. When Doom strode past, the flames scattered.
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Post by Tybalt on Nov 20, 2011 2:05:37 GMT -5
"Yes, my lord."
Walking in Doom's impressive shadow put Tybalt in his place almost more than the rest of his time spent with him did; his eyes widened at the way the flames shrank on their wicks as Doom strode past. It was because of his sweeping cape, of course - the wind, it couldn't be anything else - but there were poor peasants he had known who would have regressed to their doorways and whispered of witchcraft just at the sight of it.
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Post by Victor von Doom on Nov 20, 2011 2:27:07 GMT -5
Doom was certainly conscious of the effect this had on people, and enjoyed it. It'd be a shame if Tybalt reacted poorly to his host's involvement in sorcery, being in all likelihood a Roman Catholic, but he certainly seemed impressionable, perhaps his response might be more favorable.
"How are you finding the castle?"
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Post by Tybalt on Nov 20, 2011 2:29:55 GMT -5
"I- I haven't really considered it, my lord," Tybalt confessed. His mind had been elsewhere and he didn't really know how to react to decor or architecture; both were practically non-entities to him. Now that Doom had suggested he have an opinion on the topic he felt helplessly lost, and looked around as though something would spring to mind. Nothing did.
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Post by Victor von Doom on Nov 20, 2011 2:35:36 GMT -5
"Is everything... hospitable to you?" He ventured again, more gently.
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Post by Tybalt on Nov 20, 2011 2:42:47 GMT -5
This was a question he could answer.
"Yes, my lord," he affirmed, coming off desperate to please.
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Post by Victor von Doom on Nov 20, 2011 2:44:03 GMT -5
"Good." This was... satisfactory.
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Post by Tybalt on Nov 20, 2011 2:46:16 GMT -5
He felt relieved.
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Post by Victor von Doom on Nov 20, 2011 2:56:51 GMT -5
One long hallway turned onto another, one narrower and less stately.
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Post by Tybalt on Nov 20, 2011 3:19:22 GMT -5
"-much more hospitable than the Capulets would have been to a stranger in Verona- it is not a kind place to strangers - but then it is famously avoided, anyway-"
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