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Post by Meridith Sheppard on Aug 14, 2021 18:10:29 GMT -8
It's a person that makes the place. Was it? She wasn't so sure, she could see the beauty of a place like Paris even on its own. Perhaps because it was new. Someone like Vix had probably seen so much that maybe the sights on their own couldn't do it anymore. But for her, just not being home held enough wonder. She agreed with Vix on one thing, together even the magic of Paris could be heightened. The look she gave Vix answered affirmative better than her words could.
She shook her head, and Meridith felt a piece of herself hold. "It's the contrast, we know how pretty a clear sky is because it rains sometimes," she replies so easily she might have been talking to someone she didn't meet minutes prior. "And a gray sky has its own kind of beauty," she added. "There's beauty in anything if you look at the right way," she asserted.
But the rest of it, she could tell the moment the dynamic shifted, the holding off her hand. She had no idea it would make such an impact, caused such delight but the moment she realized it she felt such a rush. It was nice to feel so important to someone, so powerful. But it was muted by a lingering reality that threatened it.
It's the person imagined that's important, not me. I wouldn't even be here.
But...so what, right?
She pulled the chair out gently with her free hand, pushed it in when she moved to seat herself so gracefully and then flowed gently around the table, keeping gentle hold of her hand as she sat down across from her and winced as she met Vix's gaze.
It lasted a moment but it was there again, the discordant note. Irritating, what was it? That was the third time, she ignored it once but it was growing harder to. Like a faintly growing buzz somewhere behind her. She knew it wasn't a real sound it was something else but it was intruding.
I can't pretend I don't hear it. What is it...?
She returned to her smiles and just looked at her. "...This is really fun," she said in a quieter tone, sincere and vulnerable. "I've never-"
A figure interrupted them, a server who looked, well, perhaps equal part concerned and professional. Meridith reacted immediately, she slipped her hand from Vix and sat upright and smiled and apologized for seating themselves. She took a moment to practice the order in her mind to properly express it.
"A coffee, please, and your finest Tiramisu?" she asked, the faintest flush of embarrassment on her face.
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Post by Delphi Renaud on Aug 15, 2021 17:24:49 GMT -8
Delphi had to think this one through. Rarely did the words of someone else stump her; people, at this point, weren't often surprises. She could cop someone almost entirely by looking at them, a few exchanged words. That's why she had picked Meridith out of the throng of the other civilians. She seemed easy, like someone looking exactly for the escape Delphi could provide. It had been easy so far, hadn't it? She looked Meridith over, trailing just a short step behind in those last moments before they settled in. The curve of her cheek, the fan of her hair, the shape of her smile. How alive she looked among the pale of the misted air. Ah, she thought. It's the contrast, is it? If I'm looking at you this way, the beauty I see, Merid--
Anastasia, of course.
Ba-dum, ba-dum.
"Are you okay, darling?" She managed in the grace of her gliding through the moment, having entirely ignored the semi-frustrated server approaching the two. It was the way that the other had looked when she tried to speak that drew Vix's interest. The still beat of her heart, struggling to keep up with every new glance. She could hardly feel the caress of darkness between the softness of Meridith's words, a stabilizing notion. She felt the agitation as deeply as if it were her own but it wasn't. It couldn't be. Not at the light that was shining through those bleak skies.
There was a cloud that passed over her eyes when their interlocked fingers were dropped, heavy with not anger nor annoyance but a deep-rooted sadness she hid by carefully surveying the closest menu. She always had to go back to the tower. What feet of hers could really touch the grass for longer than a tickle of their blades? It had felt so warm, though. It was worth the jump before she was whisked away again.
She was brought back by Meridith ordering, understanding the turn had passed to her. She was caught up, however, on the way Meridith had ordered, catching a flaw in her pronunciation that had the waiter stumped for the second it took for Vix to speak up. She was laughing, quiet and pealing, the smallest bell being rung behind a hand that lifted to cover her mouth. It was practically not a laugh at all but a reflexive expression of joy, looking at Meridith across from her with the warmest glow in her eyes. She waved the waiter, repeating Meridith's request in cleaner French and prattling off a handful of desserts she had caught out of the corner of her stare. It didn't matter what they ordered; not as much as who she was sharing it with.
