[voice & action]

[swooshycape]

voice

[ Sometime Monday afternoon, a voice pops up on the network to ask a single question. The voice is low and gravelly, and it's relatively toneless, though if one listens closely, there's a faint edge. Anyone who knows Vincent well can probably tell he's not happy, but to others, he's more or less monotonous. ]

Who here has a lab... and where... can I find it?

[ There are words he wishes to have with a certain doctor... ]

action

[ Otherwise, Vincent spends a lot of time lurking and simply watching people during the week - sometimes outright avoiding them but others just... observing. He's starting to gain a few familiar haunts, even if he has yet to claim a room as his own.

Most mornings he begins at the beach, sitting on the pier and watching the sunrise while he smokes a cigarette or two. If any early risers happen to comment on his smoking habit, they will be promptly given a flat look and then ignored. His lungs can take it, and it's soothing as much for the ritualistic movements as the nicotine. Old habits die hard.

Later on in the day, he can be found exploring the forest. He doesn't go too far in, having heard the warnings, and he finds it strange that nothing lives there besides the trees, but that doesn't stop him from investigating. He moves very quietly, and if anyone happens to join him in the forest, they're liable to get stalked... Don't be surprised to find him lurking in the trees, sometimes hopping between them. The strange thing, though, is when he leaps, there's something almost smokey about him, with his cape swirling around him. It's almost like he's flying a little... maybe he is.

But much of the time, when he actually is in the mansion, he can usually be found in one of three places:

The library - where he lurks in dark corners, reading assorted books - or Dean's Bar - where he lurks in a dark corner or at the bar and nurses a variety of drinks - or the tea rooms where he.... ignores the tea and drinks coffee instead. But they're normally quiet, secluded rooms, and he likes that.

(But really, feel free to bother him just about anywhere! At least he's not threatening people with his gun anymore...) ]

Comments

[swooshycape]

[ He watches her again for a moment before responding with a slight shrug. ]

My name is Vincent Valentine...

[ Politeness is always a safe fallback. But he takes another sip of his coffee before he speaks again. ]

... are you new, as well?

[no_nonsense]

A pleasure, and yes.

[Susan took a sip of her tea to cover her frown. To say that she did not enjoy Wonder Land was to say that water was wet. Technically accurate but simultaneously a gross understatement. Wonderland, like water in regards to the wet, possessed all the qualities that made up the things that Susan didn't like.]

This place is...difficult, but at least it's accommodating.

[And the tea wasn't entirely unfortunate.]

Have you had considerable trouble yet?

[swooshycape]

Mm.

[ Suspiciously accommodating, in fact. But he's not objecting too strenuously to the free coffee. It's pretty good coffee, too. ]

... only with others also trapped here.

[no_nonsense]

Oh? [Susan wasn't exactly the type to pry, not in the traditional sense, but she had absolutely no reason to refrain from it when it was relevant to her interests. In this instance, it was, and so she did.]

I've had a spot of inconvenience here and there, but nothing very troublesome. What happened?

[swooshycape]

Hn... a doctor got a little too experimental, shall we say...

[ And then he drinks some more of his coffee instead of elaborating. ]

[no_nonsense]

Doctors.

[If you can't feel the judgment in that tone, you're clearly deaf. Susan says it with all the vigor of a person who hasn't ever had much to do with hospitals and intends to keep it that way come Hell or high water.]

Just a stone's throw from cackling madmen, really. If we had more lightning, and an Igor or two, there'd be no end to the silliness.

I can't believe there are so many here.

[swooshycape]

[ He doesn't know what she means by an Igor, but he gets what she means and is darkly amused. ]

Heh. ... I am not certain I would call it 'silliness,' but... doctors do seem to... collect...

[ Here, back home - too many insane and nearly insane doctors. ]

[no_nonsense]

Collect what?

[Susan asked before she could stop herself, or think it over and realize he meant 'in general', but she frowned immediately after she'd asked it.]

Wait, never mind, I don't want to know.


You don't seem too out of sorts, considering your trouble was with a doctor. That's fortunate.

