Nessa stares at the message for several moments, not sure what to make of it. What would she say over text that she couldn't just say over the phone? Why does she want Nessa to come all the way across the floor to her room?
Unless -- she wants her to do one of the tasks with her.
Nessa stops to look through all of them again. Which one does she want to do? Surely not one of these....intimate ones?
She's been staring at the list for about five minutes before she realizes Sprezzatura's probably waiting for a response.]
Yes, Miss Vaux. I'll be there right away.
[And she heads over there. She's....still looking at the list of missions when she knocks on Sprezzatura's door.]
[ nessa honey i'm so sorry your gaybrain is setting you up for such a disappointing letdown.
for Sprezzatura, it is five minutes of total misery—convinced, abruptly, that in addition to everything else today, Nessa will, for whatever reason, simply ignore her message, or else she's going to be trapped here for hours until she checks her phone. it's to this end that she actually, literally, jumps when her phone vibrates with Nessa's reply, and then she jumps again at the knock.
Nessa will hear a note of strain in Sprezzatura's voice, coming from inside: ] Nessa? Come in, hurry.
['Come in, hurry?' Why not open the door herself? Why not come to Nessa's room herself or just tell her over the phone if it was so urgent? Does this have something to do with one of the tasks.
Wait. Is it the painting one? Is Sprezzatura nude in there, waiting for Nessa to draw her?
Sprezzatura's punishment for her vagueness is that she has to wait another two minutes while Nessa stands outside her door with a wide-eyed expression, looking like smoke is about to start coming out of her ears.
She eventually gets herself back to a neutral expression and opens the door.]
[ Sprezzatura is not nude. I'm sorry. what she is is half-nude, sort of, with her blouse wrenched open to reveal the bustier and collar beneath, but rather than sexy, it all looks a touch deranged, because her throat is also scored with five ugly, clotted gouge marks that Nessa may find unpleasantly familiar.
and the way Sprezzatura is standing, seemingly frozen with one hand white-knuckle clenching the edge of the dresser, is not sexy, either. it's like she's dropped glass all over the floor and is afraid of moving and stepping on it. that kind of unnatural stillness, that kind of tension in every limb of her body.
her eyes slide over to her apprentice. looks like she's... also been crying? rage crying? her eye makeup is smeared all over her cheeks. ]
[okay, yeah, all of Nessa's dumb gay thoughts immediately go flying out the window when she actually opens the door. Her eyes fall on her neck first and her breath catches in her throat and her eyes shoot open - she definitely remembers the last time she saw that and it's extremely not a pleasant memory.]
Wh --
What's wrong?
[She immediately starts towards her, not sure what she'll do when she gets there.]
[ it's!! humiliating!! having anyone see her this way—
thought maybe, it might have been easier, if it were Nessa, after all they have gone through, after all the girl has relied on her for, that it might be an easier pill to swallow to have to rely on her now. but it's not. ]
[She immediately does, turning back around and closing the door. As she approaches Sprezzatura, she reaches a hand up and taps one finger on the center of her chest.
She furrows her brow, then taps it again.
She's about to do it a third time, when she remembers--]
-- fuck, it's still sealed.
[She grits her teeth, anger and powerlessness rushing through her and making her blood burn. She feels like an idiot for not spending more time and effort recovering it now -- to what end? She's not Nell. She's not a Harmony witch, the Void can change things, but it can't reverse damage. Either way, she can't do much, so she just asks again,]
[What? What?! There's some kind of psycho here and he attacked her teacher?! She's going to kill him -- she's going to find him and make him rue the day he ever --]
In bar. He... [ she gestures, miming fisting up the hair at the back of her head ] He is enormous, like he might touch ceiling, I—Nessa, I cannot move.
[ you can just see dignity and humiliation warring in her ]
I have to be led around.
Like someone's dog.
[ she has been resisting it from the moment the collar was fastened, but it's disorienting, and painful, and she has been trapped in place in her room for forty-five minutes just trying to reach the en suite to wash ]
That was price of stopping my bleeding. That is what this place would see me reduced to.
[ you really don't wanna be the one explaining petplay to a hysterical Sprezzatura Vaux. trust me on this.
she reaches up and pulls at the leather, but it's very snug to her throat and it does not move. ]
He was fucking vague. "Day or so". And mark me: no one is parading me around in front of everyone as though I am spectacle or pet. I need you to help me there— [ she nods towards the open door of the bathroom ] —and then... tomorrow... before breakfast, take me to lobby so I may eat.
