A visitor comes a calling.

[Idrial]

Too old? Shae's appearance seemed to be close to Sam's age as a mortal. Maria looked older than Shae and she was a thin blooded vampire. There was more to Shae and Kiel that meets the eye. Raising an eyebrow at Shae in response, swim in the nude? Sam smiled and shook her head a little in reply. Not like Sam could tan naked anymore, she would be a pile of ash.

Sam was a few steps behind Shae as she took in the view leading up to the guest room. So much beauty and yet no one to admire it. Other than Shae and Kiel it seemed a little lonely here, she hoped her visit would rejuvenate Shae in some way. The way Shae's oasis had tickled her heart pink with memories of the country side.

When Shae opened the glass doors Sam poked her head inside and gasped. It was such a pretty guest room, walking to the center of the room. Her eyes gleaming with delight at the new surroundings.

"I'll grab my stuff I should be able to find my way back. Again thank you for having me." Sam was excited and took off like a bat out of hell. Making her way back to her truck she grabbed duffel bag. She found the guest room with ease and put her bag on the bed before returning to the kitchen.

"Now Shae what foods do you not like?" She asked with a smile. Sam could make a lot of things thanks to her Baba when she was alive. Being a vampire however it was a nice treat to cook again.

[Seragil]

Shae watched Sam take in the room and was pleased to see her open admiration and pleasure in it. As Sam left to get her things Shae exited the way she came in; making her way back through the oasis and formal dining room. The house was so empty really, maybe she should raise the question with Kiel again about hiring some live in servants, people of their world. Ordinary humans just wouldn’t do, but Kiel was so damn secretive he hated the idea of strangers in his personal space. Still as much as she loved Kiel it was her house maybe it was time she put her foot down.

Back at the kitchen she opened a bottle of chardonnay, pouring herself a glass and wondered if Sam could drink one when the apparently young vampire walked back in.

“ Umm there isn’t much I don’t like to be honest” she replied with a small playful smile. “Cook what you love.” She said as she raised her glass slightly “can you drink? Would you like a glass?”

[Idrial]

"Ukrainian it is!" Sam exclaimed a little loudly as she started to pull food out of the grocery bags. Cabbage rolls, perogies and a dessert called kutia she would make for Shae and Kiel. Recipes she knew fairly well and she had the ingredients to make it all here. She may have gone over board with the groceries just a little.

"Also yes and no to your question," she smiled tenderly. "I can drink but only if your blood absorbs the alcohol first. If I drink it out of a glass I'll throw it up. My body rejects it as poison." She missed a good glass of chardonnay.

She opened the first drawer in front of her while she stood at the island in the kitchen. She giggled a little and held up a knife, "First try. And don't tell me where anything is either. Part of the fun is looking for it." She gave Shae a mischievous grin.

"May I ask?" As she started to peel and chop potatoes for the perogies. "Your library. Is that a collection of just your books or Kiels too?" Her library was massive and she loved books even more now as a vampire. Access to knowledge that would never touch a mortals finger tips.

[Seragil]

Shae took a small sip from her glass as she watched Sam start to pull items out of her grocery bags, her description of what she was preparing sounded delicious and Ukrainian was not something she was use to, but at her response to her question she put her glass gently on the counter and leaned forward slightly.

“So your saying you are affected by what is in someone’s blood? What of drugs or disease, illness.?” She asked with fascination. This information could be crucial. If vampires could be affected by what was in the blood they ingested, not that she planned on drugging her guest, but Sam wasn’t the whole vampire species and knowledge was power, always.

“The library?” She asked in response to Sams question. “ Yes, no and yes” she answered with a broad smile.” We have several. The one one the lower floor is a general one, although I say general it holds many of Kiels and my rare first editions. We also have our private libraries”

[Idrial]

Shae's broad smile matched her delicate motions to place her wine glass on the counter. So they did have their own private sanctuaries. Away from prying eyes, this did not surprise Sam and it was also a valuable information. It was a good indication those books had supernatural sources and not written by mortal hands.

Sam could hear the fascination in Shae's and her questions amused her greatly. As she finished cutting the potatoes it was now time to boil them. She needed a pot and stepped away from the island. Opening drawers and cupboards while answering Shae's question.

"Disease and illness we can not be affected by them. Nor can we carry them or pass them along. We are somewhat dead after all. But drugs is a more tricky matter." Finally finding a suitable pot down near the stove.

"Alcohol and certain psychoactive drugs we can feel the effects but only after it has entered your bloodstream." Filling the pot with water and placing it on the stove.

