valerie_vause: (Outside Working)
valerie_vause ([personal profile] valerie_vause) wrote in [community profile] birthright_rpg2013-11-16 05:21 am
Entry tags:

Lessons In Living

Sleep hadn’t come easy when she finally returned home at six in the morning. A lengthy patrol had seen that four of the undead returned to the earth as nothing more than ashes. Classes went by in a blur, her mind had been elsewhere, lunch had been skipped. Though she returned to her room to change, leave her books behind, then left again. Wandered, preoccupied, through shops. Picking up a few things of interest then off in search of something new to fill her mind. By the time she showed up outside Sabra’s door it was seven.

Bags sat at her feet so that she could knock while the other arm clutched several to her chest. The same routine had been needed at the desk, another month paid for. She either had to sell a few pieces of art or get a job soon. The prospect didn’t feel pleasant so she shook her head to clear her thoughts.

“Sabra, it’s me. Are you in?”

Valerie bent to pick the other bags up. They weren’t heavy to her, just awkward to manage all at once. A couple filled with clothes, others with books, one with toiletries, and one with food. At first it had been odd, bringing things to the woman, but over the weeks it gradually felt less peculiar. Perhaps slowly becoming a new normal, that only applied to the situation.

If she didn’t answer the blonde would have to walk back to her dorm with everything. The thought made her cringe and she sighed at the door.
primordial_visitation: (Suspicion)

[personal profile] primordial_visitation 2013-11-16 05:53 am (UTC)(link)
Considering the type of entity who now resided there, the room in which Sabra resided was turning more and more different as time went on. The difference made by the young Slayer was, however, a marked one. Without her, the creature hosted in a human female's body might have done anything. Gone anywhere. Met with anyone. With her, there was at least a form of... They didn't frequent one another's company enough for Valerie to be an anchor, exactly, but she was a form of guide. Brought her things. Showed her how they worked. Informed her about... Boundaries. Something with which Sabra still appeared to have issues.

So it was that the announcement was answered with what sounded like a slam of books to the floor. An accurate sound, as it happened, because by the time Sabra showed herself at the door, several of them seemed to have landed unceremoniously on the living room carpet.

"I was learning."

Sabra often sounded annoyed, somehow. Unavoidable, because a lot of what she had to say were observations spoken in matter-of-factly tones. Still, at least her vocabulary had expanded beyond the basics.

Rather than politely invite the girl in, Sabra's eyes fell to the carried bags. No waiting. She simply grabbed them from the girl, assuming they had been brought for her own use. Taking them inside.

Sabra's layout had proven... Interesting. Furniture having been rearranged into odd combinations and an increasing amount of ectoplasm dripping from the walls, smearing over carpet.

Just before turning, however, Sabra paused. Sensing something. Looking the girl up and down with a momentary flicker of eyes. "You're different," she told her.
Edited 2013-11-16 05:55 (UTC)
primordial_visitation: (Surprise)

[personal profile] primordial_visitation 2013-11-16 06:58 am (UTC)(link)
For a moment, Sabra just stood there. She rarely ignored speech, even if sometimes finding it somehow irrelevant. This was one of those times where she was silently processing; deciding how to proceed.

Her reply came in the form of stepping into Valerie's personal space, giving her a long, audible sniff. No physical contact, but it went from somewhere in line with the girl's throat to forehead. If there was one thing to be learned about Sabra, it was that, while she may have struggled to comprehend the world through relatively limited human senses, they were several times more sensitive than an ordinary mortal's. Keen.

"You've been touched..." The human-hosted demoness corrected. Lower lip hanging loosely before Sabra gave a tilt of head, curving mouth into a grin. "It liked you."

Then, before clarification gave way to elaboration, Sabra turned away, taking the offered food in the process. Didn't bother to sit at a table, though. Was rifling through the contents, deigning to remove the sandwiching bun. "This has no life..." Human teeth sunk into the burger, carving out a mouthful of flesh and Sabra registered it with a look somewhere between confusion and distaste. It was genuinely difficult to figure out which.

A look to Valerie's fries, then back to the dead meat. Up and back, again. Another bite. Another, eventually finishing it. The expression written upon Sabra's face, however, was one of severe uncertainty.

"The books showed me many things. This shows me only falsehood..."
primordial_visitation: (Suspicion)

[personal profile] primordial_visitation 2013-11-17 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
"The burning.. The surge. The absence. Where once I dwelled... One was sent on its behalf. She tasted of you... Your flavour was appealing. You would not carry the stain, were this not so."

But sabra's visual attention seemed fixed upon the remnants of the food offering. It had more immediate relevance to her. "Yes," she agreed. "Because it is. There's no hunt here... It reeks of convenience." Then she eyed Valerie with logical suspicion. "Your trophy wall must be poor, indeed."

