Modern Life

[Existentially Odd]

"A credit card?" Romain repeated, unfamiliar with the term.  When Cain nodded, the vampire looked around.  knowing he had to fool an invisible warrior was completely different to thinking he could just do things the way he always did, and so he was able to compensate.  He wasn\'t an idiot, just ignorant.

Spying a guy looking at computers in the next aisle, he compelled the stranger to give him his \'credit card\'.  The mortal walked obediently up to Romain, withdrew his wallet from his back pants pocket and gave him a shiny gold card made of plastic.  The Frenchman took it and convince dthe man to continue browsing until he was done.  The mortal ambled silently away and Romain held the card up towards Cain, a questioning look on his face.

His companion nodded and so Romain followed after the salesperson who was looking after him.  He didn\'t let the shopkeeper use the foreign card, but handed it over and watched him go through the motions nevertheless (his gestures a little off centre as the card was swiped beside a machine, rather than through it - Romain only took money from those who had so much of it, they would never notice losing a grand sum and he would thereby avoid suspicion; he had no idea how much money this guy had and wasn\'t keen to get attention for himself by lettng the card be used), intrigued by what would happen if this were the method of payment.  He was bemused when he was asked to sign a slip of paper that had nothing printed on it.  The vampire made it appear that he did for the benefit of the cameras, took back the card and listened to the salesperson speak as he handed over cables and talked about them picking up the computer parts.

There was still the matter of getting it to Romain\'s house to deal with.  He gave Cain an appealing look when the matter came up, unsure how to handle things.  If he got the computer delivered, his address would be on record and that would be a bad thing.  If they took it, they\'d have to carry it and he had no idea how much there\'d be to carry and how to put it together at the other end.  He definitely needed advice.

"Do you know how to connect the machine when we get it to the house?" he asked Cain earnestly, ignoring what the salesman was saying now.

[Malkavian Riddler]

At the question Cain shook his head and shrugged.  "You should get it delivered and installed," he said, not sharing Romain\'s worry about letting people know his address.  "We have to call the electrician anyway," Cain said, reminding the vampire of the business card he\'d been given in order to connect up their internet.

He supposed Romain would keep the gold credit card, then the guy they\'d got it off would report it stolen but if they weren\'t going to use it properly then it didn\'t matter.  Wasn\'t it easier just to amass a small fortune and simply pay for everything rather than dodge everything all the time?  He would put forward this notion later.

[Existentially Odd]

Romain looked visibly pained at this prospect, thinking that he might get caught somehow once he handed over his address, but he supposed he\'d simply have to rely on the fact that everyone believed he\'d paid and hope it went ahead without too much hassle.  Later on, he could pay again, if need be.

He arranged to have the computer delivered - leaving the peripherals the salesperson was going to give over - the next night, which made him nervous as well, but he didn\'t say anything as they made their way out of the store.  He did return the credit card to its owner without fuss on the way dwn, as well.

Once they reached the street, he turned to look worriedly at Cain.  "You won\'t be there at my house tomorrow night when they come," he barked, his tone accusatory in his anxiety.

[Malkavian Riddler]

Cain blinked in the face of the accusation, feeling obliged to offer his assistance.

"I can be," he offered.  "They shouldn\'t turn up too late.  I\'ll just go home after everything\'s done."  He smiled in order to appease the Ancient, feeling the stare burning into him.

He hoped that this was good enough.  He also hoped that once they got back to Romain\'s home tonight that things would go smoother, that maybe the vampire wouldn\'t be as edgy.

[Existentially Odd]

Mollified by this offer, Romain was prepared to be magnanimous.  Of course, he had another couple of questions to ask first.

"Are you going to be staying at my place tonight?  If so, do you wish for more food for tonight and tomorrow?" he asked, his tone smooth and obviously calm, once more.  Still, there was an imperious way about his manner of speaking that possibly conveyed he was still feeling uptight on the inside.

[Malkavian Riddler]

"That would be good," Cain replied, answering both questions and nodding at the same time.  He stared at Romain a moment longer, adoring him as a fan would adore a rock star, and pulled his gaze away.  "I can just order takeout."

Something occurred to him then, and he had to ask:

"Do you have a phone?"

[Existentially Odd]

"Yes," the vampire answered, thinking that Cain\'s answer meant that they didn\'t have to shop any more tonight and they could return to his sanctuary.  He began walking in the appropriate direction, greatly relieved.

"My servants had it installed while I was sleeping, but I don\'t use it, of course.  I\'m not sure where there is a handset, we\'ll have to look at that when we return to the residence," he mused, looking around him with a little more curiosity now that they were going home.

[Malkavian Riddler]

Romain might have believed that they were no longer to do any shopping, but Cain had no idea that they were finished.  He thought, after all, that when the Ancient had offered to buy him things, that it would include clothes that he needed, in order to change.  There was no way he was going to be comfortable wearing the same things again.

At the first large clothing store they came across, Cain took a turn towards it, colliding with the vampire and chuckling before excusing himself and then pointing out his intended destination.

