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 Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2014 11:37 am
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He felt awfully out of place in the house, his hunter's coat feeling like a large target. Of course, a lot of the time, house duty was just as uneventful as jungle or or other patrol - or so he'd been told. This was Horace's first time in the house and he was already distressed by how it twisted and turned and seemed to have no rhyme or reason. His booted feet paused and he turned around. It seemed as though each door changed second by second. It was magic, of course, but it was damn annoying.
Horace tugged at the collar of his blue sweater (this one had a deer's skull emblazoned on it, for some reason), suddenly feeling a little warm. He began to count the doors. "One, two, buckle my shoe, three, four, don't pick that door, five, six -" he sang, tapping each door once in passing. Dr. Jannisari sighed at him, but otherwise kept silent, content to let Horace be as silly as he pleased as long as there were no consequences. "-pick up chicks. Seven, eight, don't say you're straight. Nine, ten..." Choosing one at random, he opened it.
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2014 7:44 pm
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The door opened to ruins. At one point, the ruins looked like they could have hosted a large, grand library - but the books were missing, and those that remained were too damaged to read or repair. Shelves and tables were broken, smashed and destroyed, and several support pillars in the middle of the room had fallen, while most sported impact damage and missing large chunks of concrete. Dust had settled over the wreckage, creating a thick blanket over everything; the place had not been touched in decades, it seemed.
Among the chaos sat a pale and heavily tattooed woman in an off-shoulder blue dress, a pair of heeled boots sitting perfectly beside her lightly crossed, and somewhat transparent, feet. Her masked face was tilted down towards a book held in her dark purple hands, her long hair falling over her shoulders in loose low pigtails, sometimes falling through the field of needles that impaled each arm at random intervals, with no obvious rhyme or reason.
"One moment." Needle held up a purple finger towards the noise - apparently someone else was here, too. She didn't want to be bothered right away, and spent another moment or two reading before she closed the book gently, and set it down beside her. Finally she moved to stand, and tilted her head towards the door she heard opening.
"Are you still there?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2014 11:21 am
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For a second, Horace wondered if perhaps this was what the Library of Alexandria had looked like. but there were no scorch marks, or flooding... he thought it was one of those things that had ruined the place. The girl sitting there, no, ghoul, was interesting in an otherwordly way. The tattoos were absolutely gorgeous and, for possibly the first time, he wished his had some sort of meaning behind them - it looked as thought hers did. When she held up a finger, he was content to wait, thinking he could learn from her.
"Not going anywhere, sugar." Horace moved closer, his gaze fixed on the needles in her arms. Did it hurt? Was she born thusly? Out came his little notepad and he scribbled hurriedly in it. "What were you reading?" Perhaps the most useful aspect of a hunter's weapons were that they could be summoned in an instant. So, while Horace was still wary, he did not have Jannisari summoned - it seemed silly to be aggressive without provocation with someone quietly reading.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 10:58 am
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"Sugar?" Needle parroted, her voice soft and even with only the barest infliction at the end to suggest it had been a question. Her head tilted a little bit as she registered the sound of scratching on paper; she could feel the ink nearby, too. He was writing something, and that was curious.
"My? Ah, yes." Her head tilted to glance at the space where she had left her book, a small ink blot on the corner to let her find it later. "It is called 'The Journal' - a love story between a hard working werewolf and a lovely djinn. It is heartbreakingly, horrifically romantic." She let out a sigh that only hinted at dreamy, purple hands coming up to hold her cheeks for only a moment.
"Have you read it? I hear it is quite popular amongst today's youth and middle-aged." She began to approach him then, walking with a careful grace through and over rubble. It was a slow motion, but she had never been a very fast creature. Eventually she was in front of him, able to see his shape in this proximity, and offered a bow in the space between them.
"Please forgive my rudeness. My name is Needle, and it is my pleasure to meet you, I am sure."
