Puppy Playtime (Jersey)

[Keara Aithne]

She nodded at the plan to have Jersey accompany her as far as the asylum before she carried on her way with her charges. Pets seemed an odd word to use for such lovely creatures, and yet it was a word she could happily use to describe a human thrall. Gizmo and Leeloo were more than mere pets to her, they were her babies, family members of the four pawed variety. One pup in each arm she began the walk back home with Jersey as her welcome companion.

"This time mind I do not. Especially now that I Enver have. Feel I do that supposed I am for here to be. Simpler life then was though. Less technology. Smaller cities. Our kind in one place did not live as we do now. Nomadic my existence then was. Always had we did order's for to follow. Moved we had to before realised it was that aging we were not. Miss more I do the people. For several years, after returned I did, think of them I could not without into my own word to retreat. Too painful it was for their loss to feel."

Keara stops short of naming names. She could have told Jersey how she'd longed for Ven, her sire and husband but she didn't speak of him to many. It still hurt to think of him but more than that, when she spoke of him with Enver it unsettled him, so the less people that knew his name, the better. There was Deanna too of course, though that pain lessened when she'd managed to somehow pull her from the shadow realm. That was nothing less than a miracle as Keara had not crossed paths with her sister in all the time that she had dwelt in that accursed place. Even the thought of her biological family had caused her to crumble after her return and they had been dead far longer than she'd been in the shadow realm. She'd come to terms with their loss long ago, but alone in this new world, their loss stung as it once had.

"Personality important is," she said changing the subject before she got lost in thoughts of the past. "Able you must be for with your love to converse. Time with them to spend. Their company you must enjoy more than you endure. Wonder still I do as to why Enver with me persisted did? Though try I do for on that not to dwell. Important now it is not. Love strange is. Difficult it is for someone so to love. Yes?"

Keara only briefly paused before continuing along her train of thought. The kind of all-encompassing love she felt for Enver was entirely new to her and while she had not known at the start what it was that she felt, she was acutely aware of it these days.

"Know I do that I My Enver too intently do love but help that I cannot. Even if help it I could, change it I would not. Though strange it is for to love someone even if arguing you are. Times there are when quite angry he makes me. Even then. Even when wish I do, for nothing more than his heart with a knife to pierce, adore him I do. Quite maddening emotions are. Knew I did not that so many there were."

This wasn't something Keara hadn't really talked about with anyone except for Enver, but then he'd witnessed the awakening of new emotions in her, and while at times he was less than useless at helping her to discern what they were, he was still there at the end of the night. Keara wasn't ashamed to admit that she wasn't experienced in love. Her first marriage had been entirely different and the laws then were much stricter. All that mattered to her now was that she'd found Enver. Finally. It had taken almost four hundred years, but they were now together.

[Jersey]

It took her a few moments to reword what was being said, remaining quiet even a minute or too longer as she thought about what to say. She liked Keara a lot, even though they didn’t really talk aside from times when Peter was wounded – that first time, had she not known who his sire was to begin with, she wouldn’t have known what to do after the fae attack – or the occasional hello in passing, so to hear some of her story was surprising. It didn’t help, too, that Jersey knew that she found it just a little bit amusing that her boyfriend, the history geek, was sired by a woman who was from an older time. “I can imagine, was it a bit overwhelming when you returned?” She looked down to step over a rock, not wanting to trip over it as she still had issues with her coordination at times (she didn't want to even think about the amount of ice on the road that would lead her to the cabin and to work each day later on in the winter). While Nakia found it to be amusing, Jersey found it to be a nuisance. A klutz for a vampire, who knew it to be possible?

“And where are you from, originally, if you remember? It does explain your way of speech. It’s different, though, and unique. Pretty, even.”

The woman’s words caused her lips to turn softly up into a smile while she listened. “I agree with that, Peter’s always been pretty easy to talk to. It’s one of the things that drew me to him.” It wasn’t even until after he started jumping out of his skin occasionally that she’d noticed anything different. Her head inclined as she looked at the head of the Vedarian line when it was mentioned that Enver’d been persistent. “Well, you’re beautiful for one,” She then thought about how the woman was with her line, with the animals and most of all, how willing she was to help others, “And while I don’t know you very well, I think you have a very good heart.” But, she supposed everyone questioned that about their partner. She still wondered about Peter, too.

