Stray Sheep

[Saccharin]

Construction of the casino in the South District had been finished for some time now, but in recent months, the great machine had set into motion and practically ran itself. Vomas now had ample time to pursue unfinished business. He'd come to the Westward Apartments on a mission, and he'd dressed the part.
   
As always, the tall vampire was wearing a suit; it was tailored, immaculate, and a shade of grey that flattered. Atypically, he was without a tie and his crisp white shirt was unbuttoned at the neck. His hair was tousled, but the dark brown strands were arranged just so just so, and was held in place with forming cream. He'd wanted to appear casual, uncaring, but he'd given up after easily half an hour of fussing at the mirror.
   
He removed a hand from his jacket pocket and rapped his pale knuckles twice against the door, just beneath the peephole. The resulting sound was thunderous to his ears, but the occupant inside it would find it only loud enough to alert him to his visitor's presence. Vomas heard movement within and took a step back, so that he might stand a polite distance from the threshold.
   
His finely chiseled face was expressionless  - it was the sort of blank that only a statue made by an unimaginative sculptor could manage - but then his mouth and the skin around his eyes softened and lifted ever so slightly. The eyes themselves, however, remained hard and impenetrable.
   
And he waited.
   

[Malkavian Riddler]

Vomas didn’t have to wait long, though Cain wasn’t expecting any visitors.  As soon as he heard the knock on the door he went to it, hoping it was David and also wishing it wasn’t.  He had to move on, since the other vampire certainly had.  The blonde had given him the courage to leave the donor list, instead of just thinking about it, and had inspired him to give up a life of pandering to vampires who didn’t care.

Of course he’d had a momentary lapse, what kind of addict didn’t?  It had been shameful and embarrassing and had made him feel a great deal more decisive about never slipping back into that role.
So imagine his surprise when he opened the door and found Vomas standing there; the vampire he’d pledged to, the one that had got him on the list in the first place after much pleading and had been loathe to let him go when the contract hadn’t properly terminated.

“Hi, Mister Vomas.  Come on in.”

As much as he didn’t want Vomas in his apartment, it would be disrespectful not to invite him.

[Saccharin]

He wasn't a vampire of myth, requiring an invitation to enter homes, but he'd waited for the prompt before stepping inside. While Cain closed the door behind him, Vomas gave what he could see of the apartment a cursory look and was taken aback by how tidy it was. It smelled of plants and cleaning chemicals, though faintly enough that didn't offend his sensitive nose. It was quite unlike Cain's prior apartment - the one he'd lived in before moving into the old Oligarchy Headquarters.

Once the door had shut and Cain faced him, he intended to give the human an equally quick once over, but his eyes lingered. The last he'd seen of Cain, parts of his hair had been dyed an unnatural color and he'd been dressed in some of the absurd getup that he'd often observed at Risk (though not so much at Venture, which was a decidedly more refined place to spend time). Now, he was dressed and groomed tastefully, so that one might admire his natural appearance.

"You look well," he said, approval warming his voice and expression.

[Malkavian Riddler]

“Thank you,” Cain said automatically, though he didn’t agree with the appraisal.  He might look the part, but he wasn’t feeling it.  He knew he was more self-respecting now, but he still felt like he was dressing up.  This time he was playing a different role—but still a role nonetheless.  He hadn’t fooled David into thinking he was worth choosing over another, so he was just as transparent as he’d always been.

He didn’t know why Vomas was here but he didn’t think it would be favourable.  He doubted that it was just to pay him a compliment.  Of course the vampire wanted something from him, but what?  What could Cain possibly have to offer him?  Perhaps his silence, or perhaps information.

A thought struck him that David might’ve reported the vampire who’d given him trouble at Venture.  The club was in Vomas’ district.  Damn it, was he here to follow that up?  How humiliating.

“Would you like to sit down?” he asked, hoping Vomas would tell him he wouldn’t be here long.

[Saccharin]

"I would," Vomas responded, though he didn't do so immediately. He took a meandering path through the room, pausing intermittently to take in the sights. Limited as they were, the decorations were tasteful, and he made a small, appreciative noise in the back of his throat, then nodded to himself.

He finally lowered himself onto the couch, and noted that if he'd wanted, he would've been able to stretch out fully on it. "And you'd like to know why I'm here," he said, regarding Cain with a speculative eye.

