ONGOING//CLOSED [also known as: curiosity did not kill the Valei! (though it might have)]

[powerofgod]

Characters: Closed to: gotyourwallet and powerofgod
Location: Sergei's.
Date: Present!
Rating: PG at most. For drinking blood out of a coffee mug? He's a vampire, come on.

Comments

[gotyourwallet]

She was late. From the staircase at the end of the hall came Vie, breathing a little heavier from the run between decks and very obviously rushing to get to Sergei's. It hadn't been her intention to make Godric wait, nor had she planned on falling asleep, but the large and rather mundane text she'd been forcing herself to read through in the library had overcome her ability to stay alert. As a result, Vie had fallen asleep amongst a pile of books.

Her footsteps were not as light as usual, and her approach was rather easily heard. Reaching her destination, Vie searched for Godric. He wasn't hard to spy, and the mug in his hands received a curious glance before she remembered her manners and dropped to a low bow. It was one she saved for her master and the few that she held on that same respect.

"My apologies, Godric. I hope you've not been waiting long."

[powerofgod]

He lifted his cup in an approximation of a human salute at her approach, observing her as she bowed and then spoke. She looked much recovered from Eric's attention, but whether it was the nature of her race or something more, he was not yet certain.

"Not long," he said. His tone was mild, and his posture reflective of his mood. Relaxed was a word not far off to describe it, though he still held to much of his normal reserve.

[gotyourwallet]

Physically, Vie felt amazing. Even the headache she should of had from her library drinking session with Lilith had been far tamer than expected. She rose to full height, barely taller than Godric and made her way into the room.

Now alert and better prepared than their last encounter, Vie looked upon Godric with an air of intrigue matched evenly with caution. Her pace steadied, the need to move quickly gone, and her steps became light and barely audible. "Thank you for agreeing to this meeting," she said, words a little more formal than usual.

That she knew more of what he was came as both a gift and a curse. "I trust you are well?"

[powerofgod]

"I am." He indicated the chair across from him as he spoke, an invitation to sit should she wish it. That her nature remained guarded in his presence spoke again of her rationality. It was attributed far more to foolishness than wisdom, when people had no fear of his kind. He had met precious few who had done otherwise, on grounds beyond the imbecilic or inane.

He wasn't often impressed by humans. But then, he supposed, she wasn't human.

[gotyourwallet]

Determined to remain cautious and keep her fear in check, Vie took her seat across from him. She was tense, but not overly so and while her head was held high and her shoulders were slightly back, it was more a matter of pride than defencs.

Her attention turned again to Godric's drink. "I was under the impression that you fed the same as Eric?"

It still bothered her to look at it like that. Had Vie's encounter with Eric been a mere attack, even with the addition of fangs to her neck, she would of handled it better. The thought of being fed on, of being devoured while still alive was not a comforting one at all.

[powerofgod]

He raised an eyebrow in unspoken amusement at her choice of words. She was one who faced her fears, then. Who thought that bringing them to light would rob them of their veracity. She was not wrong to think so.

"When it suits me. Things are different, where I am from. Here, people are unused to the idea of being fed upon. It's abhorrent to most, and not an issue I would push with anyone." He took a sip of his drink, cooling now, to exemplify his point.

[gotyourwallet]

Her brow creased slightly. Thankful as she was for the apparent honesty, and to hear that Godric would not feed as Eric did, the thought of such practice being socially accepted did not sit well with her.

"Then is it expected? Do humans know of your kind and await encounters similar to mine?"

She dreaded to think that Vampires weren't so different to the Clansman from her own world. The Valei were worthless possessions to be toyed with as the master pleased. Rarely one would one hold a rank even half equal to that of a clansman, and the few that did were exceptional indeed. Vie had been lucky that Shad had been the one to find her.

[powerofgod]

"Not exactly."

