pris and her search for secrets

[Guest]

for someone as impressionable as the eccentric teenager curled up on the couch nestled under a mountain of soft squishy pillows, television could be a very dangerous thing. from beneath her pillow cave peaked out pris' eyes, watching a very informative show on a network that was all about historical things. today's historical things were secret passageways, secret rooms and secret tunnels. as those darting emerald green eyes watched the flickering screen with fixated fascination, one by one different smart people walked and talked their way to floors walls caves ceilings and even pieces of furniture and showed how you could make those places reveal the secret stuff they were hiding behind them.

after the first five minutes, pris' hand peeped out from behind part of her pillow wall. in her hand was the remote, and she pressed a couple of buttons in succession. windows and words popped up on the screen but she wasn't even reading them. she didn't need to when she had the sequence memorized - dommy had taught it to her so that she wouldn't get lost in the words if they started to blur. 'record' flashed on the screen by the end of her button pressing. her hand withdrew and she continued to watch.

when she show was over, she pressed four more buttons in a different order. the recorded version of the show started playing with the first five minutes of it missing. when pris was done watching the show a second time, she pressed the same four buttons and watched it again. by this third time she was able to start quoting, and that's exactly why she was watching it over and over - if she could start speaking with the smart people, it meant it was information she wouldn't forget. it was how pris studied for tests at school. she had a little recorder that remembered the teachers' lectures, and she'd play those back over and over to memorize them.

as she broke free from her cocoon she hit a button on the remote until the volume was loud enough that the television could be heard no matter where she was within the place that she and dommy now called home. as she walked into the closet that was crammed full of all her things she started speaking with one of the smart men, mimicking his high english accent perfectly, "if one is lucky enough to know the proper lift, this bustling rail station becomes a cavalcade of secrets: underground tracks, steam-pipe tunnels, storage areas and a train platform with no exit - at least none the naked eye can see." even though the smart man said nothing more, pris knew exactly what was happening on the television. that was the moment he moved his hands over the wall until he felt the tiny bump and pushed and the wall moved to reveal a secret elevator. pris practiced the push on the back wall of the closet before pulling a new shirt over her head.

as she continued to dress, she continued to parrot the television program word for word. it wasn't an innate talent - pris only learned to memorize spoken words this well after three years of it being the only way she could barely keep up in school. in the bathroom in the dark she put on her newest wig - a straight silver wig that reached to her shoulders and had bangs and glittered. she put it on in the dark because in the dark she could see well enough that she could tell that she was putting the wig on straight, but she couldn't see well enough that she got lost in her reflection in the mirror. by the time she was putting on three layers of eye shadow - pink first, then gold on top of that, and then silver underneath her eyes - she was reciting the section about tapping. tapping was very important when it came to secret passages.

she left her and dommy's happy home not bothering to turn off the tv. she was on a mission now, she had her big black shoulder bag with all her important things and she was ready to find a secret passage in the inn. one of the smart people on the television said it was best to start either at the top of a building or the bottom and work down. method, that's what they said a lot, method and system you had to have those if you wanted to be sure you weren't missing anything. "top top top," pris murmured to herself as she climbed the stairs up to the top floor of the inn, "top floor, floor first then walls then ceiling then furniture." as she repeated her plans she added a little bit on each time with an odd singsong quality. "top, floor, walls, ceiling, furniture. tap, brush, press, listen." the increasingly sung plan matched the march of her feet as she climbed the last level of stairs.

it was a floor she'd never been to before. suddenly pris realized just how much of the inn she'd yet to explore. well, now was the best time. she had a reason to explore now - the possibility of a secret passage that would take her somewhere exciting and make all sorts of exciting things happen. humming softly to herself in an increasingly high pitch that betrayed her nervous excitement, she crept all the way to one end of the quiet hall. sliding her bag around to her back where it could rest against her out of the way, she crouched down to the ground on all fours and started tapping. floor, and tapping. those were the two things that came first in the method she devised.

and if anyone came her way that's what they would see. an eccentric teenage girl - wearing a big fluffy floral skirt, a frilly white blouse with short poofy sleeves, a pink satin vest, white stockings with black spots, mint green sneakers and a silver glittery wig - on her hands and knees knocking all over the floor like she expected some kind of answer.

[Guest]

Venis and Kahn had been very lucky when Kahn asked for the rooms on the third floor. They had been placed in the center of it all. This made for the wonderful happenstance that Venis, from her desk with her always open door, could see all the comings and goings of the stairs that lead to the third floor.

That being said, when a twinkle of silver crossed Venis' peripheral vision, it caught her attention. That was rather unusual. She knew Vesta, and her love of color. But Vesta never ventured up here. Jesse had gone back to the club at this point. So this had Venis rather curious. She signed the paper she had before her and rose from her seat.

She straightened out her dress as she walked to the door. It was long and flowing and was a light green in color. It had spaghetti straps and was fitted to her waist. But the skirt was full and wavy and if she twirled it would fan out nicely. It was one of Venis' favorite warm weather dresses.

As she crossed the threshold of the door she looked in the direction that she had seen the flash of silver go. She saw the young lady on her hands and knees. She was knocking upon the floor. Venis arched an eyebrow as she watched. She didn't want to startle the poor child. But if Tasha opened her door to let Leviathan out, that could startle her even worse.

She leaned against the door jam and let her arms dangle at her sides. She didn't want to take an aggressive stance. She cleared her throat before she spoke. And when she did speak, her voice was soft and calm and held a hint of curiosity. "Hello miss, may I help you with something?" She could smell the young ladies blood in the air.

She placed a hand over her stomach. Not from hunger, not even from pain, but for some reason. She chose to ignore it rather than investigate it. But something about this girl was pulling at her. She had never met this child before, but there was something about her scent. It was ever so faint, barely noticeable. Which would be why Venis left it alone and moved on to the matter at hand. Which was seeing if the girl would like some help with anything.

[Guest]

pris was taking her secret passage hunting very seriously. as strange a thing as it was to do, she really didn't consider it strange and it was actually a very good thing for her to spend her time on - a task she could fixate on that wouldn't get her lost in the midst of something potentially dangerous. at least this was hopefully something that wasn't potentially dangerous. at any rate, she tapped tapped the corners where the floor and the wall met, and then slowly turned around so that she could tap in front of her and start working her way down the hall back towards the stairs.

or should she start working her way down the hall? when her mind asked her that, pris froze in mid tap. already she was stuck. staring at the floor with a thoughtful little frown she sat back on her knees and she reviewed her clever method in a whisper mumble. "top floor walls ceiling furniture tap brush press listen.....move? top floor tap move top floor brush move top floor press move top floor listen move? top floor tap brush press listen move?" this was a problem she didn't expect. she didn't take moving to account, and nothing in the television program said whether or not it was a good idea to do the tapping brushing and everything in one space before moving to the next or doing one method in the whole area before sweeping it again. it was a point they didn't cover because the smart people had already found their passages and were just showing them off, it wasn't a 'how to' program really.

this was the stuck state venis would watch pris hit before pris even knew she was there. concentrated on the floor and her mutters, the eccentric artist didn't hear the throat clearing. or if she did, she didn't respond to it. it wasn't until pris heard venis' question and it sank in that the odd girl slowly lifted her head. venis would see rather quickly that the girl didn't look in one place for more than a few seconds. even if her gaze was focused on one general area, her emerald eyes bounced from here to there to here to there within that area. at least a minute of the girl staring at venis this way in silence ticked by before pris spoke back to her.

and since venis asked a very particular question, pris would give her a very particular question back! cocking her head slightly to the side she inquired in that smooth mimic of the smart man's high british accent, "top floor tap brush press listen move?" venis asked pris if she could help after all, and that very issue was what pris needed help with! it's just that the girl was neglecting to realize that the woman who spoke to her so gently might not know what she was talking about.

