What's happened and what's going on.

[Roderic]

Dezzy

Some people need their space after a life changing event. And some people, like me, like their privacy and just want space. From everyone and everything. Nothing wrong with that. But I've had enough of letting the new 'thing,' have her space. Look, I don't care if she wants it after tonight, and tells me to screw off, or whatever kids say these days to people they don't want anything to do with, but there were things that needed to be addressed and taken care of. Things she needed to know.

It wasn't hard to find her. Animals were harder to track than people, as people were victims of routine and animals in their panic state of frenzy were unpredictable. And even though she wasn't your typical kind of girl (none of mine were truth be told), my 'thing,' still had routine. The spots she liked to stick close to. I found out she liked animals. Well what do you know, I did too. Only, I didn't like dogs and for a second I thought about getting her attention that way. By making her dog a new project to see when she got home. But, then I thought most people wouldn't appreciate my efforts and not find that to be a 'nice' gesture.

So, I leave the dog, and her place alone and bother her at the university. It's where I originally found her, smoking away on a cigarette. But it wasn't what she was doing that caught my attention. Any asshole smokes. Even I smoke and I'm an asshole. It was how she smelled in the city. She smelled out of place. Unnatural.

I'm waiting outside a building, smoking my Marlboro, one foot on a wall, waiting for her to leave the building she was inside. Every so often I look to see who left and whose coming, but none of them are her. My wraith-Daegal, he's keeping tabs on her too and hasn't come back to tell me she's left or will be leaving. I'd go in, but I can't. Just being near the building sends the willy's down my spine. There's something not natural about it. Maybe it's the color, or the shape of it. Or the fact the building's numbers are 731; all odd and even when you add them up, it's still an odd number. Who does something like that?

[Dezzy (DELETED 7384)]

Dez was bored, after two months of being stuck in this city and what had happened, she realized she had to come back. So she'd done it, Kaylee was taking a shower in her dorm room and Dez... Ah, Dez was bored. So she decided to walk down for a smoke. She could feel the itch, did she need to feed? Was she going to have an episode? She wished Kaylee liked Bear a bit more, so she could bring him to the dorms, but it was okay. She scratched at her arm and rode the elevator down, her heightened senses kept her up most days, and at night... Well, she was a vampire now, she accepted that.

What she didn't accept was the ****** that had forced this, she didn't want to become like him, so she'd ran off as soon as she could move. Avoiding him, avoiding this city. She'd gone as far as the coast, but had to turn back. Something about this place had drawn her in. So here she was, trying to set up a system like she'd done back home. Bear kept her from having to take meds, but she wanted to help the wolves, and she knew she couldn't do it alone. So she'd asked Kaylee to help her find a place, that girl was fun! But Kaylee didn't like the wolves, so they could only meet at the dorms.

Dez pushed the door open and palmed at her leather jacket for her cigarettes and zippo, then froze. He was there, she could feel it, sense him. She glanced around for him, her breathing hitching. "I know you're there..." She said, knowing he'd hear her. "I told you, I don't want anything to do with you, go away." She slid her hand down to her jeans, pressing the knife into her thigh and easing her breathing. She knew, as she had known from the start, that even just telling him to go away, wouldn't help. He'd finally come to do one of two things. Finish the job, or stick her in a gilded cage.

For her, death would have been easier, quicker. She would not be someone's pet, nor would she allow him to order her around, her father had done that enough in her life. Take your meds Destiny, make sure you eat right... We don't want another episode... All of it made her sick to think about. She looked at the spot, where he was leaning on the wall, the cherry of his cigarette lighting his face with each puff. She stared at him, then tried to sneer. "I'm not going with you...." She muttered, then flicked her zippo to life and inhaled, keeping her defiant eyes on his.

[Roderic]

I don't hide. I have no reason to hide from her. I came here for a purpose and that was to make sure she wasn't being an idiot and so far, she wasn't. As far as I can tell. She's managed to survive these last couple of months and not draw any attention to herself. There's hope for her yet.

"I heard what you told me." There is no tone to my voice. Just acknowledgement of what Dezzy had told me then, but that was then. Now, I don't care. Well, I do and I don't. She wants her space, that's fine. I don't want her crowding around me either. Got enough of that with the other chicks I have in my little family. Thank everything on this earth for Doc. The guy keeps me sane when they're doing their girl talking stuff on the Crownet. The guy is a real life saver.

"I don't have to go away. You don't own the sidewalk, or this building. Or any part of the city." I shrug and toss my cigarette to the ground and put it out with my boot. "What will you do? Call the cops?" I look at her from the side and then shake my head. "I'm not here to take you anywhere. I'm here to go for a walk. In whatever direction you're going in." It's as simple as that for me. I'm not going to cause a big scene and draw attention to either of us, but I'm not leaving either. I can follow her with her knowing, or I can come back another time and follow her without her knowing. It's her choice.

