Seeing the unseen (Levi)

[Lorelai]

The ghost continued to follow them, getting closer to Lorelai and eventually placing itself in her path. She tried stepping around, discretely, but it persisted.

"Tomorrow." Lorelai told it. "I'll come back tomorrow."

Her words were little more than a whisper and as they left her lips she looked to the male that had given his name as Levi. Had he heard her? Did he think she was talking to him?

The spirit gave up its pursuit, though whether or not it believed her or just realised it wasn't going to get anywhere with her while the male was with her was unclear. The thing simply vanished.

"What we are," she said replying to Levi's question. "We're the same in what we are. Though not exactly. There's a difference. We're both..." Lorelai looked about her to make sure the street was as empty as it seemed. "Vampires," she concluded.

It was the truth as she saw it. She didn't mention that he reminded her of her Ana but then even if he knew her he wouldn't have known her by that name. The woman had been her angel and remembering what she had, had and feeling just what she'd lost was painful to her. Speaking of her was almost certainly out of the question. Especially when that someone she might tell was a complete stranger to her.

"You can see that. Correct? That we are the same. Similar and yet different. I'm not very good at seeing all the information just yet. But I'm learning."

Or she would be if she had more contact with others of her kind. She'd seen some in passing and could guess as to their information but without speaking with them, she'd never know if what she believed to be true was in fact the truth. She could just be playing make-believe and assigning information to similarities that weren't actually there. She was yet to look at Levi with any real scrutiny as it seemed rude to analyse someone when she was talking to them.

"There are different lineages. Correct? I would name my... maker's name but I doubt that you would know her. There are many of our kind within the city limits. And I'm unsure if speaking the name is appropriate? I would have to ask."

That's a polite term, maker.
I thought so.
You weren't thinking that.
I wasn't?
No. You weren't. You wanted to say corrupter.
Then why didn't I... Oh... Of course.
And why didn't you give Pru up?
Ana never told me who she was to her. There must be a reason for that.
Don't even get me started on that.
Why not?
You know why not. Now stop talking to m- yourself and pay attention to Levi. He just saved you from a spirit encounter.

[Levi DAmico]

Levi listened in quiet contemplation; dark umber eyes taking the time to watch her and watch the path they were walking on one after the other. As intriguing as it was to learn that there was another Vampiro out there, Levi couldn’t be that impressed with it. Lorelai was – for all intents and purposes – a few sandwiches short of a picnic basket. Sweet as she was, she wasn’t all that useful to him as far as he could tell. He could understand around 50% of what she was saying at the best of times and now that she was on a new subject of conversation – one he didn’t know a whole heap about because he’d had to learn through trial and error – that percentage dropped significantly.

Being the same, but different?

Seeing all the information?

Lineages?

Makers?

Vampiro rules?

Levi could probably hazard a guess at what a few of those references meant, but you could only get so far on intuition and self-given knowledge. What he needed was for someone reliable to tell him the right kind of ****. He knew maybe a handful of other Vampiri and it looked as though only one of those fuckers could be manipulated enough to be anything of use – maybe. She was a stubborn ******, Pru, and he didn’t really like asking too much of people as it was. It meant having to rely on them and that didn’t sit well with him. Curious as he was, Levi didn’t like the idea of asking people for tutoring – his pride got in the way. Still, he knew that it would take some kind of relationship building before he would A) start asking questions and B) begin to believe anything they would tell him anyway. The same could be said of Lorelai.

The more he was learning about this Vampiri world, however, the more he was likening it to Malavita. Part of it was about learning by doing, the other part was taught or instructed. You did what your superior told you to do or there would be severe consequences. You didn’t need to question it because you knew what these men were capable of. Besides, even without telling you what to do, you knew what not to do and who not to do it to when you got your first beat down. Then, when you knew what you were looking for, you could identify a member from the glint in their eye, the sound of their voice, the **** they’d say, and the sway of their walk. It was all hush-hush and code, but the body language screamed Mafioso. Levi was beginning to wonder if he was starting to identify Vampiri in the same kind of way.

