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Tweak says, "Derek and Stiles forever."

helen magnus, m.d. d.t.c.x.b. (lifelines) wrote in marinanova,
@ 2013-07-03 17:07:00

Entry tags:

dirk strider, euphemia li britannia, helen magnus, martha jones, nikola tesla, rose, tieria erde

day 226 video; / action;
I was thinking back to the handful of days I've spent here and how I've been spending them. It got me to wondering. I've been keeping track of the days, how long I've spent here and I wanted to know if there's anyone else here who keeps track of the day it would be back home. This is, of course, assuming that the way the wardens keep track of time is the exact same as in your home worlds.

[ She looks thoughtful. ] This place seems to operate on exactly the same number of hours and minutes, though the days don't seem to be much different. No weekends off, for instance. [ That's a joke, people. ] I was simply curious if anyone else had thought about it or if I was simply the odd man out. Today would be November 5 for me. Rather odd, having Christmas in November, though I suppose it could always be worse. We could be moved to a new location on Halloween.

[ For the record, that totally happened. They were moved to Squall on the day that would have been Halloween in her world. The irony was not lost on her.

Action: Today she'll be spending time in various places. The clinic will see her the most, but she will also take a little time to wander around the snow-covered lanes to see if she can find a handful of people among the drifts. Everyone she's met in-person will receive a small card with various good wishes written on the inside in her neat, precise handwriting. For some, she has more:

Euphemia li Britannia - "I do hope the holiday, whatever it means to you, is a good one. Perhaps in the future, you and I can become better acquainted. Until then, I should hope you remain well. Yours, as ever, Helen Magnus"

Jean-Luc Picard - "I've enjoyed our conversations so far. Perhaps the future will hold more. Helen"

Martha Jones - "Take the day off, if you weren't already planning to. Dr. Magnus"

Rebekah - A light blue scarf that will go well with her hair and a note: "I hope all is well with you. Helen"

Rose (TVD) - "The answer to your question is, 'It's a genetic mutation: longevity.' Any other questions?"

It occurs to her that she doesn't know where most of them are, but that's never deterred her before. ]

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	justexisting 2013-07-20 08:54 pm UTC (link)
	The punishments appear to be quite strange sometimes and random. I got one once and I didn't even hurt anyone. Still, they said I broke the rules. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lifelines 2013-07-21 09:15 pm UTC (link)
	Their rules do seem rather... strict, as though they have nothing better to do than to ensure we "cooperate." [ there's little need to figure out how she feels about that. the slight scorn in her eyes and tone suggests that she's none too pleased about any of this. ] I'm not entirely certain how effective their methods are. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	justexisting 2013-07-22 08:24 pm UTC (link)
	Neither am I, Helen. What I do know is that I don't want any more punishments if I can help it. [rose can understand the other woman's frustration because she feels the same way as her. a part of her doesn't want to say it out loud in case the wardens were listening in.] All these negatives. Is there anything that you like about this place, Helen? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lifelines
2013-07-23 08:30 pm UTC (link)

Understandable. [ she doesn't know anyone who would like that.

the question catches her off-guard for a moment and she takes a moment to think. there's a lot to dislike about being here -- being transported against one's will, taken from their lives and friends without warning, being told they're criminals with a lifetime sentence, among other things. but there's also a lot to be happy about, perhaps even grateful for. ]

I'm not one who forges lasting friendships easily, but I have to say... I've made a few of them I would be very sad to let go of. [ she gives rose a gentle smile, indicating that this is one of those. ]

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

justexisting
2013-07-24 08:10 pm UTC (link)

Yeah, the friendships are definitely one positive. [rose returns the smile easily, understanding what helen meant. she felt the same about her and she hopes that helen realises that.]

I was lucky enough to have a few people I know from home here already but making new connections with other people has been incredibly rewarding.

[she leads them right up to where she lives and rose takes her key out from her jacket so that she can open the door, standing to one side to allow helen to go in first.]

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lifelines
2013-07-25 05:31 am UTC (link)

So far I've only seen one person from my world, but he's been enough. He and I have known each other for a very long time.

