virgin nerd, devil incarnate
Muses: Cade Lu (vibrantdecay) and Choi Jinri (itsaredlight)
Status: Closed
Date / Time: 07/12, morning
Rating: G
Type: Log
Summary: Lazy Saturday morning in turns into an unexpected, impromptu heart-to-heart session.
With her long hair resting over one side of her lenghty figure, Jinri put Jean's leash on her before giving a few stroke's to the Savannah's head, grinning as she looked into her stunning eyes. "Are you ready to go annoy Cade, girl? He should be home since it's broad daylight, right? I dunno, he's a weird one. He probably defies all vampire logic." She teased before walking them both to the door and heading out of the door. She wore a tanktop with a pair of sweatpants she just threw on after her shower, slippers on her feet and her hair was all over the place, still slightly damp. Of course, she had absolutely no makeup on, but it wasn't like it mattered. With a few knocks on the man's door, she waited for him to answer.
No.
There was knocking on Cade's door. Knocking on a Saturday morning. Knocking. Why was there knocking? No one knocked on his door, and especially not this early in the day. He could hear it all the way from his bedroom, curse his enhanced senses, the sound permeating through the fog of sleep. His head peeked out from under his covers (thank you air conditioning), bleary eyes blinking in annoyance in the direction of his front door.
"Go away," he mumbled, knowing full well that whomever was behind his door, they wouldn't be able to hear him.
He could assume the martyr and act as though so very few things were precious to him, one being the joy of sleeping in on weekends, but no one, not even himself, would buy it. On the contrary, there were probably far too many things he enjoyed indulging in, particularly after having already gone through the rebel era and the period of 'finding himself', in a manner of speaking. This was supposed to be his utopia, here in the very bustling heart of Hong Kong.
It was an ideal no one else shared, unfortunately.
Cade grumbled, unable to go back to sleep now, knowing someone was trying to get his attention. People who knocked upon doors in the morning, regardless of day, normally meant business. Normally. He certainly did not expect (although he couldn't exactly say he was surprised, really) to look through the peephole some two minutes later after wrestling a little with his bedsheets, and see the girl waiting beyond.
He sighed, running a quick hand through bedridden hair, only to give it up almost immediately. Choi Jinri was not quite someone he wanted to impress. And with that thought in mind, he finally opened his door, greeting his neighbour and her ridiculously overpriced pet with his best scowl.
"You are the devil incarnate."
With a smirk slowly creeping upon her pale features, Jinri tilted her head and reached over to card her hair through the vampire's hair, taking a deep breath through her nose and shaking her head as if she was disappointed in him. "Now now, that is no way to speak to someone who came to visit you, especially when Jean has missed you so much." Her bottom lip pouted out as the feline went to jump up at Cade.
"Plus, I'm sure it's the only female attention you get, so I suggest you be as welcoming to us as possible." Her teasing continued, but it was really all in good fun. The Savannah just kept pawing at the end of his shirt to get his attention, something she would do whenever the vampire was around. He just seemed like someone Jinri enjoyed having around, so of course her baby would share that sentiment.
Manicured fingers toyed with the ends of her hair, waiting to be invited in by the man, because no matter how invasive she was with him, if he told her to go away or seemed like he didn't want her there at all, she would leave immediately and go about her business. She was all about respecting his wishes and personal space, after violating it in the first place of course.
"Ugh," Cade ducked away from Jinri's hand - not fast enough, and directed his scowl towards the pawing pet. "Shoo," he said to the cat, although whatever venom could have been in his tone had long dissipated the more he had gotten to know her owner. Granted, Jinri had barraged incessantly into his life, and he had grudgingly accepted her as some form of close acquaintance, but to turn either one from his door was not an option he wanted to dole this early in the day. She would probably just keep bothering him throughout the day.
He turned, walking back inside, leaving the door and an unspoken invitation for Jinri open. "What are you doing?" He asked, walking into his room and reappearing a moment later with phone clamped between lips as he pulled a sweatshirt on over the tank he had been sleeping in. The door to his room closed behind him - no one, not even his intrusive neighbour was allowed even a step inside - and he tossed his phone onto his couch before veering off towards the kitchen area.
"Here, I mean. And at this time of day, don't you have anyone else to give unnecessary wake up calls to? You know, people who actually like being up in the morning?" It was probably a mark of how much he had familiarised himself with Jinri's presence in his life that he honestly did not care what she did in his house, aside from snooping in his room, of course, and returned with two cans of soda in his hands, one of which was offered to her in the purposely obnoxious manner of waving it right in front of her face.
With the schedule she had for the rest of the day, Jinri thought it'd be nice just to pay Cade a visit, he would miss her dearly while she was gone, right? No, not at all, and she knew that, but that was okay with her because she really wouldn't miss him either, maybe when she needed someone to annoy and no one actually got annoyed with her the way he did, and for some reason she enjoyed the faces he made at her, at least they were some kind of reaction, right?
As he walked away, she and the feline stepped inside, closing the door behind herself and raising an eyebrow at his question, she thought it was rather obvious what she was doing? Paying her friend a visit, giving him a wake up call because both she and her pet had just missed him ever so dearly, but the explanation of his question made more sense to her, causing a laugh to leave her nose, breathelessly.
"Maybe I just wanted to see you. You're cute as a button, so between the mixture of your cute and Jean's, my day had started off just right, don't ya know?" She teased and narrowed her eyes when there was a can of soda being waved about in her face, and she snatched it of course, setting it down on the floor beside her so that it could settle. "You're not going to get a laugh out of soda spraying me in the face, because if that were to happen, guess who would be in charge of cleaning the mess? The answer is definitely not me."
