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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Aug 5, 2016 18:37:31 GMT
Weiss blinked. For working with dead bodies all the time, Anna sure was...chipper. "I think you're the first happy person I've met that's around the dead a lot," she said. "Usually, people get all somber." Magic users who dealt with the dead were kind of the same. It was all about treating them with respect, mainly 'cause you didn't want to piss off anybody, or you would end up having angry spirits or zombies after you. "Oh, you don't have to do that," Weiss said when Anna offered to get her a drink. Stuff like that was kind of considered a hand-out in her family. The LaFayettes were the ones who treated people and paid for everything. It gave them a chance to show off how much money they had.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Aug 6, 2016 2:02:10 GMT
"Oh, don't get me wrong, I don't like seeing anyone die before their proper time."
Despite the smile that was still on her face and the high color of her cheeks, Anna's tone had because much more serious than it usually was.
"It's just that I love my job and what I do, even if everyone else things I'm a weirdo, crazy insane and strange freak for it. And plus, a body is a body. The thing that made that person them is gone and pretending otherwise doesn't do anyone, especially the dead, any good."
Here, Anna motioned for the bartender to get a drink for Weiss anyways, not having caught that the young woman didn't want anything and too happy to care. A moment later a simple yet delicious looking fruit drink came sliding down the bar to where they were speaking and Anna handed the glass to Weiss like it was nothing.
"People care too much about a person only after they're dead and it can't do them any good in the slightest, instead of when they're alive and can benefit from that kindness. Me? I don't offer corpses comfort but instead try to use them to make sure that the one who killed them can't do the same to others."
There was relative silence for a few seconds after these words before Anna suddenly turned to the bartender and yelled across the space to get his attention.
"HEY ARNAUD! PUT THIS ONES DRINKS ON MY TAB!"
She then turned back towards Weiss and offered another sweet and slightly drunk smile.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Aug 6, 2016 16:01:04 GMT
Anna got Weiss a drink anyway, which she reluctantly accepted. She took a sip from it as she talked about working with the dead, and why she was the way she was. She did have a point. A person wasn't really there when they were dead. Only their vessel was left behind while their spirit went to Heaven or Hell or whatever existed beyond. And she did agree with one thing. People seemed to care about a person a lot only once they died. "I guess people figure they have all the time in the world to show affection and stuff, but then it's too late," she said, more to herself than to Anna. She wondered if she was like that, when it came to Riku. She treated him like crap sometimes, only because she missed him, but couldn't say it. What if he got killed in the line of duty or something? She would have missed her chance to say something. She took a long sip of her drink, pushing thoughts like that aside. This conversation was getting too morbid for her tastes. Luckily, Anna soon broke the somber mood with her loud voice. "You seem to know the staff here well," Weiss commented.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Aug 7, 2016 6:39:12 GMT
"Oh absotutely! I pop into the pub a lot to grab dinner when I'm not in a cooking mood and to get the occasional drink. It's also a great place to meet new folks and get to know more about them! I'm something of a people person."
She added this last part as if she thought Weiss hadn't already picked up on it. The next moment she started to shoot the woman with questions herself that she wanted answered.
"So tell me, what brought you into the bar? What do you like to do? What do you do for a living?"
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Aug 8, 2016 1:23:49 GMT
Almost as soon as Anna mentioned she liked to get to know people, she started to do just that and fired questions right after the other at Weiss. "Hey, slow down there," Weiss said. "Let's handle one question at a time." She flipped her ponytail over her shoulder. She figured she might as well be truthful, even if mentioning voodoo would probably tip Anna off that there was something going on between her and Riku. Weiss figured it wouldn't do any harm. The woman already suspected that she knew him, so what was the harm in giving more info? "I like fencing. And singing. And voodoo. That's actually what I'm working on right now. I want to be a voodoo priestess." Of course, Weiss also had the loftier goal of becoming a voodoo queen, but she didn't feel like mentioning that. That was kind of a sour topic, considering that Riku was supposed to become a voodoo king before deciding to become a police officer instead. "As for what I'm doing here...I was looking for someone, and I thought I saw them here. But, they weren't. So, I guess I just imagined it." She gave a shrug, trying to act casual about the whole thing.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Aug 8, 2016 2:28:41 GMT
"You mean Riku."
Anna's look became quiet somber for a moment, as if she were guessing at the heart of the matter and coming up with quite a few ideas that might not be very far from the truth. However, she didn't say anymore on the topic and switched over to Weiss' hobbies.
"Fencing? That sounds pretty awesome. I'm pretty handy with knives myself but haven't really tried anything with a sword, although I might keep my eyes peeled for one now. See what its like! As for singing, I do that too but more for my own entertainment. What kind of singing do you do?"
Anna moved to sit down at the nearby bar and motioned for Weiss to join her. No point in standing on their feet the whole time they were talking when an open seat was literally right in front of them. When Weiss also mentioned voodoo, Anna snapped her fingers before suddenly rifling in her bag for something.
"Oh, now that you mention voodoo I almost forgot that I had this. Maybe you can give me your opinion on it."
With that said, Anna pulled a book from her bag's depths before placing it on the counter. It was large and heavy, bound in a bluish material and obviously quite old. Engraved in the cover of the book was the title.
The History, Practices and Spells of Voodoo
"I found this by chance in one of my favorite bookshops and thought I would give it a whirl. After all, in my line of work it isn't a bad idea to learn about things that can come into the workplace."
