May 25, 2011 22:26
[At first, the video is dark.] --be fine. [And the voice is low, quiet, and intent. With it, the darkness shifts and scrapes near the microphone, resolving into a gloved hand that is holding on to the NV to help stabilize it. The NV seems to be hanging in the air, a little above eye-level with a still-obscured face.] Yes. Just as we practiced. [There is also a curious humming noise, very distinctive and rapidly flapping, yet not overbearing. The view trembles in time to it, sometimes.
The hand slowly moves away, revealing a bedroom that is well-lit and well-decorated--Alois Trancy's, for those familiar. Covered in lavender and blue, maybe a little too much of both, the room has many elegant furnishings restored to brand-newness. Everything is clean, almost sparkling around the edges, because Claude takes care of this room even if it doesn't get much use anymore.]
Raison d'etre. [This part is clearly scripted.] It's a French word meaning reason for existence.
[Without warning, the hum loudens and the camera swings down and then back, revealing the hand is attached to Claude Faustus, the butler to Alois Trancy. Shown in profile from the waist up, he is standing in front of the windows and looking outside. This time he doesn't look as serene and pathetic as he did earlier in the month when he made his first post in the rain.]
An elusive concept for some of us. Pulled into this city by surreal power, transplanted into new lives, we are forced to find reasons to keep moving forward. [He looks directly at the camera. His glasses catch the light and glint all mysteriously.] Perhaps, even before Siren's Port, we were struggling with our reasons for being. Perhaps, not knowing any better, we were ungrateful for that which we did have. As the saying goes, it's only once we have lost something that we can appreciate it.
[Claude steps away from the window, exposing the white, whimsical nightgown he has draped over one arm. He walks over to Alois' bed and stoops down to place the clothing upon it, using both hands to spread and straighten it out.]
But I must confess my curiosity-- Citizens of Siren's Port, have you found what's worth waking up every day for? If I may ask you, what is your reason for existence?
If you don't know yet, I am sure it will come to you. Becoming meaningful can require years of patience. [Claude reaches inside his uniform jacket--and pulls out a single stem of bluebells, freshly cut. The flowers are as lavender-blue as the rest of the room. He stares at them.] Once you do know, be sure to be grateful for it. Things get taken away so easily here.
[He lifts his hand and the NV shakes this time, the feathery flapping gone intense. One of the cameramen darts into frame--a hummingbird?! Green and ruby-throated, the bird snatches the bluebell right from Claude's hand and flies away to bring it to Alois, wherever he is. Claude watches the bird go for a few seconds before reaching up to turn off the NV.]
c: finnian,
c: sam merlotte,
c: grell sutcliff,
c: zoey,
†: orochimaru,
c: raul creed,
†: archangel,
c: bruce wayne | batman,
c: luca macken,
c: alois trancy,
c: ciel phantomhive,
c: franz d'epinay,
c: re-l mayer,
c: nana,
c: ulquiorra cifer,
c: yako katsuragi,
c: hannah anafeloz,
c: daedalus yumeno,
!: claude faustus,
c: ahiru,
c: akira inugami