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 Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 6:00 pm
Edward stared at the wooden door (the only one along this whole block?) for a long while. So long, in fact, that crow's feet practically dug themselves at the corners of his eyes. His nails dug in to his palms, leaving crescent moon marks on his skin when he finally reached out to open the door.
He didn't know what he was doing here. He really didn't know what he was doing here. He never did what he was told to anyways (erm, unless the someone telling him to do something was someone of reasonable authority). So why was he here, standing, when he could be laying around in a quiet, rundown motel room watching the news. Or something.
Okay, so he really didn't have anything better to do.
So, albeit hesitantly, Edward stepped inside and closed the door. "'Ello? I'm supposed to be here, for something, or something, I think." Then again, Edward was really never sure about anything, which was probably why he was shacked up at a shady motel and floundering fruitlessly for income.
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 6:03 pm
"Hello...are you Edward?"
Nikita peered nervously at the new person to enter the room, hoping that this was the scheduled appointment; three people had wandered in here by accident today.
Three! And one of them had been ranting about flying castles!
It was a little nerve-wracking.
"I ah, I'm Nikita...the one who sent the letter."
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 6:15 pm
"Yeah, I'm Edward." He tilted his head slightly, so that he could nervously run his long fingers through his hair.
He didn't think to wonder (much) how this dude knew his name. It didn't really bother him as much as it should, because, obviously, if this guy had managed to find him to send him a letter than he shouldn't be surprised. At least, not too much. Still...
"Was that you? Nikita?" He had been expecting a girl, if only because the name sounded girly. Because it ended with an 'a'. Yes, that was his reasoning. "So what's this all about again?"
The letter was probably still folded up and stuck in the back of his (only) jeans. However, he was still reasonably sleepy (having the habit of staying up late and sleeping in, and wandering around town trying to find weird shops really not being his thing). Thus, his memory was frazzled and not-quite-right.
And maybe just because he liked to hear people talk instead of him. That worked too.
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 6:45 pm
"Oh, good."
Not another person with random, scary rants, then. Nikita had almost had to get another Divinity employee to get her to leave - she just kept on going, and she had smelled funny, too.
"W-well, um...I work for Divinity, the company that owns this compound," the entire block, really - and they had managed to gain control of some other areas, but those weren't neccessary for potentials to know.
"And we're studying magical beings known as Sylphs...along the way, we've begun encountering some that, well...want to be human. So we help them."
Nikita removed his glasses, wiping them clean on his shirt; they really didn't need cleaning, but it was a nervous habit.
"We, ah, need people to help us raise them, now. Because the process we use seems to result in them becoming children..."
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 7:05 pm
Well, how informative! Edward allowed himself a grin, and to move a little bit closer to Nikata, if only to make conversation easier. Interesting stuff, interesting stuff.
But still, the way this Nikita dude left off, talking about people needed to raise kids... Oh. Oh, so that was it then?
"Is that what I'm here for?" Edward indicated himself with one long finger. Of course, it was probably a silly question, but important stuff like this needed to be verified! "To... help...?" He couldn't seem to form the last of the question, but, he figured, he was clear enough.
This was something new indeed.
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 7:13 pm
"I, um...I did mention guardianship in the letter..."
Had Edward not read it? Nikita hoped he had; he didn't want to have to explain everything. Although he'd managed to sum up the basics already, so perhaps that would be good enough.
"But, yes. We need people to raise the Sylphs for us."
Shrugging his shoulders, he meekly offered up consolation - because if Edward was anything like some others he had talked to (including some potentials that had decided to not help out), he wouldn't be happy.
"It's...also required that guardians live on the compound. But the apartments are free, at least."
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 7:27 pm
That's what that was about! All that other stuff was probably important too, now that Edward thought about it. He'd have to look over that letter again. Briefly, Edward felt the back pockets of his jeans. Yep. Folded up, just like he thought.
Edward managed a sheepish grin and raked his fingers through his hair awkwardly. "I think I remember something about that, yeah." And then, it registered. "...Really? Apartments? That's nice." And free too, even nicer. "'Cause all I've got is, like," he dug into his front pocket and pulled out some change (covered in pocket lint), "not a lot." He frowned down at the change in his hand and stuffed it back in his pocket.
Okay, so he was broke.
Yes, the big bad demon was broke, shuddup already.
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 7:37 pm
"Well, that makes it better, then."
Huh. A potential who wasn't upset about being forced to live here...that was different. Not that Nikita was complaining - anything that kept them from getting mad at him was good.
