For fun, add a little Mexican

[Phoenix]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

<Phoenix> With the spring rains blowing through the city, Phoenix found herself quite reluctant to venture outside. After baking a dozen muffins and shoving them in the pre-heated oven, the Shadow seemed at a loss as to what to do. Axel was out, she was out of books, and so she curled up on the couch with her computer.

Apparently Jesse's newest spawn had found Crownet, which was good. This was the first lot he'd sired since the falling out, and so the introductions would likely have to come from her end. With only a name to guide her, Nix reached out to one of the two - Leah - and spoke into the woman's mind. "Hi. It's Phoenix. You should come chill; I'm hanging at 601 Beta Towers." Of course she didn't expect a mind to mind reply, but maybe the woman would come.

<Leah> The dingy Motel room rang out to the sound of Bon Jovi's rendition of Dead or Alive, and a collaboration of spanish voices to try and follow it along, she'd returned to her gang after being turned, she knew at some point they'd move on and she'd have to remain behind, that fact was made all the more obvious by her ability to hear their hearts beating away as they drank, a thing she didn't do after having learnt the hard way that tequila was no longer her friend, she could still smoke though so sat in the corner of the room, hidden behind the hazy fog. Debating her next move when the voice interrupted her head, she didn't know how, or even who was talking to her, then it clicked, the supposed telepath from the web, was actually a telepath and not a nutter.

She left the room with the excuse of needing more cigarettes, venturing out into the drizzle and hateful weather, it was colder than she was used to but then again.. there was a lot different now. She had no idea where to find the building in question though so began asking around, the first dozen humans just looked at her like she were some kind of tramp, dirty and stinking of smoke, not to mention her foreign accent but soon enough someone helped her, pointing her in the right direction until she found the building in question, wracking her memory for the number she'd been told before thumbing the elevator button quite hard. Trying to dry herself off as she stood outside the right door.

<Phoenix> When the elevator dinged open, she'd nearly forgotten the telepathic missive sent to Jesse's childe. YouTube videos of frolicking puppies really had a way of sucking in bored minds. The door separating her living room from the hallway was rather thin, especially to her super sensitive ears. The redhead imagined she could almost hear the hesitation in each footstep.

Once they stopped outside her door, she pushed herself to her feet and slipped over. After a pause, she opened her apartment to the dripping woman standing outside. Instead of a greeting, "You didn't have an umbrella?" popped out of her mouth. How welcoming. "Er... come in. Leah, right?" At least she managed to smile as she slipped back into the depths of her cozy little burlesque-themed apartment.

This woman could have been anyone off the street, but it's not like Nix cared who she invited in. If she wasn't Leah, she could always just revoke the invitation and teleport her soaked *** halfway across the city. For now, though, she fetched a towel and offered it to the woman, ignoring the stale scent of cigarettes.

<Leah> "Si, you are the one who talked into my head? You not got a phone?" She took the towel and quickly set about drying her jet black hair, a brow had risen at the umbrella question and she opened her palms, the towel draped over her shoulder "My umbrella was.. not mine to begin with" She smirked, kicking the door shut with the heel of her foot gently as she followed the woman inside.

<Phoenix> A lazy grin curled her lips as she stepped into the living room. It was an open concept apartment with the kitchen to the right of the door and the living room/dining room sprawled out. She motioned the woman to follow as she dropped onto the couch. "My phone was out of reach," she admitted, "and the mind thing seemed quicker. More practical. We should get you an umbrella." One leg folded over the other as she watched the woman, vaguely curious what, if anything, Jesse had said about her.

<Leah> "you are Phoenix si? The one from the web? thank you for being so.. " She clicked her fingers, trying to figure out the best word to say for this situation. "Welcome? Nice? One of them." She too sat down and took her denim jacket off, showing the virtually non-existent tube top and belly ring, most of her tanned torso was covered in tattoos and two metal studs glistened in the light, she had cheek piercings.

