Path of the Vampire forum

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

<Ursula> *After cutting down a zombie wolf, needing a rest, Ursa sits next to the beast and pulls out her phone, searching through her contacts till she finds Jesse's number. Pressing send she listens to it ring.*

<Jesse Fforde> It doesn't take long for Jesse to answer his phone. He has the device in his hand nearly every second of every night. The voice attached to the chip that Ariadne had installed tells him that it's Ursula who's calling. Jesse tells the phone to answer, and then lifts the device up to his ear. "Ursula," he greets her.

<Ursula> Ursa smiles a bit at the sound of his voice, for what had happened to him he was rather jovial sounding. "Heya Jesse, I just wanted to call and see how you were, and what happened with this blind thing you mentioned?"

<Jesse Fforde> Jesse hesitates. He's not sure how much he should say, or how much he wants others to know. But, given his current mood, he's feeling rather reckless. He's on the couch, head back against the armrest, lying there and just enjoying the sound of someone else's voice. "I'm fine. Phoenix decided she didn't like the colour of them. Stabbed them out," he says. And why not? Perhaps not the complete truth, but the basic truth is there.

<Ursula> Her hand tightened around the grip of her sword and her eyes had he been there he would have seen the switch from clear blue to golden and lethal "SHE DID WHAT?!?!" She hissed, the sound of her voice echoing through the hallway she was sitting in.

<Jesse Fforde> Jesse smirks. He could probably roll with this. Could probably be and do exactly as Phoenix had accused him - some malicious plan to turn everyone against her. Some evil plot that he himself wasn't aware of. He sighs and rolls his shoulders. It wouldn't be completely untruthful. The woman had been furious with him - she'd have maimed him regardless. But still. "I asked for it, really," he says.

<Ursula> She blinked at the wall before her and then took a cleansing breath before speaking again "Why in the **** would you do something like that?!"

<Jesse Fforde> Jesse laughs. "Don't take me literally. It's not as if I walked up to her and said 'Phoenix, would you kindly stab my eyes out.'. I'm sure you know how I can be. I pushed too many buttons," he says. He has no idea why he's spitting vitriol about Phoenix. But in his current state of mind it made sense, that it was all his fault and no one else's. Of course he doesn't tell Ursula that in the end he was begging - begging for death, rather than simple maiming.

<Ursula> She sighed again and ran her hand through her long black tresses before she spoke again "I still don't know what to think about that woman. Sometimes she throws me a bone and seems to be nice and then others... And Buttons were made to be pushed." She added in before leaning her head against the dirty wall.

<Jesse Fforde> "Oh, I'm not saying she might not have overreacted a little. I'm just saying, is all. Just try not to get on her bad side, okay?" he says. Regardless of his own mixed feelings toward Phoenix, he doesn't begrudge the others their affiliates. But he knows how Phoenix can be, first hand, it's she's not nice to tangle with. "Her buttons were easy to push because she believed, without a doubt, that I had some malicious scheme to undermine her. Due to a simple mistake on my behalf," he explains. "She's so paranoid that she's dangerous. So just... be careful," he says.

<Ursula> "I can tell" She responds dryly, the woman was slowly gaining more and more marks against her in Ursa's book of those that Karma should hit with a Mac-Truck. She sighed though and then added "But I will remember to be careful. And apparently to watch my back." Then she sighed again and added in a little more quietly "And not to say a word to Axel."

<Jesse Fforde> "Not to say a word to Axel?" Jesse asks. He's morbidly curious to see how Axel might react were he to find out that his precious beloved had stabbed his sire's eyes out. Again, of course, Jesse assumes that Axel wouldn't give a flying ****. Has often, actually, imagined he and Phoenix laughing over the situation, as Phoenix recounts it, over and over.

<Ursula> "Could you image what he would say or do to me if he found out his childe couldn't stand that two headed snake he calls a girlfriend?" She said dryly once again, bending one leg, wrapping her free arm around it.

<Jesse Fforde> "Fiance," Jesse corrects, the amusement evident in his tone. "I imagine tht he might not like it too much. And that he might then disown you. But that's okay, because you have me," he adds teasingly. Of course it's not a fate that he would willingly wish that Ursula would be subjected to. He's there for her regardless of her standing with her own sire.

<Ursula> "Oh gods! Really? I think for the first time since I was turned I feel nausiated." She said and closed her eyes trying to shake the horried image of those two standing at some kind of alter. But then with another sigh she said "I'm sure he would, I'm his failure if the looks he gives me is anything to go by. But you're right at least I have you. And Personally, between you and I, at the moment I like you better." She said truthfully, no hint of teasing in her tone.

