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Post by Dieter Helyanwe on Jun 11, 2008 22:30:56 GMT -5
Dieter beamed. This was just the question he was waiting for. He put enough yin on the table to cover the meal, the rest of the sake which he took to go, the soba, and left a generous waitress. "Always tip well it's good karma. We should go outside. There's a couple easy tricks I can teach you tonight. I'll tell you more outside." Dieter paused and thought of the fatalistic attitude that could damper the fun of this evening. "Oh don't worry the council's decided not to kill you, your loyalty is assured and they wish you a pleasant unlife. Their representative just told me." Dieter made some hokey old scifi "oooooeeeeeooooooo" sounds while waving his hands in the Mentarch fashion.
"C'mon I know a perfect ally that's nice dark and secluded.....Give it a couple years and those are the only allies you'll be wanting to travel in. Trust me this'll be fun." Dieter nodded at the owner on his way out. They'd been friends ever since Dieter took care of a few small misunderstandings between the owner of the restraunt and a few Yakuza from Osaka. Dieter didn't have anything against the yakuza but they lost some of their zeal over the centuries. Used to be they liked hacking and slashing just about as much as the samurai. Dieter never could keep his mind on singular topics when he wasn't about to be killed or pranked.
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Post by Jasmine Leigh Markus on Jun 12, 2008 3:44:17 GMT -5
Jasmine followed him, watching carefully as he interacted with the other people in the restaurant. She smiled. A few tricks might come in handy. She sighed in relief when he told her that they had decided not to kill her and laughed when he made the sounds. Maybe he had gotten a text she hadn't noticed or something. She brushed it off and turned to the subject that interested her.
"Is this alley far away?" She asked. She was eager to know what she could do. And what he could do as well. Now that she was over the about to be killed thing, she was starting to like this strange and oddly developed conversations. It went from high to low so quickly it left her dazed. However, she was confident now that things would get easier.
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Post by Dieter Helyanwe on Jun 12, 2008 11:17:55 GMT -5
Dieter turned right and then said, "we're here." Dieter always liked these tiny restaurants that were tucked into these nooks. To be quite honest it was the ultimate challenge for a restaurant owner. To keep business coming in people had to recommend the place and that meant serving some of the best food. Although Dieter couldn't personally partake of the food he could appreciate the accomplishment for what it was. A street light had malfunctioned in this street making it particularly dark and neigh impossible for observers to see. Well the casual variety anyway. Dieter was sure than anybody with night sight or those goggles that the humans invented could see them. Dieter didn't think such a precaution in casual surveillance practical and dismissed his paranoia.
"Alright Miss Jasmine. Tell me, have you figured the whole moving fast,super strong, see in the dark stuff? Or have you tried turning to mist yet?" These of course were the basics that vampires figured out quite readily. It seemed that their bodies liked to show off some of their abilities and were ready to use them whenever. Of course the strength and speed increased with age as well as the durability of their mist form. Another great thing that came with age were the potency of the mind powers. As hard to resist as they are one also got more resilient to them and gained certain disciplines in order to keep outsiders from reading your personal thoughts. The first mind power was always the hardest to learn and varied from vampire to vampire. Dieter remembered how it was telepathy that came first because his fun loving nature that naturally allowed himself to empathize with most people on a level. As time went on and he used the ability more it grew more potent. Of course he learned how to implant suggestions via the vampire hypnosis and move things with his mind, but that was some time later and took some work.
At this moment Dieter knew it best to start with some of the basics. So he moved at super speed and moved to appear behind Jasmine. If she reacted she'd probably move at a slower but still super human speed.
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Post by Jasmine Leigh Markus on Jun 14, 2008 20:14:31 GMT -5
Jasmine looked at him. "Well..." She began. "I know I'm pretty fast and I'm much stronger than I used to be," She said. "And I thought that it was just my eyes getting used to the dark that helped me see," She added. She bit her lip. "Was there supposed to be more?" She asked quickly. She felt like a first grade child, trying to understand algebra. "I can turn into mist?" She asked, eyes lighting up.
