Second

[amadeodivenezia]

I am fascinated by the computer that I found in my possession when I awoke here. I have computers in my home, but they are nothing so cunning and compact as this. I can see that I will have to learn more about it and its capabilities. Am I correct in thinking that this tiny lens is a camera

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[baixin]

I'm still not sure how to work it completely. It's truly a wonder of technology, isn't it?

I'll be on my way right now!

[She puts on her cloak, makes sure her naginata is trapped to her back just in case she is attacked, and heads out the door.]

[baixin]

[Her eyes followed in the direction he nodded in, taking in the beautiful sight of the park. It was dark and she couldn't see the colors so well, but the breeze was nice, and carried the scent of some late-blooming flower she couldn't name.]

I have to agree with you there. In fact, mostly everything here is new for me. The ideas, the buildings and technology, and the animals. There's a zoo here, among other things that I'd like to see.

But this place..

[Though it was harder to see in the dark, it was still beautiful.]

It's magical, isn't it?

[amadeodivenezia]

A zoo. Do you not find zoos sad? Animals kept in captivity, without understanding of what it is that has happened to them. Without chance of escape, though they stalk back and forth in their cages.

[He does not say that he has gotten that same feeling and those same thoughts from the minds of those who live in this City, that this is some sort of zoo.]

Yes, I see why it is called Xanadu. I must wonder if somewhere in this park there lies a stately pleasure dome and some resting Kubla Khan.

[baixin]

Yes, I do. But then they aren't much better off than most of us here, are they? I don't wholly mind it here; but I'd like to be able to leave if I ever want to. The fact that we can't.. and the curses, make this entire place like a zoo. So I don't mind seeing the animals. I like them; and for awhile I suppose, I can think of freeing them, but they won't be anymore free than we are.

What does that word mean? [She looks up at him curiously] I have to admit that I'm not sure. I learned English, but that word never came up in my lessons.

[She glanced about, and smiled slightly.]

A beautiful prison? I never thought of this place like that until you mentioned the animals.

[amadeodivenezia]

[He wants to reassure her. There is no reason for her to share his darker thoughts. He likes her for the lightness, rather.]

I would not dwell on it were I you. The whole world is a beautiful prison; this is just a smaller one.

The word? Xanadu? There is a poem, Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.

[baixin]

[Upon hearing his words, her expression softens, and she smiles.]

Even if it is a prison, it's less of one than home is. I.. like it here. Despite the curses and not being able to leave. What o you think?

[She knew next to nothing about him, for all she knew he had someone back home or something he had to do that would be better than being stuck here.]

A.. Poem? [Her smile widens a little.] Kirei. Beautiful. Like this place.

[amadeodivenezia]

I will have to give it time to decide, but I have made a new life for myself before, and I will do it again.

[He answers her unspoken question that hovers for a moment at the top of her mind before she is distracted.]

Those I have at home are here now. At least the two I hold dearest to my heart, though there are others left behind.

[So innocent. Why were those like him always so attracted to the soft heart and wondering mind? He masks his thoughts with the placid mask that he has perfected in over five hundred years of existence, looking calm and peaceful for all his concerns.]

My master always wanted me to read and learn, and though I let the habit lapse, I have come back to it in recent years.

[baixin]

You have? How?

Oh.. well, that's good! I have friends in the other world I was in before coming here, but if time stops..

[She bit her lip.]

Then I don't have to worry. Or so I've been told.

[For a moment she looked into his eyes, wondering what he was thinking about.]

Master? Was he your tutor, or something similar?

[This was the second individual she'd spoken to who'd had a 'naster.' And somehow the connotation seemed different than what she'd use for her teacher or her martial arts sensei.]

[amadeodivenezia]

How does one build a life?

[He draws closer to her as they walk, leading her toward the well-lit paths and offering her his arm to slip hers through. He is warm for now and more human than Marius for those who are not looking, though pale, so pale.]

One builds a life a piece at a time. A home, interests, friends if one can find them or make them. If there were a recipe, I would follow it, and with gratitude, but it is never so simple as that.

And Marius...

[Here is a chance. He could take the unfamiliar route of telling the truth of what he is to a human he will not kill. But he is not as brave as Lestat. Not yet.]

Marius is my master, my elder, and my teacher in all things. We have only recently found each other again after a long separation.

[baixin]

Yes--I'd like to try that myself. The one I had before wasn't healthy.

[The way he offered his arm surprised her, and she cast him a quick glance, before smiling and looping her warm arm through his. Every so often she glances away from the beautiful flowers and trees to look at him, feeling as though for all this there was a part of himself he kept apart from her. She further relaxed her posture, and swung her left arm lightly at her side.]

It doesn't sound simple; but both of us ought to try, shouldn't we? Everyone is entitled to live a full and happy life. It all depends on how serious we are about achieving it--

[Here she was going to school again. Working on her friendship with Rimudo, making new friendships with others--and getting over the loss of her mother. Perhaps one day she could be a good enough person to make peace with her father, the type of man he was. She wondered, if Armand wanted something similar for himself.]I.. see. It sounds like he's your father, almost. I can't say I understand that sort of relationship at

[amadeodivenezia]

My father?

[He ruminated on the word for a moment. Yes, Marius was his father into the life as a blood drinker, but Marius was not his father any more than he, Armand, was Daniel's father. No, father was not the right word, but after nearly five hundred years of separation, he didn't have the right word for what Marius was to him. His response to her held a tinge of sorrow at what was lost in the simple absence of a word.]

No. Not my father.

[baixin]

O-Oh.

[Awkwardness set in for her, though her response to the sorrow she could hear in his voice was to squeeze his arm gently.]

I'm sorry.

[She felt bad for mentioning it, so she tried to smile at him.]

I don't get along with mine; in fact we don't have a relationship to speak of. He cares for his work, and always left the country to research while.. my mother..

[She trailed off, and her smile grew sad.]

The sickness of the lungs took her.

[amadeodivenezia]

It is not your fault.

[So gentle, so tender. She would never endure as what he is. Could she endure even knowing?]

Nor is it mine that your family is not what you should have, but I am sorry.

[They both need a distraction and it can easily be provided in one of the garden's more unique areas. As they walk, ahead the moon gleams off... snow?]

Look. Do you see it?

[baixin]

But still, I-- shouldn't of mentioned it. I'll remember, I promise.

[It was odd how easily she could place her trust in him. And he seemed so sad, that she wanted to help make things better. It was the same with the celestial warriors she had found, the desire to help. To make them happy.]

I never said it was. [She spoke softly.] But thank you.

[Turning her dark eyes to the distance, she caught sight of sakura trees, and a picturesque bridge, the like of which she saw often at home, but--was that snow? Already? A gasp sounded form her lips, and she clapped her free hand to her mouth.]

That.. that is so beautiful, isn't it? It looks.. it looks like something right out of a picture of home! The sakura trees, too!

[amadeodivenezia]

It is. Come, we'll see the blossoms before the snow and bring some petals with us to see both together.

[baixin]

I.. I had no idea this was here! [She walked with him toward the picturesque area, dark eyes wide with happiness.]

I'd love to take some home to put in vases! Would you like some, too?