Path of the Vampire forum

Cori could do nothing more than laugh. " Not exactly, but it could cause a trip and fall that may not be as graceful as the last. I am not off for another hour, so carrying you to the hospital is not in the cards." It was in that moment that Cori's need to sate her curiousity took over. She took a seat to the right of the female and pushed the glass of Absinthe towards her. "If you choose both, I suggest you take this one first, it may buffer the taste of the next."

It was not the norm for Cori to be social with the patrons, but this one seemed a tad different. She seemed to spark Cori's curiousity. Without a thought, Cori reached down and gently took the ankle of the one who she just had served, gently in her right hand. She took off the heel that had caused the fall, and pushed up the leg of the pants that they were wearing. Call it out of sort, damn, call it ludicrous...but Cori wanted to see the damage that it caused. She wanted to see what the woman was so focused on when Cori was pouring her drinks. " I suspect it is just twisted. Like I said, I did the same thing a few years back... it was healed in a few days."

When Cori glanced up, she saw the look on the patrons face and then...saw her Adam's apple?? Cori's brow furrowed and she gently placed the foot of the female back on the ground. " I am sorry for being so forward, I have an interest in the medical field and wanted to examine it for myself. It is a nasty sprain." With that Cori sat back in the chair and crossed her arms.

Who wast his person seated in front of her... were they human..were they a female as they looked to be. It was like a spark ignited in Cori's head... she wanted more, she wanted knowledge.

Myk’s risen brow remained glued in place as Cori explained about the alcohol. Instinctively, he looked around their immediate area and began to evaluate the people around them. There were Humans here, certainly, but was it so important to keep this veiling talk in such a circumstance? These people were here to drink, meet friends and have a good time, surely they weren’t here to eavesdrop on other people’s conversations. As far as Myk was concerned, she must have known that she was speaking to someone of her ilk, so maybe it was just her philosophy to be safe rather than sorry. Myk shrugged a shoulder at the thought and turned his pewter eyes back on the woman, just in time, as it happened, to have his leg taken right from under him. Myk gripped the edge of his seat to keep him from meeting the floor again, even if her actions were gentle and hardly required him to act so sharply. Myk gawked at her as she started to inspect his wounds, explaining that it was probably a twisted ankle – nothing serious. Myk nodded, but, was still startled by the sudden and unprovoked physical contact. It wasn’t as if he hated to be touched, but he had learned in the four years that he had been a Vampire in this city, that the only time anyone ever wants to touch you is if they want to harm you.

A sigh of relief broke over the Telepath as Cori released his ankle and the leg dropped to the floor again, disregarding how his foot was now bare. The woman sat back in her chair, arms folded after an apology and explanation; Myk simply gave her an accepting glance before bending over to free the other foot from the stiletto. It would be safer for Myk to walk the streets barefooted than to continue to stumble in these shoes that, frankly, were too high and too small. The Telepath was clumsy enough as it was, so with the addition of unstable shoes and possibly alcohol, it was only rational to remove one of the issues. With the shoe off then, Myk sat up straight again in his chair. Pewter eyes looked back to the table, back to the drinks she had set down and he took the first glass that was nearest to him, swallowing the contents with no ceremony. There was no taste, just a sharp burn that felt like weak acid entering his throat and warming his stomach. Eventually he’d feel that warmth through his veins, making its way to his eyes and ears. Once that intoxicating high was to set in, perhaps then this night would start to look up.

“Thank you for your concern,” he said purring. “I feel your medical talents are wasted on me, however.” Myk leant forward ever so slightly then and spoke in a whisper. “In an hour or so, I will be completely healed.” With a wink, Myk sat back in his chair.

Cori saw the look of surprise on the pewter eyed patron and she felt a sharp pang of guilt and unease. That was quickly chased away when they stated that they would heal in less than an hour. With that knowledge, Cori smiled, uncrossed her arms and pulled her chair up to the table. Cori was a seeker of sorts, any knowledge that she could obtain gave her a mild sense of euphoria. This individual, in front of her…surely had a story to tell.

It was not unusual for Cori to get lost, at times. Her incessant need for answers had gotten her in trouble, at times. The “ fallen one” caught Cori’s interest and she would do what she could to get fed…knowledge, of course.

