multiversallogs | Apollo [open]

Entry tags:

Apollo [open]

Who: Apollo and mysterious guests
What: Exploring the city
Where: The El Train
When: Veerdi (Friday) afternoon
Note: Multiple threads are great! Apollo can be hitting up multiple locations.

After finding a job, Apollo had decided to celebrate by taking himself out to explore the city. He hadn't really taken much time to use the strange train that was used to get around the city, choosing instead to explore nearby areas on foot.

Now that he was actually using the train, he was realizing just how small a scope he'd been seeing.

He was sitting on the train, fiddling with the CiD and looking through recent posts to the network, though he would glance up occasionally to glance around at the other passengers.

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Like meadows filled with shepherdesses, Mina mused, unable to keep herself from smiling just a little bit.

Of course, she was hardly one to judge. Ever since the American Revolution, Mina had become the sort of person who would not settle for less than the best. At first, perhaps, it had been a part of her act, to keep up appearances as a frivolous nothing, but gradually, over time, she had simply become accustomed to living in style. Which probably explained her shopping binge this evening.

After all, why on earth would she need a gold nightie?

"I've noticed on the network," she said, "that a lot of people came here after previously being abducted elsewhere. Were you with them?"

"I just came through with the one person, or at least just one person that I know of." Apollo glanced back at the CiD, careful to maintain a casual tone and an expression of disinterest.

"Her name is Cassandra. She's from home as well." Or, at least, from a place that was closer to home than anywhere he had been in a long time. "We were on the caravan together."

He glanced back up. "What about you? Anyone you've recognized from home yet?"

Cassandra? Now why did that name sound familiar?

Mina shrugged slightly. "No." A point that annoyed her far more than she was going to let on. Not only were there no familiar faces to be found, but not a damn member of her own race, it seemed. Unless you counted the Dracula wannabe, but frankly, Mina still wasn't convinced. After all, he didn't even know what a 'primogen' was. "Just me. And I'm happy to keep it that way, I think."

She cared for her friends. Loved them even. She could not possibly wish this place upon them; not even Jacqueline who loved adventure. And certainly, she had no desire to see any enemies. Doyle, DiMarco, Brown...they could all go to hell, as far as she was concerned. Or stay in Chicago. Which lately, was tantamount to hell. Still, it raised an interesting question for her. If she could choose just one person from her former life to bring to Baedal, who would it be?

And of course, she couldn't think of the question and not ask it. "If you could choose someone to bring here from your former life, who would it be, if I may ask?"

"Artemis," he replied without ever having to think about it. "My twin sister. Mortal or immortal, anyone who's ever had a twin will tell you you'll never have a connection like it with anyone else. Do you have any siblings?"

Artemis was about as different as she could possibly be from Apollo. Female. Chaste. Enjoyed spending time getting dirty and sweaty, and not in any sort of fun way. Still, he found himself wishing every day that she'd suddenly appear. If nothing else, she'd have some entertaining thoughts about the whole situation. And she wasn't one to keep her opinions to herself.

"And what about you? Who would you bring along?"

"One brother," Mina said absently. "He died when I was young. I've no memories of him."

She still carried the burden of Mark's death. Every day, for the rest of eternity she would. She had her mother to thank for that one. With Mark gone and no man in the house, her mother was forced to make one, to invent one. It had been unlucky Mina, or rather, Mary, who became the Frankenstein monster. Neither man nor woman. Just some kind of facade to keep the money rolling on in.

"I could not wish exile on anyone I loved," Mina continued, a bit thickly. "But I suppose, if I had to choose someone...someone living." Or living dead. "I suppose I would choose my niece. Jacqueline. She was ever so fond of adventure. And she knew how to break free of many sticky situations."

And she was family. Jacqueline, Jack, and Anne. They were all Mina had left.

There was something funny about this one, Apollo thought. Sometimes, the way she said things was different from the way other people spoke. Something about her was different. She was no innocent, doe eyed young virgin, that was for certain.

