Path of the Vampire forum

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


‹Jesse Fforde› The night is a little cloudy, and it’s probably warm for Canada’s standards. Jesse wears a pair of jeans and just a t-shirt, even if the slight breeze has a bit of a bite to it. A lit cigarette balances between his lips as he sits on one of the benches in the courtyard near Masterpiece. It’s still early in the night and there are still a few shoppers around – a crowd has gathered nearby. There’s cop cars out the front. Jesse’s curious, but not overly so. Instead, he has his sketch book balanced on his knee and is finishing one of his designs – a commission for a customer, a simple Sailor Jerry piece. At least, that’s the style. He’s trying to match the cartoonish face to a photo he’s been given of a girl’s brother, who’d died the week before. Wreaths around the portrait, and a banner underneath with his name: Jeremy. Jesse pauses in his design as he takes a drag of the cigarette, and nudges some of the ash into the soil of the pot plant beside him. His gaze lifts to the gathered crowd, merely observing, thinking, rather than exhibiting too much curiosity.

‹Saige› The bags swung from side to side in both her hands as she exited the shop and drew in a deep breath that made her shoulders rise and fall. It was comfortable out, and she was feeling almost weightless. The bags of hers contained several outfits that she herself would never wear, only because they were far too tight in her bust; the outfits for Zahara for when the woman was able to leave the hospital finally. Sure, Saige was hopeful, but it was all she had. She didnt see Saki very often though when she did she enjoyed every second of it. Crossing the courtyard and making her way through the crowd, she scrunched her nose at the scent of a cigarette that wafted through the air she was walking through. She turned as teal eyes swam in search of the source of the smoke, and finally found it in the form of a male covered in tattoos drawing something on a sketchpad. She blinked, sure she had seen him somewhere before but couldnt have been positive. Boldly, she walked up to him. "...Excuse me, Mister?"

‹Jesse Fforde› Jesse ponders the nature of human beings. The way their curiosity gets the better of them. The way they gather around the scene like flies to a piece of rancid meat. It's disgusting, really. It's not the scene that has Jesse curious. Instead, it's the group around it. Why are they so interested? Is it because, for this stale ten minutes of their night, they can escape their putrid, sad little lives? His gaze blurs. He's not really looking at the crowd, now, but is lost in imagination. He's imagining what might happen if this whole place suddenly burst into flames, and their curious little bodies started sizzling and crisping in the heat. A tender voice breaks through, shattering the image. He blinks, and glances up at the voice's owner. He readjusts in his position, canting his head to the side - the expression on his face clearly reading Yes?, though he doesn't voice the word.

‹Saige› Saige hadnt meant to interrupt the guy, and the way he looked up at her at first suggested that she had done exactly that, tearing him from his thoughts and contemplations. Saige knew that look all too well, she saw it on Velia plenty of times, the way Velia internalized everything never ceasing to amaze Saige. She was quite the opposite, wearing her heart out on her sleeve and if one asked her, she would admit that she couldnt help it. She canted her head as her eyes glanced between him and his drawing and his lit cigarette. "Do I know you?" She asked rather bluntly, sure that she did but not making that assumption entirely known just yet. Her grip tightened on her bags as she was sure that he was like her. She had gotten good at picking those like her out of a crowd, since the Canada Day event.

‹Jesse Fforde› Indeed, the girl has interrupted Jesse's thoughts, but that's the way the world works. One cannot only live in their thoughts, or in their imagination. Jesse is not annoyed, but instead turns his thoughtfulness upon the girl. Blonde. Pale skin. Blue eyes. Slender. Very much... like a girl. Of course, the first thing Jesse tried to imagine was this girl in bed. His eyes narrowed. His head shakes, imperceptibly. No, not that. And normally the women are the ones who always remember, and clearly this one doesn't. His ankle drops from his knee, only for his opposite foot to lift. Staying comfortable. Another drag of the cigarette as he continues to consider. Maybe. Does she look familiar? Maybe. "I don't know," he finally answers, voice gruff, broken, husky. Never truly full. "Do you?"

