[...in some ways, this might actually help bridge that gap somehow.]
-- Ah. Well, I've been calling him Adrian for a while, but the rest of the city -- there was a vampire that showed up not too long ago who also goes by Alucard, and it got a bit too complicated to call them both the same name.
[Also, the other Alucard is kind of Dracula, but don't think about that.]
...Right, that would've been a better place to start.
[Trevor just frowns, rubbing his neck. Damnit.]
There's -- a good number of vampires here, actually, and most of them are surprisingly harmless. They know they're outnumbered by humans, and have no interest in attacking them.
[And also your husbands have four between them. Sur...prise...]
[That's...not exactly THAT weird to believe, but still weird. All of this is weird...and so is the way he's rubbing at his neck. Don't mind her as she leans in a bit to try and get a better look.]
[Except one particular menace you wrangled with your whip.]
You contracted vampires? [Literally what. Give her a moment.] Isn't that what makes a vampire a vampire? The fact they drink blood?
[Look this is all really confusing for her, okay? Also don't mind her as she squints and moves to touch at his neck, thumbing over the healing marks on his neck.]
[Well, she'd be surprised if it was someone else. She's just confirming her suspicions.]
You really did get close.
[And just as quick as she had touched his neck she's returned her hand to herself.]
I have missed quite a lot.
[And she doesn't like it, that she's missed things. It makes her feel awkward, like she's intruding on something. Of course she knows that's not how Trevor and Adrian feel but it's something she's trying to shake.]
[He doesn't tell her that the first time he'd fed Adrian it was because the dhampir hadn't eaten in too long and he'd been a walking bloody disaster. It feels -- wrong, somehow, like trying to make Adrian look bad.
He sighs, reaching to take the hand she's drawn back to herself and turning it over in his own hand, stroking his thumb over her palm.]
This place is -- it makes people become close quickly. I don't know if you remember much about what they told you when you got here.
[She isn't expecting him to take her hand but she doesn't pull it away when he does. Quietly she watches his thumb move against her palm. It's rough but her hands aren't exactly smooth and dainty either. They've seen their fare share of work.]
Admittedly...not much. I was far too concerned with leaving that wretched place as fast as I could.
...Well. The biggest thing that this place does that people have difficulty adjusting to is -- they expect a level of intimacy, Sypha. Sex -- three times a month.
[At minimum, but he's not going to say it like that. It's awkward enough to talk about as it is.]
[So...she does vaguely remember this being mentioned to her, but she was so pissed off that she hasn't paid much attention to what had been told to her. Now that her hand is in Trevor's and her mind is quiet she can process what's being told to her.
[He wants to grunt, frustrated, but he'd been expecting this exact reaction. It's still infuriating, of course, and it makes him angry, honestly, but -- ]
If you don't make your quota, there are consequences. Most of them are meant to encourage you to -- become in the mood to be intimate in some way you might not normally want.
Would you stop making it sound like I am personally trying to get you to fuck a bunch of strangers!
[He's flustered -- he frowns, glances off toward the kitchen with a shake of his head.]
I don't know the details of it, other than people end up in a zoo where you can be rented hourly like a slave, or in some treatment facility! But nobody's with child, it just -- it doesn't happen!
It doesn't happen? Or is it that women get rid of the child before it can be born before anyone knows?
[She may be a virgin and ignorant in some aspects, but she is well aware that there are herbs one can take that can bring upon a miscarriage or there are other means a desperate woman can go to if they can't bear to be a mother.]
So you are saying that they will drag me away and turn me into a whore, is that is?
[And yes, of course Sypha thinks that she still knows better than him, because why would he have any idea what's been going on in a place that he's been for months, of course -- god, she's so frustrating -- he runs a hand roughly through his hair.]
And I'm saying that's an -- it's a risk I don't want you to have to take, I don't want you to --
[To be hurt, to be forced into anything, to experience that sort of loss of control -- it's different than anything else, he knows it, not so fully as some people here, even, but he doesn't want to know more.]
[She gets that he's trying to help. Really, she does. He's been nothing but helpful to her so far and she appreciate that.
But she's also currently beginning to lose her mind over the implication of everything Trevor's telling her. Her hand is taken back from his, but it's only because she's pushing herself up off the couch, to pace back and forth before him.]