As the train came to a stop, Apollo stood to his feet. "Come on," he said, offering Mina a hand. "This is our stop, but we're still going to have to walk a ways. Hope you purchased some comfortable footwear."

Mina stood up, collecting her bags. Her balance in heels could occasionally be questionable, but pain? Hardly an issue. One of the advantages of having dead nerve endings, she supposed. Nothing less than lethal damage slowed her down. And she had yet to hear of death by high heels.

She glanced at his proffered hand. "My, my," she mused. "A gentleman. How rare."

Oh, what the hell?

She took his hand.

He assisted her to her feet and, politely as could be, released her hand with no lingering caress or flirtatious comments.

Apollo did, however, place his hand against her back and steer her toward the door, leading her along at a brisk speed before the train moved on.

The neighborhood was clearly a fishing community. The air smelled of saltwater and fish, the water could be seen not too far off, and sailors and wenches could be seen walking through the market. "Perhaps you can find a boat to steal?" he teased.

Taking a deep breath (vampires, of course, didn't need to breathe, but Mina could never resist the smell of salt water), Mina glanced around the area. "The schooner is easiest to steal, of course, but I much prefer a sloop. More elegant. And poetic." She pointed down the pier. "You see that man-of-war? Appealing, yes, but so slow you wouldn't get far before they caught up to you with the sloops."

Mina carefully redistributed her bags, so that she was carrying the two heaviest in one hand and the three lighter in the other hand. She glanced at them, shaking her head. "I don't know what I was thinking, buying that nightgown."

She was thinking of her own loneliness, she supposed.

Turning to look up at Apollo, she smiled brightly. "Which way?"

Apollo smiled wryly. "Some man in your future will be very pleased with your choice in gold apparel," he advised and, after briefly casting a glance around the area, he nodded west, through the market.

"This way. Do you want help with those bags?"

He held out a hand in offering.

"I have them," Mina said breezily, heading out west. She decided to just glossy over his comment about some man in her future. There really was no man in her future. Nor a woman, she supposed with a smirk, even if Anna accused her of being a sapphist.

"Have you met many interesting people here?" she asked curiously. "So far, everyone I've met--present company accepted, of course--has been a bit on the prickly side." Particularly that Hellsing woman, not that Mina would say it out loud.

At that, Apollo laughed. It was a genuine, mirthful laugh that rang out like music and lit up his entire face.

"Oh, I promise you, I've met my share of pricks as well." Particularly that completely terrible group that Cassandra had invited to the temple. Really, who caused such a fuss over such an offhand comment? They'd practically offered him up as a sacrifice right there.

"Present company excluded," he also verified. "I'm afraid Cassandra has befriended some rather unfortunately dull people."

Mina gave him a sympathetic groan. "I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way. Really, we have to do something to find some fun around here. This little coterie of ours is just so dreadfully dull."

She thought about the pub she had visited after her miserable job interview. It hadn't been quite as lively as she might have liked--the music was drowsy, with a heavy beat and the dancing was hardly enjoyable--but it had potential. "I think I'd like to throw a party," she thought. After all, the Circle of the Crone had never had the opportunity for any kind of seasonal ball. "Something fun."

Laughing, she twirled in a circle, holding out her bags. "I certainly have the attire!"

"Agreed," Apollo said solemnly, though his eyes crinkled up as he watched her. There was really very little he enjoyed watching more than a woman who was enjoying herself.

"But only if you agree to let me wear your gold nightgown. It's my color, after all."

She laughed. Mina's laugh never really matched the rest of her persona. It was more of a giggle. Over the years, she had tried to work on that, but she had simply never been able to properly train herself to laugh like a man, even if she could dress, walk, and talk like a man. It made her miss the old days. At least, back then, she could pass for a boy.

"Deal," she said, reaching into one of the bags and tossing him the nightgown. "It does show a scandalous amount of leg though. You'll need proper nylons. Perhaps with a seam running up the back. I've often been told it's an elegant look."

"I'm not sure what nylons are, but how far back does that seam run? Sounds scandalous," he questioned with a smile in his tone, holding up the nightgown to examine it.