<Phoenix> She nodded. "Yeah, I'm Phoenix; you don't need to thank me. We're... a pretty diverse bunch, but keeping everyone together is what keeps us strong." She blinked as the jacket came off - it wasn't the rings or tattoos that bothered her - Leah would meet her thoroughly inked and pierced fiance soon enough - but the lack of clothing. "You might want to get something a bit warmer than that - just for appearances. We don't really get cold, but if you start prancing around in summer clothes mid-blizzard, people look at you pretty funny." She paused, scrunching up her nose. "You want a drink?"

<Leah> She shrugged then shook her head at the offer of a drink, screwing up her face as she remembered all too vividly the last time she'd tried to drink something since the Alley incident. But maybe that was just because she tried to drink from the bottle without eating anything first, best to try again with something non-alcoholic right? "Water please." She nods a little then looked down at her clothing, it was true, she did look a little too summery for this place, a little too Mexican, if there was such a thing. "I'll steal something later."

<Phoenix> Without correcting the woman about the water, she slipped over to the kitchen and fetched a bag of blood from the fridge. After pulling out two mugs and pouring out equal portions, she stuck the mugs into the microwave. While the liquid heated, she turned to Leah, a grin on her lips. "You don't need to steal anything. If you get me some zombie ears, I'll buy 'em off you for enough that you should be able to afford some new stuff. We take care of our own when they're in the adjustment phase, so if you need anything let me know." Once the microwaved beeped, she collected both mugs and offered one to Leah as she dropped back into her seat. "We can't drink anything anymore other than blood and blood derived stuff," she explained. "But it probably won't taste like blood anymore."

<Leah> Zombie ears, right.. Was everyone in this family insane? She'd seen dozens of zombie movies, she didn't plan on collecting ears, just putting a bullet between their eyes. But hey, if this woman wanted to buy them off her, she'd start cutting bits off. Taking the mug she stared at it, then the woman, then back at the mug and her brows shot up, sniffing the liquid inside "Smells like blood.. What is this supposed to taste like?"

<Phoenix> Her brow furrowed at the question, lips pursing thoughtfully. She supposed it should taste like blood, but it really didn't taste like her idea of blood anymore. The metallic, bitter taste had repulsed her as a human and she'd certainly never have been able to down pints of it at a time. But now it tasted... right. "Blood, I suppose, but it's not gross. I think I'd have hurled trying to drink blood before, but it's good now. Nutritious or something." She shrugged and then decided that she probably shouldn't ramble. "How'd you end up turned?"

<Leah> She nods once and sipped at it tentatively before putting the cup down, the question came and she wasn't sure how to answer, would it get her in trouble? Probably not as much as lying about it would. "Tried to mug Jesse at gunpoint."

<Phoenix> After sipping from her own mug, the redhead arched a brow, skeletal fingers idly trailing against the cup's design. Hers was a silly little 'I love NY' one. Her expression remained ambiguous for a few moments before amusement softened the set of her jaw and the curve of her lips. "Oh, I'd have paid to watch that. I'm glad he didn't kill you. Jesse and I don't... get along. He's an outcast from the line."

<Leah> "Si?" She knew very little of what transpired in her new found 'family'. Truthfully this was only the second person she'd met, with Jesse being the first. Whilst it was good she didn't die, she was still surprisingly grateful towards the man for both sparing her hide and giving her eternal youth. "Why is he?"

<Phoenix> "I'm sure his true nature will become apparent to you soon enough. He seemed nice enough when I first met him, but then he turned into an uptight jerk." She shrugged a shoulder. She didn't want to turn the woman off, but honesty was important. "After months of putting up with his crap attitude, I asked him a simple question and instead of answering it, he decided to be a little prick. I overreacted and kicked him out of the line - it would have blown over eventually, but he decided to take permanent action and sever his bloodline from mine. If he wants to be separate from me, he can be separate from all of us. His choice."

<Leah> Her brows shot up and she shook her head, knowing when to stay out of a bad situation was something the Cartel's taught as a base 101 lesson. "So it's separate families.. fighting? You're ok with me being in both families Si?" She wasn't about to up and run from the man who'd turned her, she didn't know anyone else and so far, all had been good.