He hadn't actually shaken the can anywhere near hard enough for it to spray out, and that wasn't his intention anyway, but it certainly didn't stop him from smirking in response as he flopped down onto his couch next to his phone. If Jinri wanted to be suspicious of his motives, he wasn't going to stop her, even if there was no reason for it.
"Yeah, that's exactly my master plan, first thing in the morning. Get you all wet with soda in my house." And just because it would probably creep her out, Cade wiggled his eyebrows at her, putting on the sleaziest expression he could muster without laughing as he opened his can. "I can help with the cleaning~"
"All men are the same, dead or not." She teased and stretched her long legs out in front of her, watching over him quietly as Jean jumped up and tried to get Cade's attention once again. The thing about Savannah cats were that they were practically dogs with feline tendencies. Therefore, they would play around a lot more and beg for attention, much like dogs would do.
"Don't be gross, it doesn't fit you. You're more like one of those virgin nerds who just happens to be a seductive vampire when he wants to be." She teased and finally reached down to grab her can, popping the top open and taking a sip from it with a content hum, closing her eyes.
What?
This time Cade did laugh, although it was more of a snort than an actual laugh, and he very nearly choked on his sip. "Virgin nerds?" he repeated, wiping over his mouth with the back of his hand, staring at Jinri in amusement, even as he lazily tried to fend off Jean's pawing. He really was not a cat person, or any sort of animal person. He was even offered a pet more suited to his kind recently, albeit by a stranger he met in a convenience store at midnight so there really wasn't much stock to be put in that, and Cade had immediately turned it down. Him? With a pet? The world would end. Still, Jean had been nothing but playful and sweet once he had gotten to know Jinri well enough to meet her, and he supposed it could be a lot worse. He could be mauled to shreds by now instead.
"How on earth does the phrase virgin nerd and seductive vampire even go in the same sentence to describe the same person?" Cade looked at Jean, shaking his head in mock seriousness. "Do you think I'm a virgin nerd, too?"
Pushing her hair behind her back, Jinri gave him a one over before tapping her chin in thought, "I don't know much about vampires, and you look like you died when you were like 12.... so chances are you're probably a virgin. Can vampires have sex? You're all icky and dead." Teasing of course, she carded her fingers through the long strands of her light brown hair, pursing her lips in and crossing one leg over the other, sipping more of her soda. With a grin, she watched as Jean continued attempting to get Cade to play with her, it was cute, and she knew Cade wouldn't harm the cat even if he wasn't a fan of animals in general.
"So if you did die when you were 12, and if vampires can't have sex, then yes, my answer is yes you are a virgin nerd." Finally, she concluded with a nod of her head, chuckling to herself because of how silly it clearly was.
It definitely was silly, and Cade did not even bother to dignify Jinri's deductions with any sort of protest. to redeem his dignity. "12 year old virgin nerd, huh?" He took a long sip of his drink, then sighed, giving up on resisting the feline clamouring for his attention, lifting his free hand to idly scratch Jean behind her ears. There was no point correcting any part of Jinri's assumptions; not about his age, not about being a nerd, and certainly not about his sex life, however many quips he may have made to her about it. Teasing was too ingrained into their so-called friendship.
"Hey," he sat up slightly, one foot reaching out to nudge hers. "Does this mean you're a pedophile? I mean, if you thought I was 12 when we first met, that makes you some sort of predator. So you're actually the creepy one between us." Cade grinned as he twisted around to grab the remote. It was pretty early still, but the beauty of cable meant non-stop brainwashing entertainment. "Life secrets, all clear to me, now~"
When he said that she was a predator, all she could do was cock her head back in a loud and roaring laughter, Jean was so used to her 'mother's' loud laughter, that it didn't make her budge a bit, still attempting to get Cade's attention, it was clear that the large cat was going to stop at nothing to get the man's attention, be it jumping, making little hissing sounds or clawing at his sweater, she wanted his attention and for him to pet her.
"Okay, okay, you got me there. But you do look like you died really young.. maybe not twelve, but when exactly did you die? You never told me.... tell me about your life.. like all of it.." She bit her bottom lip, for once she was serious because she honestly wanted to get to know him, and what his life was like, no matter how long it may have been.
"All about it? That might take a while, are you sure about that?"
Cade smirked, taking a contemplative sip of his drink. It had been an eternity since he had last shared intimate parts of his life with anyone. Who he was, where he came from, what he had done - the only people who knew were either fellow immortals who had been there at some point, or bounty hunters who knew far too much about his history. He was the devil child, the one without soul, and on, and on, and who cared that he was once human? Who cared that the beast was only part of who he was, particularly now? He stared at the tv for a moment, a variety show of some sort involving food and eating and exaggerated reactions tailored for the audience.
Instead of answering Jinri, he turned to her as he placed his can on the table and reached for his phone. "Have you had breakfast yet?" There was nothing substantial in his kitchen aside from frozen meats better suited for dinners, but the convenience of a number of restaurants providing 24-hour delivery services was at hand.
When he didn't answer, all Jinri did was pinch her lips in and fall deep into thought. What could be so bad about him that he was afraid to reveal himself to her? She was truly interested in getting to know about him, it could be a fascinating story. None of it mattered to her that he was seen as a monster now, because she knew he wasn't. He could have easily ended her life before she knew the truth about him, hell he still could at the moment if he truly wanted to, but he hadn't yet, and that meant something to her. He didn't see her as dinner, he saw her as a friend, or so she'd like to think.
"Mmmm, no but I'm not hungry either..." She said quietly, reaching over to pet Jean's back quietly as she thought to herself, still stuck on the fact that he wouldn't tell her anything. Taking a deep breath, she shook her head and just leaned down to kiss the top of her cat's head.
"You, not hungry?" Cade smiled a little at that. Oh, how he would've been mocked for this moment in his earlier years. The ruthless rogue, gone soft. What a fun story that would make.
