[It's, like, shortly after the soul junk. Everyone else went home to sleep, but Herman brings Sarah to somewhere in the castle to talk about something. How exciting.] [Mini Go!] * Herman walks through the castle. They're in a hallway at the moment, ivy growing on the walls, but he doesn't have any place in mind. He's in his body, though! That's good. * Herman glances at Sarah. "I didn't mess up your body too much, right?" [Sarah follows, looking around curiously. "You father's home is much larger than my family's estate," she remarks. At Herman's query, she searches... erm, she shakes her head. "No. It's alright, I've been through much worse."] * Herman nods. Yeah, it doesn't look like much from the outside, but... * Herman shrugs. "I guess being an ancient magical family helps." [She nods.] He should be asleep now. * Herman glances around. [Sarah blinks. "Your father? Does he keep watch everywhere here?"] Not really, but... he can, yeah. Pretty much. [She nods.] * Herman glances around. He must decide it's safe enough, because he stops and looks at Sarah. It's almost weird... seeing you as you again. [She blinks. "Do you think so? It's the opposite for me."] * Herman grins. "Maybe it's the height thing." Don't get me wrong. I feel like *me* again. It's a great thing, but I need to adjust to the magic. [She nods. "As do I."] Yeah. * Herman runs a hand through his hair. "Look... uh." He lets out a breath. "What'd you see?" [She blinks at Herman, blushing a bit. "Um..."] * Herman waits. [She pokes her fingers together. "You, and, um, another boy... Um."] * Herman smiles a little crookedly. "I guess if you were wondering, you really know now, huh." [She nods slowly.] Dad doesn't understand that. I mean, yeah, he knows, but... * Herman shrugs. He leans back against the stone wall, and the ivy moves out of the way to give him room. [She taps her staff on the floor. "I saw your father's reaction, too.... I'm sorry."] * Herman sighs. "So you got that one." [She nods.] I really did want to hate you, Sarah. It'd make things a lot easier. [She blinks. "You wanted to?"] Kinda. I mean, my dad's an ass. If you were, too, I'd throw it in both your faces and tell you to go to Hell. ["Oh." She pauses. "I can't say anyone's ever said that to me before."] * Herman snickers. "Yeah, but you don't get stuck with people like this all the time, either." But I *don't* hate you. I like you, I mean, as a friend. [She nods. "I understand."] And... you know, we're in the same boat. * Herman pauses, then says, "What happened to him?" ["Who?"] Richter. [She thinks. "Richter?" Then suddenly it clicks in her head, and she shrieks. "OH GOD!! Not that!" Her staff falls to the ground as she buries her face in her hands.] * Herman blinks, and then he kneels next to her and puts his hand on her back. "Sarah?" [She looks up. "You saw it, didn't you?"] [Her eyes are watery, and she's on the verge of tears.] * Herman hesitates, then says, "Depends on what 'it' is, but if you mean the botched spell... don't cry." [She covers her face again. "I'm so embarrassed."] * Herman pats Sarah's back kind of awkwardly, then he sighs and gives up, just giving her a half-hug with the one arm. It's okay. We all fuck up with magic. [She sobs. "It took me months to get that spell right."] * Herman keeps hugging Sarah. "It's okay. I'm not laughing." [She wipes her eyes. "I'm sorry. It's a silly thing to get upset about, I know."] * Herman shakes his head. "It's not that silly. But it is okay. I'm not going to tell anyone." [She grabs her staff and gets up. "Thank you. Some people already know though. Liadan walked in on my casting the spell once."] [She looks down. "She gave me the usual talk, how it's silly and I shouldn't care, because people who truly like me don't care about my chest."] * Herman nods and stands, too, looking concerned. "Yeah. I don't care. But look..." ( See, if Herman wasn't gay he'd never get to take part in a conversation like this :P ) * Herman reaches up and grabs a lock of hair, holding it a bit up from his head. "It's not actually black. I dye it." [She wipes her eyes. "Sorry, you wanted to know about Richter, right?" Yeah. * Herman drops his hand. "But this is important, too." [She blinks curiously.] ( "Nobody ever said my boobs were important before!" ) I'm just sayin' that I don't think it's that different from me dying my hair. It's not a big deal. And nobody'd really care, right? It's just hair. But I like it more black. ["You don't?"] [She sighs. "But people never made fun of you because of your hair color, I bet."] * Herman shakes his head. "No. They picked other stuff." [She shakes her head, too. "I'm sorry. I'm being selfish again. You're