[ he's so clearly uncertain about this. Mostly the carrying part. ]
But that's just... I mean, I... Can you even carry me? I'm probably a lot bigger and heavier, and... I guess that doesn't matter, since you're a chiropteran, but still, being carried is sort of... Maybe we can just, uh, walk at a brisk pace?
[ now he's just fishing for excuses. Just pick him up and run for it, Diva!! ]
[Like you even needed to suggest it!! She rolls her eyes, but before he can even finish suggesting a brisk pace, Diva easily scoops him up like he doesn't weigh a thing. Bridal style, of course, because Garry doesn't get a piggy back ride from Diva because that's just weird, duh.]
You'll appreciate this much more, I promise. So don't wiggle too much or I might drop you.
[Her sweet and charming personality aside, she will start a brisk pace down the stairs into the subway, at least.]
[ his rambling is interrupted by that fabulously undignified squeal, and he freezes up tight when he's suddenly in her arms. Well, he was certainly becoming much more familiar with his vampire friend(?) today... Garry doesn't even make a move to hold onto her yet, because what is he supposed to do, put his arms around her neck?! Goodness gracious. ]
[ she doesn't even need to tell him that, apparently, since her jumping down onto the tracks is enough to spook him into action, latching onto her in fear that he's going to fall off. Under normal circumstances, avoiding danger would mean going in the exact opposite direction from Diva... how did this happen. ]
[His unmanly scream makes her laugh, of course, but she shifts slightly to hold him a bit more securely. There's definitely a sense that she's enjoying this a lot...]
Well, because you're too tall, of course. I couldn't carry you that way without it being really awkward! I'd be off balance.
[She laughs a little more, looking ahead]
So are you ready? It'll probably take you a few seconds to get used to it.
[ it's okay, diva, everyone except garry is... It takes him a second to catch his breath and reply to her. ]
This certainly seems awkward enough to me! [ Being carried this way didn't make him less tall!! However, he seems to have put aside the awkwardness of being squished this close to her aside for now in favor of not flying out of her arms at sound-barrier-breaking speeds. Thank goodness for that. And for her actually asking if he was ready to go - that might have given her more points in his mind if the whole situation wasn't ridiculous already. ]
I... I suppose I'm ready. I can't believe we're doing this... T-take it easy on me, okay?!
[It's almost like she's beginning to skip as she moves, but in an instant, they're moving much faster than anything they run into can keep up with. The tunnel is flying by at a dizzying pace, and the strong feeling of the air rushing over them gives a good idea of just how fast they're moving. Diva's eyes are locked ahead in concentration as she dodges any obstacles, but also once again glowing in that strange and slightly frightening way.]
But really, he hopes that she means it. All he can do is squish his eyes shut and hang onto her with all his might as he feels the wind start to pick up. He's going to need a smoke after this -- wait, didn't he just have one before? That sure fell away fast... Good thing he would probably be able to get more soon.
Garry dares to crack an eye open after a bit, and once he's let out a rather pathetic whimper at how fast they're evidently going, he notices that glow in her eyes - something he hadn't really picked up on in the chaos of their other encounter. A little bit scary, he thinks, but he doesn't want to ask about it and break her focus. The last thing he needs is to trip her up and send both of them flying into the wall to become Havenite pancakes on the wall. (Even if she'd survive it, he sure wouldn't!) ]
[At least Garry has his priorities straight, unlike Diva??
It's a fairly uneventful few minutes, minus the few occasions where she jumps into the air to leap over a few thicker groups of tunnel beasts, but this still doesn't seem to be difficult for her. She's not breathing any differently as if she were taking a leisurely walk, and she's just smiling pleasantly like she's enjoying the company. She's a strange girl.
It takes a little less than ten minutes, but the stop seems very sudden as they're at the steps of the subway on Haven North's side. It's also like the wind catches up with them, since there's a powerful backdraft that mostly just displaces her long hair. She'll take care of that in a moment, but she just crouches slightly so that Garry can put his feet on the ground and stand.]
[ it would be awkward, but he's afraid and she's concentrating, so the time passes relatively quickly, Garry spending much of it clinging tightly to Diva, eyes closed, hoping he's not flying into death's door here.
Unfortunately, having his eyes closed makes the sudden stop that much more sudden, and his heart practically flies out of his chest. Half a scared shout makes its way out of his mouth before he realizes that she's stopped on purpose to put him down, and they're actually at the end. He stumbles back to dry ground, clutching the front of his shirt nervously. It actually wasn't so bad, but for some reason, it still felt like an ordeal. Not quite ready to put his life in Diva's hands for that long yet, perhaps... or he's just a big baby. Both equally plausible. ]
W... We're really there. I can't believe it. [ he looks back towards her, quite obviously trying to look less spooked than he is. ] It took hours on foot... Y-you're really something.
