January 27th
Crispin sits at the foot of the bed, his back to the wall. Right leg curled beneath him while his left hugged the side of the bed, his knee bouncing with unrestrained agitation. Though with most of his concentration put on his task, the subtle, nagging desire to smoke only simmered at the base of his skull. He had made it three days so far with only errant thoughts of how empty his hand felt without a cigarette smoldering in it. "From an early age, Nephilim are given a copy of the Grey Book to study from, along with a Codex, such as this." Lofts the leather bound book in his hands for Lenore's benefit. While the cover was faded with age, it was not damaged. The only decoration was a large chalice gracing the front, covered in gold filigree. He licks his fingertips and flips through the pages. "We memorize the runes for our future use. This one is not one I've had to use previously, though I do remember it. I only want to check---" Trailing off, he tilts his head. "There."
Lenore can't contain herself quite like Cris can. She's pacing the room in a silent prowl, from one side to the other in slow steps with fingertips getting nervously tangled in blue locks. Barefeet, her own black jeans, but the black v-neck t-shirt is all his and it hangs off her thin frame with the hem hitting her thighs like a tunic. "Grey Book." She repeats the words and casts golden eyes at the book capturing its movement. "But this one is safe." More of a question in her inflection than a statement, the same question she has asked repeatedly even if it seemed rather benign on the surface. "What's the point of having a Rune remove your ability to speak?" She wants to be clear on the details before they go diving head first into this. It's not the first time she has tried this and that with her own abilities, but it's the first time she has ever drawn someone else into her experimentation. The last thing she wants is for this to have a poor outcome for Cris because she overlooked something.
Glancing up. For a moment, he thought she'd meant the book, and that didn't make any sense---books were always, mostly, safe. Depending upon where you got them. "Yes, this one is safe." Squinting down at the table of runes before him, he traces the outline of Quietude with the tip of his thumb. Shaped similar to a lyre, with a thick U border and dozens of smaller lines bisecting in the empty space, a prominent stroke that coincidentally resembled a capital S slanted in the very center. "I presume its original intention was less than pleasant. To silence prisoners or perhaps even children when they were being rowdy. The Silent Brothers are a particular sect of Nephilim that dedicate their lives to the pursuit of knowledge and higher thinking---they are, mostly, the sole bearers of these runes now. They speak not with their tongues but with their thoughts. They're rather incredible to behold."
Her non-stop steps carry her over to his side, turning to settle her back against the wall so she's not squirming from one foot to the other while looking at the book over his shoulder. She watches the trace of his thumb along the page, squinting like if she stares at it long enough some new information will arise about the mess of intricate swirling and swooping black lines. His examples of possible uses make her frown, though she does find one silver lining from it. "People wouldn't put it on a child if it wasn't safe." He had just told her it was safe but she'll gladly take any additional confirmation that she can. Her gaze slides from the book to him, his crown of wet chestnut hair. "They sound... interesting." Intimidating, really. Wise men as silent at the grave thinking at you.
The rune itself was one of nine on the page. Nine others rode the next page. Of the eighteen: Soundless, Talent, Strength and Stamina were as familiar to him as they were no doubt to any who spent a great deal of time looking at his skin. He made sure to put his fingers across the rune that was a smaller version of the one he'd Marked across his heart. "We'd do nothing to our children that we felt unsafe. There's a few sections concerning the Silent Brothers in this book if you'd like to read it." He did not seem overly concerned with sharing. "I'm to draw this on the back of my neck," informing her. "I've a small mirror in the shaving kit Izumi gifted me for Christmas, and it's not a difficult rune. I put Night-Vision here." Touching the back of his neck, closer to his right ear than his left, where a network of silver scars spoke of the faded touch of a stele.
"Maybe I will. I'm getting better and better at this research stuff and it seems everyone loves writing about every creature you can imagine aside from Shape-shifters. Might as well continue brushing up on everything I'm not." The comment doesn't sound as bitter as it once might have been. It's much more accepting but wry, aware of the challenge ahead of her but not giving up so easily. She follows his fingers to his neck even if she can't see the remains of the Rune from where she stands. "You can apply it and just as easily you can remove it, yes?" Another question she has asked again and again, wanting that last confirmation before she goes fetching a mirror and accidentally dooming him to a life of no speech. At least she's aware of her repetitions. "Humor me, please."