[Guest]

Venis watched as the girls lovely emerald orbs never met her own ice blue's. It made no matter to Venis. She had met one before who could not focus on living things for very long. Chances were it was for a different reason, but either way, Venis didn't mind. She smiled at the young lady, not a hint of fang offered.

The girl had seemed to be looking for something. But it seemed like it was something under the floor, not on it. Luckily for her, Venis owned a castle. A castle that had catacombs, sub floors, and double walls. The problem was, Venis had to find the entrances. So she had done something similar to what the girl was doing now, only several years ago.

She But it took Venis a moment to make this connection. She had repeated the girls words in her head a couple of times before it clicked. Venis, in her search, had made the mistake of going around a room several times. First she had knocked upon every inch of the walls that she could reach. Then she had went back around pressing every stone she could. Then she had moved furniture and tried to turn light fixtures on her third time around.

When Venis had searched each room after that, she had done each of the search tasks in each spot so she only made one trip around each room. And given this young lady was at one end of a long hall that went to both sides of the stairs, it made sense to do all the actions as you went along so it was one trip. So that would make move the last action in the sequence. So that made the answer simple. "Yes." She smiled again softly.

She looked around the hall, the girl would need a boost to reach the ceiling if she wished to search it, plus the walls were rather high. "My name is Venis." She looked over her shoulder down the other direction of the hall before turning back to the girl. "Would you like some help with the high places?" She waited. She would only move towards the girl if she asked her to do so.

[Guest]

"yes," pris echoed the word in the exact same volume, tone and timbre as venis'. well, as matched as her own voice could mimic. but it was pretty darn close. her gaze strayed and pris took in the entire hallway with that darting gaze as her strange mind thought all of this over. when she spoke next, it was in that whisper mumble she'd been using earlier. "yes yes yes yes yes." top floor tap brush press listen move it was then.

and that meant she had more work to do in this corner of the hallway before she moved to the next part of the floor. she had brush press listen still to do. and pris twisted about to do just that when venis asked her question. it was enough to make the odd girl pause again, lapsing back into thoughtful statue stillness. unless pris was able to answer questions immediately, they were always something that could stop her in her tracks. because her mind picked up those unanswered questions and asked them back at her over and over again like an echo that wouldn't stop. or that stopped only after pris had given the question some sort of answer. even if it was wrong.

would you like some help with the high places? repeated now over and over. "would you could you should you like some help?" she murmured that to herself as her head tilted upward, her eyes darting here there everywhere to study the ceiling. "hm hm hm," she replied pensively. if it were simply a question of height, pris' answer would have been immediate. yes. because the girl was barely over five feet tall, and she obviously had no stool or ladder with her. how she was going to reach the high places was something she hadn't considered yet. but this was a question that had to do with more than height.

because would, along with could and should, were never very easy questions to answer. those were the kind of questions that fairy tales warned people about. they were the kind of questions that lead to nearly getting baked in ovens, pricking fingers on spinning wheels, or working for dwarves. in pris' experience, those questions got her caught up with pirates and poofs and big bad wolves and make her desperately want to believe they could be swashbucklers. pris knew that, and that's why she had such a weighty little frown on her face as she considered the woman's offer.

venis' offer. she'd said her name. venis. venus. the two sounded one and the same to pris, and the strange connection it made brought her next words, "shouldn't you be in orbit, planet? i didn't know planets became people and tapped."

[Guest]

Venis remained still as a statue as she watched the girl ponder her question. Could Venis have gone into the girls head to see if she was going to find her answer? Of course she could, but that would be an invasion of the girls privacy. Venis tried to be a little more polite than that around most people. Especially humans. And there was something about this human child that was different. So Venis had chose to tread lightly so as not to scare her or bring her harm. Besides, what Venis didn't know about the girls mind could hurt her.

She told herself to breathe because she had forgotten to do so as she was watching the girl. Venis had noticed the mimicking quality the girl had when repeating her answer. It was impressive. Venis' voice was one of varying octaves and timbers, and even more varying volumes. But Venis had chose one volume, octave, and timber when speaking to this girl. Something soft and soothing an of a low-medium volume. There was no need to be loud. And the girl had done a great job in matching Venis.

The girl seemed to have gotten stuck on the question. That was fine with Venis, she had all the time in the world if he girl needed time to think. After all, it was a question that had the issue of trust buried in it. 'Would you' was easily associated with 'could you', as in could you trust me to help you? It also ran hand in hand with 'should you', as in should you trust me to help you? Which equaled would you trust me to help you? And had Venis been anything other than what she was, she would have said no.

But then again. The girl could be considered one of the reasons that Venis was who and what she was. The only reason Venis was here was to protect the innocent. Humans, like this girl. Oh, she was sure that the girl could take care of herself if needed. Of that Venis had no doubt. But Venis' reason for being was to protect humans and humanity and any others who needed it. So could the girl trust Venis? Should the girl trust Venis? Yes to both, but would the girl trust Venis was the question.

But the girl had a different question that needed to be answered first. She had made the comparison between Venis' name and something else. The Goddess Venus? No such luck. The statue of Venus? Not quite. No, she had made the comparison between the Venis who stood before her, and the planet Venus that shone brightly in the night sky. It reminded her of a little cartoon character back on Earth. He was a Martian named Marvin. From the 20th century if she remembered correctly. He was constantly trying to destroy the Earth in his cartoons. Why? It blocked his view of Venus.

This thought as well as the girls inquiry into why a planet had come down to be with people, brought a smile to Venis' face. It was an easy comparison to make, given the English pronunciation of her name. So the smile was a soft and measured smile. After all, what would she think if she thought the planet had fangs? So after the smile she would answer. "Sometimes, it's nice to make new friends." Did that answer make sense? Not to Venis, she felt it needed a touch more explanation. "I can't make new friends if I stay up in the Heavens." There, not a lie, not an admission to being a planet either. After all, Venis was a Goddess, so she did spend time in the Heavens.

