Electric Feel

[Maxpphire]

He had walked into the Library with a smile, holding some books and a couple of tapes, one of his more favorite places to be. He had set down his stack at the front counter to turn them in, made some simple small talk with the Librarian before he went off to his usual corner of the Library. The one specifically for the sight impaired. He would feel the binding on the books one by one, he seemed to be looking for something. His blond hair was in a loose and low ponytail, and while looking at some of the books on the lower shelves some of the shorter strands had escaped and moved in front of his face. He gingerly just moved those strands to behind his ears.

Once he seemed to pick out a couple of books, he moved to the Audio Books. He sat down on the floor in front of the shelf as he would pick up CD's or Cassettes and open them up to feel the inside cover of them, where the Braille titles existed. He didn't exactly seem hard of seeing at all, he didn't have a cane, a dog, or anything to guide him. He also seemed to know where he removed the CD or Cassette from and would put it back in the same spot without having to count how many it was inwards. The same went with the books. He was clearly feeling the titles, but it seemed as if he could see. He quietly hummed to himself as he was searching through the audio section. He was having a pretty good day today.

Not like many people where over by the visually impaired section anyway, but any who was tend to keep their distance from Dreki. The look in his deep blue with specks of light gray eyes had these very intense kind of piercing stare to them, almost as if he could see deep into other's souls without having to try too hard. It was either the look his eyes gave off or the fact that he smelled of more than just mortal, caused others to leave him be most of the time, however it was known to draw a couple of people from him from time to time. Given that he was a bit of an introvert he didn't mind the fact that others mostly avoided him, but was always polite to those who did approach him.

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel Taylor had slunk back into the city a couple of weeks before, single and ashamed. He hadn't decided on a permanent address yet - or even if he was going to stay - so he'd been residing in a modest hotel overlooking Pisky Memorial Park. He walked to the library every night, finding its very aroma a balm to his troubled soul. He always began his night catching up on the latest news in the Eternal Chronicle - the supernatural newspaper - and then spent the rest of the night reading (restlessly) and thinking.

When he'd left the city nineteen months before, it had been with Vomas, in a haze of love. It'd taken a few months for him to figure out Vomas had hoodwinked the citizens of the city, stealing the Oligarchy's money and deciding to use it for his own business. The acting Luminary had had a myriad of reasons, of course - the Oligarchy was no more, the money would be put to better use with him, he'd pay it back once his hotel started profiting - but none of them had sat right.

Broken, Vomas had eventually confessed the truth to Samuel. He'd overspent and the business wouldn't get a chance to recoup any of the money. Sam had been stunned. And ashamed. His Southern sensibilities didn't compare to his lover's; he knew the embezzling was wrong and he couldn't get past it. They couldn't get past it and the relationship had disintegrated four months in. He'd tried to make a life nearby, knowing the Oligarchy was gone in the city, trying to find a place where he belonged again. It was humiliating to realise he'd surrendered so much of himself that he'd lost sight of who he was.

He'd heard rumours about the districts here, about the strife. It hadn't appealed but then he'd got hold of an Eternal Chronicle that told him something miraculous. Kerr Galvin wasn't dead and he was back! Samuel's unbeating heart dared to hope that he might find a place in the city again, believing the ex-Luminary would resume something akin to his former duties. Surely he'd need a lead researcher/librarian/chronicler? He'd returned to the city almost immediately but, so far, nothing else newsworthy (except a mildly interesting trial involving the trophy wife) had arisen. Sam had read all the back articles multiple times but none of them gave him a clue about where and how to kickstart his life again.

It was intensely frustrating.

Tonight, however, as he walked through the library from the digital archive section towards the place he usually liked to curl up and read, something different struck him. A fragrance that promised some respite from his tangled emotions. On a whim, Samuel followed his nose (literally) and found himself in the sight impaired section. There was only one other person there, a lanky blonde sitting in front of a shelf, examining CD cases. Sam loitered, watching the guy's fingers do the reading while he hummed a catchy tune.

Gene.

He smelt like another of Samuel's past crushes, sweet and delicious, though he didn't have the ethereal looks to go with it. Mind, Samuel couldn't tell properly, from only seeing his downturned profile. He leant on his shoulder against the bookcase, crossing one sneakered foot over the other - kicking the leg of his jeans away when it momentarily got caught awkwardly - as he considered how to bring attention to himself. He shoved both hands in the front pocket of his black hoodie while lame openers ran through his head. He wasn't looked at, despite the ruffles of his clothing not being silent. The guy seemed blind but... he also seemed to be looking at things purposefully. It was strange. As Sam gazed at him, he tucked a few wispy strands of hair behind his ear, the gesture endearing and causing the vampire to smile.

"Hey, what's that tune y'all are humming?" he drawled, his accent making him sound far more casual than his roused interest actually made him inside.