<Jesse Fforde> Jesse might have arched a brow. Ursula doesn't know? It's Renee who had told Jesse. He assumed that they all knew. That some announcement had been made on the Altaire Crownet that he hadn't been privy to. "You didn't know?" he asks. It warms him, her admission. It touches a place inside of him that needs that kind of praise - that frazzled and broken part of him that urges him only to find ways to die. "I don't know, Ursula. I'm pretty ugly at the moment. You mightn't like me so much if you saw me," he says, lightening the mood.

<Ursula> "I had suspisions." She says and then falls silent for a moment before giving off a soft laugh "Please, it's not the looks of someone that makes me like them. Though for the sake of being completely honest I am a sucker for your eyes... oh your eyes..." she says frowning. "Can't I just stab her once? She took my favorite part of you." She teased

<Jesse Fforde> "Aw, come now. They'll grow back," he says, clearly laughing. "You've clearly not seen all of me, then, eh? Eh?" he says. Even if, these days, he is a one woman man, that doesn't mean he's quite given up on his deviously teasing ways. "I'd not recommend stabbing her anywhere. But what I wouldn't give to take her tongue. She talks too much, sometimes," he says, pondering.

<Ursula> "Is that an offer?" She teased back and then nodded even though he couldn't see it "I agree though, she does. When's your birthday, perhaps i'll send you a bleeding gift." She said with a laugh

<Jesse Fforde> Birthday. Well ****. Not something he's normally paid much attention to. When was that? "February 24th. I had to think for a second there. Maybe a bit too far away, at this point," he says with a laugh. "I'm offering you one of those things... what are they? Those things you can never have," he says. And then, because the conversation begins to veer a bit too close to that thing that secret that Jesse cannot give away, he changes the subject: "What have you been up to?"

<Ursula> "Yeah a bit too far off..." She was tempted to say something about the offer but then laughed a little "Uh huh, great way to change the subject Jesse." She teased and then glanced around where she was "I got a text from my man saying he found a secret door so he and I are currently killing zombie wolves. I tell you, every time I step into one of these places, I feel like I just walked onto the set of Resident Evil."

<Jesse Fforde> "Oh, seriously?" Jesse says. He swings his legs off the couch and runs a hand across his scalp. He hates that he's stuck in here while there's a zombie wolf eradication happening. "Kill some for me, would you? Bored as **** in here," he says. Oh, what he wouldn't give to be running around in the catacombs right now.

<Ursula> "Will do. Need anything while I'm down here? Furs, Paws..." she picked up a dead part of the wolf laying beside her and then let it drop "Any part." She said with a slight amount of disgust.

<Jesse Fforde> "No, I'm fine," Jesse says. "Thank you. I have lockers that are overflowing and hardly any room for anything else," he adds, pushing the subject. Ursula hasn't yet asked about those things that he'd said he'd prefer not to discuss, the reason why he's locked up and not allowed out. And that's a good thing. Maybe Velveteen and Micah will help him to find an answer, and no one else need be privy to his suicidal tendencies. Though he's surprised Phoenix hasn't spread the word, yet. "Keep them for yourself," he adds.

<Ursula> She let out a little snort as she shakes her head "The stuff I get tonight I will most likely sell then because like you, I have lockers... well locker... filled of stuff, it's a damn good thing I’ve been getting stronger because carrying around all this crap I have in my bag is a bit cumbersome and tiresome." She said, leaning against the wall.

<Jesse Fforde> "Mhm, and you'll only continue to get stronger," he says. "It's quite nifty this thing Ari did to my phone. I had it read out the latest post - I'm happy to see you getting stronger, still. I can't believe that you could possibly be a disappointment to Axel," he says, honestly.

<Ursula> She sighed and closed her eyes "Perhaps i'm seeing things, but when he looks at me sometimes it's like I disgust him." She said as she started to poke the dead beast with the tip of her sword.

<Jesse Fforde> "**** him, then," Jesse says. Why does this feel like Deja vu? He'd had a similar discussion with Paige. She felt as if she were obligated to do as Axel asked her, all of the time. Jesse had got furious. He'd told her that that's not how things worked, not in his opinion. If he did everything according to Phoenix's whims, he'd be in a far worse place than he is now. At least, here, with his eyes stabbed out, he could say he stood his own ground, in a way. "It's up to you if you want to please him, Ursula, but it shouldn't be the only thing you do," he says.