right, it's not such a big deal." So she says, but the look on her face seems rather melancholy. "I should tell you about my first fiancees. You've got a right to know."] * Herman opens his mouth, then hesitates and just decides to let the matter drop for now. "Sure." [She gets a wistful look in her eye. "Richter was the first. Richter Abifula, direct descendant of Abraham Abifula. He was thirty-two at the time, much older than me, and wanted an heir. He's a powerful magician in a long line of magicians, so despite his age he would have been a good husband."] * Herman nods slowly. "But you didn't wanna marry him." [She shakes her head. "Of course, he was nearly twice my age!" She sighs. "But it didn't matter, anyhow. He wasn't impressed with my magical ability." She sighs again, and looks right at Herman. "He wanted an heir that could rival the magicians of old. Allister Crowley, Rasputin... even Merlin."] ["But he said that for that to happen, his wife had to be powerful, too. I was too weak for him."] * Herman blinks. "You were too *weak*? What, did he ever find a bloody wife?" "I don't know..." She looks at Herman. "But you've been in my body. You know my spells aren't as powerful as they could be."] Yeah. And mine aren't either. * Herman sighs. "Christ, there's more to life than making a strong kid." [She nods. "But it's different for you. You stopped learning. Me... I've just hit my maximum potential." ] "Maybe I can pick up another trick here or there, but I'll never rival the likes of Roger Bacon or Crowley."] I dunno. I think you got a lot of magic left. 'specially if you keep pushing yourself. [She shakes her head. "It's all I can do to keep up with Dante. Of course, his magic is a little different, but often times I feel like a burden to my friends."] [She sighs, then continues. "The next was Arthur Moore... Or so he claimed."] * Herman nods. ["He contacted my parents, offering a lot of lies and empty promises. But he wasn't a wizard at all. He was a fraud who wanted to use me to help him make a fortune."] ... Yeah, that was gonna bite him. [She nods. "When he saw I wasn't going to do it, he took off with another woman and told me I'd never get married anyhow."] * Herman frowns. "Bastard. Good thing you didn't end up with him anyway." [She nods.] ["My parents had all but given up hope, though, until your father contacted them."] So he asked them? Figures. [She holds up her free hand. "Well, they were overjoyed when he did. They didn't think they'd ever be able to marry me off."] * Herman rolls his eyes. [Sarah looks at Herman, then down. "It's not... It's not so simple. I felt like I'd been a great disappointment to them." She looks back up again. "The last thing I ever want to do is shame my parents."]] [And back down again. "Any more than I already have."] ... How're you shaming them? It's not like you're gay. Or even fighting against these marriages they put you through. Hell, you're out saving the world. [She blinks and looks up. "Those... You can't blame them for those marriages. They didn't know."] Did they ever ask you? ["It's not really my decision to make."] I dunno. You're spending the rest of your life with somebody - I'd think that's a bloody important decision for you to make. [She sighs. "I'd rather not talk about this. In the modern world, there's no way to convince anyone that our traditions have merit."] * Herman shrugs. "You gotta admit, Sarah, you weren't happy about being married off either. At least the first time." ["No... But I told you before, it's not always about what I want."] Yeah. That's what *he* was telling me earlier today. * Herman rubs at his eyes. "But it's also about being you. If you decide that you want to go with what your parents say, 's okay with me. Just as long as that's what you want." [She shakes her head, "It's too hard for me to explain my feelings on the matter... But if my parents decide I should marry, I can't hurt them by refusing. To me, that's what's important."] * Herman drops his hand. "Okay. But you know where I'm comin' from." He gives a slightly crooked smile. "I'm not exactly ideal husband material." [She smiles back. "And I don't know if I'd make a good wife."] * Herman snerks. "I guess you'd be better than anything I woulda figured I'd end up having." ( Lies. You can have Ashley. ) (As I was saying...) [She smiles. "Well... If we are married. I promise to try to be the best wife I can be."] Think I'd rather have a friend first, but you're already pulling that off. * Herman stops leaning against the wall and starts walking again, waving for Sarah to follow. "I didn't go to a school with other wizards." [She blinks, following. "Really? But England