Realized Predicaments

A series of cracks went down Esha's spine as she streched after a nap in the studies, she knew it served her right for sleeping on a chair though. After dreaming a bit she was concerned, She was running through a street, not just any old lane, the one she'd been..abandoned in. It was strange, the memory had been a bit cloudy but now she could remember it in high detail. In colour. She loved those dreams.

The beach barbecue had been eventful and she still wasn't sure of what happened, not completely anyway. She'd hurt people though; She wasn't quite sure how it had gotten to that but the feeling of snapping out and just doing anything to get Audi off her was turning her stomach."Not Esha" the words Echoed in her head. Audi had said that, If she wasn't Esha who did she think she was? No matter what angle she looked at it Audi's thought processes were still a mystery to her. She would have said sorry, if she had sighted Audi alone. Staying in her room and letting that fester probably wasn't a good idea but it couldn't be changed.

Walking out into the corridors she wasn't sure she wanted to see people but supposed if she was ever going to it might as well have been now. The stone girl ended up settling in the breakfast room and started raiding the cupboards, intending to get something edible and go out onto the patio.

He was settling in, he realized.

Not just into the castle itself, even though that was true as well - the kitchen didn't have any lemons, so naturally he set course to check in the breakfast room. It didn't usually take him long to settle in in this way, as he moved around a lot. No - what he actually took him a while to come to terms with was the fact that when he chose this job, he got more than he bargained for. Knowledge he didn't ask for, risks he never wanted to take, responsibilities he didn't care to pick up. It frustrated him at first, and he seriously considered quitting just to save his peace of mind. But he never was known for giving up easily.

And now? He was okay with it. Okay enough to stroll through the corridors lightheartedly humming one song or another; mostly The Doors, just because.

He stopped in front of the door to the breakfast room to listen to the sounds coming from the inside. It was impossible to determine who was causing them, however, so he pushed that concern aside with a light shrug and simply turned the knob and walked inside.

Esha, the old teenager, searching for something, apparently... So, she did eat? Curious. Richard glanced around, but no lemons were immediately available, so he walked over to one of the cupboards to seek further. He smiled as he gave her a sidelong glance.

"Hello, child. Not sleeping yet, or not sleeping already?" he said, then he paused. "Actually, do you sleep at all?"

Esha wasn't particularly looking for something, but anything. She was shooting for edible...More than anything she wanted pizza. Just to order and get it delivered the way she wanted it. None of this set meals crap. She was grateful, but she liked her food freedom..no matter how misspent it was on takeouts.

She was pretty sure pizza was a few days ago, she'd slept through it. If Esha had any home skills such as cooking she might had been not in this position with foraging for something edible..rather than making it.

"Hmm..yes, I do sleep. I slept for about...uh, what date is it today" She scrunched up her face while thinking "Yeah, about 4 days. I don't have enough dream material for anymore." She shuddered slightly, 30 years of dreaming had been hell, recycled over and over, slowly getting creepier and more perverted from the original form. Nightmares basically.

"Why are you up this late, it's 2 in the morning" she said to him, looking at him while picking her prize out of the cupboard. A box of cookies.

Richard shuffled through the contents of the cupboards, pausing briefly to give Esha an odd look when she said how long she'd been sleeping for. Was that typical for whatever species Esha was, or...? Either way, both her sleeping and eating hinted to her being, well, alive, rather than another kind of an unread.

Which, all things considered, was a good thing.

Lemons were nowhere to be seen and he furrowed his brow slightly. Oh, well, perhaps he'd have to think of something else. What drink to make without lemons...? Or lime, now that he looked for those too? Or any kind of a liqueur he would have to make the trip to his room to get? Hmm...

The girl's question snapped him out of browsing his mental library, and he blinked in surprise, then a light chuckle escaped him. "I'm... nocturnal, really. Those are my usual hours of activity." He smiled, letting the tips of his fangs poke out over his lower lip. "There isn't much time left until dawn, however, so I was just hoping to grab a last drink and tuck in for the day."

