[London. May 15, 1253. Outside the Church of St. Raphael.] [Moriel asked Eliana to meet him here - apparently he has something to show her? And apparently it's okay for her to come here now? Regardless, here they are, pretty much as usual. For once, though, Moriel is actually there waiting for her when she arrives.] [Begin!] #06* Eliana appears down the road about an hour and a half into the evening, looking much as she always does. Upon spotting Moriel, she quickens her pace slightly to the front of the church. #06* Moriel 's eyes lighten as she walks up. "Good evening, Mistress Casale." #06* Eliana smiles a touch at Moriel's greeting, and she nods to him. "Moriel MacRae. Good evening." #01 I take it the priest is no longer an issue? #06* Moriel glances towards the parsonage, frowning a little worriedly as he turns back to Eliana. "...no." #06* Eliana raises an eyebrow, the smile gone. "Why are we here, then?" #06* Moriel blinks. "I mean he isn't a problem any more." #01 Ah. #06* Eliana looks to the parsonage, too, trying to figure out why the worried frown. #06* Moriel shrugs. "And this was the most convenient place we both knew to meet." He tilts his head in a gesture of invitation. "Shall we?" Presuming Eliana follows, he starts walking down the hill away from the church. #06* Eliana blinks as Moriel starts away, but she follows readily enough. #06* Moriel leads her roughly west, his eyes lightening again as they walk. Wherever they're heading, he's happy about it. After a little bit of quiet, he glances at Eliana. "I moved." #06* Eliana starts a bit. "So soon?" And then she offers a small smile. "I'm glad. We're heading to your new haven, then?" #06* Moriel nods. "I wanted you to know where it was, so you could find me." He glances at her and smiles a little wryly. "Not that you could not anyway, but to make it a little easier." #06* Eliana chuckles. "A bit." #01 I do have limitations, but I'd rather not advertise them. Mm. Reasonable. #01 I have been researching methods in which I can contact you or Rolf in times of need. I've found no existing ritual that will do so easily, and I'm worried whatever I manage to cobble together will be somewhat crude. #06* Moriel glances at her. "Hm. Anything would be an improvement over nothing, however, and presumably you can refine it over time." #06* Eliana shrugs with one shoulder, looking ahead. "Presumably." She seems somewhat dissatisfied, though. "I will likely require some of your vitae, once perfected. It already possesses the ability to bond, as we well know." #06* Moriel 's expression flickers for a moment, but then it returns to simple calm thought and he nods. "Tell me when you need it, then." #01 I will. It will likely be best for you to be present. #06* Moriel nods again, then casts Eliana a sidelong glance. "...will your clan accept you bringing an outsider into the middle of a ritual?" Even if it's necessary...it seems the sort of thing that would be...discouraged. #06* Eliana looks ahead. "Yes. Although you already saw me inscribe runes in my own blood, and you heard the entire chant." That is true. Though without a memory like yours, I certainly cannot recall even the half of it. #06* Eliana inclines her head in agreement. "Even so, successfully performing a thaumaturgical ritual requires more than a sequence of gestures, objects, and words." #01 Besides, if I were betray you through this, I think it only fair you can trace it back to that point. You are *trusting* me with your blood - in theory. You deserve to know what I do with it. #06* Moriel blinks. "I suppose that's true. I do not expect you would betray me, however." #06* Eliana glances at Moriel, managing a moment of eye contact, before she says, "Evidently, or you wouldn't consider offering it in the first place." #06* Moriel glances up at Eliana. "No." And then a faint twinkle appears in his eye and he adds, "At any rate, your clan's secrets are safe from me, as I do not understand them." #06* Eliana smirks. "Of course." [About this time Moriel leads Eliana up to an isolated cottage. It's fairly ordinary, as these things go, but from the outside at least it looks neat and clean. Overgrown fields spread out around it, leading up to the the edge of woods a little way away.] #06* Moriel doesn't actually take Eliana