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 Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 10:03 am
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Naïveté didn't notice whatever was hidden behind Maxy's eyes. She often didn't see things like that - the master and Reticence were both pretty much unreadable, and Curiosity never hid anything, so she was rather out of practice. So she accepted the words with a smile of her own. A small, rather rusty one, but it was there. "I don't suppose there are too many bucks that size around anymore," she agreed quietly.
She glanced over at the other side of the room, wondering what Maxy was going to draw there, but not saying anything about it. Maybe it would come later. Maybe she was tired of drawing. Doing a full-size wall mural had to be a lot of effort. She wouldn't know - she'd never done anything like it. As mentioned, art was not really her strongest skill.
Settling down on the side of her own cot and deep in thought, it took her a few seconds to realize that she was being called. She looked up at Maxy with an expression of polite inquiry. "Yes?"
When she heard the question, her eyes went wide for a brief second. Then blank and dark. Hurriedly, she got to her feet. "Let's...let's go to the other room. You'll need some more charcoal. Come on." She went quickly to the door, waved to Maxy as in 'come on', and went out.
She would tell Maxy if the girl really wanted to know, but she couldn't do it alone. The boys would be back in their room by now - Curiosity at least, probably Reticence as well. And if she was going to talk about Solicitude, she needed their support.
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 10:30 am
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 10:46 am
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Naïveté looked weary. "I don't know," she said quietly. "Probably not. But I...I'll tell you. If you really need to know. But...I can't. Not," she took a deep breath, "not alone." She needed Reticence and Curiosity if she was going to talk about it. And it was a good thing Maxy had asked now, rather than when she might not have the option of running to the other two for support. The master, she was fairly sure, would eventually reinstate the rules about the boys and girls staying separate.
Falling into the other subject gratefully, she said, "Maybe a little. But he'll get over it. He doesn't use it much, just when he's wri--" She stopped and actually put a hand over her mouth. That was something Reticence didn't like people knowing. He was private about the stories he wrote, and didn't like being asked about them. Nor did he like people reading them. Naïveté and Curiosity both knew where he kept them, but they respected his space as he did theirs. "He doesn't use it much," she finished awkwardly.
Then she hurried down the hall towards the boys' room. "I think they're in there," she said. "Come on."
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 11:05 am
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Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 9:49 am
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Naïveté didn't know if that meant Alright, I'll let it go, or Alright, I want to know what happened, but she didn't press. She didn't want to talk about it any more than she had to, especially not right now, out in the hallways.
She threw Maxy a quick look, practically begging with her eyes.
"Please don't tell him I told you. He doesn't like it when people know. He doesn't care that we do, but...he might with you..." Giving a weak shrug, she kept going. From the way she was acting, one might think she was a beaten puppy or something.
At her next words, Naïveté opened her mouth to speak again, but then fell silent. He is. Very good. He's just self-conscious. She knew because once - only once - he'd let her read something, on the condition that she not say anything about it to him. Not even if she liked it or not. She had liked it, very much, but it had only been a few chapters. She'd never seen any more.
Instead, she seized on Maxy's next words. "Oh. Just down the hall." She looked down. "You'll get used to it. Find landmarks and stuff. We did." Then she ran to the door of the boy's room, her eyes overly bright. It looked like she was trying not to cry.
The door opened and she disappeared inside. It remained open for Maxy if she chose to follow.
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Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 10:03 am
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Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 11:10 am
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As soon as Maxy stepped into the room, Reticence turned those intense eyes on her. There was anger evident in them and in the way he held himself, and the reason why was obvious. Naïveté was curled up on his lap, clinging to him. If she was crying, she was doing it more quietly than most people could, but otherwise she was the picture of misery. He was running a hand lightly up and down her back, obviously feeling a little awkward about it, but unable to push her away when she was so upset. In fact, the whole scene was redolent of a brother-sister dynamic.
Curiosity sat on the other side of the same cot, a little farther from the door, and he didn't seem angry - just sad, worried, and maybe a little puzzled.
"What did you say to her?" Reticence hissed. He kept his voice low so as not to disturb Naïveté, but his words cut sharply.
The blond boy glanced over at the other two and gently shook his head. "Relax," he said firmly. "I'm sure she didn't mean to upset her. Let her tell us."
