[Victor] A Houseful of Guests
Who: Victor Kruger
When: July 1, shortly after In the Rain
Where: The Rowland House
Invited: Everyone in the house, folks arriving from In the Rain
Status: Complete ( Read more... )
When: July 1, shortly after In the Rain
Where: The Rowland House
Invited: Everyone in the house, folks arriving from In the Rain
Status: Complete ( Read more... )
The tableau reminded Michelle of nothing so much as a meeting between an elder Immortal and a newbie. She'd been there and done that. It was a nerve wracking experience to know that you lived only because that ancient predator chose to let you live, that your continued existence depended on his whim.
None of the three was Immortal, but the interaction between them was umistakably familiar. Still, it didn't look like things were going to break out into open hostilities. (And if they do, we'll deal with it,) Michelle decided.
Michelle suppressed a smile at the sound of Aleila's stomach growling. "I think feeding everyone is an excellent idea. Fresh corn on the cob with lots of butter and salt and pepper sounds like just the thing."
"That does sound good," Victor said.
"I'll go start a big pot of water boiling," Michelle said, "and see what else I can scrounge up."
"Do you need any help?" Victor asked.
Michelle shook her head. "If anyone else wants to help they're welcome, but otherwise I can handle it, but you have guests." She turned and walked down the hallway and disappeared into the kitchen.
EXIT MICHELLE
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With the bread and salt ritual out of the way, Ami leaned over and gave Victor a soft kiss on the cheek. Her lips lingered against his skin a moment longer than necessary as she inhaled the scent of him.
"I'm going to lend Michelle a hand," Ami explained. With a polite smile and nod, she followed the other woman into the kitchen.
EXIT AMI
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"Move on?" Kayla asked the man, "Move on to where? Or what? Most of us traveled for weeks before finding Haven and other people. This is pretty much the end of the line."
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Oh, but that wasn’t the end of Nyx’s story, was it? The end of the world was merely the beginning. Alexei sighed. “Then he came back to try it all over again.” And damn near succeeded. Thinking of Nyx as the bad guy left a bitter taste in Alexei’s mouth. Had Nyx always been psychotic or had the power made him that way? He certainly didn’t seem psychotic in Shroud City, but that had been a ruse, hadn’t it? A demon of darkness painted as an angel of light. Wretched.
How many stains could be cleaned from a soul? It felt like none.
[OOC: Metaldog is away for a few days, I'll play Llaeseaf if needed.]
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He wasn't sure what it was about Akkarin that had the two of them so jumpy. Clearly he alarmed them--frightened them--but why? Aside from his unannounced spell to dry everyone he had done nothing in Victor's presence to suggest that he was a threat. Was it simply that he was--what? A sorceror? Mage? Wizard?
(And is there a real difference?) Victor wondered. Xander might know. All of Victor's reading--fiction, admittedly--used the words interchangeably. Now that magic was something real and tangible, perhaps he ought to find out more about it. But in the mean time Victor was beginning to grow tired of their behavior.
He'd hoped the ritual of bread and salt would help. And perhaps it had. But the relentless hostility wasn't helping. Sniping at Akkarin--or sniping at one another--could escalate into a more serious conflict.
"I think," Victor said, glancing pointedly at Alexei, "that regaining one's strength isn't quite the same thing as pursuing power for its own sake. Let's not assume the worst, shall we?"
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She ended up sitting on the far end of a couch, huddled up and hoping noone would notice her, let be thought of touching her.
She didn´t mind all that much that the two woman left; the less people around, the better right?
Once more, she let her eyes travel over the occupants of the room as they, too, sought out a place.
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"Thank you, Victor," he said. He looked to Alexei. "If you were born and trained with a certain level of magical power which you grew used to - reliant on - and then you found yourself without it, wouldn't you wish to regain it? I need do very little. You need not be concerned that I might turn to darker powers to regain my strength. It returns naturally, although slowly. With my full strength I will be much better able to travel in comfort and survive my journey. I have been a captive of those who would seek power for power's sake; I have no desire to be like them.
"And as to where I intend to go..." he looked to Kayla. "If I stay here, I abandon hope of returning to my own world. Although I died there, I am alive now, and on my world the woman I love still lives. I do not wish to stop searching for a way to return there."
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No, she'd stay here and wait. She couldn't do anything but that. She wished she could just have some more useful talent... Something that she could actually use to help others or herself instead of shying away from them. That would be good... But allas, it would also be impossible. If she couldn't controll a power like empathy, how the hell was she suppost to controll anything else, right? No, those where eidle dreams and impossible.
(OOC: *smiled* It's ok, it's cool that I'm not the only one posting at these times of day, European, are we?)
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“Frankly, we don’t know. We don’t really know.” Damn life was easier when he could just call them idiots, now he had to explain shit. He pointed toward himself, “Or maybe I’m just telling you that to gain acceptance and work some nefarious plan from the inside. I expect and want all of Haven to doubt me and question me until my actions speak loud enough to make my intentions clear.”
