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Post by piepiper on Dec 11, 2015 20:25:23 GMT -8
Sienna still displayed obvious signs of nervousness, but Harvey figured he could just shrug them off, considering how she'd actually been the one to invite him in the first place, and he was starting to get the feel that this was just her usual personality. But she seemed awfully friendly either way, just a bit shy.
The two of them stepped out onto the calm street again, and Harvey once more marveled at the atmosphere of the area. Seemed to be a place with some historical background...Hence his pleasant surprise at Sienna's comment. He turned immediately to the house she indicated, soaking in all the detail of its rustic charm. "Wow! Seriously? That's awesome! Is it the same house?" he blurted, running over to the building right away. Though it was well-maintained and evidently restored, it still retained its old-fashioned style which hinted that it was as old as any of the other seemingly historic houses in the area. It must have been initially built a long time ago. "Wait, so how long have you been around?" he added curiously. If Sienna'd been around as long as the house had, she might actually have a lot of cool apprentice stories to tell, provided she was willing to share them, of course.
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Post by mrslayton44 on Dec 12, 2015 18:57:29 GMT -8
The maid stood silently by as Harvey turned his wonder-filled gaze to the only home she’d ever known while living. It was still a grand sight to behold. The house had been well known and the family just as much. Had the war never happened she was sure the family would’ve probably been ruined with the scandal she and Clarence had nearly wrought on them. But she had died and the family name had been spared and they had obviously gone on to live and keep their land despite the hardships the fighting had waged on everyone.
Halting her thoughts with a shake of her head she turned to Harvey who had asked some questions. His excitement about the area was understood. If she ever to visit Egypt with an ancient Egyptian well she’d have wanted to know a number of interesting facts. Or Italy with an Italian. “Yes.”She said and started forward. She liked to pay a visit once a year to her old home.
His other question halted her steps a bit but she continued. “Nearly two centuries.” She replied softly but with a detached sort of tone. “Give or t-take a few y-years.” Nothing more needed to be said. If he knew enough history of the states then some simple math would ultimately lead to the conclusion that she had died during the civil war. That she had been a slave, and considered not only someone’s property but also barely human in a lot of people’s eyes. And that would lead to understanding her demeanor and mannerisms. All fo that was fine, it was the pity she hated to see.
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Post by piepiper on Dec 17, 2015 18:55:58 GMT -8
Harvey was still staring into the house while Sienna answered his questions. The most mindblowing part of it was that he wasn't even that mindblown anymore; being an apprentice was proving to be one huge history field trip, except this was actually interesting. The huge variety of people in HQ was never a bore; there'd always be a new story to tell and a fresh take on things that are presently viewed as nothing but forgotten memories of the past, one of which he stood in now. It certainly beat learning about this stuff in class, where it was all about numbers, people, and an objective view of outdated politics.
"Woah, two centuries?" Harvey echoed as he took in the building's architecture. Apprentices who had been around for long never ran out of experiences to share. Two hundred years in the past; that would mean the 1800s? "That's pretty a long! There are apprentices from ancient civilizations, though. It's so cool. How was..." He opened his mouth to release the questions filling up his mind already, but paused to do a double-take at Sienna. 19th-century...America? Admittedly, Harvey wasn't particularly well-versed in history, so it took a while for the years to register and coincide with the abashed look on the girl's dark face.
"Ah." He wondered briefly if he'd been a bit too enthusiastic about it all, but shrugged it off rather quickly in favor of his less abrasive questions. He wasn't sure if she was okay with talking about her past considering the circumstances (a lot of apprentices were pretty touchy about those kinds of things), but unfortunately such things weren't enough to curb his curiosity. He flashed her a reassuring smile and skipped over his first dozen questions. "Anyway, yeah. Two hundred years is a long time. Do you come back here a lot?"
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Post by mrslayton44 on Dec 27, 2015 23:31:00 GMT -8
Sienna looked pleased as Harvey left that conversation to the path behind them. he didn't even fix her with that look of pity she often was given. It was... refreshing. He was refreshing. If anything he'd seemed more fascinated than anything else which was a nice change. Nothing over the top of course, just simple, uninhibited curiosity. She nodded at his questions since most weren't really much to respond to with anything thought out. But she did answer the last one.
"Yes. I do. I like t-to at least c-come once a y-year." Her gaze flicked form him to the property before them. They were getting close and would soon be entering the living, working museum. She had been a bit of a specter here for some time now. At first it had hurt some to keep coming back. But with time she had come to enjoy watching Clarence's family come too and fro. Watching them grow, have children and then grow old themselves. She'd been seen herself by a few of the descendants and was herself considered a specter of the grounds. her story was well known. It was strange to be looked for here though of all places and it was the only time she didn't shy from curious eyes that seen her standing in her old haunt.
