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Post by Shinigami on Aug 20, 2007 13:30:48 GMT -5
 "My grandfather's clock was too large for the shelf, so it stood ninety years on the floor..." A baritone voice rang through the courtyard as Maxwell sauntered brazenly amongst the shops, examining the contents of each window for just the sort of thing he wanted. "It was taller by half than the old man himself, though it weighed not a pennyweight more." The startling black-and-purple feline wound his way throughout the crowd, the black of his fur almost blending in with the coloration of Corvistowne's inhabitants. His purple, however, was a shocking contrast, as were the white wing-markings on his back. Not to mention the fuzzy pink handcuffs around his front paws. "It was bought on the morn of the day that he was born, and it was always his pleasure and pride... But it stopped, short, never to go again, when the old man died!" Maxwell felt justified in singing about clocks when wandering the rather shabby areas of Corvistowne. He was even looking for clocks, or some other form of clockworks. But more specifically...he was looking for a job. Even a Card like him needed to eat, and he didn't feel like dealing with dark and dreary Torquehelm when there was some place as interesting as Corvistowne around. However, he was only a Two of Diamonds, so most places wouldn't accept him except for the simplest of jobs. And he didn't intend on staying a Two forever! |
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Post by Vyn on Aug 20, 2007 17:59:14 GMT -5
Maxwell was not the only oddity adorning the streets of Corvistowne this evening and though Ophelia was the sort one would expect to be cringed at from afar she was instead met with an aura of familiarity. The deer strolled casually through the town, humming in thoughtful distraction to herself and bowing her head in silent greeting from time to time as she was greeted by passers by. Just by looking at her, one could take a guess at her passions in life. Chemistry, science. The manipulation of genetics were particularly fascinating for her and, on occasion, the concept of Alchemy tickled the fancy of her interest as well. Today, however, Ophelia was on a rather challenging 'quest' of sorts. She had concocted a new formula and there was truly only one way to discern what it would do, if anything at all: testing. Of course testing needed test subjects and that, to her remorse, was where the trouble always crept up. Her last search had been quite obviously fruitless, for now she sported these serpentine features to show for her work with reptilian DNA. Not too shabby a 'mistake' either, if she could say so herself! The next matter at hand wasn't so intense, no genetic manipulation or possibility of death, she just need a Guinea pig to be sure it didn't, say, cause one to lose all their fur. A fellow native to the region was likely out of the question. With all her fame came knowledge of her younger mistakes and a few souls had been, well...permanently altered. Not everyone took well to that, she feared. Yet, to her undying pleasure, Ophelia soon happened upon exactly what she was looking for: an outsider. And an interesting fellow at that. The inhabitants of Torquehelm were typically supposed to be a morose sort but the fellow singing about clocks seemed quite spry, and a little masochistic judging by someone of his bindings. "Hello there!" She hailed cheerfully, eyes shining with pleasure. Hopefully she'd roped herself a sucker. "Would you be looking for something?" |
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Post by Shinigami on Aug 21, 2007 17:06:39 GMT -5
Maxwell had started the chorus of the song, but hadn't gotten past the first two words ("Many years") before he was finally interrupted. Part of him figured that it would be some crazy and irate scientist telling him to shut the hell up and go away, and so he turned with his most charming grin on his face, tail chain jingling merrily, only to pull up short at the sight of the...doe? approaching him. She was smiling (which was still weird to him, seeing people smile so freely after being surrounded by the curse-stricken Torquehelm for most of his life), and didn't seem all that upset with him. Another first, especially when he'd figured he was probably being kind of annoying. Oh well, might as well take advantage of that fact!
"Yurp," he replied brightly. "Jess lookin' fer a job fer meself, ya get? Noan likes a li'il Two like meh, 'cept for the hard labor stuffs. An' who wants a job like tha', eh? 'S borin', movin' all tha' stuff around wit no real payoff at jobdown." He deliberately let his accent come forward, though if she'd been paying attention when he sang earlier, she'd know he could speak perfectly clearly if he wanted. Key phrase: If he wanted. "Plus, I aint learnin' nuttin. They shows me some stuffs, and no explainin' whut they do, jus' "Push off an' move these 'round, ya Two!" I'm a Diamon', not a Club!" Here was real irritation. Maxwell was one of those Twos who was not at all satisfied with his rank, coupled with a surprising intelligence that tended to learn anything after seeing it once. There was also his fascination with anything mechanical, that, were he given the chance, would probably make him the equal or superior of any clockwork-maker in Corvistowne.