[Guest]

it was a very good thing venis didn't try to poke around in pris' mind. it was not at all linear, or coherent, or logical sensible or any other word that would describe how a regular mind operated. it was a mind that was clinically imbalanced, and that imbalance lead to an entirely different mode of operation and survival. mostly images that didn't represent the traditional psychological or intellectual signifiers. benjamin got a taste of pris' mind when she touched the hood of his car when he saw the cascade of slithering rope rubbing its own skin off. so what was narratively represented as her mind simply repeating a question was in actuality a chaotic clank of images marching in her brain to the beat of no known drummer.

it was the one thing the medication would fix. but her doctor and mother didn't want pris on medication. and though pris would probably never say so to anyone, she didn't want the medicine either. the week she was medicated when she was thirteen it fixed one problem and caused her a whole load of worse ones.

after she posed her question, pris watched venis. of course even when she was watching, her eyes didn't settle in one place. but it was the most concentrated focus that pris had given to the woman yet, keeping to venis' facial features. lots of stories could be told just by the eyebrows that the eyes next door didn't even know, and the same was true for the ears, nose, mouth, chin, and the face wrinkles. the face wrinkles were just as wise as old people with all their wrinkles, pris had learned that a long time ago. the odd girl knew that if she just set her eyes in one place and stared the 'bogeymen' that lived inside of venis just like they lived in all people would begin to show their secrets.

but most of the time, the secrets creeping in people were things she didn't want to see. not unless they were her heroes, like dommy and donnie, and that's why heroes were so hard to find. there were very few people that pris could look at that she didn't see blemishes and vices and terrible fears, terrible wants, or terrible truths when the layers were pulled back. not that dommy and donnie were pure, it was just that in comparison [or maybe in her opinion] their terrible things were bearable terrible. instead of unbearable terrible.

pris made a bitter lemon face at venis' answer. "sometimes." the echo had a precociously challenging edge to it, that sarcastic teenager tone. "sometimes friends. sometimes friends are made. out of clay. or paper. even then they still change their faces somehow." pris dropped her eyes back to the floor then, and decided it was time to start brushing, pressing and listening. which meant she had to turn back around and face the corners of the hallway, doing the brushing part first. her pastel-stained fingers ran lightly over the flooring, pressing down every inch to check for a catch.

after her skewed mind thought it over in its peculiar way of making connections she added, "it looks crowded to me. up there. and that's where things go to rise above so they aren't touched by any of the bad things people try to point around. so it must be really nice." she was remembering something. a picture of the sky that doesn't fade without fear.

[Guest]

And just as it was a good thing that Venis didn't look into Pris' head, it was a good thing that Pris didn't stare at Venis and catch glimpse of her 'bogeymen.' Venis had several, and they were all terrifying, sometimes even to Venis herself. If Venis had a soul, it would definitely be a tortured one. Now wouldn't Benjamin just love that?

When the girl had chose to speak, there was a 'bratty teen' tone to her words. Venis was used to this tone, she had four teenagers at home and there was even one that she was in charge of here at the Inn. And even at seventeen, Jason could get bratty. So Venis didn't even flinch when she heard that tone from the girl. But she did carefully weigh her words to consider their meaning. She had some theories, but that was all they were.

Venis wasn't exactly obligated to reply to the girls comment about friends, she hadn't asked a question. But Venis didn't want the girl to thing that she was dismissing her comment or just not even listening. "I have friends who have changed their faces." Some of them more than once. "But sometimes they are better with the new face." And other times you wish they could just go back to who they were before. But everything changed overtime, didn't it?

It was what the girl said next that had Venis a little perplexed. By up there, did she mean the sky, up near the ceiling, or in the Heavens in a more religious way? The best way to get an answer to a question was to ask it. "Crowded in the Heavens?" The young girls answer would determine where the conversation would progress to. After all, if Venis was misunderstanding the girl, than she could say or do something to upset the girl. It wasn't a difficult task for Venis to upset someone. She did it accidentally a lot.

[Guest]

when venis said that sometimes friends were better with their new faces, pris just humphed in a tone that clearly meant she didn't agree. pris was of the opinion that when faces changed it was like peeling layers off an onion - each layer just made you cry more. of course she didn't say that out loud.

instead, the strange girl hunched down as flat as she could get on all fours as she was, and she pressed her ear to the floor to listen. "in," she told the floor quietly as she listened in one spot, before moving to listen to a spot a few inches away, "out." she moved again. "in," and after shifting to listen to one more place in this corner she added, "out." it was what her doctor always said when he were moving his heart-listeners over her chest, telling her when to inhale and when to exhale. she was telling the floor the same thing now. could she actually hear it breathing?

she had finished the whole process for this corner - top floor tap brush press listen, so now she could move. at first she just sat up on her knees facing venis, looking at the woman with a slow head tilt. eyes darting here there and everywhere but this time she wasn't looking at venis' face or body but at the area just surrounding her. her eyes squinted as they peered at the negative space between the woman's body and the doorway, pris focusing really hard at what she 'saw' there.

"um," she said finally with a touch of disbelief to her voice. "yes." that venis had to ask that question had thrown pris off. the way pris saw it, if you lived up in the heavens you would know that they were crowded right? she didn't expect that this planet would need someone to tell her so. the eccentric teenager didn't realize that venis was trying to clarify the location because to pris there was no question about the location, so her strange mind had focused on the state of that location - crowded. for what else, her skewed thoughts told her, could she possibly be asking about?

that was all pris had to say about the heavens. or crowds. the girl shifted forward on her knees to the neck area, pressing one hand flat the floor so that the other could start her method all over again. the tapping, of course, came first.

[Guest]

The sound that the girl emitted made Venis smile. She knew that tone too. That was the 'yea, ok, whatever' tone. She got that tone a whole lot from Giskarl. He was infamous for it around the Jordianthan home. He had started giving his parents that tone even before he was a teenager. She made a note to go check on the kids later. She missed them very much.

Venis watched as the girl got as low as she could to the floor and started telling the floor to breathe in and out. It reminded her of a joke. And her close lipped smile widened. The joke? A blonde woman walked into the Salon to get a hair cut. She fell asleep in the chair while the woman was cutting her hair. So, instead of trying to cut around the headphones that the woman was wearing, the stylist took the headphones off of her.

Well the blonde woman died while she was getting her hair cut. The stylist freaked out. She couldn't figure out why the blonde had died. So she listened to the headphones for a minute. But it wasn't music she heard. It was a man's voice saying 'breathe in, breathe out.' Yes, it was kinda funny, wasn't it?

She watched as the girl sat up on her knees and looked at Venis again. Well, in her general direction at least. She took a moment to stare at the space between where Venis stood and the door jam she was leaning against. From that angle, what could the girl see that had captured her attention? Maybe it was the round, brilliant cut diamond with a ten inch diameter that Venis used as a door stopper? The eighty-three carat monster was something Venis had made when she was bored once. It took her a few days.

But would a diamond, even one that big, catch the girls attention like that? Or was she seeing something else? Was she seeing something that normal eyes couldn't see? Venis looked down for a moment, she didn't see anything from the glance. But that wasn't to say that there wasn't something there. The eyes only see what the mind lets them see. And the mind sees everything.

