Author Topic: See Tom Beg (Read 11210 times)

Existentially Odd · « **on:** September 15, 2006, 05:19:38 PM »

The vampire meandered into the plush hotel like he owned the place, boots clicking on the wooden flooring until he came to a stop just inside the doors, thumbs hooked in his jeans pockets, weight leaned arrogantly back on his right leg and left leg thrust outward while he took a moment to get his bearings. He wore a simple black button up shirt - top three buttons undone - and his calf-length, camel-coloured suede coat. A cowboy hat would not have looked at all odd, on his russet locks - he even had the suspicious squint down pat.

Deciding that the reception desk was the place for him to head (even if he couldn\'t see anyone at it, it extended all the way back down along the enormous foyer so there could\'ve been anyone beyond that huge-ass staircase in the middle of the space and he just couldn\'t see them from where he was), he strode towards it. Once there, he smacked the closest little bell smartly, watching for movement and muttering, "Who do I have to kill to get some answers around here?" beneath his breath. His attention was then taken with examining the clocks - especially the one labelled \'Sydney, Australia\' - hanging on the wall behind the counter, while he leaned nonchalantly against the marble-topped object.

Trillian · « **Reply #1 on:** September 16, 2006, 04:44:11 PM »

There was an intercom set into the walls in discreet locations, wired so that they could project anything into the lobby with crisp surround sound ability. Mostly it was for any alarms that were needed when the hotel had been used as a hotel, but now it was something Halen used whenever he wished to hand out instructions.

Most of the demons had thinned out at this time, out patrolling the streets to police the rules the Oligarchy had in place, so there weren\'t many in the hotel with the Luminary. Halen didn\'t need them anyway, there weren\'t that many visitors and the place mostly ran itself. He enjoyed watching the camera\'s though, being the king of his mostly silent kingdom.

Tom caught his attention as soon as he walked through the door, setting off a small bleeping alarm that lasted 10 seconds for Halen\'s attention. He eyed first the main doors camera, then the lobby camera, then the reception counter cameras.

He flipped a switch to talk, not hearing what had been said into the lobby\'s empty space because he hadn\'t set up to receive.

"Make your way to the bank of elevators on the left of the counter. Press the button marked B. Walk through the double doors on the floor it opens. Be respectful."

He flicked off the switch and watched.

Existentially Odd · « **Reply #2 on:** September 16, 2006, 07:13:15 PM »

The vampire\'s only reaction was a pair of slightly raised eyebrows. The quality of the voice had told him him that it wasn\'t uttered by anyone nearby, so he didn\'t bother to look around, realising he was being watched and some form of speaker system had been employed. His expression smoothed after that brief moment and he did as he was instructed, loping casually along the edge of the counter - fingers jumping idly along the marble surface - and running what was said through his head, to be sure he knew what he was doing.

The voice had sounded authoritative - enough that being instructed to be respectful seemed superfluous. And objectionable. Something rebellious tickled along Tom\'s spine but he fought it down, not showing any of his feelings as he found the elevator and pressed the B button. He reminded himself that he wasn\'t here to cause trouble, but to avoid it. The doors slid open smoothly and he stepped in, giving his shoulders a roll once he did, like a fighter preparing for a bout. Insanely, he was enjoying the prospect of this already, this... challenge to play nice. With the owner of a voice whose tones dripped with the unspoken command that they always got the respect they deserved, and he\'d better fucking bow down.

When the lift doors opened again (he thought he\'d descended but wasn\'t certain), he headed for the double set he\'d been informed about. He grasped a knob in each hand and couldn\'t resist opening both at the same time, wishing to make a semi-grand entrance. It was a flourish, in his opinion, something to make him memorable in this no-doubt teeming hive of vampire requests. And respectful, yes... as long as one approved of walking the thin line between it and disobedient, and was willing to err on the more generous side... in his favour. The smirk upon his lips was slightly less so.

Trillian · « **Reply #3 on:** September 16, 2006, 07:34:24 PM »

The look on Halen\'s face was far from impressed as Tom made his grand entrance. The vampire would likely find it disappointing to learn that most made entrances such as the kind he\'d made. Halen found that most of the time, when this entrance was made, he disliked the one that made it. Already his first impression was biased.

Halen was on his own at the head of the circular table, the other chairs gathered around it were devoid of the other members of the Oligarchy. The Luminary had the tallest backed chair, but not so that it dwarfed him, rather it wasn\'t all that obvious, enough to make a distinction in case the position itself wasn\'t enough. He was dressed in a button-up long-sleeved cream coloured shirt, the top two buttons undone in a casual manner, though the cuffs had links.