<Ursula> "He'd enjoy it too much if I did that." She deadpanned before she added in "It's not so much pleasing him that I am worried about. No one can please everyone 100% of the time, but I mean is it too much to ask for for him to not look at me like i'm a plague... I mean i know I sort of cause such a thing, such is my curse. I don't know, I guess I would just like to know he's proud of me for more than just staying alive-ish long enough to get stronger and better at things."

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--


<Jesse Fforde> Jesse sighs and flops back down on the couch. He can't change the way other people are, much less try to make them be exactly like himself. He doesn't much like self-pity, and doesn't give it much credence. He's forced to be a little softer, lately, given his own tendencies toward self-loathing. He can't exactly judge. Rather than think about his relationship with Phoenix, he instead thinks about his relationship with Velveteen. He hates that he might have disappointed her. He imagines he wouldn't be too pleased if, when he got his sight back, he saw that she looked at him like he was a plague. "I get that. Maybe you are imagining it. Maybe ask him? Otherwise, I don't know. I found validation from someone who is not my sire," he says with a shrug.

<Ursula> instead of saying how she could guess how Axel would take her asking if she was a failure to him, she decided to concentrate on that last thing he said. "Why do you think I enjoy talking to you so much?" She said with a light laugh.

<Jesse Fforde> "Aha. And here I thought you just liked looking at my eyes," he says, laughing too. "It's good to know I am more than just the sum of my parts," he adds. And though his tone is still light with laughter, it's the truth. As much as Ursula might admit to gaining validation from him, this conversation is doing the exact same thing for Jesse. There's something missing, something that's only ever soothed when he's with his childer, or which his childer's childer. The validation that he is indeed appreciated helps to quiet the seething, venomous voice always telling him he's better off dead.

<Ursula> "Oh I do like your eyes, body's not bad either." She said with a soft laugh before she went on "But in truth, you have always been so helpful to me, you've never questioned things I do or don't do or make me feel as if I've done something wrong if I say no to something. Plus you don't cringe away from my touch."

<Jesse Fforde> "We are death, baby. Nothing to cringe away from," he said, though in truth he'd never had a reason to cringe away from Ursula. He tried to remember the last time he'd seen her, whether she'd touched him at all. Had anything untoward happened? Not that he knew of. "I'd question you if you ever broke the masquerade," he says, just to clarify. "But you know that already," he adds. Ursula's not stupid, and he doesn't believe she'd ever break the masquerade on purpose. Other than that, he has no reason to judge her.

<Ursula> She snorted a little "Tell that to Axel and his beloved bugs." She said before she began to cut away bits and pieces of the beast before her. "I tell you, it's not without some effort but I think I do just fine with not being caught." She said softly.

<Jesse Fforde> Oh, the bugs. Of course. He'd drowned Axel in bug poison, once. But it's true - the guy seems overly fond of the infestation inside of him. One day those bugs will spill from his every pore. How will he like them, then? He'll be like one of those corpses on the side of the road, overflowing with maggots. Jesse almost wants to see it. Not specifically to see Axel dead, but to just see a dead thing. They fascinate him, dead things. "Right. And if you do happen to be caught by accident, don't try and hide. Just tell me. If it's an honest mistake there's no reason why you won't be shown mercy," he says, recalling recent meetings amongst Tytonidae.

<Ursula> She snorted again "Mercy from you perhaps, but I doubt that Axel would be as forgiving. But you need not worry, if it does happen, I wouldn't hide it. Lying to family is stupid anyways."

<Jesse Fforde> "I wouldn't be so sure," Jesse says. "Renee broke the rules. Axel gave her nothing but a scolding," he says. He remembers the way he reacted, as if she deserved more. And yet now, he speaks of mercy. He doesn't know who he is anymore. He doesn't know which actions are forced by the way he feels, and which are the ones that come from his true soul. He shifts a little in the chair. Doesn't matter. It's been decreed. Offenders who step forward of their own initiative will be given mercy. "It's not so much about family. If you come to me as a member of Tytonidae, if you step forward, and willingly try to help atone for your mistake, then you won't be hunted," he says.

<Ursula> "Yeah but he loves Renee." She said trying to hide the slight sound of bitterness. She adored Renee so it was easy to see why he did, but at the same time it still hurt to know that he played favorites. "Well either way though, had I fucked up you would have probably been the first person I called. I value your advice Jesse."