She watched him for a moment and then suddenly he was gone. She jumped back, surprised and bumped right into him. She turned around quickly. "Sorry," She mumbled, embarrassed. "I didn't know you could move that fast," She admitted. It was like he had just disappeared from one spot and appeared behind her. It was maddening- and scary. She wondered if she could do that. She asked as much. "Can I do that?" She asked. "Can I move that fast?"
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Post by Dieter Helyanwe on Jun 15, 2008 1:02:33 GMT -5
Dieter smiled, "It depends. It depends on how much time, effort, and training you put into your strength and speed. It takes more than training of muscle. It takes training of spirit. You have to start thinking like a being that can move that fast and know what it is to move beyond human norms. You have to break past what would defy your conventions and learn to concentrate. If you concentrate on moving really fast and getting your legs to move they will. If you concentrate on your arms lifting up a newspaper stand, you will. It'll become easier and easier to you. Not only as your state of mind changes but as your nature becomes stronger." Dieter turned into mist and then flew through Jasmine then rematerialzed behind her.
"If you believe yourself air and night you can become it. It's all a state of mind. These are the easiest first few tricks to teach. It may take a couple hours to a week for you to really get them down. What gets really hard is if you wish to learn to use the real spells." Dieter paused. This was the fun part. The part where he gets to introduce people to the wonders of magic. That energy that focuses your power into something shapeable and useable. Dieter loved being the one to introduce people to magic.
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Post by Jasmine Leigh Markus on Jun 15, 2008 4:09:51 GMT -5
"So I have to train?" Jasmine asked, crestfallen. She had known in the human world that nothing came without work, but she hadn't expected that in her new form. She gave a resigned sigh and decided to try what he did. The mist thing. He said that if she believed herself air and night that was what she would become. She doubted that she would be able to do it, but there was no harm in trying. She furrowed her eyebrows, concentrating. Nothing happened. She found herself feeling frustrated and tried again. Nothing. Not even a glimmer. She was still as solid as ever.
She swore under her breath then realized that he could probably hear her. "Oops," Se muttered. Then she heard what he had said and it took a moment to click in her head. "Spells?" She asked "Like, magic spells?" She clarified.
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Post by Dieter Helyanwe on Jun 15, 2008 12:35:13 GMT -5
"Not exactly, I'm talking about fainting spells." Dieter paused to see if his joke threw Jasmine off then quickly continued, "Of course magic spells. They're lots of fun and with a few years of work you could learn some really cool spells. That isn't to say its easy but hey, if life was ever easy it wouldn't be nearly as fun." Dieter decided he'd let her think some things over. Then he continued, "If you want to learn spells you could go to the Coven and apprentice to one of you elders and learn from them. Which means doing a lot of things you probably don't want to. Or you could take night classes at the Academy and try to live with high end real estate costs. Either way I could help you get set up but the learning is ultimately up to you." Dieter looked around. The night was still young and he wondered how Jasmine would want to spend it. Would she look for a means to get stronger, figure out the mist form, ask more and more about spells, or ask special favors that would require even more work. Dieter would be more than accommodating of the young child. If she needed a place to say Dieter had an apartment in Raewyn Island as well as a nice estate in The Coven. Dieter was just told to help Jasmine make the transition to making a vampire. He'd do that job to the best of his abilities but Dieter wouldn't ever let helping a young vampire get to know his powers interfere with his duties as a Seraph and Elder Council member. One does have to take care of their own responsibilities.
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Post by Jasmine Leigh Markus on Jun 16, 2008 6:06:56 GMT -5
Jasmine rolled her eyes at him. "Fainting spells, hilarious," But then she turned serious. Spells? Actual magic spells? She was overwhelmed. One minute, she was alone, trying to remember seventh grade language class and all of a sudden she was finding out that she could turn into mist and do magic spells.
"Apprentice?" That sounded easy. "I could do that," She looked at him. "What sort of things I wouldn't want to do?" She figured that the elders, whoever they were, would probably be pretty powerful. So who better to learn from? But when he said about things she may not want to do, she questioned herself again about if the elders were something she wanted to get involved in.
"What's the Academy?" She asked. How confusing things were. There were schools and academy's and all kinds of things that she had thought human and trite. She watched him, thinking about his words. The idea of getting involved and being part of something was very appealing. She was always very lonely. She had thought that had come with the fact that she was no longer human. But now she saw that it didn't have to be like that. That there was so much more out there. She was eager to learn, to know, to act.