[But Diva doesn't really give him time to regain his breath, grabbing his hand and starting to pull him along towards...whatever she decided she wanted to come over here for.]
But now we can have fun, right? There's not really anything here to worry about, so you can relax!
Hold on just a second -- [ he tries to protest being dragged along so suddenly, but what's the point? She hasn't listened to him thus far... Garry tags along, exasperated.
And even though she says that, Garry doesn't like it much in Haven North, either. It's so empty. He thought it would be more comfortable, but, just like last time he was here, he finds himself with a strange sense of unease; it's a little bit muted by having a powerful 'bodyguard' with him, but not much. ]
I hope you're right. [ a pause. ] Say, can I ask you a question?
[Since he doesn't protest (much) to being dragged along, she soon lets go of his hands so that she can properly lead the way. Though at his question, she looks back towards him again with a curious expression.]
[Luckily, Diva isn't really offended or bothered at all by explaining her biology, so she just nods, speaking matter-of-factly]
Mm, sort of! They glow is a better way to describe it. I never remember the really detailed explanation, but you know how animals' eyes kind of shine in the dark? It's a lot like that, except they only change when I have a lot of adrne— Wait, that's not it... [She murmurs a few attempts at the world quietly before she comes up with the right one.] —adrenaline. It only happens when I have a lot of that in my blood.
I-is that it? I couldn't help but wonder. [ at least she's not also a cyborg / possessed / other possible b-movie monster explanation. Garry steps up his pace a bit to try and walk beside her instead of behind her; he's warily glancing around at the buildings as he does so. ] I think that I had more adrenaline in my blood than you did, though.
[Diva ducks her head quickly, and the conversation lapses into another awkward silence, but this one at least isn't as long. She sounds very reluctant to admit it, but it's also clear that she's embarrassed, of all things.]
I— I don't actually know what it is. So I don't know what you mean.
You don't know... [ he looks over her to see if she's serious, and... she's totally serious. And embarrassed about it? Come to think of it, she'd been a little bit this way when they talked about genetics, too... It was almost charming, somehow, even though the mental reminder that she was a vampire and a killer wasn't too far from the forefront of his mind, considering that trip through the tunnel in mere minutes. She was a killer, to be sure, but this expression she was making now was a part of who she was too, right?
Garry actually offers her a friendly smile for what might be the first time, despite still feeling a little harassed from that tunnel transportation. ] Well, that's fine! You are from another time, after all. I'm no scientist, but I think adrenaline is a sort of chemical your body produces when it's using up lots of energy, whether you're running or just nervous.
[She straightens proudly like she's trying to play off her ignorance, but for a moment, something visibly troubled crosses her face at "scientist." It's brief, so it would be easily missed if he wasn't looking right at her, but it's still there. Her eyes turn to her hands instead, like she might be able to see what he's explaining. There's a lightly thoughtful noise that follows his explanation, and she nods.]
I guess that would make sense, then.
[Diva can remember those experiments a bit more distinctly than others, since it had taken more effort on Joel and Amshel's part to actively provoke the reaction. By the time they had discovered it, she had already lost most of her sense of pain. It was especially brutal things that had to cause her eyes to light up, only to be plucked right out of its socket.
And it makes her laugh, remembering that. She looks ahead with a little smile, deciding that it might be a fun little piece of information to share. It wasn't like she saw any threat in revealing it to Garry. Though really, she was deciding to open that door just a crack for the sake of seeing his reaction.]
It's what Amshel told me, so it's usually easy to repeat like I know. Well, now I know, so I won't have to worry about it anymore. But I guess they couldn't just look at my blood for that back then, so they actually took it out to dissect it. [She laughs] It was pretty gross!
Garry almost stops in his tracks, shooting her a horrified look. How can she just casually drop something like that into conversation?! So much for her 'normal girl' side... ]
W-what?! Diva, what are you saying? Someone dissected your eyes?! That's absolutely horrific!!
[ part of him wonders if she's just trying to rile him up, but her expression - the lack of eye contact - makes him doubt that she's teasing. ]
[ 'just one' didnt make it any better at all, and he was certainly less than excited about her 'secret story.' Did he want to hear it? God knows what other gory tidbit she was about to tell him, especially since she hadn't explained at all what led to her having her eyeball plucked out.