[Dezzy (DELETED 7384)]

Dezzy rolled her eyes then inhaled deeply on the cigarette, "Yeah sure, call them and say what? That my maker is a stalker? That'd go over well." She grumbled, then listened to him talk, there was no inflection in his voice, but she could tell he was being honest. She had picked up traits from her wolves, one of which was to be wary of everyone, but also, to sense a lie. She nodded and pointed off to the east. "I'm going home, Bear needs fed." She mumbled, then inhaled again and started walking away from him.

She knew he would follow her, and she wasn't really that worried about him now, he'd told the truth about just wanting to walk, but she figured there was talking involved in that... She didn't do well around people, that much he'd probably figured out, so she walked a few steps in front of him just to give herself a bit of space from him. "So... go ahead, talk..." She muttered, tossing brown hair over her shoulder as she looked at him.

Flicking the cigarette away, she kept walking, hands buried in her jacket now against the cold and snow. Her mind racing against what he wanted, she didn't even know his name, much less what happened the night of her siring. All she knew now what that she couldn't eat food, couldn't drink and craved blood. So she'd bought a house just outside the city and it had a basement, so she could actually not get hurt in the sun. There was enough room that Bear and her few wolves she'd had sent from home had room to roam but not run off, not that any of them would, and she could walk to Kaylee's dorm with no issues. She glanced at her maker and raised a brow, waiting patiently for him to start talking.

[Roderic]

She walks and I follow in silence. I keep my distance as to not startle her or make Dezzy uneasy. I'm not trying to make her uncomfortable, but whatever she's doing isn't flying anymore. She's too close to that human and while I don't get my rocks off on snapping girl's necks, I'm tempted to make an exception to make an example. No, that's not being 'nice.' I scold myself silently.

Women were so complicated, but I really didn't like siring guys. I had one bad example with that guy who went by some name of a star or constellation of something retarded, and then there was Ashby. He was around, but quiet and did his own thing. I didn't mind that. I liked that. But women, they wanted to do that talking thing. Pick your mind and emotions and whatever other reasons they wanted to talk for. Well, she's not getting that from me. I don't talk and I don't do emotions. She could pick my mind though.

"You came back. That's good." I say with a nod of my head as we start walking. "Leaving the city is dangerous for our kind. Even if you aren't that far away. There are things you don't know. Things you risked. Such as your life, mine and those I am close to by running off that night." I had tried to track her down a couple times, and let her run off figuring she would be back, but I had been wrong. And my personal life has been difficult to say in the least.

"What are you doing here? Why did you come back? What is your purpose here?" If she wants to pick my brain, I will pick hers in return. Figure out if she plans on staying for more than two seconds, and what her game plan is. Women. Why were they so difficult to understand and why did they make my life so difficult?

[Dezzy (DELETED 7384)]

Dez kept walking, clenching her teeth against his words. She put him in danger? What about what he'd done to her? She never asked for this. She didn't answer right away, so he kept talking, asking questions about her and her plans. She finally opened her mouth, but snapped it closed again. She wasn't sure why she'd come back, but she knew why she stayed now, what her plan was now.

Dez finally turned and looked at him, "I don't know why I came back, probably has something to do with what you did to me. As for what I'm doing here, I'm trying to make a life for myself, and my purpose is the same purpose as when you attacked me. I'm going to help the wolves." She uttered, then leaned back and popped her back. She hated the emotions that welled inside her, trying to control them so there wasn't an episode. She inhaled and looked at him again. "You know, I never caught your name." She said, palming her cigarettes again.

She figured he knew her name, some weird feeding thing that happened to some vampires, at least that was the lore. She shoved the cigarette in her lips and lit it, then looked back up at him, she didn't have questions persay, just one, but she'd keep it to herself until she knew more about him. Educated guess though? He did it because she was an easy target, tiny brown haired thing that she was, she really couldn't put up much of a fight, though now she'd shoot him in the face and not think twice about it. She inhaled on the cigarette again, green eyes watching him.

[Roderic]

My lips quirk into a small grin as I think about her helping the wolves, all for me to make creations of them at a later day and time. Whatever floated her boat, it was her business, just like what I did with my time and energy was mine. A name. She wanted my name. I could be a dick and tell her I don't have one. It was tempting. With the amount of helpfulness Dezzy was being, I could dish some right back to her.

