socoolbrewster | { 08 } well you can try and change the world but you won't change me

Entry tags:

{ 08 } well you can try and change the world but you won't change me

Well that was pointless.

[There's an Ed giving the camera a very unimpressed look, though he's unsettled underneath; not obviously so, but those particularly adept at reading body language could pick it up with relative ease; he has the ragged look of someone who hasn't slept in days, a certain tenseness of muscles and looseness of movement that speaks to pain of some kind, though he's trying to spackle over it all with his usual cocksure attitude.

Anger seems to help.]

Like "I'm sorry" actually helps. Fuck you. Anybody who actually liked having Captain Douchenozzle around raise your hands high so I can murder you in your sleep.

[A/N: feel free to assume you (or the replacement) ran into Brewster while he was around; I dropped the ball in terms of bothering people, sooo I'll either backtag that or handwave depending on what's most convenient.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ed.

We need to talk. It is rather urgent.

Fine. Talk. What.

[ARE YOU GOING TO LEAVE TOO because he can't handle that. He's anticipating it though, thus the defensive tone and the narrowed eyes.]

8-16. This is a conversation for vampires, not for the network.

Sure.

[He kills the feed and stalks his way there, knocking twice and lurking at the door to wait to be admitted. Sure, he could force his way in, but Drac's an Elder. He gets respect. And an approximation of manners.]

[Dracula pushes the heavy oak door open one-handed, lets Ed in and then closes and locks it behind them. The room beyond is stone and heavy timber, with a sleeping alcove set in one wall, a window with a deep window seat set in another, and a small fire grate in a third. The fourth wall has a desk, chair and small table pushed against it to clear as much of the floor space as possible. Candles flicker in sconces on the walls, adding to the light cast by the fire.]

I am going to go over some things I have noticed, and then I am going to ask you a question and make a request. [He folds his arms and leans against the wall by the fireplace.]

The first thing I have noticed is that we are effectively alone now. Lestat and Jerry Dandridge have gone, and Aleera has proven...completely unreliable. The second is that the hunter filth are growing more and more numerous, and thus more bold. They are beginning to learn, to their grief, that attempting to schoolyard-bully me will get them nowhere. But my own safety is not my only concern. Have they been antagonizing you?

[He stalks over to one of the chairs, drops into it and watches, still by and large mutinous. Don't take it personally, Drac, he's feeling a little out of sorts at the moment.]

Not lately. I pissed a couple off my first few days but I've been careful after.

[That and he'd had Jerry to hide behind.]

Edited 2012-04-05 02:27 (UTC)

We all do that. [Dracula smiles a bit sadly, willing to be indulgent for the moment. He can sense the tension in the younger vampire, and knows he may have to get creative to be of help in this matter.] But it is wise to lie low. Never let on what you're doing, what you're planning. Let the damn fools keep guessing.

I...need to ask you a personal question. How...long have you been a vampire?

That's what Jerry said. Project what you want but stay consistent and keep what you're actually up to quiet.

[Not that he cares much right now; might want to keep an eye on him or he may act out in a...less than ideal way. He picks at his nails, digging out dirt that he'll never remove completely.]

Couple days before I got here. [A hint of wariness.] Why?

Smart man. Yes, exactly. It's going to be difficult to not want to lash out. It's going to be damn difficult in some cases. [He's remembering standing his ground in the pub while two hunters screamed invective at him at once.] The more numerous those genocidal maniacs get, the bolder, and the bolder, the crueler. But you must remain in control, as much as possible. Rising to their bait means that they beat you down and throw you in Zero. Or kill you, then drag you from your hospital bed to Zero. They are not above abusing their Warden power, and until I make certain gains it is going to be difficult for us to defend ourselves. Subtlety and secrecy must become watchwords.

I am more powerful than the average Inmate, for over the last year my Warden has relaxed my power restrictions twice. And I am very old and experienced. I do not imagine it will take me more than a few more months to graduate, but I am staying on afterward, so I can provide stability.

I like you. You show a lot of promise but you're going to have a wicked hard time of it if you have to learn the basics of being a vampire alone. [He pauses, letting the gist of what he is getting to sink in.]

They can throw me in Zero all they want, I don't give a shit. I'll just take it out on them later. And then you'll graduate, become one of them, and then what?

And anyway, I already know the basics.

[Knowing you need to feed and how to turn into a wolf aren't really the basics, Ed. But his Sire left, or disappeared, isn't HERE, and he's reluctant to accept much at face value right now.

It's one thing to SAY you'll be around, another thing entirely to actually BE around.]

You say that. But...

When I came here I was warned by a very wise being of the essential cycle of futility that far too many Inmates get into. We lash out, we are imprisoned, we lash out to avenge that, we are imprisoned again...some of the Inmates here have done that for years, and it ends up making them look rather ridiculous. Try it if you have to, but I guarantee you'll get bored with it. You're too smart not to.

And...do not insult me. Two vampires graduated from this place already, and one became a Warden, and she is neither fangless nor "one of them". Nor will I be. I will never cooperate with those who seek to destroy us. I'm not going to step in every damned time you get yourself in trouble, but I have no intention of letting anyone bully you or ruin your second chance.

I am certain that you were given a...how do you say..."crash course" in surviving as a vampire, but let me be very blunt. No one learns everything they need to in a few days or even a few months. Nor do any of us have an easy time controlling our impulses for a while. There are techniques of hunting and using one's powers, there is the anatomy of the human blood-system, there are feeding techniques that can preserve life or kill quickly in battle...there is much.

I am offering fosterage, and a trade of information. When I graduate, I will return within three days and continue said fosterage. If you are comfortable with a trial of the arrangement I am willing to give you a year and a day of commitment.

...Fosterage.

[Head tilted, suddenly losing his interest in his nails in favor of...whatever it was the other was offering. He wasn't an idiot, he knew what the word meant, but...]

You can do that?

[It wasn't agreement exactly, that would have felt too much like an outright betrayal. But Jerry was gone, it felt like a piece of him had been torn out and he didn't know what else to do. It hurt. And the few times he'd spoken with Dracula before he'd seemed like a decent guy. Experienced.

Maybe...it wasn't a bad idea.]

One of the reasons I am willing to stay here is that it gives me the time to rebuild my society and its laws from the ground up. If I choose for there to be room for fosterage then there is. In the absence of your natural sire, it makes sense.

I don't know your background. I am curious about it, and would exchange equal information, but...whether you chose this life or not, I do feel strongly that you should not go through your fledgeling life alone.

It's hard enough doing this even with help.

[private]

[private]

[private]

[private >> spam]

[spam]

[spam]

[spam]

[spam]

[spam]

[spam]

[spam]

[spam]

[spam]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject