Webs and Wings [Inca]

[Valerian]

He nodded in response to her thanks to what she was called, it wasn't like it was some huge piece of information. But it was there. However, then came up the matter of vampires again. He chuckled, but it wasn't really out of amusement, more sounded out of nervousness, "Well they feed off of humans on the daily, and from what I've heard it's not like humans are even required. They could feed off of rats for all that matters. But it's just convenient." he made a clicking sound as if in irritation, "So yeah, personally, I'd say they're enemies. Course they don't necessarily like us in return but I have no clue what they think of Harpies. I've not met a ton of them, at least not consciously." he admitted. Though to be fair, some semideus had been part in trying to shrink the realm in which Vampires could survive. So that would have some explanation for any animosity. Though at large, he realized they didn't really have either positive or negative feelings about each other. But he believed vampires posed a threat to the Semideus kind due to their threat to humans, and as a result, the Semideus posed a threat to vampires.


Valerian shook his head and crossed his arms, but his expression softened as she mentioned that she still needed to search out other Semideus. Whether or not it was a danger, she needed to learn. She wanted to see the truth. He tapped his fingers on his arm, what would he feel in the same position? How much would it bother him? He let out a low groan, he already had a taste. When he sensed her, his curiosity took part, and regardless of what could happen, he sought her out, even knowing that it could be dangerous.

She asked if he could help, admitted she'd understand if her refused. There was the inclination to do so. To let her wonder out, he'd never have to do anything about it. He made another clicking sound with his tongue in thought, then shook his head smiling, not in refusal to her however, "Ok ok, you know what, yeah. I will. "

It was dangerous in some ways, he didn't know exactly what others would think of it, but screw that, so long as he pulled all the strings what harm could come? An ally of sorts was set before him, an interesting woman. Besides she was quite a fascinating species, so he could look into that as they went as well. He took a few steps forwards holding out a hand to shake, "Just so long as you don't go parading out what either of us are, I mean I know you clearly haven't done that yet. But I mean in this city especially you really don't know what could happen."

[Inca (DELETED 12467)]

Dark, shapely brows shot up in disbelief as he imparted to her his thoughts on the bloodsucking specters of what she had always believed to be the stuff of overactive imaginations. Clearly this city was a different kind of place, where those of the otherworld gathered and lived... in not so harmonious togetherness... but together all the same. She was aghast that something so insidious had drawn her to Harper Rock, that she had had little to no say in it whatsoever. She’d simply gone with her instincts - and the bus line, of course - to where she might be able to make her next temporary home. It had been a move like others, surely, but there was something almost urgent about this time, that had her uncharacteristically packing her few belongings quickly and breaking what plans she had made, rather than her usual go-with-the-flow. It was enough to make her truly wonder what else resided amongst them.

He hesitated at her request of him and she could see why - they didn't know one another from anyone and she could glean well enough from what he'd said - and what he hadn't - that the subspecies of their kind didn't typically intermingle much if at all. But she didn't give much of a damn about that - she didn't know anything or anyone like her, besides him, and she wasn't about to pass that up over stupid pre-existing animosities. As far as Inca was concerned, she was exempt from all of that anyway - a fresh lump of clay, to be shaped by what she learned and who she met in her own good time. But then - wonder of wonders - he consented, and the entire night seemed to change, to shift, into the blessed feeling of the tantalizing unknown.

"I promise," she said with a slow smile, as if there was anything to worry about in the first place. Inca never shifted in front of anyone, not even a little, before him, and that had been born of sheer excitement. It had been a point of pride, actually, that she'd held onto such rigid self control when there were some days and nights and instances where she longed to let go and be free to be herself, come what may, before mere mortals. But she did take his advice and concerns to heart - no matter the intense need curling up inside of her to learn everything she could and possibly, possibly find more like herself, she was stepping into the complete unknown and she would tread carefully.

[Valerian]

Inca might have felt she was exempt from the...customs? But Ryan didn't feel the same about himself. His life was governed by fear, a fear he did not allow anyone else to see of course. Avoiding conflicts he could not win, and yet still yearning for riches, for power, crawling his way slowly up a ladder while he stood at the bottom. At least, in his mind.

She promised with a smile which he returned. She had really taken it all rather seamlessly, surprisingly, given her claims to inexperience. Sure she had definitely shown quite a bit of dangerous curiosity, but perhaps the sensation of having that sensation sated was all it took to replace the more dangerous concerns. Or perhaps he was just used to being more pessimistic sometimes.

He ran a hand through his hair in thought before speaking again, "Well, alright then. I...don't know where we should start admittedly. There is...a place where others show up, Jorogomo, and Encantado. But, if we got into a fight, it would probably not end too well." He clicked his tongue again in thought groaning and looking around at the trees.

