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Post by Jessamine de Mornay on May 4, 2006 17:18:30 GMT -5
I was stuck in a writer's rut- I'd been putting words on paper for every waking moment in the past two days and there were just no more living in my head. At home, I would have talked to my sisters and chatted my way back into a chipper mood to distract me from it, but I didn't have my sisters here. Wait- Caraf may have been gone, but Douleur was still here and she might open up to me more now that we were alone. So I had set out to Valerian to go visit.
This house had its own mood; I was noticing each of the houses seemed to, though I had no idea if it was by design or simple circumstance. Either way, I stored it away in the writer's part of my mind and entered, asking to speak to Douleur. All children it seems know where everyone is at all time, and one ran off to get her while I grinned- I wondered if she'd be suprised to see me.
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Post by Douleur nó Shahrizai on May 4, 2006 17:22:26 GMT -5
I was walking down the hallway to my room when one of the very young adepts rushed up and told me there was someone here to see me. I thanked him and hurried down the stairs, wondering who it was.
I turned the corner and a wide smile curved my lips.
"Jess," I said, hurrying over to her. "It's so good to see you. How have you been?"
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Post by Jessamine de Mornay on May 4, 2006 17:30:04 GMT -5
Smiling widely back, eyes glittering merrily, I said, "I've been very well, and I hope you have been the same. How are things?"
I would have hugged her- she reminded me so of my sisters- but my hands were stained with ink and I doubted she relished the thought of dark spots on her clothing or skin. Looking quickly at my fingers I waved them at her, the ink dry. "Hazards of my writing, I guess."
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Post by Douleur nó Shahrizai on May 4, 2006 17:38:48 GMT -5
"I have been good," I said, wrapping my arms around her and giving her a hug. "I'll brave the hazards."
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Post by Jessamine de Mornay on May 4, 2006 17:59:47 GMT -5
Delighted and laughing lightly I hugged her in return, saying, "I'm glad to hear that you're happy- if not, I would be forced to hunt down the offending party and give them a stern talking to."
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Post by Douleur nó Shahrizai on May 4, 2006 18:03:13 GMT -5
"I'll have to remember that," I said. "I may have candidates for that in the future."
I chuckled and slipped my arm through hers.
"Did you come to see the library? Or just visit? A tour?" I asked, smiling. "An assignation?"
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Post by Jessamine de Mornay on May 4, 2006 18:14:08 GMT -5
"Just a visit, of course," I said with a smile, fighting down a blush- after all, I had been a virgin less than a week ago. Besides, I'd already tried Valerian, and found it to my liking, though I don't think I'd be able to cause the pain they truly crave. It hadn't been about that. "And maybe I can see the library while I'm here, though talking to a sister was my primary goal."
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Post by Douleur nó Shahrizai on May 4, 2006 18:22:07 GMT -5
I glanced out one of the windows and saw we were having another in a string of mild winter days.
"How about we sit in the courtyard and talk," I suggested. "Then we can visit the library."
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Post by Jessamine de Mornay on May 4, 2006 19:06:47 GMT -5
"That sounds nice," I agreed. "I've always liked being in the fresh air- I used to take my books with me outside."
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Post by Douleur nó Shahrizai on May 4, 2006 19:45:57 GMT -5
"Good," I said, leading her out to the courtyard and to a bench by the fountain.
"What have you been up to since the fete?" I asked.
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Post by Jessamine de Mornay on May 4, 2006 20:29:02 GMT -5
Sitting on the bench I pulled her with me gently, also urging her to sit. Smiling like a cat who just made a meal of a songbird I coolly said, "Keeping busy, this and that. Though I am a little irritated by this writer's block- it seems that I'm out of words for the moment. Surely you've been up to more interesting things than I have."
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Post by Douleur nó Shahrizai on May 4, 2006 22:25:32 GMT -5
"Not by the look in your eyes I haven't," I said with a laugh. It was funny how I was so much more comfortable here than I had been at the fete. Everything had been so new there. "I have been up to the usual adept type things. I found a new store as well. I am not sure if you would find anything of use there, but it might spark your creativity."
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Post by Jessamine de Mornay on May 4, 2006 22:45:46 GMT -5
"New shops are always nice- when I was growing up shops usually carried necessities unless you specifically ordered things, so being able to walk around and look at new things is a luxury. And I'm sure I have NO idea what you're speaking of," I said with a melodramatic flair, hand on my heart as though I was wounded. "I am as pure as the driven snow, I assure you!" I somewhat failed it all by winking and bursting into laughter, however.
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Post by Douleur nó Shahrizai on May 4, 2006 22:50:43 GMT -5
I laughed. There was something about Jess that made me bolder and more confident than usual.
"You forget what I do for a living. I think your snow isn't as driven as it was last time we talked," I said with a grin and a wink. "Or perhaps that should be more driven?"
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Post by Jessamine de Mornay on May 4, 2006 22:58:13 GMT -5
"I think it's perfect driven, thank you," I said with a chuckle. "Though some new snowfall and who knows? Right now my writing is much more in the forefront of my mind. Ah, the demands of art! Speaking of which, you seem somewhat content," I said teasingly, knowing that she wouldn't say much- Valerian was like that, from what I'd heard.
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Post by Douleur nó Shahrizai on May 4, 2006 23:01:24 GMT -5
"I am, but then I am usually fairly content. There are some people…well, person, who seems to damage my calm, but other than that I really am usually happy and content," I said, smiling.
