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Post by shinigami on Jun 30, 2008 1:46:04 GMT -8
Valentine listened. That's really all he could do, right?
He kept most of his thoughts away from his face. Y'see, Valentine was a bartender in a human bar some nights -- he was actually really good at this, despite his open nature.
He nodded in a sort of go on way.
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Post by lily tomlinson on Jun 30, 2008 1:52:37 GMT -8
"Ok, so... I'm just gonna lay it all out there, then," Lily said with a sigh. Her shoulders slumped and she gave in to the inevitable.
She glanced around briefly, to see that the morning crowd had gone. The area of the park they were in was empty. And then she looked at Val, worry and resignation in her eyes, before focusing her power into the earth, willing it to give life to yet another plant. Outstretching her hand, her eyes turned toward the ivy that crept up the side of the fountain and into her hand, wrapping along her arm like an old friend.
"Truth is..." she said finally, turning her eyes back on Val. "It wasn't just a legend. It really did happen, and we've really be reborn."
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Post by shinigami on Jun 30, 2008 1:59:59 GMT -8
He stared. He was a decent liar, Val was, and he could call upon a certain stoicism in certain situations -- but this? This was just bizarre. This was more than bizarre. So he stared, his lovely, silvery eyes wide. Then he said, with a hasty glance around: "Okay, okay. Show not necessary to tell."
There was a beat. There was a pause. The pause stretched. Lengthened. Then: "You should really talk to my mom." His smile was faint.
The truth was he wasn't altogether sure that he really believed -- but he did sense great power in the girl. And look, she wasn't even chanting or ... or anything, no preparation... just focusing, and ivy was growing.
That was something.
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Post by lily tomlinson on Jun 30, 2008 2:04:08 GMT -8
Lily raised an eyebrow... God, Rui was totally growing on her. She was even mimicking him. Weird. "Yes, well, it usually takes a show and tell to actually believe... though you're very calm... You don't believe me do you? If you want, I could shoot some lightning down. Grow a tree? Dance away another earthquake? By the way, since we're going to be truthful now, I should tell you, I can read minds, too... so yes, I know you don't really believe me."
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Post by shinigami on Jun 30, 2008 2:08:54 GMT -8
"Just because you can doesn't mean you should," Val said, with some alarm; his hand lifted to touch the lump under his shirt again. It shouldn't be so easy for her. But -
Well, if she was an Old Power -
Val hesitated. Then he shook his head. "It's not that I don't believe you - but do you believe that Snow White got kissed awake by Prince Charming? It's a tall drink a' water to swallow. I'm not saying I disbelieve you, but..."
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Post by lily tomlinson on Jun 30, 2008 2:11:40 GMT -8
"Well..." Lily said slowly, because she was thinking, and not quite sure what to do to prove herself, "What would make you fully believe me, then?"
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Post by shinigami on Jun 30, 2008 2:14:57 GMT -8
"Time?" - he offered. His smile was rueful. "Maybe not even very much of it. The last few days've been - " He sighed. " - full of impossible surprises."
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Post by lily tomlinson on Jun 30, 2008 14:42:01 GMT -8
Lily nodded in understanding. "Yeah, sure," she said, "It's been one of those weeks for me, too. One of those weeks where I wish I could just go to sleep and forget it all."
Of course, she couldn't sleep. She hadn't been sleeping well lately. Not since she'd met the other reborn Old Powers. She just kept remembering, and every night it would always end with her dying and then waking up screaming...
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Post by shinigami on Jun 30, 2008 15:15:15 GMT -8
"Yeah?" Val said. Then, a little uncomfortably: "How did you know you were an old power? What made you think that?"
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Post by lily tomlinson on Jul 2, 2008 7:02:48 GMT -8
"It took quite a while for me to think of it, actually," Lily said honestly. As if she were actually the type to lie. Riiiiight.... "I started remembering my past life when I was 13, after, er, some traumatizing events and I wound up breaking down a few trees with lightning and upturning half of a block with the stuff... It scared me, and I had no idea what I'd done. I was raised as a regular human so I didn't know anything about the Old Powers. But then after that episode, my powers started growing, and I started dreaming. Every night, I'd remember more and more. The times I'd spent with my brother, the fighting, and then how it all ended."
A shudder ripped through her, thinking again about the fire that had wrapped around her, burning her. Every time she thought of it, it always felt like it was happening again.
"But I didn't believe my dreams at first," she went on, a bit more quietly, "It worried me, thinking I was going crazy. So I started searching out answers. I didn't find anything at libraries, and my aunt couldn't help me. But one day I got stuck in a storm, on my way to find The Harman Store. I'd only known about the human entrance back then, but with the storm... Well, storms tend to follow me around when I'm outside, and lightning tends to strike where I am. Blaise was inside the shop and saw this happening... I think she must have sensed there was something different about me, because she quickly dragged me inside and warded the place against the storm.
"She got me warmed and dried off... Though I'll tell you, she wasn't overly nice about it. She wanted answers, and I didn't really know anything other than what I could do, and what I'd been dreaming. But she's a scarily smart girl... She brought out these old scrolls- which I probably shouldn't be telling you about since she said her grandmother had them heavily warded against anyone stealing them... Well, they were about the Old Powers, and I mean their actual story of back when they were alive. The full story, and it fit everything.... So that's how I found out..."
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Post by shinigami on Jul 2, 2008 10:29:13 GMT -8
Valentine listened quietly, fingering a few notes on his saxophone which he didn't play. He really had the nicest face; it was a listener's face. "Blaise Harman, huh?"
He was a responsible person. He wondered, for a moment, whether or not he'd be required to go talk to her about this, but decided that it wasn't really his problem. This had only somewhat to do with the fact that Blaise was an uncomfortable person to talk to -- if you were a redblooded male, anyway.
He was quiet for a second. Then Val turned his silvery gaze back on Lily's face: "Did you stop having dreams? And .... And your family? Do they know?"
Unspoken, but still asked: Do you have a family or... did soomething happen to them.
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Post by lily tomlinson on Jul 2, 2008 11:01:59 GMT -8
Lily shifted uncomfortably, her brown eyes darting to the ground. "No, the dreams never stopped," she said, thinking of fire. "And I can't tell my Aunt. She'd have a heart attack."
Her aunt had never done well with stress and surprises. She never stopped harassing Lily over Lily's mom leaving her on the doorstep when she was only a few months old.
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Post by shinigami on Jul 2, 2008 11:22:04 GMT -8
"Do you want help with them? Look. My mom's really good -- I just think you should talk to her. She used to have True Visions. And she's just a cool old broad. Discreet, too." He put a finger to his lips, and his lovely eyes gleamed with gentle humor. His eyelashes were far longer than any boy had any right to have. "And if she can't help, my sister definitely can. She's got a special oil for giving people a good night's rest. We could have a dinner under the stars. Been a while since we had a dinner party." He paused for a second, then said, "So you live with your aunt? And she's a Day Worlder?"
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Post by lily tomlinson on Jul 2, 2008 11:29:21 GMT -8
"I... um... I guess so," Lily said, eyes wide, "That actually sounds really nice. I've never been to a family dinner before. But um... would it be okay if I brought someone with me?"
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Post by shinigami on Jul 2, 2008 11:42:31 GMT -8
"Oh, of course. Well," he paused. Then he frowned, worried and trying to put this as delicately as possible. But how do you say: sure, just don't bring home any psychotic killers. And why did that have to be a very real worry? "Who did you want to bring? A sweetheart?"
Hey, he was a big brother. He knew where the teasing was at.
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