Author Topic: In The Depths  (Read 11641 times)

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Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: In The Depths
« Reply #15 on: February 22, 2012, 06:53:12 PM »
When she pulled her legs away, his hands lifted in a gesture of surrender and he shook his head marginally, as if warding off her anger.  "Hey, I wasn't expecting it to fix anything I just thought... " he lowered his hands and gave a shrug, "I dunno', that maybe you should know, that's all.  And no, I'd never leave something I created.  If I sired someone, I'd stay with them," he told her adamantly, a tinge of raw passion entering his voice as he spoke on a subject he'd thought a great deal on.

He hadn't missed his sire when she left him.  He couldn't even remember when they'd first split up but he figured he wasn't scarred enough by the experience to remember it, so it couldn't have been that bad.  It made him wonder, though.  He seemed to have developed a thing in recent years where he was depending on others more and more to stick with him.  First a mortal and now a vampire (which, frankly, had a far greater potential for success than the former) and all because he felt better sharing shit with someone else.  Not even important shit, just trivial nonsense that made him happy; it was kind of pathetic.  He knew without a doubt, though, that if he created someone he wouldn't leave them willingly.

"It's pretty fucked up that he did that to you," he told the female vampire sadly, his expression still sympathetic as his hands fell into the lee of his crossed legs and he started sifting sand through his fingers idly.  "I dunno' how he did it.  I mean, I get that he's an asshole and he was messed up at the time but I really don't see why being pressured to help you made him run.  Maybe it was that it was your family and he'd been forced to surrender his?  He can be a bitch like that, making shit fair.  Still doesn't excuse it.  If you were mine, I'd never leave you - especially if we were fucking!" he smiled but the expression faded queerly and he cleared his throat a little awkwardly.  "So... what was it you saw in him in the first place?"

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Re: In The Depths
« Reply #16 on: February 22, 2012, 07:46:04 PM »
As suddenly as her anger had blossomed, it faded. She was being heard. She'd tried talking to William, but he could be dismissive of her and when she inevitably got defensive, things quickly spiraled out of control. But with Indie, things were different. When she'd first met him, she'd wondered what her sire saw in him, but she was beginning to understand why it might be appealing to have someone around who was so eager to empathize with your plights.

She unclasped her hands from around her knees and then scooted closer to the redhead, leaning her shoulder into his upper arm and tilting her head so she could watch him playing with the sand. Anna remained like that for a few quiet moments, thinking back to a time before she'd hated her sire.

She'd been eighteen or so when he'd settled on the mountainside just above the valley her village was in, and she'd been intrigued by the blonde, blue eyed man who labored only at night to build his cabin. It'd been the sound of hammering that had drawn her out of her bed, and she'd watched him unseen (or so she thought) for nearly a week before he spoke to her through the shrubbery she'd been hiding behind. She'd fled, but the very next night, she returned to watch him again, though from a spot in the open. "I am not certain," she finally answered, shrugging the shoulder not pressed against Indie. "He was not the first white man I encountered, but he was... different. He could lift things he shouldn't have been able to on his own. Hear and see things no man should have. I was curious about him."

She smiled suddenly, as something else occurred to her, "And my mother did not like him." She'd repeatedly warned her away from the man, speaking of bad omens that had appeared when William did, but it'd only encouraged her to spend more time with him. "Rightly so, it seems," she commented, her smile becoming wry.

"What about you?" she asked, wondering how he came to not only call William a friend, but to share a home with him.

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: In The Depths
« Reply #17 on: February 22, 2012, 08:23:09 PM »
He was surprised when she moved closer, after having closed herself off pysically and moved away, but it was nice, so he wrapped the arm she was leaning on around her, resting his hand on her hip as he smiled down at her.  "I met him in Risk.  Told him I was looking for a roommate so he checked the place out and basically never left," he chuckled, giving a shrug with the shoulder farthest from her.  "We've lived together almost three years now.  We're, uh... pretty close," he murmured, again giving a shrug but his gaze lowered to watch his free hand still playing with the sand between his legs.

It wouldn't feel right to tell her how her sire had promised not to leave him, how safe he felt with Will when the blonde had been completely the opposite kind of person to his fledgling, the one he should've cared about most.

"He's good company - he likes doing the stuff I do - throwing myself off shit and out of shit, riding fast and climbing high," he enthused, his grin returning now that he was touching on less troublesome topics.  "I can't believe you've never ridden before - you're a natural.  The way you move, it's smooth as silk... maybe it's 'cos you're a vampire - I have to admit: I don't ride with many of them - but if it's not it seems like you were born to ride," he complimented, finding it cosy to look down at her nestled in the crook of his arm with the sea winds blasting at them and the moon shining down from behind scudding clouds.