[ she wouldn't wish this place on anyone else -- even if she really wants will or her old friend or henry or kate to be here with here. she offers another smile as she moves inside the apartment, standing aside once inside and waiting to be shown where to go next. ]

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	justexisting 2013-07-27 04:56 pm UTC (link)
	Oh? That's good. Maybe I have spoken to him before; what is his name? [ Rose says as she leads Helen into a rather spartan looking living room; she didn't have a lot of furniture but it was comfortable and suited her just fine. Even throughout her long life, Rose had never really acquired a lot of personal belongings. ] (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lifelines 2013-07-28 11:04 pm UTC (link)
	Nikola Tesla. He's been here longer than I. [ she speaks his name fondly. it's soft, but there's definitely a lot of history here. as for the surroundings, she takes notice, but doesn't comment. it isn't her place to judge someone else for their preferences. ] (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	justexisting 2013-07-31 02:41 pm UTC (link)
	[ upon hearing the familiar name Rose smiles before shaking her head. ] I have spoken to Nikola on several occasions. He's certainly something else but I like him. Definitely. [She gestures to a seat.] Make yourself comfortable, Helen. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lifelines 2013-08-01 12:15 am UTC (link)
	He's an acquired taste. [ as she had told him before. ] Took me over a century. I think you've done it in a bit shorter time than I. [ she smiles in response and does as offered, sitting down and turning so she can still see rose. ] (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	justexisting 2013-08-01 03:45 pm UTC (link)
	I think he may have charmed me a little but yeah, it seems to be that way. [ rose sits down on the other end of the couch, tilting her body to look at her. ] How did the two of you meet? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lifelines
2013-08-01 05:46 pm UTC (link)

He does that on occasion. [ she settles in a little better, studying rose as she does so. it occurs to her that she doesn't know how much nikola has been telling people. her assumption is that rose simply knows that nikola has longevity and she'll be going on that alone. ]

We met at Oxford decades ago. He was attending; I was only allowed to audit classes. [ take a guess as to how she feels about that. ] I don't think I truly had acquired the taste until decades later.

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justexisting
2013-08-04 08:21 am UTC (link)

[ rose smiles a little, making herself more comfortable. nikola had told her a few details about his life and she knows what he was and what had happened to him. she would need to return the favour and tell him some more about her own. ]

It doesn't surprise me that you went to Oxford. [ she probably didn't feel good about it. ] So it took you a while to get used to him, yeah? You know him better than I do after all. [a beat. ] Was it just the two of you?

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lifelines
2013-08-05 01:45 am UTC (link)

[ she studies rose for a moment. nikola told her he was trying to pass himself off as having the same abnormality that she has, but she needs to know what rose knows in order to fully answer that question. from the sound of it, she might know more than helen suspects. ]

What has he told you about all of that?

[ if she's "in the know," as it were, rose would understand that helen wants to know how much of the source blood experiment she knows and whether or not she's aware that nikola is a vampire. ]

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	justexisting 2013-08-06 02:26 pm UTC (link)
	I know what he is and about the experiments that were conducted a long time ago. Nothing more than that. [ she pauses for a moment before continuing. it was time for Helen to know the truth about her. ] The reason why he told me is because of what I told him about myself. I'm a vampire. Have been for over five hundred years and only a handful of people know it. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lifelines
2013-08-06 09:26 pm UTC (link)

So he told you about the Source Blood. [ iiinteresting. even more so that rose is a vampire as well. that explains that. and suddenly helen is looking at her in a new light. that doesn't change their friendship. if anything, helen looks more interested now than she was previously. ]

There were five of us involved. I was the first to test the serum once it was ready. That's how my longevity became active. I helped him deal with transitioning and adapting to his vampirism.

[ it's nice to be able to talk so freely about this. usually she'd get strange looks if she admitted to being a part of human experimentation just for the sake of science. ]

We were young, curious to see what would happen.

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justexisting
2013-08-09 03:56 pm UTC (link)

He did. [ she nods, hoping that it was all right for Nikola to even disclose it in the first place, but Helen didn't seem to protest it so perhaps it was fine. ]

But you're not a vampire though. Nikola explained about his genetics and how the experiment had activated that part of him.

[ rose feels glad that she was able to trust her with such personal and private information about herself. ]

Understandable. Plenty of people experiment when they're young. Although, probably not in the same way that you all did.

[A pause.] Do you have any regrets?

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lifelines
2013-08-09 06:42 pm UTC (link)

[ she would only mind if she managed to out his secret, but it seems he did that himself. ]

Then you now know how my longevity was activated. I am human; I simply have extended life.