He looked up at Maxy and waved for her to sit. "What's going on?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 11:15 am
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Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 11:34 am
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And those thoughts, if he'd heard them, would have brought up the subject of something Reticence alone knew - why Marc kept the boys and girls apart. It had nothing to do with gender and everything to do with personality. When she was alone, Naïveté could hold up to problems, and quite well, too. It was only when she was with the other two that she became the weakest of the group, more emotional, more easily hurt. It was quite likely that Maxy had no idea what she'd done, since Naïveté wouldn't have shown the effects of it until now.
This didn't make Reticence feel any more kindly towards her, though. He considered Naïveté along the lines of a little sister, and was not happy that Maxy had hurt her.
Curiosity seemed to sense Maxy's discomfort, and gave her a light pat on the shoulder. Then he turned to Reticence. "If she asked about Solicitude, that might explain it," the boy pointed out. Then he glanced at Naïveté, who finally peeked out from where she had her face buried against Reticence's shoulder.
"...Yeah," she said in nearly a whisper. "S'okay. Not her fault. She didn't know. I just...couldn't..."
Curiosity nodded, as though having a suspicion confirmed. "It's okay, Navi. We'll help you tell her."
He glanced up, muttered a curse. "But not right now, because I'm requested for something. Guests, probably. I thought I heard the chimes." Giving the rest of them an uncomfortable grin, he said with an attempt at his usual cheer, "Be good now. I'll be back, unless his guest lops my head off." And out he went, leaving the other three alone.
Naïveté, apparently a little more settled with someone there to help her, turned big, still-sad eyes to Maxy. "There've been a lot of us over the years. Least that's what Reticence says," she said slowly. "Like ten. But we told you we're experiments. Like guinea pigs. And...and sometimes, in experiments..." Her eyes went overbright again.
Reticence finished coolly. "Sometimes the guinea pigs die. Do you really want all the gory details?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 12:13 pm
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Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 10:18 pm
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Reticence shrugged. His intense eyes noted her quivering lip and the working of her throat, and he assumed she was scared. Considering the question, it was fair enough. His voice, however, was not entirely unkind when he replied, "When the master thinks you're ready to handle it. It won't be today. Maybe not even tomorrow."
Naïveté's skinny shoulders had relaxed now that she was in the presence of trusted companions, and she nodded slowly. "Not for a while. It was almost a week before I was first tested on." She looked at Reticence as though for confirmation, and then went on, "He won't experiment with you until he's given you a name. Until you have a place here. At least..." She hesitated. "He never has before."
But the master was never a certainty. Sometimes he did things that made no sense to the three of them, and sometimes he changed things, seemingly just to keep them from getting too comfortable.
Even Naïveté had long ago learned that the only thing anyone could count on here was change.
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Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 2:10 pm
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MaXy
y0u wAnT a Pi3cE oF me?
Maxy was nervous...but not so much scared. Still her lip continued to quiver until she pulled her knees up to hug them to her chest, and rested her chin on then, finally seeming to sink into a almost scary state of calm, staring ahead of her...if there was anyone there, she was seeing through them.
Her eyes were almost as glazed as when she'd been drawing, "So, that's what it's going to be like, hm?" she sounded distant, despite how very aware she actually was.
"I'm going to lose me name, my rights, I've lost my friends...and then I'm going to be experimented on like a rat, right?"
Despite the slight anger leaking into her voice, her composure never changed.
GeT 0v3r It |
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Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 4:07 pm
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Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 10:32 pm
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Reticence's gaze never changed. "Yes, essentially," he replied calmly. "That is exactly what it's going to be like."
Naïveté put a hand lightly on his arm. She could have been trying to stop him from saying something - or maybe encouraging him. It was hard to tell. After a few seconds, though, she turned to Maxy and said softly, "It won't be so bad. The experiments..." she trailed off for a few seconds before continuing, "...aren't all that often. Sometimes they're bad, but for the rest he leaves us alone most of the time. Unless he has guests."
She glanced nervously at the door. Reticence never even looked up, but his voice was perfectly assured as he said, "Relax, Navi. If he wanted one of us to help Curiosity, he'd have called us out by now."
Reassured, Naïveté continued. "And we might all be allowed to see each other now. Maybe." She seemed uncertain. "He'll let us know eventually."
With a tired smile, she said, "As far as it goes, it's not a bad deal."
If you survive, both of them thought. But neither said it.
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