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Post by Esme M. Lolland on Oct 19, 2008 20:56:02 GMT -1
Esme sighed, how much Vlad knew about life but how little he knew about the world she came from. "I would love to do what I wanted, but my parents would never allow that to happen. If they knew that I was studying anything other than law, they would stop paying for college, take me out of the university, anything and everything within their powers. If I didn't listen to them after that, they'd disown me. Even if I knew what it was I wanted, although I am interested in Guardian Ad Litem.
"I know my parents even more than anyone, even more than my brother. He had decided to join the Habitat for Humanity without their permission, had saved his money to do so, and they're so ashamed of him. They think he's wasting away his life attempting to change the world in such a fruitless way when he should be attempting to save the world by fighting injustices. They've pilled all of their hopes for him onto me and if I were to fail them they'd never talk to me again, there's a chance for him to redeem himself, but I, on the other hand, am a hopeless case."
Perhaps Vlad felt he understood the true colors of humans, that no matter what a parent would be proud of their child, but when that child comes from the same background as Esme there's never a chance that they could do what they wanted to without disappointing their parents. Vlad was not able to realize that Esme came from a world that even the fact that she did her best to be perfect for her parents was still an effort that came up way too short.
"As for current affairs, I've been taught that to be a good lawyer, one needs to adjust their personal beliefs to fit those of the person who's paying them. If I were to choose for myself, though, I would say I'm pro-choice for women in cases in which the mother were to die or rape and against the death penalty because it's so unnaturally inhumane. I also feel that rather than worrying about these issues as much as we seem to, we should attempt to help the millions from different countries who are dying from genocide every day. Those who are dying from hunger deserve our attention more than those who are being killed in an act of revenge. We need to stop the fighting so that we don't have to punish them. Of course, that's not what a lawyer should feel though. Without fighting my entire family would be without a job. So, I sometimes do have to conform my beliefs to fit those of my parents, who pay my tuition, feed me, clothe me and even put the roof over my head."
Esme supposed that it was still Vlad's turn to ask questions, as much as she would like to know what his point of view on the issues she brought up was. But perhaps he hadn't formed an opinion merely because they didn't affect him when he had an eternity to listen to the pains of humans.
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Post by Vlad on Oct 19, 2008 21:22:02 GMT -1
It was not a foreign concept to him, this desire for a parent's child to follow in their footsteps. What was difficult to grasp was that her parents would not be proud if she should succeed in anything else. In the times he had grown in, a male child did normally take on the occupation of his father before him, learning the trade at his father's side. There were those occasions however where the child did not posses the passion or skill needed to, say, forge a proper blade and was better suited for tilling the fields. The family was just as proud of their son the farmer as they would have been of their son had he been a blacksmith.
Were her worries only derived from monetary issues then he would have gladly lent a hand but as it were it seemed he could do little. "Forgive me, I assumed far to much." A soft bow of the head here.
He listened intently to her views, for they seemed to define the humans of today. Two groups seemed to have formed and while he was not interested in the issues themselves since they did not affect him directly, it was fascinating to discover which group his swan belonged to. It appeared though that she belonged to neither, fitting for her.
"Deal first with those problems which plague the human race now rather than bickering over the moral qualms of the trials of the future. A fine point." He wondered if her parents knew how much they missed by forcing Esme to express only the views they approved of. It seemed a terrible waste.
He could tell that Ms. Esme was biting back questions. "One more and then it can be your turn." He thought for a moment or two. "Have you ever been in love?"
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Post by Esme M. Lolland on Oct 19, 2008 22:15:45 GMT -1
Esme's heart leapt to her throat as Vlad asked her one of the most simplest questions any human could come up with. 'Love' itself was a hard thing to define, was he searching for such a love that only exists between a man and a woman, or the forbidden type that had been found between Romeo & Juliet, or even the type that plagued the human heart like a foul word. Or was he merely alluding to the type of love between a mother and her child? There were so many different types of love, and so many different ways to answer such a simple question.
But Esme's heart told her to assume the most common usage of the word. Her heart told her that Vlad was inquiring about her feelings toward any one man, had they existed, would they exist, how did it exist?