He pulled his legs up, folded into a comfortable curl and idly reaching a hand out to one of Jean's paw, lazily playing with it with no more thought than keeping himself distracted. "I was twenty," he revealed after a moment's pause, although how much more he was willing to divulge, Cade wasn't quite sure just yet. He hated the sense of insecurity talking about himself gave him. This was why he had trouble trusting others. There was no one alive right now that he could say without hesitation or embellishment that he trusted implicitly. Not with his life, his thoughts, his past demons, and most certainly not with his emotions.
"I was twenty," he repeated with another subtle smile, "and I didn't want to die."
"Yah, are you implying that I eat a lot?" Jinri looked up at him with a little pout, something she'd be mocked for too because she was the strong girl in her group of friends, definitely not someone to act cute unless it was completely and utterly necessary.
But when he began talking about it, she gave him her full attention, biting her bottom lip and taking a deep breath, eyebrows furrowing immediately when he had said that he didn't want to die. The thought that someone took his life, when he wasn't on his way to death, or so she assumed, it angered her. She wasn't sure why, but the next words out of her mouth would shock even herself, taking a deep breath before she spoke. "Where are they? Do you know? We can't make you suddenly human again, but we can make them pay for doing this to you, when you didn't want it."
It was heartening, he supposed, at the anger flashing in her eyes over his words. That anyone would ever fight for him was a strange, alien thought, a concept entirely foreign to him. No one had done that, had willingly offered to fight a battle that wasn't theirs, and the way he had survived through the years, he had credited solely to sheer luck. Luck, that the fortunetellers had stated he would be in abundance of, luck that saved his neck time and again, luck that carried him well into this shining, gleaming city when so many of his kind had perished.
"You're sweet," Cade told Jinri with a soft laugh. "But you'd be fighting a lost war, love. Besides, I wanted this. This was ..." he paused, pursing his lips in thought for a moment. "Separate. Two very separate things that just ... happened the way it did."
Slowly, she nodded her head and pinched her lips in, taking a deep breath and puffing her cheeks out as she thought to herself once again. "So the person who killed you is probably dead, then... I mean if they did it many years ago... how.. how old are you really? I mean I know you're twenty... like visually, but are you like... twenty-eight, a hundred, a thousand... in reality? It doesn't matter to me either way, I'm just curious. I really just want to know things about you, because you're like... a friend to me." That was all it was, curiousity, and sure the saying goes 'curiosity killed the cat', but Jinri didn't care much.
"I was a mutant since birth... neither of my parents are, nor are my grandparents, but they've said that maybe somewhere down the line it happened. Fun fact you probably didn't know, I'm less likely to have a mutant child than a mortal is. Weird, right?" She teased, figuring that opening up to him would make him feel better. "I had a career.. as a child, I enjoyed it... I was like.. the Dakota Fanning of China.... but my ability almost killed someone on the set of my last show, so my parents shipped me off to a skill that would help with my ability, getting it under control. I still to this day, don't know if I regret them, for leaving me alone for ten years... or if I'm thankful that they wanted me to lead a normal life as possible.."
The Dakota Fanning reference was lost on him - for someone who enjoyed his movie nights in, he certainly didn't care about the actors behind the characters. The who's who and what's what of the entertainment industry never interested him all that much, and names often came and went without a second thought. Movies were no more than a pasttime to the vampire, whose actual interests remained rooted in history and literature through the ages.
"A normal life." Cade gave another soft laugh, shaking his head as he reached for his can for another sip. "It's funny how humans think that changes over time, when it's really the same thing. As long as you're not one of them, you're not normal, that's never changed."
He covered a burp with his hand - common courtesies that developed into habits over the years. It was the normal thing to do, after all. "Just a bit over a hundred, I'm not that old. I actually do know a few people who are a lot older than me. Not all vampires, too," he added with a small grin. "Not all of them like me either, come to think of it."
Shifting in his seat, he reflected Jinri's curious gaze back towards her. "Do you miss it? Whatever it was you did as a kid, I mean."
"I'm as normal as I can be. I can function just like any human can, except I'm not tossing shit around without meaning to now. I'm not perfect, I'm not normal, but I'm the closest I can be to it, and it feels better to me than being a freak." Vulnerable was never a word to describe Choi Jinri, strong-willed, firm, maybe even a little cold? Perfect, at least when it came to truly having feelings. She liked to brush things off, smile about them, but there was that hole in her heart, feeling like she was a total outcast, that made her unsure of her being in the human world.
"Well does it matter if they like you, when you have me here who simply enjoys your company?" She teased, nudging his shoulder and sipping more of her soda before looking at the floor with a deep breath, biting down on her bottom lip as she glanced at Cade's face again, his question causing her to clear her throat.
"Of.. of course I do. But it's too late to revive the acting career of a girl who hadn't been seen on television since the age of eight. It's why I'm studying film.. I can do all the behind the scenes stuff."
This was probably where, Cade supposed, he should give Jinri some form of encouragement. A pat on the shoulder, on the arm, a hug, something that involved touching her in some way to say that he understood and empathised. Three lifetimes ago, that might have just been what Cade would have done without a second thought because that was the human thing to do. To touch, to connect. Three lifetimes ago, when he was still human.
Instead, he watched her pet gambol around his living room, most likely to get the attention of either one of them. Who knew what the cat was thinking, or any animal for that matter? The day Cade understood them would be the day he willingly went out into the sunlight. He could sense Jinri's spirit, normally bright and identifiable, curling into a more subdued form, and he knew absolutely nothing about what to do with it.
"Yeah?" he smiled at her, and the next time he caught her eye, he wondered if he could suggest an illusion upon her, that whatever possible nostalgia or melancholy she might be feeling right now from this conversation would dissipate, that she would return to her normal cheer sooner than later. "You could make a film with vampires and telekinetics, what with the inside scoop and all. Don't humans love that kind of thing?"
