Tracing Danger [Closed]

[Pierre Roux (DELETED 6974)]

Pierre doesn’t follow her reference to the 1997 film Men in Black, but he smiles politely and laughs a little to humour her. The Frenchman finds that he doesn’t understand a lot of what she’s talking about when she starts making reference to her firearm, and begins to wonder if they might have anything in common. She points the gun at him, or rather, she gestures for him to look at her handiwork, and he makes the polite attempt to lean forward and check it out in the same way he might observe an engine in a car. What Pierre knows about rifles and engines combined can be typed onto a post-it with room to spare. Still, he admires the aesthetic qualities easily enough even if that’s the only thing he can appreciate besides the fact that the scope seems to be in the right place and there’s a trigger within reach. He edges away with a reserved smile, nodding in agreement to her evaluation. Pierre doesn’t think it’s bad, but then, he doesn’t know what good is either. There’s a moment of relief that settles on him like the passing cloud of shelter on a hot summer’s day, but it is a passing feeling after all. Within seconds he feels the blistering heat on him again, expectations that make him want to run for cover out of fear of disappointment.

Charlie makes a list for him about all the possibilities of the use of his words like they are the only possibilities, like she knows them so well. Pierre wonders if it’s just something about her that makes her want to analyse him, test him and prod him like some foreign beast in a display case, or maybe that she’s genuinely concerned for his well-being. He doesn’t normally bother to ask these kinds of questions, assuming instead that everyone has their own unique perspective behind their facades. Yet it seems more pertinent to know these things now than ever before. Ironically, it is only since becoming immortal that Pierre has ever felt endangered or threatened. Life always had its little pitfalls and risks, and there was never a certainty of making it through one day to the next, but perhaps civility blinded people to these things. Perhaps it was easier to forget you could die from starvation when there are food stores and restaurants dotted all over. Perhaps it was easier to forget that there were big, bad beasties out there that could eat you and kill you when you locked them behind glass walls and iron bars. Life was a lot simpler before he knew that everything wanted and could hunt him down and bring him pain. Nishaa had opened his mind to the darker side of the world and he wasn’t entirely happy about that.

Ignorance had been blissful, but now it is over. Now, Pierre questions everything and he’s not sure if he should divulge his whole life story to a stranger. Charlie seems nice enough, but what does he know? Maybe they all seem that way. Maybe the greatest dangers do not come bounding out the woods and take a chunk out of your arm, but are the smiley-faced Samaritans that help you back onto your feet. Pierre clutches his wrist as he thinks about that, worrying the site of the wound and causing it to ooze and throb angrily again.

“We just fell out of touch,” he says, as it is the truth even if it’s not the whole of the matter.

Since he doesn’t even know what creed she is – Vampire, Human, or something else entirely – he decides that short, vague answers are best. He doesn’t even want to show her his wound else she might realise that over time, it heals far more quickly than what is normal. As it occurs to him that he should be more concerned about his wound and supposed injury, he decides to make a mention of it. In many ways, Pierre is testing her, seeing what she knows and doesn’t know, all in order to gauge just how honest he can be with her.

“Maybe I should go to the hospital or something,” he announces, but still keeps the arm out of her immediate line of sight. Blue eyes watch her expressions carefully to judge her reaction, but he’s not aware that he looks like he’s watching her so expectantly. “This could get infected, right?”

[CharlotteC]

Charlie gave a slight nod of her head as she glanced at the male. She could understand the fact that he had fallen out of touch with people because she herself had as well. In fact, this was the first time she had chatted with someone who wasn't under her power in a little over a week. Not since she had spoke to her sire and took him hunting, though their hunt never involved guns. Or any weapon for that matter, unless one called claws and teeth weapons - which if she stopped to think about it, they were actually weapons, especially hers. She glanced around the area for a moment, as if listening to the forest and everything that was around them. The smell of the dead wolf would eventually bring out the scavengers... scavengers like her animal form.

She was pulled out of her thoughts, her eyes drawn back to those bright blue eyes of his and she smiled softly for a moment before she realized that he was right. Though she could tell that he was a vampire, she could smell it in his blood and she couldn't pick up the normal signs of being human. However, she had seen that her sire had gotten ill from tetanus, so perhaps she should worry. Her eyes went to the wound again and she glanced up at him one more time. "You are right, it could, but are you sure that you really want to go to the hospital." She asked, her brow arching a little as she took a step closer to him. All he had to do was concentrate a little and he would see that outside her aura or mortality, she actually wasn't among the living. The biggest sign being that her breath did not show on the air as it should have in this cold weather.