[Maxpphire]

He noticed the vampire approach him and could tell by his aura that he was indeed a vampire as it was a similar feeling that Drew had given off but of course different in it's own personal way. He paid no mind until the vampire spoke to him, he stopped humming and looked up at the Vampire, their eyes meeting, much as if he wasn't blind. He smiled with an inviting warmth, and had put back the most recent thing he removed from the shelf without even looking at the shelf itself, but putting it back in the same spot he removed it from without much effort.

"It's a song from Foster the People, it's called 'Sit next to me' from one of their newer albums." He explained in a slightly quiet tone, they were in a Library after all. He had an interesting thought and wondered if the vampire would take that as an invite to do just that. He debated on whether or not he should introduce himself quite right away or if he should stand up or something. He felt his heart beat a little quicker as a sense of nerves seemed to wash over him and make him a little anxious. He wasn't always the best with one on one interactions with people he didn't really know, he was better at handling a crowds, making him a pretty decent teacher as he usually dealt with his students as a crowd first then once he got to understand them a bit better, one on one interactions took naturally at that point. He was mentally overthinking things but kept a cool exterior trying to hide his mild nervousness as much as possible.

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel grinned when he heard the title of the song. It gave him the perfect opening and the sweet-smelling mortal’s actions were intriguing enough that he wanted to know more - the way he’d looked at him had felt intense, yet he read with his fingers? He was the first person to pique Samuel’s curiosity in a long time.

“Don’t mind if I do,” he announced and dropped fluidly into a cross-legged position on the boy’s right, his back to the shelf so that he could face his new interest. He had a lovely, delicate face - almost pretty - now that Sam could see it all; striking eyes with effects in them his vampiric gaze exulted in examining, the cutest nose, creamy skin and truly kissable lips. Mainly, it was his scent and that cultured hum that had garnered Sam’s attention but the guy wasn’t lacking in the looks department.

Sam pulled his hands out of his hoodie pocket and shuffled so that he was slightly turned towards his interest, settling his right shoulder blade against the shelf behind him. His knee was very close to the mortal’s - though he was careful not to be too forward and press his leg against him - and Sam was highly aware of the heat coming off him. Delicious. His cool hands dropped back into his own lap once he was comfortable.

“So... you sing, right?” he smiled at the mortal, his gaze roving over this new and delightful face. “Because I may not know that song or that band but even I can tell you were doing a good job.” The song had been joyful because it was in such a high key, filled with jaunty little runs that showed the mortal’s skill off as he hummed up and down the scale so effortlessly. Samuel was impressed and it could be heard in his voice as he referenced the other man’s musicality.

[Maxpphire]

He softly chuckled at Sam's response to what song he was humming and him sitting down, it was quite the sly move and Dreki appreciated it. He payed attention to how Sam got comfortable, noticed that Sam's knee was close to touching his leg. Dreki wasn't the best at reading body language, given how he was fully blind for the first 18 years of his life, and this past 10 years he's only been able to see basic outlines of things and people, but he had a feeling that this new found friend in the library was at the least interested in getting to know him. The question helped confirm that for him. The smile after his laugh didn't fade from his face, but turned into a more calm and warm smile.

"That I can, I also own and can play a few instruments," he added on, "I suppose my hobby helps with the fact that I teach music at the local mortal high school." He choose his words carefully, in a way, letting Sam know that he knew what Sam was without saying it out loud. Or at the very least, hinting that he was already in the know. Also pointing out that Music was both a Hobby and a Job for him, that it was something he at the very least knew a lot of. He leaned a little bit closer, clearly not minding the company. He rested his hands on the legs while they talked, the leg that was close to Sam's knee, well he put his hand on the part of his leg that was closest to Sam's knee, almost as if an invitation.

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel expelled breath in a puff of a laugh, impressed by the mortal's ingenuity in letting him know that he understood the difference between mortals and supernaturals. He clearly recognised that he and Sam were on the same team, so to speak, though Samuel had no idea what made the other's blood smell so sweet. He glanced around, instinctively gauging who was in their vicinity and might overhear him if he spoke openly on the topic. There were folks milling about all over the place, moving randomly from one part of the library to the next, depending on their interests. He decided it was too risky and looked back at the blond.

"A few instruments?" Samuel repeated admiringly. "Man, my parents tried to make me learn the piano as a kid and I had two left hands, it felt like. Go on, tell me, how many instruments is 'a few'?" he chided playfully, touching the mortal's hand briefly in encouragement. He was nice and warm, his skin as soft as it looked. Sam decided he should not get overly familiar too quickly and pulled his hand back to his own lap again.

