genessia | [Accidental Video]

[Jenny had been on her way to Nikola's when she heard the shatter of something crashing to the floor and Nikola letting out some curses. Immediately, she floated through the wall, her image ghostly and see-through as it flickered in an out.]

Nickola....What......wrong?

[With her image flickering like that, her voice was in and out too.]

[He had been trying to clean up the shattered lamp and muttered to himself as he tries not to cut up his hands. Though when he heard Jenny's voice, he looked up and then became very still, taking in her see through appearance and fading in and out.

If he wasn't happy before, he was even less happy now.]

What happened to you? Why are you like that and what's wrong is I'm a snake.

[The last part was stated with such venom that it was a miracle he wasn't spitting it.]

[She concentrates harder to keep from flickering so she can speak better.]

I'm a ghost. Now what's wrong with being a snake unless you mean personality-wise you're one which I'd most wholeheartedly like to disagree with.

A Ghost..

[That gave him pause for a moment.]

If anyone killed you, I'll be happy to return the favor in kind.

[His tail lashed against the couch, making a large thumping noise as he just have up with attempting to clean up the lamp for the moment.]

Everything is wrong with being a snake! I am not one of Faust's brood and I refused to be linked as such to the Emperor.

[In other words, this.. is a dislike that heavily carries over from his world.]

That barely made any sense to me, and no, nobody killed me, I'm not actually dead. It's a halloween thing. I'm just a ghost temporarily for I'm assuming, someone's kicks and giggles, but have you not seen the rest of Genessia right now? Vampires, werewolves, fairies, ghosts. Almost everyone has been turned into something. Now would you calm down.

[Somebody was most certainly not bothered by this situation at all.]

I've been avoiding the network since this happened. I don't want anyone seeing me like this.

[Though, it did ease him to hear she wasn't actually dead. That much was a relief.]

I still don't fully understand this 'Halloween' thing other than it is similar to my world's Feast of Remembrance.

[His tail lashed out again as he just kind of fell into the couch and stretched out, looking moody still.]

...Mercury Faust. He's the Kindred Emperor back home and the head of the High Noble House of Faust. He is well known for his control over snakes and even taking on the characteristics and appearance of a huge serpent along with his control over the very land beneath his feet.

Regardless, I would rather not be associated with a man who finds slaughter and torture to be acceptable party activities or hobbies.

It's an Earth thing mostly. Everyone's been turned into something whether it be ghost, ghoul or something else entirely. Kind of like a costume becoming real.

[She paused as she listened to him and looked his snake form up and down.]

Just because you have the body of the serpent doesn't mean you're associated with him. You're doing that to yourself. When's the last time you ate?

Well, that's annoying and stupid.

[His thoughts on his whole ideal, obviously.]

If anyone of my world saw this, they would make the same conclusions I would. I'm a shadow user, Jenny. Not some...Snake charmer.

[He grumbled and looked away, resting his head on his folded arms as they rested on the couches armrest.]

...Before this happened.

But you're not in your world, so that still makes you quite charming.

[She just stared at him for a moment.]

Go get something to eat.

Edited 2018-10-26 23:28 (UTC)

[Did she just...He gave her a strange look with those gold snake eyes this form had him sporting and there might be a bit of a flush to his cheeks. Needless to say, Nikola wasn't quite his composed self like this with how.. distressed it made him.]

...I'm not even sure what to eat.

Just a guess, but food. If you haven't tried eating anything then you wouldn't know now would you.

Well, nothing in the fridge sounds appealing.

You have to eat something though. Come on. Let's go out and see if we can find anything that does sound appealing.

..I don't want to leave the apartment looking like this.

[Even if he was reluctantly admitting he needed to eat...]

Well, you have to. I can't get it for you.

[Case and point, she flickered again.]

[Sadly, she knew he was right. Nikola sighed as he slowly started to get off the couch, his movements still agitated but, he was starting to see things her way.

That didn't mean he was thrilled about it.]

The question is where. I have no idea where to go looking like this.

Anywhere you need to. The only one who cares or knows the significance behind what you are right now is you, so take advantage of that.