‹Saige› He continued to drag on his cigarette, and Saige resisted the urge to snatch it from his hand and throw it down and stomp it out under the toe of her designer sandal. She swayed a bit as she waited for him to fully answer, his pausing making her think that he actually might have had a clue, her hair swishing over her shoulders as the light curls bounced in the action and her skirt ruffled against the bags at her sides full of clothes and a shoe box. She frowned then, well shoot. If she had known, she would have simply asked him; she would have taken note of him by calling him out by name upon greeting. But she knew she had seen him, she just didnt. "I'm Saige... Greenbriar Altaire." She finally said firmly, clearly proud of her name and status. At that point she bent at her knees and set her bags down out of her right hand, offering the pale skinned extremity out to him daintily.

‹Jesse Fforde› The pieces fall into place swiftly as soon as the girl gives her name. Jesse hasn't talked to Phoenix for quite a while, but that's fine by him. He had tried. She had tried. But it wasn't working. They couldn't - he couldn't - get over their differences. Grudges are things that he holds, and it's not something he can deny. He smiles as he takes the girl's hand, his callused fingers wrapping around her dainty digits. He shakes, welcomingly. "There was a point," he starts, and clears his throat. He's gone back to speaking less, if at all. But it is handy for communicating. "That Phoenix dictated that all Altaire have nothing to do with me," he says. He cannot now remember who exactly he'd heard it from. Pyper, maybe. Strix? One of the two. Maybe it'd changed. Maybe not. "Jesse Fforde," he says, and nods.

‹Saige› Rough fingers shook her hand as her smile mirrored his though hers reached into her eyes and warmed them further. She had this uncanny ability to always make people feel comfortable in the situation or converstaion she was in, and this felt no different for her. Though at his statement, she was left to furrow her brows together tightly knit and frown. What did he mean, and why would Nix do such a thing? Saige shook her head and gave his hand a squeeze before allowing him to have it back. "Nonsense." She giggled, curls bouncing on her shoulders. Her free hand found its way to her hip. "As if that seems fair. I cant see how that would prove to help anything get better at all." She shrugged her shoulders then.

‹Jesse Fforde› Jesse half nods, half shrugs. No, it wouldn't have helped anything. The whole story is not one that he knows - how many of them did Phoenix tell? Did she make it an announcement on the Altaire Crownet that he only sporadic access to, and which he stopped checking because he never knew when he'd be kicked off again, with no notice, without knowing what he'd done wrong. This is part of the reason why he doesn't think he and Phoenix will ever mend their fences. There'll be no water under the bridge because he's forever thinking he's doing something wrong, because he doesn't worship the ground that Phoenix walks on. Maybe that's not what she expects. But regardless - he has a family now. A different one. Several, actually. But that doesn't he's less curious about those he'd left behind. He shifts over on the bench seat a little, glancing down at the spare space, as if suggesting Saige sit. "You're right. And things didn't get better. Probably won't," he says.

‹Saige› Saige immediately took the proffered seat and smoothed her hands along the edges of her skirt after tucking her bags safely at her far side and out of the way from in between the two of them. She clearly had no problem with personal space, nor did she have a problem with invading another's so easily. She tucked her ankles in under the bench and clasped her hands together in her lap as she looked over at him and sighed. "That sounds so sad Mr. Jesse." She stared at him, intently, thinking of what could have possibly had been the issue between him and Nix. Though she also knew it wasnt her place, and it was probably painful for him to think about it. She waved a hand in the air briefly before clasping it back in her lap. "Cant change the past, now can we?"

‹Jesse Fforde› The way the girl sits, so prim and proper, makes Jesse smile. The way she sits is in complete contrast to Jesse, who closes his sketchbook and twists in his seat so that his knee is up on the chair, his back up against the armrest, and one arm thrown up over the back. Completely relaxed, completely at his ease. "It's not sad. It's just the facts," he says with a nonchalant shrug. He's over it. There are other things that require his sadness, and his attention. "Facts that do belong in the unchangeable past," he nods, agreeably, his gaze not at all shifting from Saige. Penetrating, even, as he watches her.