This familiarity he felt with Lorelai, the connection to Prudence, maybe it was more than just coincidence. Still, she wouldn’t talk about her maker or other Vampiri that she knew of in case it was somehow against protocol, so what could he do? Be sneaky probably. Right now he was some weird stranger that, although had listened to her deranged ramblings, was still very much a stranger. Maybe if they talked some more and he gave her a reason to trust him, he could get her to spill the beans. Lorelai was pretty vulnerable and vulnerable women tended to need sympathy and maybe a shoulder to cry on. A problem shared was a problem halved, right? And if he understood her a little more, he’d have a window into her life, so he’d have a few more ways to help her out/manipulate the situation more to his liking.

“I get it,” he told her with a slight smile, glancing at her before looking dead ahead. “If you don’t know whether or not you should say something, it’s probably better not to say it… You know, at least until you trust the person you’re telling.”

Saved? Probably…

“So. You been like this for a while?” he asked, gesturing to the whole of her, but meaning the Vampiri business. He was probably acting on the wrong side of vagueness, however, so clarified. “Walking the night. Having liquid lunches. Etc.”

It sounded more like a description of an alcoholic, which made him smirk a little to himself. Levi hoped that he’d made himself clear, but he wouldn’t know until she answered or looked at him like he’d just offered to wax her cleavage.

[Lorelai]

Lorelai offers him a soft smile as he agrees to let her keep her secret. It wasn't that she didn't want to tell him, she just didn't know if she was allowed. For all she knew she'd be breaking some unknown rule and she didn't want to do anything to anger or upset Pru. Well, that wasn't strictly true, she might have quite liked to do that but she wasn't capable of it. It would have been a struggle in her human life, now, for whatever reason, it was impossible.

"Oh I don't mean to be rude... By not telling you my sire's name, that is. I'm sure you are perfectly trustworthy. I'm just new to this life. I have only been this way for a week or so. I suppose it's closer to two weeks, than one. If that matters at all? I'm a telepath now."

There was no reason for her to withhold her path from him, at least no good one that she could think of. What she chose to disclose about her and who she was, was entirely her own choice.

"So I can speak into your mind... Like this..."

She used her powers to touch his mind. It was the best demonstration she had as to her gifts. Yes, perhaps she could have told him about the signals she saw around her and how she could pluck them for information, but that didn't come with a side effect she could show off. At least not without employing her hacking skills also. She probably could have hacked his phone and read him the last text message he'd received if she wanted to, but she'd never actually done that and wasn't sure if it were possible. She was more likely able to hack his email, if he had it tied to his phone but again, she'd never actually tried. It wasn't her style to go poking through other people's private information, so long as they didn't have any evidence of vampires that was.

"You're not a telepath though. Are you?"

Lorelai could tell this much already. She was resisting the urge to peer into his mind and learn more about him. She'd only done it by accident before now and then she felt guilty. People's memories should be their own and to play inside them, even by accident, seemed rude. In time she might come to change her opinion on this, but for now, she still felt it intrusive. Speaking into the mind and putting information in there was something she justified as being the opposite of invading someone's mind. It was adding to what was there. It was like talking aloud. Looking through a person's thoughts was intrusive, like reading someone’s diary.

[Levi DAmico]

At first Levi was quite amused by the fact that Lorelai was so polite as to pretend she thought him trustworthy, but then that amusement turned to rage.

Two weeks? ****.

Those were the first thoughts to enter Levi’s mind, predominantly because it seemed absolutely ludicrous to him that she’d been in this world of theirs for barely five minutes and was far more attuned to it. He’d been here, picking up **** as he went, since July and he’d learned about **** all in comparison. He could pretend that it was because he was distracted with the family, with his work, with Shiro, with CC, but it wasn’t good enough. They were all a pain in the arse, sapping his time and patience, but he wasn’t the type to accept excuses. The only thing he couldn’t control – yet – was that sudden and unfathomable onset of sleep whenever day broke. Still, that left him with around twelve or thirteen hours to complete the rest of his ****. He should have been able to hack this, so why was he struggling so much?