When Cori was in college, she had met a young man. He was majoring in law, like herself and came from a good family. As their relationship developed, so did Cori’s thirst for knowledge and answers. It was not acceptable for her newly found love to give an answer of because, or it is as it is. She wanted to know why, how, how come…along with a horde of other questions. To say that this was overwhelming, was an understatement. Her need for answers led to the demise of this budding relationship. It happened quickly and painlessly…but it did happen. Her thirst for knowledge always destroyed…she supposed it was a trade off and dealt with all ramifications of such.

So the “ fallen one” had basically been accosted by her at Lancaster’s…merely because she wanted to examine the wound, which led them to divulge the fact that they were her kind…she had, in a way forced the answer to her question. Their reaction to her touch was not to pull away…maybe it was that they were surprised or in shock from the fall. Either way, Cori got what she wanted…answers.

Cori watched as the patron shot the drink…they did not grimace or make any sort of face, upon swallowing the liquid. How very odd?? Does this mean that vampires can drink? Cori had craved the company of a drink one too many times, as of late…their lack of reaction gave her hope. Maybe she could have a drink, maybe it would give her a nice buzz, as it did when she was human. Her curiosity was, once again, sparked…

“So, I did not quite catch your name?” Cori outstretched her right hand to the patron...knowing full well, the warning that was given to her by Trahir. In this moment, her wants superseded his orders.

Myk blinked repeatedly at the question about his name for he could have sworn he’d already divulged such. No matter, he wasn’t always so obvious and he would be the last person to accuse himself of being easy to understand. Myk had a lot of trouble communicating with others and there were plenty of reasons for that. The fact that he wasn’t completely sane was likely the biggest reason. Myk’s mind ran at a different pace to most people and he ordinarily thought in stages beyond the immediate situation – either somewhere in the future or somewhere in the past – which tended to result in comments that were often vague and hard to tie down. While Myk was aware of this, he wasn’t totally capable of resolving it. Miscommunication was too easy and the best he could was manage the fallout.

“My name is Myk,” he said with a smile, shaking her hand confidently. “And it’s not short for anything.”

It seemed appropriate for the Telepath to intercept the regular follow-up question now that he was certain she had his name. People often thought his name might be a contraction of a longer name, perhaps a more normal name. He always wondered what they might think his name to be given the pronunciation, which was Mick really when he wasn’t putting on a French lilt. At those moments, his name often became something more like Meek. The most reasonable assumption was that his name was Michael; a common short form for which was Mick. He felt divided by that conclusion. Michael was a nice enough name, it was just its connotations toward God, toward religion, which made him a little uncomfortable.

“So how long have you worked here, Cori?”

Myk didn’t want to seem rude and not ask this lady questions in return. She was clearly going above and beyond her duties in order to take care of him and he was fascinated by that generosity. He had only been in this bar once before, the events of which were cloudy to him, but he didn’t think he remembered seeing her. The chances were that he just didn’t remember, or maybe her shift was simply on another date and they had missed one another. There were new people, new Vampires, arriving in Harper Rock all the time and it was difficult to keep track. It was fortunate that the Telepath was capable of Appraising each individual he came across, however. Doing so somehow helped them to remain in his mind that little bit longer.

Cori recalled his name, as she recalled every move he had made since he entered Lancasters. What she did want, is to lighten the mood a bit and take his mind off the fact that she just molested his ankle, to sate her need to feed her curiosity. Trahir warned her that it would put her into uncomfortable situations…but ignoring that warning, Cori did as she did.

“ It is nice to meet you Myk, wishing it would have been under different circumstances.” Cori had gotten some answers…the one in front of her is a vampire, he surely is older than she…being the fact that he can drink what she had placed in front of him, without a grimace to be seen. Cori had craved a drink for a long while and the feeling that a couple of them had brought her when she was a human. That buzz that felt as thought your brain was in a cloud and everything else circled around it...but did not get in..at least while the alcohol did its job. Cori wanted this…

“ I have been working here a few weeks, mainly the night shift. I usually work the door, tonight is a bit different.” Cori did not go into the long drawn out explanation that she worked security and surveyed the entire bar, whenever she worked. It was a tad too much information to relay to a patron. “ So, Myk...tell me what brings you in here tonight?” Cori knew she had a break coming and thought this was time well spent..better than what she normally did on break...which was to head to the rooftop and observe the city. It allowed her to gather her thoughts, reflect upon the day and ponder…

