Mem Share - learning the hard way

[architector]

Content warning: Eye pain, mention of momentary blindness

[You can’t deny the thrill at the idea of seeing something no one of your kind has seen in, well, human lifetimes. You’ve been raised to believe that the sun was to be feared, that it could kill in an instant, or leave you permanently disfigured in some way. You had even been content to believe such things, until you’d happened upon a poem in your mother’s dressing table. You knew you weren’t supposed to go in there, but Mother always had the loveliest letters and this poem was no exception.

It came with a small painting of a sky filled with clouds glowing orange and purple. It was a sunset, you learn later, but at the moment, you think it must be a sunrise, and that you must see one just once! Yes, it was true your adult teeth had grown in only the month before, and it was also true your father told you several times the sunlight becomes much more deadly when a vampire becomes a man, but it was only a month ago!

You creep up to the clay shingled roof of your cottage minutes before the golden sun is set to break the horizon. The moments pass hours while you wait in trepidation, and then you watch the sky begin to lighten in the east. Your breathing comes quicker as excitement builds. You’re going to prove the sun isn’t so bad.

The first rays of the rising sun catch the gilded cross on the parish roof across the way and you’re captivated by the majesty. And then a cloud shifts and a lance of pure light, more profound than any you’ve ever seen, strikes your eyes with enough force to blind you. Even the rising sun this warm summer day in the south of Madrid is warmer than candlelight, as warm as a roaring fire, and then dizziness filles your mind. You’re falling, head pounding, stomach roiling.

You feel hands on your shoulders, several times stronger than a man’s, you hear a chastising voice laced with concern.]

Antonio! You foolish boy! [Your father, angry and frightened, but you can’t see, and then the gentle voice of your mother.] Frederico. [She sounds panicked, but why? It was only a moment…] is-is he?

[And then the world goes dark.]

Comments

Voice

[minus1twin]

Antonio?

[Her voice is accented with worry. She knows that his sight is healed but what had happened?! He'd looked like a child, maybe a teen? Wanda isn't sure but the pain and the beauty.

How long has he been away from the sunlight?]

Voice

[architector]

[At least at this point he's seen the broadcast. All in all, not a bad memory to have been shown. He didn't mind reliving it, and it was better than later, when his mother-

No. This was better.]

I'm alright, Wanda.

Voice

[minus1twin]

What happened?

[He doesn't seem upset though it'd been a beautiful and jarring memory.]

Voice

[architector]

I was sickened with sun poison for several weeks. My mother and father had to bring me meals, which put us all at risk. I was a foolish, foolish boy.

Voice

[minus1twin]

You haven't seen the sun since?

[That sounds so sad.]

Voice

[architector]

Not directly, no.

[But there's something in that remark, something heavy and old.]

Voice

[minus1twin]

I am sorry to hear that. I wish I could show it to you.

[It really is beautiful.]

You can see the sunlight they have here but I understand that it isn't the same.

audio un:pnwsalex

[11calls]

What happened? Did you lose your sight for a while?

audio

[architector]

Only momentarily...or so I assume. I could see when I regained consciousness, but that was several days later.

[11calls]

It took that long to recover from the sun?

[architector]

Yes. If I'd been exposed any longer, I would have died.

[His mother died that way, though she was dragged into the sun.]

[11calls]

Does the artificial sun here effect you in the same sort of way?

[architector]

[He chuckles.] No. It's very bright, but it doesn't make me ill. It does however make me very sleepy.

Audio - UN: detwatts

[gadaboutdetective]

[Llewellyn hummed, concern in his tone. He knows it’s an image of the past given how young Antonio was, but that didn’t make it better.]

That seemed very painful, and that it was just a sunrise...? Did you mm... have long to recover after that?

UN: Vegas

[architector]

Weeks, all told, yes. There is a reason my kind avoid the sun. It can be deadly. I was nearly exposed too long.

[gadaboutdetective]

There are stories in my world that suggested such... It’s unfortunate to find that it’s true, and mm... that you had to experience something so young just because you were curious.

[He paused, before adding with an obvious concerned note. Llewellyn, as always, thought up worst case scenarios and worried.]

The lighting that mimics the sun in some of the domes— does that effect you as well?

[architector]

I suppose. Unlike humans, I don't pine for the sun, nor require it.

[He shakes his head.]

Not at all, though I admit I avoided it for several days, even though I was told it wouldn't harm me. They'll pardon me for being gun shy, I'm sure. There are few people I'd wish sun sickness upon.

[gadaboutdetective]

I’m sure they would have, caution with such a thing seems uh— more sensible. At least until you could be sure that it was safe. Still, I’m glad that it doesn’t though.

[architector]

As am I. I, clearly, don't require sunlight, but it is a beautiful thing, isn't it?

audio } un: nemesis

[wasinnocent]

Curiosity at it's worst. [ But then again she can relate to letting curiosity get the best of you. ] Was it worth it?

audio } un: vegas

[architector]

Indeed. [In more ways than one.] It's a sight I've never forgotten, and I'm glad to have seen it, even though it nearly killed me, so yes, I suppose it was.

[wasinnocent]

Well, at least it was worth the pain. Have you ever been able to see it again?

[architector]

Only in photographs, paintings, and here, where it is a lie, but a sweet one.

[wasinnocent]

All the best lies are.

[architector]

Are you saying you like it here?