Levi was losing his temper, but he wasn’t about to break his stoic façade. Even when she spoke words into his mind, he shrugged them off very much like how an elephant shrugs off a mosquito bite. He wasn’t pleased with the intrusion, but he wasn’t going to waste time and energy swatting at every one that buzzed by his ear. At least in this case it wasn’t so bad because he knew who the voice belonged to and knew that it wasn’t coming out of the blue. She was standing right there, he was glancing at her from time to time as they walked, and the fact that it came from her mind rather than her mouth made little difference. It tingled a little, but he disregarded it. There was no point dwelling on it because it would only make him angrier, cause him to say – or shout – something he would quickly come to regret. Lorelai was as mad as a box of frogs, but, she was sweet and tolerable and he could learn something from her. He was determined to play nice.

“No,” was his immediate answer to Lorelai’s question.

Levi didn’t know the full context of what she was talking about, but his definition of telepathy didn’t include any of his… abilities. Yeah, he was happy with that word. The ability to speak into another’s mind with their will alone, that denoted telepathy; the most he could do was manipulate darkness like it was some kind of physical force. In a way, it sort of counted. He was implying his will upon the darkness to make **** happen – or at least, that’s how it felt. Nevertheless, that didn’t mean he was into telepathy, was a Telepath. Was he a… Shadow? He was sure CC mentioned something like that when she’d chopped off his leg for the first time and the lost limb had exploded into dark smoke before disappearing. He wasn’t sure what she’d meant by saying that, but she’d said it in a classifying way. He was a Vampiro, but was also a Shadow? How did that work? Like genus and species? If so, how many more species of Vampiri were there?

He’d come across two people which had offered to train him, teach him new disciplines from neighbouring branches of power. Levi had suspected that these people were probably Vampiri themselves, or something else, something darker because they appeared to him like spectres. They said they’d open him up to new paths, specifically the Summoner, Fadewalker and Necromancer paths. Levi wasn’t sure what the **** they were talking about, but since they asked for very little in return – some life essence, a little sacrifice, whatever that meant – he’d said what the **** and agreed to the trade. He knew it was stupid to accept some terms with little information, but this was supernatural **** – where would the information come from? He couldn’t get it from books, he wouldn’t ask CC, he had to just do what he always did – pick up **** as he went, use trial and error, gamble and hope for the best.

The first spectre, Hantu, hadn’t spoken much, but when he had, it seemed like 90% of it was philosophical ramblings. As soon as Levi had nodded his head to accept the trade, Levi was suddenly engulfed in a blanket of shadows. Like he’d been put into a vacuum, all the air, power, and light was sucked out of him. It only lasted a few seconds, but the experience was haunting; Levi felt nervous to even blink for a while after. When those shadows had left, when the light returned and he could breathe pointlessly again, Levi realised that he didn’t feel much different. He was exhausted and a little wary, but in no way more powerful. Still, something inside him had changed; something that gave him new instincts, like knowledge he’d only subconsciously remembered. Each day it seemed like he’d remember a little more and maybe it would lead him to new ideas, new techniques, which would somehow develop into new abilities. Hantu never explained ****, but Levi was getting used to this way of teaching.

The second spectre, Chematt, wasn’t unlike Hantu. Maybe because her rage was challenged by a common soul, she was caustic as well as oddly pious in her methods. She made references to God, Jesus, **** like that, and scoffed at his Jewish ancestry as if it was a button she could push to piss him off. Levi wasn’t devout, nor was he entirely doubtful of religion, so even though she failed to get a rise out of him, she stuck to her Christian guns. Chematt proposed that if Levi was going to walk in the wet footprints of Jesus, then to gain more of these divine abilities, he would suffer like the demi-god as well. Before he knew what was happening, he felt his wrists and ankles burn. He watched the blood dribble down his hands, slipping perfectly off his fingertips like jet black rain; more soiled his socks and trousers, trickling over the sides of his Italian loafers. And then, as if with purpose, the blood began to move and leave no trace of itself behind. The droplets snaked into small tributaries, joining into a river of around half a pint that disappeared under the shadow of Chematt. There was pain, but mostly there was awe and questions. Levi didn’t ask anything though, he just left, expecting the same results as he’d experienced with Hantu, but he was still waiting on discovering something new.