"Not like the tempestuous moods of writers," I teased.
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Post by Jessamine de Mornay on May 4, 2006 23:15:17 GMT -5
"I don't know if all writers are tempestuous, but most people who create art seem to be a little...well, off," I said with a wink. "If you're not letting that part it makes you a little crazy and you try to find another way to vent it, but in the end only pursuing your creativity really works. And it seems that you have your own madness if it is only one person who damages your calm- I have a friend with the same ailment," I said with a wide grin.
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Post by Douleur nó Shahrizai on May 4, 2006 23:19:54 GMT -5
"From what I recall at the fete, I am going to guess it is Janyx you are speaking of. Unless you have other friends who try to avoid people by hiding in the laundry rooms," I said with a laugh.
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Post by Jessamine de Mornay on May 4, 2006 23:25:03 GMT -5
"Right in one guess, you're good at this. Are you sure you're not a little psychic or something?" I teased. "The poor man doesn't know whether he's up or down on the subject. Such silliness over something easily recognized."
Knowing that I should probably change the subject- after all, chatting was one thing, but gossipping about the secrets of another was not- I asked, "So, can I ask who has you so unsettled, or is that a Valerian secret? I know there are such things, after all- lots of research on the Houses and whatnot. My first novel was about an adept, and my next is about all of the Houses to an extent."
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Post by Douleur nó Shahrizai on May 4, 2006 23:35:25 GMT -5
"Oh, I'd love to read your novel. Is it published?" I asked.
"As for my own turmoil… he's a Mandrake adept. I know, how cliché," I said with a grin. "It hardly seems to be a secret, everyone here seems to know." I realized I was rubbing the ring absently again and curled my fingers to stop.
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Post by Jessamine de Mornay on May 4, 2006 23:41:20 GMT -5
"Yes, my book is published, and just recently, I might add," I said a little proudly. "I love writing, but this does make it easier to go out and do other things."
She was rubbing a ring and abruptly stopped, tensing her hand so she would cease the unconscious action and I took the hand, looking at the adornment. "It's fine to live in a cliche if it makes you happy," I said firmly. "And that's a very pretty blue, did he give this to you?" I asked with a smile. "I hope he's not making you unsteady on purpose."
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Post by Douleur nó Shahrizai on May 4, 2006 23:46:58 GMT -5
I blushed as she took my hand. I either needed to learn how to stop messing with that damn ring or quit wearing it.
"He did, though not directly. It was part of the fee he paid for an assignation with me and my Dowayne gave it to me as a token," I said. "He's a Mandrake, he wants to make everyone unsteady on purpose."
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Post by Jessamine de Mornay on May 5, 2006 8:53:36 GMT -5
"It's very nice that's how it turned out," I said with a smile. "Though I don't understand how one can stay at all unsettled for very long. I like to figure things out and this seems like one big puzzle that no one wants to put together since the pieces look so pretty lying about. But I'm only a writer, not a girl in love, so I have no say in the matter. I often miss the bigger picture anyway."
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Post by Douleur nó Shahrizai on May 5, 2006 9:09:51 GMT -5
I sighed softly, wondering how it really was that I was so unsettled about one thing.
"I think it would be easier to be settled about things if the other person didn't keep walking up and scattering the pieces around to keep you from completing the puzzle," I said, smiling wryly.
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Post by Jessamine de Mornay on May 5, 2006 9:24:53 GMT -5
"Is that what it's really like? Then I hope to have many lovers but never fall in love, because it sounds dreadfully confusing," I said with a laugh. "Besides, if I fell in love I may have to stay here, and I'd rather see the world before I am unable to do so- and there is a lot of world to see."
Noticing the wryness on her face I squeezed the hand I held gently. "I'm sure you have him just as dazzled as he has you, if there's any justice in the world then that's true," I finished with a grin of mischief.
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Post by Douleur nó Shahrizai on May 5, 2006 9:29:25 GMT -5
"Perhaps," I said with a chuckle, not sure anything could actually dazzle Louvel.
"You said you were writing about all of the Houses, is your next story a history or are they just the setting?" I asked her.
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Post by Jessamine de Mornay on May 5, 2006 9:34:54 GMT -5
"I don't write histories, I tend to color things with a little too much passion to make anything impartial- and plus, there is my distinguished great-aunts name all over that field, so I decided to expand elsewhere," I explained. "The Night Court will be the setting, but I can't tell you much more; I never know about a story until it is done."
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Post by Douleur nó Shahrizai on May 5, 2006 9:39:27 GMT -5
"Either that or you're just trying to tease and make me all the more anxious to read your next book too. Are you sure you didn't here for an assignation? You seem to have that teasing thing down pat," I teased.
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Post by Jessamine de Mornay on May 5, 2006 9:57:07 GMT -5
"You tease as well, are you sure you're not just here for an assignation?" I teased back. "Really, I don't know exactly what I'm writing until I've written it- a friend said that it seems like I don't know what I'm thinking until I write it down. It sounds about right. I'll bring you a copy of my book once it's published though and you can have it before the stores even release their copies of the publication."
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Post by Douleur nó Shahrizai on May 5, 2006 10:02:37 GMT -5
I smiled wide and hugged her again.
"Oh thank you, that would be so wonderful," I said, happily. "Once I'm done with it I'll add it to our library so Valerian adepts from here on out will be able to read your book."
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