Esme sighed, thinking back on a time that she had fallen in love, truly and deeply. Only once had this happened to her, and how much it had hurt her when it had ended. "Yes, I had been in love once," she admitted. "Only three years ago, in fact. He's a member of Denmark's royal family, his parents are directly related to the dethroned members of the Grecian monarchy, Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark.
"We both attended the same school, along with my brother. He was close friends with my brother and that was how I had met him. We had been exclusive for about a year and a half before he had ventured my parents for my hand in marriage. It was only after that that is seemed his parents were against our being together. Perhaps it was my breeding, although how so I cannot figure out, but whatever it was his parents forced him to break off the engagement. They forced him to break all ties with my family and eventually they made him leave England all together.
"We email each other occasionally, and I've even spoken to him, but he was sent to study at Georgetown University in America. He ended up falling in love with a girl he met there, and he even promises me that she's the girl he wants to wed. I find myself hoping every now and again that his parents put their foot down when he asks to marry an American of no noble birth line since they had were adamantly against him wedding me, someone who comes from a line of nobles.
"It hurts me that he still calls me his 'sweet', his 'beloved', his 'darling' when he most likely calls his new love the same names. I both hate and love when he calls me or sends me an email. I love hearing his voice, reading his words, but hate that he tells me about her, about his life, about how well it's going without me there. It seems he has grown past all of the love we had felt for one another and yet, here I still am, in England still remembering the times we spent together and feeling as if I were abandoned every time I see a couple on the street.
"He keeps telling me I need to fall in love again, but when you've fallen in love with a prince, a real life prince, it's kind of hard attempting to fall in love with any normal person off of the street. Since Philippos I haven't fallen in love. Of course there were a few men here and there that I could see myself having a relationship with, but never anyone who I could see getting married to like I could Philippos."
Esme looked up at Vlad, while she retold her sorry love tale she had begun to stare at a hole in her jeans, not looking up, not recognizing the present from the past that she was so caught up in. It had been so long since she had thought about that relationship, that it wasn't until it was too late that she realized she had a single tear making it's way down her cheek. Rather than draw attention to it, she allowed it to roll down her cheek.
"How about yourself, Vlad. Have you found yourself falling in love once more, years after..." Esme puttered out, she couldn't bring herself to say the words aloud. Perhaps he had come to terms with the death of his wife, but Esme was not going to open an old sore by asking him about her death... not any more than she already had.
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Post by Vlad on Oct 19, 2008 23:23:12 GMT -1
The contact between the two was cruel and anger at the boy's impudence flared within him. He hid it, banishing the emotion from his features or voice because it would do his swan no good to hear it. Casual conversation between friends would have been acceptable but one did not speak of one lady to another.
He had thought that his own tragic tale of love lost was one beyond compare but he at least did not live with notes from his beloved proclaiming her happiness with another man. That he could not have born, that would have driven him to madness past the point of salvaging even a sliver of his mind. How this girl bore such pain with grace, he could not fathom.
"Your love is coming, Ms. Esme." He said softly, gently. He stood from his chair to wipe his hand tenderly across the trail of moisture the tear had left in it's wake. And he knew it, it was not a comforting phrase spoken with half hearted optimism, a romance awaited his swan. He knew it with unwavering certainty. How he knew it, was a mystery even to him, but it was as much a fact as the sky was blue.
Her question caught him off guard, he'd foolishly thought that by telling the story of his wife she would have assumed that love had not been a large part of his centuries. He did notice with some gratitude that she hesitated to say the word, the word that she knew would bring him sorrow, that hateful word death.
His hand fell from her cheek to rest in his lap as he took a seat immediately next to Esme. Let Morgan think what she would. "Once, though when I think on my love for my wife I don't know whether I truly loved the girl. So cavalier your generation is with the word love..." He trailed off in a tone half disgust and half disbelief that such a powerful word could ever be used lightly. A shake of the head. "...it was three centuries after the passing of my wife and a century after Wilimina Harker. I did not love Harker as Stoker so arrogantly assumed, I searched merely for a companion. I cared not who it was."