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Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 2:25 pm
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"Yeah, sugar... like an endearment? Like... sweetheart or uh... screech-heart?" Horace was very glad he'd heard that one during his trip before. Of course, for all her knew, he'd called her something terrible - but the monster he'd seen before had appeared to like it. When she spoke of books, he relaxed a bit - it sounded fantastic, to be honest. Monster literature? And a love story? The way she sighed quite honestly reminded Horace of himself, in his room, alone of course, after finishing a particularly satisfying book. There was such a book in his pocket now - The Lady in Question. He wondered if this ...monster could enjoy it.
He tensed as she moved, watching her warily, pen still poised above his page. "Name's Horace. Is it a pleasure? Are you going to attack me?" A dry voice inside hios head pointed out that she would hardly say so. Horace ignored Jannisari, instead sketching out as crude picture of Needle. "Are those needles in your arms?" Are you going to ffinish that book? He held his tongue for a moment, contecnt to stare at her. How did she read with such a mask? Perhaps it was partially transpaerent.
"I have not read that - we don't get much of that type of literature, but..." He snapped his notebook shut, slipping it into his pocket before pulling out the book. "I just finished this: it might be similar. Spies, murder, true love even through deceit." Horace's voice may have gone a bit dreamy at the end, but he coughed. "H-have you finished The Journal?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2015 6:13 am
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"Because I am a hunter, and we get attacked here, et cetera. But I will not attack you - I prefer talking." He waved his hand dismissively, clearly more interested in the talk of books. He held the book out to her, cover glinting in the dim light. On a navy blue cover, the words The Lady in Question gleamed in gold script. It was rather tasteful for a romance novel, one of the very few of his books not pink or purple. If The Journal was exactly as it sounded, perhaps they had a shared interest. While fighting monsters was important, understanding their thought processes was, too.
"If... if you want, you can take a look. I have read it many times, but I often read books like these so often they fall apart." Horace smiled a little sheepishly. "I like happy endings, and romance. Can I look at The Journal?" His fingers itched with wanting to read it. A monster's novel - did romance differ between the species?
He watched her head tilt. "Wait - how do you read?" He blurted out.
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2015 4:43 pm
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"Oh." Needle's next noise sounded surprisingly, well, surprised, for her. The one who was rather monotone, and consistently so. "That does explain a lot..." She mused, tilting her head and lifting a purple hand to tap her pale, cold lips. "Are you friends with Bix? Or Zac? They are lovely gentlemonsters." She paused suddenly, blinking behind her mind though the gesture was lost. "Do you have such a term? I do not believe your kind uses 'Monster' as a positive..." Humans were strange, but fascinating.
"I do, too! My boilfriend and I have discovered the charm of day time skelevision." The ghost giggled quietly, before stifling herself into the more ladylike silence. "He does not read much." But he was always there as a massive pillow for her anyway.
"I do have eyes, Horace." Needle smiled, the corners of her lips slightly twitching upwards. "I can not see well, but I can see ink very clearly." She explained patiently, stepping closer to hold out The Journal with one hand, the other lifting to accept the other book.
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 10:19 am
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"I apologize for assuming blindness. You can see ink more clearly?" He poked his tatto for a moment. Then the books exchanged hands and he flipped through the pages. It felt the same, smelled the same, weighed the same as a normal book. A smile spread across his face. "Uh, maybe we should find a way to set up a returning time? Or something..." He rather liked that book, and while a monster book held its own charms, he prefered ones with people.
Horace tilted his head briefly, thinking. The names were familiar - he'd read them, even talked briefly to Zac on twitter. Interesting that they kept monster friends. It was always good to study. "I have met neither. Since we are not monsters, but men, it is gentlemen." But his voice was not accusing and he made a note of her term.
Boilfriend and skelevision were fairly easy to decipher. "What kind of shows do you watch? My gran used to watch a lot of soap operas - so, by extension, so did I." If she was willing to chat, he was willing to listen instead of, oh, lop off her head. It was very hard to be violent toward someone who didn't act like a threat, anyway.
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 6:16 pm
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"It was a fair assumption." The mask was rather vision obscuring, despite that being the intent. "Yes. The mask is specifically designed by my clan to inhibit my vision and enhance my natural ability." She explained patiently, another small twinge of a smile on her lips as he tapped his tattoo, a gesture she could see as it obscured a bit of the glow from the ink.