“I think love is supposed to be a challenge, otherwise it wouldn’t be very worth it in the end.”

Family. It was something Jersey loved to have. A lot of it, she knew, stemmed because she didn’t know much about her past before the car accident, before her memory loss. She remembered the screech of metal, screams and then a sharp pain in her temple. After that, black until she awoke in a white room that smelled of alcohol. Marilee Evans, as she knew her name to be, had a brother that went missing and that she was from somewhere in the Northeast. Peter had been the first part of Jersey’s family before her turning; he’d given her a job, friendship, love and then, a home. Then, Kallista had turned her. With the turning, she’d gained multiple female role models to look forward to, she had someone other than Peter to ask for help. Although she wasn’t seen as her mother, Kallista was a mother-figure when she wasn’t like a sister to Jersey. She’d given her siblings, taken care of her.

Despite the incident with Peter and Kallista, she knew her family was something she loved.

And she’d fight for them.

Jersey was quite proud of herself when her jaw didn't drop at the mention that Keara sometimes wished to stab Enver in the heart. She, herself, was still uneasy to touch her sword after stabbing Peter with it in his leg. The reaction had been mostly automatic after he'd been rude to Kallista and something inside her took it as the last straw. But, that hadn't meant the second she realized what she'd done that there hadn't been severe guilt. "I can't imagine being that angry with someone." She thought back to her first fight with Peter and tried not to laugh at the comparison. They yelled at each other, that was the extent.

It was the next part, however, that caught the blonde off guard and she looked up at Keara as they walked. "You aren't used to feeling certain emotions?" The range of them was something that Jersey was very familiar with, some were stronger than others and often some got on her nerves easily. Love was one that she appreciated the most, as it had been one that she'd felt without looking for it. She couldn't imagine not being able to feel it, want it. It had, after all, brought her to Peter and kept her grounded for the most part. "It's good, though, knowing when you love someone and want to be with them.”

[Keara Aithne]

"Think you do that I pretty am?"

Keara wasn't angling for compliments, her tone said as much, she was surprised to hear the words. She knew that Enver found her attractive, though he had a hard time saying as much in the beginning. In her home town she had been considered rather plain and had always been overlooked as a potential match. Though as much as Keara had always blamed her looks for this, it was likely to have something more to do with her personality as she was not as warm and welcoming as a woman ought to be. Neither was she shy at expressing her opinion or her skills. This made her a little intimidating to the men of her stature and too smart for that of those above her station. Keara never did suffer fools gladly.

"Mean I do for to say that thought that I never have. Never shall likely. Even if told I was daily that daily, from now until eternity, believe it I doubt I ever shall. Though believe I do that Enver me attractive does find." Keara smiled as she said this and then gave a soft laugh. "But he a silly boy is. So trusted his opinion in this cannot be."

Gizmo began to squirm to be released. He knew Leeloo was fine and could tell they were heading home which meant he had important markings to make. He had to spread his scent as best as his tiny bladder would allow. It was almost shocking to Keara that such a small creature could carry so much liquid. She'd of thought it a trick of some kind had she not witnessed the miracle on an almost nightly basis.

"And thank you. For all that said you have. A kind heart I cannot claim but trying I am. Cruel some might think me for my past. Cruel I could be thought still. Worry I do not for a kill to make. Not if necessary it is. Though try I do for the frail creatures not to harm. Creatures have we do, that culled must be for our secret to maintain. Try I do for upon these to focus."

She stopped to let Jersey process what she'd said already and finally gave in to the ever increasing demands of her tiny gift, as a gift from Enver he had been. She gently placed him on the floor so that he could pad along and do what needed to be done, but kept a hold of Leeloo, as the shy female didn't seem to desire to follow suit.

"As for my speech. Broken I am." She admitted. "Though better now I am than when first from that realm I did creep. Difficulty had I did for my mind to focus. Required I did constant physical contact also. With objects. Not people. So drawn to people I have never been. Though faked I could such things in my first life. Language different too then was. Think I do as spoke once I did. Only when try I do for my words to say, something happens does. Broken the connection is between mind and lips. Quite odd it is. But used to it now I am. Allow it to frustrate me I do not. Oh... And from England I am. As for love..."