Without really meaning to, although intent wasn’t entirely absent, pewter eyes surveyed the Vampire in front of him with a piercing strength. Though his gaze was rather inconspicuous – Myk looked her over as if he were simply evaluating her exterior – the Telepath saw much more than was apparent on the surface. Cori was a Killer, a type of Vampire that Myk had had a lot of experience with in his years and he smiled, half grimaced at that little piece of information. Applying the foremost information with the fact that she said she worked the door led Myk to believe that she was a bouncer of some kind, the hired muscle to make sure that civility succeeds where alcohol was present. After all, alcohol most commonly dissolves the filter which restricts aggressive behaviour, and when people are violent in an establishment such as this, it often reflects on the reputation of the business. The owner, or owners, obviously cared enough to keep security and Myk wondered whether they weren’t thinking the same thing as him when they looked at the demure quality of this woman in front of him. How very sneaky.

Myk might have considered the extent to which his gaze had delved if he had the time, but Cori brought up a question. The first thing the Telepath did was blink. The next thing he did was throw his head back and laugh. A slender, bone-white finger pointed at the stilettos he had removed and he glanced their way as he remarked his tale to Cori.

“Those blasted shoes brought me in here. Quite literally. I tripped and came crashing in. All very elephant-like… or deer-on-ice-like… something like that. Still, I am not complaining. It is nice here and you are very hospitable.”

Myk reached for the other glass after his lengthy explanation and drank its contents with the same haste as before. He was full of nervous energy and it made his extremities tremble slightly. The shot of liquid fire that he had just consumed was supposed to help with that and mellow him out some more. This second shot, however, was much stronger than before. Myk felt the dizzying fug go straight to his head and up shot his hand immediately to cradle his crown.

“Putain…” he mumbled, his filter dissolving. “What the hell was that?”

Cori felt a tad uneasy, as the Fallen One seemed to disappear into himself for a brief moment. She wondered what he was thinking, if he was thinking anything at all.. The way he stared at her, he was looking her up and down like a predator does to prey..the silence between the two was what made her uneasy. Trahir had told her about vampires that could read a mind, they could see the past and present of anyone they chose. They were telepaths, they could see inside a mind... Was he doing this to her? If so, what would he see... If not, what was he doing? The blank stare he gave to Cori made her insides turn, just a bit.

Cori saw the man drink the Bruichladdich X4, and as she had expected...it did its job. "That is Bruichladdich X4, a very potent whiskey. You had asked for something strong, didn't you?" Cori saw him shaking a bit and her natural reaction was to place a hand upon his shoulder to assist, as he trembled. She raised her hand up to touch his shoulder, but withdrew it as fast as it was extended. You cannot touch anyone, she thought to herself... not even to comfort or to assist.

Cori sat back in her chair and crossed her arms in front of her. The anger that had lay dormant for the night started to swirl around inside of her. Why can't I touch another, she thought? The rationale explained to her, did not make much sense. She just had accepted it as gospel and went on with it. She now had a vampire in front of her, seemingly older, surely wiser... maybe he stumbled in here for a reason. Reason...to provide Cori with knowledge, possibly.

"Where were you headed before those killer heels brought you in here, if you do not mind me asking?"

Myk was cultured, one could say, but in the grand scheme of things, he still had a lot to learn. He had never heard of this Bruichladdich X4, which was apparently a very potent whiskey, and with the strength of the liquor, it was unlikely that Myk was going to remember it either. His head was hidden in his hand, long white hair trailing over him like spilt cream. Cori put her hand on his shoulder as a comforting gesture, but then quickly pulled away. Myk found it odd, but frowning made his head hurt, so he immediately gave it up. Instead, he decided to bellyache.

“Well it tastes like paint-thinner!” the Telepath exclaimed both vocally and telepathically to the other Vampire.

