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 Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 8:01 pm
Melchizedek was out far later than he should have been, and without any permission whatsoever. He hadn't considered the idea of sneaking out until recently, but with the moon full and making reflections on the water that he could see from his own house three blocks away from the beach, he couldn't have stayed away. Not when there were docks to explore in the dark. So he had left without telling anyone, as silently as possible.
That silence had meant leaving off his shoes, which he was seriously beginning to regret, since the night was far colder than he had estimated. He had thought to bring a jacket, but his toes were already going numb as he padded up the concrete walk to the docks. The wood was mercifully much warmer, but slightly damp, and did nothing to ward off the chill already there. Shivering slightly, Melchy slunk between the boats until he reached his own, the Cap'n's good ship Ghost. The light of the moon on her sails and silver trappings gave her the slightest of glows, and Melchy grinned at her, slinking along to perch on one of her thickest mooring ropes.
Looking out over the bay from that prime position, he began to remember all the stories he had been told the last time he was out at sea, tales of ghost ships, crewed by the damned, populated by the souls of those lost at sea. The Flying Dutchman, and the other, lesser-known of the spectral sailors.
The thought, running through nerves already taut from the adrenaline of doing something forbidden, sent shivers down his spine.
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Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 8:10 pm
Unfortunately for Melchizedek's imagination, Galleai had found her way to the docks as well that night. And the pale-skinned girl (walking barefoot by choice) rather resembled a ghost.
She had "borrowed" a hooded cloak from the coven, though it was a hand-me-down and rather tattered around the edges. The moon playing across the water attracted Galleai, pulling at her the way it pulled at the tides. Galleai started to hum softly under her breath, a lullabye Nicola had sung to her when she was smaller and still in favor with the vampiress. It was the song she always sang when she visited the little cemetary and, somehow, it seemed suitable for this pale and quiet night as well. As far as she knew, the girl was totally alone. At least, she hadn't actually seen anyone else out here. And she couldn't think of why anyone else would be wandering the docks at night.
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Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 8:20 pm
Over the soft creaks and moans of the ships at rest, the sloshing of the water against old wooden pylons, and the constant rumble of the sea, it was a while before Melchy realized that there was anyone other than himself around. But a sudden shift in the wind that led to a brief stilling of the ships around him let the soft sound of footsteps and humming carry to him.
Everything in him froze, and he sat absolutely motionless but for his ears, which flicked immediately toward the source of the sound, determining its source so that when he turned his head, a fraction of a second later, he saw something that made every bit of fur on him stand straight out. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but what he saw in front of him confirmed the worst fears his subconscious could have conjured up for him. Walking down the dock in his direction was....a ghost. It was the only way to describe what he saw.
A low, nervous growl rose in his throat, and his hand went to the knife at his belt, even as he stepped down from the rope coil and moved into the center of the dock. Eyes briefly flashing cyan as they reflected the single gaslight that still worked on the dock, he spat loudly and called out in words ripped straight out of a horror movie.
"Who....what are you? What do you want?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 8:29 pm
Someone called out and the song died in Galleai's throat. Whoever the someone was, they sounded scared and bristly. Her night vision wasn't terribly keen, but the moon was bright enough that she could make out a black shape against the pale glow. Galleai didn't know that ghosts were meant to frighten people. All she knew were nightmares. But this was the waking world. Nightmares didn't happen here. She thought she was safe.
"I'm called Galleai." She responded to the voice. After all, it was more or less the polite thing to do, wasn't it? It's what she would do if this were the dreamland. She ignored the second part of the question. She didn't want anything. Except maybe to dip her toes in the water... though it was probably too cold, even for her.
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Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 8:55 pm
Somehow, the response was not what he had expected, and Melchizedek suddenly felt extremely silly. He had probably just made an idiot out of himself, but at least he now knew that whatever the strange shape/person was, it wasn't any of his family. Any of them would have called him an a** and likely smacked him. This...Galleai had done nothing of the sort.
"Oh," he said in response, aware of how dreadfully inadequate a reply that was but completely unable to think of anything else to say. "Um..." he added, then felt like a moron.
"I'm Melchizedek," he said after a moment of careful deliberation. "Melchy, for short."