Coming across the third spectre, Danicus, who’d brought him to the path of the Necromancer had made him feel a little less annoyed at the world. Necromancer abilities came easy, almost as effortless as learning his original Shadow-bending powers. Nevertheless, all the stillness, all this waiting around and now the news that Lorelai in her youth was outrunning him, it put him back into a sour mood. Levi didn’t want to take it out on Lorelai because it wasn’t her fault, still, that didn’t mean he had anything new to say. Levi wouldn’t say things at the risk of revealing too much either, and since he wasn’t overly fond of small talk, that left them walking in whatever quiet remained. He felt his phone buzz a few times and even though it was a soft sound, he had a feeling that her super-sensitive Vampiro senses would have picked it up. If she cared though, Levi had a feeling that she probably wouldn’t mention it. He glanced across to her and shrugged his shoulders, feeling as though he had to come up with some kind of excuse.

“So when you’re not sitting in an alleyway,” he said, “what are ya doing?”

[Lorelai]

Levi wasn't very forthcoming with information of his own. He was happy to tell Lorelai that he wasn't a telepath but then he didn't volunteer the information as to which path he was on. What he did seem to be skilled at though, was asking his own questions and getting her to talk. A more guarded, more suspicious person might not have been so ready to answer his questions but Lorelai was more than happy to keep the conversation going.

There wasn't really a good answer though as to what she did. Having arrived in the city she had tried her hand at thieving but that was a means to an end and while she only stole from those that could afford it, it still left her with a sickly feeling in the pit of her stomach. She'd worked for Ana for a while too, in her boutique, but that came to an end a little earlier than planned. Of course she had thought to leave a month or so before her due date, unfortunately fate had other plans for her. And now here she was several months later and she wasn't stealing and she wasn't working. She was living off what money she had saved and looking for evidence of vampires and destroying it before it leaked its way into the general public. Generally she reported the acts first to the vampire community too, as it seemed the right and proper thing; letting people know who had been seen doing what so that they could be held accountable for their actions. More recently however, she'd made a pretty good carrier as a blood doll. It fed her need for contact and brought her into situations that even while drunk and/or high she knew she shouldn't be in. The death of her child had left her a little crazy. She was sick with grief and struggling to cope. Numbing her mind was the only way for her to remain in the word and now here she was, the emotions in her raw and exposed, an eternity before her in which to learn to cope with that nagging emptiness her Leo had left.

"I don't do very much of anything," she confessed. "I used to work but then I lost my love and my child." Lorelai's words choked with emotion; one or other still being a cause of great pain to her. "I try to erase what our kind do, so that those that aren't like us don't know we exist. And I'm quite good with magics."

She could hear his phone as it continued to buzz and looked to him with kind eyes. She wasn't the sort that was easily offended and of he needed to take the call she would understand. Of course Levi didn't know this. He didn't know her and she didn't know him. The buzzing wasn't distracting to her but the information, the connection itself was. She was half tempted to reach out and pluck the information for him, tell him who was calling before he looked at the screen but she knew that would be rude and so her hands stayed still. Well comparatively to still to what they could have been doing. She folded her arms across her chest and hoped the phone would stop. Eventually she decided to offer him what she thought he might require in that moment.

"If you wish to answer your phone, you may. I won't mind. I could even tell you who's calling if you like?"