Cade and Jinri had a weird way of showing care for each other, though Jinri's was probably closest to human, understandably so. Sometimes they would want to care, show a bit of affection, but they would just end up being a little on the cold side when it came to that. No explanation for that, but it was like if either of them got too affectionate, it would turn the entire situation uncomfortable for the both of them.
Jean however was like any cat... that acted like a dog. Sniffing around Cade's apartment, looking for something to get into because she was bored just sitting inside, despite Jinri having taken her on a long walk earlier. But she knew it'd only be a matter of time before the feline curled up either in a corner, or Cade's lap and took herself a little nap, or a long one, there really was no definite amount of time with her.
"That would be ridiculous. If I tried to show vampires and telekinetics in a more true light, people wouldn't like it. They would rather see us as freaks, rather than people who can easily blend in without them suspecting a thing." The younger laughed through her nose and took a deep breath, looking over at him, "Have.. you ever been in love? I mean, I would imagine... you spend your entire life with them, until they die... and you just.. keep moving?"
Jinri's laughter was infectious, and prompted an amused little chuckle from the vampire as well, shaking his head as he twilled the can around in his hands, listening to the minute sound of the liquid inside sloshing around, to the sound of air bubbles popping, indiscernible to the human ear. Of course they wouldn't accept what was actually normal about the supernatural community. But that was a debate much like beating the dead horse, and while Cade didn't give a damn about animals, he wasn't really an advocate for animal abuse either. Jinri knew their struggles, he didn't have to say anything to justify anything.
She knew.
The subject that she changed to, however, subdued his own spirit further. Being alive for too long did not mean an eternity of memories. On the contrary, whatever memories that he did have of his time as a human were miniature fragments at best, the bulk of it constituting of what he thought he remembered. The mind was such a tricky, tricky thing. He knew he was in love, had been in love, but that was the extent of it. There was nothing poetic or tragic about this story. Just a lost piece of history.
"That's what you have to do. Keep moving." Witnessing one death was terrible enough on its own, but the death of one and the fate of another unknown to this very day were pretty much what shaped the very creature sitting next to Jinri right now. Cade flashed her a brief smile, small and just a touch bitter. "I like to think I was, though. I don't remember what it was like ... felt like, but for a long time, they were precious to me. And then they weren't anymore."
People found it surprising when Jinri, a twenty year old woman admitted to having never been in love. But when her mother told her the truth, that her real father left before she had even been born, it left a void in her heart, and it made her feel like all men were cold, cruel and refused to stand up and take care of their responsibilties. The father who raised her, should've been living proof that there were different men out there, but Jinri didn't put him on the same level as the average man, he was above and beyond.
Her pink tongue darted from in between her plush lips, moistening them with a long, drawn out sigh before she pushed some of her hair back off of her face. She listened, with an expression that showed she genuinely cared, and she wondered why she hadn't asked him all of these questions beforehand. Maybe she thought they were inappropriate to ask before now, but she knew that opening up was also mostly difficult for him, she she wouldn't push for anything he didn't want to tell her. In due time, he may reveal more.
"It must be nice.. to have cared for someone so deeply, right? I know it can be difficult, to offer all of yourself to someone, not being sure of whether or not they'd be able to return those feelings..." To lighten the mood, she smiled broadly, causing her eyes to curve up into small shapes that resembled crescents. "You're a good guy, and no matter how many people think you're a monster... I know you're only doing what you have to do to survive."
"Yeah?" Ah, how easy it would be to prove her wrong. This so-called friendship (But what were friends? Despite his closeness to a select few in his life, Cade could not honestly call a single one of them his friend, even if some of them might refer to him as one themselves) with Jinri was a small comfort he had fallen into, and even most of that was attributed to her. He was not the one who continually kept his presence in her life, who saw his walls for what they were and brazenly proved they were not as stalwart as he would've liked them to be. Did he really want to ruin what she had built with the real truth of who he really was? A strong young woman, Jinri might be, but Cade wasn't sure his bloody history was one she was ready to hear about.
So he smiled, shaking his head as softly as his voice next. "Maybe," he said, with no allusions as to which part of her words he was agreeing, or disagreeing, with. Letting out a slow exhale, Cade sat up a little straighter, and held up his phone with a tilt of his head and a playful expression. "Now, are you sure you don't want me to order something in? It's almost lunch, there can even be pizza with extra cheese~"
In her opinion, his past was his past, and what he did now was only because he had to live. If he opened up to her, she would tell him that same thing. She wouldn't care who he killed, who he hurt, who he tortured in the past, because everyone has a past, some darker than others. As long as he continued to be the good friend he was to her now, she wouldn't hold a thing against him. His biggest advocate was Jean, because if Jean didn't like him, Jinri may not have accepted him so warmly into her life, nor would she purposely try to get him to open up more to her.
She sighed deeply though, her eyes going wide when he offered to order pizza before narrowing her eyes in confusion, "Wait you can eat food like.. I can eat food? Pizza does sounds great, though." The younger grinned and nodded her head, tapping her chin.
Jinri's confusion was just a little amusing, considering how his can was more than half-empty by now, and he held it up in response to her question. It was a small blessing, to be able to still taste food and drink despite being a little more than a reanimated corpse, despite food being of zero sustenance for him. He could have the occasional craving for pizza with extra cheese, steaming hot xiao long bao, or even horribly sweet cookies in the middle of the night, but they were nothing more than cravings. Hunger only meant bloodthirst and nothing but blood would keep him from starving to a second death.
"I'm just full of surprises, huh?" Cade smiled, taking one last sip of his soda before setting it aside and scrolling through his list of contacts. "What other toppings do we want?" he asked, picking the pizzeria closest to their building and putting the call through.