But then the girl had a simple answer to her simple question. Yes, she was talking about in the Heavens. Now had it been one of her children who had taken that tone when they answered her question, she would have told them to check their attitude. But this one wasn't hers. And there was something about this girl that made Venis believe she was different. But different was sometimes a good thing. And Venis believed this to be the case this time. This girl was more than different, she was special.

So because of those two factors, Venis let the tone slide. She just moved on with the conversation as if neither of the tones the girl had taken with her had even been heard. It was just normal conversation. Besides, maybe to the girl, it was. Maybe she didn't know she was taking tones. So it was time to continue the conversation. "It is nice, and not as crowded as it looks." What was Venis basing this knowledge on? Twentieth century Earth's space program.

Venis thought about it for a moment. The girl had yet to offer a name. Perhaps she was a touch shy. Nothing wrong with asking, right? "So, what should I call you sweety?" Sometimes, people preferred something other than their name. An abbreviated form perhaps, or a nickname. Venis wasn't looking to offend the girl, so she chose her words carefully.

[Guest]

if venis was watching pris' eyes closely enough she'd see that the one place pris absolutely didn't look at was the diamond. the girl enjoyed shiny - because really what teenage girl didn't? - but diamonds were not only shiny, they were also reflective. and one that big, well it was practically a mirror wasn't it? pris didn't get along with mirrors, she didn't get along with them at all. so she was keeping her eyes off the diamond to keep herself out of danger from getting lost.

so what had pris been looking at? only the odd girl knew. maybe the spaces between people were as information-loaded to her as silences between words and sentences. she was an artist, after all, and her imbalance did make her see the relationship between people and things in a different way than others.

she was on all fours tapping away on the next section of floor when venis asked her about her name. pris had a habit of not giving her name to people even when they introduced themselves, though it didn't have much to do with shyness, forgetfulness or anything like that. she knew she when she wasn't giving her name. venis sure got her attention though when she said 'sweety'.

the girl looked up slowly, and for the first time pris' rich green eyes landed right on venis' for no more than two precious seconds, enough time to say. "not. that." then she dropped her gaze back down to the floor in time for her fingers to start the brushing and pressing part of her method. "sweetie honey darling dearie bunny babe baby babygirl cutie pookie girlie doll dolly dollface angel bugaboo pumpkin princess sugar sweetheart cupcake gumdrop cookie muffin lovie nothing like that. i hate that." not even dommy or donnie could get away with calling pris a name like that without getting a similar response.

the brushing and tapping complete, pris shifted her position so she could press her ear to the floor. venis would probably start to wonder if pris was going to answer her question in the silence that followed. and pris did, but only after a moment of listening. "my name is pris. the floor knows that." did it? like whether or not pris actually thought venis was a planet come down from the sky, it was totally unclear except to the teenager herself. sometimes she was truly odd. sometimes she was odd for odd's sake. and other times she behaved oddly only to see how those around her handled it.

she sat up, shimmying forward on her knees to the next bit of floor. the tapping started all over again in this new section. pris was starting to realize that if she was really going to look for a secret passage and do it right, it was going to take a really long time.

[Guest]

Venis wasn't staring into Pris' eyes for her own reasons. Just as the girl saw things that she didn't always want to see, Venis sometimes ended up causing things she didn't want to cause. Venis' mind could be a bit overwhelming to the minds of others. And it was usually when eye contact was made. Sometimes the power of suggestion was stronger than people would think.

So she looked at the child, but avoided eye contact almost as much as the girl did. But she did wonder what had her attention. But, she figured she may never know the answer to that one. Which was fine, after all, a girl had to have her secrets, right? And as the girl returned to her search, Venis watched.

But then something unexpected happened. The girl looked into her eyes. Had she not looked away as fast as she did, Venis would have. But the girl had said 'not that'. She knew she meant the calling her sweety thing. Which was fine by Venis. Then the girl rattled off a list of other nicknames that she didn't like. So Venis, who was again dismissing tone, simply responded. "Ok, no problem." And watched her continue.

It was a brief moment before the girl volunteered her name. Pris. That was a very lovely name. And she said that the floor knew her name. That could be purely possible. "I like your name. It's pretty, like you." Venis smiled again. "Now, the floor and I both know that." Her soft words were measured to ensure that Pris didn't get the impression that she was trying to be sarcastic.

She had been thinking that this was going to take a while when she saw the girl on the floor. "Would you like me to check the walls?" She hated just standing there watching. She felt like she needed to do something to help. Plus, if she lent a hand, it might go a little faster and Pris could find what she was looking for faster.

[Guest]

when pris looked at her. planet looked away. the eccentric girl noticed that and she said it to her mind, her mind saying it back. that way both of them would remember. as she went back to her task she was careful not to think about what looking away might mean for this planet, because she didn't want her mind to start asking the question when she wasn't ready to answer. finding an answer to that might take time. just like it took time to learn about big bad wolves - she still hadn't mustered up the courage to open the book again.

as she scootched forward to the next tapping place pris made a bitter lemon face. puckering up and even sticking her tongue out a little. she mumble mumbled something under her breath, but the funny thing was even if someone had very very very good hearing they would only be able to hear that what she said to herself was nonsense. or at least, it wasn't in any traditionally recognizable language. dommy might have understood, if he had been near enough to hear it.

then pris said in a matter-of-fact tone that was a mimic of some excitable over-enunciating sales person that she heard on television, "extra flat floor with extra slats, now in fresh-polish scent, if all it sees is feet from the bottom how does it know pretty from an elbow?" was that a riddle, a sales pitch, or something in between? not a lot of time to think about that, not when pris kept going. "what if it thinks pretty is flat because it's flat," she added in a mimic of a flat monotone as the continued to shimmy forward and tap without pressing, brushing or listening, "does that make me flat? girls my age don't want to be flat. boobs are a girl's flower petals, it's how to attract the bees to the nectar."

she picked up her head then. emerald eyes darting here there and everywhere on and around venis. it was very important she look up just then. to see. but it stirred a memory, too. the planet had asked her a question. the odd artist shrugged her shoulders. "so long as your stars don't mind." after she said that pris looked briefly again at venis' eyes, this time with her eyes smushed into squinty slits for two whole seconds. then she turned away and coughed. loud and lots. to drown out her mind reminding her that she had to think about why this planet looks away. the coughing was a diversion. for herself.

still coughing, pris went back to her work. her math teacher always had the students check and grade each other's work because he said it was double the practice, but then he always checked it again anyway after they were done "to be sure". she wondered if she was supposed to do that too. let the planet check the walls and then check the planet's homework to give it a grade.

[Guest]

Venis did have excellent hearing, but Pris was very good at being quiet. That meant that very few of the foreign words spoken through the hushed tones actually made it to Venis' ears. Which, to Venis, meant that the were not meant for her ears. They were meant for Pris' ears alone. Venis figured that no offense was meant, so none was taken.

