Comments | hogwarts_hocus: Spice and Sparkles ((Closed RP- Baron Harkonnen, Jasper, and the Raptor))

i_am_harkonnen in hogwarts_hocus

Spice and Sparkles ((Closed RP- Baron Harkonnen, Jasper, and the Raptor))

May 10, 2009 17:51

((Many thanks to A-mun for coming up with the thread title. It is my area of extreme FAIL.))

Although he couldn't claim to be satisfied, the Baron had finally gotten his rooms in order. He was still irritated that rooms was really one large room, with a closet and a semi-acceptable bathroom, but didn't plan to put up with it forever. What he'd ( Read more... )

raptor, vladimir harkonnen, jasper hale, rp

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apex_raptor May 13 2009, 08:14:22 UTC

The raptor bumped his snout against Jasper's hand and fairly preened under all of the attention he was receiving from his packmate and the human. Since there wasn't a hint of fear in the air, that was the only logical response. He made other vocalizations, a series of low chirruping sounds, more growling, and ended his one-sided conversation with an audible exhale like a sigh. It hadn't occurred to him that Jasper couldn't understand, because he reacted in exactly the right ways even if he never answered the raptor correctly.

Then the two moved (and he observed the Baron floating with keen curiosity), so he wedged himself into the space between the coffee table and where Jasper sat, lying on the floor but with his chin resting up on the vampire's knees, to keep an eye on both men. As if he'd choose to be anywhere else. His adopted packmate obviously wasn't comfortable there, so the raptor didn't yet rule out the possibility of the human being an enemy, fear or no fear. On his home island humans did fall between the enemy and food ( ... )

i_am_harkonnen May 23 2009, 11:08:07 UTC

((Not at all. *g* And now it's time for things to start getting even weirder. XD Sorry about length again =/ .))"Not at all- but I do think 'assistant' sounds rather mundane for one like yourself. Advisor, perhaps, would be closer, if still imperfect. I can't say that there would be a lot of actual work, which I hope wouldn't disappoint. You've already been more helpful than you realize, I think." He wasn't sure why he was being less guarded, and almost admitting that 'assistant' meant 'a good excuse to see you more frequently'. But it didn't seem like the wrong choice. The fact that Jasper seemed to be acting according to his own will pleased him- it was partly this that made him so magical. Even exiled tyrants liked to feel wanted. And Jasper almost made him feel wanted in the way he'd most prefer ( ... )

j_whitlock May 24 2009, 02:06:17 UTC

((No worries. And oh dear. XD There is something very amusing about a vampire being more freaked out by a human than vice versa.))

"Assistant, advisor, friend. I'll leave the choice of title up to you." He had no doubt he would be referred to in different manners depending on whom the Baron may mention him to, and assuming the Baron would still want to remain in contact at all once he knew the truth. It mattered remarkably little to Jasper what he was called, so long as he was treated with respect and not as a servant. "I do like to keep myself occupied, my mind busy. With things that interest me, not necessarily the work of others," he said with some amusement. No, he wouldn't mind not having much actual work to do.

He couldn't know that he was hurting the Baron, and the fact he seemed to be enjoying the massage only convinced Jasper he was somehow doing it right. When it eventually became enjoyment of a different variety he flinched and struggled not to pull his hands away. This wasn't entirely unexpected, but it was still ( ... )

i_am_harkonnen May 24 2009, 06:07:05 UTC

Oddly, even with the realization that Jasper was definitely not human in any typical sense of the word, his unusual eyes and pallor still hadn't formed any sign for Vladimir that he should be anything else. He was familiar with a wide range of drugs that that had physically altering affects, such as the orange tint of elacca, or the blue-in-blue eyes of spice addiction, or the no-longer-human mutations of the Spacing Guild who hid within spice tanks and were never seen by anyone outside of the Guild. And there the Facedancers of the Tleilaxu, who had obviously started as something human, but were now a race that was definitely not human in any normal terms. These were creatures who could mimic any other person, take on any shape and mentality. And despite this ability, they were used most commonly for entertainment. Which said a great deal about Vladimir's civilization- it had outgrown a great deal of fear. Probably thanks to the Bene Gesserit breeding programs, an influence which had in fact caused some alteration in the exact ( ... )

j_whitlock May 24 2009, 07:40:38 UTC

"Did I hurt you?" he asked, his concerned dismay apparent. "I'm sorry. I have no experience with... touching humans like that." Touching them without the intent to kill, he was going to say, but knew it would be better to explain everything first lest Vladimir get the wrong ideas. "Before I tell you, it's important that you know I haven't forced you to do or say anything. Although I do confess to influencing your mood, in order to help you relax. But I promise that was all."