[He winced a little. He really hated it when she made sense like that. As far as he knew, no one else from his world was here so...No one else would understand his revulsion.]

Fair enough... and I suppose, the Everglade would be my best bet.

Most likely yes. C'mon. I'll go with you if you're so worried about it, but I'm telling you nobody is going to care.

I would appreciate that.

[Though he was still apprehensive as he made for the door after grabbing at least a shirt to cover his top half and his jacket.]

[At least he was going. Jenny would grin at him before just floating through the door.]

First off: watch your language! There are children using this network, you know.

Secondly, what's wrong? Do you need help, Nikolas? Hiss once for "yes" and twice for "no". Don't worry; you may be as cunning as a serpent, but I'm sure I can balance you out by demonstrating the innocence of doves.

[He means well, and hopes he hasn't abandoned the communicator entirely.]

Excuse me for not intending on letting the network seeing me in such a state.

[His glare at Ted on the other end was simply one of annoyance at the snake joke.]

What is wrong is the simple fact that finding myself with the countenance of a snake when I am no such thing. Whether I am as cunning as a serpent and you as innocent as dove tends to be questionable at best.

All right; you're excused! Suppose you're not quite decent; I'll just...there we go.

[It was trickier with the claws, but eventually he flips the "private" switch.]

Well, of course you aren't! It's just a costume. A very thorough one, but dress nonetheless.

[Inasmuch as smiles register on wolf-faces, one spreads on his.]

And if you don't like it I suppose you can try shedding your skin.

[What did he..? Ah, he switched it to private. Something Nikola still wasn't a hundred percent on how to do yet.]

I never asked for such a costume to be thrust upon me. I would have liked to have had some say in what I was to be, but, that seems to be rather hard for the powers of whatever being control this world to be that considerate.

[Snarky much? Nikola's in a mood. A rather rare one for him.]

Very funny. I highly doubt shedding skin will solve my dilemma at this point in time. However, it doesn't seem like I'm the only one with species issues. Exactly, why are you a wolf anyway?

[He can tell; Nikola's usually more composed and nonchalant.]

You never asked for existence either, but I've never heard you bellyache about that. You might've been more justified, for experience teaches vampires to be far more noxious than serpents.

[That will make him feel so much better!]

Because I got a costume too, why else? And I'm only wolf by half, so it's manageable. What's the dilemma?

[He knows that word to mean a choice between two things, so now he's curious what those are.]

[Usually. This is just him annoyed and angry at the entire situation.]

If you are implying that my parents shouldn't have joined to bring me into this world, sometimes I think you may be right. And the harm a vampire may cause comes from how that are raised by their House and parents, not by the vicious nature one might claim we have.

[Is he implying he was born a vampire? Yes, he is. As for making him feel better... Nikola draws in a deep breath and holds it. He counts to ten and lets it out. There's no reason to snap at Ted. He is... simply being 'helpful' in his own strange way.]

I see. Then I suppose you got luckier than I with this curse.

[As for the dilemma..]

Trust me when I say I would much be anything else than a snake.

...Good Lord, Nikolai, that was jest, not invitation! Before we go any further, repeat after me: Being is goodness. All right? Say it just as I said it and mean it too.

[He's, for once, very serious about that. Yes, being vampiric is worse than not, but he won't stand for people even entertaining the absurdity that it might be better not to be born.]

[What he gets is a rather deadpan delivery.]

Being is goodness.

[So very deadpan as he just stares at Ted for a few moments.]

Jest or not, pray you never meet my mother and understand why that is sometimes such a wish.

[He sighed and then relaxed a bit.]

And as I stated before, the nature of a Kindred is mostly contributed by the environment one is raised in. A child, no matter the bloodline, is not born inherently evil or good. They are as their choices and influences command them to be.

[Good! Now that they've established a philosophical baseline, he can continue to poop the pity party.]

We've both better things to pray for. The point is that however one's born, birth is good.

[He'll abandon the nature v. nurture rigmarole in favor of the more immediate, interesting present. He considers weighing who was more fortunate in their fate.]