Then she hold out her hand to him, an offer to take a look at the wound. "May I?" She didn't really think she could do much for him other than maybe use something to wrap it up a bit, but the offer was there, a genuine offer to help him out in any way she could. Perhaps she could use one of her powers on him, one that she knew would add a small boost to his healing ability. Or rather, all of his abilities, but she wanted to know that it was alright with him before she actually pulled out that card. She was sure though, that once she did, he would know that she was a vampire. Question is, would he be scared of her for that reason or try to attack her? She didn't know. However, she was willing to take a leap of faith. She normally did with people.

That was something that no matter how long she was part of the undead now, she would always stick to her morals, and right now, they were telling her that she should be sweet and kind, and try to help in what ever way she could right now because so far, this guy had not given her a reason not to trust him. "I promise I won't hurt you." She said in a soft tone as she looked into his eyes, letting him see that it wasn't just the truth because she had to tell the truth, just that it was, it would show in the gentle way that she looked at him, the way that she didn't advance any closer towards him or back away from him.

The way he looked at her, she took a wild guess that he probably wouldn't trust her right off the bat, but it was worth a shot. She needed more people in her life, living or dead, or undead. She would take them any way she could get them.

[Pierre Roux (DELETED 6974)]

Going to the hospital is the logical thing to do when wounded so grievously by a wild animal, but Charlie was advising against it. Pierre isn’t sure why that might be, but he doesn’t want to jump the gun and assume that it’s because she is like him. It is dangerous to entertain the thought at this stage because Pierre is certainly no more perceptive than anyone else. Maybe he should have been able to recognise the less than Human qualities about her – the uncanny strength, the stoical calmness, the unflinching confidence in a situation that might have called for haste and urgency – but then she could be military for all he knew. Before Nishaa had forced Pierre away from the world he loved, he was a simple man living a very ordinary life. He had a job, he had a girlfriend, he had friends and he had hobbies. Turning him into a Vampire really had stolen all those things from him, but it hadn’t changed who Pierre was.

The Frenchman is generous, hospitable and usually very patient. His gentleness is often seen to be his downfall, but Pierre is rather too optimistic to see it that way. Whenever someone took advantage of his good nature before, he never even blamed them. Instead, he holds out a hope that one day those people who are probably quite broken, will look back and remember that not everything in life is cruel and wicked, that some people are kind and strong, not because they can push people into their way of thinking, but because they can be pushed and do not break. Pierre is also too humble to regard himself of having too many qualities of strength, but he likes himself enough to think that nothing needs to change. When faced with darkness, Pierre has tried to run from it and so far, it has been working out rather well. Still, he cannot hide his arm from Charlie much longer. She calls to him, approaches respectfully, and offers him aid. Those doe-like eyes soon convince him that he has nothing to fear of course and, after swallowing down his reservations, Pierre presents his wounded paw.

A small bonfire is seated on his arm as Pierre gingerly looks down to the source of pain, the flames calming as he witnesses red liquid forming a small, growing pool beneath his clothing. It is still a disturbing sight; he’s not yet used to seeing his blood outside his body. As far as the fledgling Vampire is concerned, it still belonged within him and not on the ground, not in the jowls of some marauding beast, and certainly not trickling down his wound. The slight weakness from the minor loss of blood isn’t the problem so much as the nausea he’s feeling from seeing such a gruesome wound. Pierre tries not to look again as Charlie is allowed to inspect the site; the last thing he wants to do is pass out.

“It doesn’t hurt too much at least,” he says over his own shoulder. “That’s got to be a good sign.”

[CharlotteC]

Charlie gave him a soft smile as he offered his arm towards her so that she could have a better look at the wound. Before she took the offering though, she gently removed the gun that had been on her back, as well as the pack she had with her and set them aside then she slowly reached out for his arm again. She didn't want him thinking that she was going to harm him in any way so she moved with deliberate and slow movements, the kind that would allow him to pull back or away at any moment if he had felt as if that he was in danger of anything. Though, she had no plans to harm him. Only to see what she could do to help him.

She used one hand to take his hand, holding his arm up for a moment, but with the blood soaked fabric she couldn't see much so her hand released his and she gently as she could moved the fabric away from his arm revealing the bite mark to her eyes. His words rang in her ears, that it didn't hurt much and she smirked a bit, perhaps it was because he was already starting to heal and the blood on his shirt really did make the wound look far worse than it really was. It did look like it was already starting to heal, so she folded up his sleeve and then leaned in a bit more so she could see the wound a little more. "How long has it been since you have fed?" She asked softly, looking up at him.

