How Not to Talk to an Elder
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, October 11, 2005
Aleksandyr_Evengii approaches, obfuscated.
Seiko's Sanctuary is a large wooden structure built as a shinto shrine. It is octagonally shaped with sliding doors on all sides. There are lights from within and a faint shadow moving back and forth. A few of the doors are halfway open, encouraging the cool autumn breeze inside.
He pauses at the door, watching inside.
She is dressed simply in a blue cotton tunic and denims, her feet bare and her hair unbound. She sits on a futon which she has just moved near a low wooden table. There she has paper and pens set before her, just so. She takes a ribbon from the table and ties back her hair before carefully rolling back her sleeves and taking a pen in hand.
He speaks in accented japanese, as if having just learned the phrase, softly. "Konbonwa, Seiko-sama."
She stills and uses extraordinary effort to keep the inner struggle of her beast from making itself apparent. After a minute, she gently places the pen down and responds in english with a calm and steady voice, "Come and sit where I can see you."
Aleksandyr moves into the room slowly, sitting down on the cushion across from her. He is dressed in a black suit, immaculately done. He does, however, look rather obviously vampiric (Hum 3), though she gets no beast from him. In his hands is a small, wrapped, parcel.
She studies him and obviously waits for him to speak.
"I come to repay a debt, Lady Seiko."
Her brows arch at that, "I don't recall having you in my debt to begin with, Aleksandyr."
He smiles faintly, the ghost of an expression. "Ahh, but you have provided me a service very few do in these nights."
"Well, I suppose if I am servicing you, then I deserve to be well-paid. That is why you've come here?"
He nods once, the action precise and distinct. "Da. To repay with you a gift in vein of what you have gifted me." He sets the parcel on the table.
"Is there anything I need to know before I open it?"
He smiles that faint expression again. "I have said of others I had no ill will coming here. I am a man of my word when I give it. It does not tick, nor cause harm, if that is what you ask."
Seiko looks amused as she takes the parcel, "I wasn't concerned for my well being. I just wanted to know if you had a presentation handy or if you wanted the gift to speak for itself."
"It will explain the gift you have given me, in itself."
She nods and turns her attention to opening it. She is the type to undo the packaging oh-so-carefully as to not rip paper. She carefully undoes tape and is quite graceful about it all. She unearths an antique Russian puzzle box and then looks at him, "And this is?"
"This was crafted for me when I was a child, in Muscovy. It is a puzzle, Lady Seiko. Much like what you have presented to me." The corner of his lips curve in an almost non-existent smirk. "Something few do these days."
She looks at Alek a little like he's insane, but amusingly so. "Let me see if I understand you. I have presented you with some sort of metaphorical puzzle so you thought you would give me an actual puzzle box in return?"
He nods once. "Quite true. It has taken me no small amount of time to learn exactly what you know of me, through whom, and how. And to learn of you likewise. It has been a most entertaining endeavor."
"I cannot even begin to imagine. I almost want to apologize if you felt compelled to investigate what you have no doubt learned to be nothing of great importance."
"Do not apologize. I enjoy puzzles, and mystery all the more."
"You could have simply asked me. Ah, but that wouldn't have been as fun, I know."
He smiles that faint smile again, and nods. "Quite true."
She slides the box back toward him, "Well, the idea that I have brought joy to your long cold heart is more reward than I can say. You do not have to present me with this if it is indeed a token from your childhood."
He smiles faintly, sliding it back towards the middle. "I insist, Lady Seiko. A puzzle once solved no longer holds the same challenge, and is meant to be shared."
She laughs, "I see. Now that the challenge has passed you have come to settle. That's lovely."
He chuckles softly. "Ah, I have the feeling there are plenty of puzzles left to you."
She demurs, "I'm a simple vampire, Aleksandyr. Perhaps I should walk you to the house so you may visit Venatrix?"
He 'hmms' softly. "You are anything but simple, and my visit was to speak with you as I do now."
"Oh? Was there something else you wished to discuss?"
"Simply the pleasant conversation that one is often unable to get when at a gathering; amid the posturing of the courts and the inevitable... dramatics.. that occur."
"I see. But I was under the impression that these pleasant conversations, as you call them, happen between individuals who have an actual interest in what the other has to say."
