Company for the Journey

[pinkroses]

Russell let Pierre lead the way to the bar, looking a little happier but he was still twitchy, nervous and still craving the blood he needed badly. His fingers twisted together, clearly fidgety but trying to stop it. Russell was trying so hard not to mess this up. He had thought he had already several times, but Pierre was still here and so perhaps he wasn’t doing too badly.

“Do you want to get a table? Do you… they don’t do your drinks here do they?” he asked about to step towards the bar but wanting to offer Pierre something – he was a little dazed as to what he should be doing though. He could feel the rumble of hunger in the pit of his stomach, but at the same time he didn’t think he could face actually eating something.

[Saiketsu]

The vampire shrugged at the question. He was impartial to say the least and it's not like he was going to be eating anything anyway. "Nah, they don't. That's fine though - I wasn't planning on it anyway." The two had just walked (rather awkwardly) with little conversation for nearly three blocks, the city subway not reaching its underground fingers to exactly where he wanted to go so late at night. Russell had accompanied him willingly on the promise of their discussion of familiars - whatever that happened to be - but Pierre hoped that this would be nothing more than a simple conversation over dinner and a parting of ways. He really wasn't looking for even that much, but considering how persistent this kid had been, how impatient and desperate he was, Pierre saw really no other choice. Oh, and because he couldn't say get lost after being such an asshole to a complete and utter stranger.

"Why don't we take a booth?" Pierre suggested, looking around. For being after midnight, this place was considerably full of mortals and a handful of immortals, none of which he wanted overhearing their conversation if he could avoid it. If the human agreed, Pierre slid into one side of the booth and waited until either Russell said something - hopefully not another murmured thanks - or a waitress came by with two menus.

[pinkroses]

“Sure,” Russell said with a shrug, sitting opposite the vampire in the booth, his fingertips pressed against the table between them, gazing across at Pierre. He knew in the state he was in it was going to be all too easy to mess this up with the wrong look, the wrong word in the wrong place. There was so much pressure here and Russell didn’t know where to start.

“It sounds bad, and everyone thinks it was, but it didn’t start like that. It was… just sharing,” Russell said, his voice dropping off as the waitress appeared. Russell ordered a beer (although he wanted something stronger – he didn’t want hard alcohol clouding his head more than it already was – and then added a cheeseburger and fries to his order. Maybe when the food appeared he would want to eat.

“You’ve never heard of anything like this?” he said, turning his attention back to Pierre. He didn’t know how old the vampire was, but Pierre didn’t give the impression of being young.

[Saiketsu]

"Not really," Pierre said honestly, crossing his arms in front of him on the table where he leaned. "Not a successful attempt anyway. We tend to take too much and not want to give any back, at least with my lineage. My children are the only ones who have ever shared my blood, and that was during their death." Pierre paused, hoping he hadn't said too much already. He rubbed the back of his neck and changed the subject off of himself and his lineage smoothly, hoping Russell wouldn't mind too much that he veered away from personal things he didn't usually tell most humans.

"So, you just drank his blood?" Pierre asked with honest curiousity and a bit of disbelief. From what he understood about his own immortal blood, humans couldn't survive very long with it in their system - it was parasitic and would eat away at the human blood it comes into contact with. Sharing vampire blood with someone was sort of an unwritten prohibition in Lucretia's lineage, something that they all had followed and never questioned; the idea of a human digging their flat teeth into his neck gave him chills. Even fledging was closely watched and always regulated so there was no spilling or wasting of immortality.

Sharing blood with a human for sport was a bit or torture because of it all. Now he could see where Russell was coming from. This Dale guy had fucked him over good. Pierre wondered silently to himself whether the Oligarchy kept track of this as well, seeing as this situation - humans hunting vampires out of need for their blood - seemed to Pierre to be just as dangerous.

[pinkroses]

Russell gave a small nod at Pierre’s explanation of how his family normally shared blood – that was how it was for the majority of vampires as Russell understood it. He’d just stumbled upon one of the few who saw it differently. It wasn’t sounding promising for what Russell needed, but at least he was still here. It could improve. And Pierre had a family, children – fledglings. So he must be older than Dale was and perhaps Russell would need less blood to get the same effect. Maybe if Pierre let him drink then it would last him longer before he needed more.

“He would always drink from me first and it wouldn’t be like him drinking from me,” Russell explained, his voice low as he glanced around to see if anyone was listening in. No one obvious at least.

“He would bite his finger, it would be shallow, just a couple of drops every few weeks. I couldn’t have more because it would turn against me, but just those few drops… it made us closer, I could talk to him mentally, he could talk to me, we knew where each other were and it made me… better.” Stronger, faster, his skin had been better, his hair, his eyesight, his hearing. All of it had just been that little bit better. Not like if he was a fledgling, but better than just a human.

“We were doing it for… I guess it must had been about three years. He was always strict about how much I was allowed. I wish I never agreed to it. He didn’t tell me until after a few months that if I don’t get it I could die. I will die.”

