Adoption Agency [[Elliot]]

[Aliyah]

Just as quickly as he had began his impassioned speech, he had lapsed back into his usual manner of vague disinterest. Aliyah admired that about him, his ability to keep his emotions under such constraint. More than once, the occupants of the city had reminded her just how easy she was to read. Her emotions had a place on her sleeve, and she made no attempts to hide them. It seemed wrong, to allow someone to think she was doing fine, when in reality, she was the opposite. She blamed this enhanced sensitivity that had seemingly come with her immortality, making it impossible to ever feel truly at ease. Between the onslaught of sights, sounds, and scents...her emotions only added to her mixed bucket of crazy.

His assurance that her visit was mostly wasted on such a topic made her nod, though it was nice to hear it confirmed. If all hell broke loose in her life, there was at least one person who would have her back. Assuming she didn't do anything to royally piss Elliot off. He seemed the forgiving type, but bridges were easily burned. If he didn't do it, she might. When you lived your human life as a burden that was never quite good enough, you learned how to cut ties and run fairly quickly. And with the recent emergence of her true parental background, her urge to do just that had increased tenfold. What kept her here, still, was a mystery her mind refused to reveal...even to her.

It was only a matter of time before Pi's role in her life would be mentioned, and when he did, she leaned back with a small grin. Pi and Elliot were like two sides to a coin. One of them remained the outwardly caring and supportive type, while the other took on the role of a firm hand. "I would never discount Pi's place. In a way, I suppose you both have been my sire from the start, huh?" she replied as more of a statement than a question, though the uplift in her tone implied the latter. "After all, when it comes to me, you tend to come to my rescue as a pair. I think I can only name one instance each, where you both were alone."

Those instances had been Corvidae, and the Den when she had first gotten her Tome. While one was as a matter of getting her on her feet, the other was a learning experience with something expected of her at the end. It was only another reminder of the differing roles the heads of the family played. And in her own way, she appreciated them, both. Pi as a mentor, and Elliot as a supporter. That put them in a strategic position, really. Should they want to build her up, or tear her down...they would need each other to fully do so.

"I guess that's what I get, though. For coming into this way of life without my true sire, I get two as a replacement," she joked with a shrug of her shoulders, casting her gaze away from him, her lips forming into a frown that only lasted a moment before it vanished. She had come to terms with the fact her sire had turned her, and split. But, it never stopped that vaguest sense of abandonment. One of that she ignored.

[Lancaster]

It wasn’t anything Elliot ever planned. He doubted Pi had planned it, either—that they would become a sire team for all the abandoned childer in this dysfunctional family of theirs. There shouldn’t be any abandoned childer and they shouldn’t have to step up and fill any roles. Of course they do, because they want to. There was no snowball’s chance in hell that Elliot would ever let someone suffer. There were certain things that he wouldn’t say to Aliyah of course—things that he’d said in the past and which she hadn’t appreciated, so he wouldn’t say them again. That he didn’t think Jericho was fit to be siring anyone, and something ought to be done to the guy as punishment. Something to convince him to stop. Just because Elliot and Pi were there as buffers didn’t mean that he should just keep getting away with it.

No, he would say none of this out loud because he wouldn’t want Aliyah to take it the wrong way. He wouldn’t want her to feel as if she’s some kind of burden—because she’s not. So he keeps it all locked up tight. He’d probably rant at Pi about it later. Jericho was one of hers, right? She should be doing something about it.

Instead, Elliot laughed, too. He smiled, even though he had caught that brief frown of Aliyah’s. He had no experience with an inattentive sire. He couldn’t just brush it aside and tell her she was better off. Elliot himself couldn’t quite differentiate—but he knew there was a bond he had with Pi that was different to any romantic attachment. There was something else, too, beneath the surface. Just because she was his sire. That was something Aliyah might have, too. Something that might cause her grief or pain because her own asshole prick of a sire wasn’t around.

”Two for the price of one. Exactly. You got the better end of the deal,” he joked right along with her. He canted his head to the side, pondering her previous words; that he and Pi came as a pair. His knee swung as he thought about it—he was home to a constant restlessness that was always evident in some tic or another. Had he and Pi become one of those couples that couldn’t be told apart? In the grand scheme of things, it didn’t matter, and Elliot was rather proud to be associated with such a woman. They were a yin and yang. What one was, the other was not, and vice versa. They complimented each other.

”You’re okay, right? I mean—it’s fucked, that you were left the way you were, but if you ever want to talk about it…” he offered.

[Aliyah]

"Am I okay?" Aliyah repeated, her eyes narrowing in consideration of the question. When he had first approached her, she had been far from okay. Now that she had spent more time in the city money and a proper roof over her head, was she in any better of a place? If she took into a count the change in her skill and the friendships she had made, then yes. She was alright. But, when it came to the feelings of attachment, it was all somewhat lacking. As much as she didn't want to believe her sire had done a number on her head, it was possible he had.

Her silence filled the space between them, and it could hardly be taken as a good sign on Elliot's part. And still, she couldn't think of the proper answer to give him. While she wanted to say everything was fine and there was no need to worry, a nagging part of her whispered 'that's a lie.' Between the distance with her parents after learning the truth with Ric, to having a asshat for a sire, She felt like a lone boat without a sail or paddles. It was possible it was a phase, one that would disappear in time. Maybe.

