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Post by MP on Jun 22, 2018 1:11:20 GMT -6
Viktoria set to work with gratifying vigor. But the pale little third seemed rather ginger about his food. Sarkany watched from the corner of his eye but made no comment. Fussing would only aggravate things, and there were always spare packets in the icebox if this adventure failed. He looked to his morsel of salmon instead, prodding at it now and then to make sure it got an even taste of the fire. He'd tried a variation on his usual seasoning and was determined to have the best possible medium for a first sample. When some of the oil had collected, he tipped it from the original foil onto a fresh piece and took it back to the table, where he began to pluck at vegetables and nod over some mental checklist. Sarkany seemed utterly in his element, juggling the fish and a salad and now what looked like the beginnings of a steak and sauce.
"We don’t have much in the way of tableware," he was saying. "So we’ll have to eat as they're done, unless you like a little dirt around the edges. No need to wait for us -"
This last part was directed at Ru. Seeing the vampire's expression, he added "- and there are spares if that one doesn't work out. If you don't mind experiments, Hkoma can show us that pudding of hers, and Az can try the..."
His busy whisking faltered and stopped. There was a silence as his words caught up to him.
"Ah," he said finally. Sarkany shook his head and tapped one temple, seeming to come awake again.
"Senior moment," he said, smiling. "I can try a little something to spice it up. I used to be fairly good."
He turned to check on the slowly crisping salmon skin, relaxed as ever, though he no longer offered idle conversation.
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Post by jarahamee on Jun 27, 2018 23:20:27 GMT -6
Ru took a drink, after eyeing the cup a moment longer, and swirled it around as if it was fine wine. He then sipped a little of the still warm blood out and was surprised with how... full-bodied it tasted. It was still alive, he knew, but there was just something more lively about it warmed to normal body temperature. And why wouldn't it be? It was what he was made for, not this cold dead blood stuff. But the cold blood was so much more comforting in some ways... It was more like the familiar sodas he had before this mess all began
The vampire was both a little transfixed by the gruesome display of Vik preparing the meats, and a little horrified, and after a moment, he turned away. It was not much compared to watching his master feed, but there was still some trace of delicate sensibility he carried within him that had never changed.
And then, he tuned into what Sarkany was saying. What did he mean? Had those been his friends, once upon a dream? He watched the expression that Sarkany carried, the fading traces of joy that he transmitted for that moment, and then looked sad.
"They were your friends. Did you cook together?"
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Post by tsukikoko on Jul 14, 2018 5:12:37 GMT -6
Viktoria spent a few moments turning the meat on her crafted spit, checking it moved smoothly and was in no danger of collapse or catching fire. She glanced over at her companions and then to the food still untouched, knowing her own first preparation would be a good long while yet. So she resolved to make something else as well, something a little quicker to fill the interim. She heard Sarkany mention her via nickname, referencing the pudding she had spoken of. She had never made it herself before, but could certainly recall the technique and how it smelt. The dish couldn't be that ha-
Az.
Sarkany said the name so casually, caught himself so quickly and tried to brush it off, that to do so almost drew attention more to what he had said than if he had carried on. It was the same name he had murmured when she carried him half-conscious away from who she now knew had been Sara, a name for someone she was pretty certain no longer existed. The corners of Viktoria's eyes pinched very slightly with concern, a barely noticeable expression, but there all the same. She said nothing about it, but as the scarred feline walked past Sarkany she laid a hand on his shoulder and gave him a very brief squeeze, before gathering up a bowl, pan and one of the blood bags. She wandered back to her fire without querying him about it but, as it turned out, Ru took it upon himself to ask instead.
The feline's ear swivelled a little as she poured the blood into a bowl, which she then placed in the shade to allow it to sit and harden. Whether Ru would like it or not, she figured it would be an amusing experiment regardless (plus, whether he liked it or not, Viktoria figured she probably would). She was also curious what Sarkany would say, if he said anything at all.
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Post by MP on Jul 14, 2018 23:48:45 GMT -6
Sarkany nudged the fish clear of the fire, letting it cook on residual heat. As the foil cooled, he left the steak in its place and moved it to the table, where he began dividing the salad onto makeshift plates. He did not acknowledge the touch to his shoulder, but he seemed to accept it by a certain ease to his movements. His answer was just as calm.
