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 Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2016 5:38 pm
"I don't know," said Vesna, looking back at the closed office door again a little sulkily. "I've only been alive for, like, a week." It had been a busy week, but up until very recently, she had only been doing whatever Lorenzo had thought she should do, and none of those things had been terribly interesting. She didn't think learning Russian counted as a hobby.
"Do you have a raevan?" she asked, turning her attention back to Oliver. "I've only met one other raevan. Well, two, but one was just over the phone. She glanced back at the door. "Dad was worried that my body would be fragile because my soul's undead, so I haven't been outside much."
She floated near the office door and peered futilely through the keyhole.
"Anyway," she said. "Meeting other people is the most fun thing I've done so far. Oh! And I like decorating food, and I like drawing. But all my markers are upstairs."
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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2016 6:00 pm
Only a week? Oliver's mouth formed a staggering 'o', which he quickly slapped shut. It was almost unbelievable to him that she could be only one week old. He hadn't expected that and it brought up a whole host of questions that he knew she'd probably have no answer for. He clasped his hands in front of him and took a breath.
"I see." He replied, looking slightly less than flabbergasted. "Oh! No, but I will have one soon. I only sent in the things required two weeks ago. I'm..." He paused, fiddling with his collar. "Excited to meet them in the next few months, though!"
He nodded along as Vesna spoke and felt that he could understand why Lorenzo wouldn't want her to be outside too much. She was so new, the equivalent age of a newborn baby, and just about anything could happen to someone that fresh to the world. It was best to introduce everything slowly and carefully, to avoid over-stimulation, just like with an infant.
"Oh, what do you like to draw?" He asked, stifling a chuckle as she peered through the keyhole. "I'm guessing you can't see anything from there?"
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2016 12:19 pm
"Oh," said Vesna, a little disappointed. She seemed to rally, and demanded, "Well, bring them to meet me, too! I want a lot of friends, but Lorenzo says they have to come meet me for now if I want to see them." Faced now with the prospect of a new friend, she asked, "What's their soul? What's their essence? Do you think they'll like to draw? Are you going to give them a phone?"
She looked up from the keyhole and said, "I like to draw Buddy. He's our cat. And I like to draw flowers and concept art." She wasn't a big fan of drawing people. Most of the people she met so far were undead and decidedly not picturesque. "I would like to draw magic, but Dad won't show me any."
She floated over the the pamphlets and took one, folding it into smaller and smaller shapes absentmindedly. "What do you do?" she asked. "Do you do magic??"
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2016 8:08 pm
Oliver couldn't help but chuckle at Vesna's demand. Honestly, she was so adorable.
"Of course! I'll make sure that you'll be one of the first Raevans they meet." He said, before laughing again. "Well, I don't know if they'll like to draw, that's something we'll need to wait and see about once they're here. However, I can tell you that their soul is a Cheetah and their fel essence is called Heavy Feather. And, yes, they'll certainly have a phone of their own."
He listened to her as she explained what she liked to draw and found himself wondering what magic would look like. He'd never seen someone cast a spell before and literally just been introduced to necromancy so, for lack of a better word, he was very wet behind the ears when it came to magic. His lack of experience and fear of offending people made it even harder for him to imagine possibilities, too. It was probably best that he educated himself on the subject when he got home before he started speculating.
"No, I don't do magic, but I'd love to learn more about it." He replied. "I teach College English and Literature in Barton Town, where I live. It's not as spectacular as practicing magic, but it's very rewarding when my students write well and I can give them a high grade on the papers they write. I enjoy what I do."
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 10:20 am
"Cheetah," Vesna repeated to herself so she remembered to look up what that was later. The essence she seemed to have a better grasp on. "Oh! Like in the Egyptian afterlife?? With, like, the weighing of the feather of Ma'at and the heart and, like, if the heart is heavier than the feather then you're probably like a bad guy? I guess if you had a heavy feather you would be cheating." She didn't know a lot about zoology, but after even a week with Lorenzo, she knew a lot about mythology that had to do with death.