Lorelai didn't know much about mobiles but she did know about the signals. It came naturally to her now, like breathing, only it was disturbing to her at ties. There were too many signals in the city and sometimes she didn't know where to look. This, mixed with the spirits of the dead that she saw on pretty much every street corner, is what caused her to lose her mind on an almost hourly basis.

[Levi DAmico]

To say that it came as a shock when she mentioned she’d lost a child was an understatement. Most people these days thought that a tragedy consisted of running out of battery on their mobile phone, but then, they were sheltered little fuckers and really had no idea. They’d probably never lost someone they loved, had their entire world come crashing down around them and have to build it up to start again. Most people never worked for anything these days either, so they didn’t understand what it meant to sacrifice on a daily basis just to scrape the bottom of the barrel. It was doubtful that most people even never knew the differences between depression and feeling sad. Levi figured now that Lorelai wasn’t most people. She and him had been talking only for a little while, but now that she’d let a giant, roaring feline out of the bag, Levi was really starting to get a picture of why she was the way she was. Of course he couldn’t empathise, but that didn’t mean he was unable to feel some form of sympathy. Levi hadn’t lost anyone he’d given a **** about – predominantly because he convinced himself that he didn’t give a **** – but he’d lost parts of himself and, to him, that was just as bad.

Obviously Lorelai was a little choked up, but she didn’t linger on it and Levi couldn’t blame her. She mentioned his phone, clarifying that she had noticed it ringing and that it was probably bugging her that he was just letting it ring on and on, but it wasn’t like he could just switch off his phone. He could ignore them all he liked and it generally meant to the people on the other end that Levi was just being his ordinary self – a complete and utter pain in the ***. If his phone was ever off it was because he’d dumped the thing or someone had stolen it. In those cases, it was pointless to ring ever again. Levi didn’t want people getting the wrong impression, so, she would have to live with the annoying buzz just like he was doing. So her offer to let him answer the call, and even tell him who was calling, was quickly dismissed. Levi had a pretty good idea of who was calling and didn’t want her sticking her nose in. He was still being very careful about mixing oil and water – his mortal life and this one – and even though Lorelai seemed harmless enough, he wasn’t just going to let her in or make an exception just for her. He reached for his phone from his jacket pocket and immediately hit the decline button. Shrugging his shoulders again after putting the phone back, he decided that it would do not to make such a big deal about it.

“People phone me all the time,” he said in an attempt to sound nonchalant, but his voice almost sounded weak like he was having trouble putting some emotion aside himself. “If it’s important, they’ll call back. Don’t worry about it.”

Because things were feeling awkward and Levi didn’t really know what to do with this woman, he decided that maybe small-talk and chit-chat wasn’t entirely a bad thing. At least if they were engaged in something, they could come to some kind of idea of what to do. Despite the way he behaved, he could be quite charming, sociable and agreeable when he tried; it was just difficult for him to find the reason to try. Well, he sort of had one with Lorelai – he was in need of whatever knowledge she had – so he just had to put on the charming routine. First he had to actually find something worth talking about, something that would give her a good impression of him. She’d mentioned magic and sorcery and it seemed like something positive for her. He didn’t know anything about it, so, maybe she would like to explain it to him? It was worth a shot because, frankly, the gloom in the air was pissing him off.

“So what kind of magic were you into? What kinda sh— stuff did you used to do with it?”

[Lorelai]

Reply to questions cam easily to Lorelai and so when Levi asked, she didn't think twice before replying. So long as the conversation centered on her she was more than happy to answer him and answer truthfully too.

"I work the magics through rituals. I summon a creature and ask it to help me. I'm sure there's plenty more that can be done than what I do, as I have very few tomes. The tomes tell me the basics of what's required for the magics to work. Which ingredients I need and stuff. I mainly use my ability to help Pr... My sire. She's a very talented woman my sire. Even if I didn't choose this life, I couldn't have asked for a better person to be bound to in this way. At least none that I knew at the time."

Oh shut up already.
What?
Pru this. Pru that. You love her.
I do not.
Is it nice there?
Where?
In the land of denial.
You are so funny.
I try.