"State your name and the nature of your business," he declared, not announcing himself.

Existentially Odd · « **Reply #4 on:** September 16, 2006, 07:39:05 PM »

Tom sauntered over until he was opposite Halen, thumbs falling from his jeans so that his hands might be clasped respectfully behind his back. He gave a grunt of acknowledgement to the question, then his expression turned thoughtful as he wondered whether he should provide the truth... or the story that he normally went by.

"Huh. Well, the name on most of my bank accounts and the deed to the house I bought here says Tom Matthews," he nodded sagely, skirting both. "And I was just wondering about what I have to do to be able to tell someone I\'m a vampire."

Trillian · « **Reply #5 on:** September 16, 2006, 07:46:12 PM »

When Tom explained his name wasn\'t quite his name, the Luminary wasn\'t very surprised. Many creatures of immortality changed their names as the world changed. Halen wasn\'t rightfully Halen either, but right here and now it was the best one that suited him.

His gaze on Tom sharpened when the request was uttered.

"What purpose would you have in telling someone you\'re a vampire?"

Existentially Odd · « **Reply #6 on:** September 16, 2006, 07:58:25 PM »

He shrugged, as if he wasn\'t too worried about the whole thing, his hands falling from their demure position and coming back to the front so his fingertips could slip into his pockets.

"Well, there\'s this chick doing some work on my place and she asked what the coffin in the basement was for. I made a joke of it and said I was a vampire and she didn\'t seem worried either way, y\'know? So I thought I\'d better come and just... check that out. She\'s pretty cool, I don\'t reckon she\'ll freak and she hasn\'t brought it up since, but I wouldn\'t mind telling her. She noticed how cold I was and she\'s going to help me rig these awesome lights over the windows of my place so it looks like they\'re not completely covered with wooden boxes," he enthused, a hand coming up to describe a vague box shape in the air that did nothing to enhance his tale. It dropped when he caught the guy\'s dour expression. "Yeah, anyway, can I tell Nimm the truth?"

Trillian · « **Reply #7 on:** September 16, 2006, 08:00:47 PM »

Halen blinked. He stared at Tom for a bit, then he blinked again. His expression wasn\'t completely blank during this blink-stare-blink process for his frown deepened as the seconds ticked away.

"What?" he asked, thinking of coffins and lighting and some woman called Nimm.

Existentially Odd · « **Reply #8 on:** September 16, 2006, 08:03:17 PM »

Tom gave him a look like he was a little slow on the uptake and he\'d do his best to catch him up in due time. He gestured along the huge table to the chair at Halen\'s left, his tone bordering both soothing and exasperated when he spoke.

"May I sit?"

Trillian · « **Reply #9 on:** September 16, 2006, 08:04:57 PM »

"No."

Halen glared at him, looking back at Tom like he was the simpleton and then began shooting questions his way.

"Why did you show her the coffin?"

Why the fuck do you even have a coffin? he thought.

Existentially Odd · « **Reply #10 on:** September 16, 2006, 08:16:27 PM »

The vampire gave a vaguely reproachful look to his superior, but held his tongue, as if he didn\'t want to point out that there was no need for rudeness and respect went both ways... but it was in his blue eyes anyway. After a brief pressing together of his lips, he curled his hands together behind his back again - but with a hip stuck out as he shifted his weight onto one leg, rather than standing at attention - and looked the other man in the eye.

"She\'s doing work on my house. It\'s in the basement. She has to put lights in to the basement, plus that\'s where we\'re going to put the window box computer power source... thing. Meh, it\'s not fully worked out yet," he frowned, waving that part aside before continuing earnestly with the jist of his argument. "I also told her that I had Goth tendencies in a prior life and that I mainly just use ithe coffin for fu... having sex in, but she\'s pretty smart and I could see that she was putting the pieces together, you know? I don\'t think it\'ll worry her either way, she\'s way more laid back than the buddy I told - before I came to live here," he added hastily, pointing at Halen like he was about to raise an argument, "and he got used to it in no time."

Trillian · « **Reply #11 on:** September 16, 2006, 08:27:30 PM »

"You didn\'t have a story already arranged?" Halen drawled, seeing the reproachful look in Tom\'s eye and not liking it one little bit. He read it as challenging, and that was close enough to what it really was for Halen not to bother analysing it further. It fit. Whatever the look in the vampire\'s eye was, it wasn\'t good. "Tell her you\'re an art-house movie director?"

