Tell Me Your Secrets

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr smiled at Jenna, slightly baffled by where she was heading with this question and predicting it would lead to her asking what the name for her ability was, but he couldn\'t be sure.  He was beginning to like that about her very much - the way she attacked things from as many angles as possible before she went straight towards it.

"There\'s a name for everything," he informed her gently, "but I couldn\'t tell you exactly what the waiter\'s heritage was, beyond that he is faefolk and related to the little people themselves - a descendant of Leprechauns," he clarified, his accent getting stronger as he referenced creatures of Irish legend, something near and dear to his heart.

[Trillian]

Leprechaun?  Wasn\'t he a little tall to be a leprechaun?  She supposed the pictorial definition of the faefolk was likely distorted through the ages.

"Faefolk," she repeated, getting the word into her vocabulary and testing it out.  Looking directly at Kerr now, and after letting a short silence build between them, she asked the question.  "And what name of creature are you?"

There was no polite way to phrase it.  She was asking someone their species on the assumption they weren\'t human.  He was pale, but other than that she wouldn\'t have thought he was anything other than a normal human being.

[Existentially Odd]

He blinked and raised his eyebrows at her, having not predicted that angle at all.  She was a surprise, this woman with the entrancing blue eyes and stoic beauty.  Although his initial reaction was to keep such a shocking revelation to himself, he took a moment to think about it and soon realised - as he sat there gnawing thoughtfully on his tongue stud - that she\'d likely picked the best path after all.
 
It would be easier to find out such things as vampires were real before she found out she had demonic blood, because she would have some distance from the news, from him.  Once he told her she was a demon, she wouldn\'t have that luxury.
 
"I am a vampire," he told her simply, offering a small smile that hid any sign of fangs while she digested this information.  "Yes, we\'re real.  We exist," he added warmly, a twinkle lighting his eyes.

[Trillian]

She blinked at the news of his vampirism.  It was a very slow blink, while her mind processed.  Of course his declaration paved the way for a hundred other questions, but she didn\'t really want to know about him (even though now she kind of did) as much as she wanted to know about herself.
 
She took a moment, thinking of him drinking blood and stalking victims, and figured the movies had likely distorted these facts as well.  She understood that once she asked about her heritage, and he told her, she couldn\'t un-know it.
 
Knowing was better than not knowing though, and if she clicked her fingers, she could produce a flame out of her thumbnail, much like a lighter.  She\'d used it to light candles, to start the fire in the fire place, and then she\'d extinguished it by thinking about it, and extinguished the candles just by thinking about it.  There was no surprise now, that she wasn\'t human.  Well, not completely, she was very sure most of her was, but there was something else in her, and Kerr would tell her upon being asked.
 
Taking a deep, slow breath through her nose and releasing it out of her mouth in a meditative manner, she nodded at him, accepting his vampire comment without further questions, and asked the one thing she\'d really been after.
 
"So, Kerr.  What manner of creature am I?"
 
She guessed she wasn\'t faefolk, and was very sure she wasn\'t vampire, so what was left?

[Existentially Odd]

Wow.
 
She really knew how to take information her stride; at first, he was worried that she was spiralling into denial (even though she\'d taken that very deliberate breath), so he snuck a peak at her thoughts. It wasn\'t as easy as he usually found such a task, for demons were never easy to read for him (and often impossible), but he did it... only to find she seemed perfectly okay. Steady. Braced.
 
There was really nothing else for him to say, but the truth. "You," he began slowly, showing that he was weighing his words carefully with his measured tone and sincere eye contact, "have demonic blood. I believe you are a fire demon, to be specific, though I\'m no expert," he amended, wondering if she\'d even hear everything he\'d said; wondering if he\'d said too much.
 
If she did a sudden about-face and flipped out on him, he was prepared to wipe her mind - but he hoped it wouldn\'t come to that.

[Trillian]

She listened to his words, though a light frown collected at her brow and her gaze drifted to her left, looking at nothing in particular, as she thought about what he\'d said.  After a moment, her gaze returned to him and she repeated the phrase back at him, questioningly.

"Demonic blood?  Are you sure being a fire demon is the only answer?"  Before he could reply, she closed her eyes and shook her head momentarily before rephrasing herself, not liking the way her question had come out.  "What I mean by that, is that I don\'t think I\'m particularly evil."