Venis smiled again when she heard Pris speak of the floor as if she were an announcer in a television ad. She almost chuckled, but she didn't want Pris to think she was laughing at her. No, quite the contrary, this girl had some skill when it came to mimic, and Venis thought it to be wonderful. Venis was never the laugh at someone type. At least not any more. After all, once upon a time, she did command an Army of the undead.

So the question was asked about the floor and it's knowledge of beauty. At least that was what Venis gathered from the offered words. And there was he added question of Pris' beauty and the possible flatness of her chest. When Pris said 'boobs' she had managed to accomplish something that precious few had ever accomplished before. She made the Vampress blush.

What could bring a brush of crimson to the face of the undead? Well, she looked down for the briefest of moments because of Pris' comment. Venis had never made a conscious thought about how boobs attracted the opposite sex. It wasn't that Venis hid hers away, quite the opposite. Even now, they were presented in a manor that could be found attractive to males. It was just not something Venis thought about. She wore whatever she was in the mood to wear. Whatever felt comfortable when she put it on.

So when Pris looked at Venis, she would see the blushing red-head looking up from her own, more than ample, bosom and begin to answer her. "Perhaps what the floor thinks is pretty is anything that isn't flat." Wasn't the saying 'opposites attract'? But to answer her other inquiry, that would cause the hint of color upon her cheeks to spread. "And you are not flat. You are nicely curved." Honesty was always the best policy.

Venis' own ice blues watched Pris as she looked from spot to spot. Venis preferred the bridge of the nose, right between the eyes. That way, others thought she was looking in their eyes. But as Pris looked up at her, she was already preparing for another lock of eyes. In Venis' head, walls were being erected, doors closed and locked, bad things were being captured and put in safe places. It was all very fluid.

And why was this being done one might ask? It wasn't to keep Pris from seeing her bogeymen, for Venis had no idea Pris could see them. But it was still for Pris' protection. Because most of what Venis was locking away was things that would like to get into Pris' head to play, to try and control, to try and mesmerize the girl. And Venis was refusing that to happen. The bogeymen that were getting locked away were because they would cause trouble and try and let the other things out.

So it was almost safe for Pris to look into Venis' eyes. Just a few more walls to erect and doors to close, and then all Pris would find in Venis' mind would be good and nice things. Gone would be the visible traces of the Warlock and the Vampire. There would be no hint of Evil, or Witchcraft, or death or any other thing that goes bump in the night, for Pris to see. That was, unless, she chose to stare at Venis for a very very long time. Because the walls and doors would return to normal after a while.

Pris spoke of stars next. 'So long as your stars don't mind' said the girl. Venis cocked her head for a moment. Was she ...? Sure, she must have meant the checking the walls thing. "Oh, no, they don't mind. They like it when I help." She straightened her head right again. She could hear a stirring in Tasha's room, and that would be a good place to start. Right beside her door, and Tasha would hear it.

Now Venis was a very tall woman. Six foot two in her stocking feet, and today she wore six inch heels. So that made her six foot eight. But that still was not tall enough to reach the ceiling, or even the top of the walls. So that left two options. One being that Venis lift Pris so she could check, or Venis could get a step stool from her room and use it. Smart money was on the step stool being the safest route.

So Venis reached into her door and grabbed up a three step, step stool. The question of what it was doing right there along the wall beside the door was something only Venis could answer. After all, had it even been there before she reached for it? Either way, she listened for Pris' pattern so she would not be trying to listen as Pris knocked and vice versa.

She had noticed the squinted look. She even offered a soft, gentle, close lipped smile. But she looked at Pris' nose, after all not everything was locked away yet. Luckily, enough of the bad stuff was locked away that Pris wouldn't even know it was there within the two seconds of that glance. But then the girl was coughing. So Venis had to ask. "Do you need a cough drop or something to drink?" How was Venis to know that the girl used the cough as a way to distract her mind? She placed her ear to the wall and began to knock.

[Guest]

there it was. what pris wanted to see. venis' reaction to her comment about boobs, flower petals and nectar. at first pris' eyes focused on the color of venis cheeks. eyes shifting ever so slightly every few seconds to focus on the different parts of the planet's red spots. to most people, the cheek was probably just one thing. like an eye was one thing or a nose was one thing or a finger, leg or arm. not to pris. the cheek and all the rest of those things were made up with piles and piles of details that were far too many to count a cheek as just a 'one'. so at first that's what her eyes were busy with. going detail to detail to detail.

then she noticed the planet looking elsewhere again. so pris dropped her eyes to see what was so good about the elsewhere that made it worth looking at. and of course that elsewhere was the planet's own nectar-wooers. those mama mountains made pris' own chest look like meager molehills. and probably to the planet's chagrin, even though venis' gaze at her own chest was brief pris' stayed there. she didn't stare - the girl was being very careful about not staring anywhere on or around the planet to keep herself from fixating and things from warping - but just like with the cheek pris' gaze shifted slightly every couple of seconds to absorb all the details.

and there was only one thing to say about the details she saw. "buzzzzzzzzzzzz. bet the floor wishes you had some of those on the bottoms of your feet so it could get a better view." it was factually stated. when it came to anything even remotely sexual, pris didn't think about it in an even remotely sexual manner. probably because of the imbalance of chemicals in her body, the eccentric girl happened to be a late bloomer. halfway to seventeen and she still hadn't 'blossomed', so the lion's share of hormones had yet to kick in.

and that was that. her study complete, the girl's gaze dropped back to the floor as she backed up with a little shimmy to do the brushing and pressing part of the piece of floor she skipped. all the observations the eccentric teen had made where purely visual - a simple [albeit strange] human girl, she didn't in the least have the power to pry into minds, not even by accident. her strange probing 'power' rested solely in how she saw the world and how her brain processed what she saw. and the stare didn't have to center around eyes - in fact most of the time the other parts of the body were far more revealing.

if to everyone bodies were blueprints and freckles told stories, then people would understand better how by simply looking at the smaller details of someone was like peeling back layers of a complicated onion-person to pris. once observed, it was also how the synapses of her brain fired up, joined together, and made connections between each observation that took the 2 + 2 of the small things she saw and made it equal the 4 of what people were within. like her doctor who when she stared at him had no hands and an empty chest cavity, or the librarian who had birds living in her empty eye sockets, or poof whose teeth when she stared at them were grandmother what big teeth you have.

as pris pressed and brushed her fingers over the floor, either she forgot that venis had asked after her cough and offered food and drink, or she didn't think it was important. or not as important maybe as another issue seemed to be to her. "tell me a story about stars then," she asked the wall-knocking woman. "if two planets sat next to each other, would the stars swarm over and ask for some honey?"

[Guest]

Tasha had heard the knocking upon the wall. But she had not thought anything of it. It could have been someone searching for the stud to hang something. Leviathan on the other hand, she was the more curious of the two kitties. So she got up and walked over to the door. She sat there looking at the door while she waited for Tasha.

So Tasha got up from where she was sitting, working on some jewelry, and went to open the door. But there was an unfamiliar scent on the other side of that door. So Tasha was reluctant to open the door. But she could smell Venis in the hall as well. So she pulled the door open and held it.

