sirenspull | [Video] [Backdated five days to the twenty-fifth]

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[Video] [Backdated five days to the twenty-fifth]

[When Sheila turns on her NV, she's standing over her kitchen stove. There are piles of dirty dishes in her arms and she shifts them with a soft clatter to the sink, and a feast of food sitting in a mountainous pile beside her, including some . She gives her forehead a mopping and looks ruefully into the screen.]

It hath been a long journey from the place I embark'd. To think that I once cook'd o're an open pit and had to watch my skirts afore they burst into flame. I hope that all hath attained peace at long last. And that all hath found a reason for thanks. 'Tis not quite Christmas yet, but the feast season hath begun.

I hath prepared a repast of thanks to Saint Catherine. Ye need not share my faith to join me in a cup! If any art hungry, my door remains open until sunset.

[OOC: It's just past Saint Catherine's Day, and Sheila's prepared a takeaway meal for all of her friends! This is open to action threads for any who want to come eat at her apartment.]

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[Eponine shrugs]

Is it cold, Madame? I don't feel cold at all. It is funny, that. Since I have been here, I have not been cold...

[She nods. Of course, she was going to keep under a budget. She had been thinking more along the lines of 'ten dollars', rather than an extravagant seventy.]

Than- what? Tonight?

[She follows Hattie a little reluctantly, still clutching her straggling posy.]

And walk home in the darkness?

[Sometimes, she HATES Hattie.]

[Hattie raises a brow.]

Yes, Eponine, it's freezing today. That is certainly rather.. Strange. You can still feel your fingers and toes, yes?

[She gets inside the car's back, then slides over to allow Eponine in- She has someone driving her today!]

Yes, tonight. And it'd be ridiculous to send you home, there's no point in that if you're coming back in the morning. [She points to the flowers.] Those stay outside, thank you very much.

[Eponine looked down at her feet - clad, for once, in boots - in surprise.]

but yes. Of course I can. To me it feels like the warmest day of summer, Madame.

[She drops the posy reluctantly, though not before untying the rag of ribbon, which she uses to scrag her mop of hair back.]

so I may stay at your house? In one of the nice rooms? That WILL be good.

[ ... ok. ]

I see. And you said you were cold back in France, yes?

[She tells the driver where to go, then thinks a moment about the question. Hattie was thinking the couch would be fine, actually.]

You may stay at the house, yes. No strings attached.

[What a strange question]

But of course. France must be colder here, Madame. Or...

[Other people had powers here, did they not? Could she too have developed one? Eponine starts to grin.]

Do you have some magic, Madame? Do you think that this is the magic?

[Of course Hattie was thinking the couch. But Eponine can dream. Maybe with magic, she becomes more important? Maybe Hattie will see her as an equal if she has real magic?]

May I? Oh, it will be lovely, Madame. I will not ruin your dress this time - if you do not pour dirty water on me.

[Well it is a lovely couch, there's no denying that! That is another scenario for another time, however. Hattie thoughtfully taps her chin.]

It has been quite cold here for a couple of months now, it's almost winter. And.. I'm not an expert on the matter, but I would guess that it would be your special ability. It's certainly an unusual one. And yes, I do have one of my own.

[Hattie closes her eyes for a moment, then she proceeds to change color as if she were freezing over in ice, from the tip of her hair, down to her toes. Her She eventually becomes translucent, living sapphire of pink-orange hue though her clothing remains unchanged.]

For the record, it wasn't dirty. .. I think.

[Eponine gasps as Hattie transforms. Tentatively, she reaches out a hand to touch her]

You are a statue, Madame. THAT is your ability?

[She laughs, fairly certain that Hattie can't hear her]

I think I like you better like this.

[She jumps, though, when Hattie speaks] - You can HEAR? And speak, too?

[Hattie rolls her eyes; she really should have known better. Eponine could have said much worse, however. She is hard to the touch, as expected.]

You said that because you're in awe of my sparkling beauty, and not because you thought I could not hear, right? And I am not just any statue, I'm made of padparadcha: one of the rarest precious stones in the world.

Exactly like me, really~.

Yeah.... that's why I said that. No other reason...

[Obviously, from her tone, she's lying.]

You think you are a rare precious stone?

[A block head, maybe, with a cold heart... Eponine's sniggering again]

Mm-hmm. [She knows your game, girl!] As if you really need to ask, isn't it obvious, Eponine? I even have a sparkling personality! When it comes down to it, I'm the woman all the girls want to be when they grow up.

Of course.. There are those that simply don't know any better. You won't be one of those, Eponine.

[She stares out the window.]

You're going to become a fine lady. The finest ever created. Even Ella will envy you.

