Bring on the Wonder

[Idrial]

(Reserved for Skeggsismad.)

Sam slowly walked around the exhibit on the seventh floor with a slight smile on her face, she had been coming here for a while trying to see the whole museum was quite a challenge. She never had anything like this back in Canada, they had museums but they weren't seven floors high; the biggest museum she had been at was three floors high. It brought joy to her heart with all the different exhibitions that resided in one building, Sam was a few months shy of graduating from the university with her masters in Music, Dance and Literature and tonight she decided to take a gander on the seventh floor, the last floor that remained in the building. The seventh floor was full of literature events from the past and she was loving every minute of it. The floor also seemed to be dead, not a single person was near little Sam.

She was wearing her usual attire, a red tank top with a white sweater that had the wings of an angel embroidered on the back. The wings were a mass of purple and blue, they seemed so alluring to many people. She had gotten this sweater years ago on a family trip back when her mortal family was still alive; her sister had found on a sweater rack. Not before tearing the whole rack apart to find all the good stuff in the back; Shannon was always good at finding stuff that other people missed; she missed her little sister in fact she missed them all.

She quickly wiped away a tear not bothering to look for anyone who could be watching Sam at the moment before once again moving around the museum. She found a statue whom she recognized as an African god named Katonda. The dark marble statue of him was magnificent, even though there was a red rope around the statue she still touched it. The marble was cool against her finger tips, his eyes seemed almost alive when she touched it. She pulled her hand back, she laughed. She had freaked herself out over nothing, shaking her head she walked over to an old wooden carving of another African goddess named Oya. She started to read the description plate out loud since she had no fear of anyone hearing her; or at least she thought she was alone.

"Yoruban Goddess of music and dance, wind and fire. She sometimes takes the form of tornadoes, and lightning. Wild, untamed and unpredictable, She is ruler of the Niger river." She took another glance at the statue and continued to read.

"Antelope is her spirit animal. Goddess of eloquence and clear communication, especially of women. Patroness of female leadership. Buffalo and copper are sacred to her. Goddess of storms. Guardian of sailors. Goddess of childbirth, fertility and all aspects of a woman’s life – including career, health and family. Moon Goddess. She had twelve aspects. La Balianne. La Sirene. She is often portrayed as a mermaid or beautiful woman wearing a white or blue dress and crowned with a star. Copper and silver are sacred to her."

Goddess of dance, she thought. She looked around again and still couldn't see anyone, this carving looked so lonely just sitting their all day long with nothing to entertain it. She started to do the ballet dance from swan lake, after all a goddess of dance should appreciate what Sam had to offer. She soon lost herself in the delights of dance hopefully it was appeasing the goddess Oya. It may seemed silly that she was dancing to an inanimate object but to the goddess was real; even if she couldn't see the goddess she felt like Oya was watching.

[skeggsismad]

“Nooo, you can’t!” Emil exclaimed as he began to walk up the stairs from the sixth flight to the seventh.

“Oh yes, I can!” Another male voice chirped, young and full of energy. Emil let out a chuckle.

“I don’t mean you can’t do it, I mean you can’t do it, not here! It certainly wouldn’t be appropriate, darling,” He explained, trying to make the distinction that in fact he did believe the fire nymph could ‘burn’ a mustache so subtly on one of the carvings that it would look like it had always been that way. He didn’t want to egg the young man on, but it was so tempting. He was honestly curious at what it would look like and if Jeffie’s talents were as grand as he claimed they were.

When they topped the stairs they entered a room full of wooden sculptures. Emil looked around, taking quite a gander at them.

“I’ve only traveled to Europe,” He noted aloud to Jeffie, “So these things! Oh, they’re incredible. I’ve never been able to enjoy the art of other continents unless I was in a museum. Perhaps that will change someday, hmm, love?” He asked rhetorically.

Jeffie behaved most of the time like he was hyped up on a couple of bottles of energy drink. As such, he couldn’t stay in place for too long and was wandering around the top floor of the museum faster than Emil could care to notice.  The vampire sometimes wondered if wandering was an inherent Fae trait or perhaps that the only Fae he knew happened to possess it.

It was no time before Jeffie discovered the dancing girl, though surely their general loud demeanor had warned her ahead of time that he was coming.