Despite being costumes, there's more than meets the eye, sometimes. Have you been beset by serpentine thoughts?

[Yes, if Ted had to choose, having four limbs seemed better than two whilst dragging yourself along the ground. But it went deeper than that; this form bombarded him with temptations to be wild; to be base. There's a fine line between enjoying the ride and being taken for one, and it took vigilance to make sure he was on the right side. He wasn't always successful.

Nikolai doesn't seem so troubled. Aggravated, yes, and understandably so, but still himself. Hopefully the snake only went skin deep. Humans were half animal already, and it was hard for their spirits to rule at the best of times. Tipping the odds to one-against-three is a recipe for trial.]

Well, anything's a very broad category. That must be better than, say, being transformed into a virus or a cancer cell. Aside from cursing all of humanity through gullible progenitors, what's so bad about being a snake?

Edited 2018-10-29 16:52 (UTC)

[It's probably best to abandon the nature vs. nurture argument with Nikola considering he has more than enough experience and examples from his world to prove his point a thousand times over.

As for his Pity Party...Ted has his work cut out for him on this one.]

At times, I agree that there is more than meets the eye. However, my thoughts have hardly been serpentine in nature. If anything, they have been as they always have. Work focused and when I am not at work, focused on my attempts at learning more about this world and others.

[He may just be quite the avid reader and visit the library frequently when he could.]

The last I checked, neither one of those were serpentine in nature. Nor have I thought about what most snakes seem to be associated with in some worlds. That being corruption and temptation.

Things I can see being the case even within my own world as it currently is.

[So other than his overwhelming annoyance and slight spark of temper, Nikola was still very much himself and not quite feeling the tempting impulse Ted might think he would be.]

To be transformed into a virus or cancerous cell would be a rather moot point as a costume and more on the scale off disruptive world ending. Quite frankly, that would be a rather horrendous way to die.

[There are reasons his world is very advanced in genetics and medicine yet not in other subjects.]

My kind's progenitors were anything but gullible. As for what is wrong with being a snake, in my world it is the symbol for the High House the Emperor belongs to and is the head of. To use his symbol or to harm his snakes is considered...traitorous.

Not to mention the harm the association to that house could do to one of my House. It's... politics mixed with my rather heavy disdain for the man in general.

[Now he's got Ted thinking about one of his favorite subjects: symbolism!. Already his head's buzzing with meaning and association. No, none of that routine seemed very snake-like. However...]

So far, so good. The change hasn't changed much.

[Snakes meant a whole host of things on Earth. Some, surprisingly, weren't evil. Medicine and rebirth were among the rosier. He's not going to attempt unpacking how a virus could end the world. Costume or no, one constant temptation among Genesia's arrivals is the continued insistence, even at the price of misery, of the relevance of the past. That gives him an idea.]

Goodness, if I didn't know better I'd say you disliked the man.

[Just poking fun at Nikolai's mildness. On to the meat of the argument.]

You certainly give him a lot of credit; as if he created the creature, rather than adopted it for his own ends. That's it, then? Villainous association?

[At some point, Nikola really should look up what snakes and other things from his world symbolize in other worlds. He might be in for quite a shock. As for his dislike of Faust...

Nikola snorted faintly, the tip of his tail flickering just in view.]

He may as well have. The appearance of snakes within our history can be dated all the way back to Faust's youth under the care of the First and his mate.

[So not quite villainous association in the way that Ted is thinking.]

[Faust, eh? A literary figure rife with significance of his own. In his way he was much like foolish Eve; tempted by dark powers; by small things that could satisfy a smaller spirit. One conquered by the relative and transitory.

That brought to mind another primal instinct about snakes: their threat to primates, or men more specifically. An age-old enemy.]

I know him without meeting. Well, take it as faith, if you cannot receive it as fact, that snakes, like a soul, do not belong to him, however strongly correlated.

Though I wonder if you aren't being a little snake-like yourself. Satan's the worst of that brood, but the second has to be the Ouroboros. Have you heard?

[Please say "no" so he may continue talking. It's a hobby of Ted's.]