[Maxpphire]

"Well, there are 7 of them I can pick up on by ear, wouldn't mind learning more but I'm just not sure what to pick up at this point. Piano was my first and I still feel like I'm learning new things with it." He smiled as he spoke, enjoying the company that Sam gave. He felt the cool hand brush up against his, and his smile curled a bit more on the edges. It did give him a curious thought however. Were vampires always that cool to the touch? He didn't quite remember Drew feeling as cold, but he was also fairly drunk that night as well so maybe he just didn't pay attention.

"So what do you do as your hobbies? I feel like I've already talked plenty about mine." He asked in attempts to get to know his new found friend a bit more. He didn't mind to continuing about talking about his but at the same time, he didn't want to be rude and take up all the conversation either. While he did have more hobbies than just music, he figured he would talk about those in due time, just letting the conversation carry itself in whatever way Sam decides to take it after his question.

[Existentially Odd]

"Seven? And you want to learn more?!" Samuel laughed, taken aback that the number the mortal named was so high. He'd expected two or three, seven exceeded his expectations, especially since there was still the lingering question about whether the guy was truly blind or not - as he thought it, the other's words about picking instruments up by ear made sense. He couldn't read sheet music, he had to learn everything by listening to it. Damn. This guy was impressive. Did he teach reading sheet music, though? How did his vision impairment affect his teaching otherwise?

He was diverted from his thoughts with a gentle nudge about his own. "I could listen to you talk all night about yours," he demurred, "mine are nowhere near as interesting. I like to research. Supernaturals, powers, magical artefacts, histories... it's pretty boring to most folks that like living in the here and now, but I find it fascinating. I come here every night to read. I'm between jobs at the moment so I have plenty of time to indulge my interests. I guess you could say it was them that drew me to you," he hinted, glancing past the mortal at the other library patrons around them. No-one had reacted to his hobby descriptions but that didn't mean no-one was listening to him. His time at the Oligarchy had maybe made him paranoid but he preferred being careful. He resisted the urge to ask his companion about his species, though the desire to know more was evident in his voice.

"I'm Samuel, by the way," he introduced himself. He didn't hold his hand out for shaking because talking to this man wasn't a business venture and he'd have felt awkward being so formal when they were just having a casual chat (nice as it would be to get his hand on that warmth for real).

[Maxpphire]

"Oh no worries, learning new things is anything but boring. It's part of the reason why I want to learn a new instrument, also part of the reason why I am here grabbing hopefully a months worth of things that I haven't read yet. I also teach about Myths and truths of the supernatrual and of the like at the Kerr Galvin Academy, so if anything I'm pretty sure thats just a hobby in common between us." He said having caught on to what Sam said about his hobbies having drawn him to Dreki. He caught onto the fact that Sam was a vampire so it only made sense that Sam likely caught on to the fact that Dreki was a little more than human.

"I'm Dreki" He said and did actually reach out his hand for a handshake, it was his left hand implicating his lefthandedness, but also the burn scar that covered his entire palm. He also noticed little nuances in Sam's head movement to suggest he was maybe looking behind him.

"Do you wish to head elsewhere?" He asked, wondering if it would be a smart idea to invite Sam to his place for some privacy, much like Drew had done for him, or if they could go somewhere quiet in public where they didn't have to worry about any potential listeners.

[Existentially Odd]

“Dreki,” Samuel repeated, tasting the unusual name, letting it roll around his tongue until it felt like he’d remember it. He eyed the hand that was held out, grinning wryly as he reached his left hand across his body to connect with it.  He didn’t so much shake the man’s hand as hold it and explore it with his fingers, caressing its features and savouring its warmth until it seemed the right time to let it go. He didn’t want to seem weird.

When asked if he wished to go sone where, Samuel was embarrassed. It sounded like Dreki thought he wanted to get away, which definitely wasn’t the case! “Oh, no, no, I think we’ll be fine. I’m just wary of breaking all these new district rules is all and I’d hate for someone to overhear us. No-one’s paying us any extra mind, though. We should be fine, as long as we keep things quiet.”

To demonstrate, he shuffled closer to his companion, no longer maintaining a respectful distance because his leg was pressed alongside Dreki’s and the vampire leant into his space conspiratorially. His face was mere inches away from the blond’s. “There. This’ll be just between the two of us,” he murmured, taken by Dreki’s scent as it flowed in and out of him with his breath. “I gather you have partial vision?” he hazarded. It was only logical, since the other man had been aware of him looking around to the point where’d he’d asked if Sam wanted to leave.

Plus, there was the directness of that gaze.  Something other than full blindness had to be going on.

[Maxpphire]

He payed attention to how Samuel shook his hand, how it felt much more like how he would feel one's face rather than a normal handshake. He didn't mind it so much, but it brought himself to remember that he does have quite the scar on his left hand, so the fact that Samuel was gentle and seemed to explore his hand instead of a normal handshake seemed more appropriate to him. He wasn't quite aware that people who could see normally don't do that so it didn't bother him any, particularly since that was indeed his scarred hand.