Enver stole her thoughts once more. It was easy for her to get distracted when thinking about him. Though she was more distracted when with him. He was her greatest weakness and her greatest strength. He made her a better person but he honestly was a distraction that her former self would not have approved. When Keara walked into a room, she could take everything in, in one glance. Eyes closed, she would be able to recite how many people were there, any distinguishing marks they might have, where the exits were, etc. With Enver at her side, there were times when the sun could have crested the horizon and she would not have noticed if her skin was on fire. As dramatic as that example may sound, it was entirely plausible.

"As to emotions. Whole then I must not have been. When met Enver I did. Knew I did not what love was. And married I had been. Passion of that kind I did not possess. Never have I so drawn to anyone been. Awoke in me he did that which possessed I never had. Love him beyond reason I do."

With that Keara finally fell silent.

[Jersey]

"I do, yes."

Jersey smiled easily, her footsteps crunching lightly on dried grass while she stuffed one hand into the pocket of her jeans. As she walked, she studied the woman from the corner of her eyes. She indeed thought Keara was pretty, and she liked her style even if it wasn't something that she herself would be comfortable wearing. Jeans, sweaters. She really liked long maxi dresses, too.

At Keara's words, Jersey let out a soft chuckle, "Modesty is a good thing, and we all have something that we don't believe when it comes to ourselves." If she didn't know that Keara felt motherly towards Peter, it would likely bother her with how close the woman was with him. "I think most men are like that, but its always nice to hear either way. Peter's always been honest," Secretive, she thought to herself, but always honest, "so his opinion is something good to hear."

She laughed lightly while she watched Gizmo squirm and the blonde shook her head. She was used to dog's antics and looking down at the three she had with her, the woman was content as she went. Listening to the matriarch of the line, she inclined her head and smiled once more. "After all that you've done for us, Keara, telling you how I really feel is the least that I can ever do." When Keara mentioned frail creatures, her green eyes fell to the animals they were walking with once more.

She considered what could be said about Keara's past and she scratched softly at the side of Bear's head. "I think we all have things in our past that make us the way we are now and if any one judges you for it, they should take their opinion and shove it. What matters is who you are now, and I'm happy to call you family, and a friend." Sure, she knew it was probably easier for someone that didn't remember her past to say as much, but it was something she believed after seeing others be a certain way.

"I can understand that, though." She stopped with Keara, watching Bear leaning forward to lightly nudge Gizmo with his nose. "Gentle." She reminded her shepherd, watching the two and then turning her gaze to Jack and Hunter. As they stood there, she felt the largest lean into her and she stumbled just enough for it to be noticeable. Hearing the admission, Jersey blinked and her confusion was evident across her features. She didn't think the woman seemed broken in the least, simply distant. She didn't quite know what to say to it, either, as she decided it was likely best to continue with the other topic. Love.

A smile danced across her lips as she listened to the words spoken. After, she retranslated, a small nod was given and she wet her lips lightly to speak. "I see. Peter picks on me occasionally because I'm a bit of romance novels," She explained, "But the beauty of relationships period... They can never get them truly correct."

[Keara Aithne]

Keara smiled slightly as Jersey complimented her. It wasn't something she was used to hearing form the lips of anyone but Enver and in some ways it was a little embarrassing but she bore it as only her modest demeanour would allow. At the end of the day, it was nice to hear nice things from some other than your own lover and she had to accept that it was possible that someone else might actually say such things and mean them.

"Happy also I am, for you in the family to have. Imagined once I could not for my own clan to possess. Strange even now seems it does to me. Some two hundred years in this world walked I did as what now I am again. Never had I then the need for a childe to take. Never had I the desire for to try. Now... Now imagine I cannot a world in which I the end of my clan am. Almost selfish seems it does for that way to think."

The Asylum drew ever closer as the talked and crossed the field and while Keara was happy to talk of love, the detour the conversation took came naturally. Keara was trying, in her own way, to explain how happy she was with the way in which things had turned out. She may have had to lose her sire and spend two hundred years in a realm that almost drove her insane, but at the end of the day it was worth every sacrifice. The path she had taken had led her to Harper Rock.

"And love a most complicated emotion is. Difficult it is for to describe. Though tried I have. When first told I did My Enver that I him did love, arguing we were. That news to Peter would not be. Sure I am of that. Realised I had not what the emotion was until I that word did say. And even then, eluded me it did. Asked Enver did, that I my words repeated, only knew I did not what said I had. Enver and I quite.... well... volatile can be. Many emotions in me he does inspire."