The strange combination of prickling on the ears and prickling on the mind must have been a very weird sensation for the other, but Myk wasn’t wholly aware of what he’d done. He’d thought that sentiment foremost, his mind did the little matter of pushing it into Cori’s mind as a natural impulse, and Myk’s mouth had done the rest. The sound in her head was probably like a strange echoing of one voice since the telepathy came just a fraction sooner than the vocalisation. Myk was oblivious to his actions, however, and completely focused on the little matter of what he thought he’d said. He pulled his head up slowly, letting his hand drop into his lap as pewter eyes stared forward and hoped to catch the other Vampire’s line of sight. As Fate would have it, that minor change in his attitude had brought about another change in his company. She asked him a simple question, one that wiped his mind of other thoughts and had him focused on the present, then the distant, foggy past.

“Uh…” Myk mumbled at first, hoping to cue his memories. It didn’t. “Where was I headed?”

This was a regular occurrence for the white-haired Vampire. He would regularly forget instances of his past, almost as though in weaving the fabric of his life, some of the threads got tangled and teased into unfathomable clumps. This could stretch on for hours, days and weeks at a time and rather than try to unravel the tangled gossamers of his life, Myk simply chose to look past it.

“Oh, I was probably heading out… Nowhere special. There’s nowhere special to be in these shoes. What size shoe are you?” Myk asked, looking for her feet and narrowly avoiding the impulse to grab her leg in return and check for himself.

As it turned out, Cori wasn’t the only creature who thought nothing of invading other people’s personal space. Yet, in the four years that he had been in Harper Rock, Myk had learned some valuable lessons to inhibit that habit.

Cori heard him speak to her but at the same time..she felt him speak to her. It was as if she heard him through her ears and with her mind. The feeling was that of a bee buzzing in her mind, and it was not pleasant. Is this man playing some kind of mind game with me, she thought. Trahir had told her that vampires had varying powers but never elaborated. Was his power mind control, or something like that?

“ I have never tried it, but I heard it was repulsive. It does its job though, and you wanted something strong.”

Cori sat back in her chair and again, crossed her arms. She wanted to ask him what he just did to her...what was he trying to do to her. She held back, as he did not look like he was in shape to answer a barrage of questions from her..not yet. Cori was confident that her time would come with this one… if not tonight, hopefully another.

Everything about this vampire was interesting. From his eye color to the pure white hair that complimented his eyes. The fact that he wore heels so high and had no place to go..another interesting tidbit. Add the fact that he can seemingly mess with minds… well this, is like a cherry atop the sundae. Cori was hooked...

“ I take a size 8 shoe, Myk.” It seemed an odd question for him to ask..maybe it was avoidance. He did not seem too keen on elaborating on where he was headed, not at all. Seriously, who goes out with shoes like that on and has no destination?

“ Would you like another drink?”

She was not quite sure what to say after he asked her shoe size..she certainly did not look like Cinderella...and those heels, while gorgeous, were not looking like glass slippers.

Delight caused the edges of the Telepath’s lips to curl upwards and he reached for the shoes that were on the floor. Bringing the heels together in a neat bundle, Myk passed them to Cori as though he were offering her a basket of sweet treats.

“Size 8!” he said, or rather squealed excitedly. “What are the odds? We are the same size. Though, I’d imagine these would fit you better than I.”

Myk was always happy to give away his possessions and gifting items was another one of Myk’s favourite past-times. It didn’t matter that they had met just moments ago and he barely knew anything about her, Cori had been kind to him and this was the least he could do repay the favour. The Telepath always felt obliged to follow codes of courtesy; he was taught to have good manners and show respect – his mother was adamant about that. So it came to be that Myk was always so very generous on top of his many, many other quirks. He hadn’t dismissed Cori’s question about his planned destination exactly; he was simply unable to provide any further information on the subject. When the new question was broached, Myk smiled again and nodded.

“I think that’s a good idea… Perhaps not the paint-thinner again, but the other was fine. Would you be drinking as well?”

He had been told that it was purely an Allurist’s skill to be able to drink and eat in the Human fashion, but since he had forced himself to control his gag reflex, Myk rather assumed others could as well. Of course, eating seemed pointless when your sense of taste was limited to the brain recording sense of smell only – an irony which wasn’t lost on Myk – but alcohol and other intoxicating substances still worked as they should. While Myk was capable then of consuming food, he never bothered. As it happened, however, he could and did drink like a fish.