‹Saige› They stare down, and Saige couldnt help but think of how curiously interesting the guy is to her. He was covered in ink, and she could never imagine being tattooed like he was. She didnt have a single one on her body, though that didnt mean she couldnt appreciate the form of self-expression through permanent artwork. She raised her brows then, almost giving off another giggle as she glanced down to her hands then back over at him. "Well I'm glad you've been able to move on from that, it seems."

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



‹Saige› She smiled, "No sense in dwelling on things that are what they are and forever will be. That'd be like me constantly thinking about Juliet... when I know she isn't going to come back. And I cant blame her - Mexico is probably a lot nicer than this place though..." She trailed off, shaking her head a bit, "I didnt imagine it as dark as it is when I spy her." Without knowing or meaning to honestly, Saige had turned the conversation into a blab fest about her personal story.

‹Jesse Fforde› If there's something that Jesse's used to, it's hearing other people talk. He smiles, because it's been a while, this kind of scenario. When he had no voice, people took his silence as permission to tell him all there is to know about themselves; and if not that, just a sounding wall for them to pin their woes to. He used to hate it. He used to want to slap the teeth out of people for doing it, because most of the time he never gave one single **** about their lives, or their woes. He smiles now, however, because it signifies a return to normalcy. Finding his voice also meant discovering that he is no good at communicating, and he's better off taking a step back. To hear Saige begin to talk to him like strangers once did before makes him happy. But, she has heard him speak. She knows he can. And so some measure of communication might be required. He rolls his shoulders. A bone cracks in his neck. He takes one last drag of his cigarette before mashing the stub into the cement of the garden behind them. "Think about Pyper instead," he offers. "She's mentioned you."

‹Saige› She raised her brows, the action involuntary at best as he mentioned a good friend to her in that being Pyper. "Oh! You know Pyper?" She grinned. If there was one woman that she truly felt she had grown to become close with beyond that of having the immediate relation to, it was Pyper. The small girl seemed so... lost, at times, and Saige found that she loved the conversations that they had together because she always felt like she was in the end helping someone who desperately needed it. "Has she really?!" She giggled, shaking her head and dipping it low clearly not expecting to hear such things. She had never thought that she would come up in any of Pyper's conversations to anyone.

‹Jesse Fforde› Jesse offers another shrug, and a vague nod. Yes, it was primarily the 'Altaire' that gave Saige away, but it is also the 'Saige' part of her name that had rung a bell. He's not much into gossip, or getting involved in people's relationships with other people. It's enough, just to say that she had been mentioned. "I know Pyper," he says, even though it's a rhetorical question. Of course he knows Pyper. He wouldn't have mentioned her, otherwise. He remains where he is, showing no signs of fidgeting or of agitation. No signs that he is being held up, or that he wants to be alone. There's still a hint of a smile on his lips, and a gleam to his eyes that isn't sadistic, but instead indicative of a good mood. A lot of people might point at Jesse and call him aggressive, or full of attitude, or always angry or unhappy. Yes, he has spiralled. Yes, once, he was all those things. But, unbeknownst to most, he's normally quite content and serene. If a little quiet.

‹Saige› He admitted to knowing the woman she had become close with, at least in her opinion, and Saige found her warm smile back dashing her lips as her teals danced over to him and settled on his face. "Thats wonderful... she is a wonderful person. I truly enjoy helping her, she is so kind and seems so lost a lot. Poor girl couldnt even see that someone was into her." She gave a saddened smile briefly, though it immediately melted. She clearly adored the woman. "I drop her shields a lot when I see her." She swung her legs out and re-tucked t hem back underneath, looking out at the crowd of people that was starting to slowly dissipate due to the time of night.

‹Jesse Fforde› Admittedly, Jesse had completely forgotten about the gathered crowd and his lack of interest in whatever it was they were interested in. Probably some death. Probably some human bled dry of blood in the back of some store, somewhere. He'd done that, though he'd broken the girl's neck instead, in the bathroom stall of a diner. He tries not to do that so much anymore. He tries instead only to buy blood bags, or heal himself. It only means he smokes more, because the smoke somehow relieves the constant, clawing, scratching, burning thirst that is most prominently annoying in his throat. Like constantly having the flu and a sore throat, demanding some kind of soothing. The expected question, he supposes, would be about who might have an interest in Pyper. But again, that's not something Jesse is curious about. Not really. Again, his head cants to the side. "Being lost is the best way for someone to find themselves," he says. "I think, maybe, that too many people try to change her. I think maybe they should stop," he adds, sincere and perhaps the most serious he has been throughout the entire conversation.


