l'Aurore de la Félicité Universelle [Ulv/Julian]

Tue Jan 21, 2020 5:43 pm

Julian

Julian St. Vendemiaire, for the second time in his life, did not know what to do. He was perhaps lucky that the facade he had spent so long building remained intact, else everyone around might have seen right away that nearly nothing remained inside of him. But behind that smile was a heart which had simply burned to ash. Perhaps it had done so all those years ago, and only now had a breeze come to blow it away. He wasn't sure. It didn't matter.

He went about his business, he continued to pursue learning in kido and to entrench himself in the culture of the Gotei. The man was, by all accounts, still rather emblematic of a promising young shinigami. With the changes that the Captain Commander had brought into place, most saw everything Julian did as a sign that her judgment had been correct, that the people of the Rukongai could genuinely be quite intellectual, more than peasantry. Julian did not hear any of it, for all that ran through his mind was reprimand. Of himself, of Justice, of-

Oh, how the third voice tore him asunder, in those few moments he had only to himself.

"You swore to bring the people their freedom, to give them a new life. You have taken too long. Someone else has already done what you never could. How typical, that you could not keep your word when it mattered most."

"Oho, dear Julian~ You and I, soon, will be the last two within this book. Do you think the others will keep their blades? Perhaps they will even turn them upon you~ Their lives so much improved, a radical like you would be nothing but a threat."

"What happened, papa? Why couldn't you protect me? Why couldn't you avenge me?"

Even as these thoughts cascaded through him, Julian simply walked through the Gotei as serenely as ever. Out of nothing more than habit, he kept routine, kept his face. And yet, behind his smile, the only way he could describe this feeling was...hollow.

Tue Jan 21, 2020 6:05 pm

ULV AUBER| WHITE MASK BUDDHA

Moving through the Seiretei with characteristic grace, from one point of work to the next, Ulv was a gentle but unceasing force of progress. Everything offered to her was doing, and unlike her little faux-daughter, Ulv had the energy supplies to do such and knew when to stop for lunch as well. Though, it was while she was walking through that she walked past a man. She plucked surface thoughts from everyone for her light amusement, because you never could guess what people were thinking about. One man had a whole hour's tirade on the differing benefits of the rubber ducks he had back at his house.

But the man she just walked past, was not such. He was, different and in a really bad way to boot. Ulv just stopped dead in her tracks and looked at him as he walked past, and then extended a Tulpa arm to take him lightly by the shoulder and stop him as he went out of normal arm's reach.
"H......ey....Are you...I want to say ok but that is way to small. Still alive seems more appropriate, really"

FLAME OF HOPE | END POST

Tue Jan 21, 2020 6:17 pm

Julian

The woman's touch was enough to catch Julian from his inner turmoil, at least for a moment, and when he turned to her, there was still nothing but the same calm smile he always wore. Most might have been fooled, for it was a rather impressive facade. But Ulv, if anyone, was one of the most qualified alive to simply see through the lie he told.

"I am doing quite well. A bit tired, perhaps, but that is the nature of work."

It was spoken so calmly, so without any restraint, that Ulv would almost surely be able to see it as nothing more than an instinctive response. For beneath that fragile exterior was only continued turmoil, continued judgment from the three voices which never ceased to deride him.

"Caught. Perhaps this is finally your end, hm?"

"Julian, Julian, Julian, my dear boy, how have you fallen quite this far? Getting pulled from a crowd like this, I would have expected better~"

"Papa..? Papa, please don't let me down again."

He had become so used to those three voices that it almost did not even surprise him. He was fully aware that they were simply not real. His own judgments, the words of Justive, the memory- yes, the memory. They were just in his own mind, even if he could not push them away.

Perhaps, then, it may have been faintly surprising that Ulv could certainly hear the third voice.

Tue Jan 21, 2020 6:32 pm

ULV AUBER| WHITE MASK BUDDHA

Blowing air out of her pursed lips in surprise, she nodded to the man and even cracked a smile.
"Wow, you gotta teach me that one. I struggle keeping everything together most of the time. Sometimes it's not so bad but sometimes it's basically impossible and I am not super fond of exploding like I do. You've got a fucking hurricane in a tornado in crocs sitting in your head and you just smile and say how do you do"

Ulv was....more enthusiastic than she really aught to be, given the situation, but she was headily impressed with the man's capabilities.