Charlie knew what he was, but with her ability to blend in with the mortals, it was possible that he did not feel when she had taken his hand that they had been the same temperature. That when their skin came in contact with the other, it felt warm, normal, but she knew that touching a human, someone with a pulse was hotter, like touching someone with a fever, where touching each other was just as normal as it had been when they were human. "Feeding would help the healing a little more." She said softly as she released his arm long enough to open her camo jacket, revealing that she had a black Led Zeppelin t-shirt beneath the coat. She tugged at the bottom part of the shirt just enough to rip it, it tore with ease and ended up revealing her pale stomach. Not only was her stomach revealed in that moment, but also a multitude of scars that seemed to criss cross one on top of the other.

Those scars weren't the only ones clear, with her jacket open, the ones around her neck, and up along it, the kind that no mortal could survive. She lifted the black scrap of cloth she had torn from her shirt and wrapped it around his arm, tying it off with quick hands. And as she worked the cloth around his arm, she reached out with her powers, inspiring him. The power would help speed his healing, though she admitted she had more powers that could help others. Most of her powers only helped her. She looked up at him in that moment, her eyes locking on his.

[Pierre Roux (DELETED 6974)]

The weight of a pomegranate forms in Pierre’s throat as Charlie tends to his wound, tearing a fragment of her shirt to create a make-shift tourniquet. Pierre has never been this silent in his life and has never had problems talking to people – least of all to pretty young women with warm brown eyes. His blues focus on her face as she works; watching small lines form a frown in her brow as she concentrates, and then the tightening of her cheek and jaw muscles when she seems satisfied that his arm is not in any danger of falling off. Really, he has made such a spectacle of this whole thing and feels a pang of guilt, much heavier than the weight in his throat, in his heart. Pierre does not like to lie or deceive people, but feels he has little choice. He can’t make peace with what he is and he can’t reveal the endless war that is going on inside his heart, mind and stomach to anyone. He believes that he must like his sire, Nishaa, despite all the troubles she has dumped on his conscience, because he never falters in taking a demand or committing himself to her aid. Perhaps he feels like he has to do something or he’ll go insane from boredom, or that he’s compelled to do these things because he fears what other atrocities she can set on him. Either way, he doesn’t feel like he can tell Nishaa about his problems, so, might he be able to confess these things to Charlie?

It’s not until he realises that Charlie is staring back at him, these two giant pools of molten chocolate drawing him in, that Pierre remembers the question she’d asked – the question he’d forgotten to answer. He still can’t find the words to squeeze past the pomegranate lodged in his throat, and yet feels an avid hex of warmth – unlike embarrassment – come over him. Pierre doesn’t immediately attribute it to anything supernatural, not until he recognises that his arm’s not burning quite as strongly as before, and yet his mind is focused and clear. Marty James, his blood brother, will often exchange powers of inspiration with Pierre, so he’s not completely unaware of the feeling. Finally, Pierre understands that Charlie must be safe to talk to because she is one of his kind. The pomegranate shrinks down to the size of a tangerine, but he still pushes his words out nervously.

“Maybe,” he admits. “But… I’d rather not think about that right now.” Pierre inspects his arm again before smiling back at Charlie. “And thank you… for the help. I probably don’t need to go to the hospital after all.”

Pierre holds onto a smile, this big, bright grin that convinces even his sad heart to warm again. Of course Pierre knows better than to actually go through with the plan to go to the hospital, but he had to say something to make sure he was behaving like a regular Human. Normal people go to the hospital when they are attacked by a feral beast after all. Now that Charlie and Pierre understand each other, there’s no reason to keep up the charade. It’s comforting to know that at least he no longer has to lie about one aspect of his life, but now that he’s run out of things to talk about, that pressure piles on him once more.

[CharlotteC]

The way he spoke, it wasn’t that hard to tell that he was nervous about something. And that, to tell the truth - because she had to always - was putting her a bit on edge. Was this some sort of trap? Would she have to watch her back around this male that was standing in front of her. Was someone forcing him to be bait and that was why he was nervous?

One thing about fishing, it never works out well for the bait.

She glanced around once more, reaching out with her senses to see if she could hear or scent or even see anything. She couldn’t, so maybe he was just one of those nervous Nellie type personalities. That everything put him on edge. Or maybe he was just shy and he liked her and that was why he was nervous. She really didn’t know and she really couldn’t tell why, just that he was. And that was thanks in small part to how he spoke, the tone of his voice as he spoke to her. But then he smiled and she returned the smile to him and nodded as he said that he probably didn’t need the hospital after all. And she knew it was true.