He pointed at Akkarin. “Anyone who is strong enough to be the least bit of a challenge to me is a threat to Haven in my eyes.” He dropped his hand and looked at Akkarin. “Until they prove themselves peaceful.” Alexei held no doubts that he could take out Akkarin, but it wouldn’t be a pretty fight.
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"The point is that we can't expect that every shadow is going to jump at us or that every person has his hand on the trigger." Kayla paused and thought for a moment. "I've seen the good and the bad, and in my life all of it came from people who were just regular old normal humans, born and bred right here on earth. They didn't need magic powers to decide to take over the world, or kidnap people and place them in slavery, or send them into death camps because they weren't some lunatic's definition of racial purity."
That much, she realized was true. That was partly why she took Xander's instructions and informations about monsters and demons in stride, part of why she was able to accept 'magic' and the abilities of Alexei, Llaeseaf and now, Akkarin. Human history was filled with monsters and power mongers.
"But you live in this world awhile and you learn that you have to sometimes trust your gut and give everyone a chance and the benefit of the doubt."
It was the longest speech that she'd given in a very long time. For some reason, she felt as though she was channeling the spirit of her late mentor, Lu Delgado. "I'm not saying that we should let our guards down and greet everyone with a hug and a kiss and keys to the city, but animosity isn't going to help either."
She wished that Xander or Jonas were here. They had a way of looking at this situations and talking to people that she simply didn't possess.
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He looked up at Alexei, looking directly into the other magician's eyes, feeling the other man's power. Strength he had, although it was impossible to tell how much he might be hiding behind his body's shield, how much he allowed to shine through for others to sense. His confidence suggested that he felt he stood higher than Akkarin's strength, but given Akkarin's own assessment of his strength he wasn't particularly surprised. Perhaps he should have done some of his hunting with black magic to build up a greater store of power in case of confrontation.
Better to avoid the confrontation in the first place though. Far better than succumbing to the temptation to strengthen onesself so far beyond natural limits. His natural strength was slowly returning, after all.
"As for the next guy who comes down the street..." he paused, looking at Alexei. "I'll stand with you to defend this town to the very last of my strength and my life if he proves to be a threat."
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Assuming, of course, that the threat in question could be extinguished.
He looked at Kayla. “I understand your point. Greeting strangers with hostility might cause hostility that never would have been there.” He nodded his head and shrugged his shoulders. “But, not all plague survivors are necessarily nice. I don’t want to see anyone hurt and if that means I have to be the asshole of the town, I will be.”
Llaeseaf nudged Alexei’s shoulder with his shin. “Doesn’t play nice with others, huh?”
“I’ve been accused of worse.” Alexei could sense that Llaeseaf was still nervous. This would be another thing that time would have to settle. He looked up at Llaeseaf. “Perhaps we have some rations we can share with the feast they’re making in the kitchen?”
Llaeseaf hiked an eyebrow. “Me? Cook?”
“No, you pop back home and grab some stuff we can share, please.”
In a puff of smoke, Llaeseaf disappeared. Most likely thankful to be offered a polite escape.
Alexei glanced at Akkarin. “I’m not sure if he’ll be back, magic users make him nervous.”
EXIT LLAESEAF TEMPORARILY
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I wonder... is that something innate to whatever Llaeseaf is, or is it something a magician could learn? Any magician in the guild could levitate, but true flight or teleportation had always been mere suggestions which nobody had ever managed to act upon, and so magic had never had a great deal of use in transportation other than making it safer and more comfortable.
At least Alexei seemed a little more inclined to accept that Akkarin might not be a threat now. Feeling he'd gained himself some breathing room, Akkarin found himself relaxing more, beginning to enjoy the simple fact of being with people again. The last person he'd seen was a farmer who'd observed Akkarin bring down a couple of pigeons with two well-placed forcestrikes. Unfortunately the first Akkarin knew of him was his shouting as he ran away. After that it had been empty country for days until Haven. It was definitely good to have some company - even if some of it was highly suspicious of him and potentially dangerous.
"He doesn't seem nervous around you," Akkarin pointed out. "Perhaps he just needs to learn that I can be trusted not to harm him."
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Aleila didn't know what suprised her more; the fact that she'd spoken up or how steady her voice had sounded. She hadn't ment to speak up, the words seemed to have slipped past her mouth-brain barrier without her having any say in the matter.
She once more fought the urge to run and hide, only ducking a little deeper into her chair. The constant tention in the room was starting to seriously wear on her defences and the memories of weeks without anyone around her seemed more and more appealing. She was used to a lot, her family far from perfect, but it seemed that her defences had ran thin over the last weeks... Or had it been longer? Had she become weak and dependant on the protection of Damiens shields?
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