rogueinladysclothing | A friendly visit [Tagging Viatorus]

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A friendly visit [Tagging Viatorus]

It hadn't been her intention to stay away this long. In truth, Amelia had intended to see Viatorus again right after Christmas, to thank him for his gift and make sure he wasn't in trouble for accepting hers. But after being cursed and then putting Steve through hell as she came down from it, she needed a few days to herself. Now, however, she feels fine. Now she wants to make good on her plans to see her friend again.

As she makes her way toward Viatorus' office, she realizes that, by postponing her plans, she's forgotten to make an appointment. Again. Normally, she'd consider pushing her way in as she did last time. Given her desire to not cause a scene, though, other measures need to be taken. Time for Amelia to exercise some of her more... questionable talents. It's early enough in the day to pencil in a late afternoon appointment, right?

When the office comes into view, so does Lyall. Amelia waits in the shadows of a nearby alley until the guard is distracted by some passerby before walking up and palming his scheduling notebook from a pouch on his belt. Once she has that, it's a simple matter of passably forging an appointment for herself in his handwriting and returning the notebook to his pouch when she's done - all in the span of about 60 seconds. That part of her plan complete, she heads off to a nearby cafe for a light snack and some tea to fill the time before her "scheduled" appointment.

About five minutes before said appointment, Amelia appears at the door to the office. Lyall doesn't exactly scowl at her, but his displeasure at seeing her is obvious, even if her lack of armor over her usual linen clothing and corset puts him a bit more at ease with her today. The rogue is completely undaunted as she steps up to him with a bright smile on her face. "I'm here to see Viatorus," she says in an equally bright tone. "But no need to worry today, friend, I have an appointment this time."

Lyall crosses his arms in front of his chest and rolls his eyes at her. "You most certainly do not." His voice rumbles from deep within his chest, and would likely scare off most people. Sadly for him, Amelia is not most people.

"Please check your appointment ledger - I have an appointment with Viatorus this afternoon." There's a certain smugness in her eyes that doesn't match her cheery tone of voice, but she can't quite help it on this one.

Begrudgingly, Lyall grabs his appointment book and opens it, his eyes widening when he sees an appointment listed for the current hour. When did that get there? He's certain he didn't put that in, but... there it is, in his handwriting and everything. He looks up at her with a look that is equally surprised and upset. "Amelia Ronsam, I presume?"

How she manages to keep smiling when she wants to be grinning is anyone's guess. "Yes. I'm not too early, am I? I can wait out here if necessary." It's a good thing Lyall works for Viatorus, or she might be getting her friend in some serious trouble right now.

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Lyall stares back down at the book and then at Amelia for a long moment, but then he folds his arms unhappily and turns away with a grunt. She can knock on the door, it looks like. He's a Durant guard, not a butler.

The knock will bid the door to open by itself, or appear to. Really it's Viatorus who waves his hand and gets it to open, because he's halfway to his study with a mug of tea. Rushing over and spilling tea just wouldn't do. Seeing who it is, he smiles brightly. "Amelia! How are you?"

If Lyall steps out of the way, then Amelia will most certainly knock on the door herself. Her back being to the guard is a great excuse to let that grin she's been hiding through.

The grin fades into a smile when the door opens and she sees Viatorus inside. She steps inside quickly and closes the door behind her. Her cloak will stay on until he officially invites her to stay, but he has her full attention once she's inside. "I'm well. Fully recovered from all of the holiday festivities." That's a bold statement given the curse she endured, but still true. "How have you been?"

Edited 2016-01-04 02:30 (UTC)

"Good, good." He carefully guides his mug to a shelf so he can set it aside. "Please, come in, sit down. Would you like a cup of tea? I would have made a pot if I knew..."

She laughs softly as she removes her cloak and hangs it over one end of the couch. "Sorry, I only penciled myself in a little earlier today. I meant to come visit sooner - and make a proper appointment to appease your guard - but something came up." It's completely true, if a little misleading. But after dealing with the curse for over a week, she'd rather not talk about it. The whole point of coming here is to see Viatorus and see how he's been doing, not to talk about herself.

"I would love a cup of tea, though, if it's not too much trouble." Her smile is light and easy as she takes a seat on couch. "I also have some tea I got for Christmas that I could share, if you'd like. It's a bit of an odd combination - rose and lavender petals - but it's very soft and soothing." Which is honestly a large part of the reason she likes it, even if it is quite strange.