Because these items of human food were all the same, weren't they? No challenge involved. No hunt. No capture. Hardly worth even qualifying as prey.

"Keep the next for yourself. I prefer the undead."
primordial_visitation: (Consider)

[personal profile] primordial_visitation 2013-11-17 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
Unfortunately, the young Slayer's train of thought was derailed with a simplistic, "No." For she was not that insightful. Just happened to know when another of a high status had been sniffing around, proverbially or literally. Knew the what of it, not the who. "The stain has always been there... But some now how to wake it. Nurture it."

The proposition, however, caught Sabra's attention. Camping... If Valerie had a fraction of the idea of Sabra's true form, the mental image of sharing a campfire with it, like a school outing, would have been equal parts startling and amusing. Mostly the former, though. There was a reason she was not yet used to moving around in a human vehicle.

So, true to form, Sabra gave her answer in the most direct, forthright way: And stuffed Valerie's mouth with the uneaten remnants of what she had been passed. Telling her to shut up or just trying to make a point? Or was it more to do with experimentation? The way in which she attempted to get Valerie to chew, like a puppet, suggested it might have been.

"You already hunt. Their skulls turn to ashes... Nothing to take. Your victories are fleeting."
primordial_visitation: (Disbelief)

[personal profile] primordial_visitation 2013-11-17 04:27 am (UTC)(link)
For something which had a capacity to stretch its jaws into some obscene portrayal of spider crab, it was a potentially dangerous move. Sabra, though, didn't seem to know what to make of it, frowning, rearing head back with an expression of distaste, like an aggressive puppy being forced to play with a toy it did not want.

Snort.

Lowly mortal guides were not meant to do this. Not... Permitted.

"Are you trying to mate with me?"

She was wiping away the food from mouth, not at all grasping the lesson which had been attempted. Head quizzically tilting, as Sabra attempted to provide her own interpretation to the mystifying return of her own gesture. What Valerie had tried to force into her mouth, being casually thrown into a small pot with soil in it.

"It would be... Difficult."
primordial_visitation: (Curiosity)

[personal profile] primordial_visitation 2013-11-17 09:23 pm (UTC)(link)
About to answer, Sabra was given an entirely new dimension to think about with Valerie's exclamation and frowned, simply replying, "Cheese is not birthed."

As a matter of course, the hosted entity cast a vaguely curious gaze down to Valerie's lower quarters, now having been given reason to ponder the human reproductive system. The girl was not exactly making this easy and her latest comment drew a raised brow of puzzlement.

Head tiiiiilt...

"Then what were you doing?"
primordial_visitation: (Consider)

[personal profile] primordial_visitation 2013-11-18 03:47 am (UTC)(link)
"Your species has too many hidden meanings," observed Sabra and turned, making her way to a bag and retrieving the batteries she had requested. Curious things... But upon asking how more could be procured, she had wanted them. Sabra removing the metal cylinders from their cardboard prison cells and going to the middle of the room, sitting cross-legged. Adding them to an ectoplasmic-slimed pile of others, attached to a garbage can lid by means of coathangers.

"These will do," she told the girl. "More would be better."

Saying she relaxed her posture might be technically incorrect. Relented, maybe... Sabra straightening spine, looking straight ahead at the opposite wall.

"Mating doesn't need consent."

The return to that earlier subject of conversation came out of the blue, as so many things did with Sabra. Someone had raised her. An organisation, perhaps. maybe not. Whoever it had been, they would probably be disappointed to see the fruits of their labour occupying a common motel room, chatting about sex to a vampire-hunter.

On the floor, the books which had landed with a thump, from earlier, now showed subtle signs of animation. Moving of their own accord, albeit just slightly. Sabra not looking at the girl; appearing to have adopted a meditative-like pose. The books starting to flip slowly through pages, as if coming awake. One or two of them rising from the floor, levitating. Hanging in the air. Not being read with eyes, but the mind.

Talk about multi-tasking... It was quite the unique learning system.
primordial_visitation: (Notice)

[personal profile] primordial_visitation 2013-11-18 04:48 am (UTC)(link)
"If I desired you, I would take you."

And that was that. Like so many apparent compliments from Sabra, it was a back-handed one. At once, an assurance that she was safe, but with the disclaimer of making it clear that consent was not exactly a prized concept in her world. Then again, a declaration like that probably explained a good deal of why Sabra found it so difficult to avoid instinctive violence; why Valerie had to give her little signals to hold back from taking comments, jokes or the body language of others' too literally.

Sabra was no homeless pet. She was undeniably dangerous. But if a Slayer could do the world a favour by ridding the world of undead killers before they struck, then she was doing much the same by preventing this ancient being from simply being unleashed. By teaching her about the world of mortals.

"This one bores me," she said and the book was slammed against the wall, discarded from the bizarre levitating merry-go-round on display. Little wonder, though... The cover revealed it to be a telephone directory.