He leaned casually against the cabinet, regarding Esha with a thoughtful look. A part of him wanted to know how did the conversation with his lanky protégé go after he had departed, accompanied by said Lijk's feelings of displeasure; perhaps in a bit, he would find out.

"So, Esha, how have you been since our last meeting?"

Pulling the packet open she didn't miss the weird glance Richard gave her but shrugged back, She wouldn't want to freak anyone out anymore. Did anyone know that she slept 4 days and then stayed awake for 4? It was a habit after sleeping half a decade to just sleep for a while.

When she saw fangs she thought of the count...Nocturnally + fangs? He was a vampire- Okay, another species to add to the list. Was there 2 of anything in this school? Her first thought was the Count from Sesame Street. That would not be a good image in her head whilst trying to talk to him in a serious manner.

"I'd say I'd seen it all, but that would be tempting fate. Hopefully.." She crossed her fingers and cracked a smile, her voice was showing some boredom though. The hopefully was slightly pleading. Not with anyone, maybe just with life itself- She wanted something to do with her time.

The past 10 years had been spent looking for anything to do. The school was a savior.

"Oh, more confused and concerned than anything else..It gave me some things to think over" She said nodding, those words made sense. Yes...things to think about. Food for thought.

He chuckled quietly at her comment. "I should think that you have a few things yet to see."

She sounded slightly disillusioned... but she was so young still. A hundred years was such a pleasant age to be; old enough to know the ways of the world, but young enough to not be dulled down by the sands of time. It was the right age to act, to try things, to have adventures... To love and to hate with a burning passion. To do all that which would, inevitably, eventually lose some of its charm.
He hoped that for Esha, that moment would come later rather than sooner. She seemed like a decent sort.

Confused and concerned? Richard gave her an interested look, then glanced around and reached for a carton of orange juice and a glass. Perhaps he could survive half an hour without alcohol. Picking up those two things, he pushed himself off the cupboard he was leaning on and looked to the girl again with a slight smile.

"If you feel like talking about it, well, that's what I'm here for."

Talk about it? It was worth a shot. Surely he couldn't think any worse of her than she already did of herself.

"Eh yes..I died...Like properly died. Drowned" Her face dropped at that one..the current situation with Audi was bad. Terrible actually, and that was just what she felt. She fiddled with a cookie in her hand...how to explain this all.

"I didn't think I was Immortal because, I'm..I didn't want to see it. It's another thing I didn't want or ask for. Sure, If I wanted to live forever this would be great...but It's lonely when you can't ever get attached to anything" She said it all in one breath, quite fast. Part of her hoping he would not catch it all.

Attachment wasn't necessarily love to Esha, just to not have to move on because of thier/it's mental and physical aging process. The only reason these thoughts were coherent was because of the fact she'd been thinking over it the past few weeks.

She looked up, slightly nervous for Richard's reaction.

Richard was a bit taken aback by the immediate amount of her confessions, but other from a slightly raised eyebrow, he wouldn't show it. All that meant was that she really needed to talk about it, and, well, he was happy to oblige. With no fake modesty, he could admit that he was pretty well suited to help in that regard.

It was hardly a standing-up subject, though, so giving Esha a nod he headed for the patio. The night was warm enough, though a chilly breeze swept around his ankles as he opened the door, coming in along with the scent of some flowers in full bloom and the chirping of a lone insomniac cricket.

Richard walked to one of the tables and set down the glass, then opened the carton to fill it with juice. All of that gave him some time to think over her words. So she died, then - obviously - came back to life as she were... Hah.

He sat down, and his expression was serious, but sympathetic.

"Esha." he said slowly. "You can get attached to things. You will simply have to choose those things with great care, and accept the fact that you will someday have to let them go. It isn't much different than with mortals, really. They, too, know they will outlive some loved ones. Their grandparents, for instance..." He shrugged and took a sip of juice. "Does that make the love they hold for them worthless or pointless...? I do not believe so."

Esha followed the vampire out to the patio, ignoring the slight groan of the wood. The floor surface was suspended so it would make it weaker. She'd just have to tread lightly. The stone girl sat down at the table.