Russell had lowered his gaze to the table, his bitten down fingernails scratching at the table – too blunt to leave any sort of mark. He really didn’t want to fidget, he wanted to seem normal, but it was so difficult not to beg and plead and get on his knees to appeal to Pierre to have mercy on him. He didn’t think that would work here now though, not with Pierre.

[Saiketsu]

Pierre listened, trying to get passed his own horror at the idea. Three years? No wonder this kid was hooked! But the powers it brought to humans... mental communication, location... Against his better impulses, Pierre began to wonder what else it could grant humans, and at what price. These words remained in his head and he just looked at Russell for a moment or so after he spoke.

The vampire tried to phrase his next question as carefully as possible. "And how long has it been since your last, uh, dose?" He was hoping that the mortal was about to say that he could go another couple of weeks - or at least a couple days. If that wasn't the case, shit was about to get awkward quickly and Pierre doubted that he'd be able to get away from the dinner without some awkwardness on his shoulders.

[pinkroses]

 “Sixteen days,” Russell murmured, not looking up at Pierre. He’d fed from Dale the night before the fire, he’d gone to Jake about a week ago, after they’d let him out of hospital and Russell had managed to get a few things sorted. He’d realised then he needed to let the Oligarchy know – and ask for help. But Jake had refused him. And things had only got worse since then.

The cravings were worse than they ever had been. Dale had never made him wait this long – or at least, he hadn’t recently. Russell realised that the time between drinks had actually been getting shorter without him really realising it.

The waitress returned to their table to drop off Russell’s meal and drink in the nick of time and as she disappeared Russell scooped up the bottle of beer, taking a long gulp, just so that he would have something else to think about.

“I went to the Oligarchy, but they wouldn’t help me. I think I offended one of the Oligarch’s,” Russell said as he lowered the bottle to the table, watching the bottom of it was it clunked onto the table. He didn't know why he was telling Pierre that, but he needed to tell someone - and he wanted to say it before Pierre suggested he go to them for help.

[Saiketsu]

Aw fuck. Sixteen days? Great, he said to himself silently, just my luck. There'd be no easy get-away for Pierre here. He let a moment go by, unable to respond in any real way. It wasn't like he could up and abandon this kid on one of his children or some other vampire he knew - no one would take him, he was sure. It was beginning to look as though all Pierre could do was tell Russell that that sucked, hoped he found someone, and have a nice life, meanwhile the only vampire that seemed even vaguely willing to help walked away with all of his blood intact.

Russell seemed to catch on to this awkwardness. Or at least he was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to continue on the same train of thought and go down a path that even Pierre could see was a bit too raw to travel. So in a way he was quite glad that he changed the topic back to something much more comfortable.

"Well, that doesn't surprise me," Pierre said matter-of-factly. "The Oligarchy is not exactly the fairest thing in this city when it comes to governing immortal life or otherwise." He watched Russell drink his beer and found himself half-wondering what it tasted like. It had been a very long time since he had anything to drink and he was actually surprised to note that he couldn't quite remember the taste. Not to mention every food thing that he would have been used to was well over six hundred years old.

"Which Oligarch was it?" The vampire asked with a private smirk on his lips, keeping a silent wager in his head. He knew the vampire Oligarchs as well as he knew Russell, but their reputations for dishing out punishments and rewards were things that he knew almost as well as he knew his sire. He was betting on Jake or Kerr - Vomas seemed too much like Damien to just turn away a human like that, but he guessed he could have been wrong.

[pinkroses]

Russell raised an eyebrow slightly as Pierre badmouthed the Oligarchy – everyone he’d ever met had been nothing but happy about the Oligarchy. Dale had always stuck to their rules (maybe apart from the feeding bit). They’d gone there to register Russell as a pet, Dale had told him about the good things they’d achieved, keeping humans safe from dangerous vampires. And Russell had assumed they would help him.

“It was Jake,” Russell said as he picked up a fry and began to pull it into pieces, dropping them onto the plate without eating.

“Why… what did they do to you?” Russell asked, hoping Pierre would tell him – anything to get his mind off thinking about how he would feel if Pierre let him have just a drop.

[Saiketsu]

As Russell picked at his food, Pierre watched, feeling slightly weird about even mentioning his first statement. He sort of forgot that there were people in the city who liked the way the Oligarchy went about their business. That's what he got for hanging around with Damien for so long. Oh well, that wasn't the problem at the moment.

"Nothing, really," the Frenchman said honestly. "They just have the tendency to be very hypocritical. Not to mention they're all way too young to be ruling a city full of immortals that are easily twice their age. I'm pretty sure I'm about two or three times older than Jake himself." He had never known exact dates or years, obviously, but from what he's heard and read in the papers, Jake was just a kid in comparison, barely older than Jenella. Even without the amazing mental gifts that immortality gave everyone else but Pierre, the elder vampire could still snap the boy in half if he had ever gotten ahold of him. Not that Pierre would under normal circumstances.