[Eponine, on the other hand, slumps back into her seat. She wants to be a lady. But every day further impresses into her that it's something she'll never attain.]

I don't want Ella to envy me. She doesn't like me... but I think it is my fault. I would rather just be friends.

[She had never had friends before she came here, and all of those seem to be going, leaving her with...... Hattie. And Jack.]

[Hattie laughs, though it's rather bitter.]

Eponine, you've lived that life and yet you've still managed to become nieve. When you have money, when you're popular and beautiful, you can have all the friends that you want, more than you'll know what to do with.

.. Of course, once you've done that you'll regret having made such a decision. People who you've poured your heart out to will turn on you without batting an eyelash before you know it. Happy moments will have been revealed to have been a lie all along, and it's time you will never get back.

[She snorts.]

Your only mistake was that you got caught. I'm sure you've learned your lesson. Don't bother trying to become friends with her.

And you? You know a lot about me, Madame. When I am a lady, will you turn it against me and tell people of my past? You know where I worked. You know what I've done.

[She picks at her seatbelt, letting the front part of her hair conceal her face a little.]

She doesn't trust me. Ella isn't very nice. But... Cosette is nice to everyone and she is a lady.
[Can you get where she's going with this? LADY Hattie.]

Even me, and I do not deserve it. If you knew how I was horrid to her when we were children. She should push me in the mud and laugh. Maybe Ella would be nice if I showed her I am not bad.

[Hattie looks away from the window to Eponine. She raises a couple of good points, of course. Her skin shifts back to normal, with a small smile.]

And what would I have to gain to do something like that, Eponine? No one in their right mind would put in all that effort for a ten minute laugh. I don't blame you for not trusting me, but try to be more rational. Despite how you've come under my employ, I'm not your enemy.

[Yes, she gets it, and she doesn't comment on it. She insteads jumps onto the other subject.]

Why does Ella bother you so much, Eponine? What makes her so different from all the other people you've stolen from?

"I know... It is just a good way to even then keep me under your thumb. You can say now,
"I will tell everyone, Eponine, that you are not a lady, if you do not do this."
It is the same as my papa - "Scream and I'll make you regret it!", "Take this letter and don't you dare come 'till you have the money." You see, Madame? It'll be the same."

[She doesn't look up]

perhaps now you think me ungrateful? I am not - but it worries me here. i couldn't bear to lose it.

[She presses her stomach and sighs]

Ella... I would not care. But she tells me things. She says she tries to help me a little. And that makes me feel bad. She says you will never pay me, too.

...

[Hattie looks away from Eponine again, thinking about what she says.]

You'd compare me to such a pathetic man? Do you think I'm pathetic, Eponine? [She asks with a small smile.] If I did not have a way to keep you under control you would stab me in the back, you know. I discipline you so that you learn.

I don't think you are ungrateful; you're just a slow learner. Also I've already told you I am in a position where I can only provide, and when that changes, I will pay you. If you keep telling people I do not, Eponine, it is going to be a problem for the both of us.

[She then rolls her eyes.]

Why do you feel bad? Do you believe she can help you more than I could? Really? What would she do for you, Eponine? A woman with only a cloak and a sword? Would she make you dresses? Would she teach you to be a lady? Would she take you to flower shops to buy buquets? Make you over for parties? Would she do all of that?

Edited 2012-12-05 20:49 (UTC)

He is NOT pathetic, Hattie.

[Don't you dare talk bad about her family. Yes, they're horrible. No, they don't give two tosses about Eponine. But they're all she has. She hates them - fears them, especially her papa, especially after she ruined his plans - but she loves them in her own twisted way. She starts up at Hattie, cross now.]

He isn't. You cannot say that of a man you have never met. If you saw his escape from prison you would not say he is pathetic.

...And I was not saying you are. But to you, I may seem slow, you know. But I AM clever. I know things what you might be surprised about. Not book facts... but real things, Hattie. Madame. I know how it is.

[She shrugs. Eponine feels awkward. She always feels awkward around the upper classes, and she resents Hattie just that little bit more for having a jibe at her papa.]

I do not tell everybody. Ella merely asked why it was I was taking her sword - and do you know what has happened to me of late, Madame?
I cannot go to XXX - and truly, I am glad. I hate it, Hattie. But it was good money. And you do not pay me, and M'sieur Gold does not - I have no money coming in. Only what I can steal.

[She slumps back once more, refusing to make eye contact]

I will lose my room. It is not much, but it's the most I have ever had. And if I lose it, I will have to go to sector 11 and squat in the houses without any darkness proofing, or go to the dorms - and Madame, what they do there is not fit for your ears. So I stole, and she asked and I said. If anyone else knows, it is she who has said. Not me.

