"No, but you certainly don't think about it often. Hence, I assumed that describing things as 'romantic' doesn't really happen much on your end of things."
An innocent blink, as he was plainly stating things how he saw it. (That, in a way, was worrisome to him. Trusting too easily again? Getting attached? You do remember the last time when--
And then he stopped that voice before it could continue.)
"Hmph," she huffed, frowning at the sidewalk in front of her. She decided to just let the silence stretch and settle between them; she can just enjoy her cigarette in silence. Prague was surely pretty enough as a distraction.
Yulia shrugged in response. She still wasn't sure what made her want to go to Prague this time around. She didn't celebrate anniversaries, birthdays, or any of the sort. It just... happened.
She lapsed into silence again, dragging it for a few more blocks before checking her watch and speaking again.
"The Orloj should be around here. You want to see?"
"Sure. Been a while since I've seen it for myself."
Hikaru was pretty much throwing out the schedule he had planned for himself that day: there were always tasks and other concerns. However, he was not about to miss out on an opportunity to get to know someone who interested him a little better.
She just nodded once, and kept on. She didn't bother asking why he's humoring her, or why he's letting her lead him around. She had a vague idea why (she also liked to think she understood the Blade King, even just a little), but she was doing this mostly for herself.
A test to see if she has finally moved on.
There was already a sizable crowd forming at the Orloj when they get there. Several groups of people already hung out in front of the tower, chatting, laughing, goofing around, taking pictures, and all of them waited for the skeletal representation of death to ring the bells that counted the hours as twelve holy men marched across the clock. Yulia stopped just across the crowd, not wanting to even be near it (not that it could be helped; the Orloj was a beauty of a tower, unsurprisingly one of the more popular tourist attractions in Prague, and there was always going to be a crowd of people nearby).
She lit up one of the grape-flavored cigarettes and offered the pack to Hikaru.
He lit up for himself, and kept his eyes on his surroundings: the crowd, the skyline, the tower.
"I've always liked the design of the Orloj. Some of the people I've talked to think it's morbid, but if I had an alarm clock, I'd want it to look exactly like it."
Small talk time, just to see what was going to happen next.
"You would," she said. She leaned on the wall behind her and looked at Hikaru, eyes giving away her amusement.
"But instead of apostles," Yulia motioned at the Clock with a nod of her head, "Your little Orloj will have Malice Kings marching while little figure of you rings bell."
"I doubt that Jessie will appreciate something like that." His best friend had a lot of pride, and for good reason. "Besides, I prefer to think that I'm marching right along with them."
Yulia tipped her head back and exhaled the smoke from her lungs. All the Malice Kings marching to the sound of death. It sounded like the history books.
"But it would be worth to see Jessiah Vice marching in line like good little boy."
Admittedly, only a very small part of her hoped that Jessiah Vice would never ever find out about that. The rest of her didn't give a shit.
"Is that my cue to solemnly swear to send some blackmail material over to you? Jessie will never know."
The Blade King did so have an unhealthy fondness for knowing All the Things about the people he cared about the most. It did not help that he was one hell of an investigator.
"It is your call, Mister Blade King," she said. "But if you do, I promise I will keep it secret."
Alright, so she was very curious, and it could kill the cat, but this was an opportunity she didn't really want to waste. At the very least, she was very good at keeping her word, and secrets.
That's when the Orloj came to life, its figure of death ringing the bell to announce the time as little people marched behind the windows on the tower.
And he's turning his smile away from her in the next moment, as his gaze moves back to the Orloj. He remembered, quite suddenly, the very first time he had seen the thing in action. He had been with Liandrin Delacroix back then. Unsurprisingly, she had loved it just as much as he had.
The simple things mattered to people like them. One would think that almost-immortality would make the bigger things interesting. That could not have been farther from the truth.
There really was something about the Orloj and its funny little skeleton ringing the bells and the little people marching about, every hour, on the hour. It had this charm that Yulia couldn't place. The clock tower in itself was already amazing-- it told the time in three (was it four?) different systems, systems which she was sure only dead people would know how to read (except one, of course; the one that everyone used).
Except, she wasn't really watching the Orloj. She watched the people watching the tower, taking pictures, videos, what have you. She watched them half-expecting ghosts to appear in the corner of her vision. They never did. (Satisfied, now?)
When Hikaru lit up his next cigarette, it was less for him but for the people who had come to stand with him, in moments much like this one. Many of them were dead, gone. Many of them were beyond his reach, even if they were but a phone call away.
(I thought you were the kind of man who never kept a woman waiting.)