I know you are but this is...it is a lot, okay? I haven't even kissed someone before! This is just, it's just...
[She hates it. She really, really hates it. She stops pacing all of a sudden, a hand reaching across her chest for fingers to curl around her bicep. She looks beyond lost.]
[He sighs, lets his shoulders deflate. Of course she's worried, and she has every right to be -- he knows that she's probably afraid, too, even if she won't admit as much, because he'd felt much the same when he got here. He pushes himself to his feet and places a hand on her shoulder carefully.]
I know that it's ... a lot. I just didn't want you to have to be bombarded by a bunch of strangers when we all have to attend orientation soon.
[He furrows his brows and looks at her sidelong.]
You'll adjust, because you are the most capable magician I know. And if worse comes to worse ... we could try dropping a castle on LIES.
[That...actually gets a small smile out of her but it fades as quickly as it came, her fingers squeezing her arm tighter. She's not sure being a magician is going to really come in handy in the bedroom but she does like the thought of dropping a castle atop of whoever's in charge of this whole charade. Trevor's hand on her shoulder is a welcome weight but she still feels unsettled.
It's just all so much and because she's just as blunt and impulsive as the man standing before her, the words come out of her mouth without being vetted by her brain first.]
...You know, this is the part where you could have offered to kiss me.
[Trevor is about to genuinely consider whether he's seen any castles since his arrival here when his brain manages to process the other thing that she just said about him offering to kiss her.
Yes, that would've been something that a smoother, hotter dhampir person might certainly have done -- but Trevor is, as is his apparent habit with women that he genuinely respects, hesitant to make such a blatant offer.]
...you just said everything was too much. I didn't fancy a black eye because I tried to kiss you, Sypha.
[However, Trevor isn't moving his hand away from her shoulder -- in fact, he's still more or less settled in front of her, eyes fixed on her face and head canted just slightly to the side. Apparently he needs to pay attention.]
[She's antsy all of a sudden, looking up at his face and then back to her toes, then to the side and then back again she meets his eyes. For as volatile and strong as she could be, there's still a part of her heart that's a delicate, if not idealistic maiden.]
I don't want my first kiss to be with someone I don't know.
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-- Ah. Well, I've been calling him Adrian for a while, but the rest of the city -- there was a vampire that showed up not too long ago who also goes by Alucard, and it got a bit too complicated to call them both the same name.
[Also, the other Alucard is kind of Dracula, but don't think about that.]
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[Yeah, where's the memo that this place is infested with vampires? It'd probably be a good thing to get right now.]
I can see how that would be confusing but...there are other vampires here?
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[Trevor just frowns, rubbing his neck. Damnit.]
There's -- a good number of vampires here, actually, and most of them are surprisingly harmless. They know they're outnumbered by humans, and have no interest in attacking them.
[And also your husbands have four between them. Sur...prise...]
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You are serious?
[Yeah, he's serious, she's just clarifying.]
I find that hard to believe, that they are harmless. Humans outnumbered them before and they still managed to cause an incredible amount of trouble.
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[He sighs. This is going exactly as well as he'd expected to in his head.]
There's different sorts here, too. Different kinds of vampires.
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[That's...not exactly THAT weird to believe, but still weird. All of this is weird...and so is the way he's rubbing at his neck. Don't mind her as she leans in a bit to try and get a better look.]
Different sorts? How so? In what way?
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[Trevor blinks, suddenly fully aware of the still-healing bite marks on his neck.]
Well. Some of them don't drink blood at all, or particularly need to.
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You contracted vampires? [Literally what. Give her a moment.] Isn't that what makes a vampire a vampire? The fact they drink blood?
[Look this is all really confusing for her, okay? Also don't mind her as she squints and moves to touch at his neck, thumbing over the healing marks on his neck.]
Who bit you?
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I should say that some of them choose not to drink human blood, or some of them don't attack humans and only take donors.
[But then Sypha is suddenly touching his neck and he feels his cheeks heating, glancing off to the side as she runs her thumb across the marks.]
...Adrian. As if I'd let anyone else do anything like that.
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You really did get close.
[And just as quick as she had touched his neck she's returned her hand to herself.]
I have missed quite a lot.