He chuckles softly. "And thus I am rebuffed, hm? Should I leave you to your letters, Lady Seiko?"
"I cannot imagine that we have much to discuss as I don't actually know you."
"One would think that one learns of another through pleasent conversations. Unless, of course, your husband would not approve of remaining unchaperoned, hm?"
Venatrix enters, an odd look on her face.
Seiko stares at him, "You have got to be kidding me."
Venatrix opens her mouth to say something to Seiko, then notices Alek, and stops.
Aleksandyr 'Hmms', the action and faint expression reflexive. "They do not do that anymore, do they?"
Seiko frowns, "I am thoroughly baffled now. Who is 'they'?"
He chuckles softly. "Husbands."
Venatrix furrows her brow and folds her arms over her chest.
Seiko sighs at that and pulls the ribbon out of her hair, carefully folding it, "I can tell now that your investigation of me was done quite poorly. It's a little disappointing." She is faintly amused.
"Perhaps. Perhaps not. Good evening, Venatrix."
Venatrix tilts her head slightly, "What is going on?"
"Your lovely friend brought me a present," she lays a gentle hand onto an antique russian puzzle box.
Venatrix blinks once, "I heard the murmur of voices from outside..." She looks blank for a moment, "Pardon my intrusion then.."
"No, it's quite alright, Venatrix."
Venatrix goes to turn on her heels and head back out the door.
Aleksandyr speaks, "It is no intrusion. We were perhaps going to have a pleasent conversation, but I may have been mistaken."
Venatrix glances over her shoulder at Alek, "When I said we would speak soon, I assumed it would have been on the phone..."
Seiko is quiet while they speak.
Aleksandyr smiles, fully, though it is not quite as it once was. "I am... full of surprises, I have been told."
Venatrix wrinkles her nose, "Unannounced visits were more my forte', or so I thought."
"Turnabout is fair play, my dear. In many things."
"Mm.. I suppose," She turns to Seiko and inclines her head.
"But. Since I have intruded on Lady Seiko's... writing time... perhaps I should depart; and you can perhaps show me the new... lawn ornaments."
"Oh no, we're not done, Aleksandyr," Seiko's tone is pleasant.
"Be gentle with him Seiko, he is old-fashioned," Venatrix turns back to Alek, "When you are done, you can find me in the main house."
Aleksandyr's very green eyes slide from V to Seiko, and then back to V. He smirks, the corner of his lips curving. "Da, of course."
Seiko chuckles.
Venatrix shakes her head slightly, turning back around and heads off, muttering something under her breath.
Aleksandyr's the eyes slide back to Seiko again, really the only thing on him that moves.
Seiko rests easily, her elbow on the table, chin resting in palm as she studies him, "If you're going to collect information the least I can do is make sure that your information is accurate. For one thing, I do not have a Husband. I think the concept of marriage for the living and the dead is rather inane, don't you think? Oh..wait, I guess not." She says the last not as an insult but as an honest retraction when she remembered to whom she spoke.
"The ties that bind, my dear."
"There is nothing so binding that you cannot walk away from."
"Agreed. We simply make the choice to do so, but the wise view the consequences first."
"I would call that less wise and more a matter of common sense, yes?"
He chuckles softly. "If there is one thing I have learned in my time as Lord over a domain, is that common sense is anything but."
"At least that, we can agree on. Is there anything else I need to correct or are you certain of your accuracy?"
"That would be telling; and would ruin it, do you not think so?"
Her brows arch, "Of course I don't think so or I wouldn't have asked. See, what you find to be a game, I find to be faintly insulting."
One eyebrow quirks slowly. "Why insulting? Were either of us intending offense, it would be plain."
"Do I start with tonight or should I merely stick with your preparations beforehand?"
Aleksandyr is silent a long moment, "Hmm... I see. You have my apology for any offense given. I can see this was perhaps... unwise."
"You cannot tell me you would be thrilled if I suddenly appeared in the inner sanctum of your haven with a breadbasket and wanted to chat?"
"It would catch my attention, Lady Seiko. As so few do." He tilts his head faintly, the impossibly green eyes watching her.
"I am young and easily entertained. I can see we do not have that in common. From the moment you arrived you have laid insult upon insult. If you had not brought me a gift, I would probably work myself up to rudeness. For now, I'm sitting level with sheer honesty."