But if she was opening up to him, it was on him to listen. That was what being a friend meant... Were they even friends? This trip sort of felt like something friends would do together, but he was struggling to accept the fact that he'd befriended a murderer. Isn't this exactly what he said he wouldn't do? ]
[Though she teases about the story with a playful, if malicious, lightheartedness, that sense doesn't carry as she tells it. Though it's something distant now, through time and a conscious decision, it's still something painful and unfair. She can't keep her eyes on him as she explains, so she lightly turns her back to him again.]
I was born without a name. I didn't have a name at all until I had already been alive for fifty years, because what I was supposed to be, it doesn't need a name.
[There's a light pause there as she shifts to clasp her hands behind her back.]
Because I told you, right? A Chiropteran isn't something supernatural or anything. We're another species, so when a curious scientist finds a new species, they want to learn about it. And since there was my twin sister and I, she was the one chosen to live normally as a control, but I was the one that was locked up in a tower so that they could find out everything there was to know about a Chiropteran. And it's something enchanting to humans, because we hold the secret of immortality.
So everything terrible you can think of, I know it really well! Cutting off my arms and legs and letting them float in a tub full of blood to watch how they'd reattach. Opening me up in a way that doesn't kill me so that they can watch my heart beat, and then carefully move them one by one to see what's necessary. Injecting me with human diseases to see how I would react, even though it would usually just kill me slowly and over and over again, because even if I can regenerate from anything, what gets rid of diseases isn't much different, I guess.
[She tilts her head thoughtfully] But you get used to those things. I don't remember what it's like to feel pain like that, because I never knew what it was like to feel anything else. But being trapped in a tiny room without anything but chains to keep me there, and always slowly dying and wishing that maybe the next time, I would wake up... You never get used to that. I was just an animal that they were keeping alive so that they could keep doing their experiments.
[She looks back to Garry, smiling pleasantly]
So you know, it's funny that humans are so afraid of me. They're the ones that can be the real monsters.
[ Whatever he was expecting her to say, this certainly went beyond it. Garry listens, following behind her as he wrings his hands nervously, still a little winded from that trip through the tunnel, and learns, heart slowly sinking as she continues. It might be guilt that he's feeling somewhere in the general sense of horror; a conflicted little bud of guilt growing towards this murderer before him, but if anyone was going to empathize with a killer, it might as well be him, gentle, timid, bleeding-heart Garry.
It would be easy to snap out and defend humans here, saying that, well, she'd killed so many of them anyway, of course they're afraid of her; if this had been neared to when they'd first met, he might have done just that. But he can't just look at her and see a monster now - especially when she'd just spilled her guts out in front of him. And because part of him knows that she's right. Beyond this specific instance, in spite of his general optimism, he knows that humans have caused almost all the pain in the world that he knows. Diva just happened to live to tell about it. ]
... Diva... So that's why... [ he wonders why she's telling him this. he's nothing special, himself, and he can't even really think of how to reply; he's just shocked, looking on at her with -- pity? Apology? ] ... Nobody deserves that, human or not. I'm sorry. I... I'm not sure what you want me to say, and I know it probably doesn't mean much coming from me, but... I would say that you're right. They were the monsters. Not you.
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[ he's so clearly uncertain about this. Mostly the carrying part. ]
But that's just... I mean, I... Can you even carry me? I'm probably a lot bigger and heavier, and... I guess that doesn't matter, since you're a chiropteran, but still, being carried is sort of... Maybe we can just, uh, walk at a brisk pace?
[ now he's just fishing for excuses. Just pick him up and run for it, Diva!! ]
puts a dolla in yo gstring... i mean inbox
You'll appreciate this much more, I promise. So don't wiggle too much or I might drop you.
[Her sweet and charming personality aside, she will start a brisk pace down the stairs into the subway, at least.]
shakes booty violently
[ his rambling is interrupted by that fabulously undignified squeal, and he freezes up tight when he's suddenly in her arms. Well, he was certainly becoming much more familiar with his vampire friend(?) today... Garry doesn't even make a move to hold onto her yet, because what is he supposed to do, put his arms around her neck?! Goodness gracious. ]
H-hold on a second!! You've got to be kidding me!
eeek!!
[And this isn't? But they make it down the stairs quickly, and Diva will be hopping onto the tracks when she's able.]