inside, however. Instead he leads her around one side to the back of the house, steps quickening unconsciously. He glances back at her, eyes bright, beckoning. "Come." #06* Eliana looks at the house curiously as she follows Moriel around to the back. "Does someone reside here?" [And behind the house is...a sprawling flower garden. Considering Moriel can only have been working on it for a few months, it's quite large, with dozens of different kinds of plants and flowers nearly spilling over their beds.] #06* Moriel smiles widely at her. "I do. And..." He spreads his arms to the garden behind him. "I have a garden again." And since I don't have to grow plants to eat...I can plant flowers. #06* Eliana 's eyes widen upon seeing the flowers, and she stops in her tracks. "Oh." #06* Moriel smiles. "Don't worry, the path is wide enough that you won't hurt them. I made sure. After this long, I know your radius." #06* Eliana sharpens her vision and nods, continuing down the path so she can see them more closely. #01 They're lovely. And very well cared for - you have a knack with plants. #06* Eliana pauses, peering at one, then another, before continuing. #06* Moriel looks around him with genuine pleasure. "Yes. I had not realized how much I missed it." #06* Moriel makes his way to the center of the garden, where there's a wider circle bare of plants, with a little table and a couple chairs. He waits there, watching Eliana with a smile as she circles the garden. #06* Eliana glances up at Moriel as she follows the path. "You have," she murmurs, with a bit of wonder in her voice. And then she points out a plant. "I recognize that one, from your herbal." #06* Moriel nods. "Yes. There are a few of them, scattered around. There, for instance." He points. #06* Eliana looks at it. "Antirrhinum. Snapdragon, or dragon flower. I've always liked that one more than most." Yes. #06* Moriel looks around again, smiling. "Though obviously I am partial to many." #06* Eliana laughs. "So it would seem." She continues following the path, eventually winding her way to the center. "You put thought into my seeing this garden." #06* Moriel glances at her, quieting. "Yes." #06* Eliana looks around, eyes following the length of the path again. #01 A labyrinth. Of sorts. #01 Follow it, watching only your steps, and you can find focus. #06* Moriel blinks. "I suppose. I prefer to remain still when focusing myself, personally. But you could use it thus." #06* Eliana shakes her head, mildly amused. "Or you could." She moves to one of the chairs, placing a hand over its back. "If one were to ask or insinuate." #06* Moriel glances at her and says softly, "I do not anticipate bringing many people here." He looks away again, eyes going distant. "Actually...I would appreciate it if you didn't tell others of it. St. Raphael's is still my domain, and I shall be there often enough; if they wish to find me, they can do so there." #06* Moriel glances at her again and adds, "Well. You can tell Miss Leftherder, of course." #06* Eliana raises an eyebrow at Moriel. "She doesn't even know you reside in St. Raphael's. I had no need to inform her and did not wish to intrude." #01 I'll let her know of your new location if you like. #06* Moriel shrugs. "I didn't know. But if she needs to find me - whatever you think best." #06* Eliana nods and looks around. #01 I think she'd like your garden. Almost as much as you do. #06* Moriel smiles faintly. "Well, she is welcome to come to it whenever she likes." #01 Then I will inform her. #06* Moriel nods and pulls out the chair he's standing behind to take a seat. He makes an open-handed gesture towards the other if Eliana cares to do the same. #06* Eliana does, then! She sits in the chair she was already standing behind before brushing her hood down back her head with one gloved hand. Apparently the previous occupants of this place died of some kind of disease. No one else wanted to claim it, so it has been vacant for the past few years. I'm not sure why it wasn't burned; perhaps because it's far off from other dwellings. It seems all the humans around the area simply avoid it. #06* Eliana nods. "Perhaps it is haunted." #06* Moriel smiles wryly at her. "Well, the dead do occupy it now. Or at least, one does. I have not noticed any others." #01 If