He is silent again for a long few moments. "I do not understand, and would ask explanation. If such is not your wish, I will depart so as not to offer further insult in what was not intended to be." He speaks calmly, not coldly, but the strange calm of an old vampire.
"What is it you do not understand? I will make myself clearer."
"Where I have given insult."
Her response isn't angry it is simple matter of fact, "You arrived without prior notice, therefore not allowing me to be a proper hostess. You, being a vampire, should know that appearing before other vampires can be a foolhardy endeavour. Then you presume that because we have acquaintance in common that it further obligates me to entertain you when in fact had you arrived with an actual invitation, the setting and conversation would most likely be more hospitable. This temple is my Sanctuary. I do not bring guests here. But it would be remiss of me to turn you away after you've made the trouble of sneaking your way here."
She continues, "Your present is lovely and I accept it, though I wish I could accept it on a more amicable circumstance. And finally, nothing is more offensive to me than the assumption that I somehow may require chaperoning due to what a non-existent husband may think. If you'd done any research about me, you would know that the word nearly makes me see red. To summarize, you have not done the proper research if your endeavour was to make me friendly with you."
She finally goes quiet.
Aleksandyr is likewise silent, utterly still, as if tasting the weight of her words.
He finally speaks, "A critical missing item of my research, da. Of that, I had heard none. It would, however, at this point likewise be remiss of me to remain; knowing the weight you have upon this place, and wishing to pay respect to that. It is a hope that you will accept an invitation to my home, in return, and perhaps we will begin fresh. Dobre vecha... good evening, Lady Seiko."
He rises smoothly, the action wasting no motion.
Seiko watches him and speaks quietly, "I would advise you to send future correspondence via written word. It is not that I do not have interest in your existence, but I am... touchy. You should also learn about that." She smiles a touch.
There is that faint smile again, almost non-existent - something a touch off about it however, perhaps wistful, perhaps re-collective. "I am at your convenience should you desire travel to warmer climes. Simply let me know when, and I will make the needed arrangements."
"Generally when I go South, I go to Atlanta. But who knows when one desires the allure of the Magic Kingdom? Good night, Aleksandyr."
He inclines his head towards her politely, and fades from view.
Aleksandyr_Evengii approaches, obfuscated.
Seiko's Sanctuary is a large wooden structure built as a shinto shrine. It is octagonally shaped with sliding doors on all sides. There are lights from within and a faint shadow moving back and forth. A few of the doors are halfway open, encouraging the cool autumn breeze inside.
He pauses at the door, watching inside.
She is dressed simply in a blue cotton tunic and denims, her feet bare and her hair unbound. She sits on a futon which she has just moved near a low wooden table. There she has paper and pens set before her, just so. She takes a ribbon from the table and ties back her hair before carefully rolling back her sleeves and taking a pen in hand.
He speaks in accented japanese, as if having just learned the phrase, softly. "Konbonwa, Seiko-sama."
She stills and uses extraordinary effort to keep the inner struggle of her beast from making itself apparent. After a minute, she gently places the pen down and responds in english with a calm and steady voice, "Come and sit where I can see you."
Aleksandyr moves into the room slowly, sitting down on the cushion across from her. He is dressed in a black suit, immaculately done. He does, however, look rather obviously vampiric (Hum 3), though she gets no beast from him. In his hands is a small, wrapped, parcel.
She studies him and obviously waits for him to speak.
"I come to repay a debt, Lady Seiko."
Her brows arch at that, "I don't recall having you in my debt to begin with, Aleksandyr."
He smiles faintly, the ghost of an expression. "Ahh, but you have provided me a service very few do in these nights."
"Well, I suppose if I am servicing you, then I deserve to be well-paid. That is why you've come here?"
He nods once, the action precise and distinct. "Da. To repay with you a gift in vein of what you have gifted me." He sets the parcel on the table.
"Is there anything I need to know before I open it?"
He smiles that faint expression again. "I have said of others I had no ill will coming here. I am a man of my word when I give it. It does not tick, nor cause harm, if that is what you ask."
Seiko looks amused as she takes the parcel, "I wasn't concerned for my well being. I just wanted to know if you had a presentation handy or if you wanted the gift to speak for itself."
"It will explain the gift you have given me, in itself."