She listened intently, while wondering just how old he was? Seemingly over 113. It also made her think of her grandparents- her relatives even. When did they die, how did their lives go? Being abandoned had ceased her contact with her family. Except for her brother who'd tried to kill her. Twice now.Annoying didn't describe it.

"It makes sense what you're saying and I agree but...Have you ever been told it's over, because the age gap was getting too much? I had to be someone's teenage daughter so it wouldn't look like I was being groomed. He was 23 when I met him and we were together 11 years. Go figure." She said, letting him add 2 and 2. He seemed smart enough to catch the implications.

"I'm sorry if that's vulgar sounding.." It did sound gross, but that was the sad state of affairs.

He listened to the sounds of the night, the quiet ruffles and whispers from the garden grounds, feeling perfectly at peace. It was pleasant, sitting like that, just talking, exchanging views, and being able to help in some way. It really wasn't the worst kind of work.

Esha's story made him wince slightly, though. Yes... That could be an issue, he supposed. Not one he had ever faced, of course, as the humans he had shared a life with never knew his real identity. He would always assume a fake one, emulating aging as far as makeup and acting could take it, then simply moving on when the facade couldn't be kept up anymore. With just one notable exception... But building relationships on a lie like that wasn't for everyone, he knew that, and so he would not recommend it to the poor girl.

Her last few words almost made him spit up the juice he was drinking, but he managed to 'only' make a quiet gurgling sound instead. Right...

"Don't worry." he said, then cleared his throat. "I don't think that's vulgar at all. Please, pay no mind to such things when you're talking with me, anyway. The whole idea of a counselor is someone you can talk openly with."
Richard paused for a moment, then shook his head sadly.
"I never have. I always left before it could come to that." Realizing how depressing that had sounded, he continued. "Eleven years is still an impressive period of time, and perhaps if you met the right person, they wouldn't mind the growing age gap even past that point. You never know what the future might bring, you cannot lose hope so soon."

He reclined in his chair a bit, tapping a nail against his glass in thought.

"That aside, there are creatures longer-lived, if not immortal, than humans. You could always seek friends amongst those, and this school is definitely a good opportunity to do so."

Esha looked at the moon briefly and nodded when she heard him say about being open with him, an then about meeting the right person.

"..maybe, I'll see. If I follow my pattern of luck these past few years he isn't born yet" She chuckled. Ah well. The thought of her partners not minding her not aging was good, she didn't mind them getting older. Not at all.

"Oh, Another possibility. In this place anything can happen. " She sometimes felt too old to talk to young people because of her knowledge about things that happened before and knowing her birthdate before their parents were born, but persevered anyway. Where there was muck, there was brass...that probably wasn't the best comparison.

"My travel plans got pushed a while" She sounded happy about it, she really was. "I was searching for some people- they've owed me money since 1916. The interest I've calculated is astounding." She laughed a bit. She already had money, but she wanted to catch up with people and scare the crap out of them amongst other things "And the lock for this key." She said gesturing the key around her neck. It could be a door lock, a chest lock...really any type of old lock.

It was a far fetched thing, a key. Esha liked the key though and it was a thing was just always round her neck and she imagined it felt lonely. It was even older than she was and it wasn't rusting or anything, which was a wonder.

Richard smiled. "Indeed. If there's one thing I'm certain about, it's that anything can happen. Keeping an open mind and welcoming changes is truly vital to staying sane as time goes by..." He rolled his eyes and shrugged lightly, as if to say 'what to do?'. Maybe he didn't keep many immortal acquaintances, but the ones he did use to have were lost a long time ago - and their demise was self-inflicted more often than not. Not everybody was meant to see carriages without horses.

So... she was taking a break from chasing her debtors, it seemed. Curious. He nodded, looking to her key with some interest. It looked rather antique, but in good shape, like a proper mysterious artifact should. He grinned with amusement.
"Well, well. Do you have any clues as to what could it be for?"
Ah, he hoped there was an appropriately cryptic one. Without it, looking for the lock of a key like that would be very much a wild goose chase... but then again, what better way to kill time than to try and hunt down something that seemed unachievable? It made him feel slightly jealous, actually; it's been a while since he actually had a goal like that. Ah, well. Even if he did find a new one all of a sudden, it would most likely not feel like it used to. The reasons for his leisurely idleness were within him.

