(Pff, ive no idea, i was gon say outside for now :'D)
The boy shook his hands at her in a manner that semeed to express disagreement with her words.
"No, no, its alright, you did yout best and i can understand that. Thank you for trying anyway" he jumped in, lowering his hands.
Damien was hesitant about the whole thing, wondering what would Mari do with her weird device. Surprise made him jump in his seat when he heard those last two sencences ring out from the phone. It was his own voice, not coming from him this time!
"Is that.. The microphone you spoke of?' he asked.
While she lifted the stone, Damien stood calmly next to her, just looking at her body language.
"How heavy is it?" he asked, before reaching over to take the stone and test it out himself.
(lol that's fine with me.)
“Thanks, Damien.” she said sincerely, smiling softly at her friend's assurance that she hadn't done a bad job explaining.
Mari almost laughed at his reaction to hearing the recording playback but managed to keep it down to a soft chuckle. “Yeah. Well, sort of. The microphone records the sounds and the speaker is how we hear it when it plays.” she answered. “On their own, they only work one way. But they work the best together.”
She’d had some experience lifting heavy things, because of her weight lifting class, so her posture and stance were pretty decent but the strain was still visible. “Not too bad. Definitely has some good weight to it.” she answered, carefully letting him take the rock and watching how his body would respond to holding it.
"Why of course, no problem" he nodded, smiling as well. He knew she was trying her best to teach him things, and while most felt alien to him, the boy gave it his best to at least try and understand.
"Does it do that when you talk to someone else then? Like, you talk and their speaker repeats your voice on their end?"
Damien was still a little startled, mainly because his voice had sounded so different than the way he knew it did and it fascinated the boy. Was it because this little tool had caught it and replayed it?
"I see i see" he muttered to himself as Mari passed him the stone to hold. Unlike her, his workouts had consisted strictly of domestic work, so thankfully he had a somewhat idea of how to hold something heavy. But the weight of the rock was no joke, at least not to him - he was starting to feel his already thin arms burning from the effort. Unlike the book case in the library which he pushed easily, this piece of stone had no wheels or hidden mechanism to help support its weight.
"What do you think?" he finally asked her, lifting the stone a few times to allow his arms to break away from the frozen posture they'd been stuck in.
The young woman was more than happy to help him learn as much as she could teach him. But she had to remember that he hadn't heard of most of the things she grew up with, so some explanations might need a little more research or rephrasing.
“Pretty much, it's just instantaneous. I don't have to push any buttons like I did just now. Except to answer and end the call.” she explained easily. Hearing your own voice echo back at you was often a strange thing but easy enough to get used to. If he asked her why it sounded different, she would be happy and able to answer.
Mari watched him carefully, ready to help him hold the weight if it got to be too much for him. “You’re doing great.” she encouraged, actually impressed by his lifting. “Don’t hurt yourself. Whenever you need to put it down, go ahead.” she assured.
For a little bit, the silence descended upon them, surrounding them and the atmosphere, in the absence of the conversation.
So, um, what else can you tell me?" he inquired curiously.
Wow… That.. Actually sounds a little bit like magic to be fair. I mean, thats what i would call it if i didnt see it with my own eyes. Its just so amazing…." Damien marveled at the phone, looking at it like it was some kind of treasure that had just increased its value. "But tell me, does everyones voice come out that way? It sounds a little off.."
After a few more lifts to keep his arms from stiffing, Damien tossed the rock aside, exhaling in relief as it tumbled down at the baze of the pile in the grass.
"Well, that wasnt too heavy. Certainly not something i could hold for a long time, but still."
Rarely did Damien ever lift anything as heavy as that rock, but at the very least, he now knew he could do it. He inched closer to Mari, panting lightly, to see what she was doing.
"Was that good?"
“Umm… about what?” she asked. She was sure there was a lot she could tell him but she just wasn't sure what he wanted to hear about.
“It’s ok. I guess it could be magic if you don't know how it works.” she assured him. “There’s actually a science fiction author who said that ‘Magic is just science that we don't understand yet’. I think his name was Arthur Clarke and that's really all I know about him, but I agree with that opinion.” she chuckled lightly. “Oh! That. Yeah, everyone hears their own voice differently than how everyone else does.”
