no man is an island

[crazylikefawkes]

Characters: Wolf, V.
Content: V admits, in his own manner, to being lonely and missing Evey. Wolf comes over to keep him company.
Location: The New Museum.
Time of day: Afternoon?
Warnings: Purple prose.

Comments

[huff_puff_wolf]

It was the door...while it had been awhile since Wolf had last seen V, he was still open to visiting the strange masked man. He loved his Giselle, and appreciated the company of many of the others living in the Strand, but sometimes it got a little too crowded for his wild-and-free instincts. Especially after that last fiasco of...what what was her name again...making that horrible noisy machine-y racket that woke up the whole place. That had been more than unpleasant.

So he stepped into the museum with only the briefest of knocks, and proceeded to smell his way around a little. It'd been awhile since he'd been here; some of the smells were different. There was definitely still the scent of roses, he remembered those being at his and Giselle's wedding.

Of course, the place was big, and V very easily got lost inside it. "Hell-ooooooooo there!"

[crazylikefawkes]

So it had been. V whirled, and set for the source of the sound. He stepped lightly and stepped lively, galvanized by the spark of the spotlight. Anyone was an audience, and
the show must go on
acting---even impersonating an idea---came easily, almost automatically, although Wolf being an audience with whom he could speak openly and earnestly was important. There was still a man beneath the mask, and he was not always acting.

"Hello to you, too."

V appeared around a corner in a flourish of black cloak, and strode forward with definite purpose. He lifted both arms, palms-up, in a gesture of welcome, and seemed to brighten beneath the mask. "These walls have been wanting for a soul such as yours; it is a pleasure to see you again."

[huff_puff_wolf]

"Have they?" He titled his head in thought at the idea, but brushed it off quickly. Talking walls wouldn't be the strangest thing he'd ever encountered in his life, and he wouldn't rule them out, but perhaps they would be odd even for here. "Although it is good to see you again!"

Once spotting him, he started in his general direction, removing his heavy coat with an eager flourish as he did so. "Awwwr, you seem a little...quieter than usual," Wolf got straight to the point, although admittedly it was sometimes hard to tell what was loud and what was quiet for V.

[crazylikefawkes]

"These walls, these halls, and their inhabitants, after a fashion; if any approach can stir their silence, it is yours." V shrugged, stopping and tilting his head to make use of the watery winter light; given its angle, it granted a warmer cast to his sculpted smile. "It is good to see you, too."

"I suppose so, and I am not at all surprised." Although he glanced to the ground before looking to Wolf, he did appreciate the honesty. It still seemed novel---though he supposed that was the side effect of all the smoke and mirrors he'd employed over the years.

A funny thing, this, that off-stage has slipped away. That in mind, he supposed he could meet the man halfway. "I've lost Eve, and our good-byes were graceless."

[huff_puff_wolf]

"I suppose I can give it a try," Wolf said lightly, although precisely how he'd do that he didn't really know. V would probably think of something or other, he always had such theatrical ideas.

Wolf's face fell as V admitted what had him quiet. He never knew what to think about this business of loved ones vanishing forever...mostly because the thought of that happening to Giselle was devastating. People said that they went home...but what if they had different homes, different dimensions? Was it impossible to ever see them again? It was such an unhappily-ever-after thought, it made him shudder.

"Oh. Uhhr, I'm sorry..." Wolf said, also much quieter than usual. Funny how that could make anyone quieter. And from what he remembered of Evey, she was a succulent little thing. "Perhaps she's safer, if she's at home?"

[crazylikefawkes]

"Any actual effort is unnecessary; your being here is enough, and appreciated." V held his position a moment more, then dropped the pose to half-turn, bowing his head in a thoughtful posture, though he looked sidelong at Wolf. "One would hope."