“How can you be dancing? There’s no music! ” Jeffie pointed out, entirely baffled. He had snowy white skin with amber colored hair and bright, naturally red-orange hair, at about 5’6 in height with a lithe build. Tonight he was wearing a plain gray shirt and typical teenager jeans, though his actual numeral age was something along the lines of early 20’s. It was unlike his counterpart, Emil Elwira, who was still wandering around trying to figure out where the Nymph had gone. His attire was much more formal, with tight, fitting business suit pants, dress shoes and a silken gray-blue shirt that was covered with an expensive dress coat.  Of course, the stark difference was a mere personality trait between the two and nothing about someone overdressing nor underdressing; Emil was flamboyant whilst Jeffie liked to keep it simple. 

[Idrial]

Sam had heard the commotion downstairs, they sounded like a bunch of sissy school girls. She could hear bits and pieces of the conversation but that didn't deter Sam from wanting to dance. Apart of her thought that they would just stay on the sixth floor leaving her in total bliss. She continued to dance like it was no one's business, slow and graceful with the perfect combination of balance and power. She was having a lot of fun dancing and to think it was all because of a description on the goddess Oya. She posed for a second, arms in a semi circle while her left leg was extended forwards to create a simple but striking display.

That was soon all in the past when she heard some shrieking at her, what the fuck was her first thought in her head. The second thought was she was looking at a little ginger head kid, snowy white skin and that bright reddish orange hair. He was much taller than Sam, almost by six inches and it made her a little nervous; then again she could probably take him on in a heart beat. She had stopped dancing at this point and she was trying not to sound shy. Damn her shyness when it came to meeting new people unexpectedly.

"A real dancer needs no music," her voice calm and steady. "All I need is a song in my head," she tapped the top of her head. She was trying to be funny in a very awkward position, "Where's your friend ? I know I heard two voices on the sixth floor." She stared at him with her silver eye's that shined through the darkness, almost as if they were looking past his flesh and into his own soul. 

[skeggsismad]

Jeffie grinned at the blonde girl’s gesture. She’s cute! He thought, deciding he liked Sam already. It was in his nature to make up his mind in a flash. His expression did droop a bit when he realized belatedly that Emil hadn’t followed him into the room.

“Gee I don’t know,” He said as he turned around and looked from side to side, a bit of concern passing his face.

But it seemed another thought had crossed his mind as he turned his gaze back to Sam.

“You could hear us? We were that loud?” He asked, making a particularly shocked facial expression. That wasn’t good, since he’d been talking about his powers! Jeffie had yet to realize that the woman that he was talking to was a vampire. He was just getting familiar with the species and tended to only recognize other Fae on sight. To Jeffie, Sam was just another mortal.

[Idrial]

Sam shrugged while pouting her lips, "Nah. I just have that got that good of hearing." She wiggled her ears, Sam always acted a little werid around new people. Her shyness seemed to get the best of her at times but for some reason she got a very different vibe coming off of him. She quickly speculated that this kid wasn't humam but as to what he was that remained a mystery. She decided this would be a good time to conquer her shyness and find out a little more about her ginger haired friend.

"Well I'm Sam," she said with a grin. " Why don't we go find you're friend. I'm sure he's looking for you." She waited until he started to move. She was positive that she would be meeting another non-human lifeform. This was defiantly a win - win situation.

[skeggsismad]

“Alright, sure,” Jeffie replied.
Emil walked into the room, approaching Jeffie from behind so quietly that he didn’t register it. Emil pressed his fingers to his lips while looking at Sam with a grin, asking her not to clue the Fae in that he was about to surprise him. Then, rather quickly, Emil interjected,

“Boo!”

Jeffie flinched forward, eyes wide. He let out a chuckle and so did Emil before the vampire shifted his focus onto Sam.

“Hello, dear. I’m Emil Elwira. May I?” He extended his hand out, palm up, expecting Sam to offer her hand so he could give it a courteous peck.

[Idrial]

Seconds after she spoke a vampire whom she recognized immediately was sneaking up on the kid. She remained silent as his fingers touched his lips; she hid a small giggle that emerged in her throat when his lost found friend jumped from the loud ‘boo’ that escaped his lips. The two were quite comical together and it put Sam at ease, then the strange vampire’s gaze focused on Sam. Her nervousness seemed to creep back into her chest; she could feel that he was much older about around her own sire’s age.