"But I am trailing off topic. I was three centuries old and the woman in question was a young noble woman aspiring to be a scholar in an age where women were good for nothing but bearing children. She was not the beauty of the town, nor had she any great dowry but I found myself enchanted by her none the less. I gained permission to court her from her father merely to spend time with her, hear the thoughts that she kept hidden from everyone else."
"It was sometime later when the talks of bride prices and weddings became frequent that I realized a life with the girl would never work. Not because she would age, I would have proudly stood by her side until she drew her final breath, but because I would not. I had not forgotten the last time I had been exposed, I was more careful by this time and Jonas and I were in agreement that the girl would not keep the knowledge to herself. I had no choice but to end our relationship, and it pains me to think of it to this very day."
What he would not say, what he would never say was how the girl had begged him to stay with her. How he had kissed her tenderly and apologized, explaining that he was dangerous and unlawful and that she must stay away. How she'd cried and how those tears hurt him so. And Finally, how he and Jonas had left the town the following day regardless.
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Post by Esme M. Lolland on Oct 19, 2008 23:46:52 GMT -1
Esme smiled, half heartedly as Vlad wiped away her tear and told her that love awaited her. How many times had Philippos promised her that her time would come, like his own had? How little did that phrase mean to her now? But somehow, coming from a person who had lived centuries and experienced many loves showed her that there was an extreme chance that someday she would truly find the love that she deserved.
She listened patiently to Vlad's story, truly having asked only to distract herself from her pain, but wanting to hear Vlad tell more about himself all the same. She was still caught off guard hearing Vlad utter phrases such as "three centuries old" and "dowries", she had become so accustomed to this strange man that she had almost forgotten how old he truly was.
It hurt her to know that even he had felt his own share of pain, and then some. Having lived longer than any human is supposed to, it's only natural that he would be hurt more than anyone else, but it hurt her to know that he had. She felt that this conversation of love was no longer necessary, love always led to pain in the end and Esme didn't want to sit and wallow in any self-pity.
"How about we turn to a lighter conversation. What, I know not, though," Esme thought for a while. She licked her lips thoughtfully as she conceived all of the rumors she knew about vampires. And then her eyes lit with an impish look, she had come across a question that may offend Vlad but if she asked in the right way, he may end up laughing, just what they need. Laughter is indeed the best medicine of all.
She began to look as excited as she possibly could and rambled off without even breathing, "So, vampires are supposed to like shrivel up in sunlight and sleep in coffins, so where's your coffin and why did you want to meet me on such a sunny day? Isn't that like a big vampire faux pas?"
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Post by Vlad on Oct 22, 2008 2:55:35 GMT -1
Unfortunate that lighter conversation should be needed after talk of love, that which is supposed to fill the heart with joy and make the spirit soar. Unfortunate perhaps, but true. His heart wept for loves lost and his spirit at present held more weight than lead.
He waited in silence while both he and Esme searched their brains for a brighter subject. His eyes darted about the room as if by moving they made the silence less awkward. After only a short while, his eyes met with Esme’s and he found himself grinning as a devious look lit her features.
Her words flew at what must have been something near the speed of light and the tone matched her face, excited. By the time she had finished, he found himself laughing not at her, not exactly.
“The coffin ideal, I’m afraid is merely myth derived from the truth that we are in a way dead, drawing our life from those among the living.” Another chuckle here, mostly directed at the word shrivel and the imagery that presented. “There is some truth in the sunlight legend. No, vampires do not ‘shrivel’ as you can plainly tell though we must remain covered, hence the hat and glasses. As to why I agreed to meet with you during fine weather, I truly did not think of it.”
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Post by Esme M. Lolland on Oct 22, 2008 19:35:21 GMT -1
Esme sighed quietly, feigning disappointment, "Golly, that makes me quite depressed. I had always wondered what it was like to live in a coffin, I was hoping you'd be able to show me."