Esha was now getting the feeling that Richard was older than she could really comprehend. It was nice to feel young in comparison to someone. Staying sane..that was a bonus. Benefits were to be had with that. "I can see some good points about sanity, and keeping it"

"Hmm..something crafted before or at 1910. Not a key in the traditional sense.Still like to find the lock though. It could shift into anything, open any door- but it doesn't work as well as it did before. " She picked it off her neck and put it in her hand. Visualized..a spoon. How imaginative.

The object shifted immediately, into something more stupid. A piano tuner thing, harr harr harr. Oh it was almost laughing at her. "It doesn't behave or take orders well though. Sadly." Like some sort of excuse for her enchanted object's behavior. She scowled at it.

A friend had picked it from a rich man's pocket, thinking it was something worth something. No such luck in the monetary sense. It had saved her hind though. She held out the key to Richard in case he wanted to try and tame it. If he was curious that is. She was a bit curious too, was it only defying her? he seemed curious enough.

((If Richard wants to try and make the key something, then it has got a mind of it's own, no consciousness or anything but He'll have to visualize with a strong degree of discipline or it will be a random object.))

He grinned. "A lock made before 1910 that could be any shape or form... Well, that hardly limits the scope of the search."

At first with disbelief, he watched Esha demonstrate the key's workings. As it did seem to work, he leaned forward as to get a better look and hummed in appreciation. The artifact was magical as well as mysterious - how fascinating. The fact that he did not even raise an eyebrow at it worried him slightly, though. It seemed that his skepticism was waning as he was settling in to the academy... soon enough he would be investing in snake oil, no doubt.

Richard hesitated for a moment before accepting the item, grasping it as delicately as if he expected it to either bite or fall apart as he touched it. He examined it, turning it in his fingers carefully. Right, since she did not say anything, surely it was mental commands it was supposed to respond to. Hm... something simple to start with... How, exactly, do you order an object? He furrowed his brow slightly as he tried to, somehow, reach out to the 'key' with an image of a wrench.

In a heartbeat, it seemed to melt and reform into... a shape quite unlike what he requested. A cross pendant. Flinching slightly, Richard blinked, then a low laugh escaped him. "Right. That's not quite what I had in mind." He glanced to Esha with amusement, then reached out to return her artifact. "It's still a neat toy, I suppose, even if it doesn't obey. A hit at parties to be sure..."

"Hmm. I know that. I'm no Poirot, but there not many of those around that aren't in auction rooms or haven't been restored. And by that I'm assuming the object is mobile. If it's a door then lock is gone most likely." She bit her lip, she had been on this little quest too long. Maybe the key was just a default form and there was no lock. Sad, but it would be better than not knowing.

She trained her eyes a bit too intently on Richard as he handled the key. Richard was handling it like it was dangerous, and the thought had passed her mind once or twice but it was a little piece of morphing metal to her, nothing more nothing less. Nothing to be scared of. The stone girl wouldn't help him, incase it was her bad technique that was causing it to be flunky. Nope. Was that a-

Esha flinched along side Richard the whole slightly funny irony of it, a cross for a vampire. "Hmm. I didn't think so. Next thing I'll be getting chisels." That would be funny if she didn't think that the key would do it. Over the years Esha had personified it to be this impish, immature, spiteful, unhelpful thing. And it hadn't proven her wrong. She took the cross back and it turned into a key again.

She arched an eyebrow slightly at him "What, turning to stone isn't enough of a party piece? How difficult is it to impress people these days." She said jokingly, placing the pendant around her neck again.

He nodded, more-or-less agreeing with Esha's deductions. It was clear she'd put some thought into it and he doubted if he would be able to pitch in with anything she hadn't came up with yet. And even if he could... why should he, really? It was her personal riddle and he wouldn't steal the pleasure of solving it from her.

