Company for the Journey

[Saiketsu]

Pierre hesitated, not wanting Russell to get too upset and have his anger influence his reactions. There was so much that Pierre actually wanted to know before any kind of decision was made regarding Pierre's blood and Russell's life. It seemed a bit too cruel, after hearing this kid's tale about losing his not-sire and being denied help from the only people who were supposed to understand and sympathize, to just pick up his hat, wish Russell a good night and good luck, and be on his way. Especially if what Russell was saying was true.

That's what this all came down to.

Russell certainly smelled more human than vampire. The scent that was there was the scent of only one anonymous vampire, which made Russell's story quite a bit more valid. Pierre didn't honestly believe that the kid was stringing him along, and there was that. The desperation seemed legitimate enough as well - after all, who the hell would chase down an immortal that could kill him for something they didn't actually need? So either this kid needed to get a job in Hollywood for being a fantastic actor or this was the saddest things that he had stumbled upon in a few months.

He tried weighing his options for a few brief moments. Damien had always given him the liberty to do what he wanted with his lineage and blood. The problem was that this was not a fledgling that Pierre had just decided to take. He was in no shape to take on a fledgling - not with the sizeable burn on his body that nearly disabled him entirely. And there was no talk of such a thing happening. There was also the problem that he had no idea how long he would be connected to Russell if things came to that. Pierre had never been a normal vampire - he had always bordered a thin-blood, or so Lucretia had said. He had no mental connection to his own sire or any of his children besides a blood bond that told him their existence and proximity to him and when they were in severe trouble. So anything that Russell had had when he was with Dale was not what he should expect if things came to that.

If things came to that.

But there was always the ability to turn Russell if he proved himself worthy enough. And then there was the hope that, if Russell didn't play his part right, the blood bond would simply wear off after a while - or at least fade enough so that he didn't notice. But there were still too many what ifs for Pierre to be gung-hoe about anything.

“I’d like to know everything that you know about this process.” Pierre said evenly, hoping the human wouldn’t think that Pierre’s blood was being promised, or even offered for that matter. “How much blood exactly did he need to give you? Did it matter if he had just fed?”

[pinkroses]

Russell’s scowl faded at Pierre’s question and he gazed across at the vampire silently for a few seconds, desperately trying not to get his hopes up. Pierre hadn’t seemed keen on the idea of feeding him, but he was still here and he was asking questions. He wanted to know more. And this was more than Jake had bothered to do. Just having someone to talk to was more than Russell had been hoping to find tonight.

“He would only ever give me a few drops, that’s all I need. And it was always after he’d drunk from me… but he wasn’t very old so he needed to drink every night anyway, a couple of times sometimes. I don’t know if it would have made a difference if he’d’ve been older. Maybe I wouldn’t have needed as much, or as often if his blood had been… stronger.” Russell paused for a few seconds, frowning down at his hands which were now folder in his lap, then he shook himself out of his thoughts about Dale and raised a hand through his hair, lifting his blue eyes to look at Pierre.

“One time, he let me drink more, but it made me feel terrible. So… I know it can be dangerous, but the right amount just makes you feel, more than yourself. Better. A better version of me.”

[Saiketsu]

"How old was Dale, did you know?" There was nothing about this that seemed familiar to him, and he felt as if he were reaching for something tangible with every question he wanted to ask Russell. "I believe that his age might have something to do with the problem." If this Dale person was only newl fledged, then if Pierre took a bite and gave a drop of his own blood - aged almost 700 years - then he could damn near fledge the kid. Then that matter of sixteen days would be more like three days without vampire blood. Or least that's what he was expecting.

"I'm willing to bet that I'm quite a bit older than him." Pierre said, not really realzing what he had said  ould possibly give the boy an unexpected hope.

[pinkroses]

Russell chewed gently on his lower lip as he mulled over Pierre’s question and what he’d said. But he was seeing Pierre’s age in a completely different way to the vampire – he thought that older blood might mean that he needed to drink less of it and less often.

“He was seventy five,” Russell said hesitantly. When he’d first met Dale he’d been the first vampire he’d ever encountered and had been completely amazed at the thought that someone could be so much older but look barely twenty five. But then he’d met other vampires, older vampires, and realised how wrong he’d been. Dale had been a child to them.

“Do you think I’d need it less often if I had it from… someone older?” he asked hopefully, stopping himself from saying ‘you’. He didn’t want to scare off Pierre when it was starting to look good. Maybe Pierre would agree if it was less often, Russell wouldn't need to stay close to him if Pierre didn't want him around. It could just be every now and again.