His tongue darted out to wet his bottom lip and he took a breath like he would continue, but he hesitated. Cain didn't want him there - he'd plucked it directly the mortal's mind, but despite that, he was behaving in a respectful manner. He was composed, dignified, and they were traits that Vomas admired greatly but found rarely. Even Samuel, who he'd loved, had failed to meet his expectations in that regard.

The grand opening of Venture had been an utter disaster, though it might've turned out differently had Samuel not forced his hand behaving as he had. Regardless, he'd learned many valuable lessons that night: the first and foremost was that he couldn't afford being driven to distraction while swimming in a shark tank, and the second was that emotional, reckless Samuel would only ever be a liability to him.

Cain, on the other hand, might be molded and shaped into something useful.

"I came to offer you a job," he finally said. "Your old job, really, but with some revisions. I want you to be my donor."

[Malkavian Riddler]

Cain followed Vomas to the couch but took the cushion that placed him furthest away from the vampire.  Vomas had always intimidated him and he'd never felt any warmth radiating from him.  His manner had always been perfunctory, even while drinking.  Cain found he didn't trust vampires who could emotionally detach themselves so cleanly.  It made him think of them as less humane--they would be the ones who might snap his neck without a second thought.  He'd always thought Vomas didn't care much for him really, so the job offer was a surprise.  The additional part attached to the job offer was a shock.

He pulled a few different expressions as his face imitated what his mind was going through, mostly surprise and confusion.  Eventually he settled on looking at Vomas with a troubled frown and a slight shake of the head in the negative.

"Sorry, I might be wrong but... it sounds like you want me to be your personal donor?"

He waited for Vomas to scoff at him, or say something snide.

[Saccharin]

"Well, yes," he said, blinking. "That's what I meant by my donor." He pulled a leg underneath him and swiveled his upper body so he could face Cain without twisting his neck. "I mean for it to be more than that, for I am in need of a..." his lips twisted to the side as he considered his next word. "... Companion. Someone to accompany me at events, act as my eyes and ears where I'm unable to."

[Malkavian Riddler]

Cain was astonished and floundering for a response.  It occurred to him that he did have the option of turning Vomas down but was it a legitimate option?  Would 'no' be viable as a response to someone who ran a district?  Vomas was a very important vampire, so should he be flattered?  He did feel flattered, actually, but the setup still didn't feel right to him.

Vomas had never expressed an interest in him, sexually or otherwise.  Cain figured the vampire had only ever known his name because it had been an obligation to do so, because Cain was on the donor list--and Kerr had wanted him on there, which had made a fuss.

Kerr.  David.  Both failed attempts at having something real.  Maybe what Vomas was offering him was about as real as it got.  It was the best offer Cain had received so far, and something he'd wanted for a very long time... until he'd decided he no longer wanted that part of his life.

"Before I give this any further thought," he said to his hands in his lap, "I don't think I'm the right kind of companion for you.  I mean, you're sophisticated and I'm... not."

[Saccharin]

He was surprised by the pang of sympathy he felt when Cain broke eye contact and looked down. Oh, he was all too familiar with that feeling of self-doubt, and it was something he'd had to face more recently than he would've liked.

"You're capable of learning," he said assuredly. "Sophistication is acquired through experience. It's only that you've not had that opportunity yet. I'm willing to give that to you, in exchange for your help."

[Malkavian Riddler]

If he'd received this offer last year he would've been ecstatic.  Nothing would've stopped the smile from taking over his whole face, even though he had no real connection to Vomas he would've been over the moon that he'd attracted such an important vampire.

Right now, though, he still didn't know if he should accept Vomas' offer.  But hell, what else did he have?  His self respect, for one.  He was having trouble deciding.  A lot of him wanted to agree, to just be taken care of, to accept the opportunity and be grateful he'd been offered one, to finally be all that he'd wanted for himself only a short time ago.  A smaller nagging part of him reminded him that he'd given up this life.

If David had asked him though, to be his bit on the side - a donor and nothing more, he would've accepted.  So what was the difference?

Because it was Vomas.  And how the hell could he help?

"Do you mind if I ask, why me?" he said finally.

[Saccharin]

He inhaled deeply and released the air in a slow, deliberate sigh. It would've been easier if Cain had gone with the compulsive part that wanted to agree, but that wouldn't make him worth pursuing, would it? "You could have turned me away. Instead, you were polite - you invited me in. You wanted to find out what I wanted. You think before you do. You ask for clarification when you are in doubt."