Chisels...? He was mildly confused by that remark, but her next words cleared it up. Richard grinned. "That would be interesting, wouldn't it? An item that turned into the weakness of whoever was holding it." He coughed. "I'm sure that one exists somewhere." In the hands of a monster hunter, no doubt.

It was not a subject he particularly cared to think about, so he was quick to move on.

"So since we've returned to the subject of parties, was discovering your immortality through drowning the only cause of your concern?" He gave a lopsided smile. "Not that it isn't enough to be concerned over, mind you."

With the weight around her neck again it felt less bare.

Richard's next statement got her thinking about weaknesses. She was brittle and could crack. She couldn't heal quickly. How strong was she really? Her powers before stone were pluck and..determination. If her powers went away she'd have that at least. "I'm sure it does, how useful that would be- A weakness detector."

"Yeah, there is more" She wrung her fingers a bit and she shrunk into her seat "I woke up after...drowning..and I forget who I was..I hurt someone. and..they were only trying to help me." She coughed and fumbled with her words a bit more upon actually stumbling onto the real problem. Audi. Forgetting who she was, She wasn't Sampa, she was Esha. Esha!

If the only thing that happened that day was that, then her worry was that now her life was infinite it became cheap. Lost value. Someone could end it over and over...Nobody except Richard could find out though. Nobody.

Sampa would trade her friends for gain, Esha wouldn't do that. The stone girl said stuff along the lines of this in her head over and over the past few weeks. How she wasn't the person she had been. Like if she said it enough it would be true.

Richard took a sip of the juice slowly, almost as if reluctantly. It was pretty pathetic how tasteless it seemed to him. He sighed, wishing he didn't leave the vodka in the kitchen.

Setting down the glass he gave Esha a sympathetic look. It was hard to come to grips with those things, surely. Especially after such a long time of not knowing one was immortal. How could she not realize for over a century, anyway...? It probably meant she did not have quickened healing. One could be careful enough to not get killed for a hundred years, but staying out of harm's way entirely was out of the question.

Of course, he could just simply ask what was she and how did she work. But he was fond of his riddles as well.

He offered a small smile. "You had the right to be confused after an unexpected resurrection. I'm sure they understand..." he trailed off a bit and raised an eyebrow. "You have talked with them, haven't you?"

So she hurt somebody. This wasn't any of his business at the moment, but he was still curious. Who could it be?

Esha took a bite of a cookie. It wasn't chocolate, rather ginger. Served her right for guessing unknown foodstuffs but was something to eat and she didn't have to do much- Esha couldn't complain really, but she was so very disappointed. She had dreamed something about chocolate cookies and she couldn't have any.

"No, I don't know how to go about it- so I've been sticking to seldom used corridors. I don't think she understood at all. She attacked me, thinking I was somehow not me. I really don't know how she'd react now." She said with a frown, ashamed with herself for not handling it better, letting the matter had festered since the event.

Being the age she was meant she should probably handle her own problems, she couldn't..her main answer was to move and out of the situation- and she didn't want to move out of the academy.

Her memory wasn't good from the day, but it was stark clear the sensation of just wanting to kill and escape. It was instinct- to fight when cornered, no? "It's been far too easy to run away from things like this.." She said to herself quietly, talking to the crickets. She got a chirp back but Esha wasn't good at deciphering chirp language.

He grimaced slightly, though whether it was at the flavorless juice, or at her confession, he wasn't sure. Of course, she didn't. So many problems could be avoided if only people talked more with each other... Not everything could be solved through conversation, of course, but situations where discussing things with the other party would be no help at all were far rarer than most assumed.

Hell, most everything he achieved in life, he achieved through talking. People didn't give it nearly enough credit.

Richard intended to chastise her lightly for avoiding confrontation when she spoke again, as quietly as if she didn't want him to hear it; and he shut his mouth again. It seemed she was aware of it already, and he couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for her. He didn't know how the species she was worked, of course, but he knew that vampires turned as teenagers often found it hard to achieve mental maturity, their bodies being still that of unstable, hormonal, lazy humans. Even if they didn't want to admit it. A sad fate, really...

Maybe that was enough guesswork, though. He was beginning to jump to conclusions.

