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 Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 12:10 am
The endless shuffle of the streets had seemed a beacon of life to the monotony of the museum's general activities and hallways. Unlike the the immense building, there were no inanimate exhibits lining the walls. There was no need for an explanation of events, nor was there a particular feel of dread or need to analyze every minute detail possible so not to look like a fool. Such work was tedious, and though he thoroughly enjoyed it, the indoor world of the Durem Museum of Historical Culture was nothing like the outside world that he had always been intensely passionate about. There was a special quality to the sound of people rustling through the crowds, calling out taxis, or stepping off of buses. There was an even greater quality to it all when melded with the soft and melodic noise of a strumming acoustic guitar; then there were the reeling images that were endlessly burned within his memory, marking another scene into a long line of small moments that would remain for as long as they desired.
Mark adored the world beyond work. Ever since he had been a small child, the streets had been aglow with life - and it had always overwhelmed him. Thus, as he carefully stepped out of the back-cab of a taxi, he had given a feeble smile to the surrounding scenery before shutting the door. His eyes had given a scrutinizing glance to each feature they could find, marking the buildings and street signs with distinct figures so to implant them for future references. His fingers had seemed to drum against the taxi for some time as he observed the world, eventually fishing out his wallet and paying the man who had driven him - only giving the man a tiny tip to confiscate for the troubles he may have caused with his lack of decent directions. However, he was not apt to blame himself for such a fact. He had not known precisely where he was going, led only by a note. Regardless, he had reached his destination.
At a gingerly pace, Mark had approached the solo door. His hands had been stuffed into his pockets, and his eyes had been keenly focused on the thing. All sounds had began to die away. The headphones on his ears provided his only interest - the soft twangs of the acoustic sound playing melding with the steady beat of his heart as he placed a hand on the thing, touching it awkwardly as if he were afraid to knock or do anything otherwise. For a moment, he had felt himself grow deaf. One deep breath had led to a fragment of sound, but not enough. In the end, he had been forced to remove his headphones. Gradually the sounds of everything around him had returned, and his smile had become crooked as he set them against one of the bull horns atop his head. His long tail had flickered from side to side, the fuzzy patch at the end brushing up dirt before whipping against the floor in an eager sort of way.
"Get this over with."
The gruffness of his voice had been transferred to his knock. With scarcely another thought, Mark's hand had balled into a fist. He had pounded it against the door roughly, pausing only to fix the sleeve of his red plaid shirt by rolling up the cuffs to his elbow joints - which had made knocking a little easier. After several taps, he had pulled his hand away for good and had settled both of the extensions into his pant pockets. His body had hunched over, the lean figure seeming to bloat out into a blocky form as a result of the two layers of shirts bloating out somewhat.
Mark had stood still for a while - watching, waiting. When he had grown impatient, he had kicked the ground and had reached to open the door all for himself, deciding it was the most proper thing to do.
The things he did for the sake of curiosity. All he could say was that he hoped he wasn't wasting his time, and he hoped, with all his heart, that there was no scam on his behalf to fiddle with him. He had enough trouble with bargains to worry about, and he was particularly suspecting a connection just out of general paranoia. After all, what better way to summon him than the method that had been used?
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 6:22 pm
The entry room had been empty when the first knock sounded upon the door, but it was only a few moments before, through the open doorway on the opposite side, a figure appeared. Nikita seemed a bit frazzled - and it took a few moments more for him to approach the door.
On the way to answer the knocks at the shop door, he dropped a roll of bandages on the counter; this was when someone might notice that only his left hand was bandaged. The bandages were fresh - he had been replacing them. But, because of the visitor, he hadn't finished wrapping his other hand.
All the same, his hands were mostly covered by the sleeves of his shirt, anyway.
The knocking had come to a halt before he'd reached the door, so when Nikita did finally reach and open it, it gave him a start when the person on the other side had been about to open it as well.
"Oh! Ah...I'm sorry."
Horns. And a tail? Gaians were so strange...
"Are you...here for an appointment?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:47 pm
Mark had been startled himself at the simultaneous nature of opening the door. A glimmer had emerged from his gray eyes, stemming from the sudden surprise. Like a deer in headlights, his eyes had seemed to dilate; his eyebrows had raised. A sudden throb had emerged in his ears from the bewilderment and his fingers had scrambled to grasp the headphones hanging from one of his horns. In a meticulous and speedy way, he had reset them over his ears, his slightly muffled hearing gradually picking up a noise from them, as well as the stranger who had emerged.