Status: Closed
Date / Time: 07/12, morning
Rating: G
Type: Log
Summary: Lazy Saturday morning in turns into an unexpected, impromptu heart-to-heart session.
With her long hair resting over one side of her lenghty figure, Jinri put Jean's leash on her before giving a few stroke's to the Savannah's head, grinning as she looked into her stunning eyes. "Are you ready to go annoy Cade, girl? He should be home since it's broad daylight, right? I dunno, he's a weird one. He probably defies all vampire logic." She teased before walking them both to the door and heading out of the door. She wore a tanktop with a pair of sweatpants she just threw on after her shower, slippers on her feet and her hair was all over the place, still slightly damp. Of course, she had absolutely no makeup on, but it wasn't like it mattered. With a few knocks on the man's door, she waited for him to answer.
No.
There was knocking on Cade's door. Knocking on a Saturday morning. Knocking. Why was there knocking? No one knocked on his door, and especially not this early in the day. He could hear it all the way from his bedroom, curse his enhanced senses, the sound permeating through the fog of sleep. His head peeked out from under his covers (thank you air conditioning), bleary eyes blinking in annoyance in the direction of his front door.
"Go away," he mumbled, knowing full well that whomever was behind his door, they wouldn't be able to hear him.
He could assume the martyr and act as though so very few things were precious to him, one being the joy of sleeping in on weekends, but no one, not even himself, would buy it. On the contrary, there were probably far too many things he enjoyed indulging in, particularly after having already gone through the rebel era and the period of 'finding himself', in a manner of speaking. This was supposed to be his utopia, here in the very bustling heart of Hong Kong.
It was an ideal no one else shared, unfortunately.
Cade grumbled, unable to go back to sleep now, knowing someone was trying to get his attention. People who knocked upon doors in the morning, regardless of day, normally meant business. Normally. He certainly did not expect (although he couldn't exactly say he was surprised, really) to look through the peephole some two minutes later after wrestling a little with his bedsheets, and see the girl waiting beyond.
He sighed, running a quick hand through bedridden hair, only to give it up almost immediately. Choi Jinri was not quite someone he wanted to impress. And with that thought in mind, he finally opened his door, greeting his neighbour and her ridiculously overpriced pet with his best scowl.
"You are the devil incarnate."
With a smirk slowly creeping upon her pale features, Jinri tilted her head and reached over to card her hair through the vampire's hair, taking a deep breath through her nose and shaking her head as if she was disappointed in him. "Now now, that is no way to speak to someone who came to visit you, especially when Jean has missed you so much." Her bottom lip pouted out as the feline went to jump up at Cade.
"Plus, I'm sure it's the only female attention you get, so I suggest you be as welcoming to us as possible." Her teasing continued, but it was really all in good fun. The Savannah just kept pawing at the end of his shirt to get his attention, something she would do whenever the vampire was around. He just seemed like someone Jinri enjoyed having around, so of course her baby would share that sentiment.
Manicured fingers toyed with the ends of her hair, waiting to be invited in by the man, because no matter how invasive she was with him, if he told her to go away or seemed like he didn't want her there at all, she would leave immediately and go about her business. She was all about respecting his wishes and personal space, after violating it in the first place of course.
"Ugh," Cade ducked away from Jinri's hand - not fast enough, and directed his scowl towards the pawing pet. "Shoo," he said to the cat, although whatever venom could have been in his tone had long dissipated the more he had gotten to know her owner. Granted, Jinri had barraged incessantly into his life, and he had grudgingly accepted her as some form of close acquaintance, but to turn either one from his door was not an option he wanted to dole this early in the day. She would probably just keep bothering him throughout the day.
He turned, walking back inside, leaving the door and an unspoken invitation for Jinri open. "What are you doing?" He asked, walking into his room and reappearing a moment later with phone clamped between lips as he pulled a sweatshirt on over the tank he had been sleeping in. The door to his room closed behind him - no one, not even his intrusive neighbour was allowed even a step inside - and he tossed his phone onto his couch before veering off towards the kitchen area.
"Here, I mean. And at this time of day, don't you have anyone else to give unnecessary wake up calls to? You know, people who actually like being up in the morning?" It was probably a mark of how much he had familiarised himself with Jinri's presence in his life that he honestly did not care what she did in his house, aside from snooping in his room, of course, and returned with two cans of soda in his hands, one of which was offered to her in the purposely obnoxious manner of waving it right in front of her face.
With the schedule she had for the rest of the day, Jinri thought it'd be nice just to pay Cade a visit, he would miss her dearly while she was gone, right? No, not at all, and she knew that, but that was okay with her because she really wouldn't miss him either, maybe when she needed someone to annoy and no one actually got annoyed with her the way he did, and for some reason she enjoyed the faces he made at her, at least they were some kind of reaction, right?
As he walked away, she and the feline stepped inside, closing the door behind herself and raising an eyebrow at his question, she thought it was rather obvious what she was doing? Paying her friend a visit, giving him a wake up call because both she and her pet had just missed him ever so dearly, but the explanation of his question made more sense to her, causing a laugh to leave her nose, breathelessly.
"Maybe I just wanted to see you. You're cute as a button, so between the mixture of your cute and Jean's, my day had started off just right, don't ya know?" She teased and narrowed her eyes when there was a can of soda being waved about in her face, and she snatched it of course, setting it down on the floor beside her so that it could settle. "You're not going to get a laugh out of soda spraying me in the face, because if that were to happen, guess who would be in charge of cleaning the mess? The answer is definitely not me."
He hadn't actually shaken the can anywhere near hard enough for it to spray out, and that wasn't his intention anyway, but it certainly didn't stop him from smirking in response as he flopped down onto his couch next to his phone. If Jinri wanted to be suspicious of his motives, he wasn't going to stop her, even if there was no reason for it.