<Jesse Fforde> "Quit it, Ursula," he says, a hard edge to his voice. Jesse isn't one for coddling, and he's not going to sit there and try to comfort her. "Who gives a **** what he thinks? The only opinion that matters is your own, so stop ******* dwelling on what he thinks of you and get on with it," he says. "How's that for advice?"

<Ursula> "Ummmmm ouch..." She said and then sighed and leaned against the wall. "But understood." She added as she closed her eyes so she didn't have to see the dead wolf sitting before her.

<Jesse Fforde> "It's for your own good," Jesse says, very far from apologising. He won't apologise for being blunt. It's just how he is. "You can't properly live a life if you can't live it for yourself," he says. It's a philosophy he'd lived by the majority of his life. It's probably why his friendships were always fleeting, and why he could count the amount of people who he cared for, now, on his fingers. There aren't many of them.

<Ursula> "You're right, and for the most part I do live my life for me. But I won't deny that knowing that I can make someone proud doesn't give me a slight boost to my ego."

<Jesse Fforde> "Sure," he said, not wanting to prolong the conversation any longer. "For what it's worth I'll boost your ego as much as you need me to. I've often thought I'd have liked to have met you three first - to have sired you rather than Axel doing it," he said. And he hoped, given his previous outburst, that Ursula didn't think he was just trying to make her feel better. He wasn't the kind of person to be warm and fuzzy if it wasn't absolutely meant.

<Ursula> "I wish you had too..." She said then went on "But the past can't be changed, so I just concentrate on what can be. My future. So time to put my big girl panties on and suck it up." She said as she looked at the bodies that lay crumbling all around. "Why can't you leave the Eerie?"

<Jesse Fforde> Oh, he knew she'd ask that question. One that he would avoid, at all costs. She'd just said she would suck it up after he'd admonished her for her ways. He couldn't very well turn around and undermine his authority by telling her he was on suicide watch. "Reasons," he said. "For my own good," he added. She didn't need to know any more than that. "Doesn't mean you can't call me if you need help, though - I'll get to you if I can, and if not I'll organise it," he says.

<Ursula> "Reasons?" She echoed in a dry tone but she didn't push further, if it had really been her business than she would have but she knew it wasn't "Well I don't think I need help currently, its likely you will be done with your house arrest before then." She added with a little laugh and then continued "But thank you all the same of the offer. Personally, if I call you it's going to be because I like talking to you."

<Jesse Fforde> "Well, that's a first," Jesse laughs derisively. "Given that I couldn't talk for so long. If that were still the case we wouldn't be having the conversation. And I'd probably have stabbed my healing eyes out again out of sheer boredom," he says, a bit morbidly. "Or maybe my ears - yeah, then it would have been symmetrical," he snorts.

<Ursula> "Ahhh Jesse, that is why they invented this lovely thing you and I have done before. It's called Texting." She said with a laugh and then as the stopped as she realized the last thing he had said. "You would do that out of boredom? Please tell me you didn't push that woman's buttons for kicks and giggles Jesse, because if you did I might be tempted to find a way into that place you're locked up in just so I can smack you upside the head." It was an empty threat, hell she was sure even if she did manage a way to get in he would have her down on her knees and dominating her before she could.

<Jesse Fforde> "No, Ursula, I was being sarcastic," he says with a chuckle. He doesn't tell her that rather than put himself through that kind of pain, he'd instead probably find some way to stab the life out of himself completely. His powers are blocked and he can't even sleep, so that he might drift off into the Shadow Realm. As is it, he's almost certain that all sharp implements have been removed from his reach. He's not entirely certain how he could kill himself - and doesn't know if he could abuse Velveteen and Micah's respect like that. Not in their own home. He doesn't answer her question, otherwise.

<Ursula> "Mmhmmm well no scaring me like that dude!" She said with a soft laugh before she glanced around. "It is a shame you can't be here though, it's always fun to bump into you down here, plus it means I don't have to leave to grab something to eat." She said with another laugh. That was one thing she didn't know how he did it but he was able to feed her without feeding her, she didn't hunger for blood like she would be this time.

<Jesse Fforde> Jesse takes a breath that he does not need. She bought his story. She didn't push the matter. For this he was appreciative. "Next time," he says. "I should probably let you go, I suppose. Otherwise someone else is going to steal all those lovely wolves from you," he says.

<Ursula> "Bored you to death already huh?" She teased and then went on "But you're right, I need to get back to some killing, I have lots of money to make. Take care of yourself Jesse and hope to hear from you soon."