"I'm fine," she said with a small smile. What had she been expecting, anyway? That was stupid. She shoved her hands into her pockets, then, and motioned with a tilt of her head in the direction of the Vltava river.
And once again, Hikaru decided that he really liked it when the girl smiled. He returned the gesture, and easily fell in step beside Yulia the moment they started moving again.
"I wonder if the drinks in this city are as good as I remember them being."
"How long has it been since you were here last?" She asked, genuinely curious. He made it seem like he hadn't visited Prague in years, maybe even decades. Surely he'd managed to stop by in his recent lifetimes...?
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Hikaru was smiling at her again, and not hiding (as expected) the fact that this exchange was taking an amusing turn for him.
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"I am not that cold a woman not to be unfamiliar with the concept of romance, Blade King."
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An innocent blink, as he was plainly stating things how he saw it. (That, in a way, was worrisome to him. Trusting too easily again? Getting attached? You do remember the last time when--
And then he stopped that voice before it could continue.)
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"You were with them, the last time you were here."
It was a statement of fact.
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She took a long drag from her cigarette and exhaled; looked up at the sky overhead and tried to keep her emotions in check.
"...Da, that is correct."
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Places full of ghosts were difficult to come back to, and it was rarely ever a journey that one should do alone.
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She lapsed into silence again, dragging it for a few more blocks before checking her watch and speaking again.
"The Orloj should be around here. You want to see?"
Might as well go.
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Hikaru was pretty much throwing out the schedule he had planned for himself that day: there were always tasks and other concerns. However, he was not about to miss out on an opportunity to get to know someone who interested him a little better.
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A test to see if she has finally moved on.
There was already a sizable crowd forming at the Orloj when they get there. Several groups of people already hung out in front of the tower, chatting, laughing, goofing around, taking pictures, and all of them waited for the skeletal representation of death to ring the bells that counted the hours as twelve holy men marched across the clock. Yulia stopped just across the crowd, not wanting to even be near it (not that it could be helped; the Orloj was a beauty of a tower, unsurprisingly one of the more popular tourist attractions in Prague, and there was always going to be a crowd of people nearby).
She lit up one of the grape-flavored cigarettes and offered the pack to Hikaru.
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He lit up for himself, and kept his eyes on his surroundings: the crowd, the skyline, the tower.
"I've always liked the design of the Orloj. Some of the people I've talked to think it's morbid, but if I had an alarm clock, I'd want it to look exactly like it."
Small talk time, just to see what was going to happen next.
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"But instead of apostles," Yulia motioned at the Clock with a nod of her head, "Your little Orloj will have Malice Kings marching while little figure of you rings bell."
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"I doubt that Jessie will appreciate something like that." His best friend had a lot of pride, and for good reason. "Besides, I prefer to think that I'm marching right along with them."
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"But it would be worth to see Jessiah Vice marching in line like good little boy."
Admittedly, only a very small part of her hoped that Jessiah Vice would never ever find out about that. The rest of her didn't give a shit.
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Ginko Takasugi was one hell of a woman, and the one person who could take real credit for making sure that Jessie did not go off the deep end.
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"But I would like to see."
She thought, at least, it would be refreshing (funny) to see someone such as Jessie Vice out of his comfort zone.
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The Blade King did so have an unhealthy fondness for knowing All the Things about the people he cared about the most. It did not help that he was one hell of an investigator.
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Alright, so she was very curious, and it could kill the cat, but this was an opportunity she didn't really want to waste. At the very least, she was very good at keeping her word, and secrets.
That's when the Orloj came to life, its figure of death ringing the bell to announce the time as little people marched behind the windows on the tower.
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And he's turning his smile away from her in the next moment, as his gaze moves back to the Orloj. He remembered, quite suddenly, the very first time he had seen the thing in action. He had been with Liandrin Delacroix back then. Unsurprisingly, she had loved it just as much as he had.
The simple things mattered to people like them. One would think that almost-immortality would make the bigger things interesting. That could not have been farther from the truth.
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Except, she wasn't really watching the Orloj. She watched the people watching the tower, taking pictures, videos, what have you. She watched them half-expecting ghosts to appear in the corner of her vision. They never did. (Satisfied, now?)
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(I thought you were the kind of man who never kept a woman waiting.)
Right. Well.
"Shall we, or do you need another minute?"
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"Let's go."
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"I wonder if the drinks in this city are as good as I remember them being."
/slow ;u;
/slow as well... orz
He had come there with Liandrin Delacroix, because he had wanted to show her what Prague was like. They had been together, then, and so very hopeful.
How things changed.
"Inquisitor Delacroix and I had dropped by here on our way to another engagement."
i didn't forget about this one...!!! ;u;
♥
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