She hoped he wouldn\'t be angry with her challenging his guess, but perhaps if he knew more about her character, he wouldn\'t have chosen to think down the fire-demon path.  There were a hundred other questions about the demon thing also, considering by his word they appeared to exist, and there was also the question of angels.

Mirroring his thoughts, she considered herself to be taking all this news in stride, and it seemed a little odd to her.  She\'d just seen a number of unexplainable things, been told about a lot of unnatural things, and she believed it all without question.  Maybe she was in a kind of shock and she would break down later, but she felt okay.

[Existentially Odd]

He smiled kindly at her.

"\'Demonic\' doesn\'t mean \'evil\'.  In my experience, it\'s a species name, without any bias whatsoever; in much the same way that an angel can be good or evil, so too can a demon.  The two species are maligned by their opposition to one another in popular media and culture.  I\'m not much of a theologist, but I think it may have simply been a matter of convenience to set up demons as the angels\' dichotomous foes in the beginning, rather than addressing the fallibilities of both species to accept light or darkness as their spirits saw fit.  It\'s the same for werewolves, vampires, faefolk, shapeshifters... they will be good or evil according to their nature and choices, not necessarily by their biological makeup or species title."

With a slight shrug he fell quiet, watching her to see if she believed him.  As soon as she mentioned evil, he knew she was considering the age-old propaganda that angels were heavenly and mortal enemies of demons, who were evil and on the earth to do their Lord\'s (respectively) bidding.  There was no room for such archetypes, however, especially if it was going to mess with her self-perception.

"There are many different types of demons, too," he continued, when she didn\'t say anything for a moment, needing to properly answer her question about whether he was sure of what she was.  "But your... abilities with fire suggest you\'re a fire demon."

[Trillian]

She stared at him for a long moment, processing everything he\'d said (or at least trying to) before she closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath and then opened them to stared at him some more.

"Is there anything in fiction that\'s fiction?" she asked eventually.  "Aliens? Ghosts?  Or has everything initially come from reality and then transformed throughout the ages as each storyteller has a go?  I saw your reflection in the shine of the elevator doors, for instance."

Right now she wasn\'t addressing the whole fire demon thing, and she hypothesised she was trying to distance herself from it in the time being, but this was a very important, quite pressing question.  How many things that went bump in the night existed?  How much in danger was she from everything?  Was she more in danger or less, because of what she now knew?  Would she see more evidence of things she\'d previously missed because of her ignorance?  Would she be able to cope with all that?

She might\'ve sounded and even felt calm and collected at this point, but she was worried that later she would suffer some sort of meltdown.  She felt like she wasn\'t giving Kerr an appropriate reaction and he might think she was peculiar; but what reaction was appropriate?

[Existentially Odd]

He shifted slightly in his seat, more onto his left hip and leaning his elbow on the arm of his chair, the pad of his index finger pressed against his temple to support his head.  His smile was still indulgent and he was watching her a little more calmly, for she seemed to be not so together now, not so focussed on what was necessary to know (that was just his opinion, though).

"Well... to a degree, I suppose.  Even I don\'t know entirely what\'s out there - but look, you don\'t have to, either," he assured her, leaning forward to cover her closest hand with the one that had just been against his head.  "The only species you need be concerned with is your own, for the time being.  You\'re young and successful, having made your way just fine in the world so far, without any dramas.  Worrying about what fabulous beast you previously thought tied only to the pages of a novel will jump out at you from the shadows won\'t help you; it\'ll just distract you.  Lore and legend can take a backseat until you\'re comfortable with your path.  Would you like me to find you a fire demon contact that would be willing to help you with your abilities and questions?"

Demons could be a fickle lot and he wasn\'t certain that, should he find one of the appropriate sub-type, he would be able to convince them to tutor Jenna.  Her scent was alluring as hell to him, but it probably wouldn\'t even rate her as worthy in a full-blooded demon\'s eyes, for all he knew.  Still, for her he\'d try and call her back later with the results.  He was mildly surprised to realise he would be interested in contacting her again, beyond this night, to check that she really was okay with the whole situation.  He shouldn\'t care (she wasn\'t even his species), but she was just so damn admirable, he couldn\'t help it!