Esme looked at Vlad, she realized that she didn't remember ever seeing him without his sunglasses on and she was slightly wondering what his eyes looked like. She wondered if they were a warm brown that shone when he smiled like those of a puppy dog. Or if they were a beautiful forest green that led to the depths of his soul. She wondered if they were a soft gray, ones that told the tales of the centuries had had seen. Or if he had eyes as blue as the seas that he had probably traveled across countless of times.
"So, would you mind if I asked you another question about being a vampire? I'm pretty interested in it, I've heard so many stories about vampires but since I'm talking to an actual vampire I start to wonder what is fact and what is fiction. So, a lot of stories have vampires shape shifting, is that true? Can vampires shift shapes?"
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Post by Vlad on Oct 23, 2008 2:15:27 GMT -1
A laugh here. He could not imagine a sense where life spent within the confines of a coffin should be a positive thing. Each time he casts his thought upon this particular myth, he grew more grateful that is lie strictly within the realms of fiction. “Coffins have served as hiding places for me over the centuries. I would compare it to standing pressed to the back wall of a filled closet. That is of course, if closets were as dank as an ill kept barn and cold as the bitterest of winter nights. Be not to disappointed, dear swan, you are not missing a thing.”
Her amusement at the myths based upon his existence brought a smile to his face. It made him wonder what she would think should his fangs not be retractable? Would his dear swan stare upon him with fear instead of companionship if fangs should shatter the human illusion every time he smiled to widely?
“Ask away, Ms. Esme.” Polite, articulate and graceful. She had a way of asking questions that could have been silly sounding or rude with charm and delicacy. “I can, though as far as anyone knows I alone among my kind posses the ability to shed my human skin. I can take on the likeness of the wolf and the bat.”
He paused, beginning to worry for Morgan now, before continuing. “This does not make me akin to the true shifters of our world, werewolves and the like, their form of shifting is much different than my own. Mine is more like the changing of clothes, the true shifters take the experience to a more artful level. One that people such as you or even I could never hope to fully understand.”
He would allow her one more question and then he had a few more of his own. It seemed that perhaps Morgan would be quite late, perhaps he would inquire of Esme’s own abilities instead of waiting for Morgan to do it herself.
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Post by Esme M. Lolland on Oct 23, 2008 17:38:18 GMT -1
"That's quite amazing," Esme whispered in awe. How she had wished to be able to become something different, and here before her was a man who could become one of the most majestic animals (in Esme's point of view), the wolf. She was caught up in wondering what his form would be like as a wolf when yet another question struck her. This one was slightly more realistic than the others, going along the same lines as that of his lack of humanity, but more serious than the past ones had been.
"So, if you were to shed your skin, would you be able to walk in the daylight without protection. As I see it, fur is more than enough protection for most animals, so would it be the same for you in your other forms or must you stay in shade even when you are no longer in this form?"
She hoped that this question would not offend or upset him, just like her other questions had escaped his ridicule. But perhaps this question was such an outlandish one that she wouldn't get out of it unscathed. Perhaps this question would offend him the most. Perhaps this question would show her ignorance, mark her as an impudent child, and perhaps convince him to spend his time away from her from that point on. She feared what his reaction was, why she could not understand. She had asked much ruder questions before, why would this particular question anger him? Why should it?
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Post by Morgan Le Fey on Oct 26, 2008 4:24:25 GMT -1
(OMG so sorry, between moving and stuff I totally blanked, please forgive me)
Morgan was running far behind schedule. She'd been caught up in her reading, research for some of the tasks to come. Time escaped her vision and she was angered with herself for that. She had left in a huff, but by the time she got to the place where she was supposed to meet with Vlad she had calmed back to her normal self.
She walked in, and searched around for Vlad. She spotted him sitting very close to a woman that she suspected was Esme, the one they were meeting with. The way they were sitting Morgan wondered if they were lovers or not, but it was not her place to question Vlad, if he wanted her to know something he would tell her. That didn't mean that she wouldn't speculate.
"Forgive me my tardiness, I am not usually one to be late at all, but I got lost amongst my books while doing research." She let her eyes play over the woman and try to get as much information from the look as possible. "Have I interrupted, I can go away and come back later." she smiled, and turned her gaze to Vlad, letting her eyes convey her thoughts about the two of them.
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