[ being a vampire isn't automatically a sentence of distrust. after all, one of her closest friends is half-vampire and helen herself knows better than to judge based on what someone is. what matters is the character of the individual and so far rose has given helen no reason not to trust her.

the question catches her off-guard and she shifts as she thinks about it. does she have regrets? who doesn't? that's the nature of being human. but helen's life is quite different and she knows it.

when she was 38, she lost her fiance to a mania that would never leave and he became a killer notorious even through the change of two centuries, a man she would never trust again. their child was dead, killed by a people hell-bent on destroying helen's life's work and then erasing helen herself from existence. if they hadn't taken the source blood, she would have married john... and ashley would still be alive.

but if they hadn't taken the source blood, so many things would have been altered. she wouldn't have been responsible for lives being saved, lives ending, the second world war ending as it had rather than in the utter destruction of the entire european countryside. people might not have been born, everything could have been changed.

she'd had the opportunity to change so much once before.

her eyes mist and she glances away for a moment, the pain she's experienced in her life clear on her face for a moment as she presses the back of her hand to her mouth. it's brief and soon she's looking back at her new friend with a sorrow so deep she suspects she might actually lose another part of herself. ]

I had the chance to change a lot, 113 years' worth of my personal history, but I couldn't do it. Whether I regret what happened or not, it did happen and I have to live with it. I wouldn't change anything that happened, couldn't sacrifice countless people just to change my own regrets. These occurrences have made me who I am, they've made all of us, and to try to change that would be trying to change yourself. I couldn't do it.

[ it was what john had tried to do, what she'd chewed him out for even considering. changing the past wasn't worth condemning innocent people in the future. ]

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

justexisting
2013-08-10 12:02 pm UTC (link)

[it was a loaded question that Rose had asked and maybe she shouldn't have said anything in the first place because of how personal it was. if she had been issued with the same question, she was certain that she wouldn't find it an easy one to answer.

she watches the play of emotions across Helen's face, how she looks away and Rose feels a pang of guilt in her non-beating heart. she does know how strong the other woman is, what she seemed to be capable of, but even the strongest person could have a vulnerability about them. ]

Your experiences shaped you. I can understand that. For you to be so open and honest after I asked you a difficult question is something to be admired, Helen. [There's a small smile.] I have been around a lot longer than you have but I wouldn't say I've ever truly lived until much more recently.

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lifelines
2013-08-11 12:36 am UTC (link)

You've given me little reason to distrust you. [ which is the honest truth, more than she gives most people. ] The fact that Nikola liked you enough to offer his heritage is proof that you can be trusted. That isn't something he gives to just anyone.

[ she sighs softly before offering the smallest of smiles in response. there's pain still in the expression, but it's an attempt to press onward. ]

Some would say that's something you and I have in common. [ that neither of them have truly lived. ]

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justexisting
2013-08-12 03:17 pm UTC (link)

I like to consider myself a trustworthy person. [ Trying to convince one Damon Salvatore that he could had been difficult at first but Rose pulled it off. ] In that case, I am honoured to be part of the inner circle, for lack of a better term.

[ she returns the smile, holding it there for a moment before getting up from the couch. ]

Really? Maybe I should make us some tea first before we delve into that kind of talk. Does that sound all right?

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lifelines 2013-08-12 08:02 pm UTC (link)
	You can thank Nikola for that. [ for both being considered a trustworthy person and for being part of the inner circle. ] Absolutely. [ she rises to follow. ] A good cup of tea makes everything much easier. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	justexisting 2013-08-14 12:43 pm UTC (link)
	I'm sure I will find that out soon enough. [ a smile before she leads them both to the kitchen. It's just about big enough to move around it but the room is neat and tidy, if a little spartan. ] There's cake to go along with the tea if you like. I got some before today but I was saving it for an occasion like this. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lifelines 2013-08-14 09:31 pm UTC (link)
	I'm honored you would offer it. [ she takes a stance nearby, but not close enough that she'll be in the way. ] It might just go well with the tea and conversation. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	justexisting 2013-08-15 02:37 pm UTC (link)
	[ while Helen is talking to her, Rose is busy pulling out mugs and getting the milk from the fridge. she also managed to get some tea leaves so that she could stew the tea properly. ] Chocolate cake always goes well with anything. Obviously, I don't need to eat food for sustenance but I love the taste of it. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

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