Leviathan rose to all fours and walked out the door. She saw the girl on all fours on the floor and she cocked her head. She walked over closer to the girl and laid down. She turned her head so that it was almost upside down as she rolled over onto her back. She wanted the girl to rub her tummy. The large black panther loved kids, she even hoped that Tasha would have some, someday.

Tasha stood there and watched. "Oh my, who's your friend Venis?" She looked to Venis then to the girl. "She sure has taken an immediate liking to you young lady." That wasn't always the case with Leviathan, but usually with children it was. Though, the young lady was a bit older than the ones Levi usually flocked to. So Tasha just stood there waiting to see what the girl would do.

[Guest]

so far no matter what venis had said or what pris had said in response, the teenager always kept focused on the mission: secret passage searching. her unconventional kind of focus sometimes worked to her horrible disadvantage when there were too many active things around that made said focus impossible, but it also often worked to her great advantage on occasions were she needed to be hyper-focused like when she worked on her portraits. because that hyper-focus was so useful, her doctor had taught her a long list of ways to help the eccentric girl hold onto it.

and when there were multiple halls and rooms to tap-press-brush-listen, there was no way pris was going to get through this task without her hyper-focus. even then she knew it was going to take a very very long time. but the possibility of the possibilities made this daunting mission worthwhile. for if she found a secret somewhere, it could lead to a another somewhere that would make her very happy. or maybe the somewhere would bring her to a whole new world. or maybe the somewhere would even lead to secret looted booty and ching a ching caves.

so she knew she had to focus. that might of been part of the reason pris asked for a story. for something to focus on. but in the meantime while she waited for it she had to make a story of her own. to keep her eyes seeing only the floor in front of her and her ears hearing only the floor in front of her. so she repeated softly, "star, star, star, star..." to ask her memory if one of the poems her doctor had her memorize had stars in it.

there was. when that poem went click in her thoughts she started to murmur it. "lightly stepped a yellow star to its lofty place loosened the moon her silver hat from her lustral face all of evening softly lit as an astral hall father i observed to heaven you are punctu-al." all the way through with no pauses like a run-on. but as she scooted forward to the next bit of floor when she started tapping again that tapping took on a distinct drum rhythm.

so that the second time through she could sing. "l-i-i-i-ightly stepp-ed a YELlow ssssstar...." her rhythm and intonation were not conventional at all. as if the rest of the beat was in pris' mind, and within that unheard beat was where pris' musical choices made sense. by the end of the first sing-song line her eyes were devoutly fixed on the floor in front of her. staring. but it was alright to stare at floors. so long as pris wasn't having an episode she'd found that floor stories were safe.

wrapped up in her star story, when tasha emerged and the large animal plopped on the floor in front of the girl, pris was well lost in her song and her task. the mission, stay on the mission. the mission was to find a secret somewhere, so when her eye corner saw something shadowy black ahead she tapped tapped her way around it, eyes never leaving the smooth planks of wood her knuckles wrapped.

taptap - tap - ta-ta-taptap rap tap. a repeated rhythm now as she'd made it past the shadow all the way back to the bit of hallway just in front of the stairs. the onlookers might wonder if pris even heard tasha's words or if she knew that new events had come into the hallway at all. because the only other thing pris said - or sang - was, "tooOOOooo - OO oooo it's loftEE puh-hullllll ace."

as her hand band played on. taptap - tap - ta-ta-taptap rap tap. the mission, the chorus in her head sang, stay on the mis-sion.

[DrDonaldBlake]

Tap,Tap, Tap, Tap........ Tap,Tap,Tap,Tap........ Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap. No Rest for the wicked it seemed, because whoever the hell was upstairs had officially decided that people downstairs didn't matter, especially when some people quite literally had brain surgery later in the evening. No, no not Donald. He gets a whole bunch of tap tap tappy keeping him from resting. Shooting up to a sit in his bed the good doctor fumbled about for his walking stick and when he had it, donald started for the stairs going up.


Kerthunk, Kerthunk, Kerthunk... was the sound that always gave way to Donald Approaching. Slowing comming up the stairs on his way to give whoever was doing the tapping a bit of his mind. The ladies upstairs would see a sleepy looking Donald Blake comming slowly up the stairs. his hair hastily pushed up and back of his face, though it was by no neat and tidy.

His Clothes where a pair of AC/DC sleeping pants and a T-shirt that had a stylyzed 'A' on the top right hand side of it. and in plain black lettering "Property of the Avengers." With " Not to be removed from the Watchtower" in smaller lettering underneath it. looks like donald may have been a bit of a rule breaker.

Comming up to the final steps he saw A rediculously tall woman, the girl who had asked about birth control a very large cat and Pris, who seemed absolutely oblivious to everything while she was tap tap tapping on the ground. It was a sight that Made poor Donald look so very very confused."wait... wait, what? Hi, Ladies... Hi... Large cat." A smile to the ladies before with a bit of effort Donald Knelt down near Pris, whispering to the girl."Hey Pris... why are you tapping on the floor?"

[Guest]

Venis smiled as her attention went from her chest back to Pris. That was a rather interesting thing to say. It showed Venis that Pris understood a lot, she figured that it was probably a lot more than people gave the girl credit for. That was one thing Venis tried to never do. She never wanted to look at someone and think she knew everything about them, because she might just end up being very wrong. And that comment showed Venis just that. If she had looked at Pris and thought her a simpleton, incapable of comprehension, she would have been wrong.

Pris was actually very smart. Venis liked smart. So as she smiled at the girl she was quick to know how to respond. "I am sure that if the floor likes curves, it would enjoy a better view of mine." But there was something she had to add to that because she believed it to be true. "Yours as well." She was very careful of her smile. Even a hint of fang could be very bad at this point. So every word, every move of her facial muscles, was carefully measured to keep that tidbit as well hidden as possible.

Venis didn't mind Pris' careful examination of her body. She was very open when it came to some things. She had spent many years getting educations so she would never be bored. And one of those trips back to college had gotten the red-head a medical degree, another a teaching certificate, and yet another time, she was an art major. So Venis knew that there were several possible reasons to examine the human body. All of which Venis found quite acceptable. She wasn't even adversed to nudity for those purposes. She had been nude for medical exams, and as a model for art classes. All of which involved teaching. So if Pris wanted to look, let her look.

As soon as Pris has finished her examination she returned to her search of the floor. And it was a good thing that she hadn't stared, though Venis didn't know that. Because Venis was a natural red-head. And if Pris stared she would have seen through the make up and the body shimmer to find all those story telling freckles. Enough freckles to tell thousands of stories. Enough for a series of novels. And a lot of those stories would not be pretty and nice and good stories. So chances were, Pris would not like to know them.

