NIGHT 54: M31-M40 Hallway

[sanguinario]

[From here.]In a detached way, Edward could recognize how lucky he was to have met Stefan at the time he did. Now with Venom gone, he had no one he trusted outside of Bella and no source of blood. Stefan was a lot more like Edward than Venom had ever been - beyond the most obvious ways, too - but he didn't have the time. They hadn't been trying to

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[broodings]

Stefan had expected- okay, he hadn't had time to expect much of anything, considering the suddenness of his thoughts and the bloodlust threatening to consume his mind, but given the choice, he would've at least found a more tactful time to mention that he'd met Bella. If he'd had that, he could've prepared himself for Edward's expected reaction... not that it would've done much good, as Stefan doubted that "suddenly clutching at his head in pain" would have shown up on the list.

"Edward!" He stepped forward automatically in case the sudden pain brought Edward down, but stopped just short of touching him, not sure if that would only make things worse. "What's happening?" Was it his fault, or something else? Project 2911, the intercom had said. A silent panic rose in him. If another trick of this place disabled Edward tonight... or worse... If he had to, he could still hunt by himself, but Stefan couldn't imagine abandoning Edward, not after everything today.

On the other hand, if he started really panicking now, the firestorm of emotions within him would help neither of them. He could already feel it surging through his veins, building pressure behind his eyes. So Stefan shut his eyelids too, and worked on calming himself down with a few steady breaths and the image of Elena's face. By the time he felt the blood receding, Edward could speak again.

"Nothing. Well, she recognized me, but left after a minute." Stefan regarded him with concern for a moment. Edward didn't look well, but he could tell when someone would rather not be fussed over. The fact that Edward seemed to be trying to shake it off suggested that he wasn't surprised by what happened, which probably meant it was Stefan's fault. He exhaled again. "Does she al-?" Stefan started, then stopped, shaking his head. Does she always smell like that? was what he'd been about to ask, but in hindsight, it would be much better if he never thought about her scent again.

He recalled the moment Bella realized what effect she was having on him... the look on her face, the concern in her voice. She'd seemed kind, like Elena. It's not your fault, he'd told her. She was not to blame for what he was. Stefan was still searching for something to say when he noticed the sack Edward had set down earlier. "What's that?"

[sanguinario]

"It's just a headache." He tried not to laugh. There was just something funny about the situation, about a vampire with genuine concern for him - either that, or he was just losing his mind. Both seemed probable.Two weeks. Two weeks to get his trust, and Edward didn't even know if Venom had really trusted him after his outburst. If he was to believe the small note in the man's journal, the answer was no. What did he have to show for all that time now? At least breaking through Venom's cold exterior once or twice had been an achievement. All that was left were the burn scars and the knife scar.

He was thankful Stefan was so astute. It was a lot more than he could say for himself. There was something reminiscent of this conversation... perhaps when he had first met James, when James had first gotten her scent, except Stefan wasn't currently concocting a plan in his head to systematically hunt Bella down and kill her for kicks. As much as he loved talking about her, Edward was not so sure he wanted to have this conversation when both of them were hungry. Thirsty? The difference in definition was intriguing. He kept the answer silent, which was probably enough answer in and of itself.

Right. Focus. There was no need to be defensive - not when the girl's, Elena's, face kept popping up in Stefan's mind. As pathetic as it was, Edward knew that he wasn't threatened by Stefan - and if Elena was anything like Bella, he knew he would like her immediately. Not that he was - he was just curious, that was all. Curious to see another human that had managed to capture the heart of a vampire. Not for the first time, he was very glad no one else seemed to share his little talent.

Looking down at the aforementioned bag, he gingerly picked it up again as if paranoid that the attention to it would make someone grab it and run. "My friend's belongings." He shifted, feeling one of the needles trying to press through the pillowcases into his back. In retrospect, this was probably going to be more trouble than he needed, but... he could always find it again. "He was released today. I didn't want the staff to destroy anything." As if it were evidence. And in a way, it was, wasn't it? Now that he thought of it, the fact that Venom's things had still been in his room was surprising. Shouldn't they have wanted to burn them or something?

This could just potentially be an overreaction. Venom could just be - he couldn't think about it. If Venom were in the middle of experimentation, Edward couldn't help him. If he tried to find him and found him with his chest pried open or something, he would only make it worse. Killing the man a second time was something he was desperately trying to avoid. Besides, even the experimentation did not explain his disappearance during the day.

"He left this." Edward tucked his flashlight under his arm so he could edge the ring off his finger with his thumb and hold it out for Stefan to inspect. "You know about the portal rings, don't you? It's going to get us to where we need to be, if you don't object."

[broodings]

"Your friend?" There was something else implied in the word released, but Stefan couldn't say what. Not death - he'd heard every euphemism in the world for death, and Edward's tone suggested something not quite as dire... but still worrying nonetheless. Gone from the institute, at least, and most likely not by choice, if he'd left all of these things for Edward to collect.

Stefan hesitated a moment, not sure if he offer condolences or not over what had happened to Edward's friend, and so instead said: "Do you, uh, want to leave that stuff here for now? My roommate's not the type to snoop. Or me, at that," he added after a moment. Hauling all that around seemed kind of cumbersome for what they planned to do tonight. Edward would be able to pick up the bag again after they finished hunting, but with how his other nights in this place had gone, there was probably no guarantee they'd get the chance to get back here in time. Stefan wouldn't blame him if he'd rather hold onto it.