"Or we could just...talk for now? I mean, I don't know what you want to do exactly. I can pretty safely take you to some places where we'd be totally fine and you'd see things that were, unnatural, but those are the undead that are weaker. Zombies, pretty much." He offered, "Talk, try and find something it's really up to you. I'm not exactly a certified guide or anything." he admitted with a chuckle.

[Inca (DELETED 12467)]

That hesitance... it was back again, she could hear it plainly in his voice. And in the options he laid out. She shot him a half smile, arms crossing lightly. But she had to keep her jaw from dropping at the mention of zombies. Zombies?! Where the hell had she managed to settle this time?!

“Umm...” she started, not really certain. She had waited this long for answers, though - what was a little more time? Perhaps he simply needed more in the way of trust. Trust that would only come about through getting to know one another better.

“Alright,” she continued, perching herself on a fallen log near to him, a musical laugh falling from her lips. “I’m happy to talk for a bit.” She settled in, leaning back on her hands on the broad trunk. “Where would you like to start? What would you like to know?”

[Valerian]

Valerian had gotten used to the weirdness, of course, he had a head start compared to a human. Or in this case, to Inca. He was born into a family, the Jorogomo were more clan like then the others already. And he was ever so quick to spread himself into what would make him profit, and to do that, he explored. And that meant he knew Harper Rock's territory pretty well.

She seemed to need to think for a moment, made a decision, then sat down on a log nearby letting out a laugh. Truly, a fascinating sound, intriguing beyond those of any other Siren's he'd heard. It was...so strange, he knew why of course, she was a Harpy. But he just didn't understand how.

After she sat down she asked what it was he'd like to know, he looked into the sky and furrowed his brow, eventually dropping down to sit as well, before finally deciding with a curios smile looking back at her, "Have you always known just how much you could manipulate people?" he asked, obviously she knew she was different before. And probably knew she could in some way manipulate people, but he wondered just where it began, "I mean, like, how did you really learn what you were. Or at least of what you did know. I grew up around it, but, it sounds like you didn't get raised the same way. Sorry, if that sounds a little too intrusive."

[Inca (DELETED 12467)]

The smile only grew as he joined her; clearly she’d chosen right and it was an almost gleeful feeling that skittered down her spine. Watching him move was... something else, she finally decided, unable to come up with a reasonable explanation that didn’t include his Jorogumo side. That was a curiosity she would have to explore another time. She adjusted herself to face him more, now that he’d joined her, but his next words gave her a slight startle that she couldn’t quite conceal.

“Manipulate?” she repeated, more than a little taken aback. “I mean... I guess I never thought of it quite like that. People seem drawn to my voice and I’ve certainly used it to my advantage before. Mostly for better tips and shifts and stuff like that, or in sticky situations. But not like, maliciously, or anything.” A laugh spilled forth as a memory rose up, the time she’d been getting into some mischief with some friends and managed to sweet talk the cop who’d come to investigate. Somehow they’d escaped trouble that night, but Inca hadn’t considered any specific gifts coming in to play, just using what had worked before.

“As for growing up with it... well. I didn’t. Not really. My father - I barely remember him - dropped me at my great aunt and great uncle’s place in Minnesota when I was about three years old. I only saw him a couple times after that. I never knew my mother.” She shrugged. “They raised me, but only spoke to me about... this Harpy situation... in terms they knew and understood, which are the legends and stories passed down by my people. So I was forbidden from shifting, which they say I could do from day one, or from talking about it. But I was curious, of course. So after a few times of getting in trouble, they finally took me to an old woman who, it was rumored, could do the same things I could. But she was old, and senile, and couldn’t shift all the way one way or the other anymore. I only caught a glimpse of her before the family turned us away.” She cleared her throat a bit and picked at a bit of bark. “So I suppose you could say I always knew, but I didn’t have the whole story.”

She shot him a half-smile, hoping she hadn’t overshared. “What about you? You said you grew up around it, knowing it... is it a family type of situation for you, or..?” She trailed off, not really sure how it worked, for any of them.

[Valerian]

He let out a hum when he heard her question the word choice of manipulate. That's what it was after all, whether or not that was the term one used or not. Though, as she spoke, it turned out that it just wasn't how she'd quite seen it. She explained how she had found people were drawn to her voice and that she had indeed used that to her advantage before. But adding that she didn't mean it maliciously, he sort of waved a hand to the side, "People are too used to assuming manipulation means evil. Parents do it all the time, even retail workers do it regularly. We're just...better at it." he explained, ending with a sort of shrug.

