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

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{ 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.]

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Oh. My sincere apologies. You started talking about sex and I got thoroughly distracted.

[His eyes narrow slightly and he chuckles.] Oh now you're getting clever on me.

I am the original for my world. I was once a great warlord, and worked for the church. Then they decided I was out of control and sent my best friend to murder me. As I slipped into darkness, I was offered a...deal. And I accepted it.

Let me give you a piece of advice...never do that. You are a vampire without such interventions, and you never ever want to make such a deal.

[A soft smile as he thought of Persephone.] She was magnificent. I still miss her. She gave me two good reasons to start learning to get along with other beings.

...but animals are rather off limits for me. I'd rather save my passions for thinking beings, though I am liberal regarding their race.

It seems that many vampires turn people whenever they kill, or sometimes whenever they bite. We must drain the blood and give some of our own. That allows us to choose our new converts carefully. I admit, I haven't always in the past. But I reserve the right to be...picky.

Your bite is not directly infectious, is it? That can be difficult to manage.

As for the rest, I don't know any vampires who don't fall to sunlight or that which is blessed. But in this case, I heal so quickly that it is quite difficult for anything to put me down for long.

Which reminds me. You're having thirst problems, yes?

...Pretty sure getting it without your actual permission's not much better.

[But he shrugs; it wasn't entirely against his will at the end, not really, and it's not like he's complaining now.]

Pretty sure my kind's catching; some end up pathetic idiots and some end up like me, but even food gets it if you drag it out enough. That's why I asked, I know they're not all like that.

[He's been careful so far. Mostly; ports don't get anywhere near the same care, but he never took enough from Lua to begin with, and now he's taking even less. So far it hasn't been a problem, though really it's only a matter of time.

He nods at the rest of the information, filing it away, but at the latest question he frowns, guarded.]

I'm hungry all the time, if that's what you mean.

[Full stop; he winces. A faint shudder goes through him.]

Not a year ago I would have told him to be grateful. That he was lucky to be given such a gift and he should simply accept it. But how terrifying to be taken against one's will! And...it is a practice I have heard of over and over again. It is...it is the norm for vampires. Being wicked and cruel seems to be the norm for vampires the multiverse over. The right to choose otherwise might be there but it is largely ignored. We might have the same moral capacity as humans, but vampire culture again and again turns out to be...

...evil.

Oh my God.

[The look of creeping horror in his eyes was not just for Ed; he blinked and then forcibly composed himself.]

I wasn't speaking of that. I was referring to the demonic pact. Never truck with demons or devils, Ed, it's no good for anyone involved.

But since you brought it up...I don't do that anymore. If someone is with me I want them there because they chose it.

[A tilt of his head.] Can you drink shallowly without conversion? [We'll ignore your calling humans "Food", Ed, cause you don't know better yet.] I ask because having a donor or two aboard can make one's stay here much more tolerable.

[He nods grimly.] The first few months you will be thirsty all the time, because your body is still changing in minute ways. It will be difficult not to hunt humans. I may have to supplement you. [Besides which he is wondering if enough of his blood will give Ed access to some of his abilities.]

...Okay, fine, whatever. Good to know. Check.

[He mimes a checkmark, but the cavalier attitude's mostly to cover the fact that he doesn't really want to talk about that whole...thing. Demonic pacts, involuntary turnings, any of it.]

I think we can? Jerry didn't really...teach me a whole lot. But we don't usually drain as a rule apparently, so I'm assuming yes; he had a bunch of holding cells upstairs for feeders. I've already got one donor so far. [Sort of.]

...Supplement?

[Try not to sound so eager there, Ed.]

[Dracula backs off immediately; he is learning that when Ed is at his most flippant, he is in pain.]

[But he almost loses it when he hears about the holding cells.] Cruel, so cruel. Is cruelty the greatest of our legacies? Not strength or loyalty or survival, but cruelty? Everywhere I turn I see the signs of it.

[And when he mentions his one donor, Dracula actually winces in real pain.]

Lua...

[The loneliness that has been gnawing at him since his break with Aleera pains him so hard for a moment that he catches an unnecessary breath.]

Lua, Aleera, Persephone, Petronilla, Verona, Marishka, Angelina, Carolyn. Will it ever end? Will anyone ever stay...?

[He's never been heartsick before in his entire existence; he doesn't know what it is. For a split second he looks almost panicked--but then back to a slightly sad smile.]

That's very good, Ed.

[A rather resigned nod.] You need to feed more than is usual for a vampire, and in a small closed community with little secrecy a regular hunt is unfeasable. And I cannot yet just let you into the CES. During this time, until you have enough donors or your hunger has calmed I will give you my wrist once a week or so. It should ease things considerably and is little harm to me.

[Hesitation, because it feels like a betrayal, but he can't keep the greedy look out of his eyes. The hunger; he remembers what it's like to feed from an Elder, the power in the blood, the strength, and it's all he can do not to shift right there.]

...You sure?

It will help keep you from temptation. The more you can fight temptation here the less shit you end up eating and the shorter your stay. It's not going to hurt me, Ed. And besides...if there is a chance I might gift you with some of my powers, I believe you would both enjoy them and increase your survival chances.

[The bond will also help him keep an empathic eye on you, Ed.]

...Why, what extras do you have?

[He wasn't worried about hurting you, he knows that's pretty much impossible.]

Flight, among other things. It would be easier to train you in powers I already possess.

[Blink, blink, then a slow grin.]

I'll be able to fly? You're shitting me.

If we can get this to work, yes. Trust me, outside a hunt in the CES there is absolutely nothing better for burning off some of one's frustrations with this place.

Dude, that's...awesome. So do you get wings, or just ignore gravity, or what?

[He shrugs and then pulls his legs up, sitting in midair.]

Like this.

....Well, fuck me.

Now that's something I'd give a nut for. How do you do it?

I had a flight transformation but it was too powerful for the Barge. This was the compromise supplied to me.

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

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