Lorelai became quiet while she mentally mocked herself. She'd almost given away her sires name but had caught herself before she said too much. As far as she was concerned, Pru's identity was safe but she had yet to think about how few names there were that began Pr. There probably were a hundred or so if you considered the names of every culture but if you looked to the names that were common in the area, Pr was probably not all that common as a starting point for a female name. Primrose was about the only other name Lorelai knew herself, but stated already, she didn't dwell on it.

"I help my sire in certain raids," she continued after her short pause. "I can help to bias the security so that we can reach the upper floors of the offices we find ourselves in. I'm yet to figure out exactly why it has to be done but I do enjoy being able to work with others. I like to be useful. I can help to break through the mystical barriers and the electronic ones. I don't... "

Lorelai looked around the empty street, making sure that it was still empty before she continued. Talking of magics and locks was one thing. People might assume she was crazy. But to speak of violence. Well violence was a city wide epidemic. Speaking of fighting could draw a lot more attention to her and legitimately so.

"I don't hurt people. Ever. I don't think I'm capable of it."

Once more she was probably divulging too much information about herself. Here she was, walking the streets with a perfect stranger and now she was practically telling him that she wouldn't even attempt to defend herself if he attacked her. There was something about Lorelai in this that almost invited trouble to find her and yet she was so sweet, so trusting that anyone was yet to take advantage of that fact. Well, her ex might have taken advantage of this fact, but then Lorelai would never admit to that, as she had never thought of it that way.

[Levi DAmico]

It was easy enough to follow along with what she was saying and he nodded at the right kind of intervals as was customary in these social situations. Umber eyes passed from the ground ahead, to the streets around them and to Lorelai from time to time, showing that he was engaged, yet composed. Besides, he wasn’t one to express excitement – genuine or otherwise. Levi largely appeared aloof and serious, even when playing nice. He focused on a few things as he listened because he wasn’t one to focus on one thing at a time either. Maybe he just had a short attention span, or maybe it was because he was conditioned to consider every angle of every little thing, either way, he was conscious to the cold air searing his nostrils as he breathed rhythmically, conscious to the swell of human company, conscious to the sound and feel of his own footsteps, and conscious to a whole host of other things. He might have been a little distracted by all the stimuli, but Levi had detected her stammer like a flash of a deer’s white tail, and he quickly honed in on it.

Was Lorelai about to name her sire? That word never sat right with him, but he could use the lingo if it would make things easier to digest. He frowned in thought, not that it was entirely distinguishable from his usual expressions. Obviously he didn’t know a lot of Vampiri, but was it just a coincidence that this girl reminded him of Prudence and her sire had a name that began with ‘Pr’? Coincidence or not, he didn’t feel like saying anything on the matter. He rolled his shoulders as she explained how she couldn’t be happier with the person who’d brought her to this world. Well, maybe it wasn’t Prudence after all. From the minute they’d met she’d taken a dislike to him and Levi wasn’t exactly feeling agreeable back then. He was reluctant to accept that he was stuck under the charge of even more ******* people that didn’t deserve to rule and it gave him a bad taste in his mouth. His less than amenable nature swiftly rubbed Prudence up the wrong way and here he was stuck with two angry bitches ruling over him, unsure of whether their behaviour was unique to him or universal.

“Lucky you,” he commented rather half-heartedly.

They were quiet for a while then and Levi wondered whether he was failing at this sociable stuff. He should have asked a follow-up question to engage her further, but of course he was busy sulking wasn’t he. Levi glanced in Lorelai’s direction, balling his hands into fists and shoving them a little deeper into his jacket pocket as if he might be able to dig himself out of this awkwardness. The sallow lights they were walking under lit up her face in the oddest way, giving her pale as moonlight skin a summery glow and his heart sank. He never really was one to wait for summer, but the fact that he was never going to see the sun again did give him a hollow feeling in his chest. Just the idea of not being able to have something he’d taken for granted all this time, made it feel incredibly important. And somehow, being immortal made him feel less sure about his lifespan; as if he could die any day now and it would be the real end of him. Levi had always lived a high-octane lifestyle, never caring about when his flame might be snuffed out. When it had been extinguished though, just to be relit, he woke up feeling different. Well, you expect to feel different and all that, but it was difficult to process – it was still difficult to process.