"Oh yes. Hunting, cooking, almost everything else." He smiled - not the usual superficial expression, but a fond, absent thing. "We were partners for a long time."
He motioned to the salmon plates with his good hand, an invitation for Viktoria to eat. Secure, pocketed, and compact, the foil-wrapped meal was the ideal shape to eat on the go. For his own part, he left the fish alone and retrieved a third blood bag from the cooler. Sarkany shrugged, his voice incidental and underlaid with the barest note. Perhaps apology. Perhaps just absentmindedness as he poured the blood into a mug.
"I forget sometimes."
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Post by jarahamee on Jul 15, 2018 0:12:27 GMT -6
Ru would have paused at the two of them pouring themselves some blood, then some part of him remembered: both of them were not human, and drinking human blood would be more than fine with them, he imagined. And somehow, being a little vampiric did suit Sarkany, no matter how kind he happened to be. And since they weren't human, it was probably more sanitary somehow. Like eating steak-blood.
Though admittedly even eating steak blood made him feel a little queasy when he was alive. At least he could stomach the idea of swallowing human blood in his vampire body. It was not the first time. He could even feed off a living person if he had to, though he would really prefer not to, and confusing them and making them obey him made him feel...bad...
Ru watched Sarkany and smiled just a little bit, touching the offending arm with the mug, and looked back at Vik.
"I can try to take a bite of the hardened blood. I mean it shouldn't be that different than eating coagulated blood I suppose. Uh, Sarkany, I'm uh... I'm sorry."
For a solitary moment, he had the strange feeling that Sarkany was completely alone, like him, and that made him sad. Even if Sarkany did not seem sad, Ru could not help himself. He bit his lower lip, very slightly.
"So uh, Viktoria, um, what are your pronouns? And what sort of being are you, if you don't mind me asking?"
He put his fingers together and twiddled the thumbs as he mulled over the possibilities. He almost felt dense for not asking, but Sarkany had done such a good job avoiding the question.
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Post by tsukikoko on Jul 15, 2018 2:19:46 GMT -6
Viktoria, who had been attending her spit roast while listening to the conversation without interrupting, swung her attention more full to Ru as he addressed her. Emerald eyes slid sidelong to look at him, before she tilted her head as a perplexed dog might. "Prrrro...nouns...?" Her head tilted the other way, brow furrowed in thought. "I... ah, I hyave not hearrrd zis. Do not... know vhat you arrre of me asking."
The confused expression lifted, replaced by a steadfastly deadpan expression. "As forrr vhat I am-" She paused to turn the spit again and when she spoke the feline's tone was one of a soldier reading a report; monotone, emotionless and factual, though whether that was just her standard manner of speaking was a little difficult to tell without knowing her well. "I am Marrrk von Terrrrine. Genetically alterrred combat humanoid. My blend is human, tigerrr sharrrk, shorrtfin mako sharrrk, jaguarrr and domestic cyat." She released the spit, turned her hand palm up and extended her claws almost thoughtfully as she continued to explain, "I am built forrr combat, forr complete obedience to, ah.. cerrtain individuals. I vas made to kill, to, ah, vithout question destrrroy vhat iz told of me and think all life vorthless." Standing up fully, the scarred feline walked over to where Sarkany had laid out the fish, continuing to explain as she did so. Whether speaking of herself this way bothered the humanoid was impossible to tell, but she didn't seem concerned about revealing the details. "Mahscle iz good, stealth good, surrvivability iz good, ability to kill iz.. verrry good. Obedience, vay I am seeing life..." As she picked up a piece of salmon, Viktoria lifted one shoulder in a small shrug. "I am faulty." With a flick of her wrist and a snap of her jaws the entire piece of salmon disappeared as though she barely needed to swallow. The feline's pupils swelled momentarily and a note of emotion, of excitement, crept back into her voice. "Zis verrry good Sarrkany. Vhat iz, ah.. zis pink flesh? Iz not, ah.. like meat I hyave beforre hyad."