"Oh, it's alright. I'm just not used to having visitors like this." He smiles at her and gives a lopsided shrug. "It's nice. "

"I've just made myself some tea." And throwing out hot tea is blasphemy. "But I could make you some of yours if you'd prefer it."

Not drinking tea before it gets cold is also blasphemy, one she intends not to let occur here today. "Really? That would be lovely." She stands and pulls a small ceramic container from her pouch, handing it to him carefully. The light scent of roses and lavender emanate from it. "Thank you - I really appreciate it."

While he's making tea, she'll settle back into the couch, pulling out her book of poetry from Verity from another pouch and leafing through it if there's time. Hopefully he won't think it's rude - she doesn't want to follow him around everywhere and make him feel awkward about her showing up without any notice.

"It's not a bother. I like making tea," he tells her as he accepts the container, holding it as if it were glass.

He isn't long, returning with a china mug for Amelia as well as her container of tea and setting them both on the coffee table. "It smells lovely. Would you like any milk or sugar for it?"

Her book is quickly stowed when he returns and she shakes her head at his question. "No, thank you. I like it just the way it is." She carefully picks up the container of tea and puts it away before turning back to him with a smile.

"I never asked what you would be doing, so this may be a terrible question depending on what your family does, but how did the holidays treat you? And you didn't... get in any trouble for accepting my gift, did you?" In this case, she's not just thinking about Verity, because she has no idea how his sister would react to finding out he has an artifact like that.

Viatorus picks up his own cup of tea and settles slowly into an armchair. At her questions, his brow lifts and he puts on a small smile. They're not questions he particularly wants to answer, and certainly not truthfully. His voice is a little sing-songy and light. "Oh, they were fine, it was fine. I spent some time with Verity and Naugus and the chao. My family has a meal together for Yule, so I got to see some relatives I like."

One, anyway.

"What about you? Did you have fun? Did you try eggnog, or sing carols?"

The sudden change in his tone tells her he's not being completely truthful. When people aren't used to lying, they have a tendency to give themselves away like that. Her smile becomes sympathetic. "Your family was that bad, huh?" It seems a fair assumption that things went well with Verity and Naugus, as Verity doesn't seem the type to let her holidays be ruined by pretty much anything. Not even racist grandpa Naugus.

"Some, yes." She picks up her cup of tea to give her an extra few seconds to think of how to phrase her response. "Verity and I exchanged gifts on Jül's eve, then brought gifts to Steve, and a few days later Steve brought me a present on Christmas. I... was out of sorts, though, so the gift had to wait a few days, but that's all right. He actually got me the tea I'm drinking now." Her cup is lifted slightly to emphasize her point. "I was by myself for most of the holiday time, though, so I think I missed out on a lot of the traditions people told me about. No one told me about eggnog or carols, though. What are they?" Despite the weight on her shoulders, she hopes he'll be kind enough to answer her question. She really is curious as to what these things now that he's mentioned them.

"No, no. They were fine. It wasn't bad." It's pretty clear that he's lying, and badly too, but he's sticking to it. Anything to keep the tone cheerful. "The goose was nice."

"Oh! Next time I'll have to pay more attention to these things. I would have... done... something..." His eyes roll to one side as he considers that, really, him throwing a party would be a disaster in the making. Best to avoid that. Amelia gets his attention again. He can explain things until the end of days, so it's a much better topic. "Eggnog is a sweet, milky alcoholic drink. It's very nice when it's made well, but it can be sickly if it's not. Carols are songs that people usually sing during festive celebrations. Mostly it's for Christmas, and a lot of them are based around the Christian beliefs, but they're really lovely to hear. They're usually sung by choirs, groups of people who have worked to make haunting, beautiful harmonies. Some are just fun to sing though."

He's a terrible liar, but the way he's so terrible at it speaks volumes. No need to push further when he doesn't want to talk about it. Her smile remains sympathetic and she nods. "I'm glad you found some enjoyment in spending time with your family." That's true, at least.

She laughs softly. "No, it's quite all right. I realized everyone from a world with these holidays would have plans already and I didn't want to intrude. It gave me time to read and focus." Not necessarily on good things, but that's beside the point.

"Huh, that doesn't sound too bad. Except if the eggnog got too sweet, of course. I can see that ruining everything." The joke should be fairly obvious, but she gives him a wink to reinforce the point. She takes a sip of her tea before adding, "There seems to be a lot of traditions that surround many Christian things. Is religion really that important on Earth?" She's not trying to come off as rude or to ruin the mood, she's just curious. Learning about new things from books is one thing, but hearing first hand accounts from her friends is that much better.

