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[shadowofarose]

For anyone who cares to take notice, there is a very pretty young girl sitting in a chair, reading something. It is Sibyl Vane (well, Gray now, for all intents and purposes), and she is diligently going over her lines for Cyrano's play. She is determined to give a fantastic performance, and to show everyone that her acting is just as good as it

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[crimson_sugar]

Why not meet someone new? There's a young woman, also Victorian, sitting on nearby couch, also reading, in her case, a volume of Yeats' poetry.

She's dressed in period clothing, though there's something a bit... off about it. She seems to have perhaps removed or adapted her dress to be more contemporary, and it's not awful looking at all.

[shadowofarose]

It's an awfully nice dress, Sibyl thinks. She's taken a break from memorizing, for fear she'll overload her mind with too many lines and cues and stage directions, and then she'll forget everything she already memorized. Which is why she's looking around the room and takes notice of the very nice dress.

"Pardon me, miss, but I just thought I ought to tell you that I think you've got a lovely dress on."

[crimson_sugar]

For the first words Sibyl says, Sugar looks up from her book with a pleasant smile.

"Oh, thank you, Madam." She struggles not to stand and curtsy - something she's trying to do, to be less Victorian, at the request of her boyfriend. It's working... with mitigated success, aside from the dress. "It was an experiment. I am pleased that you approve."

[shadowofarose]

Despite being here, Sibyl's whole world is more or less still completely Victorian, so she rises and curtsies.

"Yes, I think it's very lovely! -- I'm Sibyl," she adds, smiling.

[crimson_sugar]

Well that's not helping Sugar. She stands, quickly, curtsying as well.

"And I am Sugar," she says, smiling humbly, but with a certain sense of sophistication which can come from being a educated woman.

[shadowofarose]

"Sugar!" cries Sibyl, smiling. "That's a lovely name!"

[crimson_sugar]

Not really. It's a prostitute's name.

"My thanks." She smiles, easily. "I do prefer Sibyl, however."

[shadowofarose]

Sibyl probably wouldn't know a prostitute if she was hit over the head with one.

"Oh, I don't know. I should think my name is so very bland in comparison!"

[crimson_sugar]

Sugar laughs, lightly, in that rich voice that is thick like velvet.

"Oh, not at all. It is a prophetess' name, after all."

In Sybil's defense, Sugar is reformed - so it's not that visible to the untrained eye.

[shadowofarose]

"Is it really? I never knew that!"

[crimson_sugar]

"It is. The tale of the Sybil appears in some important classical works, such as Ovid's Metamorphoses. They were the prophetesses of the ancient world, and the guides to the underworld."

[shadowofarose]

"The... underworld? That doesn't sound like such a very good namesake after all..."

[crimson_sugar]

"I beg to differ." Sugar explains, quickly, not to lecture. "The Sibyl is one of the early models of educated women. There was not only one, you see. They were throughout the Greco-Roman world, and their words fathomed the rise and fall of empires."

Sugar would have loved to be called Sybil. Considering her role in the rise of Rackham Industries, it would have been fitting.

[shadowofarose]

"Well... that sounds a bit better, then! Thank you for telling me! To think I've gone my whole life not knowing what my name means. Until now, that is!"

[crimson_sugar]

"You are most welcome. I found a writer, TS Elliot, who is rather contemporary to us, if a bit later in time - he mentions the Sybil. But if you would read on her, perhaps Virgil would be a good start."

Which is amusing, because Sugar has a head mate who is much more versed in the classicists than she will ever be.

[shadowofarose]

"Perhaps I shall. Once rehearsals and such are over, of course."