Saccharin

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Re: In The Depths
« Reply #18 on: February 24, 2012, 06:59:35 PM »
Anna's mouth twisted like she'd taken a bite out of a particularly sour Granny Smith apple. So Indie had spent more time with William than she had, given that he'd abandoned her a year after they'd met. Three years to her one. What made Indie so special? Why was he worth keeping around when she hadn't been? And why would William choose to keep company with a completely random vampire he met at a club over seeking out his own blood?

Given the flavor of her thoughts, it was natural some of her bitterness slipped into her response to Indie. "I learn quickly when I have someone around to teach me." Or more accurately; someone to model herself after. She'd watched what Indie did as they rode, and based on that, started to anticipate what response she should have. It'd only taken a few curves for her to get the hang of things. "Maybe I should put one on my... what did you call it? Wish list?"

She imagined the cost of all her clothes combined was a fraction of what a motorcycle would be, but something in her wanted to see if William would get it for her anyway.

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: In The Depths
« Reply #19 on: February 24, 2012, 07:34:44 PM »
He gazed down at her thoughtfully.  "What?  A motorcycle... or a sire to teach you things?" he asked carefully.

Saccharin

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Re: In The Depths
« Reply #20 on: February 24, 2012, 07:45:59 PM »
"A motorcycle," she answered, understanding why there might've been some confusion with the way she'd phrased herself. "William has taught me some since I came to the city. Before he took me shopping, I learned how to make a... protection in my head. To keep people out?" she said, tapping at her forehead.

"It makes me angry when I think about how many other things I could already know," she admitted, "but he is trying to make it up a little, I think." She twisted herself so she could look up at Indie. "You agree?"

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: In The Depths
« Reply #21 on: February 24, 2012, 08:12:19 PM »
Indie snorted indelicately.  "With Will?  You're kidding yourself, sweetheart.  Yes, he's definitely trying to make it up to you, but even if you'd spent the last - what is it? Two hundred years? - with him, you wouldn't have learned anything else," he told her derisively.  "I know more than he does, all he ever does is block.  He freaked out at me the one time I tried to communicate mentally with him - he's a pussy.  I could teach you more!" the redhead boasted.

Saccharin

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Re: In The Depths
« Reply #22 on: February 24, 2012, 08:18:57 PM »
Anna regarded him speculatively. "Like what?"

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: In The Depths
« Reply #23 on: February 24, 2012, 08:28:39 PM »
He had the grace to look a little bit shifty, knowing that he might have oversold himself just a tad.  "Well... I can't do a lot," he admitted, "just the usual mind reading stuff.  Some Domination to get them to do what I want.  I can plant suggestions to make people change their minds and think it's their idea, though!  And lately I've done some playing with memories - taking them and changing them," he told her proudly, grinning before he dropped his head and waggled it from side to side sheepishly.  "Not very successfully yet, though.  That shit's hard!"

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Re: In The Depths
« Reply #24 on: February 24, 2012, 08:45:21 PM »
If Indie was right, then it was still more than what William could do. She moved aside Indie's arm and then shuffled over to kneel in front of him, flattening her hands on her upper thighs and looking at him intently.

"You could teach me what you know, and then we could practice new things together," she said enthusiastically, her eyes bright in the moonlight. "I can only watch their thoughts, sometimes make them think of the things I want them to think about, but I want to be able to do what you can too."

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: In The Depths
« Reply #25 on: February 24, 2012, 09:02:28 PM »
He frowned at her offer, pulling his chin in against his chest and looking up at her from beneath his brows as he gave it some serious thought.  He hadn't intended to go down that path, he'd just been showing off and doing his best to make nice with her (which was nowhere near as hard as Will had made it out to be).  Now that she mentioned it, though... it could be kind of nice to train together.  He was lazy and forgetful as hell, it always seemed twice the work it should be whenever he tried to teach himself something new, maybe if he worked with Anna, it would get easier for him, too?

"So... what?  You'd come over to our place and we'd practise on each other or, like, meet up in the city or at Risk or somewhere?" he queried slowly, trying to envision how it might work.  And how Will would feel about he and Anna having training dates - that was what had prompted him to offer her coming to their place, though.  Will could teach her to block and then they could practise with each other.  Cosy.  Yeah... he really didn't want to think about what Will would think of this little arrangement just yet.

Saccharin

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Re: In The Depths
« Reply #26 on: February 25, 2012, 03:09:51 PM »
"Yes," she agreed, nodding and smiling. "You could come to my cabin, but you are very tall and it is... not. So I will come over to your home to practice, and we can meet in the city when we need humans." Anna had skipped right past discussing whether or not there would be lessons - she was discussing the terms of their arrangement. It was presumptuous, but that was how she worked.

"It will be fun," she declared, her hands straying from her lap to Indie's knees. She squeezed and released them, her smile widening into a grin. Given that she'd lived in a time before orthodontists, her teeth were impressively straight and white (though if anyone took the time to really inspect them, they'd notice her mouth was a bit overcrowded, given that her two front teeth overlapped slightly).