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Post by MP on Jul 23, 2018 23:22:49 GMT -6
Sarkany waved Ru off good-naturedly and poured the last dregs of his blood packet into a tin. He warmed it while he tended the steak, smiling and swaying faintly all the while as if to a tune only he could hear. If he was troubled by Viktoria's tone or the dangerous topics she skirted, so fresh in the minds of their packmates, it showed in neither his expression nor his cooking. He was absent, hardly seeming to hear her at all. The steak was developing a fine outer char. He thought he could remove it in another minute.
Keeping an eye on it, he took the heated blood back to the mug, dusting in a little cinnamon as he went - not enough for real flavor, but enough for a little color at least. Sarkany dripped the cinnamon mixture into the bloody mug in brief test droplets. Satisfied, he began to pour in earnest. His movements were quick and fluid, sure for all his lack of practice in recent years. The warm blood drizzled into the cold, a thin red thread that looped and turned back on itself, pooling and lacing over the thicker surface. A pattern emerged: delicate fronds, a proud stem, a pattern of laurels about the edges. Hardly his best work, but he thought he'd done quite well given the circumstances. Sarkany picked up the mug and latte art - blood art, he supposed - and passed it to Ru.
"Sockeye," he answered Viktoria, proving he'd been listening after all. "They live in the rivers hereabouts. And a few of the lakes, as it turns out." He turned back for the steak before it could overcook. "Not very bright things, lucky for us."
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Post by jarahamee on Jul 24, 2018 0:46:18 GMT -6
Ru accepted the mug carefully, then examined the blood latte closely. He then touched to gracefully and smiled at Sarkany. What a kind gesture. With all this blood, he would be strong in no time, he was sure. He pondered on the possibility. What if he had had become a strong vampire? Maybe he'd be of use to his friends then.
"Aw..thanks...Um, maybe one day, I will be a strong vampire."
He grinned at Sarkany, who had been lost in thought, as if it was all an in-joke to him. He sipped his drink carefully, and hoped it did not all come up like it did the last time he tried to eat too much solid food, or went beyond the tipping point with liquids.
Ru knit his brow as he pondered Viktoria's response. If it was true, then it raised even more questions, like, was she a secret Russian military experiment? Or from the future? How did they hybridize? Secondly, she did not appear to understand his question. Very well then. He would have to explain to her, he imagined. For now, he started with;
"Oh..uh, um, I guess we were both made for a purpose then. Where did you...come from, if you don't mind me asking?"
He paused and considered, before taking another sip of his blood latte;
"... I um. Pronouns are just how you want to be addressed. Your gender identity. Like he, she, they, or something else entirely if you wanted."
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Post by tsukikoko on Jul 24, 2018 3:59:29 GMT -6
An eyebrow ridge arched above one of Viktoria's eyes at Ru's explanation about pronouns, before the scarred feline responded, "Ah. Iz, uh, I feel does not matterrrr much." She shrugged, "But if you arrre concerrrned, I am female. So.. she. But I am, ah, avarrre am not looking much female, so if am called he, does not botherrr. Vas mostly 'it' orrr 'asset', perrrhyaps designation numberrr, forrrr long time." As she spoke, Viktoria glanced over the various cooking supplies, eventually picking up what could be used as a wok and taking a knife in hand, popping the both of them on a large rock near her fire spit, before heading back to collect oil, spices, a few vegetables and some bird meat, though she couldn't be sure exactly what kind of bird it was - Earth just had so many different animals in this time period.
Speaking of time periods, as she covered the base of the wok in oil, threw in a very hefty dose of paprika, salt, pepper, cayenne and chilli (mostly by smell than knowing what most of the spices actually were) and placed it at the edge of the fire, then leant herself on the rock beside her utensils, the feline took the chance to answer Ru's other question. First off, she pointed straight up at the sky, "I vas on Marrrs built, though designed most forrr Earrth combat." As her hand dropped and she continued to speak, Viktoria began to cut the meat into slim strips with the knife and dropping them into the sizzling oil, barely even looking at it, moving the blade with an almost frighteningly practiced ease. "But, ah, I suppose vhen I am frrrom iz betterrr question." Vegetables soon followed the meat, until there was an aggressively sizzling stir fry cooking on the fire, which the humanoid flipped and moved the contents off with frequency to prevent them burning, seemingly uncaring of the heat very close to her hand. "25th centurrry, if you arre vonderr. I do not know how I am, ah.. getting herrre. Sarrrkany at firrst iz, ah, zink I am... valkerrr, time trrravelerr, I believe. But.. ah, I do not zink could rrreplicate vhat iz hyappen even if I trrry. Most because I do not know hyow iz happen."