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Post by piepiper on Jan 15, 2016 2:30:59 GMT -8
"Once a year, huh? That's a lot of annual visits," Harvey mused as he skirted around the front of the property, completely engrossed. "That's cool; you got to see it change over time! Though it probably looks kind of the same. More of the area around, then." More like, it was a huge stroke of luck that this entire house happened to be preserved amid all the modernization going on. It struck Harvey just how young an apprentice he was; would he, too, watch the place he grew up in grow old through the centuries? He whistled to himself; he hadn't even gone back home since he'd died.
Harvey was distracted from his ponderings as he drew closer to the doorway of the property, which he noted now was wide open, a sign hung up on it which came as a pleasant surprise. His eyes shot up as he turned back to Sienna. "Woah, this place is a museum no? That's awesome! Though probably kind of weird. Hey, let's go check it out! You'd probably be a better tourguide than any of the history nerds inside." Without waiting for the answer, he whirled into the door, intrigued at a piece of past years that suddenly seemed more personal now that he had Sienna with him.
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Post by mrslayton44 on Jan 23, 2016 8:08:03 GMT -8
Sienna nodded and smiled a little. Harvey's excitement was a strange contrast to her melancholy. But she was fine with that. She'd never had anyone come along to her yearly visits before. She'd never offered either but still this would certainly be a new experience. she stayed silent until he dashed ahead and up into the doorway. And only once she joined him inside did she speak again.
"It's um.. y-yes. M-most of it is a-as it was d-during the war." She said softly and glanced around the expansive entryway before turning to Harvey. "A t-tourguide... y-yes that is w-what I'd be isn't it?" It was an amusing thought and she laughed a little at the idea of her giving all the guests a tour form the perspective of someone who'd been a slave in the residence. "Ah let's uh go to t-the kitchens f-first." She said and motioned for him to follow as she wound her way around the mingling guests and furniture with practiced ease.
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Post by piepiper on Jan 27, 2016 4:14:36 GMT -8
As Sienna began her softspoken description of the place, Harvey allowed his gaze to wander the room. It didn't seem to be a particularly busy day for the museum, not really surprising considering how quiet the area seemed to be at that time, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, as Harvey wasn't sure if he'd be able to hear Sienna over the noise of increased foot traffic. In any case, the place had a rustic charm to it, and he wondered what kinds of stories it had borne witness to over the years. At her beckoning, he followed Sienna through the gathered clumps of tourists, pausing to scrutinize a little detail or decoration here and there, then quickly catching up. Finding himself in a constantly talkative mood owing to the situation, he piped up, "The kitchens, huh? Unconventional starting point. I guess you've got a lot to say about the place, huh."
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Post by mrslayton44 on Feb 7, 2016 0:27:10 GMT -8
((I've had this typed up like twice and my comp crashed on me so sorry for the lateness orz))
Sienna nodded once at Harvey's assumption. The kitchen was where she'd been most of the time. Helping to prep meals and cleaning. Down here, away from prying eyes Clarence had found her that first time. It was where her life had begun. She walked past the civil war era appliances and back to the huge cellar like closet. Ducking under the ropes she entered the pantry and stopped to kneel in a corner and touched the floor.
"This is w-where my life started." She explained with a slight nod. "I was I think 8... it's hard to b-be sure, we didn't c-celebrate b-birthdays. But I w-worked in here t-till I'd learned e-enough to work all o-over the house." Standing once more she walked around the room, reminiscing quietly before slipping back out into the larger area. "I learned to c-cook here, to c-clean, to sew and s-serve. It was my l-life. I know it was h-hard work but I d-didn't mind it m-much. I had it e-easy r-really. My life h-had a purpose, I h-had a p-place." What was there complain about?
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Post by piepiper on Feb 9, 2016 1:54:07 GMT -8
((np huhu you'll never be later than me OTL))
Harvey followed Sienna into the kitchen, which was rather large; probably not surprising, considering it seemed to be a pretty rich place. He paused as Sienna did and fiddled with the random objects in the room, sticking his head into old stoves and peeking into cabinets and shelves. There wasn't much to see, but Harvey was easily amused by exploring stuff he wouldn't be allowed to touch had he been alive. Maybe he'd find a sweet trinket no one would miss, but the kitchen was predictably not exactly chock full of shinies.
To the tune of Sienna's narration, he imagined the room devoid of museum patrons, replacing them with servants from Sienna's era; it would've actually been a pretty homely kitchen with its size, and it was easy to recognize the delicious scents that might have wafted in the air once upon a time. The stammer in Sienna's intonation always got to him, though; he couldn't help but wonder if she really was content with her life, with the sort of confidence she had.