But, maybe, if I give a little, she will too. If not, I wasted an hour of my eternity span and would walk away. Besides, Ric was a pretty generic name. "Ric." I tell her but don't tell her anything else. Not my full name, not any other nickname, not my last name. "So with pleasantries aside, Dezzy, you're going to help the wolves how?" That could be taken any number of ways. Build habitats? Try and make them unhuntable? My eyes narrow at that thought. Get rid of other natural predators? The possibilities were endless, but it still gathered my attention for now. Just enough to figure out her deal and see if Dezzy was worth spending any more of my time on, or to call it quits.

"Then what? After you help them? People barley know what to do with one hundred years, let alone an eternity. What will you do once your pet projects end?" A little dickish, sure. But Dezzy is only thinking about immediate responses, when she needs to think about a lot longer than right here and right now.

[Dezzy (DELETED 7384)]

Dez stopped and turned to stare at him. "The hell? I have habitats set up at my house, Bear and I establish dominance. I keep them safe within reason. I don't want them hunted anymore." She exhaled a plume of smoke and put the cigarette to her lips again, letting it hang there. "Ric huh? Pretty normal name for a... yanno." She waved her hand and gestured to him.

She just stood there, one hand buried in the pocket of her leather jacket, the other wrapped around the smoke in her mouth. Dez raised a brow at him, "Why all the questions? You trying to understand me or something?" She asked, trying to decipher the look on his face, her mind wandered a bit, thinking about Bear and the two wolves waiting for her. She turned and pushed on toward home. She figured that he already knew everything about her, so she wasn't worried about showing him the way to her new place.

Once they reached the driveway, she stopped again. "You can come up, if you want. But hurt my wolves, or Bear and I'll gut you." She threatened, not sure if she meant it or not, something about him was making her feel more at ease, maybe it was the way he was standoffish, or it was the attitude. She liked his attitude, surprisingly, because it matched hers and that was not something she was used to. She stood at the gate of her house, waiting for him to either say yes or make another smartassed remark.

[Roderic]

She stops and does what women do. That tangent crap they all do when they're feeling slightly disturbed about something. I'm okay with her being disturbed. Feeling out of sorts. Not knowing what to expect from me. "I know." I say with a shrug. She lives in la-la land apparently, because while what she was doing was admirable, it was unrealistic. But, I'm trying to behave and be good because she's young and new-ish. And because if Skylar was here, she'd be making me be good. Damn all these women. Wrecking things.

She's feisty, but I'm not at all phased by her threats. I don't like dogs, but I don't go out of my way to kill them. And her wolves are not my type anymore. She's made them soft and weak. There would be no challenge to kill them. "Whatever." I say with a shrug. I don't care one way or another if we stay down here or go up. I start heading up anyways, because if I stand out here, I'd be tempted to leave in a few minutes of our conversation. I don't like talking to anyone. Nothing personal, just the cold, hard truth.

"I'm asking questions because it provides information. You're in school. I assume you're IQ is above fifty-five." Okay, that was probably a dick thing to say, but it was common sense to me. Questions gave answers. A basic concept. "But, I'm asking because I want to know how to progress from here." I slow my ascend up the stairs and keep my voice flat and steady. "If you want nothing to do with me, that is your choice and fine by me. If you want to progress, I need to know how to do that." Women were needy and needed closure on things. I know this. So the main question is, what does she want for her closure?

[Dezzy (DELETED 7384)]

Dez watched him walk past her, then followed silently as he spoke of IQs and school, then he said something and it clicked, Progress. It was stuck in her mind, more and more often now. She stared at his back as he stopped his ascent of the stairs to her house, she gazed at his face and raised a brow. "Yeah, I'd like to progress, to understand what is happening to me. Maybe...Maybe we can.." She stopped, because the next words were like a death sentence to anyone who got close to her. Maybe we can start over, try to be friends. She shook her head, even before here, even before the 'clinic', back home in Sterling, she'd hurt people. She'd always come out hurting someone. That's why she chose the wolves, why she chose animals period.

Dez looked at him again, "C'mon." She muttered, ghosting past him to open the door and let him in. Bear was there, standing in the doorway in a heartbeat, sniffing all over her, making sure she was her and not one of the others. He whined at her a bit, then his gaze snapped to Ric. Hackles raised, he growled, until Dez put a hand on his head. "Easy Bear, he's good... He uh..Well he's my maker I guess." She muttered to the dog, as if he could understand. Immediately the dog relaxed and disappeared into the depths of the house, leaving Dez to deal with Ric. She turned back to him, "Bear is overprotective. Can't say I blame him, wanna come in?" She asked, then turned and walked down the small hall to the living area to take off her jacket and throw it on a chair.

Once she was rid of the leather, she grabbed the open pack of smokes on the mantel and lit one. She was a nervous smoker, and she was damned nervous now, because the one person she knew in the city, besides Kaylee, had been the one to kill and turn her. She waited patiently, inhaling deep on that cigarette as she felt the first twitches of her condition start to rise.