"Esha," he said after a moment of pause. "what are you?"

She shook her head a his question and smiled slightly.

"I'm essentially human...but I'm not. I've been kicking down doors to find people but...everyone who knows anything is hiding themselves in fear of something. They won't talk to me for some reason.." Her tone was getting increasingly bitter towards the end. Hostile, because someone else's cowardice was holding her back from what she wanted.

After a beat she spoke again, "...I just want to know what did this to me." She held her hand up and turned it to stone briefly.

3 possible beings, 4 cities, 2 countries, at least 20 door busted and people that would rather die than tell her a name. It was like pulling teeth.

I have to find it, wherever it is, thought Esha defiantly. It was clear that she was a bit annoyed at the whole matter. People could be scared all they wanted, but as far as she was concerned, they could do it another time other when she was after something. She didn't want to kill the thing, just ask a few questions. Know.

"Would you be happy with...your life just revolving around unanswered questions?" She asked the question to him. His answer would be unique, she was sure of it.

He inclined his head, listening to her every word, comparing the truth - or her version thereof - to his guesses and to what he knew of the other kids. Esha was not a member of a separate species, she was a 'human plus', which put her in league with Owen and Ambrose, more-or-less... Hmm.

Snapped out of his musings by her words and the demonstration of her powers, Richard blinked, then gave her a slight, disbelieving smile. She made turning into an inorganic substance look so easy.

A hundred years of chasing after whatever it was that cursed her... He leaned back in his chair. Esha had every right to be agitated. The question threw him off a bit, though, and for a moment he looked a bit baffled. Then, as if hesitantly, he shook his head.
"Of course not." He let out that kind of a light huff that cannot decide whether it's a sigh or a chuckle. "Sometimes, though, what your life revolves around is actually up to you to choose."

She gave something of a childish smile at Richard's reaction, It never ceased to amuse her, people's reaction to her ability. Shock and She sat back in her chair and placed her hands on her lap. Her face dropped a bit at the mention of choices.

If he knew some things I chose.. She thought uncomfortably. He'd think she was a monster of a person. Not more so than herself. That would be impossible.

"I don't really have faith in what choices I make anymore" She lamented, leaving it vague what she meant. However something about her voice it could be told it wasn't..Esha, She sounded mature and it lacked the usual playful tone. The She was a bit squirmy when approaching this part of her past, but apparently a problem shared was a problem halved?

He couldn't think much worse of her than she did about it. She'd chosen her life to revolve around herself and everyone else suffered. Esha would live with that evermore, however long she lived. She always thought it was a cruel but fair punishment.

He was glad to see her smile, as short-lived as it was, soon replaced by a strange seriousness. Oh, so choices were a sensitive subject, hm...? Was her past haunting her? But she was doing well for herself, he thought; she seemed in good spirits most of the time. How much of a mask that was remained to be seen.

Richard gave the juice glass a hesitant glance, then pushed it a couple inches away on the table, rolling his eyes a bit, then returned his attention to the girl.

"I don't mean to undermine whatever it was that you did, I don't know what it was. But... most likely, you just did what you thought was best at the time." Richard rested his elbow on the table and leaned forward slightly to give her an intent look. "Let me tell you a simple truth. Life is hard. And you have managed to live for over a hundred years, Esha. You have got to be doing something right."

I did what I had to and worse for the hell of it- She cut herself of at that. No more thinking about it.

"Best isn't always... conscience friendly" She said. Esha wasn't a sociopath or anything like that, far from it. But she supposed it was different back then, more dog-eat-dog. Eat or be eaten. A sad state of affairs to grow up in but it couldn't be helped.

She waited about 5 seconds before answering of looking back mirroring his facial expression slightly. "I know life is hard. I really do, but it seems to be all about method from what I've observed. In theory it's only as hard as you make it. Think about the Gordian knot. Become king by painstakingly untying, become king in a single stroke of a sword..." She said shrugging her shoulders lightly at him with a facial expression of candidness.

A simple metaphor to be interpreted. The snack she'd brought out lay ignored as she looked back at Richard.