But Pris had a request. So as Venis continued her knocking upon the wall, she tried to think of a story to tell her about the stars. Which didn't take much time at all given Pris had given her a subject to build from, in the form of a question even. Which made it very easy, because the story was to answer the question. But as Venis thought of the story, Pris had started her own. It almost sounded like a poem that was evolving into a song as their tapping became a rhythm. So as the two went along in their tap, brush, press, listen, move pattern, Venis would wait for Pris to finish before she would start.

But her getting to the story was cut short by the opening of Tasha's door. Leviathan exited the room and Tasha occupied the doorway. This momentarily distracted Venis because she wasn't sure about how things would go between Pris and Leviathan. Tasha asked her a question, but Pris had seemed rather reluctant to give her name to Venis, so Venis figured she would let Pris tell her if she wished to. She watched as Leviathan tried to get Pris to give her attention. She almost chuckled as Pris moved around the large mass of black fur and just kept going. So to reply to Tasha, Venis simply stated what she knew to be fact. "We are searching." For what, Venis had no idea, so she didn't say.

She turned and returned to her tap, brush, press, listen, move as Pris continued with hers. But it was only a couple of steps before someone was coming up the stairs. Any other time, this hall was like a ghost town. All of a sudden it was a HUB of activity. Venis turned as the *kerthunk* turned into a voice. It was a man. Venis smiled at the man as she looked him over. She avoided his eyes too. She noticed that he was in sleep wear. She was an AC/DC fan so the pants had made her smile. But the shirt, she knew who the avengers were, and wasn't Thor one, or at least had worked with them somewhere along the line. This man screamed of Earth and Venis had a brush of homesickness because of it.

When the man said hello to the ladies, she wasn't sure if he had meant all three of them or just Tasha and herself. Either way she nodded to him politely. "Hello to you sir. I am sorry if we woke you." She had no idea that he would have things to do later, but that didn't mean she wasn't sincerely sorry for disturbing him. She watched as he moved to Pris after also greeting Leviathan. Yet another thing that made Venis smile. And she knew that as he approached Pris there would be some sort of reaction from Levi. So she returned to her tap, brush, press, listen, move. But out of the corner of her eye, she watched the interactions of those around her. Making sure that she split her attention so she wouldn't accidentally miss whatever it was they were searching for.

[Guest]

Tasha watched curiously as Leviathan tried to get the girls attention, and as the girl just moved around her. Well, that was definitely better than tripping out because a panther wants to play with you. Venis didn't answer her, and the girl had not even looked up. So what ever they were doing had to be important. Far be it from Tash and Levi to get in the way.

But then Venis said something. They were searching. And from the looks of it, the searching involved listening as Venis kept putting her ear close to the wall as the girl was also doing to the floor. This gave Tash an idea. She was just about to share her idea when she too heard the approach of the man up the stairs. His scent was familiar to her even before she heard his voice. So when she saw him at the top of the steps, she showed no signs of surprise.

He addressed them all and Tasha smiled. "Hello Dr. Blake. The large cat is Leviathan, my panther companion. Levi, go outside and play girl." She smiled again as she stepped backwards into her room a few steps. A box could be heard opening as she was out of sight for a moment.

Tasha had introduced her to the man, but not the girl. But when the girl had moved around Levi she had moved slightly too. Now that this man Tasha knew was coming towards the girl Levi was up to a sitting position to better watch him. He addressed the girl, but Levi felt the need to check him out anyway, just to be sure. So she stood up on all fours as he knelt by the girl.

She watched him speak to her and she sniffed at him for a moment. He seemed to be ok. There was nothing noticeably off about him. Well, save for there was something wrong with his leg or something. But that wasn't going to harm Pris. So once she determined his worthiness to speak to Pris she began to lick his face. But then Tasha was telling her to go outside and play. So she stopped licking the man, then she rubbed against the hip of the crawling girl before going over to rub against Venis' legs. Once she was done with that she headed down the steps to go outside.

Tasha returned from opening the box ad had her hands full. "Venis, would these help? They are the custom stethoscopes I had ordered. I ordered plenty. The two eared ones were killing my sensitive hearing so I ordered these. I figured this way, you could listen to the heart as well as those patients who insist on talking while you are listening to it." She stepped from her room to hand Venis one of the stethoscopes.

She then turned her attention to Dr Blake and the girl he called Pris. "I ordered extras in case you could use one as well Dr. Blake." She walked over and handed two of them to him. One of them for him, and one for the girl. "I will leave you guys to it then. My room is open if you guys wish to search it, and if Levi comes back up, could someone let her in. This new door sticks sometimes." And with that she went back into her room and closed the door.

[Guest]

pris was absolutely oblivious to everything, thanks to that poem she hadn't finished singing through yet and her mind-chorus telling her to keep to her mission. it took doctor duck putting himself in her field of vision to get her to snap out of it. but look at that beautiful bedazzled smile when he did. as soon as he knelt and pris looked up that smile lit up her face as sweet as a lantern glow. "duck," she whisper whispered back. "purr." that second word whispered too. donnie was probably used to her saying that by now, she said it often when she was happy. instead of purring like cats did, she just said the word itself.

pris sat back on her knees, stopping her tap tapping now that donnie was here. she folded her hands in her lap and for the first time since she'd come up into this hallway her eyes stayed still, looking directly into donald's. he was one of the few people she didn't mind staring at, because none of his bogeymen - boom included - scared her. "there was a show on the old things channel. about passages and rooms and doors and drawers and tunnels that were all secrets until people tapped brushed pressed listened and found them. i thought there could be one here. that might lead to the ching a ching cave. so that we can sneak up on poof's looted booty and it wouldn't expect it!" she hadn't forgotten about that adventure. especially because of what she'd recently realized about poof.

obviously pris didn't think about how a tunnel like that would most likely not be on the top floor of the building. . .but stranger things have happened? and she looked very proud of this potential plan, whisper whispering it to him like a conspirator who'd just swallowed a tasty canary. until a sudden bitter lemon face as she added, "but it's taking a lo - " pris suddenly stopped speaking and froze. because there was a giant black fur creature. and it was licking donnie's face. her most precious doctor donnie duck's face! pris' expression darkened darker than most people would expect her features could but just before she could act on the ferocious territorial jungle thoughts in her head the fur creature stopped licking and moved away. pris briefly made her snarl face, and then looked sated and triumphant. in her mind she had just won her first jungle battle.

the fur creature did something else, though. it reminded pris that she was in the hallway and there were more people here than just her donnie duck. the girl's eyes were on the move again, and looking towards venis she noticed tasha there for the first time. "mother daughter make-over." it was the first thought in her head, too much afternoon talk show television on half days probably, and the thought popped straight out of her mouth. it wasn't that she thought they needed a make-over so much as she thought they were mother and daughter. the hair was probably a big part of that, both red hair and one tall and one short. pris didn't introduce herself to tasha, but pris didn't introduce herself to people all the time. it was par the course.

the eccentric girl did intercept the stethoscope before donnie could take the second one, however. she knew what it was, and what it could do. "doctor blake," she echoed the formal title tasha called her duck with a short snicker. "i can spy on your heart now doctor blake paging doctor blake to exam room three," she said slyly to donnie with a mischievous grin. pris wasted no time. she popped the ear part into her ear and pressed the heart part on donnie's chest. probably not on the exact right spot, but in the ball park.

as she shifted the heart part over duck's chest her eyes glanced and gazed herethere on venis as tasha was leaving, "this floor is for you," she said importantly. "duck will tap the second floor." and would pris venture down to tap the first floor alone? that remained to be seen. at the moment, she was busy listening to her hero's heart.