I do not know what she would give me. She gave me bread and meat once. You give me lots... I know that. And truly I am grateful. It is just... It is hard for me.

[Hattie passes a glance to Eponine again.]

Yes I would. He could win the nobel peace prize for all I care. If I were in your shoes, I would hate him with every fiber of my being. You're blessed with an abnormal amount of patience I suppose. [beat] I don't keep tabs on everything that happens to you, of course. But I would prefer if you tell me when you're in trouble. You're my responsibility now, you know, and I will not have my maid staying in Sector 11. I'd be a laughing stock.

[She then scowls, frustrated about talking about Ella, but after a moment she relaxes.]

I'm sorry for losing my temper all the time, Eponine, I'm working on that. I don't want things to be difficult for you, but there is much I need to do in little time. I need you to confide with me when you are having problems.

[Which isn't entirely true, she wants some control over Eponine's feelings- but the girl has so much baggage it's difficult for Hattie to properly balance.]

As long as you are on my side I will find a way to help you when you ask.

Edited 2012-12-05 22:31 (UTC)

It isn't patience... I... he's all I have. He gave me a home. He... I suppose I do hate him sometimes. But sometimes you must stay with things you hate...

[Hopelessness. If she abandoned her Papa, she'd be thrown out, and the Patron Minette would see that nobody would help her. It was a death sentence to disobey. Eponine sighs]

I am on your side. It is only - I am in trouble. I was caught by AGI in the offices of XxX going through their files - not to steal, Madame - to help M'sieur Enjolras. He is Marius' friend, you know - and I thought if I helped him, perhaps Marius'd look kindly on me. He might like me.

Only, I was caught by M'sieur Jack and the AGI men. This is why I cannot work for AGI now - I will be arrested if they find me working for them - they will not trust me again, M'sieur Jack says. And I do not wish to be a slave. So I have no money - and my money that I saved for Papa - I am spending it on rent and I sold my dresses - and still, there is no money. It has been more than a month now, Madame. I shall have to go to the dorm. I have nothing to sell any more.

[Hattie supposes she could understand that. If her mother suddenly turned on her, her old self probably would have stayed as well. Not that she is super independent woman now.]

I see what you mean. I shouldn't have said what I did, Eponine.

[She listens afterward, then grits her teeth lightly in worry. She doesn't know the slightest thing about AGI, nor this 'Jack' person. Of all the problems she was expecting, that was probably the last.]

... Rgh. [She felt a headache coming on.] The things we do for love. So what is Jack's part in this? Is he getting something from you in exchange for his generosity?

I do not know. I don't trust him. He's bought me dresses from a shop, and he let me stay one night at his house. He wants to be my friend, he says.

[But why would he want to be her friend? Why doesn't he want anything from her?]

Maybe he does? I do not know. Do you think he does?

[Hattie raises a hand to her chin in thought. Eponine appears to be growing more distressed, and before the blonde knows it, she's sliding along to seat to sit closer to her.]

It's difficult to say. I would suggest you be wary for now, do not accept too much from him or you run the risk of running into another debt. Perhaps I should pay him a visit myself and see.

[She reaches into her coat and withdraws an orange kerchief.]

I see why you were hesitant about Xellos' job. Just keep your head low for now, and I will try to find something else for you. You can stay with me for a while.

I do not mean to be trouble. It is my own fault I am in trouble. I know this. I... this is why I am in a bad mood, I suppose. It is just a worry - always here in my stomach. It is only as it was in France - but it makes it seem as if I will never be a lady. And here, Marius never talks to me either. And Yosuke is gone, and Madame Aqua...

And you try to help me and always I make a mess of it.

[.. Oh dear, now it's all just pouring out isn't it? Hattie, naturally, feels a bit frustrated by it, but who doesn't have troubles these days? .. Still, it'd be nicer if it were all about herself.]

I know, Eponine, and in a way I do not blame you. It is difficult to know who to trust and who you can not- and the way we have met did not simplify things for you.

[She hesitantly slips an arm over Eponine's shoulders to try to comfortingly squeeze her.]

I forgive your mistakes, and I hope you will someday forgive me for my own. Either way, I believe you realize you cannot move forward on your own just yet. We will work things out, one step at a time. Together. [She smiles] You'll see, things will get better. I promise.

Edited 2012-12-05 23:59 (UTC)

[Well, at least Hattie understands that. Eponine takes a breath, mastering her emotions once more.]

Okay... Thank you, my lady.

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[Video] [Backdated five days to the twenty-fifth]

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