When Emil offered his hand she could have sworn that all the blood in her face rushed to her lips, she was not use to such a courteous behavior. She tip toed forward delicately placing her hand in his palm. Her eye’s held his own steady, he probably though that he was staring into the eyes of a lady; she was no lady. She was polite and had some sort of mannerisms but they seemed quite inadequate to his own. It put her on edge, she just wanted him to kiss her hand so that it would break the spell of her not saying a word. Then again she really didn't want to talk, fuck she was getting to be a nervous wreck but her body was still and sound; just not her mind.

[skeggsismad]

He knew from the moment he stepped into the room that he was dealing with another vampire. But once things had settled down and Sam offered her hand, he realized just how youthful the other was. Emil wondered to himself where her sire was, and perhaps more important, who her sire was. He’d have to be extra careful. Even if he was older than she was there was always the possibility the young vampire’s sire was older than he and therefore dangerous.

Pressing a kiss to Sam’s hand he gently let go of it, smiling at her. He had expected her to introduce herself but she didn’t and he wondered if perhaps that was a sign meant  to indicate she wasn’t interested in company.

“Well, we didn’t mean to disturb you, missus,” Emil spoke softly, ready to dismiss himself but lingering for a reaction. Jeffie was nearby giving a puzzled look. He was wondering why Emil was treating the woman as if she were a supernatural, when suddenly his eyes widened and he looked at Sam, trying to figure out what kind she was. He knew it impolite to bluntly ask, but maybe if he looked hard enough he’d be able to tell.

[Idrial]

She almost jerked to life as she had forgotten to introduce herself, "Oh my god! I'm so sorry it's Sam. Um Samantha Rede." She almost rolled her eyes, no one called her Samantha anymore. In fact she kinda hated the name, it made her sound more feminine than she wanted to be at any time so that was why she had shortened it. Suddenly she felt a little insecure about her body, she was always short and very much big-boned. She seemed to get the short end of the stick when it came to her genetics, although her body type was very much suited for the country life.

She then noticed that the supernatural that she couldn't identify was just staring at her and she clued in as to why. She flashed a grin at him, "You don't know what I am do you ? I know Emil knows what I am." She still didn't know his name but it seemed unimportant at this point, "I'll tell you what I am if you tell me what you are. I know your not human." She found it somewhat funny but also invigorating that she was meeting something new; something she had never encountered before in her short supernatural life.

[skeggsismad]

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Ms. Rede. This is my dear friend Jeffie,” He gave a warm comforting smile towards Sam before gesturing at the young man standing next to him.

The conversation flowed and it became about Jeffie. The young fae looked from Emil and then back to Sam, asking nonverbal permission to engage with the other supernatural. Jeffie understood that there was still a lot that he needed to learn and based on the way that Emil was treating the woman he figured she must have been really powerful. Emil didn’t call him Mr. Quintal! Emil tipped his head back and then Jeffie looked to Sam.

“I’m a fire nymph. That’s a fae. Er…Ms. Reade,” He mispronounced the last name without realizing it.

“What are you?” Jeffie asked eagerly, his eyes glimmering with excitement. Emil put a hand on the young man’s shoulder to steady him so he didn’t get too ahead of himself. The gesture caused the animated expression to fall from Jeffie’s face and be replaced with a much more serious one. He didn’t want to mess anything up.

[Idrial]

She had never really noticed how nice of ring her last name was once it rolled of Emil's tongue, his warm smile had calmed her nerves but she still was careful. She had a strange feeling that he was much older than Sam, how old was a bit of a brain teaser. However them calling her by her last name made her feel much older than she was and she didn't like that misconception.

"Please just Sam will do. It's a pleasure to meet you Jeffie and Emli." Her eye's glowed towards Jeffie as she had heard the words Fie Nymph. "So that's what with the bight orange hair, you know in human's the gene for red hair is dying out." She felt the statement would make him feel special in some sort of way, soon Fire Nymphs would be the only ones with red hair.

She placed a hand on her chest, "I am a vampire but I am from the bloodline Caine. Our clan name is called the Ventrue or 'blue bloods' and our symbol is the scepter." She let that sit for a bit as she was sure that he would have questions and she would welcome them as she was apart of the Kingship Clan as Jake her sired seemed to call it.