She presented the large volume to Weiss for inspection. If she was skilled and knowledgeable in Voodoo, then she might be able to tell Anna if the book was a good one to read or a bad source.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Aug 8, 2016 3:58:53 GMT
So much for being vague about who she had been looking for. Anna saw through that in a second. Weiss wasn't sure what to think about her intuitive nature. On the one hand, it actually felt a little good to let someone know about this. Keeping it to herself was frustrating. But on the other hand, she was paranoid about Riku finding out. No doubt he'd rub it in her face that she was practically crawling after him. She had never stooped so low before.
"Mostly classical stuff," Weiss replied. "You know, songs that were written ages ago before either of us were born. Things like that." Weiss did enjoy some of those songs, though. They were pretty fun. But others were super hard, and she had to work at them for ages before she got them right. Then again, her parents didn't want her to put too much effort into it, otherwise it might distract her from her voodoo practice. Speaking of which, Anna seemed quite curious about it. She had gotten a book that was pretty much all about voodoo. It looked pretty legit, in Weiss's opinion. "This definitely won't be light reading, I'll tell you that much," she said as she flipped through the pages. Some of this stuff was pretty complicated, although a lot of it was familiar to Weiss. She saw some illustrations of voodoo dolls, amulets, and potions. "And don't start trying any of these spells and potions yourself. One wrong step and you'll end up raising the dead or blowing somebody up."
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Aug 8, 2016 4:24:45 GMT
"Oh, don't worry about that! I'll leave raising the dead and voodoo dolls to the professionals."
Anna shot a friendly wink at Weiss as she spoke before taking the book back and lightly patting the cover.
"It's good to know I've got the legitimate thing here, but I'm purely non-Other. I doubt I could cast one of these spells if I even tried and really the only reason I got it was to be able to recognize voodoo-based murders if they come our way at the BPD. Plus, I just like reading."
Anna looked down fondly at the book for a few more moments before placing it back into her sunflower-shaped bag.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Aug 9, 2016 2:46:24 GMT
Anna was a normal human? Weiss was kind of surprised. She felt like regular humans were kind of the minority in this city. Sometimes she wondered how they had managed to survive for so long living among other supernatural beings. It wasn't like they had powers of their own to help them out, although all the modern tech that was going around these days tended to make up for it. These days, shooting a gun was just as handy as a spell.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Aug 9, 2016 3:38:37 GMT
Anna was just putting the book back in her bag when she saw the surprised look on Weiss' face and misinterpreted it.
"Oh, I know! Most people peg me as Other because of my little quirks and obsessive study of all things Other, but there's not a drop in my veins. Can make it a little hard working some of the cases thrown my way at the BPD, but I manage pretty well! Heck, it doesn't hurt having the Others Unit to help."
With the book safely stowed in her bag, Anna resumed her seat on the bar stool next to Weiss.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Aug 9, 2016 3:57:56 GMT
"Is it fun, working with the Others unit?" Weiss asked. Maybe "fun" wasn't the best word to use, but she was curious as to what it was like, being part of it. Maybe she could get an idea of what Riku was up to on a daily basis, although he probably didn't work in the morgue all the time like Anna did.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Aug 10, 2016 5:44:13 GMT
"Sure! I get to do what I love and be around people who actually accept me and all my weird little nuances."
Here she paused and the perpetually happy expression on her face fell slightly, as if some deeper meaning had come to mind then the more obvious ones. She looked away from Weiss for a moment into the polished surface of the bar before speaking, her tone far more serious then it had been that evening or ever was.
"And I help people. I mean, actually help people. I might not be able to do much for the bodies I look at, but the evidence I gather helps make sure that no one else has to die. And that's what I love the most about this job. In a way....I save people."
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Aug 11, 2016 0:00:54 GMT
It seemed Anna had a deeper reason for joining the BPD Others Unit, besides her fascination with dead bodies. It was to help people. It was a noble sentiment, but Weiss wasn't sure it was one she could endorse. "Is it really worth it, though?" she asked, poking at the straw in her drink so it spun in a circle. "I mean, not everyone can be saved. When things get heated, you have to save yourself." That was a lesson that had been engraved in Weiss's mind from the day she was born. Her duty was to the family. They came first. Everybody else was just a means to help the family ascend and be better than they already were.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Aug 11, 2016 2:49:50 GMT
Anna turned to look up at Weiss when she began to speak, but the expression on her face wasn't one of agreement, of acceptance or even a somewhat different opinion. Her expression looked almost shocked, as if her words had never once crossed her mind and just couldn't make an impression in her own views.
"Of course. Saving yourself isn't enough sometimes. Sometimes, you only really find out who you are, who you REALLY are, when you're willing to sacrifice everything for someone else."
A silence followed this, a silence that seemed strange in that normally bright and loud environment. However, it was broken when the large clock overhead rang out, causing Anna to jerk around in her seat.
"Oh wow, its getting pretty late."
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Aug 11, 2016 14:55:43 GMT
"That's not something I was taught," Weiss said before sipping from her drink. Looking out for herself, it was something that was being driven into a lot lately, ever since Riku left. She couldn't worry about him. She had to look out for herself, keep her eyes on the prize. Anna soon changed the subject though, and mentioned how late it was. "Yeah, I guess it is," Weiss replied. This meeting had been strange. She wasn't sure what Anna thought of her, but their conversation had gotten her thinking a lot. "I guess I should be heading out." She slid off her seat. "Thanks for the drink and stuff."
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