How did one explain the concept of fang-bangers, anyways? It wasn't usually a topic broached with people beyond the ranks of vampires and the humans who surrendered to them. Humanity's dark little secret. One of many

[gotyourwallet]

She watched him carefully, holding to his every word and finding herself quietly grateful for the lengthily explanation. It wouldn't put a stop to her questioning, but the extra detail given would save her from voicing the smaller, more trivial assumptions. When Godric put it like that, it did not seem all that strange for people to give themselves for the cause. Sacrifice amongst both her own people and the clans was not uncommon

[powerofgod]

"Not all feeding is done to the death, as you yourself can attest to. Older vampires do not require the same level of sustenance as a fledgling does." The comment was not said directly to her curiosity, but rather a footnote of his own explanation.

At her words, he shrugged. "We do not. Religion is a very human concept, where I am from. The opiate of the masses. It allows them to explain things they cannot otherwise grasp. Vampires have little need for religion on a racial basis, and only occasionally a need for it on a personal one." Though old habits, as was said, died hard. Eric still joked about the halls of Valhalla when the mood struck him, and Godric had not forgotten the words of ritual he had learned at his father's knee, pagan savagery though it was considered now.

"This?" He turned his attention once more to the mug. Its contents had changed little, save to lose another half-degree or so of heat. "I can't say. Provided by the Captain, most likely. It's human. Beyond that I have not asked."

[gotyourwallet]

"True. Your kind bear similarities to certain... creatures of my world, but difference enough to place you on the opposite side of alignment. I mean no rudeness, but I find Vampires to be a very interesting race."

And one that she was glad to be at peace with, if only with one of the two she had encountered. Vie planned on speaking with Eric, on facing him again now that she was better prepared. She would not crumble to his intimidation. The mug earned another short glance.

"A curious provision. Also one I find myself not overly eager to find the source of." She shifted in her seat and rested an elbow on the table. "However, I must ask. Must it be human blood you live from?"

[powerofgod]

"Be careful of what alignment you presume of us," he said gently. Though his tone bore no more than the fleetest shadow of warning, there was no mistaking it, either. "There are vampires enough who would tear your limbs from your body without thought. Who would empty you of every drop of blood you possess. We are interesting, but do not lose yourself to that interest, or judge my kind by the measure of Eric and I."

For all his hope that mankind and vampires would one day co-exist peacefully, in as symbiotic a relationship as they could manage, he knew that it was an impossibility. There would always be hatred, prejudice and fear colouring whatever tentative union could be forged. There would always be hunger.

"Some sources say that we should be able to survive on animals. Rats." He smiled at the private joke. "But vampires are as much a construct of magic as they are anything else. That magic requires that the blood be human, or as close as synthetically possible."

[gotyourwallet]

However good Vie usually was at masking her deeper emotions with curiosity or defiance, a flicker of disappointment showed at Godric's warning. She knew it was foolish to think she was safe, or to categorize an entire, unfamiliar kind from meeting only two of them. "I fear you are correct. This freedom, if one might call it that is still very new to me." She nodded, the motion slow and barely there but enough to be seen

[powerofgod]

Curious, that she would call a cage such as their surroundings any sort of freedom. That it was not a comment of idle consideration was plain, but her tone did not bespeak the possibility of casual divulgence.

He caught the question in her tone at her repetition of his throwaway remark. "Small mammals, the consumption of which was referenced in a fictional vampire novel. They are notorious for ferrying plague."

"He said you tasted interesting." It wasn't a verbatim translation of the Swedish Eric had used when he had abandoned her body, but it was close enough to make no difference. "I have not noticed other effects."

[gotyourwallet]

While Shad had allowed her to move about his estate as she pleased and gave her some rank over the other Valei in his command, Vie had never been free to speak as she pleased. Her master had been a good man, far different from the first that she had served until her mid teens, but still he had restrictions. When Shad requested her opinion she would give it, else Vie remained silent no matter how much she disagreed. There were times when he would summon her and allow discussion, but it was always private, away from the eyes of even his most trusted advisers. What was talked about in those times was rarely serious, more so questioning the world around them, the night sky, the weather. Vie refused to admit how much she missed those moments

[powerofgod]

"None taken." He tossed off the dregs of the blood, and set the cup near the edge of the table. Despite it's poor quality, it would sustain him for long enough to excuse drinking it.

"So. You were reading books about vampires. Did you learn anything of note?"