"If she's returned to London at the time she first left it, or later, she's in position to improve everything, ideally by helping the people to do so themselves. She's certainly capable of providing an example of the possibilities... While my London was worse than this city, the curtain is rising on Eve's act. We've had our rehearsals, and we've said some goodbyes, but I suppose I say they were graceless because, for the first time, I am guilty: I feel I have neglected my protege pursuing another's education."

[huff_puff_wolf]

"Ahh well that's a relief," Wolf remarked on not having to expend effort. Wolves may have been energetic and dedicated, but they were not known for being hard workers, even on something like entertaining.

"Then that's something a relief...although I don't really envy the sweet young girl that has to stay somewhere that's even worse than this city..." V made Evey sound something like the five famous women of the Kingdoms, although she'd never quite struck Wolf that way. Then again, perhaps that's what made those women famous...they hadn't started out as queens or princesses.

Always a little distracted, Wolf gazed about some of the newer works of art while answering V. "Ohh? What other's education?"

[crazylikefawkes]

V chuckled in response to that and folded his hands before him, still standing in an attitude of contemplation. He noticed Wolf glancing at the New Museum's more recent additions, but did not at all mind: he was distracted himself, and the art had been salvaged so that it could be seen, whatever the situation of its audience. "I have to hold to one hope: I've improved it, and with Eve's aid."

V fell silent for a long moment, following Wolf's gaze to a watercolour work---perhaps an amateur's piece--- which was charming in its simplicity: twelve lines, each curved and somewhere between cobalt and cyan, suggesting a bloom. He considered the cool colours, Fire and Ice, and his half-healed burns before speaking again. "My second student, I should say. Rion Steiner, if you happen to have heard of him...? He and Eve are sometimes very similar, and have, together taught me: we've so many duties, each of us, all of us, it's all but impossible to do unto others as deserved, though we should certainly strive."

[huff_puff_wolf]

"You've improved it even from over here? That sounds like it takes some work," Wolf mused. He wouldn't completely put it past V, though.

"Rrrrr, Steiner?" Wolf had only seen him a little on the network, but the boy seemed...disturbed, somehow. He wasn't completely sure what to think of that, and considering he'd never run into the kid before, he figured he'd have to take V's word for it. Had he ever run into him in person, his nose probably would have told him a lot more. "Can't say I have, no."

And now V was beginning to get into that same territory as Diego...saying something that likely he was supposed to be listening to, except it didn't make complete sense. "Duties?" he inquired. "Although yes it is good to give people what they deserve!"

[crazylikefawkes]

That surprised V into an actual laugh; as he'd let his guard down, it brief, almost awkward, and entirely unaffected. "Oh! No, no, no. I didn't mean to mislead. For quite a time before our appearances, I'd been working in my own world to emphasize certain instabilities in its social structure, although Heaven knows they appear of their own accord. I was fortunate enough to arrive without unfinished business, and to leave something of a legacy, which was meant for Even and London alike."

He nodded once, acknowledging Wolf's answer, and answered in turn: "Honesty, integrity, accountability. Although I was Eve's instructor over a year, I believe that, here I wasn't always as available to answer her questions as I ought to have been."

[huff_puff_wolf]

Hearing V laugh was always a bit of an unusual experience...almost like it was little different every time. At least that meant he wasn't quite as down in the dumps as when he'd first arrived. "Ahhhr, then at least the portal you found to this place was convenient, huh?" It was generally nice to have affairs in order before being whisked off to a completely different dimension. Wolf very rarely left any place with affairs in order, sadly.

"Well, you have to admit that this places tends to raise a whole lot of unusual questions on a regular basis," Wolf mused. "And at times can be rather, rrrr...distracting." Perhaps Wolf was just a little intimidated by the ideas of honesty, integrity and accountability, since those were things that he always struggled with, and probably would struggle with for the rest of his life.

[crazylikefawkes]

The last of the laugh broke off at that, and V turned with a sudden gravity. It began to wear away in the short silence before he spoke, but its presence was difficult to downplay.