[swooshycape]

[ He blinks at her knee-jerk question but simply shrugs and takes another sip of his coffee at the rest of what she has to say. ]

... I believe I did more damage to his lab than he did to me. ... besides, he is not the worst... doctor I have encountered...

[no_nonsense]

I'm sure that will dissuade him from trying again.

[It seemed like a polite thing to say, but it was hard to gauge just how polite anything involving medical and/or collateral damage could be.]

I certainly hope the worst wasn't here, though?

[swooshycape]

No. ... my home world has its own share of... overly experimental doctors...

[ And he'll leave it at that. ]

[no_nonsense]

[Honestly, Susan was fine with leaving that topic where it lay. As nosy as she was, she had absolutely no interest in hearing more tales of mad medical malpractice. She knew quite enough of them already, thank you very much.

Silence settled for a few seconds and Susan used them to enjoy her tea. Once she'd run out, however, there was little to do but continue talking or leave. Given the staggering lack of anything else to occupy her time, she indulged in the former.]

I've met quite a few people from somewhere called Earth. I don't suppose you're one of them?

[swooshycape]

[ The silence is fine by him, but as she speaks of Earth, he pours himself another cup of coffee. And then he shakes his head as he adds a little milk. ]

No. ... my world is usually called Gaia. ... yours?

[ Worlds is interesting. Worlds is an okay topic. ]

[no_nonsense]

That depends. Do you want the name of the turtle, the four elephants on its back, or the habitable part that the elephants hold up?

[How anyone could say that with a straight face was a mystery for the ages, yet, somehow, Susan managed it. She was absolutely not joking. Some people could communicate shades of meaning with their eyes; Susan could communicate utter, distilled seriousness.]

Generally we refer to the whole lot of it as The Disc, but I've never had to explain it to someone who was from another world...well, another physical one.

[swooshycape]

[ What.... ]

Your world... is a disc on four elephants on top of a turtle...?

[ Does he have that straight? The utter seriousness in her gaze keeps him from questioning the idea itself (and honestly who is he to question how other worlds work, anyway?), but he does want to make sure he has the concept right. [

[no_nonsense]

Flying through space, yes. With a tiny moon and sun orbiting round the lot of it.

[Susan nodded in a fashion that could only be called gravely. After a beat, she added:]

It's a rather silly place, I'm afraid.

[swooshycape]

Hm... it sounds... interesting to behold.

[ He thinks about it for another few moments. ]

...I am afraid I cannot visualize it, however... I do not know what an elephant is.

[no_nonsense]

It's alright, they're not terribly interesting. Anything large and on four legs should do as a mental replacement.

[It was silly, but even Susan couldn't contest that the Discworld was beautiful, especially when viewed from a great distance. Odd, very much, but also a little majestic.]

Probably the most striking part is the Discbow, where the ocean runs off the rim and into the magic again. It's quite colorful, even if you have to lean an uncomfortable distance over the edge to see it.

It's rather the best excuse for the Circumfence, in my opinion.

[swooshycape]

Hm... that does sound... beautiful. [ And he means that - he can certainly imagine a waterfall into a rainbow like that. Or well... discbow. ]

Is falling off... much of a problem?

[no_nonsense]

I suppose it must have been, since someone went to the trouble of putting up the fence, but I really can't say.

[Susan shrugs slightly and takes a sip of her neglected tea.]

I don't live on the Rim and the people who tumble over it don't often come back to complain.

[But, to her chagrin, talking about the Disc is making her rather homesick. It would be best to change the subject and Susan is nothing if not inquisitive.]

Tell me about Gaia. I assume falling off is less of a problem, there?

[swooshycape]

Mm. ... it's a spherical planet orbiting a large sun. ... you might fall off a cliff, but you won't fall off the world.

[ He doesn't really mind talking about where he's from, though -- at least not in general. It's not like he really feels at home there, either. ]

[no_nonsense]

Oh. A round world? [Susan gave this all due consideration.] How novel.

I imagine it must make giving directions tricky, though? Seeing as one eventually becomes the opposite.

[swooshycape]

[ He shakes his had. ]

Not if you give the right reference points... nor if you determine a fixed line on the globe and direct from there...