You can put your arms around my neck if you want. That'll probably be comfortable, since it'll still take a few minutes.
madamemoiselle!!!!!! wait
[ she doesn't even need to tell him that, apparently, since her jumping down onto the tracks is enough to spook him into action, latching onto her in fear that he's going to fall off. Under normal circumstances, avoiding danger would mean going in the exact opposite direction from Diva... how did this happen. ]
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Well, because you're too tall, of course. I couldn't carry you that way without it being really awkward! I'd be off balance.
[She laughs a little more, looking ahead]
So are you ready? It'll probably take you a few seconds to get used to it.
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This certainly seems awkward enough to me! [ Being carried this way didn't make him less tall!! However, he seems to have put aside the awkwardness of being squished this close to her aside for now in favor of not flying out of her arms at sound-barrier-breaking speeds. Thank goodness for that. And for her actually asking if he was ready to go - that might have given her more points in his mind if the whole situation wasn't ridiculous already. ]
I... I suppose I'm ready. I can't believe we're doing this... T-take it easy on me, okay?!
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Mm, I'll take good care of you!
[It's almost like she's beginning to skip as she moves, but in an instant, they're moving much faster than anything they run into can keep up with. The tunnel is flying by at a dizzying pace, and the strong feeling of the air rushing over them gives a good idea of just how fast they're moving. Diva's eyes are locked ahead in concentration as she dodges any obstacles, but also once again glowing in that strange and slightly frightening way.]
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But really, he hopes that she means it. All he can do is squish his eyes shut and hang onto her with all his might as he feels the wind start to pick up. He's going to need a smoke after this -- wait, didn't he just have one before? That sure fell away fast... Good thing he would probably be able to get more soon.
Garry dares to crack an eye open after a bit, and once he's let out a rather pathetic whimper at how fast they're evidently going, he notices that glow in her eyes - something he hadn't really picked up on in the chaos of their other encounter. A little bit scary, he thinks, but he doesn't want to ask about it and break her focus. The last thing he needs is to trip her up and send both of them flying into the wall to become Havenite pancakes on the wall. (Even if she'd survive it, he sure wouldn't!) ]
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It's a fairly uneventful few minutes, minus the few occasions where she jumps into the air to leap over a few thicker groups of tunnel beasts, but this still doesn't seem to be difficult for her. She's not breathing any differently as if she were taking a leisurely walk, and she's just smiling pleasantly like she's enjoying the company. She's a strange girl.
It takes a little less than ten minutes, but the stop seems very sudden as they're at the steps of the subway on Haven North's side. It's also like the wind catches up with them, since there's a powerful backdraft that mostly just displaces her long hair. She'll take care of that in a moment, but she just crouches slightly so that Garry can put his feet on the ground and stand.]
See? It's not so bad.
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Unfortunately, having his eyes closed makes the sudden stop that much more sudden, and his heart practically flies out of his chest. Half a scared shout makes its way out of his mouth before he realizes that she's stopped on purpose to put him down, and they're actually at the end. He stumbles back to dry ground, clutching the front of his shirt nervously. It actually wasn't so bad, but for some reason, it still felt like an ordeal. Not quite ready to put his life in Diva's hands for that long yet, perhaps... or he's just a big baby. Both equally plausible. ]
W... We're really there. I can't believe it. [ he looks back towards her, quite obviously trying to look less spooked than he is. ] It took hours on foot... Y-you're really something.
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[But Diva doesn't really give him time to regain his breath, grabbing his hand and starting to pull him along towards...whatever she decided she wanted to come over here for.]
But now we can have fun, right? There's not really anything here to worry about, so you can relax!
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And even though she says that, Garry doesn't like it much in Haven North, either. It's so empty. He thought it would be more comfortable, but, just like last time he was here, he finds himself with a strange sense of unease; it's a little bit muted by having a powerful 'bodyguard' with him, but not much. ]
I hope you're right. [ a pause. ] Say, can I ask you a question?
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Sure, I guess so. What is it?
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[ maybe "turned blue and glowy" is more accurate, but he doesn't want to accidentally tick her off by being too blunt. ]
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Mm, sort of! They glow is a better way to describe it. I never remember the really detailed explanation, but you know how animals' eyes kind of shine in the dark? It's a lot like that, except they only change when I have a lot of adrne— Wait, that's not it... [She murmurs a few attempts at the world quietly before she comes up with the right one.] —adrenaline. It only happens when I have a lot of that in my blood.
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I-is that it? I couldn't help but wonder. [ at least she's not also a cyborg / possessed / other possible b-movie monster explanation. Garry steps up his pace a bit to try and walk beside her instead of behind her; he's warily glancing around at the buildings as he does so. ] I think that I had more adrenaline in my blood than you did, though.