Vomas tapped the side of his head. "You are careful. Even now, you wonder what I could possibly gain from you. You doubt my intentions." He lowered his hand. "In being my eyes and ears, I also gain your perspective. Despite what you might think, yours is valuable. You're familiar with vampires, with what drives us, yes? You can only have gained that knowledge by knowing how to behave around us. Can you see how that might benefit me?"

[Malkavian Riddler]

"I guess I do," Cain said, and the words warmed him some of the way towards Vomas.  He didn't want to be cynical, and he didn't think he was feeling negatively about Vomas' proposal, but he was certainly uncomfortable with the amount of mind-reading that was going on.  The vampire was throwing it in his face, so he wasn't being sly about it.  The problem was that Cain knew he would have no secrets from this vampire, that he would always be tiptoeing around him (even though he'd been told that his character was what impressed).  He would also have to be kept in the dark about Vomas' motives, but it wasn't like he would want to know anyway.

He saw himself more as a liability to this vampire; that he could be used against Vomas by vampires who wanted something from him.  And then it occurred to him that Vomas wanted him because he was the perfect expendable donor.  If something happened to him, then it would be an inconvenience, nothing more.

But really, was he expecting anything else?  He'd always known it in the back of his mind.

"I don't know what you have in mind for me, exactly, but I'm sure you've already given it a lot of thought," Cain said carefully.  Considering the kind of position Vomas was in, Cain doubted he could think of anything Vomas hadn't already thought of ten steps ago.  "When you say personal donor, do you also want sex, or will it be like it was before?"

He had mixed feelings about both responses.

[Saccharin]

Like it was before? He thought about that. Humans usually fell into two groups when they were gently fed from: either they entered a drug-like stupor, or they rubbed against you like a cat in heat. Cain was a card holding member of the latter group.

Before, when he'd fed from the human, he'd kept him at arm's length - literally - choosing to feed from his wrist rather than his neck. It was less intimate... safer. In Vomas' mind, Cain had belonged to Kerr, even if he never declared it formally. After all, the former Luminary had all but forced him to bring him on as a donor, despite it being well past enrollment. And so he'd steered clear out of respect.

But Kerr was gone.

"No, not like before," he decided. "Unless you object." Despite what Cain believed him capable of, he couldn't detach himself enough to essentially force himself on someone; it wasn't like a human in that position could control their reaction to the bite, after all.

If Cain didn't want sex to be part of their arrangement, it wouldn't be.

[Malkavian Riddler]

Cain thought he understood, as Vomas struggled to respond in a dignified manner.  Guess Cain had managed to put him on the spot.  Only someone who'd seen the usually stiff and proper Vomas quite often would've picked up on the hesitation... and Cain thought he'd seen it.  So he thought he understood now, what Vomas really wanted.

A pet.

So politically correct, to refer to Cain as a 'personal donor'.  If sex wasn't out of the equation, then the role was closer to being more than just a human assistant who sometimes gave a bit of blood.  It didn't even occur to Cain to refuse.  If this was the proposition Vomas wanted, then Cain believed it to be all or nothing.

"Are you wanting an answer now?"

Not that Cain was agreeing just yet, but he wanted all of Vomas' cards on the table.  The guy was good looking but he wasn't very forthcoming with his emotions.  Cain saw that he'd have to ask lots of questions at the start, until they developed a routine.  He also wasn't sure if he wanted to have sex with him yet.

[Saccharin]

Again, he took a moment to consider the question before responding. Vomas suspected if he rushed Cain, he would dig his heels in and deny him. But if he let him mull for too long, there was a possibility he'd talk himself out of it. If he'd known the human better, he'd know exactly what to say to convince him... or if he was willing to Dominate him...

It was tempting. All it would take was a little mental push. Cain would never notice, and even if he did, he could-

No. He could justify coercing someone who was a threat to him or his district, but this was different. He needed to earn trust, not plant it in Cain's head. Barely containing a sigh, he turned away from the human to share a brief look of annoyance with the wall.

"I would prefer that, but I understand if you need time. It isn't a small thing I'm asking of you." There was a pensive tilt to his mouth when he turned back to Cain. "Have you been to Beacon Towers since its completion? Perhaps seeing it would help you make a decision."