No.
She smiled through the assault of needles, pricking at every inch of her nervous system. When she opened her mouth again she spoke in clear English, shaking her head with a shrugging lift of her arms. "Not so much a native, then? Really, Anastasia, you should have told me in the first place. Whatever am I going to do with you?"
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Post by Meridith Sheppard on Aug 15, 2021 19:44:15 GMT -8
She had a swirl of things in her mind. Was the wait staff mad at them for seating themselves and being obnoxious? Did they even carry tiramisu? Was she even going to like it? Was it wrong of her to like being not Meridith? Was Vix really all she appeared? What was that irritating noise...! A pile of anxieties brought about by the sudden realization that the little world she had invented for her and Vix to occupy had someone else observing it. There was a space in the hedge of their secret garden. It wasn't as secret as she thought.
Oh no wait a minute I'm sitting across from a table and holding hands with this girl I just met and what did the waiter think, wait, what do I even think? Is this something I real-
"What! I did tell you!"
Her swap to English was immediate, along with her accent which came on thick in the flurry to follow. Every thought evaporated to that.
Meridith almost LEAPT out of her chair with that bold accusation. But the incredulity on her face belied an absolute delight in amusement. She was grinning ear to ear. "And there's no way my French was good enough to make you think I was!" She giggled and smiled, the embarrassment dispelled with the flurry of energy she found herself. Vix was absolutely delighted to figure it out! That's what the expression was all about.
How was it possible for someone like Vix to even exist? Impossible!
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Post by Delphi Renaud on Aug 15, 2021 20:03:24 GMT -8
Hands on the table, curled at the edges only to steady herself as she lifted higher in her seat. It was excitement that guided her, not pain, and she didn't believe it at first. Her body was screaming in protest. Her mind - her very soul - was being clouded in a miasma so toxic and so potent she thought her blood would try to escape through her smile. She could taste it in her mouth and the back of her throat, a dam of sugar built to keep the sour back. She didn't care. She didn't care! There were three petals left, she still had time! Come and take this from me. Come and take her from me, sweet fate. I'm holding onto my prince until the last. She can't have you. No response met the indignation.
"Anastasia, really! You're causing a scene!" She shot back, just as loud, just as lively. "Really, you had me fooled!" She was laughing, so bright and honest, a blackening at the edges of her sclera so faint her turn of color could make it grey. Not now, not now, doux destin. The game isn't over, there's still moves to make. There was a blush on her cheeks, burning as heated as her insides but coming from a place of complete and utter - in this moment, in this space - adoration. "Picture this, okay: me, incandescent, tragic, bored out of my mind. Then enters you! Vivid, charming, goodness inconsolably so. However was I not to be swept away? Your accent was impeccable - oh, don't look at me that way, Anastasia - how was I not to believe you when you told me you could flip this world upside down? Right there, on that street, you said to me, really, you did, you said, "Vix, darling," and she had to take a breath, even during her fun. She was giggling far too madly not to. "You said to me, "Vix, darling, I know we haven't met before - I know I'd remember you - but I feel like I've known you for eons. Come with me. I'm going to treat you to more Tiramisu than you could ever eat." And you were so French! You bled Paris! Really, Anastasia."
Her eyelids fluttered to tease, trying so hard not to double over. Her muscles were tensed to a pop and she was still laughing, still grinning, close to tears. "What was a poor, simple girl like me to do?"
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Post by Meridith Sheppard on Aug 15, 2021 20:20:11 GMT -8
"Liar!" She accused half-heartedly, all grins. She refused to accept it! She would never accept it. She was mollified into silence as Vix launched into her soliloquy but displeasure was written on her face in a way that could have filled a library! She made such quiet and barely restrained noises. Frustration boiled over into sincere joy.