"Ahh...well, if you want, I can give you a tour, so you'll have an idea of where you'd be living. They're already furnished..."
Which was a plus for someone with no money, he was sure.
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 8:13 pm
And indeed it was a treat. Edward grinned a wide grin and nodded his head. "Yeah, a tour'd be nice, thanks."
And of course, it didn't matter if he hadn't actually, verbally, consented to taking on raising a child. Granted, showing up in the first place, and agreeing to live here probably was as good as saying he'd do it, but still!
Oh sure he'd do it! But this left a nice sized hole that, if he ever found that witch Adeline, he would be able to talk himself out of whatever consequences followed. Loopholes were fabulous.
So much easier than choosing between a peanut butter and jelly and a banana sandwich!
Er, in a way. Comparing children to sandwiches was probably a bad move in general.
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 2:17 pm
Nikita wasn't actually assuming that Edward would take the Sylph just yet; he was planning on asking after the tour. Most guardians took that long to decide, if they were going to agree.
Standing up, the nervous blonde gestured for Edward to follow, as he exited the room out of the opposing door. Then, through the hallway with the mailboxes, and into the compound itself...
"Do you...have any questions?"
He was attempting to make conversation as they walked, to at least make it so it felt less awkward.
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 6:17 pm
Nevertheless, it made Edward feel so much better to assume the choice was over and done with. Even if it wasn't.
So Edward followed Nikita loyally, safely a few feet behind, but a little bit of lead had found it's way into his step. Just slightly, as he thought.
And when he was asked if he had any questions, Edward quirked a smile. "I imagine all the important stuff is in the letter thing, isn't it?" It was said humorously, but that got him thinking even more deep, at what he really might be committing to with this thing. It made his chest tighten a little bit, he wasn't used to that. "Although, I guess I do, really." He stuffed his fists in his pockets and bit his lip thoughtfully. "These Sylph kids..." He struggled to find the right way to phrase it, nibbling slightly on his lip again, "I mean, what're they like, really?" He was sure that wasn't phrased just right, but it'd have to do.
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Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2007 7:17 pm
"This," he waved to the grassy area they were in, "Is the ah, main area of the compound...a lot of these buildings are apartments, and then some are for research. Any building guardians aren't allowed into will be locked..."
They weren't going to just trust that guardians wouldn't go poking around where they were supposed to; it was much safer, and easier, to just lock them out.
Nikita began heading towards one of the apartment buildings at this point.
"What they're like? Well, um...they're kids. But they do have some sensory issues - they seem to have an enhanced sense, and a limited sense. We don't know which ones until birth, however..
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Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 3:11 pm
"It's nice. Big." Well, what else was he supposed to say? Not much, in his opinion. It was nice (nicer than the places he usually stayed), and it was big-ish. Er, bigger. And definitely more open. He supposed he could comment on the severe lack of windows, or how nice it was to be outside again, but it seemed a little, erm, disconnected? Small talk-ish? Something like that.
Edward continued to follow Nikita, scuffing his tennis shoes a little as he walked. "Limited, like, not as... good?" Alright, stupid question, but was there really any other way to phrase that? A sense that was good, and a sense that was not as good, then? Odd, but Gaia wasn't exactly the walking model of normality anyways.
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Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2007 6:51 pm
"...yes, that would be a way to, well, say it."
Nikita had also heard Divinity members call it a 'disability' - but he wasn't about to say that to a potential guardian. It wasn't exactly a good way to convince anyone to take a kid; so, ambiguous phrasing it was.
The blonde man led the other into an apartment building, planning on showing him one of the apartments. The building he had entered was in the 'middling' spectrum of their apartments - there were some nicer, some worse off. It was simple, and plain. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing special, either.
He took Edward up some stairs, before pulling a key off of a selection of keys he had on his keyring, and unlocking the door.
"Th-this is one of our apartments...we have some more- well, fancy - and some less."
It was a fairly basic apartment; decent, but nothing special.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 4:48 pm
As far as Edward was concerned "decent" and "nothing special" were better than "maggot infested" and "smelling like rock salt". He always wondered how that one place had gotten maggots in the air duct, though... But this was neither the time nor the place to reminice about previous dwellings. So, he slapped on a quirky smile and turned to Nikita.
"It's nice." Hadn't he just said that a few minutes ago? Damn, he really needed to work on his dialogue. Rather lamely, because he wasn't sure what he was supposed to say right then, he added, "Really nice." And that still didn't sound right.
Someone should really remove 'nice' from his vocabulary because that cursed word seemed to sneak in everywhere.
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