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Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:00 pm
Walking a little closer so she could see him, Galleai lowered the hood of the cloak. It was, in actuality, pretty pretentious to be wearing a hooded cloak at all, let alone with the hood up. (Not that Galleai realized her fashion mistake, she just wanted to see him better.)
Dark eyes regarded the boy carefully. "You look like a cat." Was all she managed, though not in an unpleasant tone of voice.
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Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:11 pm
When the hood of the cloak was lowered, Melchizedek's tail finally smoothed out, and he allowed his stance to relax as he slipped his knife back into his belt sheath. It didn't much look like a vampire anymore. Just a pale girl in...waitwhathadshejustsaidtohim?
"Uh...yeah," he answered, taken aback, and was once again thrilled by his amazing powers of elocution. "I guess I do," he added. Off to a thrilling start, this particular great conversationalist.
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Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:16 pm
"Can you swim?" Was the next brilliant question that was posed to him. Galleai knew cat's didn't swim, but when she looked like a cat in her dreams, she could swim. So maybe this boy-cat liked the water. At least Melchy wasn't the only failed conversationalist in this meeting. She took another step closer, staring curiously at his ears.
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Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:38 pm
"I can," Melchy answered, perplexed but not moving while the strange girl came closer, presumably to inspect him. He was used to that, but not at this hour of the night, and not when paired with such an unusual chat. "I don' really like to," he added as an afterthought, making himself clear. If he was about to be pushed into the ocean, then he would certainly have something to say about that. "Um...why?" he added, partly to ease his curiosity but mostly because he didn't want to stop talking. The entire situation was still kind of creepy.
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Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:43 pm
"I was just wishing that I could swim." Galleai said, gazing out over the water. "I can swim in my dreams, but I've never done it for real. I guess it's probably too cold now, anyways." This from the girl who was barefoot and wearing a toga under a robe.
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Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:47 pm
"Yeah, too cold's an understatement. Trus' me, sweetheart," Melchy said, giving Galleai a look that suggested he suspected her of being at least midly insane, "y'dun wanna go swimmin' anytime soon, an 'specially not in th'ocean if you've never done it before. Ye'll get sucked right under by th'undertow." Giving a sage nod, he homed in on a few words of one of her statements and put his head to one side. She mentioned the dreams as if they were special. Melchy, who rarely dreamed at all, found himself mildly intrigued by this.
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Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:59 pm
Mildly insane was probably as good a description as any, all things considered. A kid raised as a pet by a bunch of vampires couldn't really be considered normal. Add the fact that Galleai was minimally socialized, it was definitely true that she came off a bit... odd.
She blinked when he called her sweetheart - nobody but her daddy ever called her pet names like that. "I suppose not. I don't think I would like getting sucked under, I can't breathe under water." She tried a small smile, though it looked a little awkward on her face. "What are you doing out here?" She asked. They had more or less established her presence. It was his turn.
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 5:04 pm
Most of Galleai's comments seemed to simply be stating the glaringly obvious, so Melchy simply ignored them and considered all the possible answers to the girl's final question. There was the glaringly obvious, 'standing here,' but he figured there was no real reason to be rude to the girl, even if she was a bit...weird. Uncanny, maybe. He wasn't entirely sure about that word, but the way he had heard it used seemed to fit her well enough.
"Came down t'see th'moon on th'sea," he answered, nodding slowly and looking out over the water again. "Gets real pretty right around the time it's full. Like comin' down by the ships, too. Real peaceful, 'specially at night."
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 5:46 pm
She turned to take in the view, her eyes softening and losing a bit of their feral edge. "It's beautiful." She agreed, a peaceful smiling coming to rest on her face. "I've dreamt about moons like this before, but it's different to see it when you're awake. Do you belong to one of these boats?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 7:16 pm
Another mention of dreams...Melchy put her down as 'extremely unusual' and then tuned back into her body language. She certainly seemed to be calming down, not that she had been all that tense to begin with, especially compared to him.
"Aye," he answered her, turning to Ghost and gesturing up at her in response. "This'n here, the good ship Ghost, belongs t'my Cap'n," he answered, grinning easily and moving over toward the ship to tug on one of her mooring lines. "Bes' damn boat t'ever sail," he added smugly.
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