The electronic fiddling had not seemed to cease at that point. Mark had promptly turned the volume down and had adjusted things to a decent comfort - low enough so that he could still hear what was going on around him, loud enough so that the sound was more than static and the waves decent enough to give the so called desired effect he wanted to stop the throbbing that had suddenly started. While all of his motions had been going on, his eyes had not left Nikita's form, however. He had stared with a relaxed gaze the moment he had settled his irrational fear. A certain ease had engulfed him and he had given a half-hearted smile before turning serious once again.
"Sorry for what?" He had piped. Hesitantly, he had removed his eyes from Nikita in an attempt to look at the now open doorway. Appointment. He hadn't realized there was something official at hand. In actuality, he hadn't realized or believed anything. The note had only left him with a wariness and message to be on his guard ... But perhaps that was nothing more than the irrational paranoia of thought. He needed to settle and just kick back for a while. Well. He supposed that time would come as soon as it could, and he was scarcely apt to continue the fear. Thus, with difficulty, he had settled the thoughts to the back of his mind and had returned to face Nikita.
Mark's fingers had twiddled slightly as he tugged at a sleeve of his shirt, seemingly removing a loose string. The air about him had seemed to change instantly - the smile becoming smug and his eyes becoming confident. Without any warning, his tail and flicked against the ground again, creating and even louder clatter than before.
"Appointment?" He had murmured and had shrugged his shoulders. " I got this thing from this place, pretty sure." Mark and given a snort - a rough noise creaking through the air. "But you can't always trust a taxi to drop you off at the right spot, can you? Those things. Unreliable. I think they do it on purpose sometimes, just to get your cash."
Mark's body had seemed to straighten up, the lean-ness returning. He didn't seem terrifying nor powerful without his slouching hunch. His features were stretched and wiry, seeming to contradict the relative features of a bull. Such animals were often depicted as burly monsters. He did not resemble anything burly. If anything, he resembled a thin log - his features sharp down to the point of his smile.
"Mark Lawson." He had said without prompting. One hand had touched his headphones again, his fingers seeming to want to press the item against his head. The other hand had been extended, as if expecting a hand shake. "And yes. I am here for that."
His clarification had emerged within his ramble; his eyes had lit up with certainty as he spoke and he had, once again, given a slight shrug of his shoulders.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 9:02 pm
Nikita stepped aside and gestured for Mark to enter, as he heard the reason he was here: yes, the man had an appointment.
And the man was very unnerving. He seemed nervous and not too threatening at first, then he grew more so - and then it seemed to slide back again. It made him nervous. Although everyone (and practically everything) did that, so it wasn't unusual.
"Oh, ah...I'm Nikita," his eyes drifted down to the offered hand, and he paused. He had started to reach out his own hand in response to that - but then froze and drew it back.
His right hand was still unbandaged; shaking hands wasn't really an option until it was. To anyone else, it would seem very strange - because just from looking at his hand, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it. Of course, the palm wasn't visible, either.
"C-come in," he stepped aside, gesturing for Mark to enter - he didn't explain his lack of handshaking, because, well...he wasn't sure how to explain it, "I'm the one who sent the letter...I imagine you have some ah, questions."
Nikita was feeling a bit more flustered then usual today; but it had been an odd day so far, so that was to be expected.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:04 pm
Mark's hand had shut as Nikita withdrew his hand, returning to his side in a nonchalant way. Though he knew it to be a grave discourteousy to ignore a hand shake, he couldn't bring himself to be offended by it. People had their reasons for avoiding particular things, and he could not make a sole judgment based on a half attempt. Besides, the character of the individual he was dealing with seemed to veer away from malicious terms, which was fantastic in his mind. It was settling.
His lip had twitched slightly at the introduction, which had been belated in sinking into his mind. Mark had given a nod afterwards - his body returning to its average state - arms at his side. "Oh. Yeah." He had spoken half-heartedly at the idea of entering.
In truth, he wasn't sure he wanted to walk inside. Even so, he found his feet moving by instinct. Without any further thoughts of reluctance, he had stepped through the door and had began looking around in his habitual manner. Soon he had come to a stop. He had wriggled his nose a little, idly absorbing the scenery as if wondering something. Of course, he wondered nothing about the construct of the inside. While he always found things interesting, he wasn't particularly in the mood to care. There were more important matters to wonder on.
"Actually ..." Mark's tone had seemed to trail on for a while. In a fidgety way, he had rubbed the back of his neck before looking to his feet. "I do have ... Some questions." His eyebrows had furrowed together in a frustrated manner. The first thing was the first thing, and he could not do without having his clarity. "What is this place, exactly - and what am I supposed to do?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:17 pm
Nikita wandered towards his desk, after Mark entered. It wasn't because he really needed anything from it - no, it was more to simply do with instinct. In this room, he was used to being at his desk.