Mari nodded slightly with a small encouraging smile. “Yeah. That was pretty good.” she told him. “Do you think you can lift anything heavier than that?” she asked more out of curiosity than any intention of making him actually lift anything else right now.
"Im.. Not really sure… How do you normally spend a day?" he asked on a whim, curiously.
Arthur Clarke. That name didnt ring any bells, but he too somehow agreed with his statement.
"Science we dont understand yet, thats one interesting way to put it! How come it sounds different when i listen to it?"
Damien lightly brushed away any possible dust and dirt particles the stone might have left on his hands before answering.
"Hmmm, I think i could but it would be difficult. I dont normally lift heavy things, you know?"
“Personally? Well, I have school most of the day, except for weekends, but other than that and my sports… Mostly, I read or watch tv. Sometimes I play games or I hang out with my friends at the mall or a fun park since I'm not much of a shopper.” she answered with a light chuckle, hoping that she hadn't confused him too much with any of her response.
She nodded with a little smile. “Me too. My science teacher actually has that quote on the wall in his classroom. It's almost ironic because my lit teacher has a quote from Einstein in her room saying “Imagination is more important than knowledge”.” she laughed a little at the memory. “Oh, it sounds different because of how you hear it. To me, your voice sounds the same because I hear it through the air, while you hear it through the vibrations in your jawbone when you talk. Which, I think, is why when you cover your ears, you can still hear your own voice better than someone else's.” she clarified, trying to remember if that's how it had been explained to her.
Mari nodded and wrote down a brief note about their results on the last test as well as a rough estimate on how much that rock weighed. “That’s ok. I don't really lift stuff much heavier than that either. At least not on a daily basis.” she assured him with a calm smile.
"Wow, school most of the day? for weeks? isnt that occupying a lot of your time?" he asked, a little taken aback by the time math. "And uh, what's a mall? It like, some place you usually go to be with your friends? What do you do there?"
" i think i can see the irony there, with each teacher having that quote as a favourite. How exactly do they have those in class? is it like, on the wall?"
At this point in time, Damien was sort of curious about such a place, despite all the downsides it had. He even wanted to see it one day, if it was possible.
"Oh, i didnt know the jawbone could vibrate, i dont feel it at least… So, in short, it also sounds different because its in my head, so to speak?"
"Why do you lift heavy stuff like this?" he asked, curiously. Aside from having to move stuff around, he didnt see a point in lifting heavy objects and holding them.
Rustling through his thoughts, Damien leaned in to peek at her notes, wandering if she had a list of the things she was testing him at, wanting to see if there were any left.
“Yeah, it does and it can be a little draining at times, but at least we have holidays off.” she admitted, ending with a little smile. “The mall is just a place to shop, mostly for clothes but yes, you can hang out with people there. Most malls even have a food court so you can get something to eat while you're shopping.” she explained.
“Well, it's more ironic that a science teacher has a writer's quote while the English lit teacher has a quote from a famous scientist, but yeah. And the quotes are just on paper banners that hang on the wall… like a picture would.” she nodded, a part of her almost considering showing him her school at some point but he'd have to be more comfortable with modern life before she even brought it up. “I’m not sure if the bone actually vibrates but it's more like sound just travels through the bone up to your ear… But, yes, that's pretty much why.” Mari told him.
“It’s one of my P.E. classes; weight training. Actually, it's more of an elective for P.E. but it's to help me stay in shape, lift heavy things easier, and stay strong.” Mari said, hoping that answered his question well enough. There wasn't really a list in her notebook as much as little questions about what abilities he might have as well as little notes on what they had discovered already. There were still a few other tests/ideas that she had written down that they hadn't started yet, including flight and shapeshifting… If he was able to do either, as well as a few others. The next page had a few other small notes about him, but she closed the book before he could see them.
"Honestly it sounds more like a job rather than an educational programme.. Dont you get bored aftee several classes?" he asked, finding it to be quite the endeavor. "okay but how exactly do you 'hang out' with people in a place that sells clothes? i get the food part, but i dont see the appeal."