"Do they milk lions?" She asked, suddenly thinking of the kind of question few others would. The query provoking enough interest to demand Sabra look the girl's way, again. "In the zoo... Where they farm the animals. Do they milk them? Like the cows?"
primordial_visitation: (Suspicion)

[personal profile] primordial_visitation 2013-11-19 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
"Compassion and frivolity... You are a curious breed, indeed."

The observation was remarked upon with near-contempt, but a few seconds after, Sabra made the spontaneous decision to declare, "No." A pointed look being cast at the basked in the blonde's arms. Books flipping faster around her, before falling back to the floor. This time, softly, not abruptly. "You will not."

It came across like the order it was. Sabra waiting only moments before rising properly to feet, once again. The way she approached the Slayer seeming confrontational, but that was just her default body language. Unavoidable, for now.

"There will be somewhere else. Something bigger. I will have it."
primordial_visitation: (Notice)

[personal profile] primordial_visitation 2013-11-20 04:38 am (UTC)(link)
Mechanical seemed a good way of describing Sabra's social skills, such as they were. Had no reason to care that Valerie's feelings were hurt, beyond rare curiosity.

A ghost of a smile briefly visited those lips and Sabra stepped, cat-like, in front of the girl when she attempted to remove herself, blocking the girl's path.

"Your city," she stated, matter-of-factly. "It will be an acceptable start to my kingdom."

How did one even begin to deal with a declaration like that? To just be told by an ancient being that they had simply decided to take your residential district for its own? And for a Slayer, someone duty-bound to protect the very innocents who would presumably fall victim to servitude - how would she react?

"You will be my executioner, once my armies have been gathered and united the nations as one."
primordial_visitation: (Query)

[personal profile] primordial_visitation 2013-11-20 03:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Sabra's head tilted, registering, processing the reply. Valerie seemed to have a knack for knowing what to say and how to say it, at moments like these. She was appointed to act in the capacity of a guide. It made the demoness pause in consideration.

"Why?"

Which was just as valid a response in its own right. The Slayer was fast, agile and, most of all, strong. Capable.

"You serve another?" She asked, frowning in suspicion. "You would rather take another station - a concubine?"

It had a form of logic to it. Especially when Sabra could not understand why the offer would be logically refused. Was she seeking a more applicable role?
primordial_visitation: (Consider)

[personal profile] primordial_visitation 2013-11-21 01:23 am (UTC)(link)
There was an addition to the list of awkward moments when Sabra queried, "Snuggle?" Like an insect or bird, upon each fresh question; eyes wide with curiosity and head being given to quick, darting little movements.

Again, though, Valerie's instincts proved correct and her logic was met with Sabra's gaze trailing to the floor, weighing up options. Considering. This was, after all, a completely different species. Something very much alien to this world and a living fragment of somewhere far more terrifying and dangerous. A proverbial dragon in paradise and potentially capable of subjecting the mortal creatures of this realm to unknown horrors. Something dark and old, risen from the primordial.

"Your words have value," Sabra replied, after a fashion. Score one for the Slayer... Prospective city-wide - perhaps even planet-wide - destruction had been headed off at the pass. Who said befriending ancient powers of death didn't have benefits? "You prove your wisdom."

Nodding silently, Sabra moved, allowing the girl to pass if she wished. Was satisfied by the answers.

"My past is still lost to me... I should discover this," she observed with a glance at hand, opening and closing the palm. The hand of a woman once named Sabra, now apparently consumed and adapted for a hellish being's vehicular purpose. "There lays a skeleton. In the desert. Will you help retrieve it?"
primordial_visitation: (Default)

[personal profile] primordial_visitation 2013-11-24 05:09 am (UTC)(link)
Cuddles and hugs? Fortunately, Sabra's silence made it ambiguous. Perhaps she was aware of the gesture, but even if she was, it didn't sound like the kind of thing she had personally experienced or tried to elicit. If she had demanded a demonstration, it would have been awkward, to say the least. A cynic might be tempted to say this was Valerie's lucky day.

"Dangerous," she replied, answering the girl's initial query. "How do I know?" A fleeting smile... Slight, but it was there. But that indicated fondness. Pleasant nostalgia.

What did a demon find enjoyable to remember?

"I witnessed its exile."
primordial_visitation: (Consider)

[personal profile] primordial_visitation 2013-11-25 02:46 am (UTC)(link)
"It will be a gift... You will like the reason."

Sabra's walking posture had improved from the relatively primtive gait of before. Still, though, she gave the impression of being both watchful and... Entitled might not be the most accurate term, but someone self-assured. Confident. Looking left and right as she came to corners; looking for threats, but not in the least afraid of the potential challenge.

"It..."

But the question made her falter. Gaze trailing down until it hit the ground, searching for answers and ultimately finding none.

