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Post by Linyü on Feb 12, 2023 1:17:53 GMT -6
Alright, well, maybe batting his eyelashes at her was a bit too much. Ah! That slight fall in the angle of her ears, the way her brows furrowed incrementally closer -- that was distaste, wasn’t it?
"Where?" she said. Her voice was like the rest of her, soft and quiet, hard to notice if you weren’t listening for it and, yes, mostly washed of feeling. But on this particular occasion it was obvious even to Seveth that she sounded wary. Well, it was true that the last time he had talked her into one of his schemes, San had given him an earful... Or would it be better to call it an eyeful, given that it was an entire page, front and back, about how insulting and irresponsible he had been? No, then again, perhaps not; the term was usually used for something more scandalous than an angry diary entry.
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Post by Linyü on Feb 12, 2023 1:18:07 GMT -6
Still, for San, that was a lot of writing. He was about as taciturn as Rei was, if his usual laconic reports were anything to go by. That was probably why those two got on so well.
Okay, he knew that wasn’t the real reason the two of them were close. But they were pretty similar in a lot of ways.
"Aww, come on, that would ruin the surprise," Seveth said, resting his chin on his hands, winking conspiratorially at her. "Don’t you trust me?"
The look she gave him clearly said no.
Seveth sighed. "I guess I walked into that one. But really, I promise it’s just a little outing. We’re not going to meet anyone, and I’m not going to try anything shady. Scout’s honor. You’ll give me one more chance, won’t you?" He did his best to look contrite and reformed.
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Post by Linyü on Feb 12, 2023 1:18:24 GMT -6
She was silent for a long moment, but eventually she said, "Why do you want to go?" She didn't seem any closer to giving in, but she was still talking to him, and she hadn't shut him down entirely. Ah, the glimmer of hope! He lived for those moments. Seveth shrugged, smiling. "I just had an idea, that's all. I figured we should have some fun. We never hang out, you know." Her eyes narrowed a little, but this time Seveth was telling the truth. The surprise he had in mind was harmless, and he really didn't have any ill intent in mind -- not even by San's standards, which were pretty strict when it came to Rei. At length, she sighed very quietly, and rose to her feet. "Great! Let's go," Seveth said. He slipped into one of his less ostentatious pairs of shoes, pulled open the door, and gestured toward it. "After you." ----- 4
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Post by Linyü on Feb 12, 2023 1:19:39 GMT -6
Rei said nothing as she flew alongside Seveth. He seemed unperturbed, humming to himself with a smile as he led them down one street and then another. Rei counted the turns, as was her habit. She knew most of the city by now, but he hadn’t informed her where they were going, merely putting a finger to his lips and saying that it would be a surprise.
“Not far now,” Seveth said, peering down the street, then back up at the way they had come from. “It should be just around here… Ah, here we are.” He stopped at the gate of a property in the old part of town. For a moment, Rei didn’t quite understand. This place was an old house, filled with strange things. She and San had come here once--
-- Except the sight that greeted her now was not at all what she remembered.
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Post by Linyü on Feb 12, 2023 1:20:01 GMT -6
The house Seveth had stopped at was in an older style, but it was well kept rather than run-down. The grounds were filled with carefully sculpted shrubs. Flowers bloomed in neat beds set along the path, the air heavy with the scent of them. There was no trace here of any of the things that she and San had seen.
Had it been this house? Now she doubted herself. But she had been sure that this was where it had been…
By contrast, Seveth seemed to have found exactly what he expected. “Lovely, isn’t it?” he said, pushing open the gate. It swung open easily, and he stepped in as naturally as if he lived here, and not in a studio apartment in a run-down building in the cheap part of town. He had walked halfway down the path before he realized she wasn’t with him. Turning, he looked at her with slight but genuine confusion.
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Post by Linyü on Feb 12, 2023 1:20:33 GMT -6
“Aren’t you coming?” he said, inclining his head.
In the face of his expectant gaze, she could do nothing but follow.
As they came up to the door, Seveth drew himself up, cleared his throat, and lifted his hand to rap his knuckles on the varnished wood. He knocked three times, neat and sharp. Then he waited. When there was no immediate response, he tried to turn the handle, only for it to rattle in place.
“What are you doing?” said Rei. She had never seen him come to this place, even though she had been watching him for months. She had taken it upon herself to observe him, both to learn about this strange presence sharing San’s body, and to intervene in case he tried something truly dangerous. She wondered if he was trying something dangerous now.
But Seveth merely clicked his tongue and said, “Hold on.”
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Post by Linyü on Feb 12, 2023 1:20:53 GMT -6
He stood still for a second, brows furrowed, then began roving around the front porch, muttering under his breath. “It must be here somewhere... Here, maybe?” As Rei looked on, he lifted the mat under the door. There was nothing underneath it except a patch of darker wood where the mat had protected it from being bleached away by the elements. Undeterred, he moved to one of the potted plants framing the doorway, and with some effort, managed to move it aside, revealing a small object underneath. “Aha! Here we are.” With a triumphant look, he held up a key the color of dull brass. It slid into the lock with a click, and the door opened into a sunlit foyer. Seveth tucked the key into his pocket and stepped aside, sweeping his hand toward the door with a flourish. “Ladies first.”
For a moment, all Rei could do was stare after him.
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Post by Linyü on Feb 12, 2023 1:23:34 GMT -6
She had thought herself beyond surprise at his antics by now, but she was beginning to wonder if she had underestimated him. She was no stranger to breaking and entering, but Seveth’s brazenly maladroit way of going about it was alien to her.