"Well, you never know what inspires some people, even if its from a completely different field than that of their own. But i can see how that would be funny. Do people usually hang quotes like that on their walls?" he finally picked up the courage to smile, looking around the room at the very few things that hung from his walls, such as the modest painting of a lady at the top of his staircase, or the butterfly collection next to the kitchen door - he'd brought that one from one of the old study rooms in the mansion since he found the insects to be quite beautiful, despite being long dead, and wanted to be able to look at them more often without having to travel through his tunnel system to a room he never used anyway.
"That's- thats quite awesome to know about. Do they teach you this in school?"
Damien frowned a little bit before nodding in an understanding manner.
"I see, you exercise to keep strong, right? Looks like its working pretty well so far. Though, i didnt know girls did stuff like that, not in my time at least." he admitted, slightly looking away.
He took the sudden closing of the notebook as a message to mind his own business and not be nosy, so he slowly moved away from her to sit down on the door step, and instead look at the sky and forest around him.
(im so sorry for the wait, i didnt forget about this but uni exams just arrived and are eating my time)
“Honestly, it kinda feels like that sometimes. But I wouldn't be surprised if they do that on purpose. To try to prepare you for an actual job.” she nodded with a small sigh. “Yeah. It gets boring and a little repetitive after a while but, unfortunately, there's nothing we can really do about it during school hours.” she hummed a little but shook her head at his question. “It’s not just a clothing store. It's… more like an indoor marketplace. There are a lot of different kinds of stores in malls… but clothes are the most popular.” she tried to explain again, hoping that term would help him understand better.
“That’s definitely true. Yeah, some people hang up stuff like that. Most have pictures or even posters but some do have motivational quotes like that.” she told him, thinking of the few pictures she had in her room. “Uhhh… You know, I don't remember where I learned that fact. If it was from school, I don't remember when or which class it was.” she admitted with a light laugh.
Mari smiled softly at his confusion as she remembered how old he actually was. “Right. That’s one reason why. Not a lot of girls are as into this kind of stuff but it's probably more then you think. I’m not really much of a “girly” type of girl… I mean, I still like wearing skirts and stuff on occasion but… not that much. I'm more into sports and athletic activities than fashion and make-up.” she said with a nonchalant shrug. “And I wouldn't be surprised if some girls back in that period were interested in… “less feminine” pursuits.” she smirked, almost teasingly but not unkindly as she sat down next to him. She hadn't even noticed that he had been trying to read her notebook, she’d only closed it because she had finished writing in it.
(It's ok. Hope your exams go well)
"Oh so, its for a reason… i see, i see. How do you cope with the boredom? Must be a real pain to deal with after a while, no?" he asked, though he didnt know how boring could a class be with several other people there. Surely, some of them found something to do and not pay attention - a not so foreign concept to him.
***"An indoor marketplace… is it the one with shops and people selling or buying stuff at almost every corner? i've never seen an indoor one but i did see one out in the open, only briefly.
Damien himself had several paintings and insect collections hanging on the walls of the room he lived in, so he could understand why some people would hang things like that on their walls, it was all a matter of preferences and taste. Who knows, maybe looking at the quotes helped with the motivation, hence why it was a motivational quote.
Oh… Well, its the information that matters in the end, doesn't it? if you can remember that, then i guess its fine, no?" the boy shrugged, with a small smile, attempting to be reassuring.
"To be fair, i didnt see that many women to know what feminine pursuits are, or what they could or could not do, i mostly read about them in books." he explained, moving his gaze somewhere on Mari's clothes, with no aim. Given he'd been living with his mother and being a boy himself, he hadn't been that well versed in female behavior of the time, just a few essentials here and there he'd seen from his mother or read about. "What other things can girls do? That are not considered feminine, i mean." he inquired, leaning in again with a curious gaze.
(ah man, so sorry for the long wait, im finally out of exam period and free for the summer :D Hope you've been doing well ^^)
(also, btw, wanna create a plan for this rp, like, what they gon do next?)
(Hey! Glad you're back! Hope your exams went well. I've been doing fine, thanks for asking. How have you been?)