"I only ask that if you're to make interaction with Talon a habit, and I don't mean to sound displeased about that, by all means, speak to him if you'd like. But I'd like for you not to mention that I've given you access to this book." Lifting the Codex and promptly closing it. "It's a tome meant only for Nephilim, or Mundanes on the path to Ascension." Prepared, his stele had been resting against his right thigh, waiting for him to take it. When he does, he stands, offering her a kind smile of reassurance. "Of course. I swear to you, you'll hear my voice again."
His mention of Talon draws her attention from the back of his neck to his face and then the book. "What you tell me and the access you grant me is not for him to know. The only reason I did not come out sooner to peg him to his face as Nephilim is because that automatically turns to questions of how do you know and who do you know." There's something a little proud in her smile that gets lost in the darkness but the thump of the closing book makes her heart beat faster and washes her face of all expression and any color she might have had. He stands and she pushes off the wall bringing her to her full height even if it?s slight. A deep inhale, a slow exhale in an attempt to calm her nerves. "I believe you." Her smile begins weak but she makes a point to brighten it just a little, to not let her uncertainty of the situation show.
"They all seem to know of me. I doubt that even he would have a hard time figuring it out." Half smiling at her over his shoulder. He leaves the Codex on the desk, next to a large pad of paper and a thin pen, on his way to the bathroom. "Thank you." He flips on the light, squinting at the shift from witchlight to electricity. The lacquered wooden box that holds all of Izumi's gifted tools sits at an angle on the miniscule counter next to the sink, pristine atop the dingy tile. Setting his stele down, he digs his thumbnail beneath the clasp and pries the wooden lid open. "There's still time to stop this if you'd rather not go through with it," says as he pulls the small mirror from its strap. Light plays off the razor's sharp edges.
((Thank you to Crispin))
Crispin sits at the foot of the bed, his back to the wall. Right leg curled beneath him while his left hugged the side of the bed, his knee bouncing with unrestrained agitation. Though with most of his concentration put on his task, the subtle, nagging desire to smoke only simmered at the base of his skull. He had made it three days so far with only errant thoughts of how empty his hand felt without a cigarette smoldering in it. "From an early age, Nephilim are given a copy of the Grey Book to study from, along with a Codex, such as this." Lofts the leather bound book in his hands for Lenore's benefit. While the cover was faded with age, it was not damaged. The only decoration was a large chalice gracing the front, covered in gold filigree. He licks his fingertips and flips through the pages. "We memorize the runes for our future use. This one is not one I've had to use previously, though I do remember it. I only want to check---" Trailing off, he tilts his head. "There."
Lenore can't contain herself quite like Cris can. She's pacing the room in a silent prowl, from one side to the other in slow steps with fingertips getting nervously tangled in blue locks. Barefeet, her own black jeans, but the black v-neck t-shirt is all his and it hangs off her thin frame with the hem hitting her thighs like a tunic. "Grey Book." She repeats the words and casts golden eyes at the book capturing its movement. "But this one is safe." More of a question in her inflection than a statement, the same question she has asked repeatedly even if it seemed rather benign on the surface. "What's the point of having a Rune remove your ability to speak?" She wants to be clear on the details before they go diving head first into this. It's not the first time she has tried this and that with her own abilities, but it's the first time she has ever drawn someone else into her experimentation. The last thing she wants is for this to have a poor outcome for Cris because she overlooked something.
Glancing up. For a moment, he thought she'd meant the book, and that didn't make any sense---books were always, mostly, safe. Depending upon where you got them. "Yes, this one is safe." Squinting down at the table of runes before him, he traces the outline of Quietude with the tip of his thumb. Shaped similar to a lyre, with a thick U border and dozens of smaller lines bisecting in the empty space, a prominent stroke that coincidentally resembled a capital S slanted in the very center. "I presume its original intention was less than pleasant. To silence prisoners or perhaps even children when they were being rowdy. The Silent Brothers are a particular sect of Nephilim that dedicate their lives to the pursuit of knowledge and higher thinking---they are, mostly, the sole bearers of these runes now. They speak not with their tongues but with their thoughts. They're rather incredible to behold."