[And she doesn't like it, that she's missed things. It makes her feel awkward, like she's intruding on something. Of course she knows that's not how Trevor and Adrian feel but it's something she's trying to shake.]
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He sighs, reaching to take the hand she's drawn back to herself and turning it over in his own hand, stroking his thumb over her palm.]
This place is -- it makes people become close quickly. I don't know if you remember much about what they told you when you got here.
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Admittedly...not much. I was far too concerned with leaving that wretched place as fast as I could.
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...Well. The biggest thing that this place does that people have difficulty adjusting to is -- they expect a level of intimacy, Sypha. Sex -- three times a month.
[At minimum, but he's not going to say it like that. It's awkward enough to talk about as it is.]
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She just doesn't like it.]
No.
[That's it. Just no. Absolutely not. No.]
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If you don't make your quota, there are consequences. Most of them are meant to encourage you to -- become in the mood to be intimate in some way you might not normally want.
[UGH why does he have to talk ... about this ...]
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[She's not grilling him...only she kind of is. This is an affront to her decency and her complete and utter lack at, well, getting down and dirty.]
I am not having sex at random. Do you know how irresponsible that is? What if I ended up with a child?!
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[He's flustered -- he frowns, glances off toward the kitchen with a shake of his head.]
I don't know the details of it, other than people end up in a zoo where you can be rented hourly like a slave, or in some treatment facility! But nobody's with child, it just -- it doesn't happen!
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[She may be a virgin and ignorant in some aspects, but she is well aware that there are herbs one can take that can bring upon a miscarriage or there are other means a desperate woman can go to if they can't bear to be a mother.]
So you are saying that they will drag me away and turn me into a whore, is that is?
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[And yes, of course Sypha thinks that she still knows better than him, because why would he have any idea what's been going on in a place that he's been for months, of course -- god, she's so frustrating -- he runs a hand roughly through his hair.]
And I'm saying that's an -- it's a risk I don't want you to have to take, I don't want you to --
[To be hurt, to be forced into anything, to experience that sort of loss of control -- it's different than anything else, he knows it, not so fully as some people here, even, but he doesn't want to know more.]
I'm just trying to help.
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But she's also currently beginning to lose her mind over the implication of everything Trevor's telling her. Her hand is taken back from his, but it's only because she's pushing herself up off the couch, to pace back and forth before him.]
I know you are but this is...it is a lot, okay? I haven't even kissed someone before! This is just, it's just...
[She hates it. She really, really hates it. She stops pacing all of a sudden, a hand reaching across her chest for fingers to curl around her bicep. She looks beyond lost.]
What am I supposed to do?
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I know that it's ... a lot. I just didn't want you to have to be bombarded by a bunch of strangers when we all have to attend orientation soon.
[He furrows his brows and looks at her sidelong.]
You'll adjust, because you are the most capable magician I know. And if worse comes to worse ... we could try dropping a castle on LIES.
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[That...actually gets a small smile out of her but it fades as quickly as it came, her fingers squeezing her arm tighter. She's not sure being a magician is going to really come in handy in the bedroom but she does like the thought of dropping a castle atop of whoever's in charge of this whole charade. Trevor's hand on her shoulder is a welcome weight but she still feels unsettled.
It's just all so much and because she's just as blunt and impulsive as the man standing before her, the words come out of her mouth without being vetted by her brain first.]
...You know, this is the part where you could have offered to kiss me.
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Yes, that would've been something that a smoother, hotter
dhampirperson might certainly have done -- but Trevor is, as is his apparent habit with women that he genuinely respects, hesitant to make such a blatant offer.]...you just said everything was too much. I didn't fancy a black eye because I tried to kiss you, Sypha.
[However, Trevor isn't moving his hand away from her shoulder -- in fact, he's still more or less settled in front of her, eyes fixed on her face and head canted just slightly to the side. Apparently he needs to pay attention.]
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[She's antsy all of a sudden, looking up at his face and then back to her toes, then to the side and then back again she meets his eyes. For as volatile and strong as she could be, there's still a part of her heart that's a delicate, if not idealistic maiden.]
I don't want my first kiss to be with someone I don't know.
[Or first anything really.]
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That's ... not what this is.
He brings a hand up to brush his thumb over her cheek, to settle an invisible piece of hair behind her ear.]
Well. Then Sypha ... would you allow me to kiss you?
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