[Trillian]

He was right, and she\'d wanted to tell him so, but that offer he\'d made her was forcing her acknowledgement into the background.  She didn\'t respond right away, thinking about what he was telling her - that she would have contact with a full-blooded demon that would teach her how to enhance her powers.  Had she even wanted that when she\'d come here?  She\'d merely been after answers about her abilities - but that was the next logical set of questions.  What was the extent of her unnatural skills?  What could she do and what couldn\'t she do?  What would put her in jeapardy?  What would happen if she ever faced another demon that opposed her (like Kerr had implied about her great grandmother)?

"Yes, please," she answered, then offered him a smile.  She was a little shaken, but she wasn\'t upset.  Most of her was relieved to find that there was indeed an easy explanation (if not the most obvious one to her at the time, though obvious to Kerr with his knowledge).  He\'d also given her the opportunity to discover more answers about herself, and for that she was also grateful.  "Thank you very much," she added, obliged to thank him for his help.

[Existentially Odd]

He chuckled, withdrawing his hand from her heat - and he believed she was warmer to the touch than most mortals - and slouching back in his chair.  "Don\'t thank me yet - I don\'t know if I can actually find anyone.  I\'ll get all my likely contacts onto it, but I\'ll make no guarantees," he raised his eyebrows at her.

He recalled that Sawyl had had a brief infatuation with a fire demon a few years ago and idly pondered calling him to see if he was still around.  After a few brief moments of contemplation, though, he decided that that would be his last resort.  Surely the Oligarchy would have far-reaching resources enough to find one mentor for a lovely woman who deserved some guidance?

"I will call you as soon as I know someone you can see," he assured her, not needing to get her numbers off her, for it was in her file, but not thinking about telling her that.

[Trillian]

She only truly noticed his hand had been on hers when he removed it, and she realised then how comfortable she was around him.  Was that part of the vampiric charisma she associated with vampire legends?  Or was it because he was friendly and helpful?  She couldn\'t be sure, but she did know he put her completely at ease.

"Thank you," she said again, her smile remaining on her face.  Thinking that he would need her contact details (and forgetting the large file that had sat in front of him in the chambers - not that it had been confirmed to her that the file was about her), she turned and felt in the pockets of her jacket, finding the silver business card holder she\'d been looking for quickly, and flipping it open in order to take her card out and offer it over to him.  "Here are my details for you to reach me.  My mobile number is on there also."

[Existentially Odd]

He took the card graciously, choosing not to disturb her by pointing that she\'d cause quite enough of a stir with her attempts at getting into Risk to have had eyes trained on her for quite some time now.  He could even know which toothpaste she used, if he chose to read the file extensively.  He lifted his hips slightly and slid the card into his pants pocket with an aknowledging nod.
 
These thoughts reminded him of something he could now share with her, while she finished her coffee (he didn\'t want her to feel she was being rushed out).  "The club you were trying to get into, by the way - Risk?" he stated, waiting for her to signal she knew the one he was referring to.  "It\'s a club where supernaturals are open and mix with mortals who understand what they are.  Primarily, it\'s a club vampires go to, to find willing donors, but all sorts mix there.  Now that you know about what exists in the city, the demon bouncers will allow you entrance, should you wish to go."
 
The most detailed part of her file (that he\'d read) went on about how insistent she\'d been about getting into Risk.  He was curious to know whether she was still that intrigued.

[Trillian]

Because of what Kerr had told her, she perked up and found the idea of being allowed into Risk now, intriguing.
 
"Now that I know?  Are they mind-reading demons, Mis... Kerr?  Is that how they knew to keep me out?"
 
If that was so, it explained a lot.  It was the kind of security that many businesses would love to have.  She wondered if Kerr could read her thoughts also, for that was part of vampire lore.  He certainly was charismatic enough, though she didn\'t feel compelled to throw herself at him.  Perhaps there was a mind-power to go along with that.

[Existentially Odd]

"Yes it is and the ones on the door can," he agreed, nodding.  "They have to be able to, with such a mix of species and intentions in this city - it\'s the only sensible way to go.  That, therefore, also allows extra freedom as far as demonstration goes inside the club; because it\'s kept so exclusive, it\'s perfectly acceptable for vampires to drink from mortals out in the open - well, in booths or at tables, anyway," he considered, with a shrug.