[DrDonaldBlake]

Donald shook his head" no no its alright... sleep isn't really something that we doctors without boarders get large qualities of ma'am. I'm alright.." A firm nod from Donald who gave a small tired smile. and was about to whisper back to pris when where was a tongue on his face. and Donald rocked back standing strait an shaking his head." hey hey there! dinner, dinner... first base after dinner. or, not, becuase you're a cat..." and then there was another shake of his head as of the doctors head. which at this point was when pris pressed the stethascope to his chest." sisxty beats is normal pris, can you count them for me?"

Donald had whispered that to her before looking up at Tasha. "no uh, no thanks sort of defeats the purpose of a stethoscope... supposed to be a bit of sound isolation so all you hear is the sounds within the human body..."and a pause after a yawn." i would reccomend against using them, some doctors I know stuff the metal tubes there with a tiny bit of cotton. dampens the noise but still isolates the sounds."

Donald really did worry for the medical well being of the inn and its residents if this was the sort of medical staff they had on board. and if he remembered after his shift he would most certainly approch the inn's owners about establishing a clinic or something where he could teach lessons on proper medicine. Both holistic and modern. he was sort of a fan of both. Another nod from Donald who stood slowly. pulling pris up with him." as it seems, I'm off to check the second floor.... for something.. Miss Tasha, always a pleasure, and it is very nice to meet you as well Ma'am." a smile up to venis. and a wave to tasha as she left with the large cat.

"Pris, are you going to show me how it is I'm supposed to check the second floor?" already taking a step down the stairs, weight put down on his walking stick. trusty old walking stick. With it Thor protected him from many things, mental and physical assaults, mind reading. and even a nice morning headache that probably wouldn't be going away for a while if he was going to be searching for hidden tunnels

[Guest]

Venis nodded to the man who mentioned Doctors Without Borders. She knew of the program, she just hadn't known that it had extended it's reach to Rhy'Din. Learn something new, right? She stifled a laugh as he told Leviathan dinner before first base. That was funny. But Pris' reaction was even funnier. She looked like she was ready to face the large cat in battle. She watched as Leviathan headed downstairs to try and get outside while Tasha returned to her room. She looked at the stethoscope and arched an eyebrow. She figured she could find some use for it. She hadn't practiced medicine in nearly a hundred years. And she honestly didn't need it to tap the walls, though, it would help for appearance sake.

She heard Pris talking about the channel she had been watching and how it had spoke of hidden tunnels and such. Venis couldn't help but smile. She figured there was something up with the building given how quick and easy it was to expand it. But given who and what she was, she figured that secret passageways were not the answer. On the other hand, Venis had her trunk. Tasha playfully called it her portable portal. And maybe she would be able to show it to Pris. She could even have one made for her if she wanted it. She had gotten lost in that thought, but she was snapped back to attention by Pris.



She had told her that this floor was hers to tap, and that the Doctor was going to get to do the second floor. She had to grin then. It seemed like the only thing that the Doctor wanted was to get some sleep. But, Pris had other plans for him. Venis had to smile. So in response to Pris she spoke. "Will do. If I find anything, I will let you know." She nodded matter-of-factly. And as they were leaving the Doctor said his goodbye's. "It's Venis Dr. Blake. And it was a pleasure to meet you, sorry again for waking you. Enjoy your day, the best you can." She smiled again.

Once they were headed down the stairs and out of site, Venis went to work doing as she had been asked to do. Only, her method was a bit quicker. She started over near where Pris had started. She arched and eyebrow as she knelt down to knock once and then listen. She pressed with her foot as she knocked the wall and pressed and listened. She was following all the rules, but she was using both hands and feet to move it along faster. And when she got to the point where she couldn't reach? She levitated. Which as an afterthought, given Pris thought her to be a planet, might not have startled the girl so much.

She did the entire hall way and every room except for Inion and The Marques rooms. They were not answering their doors and she chose to not intrude by using other means to check. She had found a small treasure chest she had misplaced, one she would give to Pris. After all, the baubles within it fit the girl's nature, from what Venis had seen at least. It was a small antique box size 12"L x 8"W x 12"H. Front latches leather handle. Perfect for personal treasures. And it came pre-loaded with treasures from Venis. She would give it to her as soon as she went to report on her findings. Because she intended to report her trunk. Sort of.

[Guest]

"nope," pris answered donnie about the heartbeat counting by emphasizing that word nice and clear, exaggerating the 'p'. "one two twelve twenty-six oh this beat would be nice to dance to. or sleep to. i'd love to." which is why pris started to sway back and forth a little bit as she hummed a disjointed melody in time to his heart. that whole moment from start to finish was pris demonstrating exactly why it was that she couldn't count up as high as sixty. her mind simply wouldn't focus long enough, at least not on something like numbers. but the sound of his heart, that she could focus on, hum with, and sway to all day.

until donnie duck said the magic word. "dinner." doctor duck hadn't said that to her, but even hearing the word reminded her that she could use some of that very thing. "hm hm hm." while donald continued to speak to the planet and the other woman and the fur creature, pris pulled herself away from duckthinks' heart, standing up and musing on how she wanted her potatoes tonight. maybe she would make a pie like the shepherds ate again. that had tasted really good the other night with dommy.

as for teaching him how to be a proper tapper? "lessons after you show me dinner. or maybe during." pris started to follow donnie down the stairs. every step he took down he'd see that he had a pris right behind him standing on the stair just above. like he was the wall, and she was the suction cup. everything she did with him, for him and around him was out of adoration - she meant well even if it came off strange or clingy or just plain nonsensical.

but she stopped just before they were out of sight of the third floor. and stopped donnie too by placing her hands on his shoulders. pris glanced over her own shoulder at the planet, eyes doing their here there and everywhere before she stuck her chin high up in the air and gave a very queenly nod. someone had nodded that way in a movie once, and pris liked it. those were the things pris cared to try and remember, not school things like battles and equations and classifications. "farewell planet. don't smear your orbit on the walls." then as she nudged duckthinks to continue down the stairs with one hand, pris reached her other hand up and did the closed-fingered-wrist-turn wave that was the noblesse oblige of any important person.

that was how the peculiar girl chose to make her exit from the planet. proving something known only to herself. and when pris and duck were 'alone', a light bulb immediately went off about how to teach him tapping. "oh, oh, oh. i recorded it. the show on how on the old things channel. about passages and rooms and doors and drawers and tunnels. we can get potatoes and watch so you know everything about how to search." that would be the last venis would hear of pris as her and her most precious doctor duck made their way back to the second floor for some potatoes and television.

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