"And you've even got the voice of a cute girl pouring salt in every wound she can find. Youch. So what's that one then? Vindictive Zanpaktou spirit? Something..." Ulv would pause for a moment and those glowing golden eyes seemed to stare past his mortal form and right into his soul. "More?"

FLAME OF HOPE | END POST

Tue Jan 21, 2020 7:05 pm

Julian

It was one thing to maintain a facade when facing inner turmoil. After all, Julian had been doing that for a very long time now. It was not so difficult for him to continue to do so, even if perhaps the strain on his heart was worsening by the day. But to have someone else comment on it, to acknowledge the voice of his little girl-

That visibly shook him, if only for a short moment. He simply did not have the composure, the awareness, to react to that in stride. Least of all right now.

"I...am not aware of what you mean."

Another lie, and he knew that it had been a shoddily given one at that. Well, he was not a man who tended to give up. Such was, at least, obvious to the two parties in this conversation. More pressing, however, was the reaction to eyes gazing within his soul. Instinctively, he wished to run, but in truth, some of him just hoped that maybe he could die now.

"Oh, a visitor? Isn't this so very unexpected. Please, join us if you wish. It does get dreary in this place, you know.

The Inner World was a lovely place, an unspeakably ornate hallway that seemed to stretch on for all eternity. Chandeliers hung from above, magnificent frescoes adorning the ceiling if one were to look upward. On one side, a series of grand arched windows ran forever, and upon the opposite wall, a series of mirrors which seemed intended to take much the same shape as the windows. Outside was...nothing at all. An endless blue sky, and nothing more. Standing by one of those windows was an almost abstract-looking being, a jester who, despite his appearance, seemed pensive as he only continued to watch the empty sky.

Within this hallway lay a single table, rather small and with three chairs around it. Two were occupied, the third seeming to go perennially unused. The first seat housed a spirit which, paradoxically, did not seem to have any legs with which to sit. He was dressed so formally, yet what little of his body there was appeared only to be made of the darkest cosmos, a single red eye peering out from behind the rim of a white top hat. He seemed to have been the one to greet their guest, if the blood red grin trailing across what might be called a face was anything to go by.

Within the other sat a girl who, just at a glance, was surely who Ulv was looking for. Unfathomably pale, in a dark black dress, with yellow eyes from which seemed to trail two dark red lines. Around her neck was a deep red scar, seeming almost exaggerated in its appearance, hardly natural at all. Her flowing white hair was done in twintails, almost girlish in their nature, and around them was wrapped a single rosevine, winding its way upward. As the gaze became apparent to her, she smiled faintly, a small grin of what could only be described as malice, and gave a very gentle wave.

"Has papa called for help from another? I had thought he cared more..."

In the real world, despite his demeanor, it was clear those words carried more weight than they likely should have. Julian's gaze faltered just a touch, unable now to keep a confident stance. He was, in a word, defeated.

Tue Jan 21, 2020 8:09 pm

ULV AUBER| WHITE MASK BUDDHA

"I mean the smile on your face. It's really working for you, it's not strained or anything. You can really trick people into thinking you aren't a bombsite on the same scale as Mirja was" Ulv commented. She was, as all warriors worth their reputation, an excellent multi-tasker, and so could focus on Julian and look about his Inner World at the same time. It was certainly an interesting one, but to talk to a Hollow, it was always better to send a Hollow. There was the whole familiarity thing that would help communication and such.

Though, technically nobody went anywhere. It was more a mental projection into Jullian's world, and as such Ulv was still where she was, and yet in his Inner World, demurely stepped a woman. Skin so pale it was almost pure white, hair that was definitely pure white, and a dress that was in stark contrast to this by being blacker than the colour should ever allow. The woman's beauty was terrifying and unnatural, but there was something oddly comforting about her presence. Even though she was not truly there and couldn't truly interact with anything, there was still the comfort of being in the presence of a woman like Hvit.

"Papa.." that voice would be almost an audible showcase of her appearance, so...difficult to nail down in one's head. "Is as of yet still denying that there is even a need for help. But that rarely dissuades Ulv, for long. Instead, let us talk about you. Have you a name? And before you try the charade, I do mean your name, not the name of the poor man's daughter you are mimicking"

FLAME OF HOPE | END POST

Tue Jan 21, 2020 8:31 pm

Julian

"I'm..."