‹Saige› She couldnt help but to stare over at him at his profound statement. It was deep, seemingly shallow like the waters in the Bahamas that were so clear yet forty and fifty feet deep. She blinked a couple times, her head slipping back a little as she fully absorbed the meaning of Jesse's words. She bit her lip for a moment, thinking hard about what she could say back to that. Releasing her lip, the words slipped softly through the air. "I think you couldnt have hit the nail on the head any more square, honestly." She made the motion of swinging a hammer and hitting a nail. "I support her as much as I can." She gave a firm nod.

‹Jesse Fforde› Jesse gives a modest kind of nod. It's something that he feels deeply about. There are few people that he does care about - few that aren't directly connected to him, anyway. Pyper is one of them. Sure, their conversations might be few, but there's something endearing about the girl. She's not stupid. She shouldn't be wrapped up in cotton and never allowed out. The kind of guidance she needs is the kind of guidance that every new vampire needs, but otherwise she should be allowed to do as every other new vampire is allowed to do. Trying to change her will only confuse her more; will only add to her sense of being lost, if that's how she sees herself. Jesse clears his throat again - a constant habit, due to his thirst and the irritation that speech causes the disused vocal chords. "Support, yes, but don't coddle," he says, somewhat sharply, gaze that tiny bit narrower.

‹Saige› She gave him a tip of her head and a roll of her shoulder mixed in with a slight nod. She whole heartedly agreed with him on that one - and she would never shelter someone to the point that they themselves couldnt learn from the harsh cruel world that offered so many lessons in life that she felt so many people needed to learn still. She remembered being coddled, but not by her sire, or her grandsire, no, but by her mother. "Of course not. She needs to learn defensive mechanisms. We all have our own trials and tribulations I think, that mold us and shape our futures for the better. Things may be hard for her to get through now but honestly she needs to endure. I think its for the better." She gave him her signature warm smile, reassuring with a pat to his knee. "She'll figure it all out, I have faith."

‹Jesse Fforde› The smile returns to Jesse's features. It is comforting to know that Saige agrees, and that she will be working to that end from the inside - the inside of a family that is no longer his. Not really. Yes, he does maintain that he is around should any Altaire want to seek his aid, but as time passes and people come and go, he has a feeling that statement might have got lost in the sand. Whatever the case, he doesn't have as much opportunity to see Pyper as the others do. Jesse himself has never been coddled, and he doesn't think it's healthy. Ignorance isn't healthy, either, but there is a a good middle ground. Over Saige's shoulder, he sees the customer whose design he'd been working on. The woman is heading toward Masterpiece. Jesse glances at his watch as he leans forward, and reaches for his sketch pad. "It was good to meet you, Saige, but I have to go back to work," he says, gesturing to Masterpiece with a nod of his head. He stands, but pauses. "Pyper has my number. If you ever need it."

‹Saige› Saige jumps up the same time he does, not hesitating to reach out and pull the lanky male into a soft quick hug. She didnt linger, because she knew that the hug itself was probably a breach of his personal space enough, but she didnt want to let him go on in his day without at least one hug. "Hug for you, Mr. Jesse... I'll certainly get that from her!" She grinned, turning to pick up her bags then and step away, turning once to get one last good look at him before heading home with her goodies. If she ever saw him again, she would not forget his face and name, and be able to properly greet him; that much she made certain of.

‹Jesse Fforde› The embrace is unexpected. This is not what strangers do. They are strangers who do have connections, to be sure, but they are still strangers. They have just formally met. There's been no conversations, before this. One single conversations with perhaps one - maybe one and a half - profound moment does not merit a hug. Some people just like to hug, it would seem, and Saige is one of them. Jesse's arms are held aloft, the pages of the sketch book flapping a little in the light breeze. It's not that he's particularly possessive of his own personal space, but hugs are just so.... fluffy. He grunts and mumbles something incomprehensible as he wanders back to work, shaking his head with his strides.