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day 03, afternoonish??
Nessa. Please come to my room. Door is unlocked.
[ i mean, since when does Sprezzatura say "please"??? ]
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Nessa stares at the message for several moments, not sure what to make of it. What would she say over text that she couldn't just say over the phone? Why does she want Nessa to come all the way across the floor to her room?
Unless -- she wants her to do one of the tasks with her.
Nessa stops to look through all of them again. Which one does she want to do? Surely not one of these....intimate ones?
She's been staring at the list for about five minutes before she realizes Sprezzatura's probably waiting for a response.]
Yes, Miss Vaux. I'll be there right away.
[And she heads over there. She's....still looking at the list of missions when she knocks on Sprezzatura's door.]
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for Sprezzatura, it is five minutes of total misery—convinced, abruptly, that in addition to everything else today, Nessa will, for whatever reason, simply ignore her message, or else she's going to be trapped here for hours until she checks her phone. it's to this end that she actually, literally, jumps when her phone vibrates with Nessa's reply, and then she jumps again at the knock.
Nessa will hear a note of strain in Sprezzatura's voice, coming from inside: ] Nessa? Come in, hurry.
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Wait. Is it the painting one? Is Sprezzatura nude in there, waiting for Nessa to draw her?
Sprezzatura's punishment for her vagueness is that she has to wait another two minutes while Nessa stands outside her door with a wide-eyed expression, looking like smoke is about to start coming out of her ears.
She eventually gets herself back to a neutral expression and opens the door.]
Yes, Miss Vaux? What is it?
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and the way Sprezzatura is standing, seemingly frozen with one hand white-knuckle clenching the edge of the dresser, is not sexy, either. it's like she's dropped glass all over the floor and is afraid of moving and stepping on it. that kind of unnatural stillness, that kind of tension in every limb of her body.
her eyes slide over to her apprentice. looks like she's... also been crying? rage crying? her eye makeup is smeared all over her cheeks. ]
I can't move.
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Wh --
What's wrong?
[She immediately starts towards her, not sure what she'll do when she gets there.]
What happened?!
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thought maybe, it might have been easier, if it were Nessa, after all they have gone through, after all the girl has relied on her for, that it might be an easier pill to swallow to have to rely on her now. but it's not. ]
Close—please close door.
[ a rough whisper ]
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She furrows her brow, then taps it again.
She's about to do it a third time, when she remembers--]
-- fuck, it's still sealed.
[She grits her teeth, anger and powerlessness rushing through her and making her blood burn. She feels like an idiot for not spending more time and effort recovering it now -- to what end? She's not Nell. She's not a Harmony witch, the Void can change things, but it can't reverse damage. Either way, she can't do much, so she just asks again,]
What happened?
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There is man here... Zenos, he said. Not of sound mind. Threatened to slit my throat.
[ her throat bobs beneath the collar as she speaks, as she swallows thickly ]
I decided to—to...
[ to what? just about kill herself in front of him? why did she do that? what is wrong with her? ]
...to take fun out of it for him.
/3
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You cannot reason with men like that! You may only deprive them of their desires!
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Wh -- what can I do?
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opens her mouth. nothing comes out. it's all stuck behind her teeth ]
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[She stops herself, and swallows that word down before it comes out all the way.]
Miss Vaux. Please. I'll do anything, just tell me how!
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I have to be led around.
Like someone's dog.
[ she has been resisting it from the moment the collar was fastened, but it's disorienting, and painful, and she has been trapped in place in her room for forty-five minutes just trying to reach the en suite to wash ]
That was price of stopping my bleeding. That is what this place would see me reduced to.
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Wh. What?
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Nevermind. Doesn't matter.
I.
So I have to lead you along by this? [She points to the collar.] F -- for how long?
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she reaches up and pulls at the leather, but it's very snug to her throat and it does not move. ]
He was fucking vague. "Day or so". And mark me: no one is parading me around in front of everyone as though I am spectacle or pet. I need you to help me there— [ she nods towards the open door of the bathroom ] —and then... tomorrow... before breakfast, take me to lobby so I may eat.
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...
...
Miss Vaux.
I'm going to say something that may make you want to beat me to within an inch of my life.
Can you promise me you'll hear me out before you do that.
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