<Phoenix> She nodded, offering a smile she hoped would reassure the woman. "Yeah, I'm fine with it. My fiance is your... brother. Sorta. I don't and won't hold Jesse's childer accountable for his actions. You just won't ever see him around for any Altaire events."

<Leah> Leah took another pull from the mug and once more her face instinctively screwed up, but she knew it was a taste she'd have to get used to, at least if she wanted to stay pretty! "I haven't met anyone else.. not yet. I think Jesse is letting me get used to this first."

<Phoenix> "Understandable. Everyone has an adjustment period; it's a huge change, and overwhelming you at the start probably isn't the best way to go about it. If you're feeling up to it by then, I'll likely be hosting an Altaire get together on Sunday night - this coming Sunday." After reminding herself, the slender creature reached over to the end table, freed a pen and jotted down a real reminder on a post-it note.

<Leah> "Sunday.. sunday sunday.." She repeated it to herself as if cementing it into her brain, though she knew the moment she was told something else, that date would be gone. Not much she could do with a memory shot full of holes and the IQ of a squirrel. "It's for everyone?"

<Phoenix> "Just family," she specified, still pondering over whether or not she wanted it to be a theme party. If there were new folk, probably not. "You don't have to decide now; I'll post up a reminder on the board and usually text people as a reminder before I open the doors the night of. You're welcome if you want to come. Might be nice to get to know some people."

<Leah> Leah nods a few times, she would certainly show her face for an hour or two. "Will ask Jesse, he seems to check on me a lot, think he thinks I'm gonna run off.. or stab someone else." She shrugged then leant forward, holding the side of her face with a frown, the second time she'd done that today. "Stupid teeth.. keep biting the inside of my cheeks" Normal people wouldn't find that a problem, but the diamond studs in each side of Leah's face meant she was constantly fiddling with them.

<Phoenix> Her lips pressed together to keep from laughing. If Jesse was worried she'd stab someone, then Leah would fit in just fine. When she leaned forward, however, concern replaced the smirk - at least until the Latina explained. "Oh... yeah... I nearly stabbed a hole in my cheek figuring out how the stupid fangs worked. They retract, but they come down at really awkward times - you'll get the hang of it. Unless you're one of the unfortunate ones with permanent fangs. Then they never go away. Strangely, I found chewing gum helped me realize where things were and commit it all to muscle memory faster."

[Leah (DELETED 5369)]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

<Leah> Leah opened her mouth, showing a set of fangs, even her lower set had grown marginally but only if someone really looked. The top set were as clear as day though. She shut her eyes tight and tried to concentrate on making them smaller, to no avail. Her pierced tongue poking at them gingerly with a huff and a faint rattling noise as she inhaled. "What do I do if they don't go away?"

<Phoenix> Making a face, Nix leaned forward to inspect the fangs. Nothing seemed wrong with them, save for the fact that they were out. "There's an art to talking around them without showing them off to people - a few members of the line never have them retract; I think it just has to do with keeping your lips pressed over your teeth in a certain way when you're in public." She shrugged. Other than keeping them out of human sight, permanent fangs weren't much of a problem.

<Leah> She nods and closes her mouth, grateful for the fact her teeth seemed to slip together like a jigsaw, a very sharp, lethal puzzle. "If I make a mistake and a human finds out.. I can dump their body in a river Si?"

<Phoenix> Laughing, Nix shook her head, "Nah. Best to play it off as a pair of prosthetics. I hope someday the city's PR people get infiltrated with vampires and they re-brand the town as LARP central. Harper Rock... North America's LARPiest city." She snickered, taking a dainty sip from her mug. "Would make for great cover. But no.. avoid killing people - they get a bit dazed when you feed off them, so if you avoid killing them and feed discreetly, you should be fine. If you do murder someone, call me. I'll... take care of it." She knew how ominous that sounded, but corpse disposal was certainly a skill she'd acquired over the past few years.