(Sure. A little planning would be good. So far, all I have as an idea is that Mari wants to help get Damien caught up with stuff and try to help him find his dad… Plus, helping him figure out what powers he might have and how to use them.)
She shrugged a little. “I like to think that there's a reason for it, otherwise it's just cruel and unusual torture. Plus, I've heard people complaining that their job is boring.” she told him before answering his question. “Honestly, it's not just boredom. Stress is another factor in schools. There’s not really much you can do during classes to keep it away for too long. Personally, I just try to keep busy and focus on my work when I can.”
“Yeah. There are a lot of shops there but only the people who work at those shops sell things. Everyone else is either there to shop or hang out.” she smiled, glad that she was able to explain better.
Mari nodded “Yeah. There are lots of other places where you can learn things. Things that are actually interesting and often useful.” she told him. “But school is still mandatory for some reason when it doesn't always work out for some people.”
“That’s ok, Damien.” she couldn't help but chuckle. “If you've read books by Jane Austen, like Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility, then you can get a pretty good idea of what was expected of women and how they were treated. And unfortunately, there wasn't much change until the Women's Rights Movement in… 19… somewhere in the early nineteen hundreds, I think. Before that, most women were just expected to get married, have kids, and take care of the house. But now, women can do anything men can. We can vote, run for political office, own businesses, become police officers, or Olympic athletes.” she explained, getting a little more excited as she spoke.
(My exams went pretty ok for the first year :D managed to pass everywhere. Im ok, just a lil sore from a slip on wet floor yesterday ^^)
(oooke, thats a good plan :D here's what i was thinking - mari will indeed try to help him figure out what powers he has (rn he cant do much and she will find out why) and in the process discovers whats up with his face - i was thinking about this one to be in the immediate future, so they could both focus on catching up rather than his powers and maybe searches for the dad. As for him, he will show up eventually maybe after several fails of mari's tracking attempts? She could run into him somewhere unusual where and when she least expects him. (hes a vampire after all, hes not exactly living normally like everyone else) And it could be just in time for when Damien really needs help. How does that sound for a start? :D )
"Torture for young people… why would they do that? School should be there to teach you how to make a living for yourself when you grow up, not be this… weird boring torture thing." the boy protested, a little moved by the apparent injustice. He couldn't comprehend education being used as a mean of torture, why even do that in the first place when the aim is to teach someone else how to make it in life? As for jobs being boring, well, he couldn't quite argue with that, some jobs needed to exist, even if they were demanding or boring, it just couldn't be helped.
"Oh… and do you manage to do that often?" he asked, a little on edge from all the things he'd heard up until now. School seemed to be a mixture of good and bad things, all meshed into a blob which he couldn't expressly place on either of his interesting or scary lists.
Damien let out a soft 'ohh', along with a nod of his head.
"And do you get to do that often? Hang out i mean."
"School is mandatory now? i thought it was something you went to if you wanted to, or your family made you go, if you were rich in order to learn manners." he frowned, surprised by the revelation. Being home schooled, he had never worried about missing out on anything, but now hearing the slightly worrisome news about the school system, his concern was starting to grow. What if he had to go as well? He was almost 2 centuries old, but he definitely didn't look like it, so anyone could have assumed anything about him. But then again, no one knew about him, so maybe if he kept hiding he would not have to? It felt complicated and overwhelming.
" Oh i know one of those books! i know what you mean now." the boy perked up, holding on to the bit of familiar content. "Wow, it sure took a long time for change to happen. Why was that?" Honestly he had never understood the idea of women being weaker or whatever people claimed. His birth mother had definitely been a very strong woman, both intellectually and a little bit physically, from the work she did to provide for him; his adoptive mother had been somewhat older, but she was wise and really nice, and now Mari was a new prime example of female strength, so where had all those claims come from?
(That's great! Congratulations!!)(Ouch! Hope it wasn't a bad slip…)
(Glad you like my overall idea. (Ok! I have a couple of theories on why but I'm looking forward to finding out the real reason.) I like your ideas too! So much to look forward to!)