“No, you really don’t… though, I believe I should ask. And really, I’m just to curious to just let sleeping dogs lay. Why don’t you want to think about feeding? And should I be worried about some evil vampire jumping out at me and trying to kill me am I?” She asked, though this time, it was she that was the nervous one. Or at least, nervousness was in there along with the tone of curiosity and true wonder at the fact that he didn’t want to feed.

Really? What vampire didn’t like the feeling that came with the feed? She didn’t have to do it as much as she had too now, but she still enjoyed the feel of biting into a bag of blood or even better, her teeth sinking deep into a vein offered to her by her thrall, her roommate, her best friend, her brother in many ways now, Tempy. Though, he hated that nickname. It still made her smile at the thought. A smile that was internal this one time.

[Pierre Roux (DELETED 6974)]

Pierre can feel a hot blush creeping into his face and ears as Charlie interrogates him. Blue eyes focus on those two brown orbs because he knows how desperate he is to look anywhere else. He doesn’t like the subject she wishes to broach and would prefer to talk about the weather, about dog sledding, about socks even – anything other than his eating habits. Of course Pierre realises that he can be overly sensitive at times, and that it isn’t actually required to take a life just for the course of feeding, but, it still feels strange to him. The logic and the sentiment don’t align, he knew that, but they didn’t have to either as far as the Frenchman was concerned. No, he has never asked a cow her permission when he wanted milk and no, he has never consulted the trees about giving up their fruits either. Yet, he is still Human at the heart of it and Humans don’t drink the blood of other Human beings. In the same vein that decrees punishment for taking a life, or as a matter of fact, taking anything from a person without their complicit consent, Pierre can’t understand how it would therefore be ok for him to take blood without consent. But how is Pierre supposed to ask that question? He can’t, not without revealing what he is and doing that could get him into worse trouble…

It’s true what they say: the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Despite Pierre’s internal wish to discuss anything else but his eating habits – anything at all – he isn’t prepared for Charlie’s question about an ambush. Well, not a question at all really and something very much like an accusation. Pierre – being a simple and average person – never thinks about trapping other people and killing them, let alone being a mastermind behind such a horrible task. The Frenchman frowns as he regards her. Why is Charlie so paranoid? What kind of life has she been living to cement such a lack of trust? And should he worry about what this could mean for him? Now that Pierre thinks about it, not only is it possible that Charlie is a shady character and could easily do away with him without even batting an eyelash, but she could easily be a vision of the future too. Is this what happens to Vampires when they stay alive for too long? There is no telling what kind of horrors she’s witnessed in her months, years… centuries… as a Vampire after all – he can’t read minds and he can barely tell her age. Pierre visibly pales with the thought that he too might have to face a dark, foreboding future – one that exists beyond everything he has ever imagined.

“I… uh… No?” Pierre answers. “Why would someone want to… kill you?”

It doesn’t take the Allurist long to realise that he is being somewhat rude. Though he probably has the right to be alarmed at how quickly things went from personal introductions to fatal motivations, Pierre decides that he’s pushing too far to ask why she’d think that. Besides, his question in itself now sounds suspicious in his ears. Why would he ask why someone wants to kill her instead of asking about why she’d think he would want to? It makes it sound as though he’s now just some stooge in this elaborate plan to tag and bag the girl. Pierre doesn’t have a mind for mischief but he’s smart enough to consider the unfolding paradigms of any and all of their interactions now. There’s an elephant in these forests with them now and dang it to hell if everything from this point forward isn’t going to sound suspicious.

“Well, this is just kinda awkward,” Pierre bleats suddenly, rubbing the back of his neck with his good arm and laughing softly. “Heh… Sorry. I don’t mean to laugh at you. Nothing like that. It’s just…” Those glassy blue eyes are gazing at her like they might pierce her soul. “I’m the last person in the world who’d think about hurting someone and I don’t think you’re going to believe anything I say from now on. It’s uh… a little ironic, no?”

[CharlotteC]

Charlie was slightly amused and curious as to how this male could blush, but she didn't dwell too much on it once he let his eyes lock on hers and she could pretty much see in those blue pools that he couldn't harm a fly, or at least, he didn't want to if he did. A bit of the way that most people fear a Pitt Bull because they are 'overly aggressive' and could bite your head off for no reason at all, you can just see it in those dogs eyes that if they attack it was because they are treated incorrectly, but there was always that innocence there. She licked her lips a little and then pulled her focus back in on the male as spoke, asking as to who would want to kill her.

That was a loaded question, she was sure there was a list as long as the 'bullies' active member list. And sure, there were probably others that would like to see her back in the shadow realm, or to leave the city and die for good. Something she had contemplated once or twice when her emotions had been too much. With his question still on the air though and echoing in her head, she answered the question. "That's a long list, sadly." It was the truth, thankfully, as long as she was telling the truth, she could skirt around some questions, it wasn't a full on 'Liar, Liar' moment where there was only on answer to the question.