"Is that possible?" She mused, holding the book and marvelling at how different it felt; this one wasn't made of FEAR like hers, and so it felt delightfully strange in her hands; like a small buzz in her fingers. "I have always assumed that meetings were random." To her, so far, they had been.
"Gentlemen, then." It was always good to know, even if it was strange lingo. "Soap Operas." Needle repeated, sounding the word as if it were alien. "Musicals about washing?" That sounded strange. "We watch Days of our Undead - This week we are to learn who stole Francine's body!" There was a small squirm of excitement, and all she wanted was for the end of the week to come, so she could learn.
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Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 8:15 pm
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He laughed. "Ah, no, it means like they are dramatic! Like so-and-so's cousin was secretly sleeping with the janitor - stuff like that." They really sounded about the same, anyway. "You know, I think... if would be really fun to watch your versions." If she was amenable, of course. Horace tried to look innocent and sort of puppy-dog-like.
"Hmmm," he said, wondering exactly how much he could divulge. "There's ways, I guess - but we'd look different. I haven't met either of the guys you mentioned, but I'm sure we could come visit you. Maybe watch some things?" They'd need to work out an identifier. He rubbed the shaved side of his head. It was all for daily life research. "I can see what I can do - if I can, where would I normally find you?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2015 6:55 pm
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"Curious name for it, still." She mused quietly, completely missing out on his attempt at the innocent puppy routine as she couldn't quite see the intricate depths of facial expression. The suggestion at least was well received.
"That would be fantastic!" The ghoul chimed, actual excitement seeping into her cold, monotone voice. "Our shows are amazing - and we have movies now. I am learning to cook, but there is always snacks! It would be like a sleep over." The idea that they wouldn't be able to eat - or perhaps wouldn't be able to stomach - Halloween food was never a thought in her mind. Nor was the absurd idea of a mostly-blind creature cooking.
"Before I consider telling you, I have some ground rules." Needle said, her tone turning serious once more, and her posture returning to the proper, rigid way it had been prior.
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Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2015 12:15 pm
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It was interesting - how tiny bits of excitement bled into her voice in fits and starts. In those moments, she was very much like a normal girl. And in those moments, Horace thought she looked the most dangerous. It all held an air of the uncanny valley: just human enough to be horribly wrong. It wasn't that Horace felt any ill-will in particualr towards Needle, he was just very aware that, despite romance novels, despite soap operas, Needle was a monster. But he could learn, and relax, and maybe enjoy this gathering of information, just a bit.
"Movies too, huh." He folded his arms. The merits of food seemed mimimal at best, but perhaps he could find a way to transport something back. "I am amenable to any rules you may sit fit." Horace shrugged. As long as they were not dangerous rules.
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2015 9:37 am
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Horace replied, and Needle held up a single, ink stained and faintly tattooed index finger.
"One, you do not bring undue harm my boilfriend, my sister, her fiancée, or myself, at any given time, be it now or years from now. I understand that your superiors are demanding, and I understand that some times it is unavoidable, but I want you to promise me you will not bring harm to us, if you can help it." Then a second stained purple finger raised. "Two, if we ask you to leave, you will leave." A third finger joined in. "And Three, you are aware that at this moment, this is a one-time invitation. You are not to enter our rooms without permission again." Her hand fell away, folding neatly with it's sibling against her hips, held away from her body due to the spikes on her arm.
"Do you agree?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 10:33 am
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Horace's mouth tightened at her first rule, but he nodded. "If I can help it. However, if, for some reason, you or yours attacks first, I will defend myself." Here he was, making deals with monsters. He only hoped what knowledge he could glean would be worth it or something. "The other two rules I have no issue with, Needle." and he smiled at her, relaxing just a bit. He didn't know what he'd expected but, at very least, her rules seemed reasonable. Horace would debate later whether promises to monsters were contractually binding. But he had no reason to go against her wishes and a great many more reasons to humor her.
"You're the boss here." And his smile grew a little more genuine. Horace wanted to meet her fiance, too. ~monster love~
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