Julian didn't have any fight in him to argue this. He wouldn't have even been in a situation like this in the first place, and he knew that. Glancing around, he simply went to find somewhere to sit, and upon finding the nearest public bench he nearly collapsed onto it, staring only at the ground.

"It comes with practice."

Within the hall of Julian's world, the jester by the window only spared a single sideways glance, and the fellow in the tophat pulled out the third chair for their guest, even suspecting that she may not be allowed to use it. The girl, however, seemed genuinely contemplative for a moment or two, having never been asked much of anything, really. Then again, she was rather new to this 'thinking' business.

"I don't believe that I do. I have only held this form for a rather short while. But, mm... Félicité will do, I think.

Tue Jan 21, 2020 8:43 pm

ULV AUBER| WHITE MASK BUDDHA

"Admittedly, I am only two and a bit. So maybe it does. But, onto the million dollar question. Why? That depth of feeling doesn't just come from having your sweetroll stolen" Ulv would follow him to the bench and sit down. There was something imperceptible about Ulv that made people want to talk to her. It was an overwhelmingly powerful knowledge that she would not judge you regardless of what you said, and even try to help you when you did.

The woman in the World, would gracefully accept the seat and sit down on it, or leaning in such a position that she was practically sat on it. She politely listened to the Hollow and then smiled at the name she was given.
"Ahh, french. Mirja learned that language in hopes that it's monkier as the Language Of Love would help her get into more women's bedrooms. Not the worst motivation, but many better. Interesting name to chose though. You say you have not been around very long and yet, you are better than those who had been for moons beyond counting"

FLAME OF HOPE | END POST

Tue Jan 21, 2020 9:09 pm

Julian

Every back and forth the two had seemed to further destroy what little of Julian's once impenetrable defense was left. He had no reason to maintain it anymore. There was nothing worth protecting. Nothing that he needed to keep things up for. For perhaps the first time in 20 years, all he had to do was just...be. He didn't even know this woman's name, but in truth, it didn't matter to him.

"Have you ever lost someone you loved?"

For all of her apparent malice toward Julian, the Hollow did not seem to have any qualms with Hvit. She listened, nodded in affirmation that she had understood, and took a moment to think about her response. She twirled one of the rosevines which ran through her hair around her finger, and after a while, she responded in her gentle, almost sing-song voice.

"I have been here with Julian for many years now, but only now has he been in such a state that I became so complete. But after 20 years, you become familiar with how to act around someone. What makes them happy, or unhappy. He has so little of the former, and so much of the latter."

Wed Jan 22, 2020 8:52 am

ULV AUBER| WHITE MASK BUDDHA

"Ehhh" Ulv thought for a moment. It was a complicated situation to be sure, she definitely needed to put her head together on that one. "Hmm. There was this one woman I killed myself to protect. Long, story. When I returned to life, wholly unexpected, I realised it was a moment I could see how she was doing. Almost immediately she had dropped my memory, gotten with someone else, and then vanished off the face of whatever realm you care to mention.

And there is another one. I loved her because she was helped me so much, you know. But it turns out that she was one of those super-impressionable virgin types that fall in love with a few pretty words and do not look beyond that till you are four weeks in. We are so not compatable, and I am going to lose her soon. And it also turns out she is an unstable neurotic, so good chance she goes absolute psycho on me or just kills herself. 'Nother girl I had interest in first dates another guy, and then cheats on him for her sister. 'Nother girl was an overachieving police officer who got, dismantled, trying to take down some guy. 'Nother nother girl, goes and gets with a King. How's a girl meant to compete with that?"

While Ulv was regaling her many lost loves, Hvit was nodding to the Hollow woman. She'd just fully materialised, but had spent a long time learning. Hvit never had that option. Mirja was such a fuckery that Hvit was fully formed within hours. And what Queen hide themselves away when they were present?
"We know a person like that. Let's hope Jullian is more amendable to change, lest he gets punched. Ulv's patience for people who refuse such is sparse indeed"

FLAME OF HOPE | END POST

l'Aurore de la Félicité Universelle [Ulv/Julian]

l'Aurore de la Félicité Universelle [Ulv/Julian]

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Re: l'Aurore de la Félicité Universelle [Ulv/Julian]

Re: l'Aurore de la Félicité Universelle [Ulv/Julian]

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Re: l'Aurore de la Félicité Universelle [Ulv/Julian]