He also understood the worry about the rules of the districts, as he was just learning about them himself. A semi-recent run-in with a certain detective had brought his attention to the rules of the districts and past that he went to learn more about the rules on his own in his spare time to have not accidentally cross them again. When Samuel moved closer, he matched a bit to meet him half way at least. Also the fact that Samuel had repeated his name after being told what it was, didn't surprise him. He knew he had a unique name, and it had to do with the naming schematic on his Mom's side of the family. Everyone's name had to do with a mythical creature or being of some sort without being too obvious about it.

"My sight, or rather how I see, is unique," He started with keeping his voice low and quiet so they couldn't be overheard, "I can only see the basic outlines of things, the closer the object is the more detail I can make out on it, but fine details or flat details are not something I can pick up. The two what I assume are colors that I can see contract eachother quite well but I wouldn't really be able to tell you what colors they are. An example being is that you're close enough that I can see the outlines of the opening of your eyes. Since eyes have that bump where the lens sits over the pupil, I can tell where someone is looking if they are close enough, you having darted your eyes around a bit was noticeable to me in that way. That being said I cannot see your eyelashes, your eyebrows, your face shape, and other details of your face beyond the opening to your eyes, mouth, nose, and since you are leaning this close, I can kind of see how your brow bone connects with the bridge of your nose. I cannot see that with everyone which leads me to believe that some people have flatter nose bridges." He explained in as much detail as he could. When it came to books he was still effectively blind as print on paper was a flat detail, hence why he was in the visually impaired section.

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel simply smiled through the whole speech, listening raptly. It was a fascinating description - and detailed, which he appreciated - and he tried hard to reverse their positions and imagine what life would be like for Dreki.

“Does light have an effect? If it’s brighter, is it easier for you to see some details?” he enquired. If so, being out at night might not be as preferable as day.

[Maxpphire]

"Light has no affect on me visually," He mentioned, "Much like colors I don't understand the difference between light and dark. Well I do, in a verbal sense. I can tell you the differences, but I've never experienced them. It's like how I can't tell you what two colors I see. I've been told that shining a flashlight on my eyes and it will constrict and dilate as a normal person's, so my eyes understand what it is better than I do."

After thinking for a moment he then mentioned. "The easiest way for me to see details is to feel them with my hands. Which is why I read Braille written books. I can't see printed type, I know how to write, but my handwriting is kind of garbage I've been told, given my inability to actually see where I am writing."

[Existentially Odd]

Sam chuckled, offended on Dreki's behalf that someone would bother telling him his handwriting was garbage - he was blind! What did they expect?

"You've been hanging out with the wrong type of folks if they feel it necessary to tell someone who can't see that their writing sucks. Seriously!" he scoffed, shaking his head as he shared his offence. Dreki didn't seem to mind, he was obviously a much nicer guy than Sam was. Since he was still lingering up close to him, Samuel had a good vantage point from which to look at those eyes. They were fascinating, peaks and troughs of multiple colours swirled together like a lollipop. The thought of such sweetness led him to think again about how sweet the man smelt. He decided he had to know.

Forgive the intrusion, he thought into Dreki's mind, hoping he wouldn't freak out from having a voice that wasn't his own in his head, but I was wondering... your blood's not like the usual mortal's... you smell delicious to me and I was hoping you could tell me why? As he asked his question, his hand moved sideways out of his lap and onto his knee, close enough that he could brush the backs of his fingers against the side of Dreki's, silently connecting to him physically in case his mental intrusion was too much. Not everybody reacted favourably to such impoliteness and Sam understood why. You can just think your answer, that way no-one will overhear us. But I'll hear you.

[Maxpphire]

He chuckled at Sam being offended at his handwriting issue. "It was old school teachers whom have told me as such, I didn't willingly hang out with any of them, my students sometimes ask about it but I try to do most things online now." He didn't want Sam to be too angry at something that doesn't matter way too much to him.

He wasn't quite expecting Sam to enter his mind, but he seemed quite used to having someone there. Mentally Dreki would seem almost locked away, as if he was hiding most of his mind away on purpose. It would also give a sense of loneliness and sadness most forthcoming out of whatever he has mentally hidden.

'I feel a bit lucky then, my usual invader doesn't give me much of a chance to speak back.' He offhandedly mentioned, in a way to let Sam know he was used to this, but also it gave a much more sinister peak into what he has been dealing with as of late without him actually having meant to mean it in such a way either. 'I'm a little more than just human, guess it's obvious to most other supernatural folk that I'm a little more than mortal. My DNA has been altered to include Angel DNA. He kept it a bit simple. Figured he would maybe let Sam more in the know if he really wanted to know. At this point he didn't think the benefits of being part angel was worth the negatives of dealing with the facility anymore. He honestly wanted out, but knew as long as they continued to hold Emma over his head, he won't be able to leave.