She cleared her throat and shrugged up her shoulders, "I guess I have to be okay, don't I? We live in a pretty cutthroat city...I can't afford to feel vulnerable. It's not your job, Pi's job, anyone's job to make me feel better about the shithole I have found myself in thanks to a jackass with a thing for skipping town. Damn it all if she didn't sound bitter. Frustrated. And probably a little pathetic. She now knew what it was like to be the equivalent of an orphan, the black sheep of a family that felt responsible for someone that they shouldn't have to be.

And she didn't pity herself. Aliyah felt bad for them. The amount of **** they had to put up with because of a man that couldn't make a commitment to anything."But, don't worry, Elliot. I will be fine. It's a unique challenge."

[Lancaster]

When Aliyah put it like that, Elliot had to wander why he complained so often. The majority of those turned in the city probably didn’t expect or ask for it. Why vampires procreated so often was beyond him, but then how could he judge? He’d turned his fair share. Some by accident. Some as a result of guilt, because he couldn’t let them die—some more violent than others. Some because they had asked, like Reilly. Where the **** was Reilly, anyway? The guy with the quick smile. He could cheer anyone up. Elliot thought Aliyah would probably like Reilly.

Elliot hadn’t asked for it, and the road had been rocky. There still were hurdles, but mostly, he’d found his feet. And, he had a sire he could respect. A sire who’d never left him to flounder. The woman had pulled him out of his darkest pit, and he wouldn’t be here without her. Luckily, these days, he spent more days happy than he spent them sad. Sometimes he got restless. Sometimes he got frustrated. Sometimes, he missed his humanity so much it physically hurt like a hole in his chest. But most of the time, he was content. He was proud of what they had built, here. And the family, now, though small, was something to nurture, so that it might grow stronger.

He considered Aliyah’s answer for a few seconds, before he replied.

”You’re allowed your vulnerability, but choose who you show it to,” he said. Though, he was a master at wearing his emotions on his sleeves and generally caring very little about what anyone thought.

”Things will get better. Time does heal most wounds. I started thinking I had to follow orders and I did, because I knew no better. Sooner or later you’ll find your own feet and you’ll form your own opinions. You’ll gain knowledge, and in that knowledge you’ll find strength,” he explained. That was the best way to explain it. It was the best advice he could give. Time.

[Aliyah]

Aliyah watched Elliot as he took his moment of contemplation, seemingly consider her words about the vulnerability she was so unwilling to show or admit to. In fact, he might have been one of the first that she actually took the time to tell her feelings to, to really explain them in a way that made her appear less stable than she outwardly seemed to be to all others. How he took that information, she didn't know, but she had no intentions of asking him, either. If it made him think less of her, then she definitely did not want to know. If it came down to it, she would rather live in a delusion where Elliot and Pi didn't think her weak.

His advice was what she already had practiced. Her vulnerability was fairly hidden from view except for those she knew well. The list was rather small, too. Dhara, Elliot, and Pi. That was basically it, and she wasn't looking to add too many more. At some point down the road, maybe she would be able to include Ric to that list, if they ever achieved that level of sibling trust...but currently, that idea was far-fetched. As much as she wanted to think they could be close, they were just too different. It was a shame, really.

"Let's just hope that my opinions aren't ones that get me into serious trouble, then, hmm?" she teased, looking at the man that had become her mentor within a short amount of time. If she were to become a troublemaker, it would more than likely reflect badly on the whole d'Artois line, and Elliot and Pi in particular. If she was going to be a part of the family, she would not let them down so obviously.

Her lips pursed in thought, and then she finally gathered the courage to look up at him in curiosity. "Can I ask you something?" she began, giving him a chance to cut her off before she even began to form the question. But after a moment, she continued on. "Do you ever get used to it? Being a vampire...knowing you can live forever?"

[Lancaster]

Elliot smiled. His own opinions on the larger issues would get him in trouble. Most of the time he stood on a thin line, and the only thing that held him back was his attachment to Pi. She started as his sire, and now she was much, much more. As a sire her advice and opinions mattered; but as he started to stray from that dictation of power and started to form his own opinions, his love for her kept those rules in place. Others might not know it by looking at them, but Elliot and Pi disagreed on some pretty ******* large issues. The Masquerade, for example. But all relationships were a form of give and take and in this instance, if Elliot strayed and voiced his opinions both vocally and physically, the ensuing drama would not be worth it. The losses would be too great. And he had to agree, anyway—keeping quiet would keep the family safe—not just from humans, from the vampires too.

Of course, Elliot would never have said no; it didn’t matter to him that Aliyah continued to ask her question without waiting to see if he would allow her to or not. In any case, a slight nod was given as she began to ask her question, and it was one, perhaps, that Elliot might have preferred that she didn’t ask. He was forced to tell the truth, so she would get nothing from him but blunt honesty. Not that he would have lied, anyway—that would have been detrimental to Aliyah’s mental and emotional health.

”Personally? Yes and no. Yes, only because I have created a life for myself that is normal. With Pi’s help. I have the businesses and I have fallen into a class of vampire that can pretend, more often than not, to be human. We Allurists look more human than the rest. We can eat and drink. When I’m working and talking to customers and having a good time I can forget, and it’s easy. But there are also those days that… I don’t know, a Fadebeast pops up in the middle of the pub or I’m running late and realise there’s a serious chance of critical sunburn, or I lose my temper and…” he paused. He didn’t elaborate on that one. He shrugged his shoulders. ”Personally, I don’t think I’m ever going to like it. There’ll always be aspects of this existence that I will hate. I’ll always be homesick for humanity, and all the things I took for granted. But that’s just me. Plenty of others love it. They would never go back. For some, this is a life that they were meant for. Only time will tell,” he said.