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Post by Dieter Helyanwe on Jun 16, 2008 12:52:57 GMT -5
Dieter answered Jasmine's questions, "well the unpleasantness of an apprenticeship to a vampire that's older than you is you have to do pretty much everything they say. Thus sometimes that means learning Romanian or Mandarin so as to speak properly to your master and then do tasks that may be a little unnecessary. However what you learn you'll never forget." Dieter didn't have to read Jasmine's mind to figure out how lonely she was. She didn't want to talk about her sire and the transition between being a live vibrant being to a walking corpse with super powers can be rather rough.
"Ah the Academy, well it's pretty much free but if you Dorm it up you'll be living with a bunch of kids who'll draw on you while you sleep during the day. Its a fantastic place for learning magic and a vampire could easily teach you to do the easier tricks while you're there. If you need a place for lodgings I could be acomodating as I have an apartment not too far away from the academy and my place of work. If you were to stay there I could provide and render assistance in many ways but there would be a couple things I ask you to do." Dieter paused there and then felt the need to clarify, "you know, cleaning, laundry, organizing my new shuri.... I mean CD's. Can you program a DVD player. I've heard they're the rage for new videos. Also my TV antennas don't pick up cable. Those kinds of things."
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Post by Jasmine Leigh Markus on Jun 16, 2008 19:05:52 GMT -5
Jasmine thought about this. She didn't mind learning unnecessary things. They could come in handy. On the other hand, living with some kids in a dorm would get pretty annoying. She was lonely, but not desperate. She liked her sleep. But he offered her a place to sleep, she was very tempted. Even if she had to do a few trivial tasks while she was there.
"Cleaning, laundry?" She asked slowly, teasing. "No cable?" She pretended to look alarmed. Then she relaxed and smiled. "No problem, easy." She grinned. "And a DVD player?" She added. "Easier than... well," She paused. "Just easy," She smiled. She wouldn't mind having him close. It would be comforting to know that she had someone who knew what he was doing. She didn't want to do something wrong and die (again) for it.
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Post by Dieter Helyanwe on Jun 17, 2008 0:12:50 GMT -5
Dieter sighed, "well I'm glad you're thinking about how best to keep yourself informed. We should make our way back to my place. We'll be using the T-grid for that. You'll have to follow me. Also I don't have a spare key at the moment and my apartment. The last one had the happenstance to be useful for a mission and is lodged in a skull at the present time. I'll keep most of the booby traps disabled for our stay and if I'm going to have you staying there you must make one thing clear. I am not your sire and you are not my apprentice. I'm too busy to take on either and trust me you don't want to be in either position at the moment. I am your guide." Such a precaution was more so for her benefit than Dieter's. There seemed to be a lot of people gunning for him and there were certain obligations an vampire had to their apprentice of child which could be used against him.
Sure they might try something but Dieter knew how to protect what's close to him. Its just limiting the people that'd be willing to attack Jasmine seemed wise.
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Post by Jasmine Leigh Markus on Jun 17, 2008 19:00:56 GMT -5
Jasmine nodded eagerly. "Fine fine," She agreed. She didn't get what the big deal about sires and apprentices was but if it made him happy, then she was not going to ask. One bit caught her attention though. "Lodged in a skull?" She asked. "What a strange place to hide your key," She commented. She laughed and gazed into the darkness. "So lead the way," She invited happily.
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Post by Dieter Helyanwe on Jun 17, 2008 19:44:54 GMT -5
Dieter took Jasmine to the nearest subway. He bought tickets for Tokyo Eki and walked Jasmine past a labyrinth of complicated streets and elevation changes. Eventually when Dieter himself was almost sure he was good and lost he found the discrete building which housed a T-grid station. He escorted Jasmine into the room and waited for a green light before clearly saying, "Raewyn Island room 428 apartment complex." This gate would take Jasmine and Dieter straight to Dieter's apartment building's basement. The rates for basements were cheaper here which made Vampires and Goblins quite happy and it was hard to snag a basement room that wasn't already given to one of the darker races.
Dieter really got his suite as a perk of being head seraph and providing a good place for him to get to work should an emergency arrive. Dieter unlocked his apartment door and motioned for Jasmine to enter, "I humbly welcome you to your new home."