[Saiketsu]

"I hope that's the case," Pierre said honestly but without too much hope in his voice. Everything was too unfamilair to him and it actually made him feel as though he didn't understand his own immortality and how it worked. As much as he wanted to shake the feeling, it kept creeping back up onto his shoulders until the frown he had given Russell before didn't seem like it was moving on anytime soon. "I mean I guess so, but I'd rather not have anything set on a guess, you know? It wouldn't surprise me if older blood came with a harder kick. I'll take it that Dale was the only vampire you ever took blood from?"

[pinkroses]

Russell’s shoulders sank slightly at Pierre’s words and he dropped his gaze.

“Yes, he was the only one. I never wanted anyone else. Would… wouldn’t a harder kick mean I needed less?” he asked, his gaze flickering upwards to watch the vampire. He wanted to see the good side of this but it seemed to be slipping out from between his fingers. He took a deep breath, his fingers twitching a little. Got, he wanted to grab things, throw them, smash them, scream and shout. But that wasn’t going to help, tempting as it was.

[Saiketsu]

"Probably, in the event that it doesn't kill you first," he said dryly. Changing the subject quickly so as not to let the human get too uncomfortable with the idea of his own death - if that was to be the case because obviously Pierre had no clue otherwise - he asked something he was honestly interested in. "So when you get the blood, how long do you feel... connected to your sire?" If this was going to go down, Pierre wanted all of the facts up front. He didn't want to be left wondering what the hell happened after all was said and done, now that things were looking that way. He also didn't want to kill this kid and he needed all of the cards on the table before anything happened.

[pinkroses]

Russell frowned at the thought of older blood maybe killing him, trying to work it through in his mind but then he shook his head.

“No, no… older vampires have had familiars, Dale told me. So if they can do it without killing them then it should be fine with just a little bit,” he said with a firm nod. It made perfect sense to him, he could only guess Pierre was trying to think of the negatives to put him off and that made Russell a little sad. He’d hoped this one would have an open mind, but maybe not.

Still, at least he was still asking questions.

“At first it was just for a couple of hours, and just sort of feelings, moods, not thoughts. But as it went on and we got closer it was… I could feel him mood all the time and know where he was. And I knew what he was thinking. Not… not all the time. Sometimes he would stop me, but… if he wasn’t doing that, then yeah. Usually it was just when we were close I could actually hear his thoughts, but sometimes he could send them to me when we weren’t right by each other. When he died I could feel it.”

He paused, taking a long swig of his beer as he watched Pierre, trying to keep his thoughts from lingering on that day, the searing pain combined with his own injuries from jumping out of a window and smoke inhalation.

“No doubt you’re more practised at mental stuff than Dale, you’d be better at it… you could probably block me out more,” he said softly. He didn’t want to be blocked out, but he was just about a complete stranger to this vampire, who probably didn’t want a human able to feel what mood he was in or where he was.

[Saiketsu]

The vampire stared for a moment, surprised that the conversation had shifted to include the elephant in the room. Now they were talking about his mental abilities? His telecommunication and the like? His blood? Hearing the words out loud was something too strange for him; Pierre smiled in the way people do when they can't really do much else in response.

For the first few years of his immortal life he had been told that he was too similar to a thin blood to be a real vampire. The mental block he experienced and the slowness of his muscles was always something his Grand-sire, Lucretia, had always pointed at and tisked. At first, she thought he was useless and that his thin blood would damage the rest of his lineage and make more nearly useless vampires. It was only when Damien had stepped in and actually confronted Lucretia that she backed down from that belief. As it was, Pierre had produced normal children with adept mental communications to everyone except Pierre. He was a stone wall and it was part of the reason he was named Pierre after his death - Damien's irony, not his. He remembered one time Damien smirked at him and said that Pierre was a perfect name for him - "Solid as rock and as impenetrable, too." Feeling a bit embarrassed, Pierre laughed as well.

Now, with Russell sitting in front of him, Pierre said little. "I bet you're right," he answered, admitting that there was indeed an elephant sitting between them. The vampire sighed needlessly, turning back to face Russell. He groaned in pain that he should have been used to by now, but continued on even if his partner had noticed his pain. "Look, Russell. I'm going to be honest with you for a moment and I don't want you to get any hopes up." He waited to see how the human was going to respond to such a statement before he continued, expecting there to be some hope in him anyway, though wouldn't be surprised at any other reaction. "I'm considering this, but I need to know as much as you've got to tell me before anything happens." Pierre glanced down at the food that was going cold and added, "And you need to be eating more of that before any kind of decision is made." He pointed in emphasis, feeling rather like a parent already. There was a lot to discuss before any blood was spilled.