you do, I'm sure you can come to some sort of agreement. #06* Moriel nods. "If it were haunted, though, and the previous occupants objected to my presence, I suspect they would have made it known by now. I've been here for a few months." #06* Eliana grins. "Likely. Or they may only be concerned with the above ground." #01 What happened to the priest? #06* Moriel stills and glances away, then back to Eliana. He sighs. "He's still there. I...met him again." He pauses. "I suppose you could say we came to an understanding. It was he who told me of this place." #06* Eliana stares. "What?" #06* Moriel glances at Eliana unhappily, debating whether to actually repeat himself. He knows she heard the first time. After a long moment he says softly, "He thought I wouldn't fear ghosts or disease." #06* Eliana frowns. "*Obviously*." She pauses. "Did you ghoul him?" #06* Moriel twitches. "No." Pause. "I didn't...want to do it against his will. And...I don't...want to bring him any more into...this world...than he already is." #06* Moriel sighs. "He would have been better off staying away from me. But he is too stubborn." #06* Eliana facepalms. "Then you *should* have ghouled him, if you weren't going to kill him, which I doubt you would do anyway. Priests are hardly unusual ghouls; it's how my sire found me." She frowns, thinking. #06* Moriel blinks at that but waits while she thinks. #01 And now you have a human priest who not only knows where you sleep, but determined it. Don't you realize how dangerous this is? #06* Moriel glances at Eliana. "Yes. But if he wanted to harm me he would have done it already. He doesn't." #06* Moriel adds quietly, "He is a very poor liar, as well." Besides. I can touch-read objects. I have done it to nearly everything he's touched in the church. #06* Eliana raises an eyebrow. "And yet he lets you walk," she says, skeptically. #06* Moriel sighs. "He considers anyone in his church to be his responsibility. He didn't know what I was at first, after all. He just thought I needed help, and thought it his duty to try to provide it." #06* Eliana nods, letting Moriel go on. #06* Moriel looks away. "When I met him the second time...I thought he had retired for the night. He *had* retired for the night, but...it seems he had forgotten something. He came back to the church. And found me." Considering our first meeting I suppose it's no surprise he remembered me. #01 And? He asked me if I'd recovered. I left rather quickly, but...after that he waited in the church. Every night. For hours after sunset, sometimes. #06* Eliana raises an eyebrow. #01 He is a stubborn man. Yes. Very. #01 But easy to avoid, if he's making his presence known in such a way. #06* Moriel looks down at his hands. "Not for me," he says softly. #06* Eliana frowns. "Then you should have let me know. I would have helped arrange some way to convince the priest to change locales." #06* Moriel actually smiles faintly at that, looking back up at Eliana. "You would not have found that easy." #01 Evidently, but I am also not easily deterred. #06* Moriel smiles a little more. "Yes, I know." #06* Eliana folds her arms. "Well?" #06* Moriel looks away again. "He won't harm me. I know it. And he won't tell anyone else of my existence." #01 You trust this man a great deal. #06* Moriel glances at her again. "Yes. I do." Though it would be unwise of him to tell anyone of me, anyway. #01 There is rarely much sympathy for sympathizers. #01 Why? Why do I trust him? #01 Yes. #06* Moriel is quiet for a little while. "He found a man - he thought - hurt and afraid, and wanted to help. When he found me again, he tried to counsel me, as a good priest does. When he found out what I was...he said that God does not damn His children irrevocably, and asked me to come to confession." #06* Eliana tilts her head, listening, and frowning slightly as she does. When Moriel reaches the part about confession, she ahs. "And you did." Some. A very little bit, at first. It has been over three decades since I've confessed, after all. There is quite a lot. #06* Moriel 's smile is wry, but his eyes are still sad. #01 Yes. I imagine it is. But you told him everything, of what you remember? #06* Moriel 's gaze flicks away again. "Not everything. Not yet." #06* Eliana frowns at the 'yet'. But she