"Next time I'll make more time for my friends here." A twist of his lips brings a sheepish smile to his face. "I've never had friends to think about before. I... I'm not used to it."

The wink is a good idea, because he'd work to clarify that otherwise. As it is, he's allowed to move on to more questions and answers. He nods seriously. "It really is." Then he hesitates. "The reason why... is explained differently by different people."

She chuckles softly. "I don't think a lot of us are used to having as many friends as we've found here in the Nexus. It's a nice change of pace, though, isn't it?"

Her face softens, but her curiosity remains. After taking a sip of her tea, she sets her cup aside and turns toward him a bit more. "If it makes you uncomfortable, you don't have to explain it, but I'm curious to know how you see it." Learning things through the eyes of someone who's got such a unique view of the world is always enlightening, but she's not going to push if he gets uncomfortable. The last thing she wants is to push him away now that they've started speaking again.

He nods in agreement, smiling. "It is."

Eyes flickering back into focus, he smiles softly, reassuringly. "I'm sorry. It's... It's just I know that there are people who don't believe in the gods, or any gods, and they think we're all mad, Christian and pagan alike. They... They think that people back then were superstitious and didn't understand the world. That the Christian 'God' was created to explain natural phenomenon. That all gods were."

Sitting back, he rubs the back of his neck and shrugs. "But the things I've seen... The gods I know aren't made up. They're divine and unknowable, but they're real. The... The problem is that in history people have used their gods as an excuse to take what they want. They claim divine right so that they can ignore everyone else. It gives them power. Eventually the more important figures and cultures became Christian and that has become one of the main five religions. That's why it's so influential."

His reverence for the gods he speaks of is obvious, but it's not something she can fully relate to. With how little she's seen, she doesn't believe in them. That could change, but for now, she believes only in what she's seen. Magic has been a big step for her - the gods can wait a little longer.

"People always look for a reason to cause trouble," she notes softly. "Gods may not exist in my world, and we may not have magic, but there are still plenty of reasons for people to claim superiority over one another." Her tea cup is reclaimed so she can take a quick sip before continuing. "I think I understand, at least a little, why there are so many Christian things here. So many of the worlds attached to this place are versions of Earth - it's completely understandable that many of these people would hold and bring over these Christian beliefs when they came here. And I guess it stands to reason that if it's this prevalent here in the Nexus, it would be many more times so on the version of Earth these people came from."

A thought occurs to her and she tilts her head slightly before asking, "Does it color people's dreams as well? Their religious beliefs, I mean. Obviously personal experiences do, so I wonder also if things people believe but don't know also would." It might seem like an odd question, but considering her culture's beliefs about dreams and the afterlife, it's something she feels inclined to ask.

Amelia's musings get gentle nodding from the scholar as he silently agrees with her. It's good to hear her getting to grips with a culture that is so alien to her. Truth be told, parts of it are alien to him too. Still, he's comfortable here, in this exchange of information given and knowledge extracted.

He's in the middle of a sip of tea when she asks about dreams. In a hurry to answer, he narrowly avoids choking as he swallows and nods. "Yes. It all does. Everything about who a person is, and their experiences. Your beliefs are part of who you are, why you believe them too. Then there's all the symbolism that comes with religious beliefs."

It's really hard for her to stifle a laugh when taking in his eagerness. She ends up hiding behind her tea cup until he's regained his composure so as not to make him feel like she's laughing at him ~~like it could be any other way at this point~~. She nods along and waits a moment after he finishes his explanation before asking, "What kind of symbolism do you mean? I'm afraid I don't know enough about Christian beliefs to fully understand."

And then, as an afterthought, "If dreams are the culmination of everything we are as people, then what do my dreams say about me?" This is a much more personal question, but she isn't intimidated by that. After inviting him in so closely, discussing what he saw in her dreams doesn't feel like something that's any more intimate or private. Besides, they're friends - if they can't talk about something they shared, what can they talk about?

"That depends on the dreamer, but... Christianity emphasises the guilt of mankind. A lot of people's fear and guilt appears with Christian values and imagery." It's the best explanation he can give without going into specifics.

