[Seidaku's Cottage] Lessons on Nothing (Seidaku

[Yanessavhanet]

It was a slow and surprisingly strenuous process working through her thoughts and feeding them one by one to the Void. For a time it seemed that for every thought she banished three more came to take its place. After some time she slowly began to make progress though, and her mind started to grow more and more quiet.

It was starting to get a bit unpleasant going through this exercise. Vhanet had rarely had such a quiet mind, and some of the thoughts and memories she was banishing were ones she would love to linger on. Her first sacrifice to Siku, a delightful hunt in Ahnatep, and her breaking of Nasilia. So many delightful memories, but they slowly vanished into the darkness after all the others.

Eventually Vhanet's mind was empty and silent, and she turned her attention to the inky blackness of the Void portal in her mind. She had come this far, and so she might as well continue on. As she focused on it the darkness expanded to begin feeling the space of her mind. Creeping outwards she could almost feel the lack of anything in it. No light, no air, and no heat...

As the darkness grew Vhanet felt the cold begin to spread. More than anything else the cold began to surround her, engulfing her, and Vhanet began to feel afraid. During her travels over the Winter she had felt cold, but it was only for brief periods, and could always be warded off. This cold was enduring, and there was no escape from it. Vhanet could feel her blood slowing, her muscles growing lazy, and the slumber of hibernation coming upon her...

Vhanet opened her eyes with a loud gasp, and quickly wrapped her arms around herself to begin rubbing away at the mentally created chill that had crept into her. Her body trembled lightly in a faint show of the fear she felt inside her. The Void was not just something interesting and useful, but she now knew without a doubt it was something that could kill her in the most unpleasant way possible.

"I think that will do for now," Vhanet said softly as she turned and gave a faint smile to Seidaku, "I think I did well, but it will take time for me to learn. I do want to learn it though," her smile grew a little warmer as she stood up, "Might I learn from you again, teacher?"

[Seidaku]

As Vhanet's meditation continued, the soft scratching of quill on parchment slowed and then finally ceased all together as Seidaku found himself more focused on watching her than on his writings. Watching her meditate, he felt that he could almost see her progress.

The flutter of her eyelids as her thoughts took her, a slight twitch of her lips at what was perhaps a pleasant childhood memory, the small frown that creased her face that bespoke her concentration. As those infinitesimal facial movements and posture changes became fewer and less pronounced, Seidaku resisted the urge to offer praise at her progress, as it would only shatter the calm that she had fought so hard to attain.

By the time that Vhanet had achieved a state of perfect calm, Seidaku had given up on even the illusion of finishing his essay and had leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, unabashedly watching Vhanet meditate. He thought to himself once again that she was stunningly beautiful. With her sun-kissed skin, raven hair, and delicate features, there was no denying that fact. At this moment though, there was something else. Something more, or perhaps less, that highlighted that beauty.

He was so lost in thought that when Vhanet's eyes snapped open accompanied by her gasp, he was startled to his feet and his chair toppled back behind him. Without realizing he had made the movement, he was kneeling beside Vhanet, holding her hands in his own in a comforting gesture. He smiled broadly at her, "You did excellently, Vhanet. You were, ah, on the verge of a breakthrough. I think just an, umm, just a little bit more and you will have it."

He could feel her shivering, though he was not sure from what. With another, smaller smile, he said, "If you like, we can get some air. Your first few sessions can be somewhat... intense."

[Yanessavhanet]

"If I did well," Vhanet said softly as her trembling faded, her mind being drawn back into the game, and a shy smile touched her lips, "It can only be due to your teaching. Taking a bit of air would be delightful though."

She stood up slowly, her legs complaining lightly at the movement after the time spent so still, and she moved in such a way so that her face would end up extremely close to Seidaku's own face. She froze as their eyes met, and wove the illusion of a bright blush spreading over her cheeks. She was curious to see if Seidaku was bold enough to take the initiative in their budding "romance", or if he still would remain the bumbling toy he had been.

Slowly she took several slow and warm breaths in and out, pursing her lips ever so slightly so her breath would be directed to softly caress Seidaku's own lips. She wondered how far she could push him before he would take the initiative himself, or maybe he'd remain the naive little man. Of course, a naive person was always much easier to manipulate, and possibly even break to her will if needed.

[Seidaku]

"Oh, well, thank you," Seidaku said with a smile, "As I said before, it, ah, gets easier with... practice," his sentence trailed off into silence as he stood with Vhanet and he was acutely aware of her proximity. Suddenly speechless, he stood staring down into a pair of eyes the color of warm chocolate, tinted with the barest flecks of gold, that seemed to fill his entire field of vision.

He could feel her breath on his lips, almost a memory of their previous kiss, and he tried to will motion into his body, to bend down, take her in his arms, and kiss her now. He had leaned several slow inches downward before he lost his nerve and turned away, clearing his throat and blushing furiously, "You, ah, that is... yes, fresh air."

Cursing himself for a fool for ruining the moment, Seidaku reached out to grasp her hand in his before he could stop himself. With a smile, he led Vhanet to the door, pushed it wide, and said, "It is a, ah, beautiful day out."

[Yanessavhanet]

For a moment it seemed like Seidaku might take the initiative, but then he pulled away and took her hand instead. So it seemed he had the desire, but perhaps not the drive. That suited Vhanet just fine. Someone without much drive meant that she could provide that drive to go whichever direction she wanted him to go.

Stepping close next to Seidaku as he opened the door Vhanet let a wide smile overcome her lips at the delightful thought, "A very beautiful day indeed," she agreed as she walked out of the cottage hand in hand with Seidaku, moving close so her shoulder lightly brushed against his.

Alvadas was turning out to be quite a fun city to be in. Maybe she'd end up staying her longer than she had thought originally.

[Fallacy]

XP Award! Name:Yanessavhanet XP Award: Manipulation- 2 Seduction- 3 Acting- 2 Subterfuge- 2 Meditation- 3 Lore: Alvadas’ Changing Streets Using Illusion as a tool for Manipulation Glyphs (Poor) Voiding (basic) What the Void is Changing “The Game” Using Void as a meditation tool Notes: Manipulation, Seduction, Acting, and Subterfuge for using Seidaku and doing it in such a classy way. Meditation for the simple “void meditation” Name:Seidaku XP Award: Teaching- 3 Writing- 2 Observation- 2 Lore: Theory of Djed Affinity Teaching Voiding Theory Distracted by Yanessavhanet ”Hugging” Yanessavhanet Kissing Yanessavhanet Making a fool of oneself Notes: Teaching for explaining voiding, writing for the essay, or the attempt thereof, and observation for watching Vhanet so much Um, great little thread. Was fun to read. As you can see Ive drastically cut down on my awarding of lore and tried to center it more on the main plot of the story rather than giving for the willy nilly. XP for what I saw in the thread itself. Vhanet, you mentioned wanting a point of XP for Voiding itself. It was not awarded because you did not actually create a void. Though now you have the building blocks and knowledge to create one. Continue on with your ‘lessons’ I will be waiting to read more on these experiences and to see how this little ‘relationship’ is going to turn out. Any questions or concerns about the rewards gained please send a PM