Picture a lemniscate of scales; of a serpent biting its own tail and consuming its own waste. A pitiable thing, eh? Endless, distasteful vanity in perpetuity. That, for an upshot, is the Ouroboros.

[Truthfully even Ted's not sure where he's going with this, but he's confident it's somewhere grand. He'll wait for comment before trying to bring whatever this is home.]

Edited 2018-10-31 01:37 (UTC)

[Nikola was about to ask how in the world Ted might no someone from his world before pausing and then realizing that he was talking about religion. It was still a new concept to him all around.]

You're talking religion. That is something we don't have in my world, merely history. We have records and geneology that goes all the way back to the First Kindred and his Mate. Their names are lost, but, we know them.

My father was one of their four children.

[So, he gets a yes and a no. How does that suit you Ted?]

And I am well aware of what an Ouroboros is. It is the symbol of my Mother's House. The House of Flesh and Blood, the Tzimisce. They are in the endless search of..perfection.

[He shudders slightly. From healers to fleshcrafters...He is well aware that his Mother's House is corrupted along with one of the others. Only his and another have yet to fall to the darker ways of life. Though, probably not in the way that Ted is thinking.]

[That certainly explains the unpleasantness of his mother. If his world didn't sound bleak before, it did now. No religion? He reels to imagine such a thing. He's not sure he believes it; that's something too hard to snuff out.]

Eheh, no, not exactly.

[Ted was rather being mystical, saying that he knew a type. Perhaps an archetype; something that transcends worlds and permeates throughout the world. But it's easy to lose his head when he talks of things like that, so he has to anchor down to the here and now.]

Look, here's the thing. Your form is distasteful to you because Faust is, right? That's the relation? No other?

Edited 2018-10-31 02:10 (UTC)

[As much as it may make Ted reel, Nikola accepted his world's history as fact considering the accounts he's read. It help's to have a father that is more scholarly than most realized and meticulous about recording their world's history. A history his father experienced first hand.]

Essentially, yes.

Then my prescription to you is to--you may want to sit down for this--have fun!

[Whoa Ted, the world may not be ready for your revolutionary ideas.]

You mustn't let some decadent noble dictate what to do with something! It's not his. Faust didn't make snakes. God did! They're perfectly fine creatures when they don't have snake-handlers or oils-salesmen or devils behind them. "Being is goodness", remember? That goes for even the ones who slither through dust.

You say using his symbol is treacherous? Well, go on and defy, then! Dare the universe's worst! Don't be an Ouroboros. Don't be haunted by the past and feed off the waste from behind. Break out, why don't you! We both agree it's a costume. Well, costumes are for fun and flippancy! They're made to be looked at. How can that happen when you're penned up in your quarters?

[Nikola raises an eyebrow at Ted's 'revolutionary idea' and then rolls his eyes. Looking past all the religious connotations, he can see that Ted also has a point. There was no one here to report him to the Emperor or to arrest him for using the symbol of the snake in treacherous ways.

Though, as much as he would like to argue that snakes do in fact belong to the House of Faust, he's also not about to get into that particular argument with someone not of his world. So, he sighed and pinches the bridge of his nose for a few moments.]

I hope you realize that within my world, you would be dead the moment you say anything of the sort like you just did. Thankfully to you, I am nothing like most of the Kindred back home.

And.. you may have a point about this... costume beng 'fun' once I get over the snake factor. Though, do please show the Ouroboros a little respect. As much as I do detest my mother's House, it once stood as the symbol for Healers. Not some demonic presence like you are implying.

Haha, sounds like a decent way to die: sticking a finger in that blackguard's eye! How lucky you are to get the chance for it without consequence! What a crying shame it'd be to let it go to waste, eh?

Oh, I should introduce you to the story about Moses, or the symbol of Asclepsius. Those honor the concept better with more beautiful imagery.

[He'll just interpret, "you may have a point" to, "Thank you, Ted, you're so right. You've my eternal gratitude for showing me the light."]

Not a problem! Come on; put something on and make a spectacle of yourself.

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