"Yeah, that's exactly my master plan, first thing in the morning. Get you all wet with soda in my house." And just because it would probably creep her out, Cade wiggled his eyebrows at her, putting on the sleaziest expression he could muster without laughing as he opened his can. "I can help with the cleaning~"
"All men are the same, dead or not." She teased and stretched her long legs out in front of her, watching over him quietly as Jean jumped up and tried to get Cade's attention once again. The thing about Savannah cats were that they were practically dogs with feline tendencies. Therefore, they would play around a lot more and beg for attention, much like dogs would do.
"Don't be gross, it doesn't fit you. You're more like one of those virgin nerds who just happens to be a seductive vampire when he wants to be." She teased and finally reached down to grab her can, popping the top open and taking a sip from it with a content hum, closing her eyes.
What?
This time Cade did laugh, although it was more of a snort than an actual laugh, and he very nearly choked on his sip. "Virgin nerds?" he repeated, wiping over his mouth with the back of his hand, staring at Jinri in amusement, even as he lazily tried to fend off Jean's pawing. He really was not a cat person, or any sort of animal person. He was even offered a pet more suited to his kind recently, albeit by a stranger he met in a convenience store at midnight so there really wasn't much stock to be put in that, and Cade had immediately turned it down. Him? With a pet? The world would end. Still, Jean had been nothing but playful and sweet once he had gotten to know Jinri well enough to meet her, and he supposed it could be a lot worse. He could be mauled to shreds by now instead.
"How on earth does the phrase virgin nerd and seductive vampire even go in the same sentence to describe the same person?" Cade looked at Jean, shaking his head in mock seriousness. "Do you think I'm a virgin nerd, too?"
Pushing her hair behind her back, Jinri gave him a one over before tapping her chin in thought, "I don't know much about vampires, and you look like you died when you were like 12.... so chances are you're probably a virgin. Can vampires have sex? You're all icky and dead." Teasing of course, she carded her fingers through the long strands of her light brown hair, pursing her lips in and crossing one leg over the other, sipping more of her soda. With a grin, she watched as Jean continued attempting to get Cade to play with her, it was cute, and she knew Cade wouldn't harm the cat even if he wasn't a fan of animals in general.
"So if you did die when you were 12, and if vampires can't have sex, then yes, my answer is yes you are a virgin nerd." Finally, she concluded with a nod of her head, chuckling to herself because of how silly it clearly was.
It definitely was silly, and Cade did not even bother to dignify Jinri's deductions with any sort of protest. to redeem his dignity. "12 year old virgin nerd, huh?" He took a long sip of his drink, then sighed, giving up on resisting the feline clamouring for his attention, lifting his free hand to idly scratch Jean behind her ears. There was no point correcting any part of Jinri's assumptions; not about his age, not about being a nerd, and certainly not about his sex life, however many quips he may have made to her about it. Teasing was too ingrained into their so-called friendship.
"Hey," he sat up slightly, one foot reaching out to nudge hers. "Does this mean you're a pedophile? I mean, if you thought I was 12 when we first met, that makes you some sort of predator. So you're actually the creepy one between us." Cade grinned as he twisted around to grab the remote. It was pretty early still, but the beauty of cable meant non-stop brainwashing entertainment. "Life secrets, all clear to me, now~"
When he said that she was a predator, all she could do was cock her head back in a loud and roaring laughter, Jean was so used to her 'mother's' loud laughter, that it didn't make her budge a bit, still attempting to get Cade's attention, it was clear that the large cat was going to stop at nothing to get the man's attention, be it jumping, making little hissing sounds or clawing at his sweater, she wanted his attention and for him to pet her.
"Okay, okay, you got me there. But you do look like you died really young.. maybe not twelve, but when exactly did you die? You never told me.... tell me about your life.. like all of it.." She bit her bottom lip, for once she was serious because she honestly wanted to get to know him, and what his life was like, no matter how long it may have been.
"All about it? That might take a while, are you sure about that?"
Cade smirked, taking a contemplative sip of his drink. It had been an eternity since he had last shared intimate parts of his life with anyone. Who he was, where he came from, what he had done - the only people who knew were either fellow immortals who had been there at some point, or bounty hunters who knew far too much about his history. He was the devil child, the one without soul, and on, and on, and who cared that he was once human? Who cared that the beast was only part of who he was, particularly now? He stared at the tv for a moment, a variety show of some sort involving food and eating and exaggerated reactions tailored for the audience.
Instead of answering Jinri, he turned to her as he placed his can on the table and reached for his phone. "Have you had breakfast yet?" There was nothing substantial in his kitchen aside from frozen meats better suited for dinners, but the convenience of a number of restaurants providing 24-hour delivery services was at hand.
When he didn't answer, all Jinri did was pinch her lips in and fall deep into thought. What could be so bad about him that he was afraid to reveal himself to her? She was truly interested in getting to know about him, it could be a fascinating story. None of it mattered to her that he was seen as a monster now, because she knew he wasn't. He could have easily ended her life before she knew the truth about him, hell he still could at the moment if he truly wanted to, but he hadn't yet, and that meant something to her. He didn't see her as dinner, he saw her as a friend, or so she'd like to think.
"Mmmm, no but I'm not hungry either..." She said quietly, reaching over to pet Jean's back quietly as she thought to herself, still stuck on the fact that he wouldn't tell her anything. Taking a deep breath, she shook her head and just leaned down to kiss the top of her cat's head.
"You, not hungry?" Cade smiled a little at that. Oh, how he would've been mocked for this moment in his earlier years. The ruthless rogue, gone soft. What a fun story that would make.