"Easy, huh?" he echoed, rather carelessly replacing a salt shaker he'd picked up. "Sounds tough to me. Since you were eight? Didn't you ever dream of more?" Harvey caught himself there; he'd never had to touch a frying pan in his life (or death); they'd always had maids working at home, and in HQ, for that matter. He turned to Sienna with a contemplative look at this sudden thought; he hadn't seen her as a maid before, but the way she was talking now and with the backdrop of the antique kitchen, she was really starting to seem like one. Harvey shrugged it off. "Yeah, actually, I wouldn't know. Maybe housework is actually a hell of a good time..." Somehow he doubted that, but he didn't let it get to him too much; the time was now, and there was still a huge house to explore.
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Post by mrslayton44 on Feb 15, 2016 9:00:41 GMT -8
Harvey's question bothered Sienna on some level but she didn't let it show. She hadn't dreamed of much really. Her dreams had consisted of things in books. Adventures, magic and far away places. But they'd mostly been the ideas and dreams that Clarence had planted in her. All the places he'd wished to visit, the vast world out there was bigger than anyone could imagine. And surely there was a place they could be together where no one would bat an eye. And where she could clean up after him and him alone, but only if she wanted to. They could have a family and land of their own that he would work himself. Such a lovely image of her tending to the home, him working the fields to provide and their eventual kids darting about freely and with no prejudice to weigh down their lives.
It had been a beautiful future to imagine and a dangerous dream to have in those times. But dreams seemed to have a nasty habit of dying. Only she had died and took all their dreams with her. It had been years though since that had happened. So many years and by now she had made her peace with it. She'd gotten to watch Clarence live out his life and had hoped for a moment that he might join her here but then perished the thought. She'd not wish this... whatever it was upon anyone.
Turning her attention back to Harvey who spoke again she shrugged her shoulders. "It's what I k-know best so it's the b-best thing I c-can do to be v-valuable." It was the simplest way to explain her fondness of her job. Keeping up her old habits had helped her acclimate to this life. She'd not trade it for anything. "And um... I n-never dreamed of m-much. Except traveling... getting married and h-having a family." The usual really, she wasn't particularly spectacular. She was a fairly average female for her age. At the time anyway. As of now she could still have two of the three. Well, more like one. No one was going to marry the wall flower maid. Traveling though... she could still do that. And she did every chance she had.
"W-what about y-you? Did you h-have any dreams?" She asked after a moment, turning the question on him.
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Post by piepiper on Feb 17, 2016 2:40:32 GMT -8
"Ah...well, at least you've got traveling down!" To be valuable...Sounded kind of sad when she said it that way, but hey, what was Harvey expecting, really? It seemed like she lived a terribly simple life and had simple ambitions, which wasn't very surprising; it showed in her manner even now, as she could hardly be called expressive nor particularly adventurous at first glance. Personally, he thought she could use a bit more flavor to her life, but he thought that about everybody, he was starting to realize, especially apprentices who had all those centuries to run free and still remained withdrawn. Harvey wondered vaguely how she died, but figured the current topic was uncomfortable enough for her. It seemed to be an unspoken apprentice taboo to mention cause of death. It'd make an awesome conversation starter if it weren't, though.
Harvey's diverging train of thought was forced back on track with her final question; he paused mid-turn as he was about to step out of the kitchen. "Hm," he pondered out loud, and leaned against a counter. The usual default answer came to mind: To excel both academically and musically, and to achieve new heights in a largely successful future. Fancy talk his mom and her friends loved the sound of; new heights and transcending borders and phrases like those were fan favorites, which meant he'd be even smarter than his (doctor) father and more talented than his (classically trained) mother. Not fun, and no longer applicable anyway; no one gave doctorates to dead teenagers.
He supposed he never really thought about it much since dying; he'd been having too much fun running around and making a ruckus. He grinned, "I guess you can say I'm living the dream...Well, figuratively." Or, mostly. Uninvited images of Jesse came to mind, and Harvey wondered if he would finally let loose if he'd become an apprentice, too...But that required dying, which was normally not an option. He turned before any of his momentary consternation showed on his expression, and declared as he marched on, "Living the dream's just living how I want, and that's the way things have been working out nowadays. I guess dying's better than they make it sound."
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Post by mrslayton44 on Feb 22, 2016 13:44:58 GMT -8
"Yeah, the traveling... it's fun." Sienna smiled fondly at the places she'd gone and the ones she still had yet to visit, or revisit. Change made it hard to see everything since you had to go back and check things out which was nice.