[pinkroses]

Russell frown as Pierre flinched, wanting to ask what was wrong, but Pierre seemed to want to pretend it hadn’t happened and Russell didn’t want to annoy him by asking. His gaze had dropped to where the course of pain seemed to be but hidden behind the table there was little to see and so he steadily brought his eyes upwards again as Pierre spoke.

His shoulders sunk slightly as he was told not to get his hopes up. Whenever anyone said they wanted to be honest with you it rarely turned out well.

He blinked in surprise as completely the opposite happened and he learnt Pierre was actually leaning towards maybe agreeing. It took him completely by surprise and he stared blankly at the vampire for a moment before a bright smile broke out across his face.

“Of course, I’ll tell you anything I can. What else did you want to know? Dale… he didn’t always tlel me everything, but I’ll tell you everything I know,” Russell gushed, scooping up his burger against to take a couple of bites under Pierre’s instruction as he waited for any questions and hoping he’d be able to give the information required.

[Saiketsu]

"Firstly, I want to know if this is even legal to do: to feed another vampire's Familiar," he said, counting on his fingers as he relayed his concerns. He knew that the Oligarchy had some strange rules when it came to bloodletting in anyway and that was certainly a line that he didn't want to toe. "I want to know about what's going to happen to you after this happens, if this happens. I want to know exactly what usually happens when he gives you his blood. I don't care whether you get a tingling in your toenails or it feels like your ribs are going to collapse: I want to know. I want to know how long you're going to feel connected to me, and how long we'll be connected." His tone was low and serious, with a deep hint of his accent that he was hoping wasn't too thick so that Russell could understand the graveness of the situation.

"I especially want to know if, by some magical turn of the universe," he continued with a little bit more annoyance than was necessary - god knew he didn't want to forget anything that this kid was likely to forget, "I have some kind of ability I didn't have before. Like the ability to look into your soul, or feel things from you more strongly than usual, or have some kind of ability to affect you more. Or if you can suddenly hear my thoughts or something."

[pinkroses]

Russell opened his mouth to begin to try to answer the first question, but Pierre was already going on and asking so many questions to add to the one Russell had thought he could answer.

He lowered his gaze to the food in front of his, shoving chips into his mouth as he tried to think of the answers and how best to give them, which ones he should address first. Russell stayed quiet for a while, managing to finish off his burger with a couple more bites before he sat back, pushing the plate away a little before grabbing a napkin to wipe his fingers. He focused on that task for a few seconds before lifting his bright blue eyes to meet Pierre’s.

“I’m not Dale’s anymore. He’s gone so it doesn’t matter. I don’t think that would have been a problem though, I think… most vampires wouldn’t want to even drink from another vampire’s familiar. I smelt like Dale, I was told that anyway, I don’t know if I still do,” Russell said, settling back to try to tell Pierre all he could.

“For me, it feels good, amazing, like being given an energy drink which really works instantly. And it makes me healthier, more alive… after having it for a while I could smell better, see better, hear more.” The human had been gesturing slightly with his hand, but then he dropped it down to press his fingers against the table. That was fading. Slowly, but surely. Things weren’t as vibrant now, colours were dull, sounds muffled… he didn’t know if his senses were worse than they had been before he’d started drinking the vampire blood but it felt like it.

“Dale could talk to me mentally, and he could hear me when I sent him thoughts, but only when we were close. I don’t know, it might have been more if he’d had more skills. I know some vampires can do that without needing to have a familiar. And like I said before, you could probably block me out, but I could never hear his thoughts without him wanting me to anyway.”

Russell perked up slightly as he remembered something Dale had been able to do after a while and he gave Pierre a smile. It had been a shock the first few times Dale had done it, but Russell thought being able to give Pierre a proper answer might help. He hadn’t understood Pierre’s annoyance when asking his questions, but he hoped being able to give answers would help soothe the vampire.

“He could call me and I would have to come. It didn’t matter where I was, I could be anywhere and I would have to go to him.” He chewed gently on his lower lip before giving a tiny shrug.

“I don’t know how long the connection lasts; we never left it long enough for it to fade.” He let his voice trail off then, unsure of whether he’d answered everything but hoping that he’d done well. He was already starting to feel a little better just talking about it, thinking about something other than needing blood, and perhaps because he’d got some food inside him now.

[Saiketsu]

"Well you certainly do smell like some vampire, that's for sure." Pierre removed his cell phone from his pocket as Russell spoke. While he listened, he punched in a text message intended for Jenella and Finny. He tapped away while Russell explained as much as he could, a different thought beginning to form in his head.

The truth was that he didn't know this kid from any other human he had accidently stumbled across. So before he asked the question he wanted to know the most, he sent his text message to his two fledges. When Russell paused next, Pierre took a breath in and asked him something that was really on his mind.