Levi managed to take his eyes off Lorelai and stare dead-ahead by the time she began to talk again. He was glad for it. She gave him another dose of information about magic and rituals and raids and something more about her on a personal level, not to mention a second chance at coming up with a follow-up question. Still, he had to remember that they were on a walk, therefore they had to have a destination. If not, they might walk aimlessly throughout the night. What a waste. When the pair came upon a junction, Levi paused and hoped Lorelai would too or he’d have to put an arm out and stop her from dawdling into traffic. The full parameters of what she’d said about not ever wanting to hurt people really didn’t occur to him; he had no ill-will toward her – not yet. His attention went from left to right, deliberating whether they should do something people do or Vampiri do; though he didn’t really know what Vampiri did other than kill things. He’d just have to bite the bullet on this one and ask.

“Do you like coffee?” he asked, searching for her eyes amongst blonde hair and creamy skin. “I feel like I need to have someplace to go before I walk off the end of the Earth.”

[Lorelai]

His comment indicated that he didn't get on well with his sire, so Lorelai thought it best to ignore that topic and let it pass on by. While she was the sort of person that could get along with practically anyone, not everyone was as accepting of others as she was. The problem clearly lay with his sire, as Levi seemed nice enough. She hadn't known him long, a few minutes at most but Lorelai already liked him and since she didn't know his sire, she had to side with him. Since the subject wasn't one she was going to pursue however, Levi wouldn't know this.

As Levi stopped, so did Lorelai. She hadn't considered naming a destination as she didn't actually have one in mind. It didn't matter to her where they walked, she was just happy to have some company. Living company. Someone she could actually hold a conversation with people looking at her like she was crazy. It was also nice for to have a conversation that didn't involve someone asking a favour of her, as she seldom spoke to a spirit that didn't require her help with some task or another.

"Coffee?" she repeated, a note of confusion in her voice before her brow wrinkled slightly. "I'm sorry but I can't drink coffee Levi. I'm a telepath and my system no longer allows me to eat or drink anything that isn't... Well anything but our unique diet."

The female shivered. The thought that caused it being that of having to drink the blood of a human being. The weather though was so bitingly cold and her outfit was still sodden at the back, so it was entirely possible that the action could have been mistaken as a reaction to the environment, as opposed to the thought of an action that should be as natural to her as breathing had been when she was alive.

"Are you an allurist then? Can you still... pass as a... you know?"

She loathed the fact that she couldn't consider herself to be one among their number anymore. She felt as if nature had cast her aside and as that feeling crept into her heart once more she tightened her cardigan around her. The action did little to calm her fears though and as her mood darkened she withdrew a little from the conversation.

You're being rude.
I am?
Yes. He clearly requires a destination and you haven't even attempted to offer him one.
We could go to...
No!

Lorelai jumped slightly, the action seemingly out of sorts with what was going on around her.

Oh my stars. Don't do that. You startled me. What did I do now?
You were going to suggest you take him to your apartment. You can't be doing that. Not to mention you would have to literally invite a stranger into your home.
I can remove the invitation.
Not without Pru's help. You don't have all the ingredients. You used them when you...
I know.

"We could still go to a cafe if you'd like?" Lorelai offered, breaking the silence between them. "I don't have to order anything."

Lorelai's posture may have been more defensive now but there was nothing in her tone or eyes that echoed that same emotion. It wasn't Levi after all that she wanted to shrink away from, it was herself and as such, it was impossible to escape that inner darkness. The voice in her mind was oddly quiet at this juncture. She needed reassurance, she needed Pru, but she was yet to figure that out. The curse she was afflicted with not only had her obeying the woman, but it had her craving time with her too. A day without seeing Pru was like a day without sunshine. And while she was forced to live without the warming kiss of the sun’s rays upon her flesh, she was not forced to live without her sire.