However, he bundled that irritation away, returning to his roguish grin toward the doe with her rather strange little mutations, and tossed his violently purple braid over to the other shoulder. "Nah, what ken I do fer ya, pretty lady?"
[ooc: ...I have no clue what accent that was. Make of it what you will.]
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Post by Vyn on Aug 23, 2007 11:22:44 GMT -5
Well! Wouldn't you know... Ophelia had found herself quite the fascinating little Diamond. Of course, she reasoned with herself, it was to be expected from a Diamond regardless of the rank of his card. Ambitious the whole lot of them, but that wasn't entirely a bad thing. If he was a hard worker, then Ophelia could definitely make some use out of him and could put some pretty coin in his pocket for wherever his journey would take him next.
"It seems a spot of good fortune brought you here this evening: You're looking for work above common labor and I happen to be in need of an assistant in my lab. No pushing or pulling, in fact I advise against pushing my equipment around. The pay is good, far more than you'd get for pushing bricks around I assure you, but the work is somewhat unusual."
The chemist paused for a moment then, watching him with an intent and studious eye. This would probably be where he back down, where he began to figure out for himself just what sort of experiments she did (if he hadn't figured it out already, that is), but she simply was one to beat around the bush about such things. It wasted time and breath, in her opinion, and while she could take rambling in others, she felt little desire to indulge in it herself.
"Do you have any qualms against experimentation on your person? I assure you, nothing done will be harmful to your person."
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Post by Shinigami on Aug 25, 2007 12:43:27 GMT -5
Maxwell tilted his head to the side as he regarded the Spade. Yes, another one of Corvistowne's mad scientists by the looks of her, and though the chemistry with which she worked wasn't the main focus of his fascination, it was still a focus. Even things that worked on clockwork still required various chemicals, some of which were needed to actually run, others of which could supply various shows of light and color and sound. So maybe a chemist was the sort of person he was looking for, at least for now...
"I don' have a problem with that," he said, accent spontaneously disappearing once more. "My only stipulation for this is, along with payment, you teach me. Tell me what you're doing, and why." Ambitious? Oh yes, yes indeed. Very much so. He was, after all, a Diamond, as Ophelia had noted. And, as was mentioned before, a very intelligent one at that.
"So, m'lady-love, wha' sorts o' things d'you do t'people like me? Nothin' too bad, I hope. I'd like ta keep mah braid, iffin nothin' else." The accent was back.
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Post by Vyn on Aug 28, 2007 20:29:22 GMT -5
Ophelia couldn't help but be intrigued by the ambitious diamond she'd discovered wandering through busy streets. For a native of Torquehelm, he had quite the interesting personality and even seemed rather upbeat for those typically dreary and mopey creatures. In all honesty, she typically wanted little to do with that tragic lot she found she liked this one rather quickly. This, of course, had less to do with his nature and far more to do with the fact that he was interested in learning about her work. How could Ophelia resist that? She simply loved to show off (not that she'd admit that of course!).
"Done. I'd be more than happy to 'teach' while I work, it'll be a nice change: most of my assistants prefer to just get the task over without any added conversation." This request, however, definitely cemented into Ophelia's mind that he was not the sort she should underestimate. Even with that oddly reappearing/disappearing accent of his. "Nothing bad, I assure you...and nothing that should remove your braid, either. I'm mostly working with energy enhancers at the time being, just need to make sure they don't backfire. Honestly, I could've just done the experiments on myself, but its always so much easier to have a subject I can observe as well."
Smoothly the strange mixed breed beckoned Maxwell to follow her and slowly began the smooth stroll back toward her home.
"So, tell me stranger... What's your name and what brings you to Corvistowne?"
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Post by Shinigami on Sept 1, 2007 9:36:45 GMT -5
"Lovely deal, that. I don't know why people don't wanna learn new things, ya ken? There's always somethin' new to be learned." Maxwell grinned roguishly at Ophelia, feeling slightly more secure now that he "officially" had the job with her. She really was a lovely doe, though the scales probably attracted a greal deal of notice from others, along with that tongue. It was absolutely fascinating, how she managed to speak clearly despite that forked tongue of hers, and he found himself eyeing it as it darted in and out of her mouth.