"Ok. Now I need to know more about you. What's your name, how old you are, where you grew up, how long you've lived in the city, the works. Where you live, what you do for a living, and whatever else you'd like to throw in there." The vampire slide his phone into on of the front pockets of his shirt and waited for it to vibrate again when his children texted him back. Assuming that if this whole blood thing happened tonight, then he was in need of gathering as much information about the young man sitting in front of him as quickly as possible, especially if he was going to do what he was thinking he was going to do.

[pinkroses]

Russell felt his cheeks flushing as Pierre commenting on his smelling of a vampire. He didn’t notice it himself, no one could really smell their own scent, but he knew it was true. Of course, that didn’t mean you liked being told it, even after you’d commented on it yourself.

He watched Pierre tapping away on his phone, wondering who he was contacting. Maybe someone else he was looking to pass this useless human on to. Or he was making plans to go do something after rejecting Russell. But he was still asking questions so Russell wouldn’t give up hope yet.

“I… uh… ok. Well, my name’s Russell. Hamilton. And I’m twenty seven,” he said, knowing he looked a little younger than that. So long with Dale had slowed his aging a bit, Russell had noticed that and Dale had said that if they kept going he would live much longer than a normal human – of course that was never meant to happen, he was supposed to be sired before that mattered much.

He took in a deep breath before going into a brief story of his life like Pierre wanted. Growing up in New York, falling into a bad crowd, leaving New York as soon as he left school and then coming here. He’d been ok for a while, kind of… there had been so many parties, drugs, different people, different places. Then his parents had cut off his credit cards because they had realised what he was spending his money on. They wanted to support him but drew the line there, for his own good and Russell could understand that now. But then he'd been angry and Russell had discovered vampires around the same time, fortunately for him he'd made a good pet.  Since then he’d been a pet to several different vampires, some for a couple of weeks, a couple for months and he’d just moved between houses, just taking a small rucksack of clothes with him.

Then there had been Dale. They’d made a home and life together and it had all been so good. He hadn’t needed a job because Dale had given him money for food and clothes so he’d never been properly employed. Dale had encouraged him to get off the hard drugs which had been such a huge struggle, but when something really matters Russell could do it... or even more so when it mattered to someone who was important to him. He wanted to please the people who mattered to him and Dale had been perfect for that. It helped that he'd replaced the drugs with the other addiction of vampire blood.

“Right now I’m just, kind of, living in a motel. Our house can’t be lived in and I can’t afford to get it habitable. There wasn’t much could be saved from the fire. I guess I should get a job but I haven’t really… thought about it yet.” No, all he’d thought about was getting blood. Nothing else mattered.

[Saiketsu]

He kept his expression even and blank as he listened to Russell, impenetrable. As he gave the brief summary of his life, Pierre groaned inwardly. Of course this kid was a mess of human drama. Not only was he a junkie for blood, but now there was the use of drugs and other humans' appearant lack of trust in Russell that had to be considered. The more Russell spoke, the more he seemed to be better company for Nikolai Armani rather than for him and his children; there was just no room for such intolerable behaviors like that in his lineage or in his company. Not to mention that there would be one hell of a fight between himself and Damien if Pierre had ever tried to breach such an idea with his sire.

So the more Russell spoke, the less likely it seemed that Pierre would let this kid get anywhere near the empire that he and Damien had been building. It seemed like if anything was going to happen, it was going to be a one time thing. He almost wished that he had never texted Jenella or Finny to begin with.

It was Finny that had responded to him first and Pierre looked down at the phone before responding to the human across the table.

I can check him out for you, P.

Pierre hesistated before ticking away at the letters on the screen, trying to find the proper words to express his exact thought process to his son.

If I do this, you need to keep an eye on him when I can't. It doesn't seem like the kid is good matieral, but keep an eye out anyway.

After pressing send, Pierre tucked the phone back into its pocket and looked at Russell. "Well you should consider doing something for money," Pierre said casually, as if that were the most important thing that Russell had said. "Otherwise, how are you going to take care of yourself?

"Now, considering that you're probably not going to find another vampire who is going to be anywhere near ok with having you drink from them before you go crazy," Pierre sighed with reluctance, "how are we going to do this?" He waited for Russell's response before he said anything more. He wasn't necessarily looking for an answer, but rather a way for Russell, who was more educated in this sort of thing anyway, to show him how he could keep him out of his hair. If that meant that giving a little blood would make sure that Russell and Pierre never met again in the same situation weeks later, that was reason enough for him to get over his own hesitation and eggshell-walking. While he waited for Russell's reply, he flagged down the waitress and asked for the check.