Dieter's apartment was an interesting juxtaposition of time and fads. By trying to stay current enough while keeping things he really liked from older times the room had a very odd decorating scheme. On the wall was an elizebethan portrait of Dieter wearing full Chinese silks hanging over the wall which housed a speaker system which had a confused jumble of cords sticking out from the sides. Bunny ears and a cable guide were somehow squished between a record player, a massive record and CD collection, and an old broadsword.
Opposite of the wall housing the portait and speakers was a very comfortable looking modern Lazeboy couch next to a hickory rocking chair, and a Turkish chair which had half a dozen pillos on it. The colors of the couches all seemed to match but they definitely clashed in their design and styles. A couple of side tables and a 18th century coffee table were surrounding these chairs but had a couple of notable pieces. A pet rock, a jewelers kit, a set of Daishyo, a cigarette tray signed by Richard Nixon, and a few very old history books were set carefully and purposefully on the pieces of furniture. The dining room/kitchen, had a Japanese table that somehow had lasted followed Dieter since the 17th century and still looked marvelous. A full antique dinning set decorated the surface of the table and the kitchen held many old as well as new cooking implements like pots, pans, and woks. A bare wall here contained many old rock posters of bands like Zepplin, Beatles, Aerosmith, Pink Floyde, Queen, and The Police.
The bedroom itself actually dueled as a workout room. Dieter merely stacked training equipment and a computer he hardly knew how to use in a closet where he would pull out a futon and sleep on a comfortably carpeted floor. Dieter had a wardrobe that had extra dimensional space for clothes. For some reason he really liked C. S. Lewis's ideas and had one made so he could put enough outfits of enough various styles and varying formality in one place. The other half of his clothes he had left in his estate in the Coven. He did bring his favorite futon here. Not to say he didn't enjoy holiday in the Coven.
((I'm not saying Jasmine visited these rooms but I figured I'd describe them to give you an idea of how eclectic and outlandish Dieter's decorating is.))
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Post by Jasmine Leigh Markus on Jun 19, 2008 18:50:21 GMT -5
((okay, I can work with this. lol))
Jasmine didn't bother trying to remember the way to the apartment. It was all very complicated. Especially when they went through the gate. She was very confused so she stopped trying to take it all in. That is, until he opened the door to his apartment. Everything hit her at once. The place was a bit of a mess, stuff piled everywhere. He seemed to be a hoarder. Jasmine couldn't help but grin.
"Looks like I have my work cut out for me," She commented. She noticed quickly his liking for things from different times. If she worked hard enough she might even make the place flow. From the look of the speaker on his wall, he had a problem with technology. She would try and fix that.
"Okay, where can I stay?" She asked, her eyes scouring the room. She didn't see much spare space. She hoped that she had some hidden talent for decorating, because this could get messy. It was good that she was stronger now, she would be able to move things around easily.
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Post by Dieter Helyanwe on Jun 20, 2008 18:10:55 GMT -5
Dieter smiled, "If we need to remove things to make space that's understandable. I'll have items you deem necessary moved back to my estate. These are all hard to find now a days and weren't necessarily easy to get or cheap when I acquired them. I believe I have an extra futon in the single bedroom. I also double it as a workout room but we can move stuff around." Dieter paused, "how framiliar are you with setting up and moving futons, or washing silk, or dealing with those infernal stereo instructions. They have it in four different languages, I speak three of them. In all those languages I still can't get them to make any sense what so ever."
Dieter hated electronics. It seemed the manufacturers liked to write in their native tongue and liked to write poorly. Dieter wondered if it wasn't the fact that the engineers hired to put the product into mass production decided to forgo all the eloquence and beauty of language and throw together a word salad that bears little resemblance to instruction for those consumers who buy their stereo. Then of course they'd provide some sort of decoder or duplicate source to give to the people who install the bloody thing to you. Then of course they figure out how to get it to work for two weeks before you called them again to fix it. It had to be a conspiracy. Dieter would give them no more of his hard earned money. If Jasmine couldn't figure it out he'd have to admit defeat. At least his record player worked. He left the phonograph back at his estate in the Coven.
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