He'd been about to offer to carry something - maybe the flashlight, although it did seem odd that Edward would need one - when Edward held out what appeared to be a simple silver ring with a red stone. Instinctively, Stefan touched the lapis lazuli ring on his own finger, suddenly remembering the suspicious way Claire had reacted when she'd first seen it. "Portal rings?" Stefan echoed Edward for what had to be the tenth time today, starting to feel mildly idiotic in that way he usually felt when his brother was mocking him for being slow on the uptake. Usually he just ignored Damon, but that was because he didn't care what Damon thought of him. At least he could be grateful that Edward's telepathy would've told him that Stefan wasn't a complete imbecile.

Well... maybe. Stefan couldn't really claim to be doing his best these last two days. He did recall skimming some vaguely worded conversations about rings on the bulletin board while searching for notes from Elena or Damon, but for now, he'd take Edward's word for it. After Dr. Landel's appearance in the Sun Room, Stefan had pretty much figured it would be better to wait until he'd fed before asking any complicated questions.

"Uh... no objections. Just give me a second." He stepped back into the room to grab one of the sweatshirts hanging in his closet. Catching a cold wasn't really a risk for vampires, but he might as well not tempt fate.

[sanguinario]

"I don't necessarily know if it means he is dead or not," Edward said, shrugging his shoulders around the weight of the bag, "it's just how the staff describes it." He was just going to believe... it was something other than death. Perhaps it was temporary. (Of course it's not.) Either way, at least he was free of this place. Edward was working towards it, and a full stomach would help.

Might as well get moving. He put the ring back on his finger, tossing the flashlight into the bag. "I would very much appreciate that, actually," he said, grateful for the offer. He slid into the room at what he took as an invitation, gently letting the bag fall to the floor again, the needles and syringes tinkling together audibly. The only thing he stole out of it was the pool cue, dissembled into two parts. It wasn't sharp, nor did it look particularly deadly, but if an assassin used it... it had to be dangerous outside of melee blows. Of course, the assassin that used it could create giant balls of - glowing energy? Matter? Edward still wasn't sure what that attack had been in Venom's home world, and he had never really questioned it. He just wanted to have something in his hands, and it was only the weapon he was willing to take with him. He had given Charlie's shotgun a glance, but shooting buckshot into a creature he intended to eat? Not the best idea.

He slid the bag under the bed that smelled the least human, guessing it was Stefan's. Just so no one tripped over a bag full of needles. "Thank you again. You're very kind." It was a surprisingly good gesture and he was glad for it. If Stefan was doing it for the items... well, it didn't matter since none of them were particularly helpful. There would just be questions regarding the needles.

Edward screwed the two ends of the pool cue together while Stefan gathered his clothing, harboring a chuckle at the thought of a vampire catching a cold. He figured now was as good a time as ever to warn him. "I haven't actually ever used this before so I'm not sure what to expect. It might be best if we're touching, just in case."

[broodings]

Stefan barely paused when Edward once again responded to the thoughts in his head. He might not have ever been friends with a telepath before, but maybe he'd get used to it sooner than expected. Stefan was at his closet door when he suddenly remembered what had happened the first time they'd entered Elena's room, and turned - only to see Edward smoothly step through the doorway, and start digging around in the bag as if nothing strange had occurred.

Huh. He frowned at the doorway, wondering what it implied. It was possible his room wasn't subject to whatever rules had apparently transformed Elena's patient room into her residence. He didn't remember ever needing an invitation to enter M39, but then, he didn't remember even entering M39 for the first time either. One moment he was in the middle of the fire; the next, he was waking up in that bed. At least this was useful to keep in mind if he ever needed to get Damon in here for some reason - he'd idly wondered once how to get Castiel to invite his brother inside without arousing suspicion.

Stefan yanked the sweatshirt off the hanger (one of two, with the same bland yellow smiley on the chest) and pulled it on over his head. "It's the least I could do. Um, I hope there's... still something to be done for your friend." He didn't like the sound of these 'releases', and silently resolved that if there was more he could do for Edward after tonight, he wouldn't hesitate. For now, however, they both had to worry about finding something to eat. Stefan raised his eyebrows at the two-part metal stick Edward had pulled out of the pillowcase, imagining for an instant one of Alaric Saltzman's homemade vampire hunting weapons. What was that? A... pool cue? You could smuggle that into the Mystic Grill, at least, except fighting vampires with a custom metal cue instead of the readily provided wooden ones seemed a little pointless.

So... not a vampire hunting tool then. Okay. Stefan walked over to him, and switched his attention from the metal stick to the little ring with the red stone. "Alright," he agreed, placing his hand on Edward's shoulder. What was the worst that could happen? "So how does this work?"

[sanguinario]

He needed a - Edward looked at the doorway with a furrowed brow, then back to Stefan. That was some sort of joke, right? He had already begun to slowly accept the differences between their biology, but that? That... just made absolutely no sense.

He could ask later.

Wait - vampire hunter? This was - this was way too many questions suddenly bubbling up to flood Edward's mind; this wasn't just a matter of Landel changing their biology or they being some different sort of species. This was a matter of worlds. In an ironic way, he had seen things that had never made sense - such as Venom's ability in his own world - but Stefan was something that should have been familiar, but it was as if the familiarity had been thoroughly corrupted. Invitations. Witches. Hunters, even. Does that mean he has fangs as well?

... well, he'd find out soon enough.

Propping the bottom of the cue on the ground with an audible click (a silver skull? Really?) Edward avoided looking at Stefan by staring at the ring. He had a feeling this was not going to be enjoyable... or it wasn't going to work and he was going to look like an ass.

Either way.

"I don't know. Prepare for a horrible feeling of vertigo, however." The best way was to make it quick without any more questions. That was the theory he'd had, at least. Without further ado after his altogether dodgy answer, Edward smashed the red gem on the wall.

[To here.]