She exhaled sharply, face absolutely bright red as if trying to compete with her hair which spilled over her face in her laughter. She swept it back and shook her head and smiled and looked at Vix like she the very picture of radiance she imagined herself to be, or at least, the very picture she presented. She let that moment linger, looking into her eyes and just enjoyed it.
"Well, I suppose if I said all that I should do the responsible thing and make up for this deception."
She hesitated, could she even speak it out loud? Well, so what if she made a fool of herself, that would be someone else's problem. "Well, to be honest, I don't have a destination right now. Any place suits as good as the next and...well." She went silent chewing on her lower lip.
"Wherever it is next, do you want to go together?"
She heard it again, an implacable sense of wrongness. She knew she was new at this, a wide world full of new sounds but this one wasn't just unknown it felt wrong to her in a way that left her absolutely certain.
I can't ignore that any longer can I? Somethings wrong here.
But it could wait, couldn't it? Wait just long enough for an answer? She could have that at least.
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Post by Delphi Renaud on Aug 15, 2021 21:21:00 GMT -8
There was no force in this world or the next that could take her eyes off of Meridith. This moment - this picturesque fucking moment - with her hair over her face, caught in her mouth while she laughs, sharing the absolute joy and giddiness in the magic they had created together; it was burning its way into her heart. It was so much warmer than the flames that licked across her gut. It was so comforting. "Anastasia," she starts, still giggling. "If you want to make it up to me, I'm sure I can think of a few things you can do... like, definitely more than a hundred Tiramisu. This is a crime in four digits!"
She was still catching her breath when the other began her pitch, elbow leant onto the table to cup her chin and perfectly center her playfully incredulous & curious expression. An eyebrow was raised, her teeth pulling over her lips in that selfsame smug half-smile that beamed with the full intensity of her happiness. Her faith, in this moment, was absolutely placed in her Anastasia. Whatever she had to say, she'd hear her out. Whatever she wanted she'd give to her. "Were you hoping for some travel tips? Now, I haven't made it there myself yet because of some unforeseen circumstance, but I heard Venice is lovely this time of year--"
She was cut off by having chosen the moment Meridith had to speak up. Do you want to go together? This rung in her head. It made her dizzy. Her cheeks were rosied to a pink that could threaten her hair in trademark. She was struck to a loss of words, scrambling to think of something witty, something funny, something playful to say -- what, Vix, no response? Cat got your tongue? Maybe it was Anastasia with it. Anastasia, Anastasia. Sweet fate, my knight in shining armor - "G, go? Together? Like, together, somewhere, again? After here?" There was a creeping sensation, secondary to the fluster that permeated anything Vix had to substantially offer.
"Anastasia, I --" You still had time. You could still say it. One more truth? One more honest thought about this forever you were sharing, in this moment? "I'd... I'd like that, actually. I'm starting to think that I might even, somehow, you know, you get it, that I might even... You know, that, if we're already here and all, with your offer and - and all, that maybe I might even... like y--"
Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum. Ba-dum.
She didn't get to finish, having bashfully stumbled through words that she knew would end in disaster. Just once, she thought, maybe I could. Maybe just this one time I could go through with it. Just this one time you would let me, sweet fate. But the clock had struck twelve. There was a hand, dark and raspy and hungry around her heart, and it began to squeeze. The truth about forever was that it never lasted as long as you thought it would.
She was crying. Her face was frozen in that nervous, affectionate expression, tears spilling out raw tear ducts that ruddied the pink of her cheeks. A darkness had overtaken her sclera to a point that the gaze that fell on Meridith was no longer teal, but purple. A voracious lavender, bright, discerning. "Ana--" She tried to choke out, arms wrapping around herself. Trembling. There was no longer a bubbly light to her features, no longer adoration in her eyes. There was no room among the fear that had taken root and exerted itself fully. She could hear it, now, the last petal falling to the ground. That left only a gem, glittering at the base of her ear, a crack formed across its surface and leaking a haze of lilacs and honey that looped its way around her neck.