The word Keara should have used was passionate in place of volatile, though both rang true. Though admitting to passion might have meant admitting that they shared a carnal connection, something Keara still treated as a secret around most of the people that she knew. It was probably a given to most of the vampires of this day and age that couples had sex, but Keara's mind-set was still somewhat in the past and to speak of such things was taboo. The act itself was outlawed and while Enver had managed to get her past the idea of lovemaking as being wrong, it was something she was still trying to hide. Though her actions of late in the attic had begun to betray her, as she was infinitely more comfortable being herself around her family these days.

[Jersey]

It caused her to chuckle as she listened, thinking about the events that had gone along in the time span of life – both as a vampire and as a human, that she had known. She didn’t think that it would too be hard for her to accept being alive for so long if she had the chance because those that she loved were vampires before her. “You do a wonderful job of leading it.” Jersey said honestly from her perspective, which was true. She admired the way that Keara tried to keep the balance between parties, too.

Looking down at the dogs, there was a pang of sadness to know that they would one day leave for another life and immediately, the thought was shoved out of her mind as she thought about childer. It would be interesting, but she herself didn’t think she could sire any one without wanting to panic. Witnessing her own siblings’ turnings had been traumatic enough, really. “I don’t think I’ll be able to sire, myself. I just can’t wrap my head around it honestly.” Jersey lifted her hand to push some strands behind her ear, having to move out of the way so she wouldn’t run into her large dog as he suddenly stopped in front of her.

The blonde had been told a little bit about how volatile the two could be, and she thought that it likely only strengthened the relationship that they shared, really. “I kind of admire that about you two, honestly. Well. You both seem to bring out a lot of emotion from the other and it’s clear you love each other very much.” It had been something that she noticed upon first meeting the two in the room that Keara had summoned Peter to, and then later when she told them where to find Peter after he’d been severely injured. They hadn’t left each other’s side often, either, if she remembered.

As they reached the Asylum, Jersey offered the woman a warm smile. “I’ve really appreciated talking to you, and thank you for answering my questions.” She felt a tug on the leashes as Bear caught sight of a cat running behind a nearby tree. Even though she knew the large animal just wanted to say hi and wouldn’t hurt the little creature, she locked her arm muscles. “I think I should probably head on home, though, maybe we can do this again sometime?” She inclined her head, “Or something different, perhaps?”

[Keara Aithne]

She smiled and gave a quick nod as Jersey said she admired her relationship with her husband. There were times when both of them were likely ashamed of their behaviour but they loved one another deeply, that much was true. Their love for one another was unyielding, at least Keara believed as much, so there was nothing to say to those kind words that would be necessary. Instead she chose to focus in on Jersey's comment upon siring as she all too quickly realised that what she'd said might make the young woman feel guilty for not wishing to sire. Siring a childe was a deeply personal decision and an act that bonded two people together in ways that were difficult to explain, and while she herself now enjoyed being able to gift others with a new life and establishing new connections that she hoped would last through time, she knew siring wasn't for everyone. It was also better for all concerned that a vampire not sire if they didn't feel they were up to the task.

"Worry you should not for to sire. Either do you shall. Or not. Only you know shall if the time right is. If the reason great enough is for that life to improve."

Improving someone's life was the way in which Keara had to look at what she did, not because she cared if it were true or not, but because she believed vampirism to be a gift; and such a gift could only improve the life of the recipient, the reverse was unthinkable to her.

"Enjoyed too I have our time this eve together. Delighted I would be for such time with you again to spend. Open I am for an activity to try if an evening with purpose beyond words wish you to have."

The puppies were tired; even Leeloo who'd pretty much been carried the entire way home. She still shivered slightly under Keara's arm but she was comfortable. Gizmo had pretty much drained his bladder dry and was now lifting his leg for effect, as he was no longer had anything left with which to mark his territory. The tiny creature was once more scooped up by his owner and the first thing he did was try and nuzzle his companion. They were all content to be home and once through the doors, Keara would take the tiny creatures, dry them off and place them in their baskets (which she kept next to a radiator) so that they could warm up.

"Good eve Jersey."

With that the elder climbed the steps and disappeared behind the big, wooden doors; there truly was no place like home.