Her non-stop steps carry her over to his side, turning to settle her back against the wall so she's not squirming from one foot to the other while looking at the book over his shoulder. She watches the trace of his thumb along the page, squinting like if she stares at it long enough some new information will arise about the mess of intricate swirling and swooping black lines. His examples of possible uses make her frown, though she does find one silver lining from it. "People wouldn't put it on a child if it wasn't safe." He had just told her it was safe but she'll gladly take any additional confirmation that she can. Her gaze slides from the book to him, his crown of wet chestnut hair. "They sound... interesting." Intimidating, really. Wise men as silent at the grave thinking at you.
The rune itself was one of nine on the page. Nine others rode the next page. Of the eighteen: Soundless, Talent, Strength and Stamina were as familiar to him as they were no doubt to any who spent a great deal of time looking at his skin. He made sure to put his fingers across the rune that was a smaller version of the one he'd Marked across his heart. "We'd do nothing to our children that we felt unsafe. There's a few sections concerning the Silent Brothers in this book if you'd like to read it." He did not seem overly concerned with sharing. "I'm to draw this on the back of my neck," informing her. "I've a small mirror in the shaving kit Izumi gifted me for Christmas, and it's not a difficult rune. I put Night-Vision here." Touching the back of his neck, closer to his right ear than his left, where a network of silver scars spoke of the faded touch of a stele.
"Maybe I will. I'm getting better and better at this research stuff and it seems everyone loves writing about every creature you can imagine aside from Shape-shifters. Might as well continue brushing up on everything I'm not." The comment doesn't sound as bitter as it once might have been. It's much more accepting but wry, aware of the challenge ahead of her but not giving up so easily. She follows his fingers to his neck even if she can't see the remains of the Rune from where she stands. "You can apply it and just as easily you can remove it, yes?" Another question she has asked again and again, wanting that last confirmation before she goes fetching a mirror and accidentally dooming him to a life of no speech. At least she's aware of her repetitions. "Humor me, please."
"I only ask that if you're to make interaction with Talon a habit, and I don't mean to sound displeased about that, by all means, speak to him if you'd like. But I'd like for you not to mention that I've given you access to this book." Lifting the Codex and promptly closing it. "It's a tome meant only for Nephilim, or Mundanes on the path to Ascension." Prepared, his stele had been resting against his right thigh, waiting for him to take it. When he does, he stands, offering her a kind smile of reassurance. "Of course. I swear to you, you'll hear my voice again."
His mention of Talon draws her attention from the back of his neck to his face and then the book. "What you tell me and the access you grant me is not for him to know. The only reason I did not come out sooner to peg him to his face as Nephilim is because that automatically turns to questions of how do you know and who do you know." There's something a little proud in her smile that gets lost in the darkness but the thump of the closing book makes her heart beat faster and washes her face of all expression and any color she might have had. He stands and she pushes off the wall bringing her to her full height even if it?s slight. A deep inhale, a slow exhale in an attempt to calm her nerves. "I believe you." Her smile begins weak but she makes a point to brighten it just a little, to not let her uncertainty of the situation show.
"They all seem to know of me. I doubt that even he would have a hard time figuring it out." Half smiling at her over his shoulder. He leaves the Codex on the desk, next to a large pad of paper and a thin pen, on his way to the bathroom. "Thank you." He flips on the light, squinting at the shift from witchlight to electricity. The lacquered wooden box that holds all of Izumi's gifted tools sits at an angle on the miniscule counter next to the sink, pristine atop the dingy tile. Setting his stele down, he digs his thumbnail beneath the clasp and pries the wooden lid open. "There's still time to stop this if you'd rather not go through with it," says as he pulls the small mirror from its strap. Light plays off the razor's sharp edges.
((Thank you to Crispin))