Finally he shook himself back to sensibility, and returned his attention to the conversation. No need to get distracted like that.
"I can see how that'd help out, yeah. And energy enhancers? Sounds like that'll be fun for the both of us." Yep, the shit-eating grin was still there. As they talked he'd seated himself, the chain on his tail chiming merrily, the broken links from his handcuffs rattling a bit. His braid draped itself over his chest, practically a living thing on its own right from the way it acted and reacted to his body language.
"Ah! Sorreh about that. I should have introduced myself sooner. The name's Maxwell, I work with clockwork and mechanics and the like. At least, I like to. Not much call for that sort of stuff in Torquehelm, though, and no one to learn from. So I came here, to take a good look around. What about yourself? Though lacking the "what brings you here" part, as I can tell by your pretty colors you're from here..."
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Post by Vyn on Sept 2, 2007 16:03:46 GMT -5
Noting the way he watched her speak with a hint of amusement, Ophelia was tempted to mention her self experimentation were it not so off topic. While her words were mostly clear, Ophelia would awkwardly admit to few that her original hiss upon her tongue splitting had been embarrassingly intense. Ah well, like with any modification one learned to adapt and her mouth had adjusted to making sounds around the fork in her tongue.
Yet, as he studied her Ophelia couldn't help but study him in return.
Those from Torquehelm were so fascinating with their bindings and the like, and Maxwell perhaps doubly so. His bindings looked almost...fun. "Won't it? And they've got good market too. Since you'll be helping me, you'll of course get some of the cut along with your pay. Which I'm sure you won't mind." Ophelia was not the stingy sort of employer that most would find.
"Ah, its a pleasure Maxwell. I'm Ophelia, genetics and chemistry is my forte..." She didn't expect Maxwell to have heard of her, being from such a faraway place, but stranger things had happened. In fact, she'd been called upon by a good many travelers in the past, so it was quite possible. "And clockwork mechanics you say? I've got a friend here who's indulged in the same, a mad genius if you will. If he weren't out of town than I'd introduce you to him. Perhaps when he returns, if you're still working with me."
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Post by Shinigami on Sept 7, 2007 22:37:41 GMT -5
[ooc: Finally, a post! After starting it three times and each time having what I'd written accidentally deleted...]
Maxwell grinned, absolutely delighted. He'd have to ask about that tongue, he decided, when he got the chance. And maybe those scales too, not to mention her tail, which seemed to have been sewn on. Then again, since she was into genetics, that might have something to do with it all. Idly he wondered just how functional they all were...
"Extra money's a nice little perk," he commented cheerfully, tail waving sinuously through the air behind him, chain jingling. "Quite kind o' you to share with a lowly little test subject like m'self, though."
"Ophelia...lovely name, that. I think I may have heard o' you before, lots o' people around Corvistowne like to drop names. And I seem to spend more time here than I do at home in Torquehelm. Much more interesting place, Corvistowne." However, when she mentioned a friend who was interested in his preferred field, his eyes lit up with fascination. "You don't say...Well, I think you've enticed me into working for you as long as possible, if it means a reccomendation to someone called a mad genius. I find that people like that are often more eccentric than mad, or at least highly creative." If he'd had hands, he would have buffed his nails on his chest then, grinning as usual. "I endevour to some day be called a mad genius meself."
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Post by Vyn on Sept 8, 2007 0:14:42 GMT -5
"I wouldn't call you lowly. You're doing me a great favor and, if anything, you'll be more a pupil and an assistant than a test subject. Its only fair to share profits."
As he complimented her name, Ophelia grinned a little and dipped her head. Especially once her name was mentioned. Ah yes, it was dropped quite often. She worked solely by commission after all. It was her means of survival.
"That would be me then. One of the best chemists you could find here. I work by commission, so I get a lot of name dropping from happy customers." Ophelia giggled, the sound quite fetching and just a little wicked. "No, Max...I was being quite literal. He's insane. A genius but insane. Whenever he gets back from wherever he's wandered to..., again... Then I shall have to introduce the two of you. He'd like some like-minded company, not to say you're mad; but an eccentric genius does like company even when they're mad."
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