“It’s not meant to be torture, it just feels like it sometimes.” she explained, shaking her head slightly. “They still try to teach you what they think you need to know but the educational system is broken. It only caters to one or two types of learning; visual and auditory, when there are students out there who can't learn that way… or at least can't learn well that way.” she sighed before looking back at him. “I try to. Some days are easier than others, and sometimes it helps to switch subjects when the teacher isn't looking and work on an assignment from a class that you're more interested in. Of course, it doesn't help that, in most schools, the teachers are outnumbered by how many students are in the school and different teachers teach different subjects.”
She smiled and nodded at his question. “Sometimes. I have a couple of friends who enjoy the mall more than I do, so that makes it a little more fun for me too. And it is kinda nice finding something you like that you weren't really looking for.”
“Well, proof of education is mandatory but there are different ways to get it. You can go to public schools, which is free, or there are still fancy private schools that a kid can go to but, depending on the school itself, it can be much more expensive. And the third option is being homeschooled, which isn't so bad from what I've heard, the only drawback is you don't get to meet anyone in your grade level and make friends with too many people.” she clarified before chuckling. “That one you mentioned sounds more like a finishing school. They don't really teach you the same things that the other schools do. They more or less just teach you how to behave. Making boys into “gentlemen” and girls into debutantes.” she added with an eye roll.
Mari shrugged a little. “I don't really know why it took so long but I think it might have had to do with how people were raised. There were certain expectations that society had for people and, for the most part, people were too scared to go against it. I’m sure others had tried in earlier years but they were likely either ignored or run out of town for speaking up.”
(thanks thanks :D didnt fall too bad, just a sore bum + elbows, a scraped leg and a stubbed toe)
(Ayy, im glad you like my ideas qvq (ooh, id be curious to know what those theories are ovo) i hope the ideas will look good in writing too :'D)
(For the most part, those theories are just circling around the facts that Damien is only a half-vampire and possibly not as strong/powerful as a full vampire would be, or that he doesn't drink blood which she respects but it's would make sense that could weaken him. Or possibly could even be his age, he might still be considered young and has a lot more to learn but because he doesn't have anyone to learn from.)
"But- if the system is broken, why is no one fixing it? Its for the good of the people no?" he asked, confused by the situation. "Aww, im sorry to hear about that… I wish there was some kind of way i could have helped but- At least im glad you have some ways to help somehow"
"So its more of a company entertainment then? Its being with them that's enjoyable." Damien deduced, scratching at his head.
"Oh. It's mandatory for what? A job? You need that for any job? That's- not as bad, to be fair, i mean you do want someone who's qualified…" he nodded to his own little monologue. "Well… As a homeschooled kid, i can say thats kind of the case- i met you though"
Maybe it was true he didnt get to meet people his age in his time, but then again he didnt get the most normal life style either, but at least he was grateful for what he did have.
"What's a debutante…?"
Damien shifted his weight a few times, shaking his head. "Society seems always so troublesome. Like, one belief can make so many people do things, and its scary…" he muttered softly, with a hint of sad experience within.
“I wish I knew. It is supposed to be for the good of people but… Some schools are so rooted in tradition that maybe they’re not sure how to change…” she suggested, though she wasn't really sure. “And the system is broken at a very high level so you basically have to be a politician if you want to make a change but most politicians don't seem to care about the problem.” she smiled a little and chuckled. “It’s fine. I can manage school well enough but I’m glad that we got to meet too.”
“In my case, yeah. There are people who like shopping more but I just prefer not to make a habit of going by myself.” she nodded.
“Pretty much. If you don't have a good education, you can't get a good job. Though there's a little debate on that. Jobs like doctors or lawyers actually need extra years of specialized classes and degrees before you can actually start.” she explained. “True. But only because I went out for a run and got caught in the rain.” she laughed lightly.
“A debutante is a young woman, normally from a rich or aristocratic family, who is of a certain age and is allowed to publicly go out in high-class society and is now eligible to be courted or considered for marriage.” she told him. “It’s more of an older traditional kind of thing that trickled down from Lords and Ladies in England. But some people still do it.”
Mari nodded softly in agreement. “Yeah. It's just a bunch of peer pressure and scare tactics. Sometimes one word can whip a crowd into a panic.” she sighed, a little disappointed. “It’s kind of pathetic… but a little impressive at the same time.”