<Leah> "We are in Canada.. Crossing the border was.. fun." She reminds the woman and smirks, then chewed on her lip idly, she had planned on quietly killing everyone she fed off, but then that'd probably end badly. "So.. I bite them and they get dizzy? I only got dizzy when Jesse took too much from me.."

<Phoenix> She grinned, well aware that they were in Canada. "Yeah, so don't cross it again... Especially without a passport. Deportation really wouldn't agree with your sun intolerance." She paused, trying to think on how the process worked for humans. "After you drain a certain amount of blood, they like... seem to forget what happened and they'll wander off all happily. I think we have some kind of magic spit."

<Leah> "I don't have a passport.." It was true, she had no Passport, no legal form of ID. She snuck into everywhere she went, crossing borders had become a bit of a speciality. "Magic... spit.." She'd heard it all now. But if Jesse could bring her back from the dead, what was to stop her from being magic too?

<Phoenix> "Okay, maybe not really magic spit," she admitted, but it really was the best theory she had for the effect they had on humans. "I just know that once you've fed, even if they struggle a bit at first, they seem to forget what happened when you let them go. Just be careful of cameras and security systems." She nodded, pushing herself to her feet to wander to the window, pressing her forehead to the cool glass. "Have you come into any of your powers yet?"

<Leah> Leah watched the woman curiously then shrugged, powers? She guessed she had at least two so far that she knew of. "Si, I think.. I managed to jump over the river before.. and my nails, like claws when I hit a zombie without a knife.." She shrugged and eyed her nails closely, the black painted fragile looking things were still hard as bone and sharp as a straight edged razor.

<Phoenix> That sounded about right for one of the Killer path. She herself had a acquired a few of those powers, but it seemed to have occurred through sheer force of will. "That sounds right. Different vampires have different powers... Some of us start out inherently more inclined towards one thing or another - we call it Paths. You're a Killer. I'm a Shadow. Jesse's a Necromancer. Not sure who came up with the names; they're hardly flattering."

<Leah> She nods, still examining her nails before she spoke up again, asking quietly "What does that mean for me?"

<Phoenix> "It just means that there are certain powers you'll be able to learn easier than others, is all." She turned from the window with a smile. "For now, though, just concentrate on existing. I don't want to overload you." After a short pause, a frown furrowed the redhead's brow. "Do you have a place to stay?"

<Leah> The woman spoke like existing was hard, she'd been doing it for the past 26 years already so it wasn't that much harder. Though the question caused some hesitance in her response times "Si.. and no, I pay for a Motel room."

<Phoenix> She watched the woman curiously, committing her features to memory before wandering to set her mug in the sink. "Well if you need a place, you can stay here. People come and go occasionally, but it's safe and comfortable. Anyone in the family's welcome here - kinda like a huge hang out place."

<Leah> "Gracias amiga. I don't know if Jesse will like it, or how long I can stay for, I don't want to get in the way."

<Phoenix> She shrugged to both statements, though only addressed the latter. "I don't live here - I hang out here, but I actually spend most of my time off at my own home, so you're not getting in the way."

<Leah> Her expression said it all, the deadpan stare, the slack jaw, the look of awe in her eyes as she watched the woman. "You don't even live here? But you own it?" Why anyone would want more than one home confused her, where she came from was little more than a shack.

<Phoenix> She shook her head, curling her lips in what would have been a smile had her expression not been so very sad. "I do own it, but I don't live here..." she confirmed softly, leaning against the counter. "I used to though. I lived here with my first husband, but when things went sour between us, I didn't want the memories so I turned it into a communal space for the family if anyone ever needs a place to crash near downtown. It's also good for new people moving here after turnings... Gives them somewhere to start out." There was that, but she also just really didn't have the heart to sell the place. It's not like money was a problem, either.

<Leah> She nods, then looks around, she didn't own much stuff anyway so she could practically move in there and then, everything she owned was either being worn, or in a pocket. "Si? And staying here.. will help me meet the other people too, if they visit.."