She nods and turns her attention to opening it. She is the type to undo the packaging oh-so-carefully as to not rip paper. She carefully undoes tape and is quite graceful about it all. She unearths an antique Russian puzzle box and then looks at him, "And this is?"
"This was crafted for me when I was a child, in Muscovy. It is a puzzle, Lady Seiko. Much like what you have presented to me." The corner of his lips curve in an almost non-existent smirk. "Something few do these days."
She looks at Alek a little like he's insane, but amusingly so. "Let me see if I understand you. I have presented you with some sort of metaphorical puzzle so you thought you would give me an actual puzzle box in return?"
He nods once. "Quite true. It has taken me no small amount of time to learn exactly what you know of me, through whom, and how. And to learn of you likewise. It has been a most entertaining endeavor."
"I cannot even begin to imagine. I almost want to apologize if you felt compelled to investigate what you have no doubt learned to be nothing of great importance."
"Do not apologize. I enjoy puzzles, and mystery all the more."
"You could have simply asked me. Ah, but that wouldn't have been as fun, I know."
He smiles that faint smile again, and nods. "Quite true."
She slides the box back toward him, "Well, the idea that I have brought joy to your long cold heart is more reward than I can say. You do not have to present me with this if it is indeed a token from your childhood."
He smiles faintly, sliding it back towards the middle. "I insist, Lady Seiko. A puzzle once solved no longer holds the same challenge, and is meant to be shared."
She laughs, "I see. Now that the challenge has passed you have come to settle. That's lovely."
He chuckles softly. "Ah, I have the feeling there are plenty of puzzles left to you."
She demurs, "I'm a simple vampire, Aleksandyr. Perhaps I should walk you to the house so you may visit Venatrix?"
He 'hmms' softly. "You are anything but simple, and my visit was to speak with you as I do now."
"Oh? Was there something else you wished to discuss?"
"Simply the pleasant conversation that one is often unable to get when at a gathering; amid the posturing of the courts and the inevitable... dramatics.. that occur."
"I see. But I was under the impression that these pleasant conversations, as you call them, happen between individuals who have an actual interest in what the other has to say."
He chuckles softly. "And thus I am rebuffed, hm? Should I leave you to your letters, Lady Seiko?"
"I cannot imagine that we have much to discuss as I don't actually know you."
"One would think that one learns of another through pleasent conversations. Unless, of course, your husband would not approve of remaining unchaperoned, hm?"
Venatrix enters, an odd look on her face.
Seiko stares at him, "You have got to be kidding me."
Venatrix opens her mouth to say something to Seiko, then notices Alek, and stops.
Aleksandyr 'Hmms', the action and faint expression reflexive. "They do not do that anymore, do they?"
Seiko frowns, "I am thoroughly baffled now. Who is 'they'?"
He chuckles softly. "Husbands."
Venatrix furrows her brow and folds her arms over her chest.
Seiko sighs at that and pulls the ribbon out of her hair, carefully folding it, "I can tell now that your investigation of me was done quite poorly. It's a little disappointing." She is faintly amused.
"Perhaps. Perhaps not. Good evening, Venatrix."
Venatrix tilts her head slightly, "What is going on?"
"Your lovely friend brought me a present," she lays a gentle hand onto an antique russian puzzle box.
Venatrix blinks once, "I heard the murmur of voices from outside..." She looks blank for a moment, "Pardon my intrusion then.."
"No, it's quite alright, Venatrix."
Venatrix goes to turn on her heels and head back out the door.
Aleksandyr speaks, "It is no intrusion. We were perhaps going to have a pleasent conversation, but I may have been mistaken."
Venatrix glances over her shoulder at Alek, "When I said we would speak soon, I assumed it would have been on the phone..."
Seiko is quiet while they speak.
Aleksandyr smiles, fully, though it is not quite as it once was. "I am... full of surprises, I have been told."
Venatrix wrinkles her nose, "Unannounced visits were more my forte', or so I thought."
"Turnabout is fair play, my dear. In many things."
"Mm.. I suppose," She turns to Seiko and inclines her head.
"But. Since I have intruded on Lady Seiko's... writing time... perhaps I should depart; and you can perhaps show me the new... lawn ornaments."
"Oh no, we're not done, Aleksandyr," Seiko's tone is pleasant.