"However, if you wanted to try and drug a vampire into submission it would be extremely unwise." Placing the potatoes in the pot with a solid plop in the water.

"You would have to drug yourself before we drink from you. And that seems quite counter productive. Don't you think?" Returning to the island with Shae. Sam was sure many had tried and failed. And she was sure Shae was not the first to ask a vampire that same question.

[Seragil]

Shae smiled contentedly as she watched Sam bustle around the kitchen, she thought about offering to help as it looked kind of fun but knowing herself to be completely useless in that area she figured she would only get in the way so she quickly squished the sudden desire and so took another sip of her wine and continued to watch and listen to Sam

“Ahh,” she said with amusement at Sam’s reasonable and understandable reasoning of the cons of the idea behind Shae’s original question. “You are not thinking Machiavellian enough Sam, or should I say Kiel like enough, nor strategically enough. If I were to try this on a vampire, I wouldn’t be offering my own blood but that of another. A gift, a Trojan horse, someone who means little but can accomplish a lot.” She said with a small shrug of her shoulder as she traced the tip of her finger around the rim of her nearly empty glass.

“Could it be done do you think? I mean surely this idea has presented itself before.” She clicked her nails against the base of the glass as she thought the idea through.

“I would guess it would have to be a very strong dose, perhaps even a lethal dose, or do drugs and alcohol effect your kind more?” She asked as she lifted her gaze and looked at Sam.

“And please if this is making you uncomfortable we can drop the subject, it is only hypothetical after all, deceiving then drugging someone in the hopes I could entice a vampire to drink from them is a little…dark…even for me, and we will NOT be bringing this topic up with Kiel” she said with a large smile and a theatric shiver.

[Idrial]

Sam gave a little giggle, "No it does not bother me. I have had the same conversations with my own Sire." She looked back at the pot still not boiling yet. Returning her attention to Shae.

"And I may not be thinking like Kiel and that's exactly the point. Why would I take a gift of blood from a stranger? Vampires would have their own people or places to get blood. Not only that the only vampires you could target are fledglings."

Sam crossed her arms across her chest in an inviting way. "Older vampires have much greater senses, they could probably sense within the first sip something was up." A small smile returning to Shae's own.

"And as for drugs or alcohol effecting us more I can't say for sure. We can't drink, or ingest it normally. But you can still smoke. I guess if you have a tolerance you might be harder to drug." Enjoying her conversation even if it did seem quite dark.

"So yes you could do it but the risk and the effort out weighs the reward by a long shot. And dont worry Kiel will have to somewhat work a little more for my information. I'm sure he will have other questions." Giving Shae a reassuring look then a little wink.

Kiel was a Dark Angel but somehow different just like Shae. But still with Kiel was had to be cautious when around. Although she did enjoy his teasing just a little.

[Seragil]

“Ergh!” Shae exclaimed as she raised her hand signaling, she at least had had enough of their current topic for conversation. “Enough, I didn’t think such a ploy would work anyway and this topic is … wrong” She said as she raised her glass to her lips and finished the last bit of wine in it before placing the now empty glass on the bench-top.

“Where did you learn to cook? Forgive me I can’t recall whether you told me this already or not” she said as she moved around the island counter and peered into the pot of boiling potatoes. “Do they have to cook for a certain amount time, like an egg? How do you know when they are ready?” she asked with interest.

Never having cooked before culinary art and knowledge was the one thing she was severely lacking in.

[Idrial]

"I agree the topic is unsettling. Unfortunately, we live in a world where one does not need a motive to commit extreme violence against strangers anymore."A frustrating truth as she watched Shae drain the last drop of tasty looking chardonnay.

"My Baba taught me. Its grandmother in Ukrainian." She moved over to Shae as she stared at the pot, a hunger for knowledge in her eyes.

"Yes kinda like an egg. This will be the filling for the perogies. I'll be adding cheese once the potatoes are done. Would you like to help me make the dough part?" Once they had the dough done she could start soaking the buck wheat for the kutia.

[Seragil]

Shae looked down at her self and the gown she wore and thought about getting covered in flour and other stuff that would be required to make a dough and smiled broadly at Sam.

“How about I get another glass of wine, ask questions and watch this time? However, I think I would like to learn to “mess about” in the kitchen. Maybe tomorrow we can make breakfast or something together?” she asked with a smile, yet she couldn’t help but think what kind of life Sam must live for with her last comment it sounded like it held a lot of danger and violence. Not that her life was all puppies and rainbows, befriending and living with a dark angel ensured it wasn’t but she tried to curb Saraekiels chaotic nature when she could and she certainly didn’t attack random people or innocents just for the fun of it either.