She fell silent as he mulled over the question being turned on him. She nodded once at his response once he finished. It was understandable. Some people found freedom in this life after all. Others found peace, family, friendship even love.
"Maybe so, b-but not everyone it s-seems." She said after a moment. But it was time to move on. She went back up the stairs at a leisurely place and took him to the dining room, the living room and ended in the party room. "I spent a lot of time in t-these places as well." She stated. "Cleaning, s-serving, attending to the n-needs of my masters. They h-held parties here, mostly d-dances and get togethers. I spent a lot of t-time... right here." She waked over to place herself against the wall, standing erect and at attention. "I never danced of c-course, I've been a wall flower f-for decades." She smiled a little at the joke, seemingly okay with this sad sounding existence she'd lived. But it had been years so while her habits and mannerisms were still in place her emotional ties to this time were waning and each new person she met and got to know, each new experience made it fade that much more. She'd never forget entirely but it would have less and less of an impression on her as time wore on.
"Do you know h-how to dance?" She would ask once she turned her attention back his way.
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Post by piepiper on Feb 29, 2016 2:16:12 GMT -8
Well...of course not everyone. A lot of apprentices seemed awfully bitter about dying; Harvey could only guess why, though he figured it was a sad backstory thing. Not surprising, for dead people...He was, in a way, walking through one of those right now; as he followed Sienna through the wide, polished museum hallways, he imagined spending all his days standing in the sidelines of all that grandeur, ordered explicitly not to openly interact with anyone. Admittedly, it was the opposite of what he'd been told to do back when he was alive, but it was pretentious authority he had a problem with in the first place. Harvey'd never be able to stay put; he'd probably purposely break the rules constantly...Which would probably get him into trouble. His eyes flicked to Sienna. Sad backstory, hm...
"Sounds tough," he muttered towards her narration, all this in mind, but straightened up again at her latter question. Harvey's eyes scanned the area; there were a few visitors scattered about, but it was a large enough room. "Yes, absolutely!" he chirped. "...Is what I'd like to say, but really my skill extends to not stepping on anyone's feet for three minutes straight in a waltz. Just enough to get by. I'm more of an instrumentalist." He indicated Celine by shrugging his flute case into a more comfortable position. "But if you just wanna give it a try, since you didn't get to dance here, probably, anything goes for me."
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Post by mrslayton44 on Mar 4, 2016 22:25:17 GMT -8
“It wasn’t t-that bad really.” Sienna replied with a soft shrug of her shoulders genuinely okay with her life before. It really hadn’t been as awful as everyone imagined it was. Smiling a little at his response had glanced around in search of something. Ah it was still there. The old Victrola, newly restored and in working condition. It was after her time they’d created the contraption. They’d had live music for balls. This has been a neat development to watch come about and she wondered idly if people thought this place haunted since she liked to come in and play with it so much. But there would be no reason to turn it on if no one danced though. Was she brave enough to ask Harvey for one?
Despite not making a mental decision on that last question she wandered over to it and opened up, situated a nearby record on it and pushed play. A moment later the tell tale signs of the gravely sounding player humming to life and was followed by an old fashioned tune. It sounded every bit as stuffy as the decor looked but the maid seemed pleased nonetheless as she turned back to Harvey. “Can you waltz?” It was all she could do after all herself and that was hardly considered a skill since she generally lame-ducked her way through the motions. Whether he agreed to dance or not was on him. She wouldn’t be bothered one way or the other.
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Post by piepiper on Mar 9, 2016 1:48:44 GMT -8
Hunh, looks like Harvey's limited know-how on waltzing would be useful posthumously after all. His mom would have a field day. Being rather fond of grand formal events, she'd thought it necessary for her children to at least know the basics of a simple waltz. Of course, Jesse was much better at it, likely because he had much more patience and a far longer attention span than his twin. But hey, Harvey could hold up decently enough...Er, he hoped. He hadn't stepped onto the dance floor in a few years, but hey, it was just basically stepping back and forth to the tune of the music a couple of times, right? How hard could it possibly be?
As the old Victrola sputtered to life, the tinny notes of the worn record reluctantly swam through the air and lent the room a homely antique feel, not unlike the shop they'd come from. With a grin, Harvey noted the surprised looks on the faces of some of the museum's wandering patrons. Waltzing suddenly seemed like a good idea; would the visitors hear their footsteps or notice them dancing at all? Look at those guys; they seem awfully pale, he was about to snicker aloud, but Sienna seemed to be waiting for an answer, so he shrugged casually and offered a hand with nearly sarcastic gallantry. "Yeah, one song couldn't hurt...or it could, depending on how terribly we dance. Oh, I mean, 'of course; I would be happy to, milady.'"
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