How did he come to know about this place? What was his plan if the owners came back? In fact, did he know whether the house was empty? She paused to listen for the telltale sounds of the residents -- again, a habit from her work -- but the only footfalls she could hear were Seveth’s own.
No. She was thinking about this the wrong way. Seveth didn’t plan, and she never could guess what he was thinking. Perhaps it was a waste of energy to try. She drifted in after him, while he walked through the foyer without bothering to shut the door behind him.
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Post by Linyü on Feb 12, 2023 1:23:51 GMT -6
Two flights of stairs swept up in mirrored curves, their railings melding into the second floor balustrades. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, glass glinting in the afternoon sunlight that poured in from the delicately framed window above the door. There were more doors to either side of them, dark wood carved with intricate reliefs; and between the two stairways was another door, this one half ajar. Seveth evaluated his options briefly, then spotted something through the open door between the stairs. Whatever he saw drew him to it. He peered in, then brightened and motioned for Rei to come with him. Wordlessly he eased the door the rest of the way open, revealing what could only be a ballroom.
For the briefest of moments, a fleeting memory overlaid the sight before her: a different room, just as large but much darker, with dark walls and a cavernous ceiling that seemed to swallow any light that fell in.
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Post by Linyü on Feb 12, 2023 1:24:05 GMT -6
There had been a ballroom, too, at the house she had lived in a very long time ago. But it had been nothing like the one that was before her now. This one was well maintained, the wood floor gleaming and free of dust, its corners unoccupied by cobwebs. There was another chandelier, and more sconces in the walls besides, though none of them were lit. Windowed doors at regular intervals along the far end of the room offered the light of day, and through them, a view into the back gardens.
Seveth had walked to the center of the room. Against this empty backdrop, he looked small -- like a Harachiu, perhaps, or a lone actor on a stage. He seemed to feel as though he was putting on a show, with Rei as his audience; catching her eye, he flashed her a conspiratorial grin, wide and cheeky and full of teeth.
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Post by Linyü on Feb 12, 2023 1:25:18 GMT -6
Lifting his hand into the air, he snapped his fingers once -- a sound that echoed across the room. For a moment, they both waited, Seveth with an air of expectation, and Rei with the same confusion that had been growing since they had first arrived.
Nothing happened.
Seveth frowned again, then sighed, shoulders sagging too dramatically for this to be anything but an exaggerated act. “Come now,” he said, “you aren’t really going to embarrass me in front of my date, are you? In this, of all months?” He winked at Rei as he said this, though the words couldn’t possibly have been for her; and yet if he was addressing someone else, she couldn’t find them. Her pulse quickened anyway, and she strained her ears again, trying to catch anything that would warn her of another presence before it was too late. Perhaps she had gotten distracted, missed some sign--
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Post by Linyü on Feb 12, 2023 1:25:47 GMT -6
All at once, the lights flared to life. Rei froze -- felt the sick, heady spike of adrenaline come and go. It was only because the room was already sun-lit that the effect wasn’t more dramatic, or more startling; as it was, she stopped breathing for a moment.
But Seveth hadn’t so much as flinched. “That’s more like it!” he declared. Turning to Rei, he said, “You don’t know how to dance, do you?”
Rei shook her head.
“No, I didn’t think so -- not that you don’t look capable, of course! But, well, would you like to learn?”
At his words, however, Rei shook her head again. This, this was why he had brought her here. On some level she was relieved that it wasn’t anything more sinister. But this place, and his conduct since they had arrived, both made her uneasy; and if he had no more compelling reason to keep them here, then she would rather they leave.
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Post by Linyü on Feb 12, 2023 1:26:05 GMT -6
“Oh, come on, I’m not that terrible a teacher, am I?” Seveth did his best to look woebegone, but his own penchant for theatrics robbed it of any effect. “You know, dancing is a great way to get to know someone. That was how we did all the socializing back where I came from -- parties and dances. And we could stand to get to know one another better, don’t you think? Besides, dancing is fun! We’ll have a great time, I promise. You know there’s no one better at having fun than me.”
Rei was silent.
At first Seveth waited, still smiling, as if he believed that if he simply did so long enough, she would give in. But the silence stretched on, and eventually his confidence began to falter. After several minutes, he sighed -- not the overblown act he had put on earlier, when he had been talking to the room, but a subtle tired deflation.
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Post by Linyü on Feb 12, 2023 1:26:17 GMT -6
His arms pulled back in around his body, hands tucking themselves around his elbows; and this time, when he smiled, it was subdued, a little rueful. His gaze slid away from her to the expanse of floor before him, looking out at some imagined thing that only he could see.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to dance myself,” he said. “I miss it, more than I thought I would.” His voice had a soft, ponderous quality, as if he hadn’t known quite what he was going to say until the words left his mouth. Gone was the rapid-fire rhythm of his usual speech; without it, he sounded almost sad. “There were times, before… all this… when I wasn’t very, um, happy.” Here he paused a moment to laugh at himself, though there was no joy in it. “Yeah, I know; really? Seveth? Who would have thought, right?
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Post by Linyü on Feb 12, 2023 1:28:22 GMT -6
“But I could always lose myself for a few hours when I was dancing, like it was magic. I just... wanted to share that with you, if I could. Maybe you don’t need it, but you never know. So… what do you say? Humor me just a little longer? If you hate it, we’ll stop, and I’ll promise not to bring it up again.”
Again, Rei said nothing, and Seveth’s final appeal hung in the air between them. He had turned back to look at her with his entreaty, this time with a tentative, uncertain air; and now Rei looked away. She had to.
She knew that this was Seveth. It was in the lilt of his voice, the cant of his shoulders, the way he begged and bargained. She always knew -- there was no confusing the two of them, Seveth and San. But when he looked like that...
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