He pulled his legs up, folded into a comfortable curl and idly reaching a hand out to one of Jean's paw, lazily playing with it with no more thought than keeping himself distracted. "I was twenty," he revealed after a moment's pause, although how much more he was willing to divulge, Cade wasn't quite sure just yet. He hated the sense of insecurity talking about himself gave him. This was why he had trouble trusting others. There was no one alive right now that he could say without hesitation or embellishment that he trusted implicitly. Not with his life, his thoughts, his past demons, and most certainly not with his emotions.
"I was twenty," he repeated with another subtle smile, "and I didn't want to die."
"Yah, are you implying that I eat a lot?" Jinri looked up at him with a little pout, something she'd be mocked for too because she was the strong girl in her group of friends, definitely not someone to act cute unless it was completely and utterly necessary.
But when he began talking about it, she gave him her full attention, biting her bottom lip and taking a deep breath, eyebrows furrowing immediately when he had said that he didn't want to die. The thought that someone took his life, when he wasn't on his way to death, or so she assumed, it angered her. She wasn't sure why, but the next words out of her mouth would shock even herself, taking a deep breath before she spoke. "Where are they? Do you know? We can't make you suddenly human again, but we can make them pay for doing this to you, when you didn't want it."
It was heartening, he supposed, at the anger flashing in her eyes over his words. That anyone would ever fight for him was a strange, alien thought, a concept entirely foreign to him. No one had done that, had willingly offered to fight a battle that wasn't theirs, and the way he had survived through the years, he had credited solely to sheer luck. Luck, that the fortunetellers had stated he would be in abundance of, luck that saved his neck time and again, luck that carried him well into this shining, gleaming city when so many of his kind had perished.
"You're sweet," Cade told Jinri with a soft laugh. "But you'd be fighting a lost war, love. Besides, I wanted this. This was ..." he paused, pursing his lips in thought for a moment. "Separate. Two very separate things that just ... happened the way it did."
Slowly, she nodded her head and pinched her lips in, taking a deep breath and puffing her cheeks out as she thought to herself once again. "So the person who killed you is probably dead, then... I mean if they did it many years ago... how.. how old are you really? I mean I know you're twenty... like visually, but are you like... twenty-eight, a hundred, a thousand... in reality? It doesn't matter to me either way, I'm just curious. I really just want to know things about you, because you're like... a friend to me." That was all it was, curiousity, and sure the saying goes 'curiosity killed the cat', but Jinri didn't care much.
"I was a mutant since birth... neither of my parents are, nor are my grandparents, but they've said that maybe somewhere down the line it happened. Fun fact you probably didn't know, I'm less likely to have a mutant child than a mortal is. Weird, right?" She teased, figuring that opening up to him would make him feel better. "I had a career.. as a child, I enjoyed it... I was like.. the Dakota Fanning of China.... but my ability almost killed someone on the set of my last show, so my parents shipped me off to a skill that would help with my ability, getting it under control. I still to this day, don't know if I regret them, for leaving me alone for ten years... or if I'm thankful that they wanted me to lead a normal life as possible.."
The Dakota Fanning reference was lost on him - for someone who enjoyed his movie nights in, he certainly didn't care about the actors behind the characters. The who's who and what's what of the entertainment industry never interested him all that much, and names often came and went without a second thought. Movies were no more than a pasttime to the vampire, whose actual interests remained rooted in history and literature through the ages.
"A normal life." Cade gave another soft laugh, shaking his head as he reached for his can for another sip. "It's funny how humans think that changes over time, when it's really the same thing. As long as you're not one of them, you're not normal, that's never changed."
He covered a burp with his hand - common courtesies that developed into habits over the years. It was the normal thing to do, after all. "Just a bit over a hundred, I'm not that old. I actually do know a few people who are a lot older than me. Not all vampires, too," he added with a small grin. "Not all of them like me either, come to think of it."
Shifting in his seat, he reflected Jinri's curious gaze back towards her. "Do you miss it? Whatever it was you did as a kid, I mean."
"I'm as normal as I can be. I can function just like any human can, except I'm not tossing shit around without meaning to now. I'm not perfect, I'm not normal, but I'm the closest I can be to it, and it feels better to me than being a freak." Vulnerable was never a word to describe Choi Jinri, strong-willed, firm, maybe even a little cold? Perfect, at least when it came to truly having feelings. She liked to brush things off, smile about them, but there was that hole in her heart, feeling like she was a total outcast, that made her unsure of her being in the human world.
"Well does it matter if they like you, when you have me here who simply enjoys your company?" She teased, nudging his shoulder and sipping more of her soda before looking at the floor with a deep breath, biting down on her bottom lip as she glanced at Cade's face again, his question causing her to clear her throat.
"Of.. of course I do. But it's too late to revive the acting career of a girl who hadn't been seen on television since the age of eight. It's why I'm studying film.. I can do all the behind the scenes stuff."
This was probably where, Cade supposed, he should give Jinri some form of encouragement. A pat on the shoulder, on the arm, a hug, something that involved touching her in some way to say that he understood and empathised. Three lifetimes ago, that might have just been what Cade would have done without a second thought because that was the human thing to do. To touch, to connect. Three lifetimes ago, when he was still human.
Instead, he watched her pet gambol around his living room, most likely to get the attention of either one of them. Who knew what the cat was thinking, or any animal for that matter? The day Cade understood them would be the day he willingly went out into the sunlight. He could sense Jinri's spirit, normally bright and identifiable, curling into a more subdued form, and he knew absolutely nothing about what to do with it.
"Yeah?" he smiled at her, and the next time he caught her eye, he wondered if he could suggest an illusion upon her, that whatever possible nostalgia or melancholy she might be feeling right now from this conversation would dissipate, that she would return to her normal cheer sooner than later. "You could make a film with vampires and telekinetics, what with the inside scoop and all. Don't humans love that kind of thing?"