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I— I don't actually know what it is. So I don't know what you mean.
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Garry actually offers her a friendly smile for what might be the first time, despite still feeling a little harassed from that tunnel transportation. ] Well, that's fine! You are from another time, after all. I'm no scientist, but I think adrenaline is a sort of chemical your body produces when it's using up lots of energy, whether you're running or just nervous.
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I guess that would make sense, then.
[Diva can remember those experiments a bit more distinctly than others, since it had taken more effort on Joel and Amshel's part to actively provoke the reaction. By the time they had discovered it, she had already lost most of her sense of pain. It was especially brutal things that had to cause her eyes to light up, only to be plucked right out of its socket.
And it makes her laugh, remembering that. She looks ahead with a little smile, deciding that it might be a fun little piece of information to share. It wasn't like she saw any threat in revealing it to Garry. Though really, she was deciding to open that door just a crack for the sake of seeing his reaction.]
It's what Amshel told me, so it's usually easy to repeat like I know. Well, now I know, so I won't have to worry about it anymore. But I guess they couldn't just look at my blood for that back then, so they actually took it out to dissect it. [She laughs] It was pretty gross!
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Garry almost stops in his tracks, shooting her a horrified look. How can she just casually drop something like that into conversation?! So much for her 'normal girl' side... ]
W-what?! Diva, what are you saying? Someone dissected your eyes?! That's absolutely horrific!!
[ part of him wonders if she's just trying to rile him up, but her expression - the lack of eye contact - makes him doubt that she's teasing. ]
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Oh, that was just one, actually. That one isn't so bad, because once they take it out, it's gone.
[Since she's taken a few steps in front of him, she turns so that she's facing him, but walking backwards with light, whimsical steps]
Do you want to hear a story that's a secret? It's just for you to know, if you want to hear it.
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But if she was opening up to him, it was on him to listen. That was what being a friend meant... Were they even friends? This trip sort of felt like something friends would do together, but he was struggling to accept the fact that he'd befriended a murderer. Isn't this exactly what he said he wouldn't do? ]
... I... I suppose I'll hear you out.
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I was born without a name. I didn't have a name at all until I had already been alive for fifty years, because what I was supposed to be, it doesn't need a name.
[There's a light pause there as she shifts to clasp her hands behind her back.]
Because I told you, right? A Chiropteran isn't something supernatural or anything. We're another species, so when a curious scientist finds a new species, they want to learn about it. And since there was my twin sister and I, she was the one chosen to live normally as a control, but I was the one that was locked up in a tower so that they could find out everything there was to know about a Chiropteran. And it's something enchanting to humans, because we hold the secret of immortality.
So everything terrible you can think of, I know it really well! Cutting off my arms and legs and letting them float in a tub full of blood to watch how they'd reattach. Opening me up in a way that doesn't kill me so that they can watch my heart beat, and then carefully move them one by one to see what's necessary. Injecting me with human diseases to see how I would react, even though it would usually just kill me slowly and over and over again, because even if I can regenerate from anything, what gets rid of diseases isn't much different, I guess.
[She tilts her head thoughtfully] But you get used to those things. I don't remember what it's like to feel pain like that, because I never knew what it was like to feel anything else. But being trapped in a tiny room without anything but chains to keep me there, and always slowly dying and wishing that maybe the next time, I would wake up... You never get used to that. I was just an animal that they were keeping alive so that they could keep doing their experiments.
[She looks back to Garry, smiling pleasantly]
So you know, it's funny that humans are so afraid of me. They're the ones that can be the real monsters.
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It would be easy to snap out and defend humans here, saying that, well, she'd killed so many of them anyway, of course they're afraid of her; if this had been neared to when they'd first met, he might have done just that. But he can't just look at her and see a monster now - especially when she'd just spilled her guts out in front of him. And because part of him knows that she's right. Beyond this specific instance, in spite of his general optimism, he knows that humans have caused almost all the pain in the world that he knows. Diva just happened to live to tell about it. ]
... Diva... So that's why... [ he wonders why she's telling him this. he's nothing special, himself, and he can't even really think of how to reply; he's just shocked, looking on at her with -- pity? Apology? ] ... Nobody deserves that, human or not. I'm sorry. I... I'm not sure what you want me to say, and I know it probably doesn't mean much coming from me, but... I would say that you're right. They were the monsters. Not you.
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nO THAT ICON IS SO CUTE stop it diva!!
bite m--oh wait
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this is cute all of the sudden wtf
i blame diva
ububububu
ebebebebebe
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