"That's cool, I guess," she concluded, moving onwards. "Make sure you give them my phone number!" She wrote it down on the back of the pamphlet she was folding and added, "I'm not allowed to give my phone number to adults without permission, though, so don't look at it until you give it to them."
"Like books?" she said as he told her what he did. "I like to read books. We don't have many interesting ones here, but Grandma gave me some fun ones that I'm reading now. I didn't know anybody could write a book," she said. "But now that I think about it, I bet I could write one if I tried. Have you written any books? Can I read them?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 12:12 pm
"Well, actually, I'm pretty sure that the feathers aren't based on that myth." He said, his lips twisting as he thought. "The description I was given was that the feathers were far heavier than normal feathers are and that they seemed to get heavier the longer you held them. However, it didn't say anything about their background, other than that they may have come from a very large bird."
He chuckled as she handed him her phone number and quickly tucked it away in his jacket. He'd make sure this went right to his Raevan once they got accustomed to their cell phone. Hopefully that wouldn't take too long after they arrived, he didn't want them to miss out on any potential friendships.
"I promise, it's for their eyes only." He agreed, smiling. "And, yes, like books. ... I actually haven't written any myself, but I hope to one day. Finding inspiration is the hardest part of starting any story and I guess I just haven't found something that strikes my fancy."
He paused a moment to think on that a little longer before reaching into his bag and pulling out a card.
"Here," He said, offering it to Vesna. "this is the address to my favorite bookstore in Barton Town. If you and Lorenzo ever end up over there and want to find some good books to read, I recommend going there first. It's owned by a long time family friend of mine. I'm sure he'd be happy to expand your reading collection."
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 12:20 pm
"Oh," Vesna said, sounding a little disappointed. It seemed like other raevans didn't have to do much at all with death, not Eden, not Aadhira, and now not this one, and she was starting to feel a little bit weird about her own situation. "Well, that's cool, too!"
She took his card and examined it curiously. "Thank you!" she said. "If Lorenzo lets me out again soon, I'd like to go see it." She didn't get the feeling that was going to happen, not for a little while, but she could always give the card to Lorenzo and ask him to get her something. Again, she felt a tiny flare of resentment for being undead. It seemed to make everything harder.
She was interrupted from this train of thought by a flash of light from under the door to Lorenzo's office. Suddenly, the lights in the hall began to flicker. Bright blue lights scuttered about the floor, and straight through the wall, which, upon closer examination, seemed to resemble mice and rats. Vesna looked back at Oliver and put her hand curiously on the doorknob, which she realized as it gave way slightly to her touch, Lorenzo had forgotten to lock.
She put a finger to her lip and leaned in to Oliver's ear.
"Just a peek!" she begged.
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 1:15 pm
Oliver opened his mouth to reassure Vesna that he was sure that Lorenzo would let her out again soon when the lights began to flicker. Naturally, this sent him into a bit of a fright and leaned to pin himself against the wall. The blue lights rushing about didn't help settle his nerves and he had to suppress a gasp or two. Was that what magic looked like? It didn't look very comforting!
"W-what? I don't-" He stammered, his hand moving to clutch his chest as he looked to Vesna. ... It wasn't really his place to tell her no. He wasn't her guardian... He took a breath.
"Alright, but I'm not sure if I want to look." He said, sheepishly. "Seeing that alone took the wind out of me!"
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2016 12:55 am
"Well, if you're scared, you can hold my hand," Vesna said simply, adjusting her sleeve so it covered the damp, cold skin of her palm. She gripped the door handle.
"Ready?"
Whether Oliver was ready or not, she couldn't wait. Opening the door with a bang, she declared, "How's Gibbon?" and craned her neck to see something occult.