Nodding thoughtfully as she explained her past, Valerian understood further the reasons behind the seeming lack of experience even if she did know about certain pieces of it. Her people even had a name for what he was after all. One of her parents was the Harpy, but he couldn't know which of course. He was inclined to assume though it was the mother, if her father had actually seen her a few times and never mentioned it, it seemed just a little more plausible that way.

He raised his eyebrows as he heard she was forbidden from taking on her natural form, that must have been incredibly frustrating sometimes. At least though, they tried to bring her to someone who could help. He had to wonder though, what was wrong with the woman. In theory a Siren was supposed to live for almost forever unless they were killed right? At least that's what he'd always thought, that age simply ceased to be after a point. But perhaps there was a disease of some kind he didn't know about. Her voice was just still making it all so much more interesting though, as if each word meant more then it really did, like it could dance in his mind on its own. How incredibly strange.

As she finished he nodded again in thought, putting a hand over his chin and leaning back somewhat. He hardly considered it oversharing on her part. Though he wasn't so sure he'd want to share quite as much. Even so, she asked, he brought his eyes up and then bit his upper lip in thought, "Ah, well you see, Jorogomo are a little more familial. I mean, he brought his hands together, as if demonstrating a size, then spreading them apart a little more, "You've got close family, then you've got more like a family. Kinda like...a clan? A tribe? Really, it's just family. So naturally, when I was brought up, I was brought up knowing all of this information about each other."

What he was about to say, he wanted to be careful with, because he really did not want her to tell anyone, but at the same time, he wanted to keep her close in a way, "Now, keep quiet on this remember. Especially around humans or vampires, or heck, even other Sirens. I know some of it's a little more common knowledge, but the less it's brought up the better. Anyway, we're Matriarchal, if you didn't know. I don't know what your people know. The females in us, generally, are more powerful then the males. And,"

He sighed and leaned his elbows on his knees, "I'm no exception. So, I do what I can. I try to be more but, you just can only get so far. I'm not as old as some of the others. Kinda part of why I'm hoping nobody's really gonna be bugged by me talking with you, see, who would really be paying attention to me?" he finished.

Shaking his head he brushed a hand away as if tossing his story off to the side, "Life's odd..." he furrowed his brow as he realized something, eventually turning his head to face her again, "You...did you know we could only have kids with humans? And that any kid we have with a human, is gonna be one of us? So you know one of your parents was a harpy, but not the other, right? I mean I'm just checking, I don't know how much you know."

[Inca (DELETED 12467)]

The woman flashed a rueful smile; she supposed he was right in a way - manipulation didn’t have to necessarily be a bad thing. But in her experience, it usually was. “You may be right,” she conceded. “It just didn’t occur to me that that’s what it is.”

She listened intently as he spoke, wondering all the while how it was for her specific kind. If they were as familial as the spiders, then she doubted very much her parents would have left her the way they did. But then again, who could say for sure. She nodded in agreement when he again mentioned she should keep quiet - she had no one else to talk to, let alone discuss topics of such an almost otherworldly nature. “Matriarchal? That’s... well. Pretty amazing, I guess,” she replied with a surprised look. There were tribes among her people that functioned the same way, though hers was more traditionally bent toward patriarchal. She'd always found them fascinating.

As he continued on about offspring, though, her brows shot up. “Whoa, really?” She shook her head. “I really didn’t know how it all... Works. I mean... I guess if I think about it, my mother was probably the harpy, then.” She shrugged. “I never heard much about her. It almost felt like my father... didn’t know? Or couldn’t tell his aunt and uncle? Or me. I don’t know. He always had this feeling of... hesitance. But he loved seeing me shift on those few occasions I saw him. I don’t remember much from before that time.” She gave another quiet laugh. “Thankfully I’m not interested in children. Yet, I should say, but still... that’s. That’s heavy.” She blew out a sigh. “But good to know, too, I guess.”

She looked up at the night sky for a moment before a fresh, wan smile crossed her lips. “Life really is odd. What else do I need to know?”

[Valerian]

He nodded with a shrug as she said she'd never thought of it in that way, "Maybe you just see the world different. I mean, we are pretty much different sub-species and grew up totally different lives." Ryan commented. It really was fair considering how different their upbringing would have to have been that they would think differently, even if it weren't for the natural instincts of the species to be prone to that.

Furrowing then raising his eyebrows as she mentioned the Matriarchal nature of the Jorogomo being "Pretty amazing" he had to stop himself from saying, 'Yeah, if you feel like getting eaten and seen as nothing more then a disposable individual for breeding purposes, it's great.' but he realized that telling her that female Jorogomo's violent tendencies towards the males was probably not the best way to avoid getting her thinking the worst of them.