This was a conversation better had comfortably face to face, without him looming over Vladimir, and so he returned to the gold sofa, sitting beside the raptor rather than disturbing him yet again by moving him. Despite his growing anxiety he had no obvious nervous tics, made no fidgeting gestures. He simply laid a hand on the raptor's snout, as much to comfort himself as anything. For the moment he actually forgot to continue making even those occasional small movements, to shift positions, blink, and breathe as a human would, instead remaining entirely too still ( ... )

i_am_harkonnen May 24 2009, 10:50:07 UTC

His slight smile turned reassuring. "It would depend upon one's definition of hurt, I suppose- I would not suggest practicing on less substantial humans. There was some pain, yes, but, there was a great deal more pleasure, especially since it's been effective. Of course, now I'll be wanting another one soon."

It wasn't all too surprising of news that Jasper had some sort of telepathically calming influence. The pet was a pretty loud beacon, and, he'd been aware of his own inexplicable pleasure in the man's company. This influence did seem to be causing an inclination towards honesty with him, but, he wasn't actually doing anything that he didn't want to. If anything, this influence was actually very helpful, as a relaxed mood did lead to better decisions most of the time. And thus far, things were not going badly in his opinion. Jasper hadn't run off yet ( ... )

j_whitlock May 25 2009, 07:54:20 UTC

Vladimir's reaction to everything very much astonished him, and he stared with a neutral expression for several long moments, considering how this could be. He wasn't sure he could trust such an easy acceptance of what he was, even if the future apparently did count the living dead as viable members of society. It was just so deeply ingrained in him, that humans were the enemy even as they were also like cattle to his kind-there were many perfectly valid reasons why vampires of his sort were normally forbidden from revealing themselves to humans. And to form ongoing friendships with any? Unfathomable. Brief liaisons of the sexual variety weren't entirely unheard of, which was how the succubus and incubus myths evidently got their start, at least in his world, but the human partners were never privy to the truth. Better to think they'd been seduced by imaginary demons than to realise factual vampires were living among them ( ... )

i_am_harkonnen May 25 2009, 22:54:58 UTC

((Although a lot of Bene Gesserit knowledge was secret, I'm sure that enough mothers have screamed at their children to behave like humans and not animals for the philosophy to integrate itself into general culture. It was things like prana-bindu that they kept secret, and they used philosophy to groom the human race. I'm presuming Vlad ascribes to the human-status theory like everyone else.))

Vladimir listened quietly to the lovely young dead man, which he did realize was much more dead than a ghola, which were technically 'alive' as any typical human. Due to this, and other weirdnesses of the Imperium like facedancers and Navigators, Jasper remained within the realm of normality to Vladimir, just, better, apparently. He wondered how old Jasper was, although, considering the packaging it didn't matter that much. But being older than he appeared could explain a portion of why the Baron felt so compelled towards his intellect ( ... )

j_whitlock May 26 2009, 09:02:35 UTC

((Haha works for me. The whole human-status stuff in Dune was a bit confusing.))

"You're not afraid," he said quietly, and it wasn't quite a question, though he did sound uncertain. "I can tell. Some of us have extra... abilities," he explained as he regarded the Baron curiously, "traits which I believe in most cases already existed when we were human-alive, and becoming a vampire magnifies them. I am an empath, as you've probably already guessed." Perhaps ironically, that utter lack of fear in the Baron, of discomfort, of anything but those pleasant emotions, was close to unnerving Jasper. Bella displayed a similar lack of fear around him and his family, but, then, she also happened to be in love with one of them, so naturally she'd be biased. Foolishly so, sometimes, but that was love for you. It was seldom very logical ( ... )

i_am_harkonnen May 27 2009, 01:23:14 UTC

"Do you think that I should be afraid?" He smiled kindly, and posed the question as rhetorical. "I believe that fear clouds judgment, and leads to bad decisions. So I haven't made a habit of it. Technically, people are always living with the threat of death, which is a random, indiscriminate thing. People give it too much credit- it's final, but it's very common. To go around in fear of the most commonplace of things, which seems an all too frequent habit for people, is a very self-defeating approaching, wouldn't you think? If not for the magic here, I could die right now of a thousand random causes, so it would be pointless to fear another potential source of death. Everyone and everything could be one somehow ( ... )

