She's nervous and she talks and talks and talks. She says her name is Perenna. She's here because of the studio. She's a set designer, with aspirations to write scripts. She could have taken a job in someplace important like Bridgeport, or someplace scenic like Sunlit Tides—Reggie cringes at the mention of it—but she specifically wanted to be involved in this "spaghetti western" film trend.
She says she's not an agent.
"You wouldn't be a good spy if you admitted you're a spy," Reggie says.
"Once they find you they're really not very spy-like," she responds, frowning.
"I suppose," Reggie concedes the point.
When they catch you, Greta told him, they will kill you, but first they must—
"You couldn't do anything about it if I was," she points out. "I'd have ways to prevent you from escaping before I revealed myself, wouldn't I? I'd have very powerful magic, and I'd be trained to take you down. You wouldn't stand a chance."
Reggie has a family to worry about. He can't take stupid chances. But there's a certain defeatist truth in her argument...
"I'm Reggie."
She brightens. "Short for Reginald?"
"No."
"I was just really excited to find someone else," she admits. "I've been separated from other non-quite-humans since I was a little girl."
Not quite human. The words sting more than they ought to. "Didn't your parents tell you that other magic-users are probably all out to kill you?"
Perenna laughs nervously. "You're not going to kill me, are you?"
Could he actually hurt someone? He doesn't know. "Hopefully... not..."
The hesitation in his voice scares her. "You know there are entire communities where mages and vampires and junk live peacefully, right?" She studies his expression. "You've been hiding your whole life, haven't you... wow. That explains it."
"Hiding in plain sight," he mumbles sheepishly.
"Well... I need to get back to work..."
"Wait!" Reggie can feel his skin prickling up in nervous goosebumps. "I want to ask you about... those communities..."
Perenna smiles slyly and gives him her number. "I'm off work at four," she says.
Petra returns a few moments after Perenna leaves. "Okay, so, this wasn't actually the right building I was supposed to bring the stuff to. We need to get it all into store room C, not D!"
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Etc.: He just met her, and this is crazy, but she's a werewolf, so get on with the legacy already maybe.
This chapter (and the last one) take place on a lot made by TheIrishCowgirl. I didn't have all the stuff she used, so some things look different, but mostly it's about the same. It's great work! Check it out.
Oh, Perenna is cute! I'll patient await a cute baby. *twiddles thumbs*
ReplyDeleteYeah, Reggie ain't too good at interacting with other supernaturals. >.>
Perenna IS cute! She's a slightly altered clone of a sim I downloaded from Melissa. =D
DeleteI'd be bad with other supernaturals too, if I grew up being told they'd kill me, and sure enough the first one encountered outside the family was a psycho murder fairy. Hopefully Reggie will lighten up.
Perenna, what an interesting and pretty name, just curious---how did you come up with it?
ReplyDeleteI liked their little logic/illogic discussion, very cute! Way to go Reggie, he already has her phone number! =)
Perenna is a Latin name, derived from the word perennis... broken down literally: per- (throughout) + annus (year). It shares its roots with words like "perennial". Perennial flowers come back every year. =) Or if you prefer... annually!
ReplyDeleteThat's why name lists will usually have Perenna as meaning "eternal", but it only means that in the sense of "recurring".
So anyway it's just a name I like, and one I think supernatural-type characters might end up naming their children.
That's also how you pronounce her name - like "perennial". Just without the I and the L.
DeleteIt's kind of funny to assume that all magic-users are murderous, when you are yourself a mage.
ReplyDeletePerenna is nice so far. Babies? :D