"We could go to a bar?" Lorelai offered; her subconscious perhaps playing a part in this newly voiced destination. "Do you know the High Noon Saloon?"

The place was more than familiar to Lorelai considering it wasn't just her sire's bar but the place she woke up each and every night. Had she not already had a little experience with this particular affliction, it might have worried her more, but as it was, she took it in her stride and simply began sleeping with her tome tucked into her bra when she fell asleep.

[Levi DAmico]

Levi was full of frowns again. The heat of anger was gnawing at him and he couldn’t quite tell where it was coming from. It didn’t take him long to decide it was probably because he hated indecisive people though. Levi didn’t like stillness and hanging about and wasting time; he preferred having things to do, something to keep his mind entertained – maybe to keep his body from giving in to rigor mortis. Still, his frown lifted when she asked him something odd. Well, lift was a strong word… more that the frown changed character. Instead of his features being weighted with frustration, they relaxed into a more comfortable expression of consideration. He might have been a little thrown by her question, not knowing for sure what she meant by ‘Allurist’, but figured it was another species of Vampiro by the way she’d said it again. Now there was the existence of three, maybe four: Telepath, Shadow, Necromancer and Allurist. This wasn’t something that was written in stone to him, but it was nice to have some kind of foundation to stand on. See, tolerating this strange and lovely girl was becoming worth it.

There was a roll of his shoulders – that was his version of answering her question. He wasn’t 100% certain what that ‘you know’ was, but he figured she meant Human. He could pass as a Human, no problem. His skin hadn’t gotten all that pale, only as if someone had decided to put a little milk in their coffee. It wasn’t like he looked dead, just that he hadn’t seen the sun in a while, which was true for the most part anyway. Fortunately he didn’t feel dead either – not that he let people touch him all that often. Keeping his stomach full, and keeping that irritating hunger which would go as far as impregnating his bones at bay, he could just about pass for body temperature. Plus, having a hot shower every morning and keeping up with scorching espressos seemed to help. Still, he wasn’t sure that he was an Allurist because of all this. Lorelai had acted like they were the only ones capable of pretending they were human, but maybe her youth was showing here. Levi was passing as a Human alright, but since it was to idiots, it was justified that he should just shrug his shoulders again. He couldn’t say yes or no on being an Allurist, so it was best to say nothing.

Watching her shifting nervously on the spot like that and tightening her cardigan around herself, Levi assumed she was feeling cold. He wasn’t entirely sure how the physiology of Vampiri worked, or if it was even safe to say that each one was the same, but he should have been at least aware of the fact that she’d been sat in the snow for a while so the chances were, she’d be freaking cold. Levi removed his overcoat and was about to move toward her and draw the large, dense coat around her shoulders, when she jumped suddenly. Levi halted; his arm still someway outstretched holding the garment between them. Not knowing what to do, he just stared at her as she ran into a new conversation like she hadn’t even noticed him or his chivalry. He could have said something to answer her, but Lorelai’s demeanour shifted again. Lorelai seemed on edge suddenly, encouraging an arched brow from him. He folded the garment over his arm and just stood there, looking at her and trying his best not to glare or huff. She offered going to a bar, and he was dead-set against the idea. He was having a hard enough time being around her sober, he couldn’t risk letting himself be himself – it wouldn’t end well.

“I don’t really know,” he told her honestly. “I don’t pay attention to bars.”

He neglected to mention that it was because by the time he ended up in one, he was either seeing red or blue.

“Look, why don’t we focus on maybe getting you something to wear. You look cold. You were sat in the snow, after all.”

****, had he just offered to go clothes shopping? What the **** was he thinking?! Too late to back out of it now though. What could he say, that he meant going back to her apartment? Yeah, sure, that was a lot less weird. Way to go, Levi.