j_whitlock May 27 2009, 05:45:44 UTC

((Technically Vlad wouldn't be able to see the scars, unless the spice enhanced his eyesight enough to. ;) And if that's the case, Jasper's literally covered in them, enough to perhaps be alarming. Or maybe not, to someone like Vlad.))"I'm not too worried about inadvertently killing you... You wouldn't die, not here. For which I'm very grateful." By the same token, Vladimir-and any other potential victims-also wouldn't become vampires, thankfully, since dying was an integral part of the process. It was only a small consolation at the moment. "But you might wish to," he murmured solemnly, shaking his head as he looked at the Baron. "The venom is like a debilitating poison, burning you alive from the inside for days on end. It's in every vampire's bite." And vampires like Jasper didn't possess elongated fangs. Their bites were anything but elegant or neat. "It's also the only thing that can scar us ( ... )

i_am_harkonnen May 28 2009, 00:27:53 UTC

((We'll just say it's the spice, and Vlad's getting some subtle impression of them rather than a glaring one. XD))Vladimir found it interesting that the body of a vampire was modified to produce toxins. He was surprised he'd never heard of Tleilaxu trying that, as it would become all the rage in the Imperium. The Imperium was a bit obsessed with its poisons, to the point where noble houses had overhead poison snoopers mounted everywhere because it was a necessity. He wondered if Jasper would produce a positive result on his portable snooper, but felt this was one of those questions best left for another day. As was the question about what exactly it does, how it does it, and what it feels like ( ... )

j_whitlock May 29 2009, 06:30:23 UTC

"Well, I'm not like some of the demons and other humanoids here. You won't offend me by calling me human," he said, a corner of his mouth quirking up in a half smile. "That's actually a sort of compliment, I guess." Even though he was technically another species now, by the modern world's understanding of what made a human, human. So sex with a vampire could count as bestiality. Or an irredeemable monster, if one went by Edward's definition. Jasper's own view of himself and of vampires in general was a bit more complicated, and not something he was comfortable discussing with anyone he didn't know well. Calling it his 'uniqueness' was as apt a description as any.

The tiger comment made him laugh, a genuinely amused sound with no edge of mockery to it. He didn't want to embarrass the Baron further, even though that hint of blood moving closer to the surface of his skin did smell quite appealing. "A tiger? So they still exist in the distant future you're from? I'd have thought mankind would have forced them into extinction by then. ( ... )

i_am_harkonnen May 30 2009, 07:57:59 UTC

((Please forgive the slow reply! Got caught up with a RL project and time got away from me. ))

He agreed- Jasper was not like 'other humanoids' here, he was special. Not because of what he was. What seemed more intriguing was who he was. What he was played in, but, he'd have still been intriguing even if he was not a legendary 'monster'. He may have had unusual talents, but it wasn't these that had Vladimir's heart pounding faster whenever that smile appeared. It was just so unusual and invigorating to have someone appearing to truly enjoy his company.

He listened to Jasper's explanation about his eyes with interest, finding his (which were a bit odd, being black, but still in the realm of human potential) drawn to Jasper's, wondering just what they'd look like in burgundy. Surely it would look quite striking, especially against that porcelain skin. So distracted was he for a moment that he almost didn't register the mention of a wife. Almost. It pleased him that Jasper did not linger on the subject. The topic was one that irritated ( ... )

j_whitlock June 1 2009, 03:12:44 UTC

((I tried not to make the end seem forced. Since their conversation could really carry on indefinitely if we let it, I think it best to end it soon. XD Sorry for my epic slowness. In the future I'll definitely try to keep my novel length tags down so I'm not stalling our threads for quite so long.))

Even as brief and mild as it was, Jasper caught that flicker of vague irritation from Vladimir at the mention of Alice and Edward, and his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. This gave him a sort of focused curious look, rather than being an expression of suspicion, which was very deliberate. He'd learnt to keep his own real emotions from showing when it was necessary to-as it so often was when attending human schools, and being in a constant state of pain due to his thirst. Staring at his teachers and 'peers' as though he'd like nothing more than to leap over his desk and eat them on the spot was never received well. Except in the case of the teachers being older women, who seemed to find that unsettling vampiric nature of Jasper's ( ... )

i_am_harkonnen June 1 2009, 09:34:18 UTC

((No worries at all on slow- I have the same lengthy habit and should try the same. *g*))It didn't escape Vladimir that his flash of anger seemed to cause a shift in Jasper, but he was pleased when its fading reversed it, that too-lovely smile appearing again. The Baron supposed sensitivity to emotions was a frequently frustrating thing- he wouldn't want to be assaulted with feelings all the time, unless they were pleasant ones to experience. He realized he'd have to make an effort to manifest positive emotions as much as possible around Jasper. At least it would be easy. That smile was enchanting, and Vladimir found he didn't want Jasper to suffer ( ... )

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