Heaven knew he tried, but there were two truths to the situation---it was as serious as life and death, while wholly hilarious.

"I couldn't call it a portal... and I couldn't call it convenient, either, or so I'm afraid." He held his hands before himself, fingers tented, and his tone lightened a little further. "My affairs were arranged as I expected an exit, but I did not expect this, not at all, and I readily admit it's absolutely absurd. It seems anything can happen, anything at all---and it will, once you've forgotten the possibility for it. The best part, I've come to believe, the beautiful part, enters as the cast and crew. It's no mere melodrama; it's all exaggerated. It's all artificial; it's all unaffected. None of it has an impact; the littlest bit of it is the most important thing in the world. There is a larger picture, there is always a

[huff_puff_wolf]

Wolf was already rather inclined to believe that anything could happen -having come from a dimension of fairy tales, after all- although he wasn't exactly sure if that was what V was referring to in this instance. And while Wolf generally a creature of isolation (often by necessity), he again wasn't sure if this was necessarily something he should agree with. Either way, it sounded like there was still a lot that V was thinking on that he was leaving unsaid. Oftentimes he talked like a person who knew they were cursed; that they only had a little bit of time left before something bad happened to them or they died...except V's curse was supposed to already be up.

"Well...no, if everyone's an island like you say then you can't really understand anyone else completely. But that's what makes it more interesting, right? Awwwr, I mean you can always be finding out something new about other people. Especially if anything at all can happen!"

[crazylikefawkes]

V listened carefully, hands laced together and attitude studious. He nodded twice, and then---when Wolf had finished speaking---held up his hands. "I may have put that poorly, although I am inclined to agree that the unexplored infinity of the Other does keep interaction interesting. If you'll allow me an opportunity to revise my wording and recall some solipsist's statement..."

A split-second had passed before V called the quote to mind, flinging his arms open quickly enough to make his cloak flap. "Have you ever heard 'Die, and a world dies with you,'? I did not mean to emphasize our isolation from our fellows. We've facets of each other, at least, although we've never the whole: everyone is a hero, a villain, a lover, a fool; everyone stars in their own story, and everyone stocks the stage of others'. The struggle of each and every story is desperate---life and death! The intensity is absurd, and Crane caught on to that. Crane captured it, in Sir, I Exist." He cleared his throat abruptly to recite the piece, never pausing. "'A man

[huff_puff_wolf]

Wolf listened through V's explanation, eyes widening a little as he carried into the theatrics. But Wolf knew well enough that V enjoyed doing the theatrical part, whether or not it was entirely necessary, it was entertaining. (Or maybe that had something to do with a "solipsist," not that he knew what it was.)

"Well I suppose you can't expect the universe to have the time to care about each and every person that comes through it," Wolf said, uncertain of how to respond...since in a sense, it was true. But Wolf was generally a very self-centered individual, and it wasn't much fun to think about the fact that the world didn't care much for him one way or another. "But if we've got our own problems, what's the use in worrying about whether the universe cares about them or not?"

At the very least, the speech seemed to have gotten V out of the funk he was in, and that made it worthwhile enough. "Well that certainly seems to have answered some of your own questions."

[crazylikefawkes]

That interesting element---the entertainment---was necessary; the acting was not. A certain degree of showmanship was an asset; anyone would turn a blind eye and blocked ear to a bland orator as soon as boredom settled in. An excess---if indeed there was one---was difficult to downplay. He had invited Wolf over, meaning to voice guilt and grief, and his hope. He had, or felt he had, but the feelings had been half-hid through theatrics.

A false face fit.

"'One must,'" he murmured, "'imagine Sisyphus happy.' It is precisely that paradox I intend to attend to, after a fashion---and in good time. You've acted as audience and indulged me; I ought to offer entertainment, and, to that end, have found a film I expect you'll enjoy. It has all the essentials; hope, a hell, injustice and the odds eventually overcome."