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Post by MP on Jul 24, 2018 14:15:24 GMT -6
“It’s the cat in you, I imagine,” Sarkany commented. With his steak garnished and served and his pocket of salmon salad enthusiastically devoured, he’d drifted over to Viktoria’s elbow and was overseeing the developing stir fry with a vaguely covetous eye. He watched the sweetly browning curl of an onion for a moment before explaining.
“Well they’re natural Walkers, right down to the kittens. Fill in for us now and again when we’re shorthanded.” Sarkany shrugged as if feline coworkers were the most natural thing in the world. He hardly seemed to notice the ‘us.’ “If you were part Walker, Hkoma, I wouldn’t be surprised. Could be the shark diluting things.”
He spoke the word with the inflection of a plumber pointing out a clog in the pipe. Sharks. Splendid hunters to be sure, but all the transdimensional talent of a brick.
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Post by jarahamee on Jul 25, 2018 0:00:59 GMT -6
Ru puzzled this over. Walker? Time travelling? It was not hard to imagine things like magic, but somehow, time travel was a little weird to wrap his head around. Metaphorically speaking anyhow. He still puzzled over the details, running it about in his head.
How did it work, if someone from the past appeared? Had she always been in the time stream? Were there parallel dimensions? What if she just left one time stream entirely and went to another? Had others made this journey? It seemed as if this was a common occurrence from how nonchalant Sarkany was about the whole ordeal.
It made him reconsider his world view, if only for a moment. He had everything turned upside-down once, and he would have it turned upside-down again if he was not careful. But maybe exploration and expanded understanding were good things. Perhaps, he was just on the path to becoming the most worldly vampire.
"... Oh. So.. is time travel common? Also...that's really cool. I guess I would change a few things if I could time travel..."
He would change /quite a few things, some of which were more important than others in retrospect. And he would ensure he was never a vampire. It made him pause.
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Post by tsukikoko on Jul 27, 2018 12:15:13 GMT -6
Viktoria glanced at Sarkany, continuing to flip the food in the wok to prevent it burning, keeping a careful eye on it even as she listened to her friend. When he finished explaining she chuckled a little, pulling the wok off the fire and spearing a piece of meat with one extended claw. "Cyat in me huh?" She let the air cool the meat for a moment, before flicking it into her mouth. A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth; this was far better than anything she'd had the means to make back in her time. Real meat and spices certainly made the difference, though perhaps it was also a state of mind thing. Eating for pleasure rather than necessity. "Hope I am accidentally not valking back, ah, in zhat case." She lifted her shoulder in a little half-shrug, her gaze settling on Sarkany, "I am prrreferrr zis place." She set the wok on a rock, spearing a piece of red pepper this time, as her ear flickered in Ru's direction, listening first to his question and then comment afterwards. Her eyebrow ridges creased a little and air snorted softly out through her nostrils. "Vould be carrreful vith, ah... changing vhat hyas beforrre hyappen." Another small shrug, "Decisions zhat might be small, orrr people being in von place orr ozerrr at... cerrtain time, orr even being alive to make.. futurrre decisions, could be differrrence zhat hyas, ah... many effects, zhat hyave zhen morrre effects." She looked over at the trees, then up at the sky, before exhaling a slow breath. "Ah, I am perrhyaps not explain vell."
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Post by MP on Jul 27, 2018 16:00:26 GMT -6
“I wouldn’t fuss,” Sarkany answered, pausing in his innocent examination of the wok to shrug at Viktoria. A repeat incident was always possible, but it was the kind of problem you took in stride. A natural risk. And besides, cats had a way of ending up exactly where they wanted to be, laws of nature be stuffed.