[Existentially Odd]

"Ah!" Romain said, recalling his offer about clothing and realising immediately what Cain was after.  He\'d been so intent on escaping from things he was still unsure about, that he\'d entirely forgotten.  There was a degree of comfort in knowing that the mortal with him understood how he worked now, though it was a familiarity he\'d neither craved nor expected.

Odd, how making himself vulnerable to the right person had actually paid off and made him feel better about a lot of things.  He also wondered if Cain would take advantage of his abilities and found he really didn\'t mind, because it was teaching him how to use them in this hi-tech world as well.  The more things they acquired, the better.

"I\'ll see if I can find the cameras," he informed the mortal, following along obediently and giving a short nod to himself.  His voice was steely, for he was determined to conquer this new foe - or at least to be able to identify it on the field of engagement.

[Malkavian Riddler]

"Okay," Cain said, thinking it shouldn\'t prove difficult but not saying so in case Romain couldn\'t quite see them for what they were.  He grinned encouragingly at the Ancient before they both moved through the doors, and soon the mortal was moving through racks of clothing, attracting a salesperson who was a bit wary of him, but the cashmere sweater had won some favour from her.

While Romain hunted the ceilings for domes, Cain filtered through the racks, finding jeans in his size, then a couple of shirts.  He added socks and underwear without too much thought and after the saleswoman wandered off to help someone else, Cain took a moment to address his conspirator.

"You see them?" he asked in a hushed voice.

[Existentially Odd]

"Yes, those black bubbles on the ceiling.  There\'s three in here," he confirmed, frowning darkly.  How was one supposed to avoid detection with that much security in place?

"I\'m going to have to pretend to hand over a card again, aren\'t I?" he continued, his rapid gaze taking in the positions of his enemy faster than mortal eyes would detect (though he had no idea how good the cameras\' eyes were).  "Though I think... if I stand just so at the counter... I could make amotion with my hand and those watching wouldn\'t be able to tell if I handed something over really, or not, oui?"

He extracted his wallet from his inner pocket and mimed the transaction for Cain\'s benefit, to clarify his query.

[Malkavian Riddler]

"You should just apply for a credit card," Cain said, "or get your hands on an expired one, so at least you don\'t have to worry about when it goes through the machine.  An expired one..." he dropped his voice somre more and turned his back to someone who was browsing nearby, speaking in a tone that would not be audible to human ears but he was sure Romain would hear him.  "An expired one would be best, because the machine would spit out its details with declined on it, and it\'ll be a slip of paper with stuff printed on it to sign, and it wouldn\'t have any connection with  you."

Cain, who was rather ethical and not criminal, was still fairly smart when it came to cheating the system - should he have mental powers available to him.

[Existentially Odd]

Do you think I should just get some money and be done with it? he projected conversationally into Cain\'s mind, his expression curious.  It seems that there are too many eyes watching everything in the modern world - I\'d avoid such scrutiny if I just paid for things, wouldn\'t I?

He could go and take some money off someone who wouldn\'t notice it, if Cain thought that was the best way to do things.  He was entirely open to suggestions though, intent on the mortal\'s mind in case he decided to answer mentally, because that was how he\'d been spoken to.

[Malkavian Riddler]

It was strange to be communicated with mentally, and Cain\'s jaw went a little slack with it. He\'d been spoken to like that before, when beckoned in Risk, but he still wasn\'t used to it - hearing it in his head and not with his ears.  After a moment he pressed his lips together so as not to gape like an idiot.

"Yes.  Maybe get some rich guy to donate something," he suggested.  Stealing from the very rich was very Robin Hood to Cain, who figured that a couple of million dollars couldn\'t hurt a billionaire - right?  Especially not if they thought they\'d made a donation to a worthy cause.  Romain\'s.

[Existentially Odd]

Romain nodded, intending just that.  He would see to it at some point during the week but for tonight, he would be forced to go through with his purchasing charade for the cameras one more time.  He was nervous, as usual, once they left the store, expecting security people to come chasing after them to question them on the clothing purchases, but it all went smoothly.

Of course, the vampire didn\'t relax until they were about a block from his home, no matter how chirpy Cain was.  The mortal eagerly inspected his new clothes as they walked along, seeing as Romain\'s conversational skills were non-existant - that didn\'t mean that he didn\'t pay attention to every move the boy made, though.

The ancient was further pleased that they didn\'t encounter either of his servants when they got inside, and made it up to his bedroom without incident.  He closed the door after Cain, feeling curiously possessive about keeping him to himself in his private quarters and watching him intently as he declared that he would be going for a shower.  Part of him hoped that he would be joined, part of him recognised how complicated that would get and so, after an unconsciously hopeful look thrown in the mortal\'s direction, he turned away to hang up his suit jacket and pants in his armoires.

Once that was done, he walked into the bathroom nonchalantly removing what was left of his clothing and trying not to think about whether he would be joined or not.

(Continued in \'Said The Spider\')