Cade and Jinri had a weird way of showing care for each other, though Jinri's was probably closest to human, understandably so. Sometimes they would want to care, show a bit of affection, but they would just end up being a little on the cold side when it came to that. No explanation for that, but it was like if either of them got too affectionate, it would turn the entire situation uncomfortable for the both of them.
Jean however was like any cat... that acted like a dog. Sniffing around Cade's apartment, looking for something to get into because she was bored just sitting inside, despite Jinri having taken her on a long walk earlier. But she knew it'd only be a matter of time before the feline curled up either in a corner, or Cade's lap and took herself a little nap, or a long one, there really was no definite amount of time with her.
"That would be ridiculous. If I tried to show vampires and telekinetics in a more true light, people wouldn't like it. They would rather see us as freaks, rather than people who can easily blend in without them suspecting a thing." The younger laughed through her nose and took a deep breath, looking over at him, "Have.. you ever been in love? I mean, I would imagine... you spend your entire life with them, until they die... and you just.. keep moving?"
Jinri's laughter was infectious, and prompted an amused little chuckle from the vampire as well, shaking his head as he twilled the can around in his hands, listening to the minute sound of the liquid inside sloshing around, to the sound of air bubbles popping, indiscernible to the human ear. Of course they wouldn't accept what was actually normal about the supernatural community. But that was a debate much like beating the dead horse, and while Cade didn't give a damn about animals, he wasn't really an advocate for animal abuse either. Jinri knew their struggles, he didn't have to say anything to justify anything.
She knew.
The subject that she changed to, however, subdued his own spirit further. Being alive for too long did not mean an eternity of memories. On the contrary, whatever memories that he did have of his time as a human were miniature fragments at best, the bulk of it constituting of what he thought he remembered. The mind was such a tricky, tricky thing. He knew he was in love, had been in love, but that was the extent of it. There was nothing poetic or tragic about this story. Just a lost piece of history.
"That's what you have to do. Keep moving." Witnessing one death was terrible enough on its own, but the death of one and the fate of another unknown to this very day were pretty much what shaped the very creature sitting next to Jinri right now. Cade flashed her a brief smile, small and just a touch bitter. "I like to think I was, though. I don't remember what it was like ... felt like, but for a long time, they were precious to me. And then they weren't anymore."
People found it surprising when Jinri, a twenty year old woman admitted to having never been in love. But when her mother told her the truth, that her real father left before she had even been born, it left a void in her heart, and it made her feel like all men were cold, cruel and refused to stand up and take care of their responsibilties. The father who raised her, should've been living proof that there were different men out there, but Jinri didn't put him on the same level as the average man, he was above and beyond.
Her pink tongue darted from in between her plush lips, moistening them with a long, drawn out sigh before she pushed some of her hair back off of her face. She listened, with an expression that showed she genuinely cared, and she wondered why she hadn't asked him all of these questions beforehand. Maybe she thought they were inappropriate to ask before now, but she knew that opening up was also mostly difficult for him, she she wouldn't push for anything he didn't want to tell her. In due time, he may reveal more.
"It must be nice.. to have cared for someone so deeply, right? I know it can be difficult, to offer all of yourself to someone, not being sure of whether or not they'd be able to return those feelings..." To lighten the mood, she smiled broadly, causing her eyes to curve up into small shapes that resembled crescents. "You're a good guy, and no matter how many people think you're a monster... I know you're only doing what you have to do to survive."
"Yeah?" Ah, how easy it would be to prove her wrong. This so-called friendship (But what were friends? Despite his closeness to a select few in his life, Cade could not honestly call a single one of them his friend, even if some of them might refer to him as one themselves) with Jinri was a small comfort he had fallen into, and even most of that was attributed to her. He was not the one who continually kept his presence in her life, who saw his walls for what they were and brazenly proved they were not as stalwart as he would've liked them to be. Did he really want to ruin what she had built with the real truth of who he really was? A strong young woman, Jinri might be, but Cade wasn't sure his bloody history was one she was ready to hear about.
So he smiled, shaking his head as softly as his voice next. "Maybe," he said, with no allusions as to which part of her words he was agreeing, or disagreeing, with. Letting out a slow exhale, Cade sat up a little straighter, and held up his phone with a tilt of his head and a playful expression. "Now, are you sure you don't want me to order something in? It's almost lunch, there can even be pizza with extra cheese~"
In her opinion, his past was his past, and what he did now was only because he had to live. If he opened up to her, she would tell him that same thing. She wouldn't care who he killed, who he hurt, who he tortured in the past, because everyone has a past, some darker than others. As long as he continued to be the good friend he was to her now, she wouldn't hold a thing against him. His biggest advocate was Jean, because if Jean didn't like him, Jinri may not have accepted him so warmly into her life, nor would she purposely try to get him to open up more to her.
She sighed deeply though, her eyes going wide when he offered to order pizza before narrowing her eyes in confusion, "Wait you can eat food like.. I can eat food? Pizza does sounds great, though." The younger grinned and nodded her head, tapping her chin.
Jinri's confusion was just a little amusing, considering how his can was more than half-empty by now, and he held it up in response to her question. It was a small blessing, to be able to still taste food and drink despite being a little more than a reanimated corpse, despite food being of zero sustenance for him. He could have the occasional craving for pizza with extra cheese, steaming hot xiao long bao, or even horribly sweet cookies in the middle of the night, but they were nothing more than cravings. Hunger only meant bloodthirst and nothing but blood would keep him from starving to a second death.
"I'm just full of surprises, huh?" Cade smiled, taking one last sip of his soda before setting it aside and scrolling through his list of contacts. "What other toppings do we want?" he asked, picking the pizzeria closest to their building and putting the call through.