"We can start tomorrow night," she went on to say, wanting lessons to begin as soon as possible but realizing they didn't have much night left to them.

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: In The Depths
« Reply #27 on: February 25, 2012, 03:27:09 PM »
He blinked at her, surprised at how fast she worked.  She really was eager to learn and he was feeling an enormous pressure he wasn't used to, to perform.  He was far too lazy to bother half the time; he wasn't sure how well he'd do under pressure - especially attempting to work with someone who was basically the same age as him.  His sire had taught him for a twenty year period or so and then whenever they met up after that she showed him something new but he hadn't seen her in so long that he'd really been letting his skillset stagnate.  He could see that that time was over with, now he'd met Anna.

"Well," he hedged, his gaze roving over her beautiful face as he tried to figure out how to dampen her enthusiasm without killing it completely.  Randomly, he also started trying to imagine Will kissing her and was having even more difficulty with that.  "It should be okay, unless Will totally flips out about us hanging out.  If he does, we'll just have to wait a bit longer.  I'll talk to him about it when I get home and text you his verdict, if you like?" he offered, angling his long body in such a way that he could extract his iPhone from his jeans pocket.  He swiped it and got it to the 'Contacts' section while he waited for her to give him her number.

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Re: In The Depths
« Reply #28 on: February 25, 2012, 07:11:56 PM »
Her face had grown cloudy at the mention of needing William's permission before they started, but it cleared when Indie's face became illuminated by the backlight of his phone. Anna moved over to crouch next to him, resting her forearms just above her knees, and peered over Indie's arm at the device. She reached out before she could stop herself to press her finger to its surface.

She wasn't unaware of the existence of phones nor their ability to connect people to others thousands of miles away, but she'd never been able to successfully use one. When they'd first started appearing in the pockets of her victims, she'd been baffled enough by their keypads and tiny words she couldn't read, but devices like what Indie had totally confounded her. Now, though, she knew she needed to run her finger over the bottom portion of the screen after hitting the circular button, not jab at it repeatedly and then throw the thing in frustration when it didn't respond.

"Text me?" she repeated, retracting her hand and sitting back on her haunches to look at Indie questioningly. "I do not have a phone. We will have to meet somewhere."

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: In The Depths
« Reply #29 on: February 25, 2012, 07:29:38 PM »
He looked at her silently, thinking that she was a lot like a child with her fascination for poking at his phone and it made him wonder just what sort of experience she'd had with technology.  "Shit," he swore, frustrated by the inconvenience of not being able to call her and keep her at a distance, away from Will.  He didn't think his friend was going to be happy he'd ended his night with Anna tonight and planned to hang out with her again so soon, but he'd just have to show he still had some balls and go ahead with it.

"Yeah, alright, I'll come to your place, then.  I'll take you back there now, so I know where to go," he told her, pocketing the phone again and reaching for his boots and socks.  The phone had told him it was after three in the morning, and since the ride back to the city would still take them half an hour (he needed to stop to refuel) at least, they didn't have the luxury of hanging about on the beach any longer.  He had a good idea where she might be found since she'd got her panties in such a twist at their abseiling spot, but it didn't hurt to be sure.

"It's getting late, you're easy to spend time with," he told her with a rueful smile, swiping sand off his foot and carefully pulling a sock then a boot on.  Much easier than Will made you out to be, he thought to himself but was careful not to say.  He had had a surprisingly easy-going time with her, getting to know more about Will from another perspective and also get a history lesson at the same time.  It hadn't been the end to his night he'd anticipated, but he wasn't sorry.

She merely smiled as they both got their footwear on and headed back to the bike.  He did his best to keep the ride back to the city to a modest speed, but the approaching dawn (and empty roads) spurred him on.  By the time he stopped at a fuel station, Anna had done quite a bit of fondling - of his ass, this time - and had the most gorgeous devilish smile upon her beautiful face when he hopped nimbly out of her reach in order to re-fuel his bike.  The process interested her (she honestly seemed to be taking mental notes in order to know what she had to do when she got her own) enough that she became distracted and the ride back to her place was sedate enough that she managed to keep her hands above his belt this time.

Stopped out the front of her odd little cabin, he demurred going in since it was heading for four and told her he'd see her the next night.  As she went to turn away from him, he snatched her back with a quick arm about her waist, though, and pulled her close.  He was mildly surprised at the way she acceded and leaned against him, but he stuck with a nuzzling kiss upon her cheek and a deliberate pat and squeeze of her bum - to pay her back.  The fire in her eyes when he pulled back - grinning, because he thought it was quite funny to slide from her ass cheek and finish his manoeuvre with a deliberate slide along the crease of her jeans (from deep between her thighs to the waistband) - was almost scary, though, so he left very soon after.

He couldn't help but think, as he made his way along the bush track away from her home and headed for his, that he almost pitied the next red-blooded, heterosexual man she ran into.  Almost.