Deerling.
I'm so sorry.
My doux destin. Deerling, no no no. She wants to take you away, no no no. She wants to steal you from me, no no no. My love, it was just a game--
You want her to take you away, deerling. No no no. I won't let her. I'm here. You have me. No no deerling, you don't need her. I take care of you. I feed you! That's what I'll do, deerling. Sweet flo- That's what I'll do! I'll break her! Bend her! Snap her! Crush her! I'll mold her! I'll tear her into servings so small you won't even have to chew! I divine this for you, yes yes, deerling, I do.
We can't.
The shadow had solidified behind Delphi, the previous mist the formless shape of a claw that curved around her throat. Atropo Wisteria was still not fully manifested, just a fog of purple and spite and hunger, and even in this state its scent was strong enough. Overpowering. Patrons of the cafe began to fall from their chairs, unconscious, asleep. A mouth with rigid, misshapen teeth and eyes that couldn't see but could sense were placed against Delphi's cheek, and it whispered into her ear. It watched - couldn't watch - was always watching - Meridith as time seemed to slow to a crawl, and it whispered.
No, deerling? No no, I see this, already, I see her, in pieces, for you! I make it for you. I'll feed you myself. You won't have to worry, deerling. I'll even let her r- She's a Quincy.
Delphi's thoughts were just as loud, a whisper on the wind, a counteracting stream of conscious so small and feeble compared to the presence holding her in its grasp. Still, she spoke. The mist was hissing, furious. I saw her cross earlier. Bloodkin?! No, Deerling! Are you trying to poison your flower?! She's not for eating, doux destin. She was just for f- You were supposed to eat, deerling! You forgot! You forgot yourself, deerling! You forget even now! Now she dies! She dies, wastefully! No food for deerling! We have to hunt, fresh, new. Yes yes, deerling, this one will--
I'll make her forget.
The approximation of a head in the perfume turned to look at Delphi in a whiplash, and all Delphi could do was watch Meridith and cry. You'll do it, deerling, you'll do it? Really, deerling? You never make them forget you. I do! I do it for deerling. But you're learning, yes? You don't kill, so you erase? Remove? Take apart? You break her for your flower, deerling, don't you, yes? Yes yes, my darling, my sweet sweet girl. You make your flower so proud. We don't need to kill, then, deerling. We won't waste food. Aaah... delicious... her memories...
Her smile was so strained, blood pooling and spilling from between her teeth, and still her eyes didn't leave the other girl. She swallowed, acid entering her lungs. "Hey, hey, Anastasia? Just one more thing. Hey? I'm so sorry. Hey?" Her arms were trembling as they lifted, holding Meridith in place by sheer force of will, by sheer desire to do this right. She didn't want to hurt her. A hand touched her cheek, shaking so bad Delphi thought her fingers might break apart. "Meridith? It'll be easier. It'll be better! When you don't remember. Okay? I'll never bother you again, okay? So just... uhm... just..."
She tilted her head, tears spilling heavily enough to mimic the rainfall outside. She smiled, a true, bloodied smile. "Thank you. We'll always have the tiramisu."
She wanted to ask her not to forget her. Beg her. Don't forget me, okay? Promise me, okay? But that would be unfair. So she did the next best thing. She would leave her the memories. She'd just remove the problem.
Herself.
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Post by Meridith Sheppard on Aug 15, 2021 22:19:20 GMT -8
She smiled at the way she stopped Vix, she felt more herself. She was tired of being bulldozed, she liked turning to tables. Meridith meant every bit of it. And she felt herself caught up in the delight of just thinking how nice it'd be to have someone with her on this journey. Certainly, she'd have to find a way to explain the Quincy stuff, but she was certain that Vix would understand. Impossible, certainly, but who else but her?