He busied himself with the wok’s contents while his companions discussed, plucking out morsels whenever the feline’s claws and teeth were occupied. The poultry was still quite warm, and he juggled it in his fingertips a moment before simply swallowing it whole. He eyed the remaining pieces with new respect before looking around at the debate.
“Oh no,” he interrupted with a chuckle. “No, no. That’s the self-centric view - 9th Age logic. Might as well fly to the nightlands and say you moved the sun.”
He raised an instructive finger, an onion ring suspended on its tip.
“Everything that could be has been. Every outcome already exists, whether we see it or not. What a Walker does - what a Walker is - is transition from one potential to another. They all happened. We only determine which of them we see.”
He popped the onion ring into his mouth, nodding appreciatively. It was more complicated than that, of course - rules and orders and the overarching nature of such beings. But that was all irrelevant. These were not his students, after all. He reached for one of the peppers next, savoring its sweet char.
“There’s still theory, of course. Does it exist because you’ve seen it, or can you see it because it exists? But from a working standpoint, it’s all the same. Your actions don't really change things. They don't change you.”
Sarkany had a precarious stack of vegetables now, pinched between his thumb and forefinger in a tiny sandwich. He carried them back to his cooling steak half as a side dish, gesturing Viktoria toward the other.
“You live with your choices. There’s no going back - even for a Walker.”
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Post by jarahamee on Jul 29, 2018 23:04:55 GMT -6
Ru thought that all sounded interesting in theory, but there was something that did not sound quite right about it. How could all of the timelines be weighed equally? What if someone thought of something, but would never do it in reality? Then that universe wouldn't exist, would it? If you were considering saving someone, would the universe where you saved them stay viable if you weren't there? Or would there just be other universes where they never entered that circumstance to begin with.
"But how does that work? There must be consequences for tinkering with events that happen... I mean, if you changed something that otherwise would have remained the same, wouldn't that change something? Doesn't it mean something that far in the future, people like Vik invented time travel and sent people back to the past? Almost sounds terminatory now that I'm talking about it."
He leaned back in his chair and took a big sip of his blood-latte, enjoying the flavor. So this was something he could eat too, AND, it didn't even have an unpleasant aftertaste to him. It was almost nice.
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Post by tsukikoko on Aug 16, 2018 6:49:07 GMT -6
Viktoria listened to Sarkany's... musings, lecture, explanation? She wasn't really sure what it was. He had, admittedly, far more direct experience with the machinations of time, or perhaps multiverses, that she did. However, the soldier began to wonder if his idea of time travel and her idea of time travel were actual two seperate, equally valid, events. His sounded more like moving between universes, without trying to alter the course, than going back to a previous time period in the same universe and changing it. The more Viktoria turned the latter scenario over in her head, the more she thought cascading effects <i>must</i> be a valid outcome. Surely, if she were to go back, even only a couple of months, to remove someone from existence that should have been there, that would have a rippling effect on the future? An action they would take, someone they would save, even if just by talking to said person so they didn't just happen to step out into traffic a few seconds later and be hit by a car, which would then go on to affect whatever that second person would have otherwise done in life... and so on and so on.
The feline sat silently, staring at a space somewhere in the middle distance as she thought the idea over. Wrangling her swirling, curious thoughts into something she could say coherently in English was proving a touch difficult and by the time she blinked and focused attention back on her companions, the conversation had moved to Ru, who seemed to be thinking along at least a similar vein to herself. Her lips parted ever so slightly, only to close again as she resolved to listen instead. Articulating her thoughts could be difficult at the best of times, but with the complexity of the topic and the risk of being misunderstood, Viktoria decided to remain quiet.
She had made short work of her wok of food and it wasn't long before the entirety of the steak Sarkany had gestured her towards vanished down the feline's gullet. She barely seemed to need to chew. After another quick check and a turn of her largest dish, the scarred humanoid took up a reclining posture nearby, her mind again turning to the time travel discussion. Her eyebrow ridges creased and then, near under her breath, she said simply. "Vonderrr if valking and time trravel differrrent?" The expression on her face smoothed out, deadpan once again, as Viktoria lifted a shoulder in a shrug, marking her comment as just offhand and idle.
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