[skeggsismad]

“I’m quite sorry for the mistake! Sam it is.” Emil spoke; and that was all he said. He decided to hang back in the conversation since it seemed Jeffie was being engaged and the two were both interested in learning more about one another.

“ A vampire!?” Jeffie whispered. He was amazed how many vampires there were out there. It seemed like every day he was meeting another one. 

He touched his hand to his hair and gave a toothy grin.

“You like it?”  He asked. “My mom always called me a carrot top but I didn’t know what it was about until I was older.” 

“Hey…can I ask you something!” He couldn’t contain his excitement but he found his gaze shifting from Emil to Sam to gauge if he was behaving correctly or not. Emil gave a slight shrug, indicating he couldn’t give permissions for questions to be asked, only Sam could.

[Idrial]

She dipped her head, "I do like it." She gave her ponytail a tug, "My mom says that my hair is like a mop on my head." She looked happy but on the inside she really didn't like mentioning her mortal family, one that was tragically taken away from Sam at the tender age of eighteen. Jeffie still probably had his mom, he was a lucky man and she somewhat envied him for a moment. Although just as quickly as the moment came it passed when he was once again shouting. He was very energetic and it reminded her of herself when she got real excited sometimes.

"Well okay. But only if I get to ask Emil a question. I feel like he is being left out." She wanted to be polite and include him but whether he would take her up on her offer was uncertain. Then again he was somewhat in a bind the way she worded her sentence. She then got nervous and she hoped Emli wouldn't be offended in Sam asking him a question too. 

[skeggsismad]

Sam’s statement confused Jeffie quite a bit. He knew for a fact that Emil’s parents were long dead and Sam was speaking about her mother as if she was still alive. He gathered she must have misspoken since she was so old and wise her family couldn’t possibly be living still. The thought made him upset and he frowned. Thus, it was a relief when the attention was shifted back to Emil so that he didn’t have to hide his emotions quite as much.

“Ooh, don’t worry about me, Sam! Most of the time I’m whistling Dixie so much that one can hardly get a word in! So I say, the silence now must be the compensation for the rambling I’ll be doing later. But by jove, if a question seeks your fancy, feel free! Anything to quicken my pulse, darling.”

He gave the young vampire a wink. He was interacting more freely than he would have with other vampires entirely because of Sam’s age. The back of his mind nagged and told him that wasn’t a good idea  for who knew what her connections were and if he ruffled her feathers what troubled he’d be in! But his friendly nature overwrote his worries for the moment.

Now Emil turned to Jeffie expectantly. He was the one to start this round of questions and soon enough Jeffie realized the heat he was under.

“Ok…I just want to know how old you are.” Jeffie explained. Emil’s facial expression twitched slightly. He was confident he’d told the fae once or twice that it was a question you never asked a vampire but the fae had ignored him. His mind flashed back to incidents with Lisa-Joe and Lamar. It seemed his friends had a tendency to ignore and do what they pleased with dire consequences. Emil braced himself for a confrontation, but even with a fledging, there wasn’t much he was willing to do in order to ‘win’.

[Idrial]

Sam was very pleased with his answer, she didn't want to seem rude in front of these two and quite frankly she could swear the two were a couple. She felt the blood once again rush from her face to her lips again from Emil's wink making them seem very rosy against her pale white skin. She wasn't use to being treated like a lady, it was something that she was very much enjoying.

She burst out laughing when Jeffie asked how old she was, usually that was something that one normally didn't ask. He seemed like a brave sort of fellow to ask that question. She saw Emil's face twitch and his posture was a lot more defensive. Lucky for them both Sam was a lot more nicer and patient than most vampires, Lisa-Joe would not have been happy with that question if she was here with Sam now. Nor would she have like the fact that she had told someone not to address her by her last name. But she loved Lisa-Joe all the same.

"I'm only a two year old fledgling but I was sired when I was the age of twenty four as a mortal." She didn't bother telling him how she was embraced. "By the way try not to ask that question too much. Some vampires get a little more than ticked when you ask that question, not everyone is as nice and understanding as me." It was true she liked to use kindness rather than violence, she only used extreme force when all else failed.

"Emil may I ask where were you got that outfit ? It looks quite lovely on you." She hoped that wasn't crossing the line with him but she would find out soon enough.