nods. #06* Moriel is quiet, looking out at his garden. #06* Eliana rubs at her face with both gloved hands, then sighs, leaning back and folding her arms. "What's his name?" she asks, after regarding Moriel for a time. #06* Moriel glances at her again. "Peter." #01 Peter. Appropriate. #06* Moriel smiles faintly. "Yes." #06* Eliana nods, but she doesn't say anything more. She still looks like she's trying to process all of this. #06* Moriel just sits quietly beside her as she processes. #06* Eliana asks, after a time, "Does he know about your place under the church?" He knows that I used to sleep somewhere beneath St. Raphael's. Not where. #06* Eliana scowls, her grip tightening on her arms, but she forces herself to relax. "You trust him a *great* deal." He found me shortly after sunset - twice - and realized himself that I must sleep nearby. And there I was in a church with plenty of catacombs beneath it. #06* Eliana shakes her head. "All the same." #06* Moriel looks at her. "My risk. No one else will come to harm of it." #01 Yes. #06* Eliana looks around, taking in the plants again, and murmurs, "Of course." #06* Eliana quotes herself: "'Perhaps you need a lesson in humanity, if you want to be like one of them again.'" She turns her gaze to Moriel. "You found a teacher." #06* Moriel stares at her for a moment as realization blooms in his eyes. Then he looks down. He seems strangely shocked. "...have I...?" His eyes flick back to Eliana. "He would be a good one." #01 Well. #06* Eliana looks Moriel over. "He hasn't gotten you killed yet." #06* Moriel actually laughs softly. "No." #01 So I'd say he's at least adequate, concerning your immediate survival. #06* Eliana adds, in an offhanded way, "Though when I suggested you take a lesson, I did *not* actually mean that you should tell your local priest that you're a kindred." I certainly did not *intend* to. #06* Moriel looks down at his hands. "I couldn't stay away." #06* Eliana tilts her head at that and makes a small 'hm' sound. "Perhaps not," she agrees. #06* Moriel is quiet for a while. "Master Castelletti seems to think I am more human than most, anyway. I...am not sure I agree." #01 Why not? I...stayed away from others for so long. Not long by our standards, really, but...nearly as long as my entire life before then. I just watched. Now...recently...it almost seems as if I have spent more time with others than I did in the entire decade before that. It's strange. #06* Eliana shrugs. "Strange, a bit, but it seems to me that you found one or more to whose company you do not object." #01 And you're also working towards changing your situation. It's simply another change. Hm. I suppose. #01 Do you feel avoiding others' company makes you less human? #06* Moriel tilts his head. "Not precisely. It is more as if...I became accustomed to merely watching. And so even when I do interact, sometimes I feel as if I am still watching." He glances at Eliana. "Not with you. Or with Father Peter. But others. At court, often." #06* Eliana tries to work through what Moriel's saying. "And... you do not want to watch?" #06* Moriel shrugs uncomfortably. "It is not a very human thing, to observe but not take part in life." Aside from the other obvious difficulties. #06* Eliana shakes her head. "I've always watched. Observed," she clarifies, "even as a human. There were periods in my life when there was little else to do." #06* Moriel glances at her and says quietly, "I had not thought of that." #06* Eliana blinks. #01 Thought of what? #06* Moriel sighs. "That some have little to do in life but observe." #01 Ah. It's always not such a terrible thing. Many don't do enough of it. #06* Moriel considers. "True." At any rate...I have felt...better, recently. #06* Moriel looks around at his garden. "This helps." #06* Moriel smiles again. "This makes the short nights worth it, in fact." #06* Eliana glances around, herself. "Yes." And then she looks at Moriel again, and she smiles back, a bit. "I'd never seen you so happy before." #06* Moriel glances at Eliana. "Yes. I didn't realize...how much I needed to leave my old haven, before you suggested it." #01 Poor associations. I understand. #01 Hopefully, this new one will remain free of them. #06* Moriel nods. "I believe it will. At least, of those." [Mini end!]