“How long have you been a vampire?” she asked as she went and pulled the bottle of wine off the rack in the cooling fridge and started refilling her glass as she continued talking. “I mean how long ago was it that you spent time with your grandmother?”

[Idrial]

"Sure we can make whatever you like I know a few good recipes." It warmed Sam's heart that Shae took an interest. Being a vampire had its draw backs, she loved to cook but had no one to cook for regularly. When Maria was in town Sam could cook for her but, even being a thin blood still had its challanges.

As Shae grabbed another glass Sam checked the potatoes. The water was boiling. She grabbed a fork after opening a few drawers, poking the potatoes. They were still hard and needed more time.

"My Baba passed when I was young. I was fourteen or fifteen?" Pausing in an unsure tone. Was it that long ago? "But my father was the youngest of six children so Baba was older when I came around." A faint smile crossed her lips as she mentioned her father.

"As for being a vampire I am quite young in my clan. I would be a fledging right now. Then it goes neonate, ancilla and then elder." Sam was a long way from being a neonate, holding the title ancilla was even farther away. 

[Seragil]

“Fourteen? How old are you know if you don’t mind me asking” asked Shae as she settled back in her seat. She was being nosy but the vampire intrigued her as she had never really had much contact with any before. Vampires made her uneasy, unlike Kiel she had known that vampires ran the city and that they tended to be more power hungry even than her winged friend. She had no intentions of becoming an interest to them. Still she liked Sam and surely knowing one vampire and an apparently young one at that couldn’t get her into any trouble.

“Did you live with her, wait…clan? There are vampire clans?” Shit! Did Kiel know this, she hadn’t. She knew they had hierarchies but not actual clans. Shit…was Sam’s clan going to come knock on her door?
“Ummm Sam dear, how, how big is your clan” Shae asked, her voice a little breathy.

[Idrial]

"Well in human years I was twenty four when I was sired. So in vampire years I'm a little older than three years," not getting into the details of her embrace.

It had been a long three years, yet Jake and Sam started to get along. It was still awkward however their interactions were improving day by day. But with Oligarchy falling uncertainty was on the horizon. Yes Jake owned the Metropolis as his district but what of the future.

Shae's exclamation brought her back. Sam did not mean to laugh at first. Shae's calm composure in a now raggedy breath. She waved a hand at Shae still half laughing. It was clear she was not use too vampire company.

"Calm down Shae no one is coming for you," composing herself a little better. "I am sorry the look on your face was too much." Smiling gently at Shae.

"Yes we have clans and the Venture is quite big. But here my clan has broken off from the main group. However, we still have many allies in other clans." All true information without getting into the particulars.

[Seragil]

Kiel was an idiot if he wanted to take on the vampires, Shae thought to herself as she calmed her breathing and tried to smile back at the amused Sam. True Shae and Saraekiel were powerful in their own right but the vampires had the numbers as well as the strength, it would be suicide. Nope it wasn’t going to happen, if Kiel wanted to take them on he was on his own.

“ Ummm that’s good I suppose” she smiled weakly back at Sam “ Do, do vampires mingle with other creatures much? Or do they tend to err stick to their own kind?”
How much longer can we pass without notice? how much attention can we expect? Shae couldn’t help but feel a little bewildered and slightly overwhelmed, sure she was all for getting more power but she really wasn’t sold on the idea if it meant taking on the vampires.

“Sam, do you know what is happening with the power structure of the city now that the Oligarchy is disbanded? I hear it is like a small gang war out there with different groups fighting over the scraps.” Kiel wants some of those scraps, she thought to herself as she lifted her glass and took a gulp of wine, and what of the other creatures, what about us? Who stands for us within this new power structure?

[Idrial]

"I try to mingle with others but my clan can be very distrusting. However, I'm not like the others in my clan." Sam wasn't even chosen for her clan, Jake had saved her and still cared for her all the same. When Shae asked about the political structure, now she had to think. Furrowing her eyes to a slat, she new a little about the struggle after Kerr was declared missing in action.

"The Oligarchy has disbanded," walking over to the potatoes. Poking them with a fork they were done. She turned off the stove.

"Many of those who help positions of power have now taken claim to their districts. My Sire controls the Metropolis district now." Reminded of how they had to move when the Oligarchy fell all in one night.

"However I hear there are districts that are not controlled vampires. And they have a place for each species to go too." Amused that Shae was so unfamiliar with vampires.

"Its wasn't like a gang war it was quite civil. Everyone claimed their own districts and not much was said in the end. I think a few places are still unclaimed." She gave Shae a small shrug. Rumors would have been spread and confusion would always follow.