<Phoenix> "Mhum." She tipped her head towards the bedroom. There was a staircase in the back that lead up to a few more rooms and a common living room. "And if you want time to yourself, just head upstairs. Only the people staying here ever head up there, and it's usually for sleeping."

<Leah> "I don't think Jesse will be happy but he's not my dad." She shrugged then smiled, looking round the room without actually moving from her seat. "Is it quiet here?"

<Phoenix> "Very quiet. I had the upper level soundproofed quite thoroughly when it was renovated." She grinned at the memory, so long ago. Originally, the rooms had been intended as ritual chambers, and god knew the noises the demi-fae could make…

<Leah> Leah thought of something else entirely when she heard the rooms were soundproofed, her eyes lit up for a split second and she nods, crossing her legs with a smirk "Si, ok, I think I'll move in please, if that's ok?"

<Phoenix> She spotted the light in the woman's eyes, but she didn't question it. Instead, she simply nodded. "That's fine. Just make sure you clean up after yourself. There's a washing machine in the bathroom and some extra clothes littered pretty much in every drawer. I'll let you settle in before the morning... If you need anything, you know my number; just give me a call if it's urgent, a text if it's not-so urgent. I sleep pretty lightly."

<Leah> That deadpan stare returned and she sucked her teeth a little. "You have a phone? Why did you talk here instead of calling then?" She tapped the side of her head "Were you trying to scare me?"

<Phoenix> She laughed at the look, shaking her head, "No, not at all. I think the mind speaking is a pretty gentle way of letting people know that I'm not nuts when I go about the whole introduction to powers thing." With a playful flutter of her lashes, Nix tipped her head, sending red curls cascading over her shoulder. "I could have done something way creepier if I wanted to scare you. No point in that, though."

<Leah> "I held a gun to a vampire's head and robbed his pockets.." That was all she had to say as she leant back in the chair, seemingly proud of herself as she pulled out the lighter she'd claimed from Jesse. "It is hard to scare me."

<Phoenix> She snickered, clearly amused with Leah's antics. "You didn't know he was a vampire at the time though, did you? Still, I just don't think it's necessary to try creeping people out. You'll eventually come across something that'll do it for you. Unpleasantly." Her nose scrunched in distaste as she thought back to the first time she'd pulled a dying fadeling from its feral mother's corpse. The memory chilled her, even though the room was warm.

<Leah> She nods, figuring that it'd probably happen sooner rather than later. Though the snickering confused her "Did I say something?"

<Phoenix> "Something funny, you mean?" She shook her head - admittedly, the thought of being robbed at gunpoint probably wouldn't be as funny to her. "It's just that guns... really don't scare us dead people all that much. Someone pulled a gun on me and shot me in the head once... I healed the wound as much as I needed to to function and then zombie shuffled at them after they stole the $5 I had on me. Just needed my car keys back, really. That person died, but they stayed dead."

<Phoenix> "No no, I played zombie and chased him with half my face missing. It was hilarious. He was too scared to shoot me again, or do much of anything, really," she snickered. "He did the trying to run thing... then tripped over some boxes and I drained him."

<Leah> Her brows rose and she smiles "If he did it to me.. I'd have shot him with his own gun first."

<Phoenix> "Trust me, some things are way more fun than shooting people. Like watching grown men pee their pants."

<Leah> Leah bit her lip to keep composure but failed and burst out laughing, she'd pay to see that!

<Phoenix> Wiggled her fingers, attempting to be mysterious or wise or something, before joining Leah in the laughter. After a few moments, she stopped and sighed; it was late and she had to be heading back to the Citadel. "I've gotta get back to the fiance. Get some rest - I'm sure I'll see you soon enough." With a wave, the redhead whispered a few words to herself and simply vanished into thin air, the fingers of her other hands having found the tome she kept on her person at all times.

<Leah> Leah sprang up as the woman vanished, that was something new, people didn't just disappear into thin air! the Mexican began checking the rooms one by one, soon giving up and simply accepting the weirdness