"I'm going to be an asshole for a moment," Pierre said, abruptly changing the conversation to something a bit more important. "I'm not going to say another word until you start eating." Pierre looked at Russell as if he were some kind of child, though not in a condescending way. From what Pierre could tell from his supernatural senses, Russell hadn't eaten for at least half of a day, and he knew humans well enough to know that food impacted their judgements and right now was not the time to be playing around with the limits of judgements.

[pinkroses]

Russell listened intently to Pierre, opening his mouth to ask another question when the vampire got in before he could. The human froze at Pierre’s start, thinking that that was the end of it, Pierre was going to be an asshole by saying he wouldn’t let him drink, or that he was just up and leaving now.

But no, he was taking about eating. Russell took in a breath, about to protest that he was eating, then paused and glanced down at his plate. Ok, so he’d torn apart some chips and gone as far as taking the lid from his bun, but he hadn’t actually eaten anything.

He gave a tiny nod and shoved a couple of chips in his mouth, chewing quickly and swallowing. God, maybe he was hungry. The burger was quickly put together and Russell had soon devoured a few mouthfuls and his stomach thanked him for it. It wasn’t as much as he needed, but he knew it would soon help.

He eventually slowed down and after a few minutes silent eating Russell raised his gaze to watch Pierre again. He waited until his mouth was empty (and wiped away a stray piece of mustard with a paper napkin) before asking the question he’d wanted to.

“Would you want to take on the job? Is there, like, a vote and elections and things amongst you?” he asked with interest, deciding not to go with his initial urge to ask how old Pierre was. He didn’t want to offend the vampire – who if he was three times older than Jake had to be at least ten times older than Dale had been, probably more.

As Pierre answered Russell would carrying on eating, at a more sedate pace this time.

[Saiketsu]

He eyed Russell as he picked and then began eating. It was only after Pierre saw him take in a few mouthfuls did the vampire lean back and take in the area around him. From what he could see and feel, there was t least one other vampire in the room, way across the room, a few immortals he assumed were demons and nearly a dozen humans. Pool balls clacked on the green table nearby and money flicked through fingertips. There were some groans every now and then from the pool-players, and lots of clinks from plates and glasses meeting table tops and other dishes. He couldn't see much, as he was facing the door through which he and Russ had come in, but he didn't need to. When Russell finally spoke, the lifeless expression vanished from his face.

"Me?" Pierre said, surprised that the conversation had taken such a turn. He shrugged at the proposal. "I guess I could do his job - I do it already to some degree," he thought out loud, speaking honestly. "But I don't particularly want that job - not over an entire city of immortals anyway. I'm not holding my breath over getting it either. Whatever their system happens to be for hiring government officials, it seems to skip over everyone who may be fully qualified for the job."

[pinkroses]

Russell frowned slightly at Pierre’s reply, pursing his lips slightly as he dipped a chip in some mayonnaise, a thoughtful look on his face.

“Well… if the people who are more qualified don’t want the job, or don’t want to even try to get it… why shouldn’t the younger ones do the best they can if they want to? I mean, someone who doesn’t want the responsibility would be a pretty rubbish leader,” Russell said slowly, lifting his gaze to watch the vampire through his lashes as he spoke, hoping he wasn’t putting his foot in it by pointing out what seemed obvious to him.

What was the point in bitching about who was in charge if you couldn’t be bothered to do anything to change it?

[Saiketsu]

At first, he felt a bit bruised by what the human was saying, and Pierre started to shrug it off as someone who knew so little about the government commenting as if they ran the damn thing. He was going to just shrug it off, toss it up to naivety but he stopped. The kid actually had a good point. What was his problem, Damien's problem, if all they were going to do was sit there and watch, if only for the time being. Pierre nodded. "Good point, Russell," was all he side as he slid in sideways to the booth, his back against the wall and his feet up on the vinyl seat. Pierre left the conversation at that, the idea spinning around in his head.

"So," Pierre said after he was satisfied that Russell's food may have given him a clearer mindframe. "What is it that Jake told you when you went to the Oligarchy?"

[pinkroses]

Russell’s cheeks flushed at the memory of what Jake had said and how he’d reacted. The whole situation had been stressful and embarrassing, which was probably why Russell hadn’t been able to act as well as he wished he had.

“He said he would try to find someone, but he didn’t really try much, he just said no one wanted me. He accused me of not caring about Dale dying, and I do, I really do, I’ve never missed anyone so much. But he did this to me and I can’t think about anything else,” he said, his voice dropping off into a whisper as his hands dropped into his lap.

“And he told me he had a familiar, which is probably bullshit because he didn’t have a fucking clue,” Russell added, glancing up at Pierre with a scowl and venom in his voice. Any vampire who had a familiar would understand, and if he had understood properly he just hadn’t cared.

Remembering Pierre’s instruction to eat Russell pulled a slice of tomato out of his burger and popped it into his mouth.