He had brought up his arm and was once again scratching at the back of his neck, his nerves were clear to her, she just didn't know why he was so nervous. She looked at him, really looked at him, but it was his eyes that clearly told her that he was no threat to her. Plus, she didn't feel deception, just nervous, like it was just her presence that made him antsy. She arched her brow at his last question, "I don't think you know me well enough to make that assumption. I will tell you this much though, I do believe that you won't hurt me." At least at current, one could never know the full outcome of the future. She sure as hell didn't.

"I am curious though, why are you so nervous. It's making me nervous." She said as she looked at him with a curious gaze. She wasn't upset or anything of the like, just curious... and well nervous, but only because he seemed to be the same way. Like something was out there. Something would hurt them. "By the way, I don't mind people laughing at me when it is warranted. So you are fine for now." Of course, that adjective 'fine' could go a few ways, but she wasn't going to tell him that, he was already as nervous as a bunny during rabbit season.

[Pierre Roux (DELETED 6974)]

“Sorry,” Pierre apologies immediately. “I don’t mean to make you nervous. I don’t even know why I’m nervous. It’s just…”

And he pauses, aware he is saying too much even by saying that little. And yet, to not say anything at all – given their current uncertainties about each other – would be even more alarming. Pierre has to decide whether he can trust Charlie enough not to kill him for tripping over a faux pas he isn’t aware of. Mistakes happen, but that shouldn’t mean they have to die for them. Pierre feels like there is a noose around his neck on a nightly basis; tightening with every mistake. Judging by the way Charlie behaves – defencive, alert, and suspicious – then she might very well be feeling the same. Pierre might be making Charlie nervous, but her added paranoia to the situation is now making him paranoid and nervous. No doubt, if this continues, they will just feed each other’s insecurities until they’re a pair of blubbering messes. Pierre sighs and determines that he might as well continue with what he was trying to say. He isn’t going to be able to learn by his mistakes if he does nothing at all. Even if the cost turns out to be a great one, at least he will have the chance to learn and make sure never to do it again.

“I guess I just don’t know what to do with myself now,” Pierre confesses. “I don’t know who I am anymore and I don’t know the rules – what’s expected of me and what I should and should never do. Everything’s just different and it makes me… uneasy, and lose confidence in myself. I never used to be this worried about every little word I say and every little thing I do. But maybe I should have been to start with. Because, if I was, then maybe I wouldn’t be here like this at all.” Another pause, but this time, Pierre’s eyes soften and he pulls out a smile for Charlie. “That’s kind of paradoxical,” he adds with a soft laugh upon realisation. “I would be terrible at time travel.”

[CharlotteC]

As he said that he didn't know why he was nervous, she tried to close off the feeling she was getting from him. There are always times when things like attacks make people nervous, or in her case paranoid, so she could in a way understand why he was nervous now, still coming off of the adrenaline that comes with fighting for your life. So she closed her eyes, took a breath and when she opened her eyes again, she noticed that he seemed at a loss for words, like he was trying to figure out what it was that he wanted to say next and suddenly, she could tell that there was more to him than just his nerves. Eventually though, he did find his words and the words that came from his mouth she could understand. She had been there, so long ago. Perhaps, that was something that beckoned to her like a siren's call. Seeing herself in others, and she saw a bit of herself in him.

He smiled to her and in return, she smiled back softly and she locked her eyes on his. "Well, a lot of people probably aren't used to the awesomeness that is Doctor Who. That said..." She paused for a moment as well and then continued on a new breath "I know how you feel, I have been there. Did your sire not tell you anything? Or are you one of the unlucky few who have the sires that tell you all the things you aren't allowed to do anymore because they are petrified of their own shadows... for those who still have shadows." There were those types, the ones that cowered in the shadows because they feared being exposed to humans, they feared the past and were too blind to see the future.

She sighed a little and then smiled again to Pierre, "Who were you before you were turned?" She asked with curiousness in her eyes and in her tone, she believed that some people, they needed continue being who they were before they were turned, to get back normalcy for them. Some, like her, learned that the powers, they only made what she had been as a human better. Yeah, her emotions were just as enhanced and she could swing from one emotion to another at the drop of a hat, but at the same time, they made her better. She fought harder to protect those she cared about, she held tighter to them as well. She was getting more information every day. And she used that knowledge to teach others, to help others, and to make sure that the right people got the power. Not the bullies who would abuse power.