"Be gentle with him Seiko, he is old-fashioned," Venatrix turns back to Alek, "When you are done, you can find me in the main house."
Aleksandyr's very green eyes slide from V to Seiko, and then back to V. He smirks, the corner of his lips curving. "Da, of course."
Seiko chuckles.
Venatrix shakes her head slightly, turning back around and heads off, muttering something under her breath.
Aleksandyr's the eyes slide back to Seiko again, really the only thing on him that moves.
Seiko rests easily, her elbow on the table, chin resting in palm as she studies him, "If you're going to collect information the least I can do is make sure that your information is accurate. For one thing, I do not have a Husband. I think the concept of marriage for the living and the dead is rather inane, don't you think? Oh..wait, I guess not." She says the last not as an insult but as an honest retraction when she remembered to whom she spoke.
"The ties that bind, my dear."
"There is nothing so binding that you cannot walk away from."
"Agreed. We simply make the choice to do so, but the wise view the consequences first."
"I would call that less wise and more a matter of common sense, yes?"
He chuckles softly. "If there is one thing I have learned in my time as Lord over a domain, is that common sense is anything but."
"At least that, we can agree on. Is there anything else I need to correct or are you certain of your accuracy?"
"That would be telling; and would ruin it, do you not think so?"
Her brows arch, "Of course I don't think so or I wouldn't have asked. See, what you find to be a game, I find to be faintly insulting."
One eyebrow quirks slowly. "Why insulting? Were either of us intending offense, it would be plain."
"Do I start with tonight or should I merely stick with your preparations beforehand?"
Aleksandyr is silent a long moment, "Hmm... I see. You have my apology for any offense given. I can see this was perhaps... unwise."
"You cannot tell me you would be thrilled if I suddenly appeared in the inner sanctum of your haven with a breadbasket and wanted to chat?"
"It would catch my attention, Lady Seiko. As so few do." He tilts his head faintly, the impossibly green eyes watching her.
"I am young and easily entertained. I can see we do not have that in common. From the moment you arrived you have laid insult upon insult. If you had not brought me a gift, I would probably work myself up to rudeness. For now, I'm sitting level with sheer honesty."
He is silent again for a long few moments. "I do not understand, and would ask explanation. If such is not your wish, I will depart so as not to offer further insult in what was not intended to be." He speaks calmly, not coldly, but the strange calm of an old vampire.
"What is it you do not understand? I will make myself clearer."
"Where I have given insult."
Her response isn't angry it is simple matter of fact, "You arrived without prior notice, therefore not allowing me to be a proper hostess. You, being a vampire, should know that appearing before other vampires can be a foolhardy endeavour. Then you presume that because we have acquaintance in common that it further obligates me to entertain you when in fact had you arrived with an actual invitation, the setting and conversation would most likely be more hospitable. This temple is my Sanctuary. I do not bring guests here. But it would be remiss of me to turn you away after you've made the trouble of sneaking your way here."
She continues, "Your present is lovely and I accept it, though I wish I could accept it on a more amicable circumstance. And finally, nothing is more offensive to me than the assumption that I somehow may require chaperoning due to what a non-existent husband may think. If you'd done any research about me, you would know that the word nearly makes me see red. To summarize, you have not done the proper research if your endeavour was to make me friendly with you."
She finally goes quiet.
Aleksandyr is likewise silent, utterly still, as if tasting the weight of her words.
He finally speaks, "A critical missing item of my research, da. Of that, I had heard none. It would, however, at this point likewise be remiss of me to remain; knowing the weight you have upon this place, and wishing to pay respect to that. It is a hope that you will accept an invitation to my home, in return, and perhaps we will begin fresh. Dobre vecha... good evening, Lady Seiko."
He rises smoothly, the action wasting no motion.
Seiko watches him and speaks quietly, "I would advise you to send future correspondence via written word. It is not that I do not have interest in your existence, but I am... touchy. You should also learn about that." She smiles a touch.
There is that faint smile again, almost non-existent - something a touch off about it however, perhaps wistful, perhaps re-collective. "I am at your convenience should you desire travel to warmer climes. Simply let me know when, and I will make the needed arrangements."
"Generally when I go South, I go to Atlanta. But who knows when one desires the allure of the Magic Kingdom? Good night, Aleksandyr."
He inclines his head towards her politely, and fades from view.