See Tom Beg

[Trillian]

"What reason do you have to tell her other than \'she\'ll guess anyway\'," Halen asked deadpan, breaking the silence in the echoing chamber and staring at Tom fixedly, like a snake looks at a rabbit.
 
He wasn\'t reading Tom\'s mind, but he could tell by the uncomfortable way the silence had settled over them that this creature before him had a lot on his mind.  Halen couldn\'t see a reason to call a meeting just yet, but he felt a bit odd about Tom, like he should be wary.
 
This rabbit had sharp pointy teeth after all.

[Existentially Odd]

Tom\'s mouth twisted thoughtfully.  In truth, he didn\'t have any other reason to tell her... so he had to think pretty damn fast.

"I want to taste her when I... if we... when we\'re in bed again?"  He said it hopefully... like it might be a better reason - or at least compound his initial reason - for divulging his nature.

[Trillian]

"Ahhh," Halen stated as though everything was clear now.  "So you want to make of her a pet, a type of personal donor."  He stared at Tom for a long moment.  "What about this other one you\'ve told, the one before you came into the city with?" he drawled.

[Existentially Odd]

He opened his mouth, ready to argue the point that he wanted to make Nimm a pet, but decided that the guy seemed to be happy with that notion, so he shut it almost as quickly.  If it would get him what he wanted, then so be it.  There wasn\'t a lot of difference between a fuck, a drink and a pet, surely?  Just frequency.

Of course, he would have been more comfortable with Halen pursuing more information on her, rather than on Reed.  "What about him?" he asked stiffly, blinking as if his face and his mind were open books and his shoulders weren\'t stiffening up with tension at all.

[Trillian]

"Can\'t you drink from him?" Halen asked.  "How old are you?" he asked suddenly, knowing that Tom\'s age would tell him his necessary feeding patterns.

[Existentially Odd]

"I... do drink from him, yeah," he answered suspiciously, eyes narrowing.  "I\'m... over two hundred.  Ish."

[Trillian]

Halen looked at him for another long time, the pauses were beginning to grow longer than the actual conversation itself.
 
"At two hundred," he began, "you wouldn\'t need to feed every day, more like every few days.  With one pet already in tow to drink from, and options available to you such as Risk - those humans who already know - why would you want to make another pet for yourself?  Why should Nimm know?  Why her, specifically?"
 
Halen was smirking at Tom, wanting to see him squirm.  Halen had already made his decision, but he wanted Tom to explain himself further.

[Existentially Odd]

The vampire began to fidget under that gaze, his thoughts a furious, spinning wheel revolving to Reed, siring him, wondering if this guy knew, reeling away from Reed in case he didn\'t and inevitably... coming back.

"Uh... yeah, well I\'ve gone weeks without feeding, I just... Reed\'s not a pet.  He\'s just a buddy and if we end up somewhere remote - like, in the Swiss Alps or somewhere - then I drink f-from him.  He doesn\'t live here, Nimm does, I just... thought it might be cool to tell her is all."

He did his best not to glower, feeling like his tongue was running away from him, he\'d said too much

Shouldn\'t have fucking said Reed\'s name, fuckhead

and he just wanted to hear what the fuck this dickhead had to say to his request so he could get out.  Why ask him for his fucking life story?  All the guy had to do was say yes or no and he could be on his way.

[Trillian]

"You thought it might be cool to tell her," Halen repeated, taking in Reed\'s name and the Swiss Alps (?) as well as the fact this vampire had told someone that didn\'t live in the city and did that come under his jurisdiction?  He supposed so.  "How many people are you going to tell using that excuse, may I ask?"
 
Halen was smiling now, not smirking, not drawling his words, simply asking a question and smiling like he was genuinely amused.

[Existentially Odd]

Tom\'s hands found his hips beneath the flaps of his coat and his expression was obviously exasperated as he glared back at the dickhead at the other end of the table.

"Do you guys make it this hard on everyfuckingone that tries to do the right thing by asking or what?  I could\'ve just told Nimm and you\'d be none the wiser - plenty of people know and don\'t say anything.  Your rule\'s only as good as the people that wanna\' follow it and you don\'t fuckin\' make it easy, do ya\'?" he demanded grumpily.  "I just wanna\' tell one person.  If I want anything else, I\'ll come back and ask - I\'m here to do the right damn thing already, aren\'t I?"

[Trillian]

Tom hit a nerve with his declaration about the rules only being as good as those that chose to follow them, he stood, leaning forward over the table just enough so he could temple his fingers on the table\'s surface.
 
"Just because the people are ignorant to the infusco doesn\'t mean there are any less of them around, and just because you are ignorant to how the Oligarchy polices its rules doesn\'t mean that those who break them go unpunished," he spat, his eyes glowing ever so slightly a firey red. "Don\'t try me, Tom, just because I\'m dealing with your seemingly insignificent request doesn\'t make me any less the being I am. What you and your kind don\'t understand are the consequences of your fickle actions. Who is this Nimm? Why is she so cool with it? Who are her friends and family? Is she a gossip? How long have you known her?" Halen shook his head at Tom like one who has just told a child on the dangers of playing with fire (which was akin to what this was). "You can tell your Nimm about your vampirism but if she reacts badly, you are to kill her. If I hear of anything, anything, to do with her and her knowledge that isn\'t directly from you, then I will dispose of her and after that I will come and ask you what went wrong."
 
He wouldn\'t just ask, both Tom and Halen knew this.

[Existentially Odd]

His lips pursed and his head tilted as he gave some consideration to processing this little diatribe.  He recognised as truth the fact that he couldn\'t know how the Oligarchy policed its rules and supposed he might have been a bit naive on that front.

From the way the guy talked, he was somebody in a fairly high ranking position in the Oligarchy, too - which did surprise Tom, because he hadn\'t expected to get that much attention straight up.  It didn\'t help his confidence at all, for he realised that he really was quite ignorant to the workings here and he was wisest to take what he was given and keep his mouth shut.

"Fair enough," he answered, with a perfunctory nod of his head.  "Thanks."  He spun smartly on his heel and headed for the exit.

[Trillian]

"And what about Reed?" Halen said icily, using the name of Tom\'s Swiss Alp buddy to stop him in his tracks.  "I want to meet him."

[Existentially Odd]

Tom wheeled

reeled

around to face Halen, expression frozen and hands... sort of... splayed at his side.  Like a gunfighter ready to go for his guns at high noon.

"You can\'t," he said defensively, "he\'s in Australia."

[Trillian]

"When is he visiting you here next?" Halen asked quickly while sinking to his seat, wondering if that was the type of relationship they had. Buddies, Tom had said, but in the Swiss Alps. Did that mean they only holidayed together? Adventured together? He\'d made an assumption that Reed would come here, not wanting Tom to have the opportunity to say his friend didn\'t. A leading question would hopefully draw out the truth - not that Halen believed this vampire would lie. He\'d been abrasive, yet honest, and a part of him respected that.