"This place is...well, it's the c-compound we - Divinity - perform our research at, and live."
Their base of operations, so to speak.
"I believe I explained about Sylphs in my letter..." at least, he hoped he had; he got mixed up sometimes, "But b-basically, we're looking for people to care for them as they grow."
The blonde man had felt some relief at seeing Mark not seem bothered by his lack of a handshake - many people would have seen that as a personal insult. It was an unconcious motion as he rubbed the back of his unbandaged hand, paying more attention to the source of his nervousness.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 11:03 pm
"Must've slipped my mind." Mark had muttered to himself at the reference of Sylphs. He was always busy with facts of interest. After all, he handled tours just as much as he handled desk work, and that was on top of anything else he were doing within the day for personal enjoyment. A solemn expression had been cast over his face like a shadow as he nudged his feet into the floor, listening to his sneakers as they made a thud in time with the drawn out end of the song that had been softly playing from his headphones.
For a moment, Mark had become amused. They were looking for people to raise those Sylphs. It seemed positively ludicrous, when he thought about it, that any such program would pick him up without reason or randomness. Further, he could only wonder how they had found him in the first place. He had no phone, no real address - other than that one he had visited on rare occasions to drop a hello to an old memory that had faded due to the age of the house-keeper's woman.
"What are you researching?" There was a thoughtfulness surrounding him as he spoke. A hazy mist had seemed to cloud his eyes - whether they were watery or not was hardly easy to tell, but they had a quality to them that was almost unusual. However, it faded as he smiled - as he changed from mood to mood, its sight always elusive. "I'm drawing a blank. Sorry. I read a lot during the day, and hear a lot of stuff, so sometimes I forget words. Images I don't forget, but words? Words are entirely different."
Mark had become solemn, then blithe, then the process had repeated itself before he had settled with a smile and smooth, shady expression. "So that's it ... Care for one of these Sylphs? No freaky injections, no forking over money, no weird machines, no hidden details?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 4:10 pm
What were the researching? That was a question that, oddly enough, no one had ever asked Nikita. None of the guardians had ever focused on that little detail before.
"Ah...m-magical phenomena, mainly. But Sylphs are b-basically magical beings who make a deal with Divinity to become human...but because of the p-process, they become children."
Good and neutral. Moving on?
Nikita had been about to answer about caring for the Sylphs - but then he realized that Mark had continued speaking. And he was looking scary again.
"...injections?"
Weakly spoken, and confused; when did injections come into this? Had someone actually tried that with this man? In any case, his complete bewilderment at the topic was probably reasurring. Giving his head a slight shake, he moved onto the others.
"Yes...we're just looking for guardians. Um - we even offer free ap-apartments to the guardians."
Maybe that would make him not-scary again? He kept changing - seeming friendly, then scary, then friendly again. It wasn't doing wonders for his nerves, that was for sure. And he was not going to mention that it was required, either, until he saw how Mark responded.
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 4:59 pm
Seemingly satisfied with the explanation, Mark had moved beyond the typical view of research projects - or at least the typical view he tended to gain. He had come to a multitude of conclusions based on such vague answers, but those conclusions were, of course, just self interpretations leading further to the idea of no concern. He had chosen to content himself with Nikita's words of a magical phenomena - and that had been the end of the inquiry of research and its validity.
Simultaneously, he had settled away the general idea of something ominous running amuck; his suspicions had died swift and horrid deaths within his mind, leaving nothing more than that friendly appearence. There was no reason to be stern or overly concerned if he found nothing threatening. The rules of survival had been played, and he found no threat to his existence, which he had, in a paranoid manner, been expecting prior to getting out of the taxi.
He needed to cease his mistrust! The troubles it caused him were ridiculous.
In slight thought, Mark had not responded to Nikita at first; then the notation of apartments had sprang to mind. His face had seemed particularly shocked, and, at once he was enthusiastic. After all, he lived where he worked - his boss hated it - and sleeping at his desk was painful. The prospect of a free apartment was stupendous provided it came with a few particular necessities. Mark's enthusiasm had seemed to reach its peak and he had settled his hands behind his head. "Free apartments? You're kidding me! Comes with a bed - right? A real bed? And a kitchen?"
His teeth had shone as his smile had become unruly. His tail had continued its haywire flickering. In a way, he resembled a child who had been given too much in one day - sugar, toys, and otherwise. "That settles it! Count me in! I haven't had a bed in two years - or a kitchen!"