Viatorus thinks as he sips his tea and lifts a shoulder in a half shrug. "Not much more than you've told me. You're fixed on your home, your family and friends. Your mind is eager to resolve the fears you have around them, around being apart from them. Your psyche is trying to help you resolve those issues. It's trying to tell you something. But... I changed the dream. So I can only comment on what happened before that."

He shuffles a little closer and leans forward. "Was it alright? Your dream? It didn't turn sour, did it? Was it good? Did you feel rested afterwards?"

"Guilt of mankind?" That's not a phrase she's familiar with at all. "I don't understand - what would all of mankind be guilty of? Is it something from their past or some religious belief again?"

Her smile becomes the slightest bit sad when he speaks of her family, but she nods all the same. Before she answers, she finishes her tea and sets aside her cup. With a small sigh, she leans forward, resting her forearms on her legs. "That follows along with what I remember, but I honestly can't recall any particulars of what went on. It felt... familiar, at first, like the dreams I'm used to having. Loneliness, regret, emptiness." She clasps her hands in front of her and looks up at him with curious eyes. "But then it was different, as if something happened that made all of the pain and emptiness fade away. I was... happy. I feel like... I got closer to someone, got to do something I've been wanting to for a while. I just wish I could remember what happened."

Slowly, she smiles at him. "Whatever it was, it was beautiful, and I'm so thankful for the gift."

"Sin. I don't understand it fully, but the Christian God seems to consider a lot of things as sinful and wrong. Something worth punishing or something they should seek repentance for."

Their situations might be difference, but he understands the importance of family. Sad smiles are going to be inevitable for the foreseeable future, but as long as they can talk about beautiful things at the same time. She has his full attention and he smiles when she does. "I'm glad. You seemed happy when I left you with your friend."

"Oh." Sin is a topic she knows a lot about. It's usually a touchy subject for her as well, considering how stained - both literally and metaphorically - her hands are. Still, her curiosity is getting the best of her. "I understand what sin is, but for all of mankind to be full of it... is their very existence a sin? At least when viewed through Christian beliefs?"

Smiles are for the best when they're talking about family, even if family causes some annoyances. "Friend?" As she looks up at him again, she briefly sees another face over his. The lightest pink color touches her cheeks. How did she never notice before how similar the two of them looked? They're so different in personality, but...

She smiles in spite of herself and grips her hands together tighter, lest she reach out and touch his face to make sure it's not the one she's been longing to return home to. "The two of you... you look remarkably similar. I can't believe I didn't notice until now." She laughs, a small, ironic kind of sound. "You and Nathan couldn't be more different if you tried, but you look like you could be brothers." Life is funny, sometimes, and this is one of those times that Amelia isn't certain if she's okay with that - if only because she's now extremely confused.

"I don't know. I never did study much of it. The way they see the world..." He shakes his head. "It doesn't make sense to me."

Luckily, he doesn't take note of the pink in her cheeks, being too distracted by the stretching smile which he returns with a small, confused tilt of his head a furrowing of his brow. That confusion is quickly cleared up and he blinks, surprised at the answer. He's not sure how to take it, so he smiles. "Oh. Thank you... I think. I mean, that's... that's not uncomfortable for you, is it?"

"It doesn't sound like it makes a lot of sense from an outside perspective either," she agrees. Seems people are strange no matter what world they're from. All that varies is the how.

His question causes her cheeks to become a little more darkly colored. "I... don't know." It's an honest answer, if an unhelpful one. "I honestly hadn't thought about it until now. As I said, the two of you are so different that I just... never put the pieces together." She shrugs lightly, her gaze falling to the empty tea cup in front of her. "If I'm being completely honest, it's actually kind of comforting. A small something that's more familiar than the rest of this place. Perhaps it's not the kind of comfort I should be looking for, but I'm grateful for it either way."

A small sigh escapes her and her shoulder slump forward. "Sorry. This... idea of the two of you being alike - it was a lot to drop on you without having thought through it. If I'm making you uncomfortable, let me know and I won't mention it again." It'll still be in the back of her mind from now on, but she'll avoid the topic of Nathan all together if it means Viatorus is more comfortable speaking to her.

((OOC: For reference, this is (generally) Nathan's appearance.))

His fingers drum in a slow wave against his mug and he briefly chews on the inside of his lip while he listens. Truth be told, he doesn't know how to feel about it. It's surely a compliment, though, which is nice, so his smile stays in place as he shrugs.

"It's alright. I've been told I look like people before. Mostly... Mostly my father and his father, though. I know that's different."

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