All she saw was Lorenzo, looking at her blankly from the circle he was standing next to in the center of the room. His cloak was billowing about him as if some great magic had just been performed, but whatever had happened, it was already over.
It took Lorenzo a moment to adjust, but when he did, he picked up the box that Gibbon had been kept in and strode towards Vesna and Oliver purposefully.
"Vesna, that could have been extremely dangerous! he chided. "If you had interrupted me in the middle of a resurrection, we could have had a serious problem."
"Oops," Vesna said unrepentantly, more disappointed that she had missed seeing magic than she was upset that she'd been caught. "Is Gibbon in there?"
"Yes, not that it's any of your business," Lorenzo said, still slightly cross with her. He handed the box to Oliver and reassured, "Gibbon is fine. The full resurrection was a success. He must have really cared about you, because his spirit came back very easily." He smiled wanly, then put his hand against the doorframe to steady himself a bit. Full resurrections, even for pets, were draining.
"He might not remember much for the first few weeks. If he acts unusually, that could be why, but if his behavior is especially erratic, feel free to come back in for a complimentary check-in."
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2016 10:57 am
Oliver didn't take Vesna up on the offer and tensed as she threw the door open. He promptly shut his eyes and took a breath, before peeking into the room. ... What? Was it over? Oh, thank goodness. He sighed and broke into a smile.
"Oh, that's fantastic! I'm so relieved." He cheered, taking the box as it was offered to him. "Hey Gibby, did you have fun on the other side?"
Gibbon, though groggy, raised his head at the sound of Oliver's voice and sniffed at the side of the box. Oliver ran his pointer finger gently along his back once or twice before letting Gibbon rest and turned back to Lorenzo.
"Alright, I'll let you know. He looks like he recognizes me, though, which is a relief." He said, giving a chuckle. "But, I think who he really came running back for is Marbles, his cage-mate. They've been with each other since before I adopted them. Hopefully she hasn't been too worried about him."
He paused to look down at Gibbon again, just to marvel at the now breathing animal, and held the box out to Vesna.
"I almost forgot, you wanted to see him, right Vesna?" He asked. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you gave him a pet or two. He's very relaxed."
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2016 11:08 am
Vesna had never seen a rat before, and despite her earlier bravado, she was still a little hesitant when she actually looked inside the box.
"Oh, he's so cute!" she crooned. Reaching in, she stroked him gently, and smiled. "He's so warm!" Looking back up at Lorenzo, she asked, "Can we get a rat?"
"We already have a cat," Lorenzo reminded her.
"Yeah, a dead cat." said Vesna.
"A dead cat still hunts rats!"
She pouted, but let it go, turning back to Oliver. "Don't forget to let me meet your raevan, too," she reminded anxiously. "As soon as they come! Tell them they can text me anytime!"
"Ah, so you are a guardian?" Lorenzo asked. "Congratulations! I haven't been a guardian long, but if you have any questions, I'd be happy to help with what I can." He checked his watch, and added, "I actually have my next apppointment soon, but I'm free on Sundays and weekdays after five."
"I'm always free," Vesna insisted. "And bring Gibbon by whenever, too!"
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2016 11:27 am
Gibbon wiggled a bit under Vesna's touch and squeaked, before flopping out like a pancake. He knew he was in place he'd never been before, but as long as he was getting attention, life was good.
"He is, isn't he? I love rats." Oliver replied, making a face at the idea of a cat hunting a rat. He was happy that Barrel, his cat, preferred to hunt bugs instead and didn't pay much mind to Gibbon and Marbles.
"Yes, I am, I just sent everything in two weeks ago." He beamed. "And thank you, I'll probably need the help! I'm still trying to learn all of the terminology and making connections with the people I need to for when they arrive. I'm very excited."
He gave another look to Gibbon before placing the box under his arm and nodded.
"Alright, I'll be sure to bring him by sometime, maybe with Marbles, too." He added, laughing. "I just hope our next meeting won't require magical intervention!"
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