But not even she could mistake the shift in tone. Vix had changed her tone and there was a vulnerability in that brief moment that had been absolutely absent during the entirety of their interaction. She thought to take it back, she didn't like that her offer had such an impact after all.She wanted her to say yes, but to force Vix to feel like this felt wrong.
I've done something I shouldn't.
How right she was.
"I mean, I don't want to impose. Of course I get it, but it isn't as if I-"
She flinched as the note struck her like a siren screaming. She turned her gaze away from Vix. "Sorry I think there's somethi-I need to-"
Tears drew her gaze back, locked her eyes on Vix and she surrendered the last moment she had to stop what was coming to pass next. "Vix...? What's wrong...?" She noticed the far too familiar shift in her eyes, and the discordant note that had played on the edge of her perception for the better part of their interaction came into focus. She wanted to believe it was an unfamiliar note but it wasn't, it never was. The way it played was unique but she knew it well.
Hollow.
Her eyes widened as realization struck her, she rose immediately. The diligent hunter spotted its quarry. She rose with such force that she sent her chair hurtling backwards, clattering across the ground in a dramatic fashion. She fumbled at her neck feeling at once her limbs which weighed heavy. She seized her necklace in herculean effort and pulled her quincy cross out of her shirt where she had tucked it safely to escape notice.
She could see the shadow now clearly, though she realized now that it had hung between them through the interaction. Did she miss it? No. It had always been there, lurking in the corner of her vision.
She simply ignored it, wishing it wasn't there. Wishing hadn't made it so. There was a price to surrendering her vigilance. There was a price to trying to pretend she was anything other than who she was.
Meridith Sheppard.
Quincy.
Hunter.
She gripped her cross tight. Her vision wavered, eyes unfocused but then she focused once more on Vix, she focused on the details of her face and she drew a deep breath and-
The world spun. Blue particles gathered the faintest outline of a beautiful bow from the tip of her head to the bottom of her feet. A moment passed like a dream. A single beautiful arrow would pierce through shadow, irradicating the nightmare and returning them. Meridith, Anatasia, the Prince, the Knight had slain the beast and rescued the Princess. Never again would she return to the tower. And together they would conquer the world, journey the lands, and cross the oceans, and right the wrongs. Forever and ever. The end.
But in reality, a scatter of beautiful blue particles formed and dissipated as Meridith lost her footing and slumped against the wall near their booth, clutching as tightly as she could desperate for anything she might hold on to.
"Please...I'll..." Meridith stammered. I'll save you. I promise. Glassy eyes stared at Vix, words washed over her, formless and meaningless as the world faded away.
----
Meridith journeyed to Paris. Giddy with excitement from her recent freedom she decided to wander the streets. There, she encountered girl named Vix. Together they sat down at a cafe and enjoyed a Tiramisu. They promised to journey together.
Meridith journeyed to Paris. Giddy with excitement from her recent freedom she decided to wander the streets. There, she encountered girl named V̷͔̥̰̬͉̩͚͍͙̆͗̏͑͑̅̃̀̀̾̔͐̚͝͠į̸̛̫͇̠͇̱̱̰̼̗͆͐̆́̿̑́̇̈́̉̑̈̆̚ẍ̷̢̧͕̖̙͔̼̣͌̔̄̀.̵͍̘̇̍͐̈́́̅̔͗͊̀̕͜. Together they sat down at a cafe and enjoyed a Tiramisu.
Meridith journeyed to Paris. Giddy with excitement from her recent freedom she decided to wander the streets. There, she encountered girl named V̸̰̮̟̱̦͚̝͝ȋ̵͖͈͙͎̬͚͙͔̫͚̀̓ͅx̵̡̢̢̠͉͔͉̹̲̠͒̈̀͊̂́̾̒̿̉̌͆̔. She sat down at a cafe and enjoyed a Tiramisu.
Meridith journeyed to Paris. Giddy with excitement from her recent freedom she decided to wander the streets. She sat down at a cafe and enjoyed a Tiramisu.
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