has such a famous wizarding school!"] What, the deathtrap? Yeah, it's famous for students getting randomly killed. * Herman pauses, then adds, "Though I guess they're better wizards 'cause of it. Still." [She nods.] The parents figured I'd do better if I grew up around the normals. Have some perspective. I guess I got too much of it. "It's not so bad. I grew up rather away from civilization. Large cities like London still intimidate me."] Yeah? Gotta be tough if you're based in Japan. [She nods. "It was as difficult to learn Japanese as it was English."] * Herman nods. "Sounds like you did a good job, though. I just know English and two dead ones." ["It's been useful."] ["Although I never would have imagined I'd end up working in Japan for Interpol."] Yeah? That is kinda weird. How'd it happen? ( The GM wanted her there for convenience sake ) (Hehe.) (I believe it. ;P) (If you want, we can cut out what Herman most recently said and end the mini? Or you can make something up now.) ["It's a long story, but my father had an opportunity to work with Interpol twenty years ago."] * Herman nods. "They asked him for help?"] ["After my second failed marriage, he suggested the marriage be put off for a while, and that I see more of the world. He got in contact with them."] Looks like it worked. [She nods. "Japan is a fascinating place, and I've met such wonderful people.... Even Justinius, although I know he doesn't seem like much..."] * Herman grins. "I figured if he's totally worthless, you guys wouldn't keep him around." I'm glad it worked out for you. Wish I could say the same with these guys, but maybe it'll turn around. Hard times together, end of the world, and all that. God knows I needed to get out more. ["He's a bit of a womanizer, but if you can look beyond that he's a very good man. We're lucky to have him, or we'd probably all be dead."] * Herman nods. ["I'm sure you'll see the same in your companions. They seem nice."] They're okay. Togo's... a little disturbing. It's all the guns. I mean, fireballs or whatever I can handle, but seeing someone shot to death is... ["He reminds me of Mariah."] [She frowns. "Oh... I remember how that used to scare me. I've been shot a few times."] Yeah, maybe. I didn't get to know her, but- * Herman chuckles. "I got shot, too. By Lukas." [She blinks. "Your teammate?"] Yeah. Just a tranq, but this bitch had a gun to my head. She was holding me hostage, and I couldn't get any spells off... you know why. She'd plug me the second I started with the funny talk. [She nods.] Lukas tried to shoot her, I think. He ended up shooting *me*, and then she pushed me in a river. * Herman frowns. "Really, it's amazing I didn't just get shot in the head or drown." [Sarah gulps and nods. "That's.... your team is a little different from mine."] Yeah. We're not professionals. I don't think anyone but Togo's got training, really, and he's all military, which is... different. * Herman sighs. "And fuck, I coulda died right there. Still freaks me out when I think about it." [She nods. "We weren't when we started, either. I mean, Justinius was, and Mariah sort of was, but not the rest of us."] They just grabbed who they could? [She nods. "Kind of."] * Herman nods, too. Yeah. It's not like anyone's useless, but... * Herman looks thoughtful for a moment, then he shrugs. "Guess it doesn't matter that much. I'm doing a lot more this way than I did when I just ignored the magic, even if it did get our bodies all switched up and I had to deal with the old man." ["Are you sorry you did?"] Not really. Not sure why, but not really. ["That's good."] * Herman smiles a little. "Yeah. It is." He glances at his watch. [Sarah yawns a little, and glances at Herman's watch also. "My, it's very late."] ["I should go. We have to go to Ireland tomorrow."] * Herman nods and stifles his own yawn. It's contagious, you know. "Yeah. Do you have enough for the port? I ran your reserves pretty low." [She shakes her head. "I've never been to Ireland, so we'll have to take a ship." She pause a bit, then says, "If I don't see you again...." Then she hakes her head. "No, never mind. I'm sure we'll be fine."] You'd better. [She nods. "Been through worse than an invincible, all powerful vampire."] * Herman comes to a stop at a door to... who knows where. It's probably a broom closet or something equally inane. "That's... yeah." [She nods. "Thanks for talking to your father, Herman."] * Herman shrugs. This is followed by a sigh. "He's an ass, but I guess he's no demon. You be careful in Ireland, okay? Send a postcard." And call if you need backup, magical or whatever. [She nods. "I will. Thanks."] [And here's a good end spot, so... end!]