He shrugged for this suggestion was off the top of his head, and he believed it was a good one.

"It appears to me as though you\'ve made up your mind to tell her before you even thought about coming here. Is there anything else you\'ve made your mind up about?" Halen questioned tartly.

Existentially Odd · « **Reply #12 on:** September 16, 2006, 08:48:27 PM »

"I haven\'t," he objected indignantly, his posture straightening immediately - possibly because the guy had managed to see straight through his secondary plan to his primary one. His expression became a lot more wary, head tilted slightly as he put a bit more thought into his next answer.

"Look, I\'ve only just decided to give this city a try and I thought I\'d do the right thing, according to the rules I read. If you tell me I\'m not allowed to tell her, I won\'t. Like I said, she\'s not the type to give a fu-fig and I don\'t need to make enemies out of the Oligarchy. It was just a thought."

He fell quiet, tasting the confession that he was considering siring Reed, but not willing to voice it just yet. He had no clue if it would even happen, but after New Zealand, it had certainly been on his mind a great deal. Did he really want to get into a big discussion about that relationship with this relative stranger, though?

Fuck, no. So he kept his mouth shut.

Trillian · « **Reply #13 on:** September 16, 2006, 11:31:26 PM »

The guy, who had been very talkative and mouthing off, swearing and carrying on from the moment he\'d entered this room was now uncharacteristically quiet. Funny how a question to ask him what he was thinking made him suddenly clam up.

Halen watched him for a long moment, letting the silence stretch and disfigure between them, waiting to see if this Tom vampire would break it before he spoke again. He was interested to see what the vampire would use as a silence breaker as well, if he would use some inane comment, or clear his throat, perhaps to ask the question again - to clarify permission. So far Halen hadn\'t said anything either way.

Existentially Odd · « **Reply #14 on:** September 16, 2006, 11:42:29 PM »

The vampire raised his eyebrows and... blinked a few times, figuring the man in charge was thinking things over. Or coming up with a few more questions. He tried to reassure himself that the stranger was not reading his mind... and attempted to blank his thoughts as much as possible, waiting only for verbal stimulus to shake him out of it.

Nothing... nothing... not Reed... fuck... nothing...

Trillian · « **Reply #15 on:** September 16, 2006, 11:52:00 PM »

"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 · « **Reply #16 on:** September 17, 2006, 12:11:50 AM »

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 · « **Reply #17 on:** September 17, 2006, 10:37:42 AM »

"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 · « **Reply #18 on:** September 17, 2006, 01:43:21 PM »

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 · « **Reply #19 on:** September 17, 2006, 04:09:08 PM »

"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 · « **Reply #20 on:** September 17, 2006, 04:37:08 PM »

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

Trillian · « **Reply #21 on:** September 17, 2006, 04:41:58 PM »

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 · « **Reply #22 on:** September 17, 2006, 05:10:50 PM »

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 · « **Reply #23 on:** September 17, 2006, 05:59:50 PM »

"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 · « **Reply #24 on:** September 17, 2006, 06:22:38 PM »

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 · « **Reply #25 on:** September 17, 2006, 06:32:40 PM »

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 · « **Reply #26 on:** September 17, 2006, 07:20:22 PM »

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 · « **Reply #27 on:** September 17, 2006, 08:28:50 PM »

"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 · « **Reply #28 on:** September 17, 2006, 08:31:01 PM »

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 · « **Reply #29 on:** September 17, 2006, 08:33:51 PM »

"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.

Existentially Odd · « **Reply #30 on:** September 17, 2006, 08:38:20 PM »

Tom was done volunteering information that would incriminate him; he tucked his fingers into his jeans pockets again, hunching his shoulders without being aware of it.

"When I call him. He hates it here. He said he\'d come see my house when it was done, then he\'ll go away," he said stiffly, glowering at Halen. If he\'d been spoken to like a child earlier, he felt like one now. "I\'ll bring him to meet you when he comes," he offered, the foot closest to the door sliding along the carpet towards the exit, as if he expected a dismissal to come after he\'d kindly complied, and then he could get out of here.

Trillian · « **Reply #31 on:** September 17, 2006, 08:39:45 PM »

Halen smiled and nodded, placated.

"Thank you. You may leave."

Existentially Odd · « **Reply #32 on:** September 17, 2006, 09:04:41 PM »

The vampire stood there for only a moment longer before he gave a curt nod of acknowledgement and followed his itchy foot out the door.

For some odd reason, he felt almost as if he\'d gained more questions than answers on this visit and had to wonder... would he really subject Reed to this bullshit?