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 5:54 pm
Nikita was just as taken aback by the excited Mark, as he was by the suspicious Mark. A giant man with horns, a tail seeming this excited...it was scary. He couldn't seem to find a happy medium with this man.
"Ah...y-yes. They come with b-basic furniture."
And his teeth were very shiny. Scary.
Huh. Mark was living somewhere without a bed? Or a kitchen? Where on earth was he living?!
"Well, ah...if you're already set, I could show you one of our apartments.."
There had never been a reaction this excited before. Huh.
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 7:12 pm
"Yes! I would like to see one!" Mark had spoken with the same zeal. The giddy nature had remained static, and it did not seem as if it would be fading away within the recent moments. With the same animation, Mark had looked to the left and right before eyeballing his feet again and wedging them into the floor. It seemed to be a habitual tendency for the man to move himself about. A curse it was, though he would never admit it openly. He had to move. It was the same as needing his headphones. The sheer motion brought him a sense of security amongst other things - and it offered him more entertainment than standing still like a stiff, somber statue.
Wriggling his nose once more, he had stuffed his hands into his pockets. His body had slouched once again - and he had taken a long breath as if to settle himself down. It had worked. Mark's face had entered a statement of ease and he had seemed to return to a smug state. He had shivered slightly; then he had tossed his head back to look at the ceiling. "Awesome. Unexpected. You guys are really giving free apartments?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 8:04 pm
"Y-yes...it's an incentive for guardians."
And, well, it was also required. But Mark seemed so delighted that Nikita wasn't going to do anything to disturb that move - even if it was as frightening as the other mood he had displayed. Yeesh...he didn't want to think about how scary the man would be if he got angry.
Then Mark calmed down a bit, and Nikita also relaxed minutely.
"Well then, let's get st-started..."
Turning, he led Mark out of the shop room, and through the other door. He glanced wistfully at the roll of bandages lieing on the counter as he passed them - it didn't look like he would get a chance to wrap his hand until after this...
Great.
"We have three main buildings for apartments..."
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 9:45 pm
Had Mark known the other needed to wrap one of his hands, he may have paused and patiently waited. However, the fact of the matter was that Mark knew nothing about Nikita - other than that he would be giving him a small tour. That had left him mellow, though the excitement had remained in its subtle way.
As Nikita led the way, Mark had followed gingerly until they had gone through the doorway. He had been silent, his head twisting about as he looked over his shoulder and around once again - that fascination with scenery arising. Soon it shifted and he had found himself listening to the skittish man. He had noticed the stuttering early on; the more he listened, the more he realized the other had seemed somewhat uncomfortable. Of course, Mark had not the slightest clue why, and he wasn't entirely sure it was any of his business why he stuttered.
Maybe it was a speech problem?
Shrugging it off, Mark had focused on the matter at hand: the explanation that Nikita was giving about the buildings. "Three buildings of apartments, huh? That many people?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 9:54 pm
Nikita wouldn't have paused to wrap his hand, even if Mark had known - if only for the fact that he expected it would bring questions, and he'd rather not deal with any of those. After all, he didn't know the other man either; he didn't know how curious he was.
As for the stuttering..it was unfortunate, and he had heard it called a speech problem before - really, he thought it was just because he was nervous. He got nervous, startd stuttering...and that just made him embaressed, which exagerated the problem. But he had learned to live with it.
"Well, we have some more t-too...but they're Divinity only employees. These three are because some guardians are more used to q-quality then others, and some prefer privacy over that."
Nikita led the way towards the second apartment building; it was a good example to use, since it was right in the middle of the quality standards.
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Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 1:51 pm
"Well, privacy is important, but quality beats that out, doesn't it? Like hotels. The busy ones are cheap and beautiful in comparison to the obscure ones."
Mark's voice had seemed to trill - a certain satisfaction having settled within his gut. He had simmered down to great extents, and he had, in the end, come to the conclusion that it was the best day of his life. Never mind the fact that he had made that declaration the day he had gotten his job - or the day he had finish school - or the day he had gotten a raise ... Never mind the variety of things that had happened. He was certain.
Yet he could only attempt to contain his ecstaticness. Oh - the recycle of feelings and events. If he were alone in a large space, he would likely skip. Random luck was too beautiful to not get excited over! But, regardless, contained.
He had inhaled a great breath before looking to Nikita again. For a moment he had contemplated asking about the stutter - in fact, he had hardly been able to contain that. "Stutter?" Mark's voice had blurted out carelessly - and once it was out, it could not be taken back.
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