"It was disagreeable," she settled upon and continued on. "It is difficult to know of things, but... Not remember. To only have stirrings. I should have eaten their minds... Those who summoned me. Perhaps they would know."

At that, Sabra halted her step and turned suddenly the Slayer's way. Yeah... She was considering it. Thinking about eating Valerie's brain. Wondering if it might help. Then recalled the girl hadn't been at the ceremony.

"You have..." A look somewhere between distaste and confusion. This was a concept Sabra still didn't understand and wasn't sure if she wanted to. "Compassion. What would you do to help me remember?"
Edited 2013-11-25 05:11 (UTC)
primordial_visitation: (Consider)

[personal profile] primordial_visitation 2013-11-26 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
The allusion to dirty comments earned the girl a scowl. An unintentionally comical one. Sabra was learning, slowly but surely, not to instinctively lash out with violence or threats of the same and her attempts at what passed for subtlety could seem a little child-like and unsure.

"Yes... Close," the demoness now answered. Then stopping suddenly, looking down. "Here."

A few scuffs of boot and Sabra began to dig. A mechanical, unfeeling motion. Robotic, yet strong. Whoever Sabra had been in her human days, what inhabited her body now was giving it quite the work-out and not seeming to care. No instructions. Not seeming too bothered as to whether the girl assisted or not.

Then came a shift in tone as the shovel hit something.

"This..."

Sand was dusted away, revealing a stone coffin-like contained. A harsh thud of the shovel's blade and the cover shattered. For a few moments, nothing. Then, from the shadowy interior... Something grabbed the side with a taloned, skeletal hand, pulling itself up.

It was a skeleton, alright. It just happened to be animated.
primordial_visitation: (Disbelief)

[personal profile] primordial_visitation 2013-11-27 02:08 am (UTC)(link)
Sabra had countered the accusation with a puzzled, "It should matter?" The bottle, however, remained caught in hand. Sabra seeming to react to it like just another tool. Her expression, however? It was ridden with confusion, as if the very notion of her appointed guide getting cold feet, just because the monstrosity still lived, was insanity personified.

And from the darkness, the beast did step. An ancient from the shadows, a creature from the maw... A draconian tyrant from the primordial age, bones propelling it forth without reliance upon muscle or sinew as it roared. Sabra momentarily unhinging jaws to spew verbal fury, right back.

Two titans from a time long past.

"Remove its head!"

The display would have been impressive, were Valerie's new opponent taller than mere waist-height...
primordial_visitation: (Consider)

[personal profile] primordial_visitation 2013-11-27 03:00 am (UTC)(link)
From a casual visit to an ancient demon's motel room to dispatching a prehistoric horror in the Nevada desert... Not a bad evening's start.

"Good," Sabra simply replied in approval, moving to collect fallen remains into bags. Nothing ceremonial about it. No respect or delicacy. Just a look given to the bottled water of before when she was complete, uncapping it to liberally spray over the elderly-looking sarcophagus. Nothing but pure, clean water... But because of that, it had an instantaneous effect upon what had been housing the creature. The moment the liquid came into contact with it, the container began to hiss, crack and act like it had come under attack from pouring acid. Sabra watching on at the stoney remains which were rapidly crumbling to dust. Soon, there would be no evidence it had existed.

"You..."

A direct answer and probably a surprising one, too. Sabra eyeing the girl expectantly, perhaps with a view to some sort of gratitude. Perhaps not. Ultimately, it didn't really matter. She was still machine-like and registered the need to clarify matters a few moments later.

"A museum... Their historians make false assumptions. They will call this a 'dinosaur'. They will reward you with payment. A great deal of it... This one was rare."

A beat.

"We could steal money, if you prefer it?"
primordial_visitation: (Surprise)

[personal profile] primordial_visitation 2013-11-27 04:23 am (UTC)(link)
One of the best methods for confronting demonic activity was said to be by using love. It didn't always work, of course, but it was a valid countermeasure for anyone. Perhaps partially because of that, the infernal entity just stood there with a wide-eyed expression of surprise etched upon her face, like Valerie had just told her she had been pissing in her morning cereal.

For all the world, if someone had taken a feral cat and dunked it in water, the result was not unlike what showed now. No matter how many ways it was spun, this was something which was born of primal hatreds and spite. Giving it a hug was the last possible thing expected.

Sabra had half a mind to query if this was about mating, again.

"Yes," she replied, succinct and confused. How was she... Meant to react to such an unnatural-feeling gesture? Mouth opened and she took in a breath to say something, but while mouth parted, no words emerged. Sabra repeating the attempt a second time, only to end up with the same result.

She looked back in the direction they had walked, then back to the Slayer. Back and forth, again. Just as suspiciously. Cautious. Hugging was... Strange.

"We should go back," she said and began, with unsure footing, to make off in their worn direction.