<Jesse Fforde> "Same back at you," he says. Out there, people have lives. And he's not exactly the kind of person who's ever called just for a chat. Instead, he sits there and waits... waits, until the boredom gets to be too much and he makes a phone call. "Again, kill some for me. I'll see you soon," he says.

<Ursula> "Will do! Get some rest!" She said with a playful demand before she ended to call and just in time too because one of those wolves had just rounded the corner and spotted her.

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

* Jesse Fforde is bored. Entirely. The only thing he has to keep him company is his phone, which has failed to ring. All he has to do while alone is dwell on how useless he is. Of course they wouldn't want to call him. Because they don't care, right? In a bid to slap himself out of his morose thoughts, he told the phone to call Paige. Because he is bored - and because he wants to check up, anyway. He brings the phone to his ear as it rings.

<Paige> Paige always carried her work phone on her in case she got called in. Lately the city had been a mess and she was dispatching blood thieves right and left. It didn't seem to be helping. When her phone rang, she pulled over to the side of the road and growled "Paige speaking." Paige growling.

* Jesse Fforde smirks at the sound of the growling - if it weren't typical of Paige, he might think it was aimed at him specifically. Again, he pushes the thought aside. It's not him. "Hello Paige speaking. Jesse speaking. Am I interrupting something?"

<Paige> "I was driving," she whispered, but it was an explanation and not a call for him to leave her alone. "Are you alright?" She only sounded mildly concerned, because she had assumed that Ursula already spoke with him, and that if he had wanted to talk to her, he would call. Which is what happened. If something was not right, she didn't notice it yet.

* Jesse Fforde pauses, silence licking at the phone line. Until finally he answers: "I'm fine. Bored as ****, though. Things going alright in your world?"

<Paige> "I have been killing blood thieves," she told him, then switched ears and lowered her voice. "What can I do for you?" She had low self esteem as well and assumed that he wouldn't call just to say hello, even if he was very bored. She didn't realize how much he concerned himself over his childer's childer.

* Jesse Fforde 's brow creases in a frown. At this point, he can kind of see things. His eyes have mostly grown back, but everything's a blur. Shadowy shapes that he can't quite decipher. He stares at one of those shapes. "Nothing. Was just calling to catch up. You can go back to killing blood thieves, if you want," he says.

<Paige> "Catching up is fine," she said and turned off her engine. "I was getting tired anyway." It was odd to have someone call and catch up. Getting on the same page. Touching bases. That sort of thing. Paige trusted Jesse, so she was actually calmer than usual now.

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--


* Jesse Fforde stands and begins to pace the space - small, careful steps so as not to trip over anything. He's done that more often than he can count. "I heard there's a relic those bastards carry around. Found anything interesting?" he asks, curious.

<Paige> "Their heads keep popping right off, Jesse. I do take some of those with me," she admitted. He liked to set things on fire, so why would he judge her? "But I have not seen any relics. I will have to look closer."

* Jesse Fforde grins. Heads are useful. "Ursula might like those heads. They're good for rituals," he says. "Apparently it's a relic that somehow has the magic ability to make its wearer never have to feed again. I'm not sure I'd like it, if I'm going to be honest," he says, mouth watering as he imagines what it might be like to drink straight from the source again.

<Paige> Paige sighed, distraught. On the one hand, 'castration' of her desire to feed would help with her murdering problem. On the other hand... "I do enjoy playing with humans and taking their blood. I would miss it. Even if I do have to try hard not to kill every human I feed from now."

* Jesse Fforde nods in agreement, even if she can't see it. "I'm the same. But... why do you try not to kill them?" he asks, curious.

<Paige> "If I kill every single human I feed from, we will run out of humans. There is also a chance of getting caught. I... have a few tendencies toward corpses that tell anyone paying attention that it was me who carried out the murder. I would be caught easily if someone caught on. So I kill as few as possible. I do torture them before I let them go, but it is not always enough."

* Jesse Fforde pushes a hand through his hair. "Fair point," he says. "I have to kill, if I feed from live prey. They remember me, if I don't," he says. An affliction, to be sure. But he enjoys it. He opens his mouth to continue, but there's a 'beep beep' on the line. Someone else is trying to call - either him, or her. "Someone's trying to call. I'll talk to you soon?"

<Paige> "Alright. It was nice talking to you." She meant it. She would have to call him instead of him calling her next time. Paige hung up and went back to work.