He wondered where the Mina had bought it. On Cassandra, it would glow. Much better than those awful trousers she had taken a liking too. Not what he needed to think about now, though.

Apollo cleared his throat and held the nightgown up against his body. "What do you think?" he asked. "Too small?"

"Much," Mina replied.

Still, she would pay good money to see that.

God, she missed having money.

"Nylons," she said, turning slowly and gesturing down to her legs, "are sheer leggings, of sorts. Designed to allow a woman to show off her legs while still giving her some protecting from blisters when she wears silly shoes. Like these." She held up one foot.

He looked down at her feet and then back up at the woman. Well, he couldn't argue with logic like that, could he?

"Those are," he agreed, "Very silly shoes."

He tossed the nightgown back to her.

Mina caught it, stuffing it back in her shopping bag. "I'll never understand, for the life of me, why anyone would ever want to dress like a girl." She shrugged. It was an argument she had quite frequently, usually with pretty little Daeva girls who enjoyed their frocks and their feathers more than the substance of their characters.

She continued walking, admiring the scene. There was just something about a port. Even a port that apparently went nowhere, based on their reports about the man-eating fog around the place. Personally, Mina chose to believe it was just a bunch of angry Gangrels using that protean power of theirs. It was absolute nonsense, of course, but she enjoyed lying to herself on occasion.

"You must tell me more about your life's adventures," she said to Apollo. "I've always been fascinated by the Greeks, but I must admit, I have little education. And it's a rare opportunity to hear a firsthand account."

Apollo laughed at that. "Maybe later," he commented, glancing around a bit himself as they walked. This, he had to admit, looked a bit more familiar than some of the other places in this city.

Still, a port town was a port town, no matter where it was located.

"You still haven't told me more than one or two details about yourself."

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. She always hated this part, the part where she had to make up some sort of elaborate lie, and then remember it, tailoring it to suit her purposes. That was one reason why she enjoyed being able to move every twenty five years. She didn't have to keep a lie going any longer.

Never mind the matter of Chicago.

"What would you like to know?" she countered him, adjusting the weight of her bags to cover her displeasure.

"All your dirty little secrets, I suppose."

Though his tone was solemn, he glanced her way and winked.

Truthfully, Apollo just simply had no desire, for once, to discuss home. He missed it, and lately, it seemed unlikely that he would be going back anytime soon. He ha no control over the situation, and not even he could begin to explain how damn irritating that was.

"Well," she mused, "I suppose I should let you in on the secret." She leaned in closer to him, her eyes flitting back and forth like a conspirator. "The truth is...I'm actually a girl."

Somehow, that secret had lost some of its weight over the years.

It had been so much easier passing as a boy back in the 1700s!

"Other than that, I'm not sure there's much of interest. As I said, one brother. I have my niece Jacqueline, although she and I are not actually related by blood. Her mother is simply my dearest friend. Anne. I'm a doctor. I enjoy fine clothing." She frowned. What else could she say? "I love traveling."

"Love traveling enough to enjoy your time in a place like this?" he asked, a faint smile tugging at his lips. It was such a typical desire of a young person. Wanting to get out and travel, see the world, sow wild oats.

"And for the record," he added, and his eyes trailed over her, lingering in certain areas--somehow, more to point out the obvious than to ogle her--"I figured out that you were a girl already."

"Well, that makes you much smarter than some people I know." She didn't particularly like the way he looked at her. He had the same hungry look that Rogers had...well...best not to remember that incident. But that was the problem with having lived such a long life. There were so many memories in her head and all of them were constantly jostling, like children demanding attention. It was no wonder older vampires were often insane. And why they so frequently chose to go into torpor to regain some lingering traces of coherence.

"I don't mind Baedal so much," she admitted. "It's the people that unsettle me. I suppose I'm used to being surrounded by others with a similar vocabulary, a similar cultural identity. I feel quite out of my element here. I suppose I would feel better if some more people from my world arrived, although not necessarily friends or even acquaintances. Just people who understood what I was talking about when I spoke of a speakeasy or a gin joint."

She glanced at him. "Does that make any sense at all?"

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