He nodded again as she seemed surprised about how the Sirens reproduced, well, again, she hadn't grown up with a full upbringing. So, it was fair that she wouldn't know something like that. He did wonder though, what did her father know. Clearly he knew at least some of it, he also wondered, why the mother if she was the Harpy, didn't just take the kid and go like a lot of others did. Oh well, maybe it was more of a Harpy thing to not do that?

His head pulled back in surprise when she said she wasn't interested in children, it was like someone saying they weren't interested in breathing. Especially to a Jorogomo or Encantado who were obsessed with procreation and sex. He of course assumed Harpies were little different. He knew he was a little unusual too but he still had those same tendencies, they were just very sidelined sometimes. But for her to be an adult and not interested in children was just...astonishing to him.

Ryan had to take a moment to collect himself swallowing and getting back on subject when she asked what else she might need to know, he opened and closed his mouth blinking and reconnecting himself with reality, before letting out a hum, "Hm, lemme think. What's important?" he asked himself aloud before again making a click with his tongue, "The Fae are real, they hate vampires. If you know what you're doing and have the right skills and stuff, I don't really know how it all works, you can even convince them to do stuff for you. Uh, vampires are powerful and dangerous but most of them are vulnerable to sunlight, and you may be able to get a hunter on them if you know they're dangerous and a vampire."

He let out a breath and leaned back, "Guess you know what the Jorogomo...feel like? Likewise for Harpies for me now, I suppose. That was interesting. Maybe you can figure out how to differentiate easier now. If you start noticing, uh, patterns on people that have something to do with a relationship or lover I'd advise not getting involved. Someone's probably marking their mates. I am aware that may sound weird, but when you can only reproduce with humans but aren't one yourself. Nevermind long story short it's a mark of some kind."

Man there was a lot to talk about, "Humans can be...enthralled, I believe is the term. Both vampires and us Sirens can do it but the vampires are just not necessarily as nice about it in my opinion. There are humans with powers but don't ask me about that I don't know much, I just know they exist and that Paladins hunt vampires and supernatural stuff, blood thieves feed of vampires, and I got no clue about sorcerers. I am so bound to have forgotten something, maybe it would be good to keep in contact so it's easier to keep up with stuff as you go?

[Inca (DELETED 12467)]

She smiled and crossed her arms. “I see most things differently, I guess,” she conceded again with a nod. “My upbringing was anything but typical, and that’s not even counting the differences in my culture.” She shrugged again. “I learned to roll with a lot of stuff from as long as I can remember.”

She watched him carefully, highly amused at his reaction to her not being ready for children. “Well its a damned good thing I haven’t tried yet, all considering.” Another laugh slipped from her lips, because it all at once occurred to her she just might lay a damned egg and she couldn’t even fathom such a thing. “But I honestly couldn’t even consider it yet. I move around too much. Regardless of what I... am... and whatever tendencies and... whatever... that comes with... it just wouldn’t be fair yet.” Inca was nothing if not practical and her pragmatism came shining through when any sort of responsibility or tie-down was to be considered. She certainly had her fair share of careful getting around, but she wasn’t about to admit that to a near-stranger - it was just that kids didn’t really factor into a nomadic, solitary lifestyle. If that were to ever change, she was more than certain her thoughts on that matter would, too.

But as he continued, it was her turn to be surprised. The information about vampires was to be expected, but she didn’t know anything about the other things he mentioned. “Fae? Paladins? Blood Thieves?!What on earth? And actual sorcerers?” She blew out a breath. “We can enthrall people? How?!” Not that she actually wanted to try it, but the idea that she could exert any kind of control over someone else was fascinating and intriguing, if not downright freaky. “And to what purpose, for that matter??” She was almost aghast again - what reason would they have for something like that? Unless... “Don’t tell me its for sex, because that’s... well. That’s kind of... well, sick, I guess, if they aren’t aware of it..!” she trailed off. “And marking? Oh my gods... I don’t even know what to say!” She gave an incredulous laugh. Would someone really come after her for encroaching on perceived mating territory? It was almost too much to take in, or believe. But the man beside her had no reason to lie to her, so, even though she wasn’t the gullible sort, she found herself swallowing every bit of information without a terrible amount of hesitation or skepticism.

She ran a hand through long, dark locks and almost shook herself out of her tangled thoughts. ‘I think I need to see some of this in action,” she said quietly, with a shake of her head. Though she couldn’t help the smile that formed on her lips, in spite of all the insane things she’d just taken in, when he suggested keeping in touch. “I hope that doesn’t mean you’re about to take off on me before we even get started,” she quietly teased, “but I would like that, very much.”